# Trick Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 21, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851 "2005-01-21T02:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/121 "2005-01-25T03:01:13Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Making a guess: > > The smallest city in England is London – the City proper occupies the least land area? Hmmmm…would that be London or The City? I can believe The City is the smallest city in England. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/122 "2005-01-25T03:01:38Z")
> [@Nightwatch Trailer](#): > > Unless of course Australians use “capitol” in the way Americans use “capital.” In which case, ignore me. We don’t use capit **o** l in the way that Americans use it. Here capit **a** l refers to the appropriate city e.g. Canberra for Australia, Sydney for New South Wales, Brisbane for Queensland etc. ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/123 "2005-01-25T03:14:37Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Ruth Cleveland, daughter of the 22nd and 24th Presidents of the United States. Nope—there’s an even trickier answer. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/124 "2005-01-25T03:15:16Z")
> [@Nightwatch Trailer](#): > > I see…but…“capit **a** l” can refer to the political center of a state or country as well, so the query is ambiguous and not really a trick question. It is a trick question - lots of people say “Sydney.” ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/125 "2005-01-25T03:44:52Z")
> [@carterba](#): > > Nope—there’s an even trickier answer. Wild guess…the candy bar, not being around until the twentieth century, was named after quite a few billion people. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/126 "2005-01-25T05:09:02Z")
I don’t have answers for any of these, so I hope no one minds if I post another president-related question that my history teacher gave us, for just such equations as this thread. Who was the first president of the United States? ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/127 "2005-01-25T05:18:29Z")
Q: Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb? Surprising Answers: 1. Nobody - his tomb is above ground, not buried. 2. In it are Grant _and his wife_. ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/128 "2005-01-25T05:26:11Z")
> [@TJdude825](#): > > I don’t have answers for any of these, so I hope no one minds if I post another president-related question that my history teacher gave us, for just such equations as this thread. > > Who was the first president of the United States? Surprising answer: > [@](#): > > \*\*\*from the book [President Who?](http://www.presidentwho.com/about/) \*\*\* > Samuel Huntington not > George Washington, was the First US President and which State, Virginia not Delaware, was the first to form the Perpetual Union of the United States of America. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/129 "2005-01-25T06:08:40Z")
> [@carterba](#): > > Who is the Baby Ruth candy bar named after? In all liklihood, [Babe Ruth](http://www.snopes.com/business/names/babyruth.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/130 "2005-01-25T06:53:56Z")
> [@TJdude825](#): > > Who was the first president of the United States? Although Samuel Huntington has been proposed, I’ve heard from several sources (including [this page](http://www.marshallhall.org/hanson.html)) that John Hanson qualifies. Which (if either) man did you have in mind? SV1: How many National Football League teams play their home games in New York? SV2: The De Soto automobile was named for Hernando de Soto. The La Salle was named for Robert Cavelier de La Salle. For whom was the Hudson auto named? ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/131 "2005-01-25T07:23:41Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > SV1: How many National Football League teams play their home games in New York? The Jets and Giants both play in New Jersey, but as far as I know the Bills are actually in Buffalo, so…one? Mine is still open… What movie set in Philadelphia won an Academy Award for best cinematography? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/132 "2005-01-25T08:26:31Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Making a guess: > > The smallest city in England is London – the City proper occupies the least land area? You got it - the City of London (never referred to as just “London”) is the ancient part that includes the financial district, the Tower of London, St Paul’s etc. It’s a city in its own right, is less than two square miles in area and has a resident population of only about 7,000 (Wells has ~10,000). Of course, its weekday population is somewhat larger… ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/133 "2005-01-25T12:48:51Z")
Ok then… Why is the premier baseball event called the World Series? Go north from Derry in Northern Ireland. What’s the first foreign country you come to? ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/134 "2005-01-25T13:08:15Z")
> [@Iceland\_Blue](#): > > Why is the premier baseball event called the World Series? Because Americans are unbelievably solipsistic? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/135 "2005-01-25T15:26:27Z")
> [@Iceland\_Blue](#): > > Go north from Derry in Northern Ireland. What’s the first foreign country you come to? Ireland (the Republic) – the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/136 "2005-01-25T15:28:26Z")
Russia has ports on three different oceans, counting the various seas and bays as parts of the ocean to which they open. It has one year-round ice-free port. What port, which ocean is it on, and why is it the only one? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/137 "2005-01-25T20:53:05Z")
Which word in this sentence is spelt wrongly: colour, centre or meter? ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/138 "2005-01-25T21:07:54Z")
Russian Ports. Obviously ports that open to the Arctic do not remain ice free. And those ports that open to the Atlantic via the Baltic also ice over on occasion. But I would expect that the southern Pacific ports of Vladivostok and its neighbors Nakhodka and Vostochnyy remain ice free. And, of course, all ports on or near the Black Sea (which leads to the Med and then the Atlantic), such as Rostov, Novorossiysk, and Tuapse remain ice free all year round. OK, **Polycarp** , what’s the trick? I’ve obviously missed it. Darn it. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/139 "2005-01-25T23:23:42Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Which word in this sentence is spelt wrongly: colour, centre or meter? You’ll have to be a bit more specific. Which spelling conventions are to be used? To me, the only word not spelt correctly in the sentence is _meter_. I’d spell it _metre_. However, from my knowledge of the way Americans spell, I think they’d generally consider there are three incorrect words: \*spelt \* (they’d say _spelled_) \*colour \* (they’d say _color_) \*centre \* (they’d say _center_) ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/140 "2005-01-25T23:33:41Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Which word in this sentence is spelt wrongly: colour, centre or meter? \*Spelt \* is never the correct past tense or past participle of _to spell_. The three “example” words are all correct spellings of words with two or more correct spellings (color, center, and metre are acceptable alternates). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851.md?page=8)