Quizzes & Puzzles Celebrate the Season With Our ‘Big Red Spirit’ Trivia Quiz! As temperatures drop and thoughts turn to football (and pumpkin spice lattes), we test how well you know your alma mater DIFFICULTY LEVEL: CHALLENGING (Kenneth Zirkel ’88 / Wikimedia Commons) Fall is in the air—time to test your Big Red spirit! How many of these 10 trivia questions can you answer? 1) What is the seating capacity of the Schoellkopf Crescent? 18,750 19,250 20,375 21,500 2) What Ivy team did the Big Red play in the legendary “Fifth Down” game of 1940? Dartmouth Harvard Penn Brown 3) In the late 19th century, Cornell’s red-and-white football uniforms reportedly inspired the logo of what company? Purina Coca-Cola Target Campbell’s Soup 4) Two verses of the “Alma Mater” are traditionally sung; how many verses does the song actually have? 3 4 5 6 5) How many feet beneath Alumni Field is the University’s particle accelerator? 10 40 100 400 6) Which football-themed movie includes a character who went to Cornell? “Any Given Sunday” “The Replacements” “Knute Rockne, All American” “Rudy” 7) After a career in the NFL, Big Red football star Ed Marinaro ’72, BS ’73, gained fame as an actor in what Eighties TV drama? “St. Elsewhere” “Miami Vice” “Hill Street Blues” “L.A. Law” 8) The song “Give My Regards to Davy” is named for the same person as what campus landmark? Hoy Field Lynah Rink Schoellkopf Crescent Teagle Hall 9) In 1915, live bear mascot "Touchdown I" was abducted by students at what Ivy rival (and its football team then lost to Cornell, ending a 30-game winning streak)? Penn Harvard Yale Columbia 10) The Cornell Chimes comprised how many bells when they first rang in 1868? How many are there today? 8 then; 19 now 9 then; 21 now 11 then; 18 now 12 then; 24 now Time’s up Published September 22, 2022 Comments Liv erskine, Class of 2026 23 Sep, 2022 None Reply Jim Morey, Class of 1990 27 Sep, 2022 “Tell all the pikers on the Hill, that I’ll be back again.” Reply Mike, Class of 1984 27 Sep, 2022 2 out of 10…. I never did well with Pop quizzes! Ha Reply Annette, Class of 1968 1 Oct, 2022 Yup, me too. Reply Tram N. An 2 Oct, 2022 Love the quiz’s encouraging words for a completely failing grade — 4 out of 10 correct but still gives me a smiley 😃 face: “Not bad—you’re mid-way up McGraw Tower!” Fond memories. Reply Jack salberg, Class of 1970 27 Sep, 2022 Just like the grading on a curve. 4 of 10 is a B+ ! Reply Bayla, Class of 1960 27 Sep, 2022 Gee, in my time, six out of 10 (my score) was a nice solid D 🙂 Grade Inflation strikes again! Then again, it could have been much worse, considering that most of my answers were half-educated guesses — which served me pretty well on multiple choice exams, back in the day 🙂 Reply Harry Petchesky, Class of 1959 27 Sep, 2022 Is this marked on a curve? If so what is my 7 worth? Reply Linda Jarschauer Johnson, Class of 1960 17 Oct, 2022 Better than I did, Harry. Only 6! Reply Roger Ferris, Class of 1970 27 Sep, 2022 Lucky guesses on 3 of my 5 correct answers. Reply Ann Rider, Class of 1964 27 Sep, 2022 I completely failed all the trivia ?s Reply Judith Barth, Class of 1969 27 Sep, 2022 3 out of 10 – better than I thought I might do! Love the comments on grading on a curve – saved me in a couple of classes (but not at Cornell! I don’t remember that being a ‘thing’ back when I was at Cornell. Reply Donald Koch, Class of 1974 27 Sep, 2022 7 ought to be an A – I only got 5 Reply Candi Dabi, Class of 1968 27 Sep, 2022 Oh, dear. I better go back to school…3 correct. My excuse is that too many questions were based on trivia “before my time” ! That seems to be the case for low scores from other young Alums. Reply Jake, Class of 2012 28 Sep, 2022 7 for 10…Not bad. I surely miss those trivia nights at Rulloff’s! Reply Dick Poznysz, Class of 1969 28 Sep, 2022 At least I found out how much I learned and retained in four years…..7 things. Reply Kent Yen, Class of 1994 29 Sep, 2022 I got 5 out of 10..higher than I thought. Reply Mark Steckel, Class of 1980 2 Oct, 2022 8 of 10! Some educated guesses- Thanks Ezra! That’s why I keep doing the NYTimes crossword–especially when alum Robyn Lipsky Weintraub ’91 constructs it! Reply Cindy DUke, Class of 1985 2 Oct, 2022 2/10- Please don’t take my diploma away! Reply Bob Morrison, Class of 1956 3 Oct, 2022 Too bad such Cornell trivia aren’t compiled, published, and distributed in a booklet to incoming freshmen along with other history of Cornell, the land it is on, and accompanying the words to the songs of Cornell. Reply Jose Bohorquez, Class of 2001 10 Oct, 2022 Too hard! Reply Lou Diamond, Class of 1992 17 Oct, 2022 “4” – KINDA DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF Reply Bill Welker, Class of 1973 17 Oct, 2022 6 out of 10…..that’s about right for me, just barely passing, could have been a physics prelim…… Reply Dan Allen, Class of 2000 17 Oct, 2023 I got the chimes question right, which is all I needed to save face given I was friends with 2 chimesmasters while a student 😉 Whoo! Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. 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