Halloween, spiders and stuff
1. Blue Mountain coffee is an official designation for coffee grown in what country?
A) Guatemala B) Indonesia C) Jamaica D) Kenya
2. The annual Halloween episodes of “The Simpsons” share what title?
A) “A Nightmare on Homer Street”
B) “Springfield Night Fever” C) “Treehouse of Horror” D) “Trick or Treat, Mrs. Krabappel”
3. The brown recluse spider has a mark in what shape on its back?
A) Heart B) Star C) Thumbprint D) Violin
4. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote a short musical called “Cricket” to mark what occasion?
A) First ICC Cricket World Cup (1975)
B) Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th birthday (1986)
C) Olympic Summer Games in London (2012)
D) 200th anniversary of Lord’s cricket grounds (2014)
5. The word “tycoon” comes from a word meaning “great lord” in what language?
A) Arabic B) Hungarian C) Icelandic D) Japanese
6. The first woman elected to the U.S. Congress was Jeannette Rankin from which state?
A) Arkansas
B) Montana
C) New York
D) Pennsylvania
Answers
1) Blue Mountain coffee comes from Jamaica.
2) The first “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween episode of the Simpsons aired in season two. 3) The brown recluse spider has a violin-shaped mark on its back.
4) Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote “Cricket” in 1986for Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th birthday.
5) The word “tycoon” comes from the Japanese word “taikun” (“great lord”), used to describe a rich, powerful person without royal blood. 6) The first woman elected to the U.S. Congress was Jeannette Rankin from Montana.
FACTS OF THE DAY
• In 1871, Canadian-born Englishwoman Lucy Walker became the first woman to reach the 14,692-foot summit of the Matterhorn, fifth-highest peak in the Alps. She scaled the mountain as a proper Victorian lady ought to, dressed in a long flannel skirt.
• The world’s biggest pumpkins are a variety called Dill’s Atlantic Giant, developed by farmer Howard Dill in Nova Scotia, Canada. Some top out at well over a ton, which would make a fearsome jack-o’lantern, not to mention a heck of a lot of pies and toasted seeds. Or, you could hollow out your giant pumpkin, sit inside it and paddle it to victory in a pumpkin regatta, as folks from Oregon to Maine — and Nova Scotia, of course — have been known to do.
• Goliath birdeater tarantulas (Theraphosa blondi) are the largest spiders on Earth, weighing a little less than half a pound with leg spans of 11inches and bodies nearly 5inches long. They sometimes eat birds, but they prefer frogs, toads, lizards and rodents. You’re unlikely to encounter one of these unless you happen to be trekking in the Amazon rainforest at night (they’re nocturnal).