Totally Random Trivia - 2025

2) Apostle?

Posted by: @the-rube

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1. Worcestershire

Did you need spell check for that?!?!?! j/k

3. John Kennedy

5) Pacific Coast Trail.   The trail from the Cheryl Strayed book, Wild. 

Posted by: @greyeagle

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3. John Kennedy

4. Goosebumps

Posted by: @gator

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Posted by: @the-rube

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1. Worcestershire

Did you need spell check for that?!?!?! j/k

 

I did not, and I know how to pronounce it correctly.

Answers to Monday, February 24, 2025

1. The oldest bottled condiment continuously sold in the United States wasn’t invented in the United States. It was first sold in 1837 in what 14-letter English county?

Worcestershire

2. What religious term, sometimes used interchangeably with the word “missionary,” comes from the Greek for “one who is sent forth”?

“Apostle”

3. Only two U.S. presidents have been inaugurated into office with both of their parents in attendance. George W. Bush was one. Who was the other?

John F. Kennedy

4. “Welcome to Dead House,” “The Haunted Mask,” and “Say Cheese and Die!” are titles from what series of 62 paperbacks, the best-selling children’s book series of the pre-“Harry Potter” era?

“Goosebumps”

5. To achieve the "Triple Crown" of U.S. hiking, you need to traverse three trails: the Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide, and the PCT, which stands for... what?

Pacific Crest Trail

Questions for
Tuesday, February 25, 2025

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

1. In the “Simpsons” episode “Bart the Daredevil,” Bart plans to jump his skateboard over Springfield Gorge. This is a nod to Evel Knievel’s failed rocket jump over what canyon, near Twin Falls, Idaho?

2. Indira Gandhi, Eva Perón, and Benazir Bhutto were all political leaders of the 20th century. Which of those three was never her country’s head of state?

3. The Embarras River lies south of college town Urbana-Champaign, home to what state university?

4. In the 1930s, the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr composed a famous prayer asking for three things. What was the first of those things, which lends the prayer its most common title?

5. What four-time Oscar-nominated bald actor apparently has a thing for NASA, appearing in “The Right Stuff,” “Apollo 13,” and as a voice in “Gravity”?

2. Eva Peron

5. Ed Harris

3 Illinois 

4 Serenity

1. Snake River

Answers to Tuesday, February 25, 2025

1. In the “Simpsons” episode “Bart the Daredevil,” Bart plans to jump his skateboard over Springfield Gorge. This is a nod to Evel Knievel’s failed rocket jump over what canyon, near Twin Falls, Idaho?

Snake River Canyon

2. Indira Gandhi, Eva Perón, and Benazir Bhutto were all political leaders of the 20th century. Which of those three was never her country’s head of state?

Eva Perón

3. The Embarras River lies south of college town Urbana-Champaign, home to what state university?

University of Illinois

4. In the 1930s, the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr composed a famous prayer asking for three things. What was the first of these things, which lends the prayer its most common title?

Serenity

5. What four-time Oscar-nominated bald actor apparently has a thing for NASA, appearing in “The Right Stuff,” “Apollo 13,” and as a voice in “Gravity”?

Ed Harris

Questions for
Wednesday, February 26, 2025

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

1. Last week, the New York Yankees ended their long-standing rule of prohibiting players from having… what?

2. Dian Fossey was a primatologist who was murdered in 1985 while working on the sequel to what nonfiction book, which was adapted into a film of the same name starring Sigourney Weaver?

3. “Parker” and “Barrow” were the surnames of what famous duo?

4. Autostereograms were extremely popular in the ’90s. You may have owned a book of them with the subheading “A New Way of Looking at the World.” What was the main title of that book?

5. Most chalk used on chalkboards is not actually chalk. It’s calcium sulfate, a mineral commonly used in fertilizers and drywall that is also known by what more common name?

1) growing facial hair

3. Bonnie & Clyde

2 Gorillas in the Mist

3. Bonnie and Clyde

1. A Beard. They previously could have a moustache.

5. Gypsum

4) sterograms, those weird 3D Magic eye patterns

5) gypsum 

Answers to Wednesday, February 26, 2025

1. Last week, the New York Yankees ended their long-standing rule of prohibiting players from having… what?

A beard
(facial hair, etc.)

2. Dian Fossey was a primatologist who was murdered in 1985 while working on the sequel to what nonfiction book, which was adapted into a film of the same name starring Sigourney Weaver?

“Gorillas in the Mist”

3. “Parker” and “Barrow” were the surnames of what famous duo?

Bonnie and Clyde

4. Autostereograms were extremely popular in the ’90s. You may have owned a book of them with the subheading “A New Way of Looking at the World.” What was the main title of that book?

“Magic Eye”

5. Most chalk used on chalkboards is not actually chalk. It’s calcium sulfate, a mineral commonly used in fertilizers and drywall that is also known by what more common name?

Gypsum

Questions for
Theme Thursday, February 27, 2025

In the Key of Geography: Each answer in this round will be a musician or band whose name contains a type of geographical feature.

Answers in tomorrow’s email. 

1. The 2021 book “Supersonic” details the beginnings of brothers Liam and Noel, members of what ’90s band?

2. Years before her “Killing Me Softly with His Song” cover charted with the Fugees, what singer got her start in acting with roles in “As the World Turns” and “Sister Act 2”?

3. Born Harry Rodger Webb, what British singer behind the hits “Devil Woman” and “We Don’t Talk Anymore” was once the third-highest selling artist on the U.K. Singles Chart, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley?

4. With episodes titled “Laser Cats,” “Andy Walking,” and “Harpoon Man,” a podcast hosted by Seth Meyers explores the work of what comedy trio credited with coining the term “frapping,” for “fake rapping”?

5. What hip-hop group made a “Simpsons” gag come true when they collaborated with the London Symphony Orchestra in the summer of 2024?

3. Cliff Richard

4. Lonely Island

1. Oasis

2. Lauryn Hill

5) Crypress Hill? 

*There's been so many, so I'm probably wrong.

Answers to Thursday, February 27, 2025

In the Key of Geography: Each answer in this round will be a musician or band whose name contains a type of geographical feature.

1. The 2021 book “Supersonic” details the beginnings of brothers Liam and Noel, members of what ’90s band?

Oasis

2. Years before her “Killing Me Softly with His Song” cover charted with the Fugees, what singer got her start in acting with roles in “As the World Turns” and “Sister Act 2”?

Lauryn Hill

3. Born Harry Rodger Webb, what British singer behind the hits “Devil Woman” and “We Don’t Talk Anymore” was once the third-highest selling artist on the U.K. Singles Chart, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley?

Cliff Richard

4. With episodes titled “Laser Cats,” “Andy Walking,” and “Harpoon Man,” a podcast hosted by Seth Meyers explores the work of what comedy trio credited with coining the term “frapping,” for “fake rapping”?

The Lonely Island

5. What hip-hop group made a “Simpsons” gag come true when they collaborated with the London Symphony Orchestra in the summer of 2024?

Cypress Hill

Questions for
Friday, February 28, 2025

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

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: There are currently five hosts of the Netflix reality reboot series “Queer Eye.” Name as many current (as of Season 9) “Queer Eye” hosts as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.

2. Ask a Haddish or a Thiessen: An accurate historical detail that seems anachronistic to a modern audience is a phenomenon named after what modern-sounding woman’s first name that was actually common in the medieval era?

3. You’ve seen TED Talks, but did you know that “TED” is an acronym for the three fields these talks were originally meant to discuss? The “T” is “technology,” the “D” is “design,” and while it seems like the “E” should stand for “education,” it doesn’t. What does it stand for?

4. Ray Bradbury's classic sci-fi novel “Fahrenheit 451” was serialized in three 1954 issues of what controversial magazine, lending credence to people who claimed to "only buy it for the articles"?

5. Today is February 28. On this day in 1983, the final episode of what immensely popular TV series aired and was watched by an estimated 106 million viewers?

5) M*A*S*H

2) Tiffany effect
4) Playboy

3 Entertainment

Answers to Friday, February 28, 2025

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: There are currently five hosts of the Netflix reality reboot series “Queer Eye.” Name as many current (as of Season 9) “Queer Eye” hosts as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.

Antoni Porowski, Jeremiah Brent, Jonathan Van Ness, Karamo Brown, Tan France

2. Ask a Haddish or a Thiessen: An accurate historical detail that seems anachronistic to a modern audience is a phenomenon named after what modern-sounding woman’s first name that was actually common in the medieval era?

Tiffany

3. You’ve seen TED Talks, but did you know that “TED” is an acronym for the three fields these talks were originally meant to discuss? The “T” is “technology,” the “D” is “design,” and while it seems like the “E” should stand for “education,” it doesn’t. What does it stand for?

“Entertainment”

4. Ray Bradbury's classic sci-fi novel “Fahrenheit 451” was serialized in three 1954 issues of what controversial magazine, lending credence to people who claimed to "only buy it for the articles"?

Playboy

5. Today is February 28. On this day in 1983, the final episode of what immensely popular TV series aired and was watched by an estimated 106 million viewers?

“M*A*S*H”

Questions for
Monday, March 3, 2025

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

1. In her 2025 Golden Globes acceptance speech for “The Substance,” what movie star talked about how producers used to call her a “popcorn actress”?

2. What common six-word expression is also known as “The Pottery Barn Rule,” despite the fact that Pottery Barn does not actually enforce such a rule?

3. What Major League Hall of Fame relief pitcher turned down an offer from the Cincinnati Reds in 1986 after they requested he shave off his trademark handlebar mustache?

4. The first South American person to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was the subject of a 1995 documentary titled “Bananas Is My Business.” Name that star.

5. What animated character, originally named “Too Much,” got his current, famous name after the head of children’s programming at CBS heard Frank Sinatra scat singing in “Strangers in the Night”?

3 I presume Rollie Fingers

2.You break it you own it?

5. Scooby Doo?

4. Carmen Miranda

1. Demi Moore

Answers to Monday, March 3, 2025

1. In her 2025 Golden Globes acceptance speech for “The Substance,” what movie star talked about how producers used to call her a “popcorn actress”?

Demi Moore

2. What common six-word expression is also known as “The Pottery Barn Rule,” despite the fact that Pottery Barn does not actually enforce such a rule?

“You break it, you buy it”
(or “bought it” or “own it,” etc.)

3. What Major League Hall of Fame relief pitcher turned down an offer from the Cincinnati Reds in 1986 after they requested he shave off his trademark handlebar mustache?

Rollie Fingers

4. The first South American person to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was the subject of a 1995 documentary titled “Bananas Is My Business.” Name that star.

Carmen Miranda

5. What animated character, originally named “Too Much,” got his current, famous name after the head of children’s programming at CBS heard Frank Sinatra scat singing in “Strangers in the Night”?

Scooby-Doo

Questions for
Tuesday, March 4, 2025

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

1. Taking its name from a famous basilica in Barcelona, what board game requires players to build a stained glass window using transparent colored dice?

2. In 1978, several celebrities, including Gene Autry, Alice Cooper, and Andy Williams, donated money to support a much-needed rebuild of what Los Angeles-area landmark?

3. Hinting at a different use than the one usually associated with a urinal, what is the actual title of Marcel Duchamp’s famous 1917 sculpture of a urinal signed “R. Mutt”?

4. What 1987 novel is Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s bestselling title worldwide, which takes its name from a 1965 Beatles song?

5. Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve in the U.S. Cabinet and the country’s longest-serving secretary of labor. She was appointed by which president?

2.  The Hollywood Sign

5.  FDR

3) Fountain 

4) Norwegian Wood

1. Sagrada

Answers to Tuesday, March 4, 2025

1. Taking its name from a famous basilica in Barcelona, what board game requires players to build a stained glass window using transparent colored dice?

Sagrada

2. In 1978, several celebrities, including Gene Autry, Alice Cooper, and Andy Williams, donated money to support a much-needed rebuild of what Los Angeles-area landmark?

Hollywood sign

3. Hinting at a different use than the one usually associated with a urinal, what is the actual title of Marcel Duchamp’s famous 1917 sculpture of a urinal signed “R. Mutt”?

“Fountain”

4. What 1987 novel is Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s bestselling title worldwide, which takes its name from a 1965 Beatles song?

“Norwegian Wood”

5. Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve in the U.S. Cabinet and the country’s longest-serving secretary of labor. She was appointed by which president?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Questions for
Wednesday, March 5, 2025

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

1. A 1908 Broadway revue introduced audiences to a song that declares, “Snow time ain't no time to stay outdoors and spoon, so shine on, shine on BLANK BLANK.” What seasonal sight fills in those blanks?

2. If you have a “periorbital hematoma,” what do you have?

3. “On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep” begins the second verse of an 1814 poem then-titled “Defense of Fort McHenry.” Today we know the more famous first verse by what name?

4. In 1972, a nationwide poll was conducted to find the country’s most trusted public figure. What journalist came out on top, and was known as “the Most Trusted Man in America” until his death in 2009?

5. Per the titles of their respective shows, Freddie Highmore, Julianna Margulies, and the trio of Mae Whitman, Retta, and Christina Hendricks are considered… what?

1. Harvest moon

2 Black eye

3 Star spangled banner

EDIT:  corrected obvious typo (thanks auto-corrupt)

2) black eye

5) Good

4. Walter Cronkite

Posted by: @steve-mn

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3 Start spangled banner

I went to Google just to make sure I wasn’t missing something or it was an error. I almost learn something new everyday. So this could’ve been the case. 

Answers to Wednesday, March 5, 2025

1. A 1908 Broadway revue introduced audiences to a song that declares, “Snow time ain't no time to stay outdoors and spoon, so shine on, shine on BLANK BLANK.” What seasonal sight fills in those blanks?

“Harvest moon”

2. If you have a “periorbital hematoma,” what do you have?

A black eye

3. “On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep” begins the second verse of an 1814 poem then-titled “Defense of Fort McHenry.” Today we know the more famous first verse by what name?

“The Star-Spangled Banner”

4. In 1972, a nationwide poll was conducted to find the country’s most trusted public figure. What journalist came out on top, and was known as “the Most Trusted Man in America” until his death in 2009?

Walter Cronkite

5. Per the titles of their respective shows, Freddie Highmore, Julianna Margulies, and the trio of Mae Whitman, Retta, and Christina Hendricks are considered… what?

Good
(“The Good Doctor,” “The Good Wife,” “Good Girls”)