Best trivia nights

Booze Clues

Washington, DC  | Wednesdays

Not even a chilly downpour could keep the Argonaut's regulars from showing up for Booze Clues, the weekly seven-round trivia contest that occupies the bar's cozy upstairs. A rotating cast of regulars assume hosting duties for the evening, and the subject matter from the opening general knowledge round can vary from playful -- Which two comedians voiced "Saturday Night Live's" Ambiguously Gay Duo? Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrell. What was the name of the Pekingese Best in Show winner from the 2012 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show? Malachy -- to playfully confounding -- Mount Vinson is the highest point of which continent? Antarctica. Which Midwestern state is home to the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School? Michigan.

A visual round is often paired with an audio round, though technical difficulties shortened the latter on a recent outing. And because it was Leap Day, it was the perfect time to learn, for example, that the emperor who introduced the extra calendar date was Julius Caesar and that rapper Ja Rule was born Jeffrey Atkins on Feb. 29, 1976.

JOTTeopardy Quiz Night

Herndon, VA  | Tuesdays

It's hard to imagine, but there is a bar where using cellphones, the Internet and friends are perfectly acceptable during trivia night. That's just one of the quirks of the ever-idiosyncratic JOTTeopardy at Jimmy's in Herndon. The 15-year-old quiz night begins at 7 p.m. with three 18- to 30-question written preliminary rounds. The winners move on to the final game at 9 p.m. On a recent Tuesday, those rounds involved filling in the blanks on unintentionally funny newspaper headlines and identifying Texas Hold 'Em hands with such names as "Orwell" (8 and 4) and "Bo Derek" (two 10s, of course).

At 9 p.m., the bar area is transformed into a wackier version of the "Jeopardy!" studio, complete with a massive hand-built board with five categories and a zany host -- bar owner Jimmy Cerrito -- in a bedazzled jacket. Contestants must remember to answer in the form of a question, but they can also get help from the bargoers who crowd around to watch.

Trivia at Stoney's

Washington, DC  | Wednesdays

Good luck getting a seat at the recently revamped and increasingly popular trivia night on the second floor of Logan Circle's divey destination for beer and grilled cheese. Once trivia kicks off at 8 p.m., it's typically standing room only for the low-key affair, which consists of five rounds of 10 questions plus a P.E.-inspired interlude (we'll get to that in a second).

When Justin Glass and Mike Haigis took over hosting duties in September, they decided to make some changes, which meant adding a speed round (usually a sheet of pictures that range from identifying movie stills to interpreting Google Doodles) and a final audio round of "Name That Tune."

Glass, who says he and Haigis are always on the hunt for ways to spice up the event, recently added a round inspired by the basketball game knockout for the chance to score shots. A single envoy from each team lines up single file and, during his or her turn, has to answer a question -- recent examples include naming a Shakespearean play or a movie with Tom Cruise. Hesitation, a repeated response or a wrong answer and the player is out; the last person standing (with an impressive knowledge of the obscure, such as "Pericles, Prince of Tyre") wins.

It's kind of like a quirky seventh-inning stretch -- a good excuse to walk around and, if you're lucky, wet your whistle.

Pro tip: It wouldn't hurt to look at weekly box office numbers before showing up.

Monday Night Trivia Fight at Wonderland

Washington, DC  | Mondays

Wonderland triviagoers take their facts seriously. During a recent bout, a question about foreign foods turned into a heated discussion over whether it was necessary to write Wiener in front of schnitzel.

Being a trivia host is not easy. Maybe it's a good thing then that anyone can request to be quizmaster in the upstairs bar at this Columbia Heights destination, which has held trivia gatherings since 2005. That means each week is different and dependent on the host's whims, which may explain why Wonderland has a reputation as one of the area's most difficult quiz nights.

Luckily, participants who know nothing about NBA all-stars, "Battlestar Galactica" or television theme songs can stay in the game by trying to win free beers with answers that make the hosts laugh.

Like the hosts, crowd size can be unpredictable, ranging from standing room only to a handful of teams (of no more than six). On a recent evening, there were still seats to be had at the 7:30 p.m. start time, while other weeks, tables and bar stools fill up by 6:30 or 7.

Pro tip: Check the Monday Night Trivia Fight Facebook page for a bonus question, the answer to which could earn your team a free beer.

Pub Trivia at McGinty's Public House

Silver Spring, MD  | Mondays

On a block of fluorescent-lit signs touting Red Lobster and Macaroni Grill, it would be easy to miss Silver Spring's unassuming McGinty's. But inside at the upstairs bar on Monday nights, the scene is anything but subdued. Quick-witted quizmaster Katherine Mocho (who has an NPR-ready voice) calls out six rounds of 10 questions ranging from geography -- and no, the capital of Pakistan is not Pakistan City -- to an entire round devoted to "South Park."

About 12 to 18 teams typically show up, but a recent Monday found 25 groups (of no more than six) with golf pencils at the ready. Even so, ample seating means players won't have to show up too early to score a table.

Aspiring trivia hosts, take note: Mocho will be passing the baton next month, so McGinty's is looking for a new emcee; NPR voice not required.

Pro tip: Check the McGinty's Facebook page on Mondays for a sneak peek at one of the rounds.

Trivia Night at Tonic

Washington, DC  | Mondays

Because Tonic is on George Washington University's main campus, be prepared for most of the trivia players in the bar's third-floor lounge to be students -- and think about how that might affect the questions.

This is the most pop-culture-heavy quiz we've seen: There were questions about which boy band Omarion was a member of, the band that became breakout stars after being featured on "Friday Night Lights," and know which liqueurs were used in certain raunchy-named shots. At one point, the host admitted that she'd stolen a question from the "Real World/Road Rules Challenge."

That said, it's a lot of fun to play. There are six rounds of five questions each, and two timed "free response" rounds where you might have 90 seconds to list every state whose name does not contain the letter N.

The scoring for most rounds is "confidence-based," and wasn't well explained, so pay attention: After answering all five questions, teams assign them a point value between five and one -- giving five to the ones they're certain are right, down to one for the answers they're not sure about. All correct answers receive the point value they were assigned, so answering two questions correctly in a round could be worth either nine or three points, depending on how the responses are ranked.

Final word of warning: There's no quiz this Monday, because "that's the first Monday back after spring break." It will be on the Tuesday instead. The specials, meanwhile, include $3 Miller High Life, $4 bowls of Tater Tots and $5 PBR 16-ounce cans.

Pro tip: Watch the Tonic at Quigley's Twitter feed (@TonicatQuigleys) for a hint about one question each week.

Trivia Night at the Looking Glass Lounge

Washington, DC  | Tuesdays

"Is everybody feeling knowledgeable tonight?" host Dalton Hirshorn asks the capacity crowd at the Petworth bar on the final Tuesday of February. Hirshorn is a mainstay at the Looking Glass, where his weekly hosting stint puts teams of no more than five people through five rounds, including an audio round, a visual matching round and esoterica such as fictional TV towns and identifying the names of baby animals (What do you call a baby cockroach? A nymph, of course).

If you think you did well in a particular round, you have a one-chance-only option to double your score for that round. You can also boost your point total by guessing the "mystery person" about whom a single fact is revealed after each round. At least one of the rounds has a theme riffing on the news or current events such as the Oscars, with answers including Oscar Wilde, Oscar the Grouch or Oscar Hammerstein. While trivia doesn't start until 8 p.m., the Looking Glass is usually full by 6:45 with contestants having dinner and enjoying happy hour specials, including half-price beers and half-smokes.

Pro tip: Follow Hirshorn on Twitter at @QuizmasterGAAve to find out that night's theme.

Bedrock Trivia

Washington, DC  | Sundays

Bedrock Billiards is one of Adams Morgan's true neighborhood bars, and its long-running trivia night is just as community-focused. Every week, a pair of regulars is responsible for writing five rounds of 10 questions each, reading them to the crowd and scoring the answers.

As you might expect, it's unpredictable, which keeps teams coming back. One week's highlight could be a handout picture round in which teams have to identify college sports mascots; another visit may find an audio round of classic film themes. Or you may just get themed rounds on the periodic table, vice presidents or D.C. history.

Smart Ass DC

Washington, DC  | Wednesdays

Most trivia nights require a time commitment of a few hours. That's not the case at the long-running and briskly paced Smart Ass Trivia Night at Nellie's Sports Bar, which manages to offer two games of head-scratching general knowledge and pop-culture questions in less than two hours every Wednesday night.

It's good to have both "Entertainment Weekly" readers and "Jeopardy!" wannabes on your team, since topics could include geography, movie soundtracks or the architects behind D.C. landmarks. It can get tricky: Regular audio/visual speed rounds usually call for not only identifying a song's artist and title or photos of famous actors, but also figuring out a common theme among them.

Rounds fly by, thanks to cleverly written questions and host Andy Austin's dry (and sometimes naughty) sense of humor. Everything leads up to the fiendishly difficult Wipeout Round: Point values are doubled, but one incorrect answer means your team earns no points for the entire round. (To give you a fighting chance, teams are not penalized for leaving questions blank, and the three earlier rounds include the chance to earn "safety points.")

Clever team names are encouraged and frequently rewarded.

Pro tip: Hints about forthcoming rounds and subjects can be found on www.facebook.com/SmartAssTrivia.