What’s the trickiest computer question in Trivial Pursuit 90’s Edition?

In my opinion, it’s “What fruit helps restore a player’s health in Donkey Kong 64?”

You see, there’s two types of Trivial Pursuit questions.

The first demands that you actually know a specific piece of information. For example, “What research telescope was deployed on the first space shuttle mission commanded by a woman?” (A: Chandra) or, “What brain-cancer patient received more than 350 million get-well cards, when a chain e-mail refused to die?” (A: Craig Shergood).

The second kind of question is a little more helpful. Even if you don’t know the answer right away, the question itself provides some clue. For example, “What legendary Nintendo game was A Link to the Past a sequel to?” (A: Legend of Zelda) or, “What short-lived online store hired a sock puppet to recite it’s slogan, ‘Because pets can’t drive’?” (A: Pets.com). This is the kind of question I usually need to get a pie slice in the non-pop-culture categories.

“What fruit helps restore a player’s health in Donkey Kong 64?” seems like the second, helpful, type of question. Even if you never played Donkey Kong 64, you probably know Donkey Kong is a gorilla and that gorillas love bananas. HOWEVER! The answer to this specific question is actually “watermelons.” You really had to play Donkey Kong 64, or read all the way to the end of this paragraph, to get that one.

Once again, this Tuesday night I’ll be setting the record for “Most Trivial Pursuit Computer Questions Answered Out of a Shuffled Deck in 60 Seconds” live at the Universal Record Database event at Joe’s Pub. All proceeds go to the Yes We Care Soup Kitchen, New Jersey’s only mobile soup kitchen. Streeter and Kumail are also setting records. Details here, RSVP on Facebook here.