Trivia XVII #7 Guess

[Cannon]

So, this past wee, we were asked for an unusual item shared by some novels. I'd read all of them at some point in the last 10-12 years, but setting out to answer the question, I came up with a few possibilities, and then had to take a guess. Whenever I try to answer the 7th question, I make lists....characters, features, casts, theme songs, plot lines, etc. A few weeks ago, with the city question, for a while I almost guessed that each city had a radio station with call letters that began with an incorrect letter for their geographic location, i.e. K or W. So this week, I ended up with three lists that were possibilities.... 1) Character names with flower or he name of a flower 2) Character names with a color 3) Books featuring twins. The problem was, even though I narrowed it to 2 and 3, I couldn't name the twins or the color name characters from every book. I still can't. I finally went with twins on the theory that it was more unusual.... something I confirmed by flipping a quarter 5 times and having heads come up 4 of the 5.

So I'm feeling lucky this morning. Very lucky.

That being said, can everyone think of character names from each book that have colors in their name? (I have no idea if they all do or not....) I'll start... harry Potter: Sirius Black.

[Cannon]

Ok, so I'll answer more...

Gone with the Wind, ..... Scarlett O'Hara
Harry Potter..... Sirius Black
The Awakening..... Lady in Black
The Joy Luck Club..... Rose
A Wrinkle in Time...... Black Thing
Lord of the Flies.....
East of Eden..... Olive Hamilton
Chronicle of a Death Foretold...


I don't recall any colors in the names in Lord of the Flies or Chronicle.... but I was reeeeeeeeeeeeallly tempted to guess this.

[Ken Jennings]

Wow, that almost works out. Aesthetically, it's far from perfect...if I did the "characters named for colors" thing, I wouldn't use minor characters like Olive Hamilton or generic ones like The Lady in Black.

[Cannon]

Wow, that almost works out. Aesthetically, it's far from perfect...if I did the "characters named for colors" thing, I wouldn't use minor characters like Olive Hamilton or generic ones like The Lady in Black.

I didn't think you would, either, in retrospect. Interestingly, there are times when it's easy to come up with some connections between a few of the items, but not all. The difficulty is in determining whether what you know about the few is true for the all. I still have no idea who the twins are in each novel, but was sure that there were twins in most of them.

But now you know the reason for my question to you (and thank you for your response) that you put in your blog. I was trying to avoid the appearance of impropriety by picking an example that was clearly not correct. In the end, I still think it's fair to say I "guessed right."


I tend to "overthink" some of these, at times. I wouldn't do well on Jeopardy because I usually have to work through the question, and do not recall quickly enough.

Still, the weekly trivia is fun!

[Jangler]

Oddly enough, I also thought of "names with colors," though only based on William Golding and Amy Tan. I didn't end up submitting a guess at all.

[melissa]

Please be gentle - this is my first time on the message board!

For Tuesday Trivia XVII, the answer to the infamous #7 could also have another answer: each of the books mentioned, while featuring twins, also were banned books at one time or another. Once I saw the official answer, I double-checked, and sure enough, they were. Any love for an "also true" answer, or am I pushing the envelope?

[Ken Jennings]

Many others tried the banned book idea, usually based on on-line lists. Two problems with that:

1. Those lists usually don't include only banned books, but any book that's been challenged in any school or library anywhere in the country, ever.
2. The question asked for an "unusual distinction." Since these lists include literally thousands of books, include almost any western-canon standard, it's not really unusual. By contrast, I spent a day looking for canonical novels with sets of twins as characters, and found fewer than a dozen.

[melissa]

Many others tried the banned book idea, usually based on on-line lists. Two problems with that:

1. Those lists usually don't include only banned books, but any book that's been challenged in any school or library anywhere in the country, ever.
2. The question asked for an "unusual distinction." Since these lists include literally thousands of books, include almost any western-canon standard, it's not really unusual. By contrast, I spent a day looking for canonical novels with sets of twins as characters, and found fewer than a dozen.

Works for me.

Have I mentioned that I'm a twin?