Too Many Noodles
January 31-February 1, 2025
On-Air Questions and Songs
Unused questions are shown with gray text.
| Number | 1 |
| Realm | Rhymes |
| Subrealm | Of The Ancient Marinara |
| Question | Udon, Soba everywhere and not a drop to drink, the boat is full of ramen and it might just start to sink. The fettuccini's flopping and tripoline's pink, you're full of spaghettoni and it's now you start to think that you've got... |
| Answer | Too Many Noodles |
| Song | Bread |
| Artist | Anya Nami |
| Number | 2 |
| Realm | Pizza |
| Subrealm | Not available in Williamstown |
| Question | In 1989 a man entered a Dominos Pizza franchise and, at gunpoint, forced the employees to get Tom Monaghan, the owner of the entire Dominos chain, on the phone. What was the man's name, and why did he want to talk with Tom Monaghan? |
| Answer | His name was Kenneth Lamar Noid, and he was convinced that Domino's "Avoid the Noid" campaign was targeted at him. |
| Song | Ain't that a Shame |
| Artist | Fats Domino |
| Note | The hostages escaped, and Mr. Noid was found not guilty by reason of insanity |
| Number | 3 |
| Realm | Movies |
| Subrealm | Spy Movies |
| Question | When Austin Powers wakes up after 30 years of cryogenic sleep, what is the one thing he reads in the history books that brings him to tears? |
| Answer | "I can't believe Liberace was gay!" |
| Song | Beer Barrel Polka |
| Artist | Liberace |
| Number | 4 |
| Realm | Music |
| Subrealm | Medicine |
| Question | Whose idea was this song? |
| Answer | It was Madonna's idea! |
| Song | Like a Surgeon |
| Artist | Weird Al |
| Note | Madonna suggested the title to Weird Al, after the idea came to her while walking around New York. |
| Number | 5 |
| Realm | Music |
| Subrealm | Revisions |
| Question | At least one of your hosts was instructed to dance to the song we're about to play while in elementary school. What was the song's original title, and where did its inspiration come from? |
| Answer | "Fuck Off". The song was written to a certain doorman, the night the band was refused entry to the legendary disco club Studio 54 in New York City because they were "not on the list". |
| Song | Le Freak |
| Artist | Chic |
| Note | You can hear a reference to Studio 54 in the lyrics. |
| Number | 6 |
| Realm | Music |
| Subrealm | Controversy |
| Question | Why did the song we're about to play make the news in 2010 in Manchester, England? |
| Answer | A DJ played it, by request of a listener in a car who was waiting in traffic that had been stopped while the police tried to talk a suicidal woman down from a bridge. |
| Song | Jump |
| Artist | Van Halen |
| Note | The woman did jump off the 30ft bridge, but fortunately suffered only minor injuries. The DJ, Steve Penk, was widely condemned by mental health advocates. |
| Number | 7 |
| Realm | Science |
| Subrealm | Cetology |
| Question | In 2014, a researcher studying whales was frustrated with how difficult it is to get close to a whale and extract material to check its health. So he pioneered a program to have a drone hover over the spout of a whale, and collect data from the plume the whale blows out. What is the drone program called? |
| Answer | SnotBot (R) |
| Song | Aqualung |
| Artist | Jethro Tull |
| Hint | The program was named so as to be unforgettable, especially by children. |
| Note | The cetologist in question is Iain Kerr, who is the director of the Ocean Alliance. One day he got close to a whale, but it exhaled right in front of him and submerged before he could collect a sample from its flesh. The blow left him covered in whale snot, which gave him the idea. |
| Number | 8 |
| Realm | Movies |
| Subrealm | Disney Movies |
| Question | The hit Disney film Moana is not known by the same name across the globe. Notably, European audiences were treated to a very different name for the heroine. What was that name, and why the change? |
| Answer | Vaiana - Because there is an Italian porn star named Moana, and Disney did not want confusion when audiences searched for the film. |
| Song | Mah Nà Mah Nà |
| Artist | Piero Umiliani |
| Number | 9 |
| Realm | Marketing |
| Subrealm | Drinks |
| Question | Coca-Cola's bottled water brand Dasani has penetrated the US market with reasonable success, but it was not well-recieved in the UK when first introduced in 2004. Why not? |
| Answer | Coca-Cola paradoxically used the marketing slogan "You can't live without spunk!", which meant - well - something unintentional in Britain. |
| Song | Koka Kola |
| Artist | The Clash |
| Note | They also called it "Bottled Spunk". https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/655q7t/til_when_coke_marketed_their_dasani_brand_of/?rdt=42251 |
| Number | 10 |
| Realm | Religion |
| Subrealm | Catholicism |
| Question | On 1 July 2024, Pope Francis approved the canonization of 15 people to Sainthood, including Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized on Sunday, April 27, 2025. What will he be the patron saint of? |
| Answer | The Internet |
| Song | Losing My Religion |
| Artist | R.E.M. |
| Hint | Acutis had created a database cataloguing each reported Eucharistic miracle in the world, and is expected to be the first millennial saint in the Catholic Church. |
| Note | A meta-saint! |
| Number | 11 |
| Realm | Music |
| Subrealm | Musicians |
| Question | What song gave Stefani Germanotta the inspiration for her stage name? |
| Answer | "Radio Gaga" by Queen |
| Song | No One Knows |
| Artist | Queens of the Stone Age |
| Hint | Don't call her name Alejandro, don't call her name Roberto |
| Note | Stefani Germanotta's stage name is Lady Gaga. |
| Number | 12 |
| Realm | Television |
| Subrealm | Costumes |
| Question | The Power Ranger's universe has a Ranger uniform color matching every marker in the classic Crayola 10-pack markers, except which color? |
| Answer | Brown |
| Song | Kung Fu Fighting |
| Artist | Carl Douglas |
| Hint | The color can be found in the Sentai Rangers, but NOT the Power Rangers. |
| Number | 13 |
| Realm | Music |
| Subrealm | Innovations |
| Question | Here's one for the school of rock: The song that we're about to play has an unusual guitar sound. How was this particular distortion acheived? |
| Answer | Pencil shoved into the amp |
| Song | Rumble |
| Artist | Link Wray |
| Hint | Think 'school supplies.' |
| Note | The title was suggested by Phil Everly, who thought the rough sound made it sound like a street fight. But that title got it banned in several US markets, by people who thought it was glorifying juvenile delinquency. It is the only instrumental song ever banned from radio in the US. |
| Number | 14 |
| Realm | Music |
| Subrealm | Beatles |
| Question | When Paul McCartney and John Lennon began writing songs together, they had no recording equipment. As a result, they had to memorize songs and arrangements. How did this skill serve Paul in good stead when he recorded the song we're about to play? (Note this is a cover version.) |
| Answer | Paul and Linda McCartney were robbed at knifepoint in Lagos, Nigeria, just before recording Band on the Run, and the thieves took Paul's bag containing the demos and notes he'd made for the album. He had to recreate the songs from memory. |
| Song | Band on the Run |
| Artist | Dave Grohl |
| Hint | Need to cut off the introduction at the beginning of the song, but it rocks. |
| Note | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYetH6DeMcY |
| Number | 15 |
| Realm | Security |
| Subrealm | Make Their Day |
| Question | For over 200 years, the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg has had a special staff of 70 who protect the art collection. What is the common feature of these staffers? |
| Answer | They are cats. |
| Song | Fur Elise |
| Artist | Beethoven |
| Note | Cats have roamed the Hermitage since the 18th century, to keep rodents away from the artwork, especially the items in storage. |
| Number | 16 |
| Realm | Manners |
| Subrealm | Miss Manners, that is |
| Question | Advice Columnist Miss Manners recently received a question that said, in part, "Am I required to say 'hello' before I begin? Must I say 'please' when asking my questions?" Her answer was, "How much better it is to distribute a few not-strictly-necessary pleases and thank-yous than to run the risk of developing coarse habits." What was the letter writer asking about? |
| Answer | Whether it is necessary to show good manners when communicating with ChatGPT. |
| Song | In the Chip We Trust |
| Artist | Dumpit |
| Note | Miss Manner drew an analogy with teaching children to be polite to their stuffed animals, despite the fact that they are not alive. |
| Number | 17 |
| Realm | Art |
| Subrealm | Art? |
| Question | In November 2024, what was purchased by a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur at a Sotheby's auction, for $6.2 million, and what did the buyer do with what he purchased? |
| Answer | A single banana, duct-taped to a blank wall. The buyer ate it. |
| Song | The Name Game |
| Artist | Shirley Ellis |
| Note | The piece was titled "Comedian", and created by Maurizio Cattelan. The banana, sans tape, was reportedly purchased for $.35 the day of the auction. "It's much better than other bananas", said the buyer, Justin Sun, after eating it. |
| Number | 18 |
| Realm | Aircraft |
| Subrealm | A simpler time |
| Question | What was the nickname of the plane Jimmy Carter used in his 1976 campaign for president? |
| Answer | Peanut One |
| Song | Linus and Lucy |
| Artist | Vince Guaraldi |
| Hint | What was Carter's profession before he went into politics? |
| Note | Jimmy Carter was born a peanut farmer. |
| Number | 19 |
| Realm | Sports |
| Subrealm | Football |
| Question | Name the only two left-handed quarterbacks to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame |
| Answer | Ken Stabler and Steve Young. |
| Song | The Metal Sheet (Wibble Wabble) |
| Artist | Fiasko |
| Note | Stabler was inducted posthumously in 2016. |
| Number | 20 |
| Realm | Actors |
| Subrealm | and their roles |
| Question | Steve Buscemi acted in 6 major Holywood productions in 2001, including his role as the voice of Randall in Monsters Inc. What other job did he do that year? |
| Answer | Firefighter. He returned to his previous job of NYC firefighter, combing the rubble of the World Trade Center after the 9-11 attacks. |
| Song | Gods in Heat |
| Artist | TABACCO |
| Number | 21 |
| Realm | Errors |
| Subrealm | Intentional Errors |
| Question | Most highway distance signs strive to provide accurate numbers to drivers. But one U.S. state has purposely posted a road sign that they know is off by one-tenth of a mile. Explain why they’ve done this. |
| Answer | Colorado has replaced its "Mile 420" signs with "Mile 419.9" signs because people kept stealing the ones that said "420." |
| Song | On the Road Again |
| Artist | Willie Nelson |
| Note | Colorado was the first US state to legalize Marijuana, and became a mecca for afficionados. |
| Number | 22 |
| Realm | Sports |
| Subrealm | Baseball |
| Question | In an exhibition game in Tennessee in 1931, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig each struck out in the first inning, one after the other. Why was the event particularly memorable? |
| Answer | The pitcher, 18-year-old Jackie Mitchell, was one of only a handful of women to play professional baseball against men. She pitched for the Class AA Minor League Chattanooga Lookouts. |
| Song | Mirrors |
| Artist | Caravan Palace |
| Note | Some say it was a publicity stunt, but Mitchell insisted to her dying day that she struck them out fair and square. |
| Number | 23 |
| Realm | Comics |
| Subrealm | Crossovers |
| Question | As detailed in the Fall, 1986 Williams Trivia Contest by Giant Pygmies of Beckles, when Superman met Muhammed Ali in a special DC comic book from 1978, Ali beat Superman to a bloody pulp under a red sun. But what happened when Wolverine met Mr. Spock in a special Marvel issue? |
| Answer | Spock easily overcomes Wolverine with the Vulcan Nerve Pinch. |
| Song | No More Heroes |
| Artist | The Stranglers |
| Note | The comic was called Star Trek/X-Men, published in 1996. When the X-Men return to their universe at the end of the story, they express their happiness that after experiencing a multitude of alternate futures, they finally encountered one that seemed hopeful. |
| Number | 24 |
| Realm | Art |
| Subrealm | That lasts |
| Question | Why did a 1608 painting of John the Baptist become the subject of conspiracy theories in the twentieth century? |
| Answer | The painting is of a beheading, and the artist's signature seems to say, "I, Caravaggio, did this". In other words, it may be the confession of a murderer (which Caravaggio definitely was). |
| Song | Bad Blood |
| Artist | Taylor Swift |
| Note | The painting is titled "The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist", and it is located in St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta. It is 12 feet by 17 feet in size, and widely considered to be Caravaggio's masterpiece. The scene is not from the Bible directly, but rather from the Golden Legend, a collection of hagiographies popular in the middle ages. |
| Note | The painting is the only one to feature Caravaggio's signature, which he placed in red blood pouring from John's cut throat. |
| Note | There seems little question that Caravaggio was indeed a killer. He murdered a man named Ranuccio Tommasoni in a brawl in 1606, and fled Rome for Naples and then Malta as a result. |
| Number | 25 |
| Realm | Good things |
| Subrealm | Come in big packages |
| Question | In 2010 a man with a large box appeared on Antiques Roadshow. The box was two feet tall and contained a custom-made, highly sophisticated machine that was operated like an organ. For a time in the 1960s, this particular box was indispensible in the television industry, when its creator had a virtual monopoly on its much-desired function. What did it do? |
| Answer | It was the original "laff-box", used to create laugh tracks for sitcoms. |
| Song | Simple Dimpl Pop It Squish |
| Artist | M&A & Betsy |
| Note | The laff box was invented by audio engineer Charles Douglass, and used on virtually all the sitcoms of the 1960s. Douglass's son eventually invented a digital version. |
| Number | 26 |
| Realm | Aerial Phenomenon |
| Subrealm | Spiritual Experiences |
| Question | In 2010, a man named Paul Vasquez posted a video of a double rainbow over Yosemite that quickly went viral. As of July 2024, it has over 51 million views on YouTube. Paul Vasquez continues to post videos to this day - why is that surprising, and how is it possible? |
| Answer | Paul Vasquez died in May, 2020, but at the time of his death he had scheduled uploads for the next 15 years. So we will be hearing from him for some time to come. |
| Song | Toca Toca |
| Artist | Fly Project |
| Number | 27 |
| Realm | Criminal Justice |
| Subrealm | This is the kind of offense that cannot be tolerated in our society |
| Question | In 2007, a sectretary in Atlanta was sentenced to 8 years in prison, well beyond what federal sentencing guidelines recommended. What was her crime? |
| Answer | She was an employee of Coca-Cola, and she attempted to sell Coke's secret formula to Pepsi. Pepsi turned her in. |
| Song | Cuckoo |
| Artist | Rob Cantor |
| Note | The judge said that he was giving her a longer sentence than recommended by federal prosecutors and sentencing guidelines because, “This is the kind of offense that cannot be tolerated in our society.” |
| Number | 28 |
| Realm | Amazing Feats |
| Subrealm | That shouldn't be possible |
| Question | During the 1978-1979 season, in a game between the New York Nets and the Philadelhpia 76ers, Eric Money became the only NBA player in history to do what, and how did the feat come about? |
| Answer | Money scored for both teams. |
| Song | Touch |
| Artist | Katseye |
| Note | There was an officiating error in the game, and the Nets successfully petitioned to have the final two quarters replayed. In the meantime, Money was traded between the teams, so he officially scored for both. |
| Number | 29 |
| Realm | Travel |
| Subrealm | Lodgings |
| Question | Of the world's 28 hotels with 3,000+ rooms, over half of them are located in the same city. Which city? |
| Answer | Las Vegas |
| Song | This Hotel Room |
| Artist | Jimmy Buffett |
| Number | 30 |
| Realm | Honors |
| Subrealm | Norwegian Honors |
| Question | Just like in England, the king of Norway occasionally bestows knighthoods on deserving citizens. Why did it make news when King Harold V conferred a knighthood on a member of the King's Guard in 2008? |
| Answer | Sir Nils Olav is a penguin in the Edinburgh Zoo, who was adopted by the King's Guard. (His title is "colonel in chief".) |
| Song | Numb Little Bug |
| Artist | Em Beihold |
| Number | 31 |
| Realm | Insects |
| Subrealm | Who announce their presence |
| Question | The Lesser Boatman Insect is a tiny European bug that produces the loudest sound of any animal relative to its size. How does it make that sound? |
| Answer | The male of the species rubs his penis against corrugations on his abdomen, producing a sound measured at 99.2 decibels, comparable to a passing freight train. |
| Song | Flesh & Bone |
| Artist | Sammy Rae & The Friends |
| Note | The Lesser Boatman Insect is classified by the Guiness Book of World Records as having the Loudest Penis. |
| Number | 32 |
| Realm | Inequities |
| Subrealm | Hollywood |
| Question | The actors playing Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz were each paid $50 per week, which was $75 less per week than what other star? |
| Answer | Toto |
| Song | Money (That's What I Want) |
| Artist | Barrett Strong |
| Number | 33 |
| Realm | Sports |
| Subrealm | Sports? |
| Question | On April 9th, 2006, a national tournament was held in Las Vegas, and the winner awarded $50,000. The tournament was later broadcast on national cable television. What was the sport? |
| Answer | Rock-Paper-Scissors. |
| Song | Important |
| Artist | Ian McConnell |
| Note | The US Rock-Paper-Scissors league was a thing for several years. |
| Number | 34 |
| Realm | Movies |
| Subrealm | Pixar |
| Question | Toy Story is of course a classic movie for kids, and like many kids movies it has some creepy parts. Perhaps the creepiest part is Sid's house, where toys are dismembered and reassembled into unholy creations. What was the carpet in Sid's house modeled after? |
| Answer | The carpets of the hotel in The Shining. |
| Song | Run Boy Run |
| Artist | Woodkid |
| Number | 35 |
| Realm | College |
| Subrealm | Theses |
| Question | What did Steven Spielberg submit as his final project when he finished film school? |
| Answer | Schindler's List. |
| Song | Change My Style |
| Artist | Glow Machine |
| Note | Spielberg went back to school in 2002, and rather cheekily submitted his Oscar-winning movie from 9 years earlier. |
| Number | 36 |
| Realm | Criminal Justice |
| Subrealm | Alibis |
| Question | In 2003 Juan Catalan spent several months in jail, accused of a murder in Los Angeles. How was he ultimately cleared of the charge? |
| Answer | Larry David was filming an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm in Dodger Stadium on the day of the murder. When examined closely, the footage was found to include a clear shot of Catalan and his daughter at the ballgame. |
| Song | I'm Fine |
| Artist | Dadi Freyr |
| Number | 37 |
| Realm | Sports |
| Subrealm | Baseball |
| Question | Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm played in the major leagues for 23 years. Why was his first at-bat memorable? |
| Answer | He hit a home run in his first at-bat, and then never hit another in his entire career, which included 431 more at-bats. (He was a pitcher.) |
| Song | Macarena |
| Artist | Los Del Rio |
| Note | Macarena is a very well-known one-hit wonder. Ah-hahaha. |
| Number | 38 |
| Realm | Sports |
| Subrealm | Cities |
| Question | What distinction do Pitsburgh pro sports teams share, that no other 3-team city can boast? |
| Answer | The Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates all have the same colors (black and yellow). |
| Song | Coincidance |
| Artist | Handsome Dancer |
| Number | 39 |
| Realm | Chance Encounters |
| Subrealm | It's a small world |
| Question | In late 1864 or early 1865, on a train platform in Jersey City, New Jersey, a famous man nearly fell to his death on the tracks just as the train he was boarding began to move. He was saved by another famous man, who grabbed him by his collar and pulled him to safety. Who were the two men? |
| Answer | The man who fell was Robert Lincoln, son of the president, and the man who saved him was Edwin Booth, brother of Abraham Lincoln's future assassin. |
| Song | Crazy Bitch |
| Artist | Madeline |
| Number | 40 |
| Realm | Plumbing |
| Subrealm | The White House |
| Question | Before Richard Nixon's plumbers occupied the White House, Lyndon Johnson hired his own plumbers to modify his personal shower. What addition did he have them make? |
| Answer | A jet of water that shot directly at his penis. |
| Song | It's Raining Men |
| Artist | The Weather Girls |
| Number | 41 |
| Realm | Music |
| Subrealm | Right Place, Right Time |
| Question | In 1973, a rock and roll fan named Scott arrived early to a concert in Sausalito, California, so that he could get good seats. Why did that result in one of the greatest nights of his life? |
| Answer | The concert was by The Who, and part way through their drummer, Keith Moon, passed out from taking too many drugs, and had to be dragged off stage. When Roger Daltrey asked if anyone in the audience could play drums, Scott Halpin answered the call, and finished the concert with the band. |
| Song | Substitute |
| Artist | The Who |
| Note | Halpin later became composer in residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts, in Sausalito, California, and played with a number of bands. While on the West Coast, Halpin and his wife managed a new wave punk rock night club, The Roosevelt, before moving to Indiana in 1995 to pursue opportunities in the visual arts. |
| Number | 42 |
| Realm | Measurement Units |
| Subrealm | Distance |
| Question | What is the popular mnemonic for the number of feet in a mile? |
| Answer | "Five tomatoes", five-two-eight-oh, for 5280 feet in a mile |
| Song | I'm Gonna Be |
| Artist | The Proclaimers |
| Number | 43 |
| Realm | Science |
| Subrealm | Astronomy |
| Question | A solar eclipse can occur on every planet in our solar system except Mercury and Venus. Why not those two? |
| Answer | They don't have moons. |
| Song | Total Eclipse |
| Artist | Klaus Nomi |
| Note | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBgTl3WuCkA&ab_channel=KlausNomi-Topic |
| Number | 44 |
| Realm | Alternate history |
| Subrealm | Could-a, would-a, should-a. Really should-a. We wish. |
| Question | Nazi Joachim von Ribbentrop was not known in school or by his colleagues for being smart. He eventually was known as the first of the very guilty Nuremberg defendants to be executed by hanging. Before WWI, he could have been just a tiny bit smarter and taken a totally different and non-evil path in life. We wish he had done this. Back then, which non-evil sport did he compete in *for Canada*, including at a competition in the USA? |
| Answer | Figure Skating |
| Song | Civil War |
| Artist | Guns 'n Roses |
| Hint | The singer's name has something to do with the sport |
| Number | 45 |
| Realm | Sports |
| Subrealm | Rules |
| Question | In 2022, Skate Canada, the governing body of Figure Skating for Our Neighbors to the North, made a significant change to the rules which would have made a certain 2007 movie more plausible. What was the change? |
| Answer | They changed the definition of a team from a man and a woman to just "two skaters", opening the door for teams to be same-sex, as predicted by Will Ferrel and Jon Heder in Blades of Glory. |
| Song | My Humps |
| Artist | Black-Eyed Peas |
| Number | 46 |
| Realm | Heroes |
| Subrealm | Real Heroes |
| Question | Topps has been making baseball cards since 1952. Who is on the company’s highest-selling single card? |
| Answer | Dr. Anthony Fauci. |
| Song | Throw it Away |
| Artist | The Germs |
| Note | The card features his opening day pitch in 2020, which proved that as an athlete, Fauci is a hell of an epidemiologist. |
| Number | 47 |
| Realm | Navigation |
| Subrealm | On Paper |
| Question | If you were to navigate Ohio by map from Bono to Archbold in 1978, you may be tempted to visit two oddly named towns nearby those locations... you would be shocked to discover that you cannot find them upon arrival. What are their names and why couldn't you go there? |
| Answer | GoBlu and Beatosu. These towns don't exist, and never did. |
| Song | Maps |
| Artist | The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs |
| Note | "Go Blue" and "Beat OSU" are common phrases heard at the University of Michigan. |
| Note | The practice of including fake towns to protect the copyright of a map is well-established. In 1978 the chairman of Michigan's State Highway Commission, Peter Fletcher, who was a graduate of the University of Michigan, asked his cartographers if he could include some fake towns on the official state map of Michigan. They told him to get lost - this is the official map of Michigan! But then he thought about it, and went back and asked if they could include fake towns in the part of the map that shows Ohio. Well, they said, we don't have any responsibility for Ohio... |
| Number | 48 |
| Realm | Parking |
| Subrealm | Location, Location, Location |
| Question | The consequence of parking on a monarch's grave is generally harsh. You will be asked to remove your car from the grounds, then likely arrested. But in one instance, parking on the monarch's grave had no consequences at all. Which monarch, and why? |
| Answer | Richard III, whose body was discovered underneath a parking lot in Leicester. |
| Song | Big Yellow Taxi |
| Artist | Counting Crows |
| Number | 49 |
| Realm | Career changes |
| Subrealm | For the best |
| Question | Some aspire to greatness but take an arrow to the knee. Others aspire to be great footballers but take an injury to the back, make a career change and become famous science fiction actors... who does this particular story describe? |
| Answer | Matt Smith, who was forced to end his football career due to spondylolysis. |
| Song | Bad Case of Lovin' You (Doctor, Doctor) |
| Artist | Robert Palmer |
| Note | Later, of course, Matt Smith played the Eleventh Doctor. |
| Number | 50 |
| Realm | Colonization |
| Subrealm | You Can't Colonize Just One |
| Question | The Pacific has had a bad time with colonization. So bad, that only one country has escaped colonization by a foreign power. Which one? |
| Answer | Tonga! |
| Song | Makeba |
| Artist | Jain |
| Number | 51 |
| Realm | Lists of Things |
| Subrealm | Numbers |
| Question | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 14b which doesn't exist, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, and 23. What does this numbering represent. |
| Answer | Popes named John. |
| Song | Peter Pumpkin Head |
| Artist | XTC |
| Note | The list includes Pope John the XIV which was an error by historians, two anti-popes and a mistake by Pope John the XXI who believed prior popes had been misnumbered. |
| Number | 52 |
| Realm | Entertainment |
| Subrealm | Actors |
| Question | Ian Holm played Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was Ian's second role in a Tolkien production. What was his first? |
| Answer | He voiced Frodo Baggins in the 1981 Lord of the Rings BBC Radio Drama. |
| Song | The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins |
| Artist | Leonard Nimoy |
| Number | 53 |
| Realm | Film |
| Subrealm | Scene Editing |
| Question | When Peter Cushing played General Tarkin in Star Wars A New Hope, he was filmed almost exclusively in shots above the waist. Why was that? |
| Answer | The costume department gave him shoes that were painfully small, so Cushing made a request to wear his comfy slippers while filming on set. |
| Song | A New Hope |
| Artist | Blink 182 |
| Number | 54 |
| Realm | Long Ago |
| Subrealm | Far away? Maybe. Depends on where you are. |
| Question | What are Orchard/Douglas and Moisant Stock Yards better known as? |
| Answer | O'Hare International Airport (Chicago) and Louis Armstrong International Airport (New Orleans) |
| Song | Truckin' |
| Artist | Grateful Dead |
| Note | The airport codes are still ORD and MSY. |
| Number | 55 |
| Realm | Video Games |
| Subrealm | Monsters |
| Question | The Legend of Zelda series, up to and including last year's Echoes of Wisdom, has always featured a bevy of ferocious monsters to challenge Link and Zelda. The most consistently relentless creature in the series has long been what fierce beast, which is not only unkillable but can (upon the player's attack) summon a horde of its brutal fellows to rain down assaults on our heroes? |
| Answer | "Cuccos," or the ordinary chickens that hang out in the villages. |
| Song | Rooster |
| Artist | Alice in Chains |
| Number | 56 |
| Realm | Music |
| Subrealm | Hip-Hop |
| Question | West Coast hip-hop of the 1990s frequently included lots of casually misogynist lyrics. Toward the end of the decade, in a shift that many contemporary commentators assumed was due to the major rappers maturing and settling down, these lyrics gradually became somewhat less common. A recent interview, however, revealed that there was a more proximate cause. What yielded this change in attitude? |
| Answer | Dionne Warwick called Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and company to her mansion at 7 AM one morning and gave them all a severe tongue-lashing about the language they used, prompting them to promise to change their ways. As Snoop put it, "she out-gangstered us." |
| Song | A Teenager in Love |
| Artist | Dion (and the Belmonts) |
| Number | 57 |
| Realm | Sports |
| Subrealm | Football |
| Question | During a 2021 Monday Night Football game, the Dallas Cowboys' quarterback called an audible near the end zone. Although the TV commentators were presumably unfamiliar with the Cowboys' playbook, prior to the snap they correctly deduced from its name that it would be a "draw" play. What was the telltale name of the play the Cowboys called? |
| Answer | Bob Ross |
| Song | I Talk to the Trees |
| Artist | Clint Eastwood |
| Number | 58 |
| Realm | Sports |
| Subrealm | Traditions |
| Question | In many sports, athletes from opposing teams sometimes exchange jerseys after the game, occasionally taking pictures side-by-side holding their opponent's gear. Although this is usually routine, one picture of a jersey exchange after a Raptors-Magic game in the last NBA season caused a degree of controversy. Who were the rookie players in the picture? |
| Answer | Anthony Black and Gradey Dick |
| Song | My Ding-a-Ling |
| Artist | Chuck Berry |
| Note | They did it on purpose, and posed for the cameras. They were each fined $35,000 for using obscene language. |
| Number | 59 |
| Realm | Bored Biologists |
| Subrealm | Semantics |
| Question | According to the Holotypic Occlupanid Research Group (HORG), palpatophora utiliformis is the most common variety of occlupanid, although there are hundreds of other species across 20 families. What are occlupanids? |
| Answer | Bread clips. That is, the little plastic doohickeys that hold bread bags closed. |
| Song | Tieduprightnow |
| Artist | Parcels |
| Note | These people are awesome: https://www.horg.com/horg/ |
| Number | 60 |
| Realm | Crime |
| Subrealm | Doesn't Pay |
| Question | In the early twentieth century, an incompetent outlaw robbed a passenger train, leaving with some alcohol, a watch, a coat, and a relatively small amount of cash. He had mistaken it for a train carrying hundreds of thousands of dollars. Why did he become notable 65 years later? |
| Answer | Elmer McCurdy's mummified corpse was thought to be a stage prop until the arm broke off in 1976, revealing it to be real human remains. |
| Song | Broken Cowboy |
| Artist | the Dead South |
| Note | McCurdy's mummified body was first put on display at an Oklahoma funeral home and then became a fixture on the traveling carnival and sideshow circuit during the 1920s through the 1960s. After changing ownership several times, McCurdy's remains eventually wound up at The Pike amusement zone in Long Beach, California, where they were discovered by crew members filming an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, and positively identified in December 1976. |
| Number | 61 |
| Realm | Places |
| Subrealm | Proud Places |
| Question | What do Paraguay, Oregon, and the City of Raleigh have in common? |
| Answer | Their flags have different designs on the front and back |
| Song | The Other Side |
| Artist | Aerosmith |
| Note | There are a number of other current and historical examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flags_with_reverses_that_differ_from_the_obverse |
| Number | 62 |
| Realm | Biology |
| Subrealm | Danger |
| Question | The recent novel "The Tainted Cup" by Robert Jackson Bennett details a strange murder. The way the victim dies mimics the case of a real Russian man in 2009. What happened to him? |
| Answer | A small fir tree was discovered growing in his lung. |
| Song | Tainted Love |
| Artist | Soft Cell |
| Note | The man's name was Artyom Sidorkin, and the tree was about 2cm tall, with green needles. Unlike the victim in the novel, he made a full recovery. |
| Number | 63 |
| Realm | Sports |
| Subrealm | Baseball |
| Question | What distinction do Harry Chiti, Brad Gulden, Dickie Noles, and John McDonald hold in Major League Baseball history? |
| Answer | They were each traded for a player-to-be-named-later, which turned out to be themselves. (So they were traded for themselves.) |
| Song | Glory Days |
| Artist | Bruce Springsteen |
| Number | 64 |
| Realm | Star Trek |
| Subrealm | We Love You Lower Decks! |
| Question | The opening credits of Star Trek: Lower Decks show the USS Ceritos acting very unlike other Starfleet vessels we have known. The middle scene shows the ship turning tail and fleeing from a large conflagration. Name at least 8 alien species or entities shown in that scene. |
| Answer | Borg, Romulans, Klingons, Packlids, Breen, the Whale Probe, a Giant Hand (Apollo), the Great Chrtstalline Entity, Tholians making a web, and V'Ger. |
| Song | Moves to Make |
| Artist | Dadi Freyr |
| Number | 65 |
| Realm | Crime |
| Subrealm | Assault |
| Question | In 2017 a man was charged with aggravated assault on journalist Kurt Eichenwald. What was the weapon used? |
| Answer | A tweet. |
| Song | Hypnodancer |
| Artist | Little Big |
| Note | Eichenwald has epilepsy, and the sender intentionally induced a seizure by sending him a flashing gif. |
| Number | 66 |
| Realm | Old Stories |
| Subrealm | Someday My Prince Will Come |
| Question | Disney’s Snow White differs in some ways from the Grimm Brothers’ Snow White. After eating the poison apple, how is Snow White brought back to life in the Disney film? And how is she brought back in the Grimm fairy tale? |
| Answer | Disney: she is awakened by Prince Charming giving her love’s first kiss. Grimm: Her coffin is clumsily dropped, thus dislodging the apple chunk. |
| Song | Breaking Up is Hard to Do |
| Artist | Neil Sedaka |
| Note | This song was supposed to be "Waking Up Is Hard To Do", which is Neil Sedaka's parody of his own more popular song. Alas, it was not to be found on Apple Music at the time of the contest. |
| Number | 67 |
| Realm | Dashing Through The Snow |
| Subrealm | For Hours |
| Question | Dallas Seavey is the only musher to have won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race 6 times. But on one occasion, he was given a two-hour penalty (but still won the race). What was the penalty for? |
| Answer | Not sufficiently gutting a moose he had killed |
| Song | Bad Idea Right? |
| Artist | Olivia Rodrigo |
| Note | Seavey shot the moose in self-defense after it attacked his team and gored one of his dogs. The dog was flown to Anchorage for surgery and eventually recovered. Mushers in the Iditerod are required to gut any animals they shoot so that the meat can be shared by the community. |
| Number | 68 |
| Realm | Sports! |
| Subrealm | Ballers |
| Question | In September 2007, a Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop, a late-season callup from Las Vegas, got his first major league hit against the Arizona Diamondbacks, resulting in a single. Why did this event spawn memes all over the internet? |
| Answer | The player's name was "Hu", and the picture of him standing on base was captioned "Hu's on First". |
| Song | Who Are You |
| Artist | The Who |
| Number | 69 |
| Realm | Cartoons |
| Subrealm | Names |
| Question | Which well-known cartoon character’s name is also slang for Penis Penispenis? |
| Answer | Woody Woodpecker |
| Song | One Banana, Two Banana |
| Artist | The Dickies |
| Number | 70 |
| Realm | Island Nations |
| Subrealm | That Are Not Tonga |
| Question | Due to the country of Mauritius regaining control of the Chagos islands, what historic event will occur on March 21st of this year, for the the first time in over two centuries? |
| Answer | The sun will set on the British Empire. (In other words, for a time it will be night at every point in the Empire.) |
| Song | Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me |
| Artist | Elton John and George Michael |
| Number | 71 |
| Realm | The Rainbow in Spainbow |
| Subrealm | It's Azure Thing |
| Question | For years, the town of Juzcar, Spain has painted the walls of every building bright blue. While it's now a popular tourist destination, what was the original reason for all the blue paint? |
| Answer | To promote the 2011 Smurfs movie. |
| Song | Blue |
| Artist | Eiffel 65 |
| Number | 72 |
| Realm | Riff Raff! |
| Subrealm | Street Rat! |
| Question | When Aladdin was brought to Broadway, it added back a song that was originally written for the movie where Aladdin sings to his mother. What organization derives its name from that song? |
| Answer | The Proud Boys |
| Song | Friend Like Me (live action version) |
| Artist | Will Smith |
| Note | The name of the song is "Proud of Your Boy" |
| Number | 73 |
| Realm | Animated Bands |
| Subrealm | Off Bass |
| Question | The Gorillaz is a band made up of animated members. But just like a real band, new members come in all the time. In 2018, when the bassist Murdoc Niccals was in jail, a character named Ace took over as bassist. Ace was not an original character however; what did Ace do before joining the Gorillaz? |
| Answer | He was a villain on The Powerpuff Girls |
| Song | Feelgood Inc |
| Artist | The Gorillaz |
| Hint | He was part of the Gangrene Gang |
| Number | 74 |
| Realm | Award Shows |
| Subrealm | Slime of the Times |
| Question | The Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards are voted on by fans of the network worldwide. Twice, the awards have included a Lifetime Achievement Award. The first went to the now-disgraced Dan Schneider, in 2014. Who received the only other one? |
| Answer | Optimus Prime |
| Song | Brother Louie Mix '98 |
| Artist | Modern Talking |
| Note | Optimus Prime accepted his award via prerecorded statement, presumably because the Microsoft Theater does not have doors big enough to accommodate him. “Let this award seal the bond between humans, Maximals, and Autobots,” he said, “as we fight together to protect the planet.” |
| Number | 75 |
| Realm | Sports! |
| Subrealm | Names of the Game |
| Question | What do the two all-time home run leaders (with 378 and 299 home runs, respectively) for the Los Angeles Angels have in common? |
| Answer | Fishy last names (Mike Trout and Tim Salmon) |
| Song | Mike's Song |
| Artist | Phish |
| Number | 76 |
| Realm | Aviation |
| Subrealm | Great Moments |
| Question | Though first speculated about during the age of ballooning in 1785, this aerial manuever was not successfully achieved until 1916. What? |
| Answer | The first man and woman to join "The Mile High Club." |
| Song | 8 Miles High |
| Artist | The Byrds |
| Note | The inaugural members of the club are not definitively known, but pilot/engineer Lawrence Sperry and socialite Dorothy Rice Sims have been described as the first persons to engage in sex while flying in an airplane; the two flew in an autopilot-equipped Curtiss Flying Boat near New York in November 1916. |
| Number | 77 |
| Realm | Pokemon Games |
| Subrealm | Gotta Buy Them All |
| Question | In Pokemon Scarlet and Violet for the Nintendo Switch, many gamers struggled while trying to evolve their Inkay into a Malamar. What did they need to do to get this to happen? |
| Answer | Turn the Switch upside down |
| Song | Upside Down & Inside Out |
| Artist | OK GO |
| Note | (from polgyon.com) "To evolve Inkay into Malamar, your Inkay has to be at least level 30 and, while it levels, you have to be holding your Nintendo Switch console upside down. Yep, you need to take it out of the dock. You can level it from battling or from using Rare Candy, but you just need to make sure your Switch is inverted when it levels." |
| Number | 78 |
| Realm | Cover Stories |
| Subrealm | Quick Turnaround |
| Question | On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked. As a result, Time Magazine quickly chose FDR as Person of the Year, featuring him on the cover. Who was originally going to be on the cover of that issue? |
| Answer | Dumbo |
| Song | Ain't No Rest for the Wicked |
| Artist | Cage the Elephant |
| Number | 79 |
| Realm | Watch Your Language |
| Subrealm | State the Obvious |
| Question | This is a THREE-POINT-PLAY. Most of the official state mottos of the fifty states are in either English or Latin. But there are five state that each use different languages. What are three of those five other laguages? And for another point, give the state for each of the five languages. |
| Answer | French (Minnesota), Spanish (Montana), Greek (California), Italian (Maryland), Hawaiian (Duh, Hawaii) |
| Song | Dopamine (Split Brain Version) |
| Artist | Madeline |
| Note | Also accepted, The unofficial Washington State motto, "Al-ki", is in Chinook, an indigenous language of Washington. "Al-ki" means "by and by" or "hope for the future". |