[citation needed]
January 24-25, 2020
On-Air Questions and Songs
Unused questions are shown with gray text.
| Number | 1 |
| Realm | Graffiti |
| Subrealm | For Accuracy |
| Question | What two-word phrase is commonly featured in Wikiffiti? |
| Answer | [citation needed] |
| Song | Everything Right Is Wrong |
| Artist | They Might Be Giants |
| Hint | The first question's answer is always the team's name |
| Note | [citation needed] is the standard challenge when someone quotes a fact you are unconconvinced of. |
| Number | 2 |
| Realm | New World Order |
| Subrealm | Those Black Helicopters Have To Land Somewhere |
| Question | What building has been rumored to serve as Illuminati headquarters, has a laser-eyed horse statue that killed its creator, and contains a talking gargoyle that discusses more conspiracies? |
| Answer | Denver International Airport |
| Song | Rocky Mountain High |
| Artist | John Denver |
| Hint | It's a well-traveled hub |
| Note | The Airport itself has a web page about the many conspiracy theories that have been proposed. They seem to have embraced the attention. |
| Number | 3 |
| Realm | Your Tax Dollars At Work |
| Subrealm | Our Stamp of Approval |
| Question | In 2016, the IRS saved approximately 700 lives via the US Post Office. What did they send out? |
| Answer | Reminders to sign up for health insurance |
| Song | How to Save A Life |
| Artist | The Fray |
| Hint | They jogged memories of a new tax law |
| Note | The letter was intended for all 4.5 million Americans who were fined for not meeting the Obamacare health insurance mandate. It explained the fine they were paying and pointed them toward resources where they could sign up for health insurance. But 600,000 people, randomly selected, were left off the mailing list due to budgetary constraints. That made the exercise a rigorous scientific experiment with a very large sample size. An analysis of the outcomes showed that people who received the letter were more likely to sign up for medical insurance, and that signing up was correlated with a 12% decrease in mortality in a 2 year period. So the scientific evidence that 700 lives were saved is very strong. |
| Number | 4 |
| Realm | Saab Stories |
| Subrealm | An Autobody Experience |
| Question | In Kurt Vonnegut's 2004 essay "Have I Got A Car For You", he credits his poor management of a Saab dealership as the reason he never recieved what? |
| Answer | Nobel Prize for Literature |
| Song | Non Stop |
| Artist | Lin Manuel Miranda |
| Hint | Bob Dylan has one |
| Note | From the essay: I used to be the owner and manager of an automobile dealership in West Barnstable, Massachusetts, called "Saab Cape Cod." It and I went out of business 33 years ago. The Saab then as now was a Swedish car, and I now believe my failure as a dealer so long ago explains what would otherwise remain a deep mystery: Why the Swedes have never given me a Nobel Prize for Literature. Old Norwegian proverb: "Swedes have short dicks but long memories." |
| Number | 5 |
| Realm | Fan Fiction |
| Subrealm | Words Words Words |
| Question | A popular Super Smash Bros. fan fiction The Subspace Emissary's World Conquest held a record for a long time before being overtaken by another fanfic called Ambience: A Fleet Symphony. What was the reocrd? |
| Answer | Longest works of fiction EVER |
| Song | Unwritten |
| Artist | Natasha Bedingfield |
| Hint | You'd expect this record to go to War and Peace or Shakespeare |
| Note | The Subspace Emissary was at 4,102,217 words and counting as of June 2018, when it was overtaken. That's approximately 9000 pages. |
| Number | 6 |
| Realm | Unemployment |
| Subrealm | For Fictional Characters |
| Question | With the release of Animal Crossing: Horizons, one of the characters lost their job because of a technical advancement. Who was the character? |
| Answer | Mr. Resetti |
| Song | Digging In The Dirt |
| Artist | Peter Gabriel |
| Hint | This character is usually mad at you when you see him |
| Note | The character was there to stop game resetting, but with auto saving as a feature, his job was no longer necessary. |
| Number | 7 |
| Realm | Around the World |
| Subrealm | Picking Up "Souvenirs" |
| Question | What was known as the "French Disease" in Italy, the "Italian Disease" in France, the "Polish Disease" in Russia, and the "Spanish Disease" in Holland? |
| Answer | Syphilis |
| Song | Around the World |
| Artist | Daft Punk |
| Hint | It's an STD |
| Note | The true origins of syphillis are disputed, but it definitely existed in the Americas before Columbus arrived, and the first recorded outbreak in Europe occurred in 1494 in Naples. So do the math. The Europeans brought many diseases to the Americas; it's nice to think we returned the favor. |
| Number | 8 |
| Realm | I See You Shiver With Antici... |
| Subrealm | Pation! |
| Question | When filming "Rocky Horror Picture Show", set designers forgot to put in a door to the lab for the wheelchair-using character Dr. Scott. How does Dr. Scott get into the lab? |
| Answer | Burst through a wall |
| Song | Break on Through (to the Other Side) |
| Artist | The Doors |
| Hint | He came in like a wrecking ball |
| Number | 9 |
| Realm | Vexing Vexillogy |
| Subrealm | Raising our Standards |
| Question | What is the only sovereign nation whose flag does not feature the color red, white, or blue? |
| Answer | Jamaica |
| Song | Jamaica Mistaica |
| Artist | Jimmy Buffett |
| Hint | It's green, black, and yellow |
| Number | 10 |
| Realm | Is this question 10? |
| Subrealm | Cuz it's the only 10-I-See! |
| Question | The Memphis Pyramid in Tennessee is the tenth-largest pyramid in the world at 98 meters tall. While it was originally built as an arena, what does it house now? |
| Answer | Bass Pro Shop |
| Song | The Hunting Song |
| Artist | Tom Lehrer |
| Hint | You could buy hunting gear there |
| Note | The Memphis Grizzlies moved out in 2004, and Bass Pro Shops signed a 55-year lease in 2010. From Wikipedia: "One million people visited the Bass Pro Pyramid between the grand opening in April 2015 and July 8, 2015. Due in part to this large success, Bass Pro is considering adding a zip-line and a second hotel to the Pyramid." |
| Number | 11 |
| Realm | Skeletons on Parade |
| Subrealm | The Walking Dead |
| Question | Mexico City holds a large parade in celebration of Dia de Muertas, or Day of the Dead. However, this parade has only been a tradition since 2016. What film inspired this now-yearly event? |
| Answer | SPECTRE |
| Song | Welcome to the Black Parade |
| Artist | My Chemical Romance |
| Hint | Bond. James Bond |
| Note | The 2015 movie SPECTRE opens with a chase scene through the rooftops of Mexico City while a Dia de Muertas parade clogs the streets below. However, while the holiday has been celebrated all over Mexico since the days of the Aztecs, there was actually no such parade in Mexico City before the movie. |
| Number | 12 |
| Realm | Questing Bitch Face |
| Subrealm | Animals that come out at Knights |
| Question | The Questing Beast is a monster from Arthurian legend, described as having the neck of a snake, the body of a leopard, the haunches of a lion and the feet of a hart. The current consensus is that the frightening Questing Beast was actually what? |
| Answer | Giraffe |
| Song | Circle of Life |
| Artist | The Lion King |
| Hint | They're native to Africa |
| Note | The generic name for giraffe is "Camelopardalis", meaning half camel and half leopard. |
| Number | 13 |
| Realm | Trivia Questions |
| Subrealm | For Utter Morons Like You |
| Question | There are hundreds of "For Dummies" books, teaching dummies like you to do all sorts of things. What skill did the original "For Dummies" book teach? |
| Answer | DOS |
| Song | Computer World |
| Artist | Kraftwerk |
| Hint | It was related to early computers |
| Note | DOS for Dummies was published in 1991. There are now more than 2500 Dummies titles, with 200 million copies in print. |
| Number | 14 |
| Realm | If You Like Piña Coladas |
| Subrealm | And Songs Stuck In Your Head |
| Question | Rupert Holmes's hit song "Escape" (also known as the Piña Colada Song) is well-known and loved by all for its chorus of "If you like Piña Coladas". But that was not the original lyric, as Holmes stated in an interview. What did the protagonist of the song originally like? |
| Answer | Humphrey Bogart |
| Song | Heavy Rain |
| Artist | Hall & Oates |
| Hint | It's a famous actor |
| Note | Rupert Holmes says: The original lyrics said, "If you like Humphrey Bogart and getting caught in the rain." As I was getting on mic I thought to myself, I’ve done so many movie references to Bogart and wide-screen cinema on my earlier albums, maybe I shouldn’t do one here. I thought, What can I substitute? Well, this woman wants an escape, like she wants to go on vacation to the islands. When you go on vacation to the islands, when you sit on the beach and someone asks you if you’d like a drink, you never order a Budweiser, you don’t have a beer. You’re on vacation, you want a drink in a hollowed-out pineapple with the flags of all nations and a parasol. If the drink is blue you’d be very happy. And a long straw. I thought, What are those escape drinks? Let’s see, there’s daiquiri, mai tai, piña colada… I wonder what a piña colada tastes like? I’ve never even had one. I thought that instead of singing, "If you like Humphrey Bogart," with the emphasis on like, I could start it a syllable earlier and go, "If you like piña-a coladas." |
| Number | 15 |
| Realm | Seeing the Forest For the Trees |
| Subrealm | Breaking Traditionss |
| Question | At 17 million acres, what is the largest National forest in the United States? |
| Answer | Tongass |
| Song | Out of the Woods |
| Artist | Taylor Swift |
| Hint | It has a Williams Trivia-relevant name |
| Note | The Tongass National Forest is in Southeast Alaska. |
| Number | 16 |
| Realm | Do You Remember? |
| Subrealm | Because I sure as hell don't |
| Question | In 2014, the band Earth, Wind, and Fire recorded a new version of their hit song "September" that was identical in every way except for one word. What did they change the word to? |
| Answer | December |
| Song | O Come All Ye Faithful |
| Artist | Twisted Sister |
| Hint | It was for a Christmas album |
| Note | From Wikipedia: Using a chord progression written by Earth, Wind & Fire guitarist Al McKay, vocalist Maurice White and songwriter Allee Willis wrote the song over one month. Willis was initially bothered by the gibberish "ba-dee-ya" lyric White used through the song, and begged him to rewrite it: "I just said, 'What the fuck does 'ba-dee-ya' mean?' And he essentially said, 'Who the fuck cares?' I learned my greatest lesson ever in songwriting from him, which was never let the lyric get in the way of the groove." |
| Number | 17 |
| Realm | Going for Baroque |
| Subrealm | Prone to Violins |
| Question | One of the top concert halls in the world, Boston Symphony Hall, has plaques above the stage for the names of notable musicians. Name all of the musicians listed. |
| Answer | Beethoven |
| Song | Ride of the Valkyries |
| Artist | Richard Wagner |
| Hint | They couldn't agree on a lot of musicians |
| Note | From the BSO website: Beethoven is the only composer whose name was inscribed on one of the plaques that trim the stage and balconies; the other plaques were left empty since it was felt that only Beethoven's popularity would remain unchanged. |
| Number | 18 |
| Realm | Cool Politicians |
| Subrealm | Politicians Who Swear |
| Question | What did Calvin Coolidge do immediately after being sworn in as president by his father? |
| Answer | Go back to bed |
| Song | Enter Sandman |
| Artist | Metallica |
| Hint | It happened in the middle of the night |
| Note | From Wikipedia: On August 2, 1923, President Harding died unexpectedly from a heart attack in San Francisco while on a speaking tour of the western United States. Vice President Coolidge was in Vermont visiting his family home, which had neither electricity nor a telephone, when he received word by messenger of Harding's death. The new president dressed, said a prayer, and came downstairs to greet the reporters who had assembled. His father, a notary public and justice of the peace, administered the oath of office in the family's parlor by the light of a kerosene lamp at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923; President Coolidge then went back to bed. |
| Number | 19 |
| Realm | Wild Things |
| Subrealm | And Where to Find Them |
| Question | "Where The Wild Things Are", the classic children's book by Maurice Sendak, was originally going to be called "Where the Wild Horses Are". Why did he change it? |
| Answer | He couldn't draw horses |
| Song | WIld Horses |
| Artist | Rolling stones |
| Hint | It would have been really hard to illustrate the book if he had kept them as horses. |
| Number | 20 |
| Realm | Kids Movies |
| Subrealm | That Make You Cry |
| Question | Who is the only real-life historical figure portrayed in a Pixar animated film? |
| Answer | Frida Kahlo |
| Song | Burn it Blue |
| Artist | Caetano Veloso |
| Hint | She appeared in Coco as a skeleton |
| Number | 21 |
| Realm | Pilots of the Caribbean |
| Subrealm | The War on Drugs |
| Question | In 1996, Jamaican police shot at a small seaplane they believed was smuggling marijuana. What was the plane actually carrying at the time? |
| Answer | Jimmy Buffett and Bono |
| Song | It's Five O' Clock Somewhere |
| Artist | Alan Jackson |
| Hint | It was carrying people, one of whom wrote a song about the incident |
| Note | Buffett was the pilot. His song about the incident, "Jamaica Mistaica", was played with question 9. |
| Number | 22 |
| Realm | Things That Go Boom |
| Subrealm | But Very Politely |
| Question | In 1917, a ship carrying explosives accidentally detonated in Halifax Harbour. The city of Boston was a major help in the rescue and rebuilding efforts. Halifax thanks them to this day by providing what annually? |
| Answer | The Boston Christmas tree |
| Song | Smokin' |
| Artist | Boston |
| Hint | It's an annual December gift |
| Number | 23 |
| Realm | Early Video Games |
| Subrealm | Crashing and Burning |
| Question | As the 1990 video game Wing Commander was in development, the game would give an error message whenever it was closed. As a workaround, one of the programmers the error message to say what instead? |
| Answer | Thank your for playing Wing Commander. |
| Song | Closing Time |
| Artist | Semisonic |
| Hint | He wanted to say goodbye to the player |
| Note | Wing Commander was a space-flight simulator game first released in 1990. According to Wikipedia: As development for Wing Commander came to a close, the EMM386 memory manager the game used would give an exception when the user exited the game. It would print out a message similar to "EMM386 Memory manager error..." with additional information. The team could not isolate and fix the error and they needed to ship it as soon as possible. As a work-around, one of the game's programmers, Ken Demarest, hex-edited the memory manager so it displayed a different message. Instead of the error message, it printed "Thank you for playing Wing Commander."[6] However, due to a different bug the game went through another revision and the bug was fixed, meaning this hack did not ship with the final release. |
| Number | 24 |
| Realm | Classic Sayings, Part II |
| Subrealm | Says Who? |
| Question | Who originally said "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few"? |
| Answer | Spock |
| Song | 1-800-273-8255 |
| Artist | Logic |
| Hint | It was from a movie |
| Note | From Start Trek II, The Wrath of Khan: "Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." |
| Number | 25 |
| Realm | One Realm, Two Realm |
| Subrealm | Red Realm, Subrealm |
| Question | What was Dr. Seuss's very first book? Published in 1931, it is a collection of humorous anecdotes and illustrations. |
| Answer | The Pocket Book of Boners |
| Song | My Ding-a-Ling |
| Artist | Chuck Berry |
| Hint | If you're in middle school, you'll laugh |
| Note | At the time of its writing, the term "boner" was commonly used to mean a silly mistake, without any sexual connotation. The book was one of the most popular paperbacks of World War II, and had sold 1.34 million copies by 1945. It was actually a compendium of 4 books: "Boners," "More Boners", "Still More Boners", and "Prize Boners for 1932." |
| Number | 26 |
| Realm | Swedish Bands |
| Subrealm | ABBA wasn't just a fluke |
| Question | The Swedish band Caramba released one eponymous album in 1981. What's unusual about it? |
| Answer | All nonsense words |
| Song | Prisencolinensinainciusol |
| Artist | Adriano Celentano |
| Hint | They don't sing in Swedish, or English for that matter |
| Note | Many famous Swedish musicians are rumored to have participated in the recording, which is hilarious. The track "Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot" reached number 1 in Sweden. |
| Number | 27 |
| Realm | Bringing the 60s back! |
| Subrealm | Flowers, Drugs, Political Scandals |
| Question | Remember the 1968 Hanna-Barbera kid's show Banana Splits? Well they made a movie last year! What wacky antics do Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper, and Snorky get up to in The Banana Splits Movie? |
| Answer | Murder! |
| Song | Buffalo Soldier |
| Artist | Bob Marley |
| Hint | The genre of the movie is different from the show |
| Note | From Wikipedia: The plot follows a family attending a live taping of The Banana Splits television series and trying to survive when the titular characters go haywire upon learning of their show's cancellation, starting a killing spree around the studio. |
| Number | 28 |
| Realm | Wisconsin Trivia |
| Subrealm | Surprisingly Not About Cheese |
| Question | Let's say you were meeting a friend in the town of Springfield, Wisconsin. Why might you have trouble finding it? |
| Answer | There's five of them |
| Song | Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego |
| Artist | Rockapella |
| Hint | Springfield is a popular town name |
| Note | There are Springfields in Dane County, Jackson County, Marquette County, St. Croix County, and Walworth County. There are a total of 38 Springfields in the US; Wisconsin leads the pack but there are also 2 in New Jersey and 2 in Texas. |
| Number | 29 |
| Realm | Wisconsin Trivia |
| Subrealm | Again, not about cheese |
| Question | In 1978, Mark Gubin decided to paint a sign on his roof welcoming everyone who was flying into Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. What did the sign say? |
| Answer | Welcome to Cleveland |
| Song | Funky Worm |
| Artist | The Ohio Players |
| Hint | It was meant to trick people |
| Note | The sign keeps being rediscovered by the media every few years. Gubin worries about wearing out the joke, but so far, it's still funny. (Flight attendants who need to explain it to nervous passengers who press the call button are less amused than the rest of us.) |
| Number | 30 |
| Realm | Let Pythons Be Pythons |
| Subrealm | A Pain in the Asp |
| Question | Long long ago, snakes used to have legs, until a specific gene evolved them away. What is the name of this gene? |
| Answer | Sonic Hedgehog |
| Song | Footloose |
| Artist | Kenny Loggins |
| Hint | These snakes gotta go fast |
| Note | The hedgehog gene (hh) was first identified in the fruit-fly Drosophila melanogaster in 1980. The name comes from the fact that when a fruit-fly loses the gene, it becomes covered with small spiky projections like a hedgehog. Investigators subsequently found three homologous genes in vertebrates. The first two were named after species of hedgehogs (desert hedgehog and Indian hedgehog). Postdoc Robert Riddle named the third after a character in one of his daughter's comic books. |
| Number | 31 |
| Realm | The Middle of Nowhere |
| Subrealm | Is Great This Time of Year |
| Question | On September 20, 2019, hundreds of people swarmed the small town of Rachel, Nevada, with some camping overnight. What were they all there to (allegedly) do? |
| Answer | Storm Area 51 |
| Song | E.T. |
| Artist | Katy Perry |
| Hint | They were responding to a popular Facebook event |
| Note | The Facebook event was created by Matty Roberts on June 27, 2019. The idea was for a large number of people to enter Area 51 to search for extra-terrestrial life. More than 2 million people responded "going" and 1.5 million "interested" on the event's page, which made it a popular conversation topic in the summer of 2019. But only 150 people showed up on the appointed day, and none gained access to the base. It was fun while it lasted. |
| Number | 32 |
| Realm | Shoot This Guy In The Face |
| Subrealm | Pointlessly Point Blank |
| Question | In the video game Borderlands 2, there is a character that gives you the mission "Shoot This Guy in the Face". You complete this mission by shooting him in the face. What is this character's name? |
| Answer | Face McShooty |
| Song | Shotgun |
| Artist | George Ezra |
| Hint | It sounds like the Internet voted on the name |
| Note | To quote the character: SHOOT ME IN THE FACE! IN THE FAAAAAAAACE! DO IT! SHOOT ME IN THE FACE! FACE FACEFACEFACEFACE! NOW! BULLETS IN THE FACE! WANT EM! NEED EM! GIMMEGIMMEGIMME! AT THE SOUND OF THE BELL IT WILL BE FACESHOOTING O'CLOCK! BONGGGGG! KNOCK KNOCK WHO'S THERE SHOOT ME IN THE FACE! END OF JOKE! I'M GONNA SING A SONG! SHOOT ME AT THE END OF IT! DA DA DA DA DA DA DA! BONG!! ...I NOTICE YOU HAVEN'T SHOT ME IN THE FACE! CURIOUS AS TO WHY! Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE!! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?! |
| Number | 33 |
| Realm | War! |
| Subrealm | No More Mr. Ice Guy |
| Question | Iceland is usually regarded as a peaceful country, but they've been known to fight. The only wars Iceland has fought in as a nation were over what? |
| Answer | Cod Fishing Grounds |
| Song | War |
| Artist | Edwin Starr |
| Hint | They were fighting over specific areas |
| Note | The Cod Wars were a series of confrontations between Iceland and the United Kingdom. Some number them at 3 and some at 10, but either way the last ended with an agreement in 1976. Icelend acieved most of what it wanted. |
| Number | 34 |
| Realm | Famine! |
| Subrealm | Back and Hungry for More! |
| Question | In late 2011, Norway was gripped by a nationwide "smør-panikk". A shortage of what food caused this crisis? |
| Answer | Butter |
| Song | Hungry Like The Wolf |
| Artist | Reel Big Fish |
| Hint | You might see it on toast |
| Note | Heavy rains during the summer affected the grazing of cows and reduced milk production during the summer months by about 5,300,000 gallons, which led to increased butter prices. At the same time, demand increased rapidly – a 20 percent increase in sales in October 2011 with a further 30 percent rise in November. An acute shortage resulted in prices soaring. A half-pound of butter sold for the equivalent of 50 US dollars. |
| Note | The word Somrgasbord means, literally, "buttered goose table." |
| Number | 35 |
| Realm | Pestilence! |
| Subrealm | Avoid It Like the Plague! |
| Question | Which doctor was famous for curing Dried-Out-atosis, Stuck-Prop-a-tosis, and The Dark-Willies? |
| Answer | Doc McStuffins |
| Song | Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) |
| Artist | Robert Palmer |
| Hint | She's a TV doctor |
| Note | Doc McStuffins is a American/Irish cartoon that aired on the Disney Channel from 2012 to 2018. The protagonist is a 6-year old girl, Dottie McStuffins, who fixes broken toys with her magic stethoscope. |
| Number | 36 |
| Realm | Death! |
| Subrealm | Going Out With A Bang! |
| Question | The Netflix show Black Mirror has an alleged record for the most deaths in a single episode. In Season 3's "Hated in the Nation" a confirmed 387,036 people die. How do they all go out? |
| Answer | Robot Bees |
| Song | (Don't Fear) The Reaper |
| Artist | Blue Öyster Cult |
| Hint | They're man-made pollinators |
| Note | The episode premiered on Netflix on October 21, 2016. But, I mean, in the Arrowverse's Crisis on Infinite Earths, just a month before this contest, the entire universe was destroyed and everyone killed. (They got better later.) |
| Number | 37 |
| Realm | Scary Stories |
| Subrealm | Ghostwriters! OoOoOoOoh! |
| Question | H.P. Lovecraft was commisioned to ghostwrite the 1924 short story "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs" featuring what real-life person as the main character? |
| Answer | Harry Houdini |
| Song | Escape (The Piña Colada Song) |
| Artist | Rupert Holmes |
| Hint | It's someone known for escaping |
| Note | Houdini and Lovecraft collaborated on the project, but it was credited solely to Houdini for many years, and is written in his first-person voice. Set in 1910, in Egypt, Houdini finds himself kidnapped by a tour guide, who resembles an ancient pharaoh, and thrown down a deep hole near the Great Sphinx of Giza. While attempting to find his way out, he stumbles upon a gigantic ceremonial cavern and encounters the real-life deity that inspired the building of the Sphinx. |
| Number | 38 |
| Realm | Hot and Spicy Trivia |
| Subrealm | With a Side of Ranch |
| Question | The National Buffalo Wing Festival, a multi-day event featuring wing-eating contests, dance-offs, 5Ks and more, has been held in Buffalo, New York for the last 17 years. What movie directly inspired its founders to organize the festival? |
| Answer | Osmosis Jones |
| Song | Your Body is a Wonderland |
| Artist | John Mayer |
| Hint | The movie stars Bill Murray |
| Note | The film was a bomb, but it spawned the animated series Ozzy & Drix. It contained a festival scene which inspired the NBWF. |
| Number | 39 |
| Realm | Scariest words in the English language |
| Subrealm | The wifi is down |
| Question | THIS IS A THREE-POINT PLAY. Because of an event that occured on January 20, 2019, this country lost their internet for 11 days. Name the event and the country. |
| Answer | Undersea cable severed; Tonga |
| Song | Bad Moon Rising |
| Artist | Credence Clearwater Revival |
| Hint | It's a weird Williams Trivia question involving a country. There's one obvious answer. |
| Number | 40 |
| Realm | Butt Stuff |
| Subrealm | Legally Speaking |
| Question | On July 1st, 1976, the state of Washington repealed some outdated laws. Among them was 9.79.100, which forbade sodomy. What unintended consequence did repealing this law have? |
| Answer | Bestiality was legalized |
| Song | Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy) |
| Artist | Big & Rich |
| Hint | The inadvertantly made a crime legal |
| Note | The same statute covered both sodomy and bestiality, thus the difficulty. Bestiality remained legal until 2005, when a Boeing engineer received fatal injuries after having sex with a horse multiple times. The legislature then proceeded to make bestiality illegal again. The horse was unharmed, at least physically. |
| Number | 41 |
| Realm | Butte Stuff |
| Subrealm | The Highest Form of Flattery |
| Question | Explorer John Kitchen named at least 7 peaks, 1 butte, and several other geological features in Utah. He either named them after his wife, or a street prostitute, depending on which sources you believe, but all were given the exact same name. What is it? |
| Answer | Mollie's Nipple |
| Song | Friend of the Devil |
| Artist | Grateful Dead |
| Hint | He must've been attracted to a certain part of this woman |
| Note | Mollie was indeed John Kitchen's wife's name, but Molly was also slang for prostitute. So it may be a bit of whitewashing to attribute all the names to John and his wife. |
| Number | 42 |
| Realm | Mistaken Identities |
| Subrealm | Nametags of the Rich and Famous |
| Question | French composer and New York Philharmonic conductor Pierre Boulez once misnamed Paul Simon and his wife at a party. What song did this incident inspire? |
| Answer | You Can Call Me Al |
| Song | Call Me |
| Artist | Blondie |
| Hint | We played this song earlier |
| Note | Boulez also referred to Simon's wife Peggy as Betty. |
| Number | 43 |
| Realm | Game of Thrones Cameos |
| Subrealm | No, Not Ed Sheeran |
| Question | Ed Sheeran wasn't the first musician to cameo in Game of Thrones. At the famous "Red Wedding" in season 3, the drummer for what band appears in the wedding band? |
| Answer | Coldplay |
| Song | Ice Ice Baby |
| Artist | Vanilla Ice |
| Hint | They sang "Viva la Vida" |
| Note | Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody also appeared as a soldier in GOT, earlier in season three. |
| Number | 44 |
| Realm | Could Jurassic Park Get Any Cooler? |
| Subrealm | You Bet Jurassic Can! |
| Question | What real life event happened during the filming of Jurassic Park and had footage of it included in the film? |
| Answer | Hurricane Iniki |
| Song | Storm Warning |
| Artist | Hunter Hayes |
| Hint | It was a natural disaster |
| Note | Hurricane Iniki is the most powerful hurricane to strike Hawaii in recorded history. Iniki struck the island of Kauai on September 11, 1992 at peak intensity. It had winds of 145 mph (235 km/h), and was a Category 4. The helicopter pilot that rescued the cast and crew of Jurassic Park from Hurricane Iniki was Fred Sorenson, whose sole movie role was that of Jock, the seaplane pilot who rescues Indiana Jones at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark. When the storm was over, "I Survived Hurricane Iniki" shirts were handed out to the cast and crew. The shirt "Hurricane Iniki: Survivor '92" is worn by comic character Derrick in Return to Jurassic Park V and Return to Jurassic Park VI. |
| Number | 45 |
| Realm | Super Pet-Owners |
| Subrealm | Super-duper Pooper Scoopers |
| Question | Superheroes love their pets. Superman has Krypto the Superdog, Batman has Ace the Bat-Hound, and Supergirl has Streaky the Supercat. What unorthodox pet does Wonder Woman canonically care for? |
| Answer | Jumpa the Kanga (not a kangaroo!) |
| Song | Jump in the Line |
| Artist | Harry Belafonte |
| Hint | It's not a real animal |
| Note | From Wikipedia: The Kangas are a fictional species of kangaroos in the DC Multiverse. In Pre-Crisis continuity, Kangas were alien beings brought to Paradise Island by a tribe of star-faring Amazons who called themselves the Sky Riders of Nebulosa. |
| Number | 46 |
| Realm | This question sucks! |
| Subrealm | Booooooooooooooo! |
| Question | Who (appropriately) was the Greek god of theatrical criticism? |
| Answer | Pan (Get it?) |
| Song | Go the Distance |
| Artist | Michael Bolton |
| Hint | He could also be the Greek God of kitchen equipment and bisexuals |
| Number | 47 |
| Realm | Boxer Briefings |
| Subrealm | All Up In Your Grill |
| Question | Big George Foreman, boxing legend and grill entrepreneur, has five sons. What unusual feature do they all have in common with their father? |
| Answer | They're all named George Foreman |
| Song | Do You Really Want to Hurt Me |
| Artist | Culture Club |
| Hint | He gave them something at birth |
| Note | "I named all my sons George Edward Foreman so they would always have something in common," Foreman wrote on his website. |
| Number | 48 |
| Realm | Kidz Bop! |
| Subrealm | You can tell they're cool because of the 'z' |
| Question | Here's an easy one: What's the very first song covered on the very first Kidz Bop album? |
| Answer | "All Star" by Smash Mouth |
| Song | Tik Tok |
| Artist | Kidz Bop |
| Hint | The song has achieved meme status after being the opening song to a Dreamworks film |
| Note | The Kidz Bop Kids were Billboard's No. 1 Kids' Album Artist of 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. 22 Kidz Bop albums have reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart, which places them 4th all time, higher than Madonna and Bruce Springsteen. |
| Number | 49 |
| Realm | Non-Christmas Carols |
| Subrealm | Thanksgiving Tunes |
| Question | People (meaning me) often complain that there are no Thanksgiving carols to sing. But there is one! Written by James Pierpont in 1857, the song describes an Autumn ride through Medford, Massachusetts. Do you know it? |
| Answer | Jingle Bells |
| Song | Feliz Navidad |
| Artist | David Hasselhoff |
| Hint | This song is now more associated with another holiday |
| Number | 50 |
| Realm | Money |
| Subrealm | of the Future... |
| Question | In 2013, as part of redesigning their money, Canada redesigned their $5 bill to make it harder for people to do this not technically illegal act? |
| Answer | Turn the portrait into Spock |
| Song | Intergalactic |
| Artist | The Beastie Boys |
| Hint | People were drawing on them |
| Note | The Canadian five dollar bill features a picture of Canada’s seventh prime minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Star Trek fans have taken to coloring in hair and ears to make him look like Mr. Spock. According to the Bank of Canada "Spocking" is not illegal, just illogical. |
| Number | 51 |
| Realm | Dogs in Space! |
| Subrealm | Laika Boss! |
| Question | What dog is NASA's official safety mascot? |
| Answer | Snoopy |
| Song | Drop It Like It's Hot |
| Artist | Snoop Dog |
| Hint | This dog is a famous aviator. |
| Note | NASA issues a Silver Snoopy award to employees that promote flight safety. |
| Number | 52 |
| Realm | Behind the Hits |
| Subrealm | Under the Covers |
| Question | In the official music video for Weezer's cover of "Africa", Weezer does not actually appear, replaced by stand-ins. Who "performs" the song instead? |
| Answer | Weird Al |
| Song | You Can Call Me Al |
| Artist | Paul Simon |
| Hint | It was really weird |
| Note | Weezer covered Africa after persistent requests from a fan. The single became their first hit in a decade. Toto returned the favor by covering Weezer's song "Hash Pipe." |
| Number | 53 |
| Realm | Two Birthdays? |
| Subrealm | Twice the Presents! |
| Question | Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was born in Greece on June 10, 1921. Orrrrrrrr he was born in Greece on May 28, 1921. Why is there a discrepency? |
| Answer | Greece was still using the Julian calendar at the time |
| Song | The Times They Are A-Changin' |
| Artist | Bob Dylan |
| Hint | It has to do with how the dates were recorded |
| Note | Greece switched to the Gregorian calendar on 16 February/1 March 1923. The Julian calendar is still used in the Orthodox churches of Eastern Europe, and by the Berbers of northern Africa. This most notably affects the calculation of the date of Easter. |
| Number | 54 |
| Realm | I Streamed A Stream |
| Subrealm | Customer Complaints |
| Question | Thousands of Christians complained to Netflix about the miniseries adaption of Neil Gaiman's and Terry Prachett's "Good Omens". Why were these complaints unsuccessful in changing anything? |
| Answer | It's an Amazon Prime show |
| Song | The Show Must Go On |
| Artist | Queen |
| Hint | They were a bit misinformed about the series |
| Note | "Good Omens" is comedy about the son of Satan, who has been growing up on earth, and the end of the world. |
| Number | 55 |
| Realm | Running Like Hell |
| Subrealm | The Route of All Evil |
| Question | The Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race is a 52-day ultramarathon held annualy, and holds the record for the world's longest certified foot race. What route do participants run for these 3100 miles? |
| Answer | One City Block in Queens, NY |
| Song | Step by Step |
| Artist | New Kids on the Block |
| Hint | You're definitely not taking the scenic route |
| Note | Runners run around the same block 5,649 times. They have 52 days to complete the race, running from 6AM to midnight each day. The prize is typically a T-shirt, a DVD, or a small trophy. |
| Number | 56 |
| Realm | Smart Phone? |
| Subrealm | More Like DUMB Phone! |
| Question | On April 3, 1973, Motorola researcher Martin Cooper made the very first mobile telephone call. Who did he call? |
| Answer | Bell Labs, his rival |
| Song | I Just Called To Say I Love You |
| Artist | Stevie Wonder |
| Hint | He wanted to brag about his achievement |
| Note | From Wikipedia: Standing on Sixth avenue near the New York Hilton, Cooper made the first handheld cellular phone call in public from the prototype DynaTAC. The call connected him to a base station Motorola had installed on the roof of the Burlington House (now the AllianceBernstein Building) and into the AT&T land-line telephone system. Reporters and onlookers watched as Cooper dialed the number of his chief competitor, Dr. Joel S. Engel at AT&T. "Joel, this is Marty. I'm calling you from a cell phone, a real handheld portable cell phone." |
| Number | 57 |
| Realm | War |
| Subrealm | War never changes |
| Question | In 2015, West Point banned this seemingly harmless activity after 30 cadets were injured. |
| Answer | Pillow Fights |
| Song | Seven Nation Army |
| Artist | White Stripes |
| Hint | Boot camp is like one giant slumber party |
| Note | The pillow fight was an annual tradition at West Point until the incident in 2015. 24 cadets had concussions, one had a broken nose and one a fractured cheek. One was found unconscious. |
| Number | 58 |
| Realm | No Man's Land |
| Subrealm | Can I Have It? |
| Question | The Bir Tawil Triangle is a piece of unclaimed land between Egypt and Sudan. What's interesting about its name? |
| Answer | It's a quadrilateral |
| Song | Walk Like an Egyptian |
| Artist | Bangles |
| Hint | The name isn't accurate |
| Note | The name comes from a larger neighboring piece of disputed land called the Hala'ib Triangle, which is indeed mostly triangular. Hala'ib is claimed by both Egypt and Sudan, Bir Tawil is claimed by neither. |
| Number | 59 |
| Realm | Alfa Bravo |
| Subrealm | Word Nerds |
| Question | THIS IS A THREE-POINT PLAY. India is the only letter of the phonetic alphabet that is also a country. However, you can anagram two other phonetic letters to get two additional countries. What are they? |
| Answer | Mali and TONGA |
| Song | Tango: Maureen |
| Artist | Rent |
| Hint | One is a landlocked African nation |
| Note | Lima becomes Mali and Tango becomes Tonga. The hint makes reference to the origin of the Tonga tradition in Williams Trivia, an impressive bit of research by [citation needed]. |
| Number | 60 |
| Realm | Williams Trivia Trivia |
| Subrealm | Let's Get Meta |
| Question | Did you know that Williams Trivia may be the oldest continuously running contest of its kind? Because the exact date of the first Williams Trivia contest is unknown (sometime spring semester, 1966), what other trivia contest claims to hold this title? |
| Answer | Great Midwest Trivia Contest |
| Song | Don't Ask Me No Questions |
| Artist | Lynyrd Skynyrd |
| Hint | It's hosted by Lawrence University |
| Note | the date of the first Great Midwest Trivia Contest was April 29, 1966. |
| Number | 61 |
| Realm | Violent Video Games |
| Subrealm | What does this button do? |
| Question | The 2014 first-person shooter Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare contained an interesting mechanic. During a somber funeral scene, players could press the F button to do what? |
| Answer | Pay Respects |
| Song | R.E.S.P.E.C.T. |
| Artist | Aretha Franklin |
| Hint | It's what you usually do at a funeral |
| Note | In the game, paying respects means putting yout hand on the coffin momentarily. |
| Number | 62 |
| Realm | Classic Sayings |
| Subrealm | And What They Say |
| Question | Who originally said "When one door closes, another one opens"? |
| Answer | Alexander Graham Bell |
| Song | Call Me Maybe |
| Artist | Carly Rae Jepsen |
| Hint | This name should ring a bell. |
| Note | The Quote Investigator website worked on the provenance of this quote in 2018. The investigation was inconclusive, but "when one doore is shut the other openeth" appears in a 1586 translation of an influential picaresque Spanish novella titled “La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades” with an anonymous author published by 1554. And "Where one door is shut another is opened" appears in 1620 translation of Don Quixote by Cervantes. Alexander Graham Bell, Helen Keller, and Johann Richter are also sometimes credited with a longer verstion of the quote. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/12/03/open-door/ |
| Number | 63 |
| Realm | Unpack Your Adjectives |
| Subrealm | Short-Tempered |
| Question | What are Snoopy, Goopy, Crabby, Flabby, Thrifty, Shifty, Deafy, and Awful? |
| Answer | Rejected 7 Dwarfs names |
| Song | Working In A Coal Mine |
| Artist | Devo |
| Hint | They're proposed names for certain characters |
| Note | Other dwarf names rejected by Disney included Jumpy, Dizzey, Hickey, Gabby, Nifty, Sniffy, Swift, Puffy, Stuffy and Burpy. At least 16 dwarfs were drawn before being left out of the film. |
| Number | 64 |
| Realm | Rules Were Meant To Be Broken |
| Subrealm | Gavels, too |
| Question | The US Senate used an ivory gavel from its founding until 1954, when it broke. Who broke it? |
| Answer | Richard Nixon |
| Song | Ebony and Ivory |
| Artist | Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder |
| Hint | He's the only president to resign |
| Number | 65 |
| Realm | Transformers! |
| Subrealm | The Name "Decepticons" Wasn't A Red Flag? |
| Question | The Hasbro Transformers toys have inspired numerous shows and movies. Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, transforms into a semi trailer. What did the original Megatron toy transform into? |
| Answer | A Gun |
| Song | Hit Me With Your Best Shot |
| Artist | Pat Benatar |
| Hint | Like most toys in the eighites, it was pretty unsafe |
| Note | Yup, it was a straight-up gun. They used to sell candy cigarettes, too. |
| Number | 66 |
| Realm | Colleges With Really Good Marching Bands |
| Subrealm | And Sports, I Guess |
| Question | In August of 2019, The Ohio State University tried to trademark a certain word to use on their apparel. What word? |
| Answer | The |
| Song | This Is The Day |
| Artist | The The |
| Hint | This is a pretty common word. It's hard to write a clue for it without naming it. |
| Note | Lots of people made fun of Ohio State when this story broke in the summer of 2019. The University of Michigan, for instance, tweeted a picture of a small M and a giant OF: https://twitter.com/UMich/status/1161736458350129152 |
| Number | 67 |
| Realm | You Know The Type |
| Subrealm | Capital Punishment |
| Question | Which world leader required that whenever his name appeared in print, it would be presented either in bold or in a larger font than the rest of the sentence? |
| Answer | Kim Jung-Il |
| Song | Time to Get Ill |
| Artist | Beastie Boys |
| Hint | His son took over for him |
| Note | A certain American president received many (as of yet) incorrect guesses. |
| Number | 68 |
| Realm | Nice |
| Subrealm | Nice Guys |
| Question | The phrase "Nice guys finish last" was coined in 1946. Who were the "nice guys" the original speaker was referring to? |
| Answer | The 1946 New York Giants |
| Song | The Greatest |
| Artist | They Might Be Giants |
| Hint | It's a sports team |
| Note | The speaker was Leo Durocher, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. When asked by a reporter why he couldn't be a nice guy for a change, Durocher replied, “Nice guys! Look over there. Do you know a nicer guy than Mel Ott? Or any of the other Giants? Why, they’re the nicest guys in the world! And where are they? In seventh place! Nice guys! I’m not a nice guy – and I’m in first place.” After pacing up and down the visitors’ dugout, the Dodger manager waved a hand toward the Giants’ dugout and repeated, “The nice guys are all over there, in seventh place.” |
| Number | 69 |
| Realm | The Most Popular Walmart |
| Subrealm | And the Most Popular Singer |
| Question | In 2012, Walmart held a contest to get people to like individual stores' Facebook pages. The store with the largest amount of likes would get a concert hosted by Pitbull. Which city hosted that concert? |
| Answer | Kodiak, Alaska |
| Song | Cold As Ice |
| Artist | Foreigner |
| Hint | It was part of a campaign to exile Pitbull as far as possible |
| Note | This was part of an internet campaign to #ExilePitbull, and the campaign got 10 times the number of votes that there were people in the city. But to his credit, Pitbull went and gave the concert in Kodiak, to hundreds of people, and invited the prankster who started the campaign to come along. Afterward he tweeted a picture of himself alongside Alutiiq dancers with the caption, "Thank U Kodiak ... I am honored, truly." |
| Number | 70 |
| Realm | Common Denominators |
| Subrealm | Sounds Like A Good Time In Vegas |
| Question | What do Chewbacca, King Kong, The Matrix, a Twinkie, and the rapper Shaggy have in common? |
| Answer | Legal Defenses |
| Song | I Fought The Law |
| Artist | The Clash |
| Hint | You might hear them in court |
| Note | A Chewbacca defense is where a defense lawyer tries to confuse the jury rather than refute the case of the prosecutor. It comes from an episode of South Park that parodied the OJ trial. The King Kong defense was used unsucessfully by the owners of the Pirate Bay file sharing site, who argued that if a user named King Kong downloaded files, the authorities should go after him, not the providers of the medium. The Matrix defense is where the defendant claims that he commited a crime only because he believed it didn't matter because he was, in fact, in the matrix and not the real world. The Twinkie defense was used by Harvey Milk's killer, who said that eating a twinkie left him in an unbalanced mental state. The Shaggy defense, inspired by Shaggy's 2000 single "It wasn't me", is where you deny that you are the one in the video. The term was coined to describe R. Kelly. |
| Number | 71 |
| Realm | Famous people |
| Subrealm | Do Some Research! |
| Question | What word describes the names of the president of Nintendo of America, the COO of Starbucks, the 2003 World Series of Poker champion, and the bass singer of *NSYNC? |
| Answer | Aptronyms |
| Song | The Name Game |
| Artist | Shirley Ellis |
| Hint | Their last names are important |
| Note | An aptronym is a name that is particularly appropriate. The president of Nintendo is Doug Bowser, and Bowser is the name of Mario and Luigi's main antagonist. The COO of Starbucks is Rosalind Brewer. The 2003 World Series of Poker champion was Chris Moneymaker. And the bass player of *NSYNC was Lance Bass. |
| Number | 72 |
| Realm | The Name Game |
| Subrealm | Five of a Kind |
| Question | What do Julia Roberts, Austin Powers, Bela Lugosi, Count Basie, Greg Louganis and Chuck Mangione have in common? |
| Answer | Supervocalics |
| Song | Mysterious Ways |
| Artist | U2 |
| Hint | You don't have to do any research about them - except maybe to spell their names correctly |
| Note | A supervocalic is a word that contains all 5 vowels exactly once each. |
| Number | 73 |
| Realm | Bad Ideas for Questions |
| Subrealm | Self-Referential Subrealms |
| Question | What do the following things have in common: Question 7 of Ken Jennings' weekly trivia quiz, round 1 of Only Connect, a Tribond card, and the previous three questions? |
| Answer | They ask you what a group of things have in common |
| Song | Glory |
| Artist | Common |
| Hint | They all ask for the same thing |
| Note | Every card in the game TriBond asks the user what three things have in common. Only Connect is a British TV show with a similar goal. |
| Number | 74 |
| Realm | CrossFit |
| Subrealm | For Superstars |
| Question | Christianity's fourteen Stations of the Cross depict the trials and tribulations of Jesus's crucifixation. What same event befalls Jesus in three of these stations? |
| Answer | He falls down |
| Song | Tubthumping |
| Artist | Chumbawamba |
| Hint | The cross is apparently really heavy |
| Number | 75 |
| Realm | First Rule of Trivia |
| Subrealm | Never Shut Up About Trivia |
| Question | What organization's first rule is "Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked"? |
| Answer | Church of Satan |
| Song | I Will Follow Him |
| Artist | Sister Act soundtrack |
| Hint | Their symbol is a pentagram |
| Number | 76 |
| Realm | 5th Grade US History |
| Subrealm | State the Obvious |
| Question | Which US State was the 39th to enter the union? |
| Answer | One of the Dakotas - we don't know which |
| Song | Wakko's 50 State Capitols |
| Artist | Animaniacs |
| Hint | Two states wanted to be first |
| Note | Both Dakotas entered the union on the same day: November 2, 1889. |
| Number | 77 |
| Realm | The Funny Pages |
| Subrealm | Stripper Names |
| Question | Which famous comic strip featured minor characters named Truffles, Tapioca Pudding, and 555 95472, along with his twin sisters 444 and 333? |
| Answer | Peanuts |
| Song | Charlie Brown |
| Artist | The Coasters |
| Hint | You can see 555 dancing in a christmas movie |
| Note | 555 is usually just called "5" for short. 95472 is his last name, which was in reality Charles Schultz's zip code when the character was introduced. As "5" explains to Charlie Brown in the strip from October 1, 1963, his father, morose and hysterical over the preponderance of numbers in people's lives, changed all of his family's names to numbers. Asked by Lucy if it was Mr. 95472's way of protesting, "5" replies that this was actually his father's way of "giving in." "5" also has two sisters named "3" and "4". ("Nice feminine names," in Charlie Brown's sarcastic assessment.) He has to keep explaining to the teacher that the accent is on "4" in his surname. |
| Number | 78 |
| Realm | Rated T for Trivia |
| Subrealm | Some Questions May Be Difficult for Young Children |
| Question | What movie is responsible for the creation of the PG-13 rating, due to its more violent sequences? |
| Answer | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom |
| Song | Dr. Jones |
| Artist | Aqua |
| Hint | It features a controversial scene with monkey brains |
| Note | Stephen Spielberg suggested the PG-13 rating after hearing objections to Indiana Jones and Gremlins receiving PG ratings. The new rating was introduced July 1, 1984, and Red Dawn was the first movie to receive it. |
| Number | 79 |
| Realm | Donning Our Gay Apparel |
| Subrealm | No Ho-Ho-Homo |
| Question | Michael Buble's hit 2011 Christmas album includes a cover of "Santa Baby". Not wanting to come on to Santa, Buble makes several lyrical changes, including swapping out "baby". What three Saint Nicknames does he use? |
| Answer | Buddy, Pally, and Poppy |
| Song | Last Christmas |
| Artist | Wham! |
| Hint | They all sorta sound like baby |
| Number | 80 |
| Realm | SPAAAAACE |
| Subrealm | In space, no one cares |
| Question | Space is a cool place to be, and it's a lot of fun to do things in low gravity. In August 2019, veteran astronaut Anne McClain made headlines by being the first person to do what in space? |
| Answer | Commit a Crime |
| Song | Elektronik Supersonik |
| Artist | Santo Cilauro/Zlad! |
| Hint | She did something wrong |
| Note | Ms. McClain was involved in a bitter separation and parenting dispute with her wife, a former Air Force intelligence officer named Summer Worden. Ms. Worden discovered that Ms. McMlain had been accessing her bank account from space, and filed a complaint with the FTC and NASA's inspector general. |
| Number | 81 |
| Realm | Dating Sims |
| Subrealm | For When You're Too Chicken To Date Real People |
| Question | In 2019, the production company Psyop released a dating sim video game. You could romance all sorts of anime tropes, but who was the star of the dating sim? |
| Answer | Colonel Sanders |
| Song | Chicken Fried |
| Artist | Zac Brown Band |
| Hint | He was tall, dark, and made with eleven herbs and spices |
| Note | Says one anonymous user on the internet: The Colonel Sanders dating simulator was a life changing experience. The design and graphics of this game parallel masterpieces such as Hunie Pop, and other games I treasure dearly. The emotional connection between the characters may remind one of classical literature such as Wuthering Heights, however this game surely surpasses these comparisons in every aspect. The developers should be praised, nay, worshiped, for their ability to craft code into an artistic masterpiece that will continue to be relevant in pop culture throughout the roaring 20's and maybe even beyond. Colonel Sanders forced me to prioritize what matters to me in my life, and after careful consideration I've decided that this game trumps all else. I can't go to sleep at night without the comforting gaze of Colonel Sanders lulling me into a deep sleep. Be warned, this game is not for the faint of heart. You will become connected to the colonel in a way you never could've imagined. Insanity burns through my body as I realize, as I do every day, that our love is confined to the world of this virtual dating simulator and I will never feel the warm embrace of Colonel's touch, with his hands warm as his signature mashed potatoes and gravy. This game will move you to tears. |
| Number | 82 |
| Realm | Achievements in Anime |
| Subrealm | Ash's Bizarre Adventure |
| Question | On September 15, 2019, in the 1080th episode of Pokemon: The Series, what happened for the very first time? |
| Answer | Ash became a Pokemon League Champion |
| Song | Best of You |
| Artist | Foo Fighters |
| Hint | His quest was to be the very best |
| Number | 83 |
| Realm | Charity Events |
| Subrealm | Blowing Up In Their Faces |
| Question | On September 27, 1986, a massive number of what descended upon Cleveland, Ohio, causing multiple traffic collisions, an airport shutdown, and lawsuits seekin millions in damages? |
| Answer | Balloons |
| Song | 99 Red Balloons |
| Artist | Nena |
| Hint | They were attempting to set a record |
| Note | From Wikipedia: Balloonfest '86 was a 1986 event in which the United Way of Cleveland in Ohio set a world record by releasing almost one-and-a-half million balloons. The event was intended to be a harmless fundraising publicity stunt, but the balloons drifted back over the city, Lake Erie, and landed in the surrounding area, and caused problems for traffic and a nearby airport. The event also interfered with a United States Coast Guard search for two boaters who were later found drowned. In consequence, the organizers and the city faced lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages, and cost overruns put the event at a net loss. |
| Number | 84 |
| Realm | Life's a Beach |
| Subrealm | It's a Shore Thing |
| Question | What was the original codename for Juno, one of the beaches in the Normandy landing on D-Day? |
| Answer | Jelly |
| Song | Everybody Jam |
| Artist | Scatman John |
| Hint | It was named after a "fish" |
| Number | 85 |
| Realm | Censorship is [REDACTED] |
| Subrealm | Our freedom cannot be [REDACTED] |
| Question | THIS IS A THREE-POINT PLAY. When a web page is censored by the government, what error status code is returned? Who is this in honor of? |
| Answer | 451, Ray Bradbury |
| Song | Burnin' Up |
| Artist | Jonas Brothers |
| Hint | It references a book about censorship |
| Note | Fahrenheit 451 is Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel about censorship, named for the temerature at which paper burns. |
| Number | 86 |
| Realm | Sports! |
| Subrealm | The Nosebleed Section |
| Question | Coors Field is the home field of the Colorado Rockies, located in Denver. All the seats there are painted green except for the 20th row of the upper deck, which is painted purple. Why? |
| Answer | Exactly One Mile Elevation |
| Song | Because I Got High |
| Artist | Afroman |
| Hint | The Nosebleeds is an accurate name |
| Number | 87 |
| Realm | Hostile Nations |
| Subrealm | of the Smaller Varieties |
| Question | In 2017, one Australian senator complained that government buildings were flying the flag of a hostile nation. The comment seemed absurd at the time, but he was actually correct. What country was the flag from? |
| Answer | The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Islands |
| Song | The Rainbow Connection |
| Artist | The Muppets |
| Hint | The flag had another meaning |
| Note | In 2004 a group of activists declared The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands on Australia's external overseas Territory of the Coral Sea Islands, a group of uninhabited islets east of the Great Barrier Reef. The formation was in protest of Australia's failure to recognize same-sex marriages, and the new kingdom quickly declared war on Australia. Its flag was a rainbow pride flag, the same one flown at an Australian Department of Finance building in February 2017, prompting the senator's complaint. The kingdom was dissolved on November 17, 2017, when the Australian people finally voted to legalize gay marriage. |
| Number | 88 |
| Realm | Size Doesn't Matter |
| Subrealm | It's How It Tastes |
| Question | What food has sizes including large, jumbo, extra jumbo, colossal, super colossal, mammoth and super mammoth? |
| Answer | Olives |
| Song | Ana Ng |
| Artist | They Might Be Giants |
| Hint | You might see them on a pizza |
| Note | It takes between 41 and 45 super mammoth olives to weigh a pound. |
| Number | 89 |
| Realm | Size Does Matter |
| Subrealm | Biblically Speaking |
| Question | Speaking of sizes, what product has sizes such as Balthazar, Jeroboam, Salmanazar and Nebuchadnezzar? |
| Answer | Wine Bottles |
| Song | Red Red Wine |
| Artist | UB40 |
| Hint | They're containers |
| Note | A Nubuchadnezzar is 15 liters or about 4 gallons of wine (= 20 regular bottles). |
| Number | 90 |
| Realm | The MCU |
| Subrealm | McDonald's Cinematic Universe |
| Question | McDonald's introduced a character known as Captain Crook in the 70s that was very similar to the Hamburglar. But rather than hamburgers, what did he steal? |
| Answer | Filet O' Fishes |
| Song | Panini |
| Artist | Lil Nas X |
| Hint | He stole something nautical |
| Number | 91 |
| Realm | Kaiju! |
| Subrealm | They're Big In Japan |
| Question | The climax of the 2019 movie Godzilla: King of All Monsters features a fierce battle between Godzilla and Ghidorah at what famous historical landmark? |
| Answer | Fenway Park |
| Song | Sweet Caroline |
| Artist | Neil Diamond |
| Hint | It's just the place you would expect to see a giant Green Monster |
| Number | 92 |
| Realm | The Color Out Of Space |
| Subrealm | Hue Cares? |
| Question | A team of astronomers from John Hopkins University averaged the spectral ranges from more than 200,000 galaxies and determined the average color of the universe. What is the name of this color? |
| Answer | Cosmic Latte |
| Song | The Coffee Song |
| Artist | Frank Sinatra |
| Hint | It was sorta brownish |
| Number | 93 |
| Realm | Biological Warfare |
| Subrealm | Like Open-mouth Sneezing |
| Question | One of the earliest known forms of biological warfare was when Mongols would catapult what over city walls during sieges? |
| Answer | Plague-infected corpses |
| Song | Die Young |
| Artist | Ke$ha |
| Hint | They were trying to get their enemies infected |
| Number | 94 |
| Realm | Music |
| Subrealm | Group Projects |
| Question | In Lil Dicky's song "Earth", over thirty celebrities voice various creatures. For example, Justin Bieber is a baboon, and Ariana Grande is a zebra. Who does Kevin Hart voice? |
| Answer | Kanye West |
| Song | Go West |
| Artist | Pet Shop Boys |
| Hint | It wasn't an animal |
| Number | 95 |
| Realm | Media Circus |
| Subrealm | Featuring Trained SEALS |
| Question | One of the first public leaks of Osama Bin Laden's death, before any news media reported it, was through a tweet reading "Just got word that will shock the world - Land of the free...home of the brave DAMN PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!" Who tweeted the leak? |
| Answer | Dwayne The Rock Johnson |
| Song | I Wanna Rock |
| Artist | Twisted Sister |
| Hint | Nobody knows how he got that information, perhaps he could smell what they were cooking |
| Number | 96 |
| Realm | More Copyright Trivia |
| Subrealm | More Like Copywrong |
| Question | Also in August of 2019, NBA superstar Lebron James tried to trademark what phrase related to his favorite food? |
| Answer | Taco Tuesday |
| Song | Despacito |
| Artist | Luis Fonsi |
| Hint | If successful, it would have been devestating to mexican restaurants everywhere |
| Number | 97 |
| Realm | Sweet Home Chicago |
| Subrealm | The Crappiest Place on Earth |
| Question | August 8th, 2004. Tourists board a river cruise on the majestic Chicago River. As they pass under the Kinzie Street Bridge, 800 pounds of human waste is dropped directly onto them. Where did this poop come from? |
| Answer | The Dave Matthews Band's Tour Bus |
| Song | Dirty Water |
| Artist | The Standells |
| Hint | A vehicle emptied its toilet |
| Number | 98 |
| Realm | Things That Divided Germany |
| Subrealm | Them's Fightin' Words |
| Question | The Antiqua-Fraktur Dispute bitterly divided Germany in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with Adolf Hitler personally advocating for the Antiqua faction against Otto von Bismarck's Fraktur support. What were the Germans getting so worked up about? (Note that for this song identification, we just need the instrument being played.) |
| Answer | What is the most Germanic font |
| Song | *Typewriter* |
| Artist | Boston Typewriter Orchestra |
| Hint | It was concerning how things were written |
| Number | 99 |
| Realm | Amazing Sports Plays |
| Subrealm | That Don't Work |
| Question | On August 28, 1987, Williamsport Bills catcher Dave Bresnahan made an amazing play that got out a runner coming home. He was released from the team shortly afterwards for doing it. What did he do that caused him to be released from the team? |
| Answer | He threw a potato instead of the ball. |
| Song | Hot Potato |
| Artist | The Wiggles |
| Hint | He snuck something onto the field |
| Note | In August of 1987, Bresnahan, then a 25-year-old second-string catcher with the Williamsport (Pennsylvania) Bills of the Class-AA Eastern League, decided to liven up a meaningless late-season home game. Before the game, Bresnahan peeled and sculpted a potato in the shape of a baseball. Behind the plate in the fifth inning, with the potato concealed in his mitt and a runner on third base, he threw the potato wildly past his third baseman, hoping the runner would think he made an errant pick-off throw. The play worked to perfection. The runner at third trotted home, and Bresnahan tagged him out with the baseball. An umpire retrieved the potato and awarded the runner home for Bresnahan’s deception. The following day, Bresnahan was fined by his manager and then released by the Bills’ parent club, the Cleveland Indians, for what they perceived as an affront to the integrity of the game. But he became an instant celebrity, and the next year the Bills had a ceremony to retire his number. |
| Number | 100 |
| Realm | 'Smore Trivia |
| Subrealm | (Minus the tasty parts) |
| Question | Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham invented the graham cracker in order to help prevent blindness and insanity. Why did he think that this would work? |
| Answer | It was part of a diet to help people stop masturbating. |
| Song | I Touch Myself |
| Artist | The Divinyls |
| Hint | He had a very religious view on personal time |
| Number | 101 |
| Realm | Chainsaws! |
| Subrealm | (Make chainsaw noises) |
| Question | The earliest version of the chainsaw was developed in 1830 by Bernhard Heine. But it wasn't invented to cut down trees. What was the original chainsaw used to cut? |
| Answer | Bones |
| Song | Spooky Scary Skeletons |
| Artist | Andrew Gold |
| Hint | There's 206 of them |
| Number | 102 |
| Realm | Musical Geniuses |
| Subrealm | What a jerk |
| Question | Comedian Steve Martin is a funny guy. In fact he's won 2 Grammys for comedy albums. But he's won three more Grammys by playing what instrument? |
| Answer | Banjo |
| Song | King Tut |
| Artist | Steve Martin |
| Hint | He's good at strumming |
| Number | 103 |
| Realm | Musical Theater |
| Subrealm | L'Chaim! |
| Question | "A Shoggoth on the Roof" is a full-length, song-for-song parody of "A Fiddler on the Roof" featuring songs like "If I Were A Deep One" and "Victim of Victims". Whose works inspired this parody? |
| Answer | H.P. Lovecraft |
| Song | If I Were A Rich Man |
| Artist | Fiddler On the Roof |
| Hint | Cthulhu's in the musical |
| Number | 104 |
| Realm | Diseases |
| Subrealm | Avoid them like the plague |
| Question | In an effort to make people more prepared for natural disasters, what specific disaster did the CDC warn people about in a blog post on May 16, 2011? |
| Answer | Zombie Apocalypse |
| Song | The Walking Dead Theme |
| Artist | ... |
| Hint | It's a proably usually seen in horror movies |
| Note | You can still find the Zombie Preparedness Blog on the CDC website. |
| Number | 105 |
| Realm | Jeopardy! |
| Subrealm | Questioning Your Answers |
| Question | In 2011, Watson, a supercomputer developed by IBM, appeared on Jeopardy! against former champion Brian Rutter and Ken Jennings. Although Watson ultimately won, what incorrect response did it give to the Final Jeopardy category of U.S. Cities? |
| Answer | What is Toronto????? |
| Song | American Idiot |
| Artist | Green Day |
| Hint | Watson's response was very wrong for the category |
| Number | 106 |
| Realm | Peppa Pig Trivia |
| Subrealm | The Unrated Version |
| Question | Arkansas banned an episode of the children's show Arthur because it showed a gay marriage. Australia banned an episode of Peppa Pig for what reason? |
| Answer | Encouraged kids to pick up spiders |
| Song | Theme from Spider Man |
| Artist | Aerosmith |
| Hint | It was to protect them from Autralian wildlife |
| Number | 107 |
| Realm | The Book Was Better |
| Subrealm | And Completely Different |
| Question | Richard Kelly, the screenwriter of Donnie Darko, wrote the original movie script for what book adaptation? It went unused because it changed several elements of the book, like setting it in a post-nuclear war dystopia, adding a plague, and killing several characters who didn't originally die. |
| Answer | Holes |
| Song | Dig A Little Deeper |
| Artist | The Princess And The Frog |
| Hint | The movie stars Shia Lebouef |
| Number | 108 |
| Realm | As American as |
| Subrealm | Dutch Apple Pie |
| Question | German Chocolate Cake was invented in America in 1852 by an American baker, and has nothing to do with Germany. So why's it called German Chocolate Cake? |
| Answer | His name was Samuel German |
| Song | The Distance |
| Artist | Cake |
| Hint | It has to do with the man who invented it |
| Number | 109 |
| Realm | Pets |
| Subrealm | Man's best friend |
| Question | Name the only breed of dog that can't bark |
| Answer | Basenji |
| Song | The Sounds of Silence |
| Artist | Simon & Garfunkel |
| Hint | They're an African hunting dog |
| Note | Basenjis yodel instead of barking. |
| Number | 110 |
| Realm | Six Feet Under |
| Subrealm | And Inside |
| Question | Food storage technician Fredric Baur requested that his ashes be placed in one of these objects which he designed, and his family honored his wishes. |
| Answer | Pringles can |
| Song | Six Feet Under |
| Artist | Billie Eilish |
| Hint | You may have gotten your hand stuck in one |
| Note | https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pringles-urn/ |
| Number | 111 |
| Realm | Traditional Japanese Architecture |
| Subrealm | Traditional Japanese Heroes |
| Question | On the grounds of the Kanucha Bay Resort in Okinawa, Japan is an exact replica of what American building? |
| Answer | Bill Clinton's House |
| Song | Don't Stop |
| Artist | Fleetwood Mac |
| Hint | It's a presidential residence |
| Note | The house is a replica of Bill Clinton's childhood home in Hope, Arkansas. Clinton has never been there, and it's a bit of a mystery why it was ever built. |
| Number | 112 |
| Realm | Thomas The Tank Engine Fanfic |
| Subrealm | The Musical! |
| Question | "Starlight Express" is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the most successful musical in Germany, and the eighth longest-running musical on Broadway. It's about sentient trains. What interesting thing do all of the actors wear to better portray train engines? |
| Answer | Roller Skates |
| Song | Starlight Express |
| Artist | Andrew Lloyd-Webber |
| Hint | The actors move like trains |
| Number | 113 |
| Realm | Where Are They Now? |
| Subrealm | Where Were They Then? |
| Question | Which actor from the TV show Full House went on to have the titular role an iconic 1997 sports movie, which got him nominated for a Kids Choice Award and spawned several sequels and spinoffs? |
| Answer | Air Buddy |
| Song | Who Let The Dogs Out |
| Artist | Baha Men |
| Hint | He wasn't a human |
| Number | 114 |
| Realm | Grammy Award Noms |
| Subrealm | Comemerative Plaque |
| Question | What celebrity recorded a Grammy-nominated album that raised awareness of tooth decay among children and featured Frank Sinatra? |
| Answer | Muhammad Ali |
| Song | Punched in the Teeth by Love |
| Artist | Motley Crue |
| Hint | He's better known in the ring |
| Note | The album was titled "The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay". Ali later boxed against Mr. Tooth Decay during Dental Hygiene for Children Day in Washington, D. C. in January 1980. |
| Number | 115 |
| Realm | Accounted for Inflation |
| Subrealm | And Inflated Egos |
| Question | Who is reportedly the highest-paid athlete of all time, earning over 11 billion dollars, adjusted for inflation? |
| Answer | Gaius Appuleius Diocles |
| Song | Chariots of Fire |
| Artist | Vangelis |
| Hint | It's not a basketball or baseball player |
| Note | Gaius Appuleius Diocles was born in 104 AD and competed as a charioteer in Rome for 24 years. His winnings totaled the equivalent of 26,000 kg of gold. |