Questions for
Monday, April 7, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. A series of 18th-century violin concertos by Vivaldi, a hotel chain, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band from Newark, and a small landscaping company in Philadelphia all share what name?
2. The Reuben Award is the highest award in the field of cartooning. It is named after what American cartoonist, engineer, and inventor, known for his fanciful machine illustrations?
3. What is the term used by geologists to denote the current era in the geologic history of the Earth, following the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras?
4. In 1933, Frances Perkins was named the secretary of which department of the federal government, becoming the first woman in a presidential cabinet?
5. Two 2009 films simultaneously became the first films released in 3D to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. One is Pixar's “Up.” The other is what box office record-breaker?
1. Four Seasons?
2. Rube Goldberg?
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
4. Labor (IIRC)
“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
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5. Avatar
3 Cenozoic
Answers to Monday, April 7, 2025
1. A series of 18th-century violin concertos by Vivaldi, a hotel chain, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band from Newark, and a small landscaping company in Philadelphia all share what name?
The Four Seasons
2. The Reuben Award is the highest award in the field of cartooning. It is named after what American cartoonist, engineer, and inventor, known for his fanciful machine illustrations?
Rube Goldberg
3. What is the term used by geologists to denote the current era in the geologic history of the Earth, following the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras?
Cenozoic
4. In 1933, Frances Perkins was named the secretary of which department of the federal government, becoming the first woman in a presidential cabinet?
Labor
5. Two 2009 films simultaneously became the first films released in 3D to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. One is Pixar's “Up.” The other is what box office record-breaker?
“Avatar”
Questions for
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. The brand of tires used by the protagonist of the movie “Cars” is also the surname of what other Pixar character, introduced 11 years earlier?
2. Which U.S. capital city is sometimes erroneously believed to be named after the island where Napoleon died in 1821?
3. What type of pigment makes plants green?
4. The first player to be named the MVP of both the American League and the National League was also the first Black manager in MLB history. Who was he?
5. Vientiane is the capital of what country — the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia?
2. Helena MT ??
4. Frank Robinson
“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
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3 Chlorophyll
5. Laos
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
1. Lightyear
Answers to Tuesday, April 8, 2025
1. The brand of tires used by the protagonist of the movie “Cars” is also the surname of what other Pixar character, introduced 11 years earlier?
(Buzz) Lightyear
2. Which U.S. capital city is sometimes erroneously believed to be named after the island where Napoleon died in 1821?
Helena
(Montana; it’s actually named after a township in Minnesota)
3. What type of pigment makes plants green?
Chlorophyll
4. The first player to be named the MVP of both the American League and the National League was also the first Black manager in MLB history. Who was he?
Frank Robinson
5. Vientiane is the capital of what country — the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia?
Laos
Questions for
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. When Christopher Walken demanded to hear “more cowbell” on “Saturday Night Live” in 2000, he was demanding to hear it on what 1976 Blue Öyster Cult song?
2. What is the world's fourth-most populous country, after India, China, and the United States?
3. Born in 1924, Rosalind P. Walter was famous for two things: Donating millions of dollars to support public television in the U.S., and working at a factory that made F4U Corsairs when she was 18 years old. What was her job at that factory?
4. The boiling point of water at sea level is 100 degrees Celsius. Is it higher or lower than that at the summit of Mount Everest?
5. Nutmeg is a spice made from the seed of the Myristica fragrans tree. What similar-tasting (and dangerous-sounding) four-letter spice is made from the covering of that same seed?
5. Mace
3. Riveter
4. Lower
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
1. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper
2. Indonesia
Answers to Wednesday, April 9, 2025
1. When Christopher Walken demanded to hear “more cowbell” on “Saturday Night Live” in 2000, he was demanding to hear it on what 1976 Blue Öyster Cult song?
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”
2. What is the world's fourth-most populous country, after India, China, and the United States?
Indonesia
3. Born in 1924, Rosalind P. Walter was famous for two things: Donating millions of dollars to support public television in the U.S., and working at a factory that made F4U Corsairs when she was 18 years old. What was her job at that factory?
Riveter
(she is the subject of the song “Rosie the Riveter”)
4. The boiling point of water at sea level is 100 degrees Celsius. Is it higher or lower than that at the summit of Mount Everest?
Lower
(71 C/160 F)
5. Nutmeg is a spice made from the seed of the Myristica fragrans tree. What similar-tasting (and dangerous-sounding) four-letter spice is made from the covering of that same seed?
Mace
Questions for
Theme Thursday, April 10, 2025
Hide and Seek: Five questions about real and fictional elusive people.
Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. The author of "Gravity’s Rainbow" has barely spoken to the press since the publication of his first book, "V." He did appear as himself on "The Simpsons," where he was animated with a bag over his face. Who is he?
2. What media-averse actor was called “the Swedish Sphinx” by the press, and delivered the semi-autobiographical line, “I just want to be alone” in the 1932 movie "Grand Hotel"?
3. What elusive edu-tainment figure was named after a Brazilian singer and a California city?
4. Deep Throat was a mysterious figure who leaked key information to journalists about the Watergate break-in. His identity was revealed in a 2005 Vanity Fair interview. Who was Deep Throat?
5. In 1986, illustrator Martin Handford introduced what elusive character, who has shown up in such locations as the Great Pyramid of Giza, the land of the Red Dwarves, and a domed city in outer space?
2. Greta Garbo
5. Waldo?
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
3. Carmen Sandiego
4. I can picture the guy. Gray hair, 1st name is Mark. Driving me nuts.
Mark Felt4. I can picture the guy. Gray hair, 1st name is Mark. Driving me nuts.
Dorothy: Who’s that?
Scarecrow: A man with an axe and a can of lube. I’ll ask if he wants to join us.
Mark Felt4. I can picture the guy. Gray hair, 1st name is Mark. Driving me nuts.
Not Hal Halbrook? 😎
“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
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1. Thomas Pynchon
Answers to Thursday, April 10, 2025
Hide and Seek: Five questions about real and fictional elusive people.
1. The author of "Gravity’s Rainbow" has barely spoken to the press since the publication of his first book, "V." He did appear as himself on "The Simpsons," where he was animated with a bag over his face. Who is he?
Thomas Pynchon
2. What media-averse actor was called “the Swedish Sphinx” by the press, and delivered the semi-autobiographical line, “I just want to be alone” in the 1932 movie "Grand Hotel"?
Greta Garbo
3. What elusive edu-tainment figure was named after a Brazilian singer and a California city?
Carmen Sandiego
4. Deep Throat was a mysterious figure who leaked key information to journalists about the Watergate break-in. His identity was revealed in a 2005 Vanity Fair interview. Who was Deep Throat?
Mark Felt
5. In 1986, illustrator Martin Handford introduced what elusive character, who has shown up in such locations as the Great Pyramid of Giza, the land of the Red Dwarves, and a domed city in outer space?
Waldo (or Wally)
Questions for
Friday, April 11, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in Monday’s email.
1. Quit While You’re Ahead: The titles of the four sequels to Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy romance novel “A Court of Thorns and Roses” all also begin with “A Court of.” Finish as many of those sequel titles as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.
2. “Red pontiac,” “Andean black,” and “golden wonder” are varieties of what foodstuff?
3. What West Lafayette, Indiana university is known as the “Cradle of Astronauts,” for having graduated 27 of them?
4. In 1957, following the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, nine Black students were illegally barred entry into a newly integrated high school by the National Guard. In what city did this happen?
5. Today is April 11. Singer and composer Richard Berry was born on this day in 1935. When his most famous song was covered by the Kingsmen in 1963, it hit No. 2 on the Billboard charts and became the subject of an FBI obscenity investigation. Name that reduplicatively titled tune!
3. Purdue University
4. Little Rock, AR
“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
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3. Purdue University
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
5. Louie, Louie
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
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, April 11, 2025
1. Quit While You’re Ahead: The titles of the four sequels to Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy romance novel “A Court of Thorns and Roses” all also begin with “A Court of.” Finish as many of those sequel titles as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.
“Mist and Fury,” “Wings and Ruin,” “Frost and Starlight,” “Silver Flames”
(Did you ace that question? Join us for ACOTAR theme nights all throughout April!)
2. “Red pontiac,” “Andean black,” and “golden wonder” are varieties of what foodstuff?
Potatoes
3. What West Lafayette, Indiana university is known as the “Cradle of Astronauts,” for having graduated 27 of them?
Purdue
4. In 1957, following the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, nine Black students were illegally barred entry into a newly integrated high school by the National Guard. In what city did this happen?
Little Rock, Arkansas
(they were known as the “Little Rock Nine”)
5. Today is April 11. Singer and composer Richard Berry was born on this day in 1935. When his most famous song was covered by the Kingsmen in 1963, it hit No. 2 on the Billboard charts and became the subject of an FBI obscenity investigation. Name that reduplicatively titled tune!
“Louie Louie”
Questions for
Monday, April 14, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. Which U.S. state capital is home to a popular regional magazine called “5280”?
2. Flowers in the genus Calendula are more commonly known by what name, likely taken from the Biblical mother of Jesus?
3. The NBA used to call its development league the “D League.” They changed it to the “G League” in 2017. What does that “G” stand for?
4. What piece of exercise equipment was initially developed in Russia in the 1700s to help farmers weigh their crops?
5. What video game franchise introduced a character named Rain — who wore a purple costume, because one of the game’s creators was a big Prince fan — in 1995?
1. Denver. ??
“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
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4. Kettlebells
2. Marigold
3. Gatorade
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 Monday, April 14, 2025
1. Which U.S. state capital is home to a popular regional magazine called “5280”?
Denver
(it’s the “Mile High City”; 5,280 feet = 1 mile)
2. Flowers in the genus Calendula are more commonly known by what name, likely taken from the Biblical mother of Jesus?
Marigold
3. The NBA used to call its development league the “D League.” They changed it to the “G League” in 2017. What does that “G” stand for?
Gatorade
4. What piece of exercise equipment was initially developed in Russia in the 1700s to help farmers weigh their crops?
Kettlebells
5. What video game franchise introduced a character named Rain — who wore a purple costume, because one of the game’s creators was a big Prince fan — in 1995?
“Mortal Kombat”
Questions for
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. What element makes up almost half of the Earth’s crust?
2. What product had a legendary ad campaign in the ’70s that used the tagline, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing”?
3. What nine-letter word meaning “obedient flatterer” derives from the Greek for “revealer of figs” for reasons nobody has figured out yet?
4. Until Alice Walton reclaimed the title this year, the world’s richest woman was 71-year-old Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, heir to the world’s largest cosmetics company. What company is that?
5. Which member of the British comedy troupe Monty Python is actually an American, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, although he renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2006?
5. Terry Jones
“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
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2. Alka Seltzer…plop plop fizz fizz…
“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
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1. This is a fun one because it’s unexpected - Oxygen
5. Terry Jones
Terry Gilliam!
Doh! I got my Terry's mixed up....
“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
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4) L’Oreal
Dorothy: Who’s that?
Scarecrow: A man with an axe and a can of lube. I’ll ask if he wants to join us.
3. Sycophant?
Answers to Tuesday, April 15, 2025
1. What element makes up almost half of the Earth’s crust?
Oxygen
2. What product had a legendary ad campaign in the ’70s that used the tagline, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing”?
Alka-Seltzer
3. What nine-letter word meaning “obedient flatterer” derives from the Greek for “revealer of figs” for reasons nobody has figured out yet?
Sycophant
4. Until Alice Walton reclaimed the title this year, the world’s richest woman was 71-year-old Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, heir to the world’s largest cosmetics company. What company is that?
L'Oréal
5. Which member of the British comedy troupe Monty Python is actually an American, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, although he renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2006?
Terry Gilliam
Questions for
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.
1. Which U.S. state has a name that means “friends” — which explains why its state motto is “Friendship”?
2. “Atlantis,” “Infinity,” and “Universe” are all spin-offs of what science fiction TV franchise?
3. The Beatles made five movies together, all named after their albums. The one with the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score was inspired by a type of field trip British schoolchildren take, and was described by reviewers at the time as “plotless and confusing.” Name that movie.
4. Camogie is a prehistoric stick-and-ball game played by roughly 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide. What is the men’s version of camogie called?
5. A 2016 Vanity Fair profile bestowed the ever-shifting title of “the internet's boyfriend” on what Guatemala-born actor, who has played key roles in the “Star Wars,” “X-Men,” and “Dune” franchises?