Toss-Ups and Bonuses

The G.E. College Bowl featured two types of questions. The chance to answer Toss-Ups, worth ten points, was awarded to the first team that buzzed in when one of its members knew the answer. That gave them the exclusive right to answer Bonus questions, worth up to thirty points, on which team members could confer but only the captain could give the answer.

Here are some samples of each, representing the academic challenge that faced Kenyon's 1963 team.

Toss-up questions
1. He is said to have slept with a copy of Homer under his pillow. At eighteen, he commanded part of the king's army, and at twenty he became king himself. At twenty-two, he started the conquest of Persia and at the height of his power his realm stretched from the Ionian Sea to northern India. For 10 points, who is he?
2. Brazil and Argentina are the two largest in size of the South American countries. For 10 points, what country is third?
3. For 10 points, name the novelist who wrote Cat's Cradle, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and the best-seller Slaughterhouse-Five?
4. For 10 points, in the Northern Hemisphere, during which of the four seasons is the sun nearest the Earth?

Bonus questions
1. In American political history, two men have been nominated three times by major political parties but were never elected. For 10 points, name these two three-time losers.
2. For 10 points apiece, name these plays by Aristophanes: A. The play that is a literary satire in which Aeschylus and Euripides bear the brunt of the attack. B. The play that makes fun of the Sophists, in which Socrates is unmercifully caricatured. C. The comedy that offers a hilarious prescription for ending the Peloponnesian War.
3. St. George slew the dragon and David killed Goliath. For 5 points apiece: A. Who slew the monster called Grendel? B. What killer killed Cormoran?
C. Who slew the Nemean lion? D. Who slew the monster Fafnir?
4. Lavoisier formulated a famous theory of combustion and Thorstein Veblen wrote The Theory of the Leisure Class. For 10 points apiece: A. What economist wrote The Theory of Moral Sentiments? B. Name either of the co-authors of The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior.