FACTUAL RIDDLES XXXIV

1. What do you call a number followed by an exclamation point?

2. In The Wizard of Oz, what was Glinda's two-word response to Dorothy on whether her dog could also return to Kansas - consisting of only two letters?

3. How do whales sleep without drowning?

4. What were the first words spoken on the telephone, transmitted on the telegraph, and recorded on a phonograph record?

5. Who are the five U.S. Presidents with four-letter last names?

6. What 8-letter animal spells another animal when its first three letters are dropped, and yet another different animal if you remove its 2nd, 3rd, and 4th letters? 

7. According to dieticians, what are the four basic food groups? (Hint: Fruits and vegetables are not one of them.)

8. What is the fourth wall?

Answers:

1. Factorial - 5! is read "5 factorial" and means 5x4x3x2x1 - which is 120 

2. TOTO TOO 

3. To be able to sleep, whales shut down half of their brain at a time. Being partially awake allows them to continue breathing and be aware of their surroundings. They cannot sleep for much longer than 30 minutes without risking lowering their body temperature due to inactivity. They sleep near the surface to make it easier to "remember" to breathe.

4. Telephone - "Mr. Watson, come here. I need you."

    Telegraph - "What hath God wrought?"

    Phonograph - "Mary had a little lamb."

 

5. Polk, Taft, Ford, (George H.W) Bush, (George W.) Bush

 

6. MONGOOSE - GOOSE - MOOSE

 

7. Fresh, Frozen, Fast, and Junk 

 

8. To an actor, the fourth wall is the proscenium (or proscenium arch) of the theater - the area of the stage before the curtain. It represents the metaphorical barrier between the play and the audience. If the actor whispers an aside to the audience, he has broken the fourth wall.