Cool Zooms, Part LXVII Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pearls

The phrase is part of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 7:6: "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." (NIV)

Many commentators concentrate on who the dogs and pigs represent in this verse rather than what is sacred and what are the pearls. Ron Julian of Guttenberg College argues that the focus should not be on defining the dogs and swine but rather on the listener's relationship to that which they value, aka the truths of God and how to treat those. In his argument it is the listener who is to treasure the truth and not treat it as disposable.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising's tazman6619 who loves challenging conventional wisdom and looking at things from a different perspective.

Answer: 4

I (male) have two sisters and one brother. Each sister has two brothers and one sister, for a grand total of four.

This question added by Phoenix Rising member, ozzz2002, and accurately describes his family.

Answer: Mate with the young queen on her maiden flight

Drones have only one purpose: to fertilise the emerging queen, who will typically have only one flight (unless she initiates a new swarm). During her flight, she will release pheromones to attract and mate with as many males (drones) as possible. The successful suitor will die within a few minutes as the mating act will leave part of his penis in the queen, tearing his abdomen.
The vast majority of bees consist of the workers, all infertile females, who perform all tasks other than the queen's, which is to lay eggs. A few of these eggs hatch into drones, who are fed and looked after by the workers during the spring and summer months, basically to ensure that if a new queen is required, there will be male partners for her. They are unceremoniously pushed outside with winter's approach. The hive cannot afford to support idlers in lean times.

This question added by Phoenix Rising member, windrush, who attempts to bee a good apiarist.

Answer: Valley of the Dolls

John Williams has scored or composed and been nominated for all these films, but 'Valley of the Dolls' has the honor of being his first. For the other three films he was nominated for best original score, and he won the Oscar for 'Jaws' and 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' He also won for 'Star Wars', 'Fiddler on the Roof' and 'Schindler's List'. He scored the first three 'Harry Potter' films and the 'Star Wars' series through 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'. In total, as of September 2026, he has been chosen 54 times for an Oscar, second only to Walt Disney's 59. He has also been nominated for six Emmy Awards and won three; 25 Golden Globe Awards, winning four; 77 Grammy Awards, winning 27; and has received seven British Academy Film Awards.

This question was played by Takrom who still can't picture a shark without hearing Dah-dum. Dah-dum. Dah-dum dah-dum dah-dum dah-dum daaaaaaaah.

Answer: Number of countries that border Germany

Germany borders nine other countries. All the other statements yield the number of eight.

Germany borders Denmark to the north; Poland and the Czech Republic (Czechia) to the east; Austria and Switzerland to the south; France to the southwest; Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands to the west.

Arachnids, with few exceptions, have eight legs. A scorpion is an arachnid.
The atomic number of oxygen is 8, positioned between Nitrogen (7) and Fluorine (9) on the Periodic Table. There are eight US "M" states: Maine (ME); Maryland (MD); Massachusetts (MA); Michigan (MI); Minnesota (MN); Mississippi (MS); Missouri (MO); and Montana (MT). There are also 8 "N" states. The next highest number of states beginning with the same letter of the alphabet is 4 (this applies to the letters "A", "I", "O", and "W").

This question was submitted by Rizeeve who may have relearned to count to write this up.

Answer: Victoria: East of Geelong, West Port Phillip Bay

The Bellarine Peninsula forms the western flank of Port Philip Bay and the Mornington Peninsula its eastern flank. Melbourne, a city of over five million people, lies on the northern shore of Port Philip Bay.

The Bellarine was first occupied by Indigenous Australians of the Wadawurrung nation before European settlement began in the early 19th century. The flat to undulating land had ideal soil for growing wheat, which was its main industry until tourism became popular in the 1950s. The peninsula has some wonderful beaches and coastal scenery. Geelong, Victoria's second-biggest city, is the gateway to the Bellarine but is not part of it. In 2025, the Bellarine had about 70 000 residents, with tourists doubling that number in the warmer months.

This question was submitted by 1nn1, who thinks that the Bellarine is the most beautiful place in Australia.

Answer: Carcassonne

The city of Carcassonne in France's Aude department is famous for its heavily fortified medieval citadel, which is surrounded by two rings of city walls and numerous towers.

In the board game 'Carcassonne', players take turns to draw and lay tiles with the aim of piecing together points-scoring features. These include roads (1 point per tile that makes up the road), cities (2 points per tile if completed and 1 if not), fields (3 points per completed city they border at the end of the game) and monasteries (1 point per tile laid in a 3x3 grid surrounding it). The features are all claimed using little colour-coded markers known as "meeples".

Numerous expansion packs are also available to add a wide range of additional game play options from mundane things like inns and trade goods, to dragons and even an actual catapult.

This question was strategically placed into this quiz by Phoenix Rising meeple, er...member, Fifiona81.

Answer: Tin

In the 1400s, Malacca, now a state in Peninsular Malaysia, was a bustling port city strategically situated between East and West trading routes. Tin was abundant in the surrounding area and was considered a precious metal. Thus, it was used to forge the money that served as currency in trade. The tin money was shaped into animals and came in different weights ranging from 1/20 catty (30 g, 1 oz) to 1 catty (600 g, 1.4 lbs.). Among the animals that have been found are the tortoise, the crocodile, the elephant, the rooster, the grasshopper, and a fish. Besides functioning as money, it is thought that the animal ingots also served as standard weights or were used in religious ceremonies.

The Tin Man from L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" desired a heart.

Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing was paid one tin grasshopper for this question.

Answer: Golden Fleece

The Golden Fleece was the golden wool of a winged ram named Chrysomallos. This miraculous beast had been sent by the cloud goddess Nephele to rescue her children, Phrixus and Helle, who were about to be sacrificed to the gods by their father, King Athamas of Boeotia. During their journey over the sea, Helle fell off and drowned in the body of water that was then named after her - the Hellespont, now known as Strait of Gallipoli.

Phrixus, on the other hand, arrived safely in Colchis, a region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea that is now part of Georgia. Upon Chrysomallos' own request, Phrixus sacrificed the golden ram to the gods: the animal was placed among the stars and became the constellation Aries.

Phrixus remained in Colchis, in the house of King Aeëtes, a son of the sun god Helios, brother to the sorceress Circe and Pasiphae, queen of Crete. He hung the Golden Fleece in an oak grove sacred to Ares, the god of war, guarded by a never-sleeping dragon. The hero Jason, who had traveled to Colchis with his companions, the Argonauts, stole the Golden Fleece with the help of the sorceress Medea, Aeëtes' daughter.

The three objects mentioned as wrong answers were all the work of Hephaestus, the blacksmith god.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's LadyNym, who has been a Greek mythology buff for as long as she can remember.

Answer: Triathlon

The final event of the 2016 Triathlon World Series took place in Mexico, the ninth of a punishing series that had previously taken place over several weeks in Abu Dhabi, Gold Coast (Australia), Cape Town, Yokohama, Leeds (UK), Stockholm, Hamburg, and Edmonton.

For those not knowing the severity of the challenges necessary to complete each individual event in triathlon, standard distances are a 1.5 km swim, a 40km bike ride, followed immediately by a 10km run.

Victory in Mexico would have given Jonny the 2016 World Title, but he began to wobble and lose balance with heat exhaustion when within sight of the finish line. Brother Alistair then rounded the final corner and seeing Jonny staggering in front caught him in his arms. Sacrificing his own chance to win the race, he assisted him for the last 100m and pushed him across the finish line.

Unfortunately, this allowed South Africa's Henri Schoeman to pass them and claim victory, whilst Jonny was placed second with Alistair third.

ITU World Triathlon Series final standings 2016
1. Mario Mola (Spa) 4,819pts
2. Jonathan Brownlee (GB) 4,815pts
3. Fernando Alarza (Spa) 4,087pts

This question was provided by Phoenix Rising's moonraker2, who much prefers watching such strenuous events from the comfort of an armchair.

Answer: Pickpocket

The story is set in the fictitious coastal city of Camorr, which resembles a Medieval Venice, and possesses undertones of a mafia styled underworld. Locke Lamora is an orphan who displays extraordinary skills as a pickpocket but his arrogance and desire to play by his own rules places his life on the line. Trained by the blind priest, Father Chains, he rises to become the mythical "Thorn of Camorr", a quick-witted conman who leads a tight knit group of orphans, ironically called the Gentleman Bastards, through elaborate scams against the wealthy. However, a new criminal, known as the Gray King, arises, killing the leaders of the underworld gangs, and forces Locke to work for him.

"The Lies of Locke Lamora" is the first in the "Gentleman Bastards" series and it is also US author Scott Lynch's debut novel. A fast-paced thriller, it saw Lynch become a World Fantasy Award finalist and become nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who used to pinch watches until it ticked people off.

Answer: Sigourney Weaver

In "Paul" (2011), Sigourney Weaver is a mysterious government official who is coordinating a search for an escaped extraterrestrial, the titular Paul. Paul encounters two British sci-fi nerds, Clive Gollings (Nick Frost) and Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg), who are touring America's most popular UFO sites. They agree to help him reach Devil's Tower, where a spaceship will pick him up and return him home.

The film also contains a particularly appropriate joke involving Weaver: near the end, Kristen Wiig's character is about to be attacked when Tara (Blythe Danner) echoes Weaver's famous line from "Aliens" (1986): "Get away from her you bitch!".

Weaver played her signature role of Ellen Ripley in four "Alien" franchise movies: "Alien" (1979), "Aliens" (1986), "Alien 3" (1992) and "Alien Resurrection" (1997). She was also in the satiric sci-fi spoof "Galaxy Quest" (1999) alongside Tim Allen (Jason Nesmith) and Alan Rickman (Alexander Dane).

Carrie Henn appeared alongside Weaver in "Aliens" (1986). Henn played Newt, whom Ripley rescues from the alien-infested colony.

Rebecca Ferguson played Miranda North in "Life" (2017), one of the crew members aboard the International Space Station who discover and study a rapidly evolving extraterrestrial organism.

Jodie Foster starred as Dr Eleanor Arroway, a SETI scientist who becomes involved in humanity's first attempt to make contact with extraterrestrial intelligence in the appropriately named "Contact" (1997).

Phoenix Rising's leith90 had to battle her own aliens in writing this question, but she bravely ran away first.

Answer: Pitched an octave below

In everyday usage the prefix 'contra' typically means 'opposite' or 'against' (e.g., contradict), however in music the word has a very specific meaning, 'pitched one octave below' (the 'normal version of that instrument'). Along with the contrabassoon, the contrabass (double bass) and contralto (female voice lower than alto) are frequently encountered.

Although ostensibly similar, there are some significant differences between the bassoon and contrabassoon that enable the latter to access that lower range. A bassoon has one fold in its 2.4 m (8 ft) tube length, whereas the contrabassoon has four folds in the tube in its 4.4-5.5 m (14-18 ft) length. The bell in the bassoon points upwards whereas it is usually down-facing in the larger instrument. While the bassoon is held by a neck or seat strap, the contrabassoon has an endpin to support its much heavier weight.

There are several famous classical music pieces that feature the contrabassoon including 'Mars, the Bringer of War' from Holst's 'The Planets', the introduction of Ravel's 'Piano Concerto for the Left Hand' (before the entry of the piano), and Dukas's 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' where the instrument represents the walking broomsticks.

This question was instrumentally derived by Phoenix Rising member, MikeMaster99, who is learning the clarinet as an early retirement project but loves the sounds of the deeper woodwinds too.

Answer: Bundaberg

Herbert (Bert) John Louis Hinkler was born in Bundaberg on 8 December 1892.
Fascinated by the flight of birds as a child, he started inventing gadgets for aviation and made his own glider in 1912. In 1913, he went to England to work for the Sopwith Aviation Company.

During WWI, Hinkler volunteered with the Royal Naval Air Service, which saw action in Belgium and France. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and made a pilot in the same service. In February 1928, he became the first person to fly solo from England to Australia, reducing the time from 15 days to eight. He won many such contests, including being the first person to fly solo across the South Atlantic Ocean. He married in 1932 but died less than a year later in Italy, aged forty.

This question was written by lg549 who has visited Bert Hinkler's house in Bundaberg - he wasn't home.

Answer: Bandit and Chilli

Joe Brumm's first episode of "Bluey" premiered on "ABC Kids" in Australia on the 1st of October 2018. The show was so successful in its first year that Disney bought the rights to the series and then made it a global hit outside of Australia during the 2020 COVID pandemic. Australian Cattle Dogs' coat patterns put them in the Blue Heeler category, like Bluey and her dad Bandit, or the Red Heelers, like Bingo and her mum Chilli. One of the brilliant features about the show is that there is no intentional educational content; rather, the dogs just participate in imaginative play. The episodes also focus on family and have storylines designed to interest both children and their parents. Bandit and Chili are also relatable parents who sometimes make mistakes and learn from them in the process.

BigTriviaDawg of the "Phoenix Rising" wants all the Bandits and Chillis out there to know a little advice he learned from Bella: "You are doing great!"

Answer: Heart

The Bundle of His, named for a Swiss cardiologist who described it in 1893, coordinates contraction in the heart by transmitting signals from the atrioventricular node down to the ventricles. That creates an automatic delay between atrial contraction and ventricular contraction. The special fibers in the bundle are called Purkinje fibers, and they split between the right and left ventricles. The bundle is located in the wall or septum between the left and right sides of the heart.

This question was contributed by player Pusdoc, who has a special heart for all things medical.

Answer: Atomic number of tungsten

You can add Route 66 and the number of this Cool Zooms quiz to the list of incorrect answers above! The atomic number of tungsten is actually 74 and its name is derived from the Swedish words 'tung' and 'sten', meaning heavy stone.

And the element whose atomic number is actually 66? That's dysprosium (Dy), discovered by 1886 by French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran. It's a rare-earth chemical element whose main use is in alloys for neodymium-based magnets - the heat resistance of the element means that even at high temperatures, magnets created using dysprosium maintain their integrity and durability.

The Protestant Bible has 66 books - 39 in the Old Testament, and 27 in the New Testament. The prime factors of sixty-six are 2, 3, and 11 (2 x 3 x11 = 66). Sixty-six is the telephone country code of Thailand - adding 66 and dropping the zero will permit calling a number in Thailand.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid, who will, one of these days, turn 66.

Answer: Education

London Weekend Television produced 55 episodes of the sitcom "Please Sir!" between 1968 and 1972. Although the actors were older, their characters formed a class of 16-year-old students attending the fictional Fenn Street Secondary Modern School.

"Everything Now" is described as a British teen comedy-drama series and it was released on Netflix in 2023. One series with eight episodes was produced. Mia Polanco, aged 16, has been in hospital with anorexia nervosa and she rejoins her sixth form class at school.

Four series of the sitcom "Mind Your Language" were produced (1977-79 with a short-lived revival 1985-86). People from different countries and cultures attended a London adult education college, learning English as a second language.

Having spent more than 40 years working in New Zealand secondary schools, Phoenix Rising's psnz felt eminently qualified to produce this question.

Answer: Jade Aldemir from "Dying Light"

The bo staff is a common weapon found to be increasingly more popular in video game culture. As a traditional martial arts weapon, it is common to find at least one such character in fighting games.

In the "Mortal Kombat" series' case, we get Jade, who first appeared in "Mortal Kombat II" (1993), but did not become a playable character with a bo staff until "Ultimate Mortal Kombat III" in 1995. Action role-playing games employ a wide range of weapons depending on the theme of the storyline. Given the inspiration of Chinese mythology, 2005's "Jade Empire" allows the player to choose between weapons such as swords and various staffs to aid them on their journey. "Beyond Good and Evil" (2003) follows Jade, who trained with a bo staff from childhood. We as players only play as the now well-experienced adult wielder. The mechanics of this game at the time of release were so unique, a new game engine called the "Jade Engine" was developed for use by this and future games by the company.

Jade Aldemir is a non-playable character from the survival horror series "Dying Light" (2015). Jade does not use a bo staff when it comes to fighting the zombie hordes.

Phoenix Rising gamer, Salami_Swami, has at one point played at least part of all of these games; but "Beyond Good and Evil" will always have a place in his heart. With an at least yearly replay, it is safe to say it's one of his all-time favorites.

Answer: Superman and Spider-Man

In the first major superhero crossover between Marvel Comics and DC Comics, Superman and Spider-Man independently battle their archenemies, Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus, only to discover that the villains have joined forces in a plot for world domination. Titled "Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man: The Battle of the Century," the story was published as a single oversized comic in 1976 and carried two numbering systems: "Marvel Treasury Edition" #28 and "DC Special Series" #1.

After being manipulated into fighting one another, the two heroes uncover the truth, rescue Lois Lane and Mary Jane Watson, and join forces to stop the villains from using a hijacked communications satellite to threaten the world. In the end, Superman and Spider-Man defeat their enemies and part as allies.

The story established a pattern that would later become common in superhero crossovers: heroes meet, clash due to a misunderstanding, and ultimately unite against a common enemy.

This question was illustrated by Phoenix Rising member reedy - a longtime fan of both Marvel and DC.