Ask Me Another (In memoriam eotvos)

February 4, 2023 3:38 PM

In Feb. 1927, Justin Spafford and Lucien Esty published Ask Me Another [alt.], a trivia book that let readers compare scores with Anita Loos, Dorothy Parker, John B. Watson, Ruth Hale, Alice Duer Miller, and others. Interview with Esty and Spafford (cont.; cw: stereotyping). By March, 100k copies were in print. By April, a second volume was in print, appearing later in an omnibus. By May, it inspired a comedy song and parody book (or two). The same year, it inspired music history / theory quizzes with scores from prominent musicians. Newspapers ran brief quizzes supplanting the crossword puzzle rage, itself deeply rooted in trivia puzzles (see also 19th C. question books or Renaissance memory / conversation games such as "Vittorie d'Hercole"). Last month, before passing away, Mefi's Own eotvos described a planned project for an online edition.
posted by Wobbuffet (12 comments total)

Every decade or so I am at a loss for words.
posted by clavdivs at 4:09 PM on February 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

Thanks for making this post. I thought this sounded really interesting when eotvos mentioned it, and was looking forward to a projects post maybe at some point.

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posted by the primroses were over at 4:12 PM on February 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 5:41 PM on February 4, 2023

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posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 7:52 PM on February 4, 2023

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posted by kmt at 10:11 PM on February 4, 2023

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posted by lock robster at 11:09 PM on February 4, 2023

This would make a really great memorial, if done as a group collaboration.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:44 AM on February 5, 2023 [7 favorites]

What skills would be needed to do it?

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posted by humbug at 6:48 AM on February 5, 2023

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posted by ishmael at 6:52 AM on February 5, 2023

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posted by Faint of Butt at 12:05 PM on February 5, 2023

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posted by skyscraper at 2:47 PM on February 5, 2023

hmmmm Quizzes? For the birds!

	In which country can you find the vampire ground finch?
E
	Who makes the largest egg and has the fleetest foot?
O
	What's brown and sounds like a thrush?
T
	Cinnyricinclus leucogaster has a white belly [obvs!]; what colour is its back?
V
	Where do eggs get their shell?
O
	Which Oscar survived the Great Chicago Fire?
S

posted by BobTheScientist at 12:49 AM on February 6, 2023 [2 favorites]