# 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:** 8
**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, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/141 "2005-01-25T23:36:53Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > 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. I was under the impression that the Black Sea ports did ice over during the worst of the winter; if that’s not true, then the “one port” part of the question becomes invalid. That question to one side, you make one false assumption in your analysis. 🙂 ---
**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, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/142 "2005-01-25T23:59:53Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > \*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). **Polycarp** , \*spelt \* is given as the preferred form of the past participle of the verb \*to spell \* in the two dictionaries sitting on my desk that I have just checked (the \*Concise Oxford Dictionary \* and the _Macquarie Dictionary_). By the way (as a hijack) - happy feast day. I sang at a mass for Australia Day this morning (26 January), which was also the feast of Saint Polycarp. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/143 "2005-01-26T00:08:18Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > **Polycarp** , \*spelt \* is given as the preferred form of the past participle of the verb \*to spell \* in the two dictionaries sitting on my desk that I have just checked (the \*Concise Oxford Dictionary \* and the _Macquarie Dictionary_). Interesting! I’m of course American, but thought I was aware of such variants. Oh well – let’s see what **Peter** has to say about the answers to date. > [@](#): > > By the way (as a hijack) - happy feast day. I sang at a mass for Australia Day this morning (26 January), which was also the feast of Saint Polycarp. Thanks!! In America the feast is February 23. Happy Australia Day!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/144 "2005-01-26T00:20:17Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > In all liklihood, [Babe Ruth](http://www.snopes.com/business/names/babyruth.asp). Yes. The trick being that the answer everyone “knows” isn’t correct actually is. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/145 "2005-01-26T00:38:43Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > 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? Archangelsk, Arctic Ocean (White Sea), the Gulf Stream. Although as others have noted, I suspect Sevastapol and Vladivostok do not usually ice over. ---
**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 26, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/146 "2005-01-26T01:19:21Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Oh well – let’s see what **Peter** has to say about the answers to date. No correct answers so far. This is a trick question, remember. **Cunctator** , are you sure that _meter_ isn’t correct spelling? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/147 "2005-01-26T01:23:39Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > No correct answers so far. This is a trick question, remember. > > **Cunctator** , are you sure that _meter_ isn’t correct spelling? \*Meter \*is correct for a measuring device, such as a water meter. The unit of length is also spelt \*meter \*in the US, but \*metre \*everywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/148 "2005-01-26T01:39:57Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > No correct answers so far. This is a trick question, remember. > > **Cunctator** , are you sure that _meter_ isn’t correct spelling? As \*\*Askance \*\* has said, it depends which word you mean. With no other information, I would always assume that \*meter \* referred to the unit of length. If so, I’d say that the spelling \*meter \* is incorrect, with the correct spelling being _metre_. If you’re referring to the measuring device then yes, \*meter \* is the correct spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/149 "2005-01-26T01:42:40Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I’d say that the spelling \*meter \* is incorrect, with the correct spelling being _metre_. \*Meter \*is correct in the US for the unit of measurement, although I admit it hurts my eyes to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/150 "2005-01-26T04:13:15Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Archangelsk, Arctic Ocean (White Sea), the Gulf Stream. Although as others have noted, I suspect Sevastapol and Vladivostok do not usually ice over. No to Archangelsk – but you’ve got the right idea!! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/151 "2005-01-26T04:25:29Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Which word in this sentence is spelt wrongly: colour, centre or meter? Ah! Obviously, it’s the word just before the colon, which is of course spelt “wrongly”!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/152 "2005-01-26T04:39:23Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > Easy one: George W. Bush is officially the 43rd president of the USA. How many men have served as president before him? Baring trick questions like Presidents under Articles of Confederation or that speaker of the house who was president for a day when the elected one refused to take his oath of office on a Sunday, the answer would be 41. Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and thus is given two numbers. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/153 "2005-01-26T04:45:38Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Archangelsk, Arctic Ocean (White Sea), the Gulf Stream. Although as others have noted, I suspect Sevastapol and Vladivostok do not usually ice over. Right idea, wrong port. Murmansk. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/154 "2005-01-26T04:47:00Z")
The only trick question I can think of is this: In which city is the University of Warwick? ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/155 "2005-01-26T05:31:44Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > 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? Here’s the way I heard it. We were talking about the Articles of Confederation in class. My History teacher, Mr. K: This makes a good bar bet. You ask someone who was the first president of the United States and they’ll say George Washington, but they’ll be wrong. Before the current U.S. government was developed, the government under the articles had a different president. Some kid: So who WAS the first? Mr. K: I don’t even remember. The president really had almost no power at all, so his name is extremely obscure. So before I posted, I checked the ever-reliable (;)) [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) and found out that “[Samuel Huntington](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Huntington_%28statesman%29) was an American jurist, statesman, and revolutionary leader from Connecticut. He served as … the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled.” Anyway, Samuel Huntington was the one I had in mind, but thanks for that link. Looks like there are (at least) three contenders for the title. Consider yourself a valiant warrior in the War On Ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/156 "2005-01-26T07:11:48Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > The only trick question I can think of is this: > > In which city is the University of Warwick? Coventry. 1. You’re on a ship in Atlantic Ocean. Your ship travels East until it reaches the Pacific Ocean. About how many miles did you travel? 2. My bra size is 34B. The number is the band size, and the letter refers to the cup size. How long in inches is the band on my bra? ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/157 "2005-01-26T07:19:14Z")
> [@Kaitlyn](#): > > Coventry. Correct > [@](#): > > 1. You’re on a ship in Atlantic Ocean. Your ship travels East until it reaches the Pacific Ocean. About how many miles did you travel? This is a Panama Canal poser. My guess is about 20 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/158 "2005-01-26T07:22:10Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Correct > This is a Panama Canal poser. My guess is about 20 miles. More like 50, but you got the important part. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/159 "2005-01-26T09:53:49Z")
What is the name of the Pope’s cathedral church in Rome? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_loblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@bob\_loblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_loblaw)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851/160 "2005-01-26T11:16:57Z")
isn’t it just called “the pope’s cathedral”? how many us states are entirely south of canada? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trick-questions/285851.md?page=9)