- A1) Froot Loops. The Keel-billed toucan has hawked the product since its debut in 1963.
- A2) Daylight Saving Time. Benjamin Franklin satirized the idea of waking up with the sun in 1784 as a way to save candles but did not specifically suggest Daylight Saving Time.
- A3) Humphry Davy. The chemist also invented the Davy lamp, which lowered the risk of explosions in mines but ultimately wasn't bright enough to use.
- A4) Colombia. Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on February 2, 1977 in the industrial port city of Barranquilla, Atlantico.
- A5) John Hinckley. Ronald Reagan's would-be assassin had also plotted to kill Jimmy Carter in hopes of impressing actress Jodie Foster.
- A6) Edgar Allan Poe. He intentionally got himself court-martialed so he could work on his poetry full-time.
- A7) Ford Madox Ford. Following World War I, he didn't want to continue using the German last name Hueffer.
- A8) Far From the Madding Crowd. The rural story follows the beautiful, poor-then-rich Bathsheba Everdene and the three men in her life: the shepherd Gabriel Oak, the farmer William Boldwood, and the Sergeant Frank Troy.
- A9) Glenn Miller. The song was originally the B-side of "Sunrise Serenade" in 1939.
- A10) Muhammad Ali. Swimmer Janet Evans passed the torch to the 1960 light heavyweight boxing gold medalist.
- A11) Rickey Henderson. In 1982, the Man of Steal swiped a record 130 bases despite getting caught 42 times.
- A12) Danielle Steel. She was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records when she had at least one book on the New York Times bestseller list for 381 consecutive weeks.
Even looking at all twelve answers, this week's unusual theme may still elude you. Each of these names is often butchered, and I personally have misspelled them in published quizzes.
Here are the common misspellings of this week's answers (bolded letters are wrong; an asterisk represents a missing letter):
| Fruit Loops | Froot Loops | Kellogg's wanted the 'o'-pair because of the shape of the cereal |
| Daylight Savings Time | Daylight Saving Time | the correct spelling barely beats out the incorrect one in a Google search |
| Humphrey Davy | Humphry Davy | Humphrey Bogart has the 'e', but Davy doesn't in either his first or last name |
| Columbia | Colombia | the country is not the college |
| John Hin*kley | John Hinckley | definitely a crackpot |
| Edgar Allen Poe | Edgar Allan Poe | middle name ends with "an", like the beginning of "Annabel Lee" |
| Ford Maddox Ford | Ford Madox Ford | truly a "mad ox" then |
| Far From the Maddening Crowd | Far From the Madding Crowd | a maddening mistake to be sure |
| Glen* Miller | Glenn Miller | doubled 'n' in the first name and doubled 'l' in the last, just like "Mr. Goalie" Glenn Hall |
| Muhammed Ali | Muhammad Ali | 'a' as in "Ali" |
| Rick*y Henderson | Rickey Henderson | his middle name, Henley, also ends in "-ey" |
| Danielle Steele | Danielle Steel | at least 20 of her novels have made their way to a TV or movie reel |
Here are some of the other names I've goofed on:
| Incorrect Spelling | Correct Spelling | Comments |
| Desi Arnez | Desi Arnaz | last name is all a's like his 1943 movie Bataan |
| Malcolm Baldridge | Malcolm Baldrige | there's no "bridge" in "Baldrige" |
| Beetlegeuse | Betlegeuse | the 1988 movie is spelled "Beetle Juice", not that that helps |
| Neils Bohr | Niels Bohr | don't confused the Danish name with the common "Neil", which is one of the exceptions to the 'i' after 'e' rule |
| Michael Crighton | Michael Crichton | rich but no longer upright |
| Lindsey Davenport | Lindsay Davenport | she doesn't say much (her racket did the talking) |
| Descarte* | Descartes | don't forget the second silent 's' |
| dip*theria | diphtheria | the 'h' after the 'p' produces an unusual run of four consecutive consonants |
| Amelia Earheart | Amelia Earhart | no questioning her heart, but it's neither "air" nor "heart" |
| Eurhythmics | Eurythmics | "rhythm" has the extra 'h', but "eurythmics" is a real word meaning the "interpretation in harmonious bodily movements of the rhythm of music" |
| Bret* Favre | Brett Favre | double the 't' for both his touchdowns and turnovers; do me a favor and avoid transposing the 'v' and 'r' |
| Steven King | Stephen King | "ph" as in "phobia" |
| Jimmy Foxx | Jimmie Foxx | a common alternate spelling, and both actually appear in print |
| Paul Gaug*in | Paul Gauguin | "au" in both first and last names and "-guin" like "penguin" |
| Tatum O'Neil | Tatum O'Neal | she also has an "ea" in her middle name, Beatrice |
| Phillipines | Philippines | single 'l' then double 'p', just like Mark Philippoussis, where you also need to remember the double 's' |
| Sao Paolo, Brazil | Sao Paulo, Brazil | named for Saint Paul, and its "au" combination |
| Tuscon, Arizona | Tucson, Arizona | the name comes from the Spanish Tucson, which is from the Oodham name Cuk Son |
| Victoria Woodhall | Victoria Woodhull | a 'u' like in "suffragette" |
And here are some other names listed in order of the ratio of incorrect spellings to correct spellings on the World Wide Web:
| Court*ney Cox | Courteney Cox | people miss the 'e' nearly two-fifths of the time |
| Rach*el Ray | Rachael Ray | people miss the 'a' over a third of the time |
| Jimmy Buffet* | Jimmy Buffett | the singer is not a place to eat |
| Katherine McPhee | Katharine McPhee | a common alternate spelling of the first name |
| Eddie Rabbit* | Eddie Rabbitt | Eddie isn't an animal |
| Barbara Streisand | Barbra Streisand | the singer's first name has 2 a's, 2 b's, and 2 r's |
| Nicholas Cage | Nicholas Cage | a common alternate spelling of the first name |
| Stevie Ray Vaugh*n | Stevie Ray Vaughan | one fewer 'a' than Mo Vaughn |
| Christopher Reeves | Christopher Reeve | the 's' must have jumped onto his Superman cape |
| Hillary Duff | Hilary Duff | Hillary Clinton has one more 'l' in her first and last names |
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