Thursday, April 17, 2014
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - April 15
Personal note - I attended the quarterfinal matches in the Jeopardy Battle of the Decades yesterday and saw KJ in person for the first time. No spoilers but I will say that his quarterfinal match will air on May 8.
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. Behind-the-scenes drama on what TV hit has led to the exit of its first two showrunners, Frank Darabont and then Glen Mazzara? The Walking Dead
2. What does the 'I' stand for in IPA, a term used since 1829 to refer to a hoppy style of beer? India
3. What's the only continent without an active volcano? Australia
4. Between 330 and 323 BC, who was both king of Persia and Pharaoh of Egypt? Alexander the Great?
5. What cause is represented by a popular bumper sticker symbol: two horizontal yellow rectangles placed one atop the other on a blue square background? yellow on red is gay rights. what is yellow on blue? Swedish rights?
6. What tree's bark has been used as a pain reliever for thousands of years, because it contains salicin, a precursor to aspirin? birch?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these novels? Breakfast of Champions, Gossip Girl, Lolita, The Lovely Bones, Main Street, The Monkey's Raincoat, The Power and the Glory, Tintin in Tibet. All have characters with last names that are names of fish - Kilgore Trout, Chuck Bass, Susie Salmon, et. al.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. How many former or current First Ladies of the United States are still alive? Six: Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. This isn't even close to the record: on two occasions during the 1880s, there were ELEVEN First Ladies running around. correct
2. In physics, the first derivative of velocity is acceleration, while the second is called "jerk." The third, fourth, and fifth derivatives are sometimes nicknamed for what commercial mascots? The rate of change in jerk is called "snap." The rate of change in snap is "crackle." The rate of change in "crackle" is...you guessed it. Cinnamon Toast Crunch. No, wait. "Pop." correct
3. Jim Fixx died in 1984 while participating in what sport, which he helped popularize? Fixx, the celebrated author of The Complete Book of Running, suffered a fatal heart attack during his daily jog near a summer house he was renting in Vermont. correct
4. Over 10 million people live in the the 27 percent of what country's land area that lies below sea level? More than 2,500 square miles of the Netherlands have been reclaimed from the North Sea over the past two thousand years. correct
5. Name any one of the three movies in which actress Julianne Moore co-starred with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Either Boogie Nights, The Big Lebowski, or Magnolia. correct
6. What office supply is referred to as a "trombone" in France? The paper clip--because of its distinctive shape, I can only assume. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these world leaders, past and present? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Clement Attlee, Jacques Chirac, Georges Clemenceau, Grover Cleveland, Calvin Coolidge, Tayyip Erdogan, Ehud Olmert, Matteo Renzi, Nicolas Sarcozy. All these heads of government were city mayors earlier in their careers. correct!
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. Behind-the-scenes drama on what TV hit has led to the exit of its first two showrunners, Frank Darabont and then Glen Mazzara? The Walking Dead
2. What does the 'I' stand for in IPA, a term used since 1829 to refer to a hoppy style of beer? India
3. What's the only continent without an active volcano? Australia
4. Between 330 and 323 BC, who was both king of Persia and Pharaoh of Egypt? Alexander the Great?
5. What cause is represented by a popular bumper sticker symbol: two horizontal yellow rectangles placed one atop the other on a blue square background? yellow on red is gay rights. what is yellow on blue? Swedish rights?
6. What tree's bark has been used as a pain reliever for thousands of years, because it contains salicin, a precursor to aspirin? birch?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these novels? Breakfast of Champions, Gossip Girl, Lolita, The Lovely Bones, Main Street, The Monkey's Raincoat, The Power and the Glory, Tintin in Tibet. All have characters with last names that are names of fish - Kilgore Trout, Chuck Bass, Susie Salmon, et. al.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. How many former or current First Ladies of the United States are still alive? Six: Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. This isn't even close to the record: on two occasions during the 1880s, there were ELEVEN First Ladies running around. correct
2. In physics, the first derivative of velocity is acceleration, while the second is called "jerk." The third, fourth, and fifth derivatives are sometimes nicknamed for what commercial mascots? The rate of change in jerk is called "snap." The rate of change in snap is "crackle." The rate of change in "crackle" is...you guessed it. Cinnamon Toast Crunch. No, wait. "Pop." correct
3. Jim Fixx died in 1984 while participating in what sport, which he helped popularize? Fixx, the celebrated author of The Complete Book of Running, suffered a fatal heart attack during his daily jog near a summer house he was renting in Vermont. correct
4. Over 10 million people live in the the 27 percent of what country's land area that lies below sea level? More than 2,500 square miles of the Netherlands have been reclaimed from the North Sea over the past two thousand years. correct
5. Name any one of the three movies in which actress Julianne Moore co-starred with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Either Boogie Nights, The Big Lebowski, or Magnolia. correct
6. What office supply is referred to as a "trombone" in France? The paper clip--because of its distinctive shape, I can only assume. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these world leaders, past and present? Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Clement Attlee, Jacques Chirac, Georges Clemenceau, Grover Cleveland, Calvin Coolidge, Tayyip Erdogan, Ehud Olmert, Matteo Renzi, Nicolas Sarcozy. All these heads of government were city mayors earlier in their careers. correct!
