# Take the Chronos Literary Trivia Challange-- Win a prize! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882 "2003-06-27T23:22:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882/41 "2003-07-06T01:57:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > **12 Who is credited with inventing the waterbed? > Robert A. Heinlein (_Stranger in a Strange Land_)** [Nitpick] This is where it was first published, but you can’t know that he invented it unless you have _Expanded Universe_ where (in _The Happy Days Ahead_) he says “Some joker tried to patent the water bed to shut out competition, and discovered that he could not because it was in the public domain, haveing been described in detail in STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND. It had been mentioned in stories of mine as far back as 1941 and several times after that”… So while your answer is correct, your attribution is not, really. [/Nitpick] ---
**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:** [July 6, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882/42 "2003-07-06T18:21:32Z")
Yeah, I was debating where to put the attribution, but I figured that since the actual inventing occured in _Stranger_, that was more significant. And really, I’m surprised that there haven’t been any other nitpicks. But then, it looks like **Fenris** and **Qadgop** are both out of town… ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882/43 "2003-07-07T00:31:20Z")
Sorry, all of those answers previously given are wrong. These are the correct answers: 01 What is the name of the Many-Colored Death? **Fnord** 02 What was the surname of the Kings and Queens of Cair Paravel? **Who cairs? Get it? Har!** 03 What can penetrate a General Products hull? **A General Products Hull Penetrator** 04 Who started his naval career by fighting a fair duel with unloaded pistols? **Fnord** 05 What nationality was Alladin? **Fnord** 06 What are the names of the planets interior to Barsoom? **Gin, Scotch, and Whiskey** 07 What was Charles Ingals’ pet name for his second daughter? **Neener-neener-pumkin-head** 08 Where may one see a painting of a woman from off the street, so shameless but oh so fair? **Fnord** 09 What is the most remarkable property of the Island of Laputa? **Fnord** 10 How might the corpse of Pap Finn be recognized? **It’ll be dead** 11 What former slave has a tree on her back? **Fnord** 12 Who is credited with inventing the waterbed? **Ron Jeremy** 13 Which Valar are mentioned by name in _The Lord of the Rings_? **Fnord** 14 What was the name of the swordsmith through whom Domingo Montoya did business? **Fnord** 15 Who speaks for the trees? **The Piggys** 16 How does the Dragon of Grindly Grun like his damsels? **Grindly** 17 As precisely as possible, when did Pollux and Castor Stone first set foot on Mars? **Fnord** 18 Our next item up for bids, what is Lot 666? **Lot’s not gonna take it anymore, and becomes Lot 666, Champion of Hell** 19 How might one cuss another out, in Lapin? **Yipee-kai-ae, motherfucker** 20 By what name is Artanis better known? **Fnord** 21 What is great for destruction, and would also suffice for the end of the world? **The Death Star** 22 By what name was _Le Noir Faineant_ better known? **Fnord** 23 Where does the moon-bird rest in the peppermint wind? **Fnord** 24 What color is Petunia Dursley’s hair? **Argyle** 25 Night turn to noon, and rivers burn with frozen fire, ere what? **Fnord** 26 How does one seriously cramp a wizard’s style? **With a Wizard Style Cramper** 27 By what name was Hawkeye called (incorrectly, he might add) by his enemies? **Fnord** 28 His name is Mudd. In whose tent were his belongings left after his demise? **Fnord** 29 How would the Story of Henry Sugar have ended, were it fiction? **Fnord** 30 What did the catepillar eat on Saturday? **Fnord** 31 By what element is the _Nautilus_ powered? **I know naut.** 32 How much does it cost to whitewash a fence? **Fnord** 33 Who had dogs named Fortinbras and Ananda? **Fnord** 34 Everyone knows that the _Rolling Stone_ gathers no moss. What does it accumulate on its hull instead? **Astroturf** 35 Which two of Asimov’s stories feature positronic robots built without regard for the Three Laws? **The Terminator and The Matrix** 36 What is Jon Arbuckle’s profession? **He didn’t qualify for swashbuckler, so he became an arbuckler instead.** 37 Against whom was Hephestos matched in the Trojan War? **Xena** 38 What sport was invented by Bandobras Took? **Fnord** 39 What is the Lenni-Lenape word for “big serpent”? **Holy shit, that’s a big serpent!** 40 How is The Last Question to be answered? **A sphincter says what?** 41 What are Laughs Brightly and Golden Voice called by their closest companions? **Fnord** 42 Upon whose globular figure, her name and three quarters from hip to hip, may one find countries? **Fnord** 43 What is located at Star’s End? **Has-been actors, mucisians, writers, etc.** 44 Why are the Seven Stars no more than seven? **There are eight stars!** 45 With whom does Time amble? **An ambulance driver** 46 What instrument did Opus the Penguin play? **Fnord** 47 In what base should pi be expressed, to find an image of a circle drawn in the digits? **All your base** 48 Who or what is Edwin Frazier’s muse? **Fnord** 49 What element did the _Skylark_ use for fuel? **On a lark I’m gonna say… Fnord** 50 If the only surviving output from the most powerful computer ever built is to be trusted, what do you get when you multiply six by nine? **Sixty-nine, dude!** ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882/44 "2003-07-07T02:14:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*And really, I’m surprised that there haven’t been any other nitpicks. > \*\* Oh, ho! So nitpicks are allowed! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*49 What element did the _Skylark_ use for fuel? > \*\* The original Skylark (of Space) was powered by copper, but Skylark Three was powered by uranium. From Chapter 14–Interstellar Extermination Seaton: “…we can and will use uranium, and that will give us something like four times the acceleration possible with copper.” And the baby has been at my collection again, so I can’t find **Skylark of Valeron** , but I’m sure Doc Smith thought up something new and fantastic for the power source on that puppy. ---
**Author:** ![Quantum\_Butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e79b87/32.png) [@Quantum\_Butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quantum_Butterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882/45 "2003-07-07T03:46:35Z")
This was fun! Hey **Chronos** , are you going to do another one? Sometime soon? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sc913](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@sc913](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sc913)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882/46 "2003-07-07T07:13:51Z")
Oh, ok, as long as we’re nitpicking… Question 13: Which Valar are mentioned by name in LOTR?: Elbereth (i.e. Varda), Morgoth, Oromë. I didn’t mention Morgoth/Melkor because, quoting Valaquenta, “Melkor is counted no longer among the Valar, and his name is not spoken upon Earth”. So I don’t think Morgoth should be counted among the Valar. I still think all three of my answers were absolutely right :p. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882/47 "2003-07-07T20:58:51Z")
I’ll accept the nitpick on Melkor (I was mostly wondering if anyone else noticed the reference to Oromë), but that doesn’t change the final outcome, anyway. A note to all students: If you’re giving an answer that you think might be different than what was intended, explain your reasoning. Had **sc913** said in his answer that he was excluding Melkor and why, he would have immediately gotten full credit. And _Skylark Three_ is a different vessel than _Skylark_, and besides that, nobody answered “uranium” for that question, anyway. As for another one, well, to give you ann idea of how long this took me, I was figuring out the answer to question 17 over Christmas break. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882/48 "2003-07-07T21:40:42Z")
As to the Skylark question, I was just nipicking for the sake of nits. I wasn’t expecting any credit–unless…could I get a prize for the most nits picked? ---
**Author:** ![sc913](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@sc913](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sc913)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882/49 "2003-07-08T05:34:02Z")
I nitpicked because he nitpicked :). My first thought when I opened this thread was “How long must this have taken him??”. Great work. Effort is appreciated. This was fun… Maybe (if you haven’t exhausted your trivia store) we can have smaller versions of this in the future? 10 questions, a couple of days to answer them, no prizes except bragging rights? ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882/50 "2003-07-08T15:40:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*03 What can penetrate a General Products hull? > Visible light and gravity (“Neutron Star”) > \*\* Correct answer: Light visible to any of the races who are customers of the Puppeteers. This includes ultraviolet (and maybe **Chronos** ). Also, anit-matter can penetrate the hull, not to mention dissolving it. Ha! Another nit picked! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-chronos-literary-trivia-challange-win-a-prize/184882.md?page=2)