Kaput Your Mind to It: Our Hand-Picked Trivia Questions

Photo by Amber Patrick / A Terror Musical

Last weekend, we gathered on Zoom with friends (as friends are wont to do these days) for an evening of trivia. Each couple wrote a round of 10 questions on a pre-determined theme. Mike & I chose a round we dubbed "Kaput Your Mind To It," which was ostensibly a miscellaneous round... comprising topics our friends would expect from the two of us.

We came in third overall, if only because a few of the rounds were basically impossible (lookin' at you, friends who chose the topic of "space"). I thought it'd be fun to share the questions we chose & see how hard you think they are. We thought they were really easy, but... you know, we're probably a little biased.

1. Grammy Award-winning musical artist Billy Joel is also a noted boatsman. He has boats named Vendetta and Argos. What is the name of his most famous boat?
     
2. Which actor played a co-starring role in two of the greatest movies of the ‘90s (& maybe of all time), Newsies & Independence Day?
     
3. Cats with extra toes are called polydactyl cats. Which famous American writer was known for his love of these cats?
     
4. Cairo, Egypt, where Mike lived for a couple years, has a population of what. in its greater metropolitan areas?
     
5. What is the full name of the wizard who serves as headmaster for most of Harry Potter’s time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry? Hint: He has three middle names, & we’re looking for all of 'em.
     
6. The word kaput originally meant “big winners and big losers” in a card game popularized in what country?
     
7. New Hampshire, where Kate lived for two years, has the shortest coastline of any U.S. state. How many miles of Atlantic coastline does New Hampshire have?
     
8. If the musical Hamilton were spoken instead of sung, it would take about six hours to perform. Approximately many words are packed into the fast-paced, rap-based musical?
     
9. Costa Rica, a favorite Kaput family vacation spot, is noteworthy, among other things, because it lacks what institution you would expect a country to have?
• A chief executive 
• A national flag 
• A standing army 
• A permanent seat at the United Nations
    
10. Star actor Nicolas Cage, best known for his role in Con Air, claims to own the “most ____ home in America,” located in New Orleans, LA.
    

***

Annnnnd there you have it, friends, our carefully curated round of trivia!

What do you think?

How do you think you did? Were these questions hard or easy for you? If you're sure ready for the answers, here they are:

1. The Alexa
2. Bill Pullman
3. Ernest Hemingway
4. 20 million
5. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
6. France
7. 18 miles
8. 20,000 words
9. A standing army
10. Haunted

Tell me: What would you include on your personal list of trivia questions?