A Time to Understand Trivia Quiz

Answer: what on earth

The word WHAT is sitting above, or ON top of, the word EARTH. This exclamatory phrase indicates surprise, and often a negative reaction to the subject. "What on earth have you done to your good shoes?", for example, was my mother's response to a minor incident in which the sled I was so sure I could steer accurately ended up in the stream, and I hadn't changed out of my school shoes before heading out to the slopes.

Answer: triple jump

Since there are three copies of the word, this list of JUMPs could be considered a TRIPLE JUMP. This is the contemporary name for a field event we used to call the hop, skip or step and jump. The competitor runs up to the jumping line, and uses a single-foot takeoff, landing on the same foot (first jump, a hop); they then jump again, landing on the opposite foot (second jump, a step or skip); finally, the third jump is into a sand-filled pit, where the athlete attempts to avoid falling back as they land.

In 1995, Jonathan Edwards set a world record for the triple jump of 18.29 metres (60 feet).

Answer: for better or for worse

The word BETTER appears four times, as does the word WORSE; hence, we see FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE. This phrase has been a traditional part of wedding vows, in which the participants declare that they will continue to love and support each other no matter what may come. 'For Better, For Worse' is also the title of a 1954 British comedy, released in the USA as 'Cocktails in the Kitchen', about a young couple dealing with her disapproving father.

Answer: wind up

The word WIND has been written so you need to read it upwards from the bottom, leading to UPWIND, which describes a relationship between two objects in which one of them is closer to the source of the wind that is blowing than the other. A maxim for hunters is to keep the animal you are hunting upwind from you, so that your scent is not blown in their direction.

Alternatively, if you saw wind as a verb rather than a noun, you might describe it as a WINDUP or WIND UP. This is usually used to describe the finishing stage of some activity, but can also describe a preparation - the pitcher may be said to wind up before delivering the ball in baseball.

Answer: bottom line

The word LINE is repeated vertically, with the lowest one marked to stand out. Hence, we see the BOTTOM LINE. This is used in a financial sense to refer to the result of all profit and loss calculations, to determine whether or not a venture is profitable. It is also used more generally to refer to the most critical point in a discussion.

Between 1974 and 2004 The Bottom Line was a music venue on 4th Street, in the Greenwich Village area of New York City, which provided many famous musicians a venue for intimate performances (capacity 400 for the venue) as a change from large-scale shows.

Answer: put in order

The word PUT is written inside the word ORDER, leading us to PUT IN ORDER. This can mean the action of clearing up a cluttered space, placing things in a better-organised arrangement. It can also be used metaphorically, as in describing the process of writing a will as putting your affairs in order.

Answer: at sixes and sevens

The numerals 6 and 7 have each been written multiple times, preceded by the word AT; the phrase displayed is therefore AT SIXES AND SEVENS. This phrase refers to a state of disorder (possibly requiring some attention of the type described in the previous question), either physical or emotional. When we moved into a new house, the place was at sixes and sevens until everything got unpacked. My cousin was at sixes and sevens trying to cope with her newborn triplets.

The origin of the phrase is unclear. Several suggestions relate to gambling with dice, but with several possible origins as to why those numbers were chosen. Possibly there was a game in which those numbers were unlucky (obviously, a game involving two dice) or maybe it was originally fives and sixes, the two highest numbers on a single die, with English hearers misunderstanding the Old French "cinque ou sice". Then again (and also untraceable), there is a suggestion that it dates from two guilds arguing over who would march in which place through medieval London in an annual parade, with the conflict being settled when they agreed to alternate spots each year. Whatever the source, it's a bit of British parlance that has been around since at least as long ago as the 14th century.

Answer: first of June

The first letter of the word has been highlighted, leading to FIRST OF JUNE. The Battle of the First of June, also called the Battle of Ushant, was the first major naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars, fought on 1 June 1794. The British attempted to intercept a shipment of grain from the United States, intended for France. Technically the British won the battle, destroying or capturing seven of the thirty French ships escorting the convoy, but the merchant ships took the opportunity to slip on through and deliver their grain.

Answer: bridge over troubled water

The word bridge is written above the letters of the word water, which have been written out of order. You might say they have been disturbed or troubled, and this is a BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER. This is the title of the final studio album by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, released in 1970.

The inspiration for the title was apparently a line in the gospel song 'Mary Don't You Weep', rather than the idiom of a bridge over troubled waters that many thought the title was intended to be. This idiom is applied to something which offers solace or relief in a painful situation, much as a bridge can provide passage over a river which cannot otherwise be readily crossed.

Answer: up to you

The letters of the words TO YOU have been written so that they need to be written upwards from the bottom in order to make sense. Hence, it's UP TO YOU. This phrase means that the person being addressed is free to exercise their discretion about whatever decision they are contemplating.