{
  "pack": "originals-v1",
  "category": "pop-culture",
  "questions": [
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-001",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Which Nintendo hero is a mustachioed plumber in a red cap marked with an 'M'?",
      "options": [
        "Luigi",
        "Mario",
        "Wario",
        "Toad"
      ],
      "answer": 1,
      "explanation": "Mario debuted in 1981's Donkey Kong and went on to become Nintendo's mascot.",
      "wildcard": true
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-002",
      "difficulty": "DIFFICULT",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "According to Mattel, what is Barbie's last name?",
      "options": [
        "Carson",
        "Hamilton",
        "Stevens",
        "Roberts"
      ],
      "answer": 3,
      "explanation": "Mattel gives her full name as Barbara Millicent Roberts.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-003",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "The 'swoosh' logo belongs to which athletic brand?",
      "options": [
        "Nike",
        "Adidas",
        "Puma",
        "Reebok"
      ],
      "answer": 0,
      "explanation": "Graphic design student Carolyn Davidson created the swoosh in 1971.",
      "wildcard": true
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-004",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Which social platform doubled its post limit from 140 to 280 characters in 2017?",
      "options": [
        "Facebook",
        "Tumblr",
        "Twitter",
        "Instagram"
      ],
      "answer": 2,
      "explanation": "Twitter, later renamed X, moved from 140 to 280 characters in late 2017.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-005",
      "difficulty": "DIFFICULT",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "In the original Pac-Man arcade game, what color is the ghost named Blinky?",
      "options": [
        "Pink",
        "Cyan",
        "Red",
        "Orange"
      ],
      "answer": 2,
      "explanation": "Blinky is red, Pinky is pink, Inky is cyan and Clyde is orange.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-006",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "The 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge raised money and awareness for which disease?",
      "options": [
        "ALS",
        "Parkinson's disease",
        "Multiple sclerosis",
        "Cystic fibrosis"
      ],
      "answer": 0,
      "explanation": "The summer 2014 craze raised more than $100 million for the ALS Association.",
      "wildcard": true
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-007",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "The toy brand LEGO takes its name from Danish words meaning what?",
      "options": [
        "Build together",
        "Little bricks",
        "Stack high",
        "Play well"
      ],
      "answer": 3,
      "explanation": "The Danish company's name comes from 'leg godt,' meaning 'play well.'",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-008",
      "difficulty": "DIFFICULT",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Which emoji did Oxford Dictionaries name its Word of the Year for 2015?",
      "options": [
        "Red Heart",
        "Face with Tears of Joy",
        "Thumbs Up",
        "Smiling Face with Heart-Eyes"
      ],
      "answer": 1,
      "explanation": "It was the first pictograph ever chosen as Oxford Word of the Year.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-009",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Before Hollywood stardom, Dwayne Johnson wrestled under what famous ring name?",
      "options": [
        "The Giant",
        "The Rock",
        "The Undertaker",
        "Stone Cold"
      ],
      "answer": 1,
      "explanation": "Johnson became a WWF superstar as The Rock in the late 1990s.",
      "wildcard": true
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-010",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "The Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by a design professor from which country?",
      "options": [
        "Poland",
        "Austria",
        "Czechoslovakia",
        "Hungary"
      ],
      "answer": 3,
      "explanation": "Ernő Rubik built his first prototype in Budapest in 1974.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-011",
      "difficulty": "DIFFICULT",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Which Italian fashion house uses the head of Medusa as its logo?",
      "options": [
        "Versace",
        "Gucci",
        "Prada",
        "Armani"
      ],
      "answer": 0,
      "explanation": "Gianni Versace chose Medusa, from Greek myth, as his brand emblem.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-012",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Which yellow Electric-type Pokémon is the face of the Pokémon franchise?",
      "options": [
        "Raichu",
        "Jolteon",
        "Pikachu",
        "Psyduck"
      ],
      "answer": 2,
      "explanation": "Pikachu, Pokémon No. 25, has been the franchise mascot since the 1990s.",
      "wildcard": true
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-013",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Which designer popularized the 'little black dress' and launched the No. 5 perfume?",
      "options": [
        "Christian Dior",
        "Yves Saint Laurent",
        "Coco Chanel",
        "Elsa Schiaparelli"
      ],
      "answer": 2,
      "explanation": "Chanel No. 5 debuted in 1921, and Vogue hailed her little black dress in 1926.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-014",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "TRUE_FALSE",
      "prompt": "True or False: Sony's first PlayStation hit stores before Nintendo's original Game Boy.",
      "options": [
        "True",
        "False"
      ],
      "answer": 1,
      "explanation": "The Game Boy launched in 1989, five years before the PlayStation debuted in 1994.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-015",
      "difficulty": "DIFFICULT",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Which Japanese company launched the Tamagotchi virtual pet in 1996?",
      "options": [
        "Bandai",
        "Nintendo",
        "Sega",
        "Sony"
      ],
      "answer": 0,
      "explanation": "Bandai's egg-shaped pet launched in Japan in 1996 and reached the US in 1997.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-016",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "What is the most expensive property on the classic US Monopoly board?",
      "options": [
        "Park Place",
        "Marvin Gardens",
        "Pennsylvania Avenue",
        "Boardwalk"
      ],
      "answer": 3,
      "explanation": "Boardwalk costs $400, edging out Park Place at $350.",
      "wildcard": true
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-017",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Whose 'Gangnam Style' became the first YouTube video to reach one billion views?",
      "options": [
        "BTS",
        "PSY",
        "Big Bang",
        "Rain"
      ],
      "answer": 1,
      "explanation": "PSY's video crossed one billion YouTube views in December 2012.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-018",
      "difficulty": "DIFFICULT",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "In the image format GIF, what does the letter 'I' stand for?",
      "options": [
        "Image",
        "Interchange",
        "Internet",
        "Interactive"
      ],
      "answer": 1,
      "explanation": "CompuServe introduced the Graphics Interchange Format in 1987.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-019",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Which talk show host famously gave every member of her studio audience a new car in 2004?",
      "options": [
        "Ellen DeGeneres",
        "Rosie O'Donnell",
        "Martha Stewart",
        "Oprah Winfrey"
      ],
      "answer": 3,
      "explanation": "Oprah's 2004 season premiere gave all 276 audience members a Pontiac G6.",
      "wildcard": true
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-020",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "In online slang, which acronym means 'in real life'?",
      "options": [
        "IRL",
        "IMO",
        "TBH",
        "FWIW"
      ],
      "answer": 0,
      "explanation": "IRL is used to separate the offline world from life online.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-021",
      "difficulty": "DIFFICULT",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Glossy red soles are the signature of which luxury shoe designer?",
      "options": [
        "Manolo Blahnik",
        "Jimmy Choo",
        "Christian Louboutin",
        "Salvatore Ferragamo"
      ],
      "answer": 2,
      "explanation": "The French designer has used his trademark red-lacquered soles since the early 1990s.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-022",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Which blocky building game did Microsoft buy, along with its Swedish studio, in 2014?",
      "options": [
        "Roblox",
        "Terraria",
        "Minecraft",
        "Fortnite"
      ],
      "answer": 2,
      "explanation": "Microsoft paid $2.5 billion for Minecraft maker Mojang in 2014.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-023",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "Which Oscar-winning actress became royalty by marrying Monaco's Prince Rainier III in 1956?",
      "options": [
        "Grace Kelly",
        "Audrey Hepburn",
        "Elizabeth Taylor",
        "Ingrid Bergman"
      ],
      "answer": 0,
      "explanation": "Grace Kelly retired from acting to become Princess Grace of Monaco.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-024",
      "difficulty": "DIFFICULT",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "In English-language Scrabble, how many points is the letter Q worth?",
      "options": [
        "8",
        "5",
        "4",
        "10"
      ],
      "answer": 3,
      "explanation": "Q and Z are the highest-scoring tiles in English Scrabble, at 10 points each.",
      "wildcard": false
    },
    {
      "id": "pop-culture-025",
      "difficulty": "STANDARD",
      "type": "MULTIPLE_CHOICE",
      "prompt": "'Rickrolling' tricks people into opening a music video by which singer?",
      "options": [
        "Rick Springfield",
        "Rick Astley",
        "Rick James",
        "Richard Marx"
      ],
      "answer": 1,
      "explanation": "The prank uses Astley's 1987 hit 'Never Gonna Give You Up.'",
      "wildcard": true
    }
  ]
}