Monday, May 19

n Word of the week: “earworm.” It’s the name of a major agricultural pest, but that’s not important right now. We are interested today in its colloquial meaning: a portion of a song or other piece of music that gets “stuck in your head” and mentally repeats itself incessantly against one’s will. Other terms for the phenomenon include “repetune” and “melodymania.”

n Comics conundrum: In the comic strip “Blondie,” Dagwood has been in a four-person car pool for many years. The other members are his neighbor Herb Woodley, a woman named Claudia and a blond bespectacled gentleman. Has any information about Claudia ever been revealed in the strip? Has that blond man ever been identified by name? If you can help with either of these questions, please let us know.

The Pony Express, which operated for only about 18 months in 1860 and 1861, made possible the first 10-day Atlantic-to-Pacific mail delivery. If it cost about three cents to mail a first-class letter in the 1860s, what did it cost to send a half-ounce Pony Express letter when the service was launched?

A) 10 cents

B) 50 cents

C) $2

D) $5

Friday’s answer: The world’s only diamond mine that is open to the public is in Arkansas’ Crater of Diamonds State Park. Every year, visitors find hundreds of diamonds there, and may keep any gems that they find.