Totally Random Trivia: 2022

Monday, January 31

Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow's email.

1. The lion’s mane, the peacock’s tail feathers, and the mandrill’s bright red nose are three prominent examples of sexual BLANK. What 10-letter word fills that blank?

2. Henry VIII forbade commoners from playing his favorite game, for fear they would become better at it than he was. Today it’s quite popular among commoners, and is played in two formats: “deck” and “table.” What game is it?

3. Cameo, Haralson, Topaz, and Jonathan are all types of… what?

4. Singer Helen Kane tried to sue an animation studio in 1932 for copyright infringement. The lawsuit was dropped when it was revealed that she had ripped off her act from a Black performer named Esther Jones. What animated character was at the heart of this trial?

5. What U.S. city is home to an international airport whose roof famously has 36 peaks, to symbolize the nearby snow-covered mountains?

3. Apples

5. Denver?

1 Dimorphism

2: Tennis

4. Betty Boop

Answers to Monday, January 31

1. The lion’s mane, the peacock’s tail feathers, and the mandrill’s bright red nose are three prominent examples of sexual BLANK. What 10-letter word fills that blank?

DIMORPHISM

2. Henry VIII forbade commoners from playing his favorite game, for fear they would become better at it than he was. Today it’s quite popular among commoners, and is played in two formats: “deck” and “table.” What game is it?

SHUFFLEBOARD

3. Cameo, Haralson, Topaz, and Jonathan are all types of… what?

APPLES

4. Singer Helen Kane tried to sue an animation studio in 1932 for copyright infringement. The lawsuit was dropped when it was revealed that she had ripped off her act from a Black performer named Esther Jones. What animated character was at the heart of this trial?

BETTY BOOP

5. What U.S. city is home to an international airport whose roof famously has 36 peaks, to symbolize the nearby snow-covered mountains?

DENVER

Tuesday, February 1

Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow's email.

1. Tchaikovsky wrote just three ballets in his lifetime. Name two of them.

2. If an animal has spots, white splotches, or mottling, what seven-letter “P”-word would you use to describe it?

3. What sport did Canadian American gym teacher James Naismith invent in 1891 when instructed to create an “athletic distraction” at the YMCA where he worked?

4. Who was the first U.S. president who was born outside of the original 13 colonies?

5. What Greek mythological monster is usually depicted as containing elements of a lion, a goat, and a serpent, and has a name today used by genetic engineers?

1. The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty

5. Chimera

2. Piebald

3. Basketball

4. Martin Van Buren in NY STATE

I am pretty sure New York was one of the original 13 colonies.

4. Lincoln?

It most definitely was. I read it and responded that NY had become a state by then & thus not a colony.

The Van Buren question is used a lot, in different wordings.

Answers to Tuesday, February 1

1. Tchaikovsky wrote just three ballets in his lifetime. Name two of them.

“SWAN LAKE,” “THE NUTCRACKER,” “SLEEPING BEAUTY”

2. If an animal has spots, white splotches, or mottling, what seven-letter “P”-word would you use to describe it?

PIEBALD

3. What sport did Canadian American gym teacher James Naismith invent in 1891 when instructed to create an “athletic distraction” at the YMCA where he worked?

BASKETBALL

4. Who was the first U.S. president who was born outside of the original 13 colonies?

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

5. What Greek mythological monster is usually depicted as containing elements of a lion, a goat, and a serpent, and has a name today used by genetic engineers?

CHIMERA

Wednesday, February 2

Five questions to wake up your noodle.

1. What humorous series has had incarnations as a radio show, a book series, a film, a TV series, and an early computer game, and begins with the story of the last human alive after the destruction of Earth?

2. If a spirit is “100 proof,” what percent of it is alcohol?

3. James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair played Simba’s parents in “The Lion King.” Those same two actors played an African king and queen together one other time, six years earlier, in what movie?

4. Mario of Nintendo fame wasn’t always named Mario. His original name is now a trademark owned by Nike, and appears in the title of a 2015 song by Drake. What is it?

5. What geological term was first used as a political metaphor in 1856, prior to the election of President James Buchanan?

2. 50%

3. Coming to America

1: 42 (yeah, not the actual title, but )

5: Landslide

4. "Jumpman"

Answers to Wednesday, February 2

1. What humorous series has had incarnations as a radio show, a book series, a film, a TV series, and an early computer game, and begins with the story of the last human alive after the destruction of Earth?

“HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY”

2. If a spirit is “100 proof,” what percent of it is alcohol?

50

3. James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair played Simba’s parents in “The Lion King.” Those same two actors played an African king and queen together one other time, six years earlier, in what movie?

“COMING TO AMERICA”

4. Mario of Nintendo fame wasn’t always named Mario. His original name is now a trademark owned by Nike, and appears in the title of a 2015 song by Drake. What is it?

JUMPMAN

5. What geological term was first used as a political metaphor in 1856, prior to the election of President James Buchanan?

LANDSLIDE

Theme Thursday, February 3

Today's theme is: She Doesn't Even Go Here. Five questions about things that aren’t from where they claim to be from.

1. Hawaiian pizza isn’t from Hawai’i. If you look closely at its ingredients, you’ll realize it was invented in 1962 in what country?

2. The Persians invented window coverings that used horizontal slats. They were brought to the west by Italian traders—particularly by traders from what city?

3. The tarboosh is a tasseled hat that was invented in the Balkans and popularized throughout the Ottoman empire. It was not, despite its more popular name, invented in Morocco. What is the tarboosh more commonly called?

4. What Chinese invention—which shares its name with Elliott Smith’s first album—is illegal in at least fifteen states (including Minnesota) and was not, despite its name, invented in Italy?

5. This round gets its title from a line in what 2004 movie?

2) Venice

3) Fez ??

1 - Canada?

4. Roman candle

5. Mean Girls

Answers to Theme Thursday, February 3

1. Hawaiian pizza isn’t from Hawai’i. If you look closely at its ingredients, you’ll realize it was invented in 1962 in what country?

CANADA

(that’s why there’s Canadian bacon on it)

2. The Persians invented window coverings that used horizontal slats. They were brought to the west by Italian traders—particularly by traders from what city?

VENICE

(that’s why they’re now called Venetian blinds)

3. The tarboosh is a tasseled hat that was invented in the Balkans and popularized throughout the Ottoman empire. It was not, despite its more popular name, invented in Morocco. What is the tarboosh more commonly called?

FEZ

(Fez is a city in Morocco)

4. What Chinese invention—which shares its name with Elliott Smith’s first album—is illegal in at least fifteen states (including Minnesota) and was not, despite its name, invented in Italy?

ROMAN CANDLE

5. This round gets its title from a line in what 2004 movie?

“MEAN GIRLS”

Friday, February 4

Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in Monday's email.

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: The 37th parallel provides part of the border for six states, more than any other line of latitude or longitude. One of those states is Colorado, and the other five all touch Colorado (if you count corner-to-corner borders). Name as many of them as you can for 1 point each. Zero points total if you get any wrong.

2. You probably call it “the ‘Peanuts’ song,” but it has a name. The Vince Guaraldi composition is named after which two “Peanuts” characters?

3. What art form gets its name from the Greek for “writing with light”?

4. Hindu mythology says that the god Vishnu poked a hole in heaven with his toenail, and out flowed what river?

5. Today is February 4. It is the birthday of both Rosa Parks and Betty Friedan. Who was born first?

2) Linus & Lucy

1. Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas and Oklahoma

4. Ganges?

3. Photography

5. Rosa Parks

Answers to Friday, February 4

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: The 37th parallel provides part of the border for six states, more than any other line of latitude or longitude. One of those states is Colorado, and the other five all touch Colorado (if you count corner-to-corner borders). Name as many of them as you can for 1 point each. Zero points total if you get any wrong.

UTAH, ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO, OKLAHOMA, KANSAS

2. You probably call it “the ‘Peanuts’ song,” but it has a name. The Vince Guaraldi composition is named after which two “Peanuts” characters?

LINUS AND LUCY

3. What art form gets its name from the Greek for “writing with light”?

PHOTOGRAPHY

4. Hindu mythology says that the god Vishnu poked a hole in heaven with his toenail, and out flowed what river?

THE GANGES

5. Today is February 4. It is the birthday of both Rosa Parks and Betty Friedan. Who was born first?

ROSA PARKS

(1913 vs 1921)

Monday, February 7

Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow's email.

1. The U.S. hockey team won gold in 1980. Which country won silver?

2. The PBS Kids show “Arthur” is the second-longest-running animated series in the U.S. behind “The Simpsons.” What kind of animal is Arthur?

3. What American artist, known for painting the landscapes of the American southwest, was actually born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin?

4. What 1987 sci-fi comedy contains a ship that can travel over 1.2 billion times the speed of light, referred to as “Ludicrous Speed” or “Going Plaid”?

5. He was a country music star, he hosted his own TV variety show, he discovered Jim Henson, and he played a reclusive billionaire in “Diamonds Are Forever.” But he’s best known today for his sausages. Who is he?

4. Spaceballs

5. Jimmy Dean

1 Soviet Union

2) aardvark

3) Georgia O'Keeffe

<img class="go2wpf-bbcode" src=" https://c.tenor.com/73M-Gvu9xYsAAAAC/spaceballs-plaid.gi f" alt="">

I’m thoroughly confused. I thought for sure it was Finland as that is who the USA beat to win the gold. In looking at the final standings USSR was second and Finland 4th. Why wasn’t Finland second place since they lost the gold medal game???

IIRC the medal round crossover games from the other pool, not single elimination. They were playing Finland on Sunday regardless of how they did against the USSR on Friday. A loss to Finland either dropped them to bronze or possibly out of the money.

"To your grave. Your fricking grave." Or something along that line.

Yes it was a cross over medal round & the Soviets only had lost to the US.

Correct. It wasn't a tournament format the way we think about it. Two teams from each pool advanced, with the game result from pool play against the other team from your pool carrying over to the medal round, and you played both teams from the other pool.

The US and Sweden tied in their game, so both brought one point over to the Medal Round.

The Soviets went 5-0 in their pool, with Finland going 3-2 (The Soviets thus brought 2 pts in for the final standings, Finland 0 pts)

If the US had tied the Finns, I believe they still would have won gold, as they would have been tied with the Soviets in the standings, but won the head-to-head. If the US had lost to the Finns, it would have been Soviets - Gold, Finland - Silver, USA Bronze. I might be off on that part, as I'm not certain on the tie-breakers.

Wik has a pretty good explanation. Points from round robin games against teams in the medal round carried over. Sweden & The US tied in their group and the US edged out the ussr by one point for the gold so if Bill Baker doesn't score late in the third against Sweden we are probably not having this discussion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_at_the_1980_Winter_Olympics

What I'm not sure of there is what the tiebreaker would have been. If USA had lost to Sweden in the prelim round, USA/USSR would have been tied with 4 points in the final standings, with Sweden at 3

Answers to Monday, February 7

1. The U.S. hockey team won gold in 1980. Which country won silver?

THE SOVIET UNION

(or Russia)

2. The PBS Kids show “Arthur” is the second-longest-running animated series in the U.S. behind “The Simpsons.” What kind of animal is Arthur?

AARDVARK

3. What American artist, known for painting the landscapes of the American southwest, was actually born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin?

GEORGIA O’KEEFFE

4. What 1987 sci-fi comedy contains a ship that can travel over 1.2 billion times the speed of light, referred to as “Ludicrous Speed” or “Going Plaid”?

“SPACEBALLS”

5. He was a country music star, he hosted his own TV variety show, he discovered Jim Henson, and he played a reclusive billionaire in “Diamonds Are Forever.” But he’s best known today for his sausages. Who is he?

JIMMY DEAN

Tuesday, February 8

Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow's email.

1. “Delight” is the delightful middle name of what legendary record producer, studio executive, and musician, who also co-founded the magazine “Vibe” in 1993?

2. Out of Henry VIII's six wives, how many were named Mary?

3. If you look at the geographic centers of each of the lower 48 states, which state’s center is the furthest west?

4. Who was nicknamed “America’s Oldest Teenager” all the way up until his death in 2012?

5. Biologist Lynn Margulis developed the theory of symbiogenesis in 1967, greatly expanding our understanding of how species evolve. Despite her pioneering research, she is often better remembered as the ex-wife of what astronomer and astrophysicist, who died in 1996?

3. Oregon

4. Dick Clark

5 Carl Sagan

2. None of them

Three Catherines, Two Annes and a Jane