Ken Jennings trivia challenge

[Floater]

Originally Posted by Don Enrico

Is there an airline using a crow as it's symbol?

I have no idea, but the shortest route between two points is "as the crow flies".

Originally Posted by kitap

They've all had a character named Sam? There's Sam the American eagle and Toucan Sam.

They have all been used in Guinness ads?

[MacLloyd]

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS

1. In the last year, Lady Gaga and Beyonce have collaborated on two hits both named for what kind of device? "Telephone" and "Video Phone" are two songs that are both about telephones. "Smooth Operator" and Lionel Richie's "Hello" are two songs that are NOT about telephones.

2. Scientists recently discovered that the human lungs are home to one of the five types of what structure, found in great numbers (as many as ten thousand) elsewhere in the body? Your lungs have tastebuds in them! Just the bitterness-tasting kind, for some reason.

3. "Dirty Harry" Callahan is a cop in what city's police department? San Francisco, as you might remember from watching Zodiac if you're too young to remember the Dirty Harry movies.

4. What's the maximum number of sharp (or flat) symbols that can make up a key signature in music? Seven sharps (C#) and seven flats (Cb) are possible, though they're not used much, since there are similar enharmonic ways to represent hte same key.

5. Jammu is the southwesternnmost part of what disputed region? The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir comprises much of the Kashmiri territory disputed with Pakistan.

6. What former British prime minister headed his family's namesake publishing house in the 1970s, after he left office? The venerable Macmillan Publishers was founded by the same family that later produced British PM Harold Macmillan. I think they also had something to do with the TV series McMillan & Wife.

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these birds, and no others? Bird of paradise, crane, crow, dove, eagle, peafowl, swan, and toucan. They'are all found in the night sky: these are the only birds that are also constellations. (Well, real-life birds. There's a phoenix up there as well.)

[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.

We hope you enjoy this week's installment of Tuesday Trivia from Ken-Jennings.com. If not, please return the unused portion for a full refund.

(Also, check out our scoreboard at http://ken-jennings.com/messageboard...ic.php?p=60578 . That is all.)

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. What TV series has featured eight regular characters named Thomas, including James Frain as Thomas Cromwell, Sam Neill as Thomas Wolsey, and Hans Matheson as Thomas Cranmer?

2. What kind of consumer product was long made from the "Manilkara chicle" tree of Central America?

3. What 2010 film was based on the best-selling book Between a Rock and a Hard Place?

4. What European country has a higher population density by far than any other nation on earth?

5. What controversial 1988 novel is named for an alleged text allowing prayers to be offered to three pagan goddesses: Allat, Uzza, and Manat?

6. What are Zener cards used to test for?

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these TV series? Desperate Housewives, I Dream of Jeannie, Monty Python's Flying Circus, My Three Sons, The Nanny, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, The Partridge Family, The Rosie O'Donnell Show.

[MacLloyd]

1. What TV series has featured eight regular characters named Thomas, including James Frain as Thomas Cromwell, Sam Neill as Thomas Wolsey, and Hans Matheson as Thomas Cranmer?

It would have to be "The Tudors"

2. What kind of consumer product was long made from the "Manilkara chicle" tree of Central America?

Uhh... chewing gum????

3. What 2010 film was based on the best-selling book Between a Rock and a Hard Place?

127 Hours

4. What European country has a higher population density by far than any other nation on earth?

I wouldn't have thought any European country would have the highest population density.

5. What controversial 1988 novel is named for an alleged text allowing prayers to be offered to three pagan goddesses: Allat, Uzza, and Manat?

The Satanic Verses

6. What are Zener cards used to test for?

Extra-Sensory Perception

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these TV series? Desperate Housewives, I Dream of Jeannie, Monty Python's Flying Circus, My Three Sons, The Nanny, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, The Partridge Family, The Rosie O'Donnell Show.

I don't know about The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency as I have never seen a single episode, but all the others have animated title sequences. Yes I have spent too much time watching bad television (Monty Python excepted!)

Mac"good week for me"Lloyd

[Simply Madeline]

1. What TV series has featured eight regular characters named Thomas, including James Frain as Thomas Cromwell, Sam Neill as Thomas Wolsey, and Hans Matheson as Thomas Cranmer?
um, Henry VIII and Friends?

2. What kind of consumer product was long made from the "Manilkara chicle" tree of Central America?
Chewing Gum


3. What 2010 film was based on the best-selling book Between a Rock and a Hard Place?
The one about the guy who cut off his arm, don't remember the name of the movie.

4. What European country has a higher population density by far than any other nation on earth?
Monaco

5. What controversial 1988 novel is named for an alleged text allowing prayers to be offered to three pagan goddesses: Allat, Uzza, and Manat?
The Satanic Verses


6. What are Zener cards used to test for?
ESP

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these TV series? Desperate Housewives, I Dream of Jeannie, Monty Python's Flying Circus, My Three Sons, The Nanny, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, The Partridge Family, The Rosie O'Donnell Show.
Widows or widowers?

[Floater]

4. What European country has a higher population density by far than any other nation on earth?

Monaco

5. What controversial 1988 novel is named for an alleged text allowing prayers to be offered to three pagan goddesses: Allat, Uzza, and Manat?

The Satanic Verses?

6. What are Zener cards used to test for?

Telepathy

[damian]

1. The Tudors
2. Chewing Gum
4. Monaco or Vatican City

Not a good week.

[Don Enrico]

I have only one answer this time:

4. What European country has a higher population density by far than any other nation on earth?

That has to be Vatican City.

[Just Jocko]

MacLloyd, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency does indeed fit in with your answer. I think you might be right on this.

Madeline, you might be right, but there are plenty of other shows that also have widows/widowers that weren't listed, it's not that uncommon a device actually. For example: Nanny and the Professor, The Courtship of Eddies Father, Eight is Enough, Brady Bunch, every single soap opera (daytime and prime time), etc.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Originally Posted by MacLloyd

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. What TV series has featured eight regular characters named Thomas, including James Frain as Thomas Cromwell, Sam Neill as Thomas Wolsey, and Hans Matheson as Thomas Cranmer?

Coronation Street

2. What kind of consumer product was long made from the "Manilkara chicle" tree of Central America?

Gee, Chiclets maybe (i.e., chewing gum)?

3. What 2010 film was based on the best-selling book Between a Rock and a Hard Place?

127 hours (hey, a movie question I know about a movie I'm not about to see)

4. What European country has a higher population density by far than any other nation on earth?

Belgium

5. What controversial 1988 novel is named for an alleged text allowing prayers to be offered to three pagan goddesses: Allat, Uzza, and Manat?

The Satanic Verses.

6. What are Zener cards used to test for?

color blindness

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these TV series? Desperate Housewives, I Dream of Jeannie, Monty Python's Flying Circus, My Three Sons, The Nanny, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, The Partridge Family, The Rosie O'Donnell Show.

What an interesting list. They didn't all have hit songs (although both Partridge and Monty did [for certain definitions of 'hit']). They didn't have more than one actor play a certain character (although Partridge family did; 3 Sons had shifts in characters to accomodate the departure of actors). Jeannie couldn't show her belly button, whereas in Housewives, belly buttons are unselfconsciously on display. No.1 was based on a hit series of books. Hmmm.

Seaboe

[damian]

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these TV series? Desperate Housewives, I Dream of Jeannie, Monty Python's Flying Circus, My Three Sons, The Nanny, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, The Partridge Family, The Rosie O'Donnell Show.

I don't know all of these shows, but I do know that The Partridge Family, I Dream of Jeannie, Monty Python, The Nanny and My 3 Sons all have cartoons during the opening credits.

[Hero_Mike]

For question 7, My Three Sons gave it away as I think it was one of the first (if not the first) show to fit this category.

For last week, curiosity got the better of me and I had to look it up, but I was going in a completely different direction - thinking that maybe those birds were somehow mentioned in The Bible, but the toucan ruined that idea. Oh well.

[MacLloyd]

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS

1. What TV series has featured eight regular characters named Thomas, including James Frain as Thomas Cromwell, Sam Neill as Thomas Wolsey, and Hans Matheson as Thomas Cranmer? If you're like me, you might remember some of these names from a ninth-grade Western Civ class. If you're not like me and get Showtime, you might remember them from various seasons of The Tudors.

2. What kind of consumer product was long made from the "Manilkara chicle" tree of Central America? Chicle is the (now-replaced-by-synethics) stuff that makes chewing gum chewy.

3. What 2010 film was based on the best-selling book Between a Rock and a Hard Place? It's one of those VERY LITERAL titles: this was Aron Ralston's book about being trapped under a boulder while hiking in Canyonlands National Park, and the subsequent James Franco movie is called 127 Hours.

4. What European country has a higher population density by far than any other nation on earth? Tiny Monacs is more than twice as dense as runner-up Singapore, with a whopping 43,000 people per square mile. (The Vatican was a good guess, but not many of its denizens live on-site apparently. It's dense, but like a tenth as dense as Monaco.)

5. What controversial 1988 novel is named for an alleged text allowing prayers to be offered to three pagan goddesses: Allat, Uzza, and Manat? Those are the so-called "satanic verses" that, in some legends, the devil tempted Muhammad to include in the Qur'an. (plz no Tuesday Trivia fatwa thx!)

6. What are Zener cards used to test for? ESP or telepathy. These are those cards you see at the beginning of Ghostbusters, with the circle, wavy lines, etc.

7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these TV series? Desperate Housewives, I Dream of Jeannie, Monty Python's Flying Circus, My Three Sons, The Nanny, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, The Partridge Family, The Rosie O'Donnell Show. They all have animated title sequences. I'd like to see that Partridge Family peacock hanging out with the animated Barbara Eden, Rosie O'Donnell, and Fran Drescher from their respective shows. Especially if they then all got stomped on by a big Terry Gilliam foot.

[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.

Welcome back to Tuesday Trivia, where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came.

This week's quiz begins a new ten-week challenge, the winner of which will receive a book signed by me, That One Guy From Jeopardy (as I am credited on the book covers of my entire oeuvre). Congrats to last week's winner, Keith Moser, who broke a late tie with an amazing final push. If you know some answers this week, why not send them in to the email address below and watch for your name on our scoreboard at http://ken-jennings.com/messageboards/viewforum.php?f=3 ? This holiday season, wouldn't you like to tell your proud friends and family members that you might be the next "Keith Moser"? You know you would.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. The late scientist Rosalind Franklin has sometimes been called the "Dark Lady of" what molecule?

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?

3. America's most visited national park is named for what mountain range?

4. What famed political dynasty is currently led by the former Sonia Maino of Lusiana, Italy?

5. The top four most highly-paid players in major league baseball today all play for what team?

6. In what country did the popular melted-cheese dishes of fondue and raclette originate?

7. What unusual distinction do these famous people have in common? Salmon Chase, Terry Chimes, Bob Cousy, Barry Gibb, Dick LeBeau, Michael Palin.

[MacLloyd]

1. The late scientist Rosalind Franklin has sometimes been called the "Dark Lady of" what molecule?

DNA

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?

WAG - Mariah Carey???

3. America's most visited national park is named for what mountain range?

The only national park I can think of that is named for mountains is the Great Smokey Mountain national park, so that would be my guess (I have no idea if it is the most visited, I would have thought Yellowstone!)

4. What famed political dynasty is currently led by the former Sonia Maino of Lusiana, Italy?

I believe I read about Sonia Ghandi.

5. The top four most highly-paid players in major league baseball today all play for what team?

The Yankees???

6. In what country did the popular melted-cheese dishes of fondue and raclette originate?

Switzerland

7. What unusual distinction do these famous people have in common? Salmon Chase, Terry Chimes, Bob Cousy, Barry Gibb, Dick LeBeau, Michael Palin.

After nailing last weeks Q7, I am completely stymied on this one. I have never heard of most of them and for the life of me I can't think of what Salmon Chase, Barry Gibb and Michael Palin have in common!

MacLloyd

[Don Enrico]

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?

"Billboard #1 single", "the 1990s" and "was" - that can only be the late Michael Jackson.

6. In what country did the popular melted-cheese dishes of fondue and raclette originate?

Switzerland, of course.

[Just Jocko]

Macloyd, if you're right about #4 (and I think you are), then the political dynasty, which she married into, is the Nehrus, not the Gandhis.

And as for #7, they are such a diverse group, I have no idea what they could have in common. It must be something personal, not political or work-related. Both Gibb and Palin have received the CBE, but I dont' think the others have.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Originally Posted by MacLloyd

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS

1. The late scientist Rosalind Franklin has sometimes been called the "Dark Lady of" what molecule?

Water.

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?

Christina Aguilara (however you spell that).

3. America's most visited national park is named for what mountain range?

Smokeys (or is it Smokies?)

4. What famed political dynasty is currently led by the former Sonia Maino of Lusiana, Italy?

DiMedicis

5. The top four most highly-paid players in major league baseball today all play for what team?

Rangers

6. In what country did the popular melted-cheese dishes of fondue and raclette originate?

Belgium (it'll be the right answer, some day)

7. What unusual distinction do these famous people have in common? Salmon Chase, Terry Chimes, Bob Cousy, Barry Gibb, Dick LeBeau, Michael Palin.

Well, Mr. Chase is on some money, here in the US, Barry Gibb was the oldest BeeGee (still is, for that matter) and Michael Palin has traveled from Pole to Pole. Don't know the other guys (and I note with a frown that they are all guys).

Seaboe

[Mateus]

1. The late scientist Rosalind Franklin has sometimes been called the "Dark Lady of" what molecule?
DNA

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?

3. America's most visited national park is named for what mountain range?
Great Smoky Mountain

4. What famed political dynasty is currently led by the former Sonia Maino of Lusiana, Italy?
The Borgia family

5. The top four most highly-paid players in major league baseball today all play for what team?
Obviously the Yankees

6. In what country did the popular melted-cheese dishes of fondue and raclette originate?
France?

7. What unusual distinction do these famous people have in common? Salmon Chase, Terry Chimes, Bob Cousy, Barry Gibb, Dick LeBeau, Michael Palin.
All Secretaries of the Treasury

[Dr. Winston O'Boogie]

Not gonna bother with answers that others have already, but I have one fresh idea....

Originally Posted by MacLloyd

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?

Garth Brooks? (no one said it was a #1 single on the pop charts....)