The Midday Quiz

You can view past Midday Quiz results here by year. This quiz airs on The Midday hosted by Norman Gilliland.

Most Recent Quiz Question:

Thursday, March 28, 2024

For the sake of their mental health, some young people are reverting to this pre-2015 form of communication.

Flip phones. For various reasons, including the “always-on” mentality of email.

Winner: Taylor, Schultz, Sarona, WI

2024 Quiz Archive

View past quiz questions, answers, and winners by month.

January 2024

Monday, January 1, 2024

What do they have in common: Elizabeth Tudor, Hydrogen, Delaware, Alpha, New Year’s Day?

All are firsts: Elizabeth I, Atomic Number 1, first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, first letter of the Greek alphabet, the first day of the year.

Winner: Joe Layde, Madison

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

He was the second to do so and his mother’s maiden name was the same as the place he did it.

Buzz Aldren. Second person to walk on the moon. His mother’s maiden name was Marion Moon.

Winner: Katherine Cera, Lodi

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

A certain sleigh driver might not approve, but paces in Finland, Iceland, and Alaska serve it as a pizza topping.

Reindeer meat.

Winner: Denny Blum, Sun Prairie

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Circus strongmen inspired the seemingly improbable attire of these law enforcers.

Superheroes.

Winner: Sarah Minsloff, New York, NY

Friday, January 5, 2024

This state is tied with Missouri for adjacency.

Tennessee.

Winner: Susan Riesch, Middleton

Monday, January 8, 2024

What do they have in common: A songbird, a fish, part of a cooked turkey, a channel marker, and a chess piece?

All are named for religious figures–cardinal, monkfish, pope’s nose, nun, bishop.

Winner: Kathleen Lhost, Appleton, WI

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

In 2011 a royal couple used them to issue wedding invitations. About half of US small businesses still use them. Many people prefer them for sharing sensitive information.

Fax machines.

Winner Bill Toman, Green Lake, WI

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

A 3 x 3 word square:
Across: Traveler’s bane, may freeze, with #1 across, stolen diamonds
Down: Somewhat, corporate top, usually enjoyable to

Across: Ice, Sea, Hot
Down: Ish, CEO, Eat

Winner: Erik & Mary Sue Osby, Plover, WI

Winner: Erik and Mary Sue Osby, Plover, WI

Thursday, January 11, 2024

See a line of its clones and you’ll know That you have a good healthy cash flow Or a boom in your coffers; Alone, though, it offers The sad news that you’re flat out of dough.

A: A Zero

Winner: Beth Dinkela, Madison, WI

Monday, January 15, 2024

The Empire Strikes Back, The Revenant, Nanook of the North, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and Way Down East did. It’s a Wonderful Life, The Shining, Lost Horizon, Citizen Kane and Fargo did not.

Use real snow.

Winner: David Hastings, Tomahawk, WI

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

From almost 3/4 of a million gallons a second to, seemingly, nothing during several early 20th century winters.

Niagara Falls.

Winner: George Savage, Madison

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

The engineer didn’t change his German name until a few years before he developed this famous French project.

The Eiffel Tower. Gustave Bonickhausen’s family had long since used the name Eiffel.

Winner: Martha Sumi, Madison

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Start with a 5-letter word for what mathematicians like. Take off first letters and you have words for an upper extremity, a comic book word, the first word of titles by Steinbeck and Somerset Maugham, and a white letter in a blue field. What’s the first word?

Proof.

Winner: Leo Van Asten, Fitchburg, WI

Friday, January 19, 2024

For now, the largest is about 39 miles by 39 miles by a sixth of a mile.

Iceberg. A23a is about the size of Rhode Island.

Winner: Gary Edelstein, Madison, WI

Winner: Leo Van Asten, Fitchburg, WI

Monday, January 22, 2024

Word word applies:
Will he be at the rollicking game?
Make some racket, ongoing acclaim?
Though the lowly grass feeder
Is no raucous cheerleader,
He should come since they have the same name.

Cricket

Winner: Liz Walker, Madison, WI

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Batman does. So do Miss Piggy, Count Tyrone Rugen, Audrey Hepburn, and the Lone Ranger.

Wear gloves.

Winner: Dana Brzezinski, Milwaukee, WI

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

 A mouse passed this test, joining several primates, dolphins, an elephant, and an evil queen

The mirror test of self-recognition.

Winner: Jim Miller, Manitowoc, WI

Thursday, January 25, 2024

Actually, the total is about 200 stories, the title being hyperbole.

The 1001 Nights, aka The Arabian Nights.

Winner: Yoyi Steele, Fort Atkinson, WI

Friday, January 26, 2024

About three quarters of the world’s remaining reserves of this life-sustaining element are in an African country and a disputed area adjacent to it.

Phosphorus. In Morocco and Western Sahara.

Winner: Jake Wood, Madison, WI

Friday, January 26, 2024

About three quarters of the world’s remaining reserves of this life-sustaining element are in an African country and a disputed area adjacent to it.

Phosphorus. In Morocco and Western Sahara.

Winner: Jake Wood, Madison, WI

Monday, January 29, 2024

A workman’s error spelled a bad future for this presidential monument.

The Lincoln Memorial. The word “future” was spelled “euture.”

Winner: Bennette Harris, Belleville, WI

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Q: Named in 2017, these notorious media do have positive uses in healthcare.

Deepfakes.

Winner: Aaron Gaetzke, Madison, WI

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

What do they have in common: A marine mammal with a prominent proboscis, a manatee, a fish with a prehensile tail, a predatory marine mammal, a fish with barbels?

All are named for land animals: An elephant seal, a sea cow, a seahorse, a leopard seal, and a catfish.

Winner: Gary Kuchenbecker, Tigerton, WI

February 2024

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Despite the marketing images, the source of about half of it is a tap.

Bottled water.

Winner: Wes Ebert, Wausau, WI

Friday, February 2, 2024

Appropriately, the first film to make this statement was about dogs.

No animals were harmed in the making of this film.

Winner: Ken Braband, Green Bay, WI

Monday, February 5, 2024

What’s the progression: Cyclops, Odysseus, a Twilight Zone Venusian, the bespectacled, an Opabinia, Cerberus?

Number of eyes from 1 through 6.

Winner: Samuel Bates, Madison, WI

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

An 18th century English playwright who found that a sound effect he had created had been co-opted is thought to have initiated what familiar saying?

They’ve stolen my thunder.

Winner: Joe Turzynski, Genesee Depot, WI

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Who is it?
There’s no time now to think twice or freeze.
You’re a whirlwind of hands, feet, and knees.
When you take to the air
You must look debonnair,
And then land with a force of 10Gs.

A: A figure skater doing a quadruple jump

Winner: John Powlaites, Mt. Pleasant, WI

Thursday, February 8, 2024

This term for a nonconforming pedestrian was once applied to drivers.

Jaywalker, jaydriver

Winner: Marina Agerter, Reston, VA

Monday, February 12, 2024

It’s second to Thanksgiving in this regard and has a menu heavy on pizza.

Food consumption in the U.S. on Super Bowl Sunday.

Winner: Paul Hesse, Tomahawk, WI

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Decode the following message: 91215225251521.

I Love You.

Winner: Chris Lofgren, Eau Claire, WI

Thursday, February 15, 2024

What distinction do they share: Chickadee, Ping-Pong, Bobwhite, Kodak, Whippoorwill?

Their names are all onomatopoetic, named for the sounds they make.

Winner: Karl Nilson, New Berlin, WI

Friday, February 16, 2024

Some of the extras in this classic film were recruited at a garbage dump.

A: Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.

Winner: Blaine LeGault, Sun Prairie, WI

Monday, February 19, 2024

An automotive engineer exasperated by working with his team uttered this famous saying.

No correct answer today. We’ll repeat this question tomorrow.

Winner: Find out tomorrow!

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Repeat Question: An automotive engineer exasperated by working with his team uttered this famous saying.

“A camel is a horse designed by a committee.” Sir Alec Issigonis, designer of the Mini, 1959.

Winner: Donford Anderson, Green Bay, WI

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

The biggest was about 80 inches in circumference, a record that has stuck and the substance may making it may have also.

Bubble gum bubble.

Winner: Jim Hess, Sheboygan, WI

Thursday, February 22, 2024

What is it?

Within earshot of Westminster chimes,
A short walk from the venerable Times,
It stands massive and mute.
As grim goes, it’s a beaut,
A concealer of myriad crimes.

The Tower of London.

Winner: Andrew Hellpap, Belleville, WI

Friday, February 23, 2024

This familiar theater designation isn’t based on geography, but on capacity.

Off Broadway.

Winner: Ross Michaels, Middleton, WI

Monday, February 26, 2024

 What distinction do these words share: Gray, Whiskey, Judgement, Kidnapped, Traveled?

A: All can be spelled two different ways in American English: Grey, Whisky, Judgment, Kidnaped, Travelled.

Winner: Daniel Lee, Evansville, WI

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

 This innovation occurred when an American merchant sent separately packaged samples of his product to Europe and found out that the samples were being used while still in the packaging.

A: The teabag.

Winner: Robert K. Leedham, Jr., Madison, WI

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

 What does this refer to: Hundred—Number 1, one—number 2, twenty—number 3,  five–number 4,  fifty—number 5,  ten–number 6,  two–number 7.

Number of bills in each denomination in circulation.

Winner: Tony Reindl, Two Rivers, WI

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Born in Kansas to formerly enslaved parents, an actor in this movie set a film precedent.

A: Gone With the Wind. Hattie McDaniel became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award on February 29, 1940.

Winner: Pat Hammeke, Applrteon, WI

March 2024

Friday, March 1, 2024

 These rural phenomena, most popular from the 1880s to the 1910s, were touted for their efficiency.

Round barns.

Winner: Julie Nelson, Mazomanie

Monday, March 4, 2024

 A 3×3 word square:
Across: Reason request; a voter; split resistant wood. 
Down:  Welsh river, Norse underworld denizen, edible tuber.

A: Why, yea, elm, Wye, Hel, Yam.

Winner: David Larsen, Sioux Falls, SD

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

 A short story and play set on American island during a downpour has this name.

A: Rain. The story is by Somerset Maugham. The play was written by  John Colton and Clemence Randolph.

Winner: Jan Adelman, Fond du Lac, WI

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

 What do they have in common: A tree disease, influenza, measles, a respiratory illness, a pesky scarab?

Rightly or wrongly, all are named after countries—Dutch elm disease, Spanish flu, German measles, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Japanese beetle.

Winner: Robert Newton, Madison, WI

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Particularly popular in Wisconsin, its most prominent characteristic comes from a bacterium also found on human skin.

Limburger cheese. 

Winner: Rhonda Kilker, Shelburne, VT

Friday, March 8, 2024

This popular character was named after one of the creator’s relatives, who was named after an American Chief Executive.

Garfield the cat. Named after James A. Garfield Davis, grandfather of cartoonist Jim Davis.

Winner: Fred Koerschner, Algona, IA

Monday, March 11, 2024

Start with a six-letter word for a blade seller. Take off first letters and you get words for “what’s in a shell,” “bumpkin,” “disgusting!,” clothier logo, and a vitamin. What’s the first word?

Schick.

Winner: Erin Kotenberg, De Pere, WI

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

It may take as long as a thousand years to biodegrade, as visitors to a wall in Seattle may one day aver.

Chewing gum. A Seattle landmark is the gum wall.

Winner: Stephanie Doose, Eau Claire, WI

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

What distinction do they share: Music popularized in the ’60s, a decorative ball, a lively French dance, a Pacific capital, a West African belief system?

All have double names: go-go, pom-pom, can-can, Pago-Pago, Juju.

Winner: Charles McDonald, Mount Pleasant, WI

Thursday, March 14, 2024

At the dawn of the 20th century, the New York Times asserted that a nation that eats this food can never be permanently vanquished.  

Pie.

Winner: Karl Stubenvoll, Fish Creek, WI

Friday, March 15, 2024

What is it? ‘Tis no object, I think, for affection, With its mottled and slimy complexion. Tourists give it a kiss With their eyes closed in bliss— Saints be praised–-and no closer inspection.

The Blarney Stone.

Winner: J Depner, Menasha, WI

Monday, March 18, 2024

This opera—most famous for its beginning—was based on a play inspired by the French and American revolutions.

William Tell by Rossini. Based on the play of the same name by Friedrich Schiller.

Winner: Petra Streiff, New Glarus, WI

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Tracking the world record for this was discontinued at 18 days because of the danger to the health of the contestants.

Sleep deprivation. 

Winner: Elizabeth Barrett, Madison, WI

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Derived from the name of a play from the 1930s, this term for a form of psychological deception came back into common usage in the 2010s.

Gaslighting.

Winner: Tyler Jones, Appleton, WI

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Who is it? A king of charisma and means Took the lead in historical scenes. Was he started and floored? No Best Actor award–Just his name on a can of sardines.

King Oscar of Norway

Friday, March 22, 2024

A prominent feature of this African landmark may disappear within a few decades.

Mount Kilimanjaro.

Winner: Daniel S. Greenspan

Monday, March 25, 2024

What do they have in common: A Mozart and Rossini character, a longtime sportscaster, a Fleet Street businessman, the Adagio for Strings, Johnny Depp.

A: All are barbers. Figaro–The Barber of Seville, Red Barber, Sweeney Todd—the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, composer Samuel Barber, beautician Edward Scissorhands played by Johnny Depp.​

Winner: Arthur Ness, Dodgeville, WI

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Smuggling is a factor in the price increase of this Easter favorite.

Chocolate. Drier, hotter weather in West Africa is another factor.

Winner: John Lightfield, Burlington, WI

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Who are they: Although it’s more dangerous for one of the two to head in that direction, they go with the flow.

Huckleberry Finn and Jim.

Winner: Adam Allison, Verona, WI

Thursday, March 28, 2024

For the sake of their mental health, some young people are reverting to this pre-2015 form of communication.

Flip phones. For various reasons, including the “always-on” mentality of email.

Winner: Taylor, Schultz, Sarona, WI