Jesse days 8 and 9

3/6 with a horrible miss.

1. The kingdom of Ayutthaya existed for roughly 400 years, until the mid-18th century, in what is now what country?
Correct Answer: THAILAND
Your Answer: Thailand
Points Assigned: 1

I have been there.

2. For the week ending May 4, 2024, the top 14 slots on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart were songs by Taylor Swift (as well as 15 of the top 20 and 21 of the top 30). The top two non-Swift spots were held by solo artists who are, respectively, a Washington State–born TikTok phenom and American Idol dropout, and an Irish musician who burst onto the music scene in 2013. Their songs are "Beautiful Things" and "Too Sweet"—name either artist.
Correct Answer: BENSON BOONE, HOZIER
Your Answer: Olivia Rodrigo
Points Assigned: 1

I had no idea.

3. Name the McDonald's menu item first introduced in select locations in 1970, in celebration of St. Patrick's Day, and traditionally offered during the months of February and March.
Correct Answer: SHAMROCK SHAKE
Your Answer: Shamrock Shake
Points Assigned: 0

Gimmie for an American, but I have never had one. I haven't had McDonalds in a long time. 

4. Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides constitute a trilogy of plays by Aeschylus known by what name? This name for the trilogy is a term derived from (though is not identical to) the name of the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, who appears in these and many other Greek dramas.
Correct Answer: ORESTEIA
Your Answer: Theseus
Points Assigned: 2

I have been reading a lot of Greek Mythology lately, but this did not stick in my head. 

5. A total of 21 primary logos of teams in the National Basketball Association (out of 30 total) have designs that include, at least in part, the image of a basketball. Of those, precisely one shows that ball going through a hoop (which it does while on fire). What team uses this logo? Both location and team name are required.
Correct Answer: MIAMI HEAT
Your Answer: Miami Heat
Points Assigned: 2

Easy for a basketball fan. 

6. In 1982, Neal Gabler and Jeffrey Lyons were hired as the new co-hosts of a PBS series that had been, for a time, the highest-rated entertainment series on American public television. Name either of the men this duo replaced—Chicagoans and icons who had originated the series in 1975.
Correct Answer: GENE SISKEL, ROGER EBERT
Your Answer: At the Movies
Points Assigned: 3

Damnit. I jumped ahead and did not read the question. That said, my answer was still wrong, as the show referred to was called Sneak Previews. Siskel and Ebert started At the Movies after they left.

I forgot to post yesterday, but went 4/6

1. A 2024 Broadway musical directed and choreographed by Justin Peck has music and lyrics by Sufjan Stevens and was inspired by Stevens's 2005 concept album, which, in turn, chronicles people and places in what political entity (after which the album and musical are both named)?
Correct Answer: ILLINOIS
Your Answer: Illinois
Points Assigned: 2

I have this album, but haven't listened to it much and did not know the date or musical.

2. The medical condition urticaria, generally caused by the body's release of histamine, is better known by what word, which is descriptive of the condition's appearance?
Correct Answer: HIVES
Your Answer: Hives
Points Assigned: 1

First answer that came to mind. 

3. The loveable and cheerful mushroom-headed, vest-wearing, Princess Peach–serving character in Nintendo's Mario universe has what animal name?
Correct Answer: TOAD
Your Answer: Toad
Points Assigned: 0

Gimmie

4. Belinda (1948), Eager (1941), Guitar (1954), and Handsome (1989) are all half-titles of major Hollywood films. What name is missing from them all?
Correct Answer: JOHNNY
Your Answer: Jackson
Points Assigned: 2

I have heard of Johnny Handsome, but forgot about it. 

5. A certain type of men's dress shoe identifiable by its closed lacing—the shoe's "quarter" (middle to back of the upper) is stitched under the "vamp" (front to middle of the upper)—is sometimes called a Balmoral, after Scotland's Balmoral Castle, but is more commonly known by a name which is that of what English city?
Correct Answer: OXFORD
Your Answer: Oxford
Points Assigned: 1

Feels like a gimmie.

6. A dialect of English creole known as Crucian is spoken predominantly on what Caribbean island?
Correct Answer: SAINT CROIX
Your Answer: Barbados
Points Assigned: 3

Damn. Very gettable.