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Any Questions #359: "Trivia Land"

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel are back with a "land"-based show.Last week's challenge
Start with the phrase MADE A DECISION. Rearrange the letters to spell a four-letter word and a two-word phrase (five letters, four letters) that both name something you learn about in biology class. What are the things?
Answer: They are SEED and AMINO ACID.

THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: TRIVIA "LAND"
On-air questions
: On July 13, 1923, the Hollywoodland sign was dedicated in Los Angeles, California. Originally used to advertise a new housing development, the letters in the sign were outlined with light bulbs and lit up in three sections. In 1949, when the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles Parks Department contracted to rebuild the aging sign, the "land" part of the word was removed so the sign referred to the district and not the housing development. A 1978 campaign saw celebrities such as Gene Autry and Alice Cooper contribute funds to restore the sign. In honor of the Hollywoodland sign, this week each correct answer will be the name of a place whose name ends in "land."

1. While Newfoundland doesn't count – since the province is officially called Newfoundland and Labrador – there is a Canadian province whose name ends in "land". What is it?
2. Tootles, Nibs, and Curly are members of a group of children called the Lost Boys, who are described in a 1904 play – and a 1911 novel based on that play – as boys "who fall out of their prams when the nurse is looking the other way and if they are not claimed in seven days, they are sent far away to" what place?
3. Now featuring attractions such as Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, and a Star Wars-themed motion simulator called Star Tours, what area of Disneyland was described upon its opening in 1955 by Walt Disney as "a step into the future, with predictions of constructed things to come"?
4. Under British rule from 1906 to 1968, the king of what African country announced earlier this year that the country would be changing its name to Eswatini to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its independence, and also partially to avoid confusion with a similarly-named European country?
5. The comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, the late-90s/early-2000s TV series The Drew Carey Show, and the 1989 film Major League (and its 1994 sequel) are all set in what U.S. city?

Extra credit
1. What country's second-largest airport is named for the capital city, while its largest airport is named for Keflavík, a city some 30 miles southwest of the capital?
2. By what name do we know the supercontinent that merged with Euramerica in the Carboniferous Period to form a larger supercontinent called Pangaea?

This week's challenge
Start with the words RHODE ISLAND. Change one letter to an O and you can rearrange the result to spell a two-word phrase (four letters, seven letters) that names things you might grab on your way out of a room. What are they?

ANSWERS
On-air questions

1. Prince Edward Island
2. Neverland
3. Tomorrowland
4. Swaziland
5. Cleveland

Extra credit
1. Iceland
2. Gondwanaland

 

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.
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