Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - October 8
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What is the martingale system used for? not nightingale. not martinizing. martingale. measuring the cleanliness of songbirds?
2. According to most Hindu art, what color is the skin of the god Vishnu? blue
3. What Best Picture-winning film bears a dedication in its closing credits to Sergio Leone and Don Siegel? I don't know Don Siegel, but Clint Eastwood did movies for Leone. I guess Unforgiven.
4. What Internet verb meaning "to fraudulently solicit personal information" also names a recently reunited rock band? Phish
5. What common household alloy must contain, by law, at least 11.5% chromium? household alloy? I don't want alloys in my house! Perhaps sterling silver?
6. The French call it Lac Leman, and it makes up about 50 miles of the French border. But what's it more commonly called across the border? Lake Geneva
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. states--in this order--and no others? California, Kansas, Maine, Washington.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. When police practice the science of dactyloscopy, what are they doing? Identifying fingerprints. correct
2. Other than (duh) Australia, what's the only continent with no land-locked countries? The intended answer was North America, but we had to accept Antarctica as well when I realized I hadn't phrased the question narrowly enough for smart-alecks. correct
3. What common beverage did Julius Freed begin selling above a New York pool hall in 1926? Orange juice--he called his stand "Orange Julius." There may be a factual error in this question, but I'm not 100% sure. Different pages on the official Orange Julius website give the location of Freed's first stand as, variously, New York and L.A. I did not say orange juice, but I think I was close enough
4. Name one of the three Division I college football teams that are exempted from NCAA rules limiting the number of full scholarships athletes can receive. At U.S. service academies, *everyone* is on full scholarship, so Army, Navy, and Air Force are all exempt. correct
5. Who originally held the jobs now filled by Ben Lyons and Ben Manciewicz? They're the hosts on the new, terrible version of At the Movies. The two Bens are unfit even to carry the thumb-rests of original hosts Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. correct. I don't agree that the new At the Movies is terrible, but it's nothing special. Sorry, Ben.
6. What shape is each cell in a honeybees' comb? A hexagon (in cross-section, anyway). missed it by a hexa vs. an octa
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these famous folks? Mathew Brady, Al Capp, Antoni Gaudi, Samuel Gompers, Frida Kahlo, Theodore Roosevelt, Edward Teller, Kurt Waldheim. Apparently not as hard as billed: they all suffered streetcar accidents. Gaudi and Brady were killed by theirs; Teller and Capp just had amputations. Frida's bus-streetcar collision caused the injuries that plagued her for the rest of her life, and Teddy Roosevelt might have been killed--in office!--by his accident if a second medical opinion hadn't been sought.
1. What is the martingale system used for? not nightingale. not martinizing. martingale. measuring the cleanliness of songbirds?
2. According to most Hindu art, what color is the skin of the god Vishnu? blue
3. What Best Picture-winning film bears a dedication in its closing credits to Sergio Leone and Don Siegel? I don't know Don Siegel, but Clint Eastwood did movies for Leone. I guess Unforgiven.
4. What Internet verb meaning "to fraudulently solicit personal information" also names a recently reunited rock band? Phish
5. What common household alloy must contain, by law, at least 11.5% chromium? household alloy? I don't want alloys in my house! Perhaps sterling silver?
6. The French call it Lac Leman, and it makes up about 50 miles of the French border. But what's it more commonly called across the border? Lake Geneva
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. states--in this order--and no others? California, Kansas, Maine, Washington.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. When police practice the science of dactyloscopy, what are they doing? Identifying fingerprints. correct
2. Other than (duh) Australia, what's the only continent with no land-locked countries? The intended answer was North America, but we had to accept Antarctica as well when I realized I hadn't phrased the question narrowly enough for smart-alecks. correct
3. What common beverage did Julius Freed begin selling above a New York pool hall in 1926? Orange juice--he called his stand "Orange Julius." There may be a factual error in this question, but I'm not 100% sure. Different pages on the official Orange Julius website give the location of Freed's first stand as, variously, New York and L.A. I did not say orange juice, but I think I was close enough
4. Name one of the three Division I college football teams that are exempted from NCAA rules limiting the number of full scholarships athletes can receive. At U.S. service academies, *everyone* is on full scholarship, so Army, Navy, and Air Force are all exempt. correct
5. Who originally held the jobs now filled by Ben Lyons and Ben Manciewicz? They're the hosts on the new, terrible version of At the Movies. The two Bens are unfit even to carry the thumb-rests of original hosts Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. correct. I don't agree that the new At the Movies is terrible, but it's nothing special. Sorry, Ben.
6. What shape is each cell in a honeybees' comb? A hexagon (in cross-section, anyway). missed it by a hexa vs. an octa
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these famous folks? Mathew Brady, Al Capp, Antoni Gaudi, Samuel Gompers, Frida Kahlo, Theodore Roosevelt, Edward Teller, Kurt Waldheim. Apparently not as hard as billed: they all suffered streetcar accidents. Gaudi and Brady were killed by theirs; Teller and Capp just had amputations. Frida's bus-streetcar collision caused the injuries that plagued her for the rest of her life, and Teddy Roosevelt might have been killed--in office!--by his accident if a second medical opinion hadn't been sought.
