Seven days of questions and answers

Valentine's Day Trivia Answers Archive

Review earlier daily rounds, reveal the correct answer, and use the short explanation to learn the fact behind each question. Page 5 of 12 covers seven completed UTC days.

Play today's quiz

Daily round

  1. Which famous sculpture shows Venus standing on a shell?

    Answer: The Birth of Venus

    Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus depicts the goddess arriving on a large shell.

  2. Which flower is a classic symbol of romantic love?

    Answer: Red rose

    The red rose is conventionally used to express romantic love.

  3. Which planet is named for the Roman goddess of love?

    Answer: Venus

    Venus shares its name with the Roman goddess associated with love and beauty.

  4. Where was Charles, Duke of Orléans, imprisoned when he wrote an early valentine poem?

    Answer: Tower of London

    Charles wrote the poem while held in the Tower of London after capture at Agincourt.

  5. Which Greek hero waited for Penelope during a twenty-year absence?

    Answer: Odysseus

    Penelope remains in Ithaca while Odysseus fights at Troy and struggles home.

Daily round

  1. Which Italian city is the setting for Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet”?

    Answer: Verona

    Romeo and Juliet takes place in Verona, home of the feuding Montague and Capulet families.

  2. Which marine mammal often holds paws with a partner while floating?

    Answer: Sea otter

    Sea otters may hold paws while resting in rafts, which helps them remain together.

  3. Who wrote the novel “Persuasion”?

    Answer: Jane Austen

    Jane Austen wrote Persuasion, the story of Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth.

  4. Which artist created the marble sculpture “The Kiss” now in the Musée Rodin?

    Answer: Auguste Rodin

    French sculptor Auguste Rodin created the celebrated marble group The Kiss.

  5. Which chocolate-making process uses prolonged mixing to smooth texture and flavor?

    Answer: Conching

    Conching repeatedly mixes and aerates chocolate to refine its texture and taste.

Daily round

  1. Which civilization used cacao beans as currency in parts of Mesoamerica?

    Answer: Aztec

    Cacao beans functioned as valued trade goods and currency in the Aztec economy.

  2. To which family does Juliet belong in Shakespeare's play?

    Answer: Capulet

    Juliet is the daughter of Lord and Lady Capulet.

  3. Which process develops chocolate flavor by allowing cacao pulp and beans to react with microbes?

    Answer: Fermentation

    Fermentation changes cacao beans chemically and creates precursors of chocolate flavor.

  4. Which solid remains after much of the fat is pressed from chocolate liquor?

    Answer: Cocoa cake

    Pressing chocolate liquor separates cocoa butter and leaves a solid cocoa cake.

  5. What does an electrocardiogram record?

    Answer: Electrical activity of the heart

    An electrocardiogram traces electrical signals produced during each heartbeat.

Daily round

  1. On what date is White Day observed?

    Answer: March 14

    White Day takes place on March 14, exactly one month after Valentine's Day.

  2. Which communication skill involves giving full attention and reflecting what was heard?

    Answer: Active listening

    Active listening uses attention, clarification, and reflection to improve mutual understanding.

  3. Which alkaloid found in cacao is related to caffeine?

    Answer: Theobromine

    Theobromine is a mild stimulant in cacao and belongs to the same chemical family as caffeine.

  4. On which date is Valentine's Day observed each year?

    Answer: February 14

    Valentine's Day falls annually on February 14.

  5. Which flavor comes from the cured pods of an orchid?

    Answer: Vanilla

    Vanilla flavor is extracted from cured seed pods of orchids in the genus Vanilla.

Daily round

  1. Which artist painted the paired self-portraits in “The Two Fridas”?

    Answer: Frida Kahlo

    Frida Kahlo painted two connected versions of herself in The Two Fridas.

  2. What is the final two-line unit of a Shakespearean sonnet called?

    Answer: Couplet

    A rhyming couplet closes the standard Shakespearean sonnet.

  3. Which language uses the word “amor” for love?

    Answer: Portuguese

    Amor is the Portuguese noun for love, as it is in several Romance languages.

  4. Which Greek word names affectionate love between friends?

    Answer: Philia

    Philia refers to friendship, fondness, and bonds between companions.

  5. What is the scientific name of the cacao tree?

    Answer: Theobroma cacao

    Theobroma cacao is the botanical name of the tropical tree that produces cacao beans.

Daily round

  1. Which fragrant compound contributes a characteristic rose scent?

    Answer: Geraniol

    Geraniol is one of the aromatic compounds that helps produce a rose-like fragrance.

  2. What innovation made decorated greeting cards easier to mass-produce in the nineteenth century?

    Answer: Mechanical printing

    Advances in mechanical printing enabled publishers to make large runs of illustrated cards.

  3. Whom does Orpheus attempt to rescue from the underworld?

    Answer: Eurydice

    Orpheus journeys to the underworld hoping to return his wife Eurydice to life.

  4. Which title is traditionally attached to the saint commemorated on Valentine's Day?

    Answer: Saint Valentine

    The holiday's name comes from Saint Valentine, though traditions combine stories about more than one martyr.

  5. In which century did Geoffrey Chaucer write “Parliament of Fowls”?

    Answer: Fourteenth century

    Chaucer composed Parliament of Fowls during the fourteenth century.

Daily round

  1. Which fruitlike structure forms below a rose flower?

    Answer: Rose hip

    A rose hip develops after pollination and contains the plant's seeds.

  2. What name was given to insulting or mocking nineteenth-century Valentine's cards?

    Answer: Vinegar valentines

    Vinegar valentines used caricatures and sharp verses instead of affectionate messages.

  3. Which Italian word means love?

    Answer: Amore

    Amore is the Italian noun for love.

  4. What is a platonic relationship?

    Answer: A close non-romantic relationship

    Platonic relationships are emotionally close without being romantic or sexual.

  5. Which Swiss chocolatier developed milk chocolate with Henri Nestlé's condensed milk?

    Answer: Daniel Peter

    Daniel Peter used condensed milk developed by Henri Nestlé to create successful milk chocolate.