thumbnail

People Known by Initials

These people are known by initials instead of first names. For each selected person, guess the initials.
Answer must correspond to highlighted box
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Last updated: April 12, 2015
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedJune 3, 2012
Times taken21,057
Average score39.4%
Rating4.04
5:00
Enter answer here:
0
 / 33 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Initials
Surname
Clue
O.J.
Simpson
Criminal
P.T.
Barnum
Showman
J.K.
Rowling
Author
A.A.
Milne
Author
C.S.
Lewis
Author
J.D.
Salinger
Author
J.R.R.
Tolkien
Author
B.A.
Baracus
A-Team
E.B.
White
Author
W.H.
Auden
Poet
B.F.
Skinner
Scientist
Initials
Surname
Clue
T.E.
Lawrence
WWI
E.M.
Forster
Author
H.G.
Wells
Author
W.E.B.
Du Bois
Civil Rights
F.W.
de Klerk
South Africa
D.L.
Hughley
Comedian
J.J.
Abrams
Film Producer
W.C.
Fields
Comedian
E.E.
Cummings
Poet
P.G.
Wodehouse
Author
R.L.
Stine
Author
Initials
Surname
Clue
T.S.
Eliot
Poet
A.J.
Foyt
NASCAR
J.P.
Morgan
Financier
D.H.
Lawrence
Author
W.C.
Handy
Blues Music
P.J.
Harvey
Singer-songwriter
B.B.
King
Blues Music
k.d.
lang
Singer-songwriter
H.L.
Mencken
Journalist
W.B.
Yeats
Poet
H.P.
Lovecraft
Author
41 Comments
+1
Level 55
Jun 3, 2012
Yes, A. J. Foyt. Ironic because he is a 4-time winner of the Indy 500, one of the answers in yesterday's Indy 500 Winners quiz.
+3
Level 72
Nov 24, 2019
What is the irony?
+2
Level 32
Jun 3, 2012
T.H. ought to be accepted for author White.
+2
Level 92
Jun 2, 2013
Yeah, T.H. White is at least as famous an author as E.B. White. "The Once and Future King" is probably the most famous King Arthur story out there.
+1
Level ∞
Apr 6, 2015
Okay
+2
Level 81
May 30, 2015
I've read both authors before. I agree The Once and Future King is at least as famous as Charlotte's Web.
+1
Level 91
Jun 3, 2012
Is Stein a mistake for author R.L. Stine?
+2
Level ∞
Jun 3, 2012
Fixed. Thanks!
+2
Level 17
Jul 31, 2012
ugh...20% more people got jk rowling than jrr tolkien...that makes me mad cuz i'm a total LotR nut.
+1
Level 45
Aug 8, 2014
Yeah. Me too. And I'm also a Hairy Plotter TOTAL ARCHENEMY type, hence my refusal to afford them the dignity of their original names.
+5
Level 74
May 30, 2015
I love 'em both. What's wrong with that?
+2
Level 90
Nov 27, 2019
Never mind that they and Narnia dude in quick succession completely blow away people who matter like Bad Attitude Baracus and W.E.B. DuBois.
+1
Level 84
Jan 25, 2022
20 years on and they are both seriously overrated fantasy nonsense.
+4
Level 77
Oct 27, 2012
You should also have ee cummings with lower case letters, because he didn't use upper case either.
+5
Level 76
Jul 23, 2014
ee cummings also wrote his initials in lower case, the same way kd lang does
+3
Level ∞
Apr 6, 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings
+1
Level 75
Apr 23, 2024
I'm not sure what it said back then, but it currently reads "mainly known as e e cummings and also E. E. Cummings." So capitalization certainly isn't incorrect, strictly speaking... but it still might be the better way to go.
+1
Level 15
Aug 9, 2014
oj simpson should also be listed as a football player
+1
Level 94
Apr 7, 2015
Surely there's a mistake with Mr. Yeats? It's W.B. (William Butler), not Y.B., right?
+1
Level 92
Apr 8, 2015
Agreed - couldn't figure out how I missed that.
+1
Level 88
Apr 11, 2015
Who is Y.B. Yeats? The poet's name was William Butler Yeats.
+1
Level ∞
Apr 12, 2015
Fixed. Thanks!
+1
Level 66
May 30, 2015
nice quiz. like the oj descriptor!
+1
Level 65
May 30, 2015
OK, so this won't affect the "easy" answer, but I think it strange to use "NASCAR" as the clue for A.J. Foyt. Although he did compete in a limited way in NASCAR and with some success, he is much more renowned for his Indycar and sportscar racing career.
+1
Level 21
May 30, 2015
FDR and JFK should be on here!
+2
Level 83
Feb 26, 2017
I suppose they were "known by their initials" as the quiz title suggests, but they wouldn't fit in with the others. I don't know that anyone called them F.D. Roosevelt or J.F. Kennedy.
+1
Level 42
May 31, 2015
Never heard of PJ Harvey.
+1
Level 68
Jun 5, 2015
Sound on Sound, my friend.
+1
Level 86
Jun 1, 2015
The only reason I managed to get WC Handy, is because of the Marc Cohn song Walking in Memphis
+1
Level 12
Jul 9, 2017
Thank you, Time After Time, for reminding me what H.G. Wells' initials were...
+1
Level 73
Mar 3, 2018
Suggestion: Add I.M. Pei, and, if you don't mind adding more authors, you could put J.M. Barrie and L.M. Montgomery.
+1
Level 89
Apr 15, 2018
Ugh, I kept putting DH for Lawrence and wondering why it wasn't working.
+1
Level 80
Oct 14, 2019
Always wondered why someone whose initials were F.W. would choose to be known predominantly by those initials. :)
+1
Level 72
Nov 24, 2019
What?! How is lovecraft so low? I only got 9 but that was one of them (immediately without thinking) Cthulhu anyone?
+2
Level 88
Jan 20, 2020
Hahaha criminal is his profession
+3
Level 75
Jun 29, 2020
I can almost guarantee that most of the 2% who finished cheated.
+1
Level 80
Aug 30, 2022
You don't think 2% of people knew most of them, and/or took shots in the dark with the remaining time to ace the quiz?
+2
Level 79
Mar 7, 2023
No, we don't.
+1
Level 61
Oct 12, 2021
Slightly harsh to call Simpson a criminal. He was, in fact, famous before 'that incident'.
+2
Level 80
Aug 30, 2022
Don't make stupid decisions, I guess, and people won't forget about your former self.
+1
Level 80
Aug 30, 2022
Knowing virtually nothing about NASCAR, I took one crack at it, and got it right.