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10 Questions and tea with Dan Blim

 TALKING TRIVIA and SHOP 


By Tim Rich


I recently caught up with Smarter How’s Dan Blim and he not only made D2 team of the week, but TOTW Overall in all of OQL USA Season 11 Week 1. It just so happens he wrote the Week 3 Friendly set. 


Dan is an original member of Smarter How and began their Season 1 in Division 3 of OQLUSA along with my team The Orphans Have a Real Heavy Rep. We lost a nail biter in Week 8 45-43. Their Captain Fred Bush scored an amazing 24(7) against us.


Time is precious but I was able to ask 10 major questions so you all will get to know Dan the trivia player a little better.



RICH:  How did you like the week one set and have you ever made OQL TOTW OVERALL for the highest score of any seat in the league?


BLIM: As always I enjoy the questions—interesting things to learn, the pleasure in recalling something. I’ve only made TOTW on a couple occasions, and never the overall TOTW, so it feels a bit bizarre still to be in that position. Just the right questions at the right time, really.


RICH:  How did you first get into OQL? Did you know your teammates?


BLIM: My trivia hobby really started during the pandemic. I’d done it in high school and college, but never knew it existed beyond that except Learned League, which my friend Nick introduced me to. So that was a nice surprise. It was also a nice surprise to discover I’m a stronger player than I was in college. Most of our team are Swarthmore alums, so I did know them through that; the fifth player is a new friend I made through friendlies, and am very glad I did.


RICH: Do you play bar trivia and if so, which is your favorite spot where you live?


BLIM: At SporcleCon, I wisely put that I live in Columbus on my name badge, then ran into Lauren Manton on my way out of the bathroom, so she and Ryan invited me to join their team. I’ve also gotten to play bar trivia in Denver and NYC with other OQL friends, which has been a really lovely way to feel connected to the community.


RICH:  Have you ever been on a game show?


BLIM: Never! I keep trying, so maybe one day. I did get cast as a dancer in the movie The Village, so that’s my sole screen credit (actually, I am not credited, so “appearance,” really).


RICH:  Of all the online competitions, which is your favorite and why?


BLIM: I love the puzzling aspect of Connections, the collaborative aspect of Quiz Nations, and the many clever quads of pop solos. I also have enjoyed writing sets and hosting Zoom trivia (it’s coming back I promise!).


RICH:  In week 1, on your way to TOTW, I heard your Bon Jovied a pair that you had written for the Week 3 Friendly?


BLIM: Ha! Yeah, the day before we played my team playtested it, and then what should come up but the pair about Catalonian pooping Christmas traditions I’d written. My aunt and uncle got a caganer when they were in Spain, so that’s where the seed to write a pair on it was planted. I’m still mad I had to replace it, but TOTW is a pretty great consolation.


RICH:  If you could have dinner and play trivia with any five people, who would they be? Dead or Alive.


BLIM: I’m definitely picking 5 of my closest friends in OQL, and I’d prefer them alive. But there’s more than five contenders, so they’d have to be lotteried so I didn’t have to actually choose.


RICH:  What is your favorite trivia team name?


BLIM: As a classical music fan, Las Triviatas is pretty great. Of the ones I’ve come up with, still pretty proud of Now Is the Winter of Our Discotheque this past SporcleCon.


TIM:  Besides trivia, what are a few of your favorite things?


I will happily geek out with anyone here about board games, film, Great British Bake Off (or baking in general), 21st century classical music, and Broadway.


BLIM:  Which role in a Broadway musical would you want to perform?


I do not love performing, but some characters I love most are Paul in A Chorus Line, Louise in Gypsy, Amalia in She Loves Me, and Bobby in Company. 


RICH: Thank you for chatting, good luck in Division 2, and I’m sure I’ll see you in a future Friendly and most likely TOTW.

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