“Jeopardy! is the bane of all quiz shows,” declared Ophira Eisenberg on the fantastic NPR quiz show Ask Me Another. Why? Because its schtick infects contestants on other shows, who sometimes give answers in the form of a question. (If…
Brand-new thing for November 2013: A Question a Day via email. Every weekday, I’ll send you one trivia question. Don’t worry, you get the answer, too — but in the next email, along with a brand new question. It’s a…
This week’s theme: Knitting. Name the movie: In the final scene, a mother of two reveals that she’s pregnant again when she unveils a hand-knit, three-legged baby outfit. Show ▼ The Addams Family And in the next movie: Pubert! Who…
Tricoteuses were women who would sit and knit while sitting near what macabre machine?
What nonprofit organization recently sent a cease-and-desist notice to Ravelry.com when they noticed that the site’s annual competition included events like the “afghan marathon”?
This week’s theme: Hearts. What literary transplant recipient made a full recovery after receiving a donor heart “made entirely of silk and stuffed with sawdust”? Show ▼ The Tin Woodman, in L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In…
This week’s theme: Hearts. Which Nirvana song inspired the name of Joe Hill’s debut novel, in which a rock star buys a haunted suit that comes in an unusual package? Show ▼ “Heart-Shaped Box.”
This week’s theme: Hearts. According to the first line of his untitled poem, where did Stephen Crane come across a “naked, bestial” creature eating its own heart? And how did it taste? Show ▼ This all happened in the desert. And the…
This week’s theme: Hearts. In what early ’90s sitcom did Markie Post and John Ritter fall in love in D.C., get married, and move to a small southern town in the second season? Show ▼ Hearts Afire
Eulogy for a Quiz Night: Thoughts on the end of trivia at the Old Pequliar
“Question one: What’s the longest river in Japan?” It was May 23, 2006, when I looked out on a bar mostly full of strangers and asked them all that question. And then I repeated it, because that’s what quizmasters do….