[Closed] Totally Random Trivia - 2025

Zwak note….no quiz on Monday.  Back Tuesday.

Questions for
Friday, August 29, 2025

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

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: From 2017 to 2021, actor Jesse Plemons appeared in films that would go on to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in five straight years. Name as many of those Oscar-nominated films as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.

2. What musician has won the Academy of Country Music’s Album of the Year honor for her records “Same Trailer Different Park” and “Golden Hour,” with the latter also taking the 2019 Grammy for Album of the Year?

3. From a Catalan root meaning “to break,” trencadís is an art technique that uses broken tiles, plates, and cups to create mosaics. It’s associated with architect Antoni Gaudí, and can be seen in his many works in what Spanish city?

4. People who have the genetic disorder known as PKU must limit their consumption of which essential amino acid?

5. Today is August 29. What philosopher, whose 1689 work “Two Treatises of Government” declared that all people had the right to life, liberty, and property, was born on this day in 1632?

4. Phenylalanine (it’s an ingredient in aspartame which is why they can’t consume products that are sweetened with it)

5.  John Locke

Posted by: @zwak

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4. People who have the genetic disorder known as PKU must limit their consumption of which essential amino acid?

Posted by: @zwak

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4. Phenylalanine (it’s an ingredient in aspartame which is why they can’t consume products that are sweetened with it)

A PKU test is one of the more enjoyable test I like to preform in the lab. You very seldom see them in the clinic setting because they’re done in the hospital prior to the new born being discharged. Though the newborn comes to the clinic to have their PKU screening. 
Here’s an example of one of my PKU. It was actually used nationally for an illustration of the proper way of doing one. And keeping all the dotting of the blood inside the circles as best as you can. Most the time you see people’s card looking like you butchered a chicken. And most staff outside the hospital is scared to do them. You basically warm the heel up with a heel warmer, lancet the heel and kinda milk the heel to get droplets in the circle. It is a challenge, cause the baby is only a couple days old and depending on how much they fight, cry or fusses, it’s challenging. 

2. Kacey Musgraves 

Answers to Friday, August 29, 2025

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: From 2017 to 2021, actor Jesse Plemons appeared in films that would go on to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in five straight years. Name as many of those Oscar-nominated films as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.

“The Post,” “Vice,” “The Irishman,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Power of the Dog”
(He had a one-year gap before also appearing in the nominated “Killers of the Flower Moon”)

2. What musician has won the Academy of Country Music’s Album of the Year honor for her records “Same Trailer Different Park” and “Golden Hour,” with the latter also taking the 2019 Grammy for Album of the Year?

Kacey Musgraves

3. From a Catalan root meaning “to break,” trencadís is an art technique that uses broken tiles, plates, and cups to create mosaics. It’s associated with architect Antoni Gaudí, and can be seen in his many works in what Spanish city?

Barcelona

4. People who have the genetic disorder known as PKU must limit their consumption of which essential amino acid?

Phenylalanine

5. Today is August 29. What philosopher, whose 1689 work “Two Treatises of Government” declared that all people had the right to life, liberty, and property, was born on this day in 1632?

John Locke

Questions for
Tuesday, September 2, 2025

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

1. Common in Scotland and northern England, “gloaming” is a term for what time of day, presumably Stephenie Meyer’s favorite?

2. In collaboration with NASA, what European telecom company announced that they had launched their first network on the moon’s surface earlier this year?

3. Toward the end of June, pop icon Bobby Sherman passed away at the age of 81. One of his biggest hit songs brings to mind the title of what 1868 Louisa May Alcott novel?

4. The arm bone's connected to the shoulder bone. Or, to put it more scientifically, the humerus is connected to the… what?

5. The Hemisphere Dancer, a personal seaplane now retired at one of his restaurants in Orlando, Florida, belonged to what professionally relaxed musician?

3.  Little Women  

5.  Jimmy Buffet

1. Twilight

4. Scapula

Answers to Tuesday, September 2, 2025

1. Common in Scotland and northern England, “gloaming” is a term for what time of day, presumably Stephenie Meyer’s favorite?

Twilight (or dusk)

2. In collaboration with NASA, what European telecom company announced that they had launched their first network on the moon’s surface earlier this year?

Nokia

3. Toward the end of June, pop icon Bobby Sherman passed away at the age of 81. One of his biggest hit songs brings to mind the title of what 1868 Louisa May Alcott novel?

“Little Women”
(his song was “Little Woman”)

4. The arm bone's connected to the shoulder bone. Or, to put it more scientifically, the humerus is connected to the… what?

Scapula

5. The Hemisphere Dancer, a personal seaplane now retired at one of his restaurants in Orlando, Florida, belonged to what professionally relaxed musician?

Jimmy Buffett

Questions for
Wednesday, September 3, 2025

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

1. Baroness Emma Orczy is sometimes credited with inventing the concept of superheroes. Her foppish character Sir Percy Blakeney rescues aristocrats from the French Revolution by night in what colorful 1905 novel?

2. Artist David Hammons’ “Untitled (African American Flag),” which can be seen in New York’s MoMA, replaces the red, white, and blue with what three colors from the Pan-African flag?

3. The only active volcano that has erupted on the European mainland in the past hundred years is located in Italy. What is it called?

4. Who was the second U.S. president to have a beard, after Abraham Lincoln?

5. Ralph Macchio reprised his role as Daniel LaRusso alongside Jackie Chan in what 2025 film that’s the sixth in its franchise?

5. Karate Kid Legends

3  Mt. Vesuvius

4.  Grant 

3 Vesuvius

4 Ulysses S Grant

1. The Scarlet Pimpernel

2. Black, red, and green

Answers to Wednesday, September 3, 2025

1. Baroness Emma Orczy is sometimes credited with inventing the concept of superheroes. Her foppish character Sir Percy Blakeney rescues aristocrats from the French Revolution by night in what colorful 1905 novel?

“The Scarlet Pimpernel”

2. Artist David Hammons’ “Untitled (African American Flag),” which can be seen in New York’s MoMA, replaces the red, white, and blue with what three colors from the Pan-African flag?

Red, black, green

3. The only active volcano that has erupted on the European mainland in the past hundred years is located in Italy. What is it called?

Mount Vesuvius

4. Who was the second U.S. president to have a beard, after Abraham Lincoln?

Ulysses S. Grant

5. Ralph Macchio reprised his role as Daniel LaRusso alongside Jackie Chan in what 2025 film that’s the sixth in its franchise?

“Karate Kid: Legends”

Questions for
Theme Thursday, September 4, 2025

Don’t Talk to Me Until I’ve Played This Round: Five questions about your morning pick-me-up: coffee.

Answers in tomorrow’s email.

1. Brazil is the No. 1 coffee-producing country in the world. Which Southeast Asian country ranks second?

2. Chief of Police Jim Hopper declares that “mornings are for coffee and contemplation” in the first season of what Netflix original series?

3. One of the first brands of instant coffee was called Camp Coffee, and it’s still available today. It combines coffee with an extract of what herbaceous plant, a close relative of the curly endive?

4. Is coffee, without any additives, more acidic or more basic?

5. What restaurant chain, which dropped half its name to refocus on coffee in 2018, once had a popular merchandising line including an adult onesie, a reversible iced/hot coffee plush toy, and a full set of wedding-themed clothing, including bow ties and veils?

4.  Acidic 

5. Dunkin

2. Stranger Things

3 Chicory

1. Vietnam

Answers to Thursday, September 4, 2025

Don’t Talk to Me Until I’ve Played This Round: Five questions about your morning pick-me-up: coffee.

1. Brazil is the No. 1 coffee-producing country in the world. Which Southeast Asian country ranks second?

Vietnam

2. Chief of Police Jim Hopper declares that “mornings are for coffee and contemplation” in the first season of what Netflix original series?

“Stranger Things”

3. One of the first brands of instant coffee was called Camp Coffee, and it’s still available today. It combines coffee with an extract of what herbaceous plant, a close relative of the curly endive?

Chicory

4. Is coffee, without any additives, more acidic or more basic?

Acidic

5. What restaurant chain, which dropped half its name to refocus on coffee in 2018, once had a popular merchandising line including an adult onesie, a reversible iced/hot coffee plush toy, and a full set of wedding-themed clothing, including bow ties and veils?

Dunkin’

Questions for
Friday, September 5, 2025

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

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: NASA’s shuttle program consisted of six space shuttle orbiters. One of them, Enterprise, never went to space. The other five did. Name as many of those five shuttles as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any wrong.

2. Reflecting the opera company’s ability to bounce back from three devastating fires, La Fenice, or “the phoenix,” is a world-famous opera venue in what Italian city?

3. Swords appear in the current logos of two NFL teams. Name both of those teams.

4. Before this year’s “Beyond the Gates,” the last new daytime soap opera to launch on U.S. TV ran from 1999 to 2007, and featured over-the-top characters like Tabitha the witch, Timmy the living doll, and Charity the zombie. Name that show.

5. Today is September 5. A cartoonist with the surname Guisewite was born on this day in 1950. As listeners to the “Aack Cast” might know, she lent her first name to the main character of a comic strip that ran from 1976 to 2010. What was that name?

3.  Raiders & Buccaneers 

1. Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, Columbia,???

5. Cathy

1 Endeavour 

2. Venice

Answers to Friday, September 5, 2025

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: NASA’s shuttle program consisted of six space shuttle orbiters. One of them, Enterprise, never went to space. The other five did. Name as many of those five shuttles as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any wrong.

Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavour

2. Reflecting the opera company’s ability to bounce back from three devastating fires, La Fenice, or “the phoenix,” is a world-famous opera venue in what Italian city?

Venice (Venezia)

3. Swords appear in the current logos of two NFL teams. Name both of those teams.

(Las Vegas) Raiders, (Tampa Bay) Buccaneers

4. Before this year’s “Beyond the Gates,” the last new daytime soap opera to launch on U.S. TV ran from 1999 to 2007, and featured over-the-top characters like Tabitha the witch, Timmy the living doll, and Charity the zombie. Name that show.

“Passions”

5. Today is September 5. A cartoonist with the surname Guisewite was born on this day in 1950. As listeners to the “Aack Cast” might know, she lent her first name to the main character of a comic strip that ran from 1976 to 2010. What was that name?

Cathy

Questions for
Monday, September 8, 2025

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

1. “Bride of the Monster,” “Night of the Ghouls,” and “Glen or Glenda” are all films by what notorious B-movie director, who was brought back to public consciousness as the subject of a 1994 Tim Burton biopic?

2. What American swimmer, nicknamed “The Shark,” won seven Gold Medals at the 1972 Olympics, a record that stood until Michael Phelps won eight at the 2008 Games?

3. Abraham Lincoln started a national trend when he named his pet dog after a Latin word meaning “to trust.” What was that dog called?

4. While filming “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” Francis Ford Coppola hired a real Romanian priest to perform an on-screen marriage between Keanu Reeves and his co-star. For this reason, these two actors think they may actually be legally married. What actor is Keanu maybe married to?

5. Most tornadoes are formed by large thunderheads that reach from the troposphere to the stratosphere. Those are classified as what type of hybrid cloud?

2. Mark Spitz

1. Ed Wood (one of my Top 10 favorite movies)

2 Mark Spitz

5 Cumulonimbus 

3. Fido! (fidus)

4. Winona Ryder

Answers to Monday, September 8, 2025

1. “Bride of the Monster,” “Night of the Ghouls,” and “Glen or Glenda” are all films by what notorious B-movie director, who was brought back to public consciousness as the subject of a 1994 Tim Burton biopic?

Ed Wood

2. What American swimmer, nicknamed “The Shark,” won seven Gold Medals at the 1972 Olympics, a record that stood until Michael Phelps won eight at the 2008 Games?

Mark Spitz
 
3. Abraham Lincoln started a national trend when he named his pet dog after a Latin word meaning “to trust.” What was that dog called?

Fido

4. While filming “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” Francis Ford Coppola hired a real Romanian priest to perform an on-screen marriage between Keanu Reeves and his co-star. For this reason, these two actors think they may actually be legally married. What actor is Keanu maybe married to?

Winona Ryder

5. Most tornadoes are formed by large thunderheads that reach from the troposphere to the stratosphere. Those are classified as what type of hybrid cloud?

Cumulonimbus

Questions for
Tuesday, September 9, 2025

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

1. Former Oakland Raider, actor, and stew enthusiast Carl Weathers passed away in 2024, leaving him unable to reprise his role as Chubbs Peterson, the mentor of what titular athlete in a July 2025 sequel?

2. Only one state in the U.S. has a double-sided flag. Its front features the state’s crest and the year “1859.” Its back features an image of a golden beaver. Name that state.

3. What ancient king of Thebes is mentioned numerous times in the 1899 book “The Interpretation of Dreams”?

4. This year was the 20th anniversary for what Adult Swim staple, which has won six Emmy Awards, easily the most of a stop-motion adult animation show?

5. If you’re learning the stories of Grizabella, Bustopher Jones, and Old Deuteronomy, what musical are you watching?

1 Happy Gilmore 

2 Oregon

5. Cats

3.  Oedipus  

4. Robot Chicken

Answers to Tuesday, September 9, 2025

1. Former Oakland Raider, actor, and stew enthusiast Carl Weathers passed away in 2024, leaving him unable to reprise his role as Chubbs Peterson, the mentor of what titular athlete in a July 2025 sequel?

Happy Gilmore

2. Only one state in the U.S. has a double-sided flag. Its front features the state’s crest and the year “1859.” Its back features an image of a golden beaver. Name that state.

Oregon
(its nickname is “the Beaver State”)

3. What ancient king of Thebes is mentioned numerous times in the 1899 book “The Interpretation of Dreams”?

Oedipus
(the book is by Sigmund Freud)

4. This year was the 20th anniversary for what Adult Swim staple, which has won six Emmy Awards, easily the most of a stop-motion adult animation show?

“Robot Chicken”

5. If you’re learning the stories of Grizabella, Bustopher Jones, and Old Deuteronomy, what musical are you watching?

“Cats”

Questions for
Wednesday, September 10, 2025

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

1. What ESPN show, which launched in 1979, has aired more than 60,000 unique episodes since its inception, more than any other program in TV history?

2. Pharmaceutical company Parke-Davis created controversy in the early 1900s, when it successfully trademarked the name of what naturally occurring hormone, necessary for fight-or-flight responses?

3. “The story of two star-crossed misfits smart enough to know first love almost never lasts” is how author Rainbow Rowell’s website describes what 2012 young-adult novel?

4. The series of around a dozen woman radio propagandists in World War II-era Japan were given what floral nickname by U.S. soldiers?

5. What post-apocalyptic racing board game, which was definitely NOT inspired by the “Mad Max” films, did Milton Bradley publish in 1986?

2. Adrenaline

4. Tokyo Rose

1) Sports Center

5. Thunder Road

Answers to Wednesday, September 10, 2025

1. What ESPN show, which launched in 1979, has aired more than 60,000 unique episodes since its inception, more than any other program in TV history?

“SportsCenter”

2. Pharmaceutical company Parke-Davis created controversy in the early 1900s, when it successfully trademarked the name of what naturally occurring hormone, necessary for fight-or-flight responses?

Adrenalin(e)

3. “The story of two star-crossed misfits smart enough to know first love almost never lasts” is how author Rainbow Rowell’s website describes what 2012 young-adult novel?

“Eleanor & Park”

4. The series of around a dozen woman radio propagandists in World War II-era Japan were given what floral nickname by U.S. soldiers?

Tokyo Rose

5. What post-apocalyptic racing board game, which was definitely NOT inspired by the “Mad Max” films, did Milton Bradley publish in 1986?

Thunder Road

Questions for
Theme Thursday, September 11, 2025

Bad “MF”s: Five questions about people whose initials are “M.F.”

Answers in tomorrow’s email. 

1. In 1977, a baker named Debbi opened her first cookie shop in Palo Alto, California. Today, her namesake store features around 250 locations worldwide, largely in malls and airports. What name is Debbi better known by?

2. What former “The Electric Company” actor earned his first Oscar nomination for the 1987 film “Street Smart,” 17 years before his first Oscar win for “Million Dollar Baby”?

3. On July 4, 1850, President Zachary Taylor cooled off after visiting the construction site of the Washington Monument by drinking cold milk and eating a large quantity of cherries. The combination likely gave him gastroenteritis, and he was dead within a week. Who was his vice president at the time?

4. What actor’s four biggest box office hits found her starring opposite CGI space robots in 2007 and 2009, and CGI turtles in 2014 and 2016?

5. What Nobel Prize-winning economist, who advised both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, believed that, “underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself”?

3. Millard Fillmore

5. Milton Friedman

1.  Mrs. Fields 

2.  Morgan Freeman