Three of a Kind, Part 37 Trivia Quiz

Answer: square

When an open space is left in a city's design, that space is often referred to as a "square" regardless of its geometric shape. Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is triangular. Herald Square in Manhattan, New York City, is two connected squares shaped like a bow tie. Temple Square in Salt Lake City is square.

In order to "run before the wind" (rather than to tack), a main sail is trimmed perpendicular to the keel. To "square the yard" is to adjust the yardarm at a 90 degree angle to the vessel's midline. A "square-rigged" ship has it sails so arranged as to facilitate this rigging.

Probably the most recognizable symbol of Freemasonry is the square and compass. These are both architects' tools, the first used to try right angles and the second to measure distances and scribe circles. In Masonic ritual, the square is used as a metaphor for morality in general and honesty in particular.

Answer: preachers

"Son of a Preacher Man" is a song recorded by British singer Dusty Springfield in 1968. It became an international hit. This song plays on the soundtrack of "Pulp Fiction" (1994) while Vincent Vega (John Travolta) goes to pick up Marsellus' wife Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman). The song was covered by Nancy Sinatra, Bobbie Gentry, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, Nancy Wilson, Tanya Tucker, Joan Osborne, Phoebe Cates, Jessica Simpson, and Dolly Parton.

The Hebrew title of the Book of Ecclesiastes is given in its first verse: "The words of Qoheleth, the son of David, king of Jerusalem." Qoheleth is a Hebrew word which may be translated preacher, or teacher, or editor of a collection of sayings. While the book does not specifically identify the Preacher, traditional scholarship ascribes the book to King Solomon.

All of Camilla Läckberg's first four mysteries were best sellers in Sweden. The first was "The Ice Princess." The second was this novel: "The Preacher" ("Predikanten" in Swedish) published in Swedish in 2004 and in English in 2009. The next was "The Stone Cutter." All of Läckberg's novels are set in or around Fjällbacka, a small town on the west coast of Sweden where she was born.

Answer: Sherman

Sherman Alexander Hemsley (1938-2012) played George Jefferson on the CBS-TV series "The Jeffersons" which was a spin-off from Norman Lear's "All in the Family." He also played Deacon Ernest Frye on the NBC series "Amen" (1986-1991) and was the voice of B.P. Richfield, a triceratops, on the ABC series "Dinosaurs" (1991-1994).

General Sherman is a Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) growing in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, California. In terms of wood volume (neither height nor width), it is the largest tree on Earth. The tree was named by James Wolverton, a naturalist who served as a lieutenant in the 9th Indiana Cavalry under American Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman.

At Toro Point, on the western side of the Panama Canal where it enters the Caribbean Sea, Fort Sherman defended the entrance to the canal. It is opposite Colón on the eastern bank. It was named in honour of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1911. Fort Amador guarded the opposite (Pacific) end of the Canal. In 1999, both installations were surrendered to the Panamanian government.

Answer: pigeon

Entertainer Dolly Parton owns the Dollywood complex in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It includes an amusement park, hotel, water park, concert venue, restaurants, the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame and an area devoted to the preservation of Smoky Mountain arts and crafts. Off peak season, Dollywood hosts "Smoky Mountain Christmas", a destination event.

In a confidence game (fraud, scam, rip-off, bunco, grift or swindle), a perpetrator (con man, grifter, con artist) gains the trust of the victim (mark, pigeon, gull, sucker) to obtain their money. Confidence artists' assistants and confederates are known as shills. See, e.g. Edward Henry Smith, Confessions of a Confidence Man: A Handbook for Suckers, Scientific American Publishing Company, 1923.

The Merlin is a small falcon found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In North America it is known commonly as the pigeon hawk because of its preference of prey although it thrives on sparrows, quail and any other small fowl. It has been used in falconry for centuries.

Answer: pipe

The smoking of tobacco (and others herbs) in pipes existed among Native Americans long before there was written history. Africans have a history of smoking hemp in pipes which also predates writing. More modern pipe smokers include Johann Sebastian Bach, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jacques Cousteau, Bing Crosby, Albert Einstein, Gerald R. Ford, Theodor Seuss Geisel, Che Guevara, Dag Hammarskjöld, Hugh Hefner, Edwin Hubble, C.S. Lewis, General Douglas MacArthur, Bertrand Russell, Jean-Paul Sartre, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Vincent van Gogh, Virginia Woolf, and Santa Claus.

Most musical pipes are tubes with several holes which can be covered with the fingertips, thus varying the pitch. One of the most commonly seen pipes is the recorder, used in schools to teach elementary music; it has seven finger holes and another for the thumb. Various pipes are used occasionally in symphonic music but they are more commonly associated with folk music, the shepherd's pipe being an example. The flageolet sounds like a French bean but is actually a woodwind flute of sorts. Hector Berlioz, Samuel Pepys, and Robert Louis Stevenson all played one.

In the Transformer franchise, Pipes is a mini Autobot, capable of converting himself from a robot sort of fellow into a small truck. In the latter mode, he is capable of speeds up to 100 miles per hour and of moving a 60-ton load. He has a penchant for collecting Earth-made gadgets of doubtful worth, e.g. carrot juicers and musical wristwatches. In battle, he emits corrosive gases to which he is not himself immune, if his armour is in any way compromised.

Answer: parade

Irving Berlin's "Easter Parade" was sung in the Broadway revue "As Thousands Cheer" in 1933, in the movie "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in 1938, and in the film "Holiday Inn" in 1942. In 1948, it was made into its own movie: "Easter Parade" starring Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Ann Miller and Peter Lawford. The motion picture won the Oscar for the Best Original Musical Score.

CBC's "Parade" was a variety show which offered primarily musical acts and comedy. In addition, there were sing-alongs in the style of Mitch Miller and dancing. Well-known performers included Maynard Ferguson, Oscar Peterson, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Ernestine Anderson, and Pete Seeger.

Prince ended his formal recording relationship with The Revolution in his eighth studio album "Parade." Released the same year, this album also provided the soundtrack for his film "Under the Cherry Moon." The album was a financial success; the motion picture was an abysmal failure, losing money and collecting five Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst this, that and the other.

Answer: harp

The harp on a bottle of Guinness was patterned on the Trinity College Harp -- a 14th or 15th Century Irish harp (cláirseach) on display at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. It was used as the model for the coat of arms of Ireland. The Guinness harp faces right; the harp on the coat of arms faces left. Benjamin Lee Guinness adopted the logo in 1862 and registered it as a trademark in 1875.

Genesis 4:21 says Jubal, son of Lamech, was the first musician and the inventor of both the harp and the flute. The harp (innor) was the national instrument of Israel; its connection with King David is well known. In the reign of his son Solomon, harps were made from almug-trees and accompanied singing. The Book of Revelation says that harps are played in Heaven in celebration of Christ's victory.

In 1984, four diverse folk artists joined in a series of concerts and produced a 1985 album of 13 songs. They named themselves by creating an acronym of their first names: Holly Near, Arlo Guthrie, Ronnie Gilbert and Pete Seeger. They called the album "HARP: A Time to Sing." The album was re-released in 2001 with 26 songs recorded at the original concerts. They include Twelve Gates to the City, Mr. Tambourine Man, City of New Orleans and What's Going On.

Answer: Viking

Two space vehicles, Viking 1 and Viking 2, were sent to Mars in 1975, to both orbit and land on the planet. The landers landed while the orbiters remained in orbit to relay communications to and from Earth. The mission was fabulously successful; both landers landed softly and deployed equipment on the Martian surface which collected and sent home invaluable data.

Russian filmmakers spent remarkable amounts of money on the 2016 motion picture "Viking." The film was the third most expensive in Russian movie history. It is the story of a Russian prince, Vladimir the Great, exiled to Sweden, who recruits Vikings to aid him in capturing Kiev. The Old Norse language was approximated by simplifying a mixture of modern Swedish and Norwegian.

Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, fields athletic teams called the Vikings in Division II of the NCAA. The school's colours are dark blue, light blue, silver and white. The mascot is Victor E. Viking, a student in a large suit. The legend is that he sailed his Viking ship into Bellingham Bay in 1923 and was so impressed by Bellingham State Normal School (which became WWU) atop Sehome Hill that he decided to stay rather than return to his native Scandinavia.

Answer: amber

Amber St. Clare used men to attain increasing social status in 17th-century England. Both the novel and the 20th Century Fox motion picture were controversial because of sexual content. The Restoration reign of Charles II provides the background. The film starred Linda Darnell as Amber opposite Cornel Wilde.

In the USA and Canada, as well as in Australia, pale ales brewed with amber malt are called "amber ale" with reference to their cuprous colour. Irish and British pale ales sometimes add coloured malt to achieve the same effect. The French term for this beer is "ambrée"

Amber Augusta Rudd (b. 1963) was elected to Parliament in 2010 and became Home Secretary in 2016. Her constituency is Hastings and Rye in East Sussex. Two other women have served as Home Secretary previously; she is the fifth woman to hold one of the "Great Offices of State" in Great Britain since WWII. Theresa May added to her portfolio the role of Minister for Women and Equalities in 2018. She helped find extras for the 1994 motion picture "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and, as a sort of reward, appears in one of the church scenes in the film.

Answer: blossom

The botanical name for the flowers of stone fruit trees is blossom. In addition to the genus Prunus, other trees' flowers are colloquially called blossoms, e.g. apple, orange and almond. One of the lovely characteristics of blossoming trees is their propensity to lose their petals all at once creating a sort of floral snow in the air and on the surrounding ground.

Margrethe Blossom Dearie (1924-2009) sang and played piano in the "supper club" tradition. She performed in London and New York for decades; she appeared regularly on both British and American television. She collaborated with Johnny Mercer, Miles Davis and Lyle Lovett. While her rendition of "Peel Me a Grape" has been known to make men hyperventilate, she also lent her voice to the TV children's educational series "Schoolhouse Rock!"

Based on a book of the same name by Stephen Cosgrove, a consortium of Chinese and American artists produced "Little Mouse on the Prairie" -- a story about a city mouse who moves to the country, Squeaky Corners, to live and work on his uncle's farm. A rabbit named Blossom falls in love with Osgood; comedic adventures ensue. The series aired on Fox in the USA (1997-1998).