WEEK OF NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Word of the week: "factoid," which you may have noticed hasn't appeared before in this space. Although some take its meaning to be a tidbit of trivia, the word was coined by Norman Mailer for his 1973 biography of Marilyn Monroe, to be a statement of dubious authenticity. (Thanks to Alex Vaughn of Old Lyme, Conn.)

Coincidence? We have no idea. The characters of the 1948 Cole Porter musical "Kiss Me Kate" include Lois Lane, who plays Bianca in Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew." We could find no evidence of any connection to the Superman character of the same name (who debuted in Action Comics #1 in 1938). If you have any information on this, please let us know.

Nicknames Aplenty Update: Thanks to Chris Treadway of Walnut Creek, Calif., for discovering a celebrity with more than twice as many nicknames as the five previously mentioned of soul singer James Brown. That's baseball icon George Herman Ruth, whose nicknames included Babe, Bambino, Sultan of Swat, Colossus of Clout, Behemoth of Bust, and at least six more.

The Hole Truth: Though the bagel is one of America's most popular breakfast foods, this national popularity is of fairly recent vintage. Your humble trivia author distinctly remembers a 1960s episode of TV's "Candid Camera" where host Allen Funt asked some people in Baltimore if they knew where he could find a bagel, and no one seemed to know what a bagel was.

More on non-stop flight records: The world's longest-distance non-stop passenger flight was 13,422 miles, from Hong Kong to Heathrow (eastbound) by a Boeing 777 in 2005, taking 22 hours and 40 minutes. Surprisingly, the record for the longest-time non-stop passenger flight was set way back in 1957, when an old Lockheed Starliner propeller plane took 23 hours, 19 minutes to get from London to San Francisco.

The favorite announcer of game-show producer partners Mark Goodson and Bill Todman was obviously Johnny Olson, who worked on an amazing 32 G-T shows from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s. Johnny was one especially busy guy in the 1960s, when he announced "The Jackie Gleason Show" from Miami Beach in addition to his Big Apple game-show work.

Eponym of the week: Ohio-born Charles F. Richter. Receiving his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Caltech in 1928, he immediately went to work at Pasadena's new Seismology Laboratory, where, with co-worker Beno Gutenberg, he developed the Richter scale for measuring earthquake intensity in 1935. Richter was a lifelong skeptic about scientists' ability to predict earthquakes.

The venerable whodunit board game Clue underwent a major redesign earlier this year. The six suspects now have first names and occupations (such as actress Kasandra Scarlet) and three of the weapons (lead pipe, revolver and wrench) have been replaced with new ones (dumbbell, trophy and poison). Some of the nine rooms have been changed as well. (Thanks to Matt Jones of Portland, Ore.)

You may be familiar with the term "runcible spoon" as a spoon-like utensil that has the tines of a fork (aka "spork"), or a spoon with a serrated edge for eating grapefruit or squash. But the term was coined by British poet Edward Lear for his "Owl and the Pussycat." The illustration Lear drew of it depicts a large ladle-like spoon with neither tines nor serration.

What was Life like 50 years ago? November 1958 cover subjects included the recently elected Pope John XXIII and actress Kim Novak, star of the bewitching film "Bell, Book and Candle." In the article "Everybody is Dishonest," lie-detector expert John Reid had this advice to make a lie convincing: "If you must lie, be bold. Be loud and aggressive, and be sure to take the initiative."

TRIVIA

1) What famous American wrote the book "African Game Trails?"
A) Theodore Roosevelt
B) Mark Twain
C) Charlton Heston
D) Erica Jong

2) Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" is perhaps the world's most famous painting. You may know that Leonardo painted it on a wooden panel, but what type of wood was it?
A) Oak
B) Poplar
C) Cedar
D) Maple

3) The most common naturally occurring isotope of the element uranium is U-238. In the process of its radioactive decay, U-238 is transformed into a succession of elements, the final, atomically stable one being:
A) Gold
B) Nickel
C) Silver
D) Hydrogen

4) Who played the title role in the 1950 biopic "The Jackie Robinson Story"?
A) Ossie Davis
B) Bill Cosby Sr.
C) Sidney Poitier
D) Jackie Robinson

5) When Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" first came out in the 1930s, what was the best-selling dwarf doll?
A) Dopey
B) Sneezy
C) Grumpy
D) Doc

ANSWERS

1) Former president Theodore Roosevelt wrote the book "African Game Trails" in 1909 after a trip to Kenya.

2) Leonardo da Vinci painted his "Mona Lisa" on a poplar panel.

3) The radioactive decay of uranium-238 ultimately results in its transformation to the atomically stable lead-206.

4) Baseball star Jackie Robinson portrayed himself in the 1950 biopic "The Jackie Robinson Story."

5) Previous answer: When Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" first came out in the 1930s, Grumpy was the best-selling dwarf doll.

STAN'S WEEKLY TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 112
The opening of the 1960s sci-fi TV series "Lost in Space" featured a countdown. The opening of what classic sitcom featured a "count-up" -- to the number 8?

HOW TO WIN: Send your answer, with your full name and address, either by e-mail to TriviaBits@gmail.com, or on a postcard to Stan Newman's Trivia Challenge No. 112, P.O. Box 69, Massapequa Park, NY 11762. Only one submission per person, please. Answers must be received within seven days of publication. One winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries, who will receive a copy of Stan's new book "15,003 Answers: The Ultimate Trivia Encyclopedia," courtesy of Random House. Answer and winner will be announced in a future issue.

ANSWER TO TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 105
Before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 1976 Winter Games to Innsbruck, Austria, both the U.S. (Denver) and Canada (Whistler, British Columbia) turned down IOC offers to host. Winner: Steven Branting of Lewiston, Idaho.

Stanley Newman is the editor of the Newsday Crossword and author/editor of more than 125 books on crosswords, word games and trivia, including "15,003 Answers: The Ultimate Trivia Encyclopedia" (Random House). To find out more about Stanley Newman visit StanXwords.com, or e-mail him at StanTrivia@aol.com.
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