And the Prize goes to: Dear Reader Ben!
And for the other clues:
In The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter asks the riddle, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?", which he never answers. Various people, including Carroll, have offered answers. Stephen King's was, "The higher, the fewer, of course."
In the Star Trek: the Next Generation episode "The Cost of Living", Lwaxana Troi takes Worf's son, Alexander Rozhenko to a holodeck program, where a philosopher propounds, a propos of nothing, "The higher, the fewer!", a phrase which Alexander uses later to stop an argument.
Alexander was raised by Worf's adoptive parents, his own grandparents, who are played by Thodore Bikel (Baron von Trapp) and Georgia Brown (Nancy).
And now you know.