Upwords & Downwords V Trivia Quiz

Answer: corona

It is sometimes possible to see a set of concentric circles of light around the sun (or other celestial body). Meteorologists call these phenomena coronas if they range in color from blue inside to red outside, and halos if red inside to blue outside. They are caused by diffraction of light by suspended matter such as dust particles, mist, or thin clouds.

Answer: acorn

In Norse legend, Thor once sheltered under an oak tree from a thunderstorm. This legend gave rise to the belief that placing an acorn on a windowsill would prevent one's house from being struck by lightning.

Answer: corn

The term 'maize' is more commonly used to describe corn in British English, and in technical or scientific language.

The United States was the top producer of corn in 2005 with 280 million metric tons. Second-place China produced 131 million metric tons.

Answer: roc

Thirteenth century Marco Polo described the roc thusly: "It was for all the world like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous size; so big in fact that its quills were twelve paces long and thick in proportion. And it is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its talons and carry him high into the air and drop him so that he is smashed to pieces; having so killed him, the bird swoops down on him and eats him at leisure".

Answer: ro

Ro is an a priori artificial language for international use invented by Rev. Edward Powell Foster. It is an entirely new vocabulary, based on a category system and built by an abstract analysis of ideas. The words are meant to be more like pictures to convey ideas more easily and to make word recognition simpler.

Answer: ort

The word 'ort' derives from the Middle English 'orte', meaning 'food left by animals', which itself probably came to us from Middle Dutch combination 'oor' ('out') and 'eten' ('to eat').

Answer: rote

The idiom, 'by rote' is used for 'by memory' in describing a sort of mechanical procedure that is done without thought for meaning.

Answer: tenor

'Tenor' in this sense refers to drift or general meaning.

Kathleen Norris uses the word in "Hands Full of Living": "None of us knows what the next change is going to be, what unexpected opportunity is just around the corner, waiting a few months or a few years to change all the tenor of our lives."

Answer: cornet

'Cornet' can refer to an ice-cream cone, the conical piece of folded paper used as a cup to hold nuts or candy, or the musical instrument in the trumpet family.

The instrument looks similar to the trumpet, but differs in that it is more compact, and has a conical bore and a softer tone quality.

Answer: coronet

A coronet is different from a crown in that the former never has arches. Coronets are often reserved for nobles or princes and princesses, while crowns are reserved for monarchs.