Bricker Challenge 2004 - Edition #1

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Following, please find the questions for the Bricker Challenge 2004, #1.

The rules, as always, are simple: I have posted a list of … stuff. You, the contest participant, must identify each item and/or answer each question. For example, if one item were: “Is the quality of mercy strained?” you might answer, “No. It falleth as gentle rains from the heavens,” which would show you recognize the classic speech from Portia in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice.

“What is NaCl?” Your answer might be, “The chemical symbols for sodium chloride, common table salt.”

Since this board is about fighting igorance, occasionally the “question” may be mispelled, mispronounced, misreferenced, or otherwise jumbled. Your job there is to unscramble or unconfuse it. For example, to paraphrase a Dilbert cartoon, if the boss comes by asking about a eunuch’s operating system, you should explain that it’s “Unix” and a visit from the company nurse is not necessary. If I ask about George Washington’s role in the Civil War, you should loftily explain that it was the American Revolution. Extra points if there happens to be a George Washington that played a role of some kind in the Civil War and you also supply that information.

In general, any answer that shows you get the reference is fine. If it’s a joke, explain the joke. Leave no stone unturned. Treat it like you’re explaining a Dennis Miller throwaway line. Show that you’re that smartest one at the party by explaining each and every reference in the question.

I’m phrasing some questions ambiguously in an effort to cut down on the help that search engines can provide, although there’s no getting around it … many will be answerable by search engine anyway. There is no rule against using search engines (or any other reference) although I would appreciate if, just for curiosity’s sake, you note that you got the answer by search engine as opposed to simply knowing it or stealing it from an earlier poster’s answers.

I am awarding a $25 gift certificate from Amazon.com as the prize to the winner.

The winner is the person that answers the most questions correctly by post here dated on or before Thursday, January 8th, 2004, at 11:00 PM EST, or the first person to answer all questions correctly before that time. I reserve the right to substitute another prize of comparable value for any reason. My decisions are final as to the accuracy of all answers. I may, or may not, provide intermediate feedback as to the number of correct answers each entrant has, but if I make any errors in doing so, it’s your tough luck. Only the single post with the most correct answers by the deadline qualifies you as a winner. In the unlikely event of a tie, which would occur if two or more posts have the same date/time stamp and both have the highest number of correct answers, the prize will be split amongst each tied contestant.

The next post has the questions. Good luck!

  • Rick
2
  1. If we built a new version of England’s famous structure at, say, Windsor, and brought Phoebe Halliwell’s first husband there, what punny phrase might come to mind?
  2. Just how did I end up getting the fence whitewashed AND collect loot from all the boys that did it?
  3. How many different four-man bobsled team combinations may be assembled from a group of eighteen Jamaicans, assuming each Jamaican has an equal chance of being chosen? (And what movie comes to mind?)
  4. Who starred in the porn flick “Buffay: The Vampire Layer?”
  5. The death of the baker’s wife was a terrible tragedy, but at least it saved a member of a royal family from a potential sexual harassment suit. He had nothing to do with the Giant, though.
  6. Was there a lady in there? Or a tiger?
  7. As far as photoreceptors go, rods are better at distinguishing colors.
  8. What was the significance of the librarian’s name in the episode that sent Spock back in time to a frozen wasteland?
  9. The saint that was known as the Little Flower – to what order did she belong?
  10. What advice might you give to Laius and Jocasta’s son?
  11. How did the Great Brain manage to put together a winning tug of war team of Gentiles against the Mormons?
  12. Assuming a haploid number of fifteen chromosomes, how many different combinations of paternal and maternal chromosomes are possible for the gametes?
  13. In what demon dimension are the dance of shame and the dance of joy disturbingly similar?
  14. If you had a nickel for each distinct way to make change for a dollar, how much more (or less) money would you have than a person who had the most money without being able to make change for a dollar?
  15. Value corrupts, and absolute value corrupts absolutely. Right?
  16. There is no Dana, only Zuul.
  17. Daniel killed Ed Drummond, but was he crazy?
  18. Which of the six signs did Will get for his birthday, when he discovered he was an Old One?
  19. A ten-newton force is required to hold a stretched spring 2 meters from its rest position. What is the potential energy of the stretched spring?
  20. If Chip hadn’t shown up for his and Roy Gublik’s double date with the girls, what might have happened?
  21. Major Odal was good at duels.
  22. What sort of aircraft is Snoopy’s doghouse?
  23. You know – it’s like that song about the ship sinking, “The Wreck of the F. Scott Fitzgerald.”
  24. Lord Mayor of London, three times, and all because his cat could catch mice!
  25. If you can’t connect to port 80, you are going to have a hard time with this Challenge.
  26. Apparently, Wilbur’s new best friend is Cardigan the Lamb. Talk about milking the classics!
  27. Having watched the Democratic primary race thus far, I think Kubler-Ross missed the sixth stage: utter stupefaction.
  28. What’s that Keats poem about the fairy creature that enthralls the knight?
  29. Eugene O’Neill’s architect – the one that could only design ugly, stocky buildings.
  30. What Shakespeare character didn’t love well, or wisely?
  31. Burt Lancaster is a drunken salesman that can con anyone, it seems, even under a revival tent.
  32. How did Jack Ryan’s friend Mr. Clark come to be a CIA operative?
  33. Which organelles are generally responsible for synthesis and transport of cellular components?
  34. What’s the difference between FAT and NTFS?
  35. Provide a statement logically equivalent to “If it is Tuesday, this must be Belgium,” and, crossing genres in a single question, tell me where I got the original statement.
  36. Two atoms of bromine form an ionic bond, right?
  37. Five days after Yom Kippur – time to eat outside in the lean-to!
  38. One of Mrs. White’s husbands was an illusionist, apparently.
  39. Giorgio ends up dumping the hot Clara for the kinda weird Fosca.
  40. I always get the Book of Common Prayer and the Book of Counted Sorrows confused.
  41. What’s a bot, in the world of IRC?
  42. In this spin-off, Clancy becomes a P.I. in New Orleans, and Ralph is kidnapped by Big Daddy.
  43. Husker-Du!
  44. Paul and Jamie turn out to be distant cousins.
  45. The recipe says I’m supposed to barder the quail and cure the venison, but I didn’t even know it was sick!
  46. Armand and Albert have a drag nightclub in Miami.
  47. Dave doesn’t encounter a big orange monster, but does find a balloon he names ‘Gerald.’
  48. Sweet Loretta seemed to be confused about the difference between a cleaner and a frying pan.
  49. What’s El Coqui to a Puerto Rican?
  50. Did Eliza fool the Hungarian?
3

I only know a handful of these, so I won’t give away any answers for the serious players.

WRT to #18, didn’t he get the first sign on the day before his birthday? It wasn’t until later the next day that he found out he was an Old One.

4
  1. If we built a new version of England’s famous structure at, say, Windsor, and brought Phoebe Halliwell’s first husband there, what punny phrase might come to mind?

Bringing Cole to New Castle.

5

[highjack] If I didn’t believe in “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”, I would admit my undying love to Bricker. [highjack ends abruptly…was that outloud?]

6
  1. Just how did I end up getting the fence whitewashed AND collect loot from all the boys that did it?

Made it seem like fun.

  1. Was there a lady in there? Or a tiger?
    No one knows. Except maybe the barbarian princess.

  2. As far as photoreceptors go, rods are better at distinguishing colors.
    Nope. The cones are sensitive to color. But there are more rods.

  3. What advice might you give to Laius and Jocasta’s son?

The same as Tom Lehrer:

“So be sweet and kind to mother,
Now and then have a chat.
Buy her candy or some flowers,
Or a brand new hat.
But maybe you had better let it go at that.”

(Also, don’t pick fights with strange men on the road.)

  1. In what demon dimension are the dance of shame and the dance of joy disturbingly similar?
    The Dimension of Pain?

  2. There is no Dana, only Zuul.
    Who ya gonna call?

  3. 20 N-M.

  4. What sort of aircraft is Snoopy’s doghouse?
    A Sopwith Camel

  5. You know – it’s like that song about the ship sinking, “The Wreck of the F. Scott Fitzgerald.”
    F. Scott Fitzgerald was an author. The Edmund Fitzgerald was an ore freighter, whose story was made famous by Gordon Lightfoot.

  6. Lord Mayor of London, three times, and all because his cat could catch mice!
    Dick Whittington?

  7. If you can’t connect to port 80, you are going to have a hard time with this Challenge.

For a computer professional, I’m woefully ignorant about these details, but I think this is the port assigned to http connections for internet servers.

  1. Apparently, Wilbur’s new best friend is Cardigan the Lamb.
    Talk about milking the classics!

Is there a sequel to Charlotte’s Web?
27. Having watched the Democratic primary race thus far, I think Kubler-Ross missed the sixth stage: utter stupefaction.

The stages of loss: denial, anger, grief, acceptance (and had to look up bargaining and depression)
28. What’s that Keats poem about the fairy creature that enthralls the knight?
La Belle Dame Sans Merci. (Had to look up the title – all I remembered was the “palely loitering” line.

  1. How did Jack Ryan’s friend Mr. Clark come to be a CIA operative?
    Via a really bad book in which he take revenge on some drug dealers.

  2. Five days after Yom Kippur – time to eat outside in the lean-to!
    It’s called a Sukkoth.

  3. Paul and Jamie turn out to be distant cousins.
    Mad About You.

  4. Armand and Albert have a drag nightclub in Miami.
    The Cage Aux Folles, brought to the Big Screen as The Birdcage with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams

7

The only ones I knew offhand that haven’t been answered yet.

**

So why didn’t he reappear? shrug He wasn’t a very good illusionist.

An automated program that simulates a user, usually programmed with a set of commands that ops can use to perform tasks, such as give pithy sayings and kick/ban.

So does that make Mabel, like, her own aunt or something? (Oops, this one WAS answered, but in a very straight out way. I prefer to answer Bricker’s challenges with references/wit. :))

8
  1. Othello loved too well, but not wisely.
    Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak
    Of one that loved not wisely but too well;     Act 5, Scene 2

I obviously don’t expect to win, but I might just help someone out.

9

Fortunately Skinny Boy had all the inside information.

10

***Originally posted by Bricker ***
8. What was the significance of the librarian’s name in the episode that sent Spock back in time to a frozen wasteland?

His name was wholly apt for someone managing all knowledge: Mr. Atoz (A to Z).

10. What advice might you give to Laius and Jocasta’s son?

Never marry anyone, especially anyone old enough to be your mother.

43. Husker-Du!

Gseundheit!

48. Sweet Loretta seemed to be confused about the difference between a cleaner and a frying pan.

Really?!? Get Back!

49. What’s El Coqui to a Puerto Rican?

The boogieman

**50. Did Eliza fool the Hungarian? **

She fooled that hairy hound from Budapest (I never met a ruda pest) FAIRly well.

11

Finagle: 18
Leaper :3
Manatee: 4 (maybe 5, but more detail would show that your sneezy answer was not just a clever coincidence.)

People posting only one answer won’t get scored, for reasons that will become obvious as we get down to the wire.

  • Rick
12

1. If we built a new version of England’s famous structure at, say, Windsor, and brought Phoebe Halliwell’s first husband there, what punny phrase might come to mind?
Bringing Cole to New Castle.

2. Just how did I end up getting the fence whitewashed AND collect loot from all the boys that did it?
Made it seem like fun.

3. How many different four-man bobsled team combinations may be assembled from a group of eighteen Jamaicans, assuming each Jamaican has an equal chance of being chosen? (And what movie comes to mind?)
Cool Runnings, and there are 73,440 possible combinations, assuming that you’re not looking for a permutation.

4. Who starred in the porn flick "Buffay: The Vampire Layer?"
Phoebe the porn star, also in Lawrence of A Labia.

5. The death of the baker’s wife was a terrible tragedy, but at least it saved a member of a royal family from a potential sexual harassment suit. He had nothing to do with the Giant, though.
The Baker’s Wife gets crushed by the Giantess (damn Jack and his silly ideas) but Charming will never get ratted out for groping her merrily in the glades (Any Moment!)

6. Was there a lady in there? Or a tiger?
Never trust semi-barbaric kings when it comes to dealing with administering justice: 50-50 chance of getting eaten or getting married. Nasty odds.

7. As far as photoreceptors go, rods are better at distinguishing colors.
You mean cones. They distinguish colors.

8. What was the significance of the librarian’s name in the episode that sent Spock back in time to a frozen wasteland?
He knew everything - Mr. Atoz. A to Z.

9. The saint that was known as the Little Flower - to what order did she belong?
She was a Carmelite nun. Sweet, gooey caramel.

10. What advice might you give to Laius and Jocasta’s son?
Your mother is not a MILF, so hands off.

13

lno: 9

14

I knew 15, maybe 16. Finagle has already beat that, so I’m just marking time.

  1. Today, this is called “pulling a Sawyer.”

  2. “We pay the teller off in gold, in hopes the ending will be told.”
    –Terrapin Station

  3. Rods & Cones, besides being a defunct rock band, are cells in the retina. The color-wise ones are mostly in the center, so most folks can’t see much color peripherally.

  4. Only if value=power.

  5. He showed up in the fridge, and made a mess on the counter. The dame ended up inside a gargoyle.

  6. Sopwith Camel

  7. You mean by Gordon Light-on-Daisy’s-dock?

  8. Dick Whittington, he of the snug hatband.

  9. White, of Strunk and White, wanted to be known for more serious works.

  10. Stages of grief, lecterns of boredom.

  11. Elmer, named for a non-whooping crane.

  12. Car 54 on a Hot Tin Roof?

  13. Punkish band named for a Scandinavian memory game.

  14. The Birdcage.

  15. The Red Balloon?

  16. By Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf Aids…in which Doris gets her oats.

  17. Indeed she did. The Hungarian was a bit of a poser, himself.

15

I never look this stuff up. It’s not sporting. :slight_smile:

16

Doh.

3. How many different four-man bobsled team combinations may be assembled from a group of eighteen Jamaicans, assuming each Jamaican has an equal chance of being chosen? (And what movie comes to mind?)
Cool Runnings, and there are 73,440 possible permutations, and 3060 combinations, and I’m sober, I swear.

And the next bunch…

11. How did the Great Brain manage to put together a winning tug of war team of Gentiles against the Mormons?
He sneaked out in the middle of the night with his friend and put wooden stakes in the ground covered by mud. The next day his team went out and braced their feet against the stakes and won the contest.

12. Assuming a haploid number of fifteen chromosomes, how many different combinations of paternal and maternal chromosomes are possible for the gametes?
2^15.

13. In what demon dimension are the dance of shame and the dance of joy disturbingly similar?
Pylea.

14. If you had a nickel for each distinct way to make change for a dollar, how much more (or less) money would you have than a person who had the most money without being able to make change for a dollar?
Well, if I have a pile of $20s, I can’t make change for a dollar, but you mean someone who has three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies for $1.19 but no change for a dollar. And there are 293 ways to make change for a dollar (including a dollar coin, either Susan B or Sacajawea) which is $14.65, less the buck nineteen, and you’ve got thirteen dollars and forty-six cents there, chief.

15. Value corrupts, and absolute value corrupts absolutely. Right?
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, but I wish that the absolute value of my debt could be given to me in cold, hard cash.

16. There is no Dana, only Zuul.
Don’t cross the streams, Ray.

17. Daniel killed Ed Drummond, but was he crazy?
According to a British jury in 1843, he sure was.

18. Which of the six signs did Will get for his birthday, when he discovered he was an Old One?
Iron.

19. A ten-newton force is required to hold a stretched spring 2 meters from its rest position. What is the potential energy of the stretched spring?
F = k x is Hooke’s law. We can use that to find that k must be 5. Then the potential energy is 1/2 k x^2, or 1/2 (5) (2)^2 = 1/2 * 5 * 4 = 10 joules.

20. If Chip hadn’t shown up for his and Roy Gublik’s double date with the girls, what might have happened?
Ross might have taken Rachel to the prom.

(Do you want me to include all previous answers in each post, or may I answer in blocks of 10?)

17

It’s easier to count correct answers in a single post, so if you don’t mind making them cummulative…

Right now, lno: 11. :smiley:

18

Allrighty then. Let’s hope I remember not to post all of the answers before I put them in a single post …

21. Major Odal was good at duels.
Somehow, Major Odal is killing people in the dueling machine. And it’s all Ben Bova’s fault. And you used this in challenge #4; don’t try to fool me.

22. What sort of aircraft is Snoopy’s doghouse?
Sopwith Camel.

23. You know - it’s like that song about the ship sinking, 'The Wreck of the F. Scott Fitzgerald.'
F Scott Fitzgerald was an author, and the Edmund Fitzgerald was the ship that sank.

24. Lord Mayor of London, three times, and all because his cat could catch mice!
Dick Whittington, my good man.

25. If you can’t connect to port 80, you are going to have a hard time with this Challenge.
Because you need http traffic to reach the boards.

26. Apparently, Wilbur’s new best friend is Cardigan the Lamb. Talk about milking the classics!
Charlotte’s Web 2: Pork Ain’t Kosher. Er, I mean, Wilbur’s Great Adventure.

27. Having watched the Democratic primary race thus far, I think Kubler-Ross missed the sixth stage: utter stupefaction.
The stages of loss: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. I’m still in stage 1. Dean is not unelectable. HE’S NOT HE’S NOT HE’S NOT IT’S YOUR FAULT FOR SAYING HE IS BUT VOTE FOR HIM AND I’LL SEND YOU A BOTTLE OF SCOTCH OH GOD THIS SUCKS OH WHAT THE HELL I can always move to Canada.

28. What’s that Keats poem about the fairy creature that enthralls the knight?
La belle dame sans merci.

29. Eugene O’Neill’s architect - the one that could only design ugly, stocky buildings.
William “Billy” Brown. That skank Margaret shafted him.

30. What Shakespeare character didn’t love well, or wisely?
Othello.

19

lno, the one you missed was #4. It was actually Phoebe’s twin sister Ursula acting in the porn movies, although Ursula told them her name was Phoebe.

20

lno: 10, and good point; I forgot that The Dueling Machine had made an appearance earlier.