Three of a Kind, Part 26 Trivia Quiz

Answer: pack

The layers of snow which accumulate in one place are called the snowpack and are measured for a variety of reasons. Scientifically, they are a measurement of the severity of the winter. Civically, they are a prediction of summer water supply. Recreationally, they are an indicator of readiness for winter sports such as skiing, sledding, and snowshoeing. Measures of the stability of the snowpack also predict avalanche.

From a French military term meaning "platoon," the English word peloton describes the pack of bicycle riders bunched together, neither leading nor straggling behind a road race. Bunching reduces drag dramatically; the effect is called drafting.

Cigarettes are mostly sold in paper packets (called packs) of 20 or 25 each. The rectangular pack is often built of several layers, each for a different purpose in protecting the form and freshness of the contents. Hard packs are made of cardboard and may be reclosed; soft packs are made of paper, cellophane and foil and may not.

Answer: potato

Potatoes are native to Peru and grew only in the Western Hemisphere until four centuries ago; now they are grown globally. The potato is related to the nightshade family and parts of it are toxic (e.g. the green skin of a tuber exposed to sunlight). The United Nations declared 2008 to be the International Year of the Potato.

Potato is a subsidiary of ITV Studios. Established in 2013 by Michael Kelpie, it provides reality entertainment -- "Four Weddings" and "Bear Grylls' Survival School" -- for television.

James Brown and his band recorded "(Do the) Mashed Potatoes" in 1959 and released it in 1960 under the name Nat Kendrick and the Swans, for contractual reasons. The song (and Brown's dance to it) became a national hit.

Answer: square

The Piazza San Pietro or Forum Santi Petri (Saint Peter's Square) is the plaza which fronts Saint Peter's Church. The square was formally designed in the 17th Century. It forms, in one sense, a sundial's gnomon to the shadow of the Egyptian Obelisk which was moved to this location in 1586.

Called squares even if they are cut into rectangles or odd shapes, dessert bars are similar to cookies ('tho usually softer) and to cake ('tho usually firmer). Common examples are brownies, Nanaimo bars, and Hello Dolly bars.

Four Square (or foursquare) is also known was squareball, boxball and king's square. It is a flexible game with minimum set up and adapts well to different skills levels. The object is to bounce a ball out of one's square into an opponent's square; failure to return causes an out.

Answer: preacher

A person who preaches may be called a homilist (if their message is a short commentary on a scripture just read), a pulpitarian (if they stand at a pulpit, lectern or ambo to speak) or an expositor (if they make complex biblical issues easily understandable).

In "Buck and the Preacher" Sidney Poitier is a trail guide and Harry Belafonte a preacher of the "High and Low Order of the Holiness Persuasion Church". The jazz soundtrack is worth the price of the movie. Sidney Poitier directed.

Dominic Cooper plays a small-town preacher with a demon/angel inside him in AMC's "Preacher." The series was created in 2015 and renewed. Sam Catlin, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are the producers. The comic-book series ran 66 issues from 1995 to 2000.

Answer: quartet

Four brass instruments make up a quartet. Two violins, a viola and a cello make up a quartet. A lead, tenor, baritone and bass make up a barbershop quartet. A piece of music written for four instruments or four voices is a quartet.

English author Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990) wrote four novels -- "Justine" (1957), "Balthazar" (1958), "Mountolive" (1958), and "Clea" (1960) -- known collectively as "The Alexandria Quartet." The genius of these books is that the first three look at the same events before and during World War II from three distinct perspectives while the fourth concludes the story six years later.

Ronald Harwood wrote a 1999 play about retired opera singers called "Quartet." It was at once funny and sad. It was adapted to the screen in 2011 and directed by Dustin Hoffman (his first). The result is sweet.

Answer: Sherman

Sherman Alexie (b. 1966) is a Northwest Indian born in Spokane, Washington, who lives in Seattle, Washington. He has written novels, children's literature, screenplays and poetry, all touching on themes of what it means to be a Native American in modern America.

Korea had an isolationist policy which prohibited trade with the West. The side-wheel steamer General Sherman entered the Taedong River as far as Pyongyang. The Koreans set fire to the ship and killed the American leaders and Chinese crew.

Lt. Col. Henry Blake appears in the novel "M*A*S*H" (1968) as the commanding officer of the 4077th M*A*S*H unit. He was played on television by McLean Stevenson. He was replaced by Col. Sherman Tecumseh Potter, played by Harry Morgan. Potter served in the cavalry in World War I before becoming a surgeon.

Answer: yarn

Yarn is any length of fibre made continuous by interlocking of the fibres. Examples are wool, linen, cotton and even bamboo. Yarn can also be created from chemicals extracted from oil and trees.

A yarn is a story which is lengthy and larger than life. The difference between a yarn and a lie is often in the ability of the one telling it. The act of telling a yarn is sometimes called "spinning." Anthony Trollope wrote (in 1864) "Now I must tell you a little about myself;-or rather, I am inclined to spin a yarn, and tell you a great deal."

Hadoop YARN is part of the Apache Software Foundation base framework. It is one module used in conjunction with Hadoop modules, Hadoop Distributed File Systems, and Hadoop MapReduce. This matters a great deal to people who do large-scale data processing.

Answer: pigeon

Both pigeons and doves are Columbids, birds found around the world. The rock pigeon is the one seen most commonly in cities. Most populations are very large and fully sustaining; the extinction of the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) is an exception.

"Yankee Doodle Pigeon" was the hero of a television cartoon series better known as "Catch the Pigeon" or "Stop the Pigeon" because of its catchy theme song. Yankee Doodle Pigeon was a carrier pigeon (Columba livia) also known as a homing pigeon. The show aired in 1969-70 as part of "Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines."

The pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) is also known as the no-eye pea, the gungo pea and the gandule bean. Its domestic use is ancient, having been cultivated for at least 3500 years. In subsistence diets, it is a very important source of protein.

Answer: pipe

Any tube used to move any substance which is willing to flow can be properly called a pipe. Pipes and tubes and hoses are all similar, except in highly technical distinctions.

When tobacco (or another burnable substance) is smoked in a pipe, moisture and residue are left in the pipe's interior which require removal. This may be effected by the use of a pipe cleaner or chenille stem -- a type of long brush that looks rather like a caterpillar. Pipe cleaners are also useful for the creation of art, e.g. twisting into the shape of animals.

A pipe dream is a highly imaginative idea, aspiration or scheme which is unlikely to be accomplished. It derives from the sort of fantasies which result from smoking opium which is usually smoked in pipes.

Answer: parade

A parade is a procession of people, usually organized, usually similarly costumed, usually along a street or route, usually accompanied by music and sometimes accompanied by floats, large balloons, horses and riders, dignitaries, animals in cages, and people tossing batons in the air. Parades may also be called marches or marchbys. The modern usage derives from the military practice of marching past a dignitary, in review.

Parade Magazine was founded in 1941 and has progressed through several ownerships since. It is printed on newsprint and wrapped with over 700 Sunday newspapers. The magazine usually has a single feature article, several smaller articles and advertising which includes clipable coupons.

The Tournament of Roses Parade (or, more simply, the Rose Parade) has been an annual event in Pasadena on or about New Year's Day since 1890. The crowds who witness the parade in person are multiplied many times over by the television audience.