An Enjoyable Mixed Quiz, I Hope!

Answer: quicksand

Sand needs liquid to become quicksand, just like all of us caffeine lovers. Quicksand is a mixture of sand and liquid that combine to give it a unique property: it changes depending how much pressure is put on it. Just like the rest of us.

You can make quicksand using cornflour and water, putting one cup of the cornflour in a bowl and adding one cup of water, stirring. Look online for exact instructions on how to make it. When you get the proportions right, it will change, depending how much pressure you put on it when you hold it, squeeze it, pat it or poke it. Sometimes it acts like a solid, sometimes like a liquid. It's cool stuff for a school science experiment. You can also practice first and be ready for the next time you're trapped in a pool of quicksand, and know how to sink, swim, or walk on it.

Answer: Abraham Lincoln -- "you sockdologizing old man-trap"

The play that Lincoln and his wife went to see was "Our American Cousin," a farce, and John Wilkes Booth, the assassin, chose to shoot just after one of the funniest lines, hoping the crowd's laughter would cover his escape. The full line was: "Don't know the manners of good society, eh? Well, I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, old gal -- you sockdologizing old man-trap."

Maybe it's one of those things where you have to be there to really get the joke, and I'd think it was funny if I was in the audience. Or maybe I still wouldn't laugh, and I'd be accused of being a conspirator because I wasn't laughing at the joke, knowing the president was going to be killed. Time travel planning is really difficult.

Answer: chestnut

The fungus spread by wind, so once it was introduced, it was almost impossible to stop. It was accidentally brought with some Japanese nursery stock, and was first noticed at the Bronx Zoo. In 1905, a mycologist isolated it. In the next 40 years, millions of American chestnuts were killed, with only a few scattered clusters left at the fringes of the range.

There have been many attempts to overcome the blight by breeding disease-resistant trees, finding naturally resistant ones, or finding a cure for the blight that would allow the trees to repopulate the forests, but so far, nothing has worked.

Answer: one-eighth of a US dollar or 12 1/2 cents

Spanish silver dollars were literally cut into eight little pie-shaped pieces, each called a "bit," and these were used as coins. Early 19th Century price lists were as apt to list 12 1/2 cents as 10 cents. Halves, like a half moon, and quarters, like a bigger wedge, were also common cut-up sizes.

A shave and a haircut, valued at two bits, was worth 25 cents. The US stock market traded in bits, until it gradually shifted to decimals to get into the modern world, finishing the transition in 2001.

Answer: sandwich

The claim that the sandwich was named after the Fourth Earl of Sandwich may or may not be true, but it was introduced in 1770, during his lifetime, in "Tour to London" by Pierre-Jean Grosley. The earl was supposedly so busy gambling that he asked for meat between bread brought to the table, others said they'd have "The same as Sandwich," and the name stuck.

Another explanation said he was so busy with his official duties he didn't have time to stop to eat, which sounded better. Another thing definitely named after him were the Sandwich Isles, or Hawaii, named by Captain Cook for the same Earl of Sandwich, who was Secretary of the Navy during Cook's voyages there and helped Cook get funding. Cook's use of his name didn't stick as well as the food-between-bread name, and the name of a native god took over Hawaii.

Answer: American shorthair

Some say the original American shorthairs (formerly called domestic shorthairs) were brought here on the Mayflower to kill rats and mice on the ship and are therefore the oldest American breed. But of course we don't know even the close-up ancestry of cats without pedigree papers.

But there are rumors that the cats themselves each know their own exact pedigree back to the Mayflower, Jamestown, or some other immigration line. They just don't like sharing it with humans.

Answer: testing or trial

Well, first I'll say that theology is always a touchy subject, and some people believe more or less in the importance of numerology besides their religion. So I'll apologize right up front if this doesn't fit with someone's individual beliefs.

Speaking in very broad and general terms, 40 symbolized a period of testing, trial or probation.

It rained 40 days and 40 nights while Noah and his family were in the ark (Genesis 7:4).

Moses fasted 40 days and 40 nights (Exodus 34:28).

So did Elijah (1 Kings 19:8).

Jesus fasted 40 days and nights too (Matthew 4:2) and also was tempted by the Devil.

The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years (Numbers 14:33-34).

When people were whipped as a punishment, it could be no more than 40 lashes (Deuteronomy 25:3).

All these things were either punishment, or a similar trial that a person or group had to endure. There are other examples that can be found by using one of those searchable online Bibles for 40 or forty. But in general, 40 stood for a trial or test.

Answer: red or orange

Red maple trees, Acer rubrum, turn a beautiful red in the autumn. Sugar maples turn more orange or orange-red. The green color in leaves is due to chlorophyll, which trees need to get energy from the sun. When they're going dormant in the autumn, the chlorophyll fades, leaving the underlying carotenoids, which produce yellows and oranges, or anthocyanins, which produce reds. Red maples make a lot of the red anthocyanin.

They can also cause fatal red maple toxicosis in horses if the horses eat too many freshly fallen, wilted leaves. So if you know of horses pastured where there are red maple trees, be careful.

Answer: poodle skirts

The full skirt, usually extending just below the knee, was designed by Juli Lynne Charlot, born 1922. She first designed a dachshund skirt, but the poodle skirt made her famous and was a style that came to be identified with the 1950s. Other skirts she designed included flowers, racing horses, and different colorful landmarks and animals.

She also acted with the Marx Brothers, sang, but didn't sew. The poodle skirt was just a big circle of felt with a smaller circle opening in the middle for the wearer's waist to fit in, so the skirts were easy to make as long as you could applique a poodle, and required minimal sewing.

Answer: 12

The number 12 can be divided by 2, 3, 4, and 6.