Image NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Alex Parker via Wikimedia Commons
Today’s Answers
Seven questions today: the first six offer a variety of general knowledge questions, and the seventh is supplied from the answers to the first six. There is a theme running through the questions.
One
In 2015, Numero … was the seventh and final novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. What word is missing from the title?
Answer: Zero.
Umberto Eco (1932–2016) was an Italian philosopher, novelist, and cultural critic. He is best known in the English-speaking world for his novels The Name of the Rose (1980) and Foucault’s Pendulum (1988).
Two
Since 2006 the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre has recognised how many dwarf planets are in the Solar System? Secondly, what are these five dwarf planets?
Answers: Five; Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea.
According to the IAU Minor Planet Center++,++ a dwarf planet is defined as a celestial body that orbits the Sun and possesses sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces, allowing it to assume a nearly round hydrostatic equilibrium shape. Additionally, it must not have cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit and cannot be a satellite.
Three
What Commonwealth in the United States was the 2nd state admitted to the Union, on 12 December 1787? Secondly, what are the other states which are officially commonwealths?
Answer: Pennsylvania; Massachusetts, Virginia and Kentucky.
‘Commonwealth’ is a traditional term describing a political community for the common good. While purely stylistic with no special legal status, it is used in the official names of four former British colonies: Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia and Kentucky.
Four
A Mitsubishi fighter aircraft is considered to have been the most capable carrier-based fighter in the world when it was introduced early in World War II. By what one word name is it commonly known?
Answer: Zero.
The legendary Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter aircraft initially dominated early World War II dogfights with an astonishing 12-to-1 kill ratio. However, to achieve its exceptional manoeuvrability and long range, designers completely omitted pilot armour and self-sealing fuel tanks, making it remarkably vulnerable when Allied forces later adapted their combat tactics.
Five
How many disciplines are there in a men’s gymnastics competition at the Summer Olympics?
Answer: Six.
Floor, horizontal bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, rings, and vault.
Six
A duck is nought, not a bird: what is it?
Answer: Zero.
A duck = zero. A duck’s egg is an oval, which is also the shape of the number 0. So, for example, in cricket we get the phrase ‘out for a duck’.
Seven
Looking at your six answers above (the primary answer if there is more than one) and then rearranging them should give you an answer which is a song. Additionally, who is very much associated with this song coming to prominence?
Answers: Pennsylvania 6-5000; Glenn Miller.
Pennsylvania 6-5000 is a 1940 swing jazz and pop standard recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra Inspired by the famous telephone number of New York’s Hotel Pennsylvania, the hit instrumental also served as an advertisement for the band’s live performances at the hotel’s Cafe Rouge venue.
In the Mood
The post title In the Mood was another hit for Glenn Miller and his orchestra.
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