Ken Jennings trivia challenge

[Spam & Cookies-mmm]

4. Eisenhower
5. Switzerland?
6. Cut to the chase

ETA:
I believe Mateus is right on both 4 and 5. I forgot about that fifth star thing. Mr. Williams would be so disappointed in me.

At least I am confident that 6 is correct.

[chillas]

1. What TV show has changed settings in its second season from the "Murder House" at 939 Berro Drive in Los Angeles to an insane asylum called Briarcliff Manor?

American Horror Story.

2. In math, a "Ruth-Aaron pair" is a pair of two consecutive integers with equal sums of their prime factors. What two numbers make up the original Ruth-Aaron pair that gave the concept its name?

714 and 715.

3. In what video game franchise would you find the small family farm called Lon Lon Ranch?

Zelda.

4. Who's the only U.S. president whose military career topped out at four-star general?

I think this is Ulysses S. Grant.

5. What European Union member has more square miles of glacier than the rest of the continent put together?

Denmark?

6. What expression meaning "get to the point" originated as the filmmaking philosophy of silent movie producer Hal Roach?

Cut to the chase.

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. states and no others? Georgia, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, and South Carolina--and, unofficially, Alabama and Washington?

No idea.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Originally Posted by MacLloyd

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. What TV show has changed settings in its second season from the "Murder House" at 939 Berro Drive in Los Angeles to an insane asylum called Briarcliff Manor?

Grimm

2. In math, a "Ruth-Aaron pair" is a pair of two consecutive integers with equal sums of their prime factors. What two numbers make up the original Ruth-Aaron pair that gave the concept its name?

714 & 716

3. In what video game franchise would you find the small family farm called Lon Lon Ranch?

Sim Farming

4. Who's the only U.S. president whose military career topped out at four-star general?

Eisenhower

5. What European Union member has more square miles of glacier than the rest of the continent put together?

Greenland

6. What expression meaning "get to the point" originated as the filmmaking philosophy of silent movie producer Hal Roach?

focus

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. states and no others? Georgia, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, and South Carolina--and, unofficially, Alabama and Washington?

We have an unofficial unusual distinction? Hmmm. They're all nicknamed for trees.

Seaboe

[MacLloyd]

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS

1. What TV show has changed settings in its second season from the "Murder House" at 939 Berro Drive in Los Angeles to an insane asylum called Briarcliff Manor? This is American Horror Story, reviving the anthology TV format by switching plotlines in its second season, subtitled "Asylum."

2. In math, a "Ruth-Aaron pair" is a pair of two consecutive integers with equal sums of their prime factors. What two numbers make up the original Ruth-Aaron pair that gave the concept its name? This math concept got its name from the fact that Hank Aaron's 715th homer beat Babe Ruth's lifetime record: 714. In other words, 714 and 715 are the cancnical Ruth-Aaron pair. Reader Greg McFarlane points out that, unbelievably, Pete Rose breaking Ty Cobb career hits record also represents a Ruth-Aaron pair: 4,191 and 4,192!

3. In what video game franchise would you find the small family farm called Lon Lon Ranch? Lon Lon Ranch is a setting in many of the Legend of Zelda games.

4. Who's the only U.S. president whose military career topped out at four-star general? Eisenhower was five-star. George Washington was retroactively made some super-duper too-great-for-ANY-number-of-stars thing. So only Ulysses S. Grant retired as a four-star general.

5. What European Union member has more square miles of glacier than the rest of the continent put together? This is the appropriately named Iceland. I sort of feel bad that Norway is such a tempting answer here, but on the other hand, it's not an EU member.

6. What expression meaning "get to the point" originated as the filmmaking philosophy of silent movie producer Hal Roach? "Cut to the chase," he used to tell his editors.

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. states and no others? Geogia, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, and South Carolina--and, unofficially, Alabama and Washington? These are all the states that salute a local tree in their nicknames: the peach, the pine, the magnolia, the buckeye, and the palmetto, to be specific. Alabama and Washington both have common nicknames ("the Camellia Stae" and "the Evergreen State") that are not officially enshrined in law.

[MacLloyd]

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.

It's time once again for Tuesday Trivia. I'm on the East Coast all week recording the audio version of my next book, out in December, but even from the road I wanted to make sure you all had your weekly dose of difficult, frustrating trivia questions. With my travel schedule so crazy, I saved a little time this weekby using a Question Seven suggested by longtime Tuesday Trivia recipient Wesley Bourland. Very nice question, my man.

I think the scoreboard updates at http://ken-jennings.com/messageboard...ic.php?p=69363 have been a little tardy this week, but I'm told everything will be back on schedule shortly, if it's not already. In the meantime, please enjoy...

...THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. What kind of animal is Richard Parker, the title character's lifeboat companion in Yann Martel's book Life of Pi?

2. What band's latest release is not a third rock opera, but a trilogy of pop-punk albums called !Uno!, !Dos!, and !Tre!?

3. Which English king was described after his death as "little of stature" "crook-backed," and "deformed of body," with "one shoulder higher than the right"?

4. What gas is released by Pop Rocks as they dissolve?

5. Tenzing-Hillary Airport, recently deemed the world's most dangerous, is found in the northeast corner of what nation?

6. The stringed metal frame of a piano is sometimes called by the name of what other musical instrument?

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these consumer brands? Alfa Romeo, Best Western, Budweiser, Cadillac, Hallmark, Imperial Sugar, KLM, Rolex, Saab, Starbucks.

[MacLloyd]

1. What kind of animal is Richard Parker, the title character's lifeboat companion in Yann Martel's book Life of Pi?

A Tiger

2. What band's latest release is not a third rock opera, but a trilogy of pop-punk albums called !Uno!, !Dos!, and !Tre!?

No idea

3. Which English king was described after his death as "little of stature" "crook-backed," and "deformed of body," with "one shoulder higher than the right"?

Richard III

4. What gas is released by Pop Rocks as they dissolve?

Carbon Dioxide

5. Tenzing-Hillary Airport, recently deemed the world's most dangerous, is found in the northeast corner of what nation?

Nepal

6. The stringed metal frame of a piano is sometimes called by the name of what other musical instrument?

Harp???

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these consumer brands? Alfa Romeo, Best Western, Budweiser, Cadillac, Hallmark, Imperial Sugar, KLM, Rolex, Saab, Starbucks.

Don't know off the top of my head. Will cogitate on it.

Maclloyd

[musicgeek]

1. What kind of animal is Richard Parker, the title character's lifeboat companion in Yann Martel's book Life of Pi? WAG - A duck?

2. What band's latest release is not a third rock opera, but a trilogy of pop-punk albums called !Uno!, !Dos!, and !Tre!? Green Day?

3. Which English king was described after his death as "little of stature" "crook-backed," and "deformed of body," with "one shoulder higher than the right"? Richard III?

4. What gas is released by Pop Rocks as they dissolve? Carbon Dioxide?

5. Tenzing-Hillary Airport, recently deemed the world's most dangerous, is found in the northeast corner of what nation? Nepal?

6. The stringed metal frame of a piano is sometimes called by the name of what other musical instrument? Harp?

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these consumer brands? Alfa Romeo, Best Western, Budweiser, Cadillac, Hallmark, Imperial Sugar, KLM, Rolex, Saab, Starbucks. Logos feature a crown?

These seem... easier this week.

[Floater]

1. What kind of animal is Richard Parker, the title character's lifeboat companion in Yann Martel's book Life of Pi?

A tiger

3. Which English king was described after his death as "little of stature" "crook-backed," and "deformed of body," with "one shoulder higher than the right"?

Richard III

4. What gas is released by Pop Rocks as they dissolve?

Carbon dioxide?

5. Tenzing-Hillary Airport, recently deemed the world's most dangerous, is found in the northeast corner of what nation?

Should be Nepal

6. The stringed metal frame of a piano is sometimes called by the name of what other musical instrument?

A Harp

[Spam & Cookies-mmm]

1. Richard Parker is a tiger. IIRC, he's a beautiful and powerful Bengal tiger.
6. The harp. I've been told my piano needs a new one.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Originally Posted by MacLloyd

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. states and no others? Geogia, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, and South Carolina--and, unofficially, Alabama and Washington? These are all the states that salute a local tree in their nicknames: the peach, the pine, the magnolia, the buckeye, and the palmetto, to be specific. Alabama and Washington both have common nicknames ("the Camellia State" and "the Evergreen State") that are not officially enshrined in law.

Ha! I was so obviously right that none of you could even respond. And you know what? for once I knew I was right.

Originally Posted by MacLloyd

...THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. What kind of animal is Richard Parker, the title character's lifeboat companion in Yann Martel's book Life of Pi?

Cockroach

2. What band's latest release is not a third rock opera, but a trilogy of pop-punk albums called !Uno!, !Dos!, and !Tre!?

Los Lobos

3. Which English king was described after his death as "little of stature" "crook-backed," and "deformed of body," with "one shoulder higher than the right"?

Richard III (he may have had scoliosis)

4. What gas is released by Pop Rocks as they dissolve?

Carbon dioxide

5. Tenzing-Hillary Airport, recently deemed the world's most dangerous, is found in the northeast corner of what nation?

Nepal

6. The stringed metal frame of a piano is sometimes called by the name of what other musical instrument?

Banjo

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these consumer brands? Alfa Romeo, Best Western, Budweiser, Cadillac, Hallmark, Imperial Sugar, KLM, Rolex, Saab, Starbucks.

They all have crowns in their logos.

Seaboe

[chillas]

1. What kind of animal is Richard Parker, the title character's lifeboat companion in Yann Martel's book Life of Pi?

Tiger.

2. What band's latest release is not a third rock opera, but a trilogy of pop-punk albums called !Uno!, !Dos!, and !Tre!?

Green Day.

3. Which English king was described after his death as "little of stature" "crook-backed," and "deformed of body," with "one shoulder higher than the right"?

Richard III.

4. What gas is released by Pop Rocks as they dissolve?

Carbon Dioxide.

5. Tenzing-Hillary Airport, recently deemed the world's most dangerous, is found in the northeast corner of what nation?

Just a guess, but Hillary makes me think of Nepal, so I'll go with that.

6. The stringed metal frame of a piano is sometimes called by the name of what other musical instrument?

Harp.

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these consumer brands? Alfa Romeo, Best Western, Budweiser, Cadillac, Hallmark, Imperial Sugar, KLM, Rolex, Saab, Starbucks.

No idea off hand.

[erwins]

I agree with the answers given so far, and I concur with musicgeek's answer to 7. Specifically, I'm sure that Alfa Romeo, Best Western, Budweiser, Cadillac, KLM, Rolex, Saab, and Starbucks fit that answer (they include crowns). Which leaves Hallmark and Imperial Sugar as logos I can't picture off the top of my head.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Originally Posted by erwins

Which leaves Hallmark and Imperial Sugar as logos I can't picture off the top of my head.

Hallmark has a logo that is a golden crown.

Seaboe

[chillas]

7. Crowns! I see some others have gotten that, too. I know for sure Best Western, Budweiser, Hallmark, Imperial Sugar, Rolex and Starbucks do.

[MacLloyd]

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS

1. What kind of animal is Richard Parker, the title character's lifeboat companion in Yann Martel's book Life of Pi? He's a tiger--an obviously computer-generated tiger, if you saw the recent movie trailer.

2. What band's latest release is not a third rock opera, but a trilogy of pop-punk albums called !Uno!, !Dos!, and !Tre!? This is what Green Day is up to, if Billie Joe Armstrong ever gets out of rehab.

3. Which English king was described after his death as "little of stature" "crook-backed," and "deformed of body," with "one shoulder higher than the right"? Richard III--but apparently later writers really amped up the king's deformities as Richard's reputation suffered under Tudor rule. Still, there may be some truth to the portrayal--the possible "Richard III" remains recently dug up in Leicester seem to be of a man with serious scoliosis.

4. What gas is released by Pop Rocks as they dissolve? Carbon dioxide. Not carbon monoxide, as I accidentally told Lilly, our quiz grader. Carbon monoxide Pop Rocks would probably get pulled from store shelves pretty quickly.

5. Tenzing-Hillary Airport, recently deemed the world's most dangerous, is found in the northeast corner of what nation? Nepal, where you'd find part of the mountain famously scaled by Tenzing and Hillary: Everest. Old Tenzing must be stoked to finally have his name listed first, for a change.

6. The stringed metal frame of a piano is sometimes called by the name of what other musical instrument? That's the "harp" of the piano--because in a grand piano, it looks quite a bit like a harp, if you think about it.

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these consumer brands? Alfa Romeo, Best Western, Budweiser, Cadillac, Hallmark, Imperial Sugar, KLM, Rolex, Saab, Starbucks. All their logos feature crowns, which is why many are snobbish luxury brands like Rolex, Cadillac, and...er, Budweiser?

[MacLloyd]

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.

Tuesday Trivia ahoy! All right, you swabs: make ready to weigh anchor and plot a new course...FOR TRIVIA!

Wait, belay that. First aim your spyglass at the leaderboard at http://ken-jennings.com/messageboard...ic.php?p=69363 . All right, now you can avast all that belaying and set sail for the questions. Don't miss too many or I might have you keel-hauled! Ha ha, we sure have fun here.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. What empire had its capital at a city then called Qusqu?

2. A computer firm called Chicken Little Associates formed more than 35 years ago to predict where what 1979 event would occur?

3. What brand famously appears on the large cups that the American Idol judges drink from?

4. What word, in science, refers to a solid material's ability to be deformed by compressing it--hammering it into a thin sheet, for example?

5. Soviet basketball stars like Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis went on to more Olympic glory with what national team after the breakup of the USSR?

6. Besides "USA," what word has appeared since 2006 on all the Post Office's "non-denominated" postage stamps?

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these cities, listed in this order? Los Angeles, London, Baghdad, Mumbai, El Paso, Boston, Los Angeles.

[MacLloyd]

1. What empire had its capital at a city then called Qusqu?

The Incas

2. A computer firm called Chicken Little Associates formed more than 35 years ago to predict where what 1979 event would occur?

Where Skylab would hit earth

3. What brand famously appears on the large cups that the American Idol judges drink from?

Coca-Cola???

4. What word, in science, refers to a solid material's ability to be deformed by compressing it--hammering it into a thin sheet, for example?

Malleability (sp?)

5. Soviet basketball stars like Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis went on to more Olympic glory with what national team after the breakup of the USSR?

No idea... you know... sports questions...

6. Besides "USA," what word has appeared since 2006 on all the Post Office's "non-denominated" postage stamps?

Liberty???

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these cities, listed in this order? Los Angeles, London, Baghdad, Mumbai, El Paso, Boston, Los Angeles.

Hmm... Interesting list. Starts and ends with LA. I don't know.

MacLloyd

[Spam & Cookies-mmm]

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. Incas?
2. The crash landing of Space Lab
3. Solo?
4. Malleability
5. The Harlem Globetrotters
6. Forever

[Nick Theodorakis]

5. Soviet basketball stars like Arvydas Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis went on to more Olympic glory with what national team after the breakup of the USSR?

Guessing Lithuania, since their names "sound Lithuanian" to me.

Nick

[musicgeek]

1. What empire had its capital at a city then called Qusqu?
Incan?
2. A computer firm called Chicken Little Associates formed more than 35 years ago to predict where what 1979 event would occur?
The birth of Canuckistan?
3. What brand famously appears on the large cups that the American Idol judges drink from?
WAG - Pepsi?
4. What word, in science, refers to a solid material's ability to be deformed by compressing it--hammering it into a thin sheet, for example?
Malleability?
6. Besides "USA," what word has appeared since 2006 on all the Post Office's "non-denominated" postage stamps?
Forever?