Puzzle Notes

Dear Friends:

It's fitting that our most recent quiz had "pins" in it, because "pinning" is also a key element in trivia (this connection was unrelated to the recent quiz, but it gives us an excuse to talk about it now). Pinning an answer means you've provided a significant detail in the question that points to a specific answer. Pinning reduces ambiguity in questions by narrowing the scope of what the answer could be.

Question A: What leafy green vegetable is high in Vitamin K? There's multiple reasonable answers here: kale, cabbage, spinach, etc. 

Question B: What leafy green vegetable with Lacinato, Red Russian, and Winterbor varieties is high in Vitamin K? That's kale. Pinned to their varieties.

Question C: What leafy green vegetable that's a main component of the Scottish dish Rumbledethumps is high in Vitamin K? That's cabbage. Pinned to a recipe. 

Want to practice? How would you pin "spinach" as the answer?

Another way to pin answers is to use a category with set parameters. Jeopardy! does this all the time with categories like On the "M"ap or 12-Letter Words. Or, maybe you've seen a round at pub trivia like It's Element-ary where all the answers will have an element name in them. By shrinking the possible answer pool down, you've significantly decreased the possibility that another answer may fit the clue. 

We'll put the proverbial pin in it here. 

AQCAG

Our All Questions Correct Answer Getter from our April 19 puzzle is Walter Biggins. Rock on, Walter.

Trivia Puzzle #11

Today's puzzle is from Drew Cranisky. Drew runs Drew's Clues, a pub quiz company with weekly games all around Pittsburgh. Every Drew's Clues trivia night ends with a connection round just like this one, and they're probably his favorite thing to write. When not engaged in trivial activities, you can find Drew teaching cocktail classes, playing pinball, or hanging out with his two adorable cats, Billie and Finn.

It's a treat having a pub trivia host with us, and Drew gives us 8 questions to chew on. Enjoy!

Until next time,

T.J., Karen & The AVCX Blackhearts

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