The amount of mis-information in Trivial Pursuit (Genus Edition) is staggering. I haven’t played in a long time, but I recall numerous mistakes coming up under science, esp. One question specifically stands out in my mind. It may have been under the category of history. It asked who was the first person killed in a plane crash. It claimed, IIRC, Orville Wright.
Recently, after visiting the National Air & Space Mueum’s website, I got curious enough to ask their staff. The answer was that Orville was in an airplane crash years later (not using their first plane), but he was not killed. And, Wilbur died of typhoid in May 1912.
So, what mistakes have you found (in the bogus edition)?
There are quite a few of mistakes in the '80s Edition and at least one confused answer caused by a movie having different titles in the US and the UK (License to Kill, aka License Revoked).
Years ago I played a UK Junior Trivial Pursuit game and we found the following :
Q: What metal can Supergirl not see though?
A: Nephews.
I seem to recall hearing that some mistakes are deliberate, to catch people who rip off their questions wholesale for some other product. No idea if this is true, tho’ it does sound cunning.
One that sticks out in my mind: “What is the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way”. The answer as given was “Andromeda”. First, on a nitpicking note, there is no galaxy called “Andromeda”: That’s the name of a constellation. There does happen to be a prominent and nearby galaxy in the constellation of Andromeda, but it’s properly called “the Andromeda galaxy” or “M31”.
But more significantly, there are many galaxies which are closer than the Andromeda galaxy. The Large and Small Magellenic Clouds come to mind, as do Snickers and the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy (which is actually currently being absorbed by the Milky Way). Granted, M31 is considerably larger than any of these, and could reasonably be called the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. But that’s not what the question asked.
Another one I recall: “If you were standing in New York City, in what direction would you look to see Sirius?”. Their answer was “North”. Which is the one answer which is absolutely unequivocably wrong. From the Northern Hemisphere, Sirius is never in the north. It can be just south of east, or just south of west, or anywhere in between, depending on when you look, but it’s never north.
I remember being “wrong” on the question “What is the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way?”. TP had the answer “Andromeda”. At that time the correct answer was really the Large Magallenic Cloud (about 1/12 of the distance of Andromeda), and since then several dwarf galaxies have been discovered that are closer.
When playing as a teen, I seem to recall getting bent out of shape when I was asked “Do black jaguars have spots”. I answered “Yes” and the answer on the card was “No”.
I flipped out and went to my book collection, bringing out books that had pictures of black jaguars and their perfectly visible spotting pattern. Perhaps I was a bit over the top as I’m pretty sure the response I got from the rest of the players was something along the lines of “Jeez, alright already. It’s only a game. Take your damn piece of pie.”
I take my Trivial Pursuit seriously, dammit.
[sub]And I will take this moment to brag about my little black feral kitty who has a light spotted undercoat that you can see when the light hits her just right. She’s my miniature black jaguar![/sub]
One of the questions in the Genus Edition concerns the first black winner of the Wimbledon singles title. The answer given is Arthur Ashe, who was indeed the first African-American male to claim the championship (1975). Yet Althea Gibson had taken the ladies’ crown in 1957 and 1958.
And we can “blame” the same man for both legends, according to Snopes.
Perhaps the folks at Trivial Pursuit also took Swift seriously (and misplaced him in history by a hundred and thirty years).
Q: What replaced potatoes as the staple diet of the Irish during the potato famine?
A: The delicious and succulent “fat yearling child.”
There was one question on the very first TP game that had a correct answer but was removed from the next editions of the game for “sensitivity” reasons.
Q: How long after their marriage was Ronald and Nancy Reagan’s first child born?
A: Seven months.
