LL74-75 Flashcards
In 1978, the 2.4-mile Waikiki Rough Water Swim, the 115-mile Around Oahu Bike Race, and the 26.2-mile Honolulu Marathon were combined to establish a new competition that introduced what novel two-word term?
IRONMAN TRIATHLON (IRON MAN)
What surname goes in the blank in this otherwise complete and alphabetical (but not chronological) list: Archer, ________, Kirk, Picard, Sisko.
JANEWAY
The Obie Awards, which honor theatre produced Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway, are presented annually by the American Theatre Wing and what New York weekly publication, which originated the awards in 1955?
THE VILLAGE VOICE
While Haneda Airport serves as the Tokyo base for Japan’s main domestic airlines, the city’s primary international airport is located in what city in Chiba Prefecture, after which the airport is named?
NARITA
The fifth and most recent film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, released in May 2017, is subtitled Dead Men Tell No Tales, and the first in the series is subtitled The Curse of the Black Pearl. Give the subtitle of any one of the other three installments in the series.
DEAD MAN’S CHEST, AT WORLD’S END, ON STRANGER TIDES
Volunteers who supported Giuseppe Garibaldi during the conquest of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies were known by what sanguine sartorial sobriquet?
REDSHIRTS
Among the six standard meat/tofu items on the menu at the Chipotle Mexican Grill chain, the slow-cooked, seasoned shredded beef option is listed as what term?
BARBACOA
The artistic diversion, born from Surrealism, in which several people contribute to a drawing or text without seeing all of what the others have done is commonly known as exquisite what? It’s named after an early example that allegedly produced The exquisite [redacted] shall drink the new wine.
CORPSE / CADAVER
Of the companies whose stocks make up the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, twenty-six are listed on the New York Stock Exchange while four are listed on the NASDAQ. Name any one of these latter four, all of which have joined the Dow within the last twenty years.
APPLE, CISCO SYSTEMS, INTEL, MICROSOFT
In a January 1973 speech describing the Paris Peace Accords of that month ending direct U.S. military combat in the war in Vietnam, President Richard M. Nixon, varying on a theme during his 1968 campaign, declared his goals for peace with what?
HONOR
What major Pacific coast city developed around the massive natural harbor known as Port Jackson?
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
In diving competitions, there are four possible official dive positions undertaken during the flight of the dive. Three are straight, tuck, and free—what is the fourth?
PIKE
Although he had a long and successful career in popular music—both solo and with his wife Mary Ford—what guitarist has a greater legacy as a pioneer of the solid-body electric guitar, studio multitracking, electronic echo, and other modern recording techniques?
LES PAUL
The U.S. Department of Energy’s national accelerator laboratory located in Batavia, Illinois, operated jointly by the University of Chicago and a not-for-profit research university consortium, is named after what nuclear physicist?
Enrico FERMI
What term is derived from the name of a Greek philosopher who declared that happiness and the absence of pain are the greatest goods and has come to mean, in the context of food and wine, a person of refined tastes?
EPICURE / EPICUREAN
The 1935 lithograph Hand with Reflecting Sphere is the work of what Dutch artist?
M.C. ESCHER
What is the name used for the accounting convention stipulating that when a firm uses or sells assets, it uses those assets which it has held in inventory the longest—i.e., those it produced or acquired the earliest? (Note: you may provide either the name or its acronym.)
FIRST IN, FIRST OUT (FIFO)
While Crater Lake in Oregon has a maximum depth of 1,949 feet, what other lake, though the fourth-largest natural lake in area completely within the United States (and largest in the southern U.S.), has a maximum depth of just fifteen feet and an average depth of nine feet?
LAKE OKEECHOBEE
Chicken in Odessa, goose or duck in Poltava, carp in Lviv, and lamb and mushrooms in Kiev: These are some of the ingredients that accompany the universal main ingredient in regional variations of what soup, widely considered by locals as the national soup of Ukraine?
BORSCHT
A memorial service for victims of the 1960 explosion of the French freighter La Coubre in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, has been recorded (and duplicated) for posterity thanks to a photograph taken there of what man?
Che GUEVARA
Jenny, Lucille, Sally, and Molly (and also possibly Teddy) are women referenced in titles (and lyrics) of popular songs from the 1950s originally recorded by what artist?
LITTLE RICHARD
What country star’s 2016 album Gunslinger has sold a little over 100,000 copies on its own so far, which is respectable but about 1/230th the total of his 1990 album and 1/180th that of his 1991 release?
Garth BROOKS
The concept from economics and game theory addressing dynamics of a non-cooperative game, referring to a situation in which players in a game pursue the optimal strategy while knowing the other players’ strategies, is commonly named after what mathematician and Nobel laureate?
John Forbes NASH Jnr
Some historians argue that the outbreak of WWII should be dated to a 1937 event known in English as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which sparked the conflagration between what two ancient (and present) rivals?
CHINA, JAPAN
The drug mifepristone, usually taken with another drug called misoprostol to terminate pregnancy, is best known by what generic name, derived from the sequence of its development by French pharmaceutical company Roussel-Uclaf in 1980?
RU486
A posthumous paper by mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius explores the properties of one-sided surfaces via a strip, connected at the ends with a half-twist in the middle. Fellow German mathematician Felix Klein pursued a similar illustration using a theoretical surface that is today, perhaps due to a mistranslation of the original German, most commonly referred to as what type of object?
BOTTLE
Which of its seven emirates constitutes more than 85% of the total land area of the United Arab Emirates?
ABU DHABI
What is the term, derived from the Spanish for rogue, for a type of literary narrative, usually comic or satirical, that depicts the escapades of a single, likeable, roguish hero living by his (or her, but more often his) wits? English examples include Huckleberry Finn, A Confederacy of Dunces, and Moll Flanders, while the progenitor is widely considered to be the 1554 novella Lazarillo de Tormes.
PICARESQUE
What Australian-born writer, whose books The Shock of the New and American Visions were both serialized for television, was dubbed by the New Yorker as the most famous art critic in the world, a role he filled for Time magazine for more than 30 years?
Robert HUGHES
Name the hip-hop impresario who produced five of the ten singles to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997, appearing as an artist on three of them including I’ll Be Missing You, which sat at the top for eleven weeks during the spring and summer.
PUFF DADDY (SEAN COMBS / P. DIDDY)
What is the full name of the politician who currently serves as president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a position he has held since January 2001, having taken office ten days after the assassination of his father, Laurent?
Joseph KABILA
A political naming dispute has existed since 1991 between the nation of Greece (who claims exclusive use of a certain name for its largest region) and a former federal unit of Yugoslavia (who claims the name for itself as an independent republic). What is this disputed name?
MACEDONIA
The dwindling number of US-based mainline passenger airlines will reduce further by one upon the completion of the merger of Virgin America into what Pacific Northwest-based carrier, following its acquisition in April 2016?
ALASKA AIRLINES
In Greek legend, Polynices and (exactly) six others comprised a group of champions who attacked a rival city of Argos to deprive Polynices’s brother Eteocles of kingship. This group is known by what name, which is also the title of an Aeschylean tragedy that chronicles the event?
SEVEN AGAINST THEBES
A series of didactic compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach from the 1740s famously exemplifies the art of what formal compositional technique?
FUGUE
John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry, is an important figure in the history of what sport?
BOXING
Fino, Manzanilla, and Amontillado are varieties of what Spanish fortified wine made from grapes grown near the town of Jerez de la Frontera, from which the wine takes its name?
SHERRY
Who served as president of the political federation known as the United Arab Republic, a 1958-61 union between Egypt and Syria, for its entire three-year existence?
Gamal Abdel NASSER
What was the name of the supergroup formed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to record the now-ubiquitous holiday song Do They Know It’s Christmas?
BAND AID
Whom did James Comey succeed as the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in September 2013?
Robert MUELLER
The South African Republic, which existed as an independent country from 1852 until its defeat at the hands of the British in 1902’s Second Boer War, was also widely known in English by what other name, in reference to its location across or over a tributary of the Orange River? The name persisted as a South African province until the new post-apartheid 1994 constitution.
TRANSVAAL
What is the title of the acclaimed 1959 novel, arguably the first major literary work to be published in Germany since the 1930s, that consists of recollections of the events in Danzig before, during, and after the Hitler era, as told by the novel’s first-person narrator, the hunchback Oskar Matzerath?
THE TIN DRUM ( DIE BLECHTROMMEL)
The Chinese spring roll family of foods includes the popiah in Singapore and Malaysia, the American egg roll, and what savory pastry common in Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Netherlands (where it has a slightly different spelling)?
LUMPIA ( LOEMPIA )
Correctly spell the word redacted from this image. Click here
COVFEFE
The most successful single from the hard rock band Van Halen, a song from that same year by The Pointer Sisters (as it was originally titled), the most successful single from 1990s hip-hop novelty Kris Kross, and a #1 song on the dance charts from 2006 by Madonna all share what title?
JUMP
What legal term, defined as a return arising from employment or office usually in the form of compensation, is closely associated with the U.S. Constitution due largely to its specific usage in Article I, Section 9, Clause 8?
EMOLUMENT
Pictured here is a screenshot taken during the opening credits of what eleven-minute comedy special that first aired on American television at 4:00 am on October 28, 2014? Click here
TOO MANY COOKS
In standard algebraic chess notation, a double question mark (??) indicates a very bad move, which in the game is most commonly referred to by what word?
BLUNDER
On the day in 1911 that it ordered the Standard Oil Trust to dissolve, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the same to what other company, for violations of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890? The ruling led eventually to the creation of R. J. Reynolds, Liggett & Myers, and Lorillard.
AMERICAN TOBACCO COMPANY
Walt Whitman eventually titled his prodigious 1855 poetic masterpiece—in which he sounds his barbaric yawp, is large, and contains multitudes— a Song that celebrates what?
MYSELF (HIMSELF)
Name the historical drama series, set in New Mexico and airing on the television channel WGN America from 2014 to 2016, that shares its name with a Woody Allen film.
MANHATTAN
Among the legacy of trailblazing American chemist Ellen Swallow Richards is an extensive survey in her native Massachusetts in 1890, which led to the establishment of the nation’s first state-level quality standards for what?
WATER
The world’s first battle between steam-powered ironclad warships famously took place at Hampton Roads, Virginia, in 1862 during the U.S. Civil War, when the USS Monitor faced the CSS Virginia. The latter vessel’s armored superstructure was built over the hull of what captured U.S. Navy frigate?
USS MERRIMACK
Identify the woman in this photograph. Click here
Julia GILLARD
René Magritte’s 1964 self-portrait The Son of Man features the subject in a bowler hat and overcoat standing in front of a low wall overlooking the sea, with what object in the painting’s foreground?
APPLE
The 1892 German innovation of the American board game Halma, in which gameplay was restructured to incorporate a board in the shape of a six-pointed star, is most popularly known in the United States today by what doubly inaccurate name?
CHINESE CHECKERS
What clothing item was so named by its creator, Louis Réard, in the hope that its revelation would create an explosive commercial and cultural reaction like an atomic bomb?
BIKINI
The first Motown song to reach the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 is a single by The Marvelettes from 1961 that describes, essentially, a desperate request to a man who holds what occupation?
POSTMAN
What infectious disease is redacted from this image? Click here
DYSENTERY
What is the name of the zooplankton species of the order Euphausiacea, which are small crustaceans that float in the ocean in large numbers, providing the main food source for baleen whales?
KRILL
Gozo and Comino are the smaller two of the three inhabited islands which, with some minor uninhabited islands, make up what European nation?
MALTA
Jack Robin, formerly Jakie Rabinowitz, was the title character of what popular 1927 film?
THE JAZZ SINGER
In Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, what is the name of the distraught narrator’s lost love? The ominous bird of yore, perched above the chamber door, eyes burned into his bosom’s core, though he truly does implore, by the God they both adore, says he will see her nevermore.
LENORE
Xavier Becerra, Pam Bondi, Eric Schneiderman, Bill Schuette, Lisa Madigan, Ken Paxton, and Bob Ferguson are among the individuals that currently hold what position?
(STATE) ATTORNEY GENERAL
What film appeared on network television for the first time in November 1976, becoming the highest-rated television program ever (and still today highest rated movie ever), thirty-seven years after becoming the highest-grossing film of all time?
GONE WITH THE WIND
Race riots during World War II in Los Angeles that primarily targeted Mexicans and Mexican-Americans are widely known by a term that references what specific apparel item, which was popular among the victimized communities as a symbol of new-found prosperity?
ZOOT SUIT
What northern forest biome, consisting primarily of cone-bearing evergreens with some deciduous trees, is found just south of the tundra biome and constitutes the Earth’s largest biome aside from the oceans? The term is borrowed from Russian, as the biome covers much of that country.
TAIGA
What is the name of the literary character in this image? Click here
MR. TICKLE
What American soprano and opera superstar made her Metropolitan Opera debut portraying Countess Almaviva in Le nozze de Figaro in 1991 and, after some 70 performances there over two and a half decades, reportedly gave her final performance at the Met in May 2017 in what is perhaps her best-known role, the Marschallin in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier (though those reports may prove to be inaccurate)?
Renee FLEMING
Two co-stars of the 2011 film Crazy, Stupid Love and the 2013 film Gangster Squad appeared together for a third time in what 2016 film?
LA LA LAND
The most infamous and widely publicized attack committed by the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September took place in what city?
MUNICH
In January 1893, to differentiate itself from a similarly named local competitor, what publication began printing on salmon pink paper, a tradition it continues to this day?
FINANCIAL TIMES
What state in northern India, renamed in 1950 from the post-independence United Provinces, has a population of about 200 million, more than all but five countries of the world?
UTTAR PRADESH
The golf club sometimes designated as the 10-iron is most often known by what two-word name?
PITCHING WEDGE
The real-life Behavioral Analysis Unit, a department within the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime based in Quantico, Virginia, is the primary setting for what fictional crime drama series, which has run on the CBS network since its debut in September 2005?
CRIMINAL MINDS
As measured by global revenue, two of the five biggest Wall Street investment banks have names that bear that of what legendary banker and co-architect of the formation of General Electric?
JP MORGAN
What basketball superstar and Hall of Famer was the only player to win both the NBA and ABA Most Valuable Player Awards, accomplishing the latter three times during the league’s last three years of existence while playing for the New York Nets?
Julius ERVING
The indigenous Mexican guerilla movement that arose in 1994 in the southeastern province of Chiapas, fighting discrimination against the Mayan people and inequality blamed on the North American Free Trade Agreement, is named after what leader of the Mexican Revolution?
EMILIANO ZAPATA
Within the Paleozoic era of the geologic timescale, two Periods sit between the Devonian and Permian Periods and are sometimes categorized as subperiods within a single Carboniferous Period. These two Periods, which span 359 to 299 million years ago, have names that reference U.S. states. Name either state.
PENNSYLVANIA, MISSISSIPPI
In the standard English version of Jack and the Beanstalk, what item does Jack trade in exchange for the magic beans?
(His Mother’s) COW
Roman historian Pliny the Elder is credited with naming (or at least popularizing the name of) what archipelago, which he so named because of the multitudes of large dogs who (apparently) lived there?
CANARY ISLANDS
The small dumplings, usually filled with minced meat or mashed potatoes, that are traditionally served on Rosh Hashanah or before the fasting of Yom Kippur are most commonly referred to by what Yiddish-derived name?
KREPLACH
What syndicated daytime television series, an influential soap opera spoof that ran for two seasons and 325 episodes in the mid-1970s, featured Louise Lasser as the show’s title heroine, heroine?
MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN
What man served as the president of what was then Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, from September 1865 until his death in October 1870?
ROBERT E LEE
The vexillogically relevant term serp i molot (серп и мо́лот) translates to English as what?
HAMMER AND SICKLE
If You Need Healing, Do These Things; The Miracle of Seed-Faith; and Something Good is Going to Happen to You! are works by what Pentecostal preacher and university founder?
ORAL ROBERTS
The pia mater, the arachnoid mater, and the dura mater are the three membranes that envelop the mammalian brain and spinal cord. They are known collectively by what term?
MENINGES
What is the corresponding name of the best-known item in the set, as outlined in the Prose Edda, that also includes Megingjörð and Járngreipr?
MJOLNIR
The United States’s scientific research station located at the South Pole is named formally after what two men, a Norwegian and a Briton respectively?
Roald AMUNDSEN, Robert Falcon SCOTT
Tarquinius Priscus and Tarquinius Superbus, the fifth and seventh (and final) kings of Rome, were traditionally identified with what ancient Italian civilization, which would begin its decline at the end of the Roman Kingdom and become fully assimilated during the subsequent Roman Republic?
ETRUSCAN
The Ladykillers, Rififi, Ocean’s Eleven, and Reservoir Dogs are among the movies influenced by what classic 1950 John Huston film noir? Its title (from the source novel of the previous year) introduced into the vernacular a term for an unsafe and alienating urban landscape.
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE
What woman, whose Fort Peck Dam appeared on the first cover of Life magazine in 1936, was one of the original staff photographers for the magazine, and later became the first woman photographer to work with the U.S. armed forces during World War II?
Margaret BOURKE-WHITE
While residents of modern Texas are referred to as Texans, what demonym was used for citizens (especially Anglo citizens) of the Republic of Texas (1836-46) and the prior period when the area was a part of Mexico? Note, correct spelling is required.
TEXIANS
The art movement known, in English, as Suprematism, which was established in 1913 and peaked later that decade before its swift decline, was founded in—and mostly represented by artists from—what country?
RUSSIA
What district is the home—and the colloquial namesake—of London’s Royal Opera House?
COVENT GARDEN
Whittier is the last name of what cheerful and irrepressibly optimistic (and arguably naive and self-delusional) character created in 1913 by Eleanor H. Porter?
POLLYANNA
Namib, Nafud, Rub’ al-Khali, Dasht-e-Lut, Karakum, and Taklamakan are all names of what?
DESERTS
What metric unit of area is roughly equal to 2.47 acres in the U.S. customary system?
HECTARE
The 1932 Norris-La Guardia Act made unenforceable, and the 1935 Wagner Act made illegal, what colorfully named employment contract, which stipulates that a worker’s employment is conditional on not joining a trade union?
YELLOW DOG CONTRACT
What term from philosophy is today an emphasis on the special position of persons in the greater scheme, their value and agency, and—per a third Manifesto in 2003—that knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis? It has been applied to schools of thought in contrast to theism and to an Ancient Greek doctrine (represented by Protagoras’s decree that man is the measure of all things) in contrast to absolutism.
HUMANISM
Negotiations in 1988 led by U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar brought about an armistice in a prolonged border war that began in 1980 between what two foes?
IRAN, IRAQ
An August 2009 fundraiser Pickin’ for the Record sought the world record for most guitar players gathered at one time to play, with an official count of 1,868 players—1,865 more than the reported population of the central Texas community where the event was held. What is the name of that town, which is the subject of the 1977 Waylon Jennings song the group played?
LUCKENBACH
First proposed in the 1860s and controversial at the time, the scientific laws known as the law of segregation, the law of independent assortment, and the law of dominance are known collectively as a set of laws named after what Augustinian friar?
Gregor MENDEL
The first novel in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, the story of a cynical failed wizard named Rincewind, is The Colour of what?
MAGIC
In addition to his appearances on Cheers and Frasier, Kelsey Grammer earned an Emmy nomination for portraying Frasier Crane on what other NBC comedy, for an episode in which Frasier and his wife Lilith fly to Nantucket to conduct a self-esteem workshop?
WINGS
When both players have been dealt their six cards each, and the remainder put aside, both players select two of their six cards and discard them face down to the dealer’s right. In this excerpt of rules from the traditional two-player version of a popular game, these four discards have a name, which in turn informs the name of the game. What is the name of this card game?
CRIBBAGE
A brutal death in a vehicle accident kicks off the events that conclude the story of The Great Gatsby. Give the first name of either the character who dies in the accident or the character who was driving the car at the time.
MYRTLE, DAISY
While a quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides is known in North America as a trapezoid, outside North America it is known as what? The term in question, to North Americans, describes a quadrilateral with no parallel sides (which, outside North America, is simply called a general irregular quadrilateral).
TRAPEZIUM
The only Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera to premiere officially in New York (or any city other than London) did so in 1879 and, in 1981, became the first with an extended, open-ended commercial Broadway run, with Kevin Kline, Rex Smith, and Linda Ronstadt in starring roles. Name that show.
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE
Among the 25 ministerial departments in the government of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Treasury is responsible for public spending and development and execution of the government’s economic policy. What is the common title of the government minister responsible for overseeing HM Treasury?
CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER
Two separate wars in the mid-19th century had their origins in China’s efforts to block British traders from importing what product into China from India?
OPIUM
Retired California physician and businessman Francis E. Townsend developed a namesake plan which, with millions of members of Townsend clubs across the U.S., spurred the development of what federal program?
SOCIAL SECURITY
The Book of Revelation describes the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Whereas the beings riding the white and pale horses have traditionally symbolized Conquest (Pestilence) and Death, what do the riders of the red and black horses symbolize (correct order not required)?
WAR, FAMINE
In mammals, the small intestine is made up of three parts. One is the duodenum; what is the name for either of the other two?
JEJUNUM, ILIUM
The Chinese title of the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society, understood by an American Marine Corps officer to mean work together, provided the elements for a term that has evolved to mean enthusiastic or energetic. What is that term?
GUNG-HO
This photo appeared on the cover of a hit 1994 album by what English rock band? Click here
BLUR
What is the common name of the herb Anethum graveolens, a member of the parsley family that is visually similar to fennel? It is used abundantly in Poland, Russia, and the Nordic countries with fish (e.g., gravlax), and is also used on potatoes, to flavor cucumbers and gherkins, and with sour cream and yogurt.
DILL
Until reorganization under the direction of new commissioner Gary Bettman in 1993, the National Hockey League was divided into two conferences—the Prince of Wales Conference and the Clarence Campbell Conference—each of which was split into two divisions. Give the name of any one of these four divisions that were part of the NHL structure starting in the 1974-75 season.
ADAMS, PATRICK, NORRIS, SMYTHE
In Gulliver’s Travels, the brutish human-like beings who are caringly governed by the horse-like Houyhnhnms are known by what name, which would become a term for a crass, rude, and stupid person?
YAHOO
Name the classic 1937 Jean Renoir war film and masterpiece of French cinema whose title is the filmmaker’s description of war itself and of the belief that war accomplishes any positive ends?
LA GRANDE ILLUSION
What term from economics is defined as the ratio between the proportional change in one variable and the proportional change in another? With regard to demand, it’s the ratio between the change in quantity demanded and change in price.
ELASTICITY
With the help of many foreign governments and volunteers (famously including Lord Byron), what country won its war of independence launched in 1821, crowning Prince Otto of Bavaria as the first king of its modern era?
GREECE
Playwright Greg Kotis conceived the idea for what successful Broadway musical during a 1995 visit to Paris, when he found himself unable to afford the price of admission to a public toilet?
URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL
Cronus, from whom the Olympians were descended, is the youngest of twelve children of Uranus and Gaia who are known collectively by what name?
TITANS
What senator from Massachusetts railed against South Carolina’s attempt to nullify federal legislation by proclaiming, Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!?
Daniel WEBSTER
The most common protocol used on TCP/IP networks governing the transfer of email goes by what four-letter abbreviation? While most mail servers use it to send and receive messages, most client side applications (e.g., Apple Mail, Microsoft Outlook) use it only for sending.
SMTP
A particular popular Italian duo that is affectionately referred to as Cav & Pag is scheduled to make an appearance in New York in early 2018, featuring Roberto Alagna. What is the full name of either Cav or Pag?
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA or PAGLIACCI
What thing severed Dr. Robert Rocket Romano’s arm in a season 9 episode of the medical drama ER? Another one crushed him to death a season later, remarkably.
HELICOPTER
Maiden is a translation of the name of what temple, whose name was also once given to the room in a home in ancient Greece where unmarried, virginal daughters lived?
PARTHENON
On April 23, 2016, Beyoncé released her sixth studio album, Lemonade, available exclusively on what subscription-based music streaming service, which she co-owns with Jay-Z, Rihanna, Calvin Harris, and numerous other prominent music artists?
TIDAL
Boy: Tales of Childhood, which includes stories of Norwegian holidays, the author’s sadistic schoolmasters, and his childhood fantasies as an inventor of sweets, is the first volume of memoirs by what British writer?
Roald DAHL
What Western, which began as a CBS radio series in 1952, holds the record as the longest-running continuously aired drama series in American television history? It is tied with Law & Order at 20 seasons but surpasses the crime drama in episode count, 635 to 456.
GUNSMOKE
Six hungry monkeys eating oranges and She has many ears on are mnemonics used for remembering a certain complete set. In this set, what is represented by the last word in the mnemonic (oranges or on)?
Lake ONTARIO
What emperor, widely regarded as one of the wealthiest people in history with a fortune estimated at $400 billion in current dollars, is believed to have depressed the price of gold due to his abundant almsgiving during a pilgrimage to Mecca from his native Mali Empire around the year 1325?
MANSA MUSA
Pictured here are works by what American conceptual artist, who received the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art’s Distinguished Women in the Arts Award in 2010 (earning a plaque she herself designed for the award in 1994)? Click here
Jenny HOLZER
Archetypal Swiss cheese, with its large holes, that is produced outside of Switzerland is an imitation of what authentic Swiss cheese, which takes its name from the valley near Bern where it originated?
EMMENTAL
What is the technical name for the slow-moving, stubby, and incredibly hardy minuscule invertebrates that are known affectionately as water bears?
TARDIGRADES
The vice president of the Confederate States of America adopted his middle name during his youth, taking it from that of a Presbyterian minister and childhood mentor, and not so that his first and middle name would match the first and last of a founding father (which would have been rather incongruous, considering). What was that middle name?
HAMILTON
In many Asian religions, the doctrine of reincarnation generally posits that the soul becomes incarnate in a succession of bodies until the necessary purification, or until the exhaustion of one’s what? The term in question comes from the Sanskrit for deed or action (कर्म).
KARMA
Martin Scorsese has two equivalents to François Truffaut’s Metro, Peter Bogdanovich’s Picture Show, John Dahl’s Seduction, Wes Craven’s House on the Left, Tony Scott’s Boy Scout, and Edward Zwick’s Samurai. Name either one.
WALTZ, TEMPTATION OF CHRIST
The product provocatively named Sex Wax, manufactured by a company called Mr. Zog’s, was not originally developed for intimate purposes, but rather for use on what objects?
SURFBOARDS
Followers of the 13th-century Persian poet and Sufi mystic Jalal ad-Din Rumi founded the Mevlevi, a Muslim order famous for their meditative ceremonial dance. This group is better known, in English, by what term?
WHIRLING DERVISHES
In what two states did the path of totality for the August 21st solar eclipse enter (in the west) and exit (in the east) the United States?
OREGON, SOUTH CAROLINA
What is the only name shared by cities in both the United States and Russia with populations greater than 200,000?
ST PETERSBURG
The coronation of Charles II in 1661, the Great Plague of 1665, and the Fire of London in September 1666 are among the events recorded in what person’s diary of over one million words, which ends in 1669?
Samuel PEPYS
Batman: The Animated Series, which aired on the Fox network from 1992 to 1995, introduced what sidekick character, who was created by series co-producer Bruce Timm and writer Paul Dini, and has since been fully integrated into DC’s comic books, and its animated and cinematic universes?
Harley QUINN
In 1995, two new franchises were awarded by Major League Baseball (to begin play in 1998), bringing the total number of franchises to its current level of 30. Name either of those two teams.
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS, TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS
From 1894 to 1900, Sanford B. Dole served as the first (and in the end, only) president of what republic?
HAWAII
The name of the ruler (and satrap of the Persian emperor) buried at the Tomb at Halicarnassus, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, is the source of what word (which is, essentially, what the structure was)?
MAUSOLEUM
