Secret Spot · Puzzle #10 · Friday, October 9
Secret Spot: the answers
Five prompts, one answer each, and the fewer surfers who said yours, the more it scored. Here are the prompts with the answers we expected to be most common, and the rarest. Play today's Secret Spot, or play this day as practice (never counted).
1. Name a kind of shoe
Each kind of shoe or boot counts once; other names are the same (loafers are slip-ons, rain boots are wellies). Regional clogs count as clogs. Iconic shoes known by a brand (Crocs, Converse, Doc Martens) count.
Most common
- Boot
- Flip-flops
- High-heeled shoe
Rarest
- Moon Boot: Moon Boots began in the early 1970s as Italian après-ski wear. Source: Wikipedia, “Moon Boot” (CC BY-SA)
- Opanak: In Serbia, the horn-like toe of opanci shoes shows which region they come from. Source: Wikipedia, “Opanak” (CC BY-SA)
- Okobo: Okobo's other names, like pokkuri and bokkuri, copy the sound these tall wooden sandals make as you walk. Source: Wikipedia, “Okobo” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
2. Name a Muppet
Muppets from The Muppet Show, the Muppet films and Sesame Street count, by any name (Gonzo the Great is Gonzo). Bert and Ernie count as one, and so do Statler and Waldorf; Electric Mayhem members count on their own.
Most common
- Elmo
- Kermit the Frog
- Miss Piggy
Rarest
- Murray Monster: Murray Monster is a Sesame Street character performed by Joey Mazzarino. Source: Wikipedia, “Murray Monster” (CC BY-SA)
- Roosevelt Franklin: Roosevelt Franklin was a Sesame Street Muppet back in the early 1970s. Source: Wikipedia, “Roosevelt Franklin” (CC BY-SA)
- Two-Headed Monster: The Two-Headed Monster is a comical light purple Sesame Street Muppet, first seen in 1978. Source: Wikipedia, “Two-Headed Monster” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
3. Name a breakfast cereal
A flavor or version counts as its cereal (Honey Nut Cheerios is Cheerios). Hot cereals count.
Most common
- Corn flakes
- Cheerios
- Froot Loops
Rarest
- Wheatena: Wheatena started around 1879 in a small bakery on Mulberry Street in New York City. Source: Wikipedia, “Wheatena” (CC BY-SA)
- Ricicles: Ricicles were the UK's frosted Rice Krispies; in the US the same cereal is called Frosted Krispies. Source: Wikipedia, “Ricicles” (CC BY-SA)
- Kaboom: Kaboom's oat pieces were shaped like smiling clown faces, with marshmallow stars. Source: Wikipedia, “Kaboom (breakfast cereal)” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
4. Name an Egyptian pharaoh
Each pharaoh counts once, by any common name (King Tut is Tutankhamun, Ramses is Ramesses II). Give the number when several share a name (Thutmose III). The Ptolemies, the Kushite kings, the Persian kings who ruled Egypt and Alexander the Great count; Roman emperors don't. Nefertiti counts.
Most common
- Cleopatra
- Tutankhamun
- Ramesses II
Rarest
- Menkaure: Menkaure's statue triads show him standing alongside the goddess Hathor. Source: Wikipedia, “Menkaure” (CC BY-SA)
- Taharqa: Taharqa was one of the Black Pharaohs from the Kingdom of Kush, who ruled Egypt for nearly a century. Source: Wikipedia, “Taharqa” (CC BY-SA)
- Sobekneferu: Sobekneferu was the first confirmed female king of ancient Egypt. Source: Wikipedia, “Sobekneferu” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.
5. Name a frog or toad
Each kind counts once, with or without "frog" or "toad". Species join their kind: any tree frog is a tree frog (but the red-eyed tree frog counts on its own), any bullfrog a bullfrog, any poison dart frog a poison dart frog, and a toad named for a place (American toad, common toad) is a toad. The cane toad counts on its own.
Most common
- Toad
- Poison dart frog
- Tree frog
Rarest
- Turtle frog: Australia's turtle frog is named for looking like a turtle without its shell. Source: Wikipedia, “Myobatrachus” (CC BY-SA)
- Tomato frog: Madagascar's tomato frog is named for its bright red color, and it puffs itself up when threatened. Source: Wikipedia, “Tomato frog” (CC BY-SA)
- Pobblebonk: The eastern banjo frog is nicknamed the pobblebonk, for a call that sounds like a plucked banjo string. Source: Wikipedia, “Limnodynastes dumerilii” (CC BY-SA)
Before the crowd came in: the answers we expected to be most and least common, from how well known each one is.