Florida Is the Key Trivia Quiz

Answer: Flask

FL + ASK gives FLASK. To ask is to convey a question, in hopes of receiving an answer; sometimes the question is implied, as when one asks a favor. Flasks may be made of glass or metal, but in common usage the two materials have very different connotations.

A glass flask is typically used in chemistry, where a laboratory might have many specialized types of flasks for facilitating different chemical reactions. A metal flask is a bottle with a flat profile, used to secrete a supply of liquor (often rum or vodka) on one's person.

In British English, a flask may be what Americans would call a thermos: an insulated container to keep the contents either hot or cold. What more could a person ask for?

Answer: Flag

FL + Ag gives FLAG. Ag, an abbreviation for the Latin word "argentum," is the chemical symbol for the element silver. Silver is not a common element of flags, patterned fabric pieces that carry meaning as local or national symbols and as signals. A flag might perhaps make use of a bright gray silver color; a very fancy flag might even use some silver threads; but the bulk of the material will be a more standard textile.

Answer: Flaunt

FL + AUNT gives FLAUNT. An aunt is a female relative one generation up: the sister of a parent, or perhaps the wife of a parent's sibling. Famous pop-culture aunts include Aunt Em (from "The Wizard of Oz") and Auntie Mame (from the 1958 movie of the same name). Aunts run the whole gamut of personalities, of course, so some of them are also proud and ostentatious - in other words, they flaunt their advantages.

Answer: Fletch

FL + ETCH gives FLETCH. To etch a material is to engrave it, especially with the use of acid or lasers to eat away the unwanted material. The resulting fine lines can make surprisingly intricate pictures. Etching is never involved in fletching, which is the act of installing feathers onto an arrowshaft to make the projectile more stable during flight. (You can also use the word "fletch" to refer to one of the feathers so installed.) The surname "Fletcher" originally referred to a person who performed this work, and usually fashioned the whole arrow besides.

Modern arrows often use plastic fletches, instead of feathers, but the principle is the same.

Answer: Flour

FL + OUR gives FLOUR. "Our" is the first-person plural possessive pronoun, flagging things that belong to a group of "us." For example: here at FunTrivia, our quizzes are our pride! Flour is important for our baking and cooking projects. It's a fine powder made out of ground grain - most commonly wheat, although rye flour, rice flour and corn flour are also common. Flours are used to make bread, noodles, cakes, cookies, and pies, and to thicken sauces.

Answer: Flair

FL + AIR gives FLAIR. Air is what we call the stuff in our atmosphere at around sea level, that marvelous mix of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, and other gases. When we breathe, our lungs absorb molecular oxygen and exchange it with carbon dioxide.

Breathing is necessary for all the functions of our lives, including higher functions such as flair. Someone with flair has a sort of stylish, flamboyant, original charisma -- in other words, they've got panache. Perhaps the flair is limited to one aspect of their lives, in which case one might say they've got -- for example -- a flair for trivia.

Answer: Flash

FL + ASH gives FLASH. When a substance burns up in a fire, some residual powder is left behind: ashes. Ash is usually gray in color and may flake. It can be used as a soap substitute in a pinch - after it's cooled down, of course! Perhaps the fire began with a flash, a sudden, brief and brilliant light. Lightning flashes; so do cameras, when the picture needs more illumination.

Answer: Flax

FL + AX gives FLAX. An ax (also sometimes spelled axe) is a tool for chopping, generally consisting of a blade fastened perpendicular to a handle. Long ago stone axes were all the rage, but these days people usually turn to steel for their chopping needs.

Flax is an annual plant in the Linum family with small blue flowers. Its seeds are edible; they're what linseed oil is made from. Its stems can be spun into linen fiber, which is in turn used for ropes and cloth. Axes are the wrong tool for harvesting flax, which has thin stems, but they're the right tool for spelling it!

Answer: Float

FL + OAT gives FLOAT. Oats are the edible grains of the oat grass, Avena sativa to botanists. A popular ingredient in livestock feed, oats are primarily enjoyed by humans in the form of oatmeal, oat noodles, granola, and most importantly, oatmeal cookies. To float, meanwhile, is to move gently along in a fluid (liquid or gas) without sinking into it, as a feather floats in the air.

Answer: Flinch

FL + INCH gives FLINCH. An inch is a unit of length in the old English imperial system of units, although the UK officially switched to the metric system decades ago. Nowadays, if you have a ruler marked off in inches, it'll probably be of most use in the US. An inch is equal to 2.54 cm.

A flinch is an instinctive recoil away from a surprise or threat. For example, I would flinch away from a ruler marked in inches or in cm, if it were wielded in anger.