Our next edition, Trivia Newsletter CLXXXIX, will be released on Thursday, January 4th. That date will mark the resumption of our typical schedule, and so Trivia Newsletter CXC will follow on Monday, January 8th.
Below are six trivia questions. If you’d like to participate, you can either reply to this e-mail or submit your answers via Google Forms by using the button below. You can find our rules and guidelines by following this link.
1) Legendary Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman is not related to legendary Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman; instead, their most direct connection was a 1978 film with WHAT season in its title? Ingmar directed and Ingrid acted in this film, the last feature film of the latter’s career.
2) Change one letter in a nine-letter noun that could be the basis for someone losing their job (due to rudeness), and you can get WHAT noun that could also be the basis for someone losing their job (due to laziness)?
3) The most commercially successful album by the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins earned the group seven Grammy nominations. The first two words of the album’s title were probably not selected to pay homage to one of the longest-serving Cabinet members in American history and a group of dog breeds; instead, they were likely selected due to collectively sounding like WHAT word?
4) “With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work and devote myself to the welfare of those committed in my care” is the last line of one version of a pledge called WHAT, named after a key figure in the history of the profession held by those making the pledge?
5) Among the most famous sculptures by Antonio Canova is one commissioned in 1787 that depicts the god Cupid reviving WHOM with a kiss?
6) NAME the object missing from the set suggested by the answers to this newsletter, or the person most closely related to that set.
Trivia Newsletter CLXXXVII Recap
1) In 1991, a certain flea market opened in Orlando, Florida near International Drive. The flea market, apparently a hangout for local teens, became the namesake for WHAT, which outlasted the flea market and celebrated its 30th anniversary earlier this year?
This was the Backstreet Market and so these are the BACKSTREET BOYS. Hey, why don’t we look at them?
Despite the lies you may have been told, Backstreet is not back, alright? That’s because they never left, as they’ve been active in some sense for the past 30+ years. You can just go see them in Cancun next April, for example. Among the larger than life perks they promise in Cancun are “band-curated activities hosted by each boy,” using the word “boy” to refer to five men, the youngest of which will be 44 (Nick Carter).
2) Near Pushkar Lake in the state of Rajasthan in northern India, one can find the most prominent temple dedicated to WHAT Hindu god, who has far fewer temples in his honor than the other members of the Trimurti?
This is BRAHMA. How is he depicted? Here’s an example:
The Trimurti is the trinity of supreme divinity in Hinduism—the typical construction is Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer.
3) Throughout the dozens of films in which Godzilla has appeared, he’s fought with and against kaiju such as Anguirus, King Kong, Mothra, and Rodan (and mecha kaiju such as Mechagodzilla). Godzilla’s most notable foe, though, may be WHAT kaiju, who has appeared in at least ten films, including Destroy All Monsters (1968) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)?
This is KING GHIDORAH.
Ghidorah is a winged three-headed dragon, and in some depictions each head has its own personality. You know that meme format that shows two fierce-looking dragon heads together with a third, goofy-looking head? For example, here it is being used to make fun of seasons of Game of Thrones:
The origin story of this meme appears to be someone putting the original image on DeviantArt shortly after that person saw Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The original name of the image is “King Ghidorah in a Nutshell,” and it’s making a point about how Ghidorah’s left head (our right) acted in the film.
WHAT Japanese film production and distribution company created Godzilla? It’ss the only film studio that is a component of the Nikkei 225 index. The answer’s at the end of this newsletter.1
4) The football team AEK Athens, one of the three most successful Greek clubs, features WHAT animal on its emblem? The same animal is found on the flag of a country (“Country 1”) that borders Greece, a country (“Country 2”) that borders Country 1, and a country (“Country 3”) that borders Country 2.
This is an EAGLE. Country 1 was Albania, Country 2 was Montenegro, and Country 3 was Serbia. (Serbia would claim that it has a border with Albania, for what it’s worth, by virtue of its non-recognition of Kosovo as an independent state.)
Here’s Albania’s flag:
5) NAME the United States Navy rear admiral, instrumental in the creation of the computer language COBOL, who was the first person to be interviewed for a second time on the television show 60 Minutes.
This is GRACE HOPPER. In addition to her many career accomplishments, Hopper is often given credit for discovering the first computer “bug”—literally. Read more about that here. Here’s Hopper, by the way:
6) NAME any person, fictional or historical, who completes the theme suggested by the previous answers to this newsletter.
What was going on here?
The key was to realize that each answer had a declining number of heads. The Backstreet Boys have five heads, depictions of Brahma have four heads, King Ghidorah has three heads, the eagle on that emblem/those flags has two heads, and Grace Hopper, best we can tell, has one head. Therefore, your task was to name anyone who could plausibly be said to have zero heads. You had a lot of choices here, but we expected a mix of answers such as the Headless Horseman and various historical folks who were beheaded, such as Anne Boleyn, Louis XVI, or Marie Antoinette.
Our newsletter title, “The Song of Roland,” was a bit of a trap. Some of our readers know that the Song of Roland is an epic French poem and the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It wasn’t that song of Roland we were trying to clue you into, though. Instead, we wanted you to think of the other song of Roland: “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” by Warren Zevon. Let’s have Zevon play out 2023:
Question #6 Leaderboard
The Question #6 leaderboard can be viewed at this link. (We’re behind due to the holiday, but will be caught up before the next newsletter is published.)
The company that created Godzilla is TOHO Co., Ltd.