Totally Random Trivia: 2022

Posted by: @snowcool08

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Posted by: @greyeagle

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Eli Manning?

and Ben Roethlisberger. (I’m about 75% confident I spelled that correctly)

 

Trent Dilfer?

Its Jim Plunkett with the Raiders 1981 and 1983

Posted by: @gopher6

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Its Jim Plunkett with the Raiders 1981 and 1983

I forgot about him. You should have specified and are not yet HOF eligible.  ? 

Posted by: @slap-shot

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I knew all of them but 1. Of course Karlsson... ? 

Don’t know why, but the Shakespeare stuff from high school stuck in my head. Haven’t forgotten the name of his wife.

What I know about Toni Morrison is somewhere between jack and squat. ? 

Answers to Tuesday, August 29, 202

1. Toni Morrison wrote several plays, including one called “Desdemona,” which is a retelling of what Shakespeare play?
“Othello” 

2. What 1989 movie, directed by Rob Reiner, featured a male lead character that was based on Reiner himself, named Harry Burns?
“When Harry Met Sally…”

3. If you suffer from heart disease, your doctor might recommend an EKG, which is, perhaps confusingly, short for what 17-letter word?
Electrocardiogram 
(it’s spelled with a “K” in German) 

4. A slang term for the police has its origins in a 1970s TV show set in Hawai’i. What is that slang term?
“Five-O”

5. In 2019, Party City announced that it closed approximately 50 stores, possibly the result of a worldwide shortage at the time of what chemical element?
Helium

Questions for
Wednesday, August 30, 2023

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

1. The Cirque du Soleil logo was designed by the company’s founder in 1984. He based the design on a tarot card. What is the name of that tarot card?

2. What viral disease are you more likely to get if you had chickenpox before you turned 2 years old?

3. What vegetable comes in such varieties as “Curly,” “Red Russian,” and “Dinosaur”?

4. One of the first written references to a “dough-nut” appeared in an 1809 story by the New Yorker best remembered today as the author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Name that writer.

5. The highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States are located about 80 miles apart in which U.S. state?

5. California

4.  Washington Irving

2.  Shingles?

3. Kale

1) if this means their general logo I think it’s the sun.  The sun in tarot represents the light, overcoming darkness, shedding light on a subject, etc.  

Answers to Wednesday, August 30, 2023

1. The Cirque du Soleil logo was designed by the company’s founder in 1984. He based the design on a tarot card. What is the name of that tarot card?
The Sun 

2. What viral disease are you more likely to get if you had chickenpox before you turned 2 years old?
Shingles

3. What vegetable comes in such varieties as “Curly,” “Red Russian,” and “Dinosaur”?
Kale

4. One of the first written references to a “dough-nut” appeared in an 1809 story by the New Yorker best remembered today as the author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Name that writer.
Washington Irving

5. The highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States are located about 80 miles apart in which U.S. state?
California

Questions for
Theme Thursday, August 31, 2023

Welcome to the Falls: Summer is almost over and it’s nearly fall! So here are five questions about famous waterfalls.

Answers in tomorrow’s email. 

1. Victoria Falls is usually cited as the world’s largest waterfall. It’s on the Zambezi River between two African countries. Name one of those countries.

2. What architect’s most famous house is named “Fallingwater”?

3. When measured by average flow rate, Niagara Falls is North America’s largest waterfall. It is found on what river, which forms part of the boundary between Ontario and New York?

4. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow knew the Dakota word for “waterfall.” People from the Twin Cities probably should too. What is that word?

5. The world’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall is Angel Falls, named after U.S. aviator Jimmie Angel, the first person to fly over them. In 2009, Hugo Chávez announced his intention to change the name back to its Indigenous name, “Kerepakupai Merú.” In what country is Angel Falls located?

2.  Frank Lloyd Wright - amazing place to visit!

3. Niagra

5. Venezuela

4: Minnehaha

1) Zambia and Zimbabwea.

Answers to Thursday, August 31, 2023

Welcome to the Falls: Summer is almost over and it’s nearly fall! So here are five questions about famous waterfalls. 

1. Victoria Falls is usually cited as the world’s largest waterfall. It’s on the Zambezi River between two African countries. Name one of those countries.
Zimbabwe, Zambia
(technically, it is the “world’s biggest sheet of falling water”)

2. What architect’s most famous house is named “Fallingwater”?
Frank Lloyd Wright

3. When measured by average flow rate, Niagara Falls is North America’s largest waterfall. It is found on what river, which forms part of the boundary between Ontario and New York?
The Niagara River

4. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow knew the Dakota word for “waterfall.” People from the Twin Cities probably should too. What is that word?
Minnehaha (mniȟáȟa)

5. The world’s tallest uninterrupted waterfall is Angel Falls, named after U.S. aviator Jimmie Angel, the first person to fly over them. In 2009, Hugo Chávez announced his intention to change the name back to its Indigenous name, “Kerepakupai Merú.” In what country is Angel Falls located?
Venezuela

Questions for
Friday, September 1, 2023

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

1. Director Christopher Guest directed four mock-documentaries that received wide theatrical release. Name as many of them as you can for one point each. Do not include movies that he didn’t direct or that didn’t receive a theatrical release. Zero total if you get any wrong. 

2. Tonic water includes what ingredient, which has long been used as a treatment for malaria?

3. One of the leading writers of the Victorian Era wrote seven novels between 1859 and 1876. Her birth name was Mary, but she assumed what pseudonym for her published work?

4. Phnom Aural is the tallest peak in what country? Hint: It is in Southeast Asia.

5. Today is September 1. On this day in 1972, what grandmaster defeated Boris Spassky to become the first U.S.-born player to hold the title of World Chess Champion?

1. Waiting for Guffman, For Your Consideration, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show

4. Cambodia 

5. Bobby Fisher

2. Quinine

3. George Eliot

Answers to Friday, September 1, 2023

1. Director Christopher Guest directed four mock-documentaries that received wide theatrical release. Name as many of them as you can for one point each. Do not include movies that he didn’t direct or that didn’t receive a theatrical release. Zero total if you get any wrong. 
“Waiting for Guffman,” ”Best In Show,” “A Mighty Wind,” “For Your Consideration”

2. Tonic water includes what ingredient, which has long been used as a treatment for malaria?
Quinine

3. One of the leading writers of the Victorian Era wrote seven novels between 1859 and 1876. Her birth name was Mary, but she assumed what pseudonym for her published work?
George Eliot

4. Phnom Aural is the tallest peak in what country? Hint: It is in Southeast Asia.
Cambodia

5. Today is September 1. On this day in 1972, what grandmaster defeated Boris Spassky to become the first U.S.-born player to hold the title of World Chess Champion?
Bobby Fischer

Questions for
Monday, September 4, 2023

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

1. What red dwarf star—which orbits a binary star system—is the nearest star to the Earth other than the sun?

2. Eight U.S. presidents have graduated from Harvard. Which president was the first to do so?

3. What famous architect designed the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and redesigned the Art Gallery of Ontario in his hometown of Toronto during its 2008 expansion?

4. Dairyman Tevye, his wife Golde, and their daughters are thrown out of the village of Anatevka at the end of what 1964 musical? 

5. Whom did Ronald Reagan famously tell to “tear down this wall” in 1987, calling for the end to the Cold War?

1 Proxima Centauri

5 Mr Gorbachev

4. Fiddler on the Roof

2. John Adams

3) Frank Gehry 

He designed the Weisman Art Museum on the UofM campus too.

Answers to Monday, September 4, 2023

1. What red dwarf star—which orbits a binary star system—is the nearest star to the Earth other than the sun?
Proxima Centauri (or Alpha Centauri C)

2. Eight U.S. presidents have graduated from Harvard. Which president was the first to do so?
John Adams

3. What famous architect designed the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and redesigned the Art Gallery of Ontario in his hometown of Toronto during its 2008 expansion?
Frank Gehry

4. Dairyman Tevye, his wife Golde, and their daughters are thrown out of the village of Anatevka at the end of what 1964 musical? 
“Fiddler on the Roof”

5. Whom did Ronald Reagan famously tell to “tear down this wall” in 1987, calling for the end to the Cold War?
Mikhail Gorbachev

Correction Corner

Thank you to Reader Todd, who let us know that “For Your Consideration” is not a mock documentary, and should not have been included in last Friday’s QWYA question about Christopher Guest mockumentaries.

Questions for
Tuesday, September 5, 2023

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

1. What album, which was also released as a film, won a 2016 Peabody Award in the “Entertainment” category?

2. Jean-Claude Duvalier was the president of Haiti from 1971 until he was forced out in 1986. By what nickname was he known?

3. What Greek goddess became queen of the Underworld after she was abducted and forced to marry Hades?

4. Milford Sound is New Zealand's most famous tourist destination. The novelist who wrote “The Jungle Book” called it the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Name that novelist.

5. The first welfare state in modern history was created in 1889 by a world leader nicknamed “The Iron Chancellor.” Name that leader.

4. Rudyard Kipling

5. Otto von Bismarck

2. Baby Doc

2: Baby Doc

3: Persephone

1) This question is very confusing but I think it’s Lemonade.  They released a short film to go with Beyonces album.  

Posted by: @kelly-red

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1) This question is very confusing but I think it’s Lemonade.  They released a short film to go with Beyonces album.  

It is. I didn't find the question confusing, I was just thinking "concert movie" or similar and was drawing a blank. 

Answers to Tuesday, September 5, 2023

1. What album, which was also released as a film, won a 2016 Peabody Award in the “Entertainment” category?
“Lemonade” 
(by Beyoncé)

2. Jean-Claude Duvalier was the president of Haiti from 1971 until he was forced out in 1986. By what nickname was he known?
Baby Doc

3. What Greek goddess became queen of the Underworld after she was abducted and forced to marry Hades?
Persephone

4. Milford Sound is New Zealand's most famous tourist destination. The novelist who wrote “The Jungle Book” called it the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Name that novelist.
Rudyard Kipling 

5. The first welfare state in modern history was created in 1889 by a world leader nicknamed “The Iron Chancellor.” Name that leader.
Otto von Bismarck

Questions for
Wednesday, September 6, 2023

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

1. At age 70, who was the oldest Founding Father to sign the Declaration of Independence?

2. What singer’s ex-boyfriends include Warren Beatty, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Vanilla Ice, and Tupac?

3. What late Canadian actor—born February 11, 1926—was nicknamed “the Olivier of Spoofs” by Roger Ebert?

4. According to the Brewers Association, a craft brewery must have an annual production under 6 million barrels, with no more than 25 percent of the company owned by a non-craft brewery. By that definition, what Pennsylvania company is the largest craft brewery in America?

5. What Australian actor received her first Oscar nomination for portraying the Tudor Queen Elizabeth I in 1998?

2. Madonna

4. Yuengling?

3. Leslie Nielsen

1. Ben Franklin

Posted by: @chris83

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3. Leslie Nielsen

5 Cate Blanchett

Answers to Wednesday, September 6, 2023

1. At age 70, who was the oldest Founding Father to sign the Declaration of Independence?
Benjamin Franklin

2. What singer’s ex-boyfriends include Warren Beatty, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Vanilla Ice, and Tupac?
Madonna

3. What late Canadian actor—born February 11, 1926—was nicknamed “the Olivier of Spoofs” by Roger Ebert?
Leslie Nielsen

4. According to the Brewers Association, a craft brewery must have an annual production under 6 million barrels, with no more than 25 percent of the company owned by a non-craft brewery. By that definition, what Pennsylvania company is the largest craft brewery in America?
Yuengling (D.G. Yuengling & Son)

5. What Australian actor received her first Oscar nomination for portraying the Tudor Queen Elizabeth I in 1998?
Cate Blanchett
(in “Elizabeth”)

Questions for
Theme Thursday, September 7, 2023

“Seek and Ye Shall Find”: If you seek the answers to these questions, look no further than synonyms for “seek.”

Answers in tomorrow’s email. 

1. What character has been played by Tom Cruise across seven films in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise?

2. What 2006 film—which starred a real-life father and son—was based on the memoir of a Wall Street stockbroker and motivational speaker named Chris Gardner?

3. Ahmir K. Thompson is the given name of what drummer, DJ, documentarian, and music producer? 

4. What television producer was a writer for “The Rockford Files” and “Northern Exposure” before he created “The Sopranos” in 1999?

5. What 6-year-old character—whose real name was Jean Louise, but she preferred her nickname—narrated the novel that won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction?

2. The pursuit of happyness

1 Ethan Hunt

4. David Chase

5.  "Scout" narrated To Kill A Mockingbird

One of my favorite books ever!