RICRAC #9
October 10, 2026
Before you read the answers below.
In Scrabble, how many bonus points do you get for playing all 7 of your tiles at once?
Answer: 50 points
It's called a 'bingo' in North America and a 'bonus' or 'scrabble' in other countries.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
How many squares are on a chessboard?
Answer: 64 squares
Hence the rice legend: one grain on the first square, two on the second, four on the third… The last one would need over 9 quintillion grains.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
How many medals did the United States win at the Paris 2024 Olympics?
Answer: 126 medals
40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
In 1945, Mike, an American chicken, survived having his head chopped off. How many months did he live without it?
Answer: 18 months
The axe had missed his brain stem. His owner fed him with a dropper and toured him around sideshows.
Source: en.wikipedia.org (Guinness record for the longest-surviving headless chicken.)
How many times could light travel around the Earth in one second?
Answer: 7.5 times
It covers nearly 186,411 mi every second, and the Earth's circumference is about 24,901 mi.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
A supercolony of Argentine ants stretches along Europe's coast. Over how many kilometers?
Answer: 3,728 miles
From Italy to Portugal: billions of ants that don't fight each other, acting like one giant colony.
Source: sciencenews.org
How many languages may be spoken in New York City, the most linguistically diverse city on Earth?
Answer: 800 languages
According to the Endangered Language Alliance. Many are endangered languages with only a handful of speakers left worldwide.
Source: en.wikipedia.org ('As many as 800'.)