Ken Jennings trivia challenge
 

Christmas Inlet or Bay or Island or something.
Fruitcake
O. Henry, Gift of the Magi.
5
From Russia With Love
Winter Solstice
The artist appears in a reflection, if you look hard enough.

Seaboe

Last Week's Answers
 

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS

1. What South African region takes its name from the fact that Vasco da Gama first sighted it on December 25, 1497? This is the province of Natal, whose name ("birth") is the Portuguese word for Christmas.

2. What traditional holiday item often includes a succade made of citron? "Succade" is candied fruit--citron peel is often used to make those suspiciously radioactive-looking yellow and red and green chunks in your fruitcake.

3. In 1906, what American author wrote, "In a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest"? This is the penultimate line of "The Gift of the Magi," by O. Henry.

4. How many candles are there in a Kwanzaa kinara? Seven! Here's how to remember: "Kwanzaa" has one letter fewer than "Hanukkah." But then you half to remember how to spell Kwanzaa and Hanukkah without the extra 'C' and...

5. Dr. Christmas Jones, a nuclear physicist who wears a D-cup, is a "Bond girl" from which 007 film? She was played by Denise Richards (a real life nuclear physicist!) in The World Is Not Enough. Yeah, I know, all those Brosnan ones run together for me too.

6. In the Roman calendar, December 25 was Brumalia. What's the scientific name for the occasion marked by Brumalia? "Bruma" means "short," and Brumalia marked the shortest day of the year. We call it the winter solstice. (By "we" I mean owners of New Age bookstores.)

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these works of art? Cassatt's Mother and Child, Degas's The Ballet Rehearsal, Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, Escher's Three Spheres, Fuseli's The Nightmare, Van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding, Velazquez's Las Meninas, Vermeer's Woman with a Pearl Necklace. These classic works all feature a mirror--a topologically impossible one, in the case of the Manet painting. (We accepted "reflection" as well.)

This Week's Questions
 

Per Ken Jennings' request, the trivia challenge discussed on this message board has the number seven question delayed by one week. This is to avoid easy googling of the question which is designed to foil those who would "cheat". If you know the current number seven question, please do not discuss it here.

The Rules of the Thread
1. If you use the thread to help you get answers, do not submit those answers to the official game.
2. No googling until Sunday. No looking anything up anywhere (and posting it) before Sunday. No checking an article in a magazine you read last week. No checking some old notebook from college. No wikipedia. Not even snopes.com. No checking anything, anywhere - until Sunday. Only information that is stored in your brain, or in the brains of your non-snopester friends and family. But you can't use your family members as a work-around to looking up the information yourself.
3. If you google, don't post that information to the thread until Sunday. Not even as confirmation of the guesses of other posters. Someone else might still know the information on their own.
4. No guess is stupid, throw it out there.
5. No Hinting. If you have a guess or a reasonable belief that you have the right answer, post it. If you are attempting to use hinting as a work-around to the no posting googled answers rule, don't.

And remember, this is an exhibition, not a competition, so please... no wagering.

Hope you enjoy the last Tuesday Trivia of 2011! We plan on continuing faithfully every week throughout 2012, until the Mayan Apocalypse ends all life on earth. (Actually, if the jaguar-gods allow, we will try to continue for two weeks after the Mayan calendar ends, because I enjoy writing the Christmas quiz every year.)

Make it a New Year's resolution to submit answers to Tuesday Trivia this year! Then you can see your name or implausible pseudonym on a list much like the one at http://ken-jennings.com/messageboard...pic.php?t=6716 . Happy New Year, everybody.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. What's the American version of the 1997 Swedish TV hit Expedition Robinson called?

2. What type of dog, encompassing 28 different breeds, was so named because it was bred to burrow in the earth?

3. What length of time is the life of a current U.S. patent, as well as the span of a marriage celebrating the "china anniversary"?

4. The Marco Polo Club is the appropriately named frequent-flyer program of what Hong Kong-based airline?

5. What 1969 musical title figure is told he's "really made the grade, and the papers want to know whose shirts you wear"?

6. What modern-day nation was once ruled by Merovingians and Carolingians?

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these Christmas-y songs? "The Christmas Song," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Silver Bells," "White Christmas" and, in part, "Sleigh Ride" and "Winter Wonderland"?

My Guesses
 

Survivor

WAG - Dachshund???

20 years???

Cathay Pacific

I guess there are worse earworms - Major Tom from David Bowie's Space Oddity

France???

Ooh Ooh - I know this one (I think, I am basing it on White Christmas, Silver Bells and The Christmas Song) - they were written by Jewish gentlemen, making them somewhat ironic (to some people, anyway).

MacLloyd

I think #2 is terrier.

Oh - now that makes sense!

Maclloyd

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. Survivor

2. Terrier

5. Major Tom

6. France?

I think MacLloyd is right about question 7. I can confirm that Johnny Marks who wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is Jewish.

1. What's the American version of the 1997 Swedish TV hit Expedition Robinson called?

Don't know. I just want to say that time flies. I had no idea it's been going on for 14 years.

2. What type of dog, encompassing 28 different breeds, was so named because it was bred to burrow in the earth?

I shared my teens with a lakeland terrier

4. The Marco Polo Club is the appropriately named frequent-flyer program of what Hong Kong-based airline?

Cathay Pacific?

6. What modern-day nation was once ruled by Merovingians and Carolingians?

France

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these Christmas-y songs? "The Christmas Song," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Silver Bells," "White Christmas" and, in part, "Sleigh Ride" and "Winter Wonderland"?

They all make me want to throw up

2. What type of dog, encompassing 28 different breeds, was so named because it was bred to burrow in the earth?

Terrier.

5. What 1969 musical title figure is told he's "really made the grade, and the papers want to know whose shirts you wear"?

Major Tom.

6. What modern-day nation was once ruled by Merovingians and Carolingians?

France.

Survivor
mole dogs.
17 years
Ghengis Khan
Conrad Birdie
France
They all mention fires.

Seaboe, who is delighted that fruitcake was the right answer last week.

I always look forward to your answers.

Can't find the happy face icon to put on
 

We love you, Seaboe, but you've gotta be sincere.

1. What's the American version of the 1997 Swedish TV hit Expedition Robinson called? Dunno - Lost?

2. What type of dog, encompassing 28 different breeds, was so named because it was bred to burrow in the earth? Gotta be the terrier.

3. What length of time is the life of a current U.S. patent, as well as the span of a marriage celebrating the "china anniversary"? 5 years?

4. The Marco Polo Club is the appropriately named frequent-flyer program of what Hong Kong-based airline? Alitalia?

5. What 1969 musical title figure is told he's "really made the grade, and the papers want to know whose shirts you wear"? Major Tom

6. What modern-day nation was once ruled by Merovingians and Carolingians? France?

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these Christmas-y songs? "The Christmas Song," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Silver Bells," "White Christmas" and, in part, "Sleigh Ride" and "Winter Wonderland"?[/QUOTE]

Bridges/verses in a minor mode (or different key)?

Can tell it's the holidays. Missed the list this week.

1. What's the American version of the 1997 Swedish TV hit Expedition Robinson called? Survivor

2. What type of dog, encompassing 28 different breeds, was so named because it was bred to burrow in the earth? Digger

3. What length of time is the life of a current U.S. patent, as well as the span of a marriage celebrating the "china anniversary"? 30 years

4. The Marco Polo Club is the appropriately named frequent-flyer program of what Hong Kong-based airline? I have no clue.

5. What 1969 musical title figure is told he's "really made the grade, and the papers want to know whose shirts you wear"? I should know this one.

6. What modern-day nation was once ruled by Merovingians and Carolingians? France

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these Christmas-y songs? "The Christmas Song," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Silver Bells," "White Christmas" and, in part, "Sleigh Ride" and "Winter Wonderland"? Not one of these songs references the birth of Christ.

I think I'm 2 for 7 this week.

I'm pretty sure I'm 3 for 7. That's 5 between us, right?

Seaboe

Didn't get my questions today
 

I did not receive my questions from Mr. Jennings this morning.

Spam & Cookies, can you help out?

MacLloyd

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS

1. What's the American version of the 1997 Swedish TV hit Expedition Robinson called? It's a Robinson Crusoe/Swiss Family Robinson reference. Here in the (dumber) rest of the world, we call it Survivor.

2. What type of dog, encompassing 28 different breeds, was so named because it was bred to burrow in the earth? "Terrier" comes from "terra," get it?

3. What length of time is the life of a current U.S. patent, as well as the span of a marriage celebrating the "china anniversary"? Patents, unlike most marriages, last twenty years.

4. The Marco Polo Club is the appropriately named frequent-flyer program of what Hong Kong-based airline? In Polo's day, northern China was called Cathay. Hong Kong's flag carrier is Cathay Pacific.

5. What 1969 musical title figure is told he's "really made the grade, and the papers want to know whose shirts you wear"? Ground control to Major Tom! History does not record whether the good Major wore Gant or Van Heusen or what.

6. What modern-day nation was once ruled by Merovingians and Carolingians? France may not have had the longest-lasting dynasties, but it did have the ones with the longest names. Take that, Plantagenets.

Sorry. Can't access last week's questions for the answer to #7.

Per Ken Jennings' request, the trivia challenge discussed on this message board has the number seven question delayed by one week. This is to avoid easy googling of the question which is designed to foil those who would "cheat". If you know the current number seven question, please do not discuss it here.

The Rules of the Thread
1. If you use the thread to help you get answers, do not submit those answers to the official game.
2. No googling until Sunday. No looking anything up anywhere (and posting it) before Sunday. No checking an article in a magazine you read last week. No checking some old notebook from college. No wikipedia. Not even snopes.com. No checking anything, anywhere - until Sunday. Only information that is stored in your brain, or in the brains of your non-snopester friends and family. But you can't use your family members as a work-around to looking up the information yourself.
3. If you google, don't post that information to the thread until Sunday. Not even as confirmation of the guesses of other posters. Someone else might still know the information on their own.
4. No guess is stupid, throw it out there.
5. No Hinting. If you have a guess or a reasonable belief that you have the right answer, post it. If you are attempting to use hinting as a work-around to the no posting googled answers rule, don't.

And remember, this is an exhibition, not a competition, so please... no wagering.

Happy New Year, unless you are Chinese or Jewish or whatever! I'm still a little bleary from my riotous night of playing Wii Lego Batman while blackout-drunk, so let's get straight to the questions. (Obligatory link to the scoreboard at http://ken-jennings.com/messageboard...pic.php?t=6716 .) May you all have a wonderful 2012. I hope it's healthy and fulfilling and prosperous for all and then we kill Osama Bin Laden again.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. What 1980s movie protagonist is accidentally dubbed "Pierre Cardin" in the French translation of his film debut?

2. Which calendar month is observed as Black History Month in the U.S. and Canada?

3. What has s, p, d, and f subshells?

4. What country is named for the "Lion Mountains" that Pedro de Cintra mapped around its harbor in 1462?

5. What married couple won 2011 CMT Music Awards for Male *and* Female Videos of the Year?

6. What English clergyman and economist published An Essay on the Principle of Population anonymously in 1798?

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these entertaining people? Roy Acuff, Melvin Belli, Clark Gable, Benny Goodman, Michael Jackson, Steve McQueen, Roy Rogers, Mack Sennett?

1. Marty McFly?
2. February
3. The electron cloud
4. Sierra Leone
5. Dang.
6. Malthus
7. Again, 8 people who have never been in my kitchen.

2. Which calendar month is observed as Black History Month in the U.S. and Canada?February

3. What has s, p, d, and f subshells?An atom, specifically, one high up on the periodic table or one that has been excited.

5. What married couple won 2011 CMT Music Awards for Male *and* Female Videos of the Year?Faith Hill and Mr Faith Hill

6. What English clergyman and economist published An Essay on the Principle of Population anonymously in 1798?Rev Killkenny

1. What 1980s movie protagonist is accidentally dubbed "Pierre Cardin" in the French translation of his film debut?
I'm guessing this is what Marty McFly was called rather than "Calvin Klein"
2. Which calendar month is observed as Black History Month in the U.S. and Canada?
February
3. What has s, p, d, and f subshells?
I feel like I should know this one...
4. What country is named for the "Lion Mountains" that Pedro de Cintra mapped around its harbor in 1462?
Sierra Leone?
5. What married couple won 2011 CMT Music Awards for Male *and* Female Videos of the Year?
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert?
6. What English clergyman and economist published An Essay on the Principle of Population anonymously in 1798?
John Maynard Keynes? (Was he clergy?)
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these entertaining people? Roy Acuff, Melvin Belli, Clark Gable, Benny Goodman, Michael Jackson, Steve McQueen, Roy Rogers, Mack Sennett?
Ooh - I think I got this one! Benny Goodman was the "King of Swing," Michael Jackson was the "King of Pop," Steve McQueen was the "King of Cool," Roy Rogers was the "King of the Singing Cowboys," and I'm pretty sure Roy Acuff was "King of Country" or something similar, Gable was "King of the Silver Screen" or some such, Mack Sennett was probably "King of (Silent?) Comedy" - I have no idea who Melvin Belli is, but I bet he was King of something!


Feeling pretty good about question 7 this week!

ETA: Dangit, I knew #3 - should've gone with my gut.
ETA2: Wow, off by over a century on #6. I'm embarrassed that I didn't know that.

Max Belli is one of the most important lawyers in the history of consumer rights in the US. He was known as The King Of Torts.

He brought down Dow Corning over the faulty breast implants and started the huge case against Big Tobacco.

Roger Rabbit
February
water
Sierra Leone
Tim McGraw & Faith Hill*
Malthus
They spent a lot of time in or on the courts.

ETA: I believe you mean Melvin. Unless he has a even more evil twin...

Seaboe

*actually this isn't right, but I can't remember the name of the other couple. Wow, I'm actually explaining a deliberately wrong answer.

4. What country is named for the "Lion Mountains" that Pedro de Cintra mapped around its harbor in 1462?

Sierra Leone

I think it might be Blake Sheldon and Miranda whatshername who is married to him.

You are correct about the name, but what do you mean by "even more evil"?

1. What 1980s movie protagonist is accidentally dubbed "Pierre Cardin" in the French translation of his film debut? Pete Mitchell, from Top Gun

2. Which calendar month is observed as Black History Month in the U.S. and Canada? February

3. What has s, p, d, and f subshells? A Crab

4. What country is named for the "Lion Mountains" that Pedro de Cintra mapped around its harbor in 1462? Sierra Leone (one that I know)

5. What married couple won 2011 CMT Music Awards for Male *and* Female Videos of the Year? Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (pretty confident with this one)

6. What English clergyman and economist published An Essay on the Principle of Population anonymously in 1798? Thomas Malthus (I'm pretty confident in this one. I did an essay on him in high school)

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these entertaining people? Roy Acuff, Melvin Belli, Clark Gable, Benny Goodman, Michael Jackson, Steve McQueen, Roy Rogers, Mack Sennett? They all died during a comeback.

Feeling like I got 3 of 7 this week. :)

From what I've read, while he did some good, Mr. Belli was not a nice man.

Seaboe

1. What 1980s movie protagonist is accidentally dubbed "Pierre Cardin" in the French translation of his film debut?
Marty McFly in Back to the Future (instead of Calvin Klein)

3. What has s, p, d, and f subshells? An atom.

6. What English clergyman and economist published An Essay on the Principle of Population anonymously in 1798? Thomas Malthus

1. What 1980s movie protagonist is accidentally dubbed "Pierre Cardin" in
the French translation of his film debut?
A- Someone named Peter?

2. Which calendar month is observed as Black History Month in the U.S. and Canada?
A- February

3. What has s, p, d, and f subshells?
A- Something elemental.

4. What country is named for the "Lion Mountains" that Pedro de Cintra
mapped around its harbor in 1462?
A- Sierra Leon (It helps to know Spanish)

5. What married couple won 2011 CMT Music Awards for Male *and* Female Videos of the Year?
A-Mr and Mrs Country Singer

6. What English clergyman and economist published An Essay on the Principle of Population anonymously in 1798?
A- Um, doesn't anonymous mean we don't know who did it?

Is that Baltus? ETA: After reading the other's answers, I was wrong, but not that wrong...

Marty McFly???

February

Atoms with sufficient electrons

Sierra Leone

Absolutely no idea.

I feel I should know this, but I can't come up with anything.

Roy Acuff - no idea, Melvin Belli - King of Torts, Clark Gable - King of something related to movies, Benny Goodman - King of Swing, Michael Jackson - King of Pop, Steve McQueen - King of Cool, Roy Rogers - King of the Singing Cowboys, Mack Sennett - don't know.

On an aside, I met Melvin Belli once at LAX. He was quite a pleasant fellow.

The answer to Question 7 from last week
 

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these Christmas-y songs? "The Christmas Song," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Silver Bells," "White Christmas" and, in part, "Sleigh Ride" and "Winter Wonderland"? These are all Christmas songs by Jewish composers! Gotta give the market what it wants, I guess. In the case of the last two, I was only able to confirm the Jewish-ness of one member of the two-man songwriting team.

6. What English clergyman and economist published An Essay on the Principle of Population anonymously in 1798?

I have to admit that my immediate thought was Jonathan Swift and "A Modest Proposal".

When he was a famous lawyer he guest-starred on Star Trek. Talk about evil....I recall long white robes, crooning some 'come to me, children' mantra with bad intent. Am I the only one old enough to remember that creepiness?

Boy, I remember it. I can still quote the little song the kids chanted to get him to appear:

"Hail, hail, fire and snow. Call the angel, we will go. Far away, for to see, Friendly Angel come to me."

Mac"it is amazing what the brain will store away for later recall"Lloyd

Last Week's Answers
 

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS

1. What 1980s movie protagonist is accidentally dubbed "Pierre Cardin" in the French translation of his film debut? In the original version, he's called "Calvin Klein," but changing it to a French designer makes the joke work for the American-designer-hating French. This is Back to the Future's Marty McFly.

2. Which calendar month is observed as Black History Month in the U.S. and Canada? February--the shortest, coldest month, as Chris Rock once observed.

3. What has s, p, d, and f subshells? Those are the orbitals in which electrons are arranged around the atom, in one popular model.

4. What country is named for the "Lion Mountains" that Pedro de Cintra mapped around its harbor in 1462? Pedro de Cintra was Portuguese, so I'm not sure why the country he named has the weird Spanish-Italianate name of "Sierra Leone."

5. What married couple won 2011 CMT Music Awards for Male *and* Female Videos of the Year? Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, or as country fans call the celebrity megacouple, Blakanda Lambelton.

6. What English clergyman and economist published An Essay on the Principle of Population anonymously in 1798? This is the tract in which Malthusian worries about population growth were first argued by, well, Thomas Malthus.

7. I don't have the answer to last week's question seven because I did not receive the e-mail from Mr. Jennings.

This Week's Questions
 

Per Ken Jennings' request, the trivia challenge discussed on this message board has the number seven question delayed by one week. This is to avoid easy googling of the question which is designed to foil those who would "cheat". If you know the current number seven question, please do not discuss it here.

The Rules of the Thread
1. If you use the thread to help you get answers, do not submit those answers to the official game.
2. No googling until Sunday. No looking anything up anywhere (and posting it) before Sunday. No checking an article in a magazine you read last week. No checking some old notebook from college. No wikipedia. Not even snopes.com. No checking anything, anywhere - until Sunday. Only information that is stored in your brain, or in the brains of your non-snopester friends and family. But you can't use your family members as a work-around to looking up the information yourself.
3. If you google, don't post that information to the thread until Sunday. Not even as confirmation of the guesses of other posters. Someone else might still know the information on their own.
4. No guess is stupid, throw it out there.
5. No Hinting. If you have a guess or a reasonable belief that you have the right answer, post it. If you are attempting to use hinting as a work-around to the no posting googled answers rule, don't.

And remember, this is an exhibition, not a competition, so please... no wagering.

Its Tooozday Trivia time, youse bums! Let us bring some color to your bleak post-holiday blues. Our in-house research shows that our little quiz is so diverting that it actually prevents several hundred suicides every winter. Unfortunately it causes hundreds of others (oh Question Seven!) but last time I ran the numbers we were still running a net gain, and that's what matters.

The scoreboard continues to reside at http://ken-jennings.com/messageboard...pic.php?t=6716 -- where, incidentally, Ace Grader Lilly has recently added stats on Question Seven conversion, so you can see just how easy/hard/impossible each final question was. Run, don't walk, to examine this unimportant data!!!

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. Madonna's upcoming feature-length directorial debut, W.E., is named for what famous pair of lovers?

2. A calyx made of sepals is the bottommost part of what?

3. What famed rock bassist retired in 1992 to open a chain of restaurants called Sticky Fingers Cafe?

4. In what country were boxer Manny Pacquiao and quarterback Tim Tebow both born?

5. What position have Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman, and Bruno Tonioli filled since 2005?

6. P. D. James's new murder mystery Death Comes to Pemberley is an unasked-for sequel to what classic novel?

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these TV series and mini-series? The Beverly Hillbiliies, Davy Crockett, Firefly, Gilligan's Island, Have Gun Will Travel, The Rebel.

My Guesses
 

I believe it is Wallis Simpson and King Edward the something or other.

Don't know

That would be Bill Wyman

Don't know about Tim Tebow, but Manny Pacquiao is from the Phillipines

Never heard of any of them.

Pride and Prejudice

Have to abstain. Had to see the answer to get the question this week.

MacLloyd