Jammed Letter Drop [1] Trivia Quiz

Answer: MINARET

Often one of the tallest points of a mosque, a minaret is a structure made to be used for calls to prayer. Although, in less modern times, this would mean a muezzin would climb to the top and proclaim the prayer five times a day, technology has advanced to the point where this is just done remotely via PA systems installed into the tower.

Minarets vary in style and construction around the world, but some of the most famous include the all-brick Qutb Minar in Delhi, India, the seaside minaret of Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, Morocco, and the four minarets of Al-Jabbar Grand Mosque in Bandung, Indonesia.

Answer: MARTIN

All three Martins here are Hollywood actors, having had long careers in film and TV starting in the 20th century.

Martin Short got his start acting in sketch comedy on "SCTV" and "Saturday Night Live" before a long-running film career that took off in the 1980s.

Martin Lawrence got his start in improv before getting lead roles in a TV sitcom and the "Bad Boys" film series in the 1990s.

Martin Sheen, father to Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, acted on TV, in film, and on stage in the 1960s, working with some of Hollywood's best well into the 2020s.

Answer: MIGRANT

Migration is more than just a political discussion as it refers to the movement and settlement of people from one place to another, whether to a place or from a place. An immigrant is someone who moves into a country while an emigrant is someone who moves away from a country. To confuse things, this can be the same person-- it's all about coming and going-- and the same person is also a migrant.

From a social science point of view, the statistics about this type of person are quite valuable as someone who moves, permanently, will bring with them a great number of social mores that will in turn add to the cultural diaspora of a new region as a person will assimilate into a new home and only very rarely leave all of that behind. In the modern era, countries are often melting pots due to migrant influence.

Answer: ARMING

The word 'arms', as it relates to weaponry, comes from the Latin word 'arma, which has a variety of meanings related to tools and equipment of war (and this includes armor). So when referring to the idea of bearing arms, it doesn't really have much to do with your body's arms, but the collective items used in battle. The word filtered through European languages, appearing in French and Middle English, maintaining that meaning until the present day.

Generally weapons like guns or cannons need to be 'armed' to be used. You might need to arm a space laser before you can fire it.

Answer: ROAMING

For a couple of decades, international (online) travel provider Travelocity made use of a garden gnome as its mascot, and typically these ads and promotional gimmicks would see the 'Travelocity Roaming Gnome' doing all manner of fun activities in far-flung destinations around the world. For many years, the gnome even appeared as an accompanying prop on "The Amazing Race", joining teams for a leg of the race and rewarding teams with trips as prizes.

Travelocity formed in Dallas in 1996 but was purchased by Expedia in 2015. The Roaming Gnome, as a marketing tool, diminished over the years as a result.

Answer: MANOIR

Used synonymously with the word 'château', a manoir is a luxurious home found in the French countryside, generally associated with rich landowners and built centuries ago. These structures are often built on large expanses of land and can sometimes be found surrounded by moats, gardens, and driveways; some are even surrounded by walls for protection (and boundary).

These days, the ones still referred to as 'manoirs' instead of 'châteaux' are found in the far northwest of France where these tall-roofed homes of the 15th and 16th centuries still stand.

Answer: MORAINE

A beautiful glacial lake in the heart of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada, Moraine Lake is a beautiful body of water that appears in a lot of postcard images for the area. Banff and the surrounding region get a lot of winter-sport enthusiasts and hikers, and the route around the Valley of the Ten Peaks is one of the more accessible and picturesque ones to take (in the summer, when it's open).

Notably, Lake Moraine is so photo-ready that it's been used, repeatedly, as a default Windows OS background.

Answer: REMAIN

Something that remains is something that stays where it is or it's something that's left over. Notably, when the Brexit vote took place in the UK in 2016, voters were given a choice between 'Leave' and 'Remain', accounting for their willingness to depart from the European Union as a nation or stay within it. They did not choose to remain.

In a more morbid take, generally, the ashes or bones of an individual are referred to as 'remains' as they are what's left of the physical body of the deceased.

Answer: SEMINAR

Seminars are generally educational events that can act as a class or learning session, overseen by an instructor. The word comes from an interesting Latin origin, specifically the word 'seminarium', and it relates to growth. Original users of the word were more likely to refer to seed growth as it relates to plants and crops, but later languages adopted the word and applied it to the growth and nurturing of ideas in the mind.

I resist elaborating more as the root of this applies to the word 'webinar', if only because it's such a weird, modern portmanteau that does not blend well in my brain. You can imagine how that comes together.

Answer: INSEAM

Naturally a seam is a place where two pieces are sewn together, and while this can apply to any such instance in tailoring, the 'inseam' can only refer to a single thing-- the line wherein fabric is shut on a pair of pants or legwear on the inside of the leg (generally from the crotch downward).

Naturally, this means that the line that runs along the outside of the leg is called an 'outseam'. The outseam rins from the waist to the hem, making it the longer of the two seams in any instance.