Good morning, puzzlers! Today's brain teaser is a themed trivia set. Every answer connects to a single hidden theme — see if you can spot it by Question 5. Grab your coffee and give it a go.
Which U.S. state capital sits on the Missouri River and does not share a name with the county it's in?
In Greek mythology, which titan was condemned to hold up the sky for eternity?
Which planet in our solar system has the shortest day, rotating fully in just about 10 hours?
"Atlas Shrugged" is a famous 1957 novel by which Russian-American author?
What word describes a large, bound collection of maps — a term that comes directly from the name of the mythological titan in Question 2?
Bonus thinking point: what's the common thread tying all five answers together?
Answers
Pierre, South Dakota — sits on the Missouri River and does not share its county's name. [Editor's note: the naming history behind "Pierre" needs to be pinned down with a verified source before we print an etymology as fact.]
Atlas — condemned by Zeus to bear the heavens on his shoulders.
Jupiter — despite being the largest planet, it spins fastest, completing a rotation in about 9 hours 56 minutes.
Ayn Rand
Atlas (as in "an atlas of maps") — named after the titan because early map collections featured an image of Atlas holding the globe on their covers.
The connecting thread: every answer is named Atlas or derived from it — the novel in Question 4 shares its title with the titan in Question 2, and Question 5 spells the connection out directly. If you got the Atlas theme by Question 3, congratulations — you win bragging rights for the day!