Below are six trivia questions I’ve written. You can reply to this e-mail if you’d like to participate. Like most trivia, the answers can be readily found via Google, so you’re on the honor system. The SIXTH question of each set is designed to be a question that cannot be easily Googled, so correct answers to those will be tracked and recognized in the next newsletter. The answers, and the next set of questions, will be published every Monday and Thursday.
1) The Battle of Leipzig, fought in 1813, was by many measures the largest battle in Europe prior to the First World War. In that battle, Napoleon and his allies were defeated by the combined forces of Russia, Austria, Prussia, Sweden, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Saxony, and Württemberg—meaning, in one sense, the battle was literally fought by WHAT, the title of a 2003 song that topped out at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and that became a sports anthem of sorts?
2) The following passage, describing a custom of the sea, appears in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838), Edgar Allen Poe’s only complete novel:
I held out the two remaining splinters toward [Richard Parker]. It was fully five minutes before he could summon resolution to draw, during which period of heartrending suspense I never once opened my eyes. Presently one of the two lots was quickly drawn from my hand. The decision was then over, yet I knew not whether it was for me or against me. No one spoke, and still I dared not satisfy myself by looking at the splinter I held. …I immediately saw by the countenance of Parker that I was safe.
WHAT specific fate is about to befall Richard Parker? Bizarrely, decades after the novel’s publication, a cabin boy named Richard Parker faced a similar situation, leading to the seminal English criminal case known as R v Dudley and Stephens.
3) The four most prestigious events in men’s professional golf are known colloquially as the “majors.” Among players who have won at least one major in the 21st century, five players have won at least four majors in their careers: Tiger Woods (15), Phil Mickelson (6), and three others—one is from South Africa, one is from Northern Ireland, and one is from the United States. Name two of those three other players, in three guesses.
4) The Godavari River is the second-longest river in India behind the Ganges. Clocking in around 910 miles long and long considered sacred in Hindu scriptures, the Godavari flows west to east across India. In WHAT body of water can the mouth of the Godavari River be found?
5) Name the English philosopher, born in 1588, who wrote the following words, warning what life would be like if not for government:
In such condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving, and removing, such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
6) WHAT unusual distinction do each of these films share? Forbidden Planet (1956), Help! (1965), Apocalypse Now (1979), Octopussy (1983), Scarface (1983), Aladdin (1992), Double Team (1997), Vegas Vacation (1997), Gladiator (2000), Red Dragon (2002), The Hangover (2009), Zootopia (2016), Army of the Dead (2021).
Here are the answers from last time:
1) On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan and several of his cabinet members were attacked by a gunman while they were leaving the Washington Hilton Hotel. Reagan and three others were shot, including WHAT man, the White House Press Secretary at the time, who was permanently disabled as a result of his efforts to (among other things) protect the nuclear football and after whom the 1993 Handgun Violence Prevention Act was named?
James Brady was the press secretary described above; the gun legislation passed in 1993 is commonly known as the “Brady bill.” Born in Centralia, IL and a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Brady got his political start in the 60s as a staffer for Everett Dirksen (after whom Chicago’s “Dirksen Federal Building” is named). Brady’s death 33 years later was ruled a homicide connected to the 1981 shooting.
2) Karim Kharbouch is a Moroccan-American rapper who has won BET Hip Hop Awards for “Pop That” (Best Club Banger in 2013) and as a featured singer on the follow-up “All the Way Up” (Best Collaboration, Duo or Group in 2016). WHAT stage name is Kharbouch better known as? He has appeared as himself on shows such as Keeping Up with the Kardashians and America’s Next Top Model.
The answer here is French Montana. His 2017 song “Unforgettable” was his first one to break the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. About a month ago, he released his fourth album, They Got Amnesia, which features guest appearances from artists such as John Legend, Rick Ross, and Doja Cat.
3) “It was a pleasure to talk to this well educated little prince,” wrote Thomas Manning, regarding his experience in 1811 of becoming the first Englishman to visit WHAT city, the capital of Tibet, and speak to the Dalai Lama (then a seven-year-old child)? The answer is an anagram of, expressed as two words, the singular body part you might use L'Oréal’s Bambi product line for (it’s waterproof!).
The capital of Tibet is Lhasa—the anagram clue was meant to help you get to “a lash.” If you consider the Tibet Autonomous Region a nation, Lhasa is the world capital city that has the highest elevation of all capital cities (11,995 feet). If you are focused only on UN member states, then the highest capital city is La Paz (11,942 feet). Two world capitals are below sea level: Amsterdam (-2 feet) and Baku, Azerbaijan (-28 feet).
4) Theodosia Salome Okoh wore many hats. She was the first female chairman of the Ghana Hockey Association and was called “the Joan of Arc of Ghana hockey” for her efforts. She also designed Ghana’s flag, which was adopted in 1957; in describing the process of designing the flag, she said:
"I decided on the three colors of red, gold and green because of the geography of Ghana. Ghana lies in the tropics and blessed with rich vegetation. The color Gold was influenced by the mineral rich nature of our lands and Red commemorates those who died or worked for the country’s independence. Then the [BLANK] which is the symbol of African emancipation and unity in the struggle against colonialism.”
WHAT symbol has been omitted from the above quote?
Okoh was speaking about a star, and specifically a black star. The Black Star Line, a shipping line founded in 1919 by Marcus Garvey as part of his Back-to-Africa movement, modeled its name on that of the existing White Star Line, changing the color from white to black to symbolize the change in ownership between the races; the symbol broadly came to represent Pan-Africanism and anti-colonialism.
5) And just like that: WHAT fictional character, author of works such as Menhatten and A Single Life, has an address of 245 E. 73rd Street on the Upper East Side of New York City?
Carrie Bradshaw, the main character of Sex and the City, lives at that address. The first four words of the question were meant to clue you into And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City revival that began airing on HBO Max about two weeks ago. According to a book called Television Series of the 1990s: Essential Facts and Quirky Details, I should have stylized “MenHatten” with a capital “H” in the middle.
6) WHAT unusual distinction do each of these television shows share? 24: Legacy (2017), 60 Minutes (1968-), Airwolf (1984-87), All in the Family (1971-79), The Equalizer (2021-), Friends (1994-2004), The Good Life (1994), Lassie (1954-73), MacGruder and Loud (1985), NBC Nightly News (1970-), The Office (2005-13), Survivor (2000-), This Is Us (2016-), The X-Files (1993-2002; 2016-18), The World’s Best (2019).
The Super Bowl is typically the highest-rated television broadcast each year in terms of viewership numbers, and so the network airing the game will typically try to take advantage of the viewership by airing a television show immediately after the game. Each of these shows, and others, were at one point the Super Bowl lead-out program.
The title of the newsletter (“Can’t Lose”) is a reference to “Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose,” the rallying cry of the Dillon Panthers from the TV show Friday Night Lights (and was also a bit of a reference to the Super Bowl being a must-win game)—the hope was that it’d get you thinking about television and football. Football is mentioned explicitly in Question #1. Otherwise, referenced in the answers of each question (except #3, which had it in the question) are the names of the five people who have ever won more than one Super Bowl MVP: Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Eli Manning, Bart Starr, and Terry Bradshaw. It probably didn’t help much, but I slipped the word “follow-up” into Question #2 as well.
The current Question #6 leaderboard can be viewed at this link.