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Cold War Decoder

Guess each short answer. Then combine the first letters of each answer to make a famous quote.
Except for the quote, all the answers are a single word
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: April 10, 2021
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First submittedJune 14, 2015
Times taken33,563
Average score75.0%
Rating4.54
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Hint
Answer
M
Capital of the USSR
Moscow
R
U.S. panic about communism:
___ Scare
Red
G
Term for a Soviet prison camp
Gulag
O
Event boycotted by the U.S. in 1980
Olympics
R
U.S. propoganda outlet:
_____ Free Europe
Radio
B
City divided into East and West
Berlin
A
Mutually _______ destruction
Assured
C
Missile crisis country
Cuba
H
The H in H-Bomb
Hydrogen
E
U.S. President, 1953–1961
Eisenhower
V
Word that comes before
Cong or Minh
Việt
T
Long-time leader of Yugoslavia
Tito
E
Reagan's term for the USSR:
The ____ Empire
Evil
A
The U.S. manned lunar program
Apollo
R
Executed spies Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg
 
Hint
Answer
D
____ and cover
(in case of a nuclear strike)
Duck
O
Most important export of
the USSR
Oil
W
Eastern alliance: ______ Pact
Warsaw
N
Western military alliance
NATO
T
U.K. Prime Minister in the 1980s
Thatcher
H
Country that revolted against
the USSR in 1956
Hungary
I
____ Curtain
Iron
S
First satellite to orbit the Earth
Sputnik
W
Scandal that felled Nixon
Watergate
A
The A in A-Bomb
Atomic
L
President Johnson's first name
Lyndon
L
Congolese leader possibly
deposed by the CIA
Lumumba
 
 
 
Quote
Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall
+5
Level 76
Jun 14, 2015
I hadn't heard of Lumumba; I just read his biography on Wikipedia and it makes for some scary reading.
+1
Level 82
Nov 17, 2015
My Cold War leaders quiz skips on Lumumba, but features Johnson, Eisenhower, Tito and Thatcher.

For the clue about Julius and Ethel I read it wrong. I was trying to think... did they have a famous executioner? What was his name? The only famous executioner I'm aware of is Christian Rath, but he had a pretty memorable name.

+1
Level 72
Nov 17, 2015
Hey, I took that one! I liked how you skipped Ford. Not a fan?
+1
Level 82
Nov 17, 2015
I just didn't think he was that important.
+3
Level 73
Nov 17, 2015
Totally lucked this one out by thinking it has something to do with the city of Lubumbashi in sort of a commemoration for the man. It appears that this isn't the case, just a big coincidence.
+1
Level 38
Mar 19, 2018
Yup
+5
Level 88
Feb 14, 2020
I credit my knowledge of Lumumba from reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Excellent book btw, recommended.
+2
Level ∞
Apr 10, 2021
I read it. I personally didn't like it. Although it was quite the page-turner to me it exemplifies a certain type of Anglo-American morality that only sees ugliness in the world.
+2
Level 71
Apr 15, 2021
Really? I see where you're coming from--it was certainly a very cynical book and heavy-handed at times--but I thought the story itself was pretty riveting and does a great job covering a historical moment that remains obscure in the West. To each their own though.
+5
Level 65
Jun 15, 2015
Watergate wasn't related to the Cold War, it just happened within that time period. Maybe replace it with something about the movie WarGames (e.g., "Cold War film starring Mathew Broderick")? That's the only other thing I can think of that begins with a W.

Otherwise, I really liked this quiz.

+3
Level 77
Jun 15, 2015
Could use Walter Winchell. The pro-McCarthy journalist. I've only heard of him from Billy Joel's "We didn't Start the Fire." Albeit, Watergate is the easier answer.
+3
Level 59
Jul 3, 2015
I agree that Watergate did not have anything to do with the Cold War. Otherwise, it was a fun puzzle.
+1
Level 67
Nov 17, 2015
Think about the first name of Hiss' chief accuser. Or the city in which Joe McCarthy first claimed to have a list of Communists in the State Department. Can't get more Cold War than that.
+2
Level 72
Apr 23, 2017
Yeah Watergate is a bit out of kilter with the theme of the quiz, although given its fame it is quite guessable, and it doesn't detract from the quiz at all.

Not sure anyone outside a few dire hard quizers in the States will get Walter Winchell. I've certainly never heard of him. I think he would be far far to obscure.

+2
Level 84
Nov 18, 2015
Yeah, Watergate doesn't fit but this is one of the best constructed puzzles I've seen. Lumuba was tough.

OK, a better W? Lech Walesa. White House (the Soviet one) - "Russian parliament building that became the rallying point for Yeltsin and crowds of Muscovites during the failed coup to overthrow Gorbachev. "

+4
Level 82
Dec 1, 2018
If there's the capital of USSR, the US capital is perfectly valid choice.
+1
Level 92
Jun 15, 2015
Well composed quiz. Especially enjoyed that you put NATO and the Warsaw Pact adjacent to each other.
+4
Level 58
Feb 10, 2017
He had to. That's how you spell "down."
+4
Level 92
Nov 12, 2020
Yes, but Warsaw Pact could have swapped with Watergate.
+1
Level 65
Nov 13, 2015
Ooooh. That President Johnson.
+8
Level 66
Nov 17, 2015
Andrew missed the Cold War by about 80 years.
+1
Level 65
Nov 17, 2015
I know but my only guess was Andrew!
+8
Level 70
Nov 17, 2015
I got the quote a few letters in, makes the quiz easier.
+1
Level 75
Nov 17, 2015
Me too (but I still missed 2)
+4
Level 59
Nov 17, 2015
Same. As soon as I had M and R for the first two answers, I got the quote.
+1
Level 66
Nov 17, 2015
word
+1
Level 72
Nov 17, 2015
same here
+2
Level 84
Jul 3, 2017
As soon as I saw the 1st answer was "Moscow", I immediately typed out Reagan's quote. Wasn't sure if I'd get it word-for-word, but was pleasantly surprised when all the letters filled in.
+1
Level 37
Dec 2, 2019
Same here. On all of these quizzes, I've gotten the quote one or two answers in. Still, I've missed a few of the individual answers.
+4
Level 46
Apr 19, 2021
soon as i saw m r g, then i got it
+1
Level 66
May 11, 2023
Imo the quote is too easy. Not many options for "MR.." Cold war topic. Fun anyway; just a bit more fun when you've got to work for it a bit more.
+1
Level 41
Nov 17, 2015
A very good quiz. However, I am afraid I am going to make a fresh contribution to the ever-so-(un)popular campaign against JetPunk's overt Americocentrism (which I think is demonstrable and unfortunate): there is no objective reason to characterise the 1980 Moscow Olympic games as the event which USA boycotted. While the boycott was initiated by the US, it was joined by dozens of other countries. Why should the US be singled out? Or, if you do want to single them out, why not say that they started the boycott?
+5
Level 74
Jan 18, 2016
Or you could say, "what event was boycotted by the USA and the USSR?" They took turns boycotting :P
+3
Level 71
Apr 15, 2021
@Tinu to answer your question, I'm going to use your own words: "While the boycott was initiated by the US..."

So what if other countries boycotted the Moscow Olympics as well? The US was the most powerful/significant/first country to boycott it, and that's what really matters in this case.

+2
Level 79
Aug 27, 2022
You non-Americans really struggle to understand that you're on an American website geared towards Americans lol. It's really, really, really not that hard to figure out why it ends up being a bit Americentric. For the love of all that is holy, please get over it or go to a non-American based website that is NOT geared mostly towards Americans.

Also to note, there are a TON of quizzes that are focused on non-American things. TONS.

+3
Level 74
Jan 18, 2016
Please accept "atom bomb" for "atomic bomb." Both were used historically.
+1
Level ∞
Apr 10, 2021
Atom will work now.
+2
Level 58
Feb 10, 2017
I miss ONE and get only four points?!? What th--?
+1
Level 12
Dec 8, 2017
Next time Jack, write a memo
+1
Level 61
May 22, 2018
Accept atom bomb for atomic bomb.
+1
Level 80
Dec 3, 2018
One of those quizzes that are easy throughout except one question which is difficult.
+2
Level 66
Oct 29, 2019
Well that's taught me to spell Lumumba (not Lamumba).
+3
Level 79
Dec 1, 2019
I figured out the quote before any of the individual words!
+2
Level 50
Feb 12, 2020
Anyone else get the quote after the first 3? Lol
+1
Level 78
Feb 21, 2021
Eisenhower was president from 1953-1961
+1
Level ∞
Apr 10, 2021
D'oh! Fixed.
+1
Level 52
Apr 17, 2021
Am I the only one who tried "opium" for their most important export?
+3
Level 76
Apr 17, 2021
propaganda is misspelled
+2
Level 79
Nov 5, 2023
That's what the Soviets want you to think!
+2
Level 54
Apr 17, 2021
The role Pakistan played an important role in ending Cold War is non-forgetable
+1
Level 82
Apr 17, 2021
Guessed the hidden sentence after getting "M"
+1
Level 84
Apr 17, 2021
Thanks to R.E.M. for helping me remember Radio Free Europe.