This is an intellectual exercise designed to stimulate your mind so that
you can work more effectively on hot, summer, Friday afternoons, when
you would rather be at the ocean. It will increase your work efficiency.
It should not be viewed as a waste of time.
PLEASE.
NO GUILT ALLOWED IF YOU THINK THIS WILL WASTE YOUR TIME.
QUESTIONS:
(1) There's one sport in which neither the spectators, nor the
participants know the score or the leader until the contestants are
finished. What is it?
(2) What famous North American landmark is constantly moving
backward?
(3) Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for
several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every
year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?
(4) At noon and midnight the hour and minute hands are exactly
coincident with each other. How many other times between noon and
midnight do the hour and minute hands cross?
(5) What is the only sport in which the ball is always in the
possession of the team on defense, and the offensive team can score
without touching the ball?
(6) What fruit has its seeds on the outside?
(7) In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear
inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is
genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the
bottle?
(8) Only three words in standard English begin with the letters
"dw". They are all common. Name two of them.
(9) There are fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you
name half of them?
(10) Where are the lakes that are referred to in the "Los Angeles
Lakers"?
(11) There are seven ways a baseball player can legally reach first
base without getting a hit. Taking a base on balls - a walk - is one
way. Name the other six.
(12) It's the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen,
canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form but fresh. What is it?
(13) How is it possible for a pitcher to make four or more strikeouts
in one inning?
(14) Name six or more things that you can wear on your feet, that
begin with the letter "s".
ANSWERS:
(1) Boxing.
(2) Niagara Falls. The rim is worn down about 2 and a half feet each
year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every
minute.
(3) Asparagus and rhubarb.
(4) Ten times (not eleven, as most people seem to think).
(5) Baseball.
(6) Strawberry.
(7) The pear grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over
pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The
bottle is left in place for the whole growing season. When the pears are
ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.
(8) Dwarf, dwell, and dwindle.
(9) Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe,
question mark, exclamation point, quotation marks, brackets,
parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.
(10) In Minnesota. The team was originally known as the Minneapolis
Lakers, and kept the name when they moved west.
(11) Batter hit by a pitch; passed ball; catcher interference;
catcher drops third strike; fielder's choice; and being designated as a
pinch runner.
(12) Lettuce.
(13) If the catcher drops a called third strike, and doesn't throw
the batter out at first base, the runner is safe.
(14) Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, snowshoes,
stockings, and so on.