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Last Week's Quiz

Created by T.J. Szafanski
Edited by Jonpaul Guinn

Read This First

  • Submit your answers by 3:03pm ET 11/26/25
  • Don't cheat. Cheating is bad. Using Google IS cheating.
  • Trivia graders don't care about spelling (but try your hardest)
  • No negative points for incorrect responses (so guess to your heart's content)
  • Email [email protected] for clarification on any questions

On November 18, 1985, a small boy and a tiger graced the comics section for the first time.

And now we’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of Bill Watterson’s creation, “Calvin and Hobbes.”



One of the hallmarks of the duo’s antics is Calvin using awfully big words for a six-year-old. We’re bringing just some of his vast vocabulary to you for some comic relief!

MISCELLANEOUS Q1. Confused Crying: It must be hard to cook if you “anthropomorphize your vegetables" is Calvin's confused takeaway after seeing his mom crying while she’s cutting up what kind of allium?



SPORTS & GAMES Q2. Learning Letters: Calvin complains that he only has consonants and can’t muster anything better than “be” and “in.” Hobbes drops “zygomorphic,” which means having bilateral symmetry, on a Triple Letter Score box. What game were the pair playing before Calvin rage quits and suggests poker instead?



WORD PLAY Q3. Vigorous Vocab: As readers, we witness plenty of Calvin’s hijinks, but Watterson also has a way of leaving some to our imagination, like the mysterious “noodle incident.” Or, when a strip ends with Calvin putting on a helmet and eye guard and declaring, “Today, I go for the gusto.” Gusto, which means enjoyment or vigor, is borrowed from what language that also gives us extravaganza, bravo, and some tasty pepperoni?



POP CULTURE Q4. Fleeting Feelings: Similar to how "The Office" used Jim Halpert’s knowing glances to the camera, Watterson would often follow up one of Calvin’s zany declarations with a pane of Hobbes’ reaction. Like when Calvin declares, "Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand ______!" What intense, fleeting feeling / title of an HBO emo drama fills in the blank?



WORD PLAY Q5. Sound Sounds: Wham! “Scientific Progress Goes Boink” is the title of one of the collection of strips published in 1991. Zap! The title comes from something Hobbes says after he presses the button on Calvin’s duplicator invention. Kapow! “Boink” is an example of what literary device where a word's pronunciation imitates its natural sound?



MISCELLANEOUS Q6. Anatomy Antics: Susie Derkins, much to her dismay, often has to endure Calvin’s gross lunch time antics. While he’s eating a “squid eyeball sandwich,” Calvin says he likes to suck out what scannable thin layer of tissue located behind the iris?



MISCELLANEOUS Q7. Somnambulist Snacks: When confronted by his parents about his behavior, Calvin often insists that he’s an innocent bystander and Hobbes is the one truly responsible. In one instance, Calvin calls Hobbes a "somnambulist" as he follows him to the kitchen in the middle of the night before the two are confronted by Calvin’s pajama-clad dad in the final pane. What activity do somnambulists engage in, whether they know it or not?



FINE ARTS Q8. Art Adjectives: Calvin calls one his snowman sculptures “Bourgeois Buffoon” and then uses what other French expression to define his innovative style of art? The hyphenated, two-word term has military roots but is frequently used to describe any weird or surreal work like a urinal sculpture, Beat poetry, or experimental film.



MISCELLANEOUS Q9. Veggie Vocab: In an effort to memorize words for his vocabulary homework, Calvin busts out his transmogrifier, and turns himself into an elephant because “elephants never forget.” But by the end of the strip, Hobbes is studying the vocab instead, and says that the beets he’s eating are “salubrious.” What does salubrious mean?
  Healthy
  Smelly
  Expensive
  Salty



MISCELLANEOUS Q10. Sled Sign-Offs: In the final strip of the series, the duo encounters a fresh sheet of snow and Calvin says “It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy…let’s go exploring!” before the pair take off on what long flat-bottomed sled with an upward curve at the front end?



TIEBREAKER Complete Collections: The biggest fans of the pair are owners of “The Complete Calvin and Hobbes,” a massive, 28-pound, three-volume collection that brings together every published strip. How many individual strips are there?

Quiz is closed and your answers are now locked! Graders are grading and results will be sent on 11/26/25