© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

Any Questions #267

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel return for this week's edition of Any Questions?

Last week's challenge
Start with the phrase DAIRY FARMER. Rearrange the letters to spell a five-letter word that can describe someone who is happy and a six-letter word that can describe someone who probably isn't happy. What are the words?
Answer: The words are MERRY and AFRAID.

THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: DRAGONS
On-air questions: October 7, 2016, is expected to be the peak of this year's Draconid meteor shower. The Draconids are so named because the meteors appear to originate from the constellation Draco (the Dragon), and the meteors are formed when debris from the Giacobini-Zinner Comet collides with the Earth's atmosphere. Find a dark, open part of the sky, lie back, and look up and you might see some Draconids…but first, let's have a quiz about dragons.

1. Despite numerous protestations by the song's authors, what 1963 Peter, Paul, and Mary hit song that takes place in "a land called Honalee", and whose lyrics were based on a poem that itself was inspired by an Ogden Nash poem, is not about smoking marijuana?
2. It was first released in 1974, was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, was originally called "The Fantasy Game", and is featured in the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and in the TV series The Big Bang Theory and Stranger Things. What game is it?
3. The Dragons are the athletic teams of Drexel University, a private university whose main campus is in Philadelphia. Drexel's first intercollegiate athletic event was in January of 1895, when the men's basketball team beat, by a score of 26-1, the Owls of what other Philadelphia institution?
4. Considered one of the greatest martial arts films of all time, 1973's Enter the Dragon was the final film appearance of, and was released six days after the death of, what actor, who also portrayed Kato in the Batman and The Green Hornet TV series?
5. "Men Who Hate Women" is the English translation of the original Swedish title of what Steig Larsson novel, which tells the story of Mikael Blomqvist, a magazine publisher, and Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker who is hired to investigate Blomqvist's past?

This week's challenge
Start with the word DRAGONFLIES. Rearrange the letters to spell a six-letter word for something you wear on your head and a five-letter word for something you wear on your arm. What are the words?

Extra credit
1. The lizard known as the Komodo dragon takes its name from the island of Komodo, one of a group of islands that serve as the lizard's primary habitat. These islands are among the over 17,000 islands that comprise what nation?
2. Inspired by the resemblance of the pieces' positions to the constellation Draco, the Dragon Variation is a version of the Sicilian Defense, a strategy used in what game?

Answers
1. "Puff, The Magic Dragon"
2. Dungeons & Dragons
3. Temple
4. Bruce Lee
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Extra credit
1. Indonesia
2. Chess
 

A lifelong resident of the Capital Region, Ian joined WAMC in late 2008 and became news director in 2013. He began working on Morning Edition and has produced The Capitol Connection, Congressional Corner, and several other WAMC programs. Ian can also be heard as the host of the WAMC News Podcast and on The Roundtable and various newscasts. Ian holds a BA in English and journalism and an MA in English, both from the University at Albany, where he has taught journalism since 2013.
Related Content
  • WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel switch seats to kick off the sixth season.Last week's challengeStart with the phrase LAKE CHAD.…
  • WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel try out a new category. Last week's challengeStart with the term BROADWAY PLAY. Rearrange the…
  • WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothangel spend a night at the opera.Last week's challengeStart with the words BOTH and NEITHER. Change one…
  • WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel are back with this week's show.Last week's challengeStart with the phrase OPERA SINGER. Rearrange…
  • WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel head back to the farm.Last week's challengeStart with the nicknames of two of Phoenix's sports…