Three of a Kind, Part 43 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mercury

Ford's Mercury automobiles were created by Edsel Ford in 1938 as an entry-level luxury car, marketed between the basic Ford and the Lincoln. It was named for the Roman god Mercury, who was the god of commerce, messages and travel.

The Mercury dime does not depict the Roman god Mercury but rather the "Winged Liberty Head" designed by Adolph Weinman. Liberty is show wearing a winged Phrygian cap which was confused with the tiny wings on Mercury's head and feet.

Begun in 1958, Project Mercury was the first effort by the United States to put a man in space. The programme launched six manner flights 1961-1963 and then concluded. The Mercury astronauts included M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Walter M. Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton.

There is also a character named Mercury in the Marvel Comics universe; her super power is the ability to turn herself into liquid metal.

Answer: brick

Prior to the legalization of marijuana, cannabis was smuggled and marketed in "bricks": weed compressed by a hydraulic press into a cuboid.

"Krazy Kat and Ignatz" was a comic strip that ran in newspapers from 1913 to 1944. It was drawn by George Herriman (1880-1944). Ignatz, a mouse, consistently throws bricks at the head of Krazy Kat, a cat. For this offense, Officer Pupp occasionally arrests Ignatz and locks him up.

Wrigley Field, built in 1914, is the home of the Chicago Cubs professional baseball team. Since 1937, Boston ivy has grown up the brick wall in the outfield. The field is marketed as "the bricks and ivy."

Answer: Monday

Karen Carpenter sings the lead in the 1971 recording of "Rainy Days and Mondays." Written by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams, it charted number two on the Billboard Top 100 chart and first on the Adult Contemporary singles chart.

Coaches and general managers whose teams have not done well fear Black Monday -- the day following the last Sunday in the National Football League season, which is Week 17. Teams tend to "release" underperforming coaches and GMs on this day.

The end-of-the season celebrations of the several sorts of football in Australia are referred to as "Mad Mondays." Unfortunately these celebrations tend to involve overconsumption of alcohol and the violence which this can entail.

Answer: Uranus

The planet Uranus was first named Georgium Sidus by William Herschel, its discoverer in 1781. The French wanted to name it Herschel. The planet was finally named Uranus after the sky deity of the ancient Greeks. It is perhaps odd that the other planets have Roman names while Uranus has a Greek name.

Gérard Depardieu starred in the slight 1990 French comedy motion picture "Uranus." It depicts a rural French village in which the post-World War II local government seeks to dispose of the remaining Pétain loyalists.

Sailor Uranus is a female character in the Japanese "Sailor Moon" anime/manga series. Her special powers have to do with sky and wind, which is consistent with the ancient Greek god after whom she is named.

Answer: Barney

Hal Linden portrayed Captain Barney Miller of the New York Police Department's 12th Precinct on East 6th Street in Greenwich Village. ABC's "Barney Miller" ran 1975-1982. Abe Vigoda played Sergeant Philip K. Fish which character was spun off into its own series in 1977-1978.

Voiced by Dan Castellaneta, Barnard "Barney" Gumble is the local notorious alcoholic on "The Simpsons." He appears in the programme's first episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," and in many episodes thereafter. He is Homer's best friend.

John Houseman was well known from his role as Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. in both the motion picture "Paper Chase" (1973) and the television adaptation which followed. In 1979, he made a series of television commercials for Smith Barney & Company, a brokerage firm, in which he said, "They make money the old-fashioned way: they EARN it."

There was also a famous Barney Oldfield (1878-1946) who raced automobiles.

Answer: frog

"The Princess and the Frog" was based on E.D. Baker's novel "The Frog Princess." The film portrays an African-American woman who kisses a frog prince and herself becomes a frog in 1910 New Orleans. The music was by Randy Newman.

A somewhat pejorative slang term for French or French-Canadian people is "frog." Etymologically, this appears to be a shortened form of "frog eater" which is a reference to the French dish "cuisses de grenouille" which are frog's legs.

Railroad tracks must sometimes cross one another. The switch at which this occurs is called a frog (except in Australia where it is called a V-rail). The term comes not from the amphibian but from that portion of a horse's hoof which the joint somewhat resembles.

Answer: crystal

Crystal Waters (b. 1961) both sang and wrote dance music in the 1990s and 2000s to great success. Probably her biggest hit was "Gypsy Woman" which was on the Billboard Top 40. Billboard later called her "one of the most successful dance artists of all time."

When lead oxide (or certain other metallic oxides) are added to glass to replace the calcium content of potash, the result is a glass which is clearer, brighter, heavier, and which makes a lovely resonating tone when gently struck. Because of the toxicity of lead, quality glass makers have resorted to other metals -- barium, zinc or potassium, in particular -- to similar effect.

Plato refers to the use of crystals to heal, to read minds and to transmit thoughts in Ancient Atlantis. There were even earlier references in Ancient Sumeria. Crystal healing is now a well-established part of New Age alternative medicine. Crystal amulets are worn to similar expected benefits. Different theologies -- Druid pagan, East Indian, and Native American -- are offered to support these practices.

Answer: daddy

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera created Augie Doggie and his father Doggie Daddy, as a segment of the televised "Quick Draw McGraw Show" 1959-1962. It recounted stories involving a young dachshund (Augie Doggie) and his father (Doggie Daddy). Augie refers to his father as "dear old dad" and Doggie Daddy refers to his offspring as ""Augie, my son, my son."

Fred Astaire plays Jervis Pendleton III, a wealthy American, who meets a French orphan, Julie Andre, played by Leslie Caron. "Daddy Long Legs" is a Hollywood musical with music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.

As part of the Allied invasion of Sicily, a company commanded by Capt. Lionel Cash (Dick Shawn), assisted by Lt. Lieutenant Jody Christian arrive in the village of Valverno. In "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?" the people of the village persuade the army unit to forestall the "liberation" of their town until after the local soccer match and wine festival. The film also starred Aldo Ray, Harry Morgan and Carroll O'Connor.

Answer: eagles

Brian G. Hutton directed Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood in the motion picture "Where Eagles Dare." It is a taut action-adventure about Secret Intelligence Service paratroops attacking a mountain-top castle accessible by cable car. The fist-fight on top of the cable car is enough to give a person acrophobia.

For all US military officers in pay grade O-6, their insignia is a silver eagle. This includes colonels in the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force, and captains in the Navy. The rank of colonel is on step below brigadier general. The eagle design is based on the eagle on the Great Seal of the United States.

The mascot of the Philadelphia Eagles football team is Swoop, a costumed American eagle. Unlike mascots who merely prance around the field in costume, Swoop has performed impressive stunts at ball games such as landing on the field in a parachute and riding a zip-line across the stadium. He made a brief appearance in the motion picture "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" (1994).

Answer: nod

Although a nod of the head does not carry the same meaning in every culture, it generally indicates agreement (as in the acceptance of an offer) or a greeting (like bowing only with less formality). In a few cultures, it is considered an insult not to nod back.

What if night fell and almost no one on Earth went to sleep? The answer might be in those few people who did sleep and who had the identical dream. This is the premise of Adrian Barnes novel "Nod" which was nominated for the 2013 Arthur C. Clarke Award.

In Genesis 4:16, the exile of Cain for his fratricide is reported: "And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden." The Hebrew root of the word "nod" is the verb "to wander." "The Land of Nod" has also been used modernly as a reference to a place of sleep, e.g. in Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" (1737) and Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verse" (1885).