Hint: It's spelled *Allen*.

October 14, 2010 10:30 AM

Mental Floss has some good stuff, but I really like their quizzes. Especially the "Who Am I" series. Novels. Poets. Actors. Sports. Wonders of the World.

Bonus: Beards.

posted by phunniemee (13 comments total)

I did way better on the beards quiz than on novels. I wonder what this says about me...
posted by sonika at 11:18 AM on October 14, 2010

Wow, those are fun. 10 out of 10 on the "We Didn't Start the Fire Quiz"!
posted by partylarry at 11:31 AM on October 14, 2010

I got all but one of the novels I have actually read write (kicking myself on the other one!). But I think some of the novel choices are more modern than I expected them to be (trying not to give out any spoilers for the quiz).
posted by misha at 11:32 AM on October 14, 2010

Wow, I just lost an hour to Saved by the Bell and Slogans of the 90's and....

It's time to stop now.
posted by thankyouforyourconsideration at 11:59 AM on October 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

When I was 8, I set out to learn all the words to "We Didn't Start the Fire." This is the ONLY time in my life that has proved useful.
posted by sonika at 11:59 AM on October 14, 2010

40% on the Novels quiz. Thought I was better than that . .
posted by rtimmel at 12:17 PM on October 14, 2010

I'd like their quizzes better if they didn't have things like this:

Your answer:
t s eliot
Correct answer:
Thomas Stearns Eliot
posted by languagehat at 1:03 PM on October 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

Huh, I put T.S. Eliot and I got credit.
posted by sonika at 1:17 PM on October 14, 2010

Quizzes are frustrating when they don't accept, say, Dave Prowse instead of David Prowse.

I'd just like to point out that on my god damned Star Wars card whence I gleaned that particular factoid in probably 1980, his name was Dave! OK?! IS THAT OK WITH YOU MENTAL FLOSS??!

*head explodes*
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:40 PM on October 14, 2010

Quizzes are frustrating when they don't accept, say, Dave Prowse instead of David Prowse.

This is why I do all of my quiz-related time wasting at sporcle.com . They'll take Dave, David, or no first name at all (in most cases).
posted by squared at 2:54 PM on October 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, those are fun. 10 out of 10 on the "We Didn't Start the Fire Quiz"!

Huh. Me too. But that's probably because I had the Cassingle.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:25 PM on October 14, 2010

I put TS Eliot, and it was counted.

10 out of 10 on poetry. Not even touching the novels quiz, tho; I'm going out on top.
posted by Ideal Impulse at 10:06 AM on October 15, 2010

Yeah they need to hire a pattern matching guru if they're taking free form answers. They warn you not to prefix your answers with "the" and to match the case correctly which is ridiculously easy to automate. I had Hagia Sofia rejected because they wanted "Hagia Sofia Church" which is a ridiculously cumbersome construction that I've never head in the wild (partially because it has been a Mosque for hundreds of years and is now mostly a museum)
posted by atrazine at 4:45 AM on October 17, 2010