Reactions to the meridian-street list of surefire conversation starters made it clear that some readers need ways to settle guests down, not amp them up.

Always responsive to our readers, here are our top ten topics guaranteed to so thoroughly absorb your guests that they will soon return to being bored and wondering how early they can leave without insulting you.

Throw out one of the following when conversations get heated, or even just interesting.

1. You know, yams and sweet potatoes are the same thing so why do they have two names?

2. I think the game Sorry teaches better lessons than Clue, don’t you?

3. They say that nothing rhymes with orange, but what about syringe? Who can think of a poem with both orange and syringe in it?

4. Can God make a dog so ugly that even He wouldn’t adopt it?

5. So, what Hogwarts house would the sorting hat put you in?

6. Fact or fiction? Cranberries and watercress are the only commercial crops grown in bogs?

7. Why do we still have the letter C in our alphabet? Let’s take turns spelling c-words without a c. Who wants to go first?

8. Who here can curl their tongue? Let’s see.

9. If a man who lives in his car becomes an Uber driver, is he technically working from home? Does that give him tax advantages?

10. Let’s all share our most favorite meridian-street.com story. Who wants to go first? Anyone? Anyone?