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Watermelon Names Riddle Me This

With over 300 varieties of watermelons, the various variety names get interesting. Each of these are the names of an actual watermelon variety, except for one. Can you spot which one is not a variety (at least not yet)?

Sugar Baby Yellow Doll Golden Midget Moon and Stars Cream of Saskatchewan Summer Flavor Black Diamond Desert King Millionaire King of Hearts Sweet Beauty Crimson Trio Yellow Petite Carolina Cross Little Darling Honeyheart Sweet Slice

Pit Launcher

Question:

When do you start on red and stop on green?

of “a layup.”) tering riddle out—considering the trivia, it was kind (Don’t be so proud of yourself for figuring this earth-shat-

When you’re eating a watermelon!Answer:

Watermelon Trivia

1. Jason Schayot is an expert watermelon seed spitter. He holds the Guinness World Record for spitting a watermelon seed the farthest ever. What distance did he spit the seed on that momentous day of August 12, 1995? a. b. 14.6 feet c. 75.2 feet d. 120.5 feet e. 230 feet

2. Approximately how many pounds of watermelon are consumed in the U.S. every year? a. 100 million pounds b. 400 million pounds c. 900 million pounds d. 5 billion pounds

3. According to Guinness World

Records, the world’s heaviest watermelon was grown by Chris

Kent of Sevierville, Tennessee, in 2013. How much did it weigh? a. 350.5 pounds b. 782.1 pounds c. 1,235.6 pounds d. 32,683.5 pounds

4. Which country grows the most watermelon? a. Israel b. U.S. c. China d. South Africa

5. Is watermelon a fruit or a vegetable? a. Fruit b. Vegetable c. Both

6. In 2008, a 17-pound premium

“Densuke” watermelon, grown only on a northern island in Japan, became the most expensive watermelon ever purchased. How much did it sell for? a. $910 b. $6,100 c. $14,200 d. $105,050

Answers: 1-B (How do you think his Jason Shcayot’s parents felt when the teacher called to talk to them about their kid spitting watermelon seeds in class and acting like a chaya rah!) 2-D 3-A 4-C (Although Israel does not yet produce the most watermelon, I heard in shul that they are in the middle of figuring out a special irrigation system which will make them be able to produce watermelons out of chewed up garinim seeds.) 5-C. This is one of the most important debates of the 21st century. From a botanical standpoint, since watermelon develops from a flowering plant and it holds the seed, it is a fruit. On the other hand, watermelon is a member of the cucurbitaceae plant family of gourds (classified as Citrullus lantus), related to the cucumber, squash, and pumpkin. As such, it can be qualified as both a fruit and a vegetable. It should be noted, though, that in an incredible display of bipartisanship, in 2007, the Oklahoma Democrats and Republicans passed a bill which made watermelons the official vegetable of Oklahoma. So, if you are reading this in Oklahoma, you should answer B. (If you are uncomfortable defining watermelons as a vegetable, you are free to travel to a nearby state and characterize it as a fruit. That’s what federalism is all about!) 6-B. Densuke watermelons have a thick black skin and are very sweet and crisp. There are 9,000 of these watermelons produced every year and this was the first of 65 sold as part of the season’s initial harvest.

Wisdom Key 5-6 correct: You are a watermelon expert. I bet you spend half of your day in Costco banging on watermelons like you are in Stomp to get the perfect echo. Hey, I have an idea! Why don’t you just pick out a watermelon already, and if it is not the best one you ever got, just eat it. You will survive! 3-4 correct: You are certainly no Densuke but not bad. 0-2 correct: Fine, you don’t like watermelons, but can you at least get into spitting the seeds like the rest of us?