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Ted Cruz: 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me (I Can Quote Every Line From ‘The Princess Bride’!)

Senator Ted Cruz, who is a candidate for the Republican nomination for president of the United States, revealed 25 interesting facts about himself for Us Weekly.

1. As a kid, I used to go bullfrogging on the lake behind our house.

2. My first video game was Pong. My parents gave it to me at age 6.

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3. My dad was imprisoned as a teen in Cuba before he escaped to the U.S. on a student visa.

4. My first job was working as a computer operator at my parents’ company when I was 11. I got paid $1 an hour.

5. When I was in high school, they went bankrupt. I took out loans and worked two jobs to pay for Princeton.

6. I was once bitten by an octopus at the beach and got terribly ill. (Yes, apparently octopuses can be poisonous.)

7. In high school, I had a role in The Sound of Music twice. But I can’t carry a tune to save my life.

8. I was once suspended in high school for skipping class to play foosball.

9. In college, I climbed Mount Fuji in Japan.

10. I broke my hand playing basketball in law school [at Harvard] and almost had to take oral final exams.

11. My first car was a 1978 Ford Fairmont, nicknamed the Green Bomb.

12. I’m on level 350 of Candy Crush.

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13. At my daughters’ [Caroline, 7, and Catherine, 5] birthday parties, their favorite game is Attack the Daddy. It’s more terrifying than you might think.

14. Their nicknames are Monkey and Kooky Bear.

15. My favorite food is cheese.

16. I hate avocados.

17. My wife [Heidi, 43] and I once drilled a water well in Nicaragua on a mission trip.

18. Her family is all vegetarians. They were horrified when I told them the Cuban tradition on Christmas Eve is to roast a whole pig.

19. My favorite movie is The Princess Bride. I can quote every line.

20. I was at Game 7 of the NBA finals in 1994, where my hometown Houston Rockets won their first championship.

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21. To my wife’s great annoyance, my kids both love playing Plants vs. Zombies with Daddy on his iPhone.

22. I wear cowboy boots almost every day.

23. I’ve watched every episode of Criminal Minds, Game of Thrones, House of Cards and Breaking Bad.

24. On holidays, we play dominoes, Cuban style — double-nine and cutthroat.

25. When I’m away from the family, in Washington, D.C., my dinner is a can of soup. I have dozens in the pantry.

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