New Scaratings

Warm-up Round (10 Questions, 500 Points each, 14 seconds to answer after posting of Question & 5 Choices; No clues):

1. Alice Springs is located near the geographic center of:____________________.
[Choices: South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica, Australia ]

2. The Scoville scale measures:_____________________.
[Choices: Liquid, Literacy, Pungency, Light intensity, Intelligence ]

3. Ralph Northam was in the news a lot last month. Who is he?___________________
[Choices: NASA scientist, Hollywood director, NBA head coach, Virginia governor, General Motors CEO ]

4. Which famous island was acquired by England as a result of the Anglo-Dutch wars?___________________
[Choices: Manhattan, Madagascar, Christmas Island, Oahu, Reunion ]

5. Which of these people is most likely to be "defrocked"?___________________
[Choices: Attorney, Priest, CEO, Congressman, Professor ]

6. Muesli is a Swiss-German term for a:__________________.
[Choices: Leather jacket, Breakfast food, Bicycle, Chocolate-based candy, Feathered cap ]

7. The yurt is a type of dwelling originating here:__________________.
[Choices: Polynesia, Central Asia, Uganda, Siberia, Peru ]

8. Denny Hamlin made headlines in this sport last month:___________________.
[Choices: Figure skating, Auto racing, College basketball, Soccer, Golf ]

9. The 1912 sinking of the _________________ helped popularize S.O.S. as the primary maritime distress call.
[Choices: Bonhomme Richard, Andrea Doria, Lusitania, Monitor, Titanic ]

10. Finland's capital city, Helsinki, is called The Daughter of the:____________________.
[Choices: Gulf of Riga, Lake Ladoga, North Sea, Baltic Sea, Norwegian Sea ]




Countdown Round (12 Questions, 1000 Points each, Points decrease rapidly from 4 to 16 seconds, and with 3 Clues):

11. Aspirin is also known as ____________________ acid.
[Choices: Diuretic, Panhellenic, Botanic, Frondisaic, Acetylsalicylic ]

12. Which comic book bad guy is the leader of the fictional nation of Latveria?___________________
[Choices: Mongul, Mephisto, Thanos, Sandman, Doctor Doom ]

13. Fear of the sea is classified as:__________________________.
[Choices: Nebulophobia, Hypnophobia, Bassophobia, Thalassophobia, Lalophobia ]

14. Scottsdale is a city that is part of the Greater ________________ area.
[Choices: Phoenix, New Orleans, Austin, San Diego, Denver ]

15. Which of these is a type of small boat?_____________________
[Choices: Tustin, Limbus, Bateau, Gambol, Cassia ]

16. In the Book of Genesis, armed angels guard the __________________________ after The Fall of Man.
[Choices: Red Sea, Garden of Eden, Gates of Hell, City of Jericho, Tomb of Cain ]

17. Rivendell is the name of a location in this author's works:____________________.
[Choices: J.R.R. Tolkien, James Hilton, C.S. Lewis, Ursula Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey ]

18. In the U.S., raw milk cheese can be sold only if it has been aged for at least:_________________.
[Choices: 180 days, 60 days, two years, a week, a year ]

19. Grime music originated here in the early 2000's:_____________________.
[Choices: Kingston, Miami, Port-of-Spain, Amsterdam, London ]

20. The second tallest penguin species is the __________________ penguin.
[Choices: King, Ambassador, Queen, Grand Vizier, Viceroy ]

21. The longest wars between the U.S. and any Native Americans were the three ___________________ Wars.
[Choices: Carib, Creek, Zuni, Seminole, Aztec ]

22. Aphorisms, epigrams and adages all share this quality:__________________.
[Choices: Prolixity, Irrationality, Ambiguity, Obscurity, Conciseness ]




Category Round (6 Questions, 1000 Points each, Points decrease from 4 to 20 seconds & with 3 Clues; Category chosen by majority vote at each Site):

23.(a) WHAT'S THE WORD? v Ancient Rome: Which word would best describe a lazy person?___________________
[Choices: Grim, Slothful, Smug, Addled, Amusing ]

24.(a) Children's books v THE SUN: The diameter of the Sun is about ______________ miles.
[Choices: 410,000; 2,018,000; 1,270,000; 1,632,000; 864,000 ]

25.(a) U.S. Airports v VOLCANOES: Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano in ___________________ , erupted spectacularly in 2002.
[Choices: Central America, South America, Scandinavia, Southeast Asia, Africa ]

26.(a) The Sun v WHAT'S THE WORD?: A solemn charge or command would most likely be called an:____________________.
[Choices: Incultation, Exultation, Adjuration, Obscurative, Undercut ]

27.(a) VOLCANOES v Children's books: The most abundant volcanic gas is usually:____________________.
[Choices: Water vapor, Barium sulfide, Sulfur dioxide, Hydrogen chloride, Magnesium sulfate ]

28.(a) ANCIENT ROME v U.S. airports: The city of Rome was sacked circa 390 B.C. by a Gallic tribe called the:______________________.
[Choices: Batavians, Senones, Magories, Hoplites, Asturians ]




Lightning Round (7 Questions: 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000 Points, but time to read & answer decreases from 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5 to 4 seconds):

29. The Qin Dynasty commissioned the:_________________________.
[Choices: Emerald Buddha Temple, King Le Thai To Statue, Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, Tokyo Tower ]

30. Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak, the longest in MLB history, lasted exactly _________ games.
[Choices: 54, 55, 57, 53,56 ]

31. Which word is closest in meaning to "frivolous"?___________________
[Choices: Flippant, Friable, Feisty, Fiduciary, Facile ]

32. In 1958, he became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic:_____________________.
[Choices: Leonard Bernstein, Arturo Toscanini, Simon Rattle, Arthur Auerbach, Everett Dirksen ]

33. Cassandra Clare authored "The City of Bones", "The City of Glass" and "The City of _______________".
[Choices: Brick, Granite, Ashes, Water, Concrete ]

34. NIO is a ____________________ automobile manufacturer known for its electric cars.
[Choices: Chinese, Dutch, Swedish, South African, Greek ]

35. Which veteran actress won the Honorary Award at the 2019 Academy Awards?___________________
[Choices: CCH Pounder, Ally Sheedy, Debbie Allen, Epatha Merkerson, Cecily Tyson ]




Dreaded Pyramid Round (5 Questions: 12000, 7000, 4000, 2000, 1000 Points for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Right out of 5; Time from post of Question & 5 Choices = 16 seconds; No Clues):

36. "Cupid and Psyche" is a noted 1808 painting by:_______________________.
[Choices: William Jackson, Herman Melville, Johannes Vermeer, Thomas Gainsborough, Benjamin West ]

37. Cape Grim is the northwesternmost point of:_______________________.
[Choices: Tasmania, Ireland, Oregon, Nova Scotia, Madagascar ]

38. Which woman's name was invented by Jonathan Swift?_______________________
[Choices: Marlene, Jeanette, Laura, Vanessa, Cynthia ]

39. Franco-American zoologist Paul Du Chaillu introduced this animal to the West:___________________.
[Choices: Gorilla, Giraffe, Ostrich, Komodo dragon, Snow leopard ]

40. Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Mothier is better known in history as:____________________.
[Choices: Marquis de Lafayette, Cardinal Richelieu, Jean-Paul Sartre, King Louis XIV, Charlemagne ]




Final Jeopardy Question on DANTE'S INFERNO (50% Bonus if Right Immediately; Points decrease rapidly from 4 to 20 seconds, and with 3 Clues; 50% Deduction if Final Choice is Wrong):

41. Dante tells the story of these lovers in the fifth canto of his "Inferno":_______________________.
[Choices: Lancelot and Guinevere, Paris and Helen, Tristan and Isolde, Paolo and Francesca, Heloise and Abelard ]






Answers:

1. Australia [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Springs ]

2. Pungency [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale ]

3. Virginia governor [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Northam ]

4. Manhattan [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam ]

5. Priest [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defrocking ]

6. Breakfast food [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muesli ]

7. Central Asia [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yurt ]

8. Auto racing [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denny_Hamlin ]

9. Titanic [see https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17631595 ]

10. Baltic Sea [see https://europecharm.com/helsinki-the-da ... he-baltic/ ]




11. Acetylsalicylic [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin ]

12. Doctor Doom [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Doom ]

13. Thalassophobia [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassophobia ]

14. Phoenix [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottsdale,_Arizona ]

15. Bateau [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bateau ]

16. Garden of Eden [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uriel and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion ... en_of_Eden for the painting by Masaccio ]

17. J.R.R. Tolkien [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivendell ]

18. 60 days [see https://gizmodo.com/is-raw-milk-cheese- ... 1793153712 ]

19. London [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grime_(music_genre) ]

20. King [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_penguin ]

21. Seminole [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_Wars ]

22. Conciseness [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphorism , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigram and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adage ]




23.(a) Slothful [see https://www.dictionary.com/browse/slothful ]

24.(a) 864,000 [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun ; I (REACH) at Buster's Bar, Ottawa ON calculated this in my head as follows: the circumference of the Earth is 25,000 miles, which means the diameter is 25,000/pi = 8,000 miles (approx.). Since the Sun is approx. 100 times the diameter of the Earth, its diameter is around 800,000 miles. ]

25.(a) Africa [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nyiragongo ]

26.(a) Adjuration [see https://www.dictionary.com/browse/adjuration ]

27.(a) Water vapor [see https://sciencing.com/dominant-gas-volc ... 19033.html ]

28.(a) Senones [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senones ]




29. Great Wall of China [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China ]

30. 56 [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_DiMaggio ]

31. Flippant [see https://www.dictionary.com/browse/flippant ]

32. Leonard Bernstein [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Bernstein ]

33. Ashes [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Ashes ]

34. Chinese [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIO_(car_company) ]

35. Cicely Tyson [note the spelling of "Cicely"; see https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/f ... ely-tyson/ ]




36. Benjamin West [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_West and https://freepressonline.com/Content/Pic ... /772/37139 ]

37. Tasmania [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Grim ]

38. Vanessa [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_(name) ]

39. Gorilla [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Du_Chaillu ]

40. Lafayette [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_d ... _Lafayette ]




41. Paolo and Francesca [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesa_da_Rimini and http://scottteitsworh.tripod.com/id38.html . According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Dante) , Canto V also mentions Helen of Troy, Paris, Tristan, Lancelot and Guinevere. Perhaps the best Sites got this for full Points by knowing the story behind Tchaikovsky's music for "Francesca da Rimini"; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca ... chaikovsky) .]

RE Answer to Q41: The first link should have read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca_da_Rimini .

Re: Answer to Q24.(a): A second way to calculate the diameter of the Sun in your head is as follows: An angle in radians is the ratio of the arc length to the radius; for a semi-circle, the arc length is half the diameter of a circle = pi.r, so the angle is pi.r/r = pi radians. Therefore pi radians = 180 degrees, so 1 radian = 180 degrees/pi = 57 degrees (approx.). The Sun (and full Moon) subtend an angle of about half a degree, or 1/114 radians, in the sky, so the diameter of the Sun is approx. 93 million miles divided by 114 = approx. 0.9 million miles = approx. 900,000 miles.

My previous post should have read "the arc length for a semi-circle is half the circumference of a circle = pi.r" rather than "half the diameter".

24. Children's books: Asked which of the choices was written by Lloyd Alexander (THE BOOK OF THREE). (The Chronicles of Prydain was one of my favorite book series when I was growing up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Prydain )

25. U.S. Airports: Asked which city has Sky Harbor Airport (PHOENIX). ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_S ... al_Airport )

27. Children's books: I can't remember the question, but it gave either the author or some book titles and asked for the name of the series (REDWALL). ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwall )

28.U.S. airports: Asked which city's airport goes by the code PDX (PORTLAND). ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_ ... al_Airport )

_________________
Anon
"He may seem like Mr. Rogers but a dark spirit lies beneath."

Another unusual spelling. Lafayette's family name is usually spelled/spelt Motier.



More likely the best players have either read Dante or know, by hearsay, that Francesca is the only wind-tossed lover in Canto V with whom Dante actually converses. Mentioned in passing are Semiramis, Cleopatra, Helen, Achilles, Paris, Tristan, Dido, and Lancelot, in that order. The reader is left to infer that Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Rimini are only briefly reunited before the winds again separate them - and there's a good deal of separation. Achilles loved Patroclus. Patroclus isn't mentioned, but Achilles separates Helen and Paris in the text. Tristan is mentioned; Isolde is not. Dido is there, but no sighting of Aeneas. Lancelot is mentioned in Canto V. Guinevere isn't, but she shows up in Canto 16 of the Paradiso. Heloise and Abelard would have been fair game - Dante would have known of them - but that pair wouldn't have attracted or repelled his sympathies, and went unmentioned.