THE RULES:
1. The object of this game is to provide the correct answer you think will be the least popular. The lower your total score, the better.
2. You may only use the information stored in your brain. Intentional outside research (like Googling, Binging, Yahooing, or reading the web site of Eve Astrid Andersson) is not allowed, and cheaters will be flagged by the NSA and could face prosecution under the Espionage Act.
3. The score for a correct answer is the number of players who give that answer.
4. The score for an incorrect answer is the SHEEP score— that is, the most popular correct answer for that question--plus 5 points.
5. There are two lifelines.
a. You may drop one question
b. You may sheep one question, in which case you will earn the sheep/caucus score.
6. Unless stated otherwise, Wikipedia.com is the final authority for what responses are correct. Spelling is not important as long as you're close. You’ll help your cause by spelling your answers as close to correctly as you can.
7. Ties will be broken only for the top three positions. In case of a tie, the earliest submission wins.
8. The deadline for entering this game is 11:59 pm (CDT) on Sunday, October 2 extended to 5 PM CDT on Monday, October 3. Please reply by PM; don’t post your answers in the thread.
On with the TD.
1. PI
Pick a number between one and ten... did you say pi? No? Well, I win. Pi is a universal number that has fascinated people since time immemorial, and pi has been radioed to distant planets to let them know we're here too.
- What astronomer who wrote the novel "Contact" suggested in it that there are secret messages from God contained within the billions and billions of digits of pi?
- What U.S. "city of roses" has digits of pi engraved in stone at an underground subway station?
- Since pi cannot be expressed as a fraction, what kind of number is it?
- What Boston-area college has a cheer that contains the line "three point one four one five nine"?
- Pi is the ratio of what to a circle's diameter?
- The House of what midwestern state whose governor is currently nominated for vice president passed a bill in 1897 setting pi at 3.2? (The bill failed in the Senate.)
- In what European capital is the Palais de la Decouverte (Palace of Discovery), a science museum having the first 707 digits of pi engraved upon its ceiling?
- Pi has now been calculated to 13 _______ digits.
- Karl Weierstrass, a person instrumental in the formulation of pi was a member of what discipline?
- The formula pi-r^2 has often been criticized on the grounds that pie are what?
2. PASTRY PIES
A. What fruit is grown in and named for an archipelago that jokingly has suggested its independence under the name "Conch Republic"?
B. What fall pie was traditionally made with meat but lately is less likely to be so?
C. What all-american pie fruit was a factor in a controversial movie scene starring Jason Biggs?
D. What popular pie fruit is a homophone for the actor who won Oscars for "Some Like It Hot" and "Save the Tiger"?
E. What fruit pie was celebrated in song by Cole Porter?
F. What traditional Thanksgiving pie is made from a nightshade?
G. What popular pie fruit has lent its name to a swath of Caribbean and Central American republics?
H. What chocolate based pie has lent its name to a novel by Sandra Brown, which was made into a TV movie starring Susan Lucci?
I. What so-called pie do New Englanders know is really cake?
J. What pie fruit do Pacific Islanders know better than to stand under the trees of, lest the fruit fall on their heads?
3. MEAT PIES
A. What meat pie is topped with mashed potatoes?
B. What meat pie originating in England is the best known food of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan?
C. What British meat pie has inspired the name of a hat?
D. In which province of Canada did the meat pie called tourtiere have its origin?
E. What are the stuffed meat pies of Latin America called?
F. What country of southern Europe gave the world the kreatopita (and the Olympics)?
G. In which most populous country of Africa are meat pies commonly made with corned beef?
H. The Natchitoches (Nack-a-Tish) meat pie is the official state food of which U.S. southern state?
I. What is the most common meat used to make pot pies?
J. What woolly animal is used to make Scotch pie?
4. America's favorite pie is the pizza pie, imported from Italy and greatly modified to suit the American palate. Variations flourish from New Haven to New Mexico.
A. What cheese, whose name is derived from "to cut," was traditionally made from buffalo milk?
B. The market for what fruit is dominated by the company founded by Sanford Dole?
C. What meat topping is known in the U.S. by a two-word name but in the Great White North by a one-word name?
D. What meat topping is known in the U.S. by a two-word name but in the land of Caesar by a one-word name?
E. What vegetable topping comes in both black and green varieties?
F. What controversial pizza topping is a kind of fish of the family Engraulidae?
G. What most popular American pizza topping has a name derived from the Italian word for bell pepper and was not used to refer to a sausage until the 20th century?
H. What fungus is often used to top pizza?
I. Traditional Neapolitan pizza is made using a sauce of what vegetable grown on the volcanic plains of Mt. Vesuvius?
J. What familiar pizza topping is uncomfortable for some to prepare at home due to its syn-propanethial-S-oxide?
Bonus... pizza wasn't a familiar food in 1952 when a popular song from a movie went, "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..." Many wondered why the moon would look like a piece of pie. What is the title of this song? (-1 point)
5. MATHEMATICAL CONSTANTS AND SCIENTIFIC VARIABLES
Read the questions before using a lifeline. They're easy!
A. The square root of -1, or a personal pronoun, especially for e e cummings.
B. 2.71828 is a constant corresponding to this most common vowel in English.
C. What variable is used to specify the number of records in a dataset?
D. What variable letter is used to represent a line or a liter?
E. What letter is used to specify the number of columns in a dataset, or record a strikeout by a pitcher?
F. According to Harry Nilsson, "the loneliest number that you'll ever do."
G. The Pythagorean constant is based on this, the only even prime number.
H. Professor Frink on "The Simpsons" once claimed pi was exactly what number, in order to silence a group of scientists?
I. If you hate algebra, you probably still know the two letters that are used to represent points on a plane, or the chromosomes that indicate sex. What are these two letters?
J. What number is neither positive nor negative, but strangely enough is even?
6. WORDS THAT START WITH PI (letter not needed)
- A moving part of a car engine
- Bigger than a fife, smaller than a flute
- Filled with candy, one is often smashed at a child's birthday party
- Sold for a heavy markup by Pfizer and Merck
- Also known as a flying rat
- A girl's garment, or a ship in a G&S operetta
- 1973 Stephen Schwartz musical about a medieval king of the Franks
- Music cue for most softly
- Bullfighter who warms up the animal
- The pitcher does this to the runner who wanders too far from base
- These replaced thumbtacks on America's bulletin boards
- These people have been replaced by data entry operators
- This common pudding ingredient is often mistaken to be rice*
- Astoria, Oregon was founded as one of these idealist communities; Astoria, New York was not
- Source of water in the yard
- A lover of fine food, emulating a Greek philosophy
- Bill Cosby is one of these*
- Sits next to the captain on an airliner
- Mylan came under fire for substantially increasing the price of this
- Musician who dons a kilt often plays these
8. PEOPLE BORN ON MARCH 14 (pi day) (letter not needed)
- What English footballer shares first and last names with a prime minister of Canada?
- What man had a band of renown?
- What screenwriter created Dobie Gillis?
- Who created the American comic strip sensation Dennis the Menace?
- Who produced the "We Are the World" record, composed the music from "Roots," and made records with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, and many others?
- What actor who's hosted many an award show sometimes calls himself "Mr. Saturday Night"?
- What baseball hall of famer was tried for sexual assault after his sudden retirement from the game and before his premature death?
- Who directed the political thrillers "Air Force One" and "In the Line of Fire"?
- What contemporary of Bach is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific composer?
- What actress is most famous for playing the estranged wife of David Palmer in "24" and Captain Gates in "Castle"?
- On March 14, 1796, this man patented the cotton gin.
- What Gilbert & Sullivan operetta set in Japan opened on March 14, 1885?
- The film version of what Jerome Kern musical opened on March 14, 1936?
- Who was convicted on March 14, 1964 for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald?
- In what country did an unsuccessful coup occur on March 14, 2006 in the capital of N'Djamena?
- In which country did a LOT airliner crash not far from the home airport on March 14, 1980?
- On March 14, 1900, the U.S. Congress tied the American dollar to what precious metal?
- On March 14, 1978, Israel invaded what country in Operation Litani?
- On March 14, 1780, the Spanish defeated British forces at Fort Charlotte in which U.S. state?
- On March 14, 1647, the Truce of Ulm ended which war?
10. The Gateway to the West, the Fourth City, whatever you call it, St. Louis is the good old Three One Four area code.
- What newspaper was founded by Joseph Pulitzer?
- The Gateway Arch is officially named for what acquisitive president?
- What chemical company, maker of Roundup herbicide, is headquarted in St. Louis?
- What pharmacy management company founded in St. Louis in 1986 is now the largest corporation headquarted in Missouri?
- What St. Louis based aircraft manufacturer was taken over by Boeing in 1997?
- What is the best-selling beer to claim St. Louis as its home?
- In what professional sport can St. Louis claim to have lost its team to both Phoenix and Los Angeles?
- What St. Louis team produced the hall of famers Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Whitey Herzog, and Stan Musial?
- The federal courthouse in St. Louis is named for what U.S. senator who was forced to step down as running mate to George McGovern?
- What cereal and pet food giant headquartered in St. Louis was acquired by Nestle in 2001?