FACTUAL RIDDLES XLI

1. What and where is Rapa Nui?

2. Where is the world's oldest Chinatown?

3. What was the name of Amelia Earhart's plane?

4. SWAG is an acronym. What do the letters stand for?

5. What do Betty Ford and Jill Biden have in common?

6. What is the oldest, continuously-occupied city in the United States. 

7. What is the name of the small, sovereign country bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south?

8. What are the two famous ships that had mutinies - one real and one fictional - and what were the names of their captains?

Answers:

1. Rapa Nui is the native name of Easter Island, located 2,200 miles west of Chile in the southern Pacific Ocean - famous for its hundreds of enormous stone statues.

2. Manila, Philippines (1594)

3. Electra

4. Stuff We All Get

5. They were both "second ladies" (wives of vice-presidents) who became First Ladies.

6. St. Augustine, Florida

7. Andorra

8. Real - HMS Bounty - Captain Bligh (1789)

    Fictional - USS Caine. - Captain Queeg (1952 novel by Herman Wouk/movie - 1954)

    

 

FACTUAL RIDDLES XL

1. What continent has no deserts?

 

2. In what states does the Appalachian Trail begin and end?

 

3. What is the name of the winged horse in Greek mythology?

 

4. What is the only number that has its letters in alphabetical order? 

5. Which planet in our Solar System is closest to the sun?

 

6. Who was the first man in space?

 

7. What are the first five books of the Old Testament called? 

8. Who is the equivalent of Zeus - king of the gods -  in Roman mythology?

9. What is the tallest mountain in the contiguous 48 states? What is the tallest mountain in the 50 United States?

10. What city spans two continents?

Answers:

 

1. Europe

2. It begins in Georgia and ends in Maine

3. Pegasus 

4. Forty 

5. Mercury

6. Yuri Gagarin

7. The Torah or Pentateuch

8. Jupiter 

9. Mt. Whitney in California (14, 505 ft.)

    Mt. McKinley in Alaska (20, 320 ft.)

10. Istanbul, Turkey (Europe and Asia)

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXXIX

1. What is the largest union in the United States?

2. What is the resort region on northern Spain called?

3. How thick is a mil?

4. What two states do not observe Daylight Savings Time?

5. What is ARACHIBUTYROPHOBIA?

6. What is the national animal of Scotland?

7. When Disneyland opened in 1955, Tomorrow Land was designed to look like a year in the future. What year?

Answers:

1. The National Education Association (NEA)

2. Costa Brava

3. 1/1,000 of an inch

4. Arizona and Hawaii

5. Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth

6. The unicorn

7. 1986 

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXXVIII

1. Who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize?

 

2. Who was the first woman to fly non-stop across the Atlantic? 

3. Who was the first woman to hold federal office?

4. Why is zero called Love in tennis?

5. Whose picture is on the $2 bill?

6. What were the names of Cinderella's two step-sisters?

7. Why are the Canary Islands so named?

Answers:

 

1. Marie Curie - in 1903 for physics, and again in 1911 for chemistry

 

2. Amelia Earhart

 

3. Jeannette Rankin - in 1916 to the House of Representatives - from Montana for one term and again in 1940 for one term. She remains the only woman ever elected to Congress from Montana.

 

4. In the early days of tennis in France, the zero on the chalkboard scoresheet looked like an egg. L'ouef is French for egg - which gradually came to be Love.

 

5. Thomas Jefferson's

 

6. Anastasia and Drizella

 

7. The Canary Islands are named after the wild dogs the first Europeans found when they  arrived there. The name comes from the Latin word for dog - Canaria.

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXXVII

1. What is meant by a Hobson's choice?

2. About how many Pringles are in a standard can?

3. What element's name has only three letters?

4. What does the Biblical name "Israel" mean?

5. What country has the longest coastline in the world?

6. What month of the year is a stressonym?

7. The letters X and O are used to mean hugs and kisses, as at the end of a letter. Which is the hug and which is the kiss?

8. The last syllable of the name of certain state is the first syllable of the name of its capital city. What is the state and its capital?

Answers:

1. A "choice" of taking what is available or nothing at all

2. 80

3. Tin

4. One who struggles with God

5. Canada

6. August (The OED is an august reference - accent on the second syllable)

7. X = Kiss

    O = Hug

 

8. VERMONT - MONTPELIER

 

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXXVI

1. How much money does each player get to start Monopoly?

2. What is meant by the phrase HOI POLLOI?

3. What miracle did St. Patrick perform to be be made a Saint?

4. Which three cities have two major league baseball teams?

5. What do you call a bunch of bananas?

6. What are the three Baltic countries?

7. What do these four U.S. Presidents have in common?

     John Tyler

     Millard Fillmore

     Andrew Johnson

     Gerald Ford

 

Answers:

 

1. $1,500

2. The common people, the masses

3. He drove all the snakes out of Ireland.

4. LA - Dodgers and Angels

    NY - Yankees and Mets

    Chicago - Cubs and White Sox

5. A hand

6. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

7. None of them were elected President. Each was a vice-president who completed the term of his predecessor. 

 

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXXV

1. Who was Ruth Handler?

2. How many (earth)men have walked on the moon?

3. What is meant by the expression, "Achilles' heel" ?

4. How many baseballs are used in a major league game?

5. What present-day tribute is paid to the original 13 Colonies?

6. What is the official name of the paint color used on the Golden Gate Bridge?

7. Other than its size or other physical characteristics, why is the Sequoia unique among trees?

8. What African country is closest to Italy?

Answers:

1. Ruth Handler invented the Barbie Doll - in 1959. She was the first president of toy manufacturer Mattel from 1945 - 1975. 

2. Twelve

3. An Achilles heel is a point of weakness or vulnerability, which can lead to one's downfall. The expression comes from Greek mythology. Achilles' mother dipped him as an infant in the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers of invulnerability. But because she held him by his heel, that part of his body was not protected.

4. Eight to twelve dozen (84-120) at a cost of $6 each

5. The 13 stripes on the American flag

6. International orange

7. SEQUOIA contains all five vowels - A, E, I, O, U. 

8. Tunisia

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.

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXXIII

1. Who was the only U.S. President never elected to the presidency and who never served as vice president?

2. What is "dark tourism"?

3. What architectural style are the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and Los Angeles' Griffith Observatory?

4. How can one boy always surprise another boy?

5. What is the worst job in the world?

6. What is unusual about the phrase, "one mean anemone"?

7. What would be a bad palindromic name for a doctor, especially a surgeon? DR. _ _ _ _ _ _ _

8. Was Romeo a Capulet or a Montague?

9. What do they call tic-tac-toe in England

Answers:

1. Gerald Ford

2. Visiting sites that are associated with death and suffering, (hopefully) to pay respects, learn from history, and resolve that it won't happen again

3. Art Deco

4. Fall in love with his sister

5. Working at the "It's a Small World" ride in Disneyland

6. ONE MEAN is an anagram of ANEMONE. 

7. DR. AWKWARD 

8. Romeo is the only son of Lord and Lady Montague. He falls in love with Juliet, the daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet. 

9. Noughts and crosses

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXXII

1. How many yards are on a football field?

2. What three historical figures are carved into Stone Mountain in Georgia?

3. What's the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard?

4. What's the difference between a first cousin once-removed and a second cousin?

5. Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which is the only one still in existence?

6. What element has only three letters?

7. What is the only U.S. state whose name ends in the letter H?

8. What is the only country in the world whose name ends in the letter H?

9. In the game of chess, what is the only piece that can leap over other pieces?

10. Who is the only U.S. President to have never married?

Answers:

1. 120 (counting the end zones)

2. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis

3. A graveyard is a small burial ground associated with a church, located close to the church, and containing the graves of church members. A cemetery is much larger, open to the public, and can be located anywhere.  

4. The child of your first cousin is your first cousin once-removed (one generation). Your child and your first cousin's child are second cousins (same generation)

5. The Great Pyramid of Giza in northern Egypt

6. Tin

7. Utah

8. Bangladesh

9.  Knight (horse)

10. James Buchanan

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXXI

1. Why is there no pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?

2. What are the six English words for which there is no rhyme?

3. What do you call a person who wields power and exerts influence, but stays behind the scenes? 

Answers:

1. A rainbow has no end. What we see is only a part of the circumference of a complete circle. 

2. Orange, silver, purple, month, bulb, wasp

3. A gray eminence

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXX

1. The largest city in two states is not the capital of either one. The two cities have the same name. What is the city and what are the two states?

2. Who was the only U.S. President who never married?

3. What body of water does the Nile River flow into?

4. Santa has eight reindeer - nine with Rudolph. Who is the tenth reindeer?

5. Why are basketball players called cagers? 

Answers:

1. Portland, Maine

    Portland, Oregon

2. James Buchanan

3. The Mediterranean Sea

4. Olive ("All of the other reindeer ......")

5. In early days, basketball courts were surrounded by metal or cloth netting. This prevented the ball from going into the crowd, and also prevented spectators from throwing objects at the players or officials. So, in essence, the game was played inside a cage.

 

 

 

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXIX

1. Every U.S. state has at least one straight line in its border, except one. Which one?

2. Every part of the body can repair itself, except one. Which one?

3. In the famously misquoted line from Casablanca, "Play it again, Sam." , what song did Ilsa want Sam to play? 

Answers:

1. Hawaii

2. Teeth

3. As Time Goes By

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXVIII

1. Who was Ned Ludd?

2. What's a shellback? 

3. What is copra?

4. What was John Wayne's real name?

5. What two four-letter games (sports) are anagrams of each other?

6. What is the name of the Promised Land in the Old Testament?

Answers:

1. Ned Ludd was a legendary English weaver whose name was adopted by the Luddites, a secret, oath-based organization of English textile workers in the 19th century who formed a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery. Today, people who are resistant or opposed to modern technological advances are called Luddites.

2. A sailor who has crossed the equator

4. Marion Robert Morrison

3. Dried coconut meat, the source of coconut oil

5. POOL and POLO

6. Land of Milk and Honey

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXVII

1. What is the most carefully spelled word in the English language?

2. Four of the five largest U.S. National Parks are located in Alaska. Where is the fifth?

3. The people of which U.S. state consume the least amount of ice cream per year?

4. Which country's workers work the most hours per year?

5. What was the name of San Francisco before it was San Francisco?

6. What is the name of the eating disorder in which people eat dirt and other non-food items?

7. Who was the first to say, "The buck stops here."?

8. What is the name of a piece of paper that has only one side?

Answers:

1. FUCHSIA

2. California - Death Valley

3. Minnesota

4. South Korea

5. Yerba Buena

6. Pica

7. President Harry Truman 

8. Mobius strip

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXVI

1. What's an APTONYM?

2. What's an AMANUENSIS? 

3. What is SCHADENFREUDE?

4. What are mauve, taupe, ecru, and aubergine? 

5. Which is correct: RIGAMAROLE or  RIGMAROLE?

6. What are two words that sound exactly the same but have no common letters?

7. Two famous Americans share the same name: One an architect, the other an aviator. Who are they? 

8. What are the two main branches of Islam? What is the main difference between them? 

9. What was the name of the bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb?

10. Who is officially credited as the inventor of baseball?

Answers:

1. A particularly apt given name. Example: Olympic sprinter, Usain Bolt

2. A secretary

3. Joy at the misfortune of others

4. Colors 

5. RIGMAROLE

6. YOU - EWE

7. Frank Lloyd Wright and Wilbur (or Orville) Wright 

8. Sunni and Shiite - Their main difference is their belief surrounding who should have succeeded the Prophet Muhammad in 632 A.D. 

9. Enola Gay (after the pilot's mother) 

10. Abner Doubleday 

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXV

1. How did Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie get their names?

2. According to Digital Marketing.org, how much time does the average American spend on social media each day?

3. What are the only three words in English that have three consecutive dotted letters?

4. What do an ATM and a PIN have in common?

5. What is the only game in which the defense always has possession of the ball?

Answers:

1. From Frank Capra's film, It's a Wonderful Life. Bert was the cop and Ernie the taxi driver. 

2. 2 hours and 3 minutes

3. Fiji, Hijinks, Beijing*

4. A redundant letter - M in ATM (machine) and N in PIN (number)

5. Baseball

Note and Credit: 

3* [JA -To the best of my knowledge]

5: GAMES Magazine

     May/June, 1981

     David and Anne Griswold

 

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXIV

1. What is the present-day name of the city once called Byzantium?

2. What is the deepest point on Earth?

3. Which grain crop does the U.S. produce more of: wheat or corn?

4. What do the states of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming have in common?

5. What film is the highest-grossing movie of all time?

6. Which is the smallest of the Great Lakes?

Answers:

1. Istanbul, although it was called Constantinople from 330 - 1930)

2. The Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean at 36,198 feet deep.

3. Corn, by more than four times

4. Each of these states have only one member in the House of  Representatives.

5. "Avatar"

6. Lake Ontario

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXIII

1. What was Goldfinger's first name?

2. What was the destination of the first Marathon?

3. What store has a three-syllable name in four letters?

Answers:

1. Auric  

2. Athens

3. IKEA

 

 

FACTUAL RIDDLES XXII

1. What country was once known as Cathay?

2. What was the first inter-racial kiss on television?

3. What is distinctive about Russia, Turkey, and Egypt?

4. Where would you be likely to find the abbreviation SATB?

5. Why does the traditional chef's hat (TOQUE) have 100 folds?

 

6. What do the following former U.S. Presidents have in common?

     John Tyler

     Millard Fillmore

     Andrew Johnson

     Chester Arthur

     Gerald Ford

 

Answers:

 

1. China

 

2. Although it is disputed, it is generally agreed that the first inter-racial kiss on television was on November 22, 1968 on a Star Trek episode called "Plato's Stepchildren" between William Shatner (Captain Kirk) and Michelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura).

 

3. Each of these countries spans two continents. Russia and Turkey span Europe and Asia. Egypt spans Africa and Asia. (The eastern portion of the Sinai Peninsula is in western Asia.)

 

4. On choral music: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass

 

5. The 100 folds signify the 100 ways to cook an egg.

 

6. These five men were Presidents of the United States without ever being elected. They were vice-presidents who completed the terms of their Presidents: 

    John Tyler  (1841-1845) completed the (1 month) term of William Henry Harrison who died of pneumonia.

    Millard Fillmore (1850 - 1853) completed the term of Zachary Taylor, who died of "stomach disease"  (mysterious circumstances).

   Andrew Johnson (1865 - 1869) competed the term of Abraham Lincoln who was assassinated.

   Chester Arthur (1881-1885) completed the term of James A. Garfield who was assassinated after five months in office.

 

   Gerald Ford (1974 - 1977) completed the term of Richard M. Nixon who resigned.

 

   *Two other Presidents were assassinated. Their terms were completed by their vice-presidents who were later elected President themselves:

 

William McKinley (1901) - succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt

John F. Kennedy (1963) - succeeded by Lyndon B. Johnson