Koinonia of Springfield
Puzzles

(1) There's one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contestants. What is it?

(2) What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?

(3) Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?

(4) At noon and midnight the hour and minute hands are exactly coincident with each other. How many other times between noon and midnight do the hour and minute hands cross?

(5) What is the only sport in which the ball is always in the possession of the team on defense, and the offensive team can score without touching the ball?

(6) What fruit has its seeds on the outside?

(7) In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?

(8) Only three words in standard English begin with the letters "dw". They are all common. Name two of them.

(9) There are fourteen punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name half of them?

(10) Where are the lakes that are referred to in the "Los Angeles Lakers"?

(11) There are seven ways a baseball player can legally reach first base without getting a hit. Taking a base on balls - a walk - is one way. Name the other six.

(12) It's the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form but fresh. What is it?

(13) How is it possible for a pitcher to make four or more strikeouts in one inning?

(14) Name six or more things that you can wear on your feet, that begin with the letter "s".

ANSWERS:
(1) Boxing.
(2) Niagara Falls. The rim is worn down about 2 and a half feet each year because of the millions of gallons of water that rush over it every minute.

(3) Asparagus and rhubarb.

(4) Ten times (not eleven, as most people seem to think).

(5) Baseball.

(6) Strawberry.

(7) The pear grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the whole growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.

(8) Dwarf, dwell, and dwindle.

(9) Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation marks, brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.

(10) In Minnesota. The team was originally known as the Minneapolis Lakers, and kept the name when they moved west.

(11) Batter hit by a pitch; passed ball; catcher interference; catcher drops third strike; fielder's choice; and being designated as a pinch runner.

(12) Lettuce.

(13) If the catcher drops a called third strike, and doesn't throw the batter out at first base, the runner is safe.

(14) Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, snowshoes, stockings, and so on.