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Any Questions #265

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel are back with this week's show.

Last week's challenge
Start with the phrase OPERA SINGER. Rearrange the letters to spell a two-word phrase (four letters, seven letters) for things you might pick from a tree. What are they?
Answer: If you rearrange the letters, you can spell RIPE ORANGES.

THIS WEEK'S CATEGORY: FAMOUS PHOENIXES
On-air questions: On September 23, 2002, a web browser named Phoenix was released. Named because it (metaphorically) rose from the ashes of the browser Netscape Navigator after it was effectively eliminated from the market by Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Phoenix was renamed Firefox, the name it retains today. To commemorate Phoenix's humble beginnings, this week our questions are about famous phoenixes.

1. Phoenix was the name given to one of the three versions of the Dart, a car model first introduced in 1960. Along with the basic Seneca and the mid-level Pioneer, the Phoenix was the premium version of the Dart. What automobile company manufactured the Dart?
2. Introduced in 1828 by Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias, the phoenix was a unit of currency created to stabilize some of the economic chaos in a newly-independent nation. Largely unsuccessful, the phoenix was replaced some four years later by the drachma (which itself was replaced in 2001 by the euro) in what country?
3. Portrayed by actress Famke Janssen in five films, the comic book character Jean Grey has suffered multiple deaths, one of which resulted in her rebirth and transformation into a character called Phoenix. This storyline, often referred to as "The Phoenix Saga" by fans, is part of what comics series?
4. Albus Dumbledore, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Severus Snape, and several members of the Weasley family are members of what fictional secret society, formed to fight Lord Voldemort and his followers?
5. After being credited as Leaf for his first four motion picture roles between 1985 and 1989, what actor has had roles in over 20 films, including three for which he was nominated for an Academy Award?

Extra credit
1. Of the five major league sports teams that play in Phoenix – the NBA's Suns, the NHL's Coyotes, the WNBA's Mercury, MLB's Diamondbacks, and the NFL's Cardinals – which is the only one to have never used the city as part of their name?
2. Based on a 1964 novel, what 1965 film about a group of people struggling to survive an emergency landing in the desert and starring James Stewart was remade in 2004 with Dennis Quaid in Stewart's role?

This week's challenge
Start with the nicknames of two of Phoenix's sports teams: COYOTES and SUNS. Change one letter to a P and you can rearrange the result to get a six letter word for something you take to get information and a five-letter word for things that would be bad to have in that information. What are the words?

ANSWERS
On-air questions

1. Dodge
2. Greece
3. X-Men
4. The Order of the Phoenix
5. Joaquin Phoenix

Extra credit
1. Diamondbacks
2. The Flight of the Phoenix
 

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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