60 hard trivia questions
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Updated
History
During which dynasty were the pyramids at Giza built?
hard
The Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giza_pyramid_complex?oldid=1365733545
What numbered amendment gave women the right to vote across the United States?
hard
The Nineteenth Amendment
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution?oldid=1358314605
Who became the first female Olympic victor as a chariot owner?
hard
Cynisca
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_Games?oldid=1361027575#Equestrian_events
Film and television
When was Frozen released theatrically in the United States?
hard
November 27, 2013
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_(2013_film)?oldid=1365745263#Release
Who joined the Ghostbusters as their fourth member?
hard
Winston Zeddemore
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters?oldid=1365340202#Plot
Where does Rick make Ilsa board a plane with Laszlo?
hard
Lisbon
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca_(film)?oldid=1364297980#Plot
What sound-film first is The Jazz Singer known for?
hard
The first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous singing and speech
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jazz_Singer?oldid=1363547582
Music
When did five-line musical staves appear in Italy?
hard
The 13th century
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staff_(music)?oldid=1365949333#History
Where does the direction da capo tell a performer to resume?
hard
From the beginning
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_capo?oldid=1250876939
What is a leitmotif in film or opera music?
hard
Short, recurring musical phrase
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitmotif?oldid=1365638282
What musical term means a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in one voice?
hard
Ostinato
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostinato?oldid=1354202678
Sport
In which lane does Franklin Field achieve the 400 metre distance?
hard
Lane 4
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_track?oldid=1308237043#Measurement_of_a_track
How many strokes under par is an albatross on a par-five hole?
hard
Three strokes fewer than par
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par_(score)?oldid=1341770659#Albatross
Why is the boxing area called a ring even though it is square?
hard
Contests were fought in a roughly drawn circle on the ground
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_ring?oldid=1363976079#History_and_terminology
Food and drink
By the 1800s, what drink had changed from an elite indulgence to one for the masses?
hard
Coffee
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_coffee?oldid=1364415380#Production
Which bean is used in traditional refried beans?
hard
Pinto beans
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refried_beans?oldid=1356790857#Ingredients_and_preparation
What does a Mexican mole sauce generally contain?
hard
Fruits, nuts, chili peppers, and spices
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(sauce)?oldid=1361623825
Animals and nature
Which rainforest layer contains trees that grow above the general canopy?
hard
The emergent layer
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainforest?oldid=1351535519#Emergent_layer
What is one hypothesized cue sea turtles use to find their hatching region?
hard
The Earth's magnetic field
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_turtle_migration?oldid=1344243328
How can wood frogs survive partial freezing in winter?
hard
Urea and glucose act as cryoprotectants
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_frog?oldid=1351167031#Cold_tolerance
Where do migratory monarchs originate?
hard
Southern Canada and the northern United States
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly_migration?oldid=1364460333
When do plants using CAM open their stomata?
hard
At night, when temperatures are low
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crassulacean_acid_metabolism?oldid=1362788518#Biochemistry
Space and astronomy
What links Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto?
hard
The four largest moons of Jupiter
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moons?oldid=1359245208
What is the nearest point in an orbit around Earth called?
hard
Perigee
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsis?oldid=1365739280
Which moon has an atmosphere made mainly of nitrogen and methane?
hard
Titan
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)?oldid=1364908527
What is the cosmic microwave background?
hard
Microwave radiation that fills all space in the observable universe
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_microwave_background?oldid=1365825568
Why does a neutron star resist collapse under ordinary conditions?
hard
A combination of strong force repulsion and neutron degeneracy pressure
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_star?oldid=1365590699#Formation
Language and words
Which Romance language belongs to the Indo-European family?
hard
French
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language?oldid=1365270290#History
What is the smallest meaningful unit in language?
hard
A morpheme
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme?oldid=1357066498#Changing_definitions
How does an abjad differ from an alphabet?
hard
Only consonants are represented by letter signs
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abjad?oldid=1365309583
Which sound change swaps sounds within a word, as in ask becoming aks?
hard
Metathesis
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_(linguistics)?oldid=1363267691
What is reduplication in word formation?
hard
A morphological process in which the root or stem of a word, part of that, or the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduplication?oldid=1365132222
Inventions and discovery
Which engineer’s improved engine used a separate condenser to save fuel?
hard
Watt
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watt?oldid=1364471942
Which physicist shared the 1903 Nobel Prize for discovering radioactivity?
hard
Henri Becquerel
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Becquerel?oldid=1361409560
What kind of traffic signal did Garrett Morgan design?
hard
A manually operated traffic signal
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Morgan?oldid=1361168428#Traffic_signal
What was the first synthetic plastic called?
hard
Bakelite
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite?oldid=1365791986
Which two inventors independently created the first AC commutator-free polyphase induction motors?
hard
Galileo Ferraris and Nikola Tesla
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_motor?oldid=1357672203#History
Art
What type of paint uses egg yolk as a traditional binder?
hard
Egg tempera
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempera?oldid=1360385238
Why does watercolor paint look transparent on paper?
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The paper being visible between the particles
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watercolor_painting?oldid=1362548745#Transparency
Which architect designed the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao?
hard
Frank Gehry
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guggenheim_Museum_Bilbao?oldid=1363487739#Architecture
How is a figure’s weight distributed in contrapposto?
hard
Most of its weight on one foot
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrapposto?oldid=1365307695
Mythology
Which Japanese sun goddess hid in a cave?
hard
Amaterasu
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaterasu?oldid=1357168278#The_Heavenly_Rock_Cave
Who also ferried the living mortals Heracles and Aeneas to the underworld and back?
hard
Charon
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon?oldid=1363472473
In Irish mythology, how is Cú Chulainn’s battle state described?
hard
Terrifying battle frenzy
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%BA_Chulainn?oldid=1361809919
Which Egyptian god guides the weighing of a heart against a feather?
hard
Anubis
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weighing_of_souls?oldid=1356649228#Ancient_Egyptian_religion
Geography
How does the length of a degree of longitude change toward the poles?
hard
The length of a degree of longitude decreases
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude?oldid=1365130151#Length_of_a_degree_of_longitude
Which two countries have traditionally used the 1,668 mm Iberian railway gauge?
hard
Spain and Portugal
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula?oldid=1364035765#Transportation
What is an exclave?
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A portion of a state or district geographically separated from the main part
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclave_and_exclave?oldid=1361617927
How is an atoll typically formed?
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The sinking of a volcanic island around which a coral fringing reef has formed
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atoll?oldid=1359424551
General knowledge
Why does a mirror reverse left and right only in the way we describe it?
hard
The third axis (front-back) is reversed
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_image?oldid=1341408793#In_three_dimensions
How does sepia toning change metallic silver?
hard
The metallic silver in the print is converted to a sulfide compound
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photographic_print_toning?oldid=1359369026#Sepia_toning
Who invented the equals sign in 1557?
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The Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equals_sign?oldid=1365057023
Chemistry
Which element has a form that becomes ferromagnetic below its Curie point?
hard
Iron
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron?oldid=1364467036#Magnetic_properties
How many elementary entities are in one mole?
hard
6.02214076×10^23 elementary entities
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(unit)?oldid=1363520051
What is the solid formed during precipitation called?
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The precipitate
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precipitation_(chemistry)?oldid=1349299573
What chemical does the Haber process produce industrially?
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Ammonia
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process?oldid=1352979226
U.S. states
Which four states meet at the Four Corners?
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Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Corners?oldid=1358355445#Politics
Which state's legislature is the only unicameral one in the United States?
hard
The Nebraska Legislature
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Legislature?oldid=1356932612
How is Alaska divided at county-equivalent level?
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19 organized boroughs and 11 census areas
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_boroughs_and_census_areas_in_Alaska?oldid=1353103607
How did Arkansas's legislature say the final s in the state's name should be pronounced?
hard
The final "s" be silent
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkansas?oldid=1364444540
Plan the round and team scores
8 turns × 60 seconds = 8 minutes of play, plus instructions and breaks.
60
These are adjustable house rules. Pause whenever the group needs more time.
Team 1: 0
Team 2: 0
Use this set with a group
Read a prompt, allow thinking time, then invite an answer or a pass. For a timed round, choose a turn length before starting. A host can keep the printed answers out of view until the round ends.