Snails

 Snails can sleep for up to three years by entering a state of dormancy called estivation (to avoid heat and dryness) or hibernation (to prevent cold temperatures). During these prolonged rest periods, their metabolism slows to conserve moisture and energy. To protect itself, the snail secretes a thick layer of mucus that hardens into a barrier, sealing the opening of its shell. This natural shield helps prevent dehydration and keeps out predators. When favorable weather conditions return, the snail simply dissolves the barrier and reawakens.

Tuxedo Park, NY

 The "tuxedo" was named after Tuxedo Park, an upstate New York countryside enclave for Manhattan's wealthiest citizens. The story has it that one evening, Griswold Lorillard, the son of the founder of Tuxedo Park, and his friends came up with the idea to wear a short black jacket without tails to the club's first Autumn Ball in October 1886. The new fashion was a hit. When male guests would visit with families in Tuxedo Park, they were intrigued by the jackets that men wore and would ask their tailors to make them a jacket “like the ones worn in Tuxedo.”

Baltimore Colts

 Between 1953 and 1984, the Colts were a professional American football club that competed in Baltimore. The squad currently goes by the name Indianapolis Colts and moved there in 1984. The team's name honors Baltimore's equine breeding and racing heritage. It was the Baltimore Colts' second incarnation after their original team spent three years competing in the All-America Football Conference and one year in the National Football League. Memorial Stadium served as the home field for the Baltimore Colts from 1953 through 1983.

In 1983, the Colts franchise received a proposal to relocate to Indianapolis, Indiana. The municipal administration of Baltimore tried to convince the state legislature to take away the Colts franchise and provide ownership to a different company that would guarantee to keep the Colts in Baltimore after failing to persuade them to do so. With the Oakland Raiders, Oakland, California, has recently had some legal success. On March 29, 1984, in the middle of the night, the franchise moved to Indianapolis under the threat of eminent domain from the city of Baltimore.

Baltimore would not give up and filed a lawsuit to declare the franchise invalid and take ownership. Despite losing in court, Baltimore finally gained a new NFL club in 1996 with the formation of the Baltimore Ravens in response to the Cleveland Browns' relocation issue.

The action outraged a lot of former Colts players. One of the most noteworthy was Johnny Unitas, who made the decision to sever all relations with his previous squad after the tragedy. On the other side, Colts owner Jim Irsay hosted a reunion for the Baltimore Colts, the 1975 AFC East champions, in 2009 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Bert Jones, Lydell Mitchell, and Mike Curtis were among the 39 of the team's 53 members who showed up for the event.

Sea Otter

 The sea otter is one of the few non-human animals known to regularly use tools. These intelligent marine mammals, found along the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean, often use rocks or other hard objects to help them access their favorite meals, such as clams, mussels, sea urchins, and crabs. A sea otter will float on its back, place a rock on its chest, and then smash the shellfish against it until the shell cracks open. This remarkable behavior demonstrates problem-solving and dexterity rarely seen among marine mammals.

Sea otters have a very high metabolic rate, which means they must eat about 25% of their body weight in food every day to stay warm in cold ocean waters. Unlike whales or seals, sea otters lack a thick layer of insulating blubber, so they rely on their extremely dense fur—around 600,000 to 1,000,000 hairs per square inch—to trap air and maintain warmth. This makes their fur the densest of any animal on Earth, but it also made them a target for fur hunters in the 18th and 19th centuries, pushing the species close to extinction.

Fortunately, conservation efforts and international protection have allowed many sea otter populations to rebound. They play a critical role in maintaining the balance of coastal ecosystems, particularly kelp forests. By feeding on sea urchins, they prevent these invertebrates from overgrazing and destroying kelp beds, which serve as vital habitats for numerous marine species.

The sea otter’s use of tools not only reflects intelligence but also cultural transmission—young otters often learn foraging techniques by observing their mothers. Scientists have even documented individual differences, with some otters favoring particular types of rocks or methods. This remarkable adaptability highlights the sea otter’s status as one of the most fascinating creatures of the marine world.

M&Ms

 If you were born before the 1990s, chances are high that you have encountered tan M&Ms. However, in 1995, the Mars candy company decided that having two shades of brown M&Ms was unnecessary. The company held a contest and invited M&Ms lovers to call 1-800-FUN-COLOR to vote for their favorite replacement color: blue, pink, or purple. After 10 million votes were cast, the color blue was chosen to replace the tan M&M. Since then, a regular pack of M&M's has contained a total of six colors: brown, yellow, green, red, orange, and blue.

Andy Griffith

 Andy Griffith plays the title character of criminal defense lawyer Ben Matlock in Dean Hargrove's American mystery legal drama television series Matlock. The program was created by Intermedia Entertainment Company, The Fred Silverman Company, Dean Hargrove Productions, and Viacom Productions and first shown on NBC and ABC, respectively, from March 3, 1986, through May 8, 1992.

Both Matlock and the 1980s Perry Mason television films were developed by Dean Hargrove. The concept of the program is identical to that of CBS' Perry Mason, with Matlock finding the offenders and then facing them in dramatic courtroom sequences. One distinction was that Matlock often won a jury acquittal at trial, but Mason typically cleared his clients in a pretrial hearing. Reruns of Matlock have been shown on TBS, INSP, Hallmark, CBS Drama, WGN America, FETV, PlutoTV, and MeTV since 1991.

The protagonist of the program is widower Ben Matlock (Andy Griffith), a famous, endearing, and cantankerous lawyer. Even though Matlock makes it clear that his only objective is to establish a reasonable doubt in the case of his client's guilt or to establish his client's innocence, in most cases the person who is on the stand being questioned by Matlock at the conclusion of the case is the actual perpetrator, and Matlock will expose him or her. After working as a public defender for a while, Matlock formed his own legal firm in Atlanta while living in a small farmhouse in a nearby neighborhood. Matlock studied law at Harvard Law School. He is renowned for visiting crime sites to unearth information that could otherwise go unnoticed and develop strong alternate interpretations of the particular event. Throughout the entire length of the series, Matlock owned three iterations of the Ford Crown Victoria—always an all-gray model—and was known for his very fussy sense of style. He often arrives in court wearing a recognizable light gray suit.

An Army of Frogs

 The traditional collective noun for a group of frogs is an army. This term is part of a broader collection of colorful and imaginative collective nouns in the English language, many of which date back to the Late Middle Ages. These group terms were often coined by hunters, writers, or poets to describe animals not with scientific precision but with flair, character, or humor.

Frogs are usually solitary creatures, but they do come together in large numbers during the breeding season, especially near water sources like ponds, marshes, or wetlands. When this happens, the sheer volume of frogs — often accompanied by loud croaking and energetic movement — can resemble an advancing force, which is likely how the term “army” came into being. Though not used in scientific writing, this term remains recognized in dictionaries and English language resources as the accepted collective noun for frogs.

This sort of naming isn’t unique to frogs. English has many such traditional collective nouns that are not based in biology but are instead steeped in creativity and convention. For example, you’ll find terms like a murder of crows, a parliament of owls, and a crash of rhinoceroses. These terms capture something vivid or behavioral about the animals — in the frog’s case, their sudden mass gatherings during rainy seasons or breeding times can seem like an amphibian invasion, hence the term “army.”

It’s important to note that while these terms are charming and memorable, scientific texts are more likely to refer to frogs in groups using neutral phrases like “a group,” “a population,” or “a breeding aggregation.” Still, “army” remains a beloved bit of English trivia, perfect for crossword puzzles, pub quizzes, and nature-themed games alike.