Superstitions on the Job
0Loading crowd target
Questions and sources
Superstitions on the Job — Daily trivia Saturday, September 19, 2026: questions and answers
All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily
Q 01Which word do emergency room staff avoid saying, believing it brings a flood of patients?
- ABusy
- BLucky
- CMonday
- DQuiet
Show answer
Quiet
Quiet. A 2022 randomized trial found that using the word in an ER had no link to patient volume.
Q 02British pilots blamed mystery engine failures on which creatures, the subject of Roald Dahl's first children's book?
- AGremlins
- BGoblins
- CPixies
- DTrolls
Show answer
Gremlins
Gremlins. Dahl, then an RAF officer, wrote the story for Walt Disney, whose planned film of it was never made.
Q 03Which Shakespeare play do superstitious actors refuse to name inside a theatre?
- AHamlet
- BMacbeth
- COthello
- DKing Lear
Show answer
Macbeth
Macbeth. Say it by accident and one custom says step outside, spin around three times and spit before being let back in.
Q 04Composers feared a ninth symphony would be their last, as it had been for which master?
- AWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- BJoseph Haydn
- CLudwig van Beethoven
- DPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Show answer
Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven. Mahler tried to dodge the curse by not numbering the symphony after his Eighth, yet died with his Tenth unfinished.
Q 05A quarrymen's taboo kept one word off Isle of Portland posters for which Aardman film?
- ACurse of the Were-Rabbit
- BChicken Run
- CShaun the Sheep Movie
- DVengeance Most Fowl
Show answer
Curse of the Were-Rabbit
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Quarrymen are said to have blamed rabbits for rockfalls, so the island's posters swapped the title for 'Something bunny is going on'.
Q 06Theatres once hired sailors to haul scenery, so which backstage habit became taboo?
- AClapping
- BHumming
- CKnocking
- DWhistling
Show answer
Whistling
Whistling. Sailor crews are said to have cued each other by whistle, so a stray one could drop scenery on an actor's head.
Q 07Michael Jordan hid his lucky college practice gear under every Bulls uniform, helping popularize which look?
- AUndershirts
- BBaggy shorts
- CHeadbands
- DKnee-high socks
Show answer
Baggy shorts
Baggy shorts. Tight Bulls shorts would have shown his North Carolina pair, so he asked for longer ones, and the league followed.
Q 08Upside-down bread is unlucky in France, supposedly because bakers set one loaf aside that way for whom?
- AThe gravedigger
- BThe tax collector
- CThe executioner
- DThe town crier
Show answer
The executioner
The executioner. Legend says bakers flipped the loaf they held back for him, and people came to shun an overturned loaf as bad luck.
Q 09Bolivian miners who pray in church leave cigarettes and coca underground for which figure?
- AThe sun god
- BSaint Barbara
- CThe Virgin Mary
- DThe Devil
Show answer
The Devil
The Devil. Miners call him El Tío, 'Uncle', and feed his statue in each mine, hoping he'll spare their lives.
Q 10After Elizabeth II died, which palace residents were formally told the news and urged to stay?
- AThe pigeons
- BThe swans
- CThe bees
- DThe horses
Show answer
The bees
The bees. The royal beekeeper knocked on each hive and told them, 'The mistress is dead, but don't you go.'
How to play
- One question at a time, four options. Tap an answer to lock it in.
- You see the answer and a short explanation right away.
- Harder questions and faster answers earn more points. Share your score at the end.