Trivial Hoot 17

It's been a long time since I've had a minute to blog. But here I am, on my first day off from the job in eleven days, and I'm suddenly just loaded with time. I've only had to field one call from work, read half a dozen emails, and attend one unscheduled conference call. Quite relaxing.

So, to celebrate all this leisure, I have decided that it is time for the return of The Question.

This is another of my favorite “odd man out” puzzles. Here is a list:

Eagle. Intrepid. Aquarius. Antares. Falcon. Orion. Challenger.

Okay then, one of these things is not like the others. Which one is it?

As always the first person to correctly respond receives a big invisible hoot and the honor of being named a Steely-Eyed Missile Man. Go for it, you smarty you.

Trivial Hoot Sixteen

Hey there puzzlers. Time for another trivia quiz. It's a Star Trek question, so put on your Academy thinking caps.

Here is a list of six Star Trek episodes.

The Naked Time. Tomorrow is Yesterday. The City on the Edge of Forever. Assignment: Earth. The Lights of Zetar. All Our Yesterdays.

One of these episodes does not belong on this list. Which one is the odd man out, and why?

Once again, the first person to answer correctly wins an ephemeral hoot and entry to our honor roll of Steely-Eyed Missile Men and Women. Have at it my fellow Trekkies.

Trivial Hoot Fifteen

Hoo, it's been a long time since I've been in a question posing mood. We just watched the second episode of Sherlock here and noted that it echoed the canonical Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Dancing Men” in that Holmes cracked a code. In the original story it was a substitution code with stick figures replacing letters. The question then: what was the first letter that Holmes figured out? This should be elementary for even the most casual Sherlockians.

As always, the first person to give me the correct answer gets an ephemeral hoot and gets his or her name added to our list of Steely-Eyed Missile Men.

Answer Fourteen – The Shipless Trek

An official Hoot to Jaquandor who correctly answered our last trivial question. Skilled craftsmen have carefully inscribed his name on our illustrious honor roll of Steely-Eyed Missile Men.

The only episode of Star Trek that did not show the interior of the Enterprise was, as Jaquandor told us, “All Our Yesterdays.” It began with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beaming into the library and meeting Mr. Atoz. It ended back in the library.  Scotty was only heard on the communicator and never seen.

This episode was also memorable for featuring Mariette Hartley as the scantily clad Zarabeth. Spock was quite taken with the temporally exiled beauty and they engaged in some highly illogical canoodling in the cave. According to the novel Yesterday's Son, this resulted in a Spock's son, Zar. The Trek Trinity met him by taking a little trip through their old friend, the Guardian of Forever.

One more fun fact about “All Our Yesterdays;” it was the third and final episode directed my Marvin Chomsky. Mr. Chomsky, who also directed “And the Children Shall Lead” and “Day of the Dove,” has a famous cousin -- a guy from MIT named Noam. Marvin has three Emmys. Noam, none.

Trivial Hoot Fourteen

Hello again to all you trivia fans, and especially to all you Trek trivia fans. That's right, I'm celebrating my return to blogging with a Star Trek trivia question. As always the first person to get it right gets a prize of inestimable value, a hoot, as well as a place on our glorious honor roll of Steely-Eyed Missile Men. OK, without further nonsense, here is our latest trivia question:

Only one episode of Star Trek (The Original Series, dammit) did not show the interior of the Enterprise. Name it.

Simple, no? Some quick Trekkie will make fast work of this one.

Answer Thirteen – The Brothers

Congratulations to Melissa our newest Steely-Eyed Missile Woman. Melissa wins a big hoot for answering our last Trivial Hoot. She knew that the odd man out was Sheldon, because Leonard, Adolph, Julius, Milton, and Herbert are better known as Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, and Zeppo, the Marx Brothers. Hey, are there any Zeppo fans out there?

Stay tuned for Trivial Hoot Fourteen, which will be posted as soon as I come up with something.

Trivial Hoot Thirteen

Greetings you brilliant puzzlers you. I think I've got a pretty good one for you this time. I'm going to give you a list of names. You need to tell me which one does not belong, and why. Simple, no?

As always the first person to get it right will receive a free, if entirely ephemeral hoot, and join our illustrious honor roll of Steely-Eyed Missile Men. Okay, ready for the names?

Leonard, Adolph, Sheldon, Julius, Milton, and Herbert.

There you are you smarty-pantses. Have at it.

Trivial Hoot Twelve

Hello again my brilliant puzzlers. Our last question was answered in record time by the newest Steely-Eyed Missile Man, t4tudor, who knew that Edward V and Edward VIII were the only English kings never to be crowned.

This time we're going in a different direction and quizzing you on sports. I'm not usually one for sports trivia but the subject of this one transcends mere games.


As always the first person to get it right will receive a big hoot and will join our roll of honor as a Steely-Eyed Missile Man or Woman.

Here are four teams for you to consider. The Bruins, the Capitals, the Dodgers, and the Lions. Each of these professional teams was the first to do something in their respective sport. What was the significant thing that each of these teams did first?

Trivial Hoot Eleven

My goodness, it's been a couple of months since I posed a puzzler to my brilliant readers. This time I will challenge your smarts in the field of history. As always the first person to get it right will receive a big hoot and will join our roll of honor as a steely-eyed missile man or woman.

Edward V and Edward VIII have a few things in common. First of all, they were both named Edward. Second, they were both English kings. Third, they are both dead guys. But they also share another distinction. They are the only English kings that we can say this about. What is this unique shared quality?

Answer Ten – The Bishop

Not too long ago (I hope) I threw down the trivial gauntlet for the tenth time and asked if anyone could identify a pictured historical figure. Nobody got it. Perhaps I should have given you a hint. Here's one: the photograph was made by Mathew Brady. Any help?

Okay, enough waiting. The man in the picture was the Episcopal bishop of New Orleans. The bishop's more famous side job was general. He is Leonidas Polk, better known as Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk of the Confederate States Army.


With a name like Leonidas it seems foreordained (oh I do love a bad pun) that he'd end up a soldier. It may not have been the best career move. During the Battle of Atlanta he was pretty much cut in two by a shell. Do all bishops go to heaven?

So now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Trivial Hoot Ten

Greetings again puzzlers! Here it is, the tenth in our series of trivial challenges. Can you join the prestigious ranks of our steely-eyed missile men? This one falls somewhere between the worlds of history and religion. Please cast your eyes upon this man of the cloth.

As you might divine (chortle) by his raiment, this man is a bishop. He is actually better known by his side-job. Our question is, what is that side-job and who is this man?

Answer Number Nine

Well, it looks like nobody got my last Trivial Hoot and it's past time that I make with the answer. The question, just to remind you was this: Please name the author of the following works “Monograph on Cryptology,” “Age of Documents,” “Monographs of the Human Ear,” “Upon the Distinction Between the Ashes of Various Tobaccos,” and Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen

The answer is . . . well, let me say that the answer is elementary. The mere child's play of deduction. The author was that great detective and beekeeper himself, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

Tune in again to catch our next trivial challenge, coming soon to a browser near you.

Trivial Hoot Nine

A Big Darn Hoot to DM who got our last quiz right. DM is an official steely-eyed missile man. He knew that the fine looking fellow in the picture was Major General John Sedgewick, one of the most well-liked officers in the United States Army during the Civil War. During the Battle of Spotsylvania he saw that his men were ducking a sniper's bullets. “I'm ashamed of you, dodging that way,” he said. “They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance.” A couple of minutes later the sniper found him. To quote from volume 3 of The Civil War: a Narrative by Shelby Foote: “He smiled strangely, as if to acknowledge the dark humor of what had turned out to be his last remark, and did not speak again. Within a few minutes he was dead.” John Sedgewick, an eternal monument to irony.

Now, way ahead of schedule, is our next puzzle. As always the first person to get it right will receive a big hoot and will join our roll of honor as a steely-eyed missile man or woman. Here goes:

Please name the author of the following works “Monograph on Cryptology,” “Age of Documents,” “Monographs of the Human Ear,” “Upon the Distinction Between the Ashes of Various Tobaccos,” and Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen.

Trivial Hoot Eight

Greetings puzzlers. I'm back with another trivial question. I'll make it easy and give you a picture. Here goes:

Who is this distinguished looking fellow and what were his famous last words?

As always the respondent who is first with the correct answer gets a big hoot, a bucket of nothing (bucket not included), and the warm feeling that comes with acknowledged mental superiority.

Trivial Hoot Seven

OK, so nobody got my last question about a space traveler, but I am undaunted. Here's another space-based challenge. Can you name the first person to take off from the earth in a spacecraft, reach space, and then fly that spacecraft safely back to the surface of our planet?

That should be easy, right?

The Kirk Answer

Jaquandor quite rightly takes me to task by pointing out that I have not yet provided an answer to the last Trivial Hoot. My apologies. November and December are my least favorite months of the year. It's the busy time in my business. I've grown to hate Christmas – but that's a post for another day.

I asked you to name every adult performer who played the role of James T. Kirk on Star Trek. I also warned you that it was trickier than you might think. That eliminates Jimmy Bennett and the uncredited baby held by Jennifer Morrison in the recent movie. We are left with My Three Kirks.

William Shatner, Chris Pine, and Sandra Smith.

Wha?!
Sandra Smith played Doctor Janice Lester, mad scientist and one of Kirk's many former girlfriends in the last (and pretty close to least) of the original episodes, “Turnabout Intruder.” Lester wants to take over the Enterprise (of course) and uses Super Science (of course) to do it. She switches her personality with that of Kirk. For most of the rest of the episode Shatner plays the increasingly hysterical Janice Lester, posing as Kirk, while Smith plays Kirk in a dress.

I told you it was tricky.

Trivial Hoot Six

Great googly moogly. It's been way too long since I did one of these trivia things. Number five was during the summer. That time I asked if anyone knew whose sarcophagus was pictured. David Rupp nailed it. An unheard of Triple Hoot to David, the king of maniacal trivia! The answer was Captain John Paul Jones.

I'll stick with the captains but this time go all Star Trekkie on you. Name every adult performer who has played the role of James T. Kirk on Star Trek. By “on Star Trek” I mean official, canonical Star Trek, not parody Kirks, not fan-made Kirks, but real, official James T. Kirks on real, official Star Treks.

Who played Kirk? It's a trickier question than you might think.

Trivial Hoot Five

In our last occasional installment I asked where you might find a certain list of supplies. It didn't take David long to crack that one. It was, in fact, the inventory of a survival kit in a B-52 flying into the Soviet Union in the 1964 classic Dr. Stangelove. It was read off by Slim Pickens who played the unforgettable Major Kong. David is now an official double-certified smart person and gets a double hoot from yours truly.

This is going to be a tough one. It's another in our series of visual-historical questions. Take a look at this rather ornate sarcophagus.


Quite a thing isn't it? You may want to click to embiggen. This is the final resting place of a famous dead person. The question is, who?

Trivial Hoot Four

In our last installment we asked how many episodes of the original series did the Enterprise visit the planet Vulcan. You certainly remember that we only see the surface of Vulcan in one episode, Amok Time. But Enterprise visits a second time. In Journey to Babel the ship stops at Vulcan to pick up Ambassador Sarek and his wife Amanda. You may recall Kirk offering Spock the chance to beam down and visit his parents while they were there, at which point Spock reveals his relation to the ambassador and his wife. Cue dramatic music, go to commercial. So there's your answer, two.

Here's the new question. Stretch your brain and see if you can get this one. Please tell me where you will find the following list of items: one forty-five caliber automatic; two boxes of ammunition; four days' concentrated emergency rations; one drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills; one miniature combination Russian phrase book and Bible; one hundred dollars in rubles; one hundred dollars in gold; nine packs of chewing gum; one issue of prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings.

Yeah, sounds like someone's planning a great weekend.

Trivial Hoot Three

In our last trivial installment I asked for the identity of the man on the horse across the street from Boston's State House. The correct answer was provided by official smart person and musical blogger David Rupp, who identified Col. Robert Gould Shaw, a great Bay Stater and all-around hero. Our winner receives a big hoot, may he use it in good health.

Today is the first day of summer. When I think summer I think heat, and when I think heat, I think about the planet Vulcan. You might think about beaches and bikinis, but I think about Vulcan. Yes, that is a little sad, I know. Anyway, here's our question, and as always the first person to get it right wins a big darn hoot.

In how many episodes of the original series did the Enterprise visit the planet Vulcan?

That's it. Real easy for any decent trekkie.