6/9/2010 – Editorials

This one came from a reader by e-mail:

This is a quiz for people who know everything! I found out in a hurry that I didn’t. These are not trick questions. They are straight questions with straight answers.

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.

2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn’t been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

6. Only three words in sta ndard English begin with the letters " dw"

and they are all common words. Name two of them.

7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?

8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.

9. Name six or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter "S."

Answers to the quiz:

1. The one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends is boxing.

2. The North American landmark which is constantly moving backward is Niagara Falls. The rim is worn down about two and a half feet each year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.

3. Only two vegetables that can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons are asparagus and rhubarb.

4. The fruit with its seeds on the outside is the strawberry.

5. How did the pear get inside the brandy bottle? It grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.

6. Three English words beginning with "dw": dwarf, dwell and dwindle.

7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar: period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation marks, brackets, parenthesis, braces and ellipses.

8. The only vegetable or fruit never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form but fresh is lettuce.

9. Six or more things you can wear on your feet beginning with "s" are shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings and stilts.

—000—

Remember the household hints column by Heloise that used to run in daily newspapers? Here are some hints from an e-mail Heloise:

Put a sealed envelope in the freezer for a few hours, then slide a knife under the flap. The envelope can be opened and then resealed. (hmmmmmm .

. .)

Use empty toilet paper rolls to store appliance cords. It keeps them neat and you can write on the roll what appliance it belongs to.

For icy door steps in freezing temperatures, get warm water and put Dawn dishwashing liquid in it. Pour it all over the steps. They won’t refreeze. (Wish I had known this for the last 40 years!) To remove old wax from a glass candle holder, put it in the freezer for a few hours. Then take the candle holder out and turn it upside down.

The wax will fall out.

Crayon marks on walls? A damp rag dipped in baking soda will take them off with little effort.

Permanent marker on appliances or counter tops, such as a store receipt with blue ink, comes off with rubbing alcohol on a paper towel.

Whenever I purchase a box of S.O.S. pads, I immediately take a pair of scissors and cut each pad into halves. After years of having to throw away rusted and unused and smelly pads, I finally decided that this would be much more economical. And now a box of S.O.S. pads last me indefinitely! In fact, I have noticed that the scissors get sharpened this way!

Blood stains on clothes? Not to worry! Just pour a little hydrogen peroxide on a cloth and proceed to wipe off every drop of blood.

Works every time! Now, where to put the body? LOL.

Use vertical strokes when washing windows outside and horizontal strokes for inside windows. This way you can tell which side has the streaks.

Straight vinegar will get outside windows really clean. Don’t wash windows on a sunny day. They will dry too quickly and will probably streak.

Spray a bit of perfume on the light bulb in any room to create a lovely light scent in each room when the light is turned on.

Place fabric softener sheets in dresser drawers and your clothes will smell freshly washed for weeks to come. You can also do this with towels and linens.

Candles will last a lot longer if placed in the freezer for at least three hours prior to burning.

To clean artificial flowers, pour some salt into a paper bag and add the flowers. Shake vigorously as the salt will absorb all the dust and dirt and leave your artificial flowers looking like new!

To easily remove burned-on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap and enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and bring to a boil on stovetop.

Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato-based sauces and there won’t be any stains.

Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the corn’s natural sweetness.

Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

Don’t throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces. (Leftover wine? What’s that?!) To get rid of itch from mosquito bites, try applying soap on the area and you will experience instant relief.

Ants, ants, everywhere. They are said to never cross a chalk line. So get your chalk out and draw a line on the floor or wherever ants tend to march. See for yourself.

Use air-freshener to clean mirrors. It does a good job and better still, leaves a lovely smell to the shine.

When you get a splinter, reach for the Scotch tape before resorting to tweezers or a needle. Simply put the Scotch tape over the splinter, then pull it off. Scotch tape removes most splinters painlessly and easily.

Now look what you can do with Alka Seltzer: To clean a toilet, drop in two Alka Seltzer tablets, wait 20 minutes, brush and flush. The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous china.

To clean a vase or remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water and drop in two Alka Seltzer tablets.

To polish jewelry, drop two Alka Seltzer tablets into a glass of water and immerse the jewelry for two minutes.

To clean a Thermos bottle, fill the bottle with water, drop in four Alka Seltzer tablets and let soak for an hour (or longer, if necessary).

To unclog a sink drain, drop three Alka Seltzer tablets down the drain followed by a cup of white vinegar. Wait a few minutes, then run the hot water.

Makes you wonder about ingesting Alka Seltzer, doesn’t it!