THE MIDWEST
IDIOMS
BOSTON
WHERE ARE YOU?

WINNING THROUGH ALLITERATION
100

What two cities make up Minnesota’s Twin Cities?

Minneapolis and St. Paul

100

You can tighten this article of clothing … or you can get hit below it.

Belt

100

Because Puritan women didn’t cook on the Sabbath, they often baked this staple dish the night before, earning Boston one of its most recognizable nicknames.

Beans (Beantown)

100

Where would you be if you attended a Nobel Prize in Physics ceremony?

Stockholm, Sweden. (Noble Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Literature are all awarded in Stockholm; the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.)

100

The 1933 film about this big ape won no Oscars, but both remakes did for their effects

King Kong

200

This controversial labor leader, missing since 1975, was born in 1913 in Brazil, Indiana. At eleven, his family moved to Detroit, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Jimmy Hoffa

200

You can keep a straight one of these … or you can fall flat on it.

Your Face

200

From Boston Common to the Bunker Hill Monument, this 2.5 mile-long walking path passes by or through at least 16 locations that are significant to the history of the United States.

The Freedom Trail

200

Where would you be if you visited the Acropolis?

Athens, Greece

200

President Bartlet won a different election as this show was Emmy's top drama series for 2003

The West Wing

300

Famous sons of this quintessentially Midwestern state include Fred Astaire, Henry Fonda, and Johnny Carson.

Nebraska

300

You can go forward with this kind of light … or you can garden with this kind of thumb.

Green

300

This ensemble cast TV show from the 1980s was set not in one of Boston’s world famous, first-class hospitals, but rather in a fictional, run-down hospital called St. Eligius.

St. Elsewhere

300

Where would you be if you went to see Stonehenge?

England (to be precise, on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, roughly two hours southwest of London)

300

This racehorse won the 1977 Triple Crown

Seattle Slew

400

Only in the Midwest can you travel though three contiguous states that begin with the same first letter. What are they?

Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa (going from east to west)

400

You can find one of these in a hat … or on a hot tin roof.

Cat

400

On April 18, 1775, the sexton of Boston’s North Church climbed up to the steeple to send a “code of lights” to colonial Patriots letting know which route British soldiers were planning to take from Boston into the surrounding countryside. According to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1860 poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” what was that famous eight-word code?

“One if by land, two if by sea” (referring to the number of lights to be lit)

400

Where would you be if you entered the Forbidden City?

Beijing, China

400

She's the most powerful female superhero; her lasso of truth will keep you honest

Wonder Woman

500

With a population of nearly three million, Chicago is by far the most populous city in the America Midwest. Other than Chicago, can you name four of the ten most populous Midwestern cities?

 Columbus, OH; Indianapolis, IN; Detroit, MI; Milwaukee, WI; Kansas City, MO; Omaha, NE; Minneapolis, MN; Wichita, KS; Cleveland, OH. (Note: St. Louis, MO; Lincoln, NE; Toledo, OH; and Madison, WI follow the top ten.)

500

You can have blood on this … or a bird in this.

Your hand(s)

500

This coach, always with a cigar in the corner of his mouth, led the Boston Celtics to eight NBA championships from 1959 to 1966.

Red Auerbach

500

Where would you be if you visited the Hagia Sophia?

Istanbul, Turkey

500

Mr. Miyagi taught his pupil Daniel to "wax on, wax off" in this award winner from 1984

the Karate Kid