Presidential Pretenders - Random Trivia Questions

As we are midway between 2009's Presidents Day and 2010's, this week's random quiz is not about U.S. Presidents. None of the following people have ever been U.S. President or even played one in a movie, but they do all share a last name with one of our 44 Chief Executive Officers. How many can you name?

Presidential Pretenders Questions

• Q1) What television actress, born as Bernice Frankel, was famous for playing characters whose last names were Findlay and Zbornak?
• Q2) What author's 1966 sci-fi novel Make Room! Make Room! inspired the movie Soylent Green?
• Q3) What NBA player, who went on to play exactly 50,000 minutes in his career, was the last rookie to lead the league in scoring?
• Q4) Whom did Elton John's original version of "Candle in the Wind" honor?
• Q5) What Canadian-born woman won the 1995 Australian Open tennis tournament?
• Q6) Which of the Spice Girls married soccer player David Beckham on July 4, 1999?
• Q7) What comedian was famous for his catchphrase "The devil made me do it!"?
• Q8) What American actor appeared in the most major movies in the 1990s?
• Q9) What singer, born as Gaynor Hopkins, had a number one pop hit in 1983?
• Q10) Who founded the National Negro Business League and named his autobiography Up From Slavery?
• Q11) Who was the first coach to win both an NCAA football championship and a Super Bowl?
• Q12) What star movie actress claimed, "Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses"?

Pair of Pairs Partner -- Quiz Quilt 144 Solution

Category Answers:

History & Government	CARTIER	Actually, sailor Jacques Cartier gave the name to a small bay in 1535, and a cartographic error later led to the river taking the name.
Literature & Arts	GUERNICA	The painting is named for the Spanish town whose bombing it depicts.
Geography & Nature	ARKANSAS	The honeybee has been its state insect since 1973.
Entertainment & Food	RECITATIVE	The term also applies to oratorios, cantatas, and other music works.
Math & Science	QUININE	Because of its bitter taste British colonists in India, who added it to their tonic water to prevent malaria, invented the gin and tonic.
Sports & Games	INKSTER	Californian Juli Inkster became the sixth woman to accomplish the quadruple.

Quiz Quilt Answer: KICKER (Third letters going up)

In poker, the fifth card in a hand with two pairs is the kicker, which serves as a tiebreaker.

Pair of Pairs Partner -- Quiz Quilt 144 Puzzle

Category Questions:

History & Government	What French explorer indirectly named the St. Lawrence River?
Literature & Arts	What masterpiece did Picasso paint in six weeks in 1937 as an indictment of future dictator Francisco Franco?
Geography & Nature	What is the U.S. state whose official tree is the pine, flower is the apple blossom, and bird is the northern mockingbird?
Entertainment & Food	What is a passage of sung dialogue in an opera called?
Math & Science	What alkaloid, isolated from the bark of Cinchona trees, was used to treat malaria before synthetic drugs were available?
Sports & Games	What female golfer completed her career Grand Slam when she won the 1999 LPGA Championship?

Wayne's World - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Gordie Howe. Howe tallied 1,850 points and 801 goals in 1,767 games, 1,006 and 93 fewer than Gretzky did in 282 fewer games.
• A2) Paul Coffey. Coffey assisted on 1,102 goals, an astonishing 860 fewer than Gretzky.
• A3) Doug Gilmour. Gilmour helped win 13 games in his career with overtime assists, two fewer than Gretzky.
• A4) Marcel Dionne. Dionne reached 40 goals 10 times in 18 seasons, while Gretzky did it 12 times in 20 seasons.
• A5) Mike Bossy. Bossy reached 40 goals every season from 1977-78 to 1985-86, three fewer than Gretzky's record of 12 from 1979-80 to 1990-91.
• A6) Mark Messier. Messier's impressive 295 points on 109 goals and 186 assists fall short of Gretzky by 87, 13, and 74.
• A7) Claude Lemieux. Lemieux netted the game-winner 19 times in his playoff career, five fewer than Gretzky.
• A8) Mario Lemieux. The unrelated Lemieux's 199 points and 114 assists with the Penguins in 1988-89 were 16 and 49 below Gretzky's 1985-86 records and also trail the Great One's next three best seasons in points and next six best seasons in assists (tied with his eighth best effort).
• A9) Brett Hull. Hull's 86 goals with the Blues in 1990-91 were six fewer than Gretzky's 1981-82 record and one fewer than his 1983-84 season.
• A10) Adam Oates. Oates assisted on at least one goal in 18 consecutive games with the Bruins in 1992-93 (28 assists), five short of Gretzky's record in 1990-91 (48 assists).
• A11) Mario Lemieux. Lemieux's 44 points and 28 assists in the 1990-91 playoffs trail only Gretzky's 47 points in 1984-85 and his 31 assists in 1987-88 (and 30 in 1984-85 and 29 in 1986-87).
• A12) Gary Suter. Suter helped out on six Flames goals on April 4, 1986 against the Oilers, one fewer than Gretzky did for the Oilers on February 15, 1980 against the Capitals.

Surprisingly, Wayne Gretzky's best playoff year goal production was only 17, two behind leaders Jari Kurri (1985 Oilers, mostly assisted by Gretzky though) and Reggie Leach (1976 Flyers), one behind Joe Sakic (1996 Avalanche), and tied with Mike Bossy (three times), Newsy Lalonde, Steve Payne, and Kevin Stevens.

Wayne's World - Random Trivia Questions

With the NHL season upon us, our thoughts have turned to the ice (at least until basketball season starts ;-). If you're ever faced with an ice hockey trivia question to which you don't know the answer, just guess "Wayne Gretzky". The Great One set so many records that they kept track of his record for how many records he had (61, including some ties, right now). But that trick won't work here. This week, the question is who would hold these records if #99 were disqualified for being a superhero or an alien life form? [Unhelpful hint: only one person is the answer to two questions below.]

Wayne's World Questions

• Q1) Career Record: Regular Season Points and Goals
• Q2) Career Record: Regular Season Assists
• Q3) Career Record: Regular Season Overtime Assists
• Q4) Career Record: Seasons with 40 or More Goals
• Q5) Career Record: Consecutive Seasons with 40 or More Goals
• Q6) Career Record: Playoff Points, Goals, and Assists
• Q7) Career Record: Playoff Game-Winning Goals
• Q8) Season Record: Points and Assists
• Q9) Season Record: Goals
• Q10) Season Record: Consecutive Regular Season Games with an Assist
• Q11) Season Record: Playoffs Points and Assists
• Q12) Game Record: Assists by a Rookie

Lower Weight Incendiary -- Quiz Quilt 143 Solution

Category Answers:

Geography & Nature	NOSE	The Canadian Kennel Club has used nose prints as unique signatures since 1938.
Sports & Games	RYUN	Jim Ryun, the author of In Quest of Gold, lowered his time another two tenths of a second on June 23, 1967, a U.S. record that stood for 37 years until Alan Webb reduced it by half a second.
Literature & Arts	NINA	The caricaturist helpfully included a count next to his signature so you would know how many instances of his daughter's name to look for.
History & Government	MALTHUS	English demographer Thomas Malthus, who preferred to be called by his middle name Robert, wrote about his views in "An Essay on the Principle of Population".
Entertainment & Food	ABDUL	Paula Abdul's 1988 album featured the #1 singles "Cold Hearted", "Forever Your Girl", and "Straight Up".
Math & Science	LIBBY	UC Berkeley alumnus Willard Libby received the 1960 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research.

Quiz Quilt Answer: BUTANE (Fourth letters going up)

Butane is the most commonly used cigarette lighter fluid.

Lower Weight Incendiary -- Quiz Quilt 143 Puzzle

Category Questions:

Geography & Nature	What type of prints are used to identify dogs more accurately than paw prints?
Sports & Games	What U.S. college student set a world record of 3:51.3 in the mile in 1966?
Literature & Arts	What name did New York Times cartoonist Al Hirschfeld hide in almost all his drawings?
History & Government	In 1798, what English minister and economist claimed that population always increases faster than food supply?
Entertainment & Food	What former Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader gained stardom as a singer with her debut album Forever Your Girl?
Math & Science	What U.S. scientist won a Nobel Prize for discovering carbon dating?

Major Moons - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Jupiter. Since 2004, the largest planet has had 63 known moons, fourteen of which remain unnamed. Saturn has been closing the gap but currently stands at 61, eight of which remain unnamed.
• A2) The moon. Our moon has a diameter 27.2% of the Earth's. Charon has a diameter 52.3% of Pluto's, one of the main reasons the former ninth planet got demoted.
• A3) Triton. The largest irregularly shaped (non-spherical) moon has a diameter 5.5% of Neptune's, edging out Titan (4.3% of Saturn's) and Ganymede (3.7% of Jupiter's).
• A4) Titan. In 1655, Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens used a refracting telescope that he invented to spot Saturn's largest satellite.
• A5) Iapetus. From 1671 to 1684, Italian-born, French astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini discovered the four moons of Saturn he called Sidera Lodoicea (the Louisian Stars, in honor of his benefactor France's King Louis XIV). The other three moons, later named Rhea, Tethys, and Dione, would be the last new moons found for over a century.
• A6) Adrastea. Pictures taken from Voyager I on July 8, 1979 revealed Jupiter's inner moon, the first moon alphabetically. Saturn's Janus had already been noted from Earth as far back as 1966, but Voyager I confirmed its existence in 1980.
• A7) Mars. Despite its relative nearness, Mars was officially moonless until Deimos and Phobos were spotted 1877, after Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto in 1610), Saturn (Titan in 1655), Uranus (Titania and Oberon in 1787), and even Neptune (Triton in 1846).
• A8) Neso. Neso takes a whopping 9,374 days (25.7 years) to orbit Neptune. The next three slowest (Psamathe, Laomedeia, and Sao) also belong to the eighth planet. At the other extreme, Naiad and Metis only need seven hours to circle Neptune and Jupiter respectively.
• A9) Phobos. With a semi-major axis (the larger "radius" of the ellipse) of only 5,828 miles, Phobos actually revolves around Mars faster than Mars rotates. Its twin Deimos is the second closest at 14,577 miles.
• A10) Ganymede. The largest satellite in both volume and weight orbits Jupiter, edging Saturn's Titan in both categories.
• A11) Io. Slightly larger than the moon and less slightly heavier, Jupiter's Io is the only satellite on which you weigh more than you would on the moon. Ganymede and Titan both have lower enough densities to offset their larger sizes.
• A12) Y. Ymir, named for the giant whose body Odin used to create the world in Norse mythology, was discovered orbiting Saturn in 2000. The letters Q and V also begin the names of no moons.

Major Moons - Random Trivia Questions

Now that Pluto has been demoted to dwarf planet status, our solar system contains eight planets with 167 known moons orbiting them. This week's random quiz tests your knowledge of those natural satellites.

Major Moons Questions

• Q1) Which planet has the most moons orbiting it?
• Q2) What is the largest moon relative to its planet's diameter?
• Q3) What is the second largest?
• Q4) After the Earth's moon and the four Galilean moons, what was the next moon to be discovered?
• Q5) What was the next moon after that?
• Q6) What was the first moon discovered with the aid of a spacecraft*?
• Q7) Which of the six planets with moons was thought to be moonless until the most recently?
• Q8) What moon takes the longest time to orbit its planet*?
• Q9) What moon has the smallest orbit around its planet*?
• Q10) What is the heaviest moon?
• Q11) What moon has the highest surface gravity?
• Q12) Of W, X, Y, and Z, which is the only letter that starts the name of a moon?

* Very hard question, so take the point just for naming the planet plus a bonus point for the moon.

More Ideal -- Quiz Quilt 142 Solution

Category Answers:

Entertainment & Food	QUAID	Dennis Quaid had appeared with her in Innerspace in 1987 and D.O.A. in 1988.
Literature & Arts	STOKER	The hero of Bram Stoker's story is solicitor Jonathan Harker, who had acquired a house in London for the Count.
History & Government	POLK	Democrat James Polk won the election but lost the latitude. The boundary between the Oregon Territory and British Columbia was eventually set at 49° North.
Sports & Games	SPY	The marshal-killer bears the letter 'S'.
Math & Science	PI	Pi is the first letter of perimetros, Greek for "perimeter".
Geography & Nature	HALIFAX	When Halifax, Nova Scotia was a British military post, the town, now the province's most populous city, was named for George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax.

Quiz Quilt Answer: UTOPIA (Second letters)

Sir Thomas More coined the word "utopia" in his 1516 novel of the same name.

More Ideal -- Quiz Quilt 142 Puzzle

Category Questions:

Entertainment & Food	What actor married Meg Ryan on Valentine's Day in 1991?
Literature & Arts	What English novelist wrote Dracula in 1897?
History & Government	Which U.S. President supposedly ran with the campaign slogan "Fifty-four Forty or Fight"?
Sports & Games	What is the only piece in the board game Stratego that has a letter on it rather than a number?
Math & Science	What is the transcendental number that equals the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter?
Geography & Nature	Which provincial capital city is Canada's largest, ice-free port?

U.S. National Parks - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Yellowstone. The 3,470-square mile park covers parts of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is almost evenly split between Tennessee and North Carolina, while Death Valley is mostly in California but also covers a part of Nevada.
• A2) Acadia. Located by the southeast coast of Maine, this is the only park close to us. It rained the only time we visited, so a return trip is in order.
• A3) Utah (5). Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion cut a diagonal line across the southeastern corner of the southwestern state. Colorado is next with four, while Arizona, Florida, and Washington each have three.
• A4) Sequoia and Kings Canyon. The two California national parks are adjacent in the Sierra Nevada.
• A5) Kansas. The 15th-largest state at 82,277 square miles, edges out Nebraska at 77,354 square miles. All totaled, 27 states have national parks and 23 do not.
• A6) Hot Springs. The Arkansas park measures only 9 square miles, less than a third as big as South Carolina's Congaree, the second smallest.
• A7) Death Valley. Covering 5,219 square miles in California and Nevada, the desert region includes the lowest elevation in the U.S. at Badwater, 282 feet below sea level. Five Alaska national parks are larger, and Glacier Bay is just slightly smaller.
• A8) Great Sand Dunes. The Colorado attraction was granted its national status on September 13, 2004. The dunes, which can reach 750 feet high, are held together like most sand castles, with a lot of water.
• A9) Hawaii Volcanoes. The volcanoes form over 4.6% of the island state. Hawaii also has Haleakala National Park, making it not only the smallest state with a national park but the smallest with two.
• A10) Alaska. Although Alaska is the largest state by far, it also has the largest national parks, which total over 9.6% of its area (bigger than West Virginia, the 41st largest state). California is a distant second at under 6%, while Hawaii is third at just over 5%.
• A11) Denali. Denali is another name for Mt. McKinley, which is the highest point in the U.S. at 20,320 feet.
• A12) 6. Texas's Big Bend National Park straddles the Rio Grande across from the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Coahuila. Montana's Glacier National Park touches both Alberta and British Columbia. Both Michigan's Isle Royale National Park and Minnesota's Voyageurs National Park connect to Ontario. Washington's North Cascades National Park borders British Columbia. And Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park adjoins the Yukon Territory.

U.S. National Parks - Random Trivia Questions

The United States has 56 national parks, but only nine are east of the Mississippi River, so it's only a little sad that I've visited just three of them. Hopefully, once the kids get older, we can start working on the list and explore some of the most amazing places in our country.

U.S. National Parks Questions

• Q1) What national park is spread across the most states?
• Q2) What is the only national park in New England?
• Q3) After Alaska and Hawaii, with eight each, what state has the third most national parks?
• Q4) What two national parks are closest to each other?
• Q5) What is the largest (area) U.S. state that does not have a national park?
• Q6) What is the smallest national park?
• Q7) What is the largest national park outside of Alaska?
• Q8) What is the newest national park?
• Q9) What national park takes up the largest percentage of its state's area?
• Q10) What state's national parks make up the highest percentage of its area?
• Q11) What national park reaches the highest elevation?
• Q12) How many national parks border a foreign country?

[P.S. - I wrote this quiz not knowing that Ken Burns's The National Parks: America's Best Idea six-episode series runs on PBS from Sunday through Friday (two hours per day; check your local listings). How's that for timing?]

Finicky Feline -- Quiz Quilt 141 Solution

Category Answers:

Entertainment & Food	HAMILTON	Thrice-divorced bipolar disorder sufferer Linda Hamilton played Catherine Chandler from 1987 to 1989, Amy Franklin in 1986, and Sarah Connor in 1984.
History & Government	MAO	Mao Zedong's new government took over on October 1, 1949 following a Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War.
Sports & Games	MARCIANO	Brockton, Massachusetts native Rocky Marciano won all 49 of his bouts, 43 by knockout.
Literature & Arts	BURROUGHS	Edgar Rice Burroughs's story takes place on and near the lost South Pacific island of Caspak, where dinosaurs still roam.
Geography & Nature	ASIA	It covers about 17 million square miles, roughly 30% of all the land on the Earth.
Math & Science	LISA	The 1983 home computer cost $9,995, had 1 megabyte of RAM and a 5-megabyte hard drive, ran at 5 megahertz, and featured a mouse and a graphical user interface.

Quiz Quilt Answer: MORRIS (Third letters)

The tabby Morris the Cat has eaten only 9-Lives cat food in the company's commercials since 1968.

Finicky Feline -- Quiz Quilt 141 Puzzle

Category Questions:

Entertainment & Food	What actress played beauty to the Beast, King Kong, and the Terminator?
History & Government	Who founded the People's Republic of China?
Sports & Games	What boxer won the heavyweight crown by knocking out Jersey Joe Walcott and retired from his professional career undefeated?
Literature & Arts	What author's 1918 novel The Land That Time Forgot was turned into a movie in 1975?
Geography & Nature	Which continent contains the most land?
Math & Science	What Apple computer model immediately preceded the Macintosh and was used to develop most of its software?

Funny Pages Families - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Newman. Adam tries to work from home while his wife Laura works at a bookstore, and their children Clayton, Katy, and Nick do their best to make sure he doesn't get anything done.
• A2) Day. Jimmy Johnson hadn't given the strip a name yet when his syndicate suggested "Day by Day". He kept the last name even after the title was changed to avoid a conflict with a newspaper column.
• A3) MacPherson. Mom Wanda goes by the hyphenated last name Wizowski-MacPherson, but dad Darryl and the kids Zoe, Hamish, and Wren are all MacPhersons.
• A4) Wilkins. Curtis and his younger brother Barry are the focus of the comic strip, but their parents Greg and Diane also play major roles.
• A5) Patterson. Lynn Johnston is now retelling the story of Elly, John, Michael, Elizabeth, and April Pattersons' lives, having completed one life-cycle from 1979 to 2008.
• A6) Lamarr. Heart lives with her single mom Addy and spends most of her free time playing with her friend Dean.
• A7) Flagston. Hiram and Lois have lived in suburbia with their oldest son Chip, twins Dot and Ditto, and baby Trixie since 1954.
• A8) Yokum. 19-year-old Li'l Abner married his long-time fiancee Daisy Mae Scragg almost midway through the strip's 43-year run.
• A9) Burber. Brooke McEldowney has followed Juliette Burber, her daughter Edda, and her mother Gran (Edna O'Malley) since 1993.
• A10) Kaplan. Mom Jill is the star, but husband Rob and daughters Amy and Jess also share the frames in Ohio.
• A11) Gumbo. Mom Rose, dad Jimbo, and son Pasquale share their home with their pet cat Peekaboo.
• A12) Duncan. Teenager Jeremy is the star of the show, but his mom Connie and dad Walt also play large roles when he isn't hanging out with his friends.

Funny Pages Families - Random Trivia Questions

Even my younger son is now old enough to read the newspaper, and he's starting where most of us did, the funny pages. As my whole family competes to grab the comics, can you furnish the last names of the foremost families featured in the following funnies?

Funny Pages Families Questions

• Q1) Adam@home
• Q2) Arlo and Janis
• Q3) Baby Blues
• Q4) Curtis
• Q5) For Better or For Worse
• Q6) Heart of the City
• Q7) Hi and Lois
• Q8) Li'l Abner
• Q9) 9 Chickweed Lane
• Q10) The Pajama Diaries
• Q11) Rose Is Rose
• Q12) Zits

Venn Pen -- Quiz Quilt 140 Solution

Category Answers:

Math & Science	TESLA	Nikola Tesla was a Croatian-born American physicist.
History & Government	JEROBOAM	Solomon's successor led the nation for 22 years during the 10th century B.C.
Sports & Games	BOSSY	Right winger Mike Bossy reached the mark a record nine straight years, from 1977-78 to 1985-86.
Literature & Arts	HEPBURN	Katharine Hepburn's book The Making of the African Queen was published four years earlier.
Geography & Nature	CHIHUAHUA	Adults weigh between two and ten pounds. Ren and Stimpy's Ren, Taco Bell's dog mascot, and Paris Hilton's Tinkerbell are all chihuahuas.
Entertainment & Food	SIRENS	Supermodel Elle Macpherson portrayed one of the artist's three models.

Quiz Quilt Answer: SUBSET (Diagonally from the bottom to the top left)

A Venn diagram illustrates sets of objects with their unions, intersections, and subsets.

Venn Pen -- Quiz Quilt 140 Puzzle

Category Questions:

Math & Science	What is the unit of magnetic flux density equal to one weber per square meter?
History & Government	Who was the king of Israel and son of Nebat whose name now means a large container holding about four-fifths of a gallon of wine?
Sports & Games	Who was the only NHL player besides Wayne Gretzky to score 50 goals in a season eight straight times?
Literature & Arts	What actress's Me: Stories of My Life was the best selling nonfiction book of 1991?
Geography & Nature	What dog breed has the smallest dogs on average?
Entertainment & Food	What 1994 Hugh Grant movie was about an English clergyman, his wife, and an artist with a house of nudes in 1930s Australia?

U.S. Constitution - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) The Articles of Confederation. The Second Continental Congress created the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union on November 15, 1777, but unanimous consent was needed, and Maryland held out until New York and Virginia agreed to give up their stakes in the Ohio River valley.
• A2) Rhode Island. The state was happy with the weaker powers of the Articles of Confederation and did not want to create a stronger central government.
• A3) 2. George Washington and James Madison both represented Virginia. Thomas Jefferson was then the Minister to France, while John Adams was the Minister to Great Britain.
• A4) James Madison. His diaries give a detailed account of the proceedings that led to the final Constitution.
• A5) Alexander Hamilton. The future Secretary of the Treasury suggested a strong government not unlike the one the colonies had just broken away from, which was enough to doom its chances of acceptance.
• A6) William Paterson. Paterson's New Jersey Plan, favoring the less populous states, was eventually merged with Madison's Virginia Plan, favoring the more populous states. Roger Sherman's Connecticut Compromise created a Senate with equal representation and a House of Representatives with proportional representation.
• A7) The Three-Fifths Compromise. The southern states, whose population was forty percent slaves, wanted each slave to count fully toward their proportional representation but not toward their taxation. Wilson proposed that each slave count as three-fifths of a person for both purposes, and the compromise was agreed to.
• A8) 39. Although 55 people attended the Philadelphia Convention, some either disagreed with the final form or refused to sign without a Bill of Rights appended.
• A9) Rhode Island. By a slim majority of 34 to 32, the Ocean State agreed to the document on May 29, 1790, only after the Bill of Rights had been introduced (the state ratified the latter a mere nine days later). The state did not want the U.S. government to control currency and wanted slavery to be abolished.
• A10) 27. Before the Constitution was even finished, the framers knew that the Bill of Rights would be added. Congress proposed those first ten amendments on September 25, 1789, and they were ratified on December 15, 1791. The most recent amendment, the 27th, was ratified on May 5, 1992, when Alabama became the 38th state to approve it.
• A11) 20th century. The last twelve amendments were ratified between February 3, 1913 and May 7, 1992, while only one other amendment besides the Bill of Rights was ratified in the 18th century. The remaining four amendments were ratified in the 19th century.
• A12) The Enterprise. Following a successful write-in campaign, the test shuttle was dedicated in honor of the Star Trek starship on Constitution Day in 1976.