Feb 13, 2023 3 min read

It was overlooked by most media on Feb. 2, but Punxy Phil also saw my shadow and predicted that, within six weeks, I’d be running another of my popular “Test Your News IQ” quizzes. He was right, of course. See what you remember from recent news stories.

1) On Feb. 4, the U.S. shot down a huge balloon that China insisted was merely a weather monitoring device blown off course. But after retrieving remains of the balloon last week, what did the U.S. discover the balloon had carried?

a) Hunter Biden’s laptop and Hillary Clinton’s 30,000 missing emails.

b) U.S. classified documents contained in several hundred Trump Organization file boxes labeled: “Property of your favorite U.S. president, me.”

c) Electronic antennas that the U.S. said were likely capable of collecting communications.

d) New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick using a telephoto lens to photograph plays from Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett’s playbook.

2) Last week an exterminator in California responded to a customer’s complaint of small worms coming out of a wall in her home. When the exterminator cut a hole in the wall, what did he find inside?

a) Former “This Old House” host Bob Vila, who became trapped in the wall while remodeling the home in 2017.

b) Almost 700 pounds of acorns stored inside the wall by acorn woodpeckers, birds commonly found in the western U.S.

c) Handwritten lyrics to a draft version of the song “Woodstock,” by Joni Mitchell. They include a verse not used in the final version that begins, “By the time we got to Woodstock, we were running out of gas, and everywhere there was mud, so we said, ‘Forget it!’ …”

d) Seven unknown baseball players that the Pittsburgh Pirates signed immediately.

3) In an attempt to reduce player injuries at the Pro Bowl, the NFL instituted flag football this year in place of the regular, full-contact games of prior years. The revamped Pro Bowl Games included skills competitions as well as three, 7-on-7 flag football games pitting the AFC against the NFC. What other changes did the NFL consider before settling on this format?

a) Playing the game on the Madden NFL 22 video game.

b) Playing the game on a Tudor vibrating electric football game from 1960.

c) Playing the game on the handheld Mattel Classic Football from 1975.

d) Playing the game on an asphalt side street in a small town using a miniature rubber pee wee football. First down past the parked Chevy Bel Air, touchdown past the second telephone pole.

4) “Hogwarts Legacy,” a new video game released on Friday, features the popular Harry Potter in a new open-world quest, the first game not derived from J.K. Rowling’s books. Despite the franchise’s huge fan base, developers have received criticism for including what kind of character?

a) A Chinese wizard that conjures balloons.

b) The Puberty Monster.

c) A transgender witch character that once was a wizard.

d) A wizard named Tom Brady who disappears only to return soon after, but wearing a different robe.