The Questions | Contest Main Page

Steeplechase

You must reach a hurdle to get the points. If you need 17 correct responses to get 2 points, and your team gets 16, you receive 1 point. For each of the steeplechase topics, additional correct answers do exist beyond the highest assigned level of correct responses, so there is breathing room. Luckily, not all of the categories will be as supremely difficult as "U.S. States," so you can rest easy.

NOTE: For every steeplechase, the required total (say, 20 correct responses for the maximum 3 points) was less than the available number of answers. The tightest requirement was 19-of-20 for full Magic 8-Ball credit, while some, like the double-word Top 40 songs or the Simpsons characters, were way under.

Offered in Winter 1994, when the internet was not quite as ubiquitous, this bonus squeaked by without any dramatically obvious www.solving. But today's cyber-savvy warriors would guffaw at the "challenge" of locating a Stallone filmography or verbatim Monty Python dialogue.

VILLAINS FROM THE "BATMAN" TV SERIES

Archer; Black Widow; Bookworm; Catwoman; Chandell; Clock King; Colonel Gumm; Dr. Cassandra; Egghead; False-Face; Joker; King Tut; Lord Pfogg; Lady Peasoup; Louie the Lilac; Ma Barker; Mad Hatter; Marsha, Queen of Diamonds; Minerva; Minstrel; Mr. Freeze; Nora Clavicle; Penguin; Puzzler; Riddler; Sandman; Shame; Siren (Hi-C); Zelda the Great. (Plus assorted henchmen.)

RESPONSES GIVEN BY THE MAGIC EIGHT-BALL (must be EXACT wording)

As I see it, yes; Ask again later; Better not tell you now; Cannot predict now; Concentrate and ask again; Don't count on it; It is certain; It is decidedly so; Most likely; My sources say no No; Outlook good; Outlook not so good; Reply hazy-- try again; Signs point to yes; Very doubtful; Without a doubt; Yes; Yes definitely; You may rely on it

NOVELS WRITTEN BY CHARLES DICKENS

Barnaby Rudge; Bleak House; A Christmas Carol; David Copperfield; Dombey & Son; Great Expectations; Hard Times; Little Dorrit; Martin Chuzzlewit; The Mystery of Edwin Drood; The Old Curiosity Shop; Oliver Twist; Our Mutual Friend; ....Nicholas Nickleby; The Pickwick Papers; A Tale of Two Cities

FILMS STARRING SYLVESTER STALLONE (Remember: separate sequels count as separate films)

(NOTE: We were lenient on the "starring" part, accepting his 2-minute cameo in "Bananas" and upwards. Basically, any movie with Stallone's face counted. Or in the case of "A Night at Kitty and Stud's," other parts. In reverse chronological order, as of 12/94.....)

The Specialist; A Century of Cinema; Demolition Man; Cliffhanger; Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot; Oscar; Rocky V; A Man Called... Rainbo; Lock Up; Tango & Cash; Rambo III; Over the Top; Cobra; Rambo: First Blood Part II; Rocky IV; Rhinestone; Staying Alive; Rocky III; First Blood; Escape to Victory; Nighthawks; Rocky II; F.I.S.T.; Paradise Alley; Cannonball (aka Carquake); Rocky; Capone; Death Race 2000; Farewell, My Lovely; The Lords of Flatbush; The Prisoner of Second Avenue; Bananas; The Italian Stallion (aka A Night at Kitty and Stud's); No Place to Hide (aka Rebel).

TWO-WORD "TOP40" SONGS WITH REPEATING-WORD TITLES ("LOUIE LOUIE" correct; "WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO-GO incorrect; "BOOGIE OOGIE OOGIE" incorrect; "TURN,TURN,TURN" incorrect)

Many, many.......including: Louie Louie; Monday Monday; Woman Woman; Beep Beep; Sugar Sugar; Iko Iko; Goody Goody; Liar Liar; Laugh Laugh; Mony Mony; Dum Dum; Cherry Cherry; Summertime Summertime; Pata Pata; Shame Shame; Teacher Teacher; Honey Honey; Rush Rush; Baby Baby; Doctor! Doctor!; Wack Wack; Talk Talk; Chewy Chewy; Jenny Jenny; Wonderful! Wonderful!; Tighter Tighter; Chip Chip; Promises Promises; Ta Ta; Hello Hello; Corinna Corinna; Mercy Mercy; Everybody Everybody; Green Green; Zip Zip; Ya Ya; Yeh Yeh; & Yo Yo.

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS FROM "THE SIMPSONS" WHO HAVE APPEARED AT LEAST TWICE (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie do not count.)

Despite the highest figure of any 3-point hurdle, no team had the slightest problem naming at least 32 of these folks.....

Abraham J. "Grampa" Simpson; Charles Montgomery; Selma and Patty Bouvier (Marge's older sisters); Grandma Jackie Bouvier (Marge's mother); Principal Seymour Skinner; Agnes Skinner (Seymourâs mom); Mrs. Edna Krabappel; Elizabeth Hoover (Lisa's teacher); Otto the bus driver; Groundskeeper Willy; Lunchlady Doris (school cook); Chalmers (school superintendent); Milhous (Bart's best friend); Martin Prince (brainy class president); Nelson Muntz (bully); Ralph Wiggum (eats paste); "Bleeding Gums" Murphy; Barney; Moe; Apu (Kwik-E-Mart owner); Snake (fulltime crook); Ned & Maude Flanders; Todd & Rod Flanders; Chief Clancy Wiggum; Eddie and Lou (two of Springfield's finest); Diamond Joe Quimby (Mayor); Krusty the Klown (Herschel Krustofsky); Sideshow Bob; Itchy and Scratchy; Kent Brockman (TV anchorman); Rev. Timothy Lovejoy (& wife Helen); God; Troy McClure; Dr. Julius Hibbert (Simpsons' doctor); Dr. Nick Riviera (bad doctor..... "HI, Doctor Nick!"); Lionel Hutz (mall attorney); Dr. Marvin Monroe (scruffy psychiatrist); Professor John Frink (nerdy crazy scientist); The fat owner of Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop; Kang and Kodos (two laughing tentacled aliens); Herbert Powell (Homer's half brother); Lenny (nasal-voiced nuclear plant co-worker); Karl or Carl (black co-worker); Wendell Borton (grey kid with curly hair); Sherry and Terry (purple-haired twins); Lewis & Richard (Bart & Milhous' usual pals); Jimbo Jones; Kearney & Dolph (Jimboâs two cohorts in crime); Larry & Sam (regular Moeâs customers); Jasper, white-bearded inmate at Grandpa Simpsonâs retirement home); Kirk & Luann Van Houten (Milhous' dad & mom); Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel (& Brandine); Pedro the Spanish Bumblebee Man; Jebediah Springfield (town founder); Roger Myers (President of Itchy and Scratchy, Intl.); The Happy Little Elves; McBain; Fat Tony (head of Springfield's Mafia family); Legs and Louie (Fat Tony's boys); Aristotle Amodopoulos (owner of Shelbyville's nuclear plant); Artie Ziff (1974; Marge's prom date); Harlan Dondelinger (1974; Homer's high school principal); Radioactive Man & Fallout Boy; Snowball, the Simpsons' cat; Snowball 2, the Simpsons' present cat.; Santa's Little Helper, the Simpsons' dog.; Blinky, 3-eyed fish; Baby with the one eyebrow (Maggie's nemesis); Larry King; Adolf Hitler

INSTRUCTIONS FROM CHANCE OR COMMUNITY CHEST CARDS (Only main headlines/instructions needed; do not necessarily need small print, dollar amounts, etc.)

Chance: Go back 3 spaces; Advance to Go, Collect $200; You have been elected Chairman of the Board (pay each player $50); Get Out of Jail Free (this card may be kept until needed or sold); Advance Token to the nearest Railroad and pay owner 2x rental....etc.; Pay Poor Tax of $15; Make general repairs on all your property (houses $25, hotels $100); Bank pays you a dividend of $50; Advance to Illinois Avenue; Your building & loan matures (collect $150); Take a walk on the Boardwalk (advance token); Advance token to nearest utility (buy, or pay owner 10x dice throw); Advance to St. Charles Place (If you pass Go, collect $200); Take a ride on the Reading Railroad

Community Chest: Christmas fund matures (collect $100); Grand Opera opening (collect $50 from each player for seats); From sale of stock, get $45; Get Out of Jail Free (may be held....etc....); Life Insurance matures (collect $100); You inherit $100; Doctor's Fee (pay $50); Advance to Go (collect $200); You are assessed for street repairs ($40 per house, $115 per hotel); Go to Jail. Go directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.; You have won 2nd prize in a beauty contest (collect $10); Receive for services $25; Bank error in your favor (collect $200); Income tax refund (collect $20); Pay hospital $100; Pay school tax of $150

CURRENT REPUBLICAN SENATORS OR SENATOR-ELECTS

The 12/94 incumbents: Robert Bennett, Utah; Christopher Bond, Missouri; Hank Brown, Colorado; Conrad Burns, Montana; John Chafee, R.I.; Daniel Coats, Indiana; Thad Cochran, Mississippi; William Cohen, Maine; Paul Coverdell, Georgia; Larry Craig, Idaho; John Danforth, Missouri; Robert Dole, Kansas; Pete Domenici, N.Mexico; Dave Durenb; Alfonse d'Amato, N.York; Lauch Faircloth, N.Carolina; Slade Gorton, Washington; Phil Gramm, Texas; Charles Grassley, Iowa; Judd Gregg, N.Hampshire; Orrin Hatch, Utah; Mark Hatfield, Oregon; Jesse Helms, N.Carolina; Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas; James Jeffords, Vermont; Nancy Kassenbaum, Kansas; Dirk Kempthorne, Idaho; Trent Lott, Mississippi; Richard Lugar, Indiana; Connie Mack, Florida; John McCain, Arizona; Mitch McConnell, Kentucky; Frank Murkowski, Alaska; Don Nickles, Oklahoma; Bob Packwood, Oregon; Larry Pressler, S.Dakota; William Roth, Delaware; Alan Simpson, Wyoming; Robert Smith, N.Hampshire and the Cure; Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania; Ted Stevens, Alaska; Strom Thurmond, S.Carolina; Malcolm Wallop, Wyoming; John Warner, Virginia.

The 12/94 Senator-elects of a month earlier: James Campbell, Alaska; Jon Kyl, Arizona; Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut; Olympia Snowe, Maine; Spencer Abraham, Michigan; Rod Grams, Minnesota; John Ashcroft, Missouri; Mike DeWine, Ohio; James Inhofe, Oklahoma; Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania; Bill Frist, Tennessee; Fred Thompson, Tennessee; Craig Thomas, Wyoming.

(NOTE: Richard Shelby of Alabama switched his designation to the Republican Party in November 1994, and was credited.)

EUPHEMISMS FOR DEATH IN THE MONTY PYTHON "DEAD PARROT" SKETCH

Bereft of life; bleedin' demised; ceased to be; ex-parrot; expired; gone to meet its maker; joined the choir invisible; a late parrot; no more; passed on; pushin' up the daisies; rests in peace; rung down the curtain; it's a stiff!; stone dead.

(Also accepted was "pining for the fjords.")