Let's Talk About Complex Trivia Quiz

Answer: Enigmatic

The answer is "enigmatic". The keyword is "beginning" which tells you to take the first letter of subsequent words. So (Each Night, I Get Mischievous Angels Talking In Chant) gives the word "enigmatic". Also, "very strange" is one of the definitions of enigmatic. Some composers, such as Verdi, used a complex "enigmatic scale" for musical composition. The definition of enigmatic is mysterious and puzzling.

Answer: Interlaced

The answer is "interlaced". The word "messy" gives the clue that you need to anagram "credential" to give interlaced. Also, a basket weaver interlaces reeds to make baskets. There is a medieval art form that uses interlacing to make complex designs. There is also a video technique called interlacing that conserves bandwidth.

Answer: Tricky

The answer is "tricky". This clue combines two cryptic forms. The first keyword is"initially" - telling you to take "TR" from Teddy Roosevelt. The second keyword is "before" so combining TR with "icky" gives the answer "tricky". There is also an obscure clue with "not being sure what to do" as similar to something being tricky. One of my favorite uses of the word tricky is the Run D.M.C. song "It's Tricky". There is also a musician who calls himself Tricky.

Answer: Knotty

The answer is "knotty". For this one, your key phrase is "sounds like" telling you one of the words or phrases sounds a lot like the answer. In this case, "badly behaved" is another way of saying "naughty", sounding a lot like "knotty". There is also the clue of tying a rope in a knot. The Gordian Knot was possibly the greatest of all knots said to only be able to be untied by the future ruler of Asia. It is said that Alexander the Great solved this problem by using his sword to cut the knot! Isn't that cheating?

Answer: Thorny

The answer is "Thorny". The clue "surrounded" points to the solution having T and Y surrounding "horn" to get thorny. The word rose is also a subtle clue as roses have thorns. Possibly the coolest use of the word thorny is the Australian desert lizard "thorny devil". These little guys are so cool and as their name implies they have lots of thorns all over their bodies!

Answer: Motley

The answer is "Motley". For this clue, the keyword is "last" telling you to take the last letter of adjacent words to get the final answer. So in this case, (druM solO goT technicaL therE" TommY) gives the answer "motley". There is also the subtle clue of Tommy Lee being the drummer for the band Motley Crue. The word motley has its origins in the clothing of jesters or fools of kings. Motley itself refers to the woolen fabric of mixed color patches that were part of the fool's clothing. There is also the term "a motley crew" referring to a strange and disparate mix of people.

Answer: Tangled

The correct answer is "tangled". The clue here is "inside" telling you to place a word inside of "TD". In this case, the word is "angle" to give the answer tangled. There also is a pretty big clue if you know Flynn Rider and Rapunzel are part of the film "Tangled". Interestingly, Disney decided to not call the film Rapunzel as their market research showed boys were less interested in films with a girl's name in the title. So "tangled" was a gender-neutral word to grab the greatest market share of viewers.

Answer: Obscure

The correct answer is "obscure". The key phrase for this clue is "mix it up" signaling to take "course B" and anagram it to get obscure. Clear as mud is similar to obscure as both are hard to see through. The great band Pink Floyd released the album "Obscured By Clouds" in 1972 showing elements of the monster album "The Dark Side of the Moon" which they released a year later.

The album "Obscured By Clouds" was actually a soundtrack for the French film "La Vallee" by Barbet Schroeder. One could say the film would give "B" movies a bad name and perhaps should be called a "C" movie! The music, however, is quite excellent with "Childhood's End" being one of the greatest early Pink Floyd songs.

Answer: Extra

The answer is "extra". This one is a little tricky as you need to use two keywords to solve it. The first keyword is "first" which tells you "ex" (another word for the first wife) goes first in the answer. The second key phrase is "mixed up" telling you to anagram "art" to get "tra". Combine both and you get "extra". One other clue here is the word "another" which is a synonym for extra. In American slang "extra" is a way of saying someone is trying too hard or making things far more complicated than they need to be.

Answer: Baroque

The correct answer is "baroque". The phrase "sounds like" is a clue to take "damaged" which is a synonym for "broke" sounding a lot like "baroque". There are two other clues here. The first is JS Bach is possibly the most famous of the baroque composers.

The second is "misshapen pearl" which is the etymology and the original meaning of the word baroque. Interestingly, the term baroque was not applied to the musical era until over a hundred years after the period ended. Up until that time, the term was mostly used in scholarly circles to signify something that is bizarre and uselessly complicated. I'm guessing some music critics did not care for Bach's style of music in the 1800s!