Upwords & Downwords IX Trivia Quiz

Answer: Auditor

Many institutions of higher learning, such as colleges and universities, allow students to audit classes. Often, this depends on such things as available space and the approval of the professor. Students may choose to audit a class in order to review past material or for enjoyment without having to worry about poor performance adversely affecting their academic records.

Answer: adroit

The word 'adroit' can be used to signify skill in action or thought. Cleverness or mental skill is aptly called mental adroitness.

Answer: triad

In music, a triad is a chord that generally consists of the Root (the fundamental tone), the Third (an interval a major or minor third above the Root), and the Fifth (an interval a major or minor third above the Third, and a diminished, perfect, or augmented fifth above the Root).

Answer: adit

An adit is a horizontal or nearly horizontal type of entrance to an underground mining shaft. In the movie, Dante's Peak, an adit provided an escape for Harry Dalton and the Wandos when the volcano erupts.

Answer: tad

'Tad' is sometimes used to signify a small child, especially a small boy. This use probably has its origin in a shortened form of 'tadpole'.

Answer: Ta

Tantalum (atomic #73) is a very hard, heavy, lustrous, blue-gray metallic element. It is highly conductive and highly resistant to corrosion. It is used in light-bulb filaments, some surgical instruments, and to make electrolytic capacitors for use in automotive electronics and portable electronic devices. It is also used to make super alloys for components of nuclear reactors, jet engines, and missiles.

In Greek mythology, Tantalus was punished after death by being made to stand knee-deep in water he could not drink with perfect fruit growing above his head that he could never reach.

Answer: eta

Uppercase eta is written as 'H', and the lowercase is written as 'ç'. It derives from the Phoenician letter Heth, and is given a value of eight in the Greek numeral system.

Answer: date

The date is an oblong, drupe (fruit with a fleshy exterior surrounding a hard pit containing the seeds) of the date palm. It has been a staple food in northern Africa and the Middle East for thousands of years.

Answer: stade

The word 'stade' was a latinized Greek word denoting a unit of length equivalent to roughly 600 feet. In the ancient Olympics, foot races were measured in stades. The stadium derived its name from the stade, since the structures measured a stade in length. Athletes would typically run back and forth circling poles planted at each end of the stadium.

Answer: basted

Basting involves moistening meat while cooking in its own juices, or some type of marinade or sauce. Basting meat adds flavor to the meat and keeps it moist.