Step 1: Identify the building. (First maybe you want to turn off the sound, I guess.)

Step 2: Guess where it is on the map.

(To keep the page relatively quiet, I stashed the game behind the jump.)

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TODAY’S QUESTION:

The international airport in Venice is named after what native son?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER:

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One of the questions in Ken Jennings‘ Tuesday Trivia CXII (Sept. 2):

Despite its diminutive name, what is, by area, the largest state in Mexico?

I think it’s just about a perfect geography question. Why?

1) It’s short. Thirteen words contain the basic question, and add a hint.

2) It’s unambiguous. Myself, I almost always assume “largest” in geography means area. But not everyone does — maybe it could be population. He’s got the “by area” clarification in there. And the question ends with what he’s asking for: The name of a Mexican state.

3) There’s a hint. “What’s the largest state in Mexico?” is a valid trivia question, but a dull one. Either you know it or you don’t. (I didn’t.) Throw in the info that it’s got a “diminutive name,” though, and you’ve got a bit of a lifeline.

4) But the hint doesn’t give it away. Sometimes at trivia you’ve figured out the answer to the question the host is asking — then they add another piece of information that means everyone has figured out the answer. A deflating moment. Jennings’ hint rewards lateral thinking. You could be literal and think of a Mexican state with a short name — Baja? — but that’s not where it’s going.

Because the answer (which I guessed, but looked up to be sure) is Chihuahua, a word most commonly used in US English to describe a diminutive dog, not El Estado Grande.

This caliber of question isn’t unusual for Jennings — he’s been doing this for a while, and studying the masters who write for Jeopardy! for longer — but this is one of the pithiest examples I’ve seen for a while.

(And if you don’t subscribe to Tuesday Trivia, you really should.)

Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on June 3, 2008
Average score: 3.38/10 (16 teams)

So, yeah, this round’s a little too difficult.

1) None of the United Nations member states start with the letter X — or what other letter?
2) What’s the most populous country in the world where Spanish is a national language?
3) Name one of the two largest islands in Washington’s Island County.
4) 37 towns share the most popular place name in the US. Which founding father inspired most of them?
5) After the breakup of the Soviet Union, what country became the world’s leading producer of potatoes?
6) Put these three places in order of total area, from smallest to largest: the city of Juneau, Alaska; King County, Washington; and the state of Rhode Island
7) Maracaibo, Valencia, Barquisimeto, and Mérida are cities in what South American country?
8) Which US city contains the world’s largest population of Iranians outside of Iran?
9) Birthplace of Goethe, Bach and Nietzsche, what was the second-most-populous city in East Germany?
10) After the 1861 unification of Italy, two cities were capitals before Rome. Name one of them.

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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?

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Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on Feb. 5, 2008
Average score: 3.78/10 (too hard!), 9 teams playing

1) Two cities have been among the 10 largest in America every census from 1790 to 2000. Name them both.
2) The Mackinac Bridge connects the cities of St. Ignace and Mackinaw City in what state?
3) What’s the only part of Arizona that observes Daylight Saving Time?
4) What city on the Black Sea is the largest port in Ukraine?
5) What national capital straddles the Han River?
6) What country launched Operation August Storm on August 8, 1945, invading Manchukuo?
7) It’s part of the Arab League and the Francophonie, but one African country does not belong to the African Union. Which one?
8) According to the 2007 Global Peace Index, what European kingdom is the most peaceful nation in the world?
9) What’s the most populous city in New England?
10) What Seattle suburb was founded as the town of East Seattle in 1904, but renamed itself in 1924 after an early settler?

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Round 1 at the Old Pequliar on April 1, 2008.
Average score: 6.76/11 (21 teams)

1) What country is described in the Onion’s Our Dumb World atlas as “a shortcut with its own national anthem”?
2) What Pacific Northwest region centered around Spokane shares its name with a region in California, as well as a David Lynch film?
3) If someone asks “Will it play in Peoria?” what state are they concerned about?
4) Washington, Utah, California, Vermont, Kentucky, Cyprus, and Mars are each home to a mountain with what name?
5) The only Celtic Nation on the European mainland is what former kingdom and current French province?
6) The Dead Sea borders Israel and what other country?
7) Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, and Schiermonnikoog are four of the Frisian Islands that are part of what country?
8) For the first half of the civil war, Mesilla, New Mexico, was the capital of what Confederate territory?
9) Two US state mottoes are in French: Union, justice, et confiance and L’étoile du Nord. For one point each, which states have those mottoes?
10) What Asian country is described by Our Dumb World as “where a kid can be a kid prostitute”?

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From Mental Floss: Name the 10 Most Populous U.S. Cities in 2 Minutes.

I managed 8 out of 10. (Spoilers after the jump.) Good quiz idea, Jenny Brown.

Note to self: Subscribe to the Mental Floss RSS feed.

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Berlin, Germany; Bristol, Virginia; Fukuoka, Japan; Hollywood, California; Indianapolis, Indiana; London, England; Munich, Germany; San Francisco, California; Stockholm, Sweden

1) Which US state has the longest freshwater coastline?
2) What’s the only country that presently includes Afrikaans as one of its official languages?
3) Washington State’s borders include two rivers — the Columbia, to the south, and what other river to the east?
4) What heavily Baptist Gulf Coast state has the lowest rate of cremation in the US?
5) Isla De La Juventud is the second-largest island in what Caribbean nation?
6) What country is divided into thirteen peripheries, including Thessaly, Attica, and Epirus?
7) On February 17, the Republic of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. The new nation borders three other countries. Name one of them.
8) What lake, the largest in Africa, is the source of the White Nile rivier?
9) The Moscow Canal connects the Moskva River to what other river?
10) Which Puget Sound city took its name from an earlier name of Mount Rainier?

Average score (20 teams): 7.35 Read the rest of this entry »