Monthly Archives: July 2020

U.S. Trivia for Independence Day!

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historyoftheflag

[Image courtesy of NWI Times.]

Tomorrow is Independence Day here in the United States.

Over the last sixth months, freedom has certainly been on the minds of many of us in the U.S., and across the world. People are out in the streets, fighting for freedom, while at the same time many are choosing to curtail some of their personal freedoms in order to help contain the Coronavirus and prevent spreading it to others.

During these uncertain times, people have been cleverly adapting and finding new ways to socialize. One way that has certainly worked for me and friends has been hosting virtual bar trivia nights. With programs like Google Hangouts, Zoom, Facebook Messenger, Streamyard, and others available, it’s amazing what you can accomplish from the comfort of your own home.

And I’d like to share some of that puzzly entrepreneurial spirit with you.

In honor of July 4th, I’ve collected some America-themed trivia I’ve used in previous trivia nights. Feel free to test your own knowledge with them OR use them in your own puzzly endeavors!

(Some are multiple choice and some aren’t, because I usually start with multiple choice in early rounds and then abandon that format in later rounds. Please adapt as needed.)

So, without further ado, let’s get quizzy!

1.) What is the only state in the USA that doesn’t share a letter with the word “mackerel”?

2.) With a distance of 1,523 mi from East to West, what is the second widest state in the United States?

3.) What is the only jurisdiction in the US where people drive on the left-hand side of the road?

4.) The city of Kanorado sits on the border between what two states?

5.) What is the area code for Brevard County, Florida, home of Cape Canaveral?

6.) What NASA mission was intentionally underfueled to prevent the astronauts from attempting an unauthorized moon landing on their own?

7.) What entertainment company convinced a U.S. court to rule that their characters weren’t human in order to save on taxes from toy sales?

A. Haim/Saban (Power Rangers)
B. Hallmark Entertainment (Zoobilee Zoo)
C. Kenner (Stretch Armstrong)
D. Marvel (X-Men)

8.) Designed by Benjamin Franklin and known as the Fugio cent or the Franklin cent, the first official circulation coin in the United States bore what inscription?

A. America First
B. A Penny Saved
C. Mind Your Business
D. God Bless America

9.) What entertainment company is the second largest consumer of explosive devices, only behind the U.S. Department of Defense?

A. The Walt Disney Company
B. Universal Studios
C. World Wrestling Entertainment
D. Platinum Dunes, aka Michael Bay’s production company

10.) There is no national monument in Washington, D.C. dedicated to U.S. service members who fought in what war?

A. World War I
B. World War II
C. Korean War
D. Vietnam War

Let us know your answers in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

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Let’s Play Crossword Bingo!

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Crossword.

If you solve enough crosswords, you’re bound to encounter some words more often than others.

Maybe the word has grid-friendly letters or a letter pattern that facilitates editing. Maybe it’s an otherwise obscure item that crosswords have kept in the zeitgeist.

Or maybe it’s a just three-letter word with vowels on either end, be it a female sheep, a tavern drink, a mine find, or fury, and that corner just won’t be completed without one of them.

Some solvers find fault with those words, the constructors who use them, or the outlets that publish puzzles featuring them. Other solvers, however, find fun ways to acknowledge their ubiquity.

For instance, a reddit user under the handle “atleasttheresmusic” created a bingo card based on words that crop up regularly in The New York Times crossword:

xwd bingo 1

Not only did they hit some classic examples of crosswordese, but they even managed to categorize their entries, highlighting crossword tropes like “short, poetic words” and the frequent use of abbreviations.

Between the bingo card itself and the many suggestions shared by fellow puzzlers in the comments, I couldn’t resist taking a crack at making a crossword bingo card of my own:

xwd bingo 2

As you can see, I’ve also organized the columns by category; from left to right, there’s abbreviations, names, vowel-heavy words, 3-letter entries, and non-U.S. terminology.

I couldn’t fit every entry I wanted to — EKE/IKE fell by the wayside, as did EWER — but I managed to jam a fair amount of crosswordese and personal pet peeves onto the card. Plus, given how often ALEE and ALOE appear, they’re basically a free space in the center of the card.

So how did I do, fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers? What words should I have included? Did the cleaner card created by “atleasttheresmusic” win out over mine, or did we both succeed in having some fun at the expense of crosswords?

And, most importantly, how quickly would you get BINGO if you used one of our cards? Let us know in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on everything PuzzleNation!

You can also share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and explore the always-expanding library of PuzzleNation apps and games on our website!