Kitchen Substitutes
Puzzles & Games
Getting Buggy
Card & Social Games
Common Idioms
Get Blooming
Bonus
100
You’ve run out of kitchen cleanser, and your stainless pot needs scrubbing. Use this natural baking ingredient.
baking soda
Make a paste with water and spread it on the pot. Let it sit for a while or overnight and then scrub
100
What game is played with rectangular tiles that have a line dividing them into two squares, each containing a number of dots?
Dominoes
Dominoes finds its roots in ancient China, with its origins dating back to the Song Dynasty, around the 12th century.
100
On summer nights, what flying beetle do you often see that intermittently flashes light in a unique pattern?
Firefly (or lightning bug)
A firefly’s flashing pattern helps it find potential mates.
100
In what game do players act out a word or phrase without speaking, while others try to guess what it is?
Charades
Charades originated in France during the 16th century and has been a staple game around the holidays ever since. The modern version of charades was popularized by the game show Give Us a Clue, which aired from 1979 to 1992.
100
Money doesn’t grow on these.
trees
The idiom has two meanings, the less common one being that it takes trees many years to grow from a seed, and seed money requires time to grow.
100
What expression means to take time to relax and appreciate the beauty of life?
“Stop and smell the roses.”
The expression is said to be rephrased from the Walter Hagen quote, “Don’t hurry; Don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way
100
If you run out of vegetable oil for baking, add this.
applesauce or fruit puree
For this substitute, add half the amount of oil the recipe calls for.
200
Make buttermilk by adding a little of this ingredient to milk
vinegar or lemon juice
Add one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup and top off to one cup with milk. Let it sit for a few minutes, and you have buttermilk.
200
What popular number puzzle game is played on a grid of 9 X 9 squares?
Sudoku
In 2006, Italy had the honor of hosting the first-ever Sudoku World Championships.
200
What insect’s itchy bite is hard to avoid when spending a summer evening outdoors?
Mosquito
Only female mosquitoes bite, as they need blood to reproduce.
200
What card game is played with a single player and requires the cards to be laid out in a specific order, such as building the deck into a sequence, by suit, from ace to king?
Solitaire
The game of solitaire soared to popularity at the end of the 20th century when the Microsoft company incorporated the game into all of its computers. At one point, solitaire was the most used of all of Microsoft’s programs.
200
Kids often argue when we tell them it’s time to hit this.
the sack or the hay
The sack refers to early mattresses, and people used to hit their sacks to fluff them. The first use of hit the hay dates to the early 1900s
200
What flower is native to North America and known for its strikingly large yellow bloom, valuable oil, and long stem?
Sunflower
The tallest sunflower on record was found in Germany in 2016 and measured 30 feet, one inch tall
200
What famous brand of ketchup was created over 120 years ago in Pittsburgh? Hint: The owner’s lucky number was added to the bottle
Heinz
At the time Heinz Ketchup was created, Heinz offered 60 products. However, H. J. Heinz preferred his lucky number 57 to be added to each bottle. Although Heinz sells more than 100 products today, the number 57 can still be found on every bottle
300
Combine these two ingredients to make a substitute for brown sugar.
white sugar and molasses
Keep adding a little molasses to white sugar and mix until you achieve the proper color for the recipe—golden or dark brown.
300
What puzzle consists of a 3 X 3 X 3 cube with rotating sides, where the objective is to solve it by aligning the colors on each face?
Rubik’s Cube
It’s possible to solve any configuration of a Rubik’s Cube using 20 moves or less.
300
What tiny arachnids should you check your body for after time spent outdoors in the woods or high grass areas?
Ticks
They are most active in warmer weather and can be infected with bacteria, viruses, or parasites.
300
What trick-taking game is played with a standard deck of cards and involves two teams of two players each, who communicate through bidding to win tricks and score points
Bridge
Bridge. The world championships of bridge began in 1950
300
When something becomes popular and sells quickly, it sells like this food.
hotcakes
This is another name for pancakes, an American invention dating back to the 1600s. Hotcakes were once a staple food at fairs.
300
What flower’s botanical name is Bellis perennis and has been used in the homeopathic system of medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties? Hint: It is April’s birth flower.
The daisy
A daisy is two flowers in one. The outer white petals are one, and the yellow cluster, called the eye, are another.
300
In a standard game of Monopoly, how much does a player collect for passing “Go”?
$200
The version of Monopoly that we know was created by Charles B. Darrow, though an earlier version called the Landlord’s Game was created and patented by Lizzie Magie in 1904.
400
This can be used as a sour cream substitute.
Greek yogurt
If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can strain regular yogurt to remove excess water. If you don’t strain it, it’s not a good substitute because regular yogurt is too thin.
400
In what word game might players earn a “triple word score”?
Scrabble
It is theorized that oxyphenbutazone is the highest possible legal word one can play that would actually fit on a Scrabble board. Oxyphenbutazone is an anti-inflammatory drug
400
What insect, sometimes feared by humans for its stinger, flies around collecting nectar and pollen?
Bee
There are about 20,000 bee species with many differences between them. Some don’t even sting or produce honey.
400
What is the matching card game where the objective is to form sets or runs of cards and be the first to get rid of all your cards?
Rummy
Rummy is a card game with more than 60 variations. Rising in popularity even today, an online rummy platform recently broke the world record for hosting the largest online rummy tournament to date with a staggering 215,000 players in March of 2023.
400
When taking questionable shortcuts, we cut these
corners
Cutting corners can backfire, taking longer to complete a task
400
What carnivorous plant produces white flowers and is known for its innovative trapping mechanism for catching insects?
Venus flytrap
The Venus flytrap’s lifespan is roughly 20 years, sometimes longer
400
This Canadian actor is known for his starring roles in The Truman Show and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
Jim Carrey
Carrey was born in Ontario in 1962. Before his breakout comedic roles, he worked briefly as a janitor to make ends meet
500
A balsamic vinegar substitute can be made from these two common ingredients that cooks often have in the pantry
vinegar and brown sugar
You can also use cider vinegar and maple syrup
500
What popular game was originally called “Pretzel” due to the expectation that players would resemble twisted pretzels while playing it?
Twister
The patent for this game is titled “Apparatus for Playing a Game Wherein the Players Constitute the Game Pieces
500
What spotted insect is believed to bring you good luck and is a symbol of good fortune?
Ladybug
Some think the number of spots on the ladybug indicates how many years of good luck you’ll have. A persistent myth is that the spots show how many years old they are, but in reality they don’t live more than a year or two.
500
In what game do players take turns drawing a word or phrase while their teammates try to guess it within a time limit?
Pictionary
With the name coming from a combination of picture and dictionary, the game Pictionary was actually invented by a waiter in his twenties. After graduating from college, Rob Abgel suggested to his roommates that they play a game like “charades on paper.” In the year 2000, Mattel bought Pictionary for $29 million.
500
When something is tried for the first time or when building something new, we are said to break this
new ground
The idiom dates to ancient times and comes from breaking ground to build a new structure
500
What popular summer flower will often bloom blue if grown in acidic soils or pink if it’s in alkaline soils? Hint: They bloom in a ball shape.
Hydrangea
The flower gets its name from the Greek word hydro, meaning “water,” and angos, meaning “vessel.” Its name is meant to stress the need to be watered often.
500
What is the national summer sport of Canada
Lacrosse
Lacrosse was declared the national game of Canada in 1859. However, the 1994 Canada’s National Sports Act kept lacrosse the national summer game but made hockey its national winter game