Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - December 21
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. How many tiny reindeer pull Santa's sleigh, in the poem that begins "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"? a miniature sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer
2. What sitcom featured a character with the very festive full name of "Christmas Noelle Snow"? Christmas ---> Chris ---> Everybody Hates Chris perhaps
3. Which of the three traditional gifts brought by the three wise men has the highest market value today? gold, frankincense, myrrh. We know gold's value is over $1000/pound. No idea on the others. Where would you find a market for frankincense or myrrh to establish a price? It's simplest to guess gold.
4. Rod Carew was a Minnesota Twin, but who are the only *real* twins name-checked in Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song"? we've got Ann Landers and her sister Dear Abby
5. Most commercial Advent calendars begin on what date? A great question for this time of year. Sadly, I have no idea. I don't even know how many windows an Advent calendar contains. Trader Joes used to stock advent calendars but I have not seen them recently.
6. "Christmas disease" is another name for the 'B' type of what disease, most famously suffered by Alexei Romanov? Alexei Romanov - is he the Tsar's son who was a hemophiliac?
7. What unusual distinction is held by these countries in this order, and no others? Spain, Saudi Arabia, China, Russia.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. The late scientist Rosalind Franklin has sometimes been called the "Dark Lady of" what molecule? Rosalind Franklin provided the crucial (and unsung) piece of evidence that led to Watson and Crick's discovery of the double-helix model of DNA. It turns out that if you're a 1950s scientist who wants recognition for your work, it helps not to be (a) Jewish and (b) a woman. Why is she called the Dark Lady? For working in the shadows? That might have been a helpful clue.
2. Who was the only artist to have a Billboard #1 single during every year of the 1990s, the only time an artist has every accomplished this during an entire decade? Mariah Carey is the only person to achieve this on the Hot 100 in the rock era...and the first person period to do it since the 1920s! But even Mariah needed a little luck: if her 1993 hit "Hero" hadn't stayed at #1 for the first two weeks of January 1994, she would have had a gap that year. correct
3. America's most visited national park is named for what mountain range? Great Smoky Mountains National Park, amazingly, gets almost as many visitors as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite put together! correct
4. What famed political dynasty is currently led by the former Sonia Maino of Lusiana, Italy? The Congress Party of India is currently led by Rajiv Gandhi's widow, the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi...and her foreign birthplace is the only reason she isn't prime minister right now. (We accepted either "Nehru" or "Gandhi," if you're curious.) this is the fun fact that I learned from this week's KJTT
5. The top four most highly-paid players in major league baseball today all play for what team? The New York Yankees. (A-Rod, Sabathia, Jeter, Teixeira.) If you got this wrong, you are probably not American, but you are probably okay with that. correct
6. In what country did the popular melted-cheese dishes of fondue and raclette originate? Both are Swiss. Bonus question: what will the Jennings family be eating on Christmas Eve this year? Answer: raclette. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these films? Fahrenheit 451, Kick-Ass, Minority Report, Return of the Jedi, Sleeper, Thunderball. JET PACKS! JET PACKS! JET PACKS! Rarely do I resort to all caps for the answer of a Question Seven, but c'mon, who doesn't love movies with jet packs? Q7s about specific details in movies are really difficult
1. How many tiny reindeer pull Santa's sleigh, in the poem that begins "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"? a miniature sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer
2. What sitcom featured a character with the very festive full name of "Christmas Noelle Snow"? Christmas ---> Chris ---> Everybody Hates Chris perhaps
3. Which of the three traditional gifts brought by the three wise men has the highest market value today? gold, frankincense, myrrh. We know gold's value is over $1000/pound. No idea on the others. Where would you find a market for frankincense or myrrh to establish a price? It's simplest to guess gold.
4. Rod Carew was a Minnesota Twin, but who are the only *real* twins name-checked in Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song"? we've got Ann Landers and her sister Dear Abby
5. Most commercial Advent calendars begin on what date? A great question for this time of year. Sadly, I have no idea. I don't even know how many windows an Advent calendar contains. Trader Joes used to stock advent calendars but I have not seen them recently.
6. "Christmas disease" is another name for the 'B' type of what disease, most famously suffered by Alexei Romanov? Alexei Romanov - is he the Tsar's son who was a hemophiliac?
7. What unusual distinction is held by these countries in this order, and no others? Spain, Saudi Arabia, China, Russia.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. The late scientist Rosalind Franklin has sometimes been called the "Dark Lady of" what molecule? Rosalind Franklin provided the crucial (and unsung) piece of evidence that led to Watson and Crick's discovery of the double-helix model of DNA. It turns out that if you're a 1950s scientist who wants recognition for your work, it helps not to be (a) Jewish and (b) a woman. Why is she called the Dark Lady? For working in the shadows? That might have been a helpful clue.
2. Who was the only artist to have a Billboard #1 single during every year of the 1990s, the only time an artist has every accomplished this during an entire decade? Mariah Carey is the only person to achieve this on the Hot 100 in the rock era...and the first person period to do it since the 1920s! But even Mariah needed a little luck: if her 1993 hit "Hero" hadn't stayed at #1 for the first two weeks of January 1994, she would have had a gap that year. correct
3. America's most visited national park is named for what mountain range? Great Smoky Mountains National Park, amazingly, gets almost as many visitors as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite put together! correct
4. What famed political dynasty is currently led by the former Sonia Maino of Lusiana, Italy? The Congress Party of India is currently led by Rajiv Gandhi's widow, the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi...and her foreign birthplace is the only reason she isn't prime minister right now. (We accepted either "Nehru" or "Gandhi," if you're curious.) this is the fun fact that I learned from this week's KJTT
5. The top four most highly-paid players in major league baseball today all play for what team? The New York Yankees. (A-Rod, Sabathia, Jeter, Teixeira.) If you got this wrong, you are probably not American, but you are probably okay with that. correct
6. In what country did the popular melted-cheese dishes of fondue and raclette originate? Both are Swiss. Bonus question: what will the Jennings family be eating on Christmas Eve this year? Answer: raclette. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these films? Fahrenheit 451, Kick-Ass, Minority Report, Return of the Jedi, Sleeper, Thunderball. JET PACKS! JET PACKS! JET PACKS! Rarely do I resort to all caps for the answer of a Question Seven, but c'mon, who doesn't love movies with jet packs? Q7s about specific details in movies are really difficult
