Mar 11, 2024 3 min read

Test your news I.Q.

It was the British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who famously wrote, “In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” Well, I’m no longer young, and I can’t even find my fancy to turn it, so I’m going to skip straight to the first news quiz of 2024. See if you can determine the correct answers to these questions about current events that have occurred recently.

1. Last week a video team in New England spotted something that hadn’t been seen for many years. What was it?

a) Quarterback Tom Brady suiting up with the New England Patriots again

b) A gray humpback whale in the Atlantic near Nantucket, 200 years after the species was said to have become extinct

c) A clone of conductor Arthur Fiedller returned to the Boston Pops Orchestra, 45 years after Fiedler died.

2. Former NBA player Charles Barkley promised to “punch in the face” any Black person he saw wearing a certain item of clothing. What was that item?

a) Baggy, low-crotched, M.C. Hammer-style pants

b) “Saggy” jeans worn significantly below the belt line

c) A T-shirt displaying Donald Trump’s famous mug shot

3. Jerome Bettis 36 Grill, the shuttered North Side eatery formerly owned by the retired Steelers running back, is reopening March 22 as a country music-themed restaurant and bar. Who is the new owner, and what will the establishment be called?

a) Dolly Parton’s Jolene, Please Don’t Take My Ham

b) Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Bar

c) Jason Aldean’s Tried This in a Small Town But Failed Miserably Diner

4. The genealogy company Ancestry revealed last week that pop icon Taylor Swift is a sixth cousin, three times removed, to which famous American poet?

a) Emily Dickinson

b) Robert Frost

c) Prince

5. Fashion designer Juli Lynne Charlot died last week at the age of 101. What iconic piece of clothing did Charlot invent?

a) White plastic “Go-go” boots

b) A T-shirt displaying Donald Trump’s famous mug shot

c) The “poodle skirt”

6. The CEO of Kellogg’s raised eyebrows recently by making a somewhat questionable recommendation to those seeking to stretch their food budgets. What was it?

a) Eat cereal for dinner

b) Hire a cheaper gourmet chef

c) Don’t tip the DoorDash driver so much

7. Miami Beach announced last week that the city will begin a monthlong series of security measures that will include curfews, bag searches at the beach, early beach closures, DUI checkpoints and arrests for drug possession and violence. What is the city attempting to crack down on?

a) Wild vacation parties by Gov. Ron DeSantis

b) Spring Break revelers

c) People wearing Trump mug shot T-shirts