Hard Trivia Questions

Hard trivia questions and answers: tap one of four close choices to see the answer and why.

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Under standard conditions, which is the least dense metal?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with any school, exam board or quiz show. Bank checked October 2, 2026.

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How it works

These hard trivia questions are general knowledge for a table that finds the usual quiz too easy: science, geography, history, words, nature and numbers. Every question has four close choices, one right answer and a line that says why.

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Difficult trivia questions in six topics

Science asks what the katal measures. Geography goes to Ngerulmud and Mount Erebus. History runs from Göbekli Tepe to the Tennis Court Oath. Words and language has zugzwang and tsundoku. Nature meets the hoatzin and the markhor. Numbers and measures counts in picas, gradians and lustrums.

Obscure trivia questions and answers on a printed sheet

Finish a set of ten. The end card has Print question sheet, a mixed sheet of 20. Open More options for Print answer key, or to pick one Topic first.

Tips
  • The hardest trivia questions, by our estimate, are in History: Linear B, the Kalmar Union and the Year of the Four Emperors.
  • Numbers and measures is the gentlest topic, by our estimate: furlongs, fathoms, the stone and the hand.

Questions and answers

What is the hardest trivia question?

There is no agreed hardest one: hard depends on who is at the table. In this pack, by our estimate, the hardest ask for one obscure name, such as the SI unit of catalytic activity or the seat of government of Palau.

Are these college level trivia questions?

They follow no course or exam. Hard here means a fact most adults have not met, or have met once: the third script on the Rosetta Stone, or the Sumerian city where Gilgamesh was king.

What is the densest element?

Osmium is a hard, brittle, blue-gray metal and the densest stable element, about twice as dense as lead. It is one of the questions in Science.

How were the answers checked?

Each answer agrees with a sentence in the article linked under it, read on October 2, 2026. Figures that change by year, such as prices, and living people are left out.

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All 105 questions with answers

Science 18

  • A Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is a scatter plot of which objects? Answer: Stars. Source: Wikipedia: Hertzsprung–Russell diagram
  • The candela is the SI base unit of what? Answer: Luminous intensity. Source: Wikipedia: Candela
  • The Chandrasekhar limit is the greatest mass a stable white dwarf star can have. About how many times the mass of the Sun is it? Answer: About 1.4. Source: Wikipedia: Chandrasekhar limit
  • The element meitnerium is named after which physicist? Answer: Lise Meitner. Source: Wikipedia: Meitnerium
  • The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is widely used in research. How many pairs of chromosomes has it? Answer: Four. Source: Wikipedia: Drosophila melanogaster
  • In a system of two large orbiting bodies, how many Lagrange points are there? Answer: Five. Source: Wikipedia: Lagrange point
  • Inside the Roche limit, what happens to a moon that is held together only by its own gravity? Answer: It is pulled apart by tidal forces. Source: Wikipedia: Roche limit
  • One siemens, the SI unit of electrical conductance, is the reciprocal of one ohm. By which other name is the unit known? Answer: The mho. Source: Wikipedia: Siemens (unit)
  • Only one moon is known to have a dense atmosphere, denser than the Earth's. Which moon? Answer: Titan. Source: Wikipedia: Titan (moon)
  • Silicate minerals make up more than 90 percent of the Earth's crust. Which element does that make the second most abundant in the crust? Answer: Silicon. Source: Wikipedia: Silicon
  • The symbol for tungsten is W. Which other name for the element does the letter come from? Answer: Wolfram. Source: Wikipedia: Tungsten
  • Under standard conditions, which is the least dense metal? Answer: Lithium. Source: Wikipedia: Lithium
  • What does the katal, a unit of the SI, measure? Answer: Catalytic activity. Source: Wikipedia: Katal
  • What quantity is measured in grays? Answer: Absorbed dose of radiation. Source: Wikipedia: Gray (unit)
  • What quantity is measured in teslas? Answer: Magnetic flux density. Source: Wikipedia: Tesla (unit)
  • Which element has the atomic number 118? Answer: Oganesson. Source: Wikipedia: Oganesson
  • Which is the densest stable element? Answer: Osmium. Source: Wikipedia: Osmium
  • Which particle carries the strong force that binds quarks together? Answer: The gluon. Source: Wikipedia: Gluon

Geography 17

  • Among freshwater lakes, which is the world's longest? Answer: Lake Tanganyika. Source: Wikipedia: Lake Tanganyika
  • The Aral Sea lay between which two countries? Answer: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Source: Wikipedia: Aral Sea
  • The Bab al-Mandab Strait, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, joins the Red Sea to which gulf? Answer: The Gulf of Aden. Source: Wikipedia: Bab al-Mandab Strait
  • The Danube passes through or touches the borders of how many countries? Answer: 10. Source: Wikipedia: Danube
  • The Darién Gap is a remote, roadless area of rainforest on the border between which two countries? Answer: Panama and Colombia. Source: Wikipedia: Darién Gap
  • Lake Vostok is the largest of the known subglacial lakes of which continent? Answer: Antarctica. Source: Wikipedia: Lake Vostok
  • Ngerulmud is the seat of government of which Pacific island country? Answer: Palau. Source: Wikipedia: Ngerulmud
  • Ojos del Salado, the highest peak in Chile, holds which world record? Answer: It is the highest volcano on Earth. Source: Wikipedia: Ojos del Salado
  • The Okavango Delta, a vast inland delta, lies in which country? Answer: Botswana. Source: Wikipedia: Okavango Delta
  • Thimphu replaced the ancient capital Punakha in 1955. Of which country is it the capital? Answer: Bhutan. Source: Wikipedia: Thimphu
  • The Wallace Line separates the biogeographic realm of Asia from a transitional zone toward Australia. What is that zone called? Answer: Wallacea. Source: Wikipedia: Wallace Line
  • Wellington holds which record among the capitals of sovereign states? Answer: It is the southernmost. Source: Wikipedia: Wellington
  • Which African country, the tenth largest in the world, is the largest on its continent? Answer: Algeria. Source: Wikipedia: Algeria
  • Which is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 meters? Answer: Lesotho. Source: Wikipedia: Lesotho
  • Which is the smallest country on the mainland of Africa? Answer: The Gambia. Source: Wikipedia: The Gambia
  • Which is the southernmost active volcano on Earth? Answer: Mount Erebus. Source: Wikipedia: Mount Erebus
  • Which island in the South Atlantic is considered the most remote inhabited place in the world? Answer: Tristan da Cunha. Source: Wikipedia: Tristan da Cunha

History 24

  • Angkor Wat was constructed between 1113 and 1150 during the reign of which Khmer king? Answer: Suryavarman II. Source: Wikipedia: Angkor Wat
  • The Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek device, was retrieved in 1901 from which kind of place? Answer: A shipwreck. Source: Wikipedia: Antikythera mechanism
  • By legend, Carthage was founded by Queen Dido, who came from which Phoenician city? Answer: Tyre. Source: Wikipedia: Carthage
  • The clay-tablet library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal was found in the ruins of which city? Answer: Nineveh. Source: Wikipedia: Library of Ashurbanipal
  • The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was a statue of which god? Answer: Helios. Source: Wikipedia: Colossus of Rhodes
  • The East-West Schism is the break between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. To which year is it dated? Answer: 1054. Source: Wikipedia: East–West Schism
  • From 1397 the Kalmar Union joined Denmark and Norway under one monarch with which other kingdom? Answer: Sweden. Source: Wikipedia: Kalmar Union
  • Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithic archaeological site whose name means Potbelly Hill, is in which modern country? Answer: Turkey. Source: Wikipedia: Göbekli Tepe
  • The Gutenberg Bible is also known by a number: the count of lines on its page. Which number? Answer: 42. Source: Wikipedia: Gutenberg Bible
  • Henry Dunant won the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. Which organization had he helped to found? Answer: The Red Cross. Source: Wikipedia: Henry Dunant
  • In the ancient epic that bears his name, Gilgamesh is king of which Sumerian city? Answer: Uruk. Source: Wikipedia: Gilgamesh
  • In which year did members of the French Third Estate take the Tennis Court Oath? Answer: 1789. Source: Wikipedia: Tennis Court Oath
  • In which year did the Meiji Restoration return rule in Japan to the emperor? Answer: 1868. Source: Wikipedia: Meiji Restoration
  • Louis XIV of France is the longest-reigning monarch in history. For how long did he reign? Answer: 72 years. Source: Wikipedia: Louis XIV
  • The name Silk Road was first popularized in 1877 by which German traveler, who made seven expeditions to China? Answer: Ferdinand von Richthofen. Source: Wikipedia: Silk Road
  • Rome's Year of the Four Emperors was which year? Answer: AD 69. Source: Wikipedia: Year of the Four Emperors
  • The Rosetta Stone carries one decree in three scripts: Egyptian hieroglyphs, Ancient Greek and which other? Answer: Demotic. Source: Wikipedia: Rosetta Stone
  • The ruin of the ancient city of Tikal is found in a rainforest in which country? Answer: Guatemala. Source: Wikipedia: Tikal
  • The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on February 6, 1840, by a consul for the British Crown and by Māori chiefs of which country? Answer: New Zealand. Source: Wikipedia: Treaty of Waitangi
  • Which French king signed the Edict of Nantes in 1598? Answer: Henry IV. Source: Wikipedia: Edict of Nantes
  • Which Spanish navigator is best known for completing the first circumnavigation of the Earth, in the ship Victoria? Answer: Juan Sebastián Elcano. Source: Wikipedia: Juan Sebastián Elcano
  • Which treaty of 1494 divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Portugal and Castile? Answer: The Treaty of Tordesillas. Source: Wikipedia: Treaty of Tordesillas
  • Who deciphered the script Linear B in 1952? Answer: Michael Ventris. Source: Wikipedia: Linear B
  • Who was the last reigning Byzantine emperor, from 1449 until the fall of Constantinople in 1453? Answer: Constantine XI Palaiologos. Source: Wikipedia: Constantine XI Palaiologos

Words and language 14

  • A kenning is a figure of speech. What does it put in place of a simple noun? Answer: A figurative compound term. Source: Wikipedia: Kenning
  • A malapropism is the use of a wrong word that sounds like the right one. The name comes from Mrs. Malaprop, a character in which play of 1775? Answer: The Rivals. Source: Wikipedia: Malapropism
  • A mondegreen is a misheard phrase or lyric. Which American writer coined the word in 1954? Answer: Sylvia Wright. Source: Wikipedia: Mondegreen
  • Boustrophedon is writing in which every other line runs the opposite way. Its Greek name compares it to the turning of which animal? Answer: An ox. Source: Wikipedia: Boustrophedon
  • Horace Walpole coined which word in 1754, from a Persian fairy tale about three princes? Answer: Serendipity. Source: Wikipedia: Serendipity
  • In typography, which sign is used to identify a paragraph? Answer: A pilcrow. Source: Wikipedia: Pilcrow
  • In which author's 1871 book was the word portmanteau first applied to a word that combines two others? Answer: Lewis Carroll. Source: Wikipedia: Portmanteau
  • Spoonerisms are named after William Archibald Spooner, a don of which university? Answer: Oxford. Source: Wikipedia: Spoonerism
  • Tsundoku is a Japanese word. What does it describe? Answer: Buying books and letting them pile up unread. Source: Wikipedia: Tsundoku
  • What is a lagniappe? Answer: A small gift a merchant gives a customer with a purchase. Source: Wikipedia: Lagniappe
  • What is the mark that joins a question mark and an exclamation point in one sign called? Answer: An interrobang. Source: Wikipedia: Interrobang
  • Which diacritical mark is a hook or tail added under a letter? Answer: A cedilla. Source: Wikipedia: Cedilla
  • Which is the only known language isolate in Europe, with no relation to any other known language? Answer: Basque. Source: Wikipedia: Basque language
  • Zugzwang is a chess term borrowed from German. What does it describe? Answer: Being forced to make a move that weakens your position. Source: Wikipedia: Zugzwang

Nature 16

  • The aye-aye of Madagascar, with its special thin middle finger, is what kind of animal? Answer: A lemur. Source: Wikipedia: Aye-aye
  • Beetles make up the order Coleoptera. What does the name describe? Answer: Sheathed wings. Source: Wikipedia: Beetle
  • The chicks of which bird are notable for having claws on two of their wing digits? Answer: The hoatzin. Source: Wikipedia: Hoatzin
  • The eight species of baobab, the genus Adansonia, are native to Africa, Madagascar and which other land? Answer: Australia. Source: Wikipedia: Adansonia
  • The first living coelacanth species was described from specimens fished from 1938 onward off the coast of which country? Answer: South Africa. Source: Wikipedia: Coelacanth
  • The lakes that were the natural home of the axolotl lay in an area now largely occupied by which city? Answer: Mexico City. Source: Wikipedia: Axolotl
  • The largest amphibians in the world are giant salamanders of which country? Answer: China. Source: Wikipedia: Chinese giant salamander
  • The markhor, also known as the screw-horned goat, is the national animal of which country? Answer: Pakistan. Source: Wikipedia: Markhor
  • Monotremes are the mammals that lay eggs. How many species of monotreme are living today? Answer: Five. Source: Wikipedia: Monotreme
  • The quokka lives on some small islands off the coast of Western Australia. Which one, just off Perth, is best known for it? Answer: Rottnest Island. Source: Wikipedia: Quokka
  • The Sirenia are an order of fully aquatic, plant-eating mammals. What are they commonly called? Answer: Sea cows. Source: Wikipedia: Sirenia
  • The tuatara of New Zealand looks like a lizard but is the only living member of which order? Answer: Rhynchocephalia. Source: Wikipedia: Tuatara
  • What is studied in oology? Answer: Birds' eggs. Source: Wikipedia: Oology
  • Where on its long beak are a kiwi's nostrils? Answer: At the end. Source: Wikipedia: Kiwi (bird)
  • Which is the smallest known living mammal by mass? Answer: The Etruscan shrew. Source: Wikipedia: Etruscan shrew
  • Which primates have a toxic bite, a trait unique among the primates? Answer: Slow lorises. Source: Wikipedia: Slow loris

Numbers and measures 16

  • A fathom, used to measure the depth of water, is how many feet? Answer: 6. Source: Wikipedia: Fathom
  • A furlong is what fraction of a mile? Answer: One eighth. Source: Wikipedia: Furlong
  • A sheet of A4 paper is 297 millimeters long. How wide is it? Answer: 210 millimeters. Source: Wikipedia: International standard paper sizes
  • Euler's number, the base of natural logarithms, is close to which value? Answer: 2.718. Source: Wikipedia: E (mathematical constant)
  • The golden ratio is close to which value? Answer: 1.618. Source: Wikipedia: Golden ratio
  • The height of a horse is measured in hands. How many inches is one hand? Answer: 4. Source: Wikipedia: Hand (unit)
  • How many gradians make a full turn? Answer: 400. Source: Wikipedia: Gradian
  • How many troy ounces make a troy pound? Answer: 12. Source: Wikipedia: Troy weight
  • In ancient Rome, a lustrum was a period of how many years? Answer: Five. Source: Wikipedia: Lustrum
  • In computing, a nibble is how many bits? Answer: Four. Source: Wikipedia: Nibble
  • In typography, how many points make one pica? Answer: 12. Source: Wikipedia: Pica (unit)
  • Liber Abaci, a Latin work on arithmetic of 1202, was written by Leonardo of Pisa. By which name is he known? Answer: Fibonacci. Source: Wikipedia: Liber Abaci
  • On land, the old unit called a league was usually about how many miles? Answer: Three. Source: Wikipedia: League (unit)
  • Sexagesimal is a numeral system with which number as its base? Answer: 60. Source: Wikipedia: Sexagesimal
  • The stone is a British unit of mass. How many pounds make one stone? Answer: 14. Source: Wikipedia: Stone (unit)
  • The surveyor's chain is a unit of length equal to how many yards? Answer: 22. Source: Wikipedia: Chain (unit)
How this list was compiled

Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Every question, wrong choice and explanation is our own wording. Each answer agrees with a sentence in the English Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org, text under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license) named and linked beside the question, read on 2026-10-02; every extra claim in an explanation was read the same day on that page. Left out on purpose: living people, prices and other figures that change by year, and film, television, brand and league names. Facts that the site's other general, science, history, geography and school packs already ask, the same way round or turned round, were dropped after a comparison with every list on the site, so no question here repeats one of theirs word for word as they stood on 2026-10-02. Hard is our estimate for a table of adults: a question is here because most players will not have met its answer, or will have met it once. Each topic is stored with its less obscure questions first. Licence: own work