Joy to the "J" Trivia Quiz

Answer: jongleur

The wandering minstrel of medieval times might be called a troubador or a jongleur (or simply a minstrel). He was an all-around entertainer who joked, juggled, played at least one instrument, recited poetry, composed songs on the spot, and did whatever else he could to entertain and earn a few pennies. The English word "juggler" comes from the same root at "jongleur".

Answer: jackass

A jackass is a male of the Equus asinus, commonly known as the donkey or ass. Donkeys have excellent memories, and they will not allow themselves to get into unsafe situations, which is why their handlers may find them foolish or stubborn. Donkeys originated in the deserts of the Levantine and north Africa, and being adapted for such a climate, they can utilize 95% of what they eat, wasting little, and they don't care much for rain.

They are also loathe to run (too hot in the desert), although they are capable of galloping like a horse if necessary.

Answer: Jolly Roger

In this case, 'jolly' means the obsolete sense of "gallant, hearty". The flag seems to have first appeared in 1723. Even today, a skull-and-crossbones symbol is used internationally to label poisons or otherwise warn of death or danger.

In the 17th century pirates would commonly fly a black flag or a red flag (just the solid color) when they were attacking. The black flag meant "surrender at once", while the red flag meant "we will show no mercy to the enemy". By the early 18th century, pirates were adding various symbols to the black flag to distinguish themselves, and to frighten their enemies. When Calico Jack Rackham was captured and tried, his ship had a flag with a death's head (skull) with two swords underneath. The trial was sensational because he had on board two women pirates, a shocking rarity. Eventually, the flag became the default symbol for pirates, and the swords replaced with crossbones.

Ironically, however, the skull and crossbones did not represent pirates centuries before, but rather the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, although the bones were crossed as a 't' rather than an 'x'.

Answer: J'accuse!

Alfred Dreyfus, an Alsatian French artillery officer of Jewish heritage, was convicted of espionage in a secret trial, publicly cashiered (stripped of rank), and sentenced to life in prison on Devil's Island. He became a cause célèbre of the intellectual Emile Zola, who wrote an open letter in the newspaper L'Aurore, that began with the famous headline "J'Accuse!" ("I accuse!"). Many others agreed with Zola that the trial was a sham and that anti-Semitism was involved. Zola sought to force a libel trial to have the affair re-investigated. After being convicted of libel, Zola fled to England to avoid imprisonment, and there he died. Dreyfus was re-convicted in a second trial, but then later pardoned. Historians generally agree that Dreyfus was innocent.

The Dreyfus affair has captured the imagination of filmmakers. José Ferrer starred in and directed the British-American "I Accuse!" (1958), filmed in CinemaScope, a box-office flop that gained more appreciation with the passage of time. Roman Polanski directed a French-Italian version called "J'accuse" (in English "An Officer and a Spy") which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2019.

Answer: jacks

Children and adults played knucklebones in ancient times with the ankle bones (the astragalus bones) of sheep, which were caught and tossed on the back of their hands. When women of ancient Greece played the game, however, they were generally using it as an oracle that connected them to Aphrodite herself. If they threw all the 'astragaloi' (their name for the jacks) and they landed on different sides, this was called an Aphrodite roll.

In modern times, it is a game for children, who bounce a ball or toss a stone in the air and pick up the knucklebones (or jacks), which are nowadays metal or plastic with six knobs. First you pick up one, then two jacks, then three, and so on, until you can't collect anymore in one swoop. The winner, if not playing by yourself, is the one who can collect the most jacks. In Israel, children play a variation called kugelach or Chamesh Avanim (lit. "five rocks"), which uses cubes instead of a ball and jacks, and the cubes are tossed in the air, more like the ancient game.

Answer: Justify

Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Mike Smith, Justify became only the second horse (after Seattle Slew in 1977) to win the Triple Crown with no defeats in his career, and the first to win the Crown not having raced as a two-year-old. (In doing so, the chestnut colt also broke the Curse of Apollo, who won the Derby in 1882). There was a bit of controversy following the last race of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes, in that it appeared to some observers that another horse trained by Baffert, Restoring Hope, had blocked other horses, particularly Bravazo, who was forced into the rail, which allowed Justify to take the lead unchallenged. (Such collusion is not permitted in horse racing.) Bravazo's trainer D. Wayne Lukas would not raise an objection, however. An injury led Baffert to retire Justify to stud the next month.

Jet Pilot, winner of the 1947 Kentucky Derby, was sired by the 1930 Epsom Derby winner Blenheim (paradoxically known as Blenheim II in the USA).

Joe Cotton won the Kentucky Derby way back in 1885. He allegedly died during a pile-up in which two other horses died at Mystic Park in Boston in 1888. In fact, he merely dislocated his shoulder. Joe Cotton ended up pulling a hack in the 1890s and occasionally racing in steeplechases in the 1900s, and nobody knows exactly when the horse passed on.

Not much attention is given nowadays to the 1939 Kentucky Derby winner Johnstown, though he won may important races in his time, and he placed 73rd in the Blood-Horse magazine's top 100 horses of the twentieth century. He is also one of the few to win the Derby and Belmont Stakes, but not the middle race of the Triple Crown, the Preakness.

Answer: Janus

Janus was the two-faced god of doorways and gateways, who also represented beginnings and endings. He was invoked at planting-time, at harvest-time, at weddings, and at other important commencements. Janus also represented the transition from primitiveness to civilization and from peace to war. Through a portal dedicated to him on the Forum Romanum, the Legion of Rome would march to battle.

Some sources mistakenly report that January was named for Janus, but in fact it was named for the goddess Juno, the mother of Juventas (goddess of youth), Mars, and Vulcan; she was queen of the gods and wife of the supreme god Jupiter (also known as Jove). Jupiter and Juno were the Roman equivalent of Greek Zeus and Hera, respectively.

Answer: jay

The blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is found most often in the USA, although there are populations in southern Canada and in the eastern provinces like Newfoundland. The blue jay is a corvine, meaning it's in the crow family, and that's no surprise if you have ever heard its cawing call. Unlike other blue-colored birds, such as buntings, male and female blue jays have virtually identical plumage.

They thrive in residential areas, mixed woodlands, really a variety of habitats.

Answer: Jamaica

After the USA and Canada, Jamaica is the third-largest English-speaking country in the Americas (by population). The native peoples are the Taino, also called the Yamaye, who called the island Xaymaca; but the majority of the population in the 21st century is of African descent (descendants of black slaves).

The Rastafari religion and reggae music originated on this tropical island in the West Indies. Hairy-tailed bats, Jamaican black-billed parrots, the Jamaican slider (a turtle), and the colorful Jamaican boa are among the native animals. Jamaica's vervain hummingbird is almost the smallest bird in the world; only the bee hummingbird is smaller. Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt is from Jamaica, which remains part of the Commonwealth of Nations, with Elizabeth II as its head of state at the beginning of the 21st century. Jamaica's motto is, "Out of many, one people."

Answer: jumbuck

Sheep have historically been important to the economies of Australia and New Zealand. Along with the first Europeans, the first sheep arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788, although most of the sheep inhabiting the continent now are descended from Spanish Merino sheep introduced a century later, the kind that Her Majesty is inspecting in the photograph. In the Australian bush ballad Waltzing Matilda, the country's unofficial national anthem according to some, there's a verse that goes like this:

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong, \
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee, \
And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag, \
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

(In case you don't speak Aussie, a sheep was stopping to drink at a stagnant pool of water, when an itinerant laborer stuffed the hapless creature into his bag, presumably for supper.)

The word 'jumbuck' entered the English language in the 19th century. 'Jumbuck' is a corruption of the pidgin English 'dombock', but where did that come from? Possibly from the word 'dhimba' in Kamilaroi, spoken in southeastern Australia and belonging to the Pama-Nyungan family of languages. Or it could have been borrowed from the Malay 'domba', meaning "tail", which itself can be traced back to Old Iranian.