Match Day 8 Overview

This match day spans astronomy, 1970s singer‑songwriter pop, basic math vocabulary, whisky geography and etymology, early colonial myths, and classic TV history. You were asked to recognize the Moon’s dark ‘seas’ (lunar maria), identify John Denver from biographical and lyrical clues, recall that a multiplicative inverse is usually called a reciprocal, spot the Gaelic word glen in Scotch whisky names, connect a Muisca gold ritual to the El Dorado legend, and place Edna Garrett in the spinoff The Facts of Life.

A unifying theme is how much hinges on names and language: the Latin mare names Imbrium, Serenitatis, Nectaris, Nubium, Tranquillitatis, and Humorum each denote specific lunar maria (‘seas’) on the Moon’s near side; John Denver chose his surname to honor Denver, the capital of the Colorado he celebrated in Rocky Mountain High; glen comes from Gaelic gleann, ‘valley’, and anchors many Scotch distillery names like Glenfiddich and Glenmorangie; and El Dorado originates from a Spanish phrase meaning ’the gilded’ or ‘golden one’ for a ruler covered in gold dust.

If some felt just out of reach, they are excellent review targets: familiarizing yourself with the main lunar maria and their Latin names, nailing core algebra terms like ‘reciprocal’, and cementing high‑yield pop‑culture anchors such as John Denver’s key songs and widely syndicated shows like The Facts of Life will pay off repeatedly. Noticing partial clues—like ‘Tranquillitatis’ echoing the Sea of Tranquility where Apollo 11 landed, or a 1979 sitcom about Mrs. Garrett leaving Diff’rent Strokes for an all‑girls school—can turn vague familiarity into confident, game‑winning pulls.

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Study Notes

Question 1: Lunar Maria (Seas of the Moon)

SCIENCE - Imbrium, Serenitatis, Nectaris, Nubium, Tranquillitatis, and Humorum are all names of what?

These are the Latin ‘mare’ names of six lunar maria, the dark ‘seas’ on the Moon that are actually vast plains of solidified basaltic lava: Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains), Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity), Mare Nectaris (Sea of Nectar), Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds), Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility), and Mare Humorum (Sea of Moisture).¹

• Reasoning Tips

  • A run of unfamiliar Latinized words ending in -um or -is, especially under a Science heading, is a strong signal for astronomical surface features; the Moon and Mars are the most common in trivia.
  • ‘Tranquillitatis’ is the key hook: it echoes ‘Sea of Tranquility’, the famous Apollo 11 landing region on Mare Tranquillitatis, which many players know from space history.
  • Once you see one ‘Sea of X’ connection, notice that the others all translate to calm or watery concepts (serenity, nectar, clouds, moisture), reinforcing that they are named ‘seas’.
  • Remember that maria (plural of mare) are large, dark basaltic plains on the Moon formed by ancient lava flows, not actual water, so astronomy questions may phrase them as ‘seas of the Moon’ rather than literal seas.

• Sources

  • Lunar mare – Wikipedia – Defines lunar maria as large, dark basaltic plains formed by ancient lava flows and explains the historical ‘seas’ terminology.
  • Moon – Wikipedia – Describes the maria as the dark plains visible to the naked eye and notes that mare is Latin for sea.
  • Moon Map 2025 Northern Hemisphere – NASA – NASA map that labels many maria, including Mare Imbrium, Serenitatis, Nectaris, Nubium, Tranquillitatis, Humorum, and gives their English ‘Sea of …’ names.
  • Lunar maria: a complete guide to the seas of the Moon – BBC Sky at Night – Provides a tour of major maria with Latin and English names and highlights Mare Tranquillitatis as the Apollo 11 landing site.

Question 2: John Denver’s Stage Name

POP MUSIC - What stage name was adopted by the musician who had hit songs in the early 1970s with lyrics referencing West Virginia and Colorado, and who was actually born in 1943 in Roswell, New Mexico?

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr., born in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1943, adopted the stage name John Denver after Denver, the capital of his favourite state Colorado, and scored early‑1970s hits such as Take Me Home, Country Roads (celebrating West Virginia) and Rocky Mountain High (inspired by Colorado and later made one of the state’s official songs).²

• Reasoning Tips

  • The pairing of West Virginia and Colorado in early‑1970s lyrics is a huge clue: it points almost uniquely to Take Me Home, Country Roads (West Virginia) and Rocky Mountain High (Colorado), both strongly associated with John Denver.
  • The biographical detail ‘born in 1943 in Roswell, New Mexico’ lets you confirm the hunch, since standard references list John Denver’s birth as December 31, 1943, in Roswell.
  • Remember that many musicians changed names for the stage; in this case, he chose ‘Denver’ specifically to reflect his love of Colorado and because his given surname Deutschendorf was seen as unwieldy on marquees.
  • For future questions, if a prompt mentions both Appalachian imagery and Colorado mountains, John Denver should be at the top of your mental shortlist.

• Sources

  • John Denver – Wikipedia – Provides his birth name, birth date, birthplace in Roswell, New Mexico, and overview of his career and signature songs.
  • Biography – John Denver (official site) – Explains that he took the stage name John Denver from the capital city of Colorado, his favourite state.
  • Who Was John Denver? – Colorado Music Hall of Fame – Discusses his adoption of the Denver surname to honor Colorado and notes his central connection to the state.
  • Take Me Home, Country Roads – Wikipedia – Details the 1971 single, its West Virginia imagery, chart performance, and later designation as a West Virginia state song.
  • Rocky Mountain High – Wikipedia – Covers the 1972 song’s inspiration from Colorado’s Rockies and its adoption in 2007 as one of Colorado’s two official state songs.

Question 3: Multiplicative Inverse / Reciprocal

MATH - The ‘multiplicative inverse’ of a real number is more commonly known by what name?

For a nonzero real number x, its multiplicative inverse is the number that, when multiplied by x, equals 1; this is more commonly called the reciprocal and is denoted 1/x or x⁻¹.³

• Reasoning Tips

  • Key on the word ‘multiplicative’: you are looking for an operation that undoes multiplication, not addition, so think of the number that brings the product back to 1.
  • In everyday math vocabulary, ‘inverse’ can be ambiguous (additive inverse is the negative, as in 5 and −5), but ‘reciprocal’ is almost always used for the multiplicative case, which is why the question says ‘more commonly known as’.
  • If you are unsure, test with simple examples in your head: the multiplicative inverse of 2 is the number that gives 1 when multiplied by 2, namely 1/2; that relationship is exactly what ‘reciprocal’ means.
  • In algebra and arithmetic questions, phrases like ‘divide by the reciprocal’ or ‘multiply by the reciprocal’ are signalling the same idea as taking a multiplicative inverse.

• Sources

  • Multiplicative inverse – Wikipedia – Gives the formal definition of multiplicative inverse, notation 1/x or x⁻¹, and notes that it is also called a reciprocal.
  • Multiplicative inverse – Merriam‑Webster Dictionary – Defines multiplicative inverse and explicitly notes ‘called also reciprocal’.
  • reciprocal – A Maths Dictionary for Kids – Child‑friendly reference that defines a reciprocal and states that it is also called the multiplicative inverse.

Question 4: ‘Glen’ in Scotch Whisky Names

FOOD/DRINK - What four-letter Scottish term, from Scottish Gaelic meaning ‘valley’, is used as a prefix in the names of dozens of Scotch whiskies?

The term is glen, from the Goidelic word gleann in Irish and Scottish Gaelic meaning a valley; many Scotch distilleries located in valleys adopt local glen names, giving famous brands like Glenfiddich (‘valley of the deer’), Glenlivet (named for the Livet valley), and Glenmorangie (‘valley of tranquility’).⁴

• Reasoning Tips

  • The clue explicitly mentions a Scottish Gaelic term meaning ‘valley’ and being a common whisky prefix; that combination is very characteristic of glen.
  • Even if you do not know Gaelic, you may have seen whisky labels such as Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Glenmorangie, GlenDronach, or Glenrothes; mentally stripping off the shared ‘Glen’ can help you surface the word.
  • Remember that glens are physical valleys in Scotland and Ireland, often with rivers that provide water for distilling; the geographic term migrated directly into brand names.
  • Trivia questions on whisky often test basic Gaelic building blocks: glen (valley), ben (mountain), loch (lake), and so on, so a small vocabulary pays disproportionate dividends.

• Sources

  • Glen – Wikipedia – Defines a glen as a type of valley and explains its Goidelic origins in words like gleann.
  • Scotch whisky glossary: Glen – Liquor.com – Notes that glen translates to ‘in the valley of’ in Gaelic and appears in many distillery names, including Glenfiddich.
  • Glenfiddich – Wikipedia – Single‑malt distillery whose name is explained as ‘valley of the deer’ in Scottish Gaelic.
  • Glenmorangie whisky distillery – Whiskipedia – Discusses the distillery name’s derivation from Gaelic phrases meaning ‘valley of calm’ or ‘valley of large meadows’, commonly marketed as ‘Glen of tranquility’.
  • The History of the Name ‘Glen’ – C.Gars Ltd – Explains how many Scotch distilleries are sited in glens and take their names from those valleys.

Question 5: El Dorado, the ‘Golden One’

WORLD HIST - Legends of an indigenous ruler in northwest South America who ritually coated his body in gold dust and plunged into a sacred lake gave rise to the belief in what mythical land?

These stories refer to El Dorado, originally a title meaning ’the gilded one’ or ’the golden one’ for a Muisca ruler near present‑day Bogotá who, according to 16th‑century Spanish accounts, was covered in gold dust and dived into a sacred lake such as Lake Guatavita during an accession ritual; over time the name shifted to a mythical city or land of immense riches somewhere in South America.⁵

• Reasoning Tips

  • Focus on the combination of clues: northwest South America, a ruler covered in gold dust, and a sacred lake are classic features of the El Dorado legend tied to the Muisca culture of the Colombian Andes.
  • Note that El Dorado began as a person (the gilded ruler) rather than a place; many history sources emphasise that the term later came to denote a city or country of gold, which fits the question’s ‘mythical land’.
  • Remember the lake detail: Lake Guatavita is frequently named as the ceremonial site where gold offerings and the golden ruler were immersed, so any reference to a gold‑covered chief diving into a lake should strongly suggest El Dorado.
  • Because El Dorado has become shorthand for any place of effortless wealth, trivia questions may cloak it in economic or metaphorical language (a ‘promised land’ of riches) rather than mentioning gold directly.

• Sources

  • Eldorado – Encyclopedia Britannica – Describes the original legend of a ruler coated in gold dust who plunged into Lake Guatavita and explains how the name later came to denote a whole golden country.
  • El Dorado – Wikipedia – Provides background on El Dorado as a mythical city of gold and traces the story to Muisca rituals involving a gold‑covered chief.
  • Lake Guatavita – Wikipedia – Explains the lake’s role as a sacred site for the Muisca and as a key inspiration for the El Dorado legend.
  • The real history behind El Dorado – National Geographic – Popular‑science account that discusses the ‘gilded man’ ritual and European expeditions seeking a city of gold.
  • Muisca raft – Wikipedia – Describes the famous golden raft artifact depicting a gold‑covered leader on a ceremonial raft, often linked to the El Dorado ritual at Lake Guatavita.

Question 6: ‘The Facts of Life’ Spinoff

TELEVISION - Edna Garrett, the Drummond family’s housekeeper on Diff’rent Strokes, left their Manhattan penthouse to become a housemother on what successful 1979 spinoff?

The show is The Facts of Life, a 1979 NBC sitcom spun off from Diff’rent Strokes in which Charlotte Rae’s character Mrs. Edna Garrett leaves the Drummonds’ Manhattan apartment to work as housemother (and later dietitian) at Eastland, a private all‑girls boarding school in Peekskill, New York.⁶

• Reasoning Tips

  • The category and date are strong clues: among late‑1970s sitcoms, The Facts of Life is the best‑known spinoff of Diff’rent Strokes.
  • Edna Garrett is the key proper noun; standard references describe her as Mr. Drummond’s housekeeper who leaves mid‑series to become a housemother and dietitian at the Eastland School, which is exactly the setup of The Facts of Life.
  • If you grew up with 80s reruns, visualising Mrs. Garrett surrounded by Blair, Tootie, Natalie, and Jo at a girls’ school can help bridge from the Diff’rent Strokes clue to the right title.
  • Note that Diff’rent Strokes had other connections and minor spin‑offs, but The Facts of Life is by far the most successful and longest‑running, which matches the question’s wording.

• Sources

  • The Facts of Life (TV series) – Wikipedia – Details the show’s 1979–1988 run, its origin as a Diff’rent Strokes spinoff, and Mrs. Garrett’s role as housemother and later dietitian at Eastland School in Peekskill.
  • List of Diff’rent Strokes characters – Wikipedia – Notes that Edna Garrett leaves her housekeeper job with the Drummonds to become housemother and dietitian at Eastland School.
  • List of media spin‑offs – Wikipedia – Includes The Facts of Life as a 1979 spin‑off from Diff’rent Strokes that ran for nine seasons.
  • ‘The Facts of Life’ cast: where are they now? – Entertainment Weekly – Popular article summarizing the show’s premise as following Mrs. Garrett at Eastland Academy and its long run.
  • Where Is ‘The Facts of Life’ Cast Now? – People – Provides additional confirmation of the spinoff relationship and Mrs. Garrett’s role.