Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - November 20
THIS WEEK'S QUIZ
1. In the U.S., "double black diamond" is the rating used for the most challenging what? ski run
2. Who lived for years under the name "Mr. Thomas Howard" before his 1882 death? A total guess - Henry Thoreau
3. Potatoes provide the "aloo" in Indian aloo gobi. What vegetable is the "gobi"? I think this is a dish of potatoes and cauliflower
4. What two neighboring beaches in Rio de Janeiro each inspired hit songs, one in 1963 and one in 1978? Ipanema and Copacabana
5. What novel was originally written under the title Elinor and Marianne? Hmm. Sounds like one of the Austen novels. Pride and Prejudice?
6. Whose 1937 death in Rome was observed worldwide by two minutes of silence over all radio stations? I think the key clue here is "radio." Marconi
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these movies? Autumn Sonata, Broadcast News, House of Flying Daggers, Infernal Affairs, The Lost Patrol, Oliver!, Planet Terror, and Whore. I really don't know enough about those movies to hazard a guess. The only one I have seen is Broadcast News and that was a long time ago.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. From left to right, what are the una corda, sostenuto, and damper? The three pedals on a piano.
2. By area, what's the largest province of Canada? Quebec is almost twice the size of Texas. (Nunavut is much larger, but it's a territory, not a province.) By Canadian law, this answer must appear in French as well, so: Quebec est presque deux fois plus grand que Texas. (Nunavut est beaucoup plus grand, mais il est un territoire, pas un province.) actually a number of the provinces are much bigger than Texas. I just guessed the wrong one.
3. On what planet did the bottle city of Kandor originate? Kandor's bottle sits in Superman's Fortress of Solitude--it's the former capital of Krypton. I did not even know enough to guess
4. Who also killed Countess Sophie on June 28, 1914? Sophie was the Governor John Connally of the Archduke Ferdinand assassination in Sarajevo, so the answer is Gavrilo Princip. correct
5. What actress is the daughter of Vic Morrow, the actor most famous for his tragic death during the filming of 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie? Jennifer Jason Leigh is Morrow's daughter. I may have known this at one time but it slipped out of my brain
6. Electrical conductance is measured in "siemens." Previously, this unit was given the name of what other electrical unit, spelled backwards? The siemens used to be the mho--"ohm" spelled backward. Correct. I do like these science questions. I seem to do well on them.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these things? The Laffer Curve in economics, Miami Vice, the MRI, the NASCAR points system, the National Organization for Women, the song "One for My Baby," Southwest Airlines, and the Space Needle? All were initially conceived on the back of a napkin. Not the Harry Potter books, though. I hear that's an urban legend. I don't want to critique the quizmaster too much but I think this is a lousy question. Too much arcana. I had heard that about Southwest but not the others. Maybe I am just out of league on question 7s.
1. In the U.S., "double black diamond" is the rating used for the most challenging what? ski run
2. Who lived for years under the name "Mr. Thomas Howard" before his 1882 death? A total guess - Henry Thoreau
3. Potatoes provide the "aloo" in Indian aloo gobi. What vegetable is the "gobi"? I think this is a dish of potatoes and cauliflower
4. What two neighboring beaches in Rio de Janeiro each inspired hit songs, one in 1963 and one in 1978? Ipanema and Copacabana
5. What novel was originally written under the title Elinor and Marianne? Hmm. Sounds like one of the Austen novels. Pride and Prejudice?
6. Whose 1937 death in Rome was observed worldwide by two minutes of silence over all radio stations? I think the key clue here is "radio." Marconi
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these movies? Autumn Sonata, Broadcast News, House of Flying Daggers, Infernal Affairs, The Lost Patrol, Oliver!, Planet Terror, and Whore. I really don't know enough about those movies to hazard a guess. The only one I have seen is Broadcast News and that was a long time ago.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. From left to right, what are the una corda, sostenuto, and damper? The three pedals on a piano.
2. By area, what's the largest province of Canada? Quebec is almost twice the size of Texas. (Nunavut is much larger, but it's a territory, not a province.) By Canadian law, this answer must appear in French as well, so: Quebec est presque deux fois plus grand que Texas. (Nunavut est beaucoup plus grand, mais il est un territoire, pas un province.) actually a number of the provinces are much bigger than Texas. I just guessed the wrong one.
3. On what planet did the bottle city of Kandor originate? Kandor's bottle sits in Superman's Fortress of Solitude--it's the former capital of Krypton. I did not even know enough to guess
4. Who also killed Countess Sophie on June 28, 1914? Sophie was the Governor John Connally of the Archduke Ferdinand assassination in Sarajevo, so the answer is Gavrilo Princip. correct
5. What actress is the daughter of Vic Morrow, the actor most famous for his tragic death during the filming of 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie? Jennifer Jason Leigh is Morrow's daughter. I may have known this at one time but it slipped out of my brain
6. Electrical conductance is measured in "siemens." Previously, this unit was given the name of what other electrical unit, spelled backwards? The siemens used to be the mho--"ohm" spelled backward. Correct. I do like these science questions. I seem to do well on them.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these things? The Laffer Curve in economics, Miami Vice, the MRI, the NASCAR points system, the National Organization for Women, the song "One for My Baby," Southwest Airlines, and the Space Needle? All were initially conceived on the back of a napkin. Not the Harry Potter books, though. I hear that's an urban legend. I don't want to critique the quizmaster too much but I think this is a lousy question. Too much arcana. I had heard that about Southwest but not the others. Maybe I am just out of league on question 7s.
