Night of the Living Staples Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1942 - replaced paper clips due to wartime steel shortage

Like many other "exact date" questions, it's hard to staple down - oops, PIN down - an exact date, or even a single precise definition of a staple. But staples were around long before WW2, and never replaced paper clips during the war! Both items were critical to supply and administration efforts. In fact, you might say they helped build the "stationery defenses" of our country!

Answer: anvil

It makes sense, right? An anvil is the support for a piece of metal being worked or shaped. I know you didn't fall for the stirrup - it goes with the anvil all right - but in your EAR! The bender bar is pure fabrication.

Ironically though, if you know what "bohica" means, you can imagine the anvil screaming that term each time the stapler is used!

Answer: to bend the staple points inward or outward

If you missed this one, they'll be cleaning out your desk at "the office!" Ever had a staple jam? Yeah, me too! Lots of them! So forget that "jamming" answer. Better chrome adhesion? What does that even mean? Get out! And as for Federal laws - well, these days, it wouldn't surprise me. But no; there's no Staple Police. At least not yet.

Rotating the anvil changes which way the staple points are bent. One set of grooves bends the points inward for a more permanent bind; the other grooves - yes - you got it...bend outward for temporary attaching. Outward bound staples are easier to remove.

Somewhere in all my exploring, I read that a survey found only one in ten office workers even KNEW about both sets of grooves, to say nothing about their different uses. It sounds like the survey groups were Federal lawmakers.

Answer: Wreckers

The three "noble" choices make for a difficult guess. Did your reverse logic kick in and decide it had to be the more negative sounding "Wreckers?" But names aside, actions do speak louder than words - or mascots on t-shirts. Staples HS has an outstanding "record." It has been ranked as Connecticut's #1 school at least twice since 2009, and earned a nationwide ranking in the upper 50% of the 1,000 best high schools in the USA.

I did a lot of searching in an effort to trace the origins of the "Wreckers" name, but had no luck. Unless I call the school to ask (which I won't!), I'm finished. Any of you Connecticutians...Connecticuters? Nutmeggers out there? Can you help?

Answer: 750 feet

Actually 750' 9", as near as I can tell. It was assembled in 2012 by high school student Jeffrey White at Spaulding High School in Vermont. A local TV station video confirmed the length, but two years later, the Guinness Book still shows a 570' 10" chain built by a Canadian team.

The more I dug, the more confused I got. Guinness mentions that information is always changing, as new challengers beat old records. But two years seems like a very slow refresh rate! This seemed like such a simple, fun question, until I began digging. If you've diligently read all this information, congratulations! Persistence pays - a hint for an upcoming question is "think Great Wall."

Answer: China

Did you read the hint? China is correct. According to the most current information (2011) I could find, Staple's has 27 office supply stores serving Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai regions. It would be interesting to know what percent of the inventory is imported from America.

Were you pulled in by the "all of these" option?

Answer: products obtained from endangered forests

The most logical connection to recycling paper is saving the endangered forests that are destroyed to supply paper. There's no real link between the three distractor answers and paper recycling. Not having water fountains in the stores would be very unpopular with customers AND staff alike! A water fountain is far more conserving of liquid than other sources. Eliminating ink cartridge sales would result in a huge revenue loss. Staples also sells leather upholstered executive and manager's chairs, so that knocks out the animal skin option.

Staple's has been ranked in the Top 25 on the EPA's Green Power List. The chain has introduced power saving features in its copy centers, and uses self contained solar power installations in at least two of its stores. They also have a liberal return/recycle policy for used toner and ink cartridges.

Answer: potatoes

There are about 50,000 edible plant species on earth. Of all those, rice, maize, and wheat are a main staple of some 4 billion people. Potatoes seem to be in about 4th place, based on total tonnage grown. While staple foods are generally considered to be plants, one source mentions fish as a staple food for some coastal dwellers.

Rice, wheat, and corn, you say? Sounds like that spicy party mix. After eating a bowl of that, I guess I could say "the Chex in the male!"

Answer: Mexican tortilla crisis

Many sources agree that high fuel prices and corn meal hoarding by food speculators was the primary culprit, but about 20% of the world corn meal supply was expected to be funneled into production of bio-fuels such as ethanol (and then funneled into gas tanks around the USA). Simple supply and demand did the rest. Less supply equals more demand equals higher costs. While potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cassava are all staples, they're not being used as fuel.

(Many people find switching from one staple food to another difficult. As a result, any significant drop in the supply tends to lead to a very sharp rise in the price - out of proportion in percentage terms to the actual shortfall).

Answer: The Office

"The Office" ran for 9 seasons, from 2005-2013. The show garnered numerous award nominations, winning five Emmys and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, among others. The Office was set in Scranton's mythical "Dunder Mifflin Paper Company," and apparently has had a positive effect in Scranton.

The Dunder Mifflin logo appears in several locations throughout the city, and travel guides have been published to help fans discover city locations mentioned in the series. I guess fame is where you find it.

Answer: Rolling Stones

The Staple Singers were headed by Roebuck "Pop" Staples, along with son Pervis, and daughters Cleotha, Yvonne, and Mavis. Formed in 1948, the group began recording in the early 1950s, and were active until about 1994. Their work also includes "Let's Do It Again," and a #1 hit on the US pop chart - "I'll Take You There." The Staple Singers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.

The DC5 disbanded in 1970; the Yardbirds flew away in 1968, but regrouped again in 1992, and were active (with varying members) through 2012. Most amazing of all, as of 2014, there are TWO active bands billing themselves as Herman's Hermits!

Answer: Minnesota

Staples MN appears to be a bustling little town of about 2800 residents on average over the last 40 years. There's a municipal airport, an AMTRAK station (no waiting room though, it seems). In the 1990s, Staples had a "housing boom" - 15 homes and 60 apartment units.

The only bad thing I see about the town? Being in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes," this otherwise delightful seeming town only has .01 square miles of water. That one HUNDREDTH of a square mile! Small mouth bass only? No room for the large mouths! But in MN, a good fishing hole is never too far away!

Answer: brain puncture from a 3 inch staple

Thinking cap indeed! Shaun should have put on a hard hat! While building a canopy on a roof, he apparently stood up and struck his coworker's pneumatic stapler, which drove a three inch staple into Shaun's frontal lobe. Doctors were amazed that there was no serious or permanent damage.

According to a 2010 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the three most dangerous US labor occupations (and the number of deaths for 100,000 workers in each group) are: #1 fishers and related workers (116); #2 logging workers (92); #3 pilots and flight engineers (71). Sounds like military service is a LOT safer!

Answer: woven lead thread

Anyone with half a brain knows about the hazards of lead ingestion - and may have learned the hard way, if they only have a half left! Lead paint and lead pipes are practically nonexistent. Even the military has eliminated or significantly reduced the amount of lead in small arms ammunition. So Why would we want lead in our muscle tissue and blood?

Titanium staples seem to be the most common; they have less effect on MRI scans, and cause fewer reactions from the immune system. Stainless steel is used in many skin staples. Bioabsorbable staples are becoming more common.

Answer: staple something to the opponent's body

This whole idea really disgusts me. While all the choices COULD conceivably occur, the main goal is for a "wrestler" (I use the term very loosely) to staple something to the opponent's body! One variation demands seven dollar bills; another league (of its own, I suppose) requires 13 bills. There's even a midget wrestling league operated by "Puppet the Psycho Dwarf," that requires a mere 11 bills implanted! Less area in which to staple things, I suppose.

If all this doesn't satisfy the ignorant beast in you, try other varieties of hardcore - where brass knuckles, broken glass, barbed wire, and weed whackers are a part of the contest. Be sure to take the kids! The Dark Age is come.