News Quiz

No. 12: “Ten Towns”

No. 12: “Ten Towns”

Rename “News Quiz”

We still seek a title that conveys the feel of the quiz as vividly as “Home Alone” and “Bay of Pigs Fiasco” capture the tone of those endeavors. Some recent suggestions: “Just Asking”; “I Know! I Know!”; “Not a Clue.” Keep them coming. (That last thing was, you know, an invitation, not a suggested title.)

By Randy Cohen

Kroll Associates’ top 10 are: Algiers, Bogotá, Caracas, Johannesburg, Karachi, Lagos, Medellín, Mexico City, Moscow, and Rio de Janeiro. Top 10 what?

by noon ET on Thursday to e-mail your answers (NewsQuiz@slate.com).

Responses to Tuesday’s Question (No. 11)–“Rudy in Michigan”:

Fill in the blank. At a fund-raising dinner, Ken Sikkema, the Michigan House Republican leader, said of New York City’s mayor, the evening’s speaker: “People are here to take the measure of Mayor Giuliani. The word I’m struggling not to use–I don’t want to use this word–is ____________.”

“Is there anyone here who might object to my use of the word? It’s not a nice word–look, the first one to get out his checkbook earns the right to buy a vowel.”–Bill Franzen

“Hung.”–ColleenWerthmann (DavidHumphrey and A. Bonin had similar answers.)

“Hepcat.”–LarryAmaros

“Hitlerrific.”–LarryDoyle (similarly, Lyn Hammond)

“Eye candy.”–BethSherman

“MuchmoreelectablethanQualyeorGingrichorAlexanderorForbesoranyother RepublicanwhoisimaginingthathecanbeatAlGore.”–GaryFrazier

“Super-dia-funka-bolic.”–FredGraver

“Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.”–JonDelfin

“First syllable is ‘bull’; for the second syllable, you have a choice of ‘y’ or ‘ish.’ There is another possible second syllable; for that, you’ll have to contact me privately.”–NancyFranklin

“Drag queen. (And if we’re taking his ‘measure,’ I would say a size 16.)”–M.G. Lord

“Asshole.”–DavidRakoff

Randy’s Wrap-Up:

To his critics, Rudolph Giuliani is a thin lipped, mean spirited, petty tyrant with no vision of what a city might be. Not so. He has a vision. It is of New York as a vast parochial school with himself as a ruler-wielding head nun, still steamed about Vatican II and taking no guff from any critics. Or perhaps he imagines Manhattan as a Shining Shopping Mall on the Hill–entirely privatized, patrolled by strapping young mall cops in shiny boots. His is a city with a purpose–shopping–and plenty of free parking. It’s kind of like ancient Athens, but instead of the agora we have the Gap. His polis may stint on schools, parks, and libraries, but it remains a place where decent people are protected from bicycle speed demons. And if the mayor resents the free flow of ideas, he champions the free flow of car traffic.

Just Testing the Waters–You Got a Problem With That?–Answer:

The word is “curiosity.” Giuliani’s appearance at the Novi Hilton drew 900 people at $500 a pop, the most successful event in the history of the Michigan House Republican Campaign Committee. Is Giuliani building support for a presidential run? “The field is wide open,” said John Engler, Michigan’s governor. “Mayor Giuliani is one of the leading Republicans in the country.”

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