Potpourri III

Once again, we're doing that pan-discipline Potpourri. For the third time around, we've got a nice mix of some easy chestnuts and some brand new challenges. Beware, some of these are very tricky and may require some research.

1. Which one of the following doesn't belong: pitying, favor, unkindness, murder, exaltation?
2. What's the next element in this series: 1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221,... ?
3. Starting at a point on the equator, and heading northeast, how far would one travel before reaching the North Pole? (Assume "true" north, not magnetic)
4. A climber leaves camp at midnight for the top of the mountain and arrives there at noon. He immediately turns around and climbs back down by the same route to arrive at camp at midnight, exactly 24 hours after he left it. Is it necessarily the case that at a point on the route his watch's hands were in the same position on the ascent as on the descent? (Assume the watch operates normally, and the second hand sweeps in a continuous, non-discrete manner)
5. On the front page, just below the word "Labyrinth", is an odd purple-blue banner, composed of angular symbols. What is its meaning or significance?
6. In 1989 what company claimed the interesting distinction of having the world's smallest logo?
7. At the other end of the spectrum, what was the largest single man-made object visible with the naked eye to Neil Armstrong when he first stepped onto the moon's surface?
8. If a metal torus (doughnut) is heated, will the hole in the center get larger or smaller?
9. What do the following have in common, besides their obvious association with formality: limousine, champagne, tuxedo, ascot?
10. What is the next element in this series: "sun", "new", "inactive", "hidden"...?
11. How high up would one need to be to be able to see one-third of the Earth's surface? Assume that the weather is clear and that the Earth is a sphere.
12. If we are referring to this place today, we call it "Istanbul". If we are referring to what it was 2000 years ago, what is it called?

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