mighty fine trivia by James Callan

Tag: harry potter

Trivia quiz: Magic Words

Featured as round 1 at the Old Pequliar on June 2, 2009

(While researching this round, I came across Craig Conley’s Magic Words: A Dictionary, which I didn’t read ahead of time but have found very enjoyable since. Recommended for the incantophile!)

1) What Washington city is mentioned in the witch doctor’s spell in the 1958 song “Witch Doctor”?

2) Sesame Street’s resident magician, the Amazing Mumford, refers to what popular lunch item as he casts his spells?

3) What Disney movie combining live action and animation features the spell “Filigree, apogee, pedigree, perigee”?

4) Jambi the Genie said “Mekka-lekka-hi, mekka-hiney-ho” when granting wishes on what kids’ show?

5) If you’re dueling with Dumbledore and he casts “expelliarmus” on you, what will you do?

6) What magical acronym from comics became a catchphrase for Gomer Pyle?

7) What two-word incantation is the title of a Kurt Vonnegut novel and the name of the magician’s rabbit on Frosty the Snowman?

8) “Sarsaparilla,” “Saskatchewan,” “septuagenarian,” “saddle soap” … what magic word is on the tip of Hassan’s tongue in a popular Bugs Bunny short?

9) How does DC comics magician Zatanna usually transform ordinary English words into magic words?

10) What popular magic word begins phrases including “send me someone to love,” “Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em,” and “don’t squeeze the Charmin”?

ANSWERS (no peeking)

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Quiz: International News 2008

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?

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Quiz: Speak German in 10 Easy Lessons

Round 2 at the Old Pequliar on October 7, 2008

The correct answer to each of these questions will be a German loanword — that is, a German word adopted into English, such as zeitgeist or schadenfreude.

1) In heavy metal, once you “get the led out,” what are you left with? 
2) You can support humanitarian clowning at what Patch Adams institute that takes its name from a common blessing?
3) Though he doesn’t have a lot in common with the Rosenheim manifestation, or the Freeling family’s “TV people,” in the Harry Potter universe, Peeves is what kind of magical creature?
4) Nixon went to China because of what pragmatic diplomatic policy advocated by Henry Kissinger?
5) A German who longs to see the world would say they’ve got Fernweh. But an American a yen for travel–or Bjork, R.E.M., or Megadeth–says they have what desire instead?
6) What subgenre of electronica gets its name because it incorporates sounds like CD skipping, hardware noise, system errors, and other technological malfunctions?
7) It could have been named for Engis, Belgium or Forbes’ Quarry, Gibraltar, but what extinct species instead takes its name from the German valley where the third fossil specimen was discovered?
8) Oval, D, offset-D, and pear are four common shapes of what piece of equipment that often holds mountain climbers, cavers, or keys?
9) John Williams put the opera in space opera by composing what Wagnerian themes for Luke, Leia, Darth Vader, Yoda, the droids, and even the Jawas?
10) “Don’t hit people,” “be aware of wonder,” and “flush” are three lifelong lessons Robert Fulghum first learned where?

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2007 in Fluff in Review

1) What movie did Katherine Heigl say was “a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys”?
2) The surviving members of what band, plus one of their sons on drums, reunited on December 10 at the Ahmet Ertegun Benefit Concert in London?
3) Which popular novel starts with two quotes about death, one from ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus and one from American Quaker William Penn?
4) What reality series inspired legislators in New Mexico to close a loophole in their child labor laws?
5) In July, who won the job that George Hamilton, Ian Ziering, Mario Lopez, John O’Hurley, and Rosie O’Donnell all wanted?
6) In April, an Indian court issued an arrest warrant for Richard Gere because he did what to Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty?
7) Within a week of the HBO series John from Cincinnati‘s debut, what 1981 song briefly became the #1 download on iTunes?
8) Gossip-blogger Perez Hilton declared that the best sex tape of 2007 was the one featuring which socialite and reality TV star?
9) What brand-new gadget did designer Chip Kidd critique as “something that looks like a prop from Charlie’s Angels and has, are you ready, a whopping ONE typeface”?
10) What singer did Newsweek describe as a “perfect storm of sex kitten, raw talent, and poor impulse control”?
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Quiz: Movies

1) What 2000 comedy features Gary Shandling as an alien who decides to get Annette Bening pregnant?
2) The guy who directed the first Harry Potter movie later directed what 2005 film that brought a popular Broadway musical, including most of the original cast, to the big screen?
3) What 1998 social satire features a senator from California reviving his campaign by learning to rap?
4) What 1999 comedy features Chris O’Donnell in a role originally played by Buster Keaton, and shares its name with a reality TV series?
5) What 2001 comedy with the tagline “Caution: Dangerous Curves Ahead” features Jennifer Love Hewitt as Sigourney Weaver’s daughter?
6) Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote The Usual Suspects, made his directorial debut with what 2000 film about two criminals who kidnap a surrogate mother?
7) Kevin Smith had to delete a scene from Mallrats because, according to his studio, “nobody will ever laugh at cum in the hair.” What 1998 comedy proved the studio very, very wrong?
8) Dewey Finn rejects The Bumblebees, the Koala Bears, and Pig Rectum as band names in what 2003 comedy?
9) What unrated 2005 documentary was dedicated to Johnny Carson, because it was all about his all-time favorite joke?
10) Who appeared in all nine of these films?

Round 7 at the Old Pequliar on August 7, 2007. Average score (18 teams): 8.33

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Quiz: Sequelitis

I’ll name a sequel, you tell me the name of the work that immediately preceded it.

1) Casino Royale (2006 film)
2) Prince Caspian (book — in publication order)
3) Hannibal (book and movie)
4) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (novel or movie)
5) Terminator III: Rise of the Machines (movie)
6) Through the Looking Glass (book)
7) Rambo (movie)
8) A Shot in the Dark (movie)
9) The Edge of Human (novel)
10) Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (movie)
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Quiz: It’s the Little Differences

Used as Round 2 at the Old Pequliar on Jan. 23.

1) In the US, it’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. In Britain, it’s Harry Potter and what?
2) In 2004, it suddenly became a lot easier to tell the Olsen twins apart when Mary-Kate made what change to her appearance?
3) What country is the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom?
4) Dick York and Dick Sargent played the same character on what sitcom?
5) Who was sued because his #1 hit “My Sweet Lord” was thought to be too similar to the Chiffons’ #1 hit “He’s So Fine”?
6) Because of its association with good fortune, what color is the bride’s gown in traditional Chinese weddings?
7) The twist ending to Tim Burton’s version of Planet of the Apes features an ape-ified statue of whom?
8) What sweetener does the Dr Pepper bottling plant in Dublin, Texas, use instead of corn syrup?
9) Add one proton to a molecule of gold and it turns into what element?
10) Foreign and DVD releases of Angel Heart include several seconds cut from its US theatrical release — Mickey Rourke having sex with whom?

Average score, out of 22 teams: 7.00. Continue reading

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