In the worlds of anime, manga, and sometimes fan fiction, the word omake describes non-canonical extra content, sort of like the “bonus features” on a DVD, back when people bought DVDs. (The Japanese word omake literally means “extra” or “bonus.”)
Long-time Trivia Factorial readers know that we used to occasionally publish “Variety Packs” of unthemed trivia questions whenever we were running low on themed newsletters—here’s the most recent Variety Pack we did, for example. In lieu of a Variety Pack, this edition—our first and second Omake—contains two sets that didn’t make the cut for our flagship edition, for whatever reason.
These sets don’t count for the Question #6 leaderboard, but we included submission buttons below in case you’d like to play along anyway. We’ll be back on Friday with more traditional content, as well as the recap of Trivia Newsletter CCXL. We expect to very occasionally release more Omake in the future as experimental or “different” kinds of sets.
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Omake 1
This is an experimental set we’ve been tinkering with for a long time; for a variety of reasons, we’ve resisted making this a standard newsletter. More on that when we recap this one.
1. On May 27, 2003, Bill Wasik anonymously sent the following message to dozens of people, sparking a fad: “You are invited to take part in [BLANK], the project that creates an inexplicable [BLANK] of people in New York City for ten minutes or less.” WHAT (single) word fills in both blanks?
2. Harley-Davidson, Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under WHAT stock symbol?
3. Tiergarten Schönbrunn in Austria, which was (until very recently) home to Yang Yang and Yuan Yuan, is generally recognized as the world’s oldest WHAT that is still in operation?
4. A 2013 article in The Wall Street Journal entitled “It Takes Planning, Caution to Avoid Being 'It,’” which describes a group of men and their 23-year-long tradition, was the basis of WHAT 2018 comedy film?
5. Adelene McBean and Pauli Murray (1940) and Claudette Colvin (1955) were each arrested for alleged violations of law related to WHAT kind of conveyance?
6. The answers to Questions #1 through #5 are each three letters long. In addition, each answer follows a specific pattern that is not followed by the vast majority of three-letter words.
Federal agencies in the U.S. are often known by initialisms—for example, the Department of Justice is sometimes called the “DOJ.” NAME any U.S. federal agency that has an initialism that corresponds with the specific pattern evidenced by the answers to Questions #1 through #5—one correct answer was created in 1973.
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Omake 2
We wrote this set below for a different audience over the weekend, and a few of you may overlap with the folks who saw this one. This set is much more like our typical editions, but we liked it as a five-question set more than as a six-question set.
1. An aerodynamic wedge installed in commercial airplanes to prevent the plane’s rear stairs from being opened mid-flight is generally named after WHOM, due to events that occurred on November 24, 1971?
2. “A ponderous dystopian bummer that might be described as … The Road without humanity,” said a critic of WHAT 2010 Denzel Washington film that one might say lacked vision?
3. According to a paper by Professor Paul Calter, the parabola contemplated by the equation y = 0.00699(x^2) has the same height and width as WHAT, completed in 1965?
4. Many know the character Sabrina the Teenage Witch from the same-named ABC sitcom; Sabrina debuted, however, in a 1962 edition of a comic-book magazine named after WHAT other comic-book character?
5. The answers to these five questions, or parts thereof, share names with the five most notable members of a particular set. With that in mind, WHAT soap opera that aired in the 1960s completes this set?