Right or wrong, here are quiz answers
The Christmas tree is still up in the Bedlam Blue Bungalow in the Outer, Outer, Outer, Outer Excelsior. It stays up until Twelfth Night, or Three Kings Day. Then there’s a mad scramble on the 13th night to take down the tree and pack away the Christmas village so my husband, Brian, has room for his Valentine’s Day village.
At your house, I hope, you are eagerly awaiting the answers to last week’s annual Boxing Day Trivia Quiz.
Let’s also hope that you have a copy of last week’s column, so you know the questions being answered here. If not, just make up your own questions.
Either way, here are my answers, and, as always, they’re not necessarily the right answers. As my father liked to say, “Kevin never ruins a good story by sticking to the facts.”
1. The Feast of Stephen mentioned in the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslas” is celebrated on Dec. 26 in Western Christianity and on Dec. 27 in Eastern Christianity. Wenceslaus was the king of Bohemia, although he did not get much Rhapsody out of it. His brother, Boleslaus the Cruel, assassinated him. (And I thought Brother XX was bad.)
2. King Moonracer is the king of the Island of Misfit Toys, just off the coast of the Outer, Outer, Outer, Outer Excelsior.
3. The Three Kings of biblical fame were named Gaspar, Balthasar and Melchior. Balthazar brought myrrh, Melchior brought gold, and Gaspar
brought frankincense (is that incense you light up in San Francisco?). Probably would have been better off with three queens instead.
4. On a menorah, Hanukkah candles are lighted from left to right.
5. Thomas Jefferson’s face appears on the twodollar bill.
6. Mark Twain stumped for Rutherford B. Hayes, who won the U.S. presidency by exactly one electoral vote (185-184).
7. There are six state capitals farther west than Los Angeles: Sacramento; Carson City, Nev.; Salem, Ore.; Olympia, Wash.; Juneau, Alaska; and Honolulu.
8. Four ghosts visited Ebenezer Scrooge: The ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, Christmas Future and Jacob Marley.
9. Joe DiMaggio played for the San Francisco Seals before heading to the City That Never Sleeps.
10. James Buchanan’s niece, Harriet Lane, was the only person to have a ship named for them by both the United States of America and the Confederate States of America. She also is among a few women to serve as first lady of the United States while not married to the president. Buchanan was a bachelor.
11. The mad scientist in the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” is Francis Nathaniel Furter, aka Frank-N-Furter. Not sure about that Nathaniel thing, but I know my Franks when I see them.
12. In the game of Scrabble, “K” is the only letter worth five points.
13. Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley’s wife, won the bet about who could write the best horror story. She created a mad scientist who she named after the “stone of the Franks”: Frankenstein.
14. Bolivia and Paraguay are the two landlocked countries in South America.
15. 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is the street address of the White House.
16. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first name was Francis. He had originally intended to go by the name Frank, but somehow knew that would become the nickname for the city of St. Francis.
17. 40 degrees below zero (minus 40) is the only temperature that is the same in Celsius and Fahrenheit.
18. TV actor Bill Bixby, a City College alum, played a Martian’s nephew, Eddie’s father, a magician and Bruce Banner.
19. The ill-fated ship in “Gilligan’s Island” was the SS Minnow. It set sail from one of those six state capitals in a previous answer.
20. Grover Cleveland is the only U.S. president (so far) to have served nonconsecutive terms. More trivia: He moved back to New York when he was out of office, and his wife gave birth to their daughter, Baby Ruth.
21. Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter hold the record for longest married first couple, some 74 years. Close behind: George H.W. and Barbara Bush, who were married for 73 years.
22. Batman’s parents were Thomas and Martha Kane Wayne.
23. Philo Farnsworth invented the television in San Francisco in 1927.
24. There are 11 ZIP codes in the city of San Francisco.
25. The first number to contain the letter “b” is 1 billion.
26. In 1929, the Chrysler Building in New York opened as the tallest building in the world.
27. Nancy Barbato, Ava Gardner, Mia Farrow and Barbara Marx were all married to Francis Albert Sinatra, better known as Frank.
28. A shark has no bones. According to son Aidan, a shark has only cartilage.
29. This was a trick question from Crazy Mike: There is no zero in Roman numerals.
30. Wardell Stephen “Steph” Curry III wears the number 30 for the Golden State Warriors.
Many thanks to my husband, Brian, my sons Zane and Aidan, Crazy Mike, Mrs. E. and the Countess. You make me sound much smarter than I actually am.
And remember: If you don’t like any answer, it is Crazy Mike’s fault.
Reach Kevin Fisher-Paulson: kevinfisherpaulson@ gmail.com. His book, “Secrets of the Blue Bungalow” (Fearless Books, $25), is available at fearlessbooks.com and area bookstores.