1) News of the World. I first put Elvis, but nope he was a Col in that one lol
3) Josephine Baker!
What have I got? I got no snacks and I got no respect.
Travis-age 6
2. Kimono
1. Technically he was a captain in Forrest Gump, when he started the Bubba Gump company.
When you tell somebody somethin', it depends on what part of the United States you're standin' in... as to just how dumb you are.
You know what, you’re right. I guess this question is more meaning he held the title/rank/job the entire movie.
You know what, you’re right. I guess this question is more meaning he held the title/rank/job the entire movie.
I think that is what the question was getting at, an "official" rank. Just pointing that lost detail out.
When you tell somebody somethin', it depends on what part of the United States you're standin' in... as to just how dumb you are.
Answers to Friday, June 9, 2023
1. Quit While You’re Ahead: By our count, Tom Hanks has played a captain in six different movies, the most recent of which came out in 2020. Name as many of those movies as you can for one point each. Zero total if you get any wrong.
“Sully,” “Forrest Gump,” “Apollo 13,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Captain Phillips,” “News of the World”
2. How do you say “something to wear” in Japanese?
“Kimono”
3. What vaudeville performer—nicknamed “Black Venus”—was the first American woman to receive the Legion of Honor, France’s highest order of military merit, for her work in the French resistance during WWII?
Josephine Baker
4. Felix Hoffmann patented aspirin in 1898. What German company trademarked it the next year?
Bayer
5. Today is June 9. Happy 35th birthday to Mae Whitman, whom you may know best from her role as Ann Veal (aka “Her?”) on “Arrested Development.” Whitman had previously appeared with which of her “Arrested Development” co-stars on the Fox Family series “State of Grace”?
Alia Shawkat
Questions for Monday, June 12, 2023
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. What element of (sub)urban design—which gets its name from the French for “bottom of a bag”—was the subject of a pluralization debate on “Gilmore Girls”?
2. The world's most syndicated comic strip debuted in 1976 under the name “Jon.” On September 1, 1977, its name was changed to... what?
3. What is the name of the small opening through which muscles, tendons, and nerves pass from your forearm to your hand?
4. Prairie dogs got their name because they do something that dogs also do. What is it?
5. What fictional fruit was invented in 1958 when it was discovered that the food dye Red No. 2 is carcinogenic?
2: Garfield
4: Bark
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
1. cul de sac
3. carpal tunnel?
3. The carpal tunnel
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
5) blue raspberry
Long live the blue raspberry slushie!
What have I got? I got no snacks and I got no respect.
Travis-age 6
When you tell somebody somethin', it depends on what part of the United States you're standin' in... as to just how dumb you are.
5) blue raspberry
Long live the blue raspberry slushie!
That one was driving me nuts.
I was gone all day and never expected any unanswered trivia since this board is full of smarty pants people ?
LAST weekend, at a brewery's members party, they were also serving up Jello shots, b/c why not? One was "blue raspberry" and we all started asking, "You know, I've never seen a blue raspberry. Does it taste like the taste we know?" Well, now we know.
When you tell somebody somethin', it depends on what part of the United States you're standin' in... as to just how dumb you are.
I think Blue Raspberry came up in a different thread last week but the connection never dawned on me.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ken Jennings is back for a day as he has a publicizing his new book. Answers tomorrow.
Here's a link to his new book: https://ken-jennings.com/100places
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. In a May 2005 comic book, James Buchanan Barnes returned from the dead after sixty years, now with what new identity?
2. What Midtown Manhattan neighborhood, named for its gritty tenement past, did real estate agents try to rebrand as "Clinton" beginning in 1959?
3. What composer's famous second symphony ends with a chorus singing, "Rise again, yes, rise again, will you, my dust, after a brief rest"?
4. What movie star's last role was, appropriately enough, as a guide to the afterlife in Steven Spielberg's Always?
5. What object, discovered in June 1978, is pronounced by its astronomer discoverer not with an initial /k/ sound but with a /sh/ sound, in honor of his wife?
6. Exactly seven years after his death, what literary character says, "My spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me"?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these famous people? Mark Antony, Henry Ward Beecher, Cher, John Cleese, Kevin Costner, Ossie Davis, Ted Kennedy, "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, Lee Strasberg, Justin Trudeau.
Jennings
1 The Winter Soldier
5 Charon (Pluto's largest moon)
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
2. Hell's Kitchen
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
Don’t miss the Ken Jennings quiz above.
Here is today’s regular quiz
Answers to Monday, June 12, 2023
1. What element of (sub)urban design—which gets its name from the French for “bottom of a bag”—was the subject of a pluralization debate on “Gilmore Girls”?
Cul-de-sac
(fyi, it’s “culs-de-sac”)
2. The world's most syndicated comic strip debuted in 1976 under the name “Jon.” On September 1, 1977, its name was changed to... what?
“Garfield”
3. What is the name of the small opening through which muscles, tendons, and nerves pass from your forearm to your hand?
The Carpal Tunnel (or Guyon’s Canal)
4. Prairie dogs got their name because they do something that dogs also do. What is it?
Bark
5. What fictional fruit was invented in 1958 when it was discovered that the food dye Red No. 2 is carcinogenic?
Blue Raspberry
Questions for Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. Tomatoes are rich in what kind of carotenoid?
2. What narrative method—popularized by William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf—was coined in 1855 by philosopher Alexander Bain, who also called it the "cerebral highway"?
3. If you can throw a “wicked googly,” you probably play what sport?
4. The stars of “Dirty Dancing”—Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey—were in only one other movie together. What was the name of that 1984 war film, which also had a terrible remake released in 2012?
5. The word “bezoar” means “antidote” in Persian, because these items were once used for medicinal purposes. Cat people have another word for the bezoar. What is it?
Daily
1: Lycopene
4: Red Dawn
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
3. Cricket
5. Hairball
A hairball would more specifically be called a trichobezoar.
A hairball would more specifically be called a trichobezoar.
(NOT that I'm disputing you in this field, I know better)
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
2) stream of consciousness
What have I got? I got no snacks and I got no respect.
Travis-age 6
A hairball would more specifically be called a trichobezoar.
Everything I know about bezoars I learned from an episode of House. Trichobezoars weren’t mentioned. ?
Answers to Tuesday, June 13, 2023
1. Tomatoes are rich in what kind of carotenoid?
Lycopene
2. What narrative method—popularized by William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf—was coined in 1855 by philosopher Alexander Bain, who also called it the "cerebral highway"?
Stream of Consciousness
3. If you can throw a “wicked googly,” you probably play what sport?
Cricket
4. The stars of “Dirty Dancing”—Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey—were in only one other movie together. What was the name of that 1984 war film, which also had a terrible remake released in 2012?
“Red Dawn”
5. The word “bezoar” means “antidote” in Persian, because these items were once used for medicinal purposes. Cat people have another word for the bezoar. What is it?
Hairball
Questions for
Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. What U.S. landmark, which was designed in 1921 and opened to the public in 1937, has been destroyed in such movies as “Superman,” “X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Monsters vs. Aliens,” “Pacific Rim,” “Godzilla,” “San Andreas,” and “Terminator Genisys”?
2. What Irish writer famously quipped, “I can resist everything… except temptation”?
3. What game, released in 1966 by Milton Bradley, was derided by critics as “sex in a box”?
4. "Spaghettification" is a real scientific term. It describes the process by which an object is stretched vertically while being compressed horizontally as it enters a... what?
5. From 1967 until it was unceremoniously canceled in 1969, one of the most popular television shows in the U.S. was hosted by brothers named Tom and Dick. What was their last name?
2. Guessing Oscar Wilde
5. Smothers
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Twister (invented by a Minnesotan)
3. Twister
4. Black hole
1. Empire State Building?
When you tell somebody somethin', it depends on what part of the United States you're standin' in... as to just how dumb you are.
4. Black hole
4. "Spaghettification" is a real scientific term. It describes the process by which an object is stretched vertically while being compressed horizontally as it enters a... what?
Black hole makes way more sense than my guess, which was "the sauce". ?
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. I think it’s the Golden Gate Bridge.
4. The stars of “Dirty Dancing”—Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey—were in only one other movie together. What was the name of that 1984 war film, which also had a terrible remake released in 2012?
“Red Dawn”
One of the best movies of all time for a kid in grade school. Lots of messing around pretending to be a 'Wolverine'.
Keep your stick on the ice...
I think I've shared this before but the original Red Dawn was the first movie released with a PG-13 rating. The Flamingo Kid was the first movie given a PG-13 rating but it was released after Red Dawn.4. The stars of “Dirty Dancing”—Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey—were in only one other movie together. What was the name of that 1984 war film, which also had a terrible remake released in 2012?
“Red Dawn”
One of the best movies of all time for a kid in grade school. Lots of messing around pretending to be a 'Wolverine'.
Ken Jennings answers
1. In May 2005, comic book character James Buchanan Barnes returned from the dead after sixty years, now with what new identity?
That's "Bucky" Barnes, Captain America's trusty sidekick. Sixty years after World War II, he re-emerged as the Winter Soldier.
2. What Midtown Manhattan neighborhood, named for its gritty tenement past, did real estate agents try to rebrand as "Clinton" beginning in 1959?
Hell's Kitchen is a new kind of gentrified hell nowadays.
3. What composer's famous second symphony ends with a chorus singing, "Rise again, yes, rise again, will you, my dust, after a brief rest"?
That's the last movement of the "Resurrection" symphony, Gustav Mahler's second.
4. What movie star's last role was, appropriately enough, as a guide to the afterlife in Steven Spielberg's Always?
Audrey Hepburn hadn't appeared in a movie in almost a decade, but wanted to work with Spielberg. Even if the movie was an ill-advised remake of 1989's A Guy Called Joe.
5. What object, discovered in June 1978, is pronounced by its astronomer discoverer not with an initial /k/ sound but with a /sh/ sound, in honor of his wife?
Charon, the largest moon of Pluto, shares its name with the ferryman of the dead in Greek mythology. But that was a happy coincidence! Its discoverer, James W. Christy, had already been calling the moon "Char" in honor of his wife Charlene.
6. Exactly seven years after his death, what literary character says, "My spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me"?
Jacob Marley is paying the price for being such an evil capitalist. Be warned!
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these famous people? Mark Antony, Henry Ward Beecher, Cher, John Cleese, Kevin Costner, Ossie Davis, Ted Kennedy, "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, Lee Strasberg, Justin Trudeau.
Each gave a celebrated eulogy at the funeral or memorial of another luminary. Respectively, they eulogized: Julius Caesar, Ulysses S. Grant, Sonny Bono, Graham Chapman, Whitney Houston, Malcolm X, Jackie Onassis (and JFK Jr.), George Washington, Marilyn Monroe, and Pierre Trudeau.
Answers to Wednesday, June 14, 2023
1. What U.S. landmark, which was designed in 1921 and opened to the public in 1937, has been destroyed in such movies as “Superman,” “X-Men: The Last Stand,” “Monsters vs. Aliens,” “Pacific Rim,” “Godzilla,” “San Andreas,” and “Terminator Genisys”?
The Golden Gate Bridge
2. What Irish writer famously quipped, “I can resist everything… except temptation”?
Oscar Wilde
3. What game, released in 1966 by Milton Bradley, was derided by critics as “sex in a box”?
Twister
4. "Spaghettification" is a real scientific term. It describes the process by which an object is stretched vertically while being compressed horizontally as it enters a... what?
Black Hole
5. From 1967 until it was unceremoniously canceled in 1969, one of the most popular television shows in the U.S. was hosted by brothers named Tom and Dick. What was their last name?
Smothers
Questions for
Theme Thursday, June 15, 2023
Dad Jokes: In this round, I’ll tell you a classic dad joke, and then ask you a tangentially related question. Happy Father’s Day!
Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. Why do melons have weddings? They cantaloupe! A single rotten cantaloupe found in Peoria, Illinois, in 1943 saved hundreds of thousands of lives after it was discovered to contain a particularly hearty strain of penicillium mold. This cantaloupe was sent to Pittsburg, where scientists at what aptly named private university propagated its mold spores?
2. What did the plate say to the fork? Dinner’s on me! The first group named after a piece of dishware (not silverware) to hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts first did so in 1956 with “The Great Pretender.” Name that singing group.
3. Want to hear a joke about construction? Never mind, I'm still working on it. What children's TV show released a cover of “Mambo No. 5” in 2001—with construction equipment replacing the names of the women—that reached No. 1 on the U.K. charts?
4. Why did the old man fall in the well? Because he couldn’t see that well. In 1987, an 18-month old toddler was rescued after she fell 22 feet into a well in Midland, Texas. Her last name was McClure. What was her first name?
5. Why do ducks have tail feathers? To cover their buttquacks! Ducks don't have butts: Like all birds, reptiles, amphibians, and monotremes, they have a single posterior orifice called what?
1. Carnegie-Mellon University
2. The Platters ??
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Bob the Builder?
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
4: Jessica
5: Cloaca
B1G refs... corrupt, or just incompetent?
4. Why did the old man fall in the well? Because he couldn’t see that well. In 1987, an 18-month old toddler was rescued after she fell 22 feet into a well in Midland, Texas. Her last name was McClure. What was her first name?
Just had a similar question with the same answer not to long ago.
Keep your stick on the ice...
5. My Animal Science Professor called it the vent.
Correction Corner
Thank you to Readers Adam and Chris for writing in to inform us of the existence of the 2020 film “Greyhound,” the seventh installment in the “Tom Hanks Plays a Captain” Cinematic Universe. If you got that movie, go ahead and give yourself an extra point for last week’s Quit While You’re Ahead question.
Answers to Thursday, June 15, 2023
Dad Jokes: In this round, I’ll tell you a classic dad joke, and then ask you a tangentially related question. Happy Father’s Day!
1. Why do melons have weddings? They cantaloupe! A single rotten cantaloupe found in Peoria, Illinois, in 1943 saved hundreds of thousands of lives after it was discovered to contain a particularly hearty strain of penicillium mold. This cantaloupe was sent to Pittsburgh, where scientists at what aptly named private university propagated its mold spores?
Carnegie Mellon
(and that’s “Pittsburgh” with an “h” this time — thanks, Kyle!)
2. What did the plate say to the fork? Dinner’s on me! The first group named after a piece of dishware (not silverware) to hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts first did so in 1956 with “The Great Pretender.” Name that singing group.
The Platters
3. Want to hear a joke about construction? Never mind, I'm still working on it. What children's TV show released a cover of “Mambo No. 5” in 2001—with construction equipment replacing the names of the women—that reached No. 1 on the U.K. charts?
“Bob the Builder”
4. Why did the old man fall in the well? Because he couldn’t see that well. In 1987, an 18-month old toddler was rescued after she fell 22 feet into a well in Midland, Texas. Her last name was McClure. What was her first name?
Jessica
5. Why do ducks have tail feathers? To cover their buttquacks! Ducks don't have butts: Like all birds, reptiles, amphibians, and monotremes, they have a single posterior orifice called what?
Cloaca