Rawr! Now… hm. Following your previous advice, and ensuring I touch on both terms:
41: Dian Fossey studied gorillas and was played by Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist. Jane Goodall studied chimps and was ribbed by Gary Larsen in The Far Side.
LOL. Admirably complete, lno… but I was lenient with this question anyway.
No change. And to save you time: the last remaining obstacle is a question that’s completely wrong, not one that’s merely lacking clarification.
Say what, Bricker? In question 4, you didn’t ask what the initials “J.P.” stood for as used in the first part of the question. Yet you upgrade lno’s total for clarifying that?
Why, that’s not cricket, man!
Ah well, I decided earlier that I wasn’t going to keep poring over my answers, so I’m finished where I stand.
Max:
In the example question, “Is the quality of mercy strained?” I don’t ask who said it or what the circumstances were… yet I was clear that merely answering the asked question was insufficient; you had to explain where the quote was from. In the example question about svelte, spelt, and smelt, I don’t ask for definitions of the words, but you have to supply that info.
Same deal here. Of JP and JP, why would only one need defining?
Billy was a hero, contrary to advice, but what happened to the letter documenting this fact?
I heard his wife threw the letter away.
Who agreed to marry P. Fogg after learning he couldn’t complete his journey on time ?
Aouda.
I’m the Browning character whose painting looks like I’m almost alive, and my image is hung near Neptune taming a sea-horse. Who am I?
My Last Duchess.
If you want to get married quickly, see a J.P. - and if you have a kid, what J.P. is best-known for defining stages of childhood development?
Justice of the Peace for the marriage, Jean Piaget for the childhood development.
Name the only Salem witch trial judge to admit that they might have been a tad off-base with the killings and such.
Samuel Sewall.
I was 6 feet, six inches tall, weighed 245 pounds, and my body ended up at the bottom of a mine - but at least the other miners’ lives were saved. Who am I?
Big John. Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip, but everybody knew you didn’t give no lip to Big John.
Name the chef known for kickin’ it up a notch.
Emeril Lagasse. Bam!
What priest had a Billboard #1 single in 1990?
Maxi Priest, born Max Elliot but changed his name to Maxi Priest when he converted to Rasta. Reggae “Close To You” was the hit.
My rule is simple: a stable bridged bicyclic compound cannot have a double bond at a bridgehead carbon unless one ring has at least eight carbons.
Bredt’s rule.
Harry, Homer, Happy, and Henry’s tails all get smacked repeatedly.
Hungry Hungry Hippos!
Every Catholic knows the Nicean creed, but what ecumenical council promoted it?
It was developed at the first and second ecumenical councils in Nicea and Constantinople in 325 and 381.
In the pilot, Arnie and Roxanne discover a dead body in the office. Whose?
Norm Cheney’s body in LA Law.
Who does Hemingway owe credit to for the title of the work that covers four days in the Spanish Civil War?
It tolls for thee, John Donne.
What’s Faraday’s constant?
The electric charge carried by one mole of electrons.
Who was prisoner 24601, and why is it unlikely that he ever met The Prisoner, who of course was Number Six?
Jean Valjean, and he died prior to the Prisoner, and they were both fictional creations of diffreent authors.
Ruben is to Kelly as Clay is to [?]
Sideshow Justin.
Chandler Bing is a transponster, right?
Chandler Bing’s job has something to do with numbers. And processing. And he carries a briefcase. Wait, I know this, it has something to do with transponding. Oh, oh, oh, he’s a transpons … transponster! (That’s not even a word!) From episode #412 of Friends, “The One With The Embyros.”
What Tonight Show feature highlights the inability of random people to answer simple general knowledge questions?
Jaywalking.
Bloodiest battle of the US Civil War?
Bloodiest day: Antietam. Battle: Gettysburg.
I heard a fly buzz when I died.
Emily Dickenson.
New York, London, Paris, Munich - everybody talk about.
Pop Muzik.
Five Clay measures to reconcile the North and the South.
Compromise Measures of 1850. First and second abolished slavery in DC and recognized California as a free state. Third was the Fugitive Slave Law, fourth allowed slave states east of California, and fifth gave a monetary settlement to Texas.
King promises to sacrifice the first living thing he sees when he reaches shore - but, oops, it’s his son.
Idomeneo.
“Who made you Judge Judy and executioner?” My question is, what m-word best describes this error?
Malapropism.
Vienna is to Danube as Boston is to [?]
Charles River.
Software piracy is a no-no, but what classic pirate helped Jackson beat the Brits?
Jean Lafitte.
Where should you go to watch a performance of the classic farcical play “Nothing On?”
To see “Noises Off”.
Who was the time-traveling Connecticut Yankee?
Hank Morgan.
Who is best known for opposing Emperor Ming?
Flash Gordon.
Will Darnell and Buddy Repperton were killed, but Sandy Galt survived until much later, well after Leigh and Dennis smashed the car.
Stephen King’s “Christine”.
What’s the thing wherein we’ll catch the conscience of the king?
The play. From Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Who wrote the play that had the character from which the word that’s the answer to question #24 is derived?
Richard Sheridan wrote “The Rivals”.
American Asa Trenchard is introduced to his aristocratic relatives, and much hilarity ensues.
And then Lincoln is shot in Ford’s Theatre watching Our American Cousin.
I never understood a single word he said, but I helped him drink his wine.
Jeremiah wuz a bullfrog.
Two Guns, Arizona, is a ghost town, but it was Ghost Dance that led to the famous massacre.
As Dee Brown said, Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.
Odysseus destination or Cornell home.
Ithaca.
Eastern Bloc : Radio Free Europe :: Cuba : [?]
Radio Marti.
What was the starship class to which Voyager belonged?
Intrepid.
And the barber kept on shaving.
I’m an owl; you’re another. Sir Critic, good day! And the barber kept on shaving.
Sir Edward Elgar’s best-known graduation present?
Pomp and Circumstance.
Dian F. studied chimps, and Jane G. studied gorillas, right?
Fossey had Gorillas in the Mist. Or was that Sigourney Weaver? You’ve got them backwards. Dian Fossey studied gorillas and was killed, likely by poachers, Jane Goodall studied chimps.
Darwin had his beagle- what did Drake have?
The Golden Hind.
It really would have been best if Curly had convinced Jud to kill himself.
Oklahoma. And it sure smells sweet when the wind comes right behind the rain.
Irving story about motorcycle riding through Austria?
Setting Free The Bears.
ELO is a great band, but what FLO is associated with the design of Central Park?
Frederic Law Olmsted.
Seinfeldism referring to the practice of giving someone a gift that you were given?
Re-gifting.
What NFL team was the first to lose four Super Bowls?
Minnesota Vikings.
Daughter dearest that wrote her actress mom’s scathing biography?
Christina Crawford.
I could have danced all night, after fooling the Hungarian.
Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.
Although I was born into a poor family, I was adopted by a wealthy one; the only symbol of my former life that I missed was my stuffed bear. I held on to a trillion-dollar bill until foolishly spending it in the Caribbean. I was painted naked by a local artist and was an unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate. Who am I?
Montgomery Burns.
Yes, I am a shameless thief. But I think I was the only one to cast off “Judas Priest” in favor of “Maxi Priest.” Dude, Judas Priest didn’t have a number one song in 1990!
Do I win?
Because the way you phrased it doesn’t require defining it in the first half? Because you seem to be taking the meaning of JP for granted in the first half, as though you don’t expect a definition?
There’s more here than just, “Is the quality of mercy strained?” I mean, if I saw “If you want to get married quickly, see a J.P.” on its own, then yeah, I’d assume you wanted me to define JP. But when you follow that with an actual question, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to believe that the question-part is the only important part, and the first bit is a throwaway added just for color.
Suppose the question were, “My favorite president was FDR. But what FDR wrote Drop Your Panties, Sir William?” To me, that doesn’t sound like I’m looking for a definition of “FDR” as used in the first sentence, only as used in the second.
Meh, not that it matters, I didn’t figure on winning this one anyway. I just don’t like missing questions based on what I feel is a problem with the question itself. I guess I’m just hoping you’ll agree with me and make what you’re looking for clearer in the future.
I feel the same way, Max. The first JP didn’t seem like a question. Hopefully in the future things will be clearer.
After all, it looks like cole burner sneaked in and nabbed #50 anyway.
cole burner: 50 and the win! Congratulations!
As to the JP/JP discussion, I’m very pleased that the contest win didn’t hinge on the answer to this question; no one except cole burner had an accurate answer to the Maxi Priest reggae question.
I will certainly keep this feedback in mind as I design the next Challenges…
…which will be either this weekend or next week!
heh. Too bad you can’t, say, post a public PGP key so we can’t work off each other’s answers…
…or could you? hmmmm…
Ah, but this adds an element of strategy to the game beyond simply, “Answer as many as I can as fast as I can.” If you know forty-five out of fifty, and you post them, you risk someone coming along and stealing your answers, adding only five of his own, and winning.
On the other hand, if you hold back too long, you risk someone getting all fifty first.
So there’s an aspect of timing to this thing. Historically, I’ve found, people don’t consider this – most likely because the prize is only a six-pack of beer (a case in the earlier versions, though) and that’s not enough to fire people’s competitive spirits; solving these is a much more collegial process.
One of these days. after I hit the lottery, the prize will be $5000. Then let’s see what happens!)
For me, the “challenge” is to see how many I can get using nothing but the knowledge in my head when I read the questions. I’m sure I could increase my score dramatically by reading other people’s answers and searching online, as well as avoid the embarassment of woefully incorrect guesses (such as “Tobias Beecher”).
Besides, I don’t drink beer.
As mentioned in the rules, Little Nemo, you can request a different prize if you don’t drink or are underage. Someone received Godiva chocolates, I believe.
Still, I’m gonna get me that beer, I am.
Yep – in fact, I was holding off packing your shipment, lno to see if there’d be a three-peat and I could send one big package. But yours should get sent tomorrow.