1. Several sources, including the official SCRABBLE® dictionary, confirm that there are sixteen 5-letter English language words starting with the letter “T” that can be made from the letters T-H-I-R-T-E-E-N. If I arbitrarily eliminate “teeth”, “titer” and "titre" from the list, name one of the 13 remaining words. Each letter may be used only up to the number of times it appears in "THIRTEEN." Proper nouns and slang are not valid for this question.
2. In clinical psychology, a “phobia” is a persistent and often disproportionate and irrational fear of an object or situation. Select one the 13 generally-accepted phobias below and say what it’s a fear of. Your answer does not need to match exactly any clinical definition of the phobia, but it must describe essentially the same thing. You don't need to include the letter of your choice.
Note: When a given phobia is commonly defined as two or more closely-related fears, all of these fears will be grouped together under the phobia; for example, if "jeoparophobia" describes a fear of either being on the game show
Jeopardy! or of meeting people named Trebek, those answers will be grouped together under "jeoparophobia."
(A) acrophobia
(B) arachnophobia
(C) claustrophobia
(D) coulrophobia
(E) leukophobia
(F) monophobia
(G) mysophobia
(H) necrophobia
(I) panphobia
(J) phasmophobia
(K) pyrophobia
(L) somniphobia
(M) tachophobia
3. One singing group that certainly didn’t have philophobia -- i.e. the fear of love -- was The Supremes. In all of the group’s various iterations, combinations and associations with other groups throughout their heyday in the 1960s and early 70s, the Supremes charted 14 times in the Billboard Hot 100 with songs that had “love” somewhere in the title, either as a standalone word or as part of a longer, related word. The last of these was 1972’s “Your Wonderful Sweet Sweet Love” in the post-Diana Ross era, which topped out at #59. (Does anybody actually know or remember that song?)
Name one of their 13 other Hot 100 songs containing “love.”
4. Name one of the 13 famous people pictured below, each of whom was born in 1913. Name only is sufficient; you don’t need to include the number of your choice. If the image is not displaying properly inside the spoiler or you require more detail, click
here (small) or
here (large) for standalone images.
5. Name one of the 13 theatrically-released movies described below, all of which have the word or fragment “fear” or the number "13" somewhere in their titles. The title only is sufficient; you don't need to include the letter of your choice.
(A) Biopic on the life of Jimmy Piersall, who battled mental illness to achieve stardom in major league baseball. (1957), Anthony Perkins, Karl Malden, dir. Robert Mulligan
(B) Lieutenant Drebin discovers that his ex-girlfriend's new beau is involved in a plot to kidnap a scientist who advocates solar energy. (1991), Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, dir. David Zucker
(C) A retired San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia(!) investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her. (1958), James Stewart, Kim Novak, dir. Alfred Hitchcock. (The working title for this film was Fear and Trembling. If you select this choice, name the title that the film has been known by since its release.)
(D) In a decrepit South American village, men are hired to transport an urgently needed nitroglycerine shipment to a remote oil field. (1953), Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot. (Remade as an English-language version in 1977 with a different title.)
(E) Three astronauts must devise a strategy to return to Earth safely after their spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage. (1995), Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, dir. Ron Howard
(F) CIA analyst Jack Ryan must thwart the plans of a terrorist faction that threatens to induce a catastrophic conflict between the U.S. and Russia by detonating a nuclear weapon at a football game. (2002), Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, dir. Phil Alden Robinson
(G) A convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a fourteen-year sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him. (1991), Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, dir. Martin Scorsese. (Remake of a 1962 film.)
(H) A family inherits what proves to be a haunted house, but only by wearing a special pair of goggles can they see their unearthly tormentors. (1960), Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, dir. William Castle
(I) Courtroom thriller about a slick, hotshot lawyer who takes the seemingly unwinnable case of a young altar boy accused of murdering an eminent catholic priest. (1996), Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, dir. Gregory Hoblit
(J) A man's personality is dramatically changed after surviving a major airline crash. (1993), Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, dir. Peter Weir
(K) A noted professor and his dim-witted apprentice are on the hunt for vampires... and a kidnapped damsel in distress. (1967), Jack MacGowran, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, dir. Roman Polanski
(L) The lone inhabitants of an abandoned police station are under attack by a seemingly unstoppable street gang. (1976), Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, dir. John Carpenter. (Remade in 2005.)
(M) A fictitious war in an unidentified country provides the background for four soldiers who survive the crash-landing of their plane and find themselves six miles behind enemy lines. (1953), Frank Silvera, Kenneth Harp, dir. Stanley Kubrick. This was Stanley Kubrick's first directoral feature.... and the one he wanted everybody to forget ever existed.
where the average game attendance this year has been about 31,000. Surprising as it might seem, average attendance in 1958, the year that two teams began playing on the west coast, was less than half of that in 2014. Of the 16 teams in the combined major leagues in 1958, 13 were based in a city east of Kansas City.
Name one of those 13 teams, including both the city and team name.
7. Has there ever been a child who didn’t have tetraphobia, i.e. fear of monsters? Not that some adults don’t as well, but more often adults face their latent fears by making light of the subjects. Take television. (Monstrous, no?)
The Munsters family lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane during the show's two years in first run (1964-66.) The arguably more macabre
The Addams Family also aired in primetime during the same years. The two shows combined had 13 credited characters (5 Munsters, 8 Addams) who appeared in at least 25% of the episodes.**
Name one of those 13 regular or recurring characters. Answer with the character, not the actor. (Note: In order to take neg bait off the table, Thing was not a credited character on
The Addams Family.)
** 9 credited characters were in all or nearly all of the episodes, 3 in around 60%, and only 1 in slightly over 25%. No other recurring characters appeared in anywhere near 25%.
8. Aviophobia -- the fear of flying -- is not uncommon, especially when it comes to flying in small planes. But when the alternative to flying is riding for hours through a snowstorm in a freezing cold, broken-down bus one’s fear of flying might dissipate, as what happened on February 3, 1959. In his iconic 1972 song “American Pie” Don McLean dubbed that “The Day the Music Died” because on that day McLean’s musical idol and two other singing stars died in a chartered plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, while en route from one concert venue to another.
Related to that event, name one of the items described below. Answer with name or title only; you do not need to include the letter of your choice.
(A) Singing star 1, pictured above
(B) Singing star 2, pictured above (either real name or stage name, both of which will be grouped together)
(C) Singing star 3, pictured above
(D) The future country music star who was originally supposed to be on that flight, but who gave up his seat, and who eventually died 43 years later of complications from diabetes
(E) The title of the 1977 biopic about singing star 1
(F) The actor who portrayed singing star 1 in the biopic
(G) The title of the 1989 biopic about singing star 3
(H) The actor who portrayed singing star 3 in the biopic
(I) The name of singing star 1’s backup group, that because of contractual arrangements received the official credit for many of his early hits
(J) Singing star 3’s girlfriend, whom he immortalized with his biggest chart hit -- first name only is OK
(K) Singing star 4, pictured below, who also died in a small plane crash
(L) Singing star 5, ditto
(M) Singing star 6, ditto
9. If you combined the fear of music (melophobia), the fear of night (noctiphobia) and the fear of dawn or daylight (eosophobia), what would you have? You'd have question 9, in which you are to match a show tune (left column) with the Broadway (or off-Broadway) musical (right column) in which it appeared.
Please answer in the form: Left column letter - right column number, e.g. F-2. Note that there are 14 musicals listed, one of which does not match to any of the show tunes.
10. Name one of the 13 letter words (or proper nouns) described in the Jeopardy! clues below. You don’t need to answer in the form of a question -- in fact, I’d rather that you didn’t -- but the
correct spelling is required. The word alone is sufficient; you don't need to include the number of your choice. If the image is not displaying properly inside the spoiler or you require more detail, click
here (small),
here (large), or
here (large picture associated with #4) for standalone images.
11. Name one of the following described below, all of which have something to do with "13." The answer alone is sufficient; you do not need to associate it with a description or letter. Note that there are 4 possible answers for (D) and 2 for (G), all of which will be grouped separately, making a total of 13 distinct answers.
(A) the 13th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution (in 1790)
(B) the subject of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
(C) the 13th president of the United States
(D) a U.S. president who was in office for at least one month in 1813, 1913 or 2013 (4 possible answers for this choice)
(E) the 13th U.S. state when listed alphabetically
(F) the body of water crossed along an approximately 20 mile continuous stretch of U.S. Route 13
(G) the main U.S. city within a metropolitan area that is served by either area code 213 or 313 (2 possible answers for this choice)
(H) the 13th U.S. state as ranked by population (2013 estimates; 12th is Virginia, 14th is Massachusetts; 12-14 is the same order in 2010 Census)
(I) a huge majority of
personal bankruptcy filings in the U.S. are under either Chapter 13 of the U.S. Code or this other Chapter
12. Would you prefer less fear and more loathing or more fear and less loathing? Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 counter-cultural, semi-biographical novel
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas naturally followed from literary traditions started years earlier by the Beat Generation authors of the 1950s and the psychedelics and social satirists of the 1960s.
Name the author of one of the following books written between 1956 and 1968 that are all closely associated with those traditions. Include the letter choice with your answer.
(A)
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
(B)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
(C)
Franny and Zooey
(D)
On the Road
(E)
Howl and Other Poems
(F)
Naked Lunch
(G)
A Clockwork Orange
(H)
V.
(I)
Catch-22
(J)
Cat’s Cradle
(K)
The Armies of the Night
(L)
Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
(M)
Been Down So Long it Looks Like Up to Me
13. There are several theories regarding the origin of the term, but everyone agrees that a “baker's dozen” is 13, one more than a standard dozen. Provide the answer to one of the following clues, all of which have something to do with “baker.” Just the answer, you do not need to include the letter of your choice.
Note: Jeopardy! rules would dictate that “Baker” alone is not a sufficient answer to any of these, so please don’t make me ask you for more specific information if your answer is a person's name containing "Baker."
(A) The actress who grew up as Norma Jean Baker.
(B) Along with Eric Claption and Jack Bruce, the third member of the Hall of Fame rock band Cream.
(C) Mount Baker, an active volcano, is the third highest mountain in this U.S. state.
(D) The address on Baker Street where Sherlock Holmes lived.
(E) His single “Baker Street” spent 6 weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978.
(F) The American blues singer who achieved her greatest success in Paris in the 1920s.
(G) The founder of The Church of Christ, Scientist.
(H) Baker’s is a Kraft Foods brand name for this baking ingredient.
(I) The town of Baker, California is located within this desert.
(J) John (Franklin) Baker was a Hall of Fame baseball player best remembered by this nickname.
(K) The American jazz trumpeter extraordinaire and some time vocalist who attained maximum fame in the 1950s.
(L) The U.S. Senator from Tennessee, perhaps best remembered as the ranking Republican on the Senate Watergate Hearings Committee.
(M) The all-star outfielder for the Braves, Dodgers, Giants and Athletics, and later manager of the Giants, Cubs and Reds.
