Being struck by love is like being struck like lightning: it’s sudden and electrifying and explains why Benjamin Franklin was voted World’s Sexiest Man 17 years running. Make your own sparks fly with today’s Groupon to NJ First Dates. Choose between the following options:

• For $17, you get admission to one speed-dating event (up to a $60 value).
• For $45, you get admission to three speed-dating events (up to a $180 value).
  
  

NJ First Dates’ schedule abounds with fast-paced singles events, ushering ringless fingers within the 21–45 age set to swanky bars, restaurants, and nightclubs around New Jersey and New York. Most events, such as the Single Professionals session held at Pazzo Pazzo on December 8, match each of 15 men with each of 15 women for five-minute chats. However, December 10’s Holiday Speed Dating marathon at Room 84 can shuffle together up to 200 singles, drastically increasing each attendee’s chances of finding the owner of the other half of their mystic amulet. Most events facilitate matchmaking with drink specials and complimentary hors d’oeuvres.

At the event’s end, all participants rate their as-yet insignificant others on a “match card,” and the professional partnership forgers arrange further meet-ups between synchronized singles by providing contact information the next day. It is strongly recommended that singles arrive 15 to 30 minutes before the event’s scheduled start to ensure time to settle in, grab a drink, and boil enough eggs for a juggling trick.