# Complete the useless fact, if you can! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 30, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338 "2009-03-30T18:22:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/41 "2009-04-01T02:22:22Z")
What’s a discovered check (other than something from your bank which you’re surprised to find at the bottom of a drawer)? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/42 "2009-04-01T02:38:25Z")
Discovered check is when you make a move that puts your opponent in check, but he’s in check from some other piece from the one you moved. For instance, if I have my rook in one corner of the board, and the enemy’s king is in an adjacent corner, with nothing in between except my bishop, if I move my bishop, then the king will be in check from the rook. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/43 "2009-04-01T15:14:03Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > What’s a discovered check (other than something from your bank which you’re surprised to find at the bottom of a drawer)? > [@Chronos](#): > > Discovered check is when you make a move that puts your opponent in check, but he’s in check from some other piece from the one you moved. For instance, if I have my rook in one corner of the board, and the enemy’s king is in an adjacent corner, with nothing in between except my bishop, if I move my bishop, then the king will be in check from the rook. Quite so. And if the piece moving out of the way (to reveal check) gives check itself, that’s called ‘double check’. Next one: In international sport, America would play the Cook Islands at …? ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/44 "2009-04-01T15:28:52Z")
> [@glee](#): > > In international sport, America would play the Cook Islands at …? Rugby union? ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/45 "2009-04-01T19:17:57Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Quite so. > > And if the piece moving out of the way (to reveal check) gives check itself, that’s called ‘double check’. > > Next one: > > In international sport, America would play the Cook Islands at …? As I recall, the Cook Islands has an Association football (soccer) team, which could theoretically play the USA in the World Cup if both sides advanced through regional qualifying. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/46 "2009-04-01T20:24:11Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > As I recall, the Cook Islands has an Association football (soccer) team, which could theoretically play the USA in the World Cup if both sides advanced through regional qualifying. Ah, I didn’t know that. I’ve actually seen both the US and the Cook Islands in the same international sporting event. If they didn’t play, it was only because they were in different qualifying pools. > [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](#): > > Rugby union? Right, but I need a little more detail… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/47 "2009-04-01T20:55:02Z")
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. averred that he often found himself “thinking fond thoughts of Marlene [Dietrich],” prompted by observations of waitstaff carrying _salad vinaigrette_. This Proustian association was a consequence of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/48 "2009-04-02T04:15:43Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Douglas Fairbanks Jr. averred that he often found himself “thinking fond thoughts of Marlene [Dietrich],” prompted by observations of waitstaff carrying _salad vinaigrette_. This Proustian association was a consequence of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. Must you be such a douche? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/49 "2009-04-02T13:51:42Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Must you be such a douche? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/50 "2009-04-02T14:40:13Z")
Springs1? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/51 "2009-04-02T17:50:47Z")
involuntary memory ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/52 "2009-04-02T21:04:54Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > 😕 I was hoping that **Larry Mudd** would catch that right away, as I thought he might get a laugh out of it, but to [clear things up](http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/03/dietrich-kennedy200903?currentPage=1)… [QUOTE=Vanity Fair] Dietrich, on the other hand, was an intrepid and pliant lover. When her daughter asked her later in life why she had had so many sexual partners, Marlene responded with a shrug and said, “They asked.” She clearly thrived on pleasing her partners and didn’t believe in condoms, finding men “so grateful when you tell them they don’t have to wear it.” Once she discovered diaphragms, she called them “the greatest invention since Pan-Cake makeup.” Until then, she had sworn by her secret weapon against pregnancy: **douching with ice-cold water and wine vinegar** , which she carried with her by the case everywhere she went. (Decades later another of her co-stars and grand amours, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., warmly recalled their “lovely liaison,” adding, **“You know, sometimes when I am in a restaurant and a waiter walks by with a salad vinaigrette, I’ll find myself thinking fond thoughts of Marlene.”** ) [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/53 "2009-04-04T03:13:44Z")
Key West is the city with the most \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ cats per capita in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/54 "2009-04-04T03:31:36Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Key West is the city with the most \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ cats per capita in the U.S. Feral? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/55 "2009-04-04T03:35:50Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Key West is the city with the most \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ cats per capita in the U.S. 6 toed ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/56 "2009-04-04T05:46:23Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > 6 toed Polydactyl cats is indeed correct. If you have \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, you either have three \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, or you’ve got something that will soak up quite a bit of water. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338/57 "2009-04-04T08:21:16Z")
> [@glee](#): > > In international sport, America would play the Cook Islands at …? > [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](#): > > Rugby union? Right, but I need a little more detail… \*\*In international sport, America would play the Cook Islands at Rugby Union …? \*\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/complete-the-useless-fact-if-you-can/491338.md?page=2)