What was NOT an insult hurled among candidates at the third GOP presidential debate?
All of them. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
"Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber."
"Dick Cheney in three-inch heels."
"You're just scum."
they're all from prior debates
"Every time I hear you, I feel a little bit dumber," spoken by Nikki Haley at Vivek Ramaswamy, is from the second GOP debate. Ramaswamy returned the favor on Wednesday night, calling Haley and Ron DeSantis "Dick Cheney in three-inch heels," a reference to Haley's footwear and rumors that DeSantis sports heel lifts in his cowboy boots. (And to Cheney's bellicose foreign policy.) “They’re five-inch heels,” Haley replied, noting that they're "not for a fashion statement. They’re for ammunition.” She also called Ramaswamy "scum" when he referenced her daughter's alleged TikTok use.
The insulters and insultees. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
A tech startup immortalized in a TV series just filed for bankruptcy. What TV series?
Hint: This is from the answer. (Apple TV+)
The Playlist
WeCrashed
Super Pumped
The Dropout
It's WeCrashed, a 2022 series on Apple TV+ about WeWork, described by its founder as "the world's first physical social network." In the latest development in the coworking company's agonizingly drawn-out downfall, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. WeCrashed starred Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto. Theranos starred in The Dropout, Uber in Super Pumped and Spotify in The Playlist.
How much is that startup in the window? (Ted Shaffrey/AP)
Orcas sunk a yacht last week in the Strait of Gibraltar. What motivated their actions?
Random orcas in 2018. (Brian Gisborne/AP)
revenge
playfulness
boredom
only they know
Only the orcas know why they went after the yacht (the crew is safe, btw) or why the number of orca/boat encounters has jumped since 2020. While theories — including revenge — abound, 30 cetacean experts warned in an open letter this year that it's "unfounded and potentially harmful to the animals to claim [the behavior] is for revenge for past wrongs or to promote some other melodramatic storyline." So much for The Real Orcas of the Iberian Coast.
Which long-lived musical icon's new memoir is this from? "That's the way it's going to be for me. I will do that to people. I will make them angry."
This is Chita Rivera. She might be the answer. (Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)
Chita Rivera
Cher
Barbra Streisand
Dolly Parton
It's Barbra Streisand, writing in the 970-page My Name Is Barbra. Dolly Parton and Chita Rivera did publish memoirs this year: Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones and Chita: A Memoir. Of her own long-delayed memoir, in August Cher told The Hollywood Reporter "we’re so close."
Barbra and Spike Lee in 2019. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Democrats scored several wins in Tuesday's election. In which of these races did a Republican triumph?
Cherelle Parker, winner. (Matt Rourke/AP)
Philadelphia mayor
Mississippi governor
Kentucky governor
Virginia legislature
Republican incumbent Tate Reeves defeated Brandon Presley in Mississippi's closely-watched gubernatorial race. Cherelle Parker is the first woman to become Philadelphia's mayor. With all 140 legislative seats in Virginia up for grabs, voters flipped the House and kept the Senate under Democratic control. Democrat Andy Beshear kept his governorship of Kentucky.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, winner. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
An epaulette shark in an Illinois zoo produced a baby asexually. What else can epaulette sharks do?
The dad-free shark pup. (Jim Schulz/CZS-Brookfield Zoo)
walk on land
emit human-like cries
eat larger sharks
heat their blood
Epaulette sharks can use their fins to walk on the seafloor, on coral and on land. The Brookfield Zoo says the baby shark is the second known case of parthenogenesis in epaulette sharks at an accredited zoo or aquarium.
What's the obesity drug freshly approved by the FDA?
A boring sign. (Darron Cummings/AP)
Yogivey
Zepbound
Zapsprung
Waytophen
The Eli Lilly & Co. Drug Name Generator spat out Zepbound this time. A version of the drug is already sold as Mounjaro, approved to treat Type 2 diabetes.
In case you thought we were lying. (Eli Lilly & Co.)
What did the Smithsonian return to China via FedEx this week?
What's in there? (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
the first iPhone
ancient ceramics
some pandas
human bones
The Smithsonian's National Zoo shipped giant pandas Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Xiao Qi Ji to Chengdu, China, on Wednesday. The pandas were put in metal crates, trucked to the airport and loaded onto a panda-emblazoned FedEx Boeing 777 freighter. China first loaned pandas to the U.S. in 1972; it's not clear if another batch is in the cards.
The Panda Express departs. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
"I beseech you to control him if you can," said a judge in a courtroom. About whom?
Is Commander in court this week? (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Sam Bankman-Fried
Commander Biden
Donald Trump Jr.
Donald Trump
Judge Arthur Engoron said this to Donald Trump's attorneys in the New York civil fraud trial on Monday, in response to the former president's off-topic, rambling answers to questions.
Trump, après court. (Adam Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
Cirque du Soleil is developing a show based on country music. What Cirque theme failed to catch on?
You be you, Cirque du Soleil. (Nicky J Sims/Getty Images)
Elvis
Mexico
Lionel Messi
ice skating
Viva Elvis didn't meet sales expectations, and the Las Vegas show closed in 2012. Will this bode ill for the country music collab? As for the other answers, Messi10, Crystal and Luzia are still in production.
Cast members from "Viva Elvis" in 2010. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
VIRAL BIRD BONUS: Celebrity owl and zoo escapee Flaco was spotted outside New York's Central Park. What is NOT a danger to his life?
Flaco was in the East Village on Monday. (David Barrett)
traffic
rat poison
females of his species
all of those are dangers
Female Flacos are not a danger. Traffic and rat poison are more dangerous in the wider city; he eats rats and mice, but rodenticide use is more common outside the park, as are cars and other vehicles. Flaco probably left Central Park to seek a mate, to no avail: He's the only Eurasian eagle owl in the wild in North America. Wow. Downer.