Perfection is the Paper Clip Trivia Quiz

Answer: Steel or Plastic

All paper clips are made from steel or plastic. Carbon fibre would be somewhat expensive to use for paper clips. Lead, apart from being too expensive, would not bend back sufficiently and would break too easily. They would also be ultimately deadly for the author, who has a bad habit of chewing on them (much like a toothpick).

Answer: As a replacement for your car aerial

You know how sometimes you see people driving around with wire coat hangers as car aerials? You couldn't do that with a paper clip! Apart from the fact it couldn't be secured and would therefore blow out when you gained speed, the size of the paper clip would simply not supply the capacity to receive radio waves.

A number of websites supply instructions for how to pick locks and handcuffs - very useful reading in case you are collared by the fuzz! Of course, this means you have to have a paper clip secreted on your person at all times. I understand that under the tongue may be a good place, but this makes talking difficult and breathing/swallowing potentially hazardous. Speaking of hazardous, re-wiring fuses with them doesn't sound very advisable, especially if the fuse is still connected ha ha. Try using fuse wire, you cheapo! I know that you can use them as a screwdriver, I've done it myself. Obviously, it only works on screws that are not tightly fastened.

Answer: 540 degrees

The clip is comprised of three reverse turns, i.e., a turn that ends up traveling in the opposite direction. Each of these turns equals 180 degrees, and therefore, three of them equal 540 degrees.

I used the term 'common' because there are an incredible array of early paper clip designs out there! Whilst some of these earlier types are still in use, by far and away the most common type in use is the "Gem" brand, the kind with the three reverse terms we are all familiar with.

Answer: In the small hole under the CD tray

Disc drives have a small hole under the drawer that is designed expressly for the purpose of inserting an unbent paper clip, to overcome their recalcitrance to open. Most manuals specifically inform you to use this method, although personally, I prefer to see if a re-boot of the PC will fix the problem first.

In regard to the other options, I made up the microphone socket one, could you tell? Sticking the paper clip into the power point will not help retrieve the missing CD, but it will probably solve the problem of you having to listen to any more Bolton. After the paramedics have removed the body, you should inconspicuously use the correct paper clip method to remove the offending disc. Then, use the same paper clip to put scratches all over the disc. See? Paper clips can be multi-functional!

Answer: A WWII operation to extract scientists from Nazi Germany

Operation Paperclip was undertaken by the U.S. towards the end of the war for two strategically important reasons. Firstly, to deny the specific German expertise to the Russians, and secondly, to assist with the anticipated requirements of the ongoing war in the Pacific theatre.

Answer: True

Kyle MacDonald started on 12 July 2005 when announced his intention in a website post. For information, Kyle's trading summary is as follows:

Paper Clip > Pen > Doorknob > Camp Stove > Generator > Keg/Beer/Budweiser sign > Snowmobile > Trip to Yahk, British Columbia > Box Truck > Recording Contract > One year's rent > Afternoon with Alice Cooper > KISS motorised snow globe > A role in a film > House

I can see a logical progression there, until we get to trading the afternoon with Alice Cooper for a snowglobe, even if said snowglobe did have Gene Simmons on it! I am equally unsure if I understand how the snowglobe then equates to a role in a film. The cynical part of me suggests that it was of great assistance that Kyle's quest was being followed online, it certainly would have helped to encourage the people he was trading with to be a part of some history.

Nonetheless, good luck to him. The two-story farmhouse, as it turns out, is located in Kipling, Saskatchewan.

Answer: Hole Punch

Staples, pins and glue are all used to hold paper together. A hole punch does exactly as its name suggests, it punches holes in paper, perhaps in readiness for being held together by some other method - maybe binding. But the hole punch itself is not directly used to fasten paper.

Answer: Creating endless paper clip chains

Ah, the ubiquitous paper clip chain maker. Show me an office that lacks one and I'll show you an office that lacks personality. Said office will also lack productivity!

Of the other choices, I made the stapler one up completely. I don't recommend trying it, staplers are notorious for their lack of reliability already! I have known people to use paper clips as toothpicks. Not sure about them being the devil's work, but I have known a person who refused to use a paper binding machine because it always acted perfectly for others but used to chew her work up! She said it was possessed.

Answer: Jewish victims of the holocaust

A group of Eighth Graders in Whitwell, Tennessee commenced a project to collect one paper clip for every Jewish victim of the holocaust. Their project was inspired by some written history suggesting that Norwegians wore paper clips on their lapels in a show of defiance against the Nazis treatment of the Jewish people. Their actions in doing so were symbolic of Johann Vaaler, the Norwegian Jew originally credited with the invention of the paper clip. Other interpretations of history suggest that the paper clips being displayed were in support of the King and Government, and done so as a defiant statement against the Nazis and the occupation of Norway.

The Norwegian claim to the paper clip is nowadays considered inaccurate. Further, it is claimed that Vaaler was not a Jew. He did invent a version of the paper clip, but it happened some years after the design we now know had entered the market, and Vaaler's design was inferior.

The project, however, was a massive success. Once word got out in the press, paper clips poured in from all over the world.

Answer: Clippy

Did this bring back bad memories for you? It did for me, I loathed that thing. My name for it was %#&@!*^%#. It would appear at the most nonsensical of times, offering gratuitous (and usually highly inaccurate, for the situation) advice. I contend there needed to be a "Rack Off" option with the choices it presented to me!