Trivial Pursuit Genus Edition, 1981

You probably think you're pretty smart. The fact that you're reading this blog means that you probably are. As a pretty smart person, you are probably good at trivia. You probably know, for example, that the capital of Mozambique is Maputo, and that Julie Andrews won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1964 for Mary Poppins. 

But how smart are you really?

Trivial Pursuit's 1981 Genus Edition will test your alleged intelligence by asking you to recall the following:

1. What's the international radio code word for the letter Z?
   
2. What's the largest lake in South America?
   
3. How many bulls are killed in a formal bullfight?
   
4. Which of Hitler's deputies parachuted into Scotland to negotiate peace terms?
   
5. What does FM stand for?
   
6. What's a group of bears called?
   
7. What were broccoli and cauliflower developed from?
   
8. What does a pluviometer measure?
   
9. What does the J&B stand for on the scotch?
   
10. What's the largest gland in the human body?
    
11. What Persian astronomer-poet wrote a celebrated collection of quatrains?
12. What was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's name before he became a Muslim?
    
13. What time does Wee Willie Winkie run through the town?
    
14. Who preceded Walter Cronkite as anchorman on The CBS Evening News?
    
15. What does a brandophile collect?
    
16. What industry was Benjamin Braddock advised to enter at his graduation party?

But anyone who is pretty smart can answer those questions. The great equalizer of the original Genus Edition is that it asks you to answer questions about politics, sports, and pop culture circa 1981. For example:

1. How many grooves are there on each side of a 45 rpm record?
   
2. What country's name is abbreviated CSSR?
   
3. What is Margaret Houlihan's nickname?
   
4. What's the capital of West Germany?
   
5. Who launched his ill-fated drive for the White House on The Summer Brothers Smothers Show?
   
6. What was the Montreal Expos' home before they moved to Olympic Stadium?
   
7. What company is the world's largest user of silver?
   
8. Who is Captain Mark Phillips married to?
   
9. What three countries border Finland?
   
10. What board game asks you to create a success formula from money, fame, and happiness?
    
11. What does VDT stand for?
    
12. What country is the BRD?
    
13. What city has the tallest building outside the US?
14. Who holds the NFL record for most touchdowns in a season?
    
15. What British colony has a famed jad emarket on Canton Road?
    
16. What newspaper has the largest Sunday circulation in North America?
    

A few tips may help you win this game:

• If the question is about a country, the answer is usually the Soviet Union.
• Avoid Entertainment questions (the pink ones) at all costs.
• If you get a question with a superlative (tallest, best, most), you are screwed.
  
• History questions are a pretty good bet, because most history occurred before 1981 anyway.
  
• If a history question asks something you don't know, the answer is probably something to do with the Soviet Union.

Trivial Pursuit Master Game Genus Edition (1981)

Answers: 

(1) Zulu (2) Lake Maracaibo (3) Six (4) Rudolf Hess (5) Frequency modulation (6) A sleuth (7) Cabbage (8) Rainfall (9) Justerini & Brooks (10) The liver (11) Omar Khayyam (12) Lew Alcindor (13) Eight o'clock (14) Douglas Edwards (15) Cigar bands (16) Plastics

(1) One (2) Czechoslovakia's (3) Hot Lips (4) Bonn (5) Pat Paulson (6) Jarry Park (7) Kodak (8) Princess Anne (9) Norway, Sweden, and the Soviet Union (10) Careers (11) Video Display Terminal (12) West Germany (13) Toronto (14) O.J. Simpson (15) Hong Kong (16) The New York Daily News