WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel try to hit the speed of sound.
Last week's challenge
Start with the phrase RUN OF THE MILL. Change one letter to an A and you can rearrange the result to spell the eight-letter last name of a president and the four-letter name of a U.S. state. What are they?
Answer: If you change the N to an A, you can spell FILLMORE and UTAH.
THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: "MACH" FIVE
On-air questions: On May 18, 1953, aviator Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier. During a run at Rogers Dry Lake, California, in a Sabre 3 aircraft, Cochran averaged just over 652 miles per hour and, at one point, hit Mach one – approximately 767 miles per hour – and broke the sound barrier. In her later career, Cochran also became, among other things, the first woman to land on and take off from an aircraft carrier and the first pilot to fly above 20,000 feet with an oxygen mask. Cochran still holds more distance and speed records than any other pilot, living or dead. To commemorate Cochran's achieving Mach one, each correct answer this week will contain a word that starts with the letters "mach."
1. What Peruvian landmark whose name translates as "old peak" was believed to have been constructed as an estate for a 15th-century Incan emperor, and was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983?
2. Often called the father of modern political science, what Italian politician and philosopher wrote The Prince in 1532, a work which in part prompted the use of an adjective form of the author's name as a synonym for duplicitous or cunning?
3. Although English inventor John Fisher built a device in 1844 that combined different elements of earlier innovations, including an overhanging arm and a feed mechanism, his patent was misfiled at the patent office, allowing U.S. inventor Isaac Merritt Singer to reap the benefits of the patent on the modern version of what time-saving device?
4. What Baltimore Orioles third baseman and shortstop was drafted in 2010, made his major league debut with the Orioles in 2012, and has since won two Gold Gloves and, in 2013, a Platinum Glove for being named the best defensive player in the American League?
5. What 1978 Village People song, taken from the album of the same name, was the group's first charting single in the U.S. and was used as the theme song to the 1996 remake of The Nutty Professor and the 2000 sequel?
Extra credit
1. Originating in Greek tragedy, where it referred to bringing actors playing gods on stage via mechanical means, what phrase now more generally refers to a plot device that resolves a problem in an unlikely, contrived way?
2. What name fills in the blank in these lyrics from a 1959 pop song: "Just a jackknife has old _____, babe /And he keeps it out of sight"?
This week's challenge
Start with the phrase MACH THREE. Change one letter to an S and you can spell a word for things that losers might ask for. What are they?
ANSWERS
On-air questions
1. Machu Picchu
2. Machiavelli
3. Sewing machine
4. Manny Machado
5. "Macho Man"
Extra credit
1. Deus ex machina
2. MacHeath
