explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2922: Pub Trivia

2024-04-19T17:47:00Z

162.158.230.45: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2922
| date = April 19, 2024
| title = Pub Trivia
| image = pub_trivia_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x666px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Bonus question: Where is London located? (a) The British Isles (b) Great Britain and Northern Ireland (c) The UK (d) Europe (or 'the EU') (e) Greater London
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TRIVIA IS LATIN FOR THREE ROADS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Many pubs have trivia nights, where patrons form teams and compete to best answer questions about a range of topics. Cueball has apparently been hired by one bar to infiltrate other bars' quiz nights and write particularly bad questions for them, which he has accomplished using different strategies. The idea is that by making the trivia nights at other pubs horrible, he will drive business to the pub that hired him.

The comic shows [[Cueball]] reading off bad trivia questions which are either confusing, likely to provoke arguments, or don't have an answer.

1. Which member of {{w|BTS}} has a birthday this year?

Problem: multiple correct answers

BTS is a {{w|K-Pop}} group. Every member would have a birthday each year. In fact, all humans have a birthday every year. (Unless you were born on leap day and trying to be pedantic, or it was a year when {{w|Gregorian calendar|the calendar changed}}.) Since this comic was published in 2024, even the possible February 29 exception does not apply (and no BTS member was born on February 29).

A more usual type of question might be to ask which member celebrates a birthday in a given day, or which celebrates a particular milestone birthday in the current year.

2. How many sides does a {{w|platonic solid}} have?

Problem: multiple answers
Problem: ambiguous language

There are five {{w|Platonic solids}}, with 4, 6, 8, 12, or 20 faces (colloquially called sides) in {{w|Euclid|Euclidean}} {{w|Euclidean geometry|3-space}}. The solids have, respectively, 6, 12, 8, 30, and 30 edges (also occasionally called sides colloquially).

A more devious quizmaster might actually include this as a trick question with the correct answer being 'zero', since strictly speaking solids do not have 'sides'. However, on the basis of the other questions presented here it seems unlikely that Cueball intended for the question to be answerable in this (or any other) way, but a trick answer might be "one": the outside.

More usual questions might be "How many Platonic solids are there?" or "What is the highest number of faces on a Platonic solid?".

3. What is the smallest lake in the world?

Problem: arguable

Unknowable as there are many small bodies of water in the world, and determining which is the smallest while still being large enough to count as a {{w|lake}} is a complicated question. Further, the size of small lakes will fluctuate due to variability in precipitation, drought, etc. Some lakes only exist for brief periods (intermittent lakes).

An acceptable question might ask what is recognised by the Guinness World Records as the world's smallest lake (Benxi Lake in Liaoning Province of China which is only 15 m^2 in area).

4. Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks? {{w|Jaws (movie)|Jaws (1975)}} or {{w|Lincoln (movie)|Lincoln (2012)}}

Problem: trivial

Jaws is a famous movie about a killer shark, and features at least five fatal shark attacks. Lincoln is a movie about the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, containing zero shark attacks{{cn}}. Unlike the previous unanswerable questions, this is a question that no reasonable person could get wrong.

An actual quiz question might centre around how much the shark appears in Jaws (a surprisingly small amount). An actual comparison between the two movies might ask which won more Academy Awards.

5. How many planets were there originally?

Problem: ambiguous

The joke here is that "originally" is so poorly defined that it could mean anywhere from 0 (the number of planets in our solar system prior to formation of the solar system) to an unknown number in the billions (number of planets in the entire universe).
The ancient Greeks named seven planets: the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Eventually, it was decided that the Earth is also a planet, and that the Sun and the Moon were not. Uranus and Neptune were eventually discovered, followed by Ceres, Vesta, Juno, and Pallas, all of which were considered planets prior to the invention of the term "asteroid". Then Pluto was discovered, and the count of "planets" stabilized at 9 until 2006, when the discovery of Kuiper Belt objects larger than Pluto led to creation of the term "dwarf planet". This leaves us today with a solar system of 8 planets, 5 known dwarf planets, and countless asteroids and Kuiper belt objects. There are also thousands of known exoplanets (planets that orbit stars other than the sun).

6. What {{w|NFL}} player has scored the most points outside of a game?

Problem: unknowable

American football has a somewhat complicated scoring system, and record keeping involves (for instance) crediting the 6 points for a touchdown to both the receiver and the passer in some situations. This question does not address any of this complexity, but adds a new level of ambiguity as the "points" a player can score outside of a game are undefined. Is it any points scored in any game at all (e.g. Scrabble or Root) except football, or is it points that are not part of ''any'' game at all (e.g. "Wow, you made a good point, I need to reconsider my position")?

Normal questions might be about who scored the most points in a game, a season, or a career.

7. The {{w|Wright brothers}} built the first airplane. Who built the last one?

Problem: unknowable

Since airplanes are built continuously, there is no way to know who built the most recent one. The question also seems to be asking for a name, but modern airplanes are assembled by many people following set protocols rather than by a few individuals who also designed the plane. Alternatively, if 'the last one' means 'the last one ''ever''', then it probably hasn't been built yet (and hopefully won't be built for a long time).

The question's introduction is also wrong: the Wright Brothers managed the first sustained controlled flight of a powered heavier-than-air craft, but many others had built airplanes before them.

8. Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?

Problem: unknown, and possibly unknowable

This is {{w|Goldbach's conjecture|an open question}} in math.
Known as Goldbach's Conjecture, mathematicians widely believe that it is true, and it has held true for every number we've checked (and we've checked a great many numbers) but since {{w|almost all}} numbers have never been checked, we can't generalize that it will hold for ALL even numbers without proof. Since it is {{w|Gödel's incompleteness theorems|known}} that something can be true but impossible to prove or disprove, this may be the situation forever.

9. Not counting {{w|Canberra}}, what city is the capital of {{w|Australia}}?

Problem: no answer

Canberra is the only capital of Australia. Sydney is larger and possibly more famous, so that asking the capital of Australia would be a good trivia question: people who know their capitals would respond with Canberra and less knowledgeable people would incorrectly guess Sydney. Australia is divided into states and territories, each with its own capital, but this would leave multiple equally valid answers to the question. There is a cheeky answer too: "A".

Common questions similar to this might concern countries which have multiple capitals, where the capital has moved, or, as in this case, where it is not the most well known city in the country.

10. Who played the drums?

Problem: ambiguous

Lots of people have played {{w|drum|the drums}}{{cn}}, through the ages.
If this question asked who played the drums for a particular band or on a particular album, track, or performance, it would be an example of a good trivia question. As it is, it has many possible answers and no way to choose between them.

The alt-text bonus question: Where is {{w|London}} located? (a) The {{w|British Isles}} (b) {{w|Great Britain and Northern Ireland}} (c) The {{w|United Kingdom|UK}} (d) {{w|Europe}} (or 'the {{w|European Union|EU}}') (e) Greater London

Problem: multiple answers

All choices are technically correct as they are various geographical areas that include the city of London, England. (d) incorrectly conflates Europe, a geographical area that London is located in, with the EU, which the UK (and consequently London) has not been in since {{w|Brexit}} in 2020.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball holding a microphone and reading from a sheet of paper]:
:Welcome to pub trivia! Round one is 10 questions:

# Which member of BTS has a birthday this year?
# How many sides does a platonic solid have?
# What is the smallest lake in the world?
# Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks - ''Jaws'' (1975) or ''Lincoln'' (2012)?
# How many planets were there originally?
# What NFL player has scored the most points outside of a game?
# The Wright brothers built the first airplane. Who built the last one?
# Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?
# Not counting Canberra, what city is the capital of Australia?
# Who played the drums?

:[Caption below the panel]:
:A local pub trivia place hired me to run bad quizzes at competing bars.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category: American football]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]
[[Category: Geography]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Music]]

Talk:1799: Bad Map Projection: Time Zones

2017-02-16T02:07:35Z

162.158.230.45:

'''Notice''' The [[what if?]] {{what if|154|Coast-to-Coast Coasting}} came out February 8th, at the same time as [[1796]]. This was noted yesterday in the last comics discussion. For the first time in a year with less than two weeks between releases --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:27, 15 February 2017 (UTC)



"Screw Hawaii and the rest of the Pacific!" [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 04:56, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

It is actually way less distorting than I expected [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.239|141.101.104.239]] 06:38, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Aahhhh, why are Suriname and French Guiana switched? They have the same timezone ... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.150.22|162.158.150.22]] 06:52, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Can anyone explain why Russia has all the hills and valleys? East-west distortion I understand, but what is the reason for the north-south distortion? [[User:Nonnal|Nonnal]] ([[User talk:Nonnal|talk]]) 07:06, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

:I actually know this one - Russia has 11 timezones, but some of these form "islands" in the South of the country. From West to East, the North has: (+2 Kaliningrad), +3, +5, +7,+9, +10, +11, +12. Going West to East through the South adds back in +4 (Samara), +6 (Omsk), and +8 (Irkutsk), each corresponding to one of the "dips" in the projection. [[User:Atmarsden95|Atmarsden95]] ([[User talk:Atmarsden95|talk]]) 07:15, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Why is Morocco labeled as U.S. and the Sahrawi Republic as Morocco? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.88|141.101.88.88]] 07:24, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:That actually says "W.S", for Western Sahara, but either way I can't see a good reason for the inversion. Both are on UTC+0, and Morocco is on UTC+1 in summer, while WS doesn't use DST, apparently... So even if that was being taken into account, the countries are STILL the wrong way around. Possibly, this is related to the French Guiana/Suriname inversion. [[User:Atmarsden95|Atmarsden95]] ([[User talk:Atmarsden95|talk]]) 07:55, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

:And Western Sahara is the name used for the disputed area south of Marocco by the United Nations. The Sahrawi Republic have only limited recognition and does not control all of the disputed area. [[User:Pmakholm|Pmakholm]] ([[User talk:Pmakholm|talk]]) 07:59, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
::The switch is just a mistake, maybe caused by a map not depicting Western Sahara.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 09:06, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

It would be cool to see countries moving in and out of Daylight saving time. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.69.69|141.101.69.69]] 07:56, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
: I'd like that, too. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:42, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Why did he use 6 colors? And do the colors code for something? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.202.58|162.158.202.58]] 08:06, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
: I think it's just for easier depiction without any further meaning. It's like in 850, I think... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:42, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Should we replace the comic image with a bigger version? I've already uploaded the image: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/File:bad_map_projection_time_zones_2x.png [[User:SirKitKat|sirKitKat]] ([[User talk:SirKitKat|talk]]) 09:02, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Should we compile a table of oddities in the map?--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 09:07, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
: I think yes. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:12, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

So am I getting this correct? The map is made to be divided into timezones with perfect vertical borders and the countries are then distorted to fit perfectly within their timezones? Shouldn't Greenland then be "split" since it spreads from UTC-3 to UTC but is not actually using UTC-2? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.118|162.158.92.118]] 10:41, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
: Yes. But actually there should be connections since these parrts of Greenland are no separate landmasses. But the connections should be infinitesimally thin (but not of thickness 0) to be accurate. However the style these connection are made imply that they're just connection and no actual landmasses, I think... [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:59, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:: I have added Greenland to the table, please feel free to provide a more coherent wording if necessary, english is not my native language :) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.118|162.158.92.118]] 12:42, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Only for understanding to the image sizes: The image tag uses the ''srcset'' feature and the browser decides if ''bad_map_projection_time_zones.png'' or ''bad_map_projection_time_zones_2x.png'' is shown. At this comic there is also a link to the large version. But the ''srcset'' feature is not new at this comic. Look at the source:
<pre>
<a href="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bad_map_projection_time_zones_2x.png">
<img src="//imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bad_map_projection_time_zones.png"
title="This is probably the first projection in cartographic history that can be criticized for its disproportionate focus on Finland, Mongolia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo."
alt="Bad Map Projection: Time Zones"
srcset="//imgs.xkcd.com/comics/bad_map_projection_time_zones_2x.png 2x"/>
</a>
</pre>
--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 12:21, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:Thanks for explaining that. So this is just the first time that the large version is linked from the normal sized version. Is that then the explanation for the 2x images appearing in [[Garden]]? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:27, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
::The comic Garden is one of those rare dynamic comics. Each of them are different and in this case a javascript file called "linden.js" creates the picture. But the next one (https://xkcd.com/1664/) is like this one I wrote about. Go to that comic and use rigth-click -> view image (or whatever your browser says). If your display has a large resolution you will see the large picture, if not you will see the standard. But I don't know when this ''scrset'' feature was implemented for the first time. Early comics don't support this.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 14:55, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

The people from [[850]] should have a fun time with this.[[User:XFez|XFez]] ([[User talk:XFez|talk]]) 13:30, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

== Transcript TLDR; ==
I have started a discussion on this topic here: [[User_talk:Kynde#Transcript_TLDR.3B]]. I think I'm not the only one who wants the transcript to be short and only describing the essentials. Maybe we can define a Transcript-Guide.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 11:55, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:Thanks for letting me know about the comment in the previous comics discussion Dgbrt. I still disagree with you that we should not write down every word written in the comic even if it is not spoken. As else this comic would have none. But also the labels for the countries should be written down. But if that is as the end of the transcript, it would not trouble the reader! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:27, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
::I added the names of the countries before noticing this discussion as I wanted to remove the incomplete tag, I apologize if I inconvenienced anyone due to this. IMO the text written in the comic deserves a mention but should be formatted in a way it doesn't bother those who don't need it. The text inside the square brackets should be kept concise.[[User:Asdf|Asdf]] ([[User talk:Asdf|talk]]) 18:48, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
:::I shortened the description on top by a few words. The countries for each continent are now in one line. I added the incomplete tag again because the discussion is probably not finished. Feel free to remove this tag.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:39, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

== Labelled time zones ==

I created a map overlaid with more obvious time zone divisions, labelled with some of that zone's more popular abbreviations. Tried to keep 'em to Standard Time rather than Daylight. [http://i.imgur.com/L44ruPy.png Seen here.] --[[User:VonAether|VonAether]] ([[User talk:VonAether|talk]]) 17:39, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Palawan is missing again?--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.230.45|162.158.230.45]] 02:07, 16 February 2017 (UTC)