Mercury's Musings

The following are the answers for the companion questions to LL83 MD25. / / / / / / / / / / 1. Haiti 2. Jimmy Neutron 3. MSG (monosodium glutamate) 4. sepoy 5. Ubisoft 6. Black Eyed Peas

The following are "companion questions" to those appearing on the LearnedLeague website on December 20, 2019. 1. In 1937, citizens of what country were slaughtered by their eastern neighbors if they could not properly pronounce the word for parsley in Spanish? 2. Identify the "Boy Genius" title character of an early computer animated show on Nickelodeon. This character first appeared a 2001 film in which he, along with his friends Sheen and Carl, had fight against an alien race called the Yolkians. 3. Which flavor additive, first identified in 1908 by Kikunae Ikeda, is often used to enhance the umami flavor of meats and stews, particularly in Asian cuisine? 4. Which term for a musket-carrying class of Indian soldiers in the Mughal Empire is today better remembered for it's association with an unsuccessful 1857-1858 "Mutiny" of Indian soldiers against the rule of the British East India Company? 5. Which France-based electronics company publis

The following are the answers for the companion questions to LL83 MD24. / / / / / / / / / / 1. Agnes de Mille 2. You Only Live Twice 3. Diet of Worms 4. "You're the Best" 5. Derek Walcott 6. string quartet

The following are "companion questions" to those appearing on the LearnedLeague website on December 19, 2019. 1. Which choreographer, the niece of a pioneering film director, worked on musicals such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , Brigadoon , Allegro , and Paint Your Wagon ? 2. Kissy Suzuki is the Bond girl in which Japan-set film, with a screenplay written by Roald Dahl? 3. What is the unappetizing name of the 1521 conference at, held in the namesake German city, in which the writings and ideas of Martin Luther were addressed? 4. Which Joe Esposito track, which states that "nothing's ever gonna keep you down," appeared in the film The Karate Kid after being rejected from the soundtrack of Rocky III ? 5. Abraham Lincoln is beheaded in Dream on Monkey Mountain , a play by which St. Lucia born playwright, who also adapted the Odyssey in his Omeros ? 6. Joseph Haydn is known as both the Father of the Symphony and the Father of which other type of composition

The following are the answers for the companion questions to LL83 MD23. / / / / / / / / / / 1. Eadweard Muybridge 2. Scottsboro Boys 3. My Cousin Vinny 4. A Bug's Life 5. Mai Tai 6. G-funk

The following are "companion questions" to those appearing on the LearnedLeague website on December 18, 2019. 1. Marcel Duchamp's work Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2  is inspired by an 1887 series of pictures by which photographer, who was hired by Leland Stanford to photographically study the gait pattern on running horses? 2. Harper Lee took inspiration for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird from the tragic 1931 case of nine African-American youths falsely accused of rape and subject to several unfair trials; these youths are best known collectively today by what name? 3. One of the final roles of Fred Gwynne, who portrayed Herman Munster on The Munsters , was as Judge Chamberlain Haller in which comedy? 4. Identify the late 20th century animated film, heavily inspired by Seven Samurai , in which a group of circus performers are mistaken for mighty warriors and recruited as protection against a large enemy force? 5. The name for which popular rum cocktail co

The following are the answers for the companion questions to LL83 MD22. / / / / / / / / / / 1. Schitt's Creek 2. Petticoat Affair 3. Borneo 4. Ephesus 5. Ted 6. Bretton Woods

The following are "companion questions" to those appearing on the LearnedLeague website on December 17, 2019. 1. Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, who rose to fame on the classic sketch show SCTV , currently star on which CBC show about a wealthy family who loses their fortune? 2. What is the name for the affair in which Vice President John C. Calhoun, and almost every other member of Andrew Jackson's cabinet, resigned due to their disapproval of the marriage of Secretary of War John Eaton? 3. The proboscis monkey is indigenous to what large island? This island is also home to a namesake species of orangutan. 4. The Temple of Artemis, a now destroyed Wonder of the Ancient World, was built in what city? This city is also the dedicatee of a Biblical epistle written by Paul. 5. Sam Jones, star of Flash Gordon , cameos as himself in which raunchy 2012 comedy? 6. The interbank market, as it exists today, allows banks to trade currencies among themselves on a g

The following are the answers for the companion questions to LL83 MD21. / / / / / / / / / / 1. A Bar at the Folies-Bergere (by Manet) 2. Rage Against the Machine 3. Radio Free Europe 4. Brownian Motion 5. Jacobin 6.  Game of Thrones

The following are "companion questions" to those appearing on the LearnedLeague website on December 16, 2019. 1. A pale ale made by Bass Brewery, holder of the oldest trademark in the United Kingdom, famously appears in which 1882 painting? 2. "People of the Sun" and "War Within a Breath," which express support for the Zapatista movement, are songs by which politically minded 1990's rock band, who are perhaps better known for their famously profane song "Killing in the Name?" 3. Which U.S. government-funded broadcaster, headquartered in West Germany during the Cold War Era, reports the news in countries where free press is deemed to be not entirely established? Perhaps surprisingly, it broadcasts across several continents, not just one. 4. Named for a 19th century botanist, what is the term for the random motion of particles suspended in a fluid? This process, which possesses the Markov property, was modeled by Einstein in a 1905 pap

Answers for Match Days 18-20: / / / / / / / / / / / / MD18 1. Falcon 2. Erin Moran, Scott Baio 3. oxidation 4. cat 5. MacArthur Grant 6. Eighty Years MD19 1. Holstein 2. Aristotle Onassis 3. Floyd Landis 4. Shangri La 5. Phil Hellmuth 6. Cinderella MD20 1. ash 2. Leonardo DiCaprio 3. Baba Booey 4. Anschluss 5. Picnic 6. Malay

The following are "companion questions" to those appearing on the LearnedLeague website on December 13, 2019. 1. What is the common three-letter name of the symbol originally used to represent the Latin diphthong "ae"? 2. In an early role, which future Oscar winner portrayed destitute teenager Luke Brower on Growing Pains ? 3. Gary Dell'Abate, a producer on The Howard Stern Show, was given what nickname after he mispronounced the name of a cartoon character? The name became commonly used by fans of the show in numerous prank calls. 4. In the 1982 World Cup, West Germany and Austria infamously stopping trying during a match, since they were both guaranteed to advance so long as neither team won by a margin of three; this event is often called the Disgrace of Gijon. A Spanish newspaper described this match using what word, from the German for "joining," which is commonly used to refer to Germany's 1938 annexation of Austria? 5. Kim Novak st

The following are "companion questions" to those appearing on the LearnedLeague website on December 12, 2019. 1. The most popular breed of dairy cow in the United States is named after which former duchy? The name of this duchy now appears in the hyphenated name of a modern German state. 2. Soprano Maria Callas carried on an extramarital affair with which multimillionaire, a businessman with ties in tobacco, transportation, shipping, and whaling? 3. Which 2006 "winner" of the Tour de France (his title has since been stripped) eventually admitted to partaking in doping, and publicly called out Lance Armstrong for doing the same? 4. Maryland's Camp David was given what name by FDR, after a fictional paradise in a James Hilton novel? 5. In the World Series of Poker, the all time leader in terms of bracelet wins is what notoriously temperamental "Poker Brat," who won the No Limit Hold'em Main Event in 1989? 6. Which 80's glam metal ban

The following are "companion questions" to those appearing on the LearnedLeague website on December 11, 2019. 1. SpaceX currently has a class of launch vehicles bearing the name of which bird of prey? The "Heavy" version of this launch vehicle shot Elon Musk's personal Tesla Roadster into stellar orbit in February 2018. 2. Happy Days  spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi  was fairly unsuccessful, lasting a mere two seasons from 1982 to 1983. Name both of the actors who appeared as the title characters. 3. Black teas are a class of tea that includes Earl Grey, English Breakfast Tea, and Irish Breakfast Tea. Black teas are generally characterized as distinct from oolong and green teas in that they have undergone more of what chemical process? Generally, this process involves loss of an electron, and is contrasted with reduction. 4. In Haruki Murakami's novel  Kafka on the Shore , Nakata can speak to which common animal? Murakami's novel  The Wind-Up Bird Ch

Greetings! Welcome to... whatever this is. My pseudonym is Mercury Mulligan, and I am starting this blog on a lark. I am an enthusiast of quizzing and trivia, among other things. My primary purposes in beginning this project are to expand my skills as a quizzer, learn more about the world, and provide myself with an outlet for what can be generously described as creativity. My plan: I am a member of LearnedLeague, an online trivia league. I highly recommend the site to anyone interested in quizzing. Simply put, the site publishes 600 questions per year; six per day spread over 100 match days. As my schedule permits, I am going to take every question, that appears on these days and write a companion question to it. My companion questions may be quite closely related to their original LearnedLeague counterparts, or they may be related only tenuously. Note: for question security purposes, I will be posting my companion questions only after the official LL match day has concluded. Also