# What is your favorite trivia question (and answer)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2013, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028 "2013-07-09T11:04:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jungian\_Camisole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@Jungian\_Camisole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jungian_Camisole)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/41 "2013-07-10T00:55:31Z")
If someone could give me the how-to on how to post the spoiler link, I’d be much obliged. I think I may have a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/42 "2013-07-10T00:58:31Z")
> [@Jungian\_Camisole](#): > > If someone could give me the how-to on how to post the spoiler link, I’d be much obliged. I think I may have a good one. You type [spoiler] before the part you want to hide and [/spoiler] after it. But take out the spaces. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/43 "2013-07-10T01:04:45Z")
Well since some folks are trying to guess the 3 letter word with no vowels and no ‘y’, I might as well give the answer (of course that’s assuming that I’m right). **nth** - for example) That was measured to the **nth** degree. ---
**Author:** ![Jungian\_Camisole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@Jungian\_Camisole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jungian_Camisole)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/44 "2013-07-10T01:06:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You type [spoiler] before the part you want to hide and [/spoiler] after it. But take out the spaces. Sweet! Thanks, **Little Nemo**. Name the actress who was on the Board of Directors of a major American corporation. Joan Crawford, who inherited her roll on the board of Pepsico after the death of her husband, Alfred Steel. This little tidbit is probably common knowledge on this board, but knowing this made me a tidy sum of money. The lesson: read everything, no matter how innocuous. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/45 "2013-07-10T01:07:55Z")
What is the significance of _unchained_ in the title of the famous song _Unchained Melody_? It was first played in a movie named [Unchained](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048762/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), in which an imprisoned convict wrestles with thoughts of escape. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/46 "2013-07-10T01:31:53Z")
Which U.S. state is the farthest east? Alaska ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/47 "2013-07-10T01:48:59Z")
Which of the mainland 48 states has the northernmost point? Minnesota mmm ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/48 "2013-07-10T02:18:32Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Well since some folks are trying to guess the 3 letter word with no vowels and no ‘y’, I might as well give the answer (of course that’s assuming that I’m right). > > **nth** - for example) That was measured to the **nth** degree. Yes, that is the one I was thinking of, although it would not surprise me if other dopers have better ones. Cwm is sometimes given but not as common. I am impressed MMM got the answer to “wrought” and wonder if he looked it up. We see this so commonly: “What hath God wrought?” And yet I meet few who can answer the question. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/49 "2013-07-10T02:23:47Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > 1. Work > > 2. Ummm…pwn? 🙂 > > 3. Is there an objective answer to this? > mmm Hey; for a gamer, pwn is probably a better answer than mine. And easy. The lion v tiger is a lame attempt to mock an infamous dope thread attempting to answer the question… ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/50 "2013-07-10T03:01:07Z")
If you drop a $5 bill, Lincoln will always land face-up. His face is not well-defined, but definitely visible through the columns of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the bill. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/51 "2013-07-10T03:13:41Z")
What’s the most elastic substance? There’s no such thing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/52 "2013-07-10T03:17:22Z")
> [@Civil\_Guy](#): > > If you drop a $5 bill, Lincoln will always land face-up. > > His face is not well-defined, but definitely visible through the columns of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the bill. The same is true of a standard issue penny. I’ve heard this asked as a trick question, “What are odds of a penny landing Lincoln side up?” ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/53 "2013-07-10T03:25:05Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > No, that’s an abbreviation of Missus, not a word in itself. My own quibble, if I were being pedantic, would be that _letters_ aren’t vowels or consonants, Wheel of Fortune be damned. It’s phonemes that are vowels or consonants. But it’s all in fun, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/54 "2013-07-10T03:34:36Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > I am impressed MMM got the answer to “wrought” and wonder if he looked it up. We see this so commonly: “What hath God wrought?” And yet I meet few who can answer the question. Interesting. While I don’t necessarily think it’s common knowledge, I didn’t think it was that obscure, either. Then again, I was an English major. (Still, when I first heard the phrase “wrought iron,” I had to look it up and realized it means something like “worked iron.”) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/55 "2013-07-10T04:07:49Z")
If you head due north from the westernmost point of South America, what’s the first US state that you hit? Florida. In fact, you’re only about a degree west of Miami. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/56 "2013-07-10T04:21:09Z")
Two of them: What US city had, in the same year, professional teams reach the Super Bowl, World Series, NHL Finals and NBA Finals… and what year? Philadelphia, 1980 What pop song had the following attributes: 1. Charted 3 times (UK top-40) in three consecutive decades and twice in the US, also in consecutive decades. (In the US, I believe it hit the Billboard top-100 in the first decade, but I can’t confirm this.) 2. Each successive time it charted, it ranked higher in the charts than the times before. In the UK, it reached #11, #5, and #1. In the US it reached #6 and #1. 3. Each version was different from the other (i.e., 3 different versions of the song in the UK, 2 (or 3, depending on the top-100 question) different versions in the US) 4. All done by the same artist 5. The last time it charted (US and UK), it was the biggest selling song of the year for both markets. 6. As a bonus condition, the final version of this song charted in Canada for 3 years, and was #1 for 46 non-consecutive weeks. Elton John’s _Candle In the Wind_. I could have added that it was the biggest selling pop song since “White Christmas”, but that one usually gives it away. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/57 "2013-07-10T10:13:58Z")
> [@Jungian\_Camisole](#): > > Sweet! Thanks, **Little Nemo**. > > Name the actress who was on the Board of Directors of a major American corporation. > > Joan Crawford, who inherited her roll on the board of Pepsico after the death of her husband, Alfred Steel. > > This little tidbit is probably common knowledge on this board, but knowing this made me a tidy sum of money. The lesson: read everything, no matter how innocuous. 😉 Shirley Temple Black has been on several US BoDs… I’ll bet I could find others ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/58 "2013-07-10T10:59:11Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > I am impressed MMM got the answer to “wrought” and wonder if he looked it up. We see this so commonly: “What hath God wrought?” And yet I meet few who can answer the question. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Interesting. While I don’t necessarily think it’s common knowledge, I didn’t think it was that obscure, either. Then again, I was an English major. (Still, when I first heard the phrase “wrought iron,” I had to look it up and realized it means something like “worked iron.”) I had looked up wrought iron at some point as well. Who is the only non-human to testify before congress? (I suspect many will know this) **Elmo** (in 2002 to appeal for more money to be spent on musical instruments in schools). ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/59 "2013-07-10T11:41:34Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > My own quibble, if I were being pedantic, would be that _letters_ aren’t vowels or consonants, Wheel of Fortune be damned. It’s phonemes that are vowels or consonants. But it’s all in fun, I suppose. I worded the question in [Post 5](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16455346&postcount=5) this way: “What commonly used English 3 letter word contains neither a vowel nor a y?” However, I was unaware of the fine point you made about the definition of consonant, so thanks for teaching me something. It does appear either W of F or some other poisonous influence is swaying the polloi about usage, though. [Definition of CONSONANT](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consonant) : one of a class of speech sounds (as \p, \g, , \l, \s, \r) characterized by constriction or closure at one or more points in the breath channel; **also : a letter representing a consonant —usually used in English of any letter except a, e, i, o, and u** (bolding by CP) ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028/60 "2013-07-10T12:00:44Z")
Originally Posted by Civil Guy _“If you drop a $5 bill, Lincoln will always land face-up.”_ > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The same is true of a standard issue penny. I’ve heard this asked as a trick question, “What are odds of a penny landing Lincoln side up?” I am struggling to understand either of these. I cannot see through a $5 bill which has landed face down because the ground prevents it from being backlighted. Even if it did not, the construction of the bill is such that the face is obviously meant to be seen from the front of the bill. What I see if I look from the back through a backlighted bill is that forward-looking face from behind, which is a reversed image. By no contortion is it “face-up.” For example, as seen from the back of the $5 bill, the mole on Lincoln’s right nasolabial fold is now on his left nasolabial fold. Obviously not “face up.” And the penny!!! Little help, please? ( I can understand how the odds of a penny landing Lincoln-side up are not exactly 50% because of the assymetry of the coin, but beyond that, I’m lost…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-trivia-question-and-answer/663028.md?page=4)