Let’s call this week’s Spirit Bar quiz a calm before the storm, of sorts. Much like Isaac leveled New Orleans while Chris Christie shat gall stones as he bragged about his gubernatorial record in Tampa, we at the Spirit are prepared to have our summer regulars wade through a flood of new student teams in a week or two with the return of collegiate life to Cambridge. For now, we staged a humble yet lively quiz with a shocking turnaround finish and a dose of human generosity to top it all off.

Early round 2 jokerings frequently conjure false hopes out of early leaders who utilize them, and that was totally the case this week. Take it Steazy had a narrow command of the field after round 3, when they were only one of two teams to joker at that point. In round 2, they jokered their simply ok 8-point performance in an iffy strategic move with a limited payoff. Steazy would finish in a tie for 6^th with the equally floundering defending champs Box Full of Tacos, who apparently were missing a couple of key team members. With a small field and some strategic flubs, the top two slots were very much in reach.

Right smack in the middle of the quiz, the trusty mic cable I’d depended on for 3 solid months started to sputter and shit out on me. It got so bad towards the end, I had to yell half the round 8 answer recap without a mic before Kevin managed to help me swipe a certain rival quiz company’s mic cable. Touche, GWD perseveres again! It was a good thing we got that up and running, as we had a hell of a finish to announce. As they cruised around in the middle of the field while many teams squandered their jokers, frequent champs “Cance” Armstrong and recent champs Staff Infection quietly sat on their jokers till the last round, where they each notched a dominant 12 points. They each had some impressive showings in prior rounds, which cumulatively had placed them at the top. At the very end. “Cance” Armstrong captured yet another title with yet another moniker, and Staff Infection made away with a solid 2^nd place.

BUT WAIT!!! What’s this?!?!? Bartender and Staff Infection carrier Kevin just simply didn’t feel like taking the runner-up $10 gift certificate to his own bar, so he kindly bestowed it upon 3^rd place Tacobutt, who finished only 3 points behind Staff and registered a solid four 7-point rounds, and certainly earned that $10 if I do say so in my own expert opinion.

Charity or not, I expect there to me ample thrills as the ominous student crowd make their valiant, gradual return to the gem of Porter Sq. that is the Spirit Bar. No better time to come quiz on a Thursday than this point in the year, I do declare!

• The Royal Hilltop - Aurora 8:00 PM
• Darcy's Bistro & Pub - Denver 8:30 PM
• Prickly Pete's - Denver 8:00 PM
• The Whiskey Bar - Denver 7:00 PM
• The Cheeky Monk - Westminster 9:00 PM
• The Ram (Meridian) - Meridian 9:00 PM
• Lisa's Restaurant & Lounge - Augusta 7:30 PM
• Opal Divine's (Marina) - Austin 10:00 PM
• Opal Divine's (Penn Field) - Austin 10:00 PM