ANUSTART
May 16-17, 2014
On-Air Questions and Songs
Unused questions are shown with gray text.
| Number | 1 |
| Realm | Who wants a banger in the mouth? |
| Subrealm | Tobias, you blowhard! |
| Question | When Tobias Fünke's wife tells him she's fed up and wants a divorce, he pledges to change their lives for the better. One of his first lifestyle changes is to get a vanity license plate expressing his goal, but most people seem to interpret that plate a little differently than he does. What term, pronounceable in two distinct ways, is on his license plate? |
| Answer | ANUSTART |
| Song | Balls in the Air |
| Artist | (Arrested Development soundtrack) |
| Hint | What team is running this contest? |
| Number | 2 |
| Realm | This is a test |
| Subrealm | This is only a test |
| Question | Some people, in case of emergencies, keep extra money in their shoes or a spare key in their wallets. What does Paddington Bear keep in his hat in case of emergencies? |
| Answer | A marmalade sandwich. |
| Song | Orange Crush |
| Artist | REM |
| Hint | Paddington gets hungry sometimes. |
| Number | 3 |
| Realm | Sports statistics |
| Subrealm | Very important sports statistics |
| Question | Many things about the NBA have changed since the late 1970s: the three-point line was added, zone defenses have been allowed, and players are generally thought to be stronger and faster than ever before. In fact, one particular element of the game has grown from an average of about 7 inches in 1980 to nearly 11 inches today, a change often characterized via the difference between John Stockton and Michael Jordan. No, it's not that--at least, so far as we know--so what is it? |
| Answer | The length of players' shorts (measured by inseam). Jordan is often credited with leading the movement from gym shorts to the baggy shorts that have dominated the game over the past fifteen years. |
| Song | Legs |
| Artist | ZZ Topp |
| Hint | Think of changes in male fashion in the 1990s. |
| Number | 4 |
| Realm | Big enough for the king of England to see without glasses |
| Subrealm | Let freedom ring |
| Question | One of the words on the Liberty Bell is spelled incorrectly (to the modern eye). However, the spelling was perfectly acceptable at the time. What was this word? |
| Answer | Pennsylvania is spelled with only one 'n' |
| Song | Ring My Bell |
| Artist | Anita Ward |
| Hint | You probably had a hard time spelling it when you were in elementary school, too. |
| Number | 5 |
| Realm | Sci-fi trivia |
| Subrealm | It's not for wookies |
| Question | Star Wars Episode I featured the use of a Gillette razor, even though the movie's star character was clearly pre-pubescent. In what capacity was a Gillette Ladies Sensor Excel razor handle used during that film? |
| Answer | It was used as Qui-Gon's and Obi-Wan's communicators. |
| Song | Call Me Maybe |
| Artist | Carly Rae Jepsen |
| Hint | Jedis don't use them for shaving, but they keep them close to their faces |
| Number | 6 |
| Realm | Ideas that only sound good when you're stoned |
| Subrealm | Taco Bell for breakfast! |
| Question | Taco Bell has recently chosen an unusual group of pitchmen to endorse their new breakfast offerings. None of them are celebrities, politicians, or, really, notable in any way. What do they have in common that caused Taco Bell to select them? |
| Answer | They're all named Ronald McDonald. |
| Song | The Tears of a Clown |
| Artist | Smokey Robinson & the Miracles |
| Hint | It was intended as a dig at a competitor. |
| Number | 7 |
| Realm | Protective coverings |
| Subrealm | Whatever the squirrels tell you, it's a lie! |
| Question | According to an MIT study performed ten years ago, a certain type of homemade protective gear is actually quite faulty. Instead of blocking electronic transmissions, researchers found that the gear actually amplified signals in the 2.6GHz range, the range used for mobile communications and satellite transmissions. What type of gear was this? |
| Answer | Tinfoil hats |
| Song | Can't Get You Out of My Head |
| Artist | Kylie Minogue |
| Hint | This gear is only worn by people seriously concerned with blocking all ambient transmissions. |
| Number | 8 |
| Realm | Parks |
| Subrealm | Recreation |
| Question | On "Parks and Recreation," Andy volunteers to write a memorial song for Pawnee's beloved, recently deceased horse Li'l Sebastian that would far surpass even the top-selling single of all time. What does he decide to title it? |
| Answer | "5,000 Candles in the Wind" |
| Song | Burn |
| Artist | Ellie Goulding |
| Hint | The single Andy is trying to one-up is by Elton John. |
| Number | 9 |
| Realm | You have to help answer this question |
| Subrealm | Because I'm wearing the Kneepads of Allure |
| Question | In the original version of the card game Munchkin, what fearsome level 8 monster - known to true role-playing geeks for its ability to slay those with limited vocabularies - must be faced without any help from other players? |
| Answer | The gazebo. |
| Song | Saturday in the Park |
| Artist | Chicago |
| Hint | The "monster" has a scary-sounding name, but is not actually scary at all. |
| Number | 10 |
| Realm | Art history |
| Subrealm | Really strange art history |
| Question | Over the years, paint-makers have used some weird things to create the perfect color, from crushed bugs to rotted snails to rat poison. One particular paint, though, may have the weirdest source of all. What was the main ingredient of this rich brown pigment, popular from the 16th century onwards and last sold less than a hundred years ago? |
| Answer | Ground-up mummies. |
| Song | Walk Like an Egyptian |
| Artist | the Bangles |
| Hint | What distinctive object do Americans (with limited interest in Tahrir Square, at least) associate with the nationality described in this song? |
| Number | 11 |
| Realm | Overflow errors |
| Subrealm | That aren't player bladders |
| Question | During a 2010 sporting event, a scoreboard malfunction occurred. When the score reached 47-47, the device shut down and required the overnight efforts of an IBM programmer to be functional when play resumed the following day. What sporting event was occurring at the time, and what broke the scoreboard? |
| Answer | The Mahut-Isner match at Wimbledon – the longest match in the history of tennis. The scoreboard was never designed to accommodate scores that high. |
| Song | The Longest Time |
| Artist | Billy Joel |
| Hint | This sport is not supposed to have scores get anywhere near 47. |
| Number | 12 |
| Realm | Acronyms |
| Subrealm | Are bad for you |
| Question | HTML, the acronym for Hypertext markup language, is one of the primary languages of the world wide web. According to a 2014 study by vouchercloud.net, however, eleven percent of Americans believe that HTML is what? |
| Answer | A sexually transmitted disease. |
| Song | Burning Love |
| Artist | Elvis Presley |
| Hint | The title of the song should suggest the answer. |
| Number | 13 |
| Realm | Spaceship! |
| Subrealm | SPACESHIP! SPACESHIP! |
| Question | THIS IS A THREE-POINT PLAY! In the Lego Movie, the protagonist, Emmet, comes into possession of one ancient, mystical artifact - the Piece of Resistance. Lord Business, however, has far more of these artifacts in his possession. In the course of the movie, six of them are named. For one point, name three of these artifacts. For two points, name all six. |
| Answer | The Kragle, the Cloak of Ban'Daeed, the Fleece-Crested Scepter of Qt-ip, the Po'lish Remover of Na'il, the Sword of Exact Zero, and the Orb of Ti-Teleest. [Note: Be somewhat forgiving on spelling, but not on the names. "Cloak of Bandaid" is acceptable. "A band-aid" is not.] |
| Song | All the Small Things |
| Artist | Blink-182 |
| Hint | Many of them are derived from household objects. |
| Number | 14 |
| Realm | Books |
| Subrealm | Originality is overrated |
| Question | Over the past two decades, a very specific subgenre of books has emerged, producing at least a hundred mainstream-press volumes. Some of them might simply be dismissed as glorified fanfiction, such as the pair recounting the life of profligate male heir Edward or the several that invent romantic arcs for minor characters like Georgiana. Others, however, have been written by renowned authors, such as the 2011 murder mystery involving the death of Martin Denny. What is this subgenre? |
| Answer | Sequels to Pride & Prejudice |
| Song | Sweet Jane |
| Artist | The Velvet Underground |
| Hint | We're not counting the one with the zombies. |
| Number | 15 |
| Realm | Freakish creatures |
| Subrealm | But lovable nonetheless |
| Question | This creature may be made of fire, mist, straw, or beer cans, and is known for its ability to swim or charge. It's something of a hybrid between a yak, a bear, and a pug. What is it? |
| Answer | The alot, created by humorist Allie Brosh of the blog Hyperbole and Half as an imaginative way to cope with Internet commenters' inability to separate the two words "a lot." |
| Song | You Probably Get That A Lot |
| Artist | They Might Be Giants |
| Hint | You've probably seen it on Internet comment threads. You've probably seen it a lot, in fact. |
| Number | 16 |
| Realm | Moving heaven and earth |
| Subrealm | One out of two ain't bad |
| Question | According to NASA calculations, the completion of a certain structure in 2012 was enough to increase the length of a day by 0.06 microseconds and shift the north pole by approximately two centimeters. What was this structure? |
| Answer | The Three Gorges Dam |
| Song | I Feel the Earth Move |
| Artist | Carole King |
| Hint | From here, you might need to dig through the Earth to get there. |
| Number | 17 |
| Realm | Fun things to do while drunk |
| Subrealm | Permanent body modifications |
| Question | Getting tattooed while drunk can lead to some...interesting aesthetic choices, in fiction as in life. On the show "Glee," what phrase did Kurt Hummel drunkenly request to have tattooed on his back, and what was it later "fixed" to read? |
| Answer | "Its get better" and "It's got Bette Midler," respectively. |
| Song | I'm Beautiful |
| Artist | Bette Midler |
| Hint | Kurt is unsuccessfully attempting to get a tattoo of a popular inspirational message relevant to his personal identity. |
| Number | 18 |
| Realm | Contests |
| Subrealm | That are for the birds |
| Question | As part of his will, an eccentric Toronto man set up an unusual contest in the 1920s. Ten years later, four female winners were announced who had a high score of 9. What was the name of this contest, and what was its purpose? |
| Answer | The Great Stork Derby, to reward the Toronto woman who had the most babies during those ten years. |
| Song | Cry Baby |
| Artist | Cee-Lo Green |
| Hint | Listen to the song's title words. |
| Number | 19 |
| Realm | Sports teams |
| Subrealm | With lousy names |
| Question | One NFL team has recently sustained significant criticism for its rather offensive name. To help resolve the tension between those who object to the name and those who cling to team tradition, PETA has suggested that the name be kept, but the team's logo be changed. What is the team, and what is PETA's suggested logo change? |
| Answer | The Washington Redskins; a redskin potato |
| Song | Let's Call the Whole Thing Off |
| Artist | Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong |
| Hint | It's an alternate interpretation of the team's name. |
| Number | 20 |
| Realm | War |
| Subrealm | Uh! What is it good for! |
| Question | Quick! An insane general has ordered his nuclear bombers to attack Russia, which might trigger a civilization-destroying explosion of hydrogen weapons buried in the earth. You want to radio the bombers to call them back, but you need a three-letter code phrase for the communication to be accepted. What is that code phrase? |
| Answer | OPE (from Dr. Strangelove) |
| Song | You Dropped a Bomb on Me |
| Artist | The Gap Band |
| Hint | You've found a crossword layout intersecting the phrases "purity of essence" and "peace on earth." |
| Number | 21 |
| Realm | Pigs |
| Subrealm | Capitalist pigs |
| Question | In The Great Muppet Caper, Miss Piggy, posing as the glamorous Lady Holliday, excitedly sets up a date with the reporter played by Kermit, but suddenly realizes she does not know the address at which she should tell Kermit to pick her up. What fancy-sounding avenue does she give as the location at which Kermit is to meet her? |
| Answer | (No. 17) Highbrow Street |
| Song | Rich Girl |
| Artist | Hall & Oates |
| Hint | It's where only those with the most sophisticated aesthetic tastes live. |
| Number | 22 |
| Realm | Pigs |
| Subrealm | They just keep causing problems |
| Question | The Hatfields and McCoys are famous for the lengthy conflict between the two clans during the 1800s, which is generally said to have begun in a fight over the ownership of a pig. While most historians would consider this conflict to have ended around the turn of the century, the Hatfields and McCoys actually clashed one more time in the late 1970s. Where and how did this final altercation occur? |
| Answer | On the TV show "Family Feud." The winners (the McCoys) were given a pig. |
| Song | The Hustle |
| Artist | Van McCoy |
| Hint | They met in a cultural institution partly inspired by their own conflict. |
| Number | 23 |
| Realm | Pigs |
| Subrealm | Also, British naval history |
| Question | In 1942, a P-class British destroyer was torpedoed 80 miles east of Gibraltar. Normally, such damage would result in the loss of a ship, but in this particular case the Royal Navy instead chopped the ship in half and made two ships. What was the name of the original ship, and what were the names of the resulting ships built from the front and back halves of the torpedoed ship? |
| Answer | The HMS Porcupine became the HMS Pork and the HMS Pine. |
| Song | Both Sides Now |
| Artist | Joni Mitchell |
| Hint | The ship was originally named for an animal that may be small, but has an intimidating self-defense mechanism. |
| Number | 24 |
| Realm | All right, enough about pigs! |
| Subrealm | On to questions about...selfish people? |
| Question | This year, a Chinese man who described himself as a single computer nerd enacted a rather impressive act of sabotage on couples hoping to see the movie "Beijing Love Story" on Valentine's Day at Shanghai's Xintiandi theatre complex. What did he convince other singles to help him do to thwart couples' romantic plans for the evening? |
| Answer | He bought every other seat in the theater so couples couldn't sit next to each other. |
| Song | One |
| Artist | Three Dog Night |
| Hint | Chinese theaters have assigned, rather than general, seating. |
| Number | 25 |
| Realm | Flowers |
| Subrealm | Deflowers? |
| Question | In the year 1998, scientists discovered an additional use for a popular pharmaceutical: it can be used to help flowers stay straighter for longer. What is the name of this drug? |
| Answer | Viagra |
| Song | Get Up, Stand Up |
| Artist | Bob Marley |
| Hint | It is better known for making other things stay straight for longer. |
| BRACE YOURSELVES, LADIES AND GENTS. IT'S TIME TO GET A LITTLE BIT HORRIBLE WITH THE GRAND TRADITION KNOWN AS THE HORRIBLE SONG QUARTET! | |
| Number | 26 |
| Realm | More fun with drugs! |
| Subrealm | Okay, maybe not QUITE so much fun with drugs. |
| Question | Sumatriptan, or Imitrex, is a drug prescribed for short-term use in stopping migraine headaches. However, surgeons operating on a man taking a very high dose of sumatriptan discovered a disturbing side effect of the drug. What is it? |
| Answer | The patient's blood was a dark greenish-black. High levels of sumatriptan led to incorporation of sulfur into normal hemoglobin, irreversibly turning that hemoglobin green. (The patient was fine). |
| Song | Put a Little Love in Your Heart |
| Artist | Leonard Nimoy |
| Hint | It causes a property most associated with a character played by this song's singer. |
| Number | 27 |
| Realm | Scoring |
| Subrealm | Getting lucky |
| Question | Given that the NHL has been around for close to a century--during which time it has sanctioned thousands of ice hockey games--and that its basic equipment has undergone little change over that time, one would think that it would not be possible to find new ways to score a goal. However, this past season, the goal that won an overtime game between Phoenix and Buffalo was scored in a fashion that, so far as anyone knows, had never occurred in an NHL game before. What happened? |
| Answer | It is the first known instance of a goal scored in which the puck was inside the goalie's pants. During a close play at the net, the puck was deflected into the air and proceeded to fall down the back of goalie Alex Smith's uniform; a confused Smith stumbled back into the net, causing the goal to score. |
| Song | Pants on the Ground |
| Artist | General Larry Platt |
| Hint | It took a little while before anyone realized where the puck was. |
| Number | 28 |
| Realm | Contests |
| Subrealm | Probably featuring fewer questions about pigs than this one |
| Question | A 2005 contest in South Korea attracted 120,000 live viewers. For comparison, that's fifty thousand more people than watched the Super Bowl live that year, and about ten thousand more than can fit into the largest stadium in the United States. What kind of competition attracted this much live attention? |
| Answer | Starcraft |
| Song | Banelings |
| Artist | Nerd Alert |
| Hint | Athletics are not the most popular competitive activity in South Korea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMhh8zhTiY |
| Number | 29 |
| Realm | Disney movies |
| Subrealm | ...of DEATH!!! Or at least minor illness. |
| Question | The release of what Disney movie was thought to cause an increase in hospital admissions for Salmonella poisoning, and why? |
| Answer | The Princess and the Frog. Children - especially little girls - were getting infected by kissing frogs. |
| Song | I'm Sad the Goat Just Died Today |
| Artist | The Frogs |
| Hint | Kids sometimes like to reenact big moments from their favorite movies. |
| Number | 30 |
| Realm | Geography |
| Subrealm | Of a fictional nature |
| Question | George McGovern, Thomas Dewey, Barry Goldwater, Adlai Stevenson (twice)...and more! Why are these men an essential part of the tourist industry of St. Olaf, MN? |
| Answer | They are all carved into Mt. Losenbauden, St. Olaf's Mt. Rushmore of losing presidential candidates. (From the Golden Girls) |
| Song | Loser |
| Artist | Beck |
| Hint | St. Olaf honors different sorts of people than do states to its west. |
| Number | 31 |
| Realm | Oscar speeches |
| Subrealm | I'd like to thank the Academy |
| Question | Over the past dozen years, what individual has been thanked in more Oscar acceptance speeches than any other? |
| Answer | Meryl Streep - she has been personally thanked more often than "God" |
| Song | Mamma Mia |
| Artist | ABBA |
| Hint | The winners were attempting to be deferential and modest regarding a competitor. |
| Number | 32 |
| Realm | Things you probably shouldn't mention to your employer |
| Subrealm | Or major news organizations |
| Question | In the mid-90s, a composer was tasked to create a very specific six-second sound clip that would be heard daily by millions of computer users. He later admitted to doing all his work on a Macintosh machine. What was this clip? |
| Answer | The Windows 95 startup sound. |
| Song | Start Me Up |
| Artist | Rolling Stones |
| Hint | You might've heard it if you were John Hodgman rather than Justin Long. |
| Number | 33 |
| Realm | Saturday mornings |
| Subrealm | Theeeeeey're great! |
| Question | Children's breakfast cereals are known for their inventive mascots -- for example, Frosted Flakes and Tony the Tiger; Froot Loops and Toucan Sam; Rice Krispies and Snap, Crackle and Pop. One popular children's cereal features a steel-drum playing character from the Caribbean whose name is a play on one of the cereal's key ingredients. What is the name of the cereal and the character? |
| Answer | Apple Jacks and its mascot, CinnaMon |
| Song | Jamaican Inspector |
| Artist | from Psych |
| Hint | It's a really bad pun on said ingredient. |
| Number | 34 |
| Realm | Important scholarship |
| Subrealm | "Important" scholarship |
| Question | According to a 2005 study by Professor Jay Wexler in The Green Bag Law Journal, despite their usual alliance, Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas occupy opposite ends of one particular spectrum. What was it? |
| Answer | The court reporter denoted "[laughter]" most often after something Scalia said and least often (never) after anything Thomas said. |
| Song | Smile |
| Artist | Lily Allen |
| Hint | It's apparently also the reason why Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are best friends, despite their political differences. |
| Number | 35 |
| Realm | Diplomacy |
| Subrealm | Or the lack thereof |
| Question | Due to a diplomatic irregularity, what, technically, is the current diplomatic relationship between Costa Rica and Germany? |
| Answer | They are at war – specifically, World War I. (Costa Rica, due to a coup, was not invited to the treaty of Versailles; subsequent talks have not rectified this situation.) |
| Song | Never Surrender |
| Artist | Corey Hart |
| Hint | Costa Ricans apparently never got to see the fancy mirrors. |
| Number | 36 |
| Realm | You got served |
| Subrealm | No, really, you got served |
| Question | It's generally not a good day when you get served child support papers, but it was probably even worse for Erik Bedard when it happened in front of his entire team as he was about to take the mound for the Red Sox in September. But that still wasn't quite the worst of it. Given this situation, what additional step did the serving lawyer do to add insult to injury? |
| Answer | The lawyer, Tom Cabral, wore a Yankees shirt to serve the papers. |
| Song | High Enough |
| Artist | Damn Yankees |
| Hint | He didn't make careful fashion choices that morning. |
| Number | 37 |
| Realm | Awesome inventions |
| Subrealm | They really don't get any better than this |
| Question | Lakemaid brewery in Minnesota came up with an ingenious way to supply beer to ice fishers on Mille Lacs Lake. This supply service, however, evidently ran afoul of the FAA, who shut them down this winter. What was this method? |
| Answer | Beer delivery by drone. |
| Song | Fly Away |
| Artist | Lenny Kravitz |
| Hint | This is far from the most controversial use of this particular technical method. |
| Number | 38 |
| Realm | Flights of fantasy |
| Subrealm | Stark realities |
| Question | His real name, it turns out, is actually Walder. However, everyone calls him by a different name--because that's the only word he ever says. What is that word? |
| Answer | Hodor (from Game of Thrones) |
| Song | Fire and Ice |
| Artist | Pat Benatar |
| Hint | The real name is derived from a book series, but it's lately been popular on TV. |
| Number | 39 |
| Realm | Important people |
| Subrealm | Doing important things |
| Question | Kanye West and Kim Kardashian finally got to be on the cover of Vogue recently - something Kanye has been arguing that they deserved for some time. Last year, he claimed that one reason they deserved such treatment was that his fiancee was more influential than Michelle Obama, specifically citing the fact that the First Lady has never performed what important action, unlike Kim? |
| Answer | Instagrammed a picture of her butt. |
| Song | Can't Believe It |
| Artist | Flo Rida ft. Pit Bull |
| Hint | There are very few attributes in which Kim Kardashian is superior to the First Lady, but this is probably one of them. |
| Number | 40 |
| Realm | I'm a mighty pirate! |
| Subrealm | Look behind you, a three-headed monkey! |
| Question | And now, for something a little bit different. Your host is about to insult you. They will continue to insult you every 30 seconds until the song runs out or you find a way to defeat them. Good luck! |
| Answer | [Insults are as follows: "I once owned a dog that was smarter than you," "Have you stopped wearing diapers yet?" "You're no match for my brains, you poor fool," "You have the manners of a beggar," "There are no words for how disgusting you are," "You make me want to puke," "I've spoken with apes more polite than you," and "I've heard you were a contemptible sneak." The correct response to each of them can be found here: http://www.worldofmi.com/gamehelp/insults/mi1.php . Teams would receive a point as soon as they produced one correct response.] That was an exercise in Insult Swordfighting from the game Monkey Island. We hope you won! |
| Song | Shock the Monkey |
| Artist | Peter Gabriel |
| Hint | Be witty, I guess? |
| Number | 41 |
| Realm | Fearsome, murderous monsters |
| Subrealm | Kitties |
| Question | According to the Oatmeal, when cats are kneading their paws on your lap, they're not being nice--they're actually trying to kill you. How does kneading contribute to their master plan? |
| Answer | They're checking your internal organs for weaknesses. |
| Song | What's New Pussycat? |
| Artist | Tom Jones |
| Hint | It's strategic planning for a future attack. |
| Number | 42 |
| Realm | Famous math problems |
| Subrealm | That are now solvable |
| Question | The city of Konigsberg had seven bridges in the days of Euler. The layout of the bridges meant it was impossible to complete an "Eulerian tour", crossing each bridge without repeating oneself. Modern modifications, however, have permitted a "Eulerian tour". What mid-twentieth-century modification to Konigsburg (now Kaliningrad) allows one to solve the "bridges of Konigsberg" problem in the modern day? |
| Answer | The allied bombing campaign of WW2 destroyed two bridges |
| Song | London Bridge Is Falling Down |
| Artist | Count Basie |
| Hint | Lots of stuff in Germany got modified in a similar way mid-century. |
| Note | In the context of the bridges problem, an Eulerian *tour* means starting and ending at the same place, while crossing each bridge exactly once in between. An Eulerian *path* is a slightly less impressive accomplishment: in that case you are allowed to start and end at different places. In Euler's time, neither was possible. Since the War, it is possible to construct an Eulerian path, but not an Eulerian tour. --Ed. |
| Number | 43 |
| Realm | People who are fantastic |
| Subrealm | People who are amazing |
| Question | This accomplished fellow has been a mailman, a security guard, a pageant judge, a playboy, a hot dog vendor, a high school librarian, and a general - all in the course of the last 15 years! Who is he? |
| Answer | Stan Lee, in just a few of his cameos from Marvel movies. |
| Song | Please Mr. Postman |
| Artist | The Marvelettes |
| Hint | The group's name is the hint. |
| Number | 44 |
| Realm | Tall people |
| Subrealm | Ball people |
| Question | The first of them played for the Knicks in the late 1940s, but only for a few games. The second was part of John Wooden's UCLA dynasty in the 1970s, but didn't have much success for the Pacers and Warriors in the NBA. The one with the longest career was a backup for the Nets, 76ers, and Heat in the 1990s, but the most famous one now plays in Houston. These four men are the only NBA players to share what characteristic? |
| Answer | They are the only four Asian-Americans in NBA history--Wataru Misaka, Raymond Townsend, Rex Walters, and Jeremy Lin. |
| Song | Token Eastern Song |
| Artist | Nirvana |
| Hint | Yao Ming doesn't count. |
| Number | 45 |
| Realm | Wizards named Harry |
| Subrealm | Slightly less famous wizards named Harry |
| Question | In the Dresden Files novels, the Wee Folk come to regard wizard Harry Dresden as a great man and often act to help him, even giving him an impressive title as an acknowledgment of their esteem for and service to him. What is this title, and what did Harry do to earn it? |
| Answer | "Za-Lord"; he gave them pizza. [be lenient on exact title] |
| Song | Domino |
| Artist | Jessie J |
| Hint | Undergrads might apply this title to some folks around Water St. and Latham. |
| Number | 46 |
| Realm | Important news stories |
| Subrealm | According to the internet |
| Question | According to Youtube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, YouTube was founded after Hurley and Chen found themselves fruitlessly looking for the video of what noteworthy celebrity performance? |
| Answer | Janet Jackson's nipple slip. |
| Song | One Headlight |
| Artist | The Wallflowers |
| Hint | Everyone else had to rely on DVR. |
| Number | 47 |
| Realm | This trivia question is obviously number 47. |
| Subrealm | It's a very distinctive question. |
| Question | On the TV show "Leverage," the character of Parker has some, shall we say, intimacy issues. When trying to confess her growing affection for a teammate, she ends up instead declaring her strong feelings for...what? |
| Answer | Pretzels. |
| Song | Pretzel Logic |
| Artist | Steely Dan |
| Hint | Like love, it's pretty knotty. |
| Number | 48 |
| Realm | Food |
| Subrealm | ...well, food-like substances |
| Question | The Cheesecake Factory prides itself on constantly producing inventive and sophisticated new entrees. Consequently, its products, especially its pasta dishes, have dominated one set of national awards since 2007, with the Bistro Shrimp Pasta recently ranked at the top of all chain restaurant dishes nationwide, just as the Pasta Carbonara had been a few years before. What distinction have the Cheesecake Factory's pasta products typically dominated? |
| Answer | They are the most unhealthy food produced in America, according to the Xtreme Eating Awards of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest. A single Bistro Shrimp Pasta, for instance, has 3,100 calories and 89 grams of saturated fat, respectively one and half and five days' worth of the FDA recommended totals. Eating one Bistro Shrimp pasta is the nutritional equivalent of eating two 12-piece buckets of chicken from KFC at once. |
| Song | Heart Attack |
| Artist | Demi Lovato |
| Hint | You'd expect the cheesecake to win it--though it's not far behind. |
| Number | 49 |
| Realm | Pretentious modern artworks |
| Subrealm | Difficulty level: not "Rock Fan" or "Higher Goals" |
| Question | For a gallery opening in 1998, conceptual artist Rob Pruitt created a sculpture consisting of two objects, one of which was a 16 foot mirror. What was the other object, which gallery attendees were invited to sample? |
| Answer | Cocaine - the name of the artwork was "Cocaine Buffet" |
| Song | Chasing Cars |
| Artist | Snow Patrol |
| Hint | That late 20th century art world had a lot of really decadent elements, didn't it? |
| Number | 50 |
| Realm | A b-b-bird bird bird |
| Subrealm | Bird is the word |
| Question | One of the key plot points in the film Hot Fuzz involves a runaway bird, who eventually saves the small village of Sandford, England by incapacitating the villain. However, when the missing bird is first reported by a local farmer, the newly-transplanted street-smart city cop Nicholas Angel is deeply incredulous that it even exists. Why? |
| Answer | The owner of the swan is named Peter Ian Staker. Angel assumes that any call from a "P. I. Staker" (piss-taker) must be a prank. |
| Song | Piss On You |
| Artist | Dave Chappelle |
| Hint | Angel's city experience has caused him to be cynical about certain kinds of phone calls. |
| Number | 51 |
| Realm | Timing |
| Subrealm | You're doing it wrong |
| Question | Bands may not think too hard about what their concert ads are going to say when they're planning a tour. One Texas post-rock band probably should have, though, when choosing to hold a concert on September 11th, 2011, because a lot of people were rather upset by their advertising. What was the name of that band? |
| Answer | Explosions in the Sky. |
| Song | Boom Boom Pow |
| Artist | Black-Eyed Peas |
| Hint | This band probably should just not ever play on 9/11. |
| Number | 52 |
| Realm | Stadiums |
| Subrealm | Defunct stadiums |
| Question | Many of the most impressive athletic stadiums ever built are no longer operational. The largest such stadium was Strahov stadium in Prague, which had an estimated capacity of 220,000 people. What is the second largest such closed stadium? |
| Answer | The circus maximum of Rome, which closed in the 6th century. |
| Song | Roam |
| Artist | the B 52's |
| Hint | They put a lot of crazy stuff in that stadium, so it needed to be big. |
| Number | 53 |
| Realm | Things that keep going and going |
| Subrealm | And going and going and going |
| Question | This occurred for the first time in 1966. The kaleidoscopic second occurrence happened three years later, accompanying a transition to color. The seventh occurred just before the turn of the millennium, while an additional one was recently interpolated before what had previously been considered the eighth. The thirteenth and most recent involved a dropped bowtie and the start of a new cycle. What are these? |
| Answer | The regenerations of Dr. Who. |
| Song | Substitute |
| Artist | The Who |
| Hint | Some fans are upset that it led to another middle-aged dude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nwbY_vikLw |
| Number | 54 |
| Realm | Mistakes |
| Subrealm | 20/20 hindsight |
| Question | In 2013, the Harrisburg Patriot-News printed what may be one of the most delayed retractions in the history of journalism. The 150-year-old editorial being retracted referred to a certain work as "silly remarks" deserving "the veil of oblivion." In retrospect, the current editors noted, their paper may have been a bit off on that one. What was the work in question? |
| Answer | The Gettysburg Address. |
| Song | Barton Hollow |
| Artist | The Civil Wars |
| Hint | It was rumored to have been scribbled on some scrap paper on the way up. |
| Number | 55 |
| Realm | Quirky little foreign countries |
| Subrealm | Tong-I mean, Bhutan. Psych! |
| Question | Most countries gauge their productivity through a measure like Gross National Product. Bhutan, however, has long found this too materialistic and crass a way to evaluate the nation. What do they use instead? |
| Answer | Gross National Happiness |
| Song | Happy |
| Artist | Pharrell Williams |
| Hint | It's a more holistic, yet still aggregate and numerical, evaluation. |
| Number | 56 |
| Realm | The road not taken |
| Subrealm | How many of them must one walk down? |
| Question | The protagonist of the movie Inside Llewyn Davis seems to face a doomed, Sisyphean life of crashing at different apartments and playing low-paying gigs without a shot at fame and fortune. However, attentive viewers will note that, though no one says so explicitly, he just barely misses two chances at folk superstardom. What are they? |
| Answer | First, when Llewyn blows his 1961 solo audition in Chicago for Bud Grossman, he's offered a place singing harmony in a two-male-one-female group that, given the time and place, is almost certainly Peter, Paul, and Mary; second, his gig in New York in the final scene, with a Times critic in the audience, is overshadowed by the other half of the bill, who appears (from what we can see in the background) to be a young Bob Dylan. |
| Song | Please Mr. Kennedy (Don't Shoot Me Into Outer Space) |
| Artist | Justin Timberlake, Adam Driver, and Oscar Isaac (from Inside Llewyn Davis) |
| Hint | They involve the two most famous acts to emerge from this scene. |
| Number | 57 |
| Realm | Great sources of dick jokes |
| Subrealm | Shakespeare! |
| Question | William Shakespeare's plays have given English many oft-quoted phrases, including "as luck would have it" and "eaten out of house and home." Henry V is no exception, featuring famous expressions like "we band of brothers." However, one of the most famous expressions from the play is not only frequently not acknowledged to be Shakespeare's coinage, but is associated with a fictional character wholly separate from his works. What is it? |
| Answer | Sherlock Holmes's "The game's afoot," which comes from the end of Hal's "Once more unto the breach" monologue. |
| Song | Baker Street |
| Artist | Gerry Rafferty |
| Hint | The title of the song is the clue. |
| Number | 58 |
| Realm | Jump |
| Subrealm | For my love |
| Question | The video game "Thomas Was Alone" has been praised for its interesting narrative and unusually complex character development for a platformer. Characters like Thomas, Chris, Claire, and Laura meet, engage in rivalries, fall in love, and reflect on their lives and goals. But what rather notable physical trait do all these characters have in common? |
| Answer | They are all rectangles. Sentient, bouncing rectangles. |
| Song | Hip to be Square |
| Artist | Huey Lewis & the News |
| Hint | They might've been characters in a famous Victorian satiric fantasy. |
| Number | 59 |
| Realm | Important Trivia traditions |
| Subrealm | Tonga! |
| Question | This past winter, Tonga sent its very first Winter Olympian to the Sochi games. However, given the country's limited resources for winter sports, he had to take an extreme step to acquire adequate funding. What innovative sponsorship deal did Tonga's first Winter Olympian strike? |
| Answer | His sponsor was the famously outlandish German underwear company Bruno Balani--so he changed his own name to Bruno Balani. (He competed in luge.) |
| Song | Tale of the Tongan Ninja |
| Artist | Jemaine Clement |
| Hint | Sports stadiums take similar strategies. |
| Number | 60 |
| Realm | Space |
| Subrealm | The really final frontier |
| Question | Suffocation, radiation, explosive decompression, alien probe: there are many ways of dying in space one might fear. Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano can add another one to the list. What unexpected mode of death did Mr. Parmitano nearly succumb to while working on the International Space Station last year? |
| Answer | Drowning. A malfunction in his space suit caused his helmet to fill with water. |
| Song | Drops of Jupiter |
| Artist | Train |
| Hint | You'd think this way just about the least likely way of dying in outer space. |
| Number | 61 |
| Realm | This question brought to you by the Sheinhardt Wig Company. |
| Subrealm | Not Poisoning Rivers Since 1997! |
| Question | On "30 Rock," one the many problems Jack Donaghy experiences in wooing the Puerto Rican nurse Elisa is the apparently unmotivated distrust he faces from Elisa's grandmother. What, we eventually find out, causes her to so strongly dislike Jack? |
| Answer | Jack looks a great deal like the evil generalissimo from her favorite telenovela. |
| Song | Hit the Road, Jack |
| Artist | Ray Charles |
| Hint | Her grandmother has the stereotypical leisure interests of an older Puerto Rican woman. |
| Number | 62 |
| Realm | A rose is a rose |
| Subrealm | Is a rose is a rose |
| Question | For many students, recess and lunch are the most exciting parts of a school day. Others may look forward with special interest to art class or gym. Gertrude Stein, however, was not like most people. What was her favorite part of the school day in her elementary years? |
| Answer | Diagramming sentences. |
| Song | White and Nerdy |
| Artist | Weird Al |
| Hint | It's perhaps the most extreme example of an activity to which this song's title might be applied. |
| Number | 63 |
| Realm | Missions |
| Subrealm | From God |
| Question | In The Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood offer their impromptu musical services to a redneck bar several hours outside Chicago. When they ask what kind of music is usually played at the bar, the woman who runs the place says that the bar, open-minded as it is, allows BOTH types of music. What does she mean by "both" types? |
| Answer | Country AND western |
| Song | I'm a Little Bit Country |
| Artist | Donny & Marie |
| Hint | It's sort of like this song, except that the male singer would be somewhat more like the female singer. |
| Number | 64 |
| Realm | Bad ideas |
| Subrealm | Bad ideas even for soccer riots |
| Question | English football hooligans famously know no boundaries in their violent tendencies when their team has lost. However, in 2012, one fan from the northeast, disappointed with his team's loss to a local rival in a Premier League match, took on a target usually considered off-limits even to football hooligans. What did he do? |
| Answer | He punched a police horse. |
| Song | I Fought the Law |
| Artist | the Clash |
| Hint | He might've been trying to imitate Mongo in Blazing Saddles. |
| Number | 65 |
| Realm | Things from your grandfather's time |
| Subrealm | That no longer roam |
| Question | On the Island in the Bahamas is a 19th century house that once belonged to a John Bethel. John Bethel, however, is, perhaps more well known for another property he once owned - a property that, according to most sources, is now under water. What was this more famous property? |
| Answer | The Sloop John B. (evidently it wrecked somewhere off Nassau at the start of the 20th century) |
| Song | Hang On Sloopy |
| Artist | the McCoys |
| Hint | After it went underwater, he probably wanted to go home. Would you let him go home? |
| Number | 66 |
| Realm | Industrious Congressmen |
| Subrealm | So, no one currently in Congress |
| Question | Democrat Robert Andrews has an unusual record on Capitol Hill. Over the course of his 23-year career, he introduced more bills to congress - 646 - than any other representative. However, Andrew's legislative career will probably be memorialized for a different trivia statistic. What statistic is that? |
| Answer | None of those 646 bills passed. |
| Song | Gives You Hell |
| Artist | All-American Rejects |
| Hint | Actually, he would've fit in really well in the current Congress. |
| Number | 67 |
| Realm | Wake up your kids! |
| Subrealm | It's time to sing! |
| Question | With the rest of the world, we mourn the passing of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In honor of him, tell us what Colonel Aureliano Buendia recalls when he is about to be executed for his repeated insurrections against the government. |
| Answer | His father taking him to discover ice. |
| Song | Let It Go |
| Artist | Idina Menzel (from Frozen) |
| Hint | The climate in Colombia makes this experience relatively rare in nature. |
| Number | 68 |
| Realm | Things coming from the sky |
| Subrealm | Which cause walls to fall |
| Question | THIS IS A TWO POINT PLAY! In the 1987 American release of this Russian game, the only animated feature on the main screen was a small plane dragging a banner. For one point, name the game. For a second, what event was the plane a reference to? |
| Answer | The game is Tetris, and the plane references Mathias Rust's landing a Cessna in Red Square, which is in the background of the image. |
| Song | Jigsaw Falling Into Place |
| Artist | Radiohead |
| Hint | We almost played the most famous Russian folk song as a match for this question, but it would've given things away. |
| Number | 69 |
| Realm | America's latest sweetheart |
| Subrealm | Well, maybe just mainland America? |
| Question | While filming "Catching Fire," actor Jennifer Lawrence caused a bit of an uproar among some Hawaiian natives for an accidental act of sacrilege. What did she do to a sacred rock formation that so angered locals? |
| Answer | Used it to scratch her butt. (In Ms. Lawrence's defense, the filmmakers apparently forgot to tell her this particular rock formation was sacred in advance.) |
| Song | You Can Count on Me (Hawaii 5-0 Theme) |
| Artist | Sammy Davis, Jr. |
| Hint | Well, sometimes you just get the urge. |
| Number | 70 |
| Realm | Animals |
| Subrealm | Internet-dwelling animals |
| Question | This creature came into being when an unsuspecting Autocorrect accidentally mangled a woman's description of her new fuchsia dress. What is this scourge of the Internet? |
| Answer | The fuck weasel. |
| Song | Fuckin' Perfect |
| Artist | P!nk |
| Hint | The word fuchsia really offers the opportunity for lots of problems. |
| Number | 71 |
| Realm | Hopefully your kids went back to bed before the last question |
| Subrealm | It's so nice not to be on the actual radio anymore. |
| Question | Shortly after the bombings at the Boston Marathon last April, Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz gave an inspirational speech on television to the city which is credited with helping to fuel the team's World Series run. However, a tweet responding to Ortiz's speech has suggested that it might also have implications well beyond Boston. What did he say that had such major ramifications? |
| Answer | The word "fucking." In response to Ortiz's inspiring mantra "This is our fucking city!", the chairman of the FCC--which has recently been contemplating a total overhaul of its regulations on "fleeting expletives"--tweeted that he stood with Ortiz's claim, suggesting that it may be possible to say "fuck" free of consequence on national TV in the near future. |
| Song | Regulate |
| Artist | Warren G and Nate Dogg |
| Hint | He's following in a path earlier laid open by Bono and Cher, among others. |
| Number | 72 |
| Realm | Names |
| Subrealm | Amazing names |
| Question | The Napoleonic wars are memorable for a number of amazing names - Napoleon, Wellington, Nelson, etc. One lieutenant general, best known for his service in the Iberian campaign and later as the governor of Malta, had perhaps the best name of the bunch. What was his name? |
| Answer | Lieutenant General Manley Power |
| Song | Macho Man |
| Artist | Village People |
| Hint | Seriously, just start making up fake names that sound appropriate for this song and the job suggested. |
| Number | 73 |
| Realm | Leaving on a jet plane |
| Subrealm | Don't know when I'll be back again |
| Question | Four years ago, travelers looking for one-way tickets from Los Angeles to Sydney on September 22 were greeted with an usual flight offering from Kayak. What was the airline and flight number of this flight, and why was it unusual? |
| Answer | Oceanic Airlines 815, the same flight call sign as the doomed plane on Lost. |
| Song | Lost? |
| Artist | Coldplay |
| Hint | It's most associated with a TV show. |
| Number | 74 |
| Realm | Truther |
| Subrealm | Dare |
| Question | In Asimov's "I Robot", politician Stephen Byerley is accused of being a robot. When dared during a campaign speech, however, Byerly punches a "truther". This punch seemingly violates the first law of robotics, as a robot cannot ever harm a human. Robopsychologist Dr. Calvin notes out a possible flaw in this logic, hinting that Byerly may actually still be a robot. What is Dr. Calvin's observation? |
| Answer | The truther who is being punched is actually a robot in disguise. |
| Song | Man Machine |
| Artist | Robbie Williams |
| Hint | It's quite logical if you think it out. |
| Number | 75 |
| Realm | Braaaaaaaaains |
| Subrealm | Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaains |
| Question | Neuroscience has become exceedingly refined today, to the point where scientists can use electrodes to stimulate particular neurons in a patient's brain. Using these tools, it was discovered that individual neurons can code for not merely visual or auditory stimuli, but more abstract notions, whether presented pictorially from a variety of angles or written down in a variety of lexical forms. In the study confirming this result, scientists most specifically found a neuron in one subject's brain that coded for what? |
| Answer | Jennifer Aniston. |
| Song | You've Got a Friend in Me |
| Artist | Michael Buble |
| Hint | It appears he watched a lot of network TV in the 1990s. |
| Number | 76 |
| Realm | In Soviet Russia |
| Subrealm | Floor stand on YOU! |
| Question | The floor of Russia's main defense intelligence headquarters features an image of what famous emblem? |
| Answer | The Bat-Signal |
| Song | Got Money |
| Artist | Lil Wayne ft. T-Pain |
| Hint | I guess the oligarchs like to party with this guy. |
| Number | 77 |
| Realm | Take me out to the ballgame |
| Subrealm | Have a 77th-question stretch! |
| Question | During his playing days in the first decade of the twentieth century, William Bergen was known simply as a journeyman catcher with a good throwing arm; certainly, he was less notorious than his brother, a fellow baseball player who murdered his family. However, baseball researchers have now determined that he actually holds an extraordinary distinction among all the players in major league baseball's 143-year history. What is it? |
| Answer | He is probably the very worst player in the history of major league baseball. Over his eleven-year career, he is estimated to have cost his teams about fifteen wins below what even a hypothetical AAA minor league catcher could have produced. He hit .170 for his career, with a .190 on-base percentage, a career total of two home runs, and--in the seasons where records are available--more strikeouts than hits. |
| Song | Bad |
| Artist | Michael Jackson |
| Hint | Think about the title of this song. |
| Number | 78 |
| Realm | Big screen train wrecks |
| Subrealm | Not necessarily larger than life |
| Question | Hollywood blockbusters are known for larger-than-life portrayal of explosions. Usually these are filmed by blowing up miniatures or judicious use of CGI. In a 1990s film, however, the producers decided it was cheaper to stage a real-life train crash rather than make one up. In which film was this train wreck featured? |
| Answer | The Fugitive (1993) |
| Song | Runaway |
| Artist | Del Shannon |
| Hint | You might say this was a runaway train. |
| Number | 79 |
| Realm | Outsourcing |
| Subrealm | Military outsourcing |
| Question | Americans buy a lot of products from China, and the American military is no exception. One particular Chinese-made item, however, raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill and was subsequently banned. Thanks to recent legislation, what product can the US military no longer purchase from Chinese manufacturers? |
| Answer | American flags |
| Song | God Bless the USA |
| Artist | Lee Greenwood |
| Hint | It sort of sent a bad message regarding patriotism and globalization. |
| Number | 80 |
| Realm | Love songs |
| Subrealm | That you didn't hear in our bonus |
| Question | The Beatles's "Something," "Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are," Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe," and ABBA's "Waterloo" are among the most famous 20th century pop songs about eternal love. (Ok, maybe that last one's a bit of a stretch.) Unfortunately, they all also share another, dispiriting characteristic. What is it? |
| Answer | The marriages about which these love songs were written all ended in acrimonious divorce within a decade of their release. |
| Song | We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together |
| Artist | Taylor Swift |
| Hint | The songs were autobiographical. |
| Number | 81 |
| Realm | The dream of the 90s |
| Subrealm | Is alive in Portland |
| Question | On "Portlandia," the mayor of Portland, despite his best efforts to go green, turns out to be the city's biggest energy hog. What is the major, inadvertent source of electricity waste in his residence, and how does he worsen the problem in trying to correct it? |
| Answer | His printer (named "Prince") has been continually printing the same error message for ten years. (The mayor did not realize he was allowed to turn the printer off.) He worsens the problem by ceremonially disposing of Prince into the Willamette River. |
| Song | Something in the Water (Does Not Compute) |
| Artist | Prince |
| Hint | The mayor is not tech-savvy. |
| Number | 82 |
| Realm | More electrical usage trivia! |
| Subrealm | Does that mean we're re-volting? |
| Question | According to a 2011 report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, what industrial activity currently consumes about 1% of all electricity used in the United States and 3% of all electricity used in California? |
| Answer | Growing marijuana. |
| Song | She's So High |
| Artist | Tal Bachman |
| Hint | It's related to the state's medical laws. |
| Number | 83 |
| Realm | We keep getting larger |
| Subrealm | But the rides stay the same size |
| Question | Due to the rising trend of obesity in America, a famous Disneyland ride was renovated in mid-2000 in order to accommodate larger passengers. What was this iconic Disneyland landmark? |
| Answer | It's a Small World |
| Song | Fat Bottomed Girls |
| Artist | Queen |
| Hint | It's pretty ironic. |
| Number | 84 |
| Realm | Don't hate the player |
| Subrealm | Well, maybe do |
| Question | The New York Knicks' top reserve has had something of a rough season this year. Part of that may be because, as no less an authority than Rihanna has argued, of his busy clubbing schedule. Some of his problems, though, seem to go beyond mere conditioning. Earlier this season, this player was fined by the league for what may be the dumbest reason in league history. What did he repeatedly do, over the course of several games, to earn the fine? |
| Answer | On multiple occasions, J.R. Smith untied his opponents' shoelaces during gameplay. |
| Song | She's Come Undone |
| Artist | The Guess Who |
| Hint | It's a pretty sophomoric way to get a leg up. |
| Number | 85 |
| Realm | Boozing it up |
| Subrealm | Like a Virginian, ooh, drunk for the very first tiiiiiime... |
| Question | Federal law requires states to set their drinking age to 21 in order to receive federal highway funds. In Virginia, however, there is a slightly unusual regulation regarding the drinking age. What is this wrinkle, according to the Virginia department of alcoholic beverage control? |
| Answer | You can drink and purchase alcohol on the day before your 21st birthday. |
| Song | One More Night |
| Artist | Maroon 5 |
| Hint | I mean, I guess it speaks to the inherent arbitrariness of firm temporal divisions in our constant flux of existence? |
| Note | "The Attorney General's Office has opined that a person attains his/her next year of age on the day prior to his/her birthday." |
| Number | 86 |
| Realm | Errors |
| Subrealm | Errors that make you want to sing? |
| Question | Most HTTP-compliant web browsers are not supposed to implement client error 418, but many do. What is the three-word error message used by these browsers? |
| Answer | "I'm a teapot." |
| Song | Tea for Two |
| Artist | Alvin and the Chipmunks |
| Hint | The browser gets pretty short with you. It gives you a stout warning. |
| Number | 87 |
| Realm | "Music, movies, microcode, and high-speed pizza delivery" |
| Subrealm | Three out of four ain't bad |
| Question | According to Domino's Pizza spokesman, not a single pizza was ordered in the United States for five minutes between 1 o'clock and 1:05 on a certain October day in 1995. What nationwide news event caused a massive slowdown in sales? |
| Answer | The OJ Simpson verdict was announced. |
| Song | Back Stabbers |
| Artist | The O'Jays |
| Hint | People were really bizarrely obsessed with this for all of 1995. |
| Number | 88 |
| Realm | Hit TV shows |
| Subrealm | With wacky characters |
| Question | This TV program ran from 1999-2012 on Sunday afternoons, always winning its time slot in a runaway, even when it went on for eight hours at a time. Its main catchphrase was "Expropriate!" and it frequently included lengthy discussions of baseball and George Bush, the latter nicknamed "Danger." It only ended its run with the decline in health of its now-deceased host, though not before it nearly started a war in 2008. What is this show? |
| Answer | Alo Presidente! with Hugo Chavez [accept anything regarding "Hugo Chavez's TV show"] |
| Song | Mr. President, Have Pity on the Working Man |
| Artist | Randy Newman |
| Hint | The show aired in a South American country. |
| Number | 89 |
| Realm | Things that are charming and beloved |
| Subrealm | ...tollbooths? |
| Question | In the classic children's book The Phantom Tollbooth, what precisely is wrong with the watchdog Tock, and what, relatedly, is wrong with his brother? |
| Answer | He is named Tock, but he goes tickticktickticktick. His brother, named Tick, goes tocktocktocktocktock. |
| Song | TiK ToK |
| Artist | Ke$ha |
| Hint | Things get all backwards for them. |
| Number | 90 |
| Realm | Sports |
| Subrealm | Real sports |
| Question | According to the All-Japan association, the rules are these: teams start on opposite sides of a basketball court, lying down. Each team member gets a blanket that they can use as a shield, and is charged with throwing small objects at members of the other team. What is this competitive sport? |
| Answer | Pillow fighting |
| Song | I'm Only Sleeping |
| Artist | Beatles |
| Hint | There's probably all sorts of really skeevy interest among the Japanese in watching schoolgirls do this. |
| Number | 91 |
| Realm | Things that grow |
| Subrealm | Things that shrink |
| Question | Economists have long been interested in understanding factors leading to economic growth. To this end, a Finnish economist's 2011 discovery indicated an inverse correlation between GDP and a particular measurement, which the author hypothesized was related to "risk taking behavior"? What was this measurement? |
| Answer | Penis size. |
| Song | Dongs All Over the World |
| Artist | The International Nasty Girls (accept SNL) |
| Hint | The song title really should say it all. |
| Number | 92 |
| Realm | Movies where Jon Hamm takes his clothes off |
| Subrealm | Why is that not every movie? |
| Question | In the movie Bridesmaids, Helen puts on an incredibly over-the-top bridal shower for Lillian's wedding, including attendants on white horses, fake French accordionists, and a chocolate fountain. The most outrageous element of the shower may be the party favors for the guests, which Megan takes in enormous quantity. What are they? |
| Answer | Puppies. |
| Song | Bitch |
| Artist | Meredith Brooks |
| Hint | It's adorable to give them out, but not all that responsible, really. |
| Number | 93 |
| Realm | Div III majors |
| Subrealm | Is there really a difference between geology and chemistry, anyway? |
| Question | THIS IS A THREE POINT PLAY. A mine in a small Scandinavian town was a proverbial goldmine for the periodic table. Thanks to this mine, the nearby town has four elements named after it. For one point, give us the town, and for an additional point give us all four of the elements named after it. |
| Answer | The town is Ytterby, Sweden, and the elements are Yttrium (Y), Erbium (Er), Terbium (Tb), and Ytterbium (Yb) |
| Song | The Elements |
| Artist | Tom Lehrer |
| Hint | They don't really like vowels, I guess. |
| Number | 94 |
| Realm | Nathan Fillion |
| Subrealm | He really is ruggedly handsome, isn't he? |
| Question | On the TV show "Castle," the title character and his daughter Alexis have a slightly unusual idea of what a relaxing night at home playing a family game looks like. What game have the two of them been playing in their apartment on a regular basis since Alexis was five years old? |
| Answer | Laser tag. |
| Song | Whoomp! There It is |
| Artist | Tag Team |
| Hint | Barney Stinson and Robin Scherbatsky are big fans, too. |
| Number | 95 |
| Realm | Getting what you asked for |
| Subrealm | Getting what you deserve |
| Question | Normally, a player who only plays one half of one match in his professional career would not be worthy of a trivia question. However, footballer Steve Davies' one-match career for West Ham in 1994 was particularly amazing, and not just because he scored a goal. Why was this worthy of both trivia and legend? |
| Answer | He was a fan in the stands. |
| Song | Center Field |
| Artist | John Fogerty |
| Hint | The content of the song is more relevant that the title. |
| Number | 96 |
| Realm | The Civil War |
| Subrealm | Not really very civil |
| Question | Sam White, a Virginia man, has the dubious distinction of being the last man killed by a cannonball from the US Civil War. Why was his death notable? |
| Answer | He attempted to disarm a Civil War cannonball in 2008. It exploded. |
| Song | Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! |
| Artist | Vengaboys |
| Hint | It came kind of a while after the next-to-last death. |
| Number | 97 |
| Realm | I got 99 problems... |
| Subrealm | ...in the celestial spheres |
| Question | Johannes Kepler is famous for having composed his three eponymous laws of planetary motion. But even the most accomplished scientist still has to deal with family problems. In 1621, Kepler was forced to drop everything and return to his family home of Regensburg because his mother was in legal trouble. What had Kepler's mother been accused of? |
| Answer | Witchcraft. Kepler's mother was accused of having bewitched someone into forgiving a debt. |
| Song | Defying Gravity |
| Artist | Glee cast (from Wicked) (specifically Lea Michele and Chris Colfer, so accept that too) |
| Hint | What musical is this song originally from? |
| Number | 98 |
| Realm | Voulez-vous couchez avec moi? |
| Subrealm | No, seriously, it's time for bed. |
| Question | American conservatives may worry about government overreach, but in 2012, France summarily changed the official identities of an eighth of its population with one memo. What enormous change did they undertake? |
| Answer | They eliminated the three-hundred-year-old word "mademoiselle" from all official language and documents. |
| Song | Quand Je L'ai Vue Devant Moi |
| Artist | Johnny Hallyday ["I Saw Her Standing There" in French] |
| Hint | It was meant to counter institutional sexism. |
| Number | 99 |
| Realm | Bods |
| Subrealm | Rogs |
| Question | The Bodrog is the name of a ship that currently serves as a gravel barge in Serbia. However, many years ago, the ship had an important role in world history. What was that role? |
| Answer | It fired the first shots in what was to be World War I. |
| Song | I'm On a Boat |
| Artist | The Lonely Island |
| Hint | Technically, a Bosnian assassin beat it to the punch. |
| Number | 100 |
| Realm | What do you do with a dead violist? |
| Subrealm | Move him back a seat. |
| Question | The Colorado Symphony Orchestra, in an attempt to lure younger listeners, is playing a series of concerts outdoors so that they can explicitly encourage the attendees to do what? |
| Answer | Smoke pot. (It's called the "High Note" series) |
| Song | Rocky Mountain High |
| Artist | John Denver |
| Hint | Recent legislation in Colorado prompted this series. |
| Number | 101 |
| Realm | Things you've heard |
| Subrealm | That you didn't know had names |
| Question | Return of the Jedi, of course, was the third Star Wars movie. Just before the movie starts, however, is the first appearance of something that has appeared in many more than just that franchise's six films. What is it? |
| Answer | The THX "deep note" |
| Song | Superbass |
| Artist | Nicki Minaj |
| Hint | It's a good way to test the quality of your sound system. |
| Number | 102 |
| Realm | First person shooter |
| Subrealm | The epitome of a first person shooter |
| Question | Computer games eliciting the ire of sitting senators are nothing new. A 2004 "historical simulation" game, however, earned more than a little ire from then-senator Ted Kennedy, who called the game "despicable." What was this game, and what did one have to do to get a high score? |
| Answer | JFK Reloaded, where one recreates the Warren Commission findings. |
| Song | California Uber Alles |
| Artist | The Dead Kennedys |
| Hint | He had personal reasons for being offended. |
| Number | 103 |
| Realm | Federal prison |
| Subrealm | PMITA federal prison |
| Question | In December 2012 a federal prisoner was assaulted over a monetary debt he owed to another prisoner. This assault, however, made the national news, and likely made a fair number of people jealous of the assailant. Who was the 72-year-old victim? |
| Answer | Bernie Madoff |
| Song | Moneygrabber |
| Artist | Fitz and the Tantrums |
| Hint | Just listen to the song's chorus and say who it best describes. |
| Number | 104 |
| Realm | That's why they aren't called "man's best friend" |
| Subrealm | Exhibit A |
| Question | Guillermo Reyes, of Mexico City, was out for a night on the town when he was stopped at a drunk driving checkpoint. He was arrested after he was betrayed by his pet. How did his pet get him into trouble? |
| Answer | His pet parrot kept saying "esta borracho" / "he's drunk" |
| Song | Tequila |
| Artist | The Champs |
| Hint | His pet was a particularly incriminating kind of bird. |