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Quiz about Totally Nuts
Quiz about Totally Nuts

Totally Nuts Trivia Quiz


Please note: this quiz is not in the "People" category. This really is a quiz about edible nuts - no political nuts, nutty professors or nut cases here. (OK, the author IS Californian.) But are you ready to prove yourself a true trivia nut?

A multiple-choice quiz by uglybird. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
uglybird
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
231,084
Updated
Jan 26 23
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
4458
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
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Question 1 of 10
1. First of all, WIPE THAT SMILE OFF YOUR FACE! This is a (sort of) serious quiz by... I mean about serious nuts (the occasional word play not withstanding). And any trivia nut worth salting should be able to identify a real nut. But there are pit-falls (like almonds), and it's easy to be "druped" (a botanical stickler won't allow a so-called "drupaceous nut" to be considered a "real" nut.) And of course, having "nut" in your name doesn't make you a real nut.

With the above in mind, which of the following would even the most picayune botanist have to concede is a real nut?

[Note: the remainder of this quiz will assume that drupes are nuts. Otherwise squeezing out ten questions would be a nasty job.]
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Most states in the United States have chosen to ignore the critical importance of nuts by failing to designate a state nut. But one state has planted the seed of a kernel of truth that gets to the core of the matter of how significant nuts can be; one could even say they're literally the pip of the iceberg. Which farseeing state has named the pecan, not merely as their state nut, but as their state's official health nut?

Hint: the state dish is chili and the state snack is tortilla chips and salsa.
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Indeed, nuts can become a grave topic. Nuts may even be hazardous to your health! For instance, do you know which nut(s) one should warn those with serious poison oak allergy against? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Still unconvinced about the dire implications of nut abuse? Chew this little nut, and you'll get a little high. And you might get cancer by and by. Bet you'll never guess which exotic nut fits the preceding description, at least without using the hint at the start of this sentence. Which of the following nuts can stimulate your senses while possibly killing your tapeworms and increasing your risk of stomach cancer? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. It would indeed be rash to maintain that all nuts should be considered unhealthy simply because some might make you itch or give you cancer. What health benefit has been demonstrated for walnuts and almonds? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. To eat a nut, one must first get said nut out of its shell. Macadamia nuts are purported to be the hardest nut to crack, requiring a stunning 300 pounds per square inch of pressure to crack the shell. One might think that only a clever human employing a special tool could ever get at these delicious morsels. But which of the following animals has jaws strong enough to crack a macadamia shell? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Few would dispute the claim that nuts have played a role in British history. One particular nut figured prominently in the folklore of the ancient British Isles. When these nuts fell into the water, salmon consumed them. The number of the spots on the salmon was a measure, thought the ancient druids, of the number of nuts eaten. In catching and eating the salmon, one became wise in proportion to the number of nuts the salmon had eaten. On which important druidic tree did the nuts grow? (Hint: the nuts are edible.) Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Once the remarkable American chestnut, with its girth of up to twenty feet, its crown often towering 100 feet above the ground, was a source of sweet nuts and timber for much of the eastern United States. Now virtually none remain. What caused the near extinction of this venerable species? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Quizzes often include a question to which almost no one would know the answer were it not for the presence of a telltale, subtle hint. This is that question, MATE! In fact, the hint was right there in that last sentence. So then, on which continent would one find that seldom mentioned, obscure variety of nut called the bunya nut? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. There seems to be quite a strong sentiment in some circles that California should be considered the nuttiest state in the United States. Which of the following is/are true about California nuts? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. First of all, WIPE THAT SMILE OFF YOUR FACE! This is a (sort of) serious quiz by... I mean about serious nuts (the occasional word play not withstanding). And any trivia nut worth salting should be able to identify a real nut. But there are pit-falls (like almonds), and it's easy to be "druped" (a botanical stickler won't allow a so-called "drupaceous nut" to be considered a "real" nut.) And of course, having "nut" in your name doesn't make you a real nut. With the above in mind, which of the following would even the most picayune botanist have to concede is a real nut? [Note: the remainder of this quiz will assume that drupes are nuts. Otherwise squeezing out ten questions would be a nasty job.]

Answer: A filbert

Nuts always seem to spark controversy and yet be a potential source of humorous entertainment. This would seem to be true of nuts in both the literal and figurative senses. The fact that all nuts are fruits and that some seeds are nuts seems to be well accepted - but which fruits and which seeds? This uncertainty has led to the notion of "true nuts" and "false nuts". True nuts have one seed contained in a hard ovarian wall that ripens while false nuts are often mere drupes. Almonds are drupes, but then so are peaches. And of course there are dry drupes and wet drupes, and no one seems to know quite what to make of coconuts. (Coconut cream pie is what I'd make, but now I'm rambling.) Suffice to say that being a nut depends on endocarp, mesocarp and pericarp and I suspect it's all cr... that is... I mean nuts.
2. Most states in the United States have chosen to ignore the critical importance of nuts by failing to designate a state nut. But one state has planted the seed of a kernel of truth that gets to the core of the matter of how significant nuts can be; one could even say they're literally the pip of the iceberg. Which farseeing state has named the pecan, not merely as their state nut, but as their state's official health nut? Hint: the state dish is chili and the state snack is tortilla chips and salsa.

Answer: Texas

I would love to do a quiz on state nuts, but counting Texas' official state health nut, there are only four of them. And two are pecans and only one is an indisputably true nut (see discussion under question one). But should the number of state nuts ever get even to nine (you can always squeeze out that one extra question, eh Nannanut), I'll get right on it. Looking forward to that wonderful day when a state nut quiz becomes a reality, you'll want to know that the current crop of state nuts is as follows:

Texas state health nut - pecan

Missouri state nut - eastern black walnut

Alabama state nut - pecan

Oregon state nut - hazelnut
3. Indeed, nuts can become a grave topic. Nuts may even be hazardous to your health! For instance, do you know which nut(s) one should warn those with serious poison oak allergy against?

Answer: Both

Since mangoes, pistachios, and cashews are all in the same family as poison oak, it really does have me wondering what those poison oak berries taste like. But any temptation to taste them is tempered by the knowledge that humans eating poison oak berries may have severe or even fatal reactions.
4. Still unconvinced about the dire implications of nut abuse? Chew this little nut, and you'll get a little high. And you might get cancer by and by. Bet you'll never guess which exotic nut fits the preceding description, at least without using the hint at the start of this sentence. Which of the following nuts can stimulate your senses while possibly killing your tapeworms and increasing your risk of stomach cancer?

Answer: Betel nut

"Bet you'll" - "betel", that was the hint. Betel nuts contain alkaloids that stimulate the central nervous system, that are alleged to kill tapeworms and that have been associated with gastric cancer. Other purported effects include prevention of tooth decay, loss of teeth due to gum disease, improvement of the anemia of pregnancy, and spontaneous abortions - is there a pattern here? Betel chewing promotes weight loss through appetite reduction, and one supposes that loss of teeth could only enhance this.

The topic for this question came courtesy of Nannanut, who came to my rescue when I once again was suffering from tenth question block.
5. It would indeed be rash to maintain that all nuts should be considered unhealthy simply because some might make you itch or give you cancer. What health benefit has been demonstrated for walnuts and almonds?

Answer: Lowering of bad (LDL) cholesterol

Although nuts are high in fat and calories, consumption of a number of nuts has been shown to have a beneficial effect on lipids. Long term studies to verify that these effects translate into a reduction in adverse cardiovascular events seem not yet to have been done as of April 2006.

The fact that CRP reductions have been seen in nut studies is encouraging since CRP levels correlate with cardiovascular morbidity independent of lipids.
6. To eat a nut, one must first get said nut out of its shell. Macadamia nuts are purported to be the hardest nut to crack, requiring a stunning 300 pounds per square inch of pressure to crack the shell. One might think that only a clever human employing a special tool could ever get at these delicious morsels. But which of the following animals has jaws strong enough to crack a macadamia shell?

Answer: All of them

Although macadamia nuts are not part of the normal diet of alligators and hyenas, hyacinth macaws do eat macadamia nuts in the wild. Incidentally, alligators have the strongest bite of animals thus far measured, topping 3000 psi. I was unable to find documentation of human bite strength, but this author advises against trying to bite through macadamia shells. I've had a bit of luck with a hammer on concrete, but it's slow work, and the nuts don't emerge salted anyway.

Macadamias seem to be the highest calorie nut, and one reference even lists them as having more calories than an equal weight of butter. As justification for eating these delectable nuts, I submit the fact that they have the highest ratio of mono to polyunsaturated fat of any nut and have been shown to reduce "bad" cholesterol. Now, if I can just justify eating the chocolate covered variety!
7. Few would dispute the claim that nuts have played a role in British history. One particular nut figured prominently in the folklore of the ancient British Isles. When these nuts fell into the water, salmon consumed them. The number of the spots on the salmon was a measure, thought the ancient druids, of the number of nuts eaten. In catching and eating the salmon, one became wise in proportion to the number of nuts the salmon had eaten. On which important druidic tree did the nuts grow? (Hint: the nuts are edible.)

Answer: Hazel

Hazelnuts are the nuts of Corylus plants. In Britain they grow on trees and are important in druidic rites and legend. In America they grow on bushes and are important in commerce, particularly in Oregon. Hazelnuts pass muster as "true" nuts.
8. Once the remarkable American chestnut, with its girth of up to twenty feet, its crown often towering 100 feet above the ground, was a source of sweet nuts and timber for much of the eastern United States. Now virtually none remain. What caused the near extinction of this venerable species?

Answer: An Asian fungal blight first noted in the New York Zoological Garden

The tragic near extinction of the American chestnut and its savory nuts was probably the result of planting oriental chestnuts in a botanical garden. The oriental trees bore a fungus to which they were resistant. But this fungus successfully infected and ultimately destroyed every American chestnut in the eastern United States. To this day, attempts at producing a resistant American chestnut have failed.
9. Quizzes often include a question to which almost no one would know the answer were it not for the presence of a telltale, subtle hint. This is that question, MATE! In fact, the hint was right there in that last sentence. So then, on which continent would one find that seldom mentioned, obscure variety of nut called the bunya nut?

Answer: Australia

The bunya-pine or "Araucaria bidwillii" is an evergreen coniferous tree with tufts of long thin needles that is somehow not truly a pine - which is OK, since bunya "nuts" are not strictly speaking "nuts". Australian aborigines once held "Bunya Feasts" during the bunya harvest season.

Although protected for a time during the mid 19th century, the extensive bunya forests eventually fell prey to logging.
10. There seems to be quite a strong sentiment in some circles that California should be considered the nuttiest state in the United States. Which of the following is/are true about California nuts?

Answer: All of them

It is somehow fitting that Californians would argue about which nut to promote. As of January 2006, Californians have been unable to agree on who... I mean which nut to designate as state nut. Pistachio and cashew interests successfully scuttled a campaign to persuade the legislature to name the almond as the official California nut.

Despite being the world leader in almond production with a cash crop valued at over one billion American dollars yearly, California remained true to its pluralistic philosophy and refrained from elevating the almond over its brother nuts. Would we not become somehow less nutty if we allowed a single nut to dominate the other nuts?
Source: Author uglybird

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Moo before going online.
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