Thursday, November 12, 2026

The tidbits, trivia answers and word pairs from Facts & Games on Thursday, November 12, 2026. Play today’s games · All past days · All past tidbits

Six tidbits

Commonly confused words

advice vs. advise

advice: A suggestion about what to do (a noun). advise: To give a suggestion (a verb). Advise, with an s, is the action.

bated vs. baited

bated: Held back, as in held breath. baited: Set with food to lure prey. Bated breath is abated, held-back breath.

anecdote vs. antidote

anecdote: A short, amusing true story. antidote: A remedy that counteracts a poison. An antidote is anti- the poison.

lay vs. lie

lay: To put something down (takes an object). lie: To recline or rest (no object). You lay a book down; you lie on the couch.

incredible vs. incredulous

incredible: Hard to believe. incredulous: Unwilling or unable to believe. A story is incredible; the listener is incredulous.

Beatles trivia

1. Which country singer had the original hit with “Act Naturally”, later covered by the Beatles?Answer: Buck Owens. Buck Owens took it to No. 1 on the country chart before Ringo sang it on Help!.
2. Some American radio stations refused to play which Beatles single because of a line about crucifixion?Answer: The Ballad of John and Yoko. The song’s use of the word “Christ” led a number of US stations to ban it.
3. Who wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for A Hard Day’s Night?Answer: Alun Owen. The Welsh-born Liverpool playwright Alun Owen spent time with the band to capture the way they talked.
4. Which writer was allowed inside the band’s world to write their only authorized biography of the 1960s?Answer: Hunter Davies. Hunter Davies’ The Beatles followed them through 1967 and 1968.
5. Which was the last new single the Beatles released in Britain before they broke up?Answer: Let It Be. “Let It Be” came out in March 1970, weeks before Paul announced he had left.
6. As newcomers to the American charts, the Beatles won which Grammy Award?Answer: Best New Artist. They were named Best New Artist at the Grammys that followed their breakthrough in America.
7. The Beatles won an Academy Award for the music of which film?Answer: Let It Be. Let It Be won the Oscar for Best Original Song Score.
8. The words of “Tomorrow Never Knows” were inspired by a book adapted from which ancient text?Answer: The Tibetan Book of the Dead. John drew on The Psychedelic Experience, Timothy Leary’s version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
9. What was the title of Brian Epstein’s autobiography?Answer: A Cellarful of Noise. A Cellarful of Noise took its name from the Cavern Club, where he first saw the band.
10. The Beatles made their television debut on a regional program made by which company?Answer: Granada Television. They first appeared on Granada’s People and Places, broadcast in the north-west of England.
11. Which Decca executive is remembered for turning the Beatles down?Answer: Dick Rowe. Dick Rowe chose Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead, reportedly saying guitar groups were on the way out.
12. Which British company made the amplifiers the Beatles used on stage?Answer: Vox. Vox supplied their AC30 and later the more powerful AC100 amplifiers.
13. Which Beatle sang “Let It Be” to close the London half of Live Aid?Answer: Paul McCartney. Paul played it at the piano at Wembley Stadium, though his microphone failed for the first part of the song.
14. John Lennon’s father, a merchant seaman, was usually known by what name?Answer: Freddie. Alfred “Freddie” Lennon was away at sea for much of John’s early childhood.
15. Which historian is writing the multi-volume Beatles history All These Years?Answer: Mark Lewisohn. Mark Lewisohn published the first volume, Tune In, covering the years up to 1962.
16. Which hit did the Beatles re-record in German as “Komm, gib mir deine Hand”?Answer: I Want to Hold Your Hand. EMI’s German branch asked for German versions, so the band recorded it with new words in Paris.
17. Paul McCartney said the title “Eight Days a Week” came from a remark by whom?Answer: A chauffeur who drove him. Paul recalled a chauffeur saying he’d been working “eight days a week”.
18. Which White Album song did Paul write as a tribute to 1920s British music hall?Answer: Honey Pie. Paul wrote “Honey Pie” in the style of the old songs his father played, complete with a scratchy-record effect.
19. While recording “Birthday”, the band took a break to watch which 1950s rock ’n’ roll film on TV?Answer: The Girl Can’t Help It. They went to Paul’s house nearby to catch The Girl Can’t Help It, then came back and finished the song.
20. Which Ringo Starr album is the only solo album with contributions from all four Beatles?Answer: Ringo. John, Paul and George each contributed to Ringo, though never all on the same track.

Taylor Swift trivia

1. Which of her music videos was Swift’s first as the sole director?Answer: The Man. She wrote and directed “The Man”, in which she plays a man in heavy disguise.
2. The writers of which 3LW song sued, claiming “Shake It Off” copied their lyrics?Answer: Playas Gon’ Play. Sean Hall and Nathan Butler’s case over “Playas Gon’ Play” was settled in 2022.
3. Early in her career, Swift opened for which of these country stars?Answer: George Strait. She opened shows for George Strait in 2007, as well as Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
4. Swift has said which song on her fifth studio album started out as a poem?Answer: This Love. She wrote “This Love” as a poem and later set it to music with producer Nathan Chapman.
5. Where did Swift and Travis Kelce announce their engagement?Answer: In a joint Instagram post. They shared photos from a garden proposal in a joint post on Instagram.
6. Which ticketing website buckled under demand during the Eras Tour presale?Answer: Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster’s presale crashed and was overwhelmed, and its general sale was canceled.
7. Who joined Swift to sing “Fifteen” at the Grammy Awards ceremony in 2009?Answer: Miley Cyrus. The two teen stars sang it together, with Swift on guitar.
8. Which actor and singer plays the boy she pines for in the “Teardrops on My Guitar” video?Answer: Tyler Hilton. Tyler Hilton, known from One Tree Hill, played Drew.
9. Which instrument gives the Lover song “False God” its jazzy feel?Answer: Saxophone. A saxophone part by Evan Smith runs through the slinky track.
10. In “Down Bad”, Swift compares heartbreak to being dropped back on Earth after what?Answer: An alien abduction. The song pictures a lover who beamed her up and then left her behind.
11. Swift was a spokesperson for which sneaker brand in the early 2010s?Answer: Keds. She appeared in Keds campaigns and had her own line of the canvas shoes.
12. Swift became a face of which cosmetics brand early in her career?Answer: CoverGirl. She signed on as a CoverGirl spokesmodel as her country-pop fame grew.
13. As a young girl in Pennsylvania, Swift competed in which activity?Answer: Horse shows. She grew up around horses on her family’s Christmas tree farm and rode in competitions.
14. Swift’s Beverly Hills home once belonged to which Hollywood producer?Answer: Samuel Goldwyn. She bought the Samuel Goldwyn estate, built for the movie mogul in the 1930s.
15. “Hey Stephen” is widely reported to be about a singer in which country duo that toured with her?Answer: Love and Theft. Stephen Barker Liles of Love and Theft opened shows for her before Fearless came out.
16. What was Swift’s first live album?Answer: Speak Now World Tour – Live. Recorded on the Speak Now tour, it came out in 2011 with a concert film.
17. Put together, the backs of four Midnights vinyl editions form what?Answer: A clock. Each edition’s back cover shows a quarter of a clock face.
18. The deluxe CD editions of Lover came with pages from what?Answer: Her personal diaries. Each of the four deluxe editions included a different set of scanned diary entries.
19. Special editions of Reputation sold in stores came packaged with what?Answer: Magazines. Two editions came with glossy magazines of photos, poems and art.
20. Swift became a familiar face at Arrowhead Stadium, home of which NFL team?Answer: Kansas City Chiefs. She cheered on Travis Kelce at Chiefs games in Kansas City, Missouri.

Football trivia

1. Which kicker’s 66-yard field goal for the Ravens against the Lions set an NFL record at the time?Answer: Justin Tucker. Tucker’s kick bounced off the crossbar and over to beat Detroit as time expired.
2. The first NFL regular-season game played outside the United States was held in which city?Answer: Mexico City. The Cardinals beat the 49ers at Estadio Azteca in front of more than 100,000 fans.
3. The NFL’s first regular-season game in South America was played in which city?Answer: São Paulo. The Eagles beat the Packers at the Corinthians’ stadium in São Paulo, Brazil.
4. Which city hosted the NFL’s first regular-season game in Germany?Answer: Munich. Tom Brady’s Buccaneers beat the Seahawks at Allianz Arena, home of Bayern Munich.
5. Whose halftime show at Super Bowl XXVII turned the halftime break into a superstar showcase?Answer: Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson’s performance at the Rose Bowl drew bigger ratings than the game itself.
6. Antonio Cromartie set the record for the longest play in NFL history with a 109-yard return of what?Answer: A missed field goal. The Chargers cornerback caught a short field goal try deep in his end zone and ran it all the way back.
7. Which college hired Bill Belichick as head coach after his years with the Patriots?Answer: North Carolina. Belichick took over the North Carolina Tar Heels, his first college head coaching job.
8. Who succeeded Paul Tagliabue as NFL commissioner?Answer: Roger Goodell. Roger Goodell, who started at the league as an intern, became commissioner in 2006.
9. Who founded NFL Films, famous for its slow-motion footage and dramatic music?Answer: Ed Sabol. Ed Sabol started it, and his son Steve Sabol made it famous.
10. Whose deep, solemn voice narrated classic NFL Films, earning him the nickname “the Voice of God”?Answer: John Facenda. The Philadelphia newsman John Facenda narrated NFL Films from the 1960s into the 1980s.
11. Which team’s “Wildcat” formation, with a running back taking the snap, stunned the Patriots in a famous upset?Answer: Miami Dolphins. Ronnie Brown ran for four touchdowns from the Wildcat as Miami beat New England in Foxborough.
12. Who headlined the Super Bowl LIX halftime show in New Orleans?Answer: Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick Lamar performed, with SZA as his guest, at the Caesars Superdome.
13. The NFL’s oldest rivalry is between the Chicago Bears and which team?Answer: Green Bay Packers. The Bears and Packers first met in 1921 and have played more than 200 times.
14. The first televised NFL game featured the Philadelphia Eagles against which team?Answer: Brooklyn Dodgers. NBC showed the game from Ebbets Field in 1939 to the few New York homes that had TV sets.
15. Who was the first pure punter elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame?Answer: Ray Guy. Ray Guy punted for the Raiders for 14 seasons and was famous for towering kicks.
16. Who scored the winning touchdown in overtime in the Colts’ famous championship win over the Giants at Yankee Stadium?Answer: Alan Ameche. Fullback Alan Ameche plunged in from the 1-yard line in what was called “the Greatest Game Ever Played”.
17. Who holds the NFL record for most interceptions returned for touchdowns in a career?Answer: Rod Woodson. Rod Woodson took 12 interceptions back for scores over his 17-season career.
18. In which stadium did the NFL play its first game in Spain?Answer: Santiago Bernabéu. The Dolphins and Commanders met at Real Madrid’s home ground.
19. Who became the NFL’s first official commissioner, after fame as one of Notre Dame’s “Four Horsemen”?Answer: Elmer Layden. Elmer Layden took the new commissioner’s title in 1941.
20. Which rookie kicker won Super Bowl V for the Baltimore Colts with a late field goal?Answer: Jim O’Brien. Jim O’Brien’s 32-yarder with five seconds left beat the Dallas Cowboys 16–13.

Basketball trivia

1. Which burly Celtics forward of the 2008 title team was nicknamed “Big Baby”?Answer: Glen Davis. Glen “Big Baby” Davis was a rookie on Boston’s 2008 championship team.
2. Which Hall of Famer, nicknamed “the Hawk”, was the ABA’s first MVP before starring for the Phoenix Suns?Answer: Connie Hawkins. Connie Hawkins led the Pittsburgh Pipers to the first ABA title and later became a four-time All-Star in Phoenix.
3. Which NBA forward co-starred with Adam Sandler in the Netflix film Hustle?Answer: Juancho Hernangómez. Juancho Hernangómez played Bo Cruz, a Spanish street baller Sandler’s scout discovers.
4. Who scored 70 points against the Boston Celtics at age 20?Answer: Devin Booker. Devin Booker became the youngest player to score 60 or more, finishing with 70 in Boston in 2017.
5. Hedo Türkoğlu, a key part of Orlando’s run to the Finals, came from which country?Answer: Turkey. The Istanbul-born forward won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in 2008.
6. Rui Hachimura made history as the first Japanese player picked in which round of the NBA draft?Answer: The first round. The Wizards took him ninth overall, making him the first Japanese-born first-round pick.
7. Who coached the U.S. “Redeem Team” to Olympic gold in Beijing?Answer: Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K’s team, with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, won gold in 2008 after the U.S. took bronze in 2004.
8. Who won the NBA’s first Clutch Player of the Year award?Answer: De’Aaron Fox. Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox, the league’s top fourth-quarter scorer that season, won it unanimously.
9. Which play-by-play man is famous for shouting “Bang!” after big shots?Answer: Mike Breen. Mike Breen has called more NBA Finals on TV than anyone, with “Bang!” as his signature.
10. Which Lakers broadcaster is credited with coining terms such as “slam dunk”?Answer: Chick Hearn. Chick Hearn called a record 3,338 straight Lakers games and popularized much of the game’s slang.
11. Which streaming service joined ESPN/ABC and NBC as an NBA TV partner from the 2025–26 season?Answer: Amazon Prime Video. The 11-year deals ended TNT’s run of NBA games after nearly four decades.
12. Who composed “Roundball Rock”, NBC’s famous NBA theme?Answer: John Tesh. John Tesh wrote the tune, and NBC brought it back when it returned to the NBA.
13. Which UCLA star became the first woman to sign an NBA contract, with the Indiana Pacers?Answer: Ann Meyers. Ann Meyers signed a free-agent contract and tried out for the Pacers but did not make the team.
14. When the Denver Nuggets drafted Nikola Jokić, TV viewers were watching an ad for which fast-food chain?Answer: Taco Bell. ESPN showed the pick in a small box during a Taco Bell commercial.
15. Which guard, picked last in his draft, became a two-time All-Star with the Celtics?Answer: Isaiah Thomas. The 5-foot-9 Isaiah Thomas was the 60th and final pick and averaged 28.9 points for Boston in 2016–17.
16. Who became the first woman to be a full-time NBA assistant coach?Answer: Becky Hammon. Becky Hammon joined Gregg Popovich’s Spurs staff in 2014.
17. The rule that lets teams go over the salary cap to re-sign their own players is named after whom?Answer: Larry Bird. “Bird rights” came from the Celtics’ wish to keep Larry Bird.
18. Stephen Curry’s father, Dell Curry, played college basketball at which school?Answer: Virginia Tech. Dell Curry starred at Virginia Tech before a 16-season NBA career; Stephen went to Davidson.
19. Which G League guard won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest three years in a row?Answer: Mac McClung. He won three contests in a row, something no one had done before.
20. Michael Jordan scored a playoff-record 63 points in a double-overtime loss to which team?Answer: Boston Celtics. Larry Bird said afterward that it was “God disguised as Michael Jordan”.

Baseball trivia

1. Major League Baseball’s first night game was played under the lights in which city?Answer: Cincinnati. President Franklin Roosevelt pressed a button in Washington to switch on the lights at Crosley Field in 1935.
2. Who holds the major league record for the highest batting average in a season, .440?Answer: Hugh Duffy. Hugh Duffy hit .440 for the Boston Beaneaters in 1894.
3. Fans at Chase Field in Phoenix can rent what, just beyond the outfield wall?Answer: A swimming pool. The pool deck in right-center field has been a ballpark landmark since the stadium opened.
4. After a hurricane tore apart the roof of Tropicana Field, where did the Rays play their 2025 home games?Answer: George M. Steinbrenner Field. They played at the Yankees’ spring-training ballpark in Tampa while the Trop was repaired.
5. Which Giants third baseman was nicknamed “Kung Fu Panda”?Answer: Pablo Sandoval. Pablo Sandoval hit three home runs in Game 1 of the 2012 World Series.
6. Which hard-throwing left-hander was nicknamed “Sudden Sam”?Answer: Sam McDowell. Sam McDowell led the American League in strikeouts five times in the 1960s.
7. The longest game in major league history by innings lasted 26 innings and ended how?Answer: In a 1–1 tie. Darkness stopped the Brooklyn Robins and Boston Braves in 1920, with both starters pitching all 26 innings.
8. The longest game in professional baseball, 33 innings, was a minor league game involving which future Hall of Famers?Answer: Cal Ripken Jr. and Wade Boggs. Pawtucket and Rochester played in 1981, with Boggs and Ripken in the lineups.
9. Who became the first South Korean-born player in the major leagues?Answer: Chan Ho Park. Chan Ho Park debuted for the Dodgers in 1994 and won 124 big-league games.
10. Center fielder Andruw Jones, a 10-time Gold Glove winner, comes from which island?Answer: Curaçao. Jones grew up on Curaçao and hit two home runs in his first World Series game at 19.
11. In baseball slang, what is “cheese”?Answer: A hard fastball. Pitchers who “bring the cheese” throw high-speed fastballs.
12. What is a fungo bat used for?Answer: Hitting practice balls to fielders. Coaches toss the ball up and hit grounders and fly balls with the long, thin fungo bat.
13. A runner caught between bases in a rundown is said to be in what?Answer: A pickle. Fielders throw the ball back and forth to tag the runner trapped in the pickle.
14. What is a “payoff pitch”?Answer: A pitch thrown on a full count. With three balls and two strikes, the next pitch will settle the at-bat unless it is fouled off.
15. What is the “rubber game” of a series?Answer: The deciding game. When a series is tied, the last game breaks the tie.
16. In the MLB regular season, each extra inning now starts with what?Answer: A runner on second base. The automatic runner was added in 2020 and made permanent in 2023.
17. When MLB enlarged its bases, they went from 15 inches square to how many?Answer: 18 inches. Bigger bases were meant to cut injuries and encourage stolen bases.
18. What did MLB’s defensive-shift ban require?Answer: Two infielders on each side of second base. Infielders must also keep their feet on the infield dirt when the pitch is thrown.
19. From 2026, players can challenge an umpire’s ball or strike call to what?Answer: An automated ball-strike system. Each team gets a small number of challenges, decided in seconds by tracking cameras.
20. Who threw the fastest pitch ever recorded in the majors, at 105.8 mph?Answer: Aroldis Chapman. Chapman hit 105.8 mph for the Cincinnati Reds against the Padres in 2010.

Hockey trivia

1. Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Darren McCarty formed which famous Detroit checking line?Answer: The Grind Line. The hard-working Grind Line helped the Red Wings win Stanley Cups in 1997 and 1998.
2. Which women’s professional league began play with six teams in 2024?Answer: The PWHL. The Professional Women’s Hockey League launched with teams in Canada and the U.S.
3. What is the PWHL’s championship trophy called?Answer: The Walter Cup. It is named for Mark and Kimbra Walter, who backed the league.
4. What was Lord Stanley’s given name?Answer: Frederick Arthur Stanley. Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston, donated the cup while Governor General of Canada.
5. Jaromír Jágr wore number 68 to honor what?Answer: The Prague Spring uprising. The number recalls 1968, when Soviet-led forces crushed the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia.
6. The first NHL regular-season outdoor game, the Heritage Classic, was played in which city?Answer: Edmonton. The Oilers hosted the Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium in bitterly cold weather in 2003.
7. Which American forward is the all-time leading scorer at the women’s world championships?Answer: Hilary Knight. Hilary Knight has won many world titles with Team USA and holds the tournament’s career scoring record.
8. Hockey Hall of Fame staff who travel with the Stanley Cup traditionally wear what?Answer: White gloves. The “Keepers of the Cup” handle it with white gloves wherever it goes.
9. What is a “spin-o-rama”?Answer: A full spin to shake off a defender. The puck carrier turns a full circle while protecting the puck, a move made famous by Denis Savard.
10. Wayne Gretzky learned to skate on a backyard rink built by his father. What was his father’s name?Answer: Walter. Walter Gretzky flooded the family’s Brantford backyard every winter for his son.
11. Which country won the first World Cup of Hockey, in 1996?Answer: United States. The Americans beat Canada in the best-of-three final in Montreal.
12. Which Maple Leafs defenseman scored an overtime goal in the 1964 Final while playing on a broken leg?Answer: Bobby Baun. Baun was carried off on a stretcher, returned with his leg taped and won Game 6 in overtime.
13. Bill Barilko scored a famous Cup-winning overtime goal in 1951 for which team?Answer: Toronto Maple Leafs. Barilko’s goal beat Montreal; the Leafs did not win the Cup again until 1962.
14. In hockey slang, where is “top shelf”?Answer: The upper part of the net. A top-shelf shot goes in high over the goalie’s shoulder.
15. In hockey slang, what is the “biscuit”?Answer: The puck. Players and announcers have long called the puck the biscuit.
16. In hockey slang, what is an “apple”?Answer: An assist. A player with a goal and two apples has a goal and two assists.
17. What does “bar down” describe?Answer: A shot that hits the crossbar and drops into the net. The ping off the crossbar followed by a goal is one of hockey’s favorite sounds.
18. In hockey slang, what is a “celly”?Answer: A goal celebration. Players plan their best cellies for big goals.
19. Which undrafted forward won the Hart Trophy and the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay?Answer: Martin St. Louis. Martin St. Louis, passed over in the draft for being small, was MVP in Tampa’s 2004 title season.
20. Which Hall of Fame goalie wrote The Game, often called one of the best books about hockey?Answer: Ken Dryden. Ken Dryden, a lawyer as well as a six-time Cup winner with Montreal, wrote it about his last season.

Soccer trivia

1. What does the Spanish word “golazo”, beloved by commentators, mean?Answer: A spectacular goal. Adding -azo makes a word bigger, so a golazo is a great big goal.
2. A goal scored straight from a corner kick is called an “Olympic goal” after a 1924 strike by a player from which country?Answer: Argentina. Cesáreo Onzari scored directly from a corner against Uruguay, who were then the Olympic champions.
3. Which Buenos Aires club plays at the Estadio Monumental?Answer: River Plate. River Plate’s stadium, Argentina’s largest, also hosted the 1978 World Cup final.
4. San Siro, home of AC Milan and Inter, is officially named after which player?Answer: Giuseppe Meazza. Giuseppe Meazza starred for both clubs and won two World Cups with Italy in the 1930s.
5. Celtic Park, the home of Glasgow’s Celtic, is nicknamed what?Answer: Paradise. Fans have called the stadium Paradise for more than a century.
6. Which club’s fans have long sung “Blue Moon” as their anthem?Answer: Manchester City. Manchester City supporters adopted the old song in the 1980s.
7. Which Brazilian goalkeeper scored more than 100 career goals from free kicks and penalties?Answer: Rogério Ceni. Rogério Ceni scored 131 goals in a long career with São Paulo.
8. The “Steel City derby” is played between clubs from which English city?Answer: Sheffield. Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday have contested it since the 1890s.
9. In Major League Soccer, what is the Supporters’ Shield awarded for?Answer: The best regular-season record. It was created by supporters’ groups to honor the most consistent team of the season.
10. What is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the United States?Answer: The U.S. Open Cup. The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has been played since 1914.
11. Who scored the first goal in Major League Soccer history?Answer: Eric Wynalda. Wynalda scored for the San Jose Clash against D.C. United in the league’s opening game in 1996.
12. Which Barcelona midfielder won the women’s Ballon d’Or three years in a row?Answer: Aitana Bonmatí. Aitana Bonmatí won it in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
13. Croatia’s national team is known by which nickname, meaning “the fiery ones”?Answer: Vatreni. Vatreni refers to their passion and their red-checked shirts.
14. Which national team is nicknamed the Reggae Boyz?Answer: Jamaica. Jamaica reached its first World Cup in 1998 under that nickname.
15. Which national team is known as the Eagles of Carthage?Answer: Tunisia. The ancient city of Carthage stood near modern Tunis.
16. Japan’s women’s national team is nicknamed what?Answer: Nadeshiko. Nadeshiko Japan, named after a pink flower, won the 2011 Women’s World Cup.
17. Which country will host the 2027 Women’s World Cup?Answer: Brazil. It will be the first Women’s World Cup held in South America.
18. Which three countries will host the main part of the 2030 men’s World Cup?Answer: Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will also each stage one match to mark the tournament’s 100th anniversary.
19. In England, what does “Fergie time” refer to?Answer: Stoppage time that seemed to last until Manchester United scored. Rivals joked that referees added extra minutes when Sir Alex Ferguson’s team was behind.
20. “Catenaccio”, the famously defensive Italian system, means what?Answer: Door bolt. Helenio Herrera’s Inter Milan made the bolted-door defense famous in the 1960s.

Movies trivia

1. Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood opened with the premiere of which Cecil B. DeMille epic?Answer: The King of Kings. DeMille’s silent life of Christ opened the famous theater on Hollywood Boulevard.
2. Which MGM art director is credited with designing the Oscar statuette?Answer: Cedric Gibbons. Cedric Gibbons sketched the knight holding a sword on a reel of film, and later won 11 Oscars himself.
3. Who hosted the Academy Awards ceremony a record 19 times?Answer: Bob Hope. Bob Hope hosted, alone or with others, between 1940 and 1978, and joked that the Oscars were Passover at his house.
4. Who became the youngest Best Actress winner, at 21, for Children of a Lesser God?Answer: Marlee Matlin. Marlee Matlin was also the first deaf performer to win an Academy Award.
5. Who is the youngest person ever to win a competitive Oscar, at age 10?Answer: Tatum O’Neal. Tatum O’Neal won Best Supporting Actress for Paper Moon, starring alongside her father Ryan.
6. Which costume designer won eight Oscars, the most of any woman?Answer: Edith Head. Edith Head dressed stars at Paramount and Universal for decades, from Roman Holiday to The Sting.
7. Hollywood’s strict Production Code of the 1930s to 1960s was nicknamed after which official?Answer: Will H. Hays. The Hays Code took its name from Will H. Hays, president of the studios’ trade group.
8. The Venice Film Festival’s top prize is called what?Answer: The Golden Lion. The Golden Bear belongs to Berlin, the Golden Shell to San Sebastián and the Palme d’Or to Cannes.
9. Which studio’s logo shows sweeping searchlights behind giant letters?Answer: 20th Century Fox. The searchlights and fanfare have opened Fox films, now 20th Century Studios, since the 1930s.
10. What is the name of the hopping desk lamp in Pixar’s logo?Answer: Luxo Jr.. It comes from Pixar’s 1986 short film Luxo Jr., the first CGI film nominated for an Oscar.
11. Which Best Picture winner, about a lonely Bronx butcher, is the shortest ever to win, at about 90 minutes?Answer: Marty. Marty also won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, one of very few films to win both.
12. Which was the first film from a streaming service to win Best Picture?Answer: CODA. Apple TV+’s CODA, about the hearing child of deaf parents, won in 2022.
13. Who won Best Actress for Anora?Answer: Mikey Madison. Mikey Madison won for playing a Brooklyn dancer in Sean Baker’s film, which also won Best Picture.
14. The wordless cat adventure Flow, winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, came from which country?Answer: Latvia. Gints Zilbalodis’s film was Latvia’s first Oscar winner.
15. Which march do British prisoners whistle in The Bridge on the River Kwai?Answer: Colonel Bogey March. The 1914 tune by Kenneth Alford became a hit all over again thanks to the film.
16. Which film features a helicopter attack set to Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”?Answer: Apocalypse Now. Robert Duvall’s Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore plays the music from speakers on his helicopters.
17. Which 1988 fantasy film pioneered digital “morphing”, smoothly changing one creature into another?Answer: Willow. Industrial Light & Magic developed the effect for a sorceress’s transformations in Ron Howard’s Willow.
18. A stained-glass knight that comes to life was the first fully computer-generated character in which film?Answer: Young Sherlock Holmes. Pixar’s future founders worked on the shot for the 1985 film.
19. Smell-O-Vision, which piped scents to audiences, was used for which film?Answer: Scent of Mystery. Scent of Mystery released odors under the seats; critics and audiences were not impressed.
20. Which biblical epic was the first film released in widescreen CinemaScope?Answer: The Robe. 20th Century Fox introduced CinemaScope with The Robe in 1953 to compete with television.

Television trivia

1. Who succeeded Alex Trebek as the permanent host of Jeopardy!?Answer: Ken Jennings. Ken Jennings, famous for a 74-game winning streak as a contestant, took over the show.
2. NBC’s famous Thursday-night lineup of the 1980s and ’90s was promoted under what slogan?Answer: Must See TV. The block included Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier and ER.
3. Which 1950s sitcom was the first U.S. series to show a toilet tank on screen?Answer: Leave It to Beaver. The first episode, about hiding a baby alligator, showed only the tank after a fight with censors.
4. Who created Saturday Night Live and has produced it for most of its run?Answer: Lorne Michaels. Lorne Michaels launched the show in 1975 and returned as producer in 1985.
5. Which pair created Friends?Answer: David Crane and Marta Kauffman. Crane and Kauffman later created Episodes, and Kauffman co-created Grace and Frankie.
6. Who adapted The Office for American television?Answer: Greg Daniels. Greg Daniels, a former Simpsons and King of the Hill writer, developed the NBC version.
7. Who created The Sopranos?Answer: David Chase. David Chase drew on his own New Jersey upbringing and his mother for the series.
8. Who created Mad Men after writing for The Sopranos?Answer: Matthew Weiner. Matthew Weiner wrote the pilot years before AMC agreed to make it.
9. Which writer co-created Lost with J.J. Abrams and Jeffrey Lieber and later made HBO’s Watchmen?Answer: Damon Lindelof. Damon Lindelof ran Lost with Carlton Cuse through its six seasons.
10. Who created The X-Files?Answer: Chris Carter. Chris Carter created the series about FBI agents investigating the paranormal.
11. Who created Sex and the City for television, and later Emily in Paris?Answer: Darren Star. Darren Star adapted Candace Bushnell’s newspaper columns for HBO.
12. Who created Gilmore Girls?Answer: Amy Sherman-Palladino. She later created The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with her husband, Daniel Palladino.
13. Who created Stranger Things?Answer: The Duffer Brothers. Twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer pitched it as a mix of Spielberg and Stephen King.
14. The Emmy statuette shows a winged woman holding what?Answer: An atom. The wings stand for the muse of art and the atom for the electron of science.
15. Michael Schur co-created Parks and Recreation and created which other NBC sitcom?Answer: The Good Place. He also co-created Brooklyn Nine-Nine with Dan Goor.
16. Which composer wrote the dreamy music of Twin Peaks?Answer: Angelo Badalamenti. Angelo Badalamenti worked with David Lynch for decades, and won a Grammy for the theme.
17. Who composed the slap-bass music heard between scenes on Seinfeld?Answer: Jonathan Wolff. Jonathan Wolff varied the bass riffs for each episode.
18. Who composed the famous “dun dun” sound and theme of Law & Order?Answer: Mike Post. Mike Post also wrote the themes for Hill Street Blues and The Rockford Files.
19. Who narrated Arrested Development?Answer: Ron Howard. Ron Howard, an executive producer, was the unseen narrator.
20. Who narrates Desperate Housewives from beyond the grave?Answer: Mary Alice Young. Mary Alice’s death in the first episode starts the show’s mystery.

Fantasy trivia

1. Which actor became the Fifteenth Doctor in Doctor Who?Answer: Ncuti Gatwa. Ncuti Gatwa, known from Sex Education, took over the TARDIS after David Tennant’s brief return.
2. Which linguist created the Klingon language for Star Trek?Answer: Marc Okrand. Marc Okrand developed it for the films and later wrote The Klingon Dictionary.
3. Who created the Dothraki language for Game of Thrones?Answer: David J. Peterson. David J. Peterson expanded the few words in the books into a full language.
4. Quenya and Sindarin are languages spoken by which of Tolkien’s peoples?Answer: Elves. Tolkien, a philologist, invented the Elvish languages before he wrote the stories.
5. Who played Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games films?Answer: Elizabeth Banks. Elizabeth Banks played the Capitol escort with her extravagant wigs and costumes.
6. Suzanne Collins’s novel Sunrise on the Reaping tells the Hunger Games story of which character?Answer: Haymitch Abernathy. It follows a young Haymitch in the Second Quarter Quell, the Games he won.
7. Who wrote and directed the 2025 film Superman?Answer: James Gunn. James Gunn’s film, starring David Corenswet, launched the new DC Universe.
8. Who played Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four: First Steps?Answer: Pedro Pascal. Pedro Pascal led the retro-futuristic Marvel film opposite Vanessa Kirby.
9. Who plays the title role in the Star Wars series Andor?Answer: Diego Luna. Diego Luna first played Cassian Andor in Rogue One.
10. Who performed and voiced Yoda in the original Star Wars films?Answer: Frank Oz. Frank Oz, also the voice of Miss Piggy, brought the Jedi Master to life as a puppet.
11. Which actor was inside R2-D2 in the original Star Wars films?Answer: Kenny Baker. Kenny Baker, who stood 3 feet 8 inches tall, operated the droid from inside.
12. Who composed the Oscar-winning score for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune?Answer: Hans Zimmer. Hans Zimmer said he had dreamed of scoring Dune since reading the book as a teenager.
13. Who composed the music for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films?Answer: Howard Shore. Howard Shore won three Oscars for the trilogy’s music.
14. Who composed the music for Back to the Future?Answer: Alan Silvestri. Alan Silvestri worked with director Robert Zemeckis on many films, including Forrest Gump.
15. Who sang the hit theme song from Ghostbusters?Answer: Ray Parker Jr.. Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” topped the Billboard Hot 100.
16. Which writer created the Daleks for Doctor Who?Answer: Terry Nation. Terry Nation wrote the Daleks’ first story; designer Raymond Cusick created their look.
17. Which BBC Radiophonic Workshop musician turned Ron Grainer’s score into the electronic Doctor Who theme?Answer: Delia Derbyshire. Delia Derbyshire built it note by note from tape loops and oscillators.
18. Under which pen name does J.K. Rowling write crime novels?Answer: Robert Galbraith. Her Cormoran Strike detective series appears under the name Robert Galbraith.
19. Suzanne Collins has said The Hunger Games was partly inspired by which Greek myth?Answer: Theseus and the Minotaur. In the myth, Athens had to send young people to Crete as tributes to the Minotaur.
20. Superman first appeared in which comic book?Answer: Action Comics #1. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s hero lifted a car on the famous cover.

Broadway trivia

1. Who wrote Noises Off, the farce about a chaotic touring company?Answer: Michael Frayn. Michael Frayn got the idea watching one of his plays from backstage, where it was funnier than from the front.
2. Who wrote Proof, the Pulitzer-winning play about a mathematician’s daughter?Answer: David Auburn. Proof won the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony for Best Play.
3. Who wrote Six Degrees of Separation?Answer: John Guare. John Guare’s play about a young con man made the phrase famous.
4. Who wrote The Heidi Chronicles, winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award?Answer: Wendy Wasserstein. Wendy Wasserstein’s play follows an art historian across two decades of American life.
5. Who wrote Topdog/Underdog, about two brothers named Lincoln and Booth?Answer: Suzan-Lori Parks. Suzan-Lori Parks became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
6. Who composed the music for The Secret Garden musical?Answer: Lucy Simon. Lucy Simon, Carly Simon’s sister, wrote the score with lyricist Marsha Norman.
7. Which British producer brought Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon to the stage?Answer: Cameron Mackintosh. Cameron Mackintosh produced many of the biggest musicals of the 1980s.
8. Who won a Tony playing Grizabella in the original Broadway production of Cats?Answer: Betty Buckley. Betty Buckley sang “Memory” on Broadway; Elaine Paige created the role in London.
9. Which film star won a Tony as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway?Answer: Glenn Close. Glenn Close played the faded silent-film star and later returned to the role in a revival.
10. Who played the scheming producer Max Bialystock in the original Broadway cast of The Producers?Answer: Nathan Lane. Nathan Lane starred opposite Matthew Broderick, who played the timid accountant Leo Bloom.
11. Who originated the role of Christian in Moulin Rouge! on Broadway and won a Tony for it?Answer: Aaron Tveit. Aaron Tveit was the only nominee in his category at that year’s Tonys.
12. In theatre, what does “papering the house” mean?Answer: Giving away free tickets to fill seats. Producers paper the house so that early performances don’t look empty.
13. A performer who can sing, dance and act equally well is called what?Answer: A triple threat. Gene Kelly and Sutton Foster are classic examples.
14. Which lyricist was a teenage Stephen Sondheim’s mentor?Answer: Oscar Hammerstein II. Hammerstein was a family friend who critiqued Sondheim’s early attempts at musicals.
15. Who wrote The Little Foxes, about a scheming Southern family?Answer: Lillian Hellman. Tallulah Bankhead starred on Broadway as the ruthless Regina Giddens.
16. Who co-wrote You Can’t Take It with You with Moss Hart?Answer: George S. Kaufman. The comedy about the eccentric Sycamore family won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
17. Who wrote The Philadelphia Story, a hit for Katharine Hepburn on stage and screen?Answer: Philip Barry. Hepburn owned the film rights, which helped revive her movie career.
18. New York’s free Shakespeare in the Park is staged at which open-air theatre?Answer: The Delacorte Theater. The Delacorte stands in Central Park, near Belvedere Castle and Turtle Pond.
19. Which theatre producer founded the Public Theater, where Hamilton first played?Answer: Joseph Papp. Papp also started free Shakespeare in Central Park and launched A Chorus Line.
20. What is a “put-in” rehearsal?Answer: A rehearsal to work a replacement actor into the show. The new performer runs the show with the cast so everyone is used to them.

U.S. History trivia

1. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay signed The Federalist essays with which shared pen name?Answer: Publius. Publius honored Publius Valerius, a founder of the Roman Republic.
2. Which showman and former army scout took his Wild West show across America and Europe?Answer: Buffalo Bill Cody. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s show featured Annie Oakley and later Sitting Bull.
3. Pittsburgh’s KDKA is often called the first commercial radio station. What did its first broadcast report?Answer: Presidential election results. It reported the Harding–Cox election returns as they came in.
4. Which teenager refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery nine months before Rosa Parks did?Answer: Claudette Colvin. Fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin was arrested and later became a plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle.
5. Which Washington volcano blew off its top in a massive eruption in 1980?Answer: Mount St. Helens. The May 18 eruption lowered the summit by about 1,300 feet.
6. Which 1989 California earthquake struck just before a World Series game in San Francisco?Answer: Loma Prieta. It hit as the Giants and Athletics prepared for Game 3 at Candlestick Park.
7. Who co-founded Apple Computer with Steve Jobs and designed its first computers?Answer: Steve Wozniak. Wozniak built the Apple I and Apple II largely by himself.
8. What was ARPANET, which sent its first message between two California universities?Answer: An early computer network that led to the internet. The Defense Department network linked UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute.
9. Which 1906 law, passed after reports on the meatpacking industry, led to today’s FDA?Answer: Pure Food and Drug Act. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle helped push Congress to act.
10. Who wrote the words to “America the Beautiful”?Answer: Katharine Lee Bates. Bates was inspired by the view from Pikes Peak in Colorado.
11. Who rode out with Paul Revere on the night of April 18, 1775, to warn that the British were coming?Answer: William Dawes. Dawes took a different route out of Boston; Samuel Prescott later joined them.
12. Which astronaut stayed in lunar orbit aboard Columbia during the Apollo 11 landing?Answer: Michael Collins. Collins circled the Moon alone while Armstrong and Aldrin explored the surface.
13. Which admiral commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet through most of World War II?Answer: Chester Nimitz. Nimitz took command after Pearl Harbor and signed the Japanese surrender for the United States.
14. Which amendment protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures?Answer: Fourth. It is part of the Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791.
15. Which amendment protects a person from being forced to testify against themselves?Answer: Fifth. People who refuse to answer are said to be “pleading the Fifth”.
16. The Space Needle was built for a World’s Fair in which city?Answer: Seattle. The Century 21 Exposition opened in 1962 with the Space Needle as its symbol.
17. Which Wisconsin senator founded Earth Day?Answer: Gaylord Nelson. Gaylord Nelson organized the first nationwide teach-ins about the environment in April 1970.
18. The 1939 World’s Fair, themed “The World of Tomorrow”, was held in which city?Answer: New York City. It was held at Flushing Meadows in Queens and showed off television to the public.
19. In 1991 a U.S.-led coalition forced Iraq’s army out of which country?Answer: Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm began with air strikes in January and a ground war in February 1991.
20. Who invented the QWERTY keyboard layout for an early typewriter?Answer: Christopher Latham Sholes. Sholes and his partners sold their typewriter design to E. Remington and Sons.

U.S. Presidents trivia

1. Which president has won the most Grammy Awards, all for recordings of his books?Answer: Jimmy Carter. Carter won several times for Best Spoken Word or Audio Book Album, more than any other president.
2. Which former president co-wrote the thriller The President Is Missing with James Patterson?Answer: Bill Clinton. The novel became a bestseller and was followed by a second book, The President’s Daughter.
3. Who was the first president to visit all 50 states?Answer: Richard Nixon. Nixon had reached all 50 states by the time he became president.
4. Which president once held a liquor license for a store and tavern in New Salem, Illinois?Answer: Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln and his partner William Berry got the license in 1833.
5. Which future president appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan as a young man?Answer: Gerald Ford. Ford, then a Navy officer, posed with his girlfriend for a 1942 magazine cover.
6. Who is believed to be the first president to ride in an automobile?Answer: William McKinley. McKinley took a ride in a Stanley Steamer in 1899.
7. Which president made “White House” the building’s official name?Answer: Theodore Roosevelt. He had it printed on official stationery, ending names such as the Executive Mansion.
8. Which president was a cheerleader at his Massachusetts prep school, Phillips Academy?Answer: George W. Bush. George W. Bush was head cheerleader at Andover and later went to Yale.
9. Which president hosted the first White House state dinner, honoring King Kalākaua of Hawaii?Answer: Ulysses S. Grant. Grant welcomed Kalākaua, the first reigning monarch to visit the United States, in 1874.
10. How were Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt related?Answer: Fifth cousins. They were fifth cousins; Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR’s wife, was Theodore’s niece.
11. Which president called his reform program the “New Freedom”?Answer: Woodrow Wilson. Wilson campaigned on it in 1912, promising to break up big business monopolies.
12. Which president signed the law making Labor Day a national holiday?Answer: Grover Cleveland. Cleveland signed it in 1894.
13. Which president signed the law creating Martin Luther King Jr. Day?Answer: Ronald Reagan. Reagan signed it in 1983, and the holiday was first observed in 1986.
14. Whose inauguration was the first to be shown on television?Answer: Harry S. Truman. Truman’s 1949 inauguration was broadcast to viewers in a number of cities.
15. Who was the first president to hold a news conference broadcast live on television?Answer: John F. Kennedy. Eisenhower’s news conferences had been filmed and edited before airing; Kennedy’s went out live.
16. Which president is called the first “dark horse”, a little-known candidate who won his party’s nomination?Answer: James K. Polk. Polk was barely considered when the Democratic convention of 1844 began.
17. Which president crisscrossed the country on a famous “whistle-stop” train campaign?Answer: Harry S. Truman. Truman gave hundreds of speeches from the back of a train in 1948 and won an upset.
18. Which future president appeared on the TV comedy show Laugh-In?Answer: Richard Nixon. During his 1968 campaign Nixon said the show’s catchphrase, “Sock it to me?”
19. Which president was a famously keen stamp collector?Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR collected stamps from boyhood and even helped design some U.S. stamps.
20. The 1844 campaign slogan “Fifty-four forty or fight!” referred to which dispute?Answer: The Oregon boundary. 54°40′ north was the latitude some Americans wanted as the northern limit of Oregon Country.

Geography trivia

1. Indonesia is building its new capital city, Nusantara, on which island?Answer: Borneo. The new capital is rising in East Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, to replace crowded, sinking Jakarta.
2. The złoty is the currency of which country?Answer: Poland. Złoty means “golden” in Polish.
3. The forint is the currency of which country?Answer: Hungary. Its name comes from the gold florin of medieval Florence.
4. The baht is the currency of which country?Answer: Thailand. Banknotes in Thailand carry a portrait of the king.
5. The tenge is the currency of which country?Answer: Kazakhstan. It replaced the Soviet ruble in 1993.
6. The kip is the currency of which country?Answer: Laos. The kip is used across Laos, alongside Thai baht and U.S. dollars in some places.
7. The lev is the currency of which country?Answer: Bulgaria. Lev is an old word for lion.
8. The Chocolate Hills, more than 1,200 grassy mounds that turn brown in the dry season, are in which country?Answer: Philippines. They cover part of the island of Bohol.
9. Malé is the capital of which island nation?Answer: Maldives. Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, packed onto a small coral island.
10. The Darvaza gas crater, known as the “Door to Hell”, has been burning for decades in which country?Answer: Turkmenistan. The crater in the Karakum Desert has burned since gas was set alight there around 1971.
11. Lençóis Maranhenses, white sand dunes dotted with rainwater lagoons, is a national park in which country?Answer: Brazil. The lagoons fill with rain each year in Brazil’s northeastern state of Maranhão.
12. The Tsingy de Bemaraha, a forest of razor-sharp limestone spires, is on which island?Answer: Madagascar. “Tsingy” is often said to mean where one cannot walk barefoot.
13. The Waitomo Caves, lit up by thousands of glowworms, are in which country?Answer: New Zealand. Visitors float by boat beneath the glowing cave ceilings on New Zealand’s North Island.
14. Son Doong, the world’s largest known cave, is in which country?Answer: Vietnam. It lies in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park and has its own jungle and clouds.
15. Mount Elbrus, often called Europe’s highest peak, rises in which mountain range?Answer: Caucasus. The dormant volcano reaches about 18,510 feet (5,642 meters).
16. Puncak Jaya, the highest peak on the island of New Guinea, is in which country?Answer: Indonesia. It stands in the Indonesian province of Central Papua and is often listed as Oceania’s highest summit.
17. What is Canada’s largest island?Answer: Baffin Island. Baffin Island, in Nunavut, is the fifth-largest island in the world.
18. Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States, is in which state?Answer: Oregon. It fills the caldera left when Mount Mazama collapsed about 7,700 years ago.
19. Yerevan is the capital of which country?Answer: Armenia. Yerevan, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, looks out toward Mount Ararat.
20. Mount Kinabalu, one of Southeast Asia’s highest peaks, is in which country?Answer: Malaysia. It rises in the state of Sabah, in the Malaysian part of Borneo.