Nothing Trivial About It

Question: If you picked one card a second, seven days a week, how long would it take to pick all the Trivial Pursuit cards that will be sold this year?

Answer: 697.6 years.

Fans this year are expected to fork out about $750 million to buy 22 million copies of what is turning out to be the hottest board game in history. That is more than twice as much as the total amount paid last year for all board games, including Trivial Pursuit. As a result of those extraordinary sales, Selchow & Righter, the American manufacturer, which is headed by Richard Selchow, has doubled its staff, started a new line of products and reorganized its headquarters.

Demand for the game shows no signs of fading. In coming months, editions for children and music buffs will be introduced, along with a set of 6,000 new questions for the basic edition.

Selchow, which also manufactures Parcheesi and Scrabble, will launch its first Trivial Pursuit advertising campaign. The ads will ask frustrated consumers to be patient until the company can get more games into stores.