Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - March 18
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. The parkway running along the eastern edge of Manhattan is named for Franklin Roosevelt. The one along most of the west side is officially named for which explorer? I have driven on the Henry Hudson Parkway (and across the Henry Hudson Bridge that leads into Manhattan) many times
2. From 1989 to 1991, Michael Boatman (on China Beach) and Scott Bakula (on Quantum Leap) were both playing TV characters named for what writer? no idea. Would need more clues about the writer since I did not watch either show.
3. A company called Element Six runs, in England, the world's largest facility for producing the synthetic type of what? carbon has atomic number 6. Synthetic products based on carbon. Synthetic life forms like dolls? Synthetic fuels?
4. "Self-actualization" sits atop psychologist Abraham Maslow's influential 1943 pyramid, a hierarchy of what? needs
5. In Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," what state is the singer from? I left my home in Georgia, headed for Frisco Bay
6. You may have forgotten Ashley Dupre, but six years ago she was instrumental in the scandal that brought down what politician? Eliot Spitzer?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these US cities, listed in order of decreasing population? New York City, Raleigh, Omaha, Honolulu, Cincinnati, New Haven. this is cryptic. I have not found a good entry point for this eclectic group of cities. Do they all have something in common, like the same nickname? or are they the largest cities with hospitals named (fill in the blank)?
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What famed race horse was named in honor of his sire, Hard Tack? Hardtack is a kind of cracker eaten by sailors at sea, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to name his foal Seabiscuit. correct
2. Carolyn Hax and Amy Dickinson are modern descendants of the famed Friedman twins, in that they also write what? Advice columns. Esther and Pauline Friedman were better known by the reassuringly Gentile names "Ann Landers" and "Dear Abby." correct
3. In a complete insect metamorphosis, what state comes between the larva and the imago? The pupa. ("Imago" is just a word for the adult phase of an insect.) correct
4. In what 2008 movie does the protagonist say, "What I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career"? Liam Neeson in every preview to Taken, and in the movie Taken, and in everyone doing a dumb parody of Taken. correct
5. What food item, of which 4.8 billion are consumed every year, comes in four shapes, called the bell, the ball, the boot, and the bone? Did you ever notice that there are only four shapes of Chicken McNugget? How does McDonald's get all its chickens to look exactly the same like that? Truly we live in an amazing time. no, I had not noticed since Reagan may have been president the last time I ate at McDonalds
6. The elephant appears on the coat of arms of two African nations. One is Swaziland; what, unsurprisingly, is the other? The elephant provides the ivory in the coat of arms of the Cote d'Ivoire, or Ivory Coast. Turns out there's another correct answer here: I somehow overlooked the two black elephants on the Republic of the Congo's emblem. But if you put "Republic of the Congo," either you truly have the memory of an elephant...or, come on, you peeked. good job deciphering the clue, Alex
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these famous people? Tim Allen, Charles S. Dutton, Stephen Fry, Merle Haggard, O. Henry, Don King, Tony Sirico, Mark Wahlberg. Each of these accomplished men served jail time before they were famous. Tim Allen was a coke dealer. Just though you might want to know. correct. This one was pretty easy.
1. The parkway running along the eastern edge of Manhattan is named for Franklin Roosevelt. The one along most of the west side is officially named for which explorer? I have driven on the Henry Hudson Parkway (and across the Henry Hudson Bridge that leads into Manhattan) many times
2. From 1989 to 1991, Michael Boatman (on China Beach) and Scott Bakula (on Quantum Leap) were both playing TV characters named for what writer? no idea. Would need more clues about the writer since I did not watch either show.
3. A company called Element Six runs, in England, the world's largest facility for producing the synthetic type of what? carbon has atomic number 6. Synthetic products based on carbon. Synthetic life forms like dolls? Synthetic fuels?
4. "Self-actualization" sits atop psychologist Abraham Maslow's influential 1943 pyramid, a hierarchy of what? needs
5. In Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," what state is the singer from? I left my home in Georgia, headed for Frisco Bay
6. You may have forgotten Ashley Dupre, but six years ago she was instrumental in the scandal that brought down what politician? Eliot Spitzer?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these US cities, listed in order of decreasing population? New York City, Raleigh, Omaha, Honolulu, Cincinnati, New Haven. this is cryptic. I have not found a good entry point for this eclectic group of cities. Do they all have something in common, like the same nickname? or are they the largest cities with hospitals named (fill in the blank)?
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What famed race horse was named in honor of his sire, Hard Tack? Hardtack is a kind of cracker eaten by sailors at sea, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to name his foal Seabiscuit. correct
2. Carolyn Hax and Amy Dickinson are modern descendants of the famed Friedman twins, in that they also write what? Advice columns. Esther and Pauline Friedman were better known by the reassuringly Gentile names "Ann Landers" and "Dear Abby." correct
3. In a complete insect metamorphosis, what state comes between the larva and the imago? The pupa. ("Imago" is just a word for the adult phase of an insect.) correct
4. In what 2008 movie does the protagonist say, "What I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career"? Liam Neeson in every preview to Taken, and in the movie Taken, and in everyone doing a dumb parody of Taken. correct
5. What food item, of which 4.8 billion are consumed every year, comes in four shapes, called the bell, the ball, the boot, and the bone? Did you ever notice that there are only four shapes of Chicken McNugget? How does McDonald's get all its chickens to look exactly the same like that? Truly we live in an amazing time. no, I had not noticed since Reagan may have been president the last time I ate at McDonalds
6. The elephant appears on the coat of arms of two African nations. One is Swaziland; what, unsurprisingly, is the other? The elephant provides the ivory in the coat of arms of the Cote d'Ivoire, or Ivory Coast. Turns out there's another correct answer here: I somehow overlooked the two black elephants on the Republic of the Congo's emblem. But if you put "Republic of the Congo," either you truly have the memory of an elephant...or, come on, you peeked. good job deciphering the clue, Alex
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these famous people? Tim Allen, Charles S. Dutton, Stephen Fry, Merle Haggard, O. Henry, Don King, Tony Sirico, Mark Wahlberg. Each of these accomplished men served jail time before they were famous. Tim Allen was a coke dealer. Just though you might want to know. correct. This one was pretty easy.
