Curiosity Corner: 7/14–7/20

Hey Challengers!

Welcome to Curiosity Corner, your go-to spot for this week’s trivia deep dive. Here are your answers (and a little background) for 7/14–7/20—let’s satisfy that curiosity!

Monday

Hint 1: Deepest freshwater lake in the world
Answer: Lake Baikal
Nestled in southern Siberia, Lake Baikal reaches a maximum depth of about 1,642 m (5,387 ft), making it the deepest freshwater lake on Earth. It’s over 25 million years old and holds roughly 20 % of the world’s unfrozen surface freshwater, earning it UNESCO World Heritage status.

Hint 2: Morticia Addams’ maiden name
Answer: Frump
In Charles Addams’s original cartoons—and carried through the 1960s TV series and later films—Morticia was born Morticia Frump before marrying Gomez Addams. The Frumps are portrayed as a genteel, if delightfully quirky, “old country” family.

Tuesday

Hint 3: Cormac McCarthy novel with John Joel Glanton
Answer: Blood Meridian
Published in 1985, Blood Meridian follows “the Kid” as he joins the scalp-hunting Glanton gang—led by the mercurial John Joel Glanton—across the lawless Texas–Mexico border in the 1850s. Its stark, poetic prose and unvarnished violence have solidified its reputation as McCarthy’s masterpiece.

Hint 4: Super Bowl V MVP
Answer: Chuck Howley
Linebacker Chuck Howley of the Dallas Cowboys made history as the first—and still only—player to earn Super Bowl MVP honors despite being on the losing team. His two interceptions and fumble recovery nearly powered Dallas to victory in Super Bowl V, where they fell 16–13 to the Baltimore Colts.

Wednesday

Hint 5: Japanese traditional theatre with masks (not makeup)
Answer: Nō (能)
Emerging in the 14th century, Nō is a highly stylized form of Japanese drama that uses exquisitely carved masks to portray gods, demons, women, and elders. Combined with poetic chant, minimalist movement, and traditional music, it explores deep spiritual and psychological themes.

Hint 6: Only actor ever killed by a xenomorph, a predator, and a terminator
Answer: Bill Paxton (SlashFilm)
Paxton met grisly ends in three iconic sci-fi franchises: a Predator slays him in Predator 2 (1990), a Xenomorph dispatches his character Hudson in Aliens (1986), and he’s the unfortunate punk mugged by the Terminator in the opening of The Terminator (1984). This unique “triple kill” cements his genre-film legacy.

Thursday

Hint 7: 2000 Aaliyah song that topped the Hot 100 without a retail single
Answer: “Try Again”
Produced by Timbaland for the Romeo Must Die soundtrack, “Try Again” soared to No. 1 purely on radio and club play—marking the first time in Billboard history that a song topped the Hot 100 without any physical single release. Its sleek R&B/hip-hop fusion and iconic video helped define Aaliyah’s superstar status.

Hint 8: Alaskan volcano with a massive 1912 eruption
Answer: Novarupta
On June 6–8, 1912, Novarupta unleashed the most voluminous volcanic eruption of the 20th century, ejecting more magma than the famed 1980 Mount St. Helens blast. The event created the ash-filled Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and radically reshaped the surrounding Katmai landscape.

Friday

Hint 9: The 1832 June Rebellion tried to overthrow which French king?
Answer: Charles X
Paris’s June Rebellion of 1832 rose up against the ultra-conservative King Charles X, who’d taken the throne after his brother Louis XVIII. Though crushed within two days, the revolt inspired Victor Hugo’s barricade scenes in Les Misérables and endures as a symbol of popular resistance.

Hint 10: NASCAR champion in 1976, 1977, and 1978
Answer: Cale Yarborough
Yarborough stormed to three straight Winston Cup titles, becoming the first driver ever to accomplish that feat. His aggressive driving and fierce competitiveness in the late 1970s helped fuel NASCAR’s explosion in popularity across America.

Saturday

Hint 11: This Swedish rock band released Skeletá
Answer: Ghost (Wikipedia)
Formed in 2006 and led by the masked frontman Papa Emeritus (a.k.a. Tobias Forge), Ghost blends hard rock, pop, and theatrical lore. Skeletá—their sixth studio album—dropped April 25, 2025, and became their first No. 1 on the US Billboard 200.

Hint 12: This profession would cut hair and perform surgery in the 1600s
Answer: Barber-surgeon (Wikipedia)
In early modern Europe, barbers did more than trim beards—they pulled teeth, administered bloodletting, and even amputated limbs. Known as barber-surgeons, they bridged the gap between grooming and medical care until surgery became the domain of university-trained physicians.

Sunday

Hint 13: Racecar driver James Beverley became this Spider-Man villain
Answer: Overdrive (Wikipedia)
Originally a hopeful racer turned would-be superhero, James Beverley warped vehicles into high-powered machines via nanites—and clashed with Spider-Man as the speedster villain Overdrive. His flashy, merchandise-strewn heists made him a memorable (if short-lived) foe.

Hint 14: Nickname for fighters against the Cavaliers during the English Civil War
Answer: Roundheads (Wikipedia)
“Roundheads” was coined to mock the closely cropped hairstyles of Parliament’s Puritan supporters, contrasting with the long-haired Royalist “Cavaliers.” Though initially derisive, the term stuck as these Parliamentarians fought King Charles I’s forces between 1642 and 1651.

That’s a wrap on this week’s trivia—see you next time for more brain-teasers and deep dives!
Stay curious, Challengers.