mighty fine trivia by James Callan

Tag: common threads (Page 1 of 5)

Quiz: Movies

Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on Nov. 18, 2008
Average score: 4.2/10 (15 teams) — a little more difficult than I’d like

1) Stephen King wrote the miniseries Rose Red after he left working on what similar 1999 horror film based on a novel by Shirley Jackson?

2) What 2006 Robert Altman comedy is set at a farewell performance at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota?

3) John Grisham’s favorite adaptation from any of his novels is what 1997 Francis Ford Coppola film co-starring Danny DeVito?

4) What Rob Reiner movie dramatizes the 1994 trial of Byron de la Beckwith, the white supremacist accused of assassinating Medgar Evars in 1963?

5) According to the poster, what 1995 horror film that spawned four sequels features “an evil born in heaven … about to be unleashed on earth”?

6) Alan Smithee and Judas Booth are credited with directing and writing a longer cut of what David Lynch film, which he turned down Return of the Jedi to film?

7) Until this year’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, what 2006 thriller, set in Seattle, was the last Harrison Ford film in theaters ?

8) Mr. Skin’s favorite movie for seeing Jennifer Connelly naked (butt and breasts!) is what 1990 neo-noir directed by Dennis Hopper?

9) What 1992 horror film, inspired by the legend of Mary Worth, spawned two sequels, subtitled Farewell to the Flesh and Day of the Dead?

10) What actor or actress appears in all nine of these movies?

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Puzzler: What do these presidents have in common?

These twelve US presidents have something in common. This is a complete list — they’re the only presidents that qualify for this list. What unites them?

John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Grover Cleveland
Ulysses S. Grant
Andrew Jackson
Lyndon Johnson
John F. Kennedy
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Harry S Truman
George Washington
Woodrow Wilson

Hints will be forthcoming if necessary.

HINT #1 (Nov. 6, 2008): Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to qualify for this list.

HINT #2 (Nov. 8, 2008): Bill Clinton had a chance to put himself on the list, but it didn’t work out.

Quiz: Movies

Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on Sept. 2, 2008
Average score: 6.27/10 (11 teams)

1) What 1997 biography substitutes John Stamos for Luke Perry, and almost starred Jeff Goldblum until the subject decided to play himself?
2) Before directing episodes of Sex and the City, Six Feet Under, and Gilmore Girls, Nicole Holofcener wrote and directed what 1996 film, her first with Catherine Keener?
3) A pilot and a magazine editor fall in love while evading pirates in what 1998 adventure-slash-romantic comedy?
4) Katie Holmes’ film debut came in what 1997 drama, which featured the tagline “It was 1973, and the climate was changing”?
5) What Oscar-winning 1999 drama, originally written as a play by Alan Ball, shares its name with a Grateful Dead album and a variety of rose?
6) When she witnesses her husband being scalped, Renee Zellweger flees from Kansas to Hollywood in what dark 2000 comedy?
7) What 1999 romantic comedy riffs on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, setting the action in Padua high school?
8) Elaine May was nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for what 1998 film, an adaptation of a novel originally credited to Anonymous?
9) What 2007 comedy features Spider-Man’s boss as the father of an X-Man, and won an Oscar for the woman behind the Pussy Ranch?
10) What actor or actress appeared in all nine of these movies?

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Quiz: Movies

Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on July 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.24/10 (17 teams)

1) Speaking of Britney Spears, before the release title was settled on, what 2002 drama was known as Untitled Britney Spears Project and Not a Girl?
2) What 2006 satire features Luke Wilson, the smartest man on earth, pointing out that it may contain electrolytes, but Brawndo isn’t as good for crops as water (not necessarily from the toilet)?
3) What 2006 romantic comedy features one of the stars requesting “the Telly Savales” at a waxing salon?
4) In December 2007, John C. Reilly performed seven concerts in character to promote what movie, produced by Judd Apatow?
5) Lindsay Lohan won a Kid’s Choice Award for her performance in what 2005 film that revived a famous Disney character from the ’70s and ’80s?
6) What 2005 comedy, inspired by Clerks, focuses on several characters working a shift at the fictional fast-casual restaurant Shenaniganz?
7) Jonathan Frakes called Patrick Stewart and told him he “must not miss” what 1999 comedy, insisting that he see it “on a Saturday night in a full theatre”?
8) What 2001 horror film takes its title from a popular song first recorded in 1938 by Louis Armstrong?
9) What 2007 action film, based on an article from Wired magazine, inspired local film critic Vern to say “don’t be Ellis” to the studio executive who required that it get a PG-13 rating?
10) What actor or actress appears in all nine of these movies?



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Quiz: Triangulation

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on July 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.41/10 (17 teams)

Triangulation is my tip of the hat to Wikipedia’s disambiguation pages and those seldom-used tertiary and sub-tertiary definitions in the dictionary. I’ll give you three definitions, you tell me the word or phrase that fits them all.

Example: A Canadian music award, a Roman goddess, and Roger Ebert’s favorite film of 2007: Juno

1) a kind of wrench, something you can make from socks, and something you spank
2) a novel by Irvine Welsh, a byproduct of horses, and the opposite of rubber
3) a documentary by Diane Keaton, a place where nothing ever happens, and a place on earth
4) the author of The Bonesetter’s Daughter, a key on a calculator, and a George Hamilton accessory
5) the shipboard computer in a science fiction classic, a John Lennon song, and something that turns wine to vinegar
6) one third of a popular hip-hop trio, a product formed by the neutralization of an acid by a base, and what we talked about when we talked about nukes
7) something you’d see on a slot machine, a U2 song, and a name you’ll hear on Must-See Thursday
8) an Edith Wharton novel, a lake in Oregon, and a lifeguard on Baywatch
9) Christopher Martin’s hip-hop alias, the NY Times’ online sports magazine, and “the work of children”
10) a celebritot, a unit of Smurf measurement, and a Newtown Pippin

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Quiz: Triangulation

Round 3 at the Old Pequliar on June 3, 2008.
Average score: 6.13/10 (16 teams)

1) the Segway, one of the Spice Girls, and a castaway
2) a DC Comics supervillain, a children’s television show, and a kind of camera lens
3) a fruit-based dessert, a geologic term, and something a baseball player wants to avoid
4) Beatrice’s cousin, a role playing game system, and what they call a grinder in New York
5) a sign in the Chinese zodiac, something you’d find at a mall, and Splinter
6) a monster that lives in a maze, something funky you might see on TV, and a Whoopi Goldberg film
7) a women’s basketball team, a Peggy Lee song, and something to starve
8) an episode of the series Rome, an automotive company, and a Conan O’Brian character,
9) a recent celebrity autobiography, a truly creepy Japanese horror film, and an Adobe software title
10) a baseball stadium, a jazz-era synonym for hunky-dory, and the alligator man

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Triangulation

Round 6 at the Old Pequliar on Feb. 5, 2008
Average score: 6.78/10 (8 teams)

A.k.a. my ode to Wikipedia’s disambiguation pages.

Identify the word or term that fits all three definitions given. Example: a Canadian music award, a Roman goddess, and Roger Ebert’s best film of 2007: Juno

1) a British railway station, an ABBA song, and a Belgian municipality
2) a Mariah Carey song, a Jessica Alba movie, and an agricultural product
3) a city in Illinois, a Marvel comics superhero, and a Disney princess
4) a Biblical queen, a Bette Davis movie, and one of Gawker Media’s blogs
5) a department store, an ice shelf, and a Friend
6) an educational philosophy, a salad, and a Muppet
7) a supporting character in Peanuts, an Israeli anti-tank missile, and volleyball lingo
8) a principle of good design, a candy, and an Andy Warhol film
9) an Angstrom, one of Winnie the Pooh’s friends, and a sex toy
10) a book by Lemony Snicket, a song by the Doors, and a Seattle radio station

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Puzzler: What do these songs have in common?

“Freedom 90,” George Michael
“I Never Loved You Anyway,” The Corrs
“It Was a Good Day,” Ice Cube
“The Real Slim Shady,” Eminem
“Shake Ya Tailfeather,” Nelly, P. Diddy, and Murphy Lee
“Sk8r Boi,” Avril Levigne
“Too Much Information,” Duran Duran

Triangulation

Round 5 at the Old Pequliar on April 1, 2008
Average score: 6.33/10 (21 teams)

example: a Roman goddess, a Canadian music award, and one of this year’s Best Picture nominees = Juno

1) something you might find on a map, part of a telegraph, and a Florida island
2) a fictional duck, a program used in computer networking, and a noise your car’s engine might make
3) something that can kill an unprepared hiker, magicians’ slang for revealing secrets to non-magicians, and something to keep in mind when you’re taking a picture
4) a symbol for heat, a James Bond character, and the fictional avenue where Gary Coleman lives
5) a shade of black, a musical gang member, and a hit song by Wings
6) a briefcase, Condé Nast’s business magazine, and a collection of your best work
7) a secret agent on TV, a Michael Jackson role, and an iconic local retail store
8) a John Coltrane tune, part of the NATO phonetic alphabet, and a country
9) a film studio mascot, a zodiac sign, and any of 13 popes
10) an Italian motorcycle, an R.E.M. album, and a common last name on Sesame Street

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