Trivia Q&A: March 18

We had 20 teams in for Trivia on Tuesday night, and we had yet more players naming their teams after the infamous former governor of New York. (Although the infamous former governor of New Jersey was well-represented too.)

The scores were generally pretty low for both Current Events and 21st Century Trivia, but the teams bounced back for both True or False and General Knowledge. We had a really tight contest going into IQ Trivia, and for the first time we had five teams run the table in the category to get all 25 points. The final standings had the top five teams separated by only two points, but for the second straight week, we had a tie for the top spot.

So we went to a tie-breaker question: "How old was JFK when he was elected as the youngest US president?" The two teams, My Parents Love My Bartender and Notarize This, Bitch, both gave in their guesses, and Notarize This was closest, as the answer was 43. It was a another great night of Trivia and my congratulations to them on their win.

Current Events
1. This legendary female singer currently owes over $19,000 in back taxes and may lose her home to tax collectors if not paid.
2. NASA announced evidence of rings around Rhea, a moon of this planet, which would be the first known rings around a moon.
3. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was re-elected prime minister of this country last week.
4. This space shuttle was launched on an assembly mission to the International Space Station last week.
5. A protest at the Chinese Embassy in NYC in support of this country turned violent on Saturday, with demonstrators clashing with cops.
6. Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament on Sunday. How many consecutive worldwide tourneys has he now won?
7. This film, just released last Friday, had the biggest opening of the year so far, rolling up $45 million to become the number one film in America.
8. A court in India is allowing this Hollywood actor to return to the country after he allegedly broke public obscenity laws by kissing an Indian actress at an AIDS event there last year.
9. For the fifth straight year, this western state was ranked as The Most Dangerous State in America by CQ Press.
10. A judge in London yesterday ordered Paul McCartney to pay ex-wife Heather Mills how much in total to settle their divorce (within $2 million)?

Answers: 1. Aretha Franklin; 2. Saturn; 3. Spain; 4. Endeavour; 5. Tibet; 6. seven; 7. "Horton Hears a Who;" 8. Richard Gere; 9. Nevada; 10. $48.6 million.

21st Century Trivia
1. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" won a record-tying 11 Oscars on February 28 of this year.
2. The legendary country singer Johnny Cash dies on September 12 of this year at age 71.
3. Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives on January 4.
4. The Arizona Diamondbacks win their first World Series, in seven games over the New York Yankees, on November 4.
5. The Winter Olympics open in Turin, Italy on February 10 and run until February 26.
6. The US Navy destroys a spy satellite with toxic fuel on February 20 by shooting it down with a missle launched from the USS Lake Erie in the Pacific Ocean.
7. Brazil wins soccer's World Cup for the fifth time with a 2-0 win over Germany on June 30.
8. Pope John Paul II dies on April 2 and four million people travel to the Vatican to mourn him.
9. Barry Bonds breaks Mark McGwire's home run record for a single season with 73, on October 5.
10. Over 200,000 people die when a strong earthquake strikes the Indian Ocean region on December 26, setting off enormous tsumani waves in countries from Sri Lanka to Indonesia.

Answers: 1. 2004; 2. 2003; 3. 2007; 4. 2001; 5. 2006; 6. 2008; 7. 2002; 8. 2005; 9. 2001; 10. 2004.

True or False Trivia ("The Q Train")
1. A nib is commonly found at one end of a pen.
2. In the Bibical story, David used a slingshot to kill Goliath.
3. A lentil is a type of root vegetable.
4. In the 1981 movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark," Indiana Jones is afraid of bats.
5. North Dakota is a US state considered to be part of "Ozark country."
6. Atlantic hurricanes most frequently occur during the days between August and October.
7. Molly Ringwald played a character in the first season of the TV series, "The Facts of Life."
8. A grouper is a type of bird.
9. Flag Day takes place in the US during the month of May.
10. Minneapolis is the state capital of Minnesota.

Answers: 1. true; 2. true; 3. false, it's a legume; 4. false, snakes; 5. false, it's Arkansas; 6. true; 7. true; 8. false, it's a fish; 9. false, it's in June; 10. false, it's St. Paul.

General Knowledge
1. Jonathan Demme documented what rock group in the 1984 movie "Stop Making Sense?"
2. Ozone is a form of what gas?
3. What is the main ingredient in a traditional frittata?
4. Who created and hosted the classic TV show "Candid Camera?"
5. A limerick is a funny poem that has how many lines of verse?
6. What type of filling is inside a MoonPie sandwich?
7. The "Mariel boat lift" involved refugees from what country?
8. What US city is known as the cereal capital of the world?
9. What mythic adventurer sailed on the ship, The Argo?
10. What female comic created the character of Ernestine, the telephone switchboard operator?

Answers: 1. Talking Heads; 2. oxygen; 3. eggs; 4. Allen Funt; 5. five; 6. marshmallow; 7. Cuba; 8. Battle Creek, MI; 9. Jason; 10. Lily Tomlin.

IQ Trivia
1. What is the capital of Switzerland? ( 5 points)
2. The Berber people live primarily in what region of the world? ( 5 points)
3. What future 20th century US president is featured in the 1994 novel "The Alienist?" ( 6 points)
4. What country defeated England at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314? ( 5 points)
5. In the movie "Back to the Future," what speed must the DeLorean reach in order to travel through time? ( 4 points)

Answers: 1. Bern; 2. North Africa; 3. Theodore Roosevelt; 4. Scotland; 5. 88 MPH.