Count 'em! Twelve! Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Twelve Chairs & Twelve Chairs

Odessan satirists Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov penned "The Twelve Chairs" in 1928. The story follows the deathbed confession of the mother-in-law of the registrar of deaths and marriages that she had hidden the family jewels from the Bolsheviks inside one of the twelve dining chairs formerly owned by her.

Thus begins the madcap twists and turns as the registrar, a priest, and a con artist attempt to find the chairs, which had been sold individually at auction. As each chair is found, and is empty, the final chair is found in a newly built recreation center. It is here that the registrar and con artist are told the jewels had been found in the chair, and was the reason for the center.

The movie, as the book, spoofs many aspects of Russian life following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, which brought down the monarchy and began a communist form of government.

Two notable bits of information - although this question relates to the Mel Brooks movie, there have actually been closer to twenty different versions in several countries, not always titled "The Twelve Chairs", but keeping the basic story intact. There was actually an earlier American film, "It's in the Bag", starring Fred Allen and Jack Benny. This 1945 version used only five chairs.

The other bit of information? The story is so famous in Odessa, there is a monument to it - a single bronze chair on a marble pedestal.

Answer: The Twelve Apostles

Although some authorities refer to these men as "disciples", it is accepted that there were many disciples, but the inner circle were the "apostles", the ones sent forth "to make disciples of all nations". These were

Simon Peter (first Pope, and leader of the Apostles)
His brother Andrew
James, son of Zebedee aka James, the Elder
John, son of Zebedee, brother of James (later banished to Patmos; wrote the Apocalypse {Revelations} and the Gospel of John)
Philip
Bartholomew aka Nathanael
Thomas ("Doubting Thomas")
Matthew (writer of the Gospel of Matthew)
Judas Iscariot
Jude Thaddeus (St. Jude is the Saint of Hope and Impossible Cases)
James, son of Alphaeus aka James the Lesser/Younger

Following the suicide of Judas Iscariot, Matthias is added to the inner circle.
Saul of Tarsus becomes the Apostle Paul.

These two were added after prayers of the original remaining Apostles. Matthias was among the disciples of Jesus when he was elevated. Paul never walked with Jesus, but had been a persecutor of the new religion, Christianity, until his conversion.

Answer: The Twelve Days of Christmas

Many people are under the impression that the twelve days of Christmas are the twelve days immediately preceding Christmas, and as such would be part of Advent. In fact, they are considered to begin at dusk on Christmas day (so basically, December 26) and to end with Epiphany ("Little Christmas") on January 6.

In tradition, Christmas Day would have been when the shepherds came to give their homage; Epiphany would have celebrated the arrival of the Magi ("Wise Men").

Answer: The Twelve Tribes of Israel

The tribes were as follows:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun were sired with Leah.
Gad and Asher were sired with Zilpah, Leah's maidservant.
Dan and Naphtali were sired with Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant.
Joseph and Benjamin were sired with Jacob's second wife Rachel.

Answer: Twelve Red Roses

Although these phrases are traditionally stamped onto the ubiquitous heart-shaped Valentine's Day candies, a dozen red roses signifies far more. In the florist industry, the number and color of flowers being presented bear an unwritten message. The rose, the queen of flowers, brings strength to the message. Red signifies love and romance, as it has for a very, very long time. Proof? The Scottish poet Robert Burns penned the words "O my luve's like a red, red rose" in 1794. Even earlier than that, in ancient Greece the red rose was tied to Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

The early Romans tied the red rose to their goddess of love, Venus, as well.

Answer: Twelve Angry Men

"Twelve Angry Men" is unique in that almost the entire movie is filmed in the jury deliberation room. The jury has been convened to decide the innocence or guilt of a young man accused of murdering his father. If found guilty, he will be sentenced to death.

He is an inner-city youth, and there were witnesses to the murder. In a preliminary vote, eleven jurors say "guilty". One juror holds out, noting that they should consider all evidence, and there should be some deliberation before issuing the verdict.

As the process moves along, certain facts are brought forth and considered, such as the woman who witnessed the murder from her window, but as the jury took a closer look at her testimony, it is discovered that she normally wears glasses, and by her own admission she didn't have time to put them on when the murder occurred.

This, and other evidence raised the issue of reasonable doubt, bit by bit other jurors change their vote, and ultimately the young man is acquitted.

Answer: Twelve Inches

Interestingly, a linear foot is completely different from an anatomical foot, although the anatomical foot was the original system for linear measuring. As is obvious, the anatomical foot can vary from person to person, although it was originally based on an adult male's foot.

The 16th-century scientist Jacob Koebel, in his book "Geometrei" instructed one to stop the first 16 men to exit church services and have them line up, and put their left foot forward to be heel to toe with the next man. This would then be compared/measured to a "rood"/rod. Since not every man would have the same foot length, an average of 1/16th of the rood would be considered to be the legal foot measure.

Answer: Twelve Pips

You may have been calling those spots on dice "spots", or "dots"- officially they're "pips". And the spots on playing cards and dominoes are also pips. The etymology for the word appears to be late 16th century, Elizabethan England, when gambling was a regular pastime.

A die has six sides. Each side has a number of pips. The pips for side 6 are arranged in two lines of 3 pips each, giving the imagery of a railroad boxcar. If you're playing "craps", and roll two dice that are turned up with sixes facing, you've rolled "boxcars".

Answer: Twelve O'Clock High

This drama revolves around a bomber squadron dealing with low morale, and the commander brought in to pull the crews back together.

If you're watching an air war film, and one of the pilots says "we've got a bogie at 11 o'clock", and you have no clue what he's talking about, here's the scoop. Pretend you're a pilot, looking out the plane's windshield. Now picture a clock face on the windshield. Now picture something at the eleven o'clock position. That's basically all there is to it, unless you are a pilot!

Answer: Twelve Step

Bill W. and Dr. Bob developed the steps for dealing with alcoholism, with the first step admitting there is a problem. The next steps require the individual to acknowledge there is a higher power greater than him/herself which can give strength. For most people, and the way the original steps were written, that higher power is God.

However, for those who do not believe in a deity, that higher power could even be the power of gravity, which is obviously stronger than the individual. The individual then needs to acknowledge his/her shortcomings (with the assistance of another member of AA).

The individual then needs to make amends for any wrongs to others, to work at continuing to live a better life, and to assist others in their progress through the Twelve Steps.

Answer: Twelve Dozen

Twelve dozen of anything is a gross. Sounds disgusting, but it apparently comes from the Middle English meaning thick or massive, and that from Old French for large. This is, of course, using it as a noun.

Answer: Twelve Drummers Drumming

This little ditty made its first appearance in 1780. Although it is assumed to be Elizabethan, and that it was considered a catechism for Catholics to teach their children during their persecution, neither of these is true. It appears it may be based on French memory songs.

In England, it became part of a "memory and forfeit" children's game. A leader would give a line, the next person would repeat. The leader would then repeat the line and add another, which the next person had to repeat. This process would continue until someone was unable to repeat correctly, and thus forfeited some agreed-upon item.

Answer: Twelve Monkeys

Directed by Terry Gilliam, erstwhile member of Monty Python, this film noir focuses on time travel, but brings in angles which are new to the time travel genre. It is difficult to see where the assumed alteration of history has affected the future, yet there can be no other explanation. What affect did James Cole's visits actually have to the past, as well as back to his own time, where he reports his findings to the same group that sent him back. Most confusing, based on older time travel stories, has him in the same time period as his younger self, and his younger self is witness to his older self's death. And did his death do anything toward stopping the coming plague? The last scene of the movie has the antagonist, with the virus, sitting down in an airplane seat, next to a scientist from the future...

Answer: Twelvetrees

In reading a biography of Helen Twelvetrees, it's impossible not to feel badly for her. Although she worked with top stars, and was obviously talented, she never seemed to connect with Hollywood at the right time. Admittedly, her own actions caused the derailment of her career in more than one instance. When she met Jack Woody, who was to be her second husband, their marriage took Hollywood by surprise. Her subsequent pregnancy had the studios having to juggle her casting in more than one film, consequently having her replaced by other actresses who went on to greater popularity.

She passed away in 1958, in what was assumed to be a suicide by an overdose of sedatives. But even at that, there's no certainty it was. She was suffering from a kidney ailment and was in extreme pain. So even in death, her life was B-list.

Answer: The Twelve Pound Look

The play concerns an orphaned woman who marries an unfeeling wealthy businessman in order to support her younger siblings. It is on the day that Harry Sims is to be knighted for his successes, and he is hiring a typist to answer his many letters of congratulations. His wife, the future Lady Sims, is meeting with the typist, but then leaves the room to attend to other business. Sims walks in to discover the typist is his former wife, Kate, who left him under the pretext of there being another man. In fact, she had borrowed a typewriter, and learned its use, and a friend had found her some employment, enough to pay the cost of the typewriter - twelve pounds.

If you'd like to read this one-act play, it is available on Project Gutenberg in "Contemporary One-Act Plays" by B. Roland Lewis.

I should mention that J.M. Barrie had interesting takes on the roles of women, and there are definite hints of feminism and women's independence in this play!