In which country is the largest pyramid (by volume) in the world located?

Which major league baseball stadium is the oldest?

What name did George Eastman invent in 1888 because it was easy to memorize, pronounce, and spell?

What city is the capital of Australia?

Which of the following are correct definitions for the word anathema?

A) An unsolved mystery
B) To be formally set apart
C) An uprising of the general population
D) Banished, exiled, or excommunicated
E) Something lifted up as an offering to the gods
F) A recursive programming technique
G) Denouced, sometimes accursed

What new weapon was introduced by the British in the Battle of the Somme, during World War I?

What U.S. President gave the White House its current name?

What team was originally named the New York Titans?

"Planck Time" is often dealt with in quantum physics. It is defined as 10^-43 seconds which is an extremely short period of time. What is another name for this unit of time?

Who was the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms?

By word count, what are the longest and shortest books of the Bible?

What is the longest running sitcom in television history?

When speaking of Johann Sebastian Bach's music, words like "diapason" "eight foot" "overtones" and "difference tones" sometimes come up. What are these terms referring to?

Widely regarded as the greatest mathematician of all time, this person was born to poor working-class parents in late 18th century Germany. He was doing calculations in his head at age three, attended university at 15, and began making significant and original contributions by age 20. He was no ivory tower figure, however. Besides mathematics, he also made significant contributions in statistics, astronomy, optics and geodesy. College physics students probably best know him by his work with magnetic fields. He also developed the familiar bell curve used the world over in statistics. Who was this person?

How many triangles is the tetrahedron composed of?

The NATO phonetic alphabet is often heard on police scanners - when getting the spelling of certain words correct is of paramount importance. Each letter of the alphabet is assigned its own code word (alpha, bravo, charlie, etc.). What are the code words for G, O, and U?

What is the name for a type of government in which a cabal or group of persons united in thier beliefs rule?

The next day, you discover a different oil lamp (see last month's puzzle). Again, out pops a genie who will answer any yes/no question for you. Luckily, the genie talks in English. Unluckily, the genie reveils that he is either a True genie or a False genie, but he won't say which one. A True genie always answers questions truthfully. A False genie always answers questions untruthfully (e.g. 'yes' when the answer is no). Suppose you want to know if the Cowboys will win the Superbowl. What one yes/no question could you ask the genie and from the answer figure out if the Cowboys will go all the way this year?

One day, while doing some spring cleaning, you discover an old oil lamp. When you begin polishing it, out pops a genie, who does not offer you three wishes, but a chance to have any yes/no question truthfully answered. The catch is that the genie only answers yes/no questions with 'da' or 'ja'. He will not tell you which means 'yes' and which means 'no' and you can only ask him one question (he will always answer truthfully though). Suppose you want to know if the Yankees win the 2008 World Series. What one yes/no question could you ask the genie to get an answer to your question and know what the answer means (yes or no)?

Suppose I place two aces and a jack face down on a table, in a row. You do not see which card is placed where. Your goal is to point to one of the three cards, ask me a single yes/no question, and from the answer, identify one of the three cards as an ace. One other thing to note - if you point to an ace, I will answer your question truthfully. However, if you point to the jack, I will answer your question completely at random (yes or no). What question should you ask?

Which Gospel(s) speak of the events surrounding Christ's birth?

If a straight line falling on two straight lines makes the interior angles on the same side less than two right angles, the straight lines, if produced indefinitely, will meet on the side on which the angles are less than the two right angles.
What is the above convoluted sentence trying to say and who said it?

Most of the earth's atmosphere is contained within a few tens of miles above the ground. However, there is no definite boundry and wisps of air extend even out to where the space shuttle orbits. There are six major divisions of the atmosphere. What are those divisions?

Two standard decks of playing cards are shuffled together and then split into two equal piles of 52 cards each. What are the chances that the number of black cards in one of these piles equals the number of red cards in the other pile?

The following chemicals are (or were) used extensively and have a common name familiar to the public. Can you figure out what that common name is?

1) Acetylsalicylic acid
2) 2,4,6-Trinitromethylbenzene
3) Sodium bicarbonate
4) Lysergic acid diethylamide
5) Magnesium silicate
6) Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
7) Deoxyribonucleic acid
8) Ascorbic acid

How many planets in our solar system have rings?

How much soil is there in a hole measuring five feet square and three feet deep?

What is the name of the largest number commonly referred to in speech and print?

Who said "Man is the measure of all things"?

There are six Noble Gases - elements that are extremely stable and inert. What are they?

Of the planets in our solar system, which one has the highest surface temperature?

Again, suppose there is a lottery (see last month's question), but this one only has 3 'scratch-off-the-dot' tickets. You buy one ticket. Unfortunatly, no one else buys the other two tickets. Just before you scratch your ticket to see if you've won, an official running the lottery takes the two remaining tickets, discards one that he knows is a loser and offers you a trade for the remaining one - he'll give you his ticket and you give him yours. Should you take him up on his offer?

Suppose there is a lottery with 10,000 'scratch-off-the-dot' tickets. The prize is 1 million dollars. Ten thousand people buy the tickets, including you. 9,998 scratch off the dots on their tickets and find the message YOU LOSE. The remaining person offers to trade tickets with you. Should you take them up on their offer?

How many laws of thermodynamics are there?

Which US President was the first to ride in an automobile, airplane, and submarine while in office (though not at the same time)?

Common sense rules about mathematics often break down when dealing with infinity. For example: infinity + infinity = infinity and infinity x infinity = infinity. At first glance, it seems that doing anything to infinity still leaves you with infinity. But what about the set of all integers (1 2 3 4 ...) and the set of all irrationals (numbers such as Pi that have an unending decimal expansion that never repeats)? Both of these sets are infinite, but are they the same infinity?

Which symphony did Beethoven originally dedicate to Napoleon Bonaparte, but later retract when Bonaparte proclaimed himself emperor?

In the Dewey Decimal book classification scheme, human knowledge is divided into ten categories. What are those categories?

What is the state fish of Texas?

Only a handful of persons have won more than one Nobel Prize. Only one person in history has received both Prizes in the natural sciences. Who was that person? (Hint: Prizes awarded in physics and chemistry)

What is the difference between poaching and boiling?

A farmer knows that 20 of his hens, housed in 3 coops, will hatch 30 eggs in 18 days. How long will it take 30 hens, housed in 4 coops to hatch the same number of eggs?

In golf, what is the nomenclature for 3 under par (-3)?

Who were Jesus' apostles as recorded in the Bible?

A group of friends went into an inn to have a meal. The bill amounted to twenty-four coins of equal value, which the men agreed to split equally. But then they discovered that two of the men had slipped away without paying their shares, and so each of the remaining men had to pay one coin more. How many men were originally in the group?

As most people know, gold is an extremely dense element. Typical gold bars, such as those shown in the movies, weigh about 30 pounds apiece. Only 3 other elements are more dense than gold - can you name at least one of these?

What great early American writer created the fictional Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker to narrate some of his writings?

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock was Sheriff of Ellis County and Marshall of Abilene, Kansas and holder of the most famous hand in poker. When he was shot dead by Jack McCall on August 2, 1876, what cards was Wild Bill holding?

List the following famous composers in chronological order, 1 through 20, from oldest to youngest based on their birth date. If that sounds really difficult (and it is!) try at least getting the composers highlighted in yellow in the correct order relative to each other:

Johannes Brahms
Aaron Copland
John Cage
Martin Luther
Antonio Vivaldi
George Frederic Handel
Philip Glass
Igor Stravinsky
Alessandro Scarlatti
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
George Gershwin
Franz Liszt
Johann Sebastian Bach
Joseph Haydn
Claude Debussy
John Philip Sousa
Frédéric Chopin
Robert Schumann
Johann Strauss II
Ludwig van Beethoven

NC State decides to go for a two-point conversion against Wake Forest. The NC State quarterback throws a pass that is intercepted and run back all the way to their end zone. How does the official rule?

What are the ten commandments?

Of the following movies, only one took home the Oscar for Best Picture. Which one was it?
The Wizard of Oz / To Kill a Mockingbird / Fargo / Jaws / Mary Poppins / West Side Story / Citizen Kane / As Good as it Gets / Star Wars

What is odd about the following sentence?
This sentence is false.

"I would prefer not to." This phrase is repeated multiple times by a certain character in a certain famous short story first published in 1853. What is the name of the story and who was the author? Hint: The character's name and occupation are contained in the story's title.

What is the correct term for a group of starling?

What is greater than God; the dead eat it; and if the living eat it, they die?

What is the name of the collection of fugues, canons, and sonatas Johann Sebastian Bach composed after being supplied a basic theme by Frederick the Great (King of Prussia)?

Many people know what a super nova is - the sudden explosion of an entire star. But what is a regular, non-super, nova?

Beagles are often times used in pairs when tracking game. What are a pair of beagles called?

A brother and sister were once asked who was older. "I am older," said the brother. "I am younger," said the sister. It turned out that at least one of the two was lying. Who is older?

In astrophysics jargon, what are micro black holes (molecular-size or smaller) called?

Which type of wood was used to build Noah's ark?

What regular polygon, having the most number of sides, can still be "tiled"? That is, you can shove a bunch of them side-by-side and no extra space is left in between.

How much is one million divided by one fourth, plus fifty?

What are the seven wonders of the ancient world?

What is exceptional about the following sentence?
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Was 1900 a leap year?

Therein lies the secret that there is a 7-letter word in the English language that contains 10 words without rearranging any of its letters. What is the word?

A rooster sits at the pentacle of a barn roof. The front of the barn faces north and there is a strong wind from the south. If the rooster lays an egg, which direction will the egg roll? (Assume the roof slopes to the east and west.)

Carl and Jim were floating in a rowboat in the middle of small pond. Carl decides to throw the heavy lead anchor overboard to keep them right above the best fishing spot. After dropping the anchor in the water, Jim notices their boat floats higher in the water. "Gee Carl," he ruminates aloud, "I wonder if we just changed the water level of this pond?" So, did the pond's water level go up, down, or stay the same after Carl threw the anchor in?

Do the following math procedure in your head: Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total?

This is a most unusual paragraph. This writing may annoy you until you find out why it is so unusual, for you won't find a solution instantly. But don't go into a tailspin about it, for it isn't that difficult. But you will admit that it is most unusual. This writing looks so ordinary that you might think that nothing is wrong with it. And, in fact, nothing is wrong with it. But it is unusual, and you must ask why. If you study and think about it, you may find out why, but you must do it without any coaching of any kind. No doubt if you work at it for long, it will dawn on you...who knows? So start to study it now, and try your skill at finding out what is so unusual about this writing. If you can do it in half an hour, you may claim an approach to wisdom, but if you can't do it in half an hour...find our solution.

You are on a game show and the host says, "Now to win the grand prize of a million dollars, you just have to answer the following question in 90 seconds: Name 100 words that do NOT contain the letter A." What would be the most prudent thing to do?

A man dressed all in black is walking down a country lane. Suddenly a large black car without any lights on comes round the corner and screeches to a halt. How did the driver of the car know there was a man in the road?

Imagine you are in a sinking rowboat surrounded by sharks. How would you survive?

A man has two dogs. At least one of them is male. What is the probablity that both of them are male?

There are two brothers whose combined age is 11 years. One brother is 10 years older than the other. What are their ages?

What is a possible yes/no question a person could be asked for which it would be impossible for that person to lie (assuming they answered yes or no)?

If a certain plant were three feet taller, then it would be twice as tall as it would be if it were half a foot less. How tall is the plant?

What is the minimum number of ping pong balls required to build a four sided equilateral pyramid (with a square base and equilateral triangles on the four sides)?

On a boat docked in the harbor, there is a ladder hung over the side that containes six rungs. The rungs are spaced one foot apart. At low tide, the water comes up to the second rung from the bottom. Then the water rises two feet in one hour. Which rung does the water then hit?

A certain majical tree doubles its height every day. It takes one hundered days for the tree to reach its full height. How many days did it take to reach half its full height?