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General Knowledge Misconceptions - 5 Whammies

Do you know the answers to these general knowledge questions? Or do you just THINK you know the answers? Be careful, all 15 questions are meant to penalize you for answering the “obvious” but incorrect answer.
Quiz by
Dimby
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Last updated: November 30, 2025
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First submittedAugust 20, 2025
Times taken680
Average score46.7%
Rating5.00
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Hint
Answer
Explanation
What is Australia’s national capital?
Canberra
Sydney and Melbourne are just its biggest cities.
What colour is the sun?
White
The white light of the sun is refracted in our atmosphere, making the sun appear yellow in the sky.
What is the largest human organ?
Skin
Skin makes up around 20% of a person’s weight.
Who’s the most recent Queen of the United Kingdom?
Camilla
While not the reigning monarch, she is still Queen Camilla.
How were “witches” executed at the Salem Witch Trials?
Hanging
19 were hanged and one baller was crushed. No burnings.
What animal transmitted plague bacteria to humans in the Black Plague?
Fleas
Rats carried the fleas, and then fleas infected humans.
In what country did the term “soccer” arise?
United Kingdom
It comes from a shortening of “football asSOCiation”.
Who was the first European to land in the Americas?
Leif Erikson
Erikson landed in Newfoundland around 1000 CE, long before Columbus.
From 1979-1999, what planet of the Solar System was thought to be farthest from the Sun?
Neptune
Pluto’s eccentric orbit made it cross Neptune’s orbit, making Pluto closer for those 20 years.
What country is home to the world’s biggest, most voluminous, pyramid?
Mexico
Cholula is much shorter than the pyramid at Giza, but its base is much, much larger.
Which human muscle produces the most force relative to its size?
Jaw
The masseter muscle that closes the jaw is stronger than the tongue.
What is the closest planet to Neptune by sheer physical distance on average?
Mercury
It seems wrong, but Neptune is closest to Mercury 47% of the time. Mercury is on average closest to all 7 other planets!
Which country in North America is closest to Africa?
Canada
The eastern tip of Newfoundland is only about 3200 kilometres away.
After nitrogen and oxygen, what is the most common gas in the atmosphere?
Argon
Argon is 0.9% of the atmosphere, while carbon dioxide is under 0.1%.
What shape did ancient Greeks think the earth was?
Sphere
Ancient Greeks actually demonstrated that the earth was round using math and such.
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17 Comments
+1
Level 73
Aug 20, 2025
I have just a few nitpicks. I think 'Elizabeth' alone should count as a whammy for Q4 and 'Flea' singular should be accepted for Q6.

Overall, lovely quiz!

+3
Level 83
Aug 20, 2025
Thanks! Implemented both suggestions.
+3
Level 83
Aug 20, 2025
Kept typing variations on zero or nothing cause I thought the question was "how many witches were burnt"

Great quiz!

+2
Level 63
Aug 21, 2025
Same here!
+1
Level 77
Aug 20, 2025
5 Whammies seem unnecessarily kind of you. Especially since you can at most get one per question. I think they would serve a better purpose if only one or two were allowed and then one can just do the questions one is sure about first and take the chance on the others.
+2
Level 83
Aug 20, 2025
Perhaps. Almost no one is getting 100%, however, and the average score is 66%. Seems like a good average.
+4
Level 68
Aug 21, 2025
Egypt didn't whammy me. But USA did

Love this idea, would totally play more of these

+1
Level 55
Aug 24, 2025
Its cholula not chulalo
+1
Level 83
Aug 24, 2025
Quite right, thanks
+2
Level 73
Aug 26, 2025
Queen Elizabeth is the most recent queen of the United Kingdom. Queen Camilla's title is "Queen Consort", which is entirely different from "Queen", and she would surely be corrected if she referred to herself as the Queen of the United Kingdom.
+2
Level 83
Aug 26, 2025
Nope. Her title is Queen of the United Kingdom, even as a consort. This has always been the title of the queen consort. Of course, you could just look this up.
+1
Level 59
Aug 26, 2025
Absolutely lovely quiz--it had the best new info I've encountered all month.

Please add "pressing" as a type-in for the Salem trials.

+1
Level 83
Aug 26, 2025
Thanks! Only one person was actually pressed, but whatever, if you know someone was pressed you probably know most people were hanged. Added pressing. 👍
+3
Level 79
Aug 27, 2025
can you accept "globe"? it's how i'd refer to the shape of the earth
+1
Level 71
Nov 30, 2025
Maybe add more typins for the witch one?

I tried 'burning at the stake' and stuff like that, and had no whammies taken away.

Also add 'drowning' as witch trials in medieval places did that apparently. I didn't get whammies for guessing that.

+2
Level 83
Nov 30, 2025
Good points. Changed the regex to accept anything with “burn” in it at all and added drowning.
+2
Level 45
Dec 5, 2025
where is the Africa side of closest distance to North America. I've checked on Google maps and the gap seems larger than you said unless you count Portugese islands. Barbados to cape Verde seems smaller than Canada to morocco or Western Sahara