Puzzle Notes
Dear Friends:
What's the most common question you get about what you do for a living (or for fun)? Ours is "How do you come up with the questions?" The creative process does not lend itself to succinct explanations, but let's peek behind the trivia writing curtain. We rarely start by coming up with questions. Instead, we usually start with answers.
This is especially true for themed trivia like the kind we publish here. Say we have the spark of an idea for a theme: types of hats. Next, we create a list of possible answers: bowler, cowboy, fez, sombrero, top, etc. Then we start whittling. "Bowler" and "cowboy" in an answer would camouflage the "hatness" of our theme, but "fez" and "sombrero" wouldn't, so we won't use those.
When we're done whittling, we consider possible question angles. We can use cricket or bowling to get the answer "bowler." That'll satisfy our sports quota, so let's avoid using the NFL to get "cowboy." Let's type "songs with cowboy in the title" into the ol' Google machine and see what pops up. And the next thing you know, we've got a question that asks, "What aspirational Toby Keith song name-drops Marshall Dillon, Jesse James, and Roy Rogers?
Rinse and repeat for our other answers and we've got a trivia puzzle cooking. Any questions?
AQCAG
The All Questions Correct Answer Getter from our January 17 puzzle is Maudie McCormick. Smile all day, Maudie.
Trivia Puzzle #2
Today's puzzle is from Toby Fehily. Toby is a writer, editor, and fact-checker from Melbourne, Australia. He's written about failed Ferris wheels and Boss Baby symposiums for "The Guardian," and makes puzzles and trivia for Saturday Quiz Time. Toby dedicates this puzzle to the memory of his beloved rescue dog Pepi, who passed away recently after 10 happy years with her family. He strongly encourages adoption as a way to change a dog's life, and your own.
This one is 8 questions, and covers everything from the business of gastronomy to the future of astronomy. You'll need a nimble mind and quick wit to keep up. Enjoy!
Until next time,
T.J., Karen & the AVCX Thundering Herd
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