Tag: alaska

Trivia quiz: Triangulation

12-May-09 / James Callan

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on April 7, 2009

Trivia meets wordplay. I’ll give you three definitions. You tell me what word or term all three of them could define.

Example: an after-dinner cocktail, a kosher insect, and a synonym for padawan? Grasshopper.

Got it? Here we go:

1) a kind of Republican, a presidential birthplace, and something you might put on pancakes

2) a sketchy version of the lottery, a crime drama, and a book of the bible

3) Barbie’s younger sister, an employment agency, and a shade of green

4) one of Pee-wee’s friends, a kind of chick, and what Alabama is the heart of

5) something a bird does, a Lonesome Dove character, and to name the pocket you’re shooting for

6) a Yahoo! website, a haircut, and something the Simpsons might drink

7) a boxing measurement, a measure of audience size, and a toothbrush

8) one of Beetle Bailey’s brothers in arms, a bet in roulette, and a white fudge candy bar

9) an obsolete Chrysler car, a Carpenters album, and Alaska’s sister

10) Morse code for “e”, part of a URL, and an Animaniac

ANSWERS:

Quiz: International News 2008

18-January-09 / James Callan

Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on Jan. 6, 2009
Average score: 7.24/10 (21 teams)

The first quiz of 2009 was entirely devoted to stuff that happened in 2008.

1) Come this January 20th, who’s going to be living at 10141 Daria Place, Dallas, TX?
2) As of February, whose only remaining title is First Secretary of the Communist Party of his country?
3) A factory girl working on a Chinese assembly line had her smile splashed ’round the Internet when a British man discovered 3 photos of her the first time he turned on what device?
4) Scientists at UC Berkeley announced that they’d invented what Harry Potter-esque article of clothing?
5) In February, Kosovo declared its independence from what country?
6) What country currently has troops scheduled in Abkhazia and South Ossetia?
7) When Pope Benedict XVI visited the US in April, representatives of what religion were invited for the first time to an ecumenical prayer service with the pope?
8) In March, Chloe Marshall became the first of what kind of model to make the finals to the Miss England contest?
9) China won more Gold medals than any other Asian nation at the 2008 Olympics. Which Asian nation came in second, including Golds in men’s and women’s archery, men’s taekwando, and men’s baseball?
10) In September, the view from Little Diomede island became famous because of what unusual characteristic?

Quiz: American Geography

19-November-08 / James Callan

Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on Nov. 18, 2008

1) 43 companies in the 2008 Fortune 500 are headquartered in what city, the Fortune 500 home-base champ?

2) The Sunshine Factory, the Heart of Historic Route 66, and the Town Too Tough to Die are all nicknames for cities in which state?

3) Before Obama, the president born furthest west came from Yorba Linda, California. Who was he?

4) What body of water is the largest remnant of Lake Bonneville, which once covered the area now known as the Great Basin?

5) According to the 2000 census, what is the most commonly spoken Native American language in the US?

6) If you start in Georgia and walk the entire Appalachian Trail, you’ll end up at Mt. Katahdin in what state?

7) Sugar Land and Baytown are the two smaller cities in the metropolitan area that includes what Texas city?

8) Eight of the ten largest islands in the United States are located in what state?

9) The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve is stored in underground salt caverns at four sites located in what two states? (half point each)

10) The Bible Belt is bursting with Protestants. The Rust Belt is losing jobs in the steel industry. What’s the defining characteristic of the Jell-O Belt?

Quiz: Geography

8-May-08 / James Callan

Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on May 6, 2008
Average score: 6.42/10 (12 teams)

1) Which neighborhood was known as Brooklyn at the time Seattle annexed it in 1891?
2) What’s the most populous country in the world that considers English an official language?
3) What country contains the site of the ancient city of Ur?
4) What part of Massachusetts became the 23rd state in 1820, becoming the largest in New England?
5) Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania are the three countries that border what lake?
6) What’s the most populous city in Ohio that doesn’t begin with the letter C?
7) Hillary Clinton’s strongest victory so far came when she won 69.7% of the Democratic primary vote in what state?
8) What region of South America uses the Euro as its currency?
9) O. Henry coined the phrase “banana republic” to describe what Central American country, where these days a $140 dress from Banana Republic costs 2650 lempiras?
10) There are 16 mountains in the US taller than Mt. Rainier. In what three states will you find them?

Quiz: Geography

8-August-07 / James Callan

1) There are two King Counties in the US. We’re in one of them. The other is one of the 254 counties in which state?
2) 48 US states are divided into counties. Louisiana is divided into parishes. Which state is divided into boroughs?
3) Which of these cities is closest to Tokyo, as the crow flies: San Francisco, Portland OR, Seattle, or Vancouver BC?
4) The Minoan civilization, one of the oldest in Europe, originated on which Mediterranean island?
5) What Russian city is the world’s northernmost city with a population greater than 1,000,000?
6) By population, what country is the world’s largest constitutional monarchy?
7) What island nation, conquered by the Japanese in 1942, was renamed Shonanto until the British repossessed it in 1945?
8) The Blue Nile and White Nile rivers meet to form the Nile in what country south of Egypt?
9) What city, recaptured by the Union in 1862, was the most populous in the Confederate States of America?
10) If you start in Bellevue and drive north on I-405, what’s the next city you’ll come to?

Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on August 7, 2007. Average score (out of 18 teams): 4.72 Continue reading

Quiz: It Ain’t the Olympics

30-May-07 / James Callan

1) MX is short for what sport?
2) What 2006 blockbuster kicks off with an action sequence involving parkour, the new sport also known as “free running”?
3) What sport occasionally sees faces turn into heels — or vice versa?
4) What 2005 documentary follows US and Canadian wheelchair rugby teams?
5) According to section 1, article 3 of the official rules of beep baseball, players must be what?
6) Dog sled racing is the most popular variety of Alaska’s state sport — which is what?
7) From the 1935 to 1972, the Soap Box Derby was sponsored by what American car company?
8) BASE jumping takes its name from the four categories of objects you can parachute from. Name two of the four words that make the acronym BASE.
9) If you’re playing a game and start off by throwing a jack or pallino, what game are you playing?
10) What contact sport features a period called “jam formation”?
Continue reading

Quiz: Geography

1-March-07 / James Callan

1) In 1919, Seattle’s 10th Avenue NE was given what new name?
2) When you list all 50 US state capitals in alphabetical order, which comes first?
3) According to the National Association of Home Builders, what midwest city, the largest in its state, is the most affordable major housing market in the US?
4) Luzon is the largest island in what country?
5) The Sepik River is the longest river in the world not located on a continent. What country is it in?
6) What country shares the longest border with Russia?
7) What three states have only lines of latitude and longitude for borders?
8) Which state has the greatest distance between its capital city and its largest city?
9) Which of these cities is the only one that doesn’t have a skyscraper taller than Seattle’s Columbia Center: Atlanta, Dubai, Melbourne, or Mexico City?
10) How high is Mt. Rainier, if you measure it in Space Needles? (rounded to the nearest whole Needle; within 2)