Tough Trivia, 7/2/21

July 2, 2021June 30, 2021 ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

The Star Trek series featured a veritable fleet of starships named Enterprise. Let’s pare it back a little, and just focus on the television shows and movies. On screen, how many captains of the starship Enterprise can you name? (People actually assigned as captain, not just “Mr. Scott, take the conn while I beam down to this planet to romance the alien of the week.”) Bonus points if you remember the actors who played them.

[Note: Tough Trivia is going to take off Monday, July 5, for the holiday (even though the actual day is the 4th).]

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Yesterday’s question was: Watching National League Football is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the United States, so this may be a fairly easy question: how many of the 32 teams can you name? Bonus points if you can put them in the proper conference (I’m not asking about divisions within the conferences).

The answers:

American Football Conference

East Division: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets.
North Division: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers.
South Division: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans.
West Division: Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers.

National Football Conference

East Division: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Football Team.
North Division: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings.
South Division: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
West Division: Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks.

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Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog (Monday’s category is History; Tuesday is Arts; Wednesday is Science; Thursday is Entertainment; and Friday is Grab Bag). Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. Simply comment on this post with your answer. I’ll approve the comments after the next question is posted. Sure, you can probably find the answers by searching the web, but what’s the fun in that?

And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 7/1/21

July 1, 2021June 30, 2021 ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Watching National League Football is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the United States, so this may be a fairly easy question: how many of the 32 teams can you name? Bonus points if you can put them in the proper conference (I’m not asking about divisions within the conferences).

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Yesterday’s question was: The atmosphere, the air around us, this stuff we breathe without thinking about it (well, except when we’re experiencing a heat wave). But, do you recall what it is you’re actually breathing? Which elements make up the “air” of Earth’s atmosphere that we breathe? Bonus points if you can arrange in order of percentage of each in the air (I’m not asking for the actual percentages).

The answer: The major constituents of dry air, by volume, are:
Nitrogen — 78.084%
Oxygen — 20.946%
Argon — 0.9340%
Carbon dioxide — 0.0415%
Neon — 0.0018%
Helium — 0.0005%
Methane — 0.0002%
Krypton — 0.0001%
The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere varies significantly by place, ranging from 0 to 3% of the volume of air. It makes up about 0.25% of the atmosphere by mass.

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And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/30/21

June 30, 2021June 30, 2021 ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

The atmosphere, the air around us, this stuff we breathe without thinking about it (well, except when we’re experiencing a heat wave). But, do you recall what it is you’re actually breathing? Which elements make up the “air” of Earth’s atmosphere that we breathe? Bonus points if you can arrange in order of percentage of each in the air (I’m not asking for the actual percentages).

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MarylandSymphonyMainImage — The Maryland Symphony Orchestra

Yesterday’s question: We normally think of an orchestra as just “a lot of musicians playing a lot of instruments.” But there are some norms to the make-ups of orchestras. Classical orchestras were pretty much standardized in the first half of the 1800s, generally due to Beethoven’s writing. In more recent times, orchestras have changed to include more modern instruments, and sometimes electronic instruments. But can you name all of the instruments in a classical orchestra? As a hint, they were divided into four main sections: Brass, Percussion (including keyboards), Strings, and Woodwinds.

The answers:

Brass: alto trombone, bass trombone, natural horns (valveless), natural trumpets (valveless), tenor trombone. (French horns and trumpets were not added until the Late Romantic period.)

Percussion: harpsichord or pipe organ (gradually phased out in the late 18th century), timpani.

Strings: cello, double bass, viola, violin.

Woodwinds: basset horn, bassoon, clarinet, contrabassoon, flute, oboe, piccolo.

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And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/28/21

June 28, 2021June 28, 2021 ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Everyone remembers the last two, and most people remember the first ten or so, at least in some kind of order. But all of them—and especially those in the middle—that’s the hard part. So, can you list the states of the United States in the order in which they joined the Union/adopted the Constitution?

Okay, that may be too tough, so here’s the easier one, but it’s two: Name the longest span of time between successive state admissions to the union. And name the only two states to be admitted on the same day.

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Fellowship Friday’s question was: J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings several decades before Peter Jackson turned it into a blockbuster movie trilogy. When he did, he made several changes, deletions, expansions, and so forth. But one thing he didn’t change were the identities of the title characters in the first volume. Can you name the members of The Fellowship of the Ring, and their races? Bonus points if you know what names “J.R.R.” stood for.

The answer:

Frodo Baggins, the Ringbearer (hobbit)
Samwise Gamgee, his gardener (hobbit)
Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck (hobbit)
Peregrin “Pippin” Took (hobbit)
Gandalf, who started the journey as the Gray, and ended as the White (wizard)
Legolas, son of King Thranduil, of the Woodland Realm (elf)
Gimli, son of Gloin (dwarf)
Aragorn, son of Arathorn II, sometimes known as Strider, the uncrowned King of Gondor (man)
Boromir, son of Denethor II, the Steward of Gondor (man)

The author of the series was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973).

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And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/25/21

June 25, 2021June 25, 2021 ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings several decades before Peter Jackson turned it into a blockbuster movie trilogy. When he did, he made several changes, deletions, expansions, and so forth. But one thing he didn’t change were the identities of the title characters in the first volume. Can you name the members of The Fellowship of the Ring, and their races? Bonus points if you know what names “J.R.R.” stood for.

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I_Robot_-_Runaround Yesterday’s question: Following up yesterday’s question, I’ve got more laws to ask you about. These are from fiction (or, mostly, famous fictioneers). Can you name:
Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics
Benford’s Law of Controversy
Clarke’s Three Laws
Finagle’s Law
O’Toole’s corollary of Finagle’s Law
Hofstadter’s law
Sturgeon’s Law

The answers:

Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics (promulgated by Isaac Asimov in his Robot stories): “1: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3: A robot must protect its own existence so long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.”

Benford’s Law of Controversy (from Gregory Benford’s 1980 novel Timescape): “Passion is inversely proportional to the amount of real information available.”

Arthur C. Clarke’s Three Laws: “First law: When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. Second law: The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. Third law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Finagle’s law of dynamic negatives (so named by John W. Campbell, Jr.): “Anything that can go wrong will—at the worst possible moment.”

O’Toole’s Corollary of Finagle’s Law: “The perversity of the Universe tends toward a maxmium.”

Hofstadter’s law (coined by Douglas Hofstadter in Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Brain): “It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.”

Sturgeon’s Law, first spoken by Theodore Sturgeon about 1951, and remarked upon by Philip Klass (aka William Tenn): “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”

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And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/24/21

June 24, 2021June 23, 2021 ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Following up yesterday’s question, I’ve got more laws to ask you about. These are from fiction (or, mostly, famous fictioneers). Can you name:
Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics
Benford’s Law of Controversy
Clarke’s Three Laws
Finagle’s Law
O’Toole’s corollary of Finagle’s Law
Hofstadter’s law
Sturgeon’s Law

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Yesterday’s question: Mensa has an annual team trivia competition called Culture Quest; a slew of questions on a variety of subjects, sometimes very interesting. However, the only question I remember is one that really ticked me off. A bunch of years ago, the question said “Define these three chemical laws: Boyle’s Law, Charles’s Law, Cole’s Law.” Well, we had Boyles and Charles right off the bat (one of us was a chemist), but Coles? You’re probably guessing, and you’re probably right: the correct answer was “shredded cabbage salad.” Funny, sure, but telling us it was a “chemical law” was what annoyed me. So I always try to make sure I don’t do things like that when I’m writing questions.

However, that question has inspired today’s (and no, no cabbage salad answers): define the following named chemical laws: Avogadro’s Law, Boyle’s Law, Charles’s Law, Dalton’s Law, Faraday’s Law, Graham’s Law, Henry’s Law, and the Ideal Gas Law.

The answers are:

Avogadro’s Law: V/n = k, or, equal volumes of gas under identical temperature and pressure will contain equal numbers of particles

Boyle’s Law: PV = P(1)V(1), or, the pressure exerted by a given mass of an ideal gas is inversely proportional to its volume.

Charles’s Law: V = kT, or, when the pressure on a sample of gas is held constant, the temperature in Kelvin is in proportion to the volume.

Dalton’s Law: p(total) = ∑p(i), or, the pressure of a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the component gases

Faraday’s Law: m ∝ Q ⇒ m/Q = Z, or, the weight of any element liberated during electrolysis is proportional to the quantity of electricity passing through the cell and equivalent to the weight of the element.

Graham’s Law: r ∝ 1 / √d, or, the rate of diffusion of a gas is inversely proportional to the square root of its molecular mass.

Henry’s Law: H^cc = RTH^cp, or, the solubility of a gas is proportional to the pressure applied to the gas.

Ideal Gas Law: PV = nRT, or, the state of an ideal gas is determined by its pressure, volume, and temperature.

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And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/23/21

June 23, 2021June 23, 2021 ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Mensa has an annual team trivia competition called Culture Quest; a slew of questions on a variety of subjects, sometimes very interesting. However, the only question I remember is one that really ticked me off. A bunch of years ago, the question said “Define these three chemical laws: Boyle’s Law, Charles’s Law, Cole’s Law.” Well, we had Boyles and Charles right off the bat (one of us was a chemist), but Coles? You’re probably guessing, and you’re probably right: the correct answer was “shredded cabbage salad.” Funny, sure, but telling us it was a “chemical law” was what annoyed me. So I always try to make sure I don’t do things like that when I’m writing questions.

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Yesterday’s question: I have to admit, some of us pay a lot more attention to fonts than most of you. But fonts are important: is it easier to read a font with serifs or one without? A proportionally spaced font or a monospaced font? And so on and so forth. But even knowing the names of some fonts is a fairly new skill, which came into wide knowledge with the development of the home computer and home typesetting programs. So, here’s an alphabetical list of some of the fonts I use most frequently (you can see some of them on the covers of Fantastic Books books: a font helps convey the feeling of the book). Can you place them in the order of their invention? Hyper-bonus points if you know the names of their creators: Arial, Brush Script, Calibri, Cambria, Comic Sans, Courier, Futura, Goudy, Helvetica, Palatino, Papyrus, Times New Roman.

The answers:

Goudy — created by Frederic W. Goudy in 1915.
Futura — designed by Paul Renner in 1927.
Times New Roman — commissioned by the Times of London in 1931.
Brush Script — designed by Robert E. Smith in 1942.
Palatino — designed by Hermann Zapf in 1949.
Courier — designed by Howard “Bud” Kettler in 1955 or 1956.
Helvetica — designed by Swiss designer Max Miedinger in 1957.
Arial — designed by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders in 1982.
Papyrus — designed by Chris Costello in 1982.
Comic Sans — designed by Vincent Connare in 1994.
Calibri — designed by Lucas “Luc” de Groot in 2002–2004.
Cambria — designed by Jelle Bosma in 2004.

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And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/22/21

June 22, 2021June 22, 2021 ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

I have to admit, some of us pay a lot more attention to fonts than most of you. But fonts are important: is it easier to read a font with serifs or one without? A proportionally spaced font or a monospaced font? And so on and so forth. But even knowing the names of some fonts is a fairly new skill, which came into wide knowledge with the development of the home computer and home typesetting programs. So, here’s an alphabetical list of some of the fonts I use most frequently (you can see some of them on the covers of Fantastic Books books: a font helps convey the feeling of the book). Can you place them in the order of their invention? Hyper-bonus points if you know the names of their creators: Arial, Brush Script, Calibri, Cambria, Comic Sans, Courier, Futura, Goudy, Helvetica, Palatino, Papyrus, Times New Roman.

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Alfred_the_Great_silver_coin — Alfred the Great depicted on a silver coin.

Yesterday’s question was: We all like to be unique (although when I was younger, I thought it would be cool to have a number after my name, like Ian Randal Strock XII). Rulers, however, frequently come with numbers, like Queen Elizabeth II, or her father King George VI. How many British monarchs can you name who had unique names (not simply the first, like Elizabeth I or George I, but actual only-one-person-used-this-name)? (For the purposes of this question, we’re tracking back from the current Queen of the United Kingdom, through the earlier Acts of Union in 1707, and before that the Kings (and Queens) of England, tracking all the way back to the first King of the Anglo-Saxons (starting in about the year 886). Or, the easier version of the question: how many of them had unique names, and when did the most recent rule?

The answers:

425px-Queen_Victoria_by_Bassano — Queen Victoria

Alfred the Great (King of Wessex from 871), ruled from the year 886 to October 26, 899
Aethelstan, 924–October 27, 939
Eadred, May 26, 946–November 23, 955
Eadwig, November 23, 955–October 1, 959
Edgar the Peaceful, October 1, 959–July 8, 975
Aethelred the Unready, March 18, 978–1013, and then again February 3, 1014–April 23, 1016
Sweyn Forkbeard, December 25, 1013–February 3, 1014
Canute the Great, October 18, 1016–November 12, 1035
Harthacnut, March 17, 1040–June 8, 1042
Stephen of Blois, December 22, 1135–October 25, 1154
John Lackland, May 27, 1199–October 19, 1216
Lady Jane Grey, July 10–19, 1553
Anne, March 8, 1702–August 1, 1714
Victoria, June 20, 1837–January 22, 1901

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And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/21/21

June 21, 2021June 20, 2021 ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

2001_A_Space_Odyssey_(1968) Tough Trivia: We all like to be unique (although when I was younger, I thought it would be cool to have a number after my name, like Ian Randal Strock XII). Rulers, however, frequently come with numbers, like Queen Elizabeth II, or her father King George VI. How many British monarchs can you name who had unique names (not simply the first, like Elizabeth I or George I, but actual only-one-person-used-this-name)? (For the purposes of this question, we’re tracking back from the current Queen of the United Kingdom, through the earlier Acts of Union in 1707, and before that the Kings (and Queens) of England, tracking all the way back to the first King of the Anglo-Saxons (starting in about the year 886). Or, the easier version of the question: how many of them had unique names, and when did the most recent rule?

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Friday’s question was: Science fiction writers often like to attach dates to stories (and especially titles), to make the stories seem more futuristic, or more imminent. Sometimes, it’s just a date in the future; other times, it’s a date that may have some specific meaning. And sometimes, we laugh when the “far future date” passes without the rest of the story coming true. (George Lucas avoided this potential difficulty by setting Star Wars “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.”) How many of these dates can you name?

DuckDodgers The answers are:

2001: A Space Odyssey. And then 2010: Odyssey Two.

George Orwell’s Big Brother is in the novel 1984 (named by reversing the digits in the year the book was written, 1948).

In Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg travel in time in an attempt to assimilate Earth before first contact with the Vulcans, which takes place on April 5, 2063.

The Moon is blasted out of Earth’s orbit in Space: 1999.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (in the original novella, it was the year 2419; in the 1979 television series, it was 2491).

Duck Dodgers in the 24 ½th Century

Planet of the Apes, as Taylor is evacuating the crashed spaceship, the chronometer says it is November 25, 3978.

Escape from New York: the island of Manhattan has been turned into a maximum-security prison in the year 1997.

Paris in the 20th Century (written in 1863, first published in 1994, the novel was set in the year 1960).

The Time Machine stopped in the year A.D. 802,701, and then returned to the undated present.

The lunar inhabitants declared their independence from Earth on July 4, 2076, consciously echoing the American Revolution, in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Back to the Future: Marty traveled from 1985 to 1955, and then back to a modified 1985.

Back to the Future 2: Doc took Marty from 1985 to 2015. Then they traveled back to an alternate 1985, and then to 1955.

Back to the Future 3: Marty traveled from 1955 to rescue Doc in 1885, and then returned to 1985, where the time machine was destroyed.

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And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.

Tough Trivia, 6/18/21

June 18, 2021June 18, 2021 ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Back_to_the_Future Science fiction writers often like to attach dates to stories (and especially titles), to make the stories seem more futuristic, or more imminent. Sometimes, it’s just a date in the future; other times, it’s a date that may have some specific meaning. And sometimes, we laugh when the “far future date” passes without the rest of the story coming true. (George Lucas avoided this potential difficulty by setting Star Wars “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.”) How many of these dates can you name?

Arthur C. Clarke’s A Space Odyssey (book) and Stanley Kubrick’s movie. Also, the sequel to that book/movie.

The year during which George Orwell’s Big Brother was watching.

The date when the Vulcans first made contact with humans in Montana (the actual date was named in Star Trek: First Contact).

Nuclear waste stored on the Moon explodes, knocking the Moon out of Earth’s orbit in the tv series Space: ___.

Buck Rogers in the ___ Century (the 1928 novella, the 1930s radio series, the 1950s television series, or the 1980s television series).

“Duck Dodgers in the ___ Century” (the classic Daffy Duck cartoon).

Planet of the Apes (the 1968 movie).

Escape from New York (the 1981 movie).

Jules Verne’s novel Paris in the ___ Century.

H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine traveled to what year in the far future?

The lunar revolution in Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress takes place in what year?

And the big one: can you name the years to which Marty McFly traveled in the time machine Doc Brown invented in the Back to the Future film trilogy?

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Yesterday’s question was: As of this February’s induction ceremony, there are 338 inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The first group, inducted in 1986, included Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Little Richard. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is not a once-in-a-lifetime event. Several members have been inducted more than once. How many of them can you name (and can you name the acts or as a soloist in which they were so honored)?

The answers: Twenty-six artists have been inducted twice (or more): 15 as a soloist and with a band, and eight with two separate bands. Eric Clapton is the only one to be inducted three times. Stephen Stills is the only one to be inducted twice in the same year.

Jeff Beck (The Yardbirds, 1992; solo career, 2009)

Johnny Carter (The Flamingos, 2001; The Dells, 2004)

Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds, 1992; Cream, 1993; solo career, 2000)

David Crosby (The Byrds, 1991; Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1997)

Peter Gabriel (Genesis, 2010; solo career, 2014)

Dave Grohl (Nirvana, 2014; Foo Fighters, 2021)

George Harrison (The Beatles, 1988; solo career, 2004)

Michael Jackson (The Jackson Five, 1997; solo career, 2001)

Carole King (non-performer, 1990; solo career, 2021)

John Lennon (The Beatles, 1988; solo career, 1994)

Curtis Mayfield (The Impressions, 1991; solo career, 1999)

Paul McCartney (The Beatles, 1988; solo career, 1999)

Clyde McPhatter (solo career, 1987; The Drifters, 1988)

Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1997; The Hollies, 2010)

Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac, 1998; solo career, 2019)

Jimmy Page (The Yardbirds, 1992; Led Zeppelin, 1995)

Lou Reed (The Velvet Underground, 1996; solo career, 2015)

Gregg Rolie (Santana, 1998; Journey, 2017)

Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel, 1990; solo career, 2001)

Ringo Starr (The Beatles, 1988; solo career, 2015)

Rod Stewart (solo career, 1994; Faces, 2012)

Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield, 1997; Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1997)

Sammy Strain (The O’Jays, 2005; Little Anthony & The Imperials, 2009)

Tina Turner (Ike & Tina Turner, 1991; solo career, 2021)

Ronnie Wood (The Rolling Stones, 1989; Faces, 2012)

Neil Young (solo career, 1995; Buffalo Springfield, 1997)

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And if you’ve got a favorite trivia question—or even just a topic for which you’d like to see a question—let me know! Reader participation is warmly encouraged.