I’ve been intending to do this for a while. Sign up for his Tuesday Trivia list (left column, under the Brainiac ad) and Ken Jennings sends out 7 trivia questions every week — usually late Monday evening, ironically enough, but maybe he’s operating on Eastern time even though he lives near Seattle.

I read the quiz every week. Jennings, unsurprisingly, writes good questions. I do not participate in the quiz every week, in the sense of actually sending back an email with my guesses.

Why? Because I’ll blow the curve. Downward.

But why not humiliate myself in public when I’m unwilling to do so in private? Someone might be amused. At the very least, people will quickly realize that just because I’m good at writing trivia questions doesn’t mean I’m good at answering them.

So here’s Tuesday Trivia LII. Jennings wrote the questions, I’m supplying the answers. I’m not googling, consulting other reference works, or otherwise trying to get answers from anywhere other than my brain.

1. What award-winning 1975 novel begins with a quote from Scott Joplin: “Do not play this piece too fast”?
I strongly suspect E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime.

2. The celiac ganglia is the center of what nerve cluster between your stomach and diaphragm?
Um…vagal? Note to self: when you’re done reading the atlas, read Grey’s Anatomy.

3. What TV show has produced episodes called “…And Found” and “…In Translation”?
Lost is the only show that makes sense, though I like the idea of “Veronica Mars In Translation.”

4. What product sponsors the annual award to baseball’s best relief pitcher?
Aagh! A sports question. Seth would know. My guess: Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. [ETA: Seth did know. And it ain’t cornflakes.]

5. What are the only two neighboring European nations whose names start with the same letter?
This is a great question. I may steal it for the pub. Off the top of my head: Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. (Oooh, that’s wrong. Yes, I wikied. But I’m being forthright.)

Second guess: Romania and Russia. Also wrong! I know it’s not Finland and France… Oh, I figured out the answer. With a map. Suffice to say, I wouldn’t have gotten this correct in a pub without some help from my teammates.

6. How many enemy planes must a pilot shoot down to be called an ace?
Guess: 20.

7. What unusual distinction is shared by these famous people? Lauren Ambrose, Erskine Caldwell, Werner Herzog, Jessica Lange, Paul McCartney, Arthur Miller, Georgia O’Keeffe, Kurt Vonnegut
I’ll get back to you.

So far, if I’m lucky: 3 for 7. Very possibly 2 for 7. Yeeks.