Tag: mythology

16-June-09 / James Callan

TODAY’S QUESTION

What line from the poem “Sacred Emily” is ten words long, but contains just three different words used several times each?

(Poetry today, mythology yesterday? Looks like it’s highbrow week on Quiz Quiz Bang Bang. Also, it occurred to me that the difficulty rating makes more sense once I reveal the answer â€” it’s easier to say how hard a question was once you know if you got it right.)

PREVIOUSLY

That question, again: Epimetheusâ€™s claim to fame is his unwise decision to accept what gift?

15-June-09 / James Callan

TODAY’S QUESTION

Epimetheus’s claim to fame is his unwise decision to accept what gift?

How hard was this? [ratings]

PREVIOUSLY

That question, again: Pass, change, tubular, chip, master, and house are all kinds of what?

Trivia quiz: Arachnotrivia

20-May-09 / James Callan

Round 2 at the Old Pequliar on May 5, 2009

All about spiders!

1) According to Roman myth, Arachne was turned into a spider after Minerva challenged her to what kind of contest?

2) Who is “terrific,” “radiant,” and “humble,” but not “crunchy”?

3) When David Bowie was Ziggy Stardust, what did he call his backing band?

4) Who directed the 2002 film Spider, as well as a version of The Fly?

5) Who’s the mythological trickster spider from West Africa who’s starred in children’s books and a couple of Neil Gaiman novels?

6) In Dungeons & Dragons, Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders, is the main goddess worshipped by what race?

7) What TV lawyer played a rural veterinarian menaced by tarantulas in the 1977 film Kingdom of the Spiders?

8) To harvest silk proteins from its milk, Canadian company Nexia introduced spider genes into what kind of farm animal?

9) A sequence involving sailors being eaten by giant spiders was cut from what classic 1933 film?

10) According to legend, what Scottish hero was inspired by the perseverence of a spider trying and trying again to spin a web?

ANSWERS:

Is It Greek to You? (mental_floss)

9-December-08 / James Callan

Mythology: Is It Greek To You?

Score: 85% (11 out of 13)

What’d I miss?

Quiz: How ‘Bout Them Apples?

8-August-07 / James Callan

1) What’s the best-selling apple variety in the US?
2) Although King Features denies it, many people believe that a 1930s comic strip called Apple Mary eventually turned into what long-running soap opera comic strip?
3) In 1997, Fiona Apple said “This world is bullshit. … You shouldn’t model your life about what you think that we think is cool and what we’re wearing and what we’re saying and everything.” when she accepted what award? (Need award and category — both “best supporting actress” and “Oscar”)
4) What 20th century poet wrote “The Song of Wandering Aengus,” which ends:
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
5) What brand, which shares its name with a popular American singer/pianist, is the best-selling hard apple cider in the US?
6) Name one of the three midwest states where Johnny Appleseed planted orchards.
7) The Beatles were inspired to name their company Apple Corps by a surrealist painting called The Son of Man, by what artist?
8) The Apple MessagePad personal digital assistant, introduced in 1993, became better known by what name, which was technically its operating system?
9) Paris awarded Aphrodite the golden apple labeled “to the fairest.” Name one of the other two goddesses who claimed it.
10) What football team has won the Apple Cup the most times?

Round 6 at the Old Pequliar on August 7, 2007. Average score (18 teams): 6.44