Skeleton Trivia for Wednesday, 2026-09-30
Rongorogono on a Goron gong in Ngorongoro
Hiya Skeleton Crew,
Happy Wednesday!
Answers to Last Time
- The mysteeeeeeeerious rongorongo glyphs I showed ya yesterday come from the Pacific island of Rapa Nui, a.k.a. Easter Island.
- If a mathematician or computer person ever mentions “postfix” notation to ya, make sure to say, “Oh, do ya mean ‘Reverse Polish’ notation?”
Today’s Trivias
Trivia 1
There was this amazin race they used to do on Rapa Nui, maybe ya’ve heard of it? Guys’d swim out to this li’l islet called Motu Nui, in a competition to bring back the first sooty tern egg of the season. If ya got the egg first, ya had to swim it back & climb up a sea cliff & hopefully not break the li’l thing (or, y’know, die). The winner’d be declared the tangata manu, which came with cool perks like free food & favors & a special ceremonial house where ya’d seclude yerself for months at a time. Nice!
The kinda crazy thing ’bout this race, in my opinion, is that the official contestants were NOT the guys who actually did all that swimmin & climbin. Instead, a contestant would appoint someone ELSE to do all that stuff on their behalf.
That’s right! Even though he didn’t do any of the real work, it was the manager who got all the credit. Ah jeez, don’t THAT sound familiar??
Anyways, can ya tell me what does tangata manu mean? Despite the usual English translation, I’m pretty sure neither Burt Lancaster nor Michael Keaton was ever involved in the competition.
Trivia 2
It seems like every other conversation I have these days is ’bout either (1) an undeciphered system of glyphs from a distant Polynesian island, or (2) a big volcanic caldera & its associated conservation area that’s home to the famous Olduvai Gorge, one of the cradles of human evolution. Which is to say, I’m CONSTANTLY gettin rongorongo & Ngorongoro confused with one another.
Can ya tell me what African nation is home to the Ngorongoro crater & Conservation Area?
OK then
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee