Three of a Kind, Part 22 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Monday

The list of words given are Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Yiddish for Monday. Most languages refer to Monday in terms of "the moon" and "day" as in the Afrikaans "Maandag," the Cornish "dy' Lun," the Dutch "maandag" and the Japanese "getsuyobi."

Since 1915, Mormons have set aside Mondays for Family Home Evening. On these evenings, Mormons gather in the home as a family. The time is devoted to scripture reading and study, to prayer, to discussion of important issues, and to planning family activities and goals.

Elliot S. Maggin wrote two Superman novels: "Superman: Last Son of Krypton" (1978) and "Miracle Monday" (1981). The latter introduces Kristin Wells, a time traveler. It also describes a holiday, the third Monday in May, called Miracle Monday. This holiday subsequently appeared in issues of the DC Superman comics.

Answer: ranger

"The Lone Ranger" began as a radio drama at WXYZ in Detroit in 1933. The Lone Ranger also appeared in theatrical film serials, movies, adult novels, children's books, comics, and even video games.

"Ranger Rick's" magazine is intended to introduce children seven and older to outdoor activities, animals and the environment. There are two other magazines published for different ages. "Ranger Rick" has been in print for more than fifty years.

The 37th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an is entitled "As-Saaffat" which means "the rangers" or "drawn up in ranks" or "arranged in a row." This is a reference to the angels in ranks or formation on the Day of Judgement.

Answer: Uranus

The seventh planet from the Sun in our Solar System is Uranus. It is huge and is classified by astronomers as an "ice giant" because of the frozen materials found there: water, ammonia, methane and others. Only one planet is named after a Greek mythological deity; "Uranus" is a Latinized form of the Greek god of the sky, Ouranos.

The Soviet Army massed a million men to surround and defeat the Wehrmacht forces holding Stalingrad in the fall of 1942. They were successful, which broke the back of the German offensive on the Eastern Front. The code name for this plan was Operation Uranus.

Larry Niven (b. 1938) is a prolific American author of science fiction. In "A World Out of Time," the protagonist must assist in changing Earth's orbit to keep it from burning up in the Sun. The planet Uranus is used to "drag" the Earth outward in the Solar System.

Answer: northwest

The direction Northwest, abbreviated NW, is intermediary between North (0/360 degrees) and West (270 degrees). For purposes of navigational computation, it is 315 degrees. Cardinal directions, while widely used around the world, are not universal. For example, the Hawaiian languages distinguishes more importantly between "toward the mountains" and "toward the sea".

It was the Congress of the Confederation of the United States, not the United States Congress, which adopted the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. It governed the territory which would eventually become Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Its prohibition of slavery north of the Ohio River contributed to the strains which would produce the Civil War.

The Northwest Territories, originally named for their geographic relationship to Rupert's Land, are east of the Yukon, west of Nunavut and north of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The land is huge and is the home of huge things, e.g. the largest inland lake in Canada (Great Bear Lake) and the deepest lake in North America (Great Slave Lake). Aboriginal peoples are the majority of residents in this (and Nunavut) territory.

Answer: Barney

Barney Rubble is Fred's closest friend. They both work at the Slate Rock and Gravel Company and they are both members of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes. He is married to Betty and the adoptive father of Bamm-Bamm. The original TV series ran on ABC from 1960 through 1966.

Barney Frank (b. 1940) served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 2013. He is a Harvard graduate (undergrad and law school). He was the first member of Congress to come out as openly gay in 1987 and the first member of Congress to marry his life partner of the same gender in 2012.

Billy DeBeck created Barney Google in 1919 and introduced Snuffy Smith to his strip in 1934. Google slowly disappeared from the strip until Smith entirely took over. Barney had his day in 1923 with a hit recording "Barney Google (with the Goo-Goo-Googly Eyes)."

Answer: coaster

The Coasters began singing together in the 1950s and continue, in a "successor formation," to perform rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll hits. The 1994 Broadway retrospective "Smokey Joe's Cafe" comprises mostly Coasters hits.

Willard M. Farrow invented the first bicycle coaster brake in 1898. It allows the rider to pedal forward, to coast by allowing the pedals to stay in one place (freewheeling) and to brake by moving the pedals in counter-rotation.

The Coaster Step, also known as "the Twinkle," is a triple step in West Coast Swing or Ballroom swing. Swing dancing developed during the swing era (1920s-1940s). Among the dances which have descended from this style are the Lindy Hop, the Jitterbug, and the Lindy Charleston.

Answer: frog

Anura is the order of frogs. 85% of all existing amphibian species are frogs. They are extraordinarily diverse, living everywhere on earth except the arctic and some deserts. Frogs are found on every continent except Antarctica.

Leslie Kahn Braunstein wrote the song "I'm in Love with a Big Blue Frog" as a gentle, humorous response to the prejudice shown to biracial couples. The Big Blue Frog is an African-American married to a white woman. This song was released on "Album 1700" in 1967 in the midst of the Civil Rights Era.

The block which holds the hair at the grip-end of a stringed-instrument's bow is called the frog or bow frog. The origin of this odd term is unknown. Most modern bow frogs are made of ebony 'tho other materials, especially other woods, work as well.

Answer: bear

Baloo is a male bear and the demanding teacher of the cubs in the Seeonee wolf pack in the 1894 and 1895 books. The word "bhalu" is Hindi for bear. Baloo was voiced by band-leader and comedian Phil Harris in Walt Disney's animated "The Jungle Book" (1967).

Chekhov's "The Bear: A Joke in One Act, or The Boor" is a one-act play which has enjoyed many performances and much success in its long career. Chekhov described the play as "a stupid vaudeville" and attributed its success to that.

Snuggle fabric softener is sold in North America in liquid and sheet form. The brand adopted "The Snuggle Bear" -- a white teddy bear -- as its mascot in 1983. At one time, the bear was voiced on television adverts by Mickey Dolenz, the drummer and lead singer of the Monkees.

Answer: crystal

Crystal Gale (b. 1951) is the younger sister of Loretta Lynn. She recorded twenty number-one country-western hits in the 70s and 80s but none so well known as "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" in 1977. At one time, she grew her hair to reach the floor.

The Starship Enterprise, indeed all of the starships in the Federation fleet, is powered by dilithium crystals which enable faster-than-light warp speed. The element lithium is real; dilithium crystals are fictional. A micro-brewery in Vancouver, Washington, used a variety of locally-grown hops called Crystal to brew Loowit's Dilithium Crystal Fresh Hop beer in 2014.

A crystal ball, also known as an orbuculum, has been used in many cultures over many centuries to discern someone's fortune or to obtain guidance. The practice in Europe goes back at least to the Celtic Druids; it was also known to the Romans of the 1st Century. A crystal ball, said to be of Druid origin, is set in the Royal Sceptre of Scotland.

Answer: Daddy

The character Daddy was played by English actor George Webb (1912-1998). Senile and widowed, he poses frequent problems to Hyacinth's efforts to put herself off as upper class.

The complete verse referenced is "If I invite a boy some night to dine on my fine Finnan haddie, I just adore his asking for more, but my heart belongs to daddy." Mary Martin sang it in the 1938 musical "Leave It to Me!" and again in the 1940 movie "Love Thy Neighbor." Marilyn Monroe sang it in the 1960 movie "Let's Make Love."

Danielle Steele's 1989 movie "Daddy" follows a husband and father deserted by his wife who must adjust to being a single parent and an unmarried man. The novel was made into a movie starring Patrick Duffy in 1991.