Category Archives: Tough questions

John Dicker of Geeks Who Drink was kind enough to provide me with a few rounds from the quiz so you nerds can test your mettle on the Geek Bowl in Denver. Answers are below.

Round One: On the Street Where We Quiz: a Colfax round on Cold Facts

1. Anthony Minghella directed it, Renee Zellweger starred in it and Charles Frazier wrote the novel. What’s the title?
2. Need the first and last name of the character responsible for the following quote: “Fact, bears eat beets. Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.”
3. The lowest recorded temperature in history: Was it closer to the North Pole or the South Pole?
4. Leonard Snart, aka Captain Cold, is a member of what superhero’s rogues’ gallery?
5. The murder at the center of In Cold Blood occurred in the home state of Melissa Etheridge and Kirstie Alley. Name the state.
6. Colfax Avenue takes its name from Schuyler Colfax, the 17th vice president of the United States. The president he served under has been portrayed by Kevin Kline & Aidan Quinn. Who is it?
7. Charlotte Rae played Edna Garrett in another show before The Facts of Life. Name the show.
8. Spelling counts: What is fax, as in fax machine, short for?

Round Two: A round on Pop, Culture

1. In e-mail terminology, what does POP stand for?
2. What is the name of the nation’s oldest youth football and cheerleading organization?
3. Ironically enough, the expression “When I hear the word ‘culture,’ I reach for my gun” has its origins in a play script. Is it from Nazi Germany or Revolution-era Cuba?
4. Stonyfield Farm yogurt originated in which state, whose sole area code is 603?
5. What Spanish-created lollipop gets its name for the Spanish word for “suck”?
6. Fill in the blank: In 1979, Christopher Lasch published The Culture of BLANK: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations.
7. In 2001, the US military airdropped 2.4 million of what Kellogg product on Afghanistan?
8. What sugar-related polymer is used as a growth medium for a bacterial culture?

Round Three: Random Knowledge

1. According to the most recently published censuses, what is the 2nd-most-populous CITY in the world’s 2nd-most-populous country AND what is the 3rd-most-populous CITY in the world’s 3rd-most-populous country?
2. Toy Story 3:  Jodi Benson played Barbie, some 20 years after getting her start in what other animated Disney film?  Which deceased cast member from the first two films was replaced by his friend Blake Clark for the third?
3. Name Nick Hornby’s first published novel and Kurt Vonnegut’s last published novel?
4. On which two islands would you find wild orangutans?
5. I’ll name a spot in a battlefield from a US military conflict, you name the battle:  Hornet’s Nest; Elsenburg Ridge.
6. I’ll name a trophy, you give the FIRST name of its namesake: Heisman Trophy. Stanley Cup.
7. I’ll name an IPA you name its brewer: Raging Bitch, Long Hammer.
8. What city is the most recent season of Top Chef in? AND: name the author of Tender at The Bone who was Gourmet magazine’s final editor.

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Here’s a fun little True/False Christmas Quiz you should get a kick out of.

Here’s a fun Thanksgiving food round quiz you can share with the fam over dinner tomorrow. All of the answers are Thanksgiving foods.

1. In bowling, how many straight strikes is called a turkey?
2. This was introduced by General Foods in 1972, after being developed by a research team of Nobel Prize winning scientists. I need a brand name in the answer.
3. Whose debut album was called “Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?”
4. The makers of this brand of corn syrup are credited with popularizing pecan pie.
5. This Ben and Jerry’s flavor is named after a hippie who was the official clown of the Grateful Dead.
6. What dance move was popularized by Philadelphian Dee Dee Sharp in 1962?
7. What is a favorite drink of the students at Hogwort’s school of Witches and Wizards?
8. What type of soup should be used in a green bean casserole?
9. In the North, people often use white bread in their stuffing. What type of bread do they typically use in the South?
10. What song did Domino have a hit with in 1994? Continue reading →

1. In what book and movie would you find a magazine editor named Miranda Priestley?
2. This author was working on his masterpiece called Weir of Hermiston when he died of a cerebral hemmorhage in 1894.
3. Crop rotation farmers often alternate their grains with soybeans to help fix what element in the soil?
4. This pessimistic German philosopher, born in 1788, believed that humans were motivated only by their will to live, and that the human will was inherently evil.
5. Who retired in 2004, 18 months after telling George Bush that WMDs in Iraq was a slam dunk.
6. This 1994 film starred Bruce Willis, Dan Akroyd, and Reba McIntyre, but is most famous for Ebert review of it, which read, “I hated this movie. Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience insulting moment of it.”
7. Peyton Hillis is on track to rush for 1,000 yards this season. The last white running back to rush for 1,000 yards in a season did so in 1985. Who was he?
8. An oenophile is a lover of what?
9. From 1945 to 1998, this country had two presidents, Sukarno and Suharto.
10. Fawn Hall was this man’s secretary.

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Here it is, the Brady Bunch Round we did this past Thursday. Click “More” below to see the answers. For more JGT Trivia, click here.

1. In the opening of the Brady Bunch, who was in the middle square?
2. Who played Jan?
3. How many seasons did the Brady Bunch run?
4. Most people think the show jumped the shark when this 9 year old cousin was introduced.
5. What NFL quarterback once visited the Brady home?
6. What singing legend was heard when the family visited Hawaii in Season 4?
7. What disastrous spin off show aired for a season in 1981?
8. Who played Carol in the Brady Bunch movie in 1995?
9. What did Mike do for a living?
10. This horror legend also appeared on the show when the Bradies went to Hawaii.

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Here is the round I did this week on the Golden Girls, to honor their debut 25 years ago this week.

1. In what city did Golden Girls take place?
2. What was the first name of Dorothy’s ex-husband on the show?
3. What was the name of the spin off show that ran for one season in the early 90s.
4. What nickname did Sophia have for Dorothy?
5. Now a leading man in Hollywood, at age 26 he played a cop who saves the day in an episode of the Golden Girls.
6. Before he became a famous writer and director, he appeared as an Elvis impersonator on the Golden Girls.
7. Strangely, Estelle Getty starred as Sophia in an episode of this popular TV show about a family called the Russos.
8. On what Vicki Lawrence show did Rue McLanahan star in from 1983-1984 before starring on the Golden Girls?
9. In one of the shows more famous episodes, three of the Golden Girls go to the pharmacy to purchase not enema bags or denture grip, but _________, Rose, ________!
10. What was the name of the nursing home where Sophia lived?
11. (Bonus question!) What was the town and state where Rose was born?

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Here’s the wild card round from Friday night’s event at the Franklin.

1. Liz Taylor has been married to 7 different men. One point apiece: Name them.
2. Liz Taylor and Richard Burton also both starred in this 1966 film, based on the 1962 Edward Albee play.
3. Joseph Mankiewicz directed Cleopatra. He also directed this 1950 film, which starred Bette Davis and George Sanders and won for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor.
4. Rex Harrison stars as Julius Caesar. 4 years later, he starred in this comedy, which was redone in 1998 with Eddie Murphy as the star.
5. Pamela Brown played the High Priestess in Cleopatra. Three years later, she reprised her role in this musical comedy.
6. Hume Cronyn, who played Sosigenes, later appeared as Justice Rosenberg in this 1993 film that starred Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington.
7. Cesare Danova played Apollodorus. In 1978, he played Mayor Carmine DePasto, memorably uttering the lines, “Look these parades you throw are very expensive. So if you mention extortion again, I’ll have your legs broken.”
8. This actor, who played Rufio, is still making movies. In 1993 he played Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood, and in ’96 he played Geppetto in the adventures of Pinocchio.
9. Roddy McDowell played Octavius. He later starred in this 1972 classic that featured Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine.
10. Carol O’Connor had a bit part as Casca. He is of course better known for playing what television icon a decade later?

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Did this one a few weeks ago. Let’s see if you can figure out what the theme is to the answers of the following 9 answers. (For more tough questions, click here.)

1. This musical duo got divorced in 2000 but have continued to rock together since.
2. Mick Jagger had four kids with this woman, his girlfriend for 22 years.
3. This Beatles album was released in 1966 and included the songs Eleanor Rigby, the Taxman, and Good Day Sunshine.
4. The RT French company unveiled this, their most famous product, at the 1904 World’s Fair.
5. What Bryan Adams song begins, “Driving home this evening, I coulda sworn we had it all worked out.”
6. 11 year olds learned how to merengue and tango in this 2005 documentary.
7. What is the name of the stadium the 49ers play their home games in?
8. Sherlock Holmes first appeared in this alliterative 1887 novel.
9. Fill in the blank on the Arcade Fire hit: My ________ is a Cage.
10. What do the answers to numbers 1-9 have in common?

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Answers are after the jump.

1. Before WW2, what flavored filling did Twinkies have?
2. What sea does the Danube River flow into?
3. What’s the name of the acid in vinegar?
4. The Sixers have had the #1 pick twice. Who did they pick those two times?
5. What organ in the body destroys old red blood cells?
6. Where does Spongebob work?
7. What beer did ET drink?
8. What two word question is the opening line of Hamlet?
9. What beautiful creatures are lepidopterists big fans of?
10. We call this animal by it’s dutch name, but if you translated it into English, it would be Earth Pig.

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Here it is, last week’s Mystery Round. At least one word in the first 9 answers has something in common with all of the other answers. See if you can figure out what it is. Answers are after the jump. (If you like the quiz and want to stump your friends, hit the facebook like button below. To take more JGT quizzes, click here.)

1. What street was made famous by Sherlock Holmes?
2. Now the 3rd largest pizza chain in the US, it was founded by a 22 year old in 1984.
3. What was the last name of the guy who gave us Deep Thoughts on Saturday Night Live?
4. It’s a word that could be used to describe Bob Ross, and also the last name of the Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback.
5. Demi Moore posed pregnant and naked on the cover of this magazine, edited by Graydon Carter, in 1991.
6. In what country will you find Walloons and Flanders?
7. Fill in the blank on the Vanilla Ice lyric: “Take heed, cause I’m a lyrical _______.”
8. It was the nickname of a 1930s gangster and a 1980s R&B singer whose real name was Kenneth Edmonds.
9. It’s the name of a brand of skateboard trucks and a small SUV made by Geo and later Chevy.
10. What do the answers to number 1-9 have in common?

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We had a lot of fun with this wild card round this past week. Special shout out to Denver Dicker for giving me this idea (and a few of the questions). I give you the year a show debuted and description not of the show but of the show’s title. For example if I said “1978-An explosive expose of the private life of Philly’s favorite quizmaster” you would answer “Good Times” (since that’s the show that came out in 1978.) Got it? Good. Here ya go. Answers after the jump.

1. 1978-Two rival artist debate proper painting techniques.
2. 1957- Anthropomorphized forest animals party all day and night, letting a lone freshwater mammal do all their work.
3. 1982- A loving couple tries to balance parenthodd with their succesful neckwear business.
4. 1985- A hospital show about patients with rapidly expanding malignant tumors.
5. 1988- (Hint: it debuted on the BBC) A mockumentary following a midget during his work at a Soviet Gulag.
6. 1998- This show follows the unlikely pairing of Oklahoma’s favorite son and the Princess of Monaco.
7. 1984- A man starts up a neighborhood basketball league that plays all of its games after the sun goes down.
8. 2005- A community tries to deal with the death of a local wide receiver who made the winning TD in the homecoming game but was killed by a vicious tackle at the goal line.
9. 2003- Two men are haunted by the specter of their long lost buddy, who was sawed in two in a tragic mill accident.
10. 1968-A couple decides to spend their golden anniversary in the town of Hilo.

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1. Five masterpieces were stolen from a French art museum today. One of them was Le pigeon aux petit pois or Dove with the Green Peas, which was painted n 1911 by whom?
2. The first modern King of Greece shares the same first name as a character on the Simpsons. What is it?
3. There are two predominately Roman Catholic countries in Asia. One is rather large and one is tiny. The tiny one finally gained it’s independence from Indonesia in 2002. What are they?
4. Who played Sally’s Best friend in When Harry Met Sally?
5. This expensive cut of steak, when including the bone, is known as a cowboy variety.
6. What popular girls name is also the name of a female donkey?
7. A male mallard has the same name as a rapper. What is it?
8. Niacin is also known as B what?
9. Anne Boleyn was beheaded on this date in 1540. Which of Henry VIIIs other wives was also beheaded?
10. This eccentric singer and actress was friends with Andy Warhol and released the album Slave to the Rhythm in 1985.

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1. The man who orchestrated the break in of Watergate actually appeared on two episodes of Miami Vice as a man named Captain Real Estate.
2. When Blender magazine named this 1985 hit the worst song ever, editor Craig Marks said, “It purports to be anti-commerical but reeks of 80’s corporate rock commercialism. It’s a rea reflection of what practically killed rock music in the 80s.”
3. What sports venue did Sun Myung Moon famously choose to marry 4000 of his followers in 1982?
4. Shylocks daughter’s name in the Merchant of Venice was the #1 name for American girls born in the 1980s. What was it?
5. A leak from a pesticide company killed thousands of people in Bhopal India in 1984. What chemical company ran the plant?
6. Sonny Crockett’s alligator had the same name as a famous singer and entertainer. What was it?
7. What 1988 James Michener epic had chapters titled Gold, Salmon, and Ring of Fire?
8. The player who had the most hits during the 1980s played his entire career for the same team, won MVPs at SS and Centerfield, and was elected to the HOF in 1999.
9. What beloved 80s movie character had a wizard companion named Akiro?
10. The Russian word for rebuilding, Gorbachev first used it in the mid 1980s.

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Here’s some of the toughest questions from last week. Answers are after the jump. (For more tough questions, click here.)

1. Born in 1892, she was known as America’s Sweetheart, which was sort of ironic, since she was born in Canada. Who is she?
2. Lawyer Oscar Zeta Acosta, who would have turned 75 this month, is best known for his friendship with what author?
3. In Hawaii, a’a and pahoehoe are both types of what?
4. Whose first novel was the Pickwick Papers?
5. In the 1980s, this artist became the first and thus far only artist to score a Number one hit in the United States with a German language song. Who was he?
6. What cosmetic company makes Frost Lipstick in O?
7. What was Alf’s real name?
8. A group of apes is known as a a) shrewdness b) sounder c) herd d) pack
9. This man claimed to reach the North Pole with Matthew Henson on this date in 1909, and is widely credited w/ being the first there, though many modern scholars doubt that he made it to the true North Pole.
10. What god awful movie starring Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston is about a pitcher who thinks about his girlfriend while he pitches a perfect game?

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