OddThinking

I’ve just noticed that I have been mining a seam; standard trivia questions with answers that surprised me.

Let’s continue with some geography questions.

First, a legitimate trivia question for Australian residents about the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

Starting in Canberra, and heading due West, what Australian states do you pass through?

This paragraph is padding. It doesn’t actually say anything, but it gives the reader enough time to pause and decide if they are going to try to work out the answer on their own before reading on where there are some spoilers.

This is trivial to resolve this question with an atlas, but it is a difficult question to answer from memory.

Will the line pass through Victoria? (Is Canberra further North than Mildura?) Will the line pass through Western Australia? (Is Canberra further North than Albany?) Many people give the wrong answers to these questions.

After this question has been asked, there’s a follow-up – ideally asked at least half-an-hour later, so the difference in wording is less noticeable:

Starting in the ACT, and heading due East, what is the minimum set of Australian states do you have to pass through?

This paragraph is padding. It doesn’t actually say anything, but it gives the reader enough time to pause and decide if they are going to try to work out the answer on their own before reading on where there are some spoilers.

The answer is zero, and that leaves people very confused, and it can be fun watching them try to work it out.

At least, I thought the answer was zero. I only found out today that Jervis Bay hasn’t been part of the ACT, proper, for almost 20 years.

I need to update my trivia answers!