WAMC’s Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel focus on bridges.
Last week's challenge
Start with the phrase WORLD SERIES. Rearrange the letters to spell a two-word phrase (four letters in the first word, seven letters in the second) that might describe a nervous sports fan after his team wins the first two games of the World Series. What is the phrase?
Answer: The phrase is LESS WORRIED.
THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: BRIDGES
On-air questions: The Mackinaw Bridge, which spans the Straits of Mackinac and connects the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, was opened to traffic on Nov. 1, 1957. At just over 26,000 feet long – and with a suspension of more than 8,000 feet – the bridge is the fifth-longest suspension bridge in the world. This week, we'll commemorate the bridge's opening with question about other famous bridges.
1. Featuring the top-10hit "A Matter of Trust" and an appropriately-titled duet with Ray Charles called "Baby Grand", which musician released the 1986 album titled The Bridge?
2. Although the card game bridge has many variations, the most modern and common form – called contract bridge – involves two pairs of partners. For purposes of scoring, the four players are frequently identified using what?
3. The traditional nursery rhyme "London Bridge is Falling Down" is believed by many to be the source for the title of what musical that debuted on Broadway in 1956?
4. Adapted into a 1995 film starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep, what 1992 novel by Robert James Waller tells the story of an Iowa woman who has an affair with a visiting photographer from National Geographic?
5. Narrated by actor Jeff Bridges, the documentary Lost in La Mancha recounts director Terry Gilliam's attempt to make a film that retells the story of what famous literary character?
Extra credit
1. During the 2008 presidential election, Alaska's Gravina Island Bridge, which connects its namesake island to the city of Ketchikan, became a symbol of pork-barrel spending and was commonly known as what?
2. In 1986, the first annual benefit concert was held for The Bridge School, an organization that assists children with speech impairments. What singer-songwriter organized, and still performs each year at, these benefit concerts?
This week's challenge
Start with the phrase GOLDEN GATE (as in the Golden Gate Bridge). Change one letter to an R and rearrange the result to spell a word that names someone who stops things from crossing a line. Who is it?
ANSWERS
On-air questions
1. Billy Joel
2. Compass points
3. My Fair Lady
4. The Bridges of Madison County
5. Don Quixote
Extra credit
1. The "Bridge to Nowhere"
2. Neil Young
