# Trivia Dominoes III — Play Off the Last Bit of Trivia

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952>\
**Category:** Thread Games\
**Created:** [April 12, 2025, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952 "2025-04-12T05:32:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 34

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/661 "2025-09-01T15:10:51Z")

</div>

The Allen wrench is named after William G. Allen. He didn’t invent it, but he did patent a means of manufacturing them and hexagonal socket screws in 1910. His company popularized them.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/662 "2025-09-01T15:29:03Z")

</div>

The crescent wrench, an adjustable wrench, is called by that name in the USA because it was patented in the early 1900s by the Crescent Tool Company. Elsewhere the tool is known as an ‘adjustable spanner’ or a ‘shifting spanner’.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/663 "2025-09-01T15:38:10Z")

</div>

The adjustable wrench dates from at least 1892 in Sweden, with the Enköping Mekaniska Verkstad company in Enköping, Sweden. Their inventions include other hand tools like the pipe wrench (or plumber’s wrench).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/664 "2025-09-01T15:39:25Z")

</div>

In the _Star Wars_ films, a hydrospanner is a particular variety of tool, used in the repair of starships. The exact nature of a hydrospanner was not ever divulged in the films, but in other licensed media (particularly books), the hydrospanner has been described as a hydraulically-boosted socket wrench and bit driver.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [September 1, 2025, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/665 "2025-09-01T21:11:31Z")

</div>

George Lucas has said that he loosely based the evil Emperor Palpatine on President Richard Nixon, whose yearslong fall from political grace in the Watergate Scandal was taking place as Lucas wrote the screenplay for what became _Star Wars_.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2025, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/666 "2025-09-01T21:44:27Z")

</div>

_Doonesbury_ was one of the first comic strips to depict and satirize real-life political figures. The strip often featured Nixon and his aides, highlighting the paranoia and cover-up efforts of the administration.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [September 3, 2025, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/667 "2025-09-03T04:12:53Z")

</div>

in his cartoon strip _Doonesbury_, Garry Trudeau depicted the White House in the latter days of the Watergate Scandal as being surrounded by a fortified wall, symbolizing President Richard Nixon’s hunkering down and refusal to come clean with the American people. After Gerald Ford became President in August 1974, the wall in the strip was shown being torn down and taken away.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/668 "2025-09-03T04:27:59Z")

</div>

Cartoonist Garry Trudeau is the great-grandson of Edward Livingston Trudeau, a physician who was a public health pioneer, particularly in the treatment of tuberculosis. Trudeau’s work in the late 19th century was instrumental in establishing modern principles for disease prevention and control.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/669 "2025-09-03T18:43:54Z")

</div>

“The Four Marys” (Mary Beaton, Mary Seton, Mary Livingston, and Mary Fleming) were ladies-in-waiting to Mary Queen of Scots.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/670 "2025-09-03T19:09:05Z")

</div>

Actress Mary McCormack appeared seven times as a guest on _The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson_. On her fourth visit in 2009, she gave the host, Craig Ferguson, a novelty coffee mug in the shape of a rattlesnake from the gift shop of the American International Rattlesnake Museum in Albuquerque, NM. After his last show, Ferguson donated the mug back to the museum.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/671 "2025-09-03T19:19:09Z")

</div>

_In Plain Sight_ was a cable television drama series, airing from 2008-2012. It starred Mary McCormack as Mary Shannon, a deputy U.S. Marshal assigned to the Federal Witness Protection Program in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The series also starred Fred Weller and Paul Ben-Victor as Mary’s colleagues in the Marshals Service, and Lesley Ann Warren as Mary’s eccentric mother.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/672 "2025-09-03T19:38:27Z")

</div>

_U.S. Marshals_ is a crime action film starring Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, and Robert Downey, Jr. Released in 1998, the movie centers on the attempt by Jones and his team of Marshals to capture Snipes, a fugitive on the run for allegedly stealing top-secret US Government files.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/673 "2025-09-03T19:48:48Z")

</div>

Tommy Lee Jones won an Oscar for his performance in _The Fugitive_. That year he beat out  
Ralph Fiennes in _Schindler’s List_  
Leonardo DiCaprio in _What’s Eating Gilbert Grape_  
Denzel Washington in _Philadelphia_ (not nominated)  
Val Kilmer in _Tombstone_ (not nominated)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [September 3, 2025, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/674 "2025-09-03T21:02:06Z")

</div>

Denzel Washington earned his first Oscar playing Trip, an escaped slave and rebellious soldier in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, in the 1989 Civil War movie _Glory_.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/675 "2025-09-03T21:16:32Z")

</div>

The 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was the second African-American regiment. The first one was the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment. It was initially organized in 1862 at Fort Scott, KS. It was the first African-American regiment to see combat during the Civil War, in the skirmish at Island Mound, in Bates County, Missouri, in October 1862. The Union Army’s victory here is notable as the first known event in which an African-American regiment engaged in combat against Confederate forces during the war.

•

Added — The Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site, at DD coordinates ▲ 38.236, -94.439, preserves the site.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/676 "2025-09-04T03:24:28Z")

</div>

The Boston Celtics, who play in Boston, Massachusetts, have won a record 18 National Basketball Association championships, most recently in 2024.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![knoodler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ccd318/32.png) [@knoodler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knoodler)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/677 "2025-09-04T04:25:55Z")

</div>

It is illegal to take a lion to the movies in Boston, MA. It is also illegal for a gorilla to ride in the back seat of a car, and to chase or otherwise scare pigeons.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/678 "2025-09-04T10:33:38Z")

</div>

In 1969 John Rendall and Anthony Bourke of London, England bought a lion cub from a department store. They raised him in their London apartment and they would drive him around London in their convertible Mercedes-Benz car.

[![](https://i.imgur.com/GqE2tSC.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/GqE2tSC.jpeg)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/679 "2025-09-04T12:13:08Z")

</div>

In England, the nickname “Merc” is frequently used in reference to automobiles made by Mercedes-Benz. In the United States, however, “Merc” has been traditionally a nickname for automobiles made by Mercury, a now-defunct marque owned by Ford.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2025, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952/680 "2025-09-04T13:40:57Z")

</div>

In the US, Merc is also for Mercury motor boat engines, `[https://www.mercurymarine.com](https://www.mercurymarine.com)`.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952.md?page=33)

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-dominoes-iii-play-off-the-last-bit-of-trivia/1016952.md?page=35)
