Toll-Free Trivia Quiz

Answer: a place to sit in a diner

"The Phantom Tollbooth" is a world famous children's literature novel that Norman Juster wrote in 1961. Take that word "Tollbooth" from the title, and make it "Toll-Free". You now have the word "booth." And the best description of that word booth is "a place to sit in a diner." Well it's my favorite place to sit anyway.

Answer: A

An atoll is a coral island or group of islands, consisting of a belt-shaped coral reef which might be partially submerged. Take away the letters "toll" from the word atoll and you are left simply with "A". A is the famous letter from the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel "The Scarlet Letter" written in 1850.

The novel takes place in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the mid 17th-century. The lead character, Hester Prynne has a baby out of wedlock, and to shame her the villages make her wear the letter "A" standing for "adultress."

Answer: era or period in history

Tollage is the payment for the privilege driving on a road or bridge. Make it Toll-Free and you have the word "age" which is a time in history representing some particular qualification, power, or capacity of that era, like the Age of Aquarius of the Age of Pericles.

Answer: John McCain or Daniel Webster

Have a bite of that German bread or "stollen" to begin with. My girlfriend loves me to get her one every Christmas. Don't worry about making it gluten-free, no no, make it Toll-Free instead. That leaves you with "sen." Sen is an abbreviation of Senator as in Sen. John McCain or Sen. Daniel Webster. Former presidents George Washington and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were never Senators. Secretaries of State George Marshall and Henry Kissinger were never Senators, and British Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill of course were never senators.

Answer: double that word and you have a condition marked by a Thiamine deficiency

All right, so start with the Bertolli brand of Italian food products, founded in 1865 by Francesco Bertolli and his wife, Caterina, in Tuscany. Make Bertolli Toll-Free and you have "Beri", a descendant of the Asher tribe in the Bible, he was the son of Zophah according to 1 Chronicles Chapter 7, Verse 36.

But you probably had a better chance of recognizing "Beri" from the clue: "double that word and you have a condition marked by a Thiamine deficiency." You have beriberi a medical condition in which the body has a serious lack of Vitamin B1, Thiamine.

It is a condition which, although rare in the U.S., is unfortunately common in sub-Saharan Africa.

Answer: Hugh Laurie

So, Toll House cookies invented in 1938 by American chef Ruth Graves Wakefield, feature chopped up pieces of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bars. Making Toll House "Toll-Free" leaves us with "House." A house is a home, and house music is what all the hipsters are dancing to in the clubs. Anyway, of all those gentlemen named Hugh, it is Hugh Laurie whom we best associate with "House" since that was the titular name of his character from his Emmy-winning turn as Gregory House in the TV medical drama "House."

Answer: Cheers

A "tollbar" is the obstruction or bar that lifts up after you plunk your coinage into the tollbooth basket so you can cross over the bridge or merge onto a new highway. Making tollbar Toll-Free leaves you with bar. And a bar exam is crucial, necessary even for a law student to pass if he/she is to continue on with a career as a jurist. Of the clues given, those four TV shows, only "Cheers" takes place in a bar.

Answer: an abbreviation of one of the Pentateuch

To extoll means to glorify or give very high marks to something. Make it Toll-Free and you have your ex, that former spouse of yours that you divorced. Or it could also refer to any relationship that you have now severed ties with. "Ex" is the abbreviation of the Book of Exodus, one of the first five Books of the Bibetht we refer to as the Pentateuch.

Answer: also means a characteristic bird sound

You started off making a "toll call" and then when you made it Toll-Free, you were left simply with "call." When playing poker, when it comes to a player's turn and he or she can "call" which means they can match the amount of money that the previous player has bet during the betting round.

The other action a poker player can take would be to "fold" if they had bad cards and didn't want to bluff. But if that player wants to stay in the hand, then they call, which as mentioned requires matching the bet made, or that player can call and raise, meaning they would match the bet and then increase the bet even higher. And a bird's sound is known as its call. Ornithologists note the difference between a bird song and a bird call.

A bird song is used to defend territory and attract mates. Bird calls however are much shorter and can mean a variety of things from sounding an alarm to begging for food.

Answer: It's also a dental restoration piece

The Gandy Bridge was "the world's longest toll bridge"; it was constructed of steel and concrete, and at a length of two and a half miles, it was at the time, the longest automobile toll bridge in the world, which is how they liked to brag about it back then. It cost 75 cents to cross it back then. It was dismantled in 1975.

Answer: Indonesia

Nearby cities to Pising in Indonesia include Kasipute, Sikeli, Donggala, and Lameroro. Pising is located on Sulawesi the 11th largest island in the world at 67,413 square miles. The South Sulawesi peninsula is next to the Boni Bay.

Answer: Part of a San Francisco bridge's name

A toll gate was used to collect fees in parking applications or on toll roads when a human toll taker isn't involved. Sensing technology protects these gates and the vehicles from unwanted contact. The sensors are laser-based and monitor the vicinity with precision, avoiding damage.

A gate is that opening in a fence with the little door that you swing open to enter the yard. And "Gate" is part of the name of the famed Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Answer: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

"Tollguru" is the name of that app that lets drivers discover the cheapest, the fastest and preferred routes for trips. Unlike some other apps it takes into account tolls if that is a concern. But after you make "Tollguru" Toll-Free, you have the word "guru." And a guru is a teacher of all things wisdom-related and spiritual.

It is a Sanskrit word, and a guru typically illuminates philosophy for students, acting as a counselor. The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was one of the most famous gurus; he developed a Transcendental Meditation technique and in the late 1960s became a guru to the stars of sorts.

He became a guru to the Beatles, the Beach Boys Donovan, Mia Farrow and other celebrities.

Answer: Oh, you don't like these choices? Well go take one of these!

So you start with a "toll hike", like the price increases that NYC's MTA approved in 2020 for the Lincoln Tunnel and Holland Tunnel, as well as the George Washington Bridge. That toll for most passenger vehicles using E-ZPass were hiked up $13.75 during peak hours and $11.75 off-peak. Without an E-ZPass, the hike went up to $16 in cash or by mail. Anyway make "toll hike" Toll-Free, and you are left with "hike" which is a good form of exercise for just about anybody. In mind, body, and spirit.
And of those expressions the one that applied was related to "go take"...a "hike!"

Answer: a city square

A "toll plaza" is what is described by those examples of some of the world's largest tollways. Now then, making "toll plaza" Toll-Free left us with "plaza" which is also the name of the Plaza Hotel in New York City which opened in 1907. It is located at the intersection of Central Park South which is the same as 59th Street, and the southeastern corner of Central Park off of Fifth Avenue. And of the choices, a plaza, derived from the Spanish language is a word meaning a city square or wide open space.