2. Seinfeld
3. Bumbershoot
Answers to Wednesday,
October 22, 2025
1. Globally, four of the top 10 best-selling mobile phones ever, as measured in units sold, were made by the same company. All of their names are three or four digits long, such as the 1100. What Finnish company is that?
Nokia
2. The Suzanne Vega song “Tom's Diner” is about Tom's Restaurant in Manhattan. That same restaurant appears in all exterior shots of the restaurant called “Monk's Cafe” on what '90s-era sitcom?
“Seinfeld”
3. An annual outdoor music and arts festival held in Seattle since the ’70s gets its name from an old-timey word for “umbrella.” Name that festival.
Bumbershoot
4. Sealed Air Corporation owns the patent to what ubiquitous plastic material and occasional fidget toy?
Bubble wrap
5. Dugong is a relative of the manatee found throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans. Dewgong is a seal-like creature found near the Seafoam Islands in what video game franchise?
“Pokémon”
Questions for
Theme Thursday, October 23, 2025
Tagline Halloween: I’ll give you a year and the tagline of a Halloween movie that came out that year. You name the movie.
Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. 1979: “In space no one can hear you scream.”
2. 1984: “If Nancy doesn’t wake up screaming, she won’t wake up at all.”
3. 1988: “Terror has no shape.”
4. 2002: “The days are numbered.”
5. 2017: “Just because you're invited, doesn't mean you're welcome.”
1. "Alien"
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
2. Sounds like Nightmare on Elm Street.
3: Thinking this would be "The Blob"... I recall there being a remake in the 80s, and the description would make sense.
3: Thinking this would be "The Blob"... I recall there being a remake in the 80s, and the description would make sense.
3 is indeed The Blob
5. Get 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.
4. 28 Days Later
Answers to Thursday, October 23, 2025
Tagline Halloween: I’ll give you a year and the tagline of a Halloween movie that came out that year. You name the movie.
1. 1979: “In space no one can hear you scream.”
“Alien”
2. 1984: “If Nancy doesn’t wake up screaming, she won’t wake up at all.”
“A Nightmare On Elm Street”
3. 1988: “Terror has no shape.”
“The Blob”
4. 2002: “The days are numbered.”
“28 Days Later”
5. 2017: “Just because you're invited, doesn't mean you're welcome.”
“Get Out”
Questions for
Friday, October 24, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in Monday’s email.
1. Quit While You’re Ahead: All four credited cast members in the 1966 film “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” were nominated for Academy Awards for their roles. Name as many of those actors as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.
2. Boxers fight in a square. Wrestlers wrestle in a circle. Inside what shape do UFC fighters fight?
3. I-495 is a 64-mile interstate highway almost entirely in Maryland and Virginia. It is more commonly known by what nickname?
4. Pitcher Bartolo Colón retired from the MLB in 2018. He was, at that time, the last remaining active Major League player who once played for what team?
5. Today is October 24. Happy 45th birthday to singer Monica! Last week was the first date of The Boy Is Mine concert tour, which she is co-headlining with what other '90s R&B legend?
3. The beltway
4. Montreal Expos
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
2. Octagon
1. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, ???
5. Brandy
1. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, ???
5. Brandy
1) Sandy Dennis
Dorothy: Who’s that?
Scarecrow: A man with an axe and a can of lube. I’ll ask if he wants to join us.
Answers to Friday, October 24, 2025
1. Quit While You’re Ahead: All four credited cast members in the 1966 film “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” were nominated for Academy Awards for their roles. Name as many of those actors as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
2. Boxers fight in a square. Wrestlers wrestle in a circle. Inside what shape do UFC fighters fight?
Octagon
3. I-495 is a 64-mile interstate highway almost entirely in Maryland and Virginia. It is more commonly known by what nickname?
The Beltway (or the Capital Beltway)
4. Pitcher Bartolo Colón retired from the MLB in 2018. He was, at that time, the last remaining active Major League player who once played for what team?
Montreal Expos
5. Today is October 24. Happy 45th birthday to singer Monica! Last week was the first date of The Boy Is Mine concert tour, which she is co-headlining with what other '90s R&B legend?
Brandy
Questions for
Monday, October 27, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. Both the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo can be found in what recently pillaged museum?
2. Which type of cloud is most likely to contain rain: altostratus, nimbostratus, or cirrostratus?
3. The two U.S. states with the most neighbors are Missouri and Tennessee. Each borders eight other states. True or false: They also border one another.
4. The 1990 album “I'm Breathless” was technically a soundtrack for the movie “Dick Tracy,” even though only three of its songs were featured in that film. It became a double-platinum hit for what singer/actor?
5. The documentary-ish film “Super Size Me” eventually led McDonald’s to drop its Super Size menu. Which competitor dropped its similar “Biggie Size” menu in 2006?
1. The Louvre
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.
2 Nimbostratus
3 True
3. True
5. Burger King
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
4. Madonna
5. Wendy's
Answers to Monday, October 27, 2025
1. Both the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo can be found in what recently pillaged museum?
The Louvre
2. Which type of cloud is most likely to contain rain: altostratus, nimbostratus, or cirrostratus?
Nimbostratus
3. The two U.S. states with the most neighbors are Missouri and Tennessee. Each borders eight other states. True or false: They also border one another.
True
4. The 1990 album “I'm Breathless” was technically a soundtrack for the movie “Dick Tracy,” even though only three of its songs were featured in that film. It became a double-platinum hit for what singer/actor?
Madonna
5. The documentary-ish film “Super Size Me” eventually led McDonald’s to drop its Super Size menu. Which competitor dropped its similar “Biggie Size” menu in 2006?
Wendy's
Questions for
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. What Coca-Cola brand flopped when it was introduced in the U.K. in 2004, after newspapers reported that it was essentially just bottled tap water?
2. What singer-songwriter proved he does “write the songs that make the whole world sing” by penning the famous “Like a good neighbor” jingle for State Farm Insurance?
3. Vinyl records are generally referred to as either an LP or an EP. “EP” stands for “extended play.” What does “LP” stand for?
4. What eight-letter word — first used to describe a Milton Berle broadcast in 1949 — is a portmanteau that combines the name of a device invented in 1927 and the name of an ancient Greek battle from 490 BCE?
5. The brand of gin preferred by James Bond and Ernest Hemingway features a boar’s head on its bottle. According to legend, an ancestor of the company’s founder once saved the king of Scotland from a wild boar attack. Name that gin!
2. Barry Manilow
5. Gordon's
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
3 Long Play
4 Telethon
1. Dasani?
It’s Georgia tap water, and it’s terrible.
Hey now, it’s PURIFIED Georgia tap water.
Actually, might be purified Eagan tap water around here.
Answers to Tuesday, October 28, 2025
1. What Coca-Cola brand flopped when it was introduced in the U.K. in 2004, after newspapers reported that it was essentially just bottled tap water?
Dasani
2. What singer-songwriter proved he does “write the songs that make the whole world sing” by penning the famous “Like a good neighbor” jingle for State Farm Insurance?
Barry Manilow
3. Vinyl records are generally referred to as either an LP or an EP. “EP” stands for “extended play.” What does “LP” stand for?
“Long play”
4. What eight-letter word — first used to describe a Milton Berle broadcast in 1949 — is a portmanteau that combines the name of a device invented in 1927 and the name of an ancient Greek battle from 490 BCE?
Telethon
(“television” + “Marathon”)
5. The brand of gin preferred by James Bond and Ernest Hemingway features a boar’s head on its bottle. According to legend, an ancestor of the company’s founder once saved the king of Scotland from a wild boar attack. Name that gin!
Gordon’s
Questions for
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. Scorpio season has begun! In Greek myth, the constellation known as Scorpius represents the beast that killed the hunter Orion. In Polynesia, that same constellation is said to depict a fish hook belonging to what demigod?
2. If you've played the video game “Q*bert,” you've seen jarns, nittles, and quimps. They're examples of grawlix, the practice of using symbols and squiggly lines to replace what?
3. The Maasai people are an ethnic group inhabiting parts of Tanzania and what neighboring country?
4. Before launching a political career, what future world leader appeared in ads for products including V8 juice, Chesterfield cigarettes, and Wildroot hair cream?
5. Dry ice is the solid form of what gas?
5. Carbon Dioxide
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
1. Maui
3. Kenya
4. Ronald Reagan?
2 Profanity
Answers to Wednesday,
October 29, 2025
1. Scorpio season has begun! In Greek myth, the constellation known as Scorpius represents the beast that killed the hunter Orion. In Polynesia, that same constellation is said to depict a fish hook belonging to what demigod?
Maui
2. If you've played the video game “Q*bert,” you've seen jarns, nittles, and quimps. They're examples of grawlix, the practice of using symbols and squiggly lines to replace what?
Swearing (cursing, profanity, etc.)
3. The Maasai people are an ethnic group inhabiting parts of Tanzania and what neighboring country?
Kenya
4. Before launching a political career, what future world leader appeared in ads for products including V8 juice, Chesterfield cigarettes, and Wildroot hair cream?
Ronald Reagan
5. Dry ice is the solid form of what gas?
Carbon dioxide
Questions for
Theme Thursday, October 30, 2025
Which Witch Aren’t You?: Not everyone or everything called “witch” is one, turns out. Please answer these questions about not-witches.
Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. The common name of the plants of the genus Hamamelis comes from an Old English word meaning “pliant” or “bendable.” Name that non-magical plant, used as an astringent or an anti-inflammatory in herbal medicine!
2. In 2015's “The Witch,” a not-witch character named Thomasin is asked if she “wouldst like to live deliciously” by what livestock animal named Black Phillip?
3. A false nose, a false accusation of turning someone into a newt, and a false weight equivalency to a duck lead to the witchcraft conviction of someone who is clearly not a witch in what 1975 movie?
4. An all-women regiment of Soviet bomber pilots in World War II were given what nickname by German soldiers on the Eastern Front — “Nachthexen” in the original German?
5. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell released a campaign ad in 2010 stating, “I’m not a witch. I’m nothing you’ve heard. I’m you.” She was running for a seat in which state, which she’d lost in previous elections to then-Senator Joe Biden?
1. Witch hazel?
3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
4 The Night Witches
5 Delaware
2. Goat
Answers to Thursday,
October 30, 2025
Which Witch Aren’t You?: Not everyone or everything called “witch” is one, turns out. Please answer these questions about not-witches.
1. The common name of the plants of the genus Hamamelis comes from an Old English word meaning “pliant” or “bendable.” Name that non-magical plant, used as an astringent or an anti-inflammatory in herbal medicine!
Witch hazel
2. In 2015's “The Witch,” a not-witch character named Thomasin is asked if she “wouldst like to live deliciously” by what livestock animal named Black Phillip?
A goat
3. A false nose, a false accusation of turning someone into a newt, and a false weight equivalency to a duck lead to the witchcraft conviction of someone who is clearly not a witch in what 1975 movie?
“Monty Python and the Holy Grail”
4. An all-women regiment of Soviet bomber pilots in World War II were given what nickname by German soldiers on the Eastern Front — “Nachthexen” in the original German?
Night Witches
5. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell released a campaign ad in 2010 stating, “I’m not a witch. I’m nothing you’ve heard. I’m you.” She was running for a seat in which state, which she’d lost in previous elections to then-Senator Joe Biden?
Delaware
(She lost in 2010, too)
Questions for Friday,
October 31, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in Monday’s email.
1. Quit While You’re Ahead: George A. Romero directed six different movies whose titles ended with either “of the Dead” or “of the Living Dead.” Name as many of the six words at the beginning of those titles as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.
2. Fans of singer-songwriter Steve Goodman may know that an overnight Amtrak train line that runs out of Chicago is called what, in honor of the last stop on its route?
3. There are three Major League Baseball teams named after birds. Which of those three birds is the largest, by average weight?
4. What Connecticut city is known today as the “Insurance Capital of the World,” thanks to the fact that several prominent insurance companies relocated there following New York’s Great Fire of 1835?
5. Today is October 31. Juliette Gordon Low was born on this day in 1860. Her birth date is celebrated as Founder’s Day by members of what organization, which describes its members as “Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, and Leaders”?
3. Blue Jay
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
2. City of New Orleans
4. Hartford
5 Girl Scouts
Answers to Friday, October 31, 2025
1. Quit While You’re Ahead: George A. Romero directed six different movies whose titles ended with either “of the Dead” or “of the Living Dead.” Name as many of the six words at the beginning of those titles as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.
Night, Dawn, Day, Land, Diary, Survival
2. Fans of singer-songwriter Steve Goodman may know that an overnight Amtrak train line that runs out of Chicago is called what, in honor of the last stop on its route?
City of New Orleans
3. There are three Major League Baseball teams named after birds. Which of those three birds is the largest, by average weight?
Blue jay
4. What Connecticut city is known today as the “Insurance Capital of the World,” thanks to the fact that several prominent insurance companies relocated there following New York’s Great Fire of 1835?
Hartford
5. Today is October 31. Juliette Gordon Low was born on this day in 1860. Her birth date is celebrated as Founder’s Day by members of what organization, which describes its members as “Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, and Leaders”?
Girl Scouts
Questions for
Monday, November 3, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. What six-letter name rose in popularity for baby girls 701 places in 2018, presumably due to a high-profile wedding that occurred that May, and not the undersea blockbuster that was released three months later?
2. Accordion and washboard are important instruments in what American genre of music, which takes its name from the Cajun pronunciation of the French word for "beans"?
3. A lot of people think Dracula’s home of Transylvania is a fictional place. But it’s real! In what modern country is that historical region located?
4. Although it’s in English, not French, Phil Collins’ song “Who Said I Would” has for more than 30 years been the entrance music of what Ligue 1 soccer club?
5. The winner of a 1954 Nobel Prize, the leader of the Keebler Elves, and a fictional character who went to camp in 1987 and went to jail in 1990 (among other misadventures) all share what name?
3 Romania
5 Ernest
2. Zydeco?
3. Ernie (Ernest)
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
1. Meghan
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. Paris Saint-Germain
Answers to Monday, November 3, 2025
1. What six-letter name rose in popularity for baby girls 701 places in 2018, presumably due to a high-profile wedding that occurred that May, and not the undersea blockbuster that was released three months later?
Meghan
(“The Meg” is the movie)
2. Accordion and washboard are important instruments in what American genre of music, which takes its name from the Cajun pronunciation of the French word for "beans"?
Zydeco
3. A lot of people think Dracula’s home of Transylvania is a fictional place. But it’s real! In what modern country is that historical region located?
Romania
4. Although it’s in English, not French, Phil Collins’ song “Who Said I Would” has for more than 30 years been the entrance music of what Ligue 1 soccer club?
Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)
5. The winner of a 1954 Nobel Prize, the leader of the Keebler Elves, and a fictional character who went to camp in 1987 and went to jail in 1990 (among other misadventures) all share what name?
Ernest
(Ernest Hemingway, for Literature; Ernie Keebler; “Ernest Goes to Camp” and “Ernest Goes to Jail”)