Monday, May 12, 2008 | 3:11 p.m.

Trivia Bits by Stan Newman

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Stan Newman

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  • Trivia Bits, May 12
    Word of the week: "paraph." It is a handwritten flourish made under a person's signature, once popularly used as a forgery deterrent. Some famous Americans whose autograph often included a paraph: John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, Sam …

  • Trivia Bits, May 10
    STAN'S WEEKLY TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 84 What famous name from 19th-century world history was once the president of three countries simultaneously? HOW TO WIN: Send your answer, with your full name and address, either by e-mail to TriviaBits@…

  • Trivia Bits, May 9
    The word "fiasco," as in "spectacular failure," means "flask" in Italian. Specifically, the flask commonly used for Chianti that is enclosed in a straw basket. The word took on its unpleasant connotation as an Italian …

  • Trivia Bits, May 8
    Small-town celebrity birthplace of the week: Byron, in northern Illinois (current population about 4,000). Baseball Hall of Famer and sporting-goods entrepreneur Albert Goodwill Spalding was born there in 1850. Impressionist painter Wilson Irvine …

Trivia Bits, February 26

Son of double-rhymes: Instead of two-syllable rhyming words like hallmark/ballpark, many readers sent us snippets of song lyrics with artificial-but-clever polysyllabic rhymes, like "tragedy" and "glad-ya-dee" in "Put on a Happy Face". So, trivia friends, please send us your favorite examples of other such rhymes in song lyrics, and we'll print the best ones in future issues.

Your humble trivia author has been to lots of major-league baseball games, but has never come close to catching a baseball; he doesn't even know anyone who has. So let's give a tip of the cap to Zack Hample of New York City, who has a collection of over 3,200 baseballs brought home from big league games.
Most were tossed to him during batting practice, but we're impressed anyway.

Observation wheels, the big brothers of Ferris wheels, have become popular landmarks around the world. At 682 feet high and a passenger capacity of 1,920, the world's largest observation wheel is scheduled to open next year in Beijing, and will be called:
A) The Red Circle
B) The Great Wheel of China
C) The Sky Catcher
D) Mighty Mao

Previous answer: Albuquerque is known as "The Duke City" because it was named for a Spanish duke who had been a viceroy of the region.

TRIVIA FANS: Send the trivia questions you've always wanted answered, or original TriviaBits ideas of your own, with your full name and hometown, to Stan Newman at StanTrivia@aol.com or on a postcard to P.O. Box 69, Massapequa Park, NY 11762.


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Originally Published on Tuesday February 26, 2008

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Click on the title to read Stanley Newman's article from Newsday, "Exercise Your Puzzle Muscles", which explores the ways that puzzles can keep you mentally fit as you age.

Also, see the Editors's Note from this edition of Newsday recounting the history of the Newsday crossword puzzle and Stanley Newman's pivotal role in revolutionizing it.
 
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