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Quiz about Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonda
Quiz about Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonda

Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow, Fonda Quiz


Bennett Cerf is famously credited with advising a lovesick Henry Fonda to drink only absinthe, because: "Absinthe makes the heart grow, Fonda." The theme of this quiz plays on the word for an important ingredient of this bitter, green drink.

A multiple-choice quiz by nannywoo. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
nannywoo
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
355,179
Updated
Apr 09 23
# Qns
20
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
16 / 20
Plays
739
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
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Question 1 of 20
1. In an epistolary novel by C.S. Lewis, a senior demon writes letters of advice to his nephew Wormwood. What is the title of this satirical book? Hint


Question 2 of 20
2. What brand of cricket bat is named for the woodboring insect larvae that damaged a bat owned by Joe Sillet, causing him to carve it into a new design? Hint


Question 3 of 20
3. A song is stuck in your head, going around in your mind over and over again. It's driving you crazy! What is a song like this called? Hint


Question 4 of 20
4. In the 1940s, Walter Lantz animation studio created an avian character of the family Picadae, known for his loud, distinctive laugh and his irritating persistence. What kind of woodsy creature was this cartoon character? Hint


Question 5 of 20
5. What 1998 novel by Barbara Kingsolver is narrated by female members of a missionary family who go to the Belgian Congo in 1959 and live through the postcolonial changes of late 20th century West Africa? Hint


Question 6 of 20
6. In the 1950s song that begins "Two and two are four / Four and four are eight / Eight and eight are sixteen / Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two," what is the inchworm measuring? Hint


Question 7 of 20
7. In what daily comic strip by Bill Watterson did a young boy with a stuffed animal often get in trouble for daydreaming or taking "creative" approaches to assignments in Miss Wormwood's class? Hint


Question 8 of 20
8. In some versions of this European folk tale, a woodcutter or huntsman literally rescues two female characters from the belly of the beast. What is this story? Hint


Question 9 of 20
9. In 1957, Debbie Reynolds heard them "whisperin' above: 'Tammy, Tammy, Tammy's in love.'" What are they? Hint


Question 10 of 20
10. A wodwo (sometimes called a woodwose) is featured in the title of a poem by Ted Hughes and in medieval folklore and literature, including the Middle English poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." What American creature does the European wodwo or woodwose most closely resemble? Hint


Question 11 of 20
11. What comic strip character makes multi-layered sandwiches and likes to sleep on the couch, even after his blonde wife brings him the job jar? Hint


Question 12 of 20
12. Roald Dahl's brilliant, telekinetic young protagonist in "Matilda" is not understood or appreciated by her nasty parents. What last name do they share? Hint


Question 13 of 20
13. What creature--also called "groundhog" or "whistle pig" or "land beaver"--would do a certain thing as much as he could, if he actually could do that particular thing? Hint


Question 14 of 20
14. The tallest trees in the world, the giant redwoods, grow naturally only in a narrow strip of land along the coast near which of the world's great bodies of water? Hint


Question 15 of 20
15. In Revelation 8:11, a "star" named "Wormwood" falls into the sea. What does Wormwood do to the waters of the sea? Hint


Question 16 of 20
16. People engaging in a particular hobby might be found searching near a garden or mulch pile in the evening after a rain, turning over rocks, flowerpots, and other debris, looking for nightcrawlers. What are nightcrawlers, and how will the searchers use them? Hint


Question 17 of 20
17. We might know that the dogwood is a flowering tree, and we might know that the dogberry is the fruit of the dogwood, but Dogberry is also a character in a comedy by William Shakespeare. Which play is Dogberry in? Hint


Question 18 of 20
18. In a play with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a baker and his wife seek a cure for their childlessness, which turns out to be caused by a witch's curse. What play is this, that includes characters from various Grimm fairy tales? Hint


Question 19 of 20
19. What 1990 movie--starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, and Michael Gross--features huge worm-like creatures (dubbed "graboids") that threaten the small desert town of Perfection, Nevada? Hint


Question 20 of 20
20. A bitter herb of the family Compositae or Asteraceae, the genus Artemisia, and the species absinthium, this plant is the major ingredient of the distilled alcoholic beverage absinthe. What is its common name?

Answer: (One Word)

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In an epistolary novel by C.S. Lewis, a senior demon writes letters of advice to his nephew Wormwood. What is the title of this satirical book?

Answer: The Screwtape Letters

Screwtape teaches Wormwood about human nature as he sees it and offers ways the younger demon can cause his "patient" (the human he is assigned to bring to hell) to lose his faith and fall into sin. The book gives readers insight into subtle pitfalls, usually connected with a selfish attitude, that they can recognize and avoid. C.S. Lewis also wrote the other books listed.
2. What brand of cricket bat is named for the woodboring insect larvae that damaged a bat owned by Joe Sillet, causing him to carve it into a new design?

Answer: woodworm

While all the choices name insects, only one of the four is a name for the larva of a beetle that bores holes in wood. Woodworm Cricket Company began with enthusiastic energy in 2002 and ran into financial difficulty a few years later. However, Woodworm bats are works of art that continue to be popular.
3. A song is stuck in your head, going around in your mind over and over again. It's driving you crazy! What is a song like this called?

Answer: earworm

"Music, Mind, and Brain"--a scholarly study of earworms (or "involuntary imagery of music") conducted at Goldsmiths, University of London--can be found at earwormery.com. Arguably one of the most persistent earworms is 2012's "Call Me Maybe". It was originally sung by Carly Rae Jepsen but repeated in dozens of parodies and viral videos. What comes to your mind? Oops! Sorry about that.
4. In the 1940s, Walter Lantz animation studio created an avian character of the family Picadae, known for his loud, distinctive laugh and his irritating persistence. What kind of woodsy creature was this cartoon character?

Answer: woodpecker

The voice of Woody Woodpecker was originally created by the amazing Mel Blanc but has been given voice by others, including the wife of Walter Lantz, Grace Stafford. While there are around 200 species of woodpecker in the Picadae family, Woody seems to be an American variety called the pileated woodpecker.
5. What 1998 novel by Barbara Kingsolver is narrated by female members of a missionary family who go to the Belgian Congo in 1959 and live through the postcolonial changes of late 20th century West Africa?

Answer: The Poisonwood Bible

The title of Kingsolver's novel comes from the unintentional irony in the use of the word "bangala" by the prejudiced and chauvinistic American preacher: the word can mean "precious and true" but can also refer to an African poisonwood tree. "Norwegian Wood" is by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami and takes its title from a Beatles song; "The Worm Ouroboros" is a dark fantasy by Eric Eddison; and "How to Eat Fried Worms" is a humorous children's book by Thomas Rockwell.
6. In the 1950s song that begins "Two and two are four / Four and four are eight / Eight and eight are sixteen / Sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two," what is the inchworm measuring?

Answer: marigolds

Danny Kaye first sang Frank Loesser's song "Inchworm" in a 1952 movie about Hans Christian Andersen. The song has been featured on children's television programs "Captain Kangaroo" and "Sesame Street" and has been recorded by many singers.
7. In what daily comic strip by Bill Watterson did a young boy with a stuffed animal often get in trouble for daydreaming or taking "creative" approaches to assignments in Miss Wormwood's class?

Answer: Calvin and Hobbes

Even though "Calvin and Hobbes" ran for ten years, beginning in 1985, Miss Wormwood (named for the C.S. Lewis character in "The Screwtape Letters") is Calvin's first grade teacher every year. A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh" books feature stuffed animals, but we don't see Christopher Robin go to school. Miss Othmar and Miss Halverson are the teachers mentioned by name in Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" comic strip, but we do not see them. Richard Felton Outcault began the "Buster Brown" comic strip in 1902; Buster's dog Tige is thought to be the first talking animal in comic strips.
8. In some versions of this European folk tale, a woodcutter or huntsman literally rescues two female characters from the belly of the beast. What is this story?

Answer: Little Red Riding Hood

The "beast" in this case was a wolf, and in the Appalachian version I heard as a child, the woodcutter uses his axe to cut open the wolf's belly so Little Red and her grandmother can jump out. The tale "Little Red Riding Hood" or "Little Red Cap" was collected by Charles Perrault in France and the brothers Grimm in Germany, and it has been retold in many versions, both innocent ones for children and naughty ones for adults only.
9. In 1957, Debbie Reynolds heard them "whisperin' above: 'Tammy, Tammy, Tammy's in love.'" What are they?

Answer: the cottonwoods

Debby Reynolds played an innocent young girl who falls in love in "Tammy and the Batchelor" in 1957, to be followed by Sandra Dee in two sequels, and Debbie Watson in another. Cottonwoods are trees, so we can assume that the leaves are whispering in the wind.
10. A wodwo (sometimes called a woodwose) is featured in the title of a poem by Ted Hughes and in medieval folklore and literature, including the Middle English poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." What American creature does the European wodwo or woodwose most closely resemble?

Answer: Sasquatch or Bigfoot

The woodwose or wodwo is a hairy wildman who lives deep in the forest, much like the Sasquatch / Bigfoot creature supposed to inhabit the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. An old race of prehumans called "woses" also appear briefly in "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, who explains that the name alludes to an even briefer mention of the wodwo in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," which Tolkien translated into modern English.

The wodwo of Ted Hughes's poem seems to be searching for his identity at an amphibian-like stage of development he doesn't understand.
11. What comic strip character makes multi-layered sandwiches and likes to sleep on the couch, even after his blonde wife brings him the job jar?

Answer: Dagwood Bumstead

The comic strip "Blondie" was first drawn by Chic Young in 1930 and was taken over by his son when Chic died in 1979. Blondie Boopadoop married Dagwood Bumstead in 1933, and along with their two children and a dog named Daisy, became a popular depiction of a suburban American family throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century.
12. Roald Dahl's brilliant, telekinetic young protagonist in "Matilda" is not understood or appreciated by her nasty parents. What last name do they share?

Answer: Wormwood

Names are important in Roald Dahl's dark children's novel. The elder Wormwoods are bitter and unpleasant. The cruel headmistress is named Miss Trunchbull, while Matilda's favorite teacher and ultimate savior is the sweet Miss Honey.
13. What creature--also called "groundhog" or "whistle pig" or "land beaver"--would do a certain thing as much as he could, if he actually could do that particular thing?

Answer: woodchuck

"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck as much as he could, if a woodchuck could chuck wood." It was never clear to me as a child what "chucking" meant, but a car insurance commercial hilariously brings the tongue-twister to life, showing woodchucks throwing (chucking) firewood into the water as a man drives up on a tractor and yells, "Hey, you dang woodchucks! Quit chuckin' my wood!"
14. The tallest trees in the world, the giant redwoods, grow naturally only in a narrow strip of land along the coast near which of the world's great bodies of water?

Answer: Pacific Ocean

Related to sequoia trees, which also grow in the U.S. state of California, redwoods have reached heights of 378 feet and can live 2,000 years. Sequoias, while not as tall, can still grow upwards of 300 feet, and are larger and have longer limbs than redwoods; sequoias have been known to live 3,500 years. Redwoods live near the sea, while sequoias live at a higher altitude, on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
15. In Revelation 8:11, a "star" named "Wormwood" falls into the sea. What does Wormwood do to the waters of the sea?

Answer: Turns them bitter and causes many people to die.

The word "wormwood" in the Hebrew Bible always refers to bitterness. Revelation 8:11 is the only instance of the word in the Christian New Testament. Part of "end times" prophecy for many, the fear of a planetary object falling to earth is very much a part of popular culture, with the 1998 movie "Armageddon" being just one elaboration of the idea.
16. People engaging in a particular hobby might be found searching near a garden or mulch pile in the evening after a rain, turning over rocks, flowerpots, and other debris, looking for nightcrawlers. What are nightcrawlers, and how will the searchers use them?

Answer: earthworms, used for fishing

Nightcrawlers are large annelids, or earthworms, that are good bait for almost any freshwater fish. Earthworms often come to the surface of the soil after a rain, but scientists speculate that they do this not to breathe, since they breathe through their skins, but because the vibrations of the rain are similar to the sounds of predators like moles. Worm "grunters" use this sensitivity to vibrations to catch worms. Earthworms also may surface to migrate.
17. We might know that the dogwood is a flowering tree, and we might know that the dogberry is the fruit of the dogwood, but Dogberry is also a character in a comedy by William Shakespeare. Which play is Dogberry in?

Answer: Much Ado about Nothing

Dogberry is serving his shift on a citizen police force and is the source of much comedy in the play. Kenneth Branagh has American actor Michael Keaton play the character in a style reminiscent of a Monty Python skit in his 1993 movie version of "Much Ado about Nothing."
18. In a play with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a baker and his wife seek a cure for their childlessness, which turns out to be caused by a witch's curse. What play is this, that includes characters from various Grimm fairy tales?

Answer: Into the Woods

The baker and his wife must find ingredients for a potion to break the witch's curse: a cow as white as milk (obtained from Jack of "Jack and the Beanstalk"); a slipper as pure as gold (from Cinderella); a cape as red as blood (from Little Red Riding Hood); and hair as yellow as corn (from Rapunzel, imprisoned by the witch in a tower).

This unique plot weaving characters and motifs of several fairy tales, who go "Into the Woods" and create unexpected results they must resolve together, was written by James Lapine, in collaboration with Stephen Sondheim, and received several Tony Awards after debuting on Broadway in 1987.
19. What 1990 movie--starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, and Michael Gross--features huge worm-like creatures (dubbed "graboids") that threaten the small desert town of Perfection, Nevada?

Answer: Tremors

The movie "Tremors" and its sequels have elements of science fiction and horror, but they are also hilarious, with ironic allusions to more serious movies of both genres. The sandworms in "Tremors" are similar to those in Frank Herbert's "Dune" trilogy.
20. A bitter herb of the family Compositae or Asteraceae, the genus Artemisia, and the species absinthium, this plant is the major ingredient of the distilled alcoholic beverage absinthe. What is its common name?

Answer: wormwood

Artemisia absinthium is named for the Greek goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) who, according to Apuleius, discovered it while hunting in the woods; "absinthium" refers to its bitterness. The common name "wormwood" refers to its effectiveness as a vermicide. Absinthe with less than 10% thujone became legal in the United States in 2007 after being banned for 95 years because of its presumed psychedelic (and other mental and physical) effects.
Source: Author nannywoo

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