Up to date with new questions at 4:25 p.m. ET on November 21, 2025.
If I’ve offered you with any factoids in the middle of Atlantic Trivia, I apologize, as a result of a factoid, correctly, is not a small, fascinating truth. A factoid is a chunk of data that appears like a truth however is unfaithful. Norman Mailer popularized the time period in 1973, very deliberately giving it the suffix -oid. Is a humanoid not a creature whose look suggests humanity however whose nature belies it? Thus is it with factoid.
So what of these enjoyable, itty bits of information which might be appropriate? Within the Nineties, William Safire prompt factlet for the small-but-true truth (and The Atlantic in 2012 agreed), although minifact is usually used. And for the statements someplace in between fascinating and unfaithful—factini, maybe? Begin with 5 components fascinating to 1 half improper; alter to style.
Discover final week’s questions right here, and to get Atlantic Trivia in your inbox each day, join The Atlantic Day by day.
Friday, November 21, 2025
- What vice chairman to Dwight D. Eisenhower within the Nineteen Fifties misplaced the presidential election in 1960 after which a race for California governor in 1962, earlier than lastly successful the White Home in 1968?
— From Idrees Kahloon’s “The GOP Is Realizing That Trump Gained’t Be Round Without end” - The protagonist of the musical Depraved will get her identify from the initials of what writer who initially created the world of Oz?
— From David Sims’s “The Depraved Bubble Has Burst” - Elon Musk’s AI bot, Grok, just lately asserted that its billionaire creator has larger “holistic health” than what all-time main scorer of the NBA, who has performed since 2018 for the Los Angeles Lakers?
— From Charlie Warzel and Matteo Wong’s “Elon Musk Is Making an attempt to Rewrite Historical past”
And by the best way, do you know that an entire bunch of explanations compete for the true origin of the identify Oz? There’s the outdated chestnut that the story is a parable about populism and the gold normal, and that Oz is due to this fact an abbreviation for ounce; there’s the purported homage to Percy Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” or to Charles Dickens’s pen identify, Boz.
Then there’s the story the writer himself generally instructed: that he plucked the identify from a filing-cabinet drawer labeled O–Z. I’d go together with that charming provenance—from the horse’s mouth, no much less—have been it not for his spouse’s insistence that he merely made it up.
Have an amazing weekend!
Solutions:
- Richard Nixon. Idrees observes that conservatives are beginning to speak concerning the faction’s put up–Donald Trump future, together with a minimum of one commentator who says that the present veep, J. D. Vance, ought to look to how Nixon united a fractious proper (despite the fact that he misplaced). Learn extra.
- L. Frank Baum. The initials give us the Elphaba of Gregory Maguire’s e-book that was a stage musical and, now, two motion pictures—the latter of which, David writes, is sadly saddled with all of the uncharming stuff of the Broadway present’s again half. Learn extra.
- LeBron James. For what it’s value, Grok additionally mentioned that Musk is a greater paragon of ethics than Jesus. The bot’s bug (or is it a characteristic?) would possibly amuse for a second, however as Charlie and Matteo argue, it’s “actually an indication of energy over public data techniques.” Learn extra.
How did you do? Come again tomorrow for extra questions, or click on right here for final week’s. And if you happen to assume up an amazing query after studying an Atlantic story—or just wish to share a top-notch truth—ship it my manner at [email protected].
Thursday, November 20, 2025
From the version of The Atlantic Day by day by Will Gottsegen:
- What Christian liturgical season comes from the Latin phrase for “strategy” or “arrival,” in reference to the beginning of Jesus?
— From Ellen Cushing’s “[REDACTED] Are Completely Out of Management” - The upstart nationalist social gathering Sanseito runs on an anti-immigrant agenda in what island nation, despite the fact that solely 3 p.c of residents there are foreign-born?
— From Idrees Kahloon’s “Political Events Have Disconnected From the Public” - Donald Trump just lately referred to the U.S.-China relationship with what alphanumeric identify, meant to sound like a extra unique model of a bigger, well-established crew of liberal democracies?
— From Thomas Wright’s “What If ‘America First’ Seems to Work?”
And by the best way, do you know that, a minimum of in response to the Western church calendar, Christmastime doesn’t even start till December 25? From then, it lasts for 12 days—sure, that’s the place that comes from!—earlier than giving method to Epiphany.
The so-called purists on the market insisting on no Christmas music till after Thanksgiving are due to this fact combating solely half the battle; I demand that we wait till Santa has come and gone. Within the meantime, everybody can take pleasure in “You’re a Imply One, Mr. Grinch,” which, as our employees author Alexandra Petri as soon as identified, “is only a man dealing with insult after insult … with no reference to Christmas in any way.”
Solutions:
- Creation. Ellen explores how the recognition of introduction calendars full of low cost (or very costly) presents has exploded over latest years, to the purpose that the season of anticipation is now little greater than a brand-a-palooza. Learn extra.
- Japan. All around the world, institution events are foundering, Idrees studies, and xenophobia is a frequent plank for populist events on the rise—even within the locations the place being anti-immigrant makes hardly any sense. Learn extra.
- G2. In the meantime, that different group—the G7—continues to be bullied by Trump, by way of tariffs and different hardball techniques. The implications haven’t been as instant as consultants predicted, Wright notes. So what occurs when “America First” seems to work, a minimum of for a bit? Learn extra.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025
At present’s questions all come from The Atlantic’s 2025 present information.
- In line with Jane Austen, “It’s a reality universally acknowledged, {that a} single man in possession of a success, should be in need of” what?
— From Dan Fallon’s entry, “Colourful Storage” - From its beginnings to the Nineteen Fifties, moviemaking was a lot riskier than it’s in the present day, because of what high quality of nitrate-based movie?
— From Kaitlyn Tiffany’s entry “The World’s Most Harmful Movie Competition” - A guitar pedal’s quantity knob controls the last word loudness of the output. What different knob controls the energy of the sign because it enters the system?
— From Evan McMurry’s entry “DIY Guitar Pedal” - The identify of what Romantic English poet is now utilized in adjective type to explain any brooding, enigmatic kind?
— From Walt Hunter’s entry, “The Excellent Black T-Shirt” - Within the musical Cabaret, a personality is given as a present what fruit, which she assumes arrived from Hawaii (however truly got here from California)?
— From my very own entry “[REDACTED] Perfection”
And by the best way, do you know that in some cultures, giving a beloved one a present of scissors or a knife is inauspicious, because it dangers severing the connection? I just lately ran afoul of this after I despatched kitchen shears to a buddy raised in an Indian household; bless her for rectifying the state of affairs by wiring me a greenback and thus turning the transaction into a purchase order.
So if anybody buys the nail clippers that senior editor Alan Taylor recommends and suffers a schism with the recipient, let me know—we’ll add them to the bad-luck record.
Solutions:
- A spouse. Likewise, Dan writes, “anybody in possession of too many issues should be in need of a storage answer.” His favourite choice is eye-catching sufficient to double as decor. Store right here.
- Flammability. Kaitlyn is a fan of the annual movie pageant in Rochester, New York, that flirts with catastrophe by screening nitrate reels. Haven’t you at all times thought that the frisson of mortal peril is what Meet Me in St. Louis is lacking? Store right here.
- Acquire. Constructing your individual guitar pedal is extra enjoyable and a lot extra reasonably priced than shopping for a pleasant one, writes Evan (who advises that the candy spot for his choice’s acquire knob is at about 1 o’clock). Store right here.
- Lord Byron. A black T-shirt from the no-frills Japanese retailer Muji is presumably the world’s quickest shortcut to a Byronic air, Walt writes, even once you’re very un-Byronically slumped on a bench wolfing a taco. Store right here.
- A pineapple. You, nevertheless, can ship a buddy a slice of precise aloha—as I’ve carried out many, many instances—because of a farm that delivers its homegrown jewels from Maui to the remainder of the States. Store right here.
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
From the version of The Atlantic Day by day by Isabel Fattal:
- The producer Abbott as soon as produced about 40 p.c of the U.S. provide of a specific product. A 2022 recall by Abbott due to this fact contributed to nationwide shortages. What is the product?
— From Nicholas Florko’s “America Has a [REDACTED] Drawback—Once more” - A U.S. trial jury is smaller than a grand jury—therefore its additionally being identified by what identify containing French’s reverse of grand?
— From Quinta Jurecic’s “The Trump Administration’s Favourite Instrument for Criminalizing Dissent” - What is the time period for a paradoxical anecdote or riddle utilized by practitioners of Zen Buddhism to deepen their meditation?
— From Julie Beck’s “Methods to Cheat at Dialog”
And by the best way, do you know that fewer people have visited the underside of the ocean than have gone to area? Relying on the way you depend, someplace between 600 and 800 have slipped the surly bonds of Earth; only some dozen have pulled these bonds as tight as they’ll go by placing seven miles of Pacific Ocean over their head on the Mariana Trench’s Challenger Deep.
Then there may be Kathy Sullivan. She has been to each. Her trench journey was in 2020, and in 1984, she was the primary lady to finish a spacewalk. She is now, quite charmingly, known as the world’s “most vertical” particular person.
Solutions:
- Child method. The availability-chain catastrophe prompted regulators to discover methods to make the weak trade rather less so, however Nicholas writes {that a} new recall from a special producer is a reminder of how simply method making can crack. Learn extra.
- Petit jury. Quinta studies that neither the grand juries empowered to indict nor the petit juries empowered to convict have been notably satisfied by the Trump administration’s circumstances in opposition to the individuals it alleges are “assaulting, resisting, or impeding” federal officers. Learn extra.
- Koan. “How do you cheat at a dialog?” sounds as if it might be one, Julie muses, however it’s in actual fact the worth proposition of a brand new artificial-intelligence software. Cluely guarantees to present customers any reply they could want in a social interplay, however Julie says it solely makes them worse. Learn extra.
Monday, November 17, 2025
From the version of The Atlantic Day by day by David A. Graham:
- U.S. pennies are plated in copper however principally fabricated from what different steel on the finish of the alphabet?
— From Caity Weaver’s “Pennies Are Trash Now” - What beverage is historically fabricated from floor tencha leaves, ready with a whisk, and drunk from a ceramic bowl known as a cha-wan?
— From Ellen Cushing’s “The [REDACTED] Drawback” - Damaged chains and shackles have been initially meant to be held within the left hand of what American landmark earlier than a brand new design changed these objects with a pill?
— From Clint Smith’s “Inform College students the Reality About American Historical past”
And by the best way, do you know that for greater than six many years the US produced half-cent items? They have been 100% copper and stamped with Woman Liberty, who sported a wide range of hairdos through the years. The coin was virtually the scale of a contemporary quarter, which appears massive till you think about that on the finish of its run, the half-cent had a buying energy of about 17 cents in in the present day’s cash.
Nonetheless, in 1857 it was deemed insufficiently invaluable to maintain minting—at 17 modern cents! Contemplating that the federal government is as soon as once more within the coin-discontinuing temper, the nickel and dime would possibly wish to be careful, too.
Solutions:
- Zinc. Penny minting abruptly stopped final week. The cash will quickly drop out of circulation, and their composition—zinc is far much less invaluable than copper—makes them unappealing to recycle. What this implies, Caity writes, is that these 300 billion pennies floating round at the moment are People’ downside. Learn extra.
- Matcha. This old-school Japanese preparation is a far piece from the power drinks and sugary drinks that new firms are advertising and marketing as matcha. Ellen explores the ramifications of the collision between matcha’s custom and its present world-historic demand. Learn extra.
- The Statue of Liberty. The present from France, Clint writes, was meant not simply to welcome immigrants but additionally to have a good time America’s abolition of slavery; he wonders whether or not the change was meant to make the statue “extra palatable” to a wider viewers. That intuition has by no means gone away, and it’s the job of educators to withstand it. Learn extra.
