WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel are back for their weekly trip to trivia land.
Last week's challenge
Start with the phrase THIRD BASEMAN. Rearrange the letters to spell the eight-letter name of an alcoholic beverage and the four-letter name of a unit of measurement often used to measure small amounts of alcohol. What are the words?
Answer: The words are ABSINTHE and DRAM.
THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: FAMOUS WEBSTERS
On-air questions: On April 14, 1828, Noah Webster published the first edition of his now-famous dictionary. Titled An American Dictionary of the English Language, the book contained some 70,000 entries, and was notable for altering words to better reflect what Webster believed were less confusing spellings or more closely followed their pronunciation. It originally sold only about 2500 copies, and Webster had to mortgage his house to finance a second edition. To commemorate the publication of Webster's first dictionary, this week our questions are about famous Websters.
1. Photographer Guy Webster has shot many iconic album covers from the 1960s and 1970s, including Simon and Garfunkel's The Sounds of Silence, the debut album from the Doors, and the 1965 album Turn! Turn! Turn! by what band?
2. The 1980s TV series Webster starred Emmanuel Lewis as a young orphan who is taken in by his godparents George and Katherine. In the series finale, titled "Webtrek", clips of the series are interspersed with the family's adventure in space on what iconic vessel?
3. Webster Avenue, one of the longest roads in the Bronx, runs some 6 miles between the Melrose and Woodlawn neighborhoods in the borough. Along the way, it runs by the 85-acre Rose Hill campus of what Catholic university, the oldest such university in the northeast?
4. Mike Webster, nicknamed "Iron Mike" and considered by some to be the best center in NFL history, spent most of his time with what team, with whom he won four Super Bowls in 1975, 1976, 1979, and 1980?
5. Inspired by a Washington Irving short story, a 1936 work by Stephen Vincent Benet tells the story of a New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to one Mr. Scratch in a contract that is later rendered null by a court. Named in part for the lawyer that defends the farmer, the story is titled "The Devil and" whom?
Extra credit
1. A 1957 jazz album titled For Lady features musician Webster Young leading a band that performs six songs, including "Strange Fruit", that were (as the subtitle of the album notes) all made famous by what singer?
2. The Webster is a type of front flip in which a person pushes off the ground with one leg while using their other leg to gain momentum. The move is used by practitioners of what activity, which can also involve vaulting over obstacles or scaling walls?
This week's challenge
Start with the name NOAH WEBSTER. Change one letter to a C, and you can rearrange the result to spell a five-letter word for things that most pine trees have and a six-letter word for something pine tree branches might be made into. What are the words?
ANSWERS
On-air questions
1. The Byrds
2. The Starship Enterprise
3. Fordham University
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Daniel Webster
Extra credit
1. Billie Holiday
2. Parkour
