Three of a Kind, Part 6 Trivia Quiz

Answer: beam

Nilsson both wrote and performed "The Moonbeam Song" for his 1971 album "Nilsson Schmilsson." The lyrics inquire: "Have you ever watched a moonbeam as it slid across your windowpane, or struggled with a bit of rain or danced about the weather vane or sat along a moving train and wondered where the train has been?"

The balance beam is a wooden rail covered in leather, four feet ten inches off the floor, sixteen feet long and 3.9 inches wide. Mounting, dismounting and routines with many required elements are evaluated both as part of a team score and as an individual event. Olga Korbut and Nadia Comăneci were the darlings of this sport in the 1970s.

Any concentrated stream of energy which maintains its shape over a distance may be described as a beam, e.g. a beam of light, a laser beam, a beam of protons. The term "beam" may also be used by physicists to refer to a structural element which can bear a load by its resistance to bending, but that is another matter.

Answer: Bush

George H. W. Bush (b. 1924) was the 41st president of the United States of America (1989-1993). He was previously Vice President (1981-1989) and a
member of the House of Representatives before that. Because of the election of his son, George W. Bush, as the 43rd President of the United States (2001-2009), he is sometimes referred to as "The Elder Bush."

The largest producer of canned baked beans in the United States in 2015 was Bush Brothers and company. The firm also cans other varieties of beans as well as peas and cut string beans. Andrew Jackson Bush founded the company in 1904 and it remains in family ownership. The secret recipe for their beans is available from Duke, the owner's Golden Retriever, but he ain't talking.

The terms "shrub" and "bush" describe woody vegetation which is larger than a plant but smaller than a tree. Some trees may be kept pruned so as to remain the size of bushes, e.g. topiary. Groups of bushes growing together constitute shrubbery.

Answer: Columbia

The tallest building in Seattle (as of 2016) is the Columbia Center, previously named the Bank of America Tower and, before that, the Columbia SeaFirst Center. It is 943 feet tall. Construction began in 1982 and occupancy began in 1985. It is connected to neighbouring buildings by tunnels.

Columbia Pictures has been known by many names. It was founded in 1918 and has been called something including "Columbia" ever since. Columbia refers to the personification of the United States in the logo. The studio's early association with Frank Capra and its ownership of all of the Three Stooges films ensured success. It is now (2016) wholly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Japanese corporation.

The Space Shuttle Columbia was the first to be launched (12 April 1981) and completed 27 missions before disintegrating during re-entry on 1 February 2003. The seven crew members who were killed were Rick Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon.

Answer: Crystal

Billy Crystal (b. 1948) got his start by playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom "Soap" (1977-1981). He starred in "When Harry Met Sally" (1989) and "City Slickers" (1991). He is a huge baseball fan and would like to "retire" to call play-by-play in a major league ball park.

Snowflakes, diamonds and table salt are all examples of crystals: solids in which the constituents are arranged in a tightly-ordered structure in all directions. Many crystals are immediately identifiable because they have a distinctive geometric shape.

Written by Eddie Gray, Tommy James and Mike Vale, "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was a major hit in 1968. Despite published suspicion that it was inspired either by methamphetamine or LSD, James said he was inspired by images in the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation.

Answer: eagle

The rank/award of Eagle Scout was created by the Boy Scouts of America in 1911. It is the highest rank to which a scout may ascend. Eagle Scouts exemplify the highest ideals of scouting. There is an organization of adult men who earned their Eagle as a teenager.

Eagle Comics was founded in 1983 but became defunct in 1986. In its short life, it managed to bring the Judge Dredd series of comics from Britain to the USA.

Alexander Calder created a huge (38 ft. 9 in. x 32 ft. x 32 ft. 6 in.) steel sculpture in 1971 for erection at the Fort Worth National Bank, Fort Worth, Texas. The sculpture was relocated to its Seattle home in 2000. Calder is especially well known for his mobiles.

Answer: Hopper

People who harvested hops were originally known as hoppers. They have been largely replaced by machines which harvest the hops, also called hoppers.

Edward Hopper's (1882-1967) most famous painting is doubtless "Nighthawks" (1942) -- a depiction of an all-night diner and a few of its customers late on a lonely night. The painting has been satirized numerous times by substituting well-known figures in popular culture for the customers and soda jerk.

A bin or other container into which granular material is dumped is called a hopper. Similarly, such a bin from which granular material is dispensed is called a hopper. Sometimes the process relies only on gravity and sometimes on some form of agitator to encourage the contents to move.

Answer: Linus

Linus Benedict Torvalds (b. 1969) is a software engineer, who created the Linux kernel, for his own use in 1991. He then released the source code for free. It became the kernel for numerous computer operating systems, prominently Linux.

Benjamin "Ben" Linus was first known to those who survived Oceanic Flight 815 as Henry Gale. He was the leader of people on the island known as the Others. His role grew over four seasons.

Born the son of English actors in 1964, Linus Roache found work in his parents' craft on stage, in film and on television, both in the United States and the United Kingdom. The role of Dr. Thomas Wayne, Batman's father in "Batman Begins", gave his career a boost in 2005, as did the lead in the ITV mini-series "Titanic" in 2011-12.

Answer: Simon

Simon Cowell (b. 1959) produced records and concerts before getting into the televised talent show business. He has judged "Pop Idol" (UK), "American Idol" (US), "X Factor" (UK) and "America's Got Talent."

Simon is a character in William Golding's "Lord of the Flies." He is the one who names the pig's head, erected as a sort of sacrifice to the beast "the Lord of the Flies." He is killed by the other lads in a frenzy.

Simple Simon (who met a pieman) is likely part of a much larger poem or even a collection of poems about this not-very-bright individual. One source from 1685 might be a balled entitled "Simple Simon's Misfortunes and his Wife Margery's Cruelty."

Answer: white

Byron White (1917-2002) earned the nickname "Whizzer" as an All-American halfback at the University of Colorado. He went on to play professional football for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Lions, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, attended Yale Law School and served in the U.S. Navy during WWII.

White is an achromatic colour, in that it has no colour; it is without hue. In RGB technology it is produced by equal amounts of red, green and blue light. It is the opposite of black.

Perry White is the editor in chief ("Don't call me chief!) of the Daily Planet in the Superman comic books, movies, television series and video games. He is gruff and demanding but cares for his reporters and for the truth.

Answer: Zero

Samuel Joel Mostel (1915-1977) was nicknamed Zero by his agent on the theory that nobody wanted to go see Sam. He appeared in Jewish theatre, on Broadway, in films and television. One of his most challenging roles was as Max
Bialystock in Mel Brooks' "The Producers."

The adjustment of the sights on a rifle with regard to a particular target such that it may hit the center perfectly repeatedly is called "zeroing in" the weapon on the target.

In nuclear detonations, the point on the ground closest to the explosion is called "ground zero." This is often used interchangeably with "hypocenter" but there are subtle differences. In addition, the site of the World Trade Center in Manhattan is also called Ground Zero.