1. Blue
   Green
2. Red
   Yellow

Red is associated with Communist nations of past and present -- notably, the USSR and China. However, this is a fairly recent development -- red has long been a favored color in flags for countries of all political persuasions.

1. Germany
   France
2. Russia
   Ukraine

The Weimar Republic was the government that preceded Adolf Hitler's. It was named for the city were its first constitutional convention was held.

1. The compass
   The hull
2. The rudder
   The sails

The rudder is the strong underwater blade that makes the boat "yaw" in the water, or turn left or right without leaning. Fun fact: Swimming dogs, like Labradors, use their tails as a rudder!

1. Declension
   Erosion
2. Grating
   Silting

If you're outdoorsy, you've probably explored caves made by wind erosion. This is one of the more common terms from geology.

1. Hieronymous Bosch
   Pieter Brueghel the Elder
2. Michelangelo
   Jackson Pollock

The Sistine Chapel painter's full name was Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. It's no wonder we just call him "Michelangelo." Meanwhile, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is only known by "Caravaggio."

1. Austria
   Germany
2. Bulgaria
   Montenegro

Classical music lovers flock to Vienna to see the city where Mozart, Lizst, Beethoven, Strauss and more lived and worked. Vienna is also the city that gave the world Sigmund Freud (though not everyone would thank the Austrian capital for that!)

1. Earthquakes
   Gems
2. Clouds
   Extinct animals

You probably knew this if you live in a coastal region, where earthquakes are common. However, inland regions aren't immune from seismic activity, at least not entirely.

1. Gary Cooper
   William Holden
2. James Stewart
   John Wayne

Holden holds this distinction. If you knew this, you're likely to also know that Elizabeth Taylor was the first woman to be paid the same amount, for "Cleopatra."

1. Core
   Crust
2. Mantle
   Terrestria

Geologists roughly divide the Earth into core, mantle and crust (going from center to exterior). "Terrestria" isn't part of that system, though we think it'd make a good name for a country in a fantasy paperback.

1. The Black Sea
   The Irish Sea
2. The Mediterranean Sea
   The Atlantic Ocean

"Mare nostrum" means "our sea," and reflects the dominance that ancient Rome had all through the lands surrounding it. It's a bit ironic, though, because Rome had a great army, but a terrible navy -- their history is full of losses in sea battles.

1. Diamond
   Lead
2. Silver
   Titanium

Despite the Sia song, titanium is not the hardest metal on the planet. Fun fact: Diamonds became popular for engagement rings because they were hard enough to stand up to daily wear, even during housework. It doesn't have anything to do with their value -- diamond is actually rather common.

1. Dawn
   Dusk
2. Midday
   Late night

This is a complicated word for a simple thing. While many animals are classified as "diurnal" or "nocturnal," a "crepuscular" animal comes out to hunt or graze at twilight.

1. Tris Prior
   Percy Jackson
2. Harry Potter
   Katniss Everdeen

Diagon Alley is a shopping district in the Harry Potter novels. It's where Hogwarts students buy their books and supplies.

1. Hugh B. Cave
   H.P. Lovecraft
2. Ursula Le Guin
   Aphra Behn

Lovecraft created a grand, terrifying "mythos" involving gods called "the Old Ones," which included Cthulhu and Yog-Soggoth. Horror writers set stories in his fantasy world to this day.

1. Debian
   Ubuntu
2. Unix
   Windows

UNIX came out of Bell Labs in the 1970s. Fun fact: The Mac operating system is actually UNIX-based.

1. Stephen Crane
   Ernest Hemingway
2. E.B White
   Walt Whitman

Crane was one of America's first practitioners of the style called naturalism. Though Crane had no military experience, he wrote a grippingly detailed story about the Civil War.

1. Abraham Lincoln
   Ulysses S. Grant
2. David Farragut
   William Sherman

There's an old joke that says that Lee never meant to surrender. He was passing the Appomattox Court House and went in to use the bathroom. Inside, he saw an unkempt bearded man, assumed he was the janitor, and gave him his sword to hold. (This joke works better if you know that Ulysses Grant was pretty far from a sharp dresser.)

1. Heart
   Lower arm
2. Lower leg
   Upper leg

The femoral artery is named for the femur, which is commonly called the thigh bone. It's good that the femoral artery is deep inside the leg, and well-protected -- when breached, this large-bore artery can bleed out quite rapidly.

1. Theda Bara
   Hedy Lamarr
2. Gloria Swanson
   Gene Tierney

Fun fact: Hedy Lamarr was the inspiration for a villain on "Agent Carter." The character, Whitney Frost, was a Hollywood ingenue whose image belied her formidable brain and scientific skills.

1. Arachnology
   Ichythology
   Myrmecology
2. They are all taxonomic classifications.
   None of these are taxonomic classifications.

These are all fields of study. Though each of them involves animals, none are classifications. Those would involve an animal's kingdom, or phylum, or ... well, you get the point.

1. Jupiter
   Mars
2. The Moon
   Orion

At the present time, the InSight lander is on Mars. But the Viking crafts of the 1970s paved the way.

1. Peter Bogdanovich
   William Goldman
2. George Lucas
   Sylvester Stallone

Yup, Stallone was a struggling actor who decided he'd write the ideal role for himself. Then he had to fight to ensure the part wasn't given away to a big-name actor.

1. Bob Dole
   Elizabeth Dole
2. John McCain
   George W. Bush

Bob Dole was the Republican senator from Kansas. An older candidate, he was hindered by suggestions that he was too old to effectively lead America, compared to the younger Clinton.

1. Buddhism
   Jainism
2. Judaism
   Christianity

Nirvana is the idea of ultimate non-attachment, therefore peace, that a good Buddhist will achieve after death. If you haven't heard about the complicated journey that is the Buddhist afterlife, Google it -- it's remarkably complex and mythic.

1. Dwayne Johnson
   Samuel L. Jackson
2. Jet Li
   Kurt Russell

Director Quention Tarantino and Jackson -- who, we know, is more than just an action star -- evidently have a great working relationship. Jackson has appeared in several Tarantino films, but the role in "Kill Bill" was really just a cameo.

1. Endocrinology
   Hematology
2. Oncology
   Geriatrics

Hematologists study and treat blood cancers like leukemia and clotting disorders. The latter includes hemophilia and Von Willebrand disease.

1. Obadiah
   Deuteronomy
2. Revelation
   Acts of the Apostles

The full name is "The Revelation to St. John" (or "the apostle John"). Highly allegorical, it purports to tell the story of the coming end of the world.

1. Argentina
   Cuba
2. San Marino
   Spain

We know that "stewed beef and tomato" doesn't sound like an epicurean delight. But trust us -- you've gotta try it to really appreciate it!

1. Beach
   Five
2. Now
   Redux

"Slaughterhouse Five" is a story about war, with a strong anti-war message. A central event in it is the firebombing of Dresden in World War II.

1. Judaism
   Hinduism
2. Jainism
   Buddhism

These are also called the "613 mitzvot," with the latter word meaning good or righteous deeds. They are divided in several ways, including "positive" and "negative" commandments, commandments for men and for women, and so on.

1. Ashes
   Marble
2. Salt
   Butter

Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt in the Genesis story about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Her sin? Turning back to look behind her, which God had forbidden.

1. Gold was discovered there.
   Its prison hosts executions in California.
2. It was the location of the first movie shoot.
   It was the site of California's first mission.

San Quentin is a very small town north of San Francisco. It really only serves as a bedroom community for prison staff, some of whom work on "the Q's" death row.

1. Checkers
   Chess
2. Poker
   Twister

"Castling" is an unusual move in which you can move your king more than one space, and "jump" over the castle (aka rook) that will now be on the king's flank. It's a protective maneuver done early in the game.

1. Fates
   Furies
2. Graces
   Maenads

You might have been helped here if you've read Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" series, in which the Fates appear prominently. For those of you who haven't read it, here's the gen. Clotho, the youngest of the fates, spins the thread of a life; Lachesis, middle-aged, measures it out; and Atropos cuts it, creating death.

1. Accused witches
   German war criminals
2. Robber barons of the 1920s
   Soviet enemies of the people

At the Nuremberg trials, former Nazis were put on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Notably absent was Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler, all of whom had committed suicide as combat came to an end.