A Perfect Ten! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tritone

The traditionally used perfect intervals are the perfect unison [P1] (the same note) and the perfect octave [P8] (the same note, at the next highest or lowest register), the perfect fourth [P4] (the interval from the root to the fourth note of the major or minor scale), and the perfect fifth [P5] (the interval from the root to the fifth note of the major or minor scale).

The tritone is the name for the interval that fits right between the P4 and P5. Depending on the relation to the root, it is either an augmented fourth [A4] or a diminished fifth [d5]. The tritone is also called 'the devil in music' for its dissonance.

Answer: The Smashing Pumpkins

"Perfect" was released on September 7th of 1998 as the second single from The Smashing Pumpkins album "Adore" (their fourth studio album, released on June 2nd). It peaked at Number 54 on the US Billboard Hot 100, but fared better in their home country of Canada, reaching Number Two on the Canada/Rock Alternative chart.

The other "Perfect" songs were released in 2003 (Simple Plan), 2009 (Depeche Mode), and 2015 (One Direction). None of them were covers of any of the others.

Answer: 28

After the number 6, the next three 'perfect numbers' are 28, 496, and 8128, and they just keep getting much bigger (the next number is eight digits long).

But, let's look at our four options in *this* question:

Divisors of 25 are: 1 and 5. 1+5 = 6 ... not perfect, but still a SQUARE
Divisors of 27 are: 1, 3, and 9. 1+3+9 = 13 ... not perfect, but still a CUBE
Divisors of 28 are: 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14. 1+2+4+7+14 = 28 ... PERFECT
Divisors of 29 are: 1 (and 29) ... not perfect, but still a PRIME

Answer: Diclinous

In addition to androgynous, bisexual, hermaphroditic, and synoecious, 'perfect' flowers are also called monoclinous.

'Diclinous' flowers are actually unisexual, having either stamens or carpals, but not both together. These flowers are also called 'incomplete' and 'imperfect'.

Answer: John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis

"Perfect" stars John Travolta as a journalist tasked with writing an exposé on fitness clubs, where he meets a difficult interviewee, played by Jamie Lee Curtis.

The other pairings were all from 1985 romance movies:

Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner were together in "The Jewel of the Nile", Robert Redford and Meryl Streep were in "Out of Africa", and Julian Sands and Helena Bonham Carter fell in love in "A Room with a View".

Answer: After today, he will have seen that movie eleven times!

The perfect tense is a verb form that indicates something that has happened before the time under consideration. 'Perfect' in this sense is related to the Latin 'perfectum', which is the perfect passive participle of the verb 'perficere', meaning 'to complete'.

"After today, he will have seen that movie eleven times!" is an example of the future perfect tense, with the time under consideration still to occur.

"I have gone over this homework and am now ready for the test." is the present perfect tense.

"I had written the email before he apologized to me." is the past perfect tense.

"If I had run faster, I would have arrived on time." is the conditional perfect tense.

Answer: No

While Agatha Christie was the 'Queen of Crime' and the 'Queen of Mystery', with most of her novels about solving murders, she never published a story about a 'perfect murder' (at least not titled as such). Her only story with the word 'perfect' in the title was her 1942 short story, "The Case of the Perfect Maid".

Answer: vermouth

The traditional recipe for a Manhattan calls for whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. But making a 'perfect Manhattan' doesn't mean making the best-tasting Manhattan. Rather, adding dry vermouth in the same amount as the sweet vermouth in the recipe (50/50), makes it 'perfect'.

Answer: Perfekt (Spanish)

'Perfekt' is the Germanic version of the word. In Spanish, 'perfect' translates as perfecta (feminine) or perfecto (masculine).

Both varieties trace back to the Latin, however.

Answer: Nellie Kim (Soviet Union)

Nadia Comaneci was the first to achieve a perfect score of 10.000, which she did on the uneven bars. She managed to earn an additional six perfect scores on the way to earning three gold medals (individual all-around, balance beam and uneven bars), a silver medal (as part of the team all-around), and a bronze medal (floor exercise).

Nellie Vladimirovna Kim became the second woman to earn a perfect 10.000, which she did on the vault and on the floor exercise. She went on to win gold medals in those two disciplines, as well as for the team all-around.