Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Rotating Quiz #263: River Cities

19 views
Skip to first unread message

Dan Tilque

unread,
Aug 3, 2017, 7:45:28 PM8/3/17
to
Gareth has had an unfortunate occurance in his life (the nature of which
is unknown to me), but it's bad enough that he can't contribute the next
Rotating Quiz. So it's left to me as runner-up to produce the next RQ.
Here it is:


For this quiz, your job is to list as many names of real cities, towns,
villages, municipalities, etc. that have two or more words in their name
and the last of them are one of these: River, Creek, Brook, Falls,
Rapids, or some other word that refers to a flowing stream. However,
words about landforms that a stream might carve out (e.g. valley,
canyon, ravine, gulch, etc.) are not allowed as that last word. Words
about other forms of water (ocean, lake, glacier, etc.) are also out.

It's possible that there may be more than one city with the same valid
answer, in which case you get points for naming either or both. However,
in those cases you must give their state/province/country or otherwise
disambiguate them. For example, if the requirement was for cities with
"City" in their name, you could just say "Oklahoma City" for that one,
since there are no others, but for "Kansas City", you have to give the
state. In fact, you'd want to list both "Kansas City, MO" and "Kansas
City, KS" to get maximum points. So if you know the state/province,
always give it in case there's some other place you haven't heard of
with the same name.

Only English words referring to streams are allowed. That means that
Trois-Rivières is right out. Also note the requirement for the place to
be real; fictional places like Bedford Falls are also right out. The
name must be the current name of an existing city, town, etc. Previous
names or names of places no longer in existence are not allowed.


Scoring: You get one point for each valid answer you list. You get a
two-point bonus for any valid answer the no one else in the quiz gives.

The quiz will go for 5 days until sometime in the evening on 8 Aug 2017
my time (which is later than everyone else here). The usual rules about
not using references, not reading others' answers, etc. apply.


Suggestion: For best results, don't just generate a list and quickly
send it off. Put it aside for a while and do something else. Additional
answers will likely occur to you. As an exercise, I did this for names
with "Falls" in them. I ended up with about a dozen, half of which came
some time after my initial list.

--
Dan Tilque

Mark Brader

unread,
Aug 4, 2017, 1:55:18 AM8/4/17
to
Dan Tilque:
> It's possible that there may be more than one city with the same valid
> answer, in which case you get points for naming either or both. However,
> in those cases you must give their state/province/country or otherwise
> disambiguate them...

So it's acceptable to give a bare city name only if you, Dan, know of
exactly one place by that name?
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "It's been proven. Places stay clean until somebody
m...@vex.net | drops the first piece of litter." -- TTC poster

Dan Tilque

unread,
Aug 4, 2017, 1:14:45 PM8/4/17
to
Mark Brader wrote:
> Dan Tilque:
>> It's possible that there may be more than one city with the same valid
>> answer, in which case you get points for naming either or both. However,
>> in those cases you must give their state/province/country or otherwise
>> disambiguate them...
>
> So it's acceptable to give a bare city name only if you, Dan, know of
> exactly one place by that name?

Not just my knowledge right now, but what I can find out. However, small
obscure places will not count as a duplicate name. Let's say they have
to have at least 2000 people in the latest census to count. And I'm not
going to spend a huge amount of time looking for duplicates. Probably
nothing more than checking Wikipedia.

One other thing: I meant to include names with "Spring(s)" as the last
word as a name that is not valid, just like those with "Ocean" or
"Lake". I hope no one's wasted time on them.

--
Dan Tilque

Mark Brader

unread,
Aug 4, 2017, 3:27:18 PM8/4/17
to
Dan Tilque:
> One other thing: I meant to include names with "Spring(s)" as the last
> word as a name that is not valid, just like those with "Ocean" or
> "Lake". I hope no one's wasted time on them.

Hey, that was my best idea and I'm going to dispute that. A spring is
where a stream flows out of the ground, so it meets the definition.

And at this point I'm going to post my list as it already stood before
I read this response (but adding the footnotes that I was always going
to add before posting).

A few of these places may not actually exist.


Rock Creek, MD

Glens Falls, NY
Hudson Falls, NY
International Falls, MN
Niagara Falls, NY
Niagara Falls, ON
Sioux Falls, SD

Cedar Rapids, IA

Fall River, USA
Green River, WY
Rainy River, ON
Three Rivers, QC [1]
White River, VT

Colorado Springs, CO
Glenwood Springs, CO
Hot Springs, AR
Manitou Springs, CO
Palm Springs, CA
Rock Springs, WY
Saratoga Springs, NY
Steamboat Springs, CO
Tarpon Springs, FL

Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK [2]
Kingston-on-Thames, UK
Kingston-upon-Hull, UK
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Stratford-on-Avon, UK
Frankfurt am Main, Germany [3]
Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany

[1] Hey, you were the one who mentioned the place. This name used to be
routinely used in English. I suggest accepting it if and only if
Canada Post now accepts it in addresses, which you should be able
to find out on their web site.

[2] You didn't say the last word had to be a *generic* word for a
flowing stream.

[3] The same name is used in English as in German for the river, as far
as I know.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | Good Lord, it's not a locomotive.
m...@vex.net | --Tony Cooper

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Erland Sommarskog

unread,
Aug 4, 2017, 3:31:08 PM8/4/17
to
Dan Tilque (dti...@frontier.com) writes:
> For this quiz, your job is to list as many names of real cities, towns,
> villages, municipalities, etc. that have two or more words in their name
> and the last of them are one of these: River, Creek, Brook, Falls,
> Rapids, or some other word that refers to a flowing stream. However,
> words about landforms that a stream might carve out (e.g. valley,
> canyon, ravine, gulch, etc.) are not allowed as that last word. Words
> about other forms of water (ocean, lake, glacier, etc.) are also out.
>

Since no one else has entered... I initially gave up, since with the
restrictions to stream names at the end and they must be in English, it
seems that this is contest mainly for people from US/Canada where I
believe there is a whole slew of these names.

But these are the names I was able to think of without checking any
sources (with no indication of state, because I don't have a clue):

Wichita Falls (Thanks Pat Metheny!)
Great Rapids
Sioux Falls

Although, when I later checked Google Maps, it seems that there is no
place called Great Rapids.

I bet that when the other answer slate comes in, I will recognize a few
more names.

> One other thing: I meant to include names with "Spring(s)" as the last
> word as a name that is not valid, just like those with "Ocean" or
> "Lake". I hope no one's wasted time on them.

Interesting enough I did not think of Alice. I did think of Walla Walla,
but that seemed to disqualified by the English-only rule.

--
Erland Sommarskog, Stockholm, esq...@sommarskog.se

Dan Tilque

unread,
Aug 4, 2017, 4:11:31 PM8/4/17
to
Mark Brader wrote:
> Dan Tilque:
>> One other thing: I meant to include names with "Spring(s)" as the last
>> word as a name that is not valid, just like those with "Ocean" or
>> "Lake". I hope no one's wasted time on them.
>
> Hey, that was my best idea and I'm going to dispute that. A spring is
> where a stream flows out of the ground, so it meets the definition.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to rule that "Springs" are not valid. My
understanding is that springs usually form a pool which then may or may
not overflow to form a stream. At any rate, I really did mean to include
that word among those not valid and I'm sorry you wasted time on it.

--
Dan Tilque

Mark Brader

unread,
Aug 4, 2017, 4:47:49 PM8/4/17
to
Erland Sommarskog:
> Wichita Falls (Thanks Pat Metheny!)

Dang, I thought of that one but not when I was in a position to add it
to my list.

> Great Rapids

Probably you were thinking of Grand Rapids, MI (home of US president
Gerald Ford). I missed that one too, even though I'm going to be
driving by there later this month.
--
Mark Brader | A standard is established on sure bases, not capriciously
Toronto | but with the surety of something intentional and of a logic
m...@vex.net | controlled by analysis and experiment. ... A standard is
| necessary for order in human effort. -- Le Corbusier

Erland Sommarskog

unread,
Aug 4, 2017, 5:10:39 PM8/4/17
to
Mark Brader (m...@vex.net) writes:
>> Great Rapids
>
> Probably you were thinking of Grand Rapids, MI (home of US president
> Gerald Ford). I missed that one too, even though I'm going to be
> driving by there later this month.

I might have. It wouldn't have helped if I had gotten the name right,
though. To wit, I noticed that when I tried Great Rapids that Google Maps
suggested three different Grand Rapids.

Had I thought of the trick with the river name, I could have added a few
more beside the two Frankfurt (no chance that I would miss them):

Rostov-on-Don (Russia)
Rotenburg-ob-der-Tauber (Germany)
Oradone-sur-Glâne (France)
Stoke-on-Trent (UK)

Remains to see whether Dan approves your entries. (Mine are apparently
disqualified anyway, since I made them aftet having seen your entry.)

Don Piven

unread,
Aug 4, 2017, 8:32:09 PM8/4/17
to
I just figured I'd stay kinda local with my guesses.

Carol Stream (IL)
Rock Falls (IL)
Oak Brook (IL)
Big Rapids (MI)
Grand Rapids (MI)
Black River Falls (WI)
River Falls (WI)
Jim Falls (WI)
Chippewa Falls (WI)
Oconto Falls (WI)
Park Falls (WI)
St Croix Falls (WI)
Menomonee Falls (WI)
Sheboygan Falls (WI)
Wisconsin Rapids (WI)
Blue River (WI)
Eagle River (WI)
Two Rivers (WI)
Oak Creek (WI)
Johnson Creek (WI)

Marc Dashevsky

unread,
Aug 5, 2017, 9:45:03 PM8/5/17
to
In article <xNidnbUMJP4MVxnE...@giganews.com>, m...@vex.net says...
> White River, VT

White River Junction, I believe

--
Replace "usenet" with "marc" in the e-mail address.

Gareth Owen

unread,
Aug 7, 2017, 3:25:07 PM8/7/17
to
Dan Tilque <dti...@frontier.com> writes:

> Gareth has had an unfortunate occurance in his life (the nature of
> which is unknown to me), but it's bad enough that he can't contribute
> the next Rotating Quiz. So it's left to me as runner-up to produce the
> next RQ. Here it is:

Thanks, Dan.

Gareth

Dan Tilque

unread,
Aug 8, 2017, 4:57:04 PM8/8/17
to
Time is running out. About 8 hours left in this quiz.

Dan Blum

unread,
Aug 8, 2017, 6:02:47 PM8/8/17
to
Niagara Falls, NY
Niagara Falls, ON
Great Falls, VA
Grand Rapids, MI
Cedar Rapids, IA
Stony Brook, NY
Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Carol Stream, IL
Battle Creek, MI
Fall River, MA
Menomonee Falls, WI
Chippewa Falls, WI
Roaring Brook
Chagrin Falls


--
_______________________________________________________________________
Dan Blum to...@panix.com
"I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't just made it up."

Dan Tilque

unread,
Aug 9, 2017, 7:37:19 PM8/9/17
to
Dan Tilque wrote:
>
> For this quiz, your job is to list as many names of real cities, towns,
> villages, municipalities, etc. that have two or more words in their name
> and the last of them are one of these: River, Creek, Brook, Falls,
> Rapids, or some other word that refers to a flowing stream. However,
> words about landforms that a stream might carve out (e.g. valley,
> canyon, ravine, gulch, etc.) are not allowed as that last word. Words
> about other forms of water (ocean, lake, glacier, etc.) are also out.

RQ #263 is over and Don Piven is the winner! Congratulations.

Only four entrants; I'd hoped for more, but perhaps many of our usual
participants are on vacation.

Valid answers submitted, followed by number of people who gave that answer:

Black River Falls, WI 1
Chagrin Falls, OH 1
Chippewa Falls, WI 2
Cuyahoga Falls, OH 1
Glens Falls, NY 1
Great Falls, VA 1
Hudson Falls, NY 1
International Falls, MN 1
Jim Falls, WI 1
Menomonee Falls, WI 2
Niagara Falls, NY 2
Niagara Falls, ON 2
Oconto Falls, WI 1
Park Falls, WI 1
River Falls, WI 1
Rock Falls, IL 1
St Croix Falls, WI 1
Sheboygan Falls, WI 1
Sioux Falls, SD 2
Wichita Falls, TX 1

Big Rapids, MI 1
Cedar Rapids, IA 2
Grand Rapids, MI 2
Wisconsin Rapids, WI 1

Blue River, WI 1
Eagle River, WI 1
Fall River, MA 2
Green River, WY 1
Rainy River, ON 1
Two Rivers, WI 1

Oak Brook, IL 1
Stony Brook, NY 1

Carol Stream, IL 2

Battle Creek, MI 1
Johnson Creek, WI 1
Oak Creek, WI 1

Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK 1
Kingston upon Thames, UK 1
Kingston upon Hull, UK 1
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK 1
Stratford-upon-Avon, UK 1
Frankfurt am Main, Germany 1
Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany 1

Scores:

Don Piven: 20 + 16*2 = 52
Mark: 17 + 12*2 = 41
Dan Blum: 13 + 5*2 = 23
Erland: 2 + 1*2 = 4

Notes:

1. Carol Stream is not actually named for a body of water. Instead,
that's someone's name. I still allowed it.

2. I figured everyone would get Niagara Falls. Some of you guys
disappointed me.

3. There were no cases where I disqualified an answer because of
insufficient specification. In the case of Fall River, there are two
others in the US besides the largish one in Massachusetts, but both were
below the minimum 2000 population. Now if USA hadn't been specified,
then there's one in Nova Scotia that would have disqualified it.

4. Very smart move on Mark's part to note that I hadn't required the
last word to be a generic term.

5. I ruled against Three Rivers, QC because that's not its official
name. I don't think using Canada Post as an official reference is a good
idea. If they're like the US Postal Service (and for this, I think they
are), it doesn't matter what city name you put on the envelope as long
as you have the right postal code.

6. There were very few wrong answers given. Besides the "* Springs"
answers Mark gave, these were the wrongs ones:

Rock Creek MD (there's a creek named that, but no town)
Three Rivers QC (already discussed)
White River VT
Great Rapids
Roaring Brook

Thanks to everyone who entered. And now over to Don for RQ 264......


--
Dan Tilque

Mark Brader

unread,
Aug 10, 2017, 2:20:09 AM8/10/17
to
Dan Tilque:
> 5. I ruled against Three Rivers, QC because that's not its official
> name. I don't think using Canada Post as an official reference is a good
> idea. If they're like the US Postal Service (and for this, I think they
> are), it doesn't matter what city name you put on the envelope as long
> as you have the right postal code.

I wasn't talking about what would be delivered in practice, I was talking
about officially accepted alternate names, which they used to have for
some cities. But either they don't any more or they've hidden the
information, so it wasn't a practical test anyway.

Well don Done. :-)
--
Mark Brader "Hey, I don't want to control people's lives!
Toronto (If they did things right, I wouldn't have to.)"
m...@vex.net -- "Coach"

Erland Sommarskog

unread,
Aug 10, 2017, 3:17:41 AM8/10/17
to
Dan Tilque (dti...@frontier.com) writes:
> 2. I figured everyone would get Niagara Falls. Some of you guys
> disappointed me.
>

The name appeared in my head, but I was not fully sure that there is a place
with that name. And had I entered it, I would still not been awarded,
because I was definitely not aware of that were two, so I might not have
entered the state/province.

Don Piven

unread,
Aug 10, 2017, 7:06:28 AM8/10/17
to
On 8/9/17 18:36, Dan Tilque wrote:
> RQ #263 is over and Don Piven is the winner! Congratulations.

I didn't think the local carpet-bombing would be that productive!

I'm going to be mostly offline for the next week or so (vacationing in
an area with no useful cellular coverage and where broadband means an
all-ladies bluegrass group) :-), so I would like to pass RQ #264 over to
runner-up Mark Brader.

Don

Mark Brader

unread,
Aug 10, 2017, 6:33:28 PM8/10/17
to
Don Piven:
> I'm going to be mostly offline for the next week or so (vacationing in
> an area with no useful cellular coverage and where broadband means an
> all-ladies bluegrass group) :-) ...

You could have posted something and scored it when you came back...
oh well.

> so I would like to pass RQ #264 over to runner-up Mark Brader.

Oh! I wasn't expecting to win, once my great idea about Springs was
disqualified. Okay, you asked for it here's one I was thinking about...
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "There are no new ideas, only new
m...@vex.net mouths to speak them." -- Linda Burman
0 new messages