The Champion of Quiz Night

Every Thursday at eight o'clock, The Crooked Fox, a small pub near the river in Dublin, holds a quiz night. Teams of four sit at wooden tables with a pen, an answer sheet and something to drink. The questions are read by Declan, the owner, who has a big gray beard and a very loud voice. The winning team gets fifty euros and, more importantly, the right to boast for a whole week.

The team at the table by the window was called The Hopeless Cases, and the name was accurate. Siobhan, Niall and old Mr. Byrne had played every Thursday for three years and had never won. They usually finished last, just behind a group of students who spent most of the evening on their phones. Their fourth player had moved to Cork in the summer, and nobody had replaced him.

One rainy Thursday, a young man with a Spanish accent came in and sat at the bar alone. Siobhan watched him for a moment and then walked over. "You're not here for the quiz, are you?" she asked. "I don't know," he said. "Could you tell me how it works?" She explained the rules and asked if he wanted to join them. His name was Alejandro, he came from Zaragoza, and he worked at a hotel in the city center.

Nobody expected much. In the geography round, Alejandro was quiet. But then Declan asked, "What is the only food that never goes bad?" and Alejandro immediately wrote "honey." In the science round, he knew how many hearts an octopus has (three). In the history round, he knew who had invented the sandwich. Mr. Byrne stared at him. "Where did you learn all this?" he asked. Alejandro shrugged. "I don't sleep very well, so I read strange things at night."

Before the last round, The Hopeless Cases were in second place, one point behind a team of teachers who had won six weeks in a row. The final question was about Irish history, and Alejandro had no idea. "Do you know who the first president of Ireland was?" he whispered. For once, it was Mr. Byrne who smiled. "Of course I do," he said. "I did a school project about him in 1962." He wrote down the name: Douglas Hyde.

Declan read the results slowly, enjoying the silence. When he announced that The Hopeless Cases had won by one point, the whole pub cheered. Even the teachers clapped. Siobhan bought a round of drinks with the prize money, and Niall said they would have to change their name. "We can't be hopeless anymore, can we?"

Alejandro still comes every Thursday. The team is now called The Strange Facts, and it doesn't always win. But Declan says it's the only team that makes him check his own answers twice. And now, whenever a stranger walks in alone on a Thursday, Siobhan is always the first to ask if they would like to join a team.