Comments on: King William College Quiz

King William College Quiz

biffa — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 02:49:00 -0800

Rejoice! The highlight of Christmas - the King William College Quiz. Still pretty damn hard.

By: Bravocharlie

Bravocharlie — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 02:59:54 -0800

"bedstefar" is an English term?

By: toma

toma — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 03:05:21 -0800

And not newly incomprehensible.

By: Nugget

Nugget — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 03:16:58 -0800

I can get one without Google - hydragyrum is mercury. My chemistry teacher would be proud of me.

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:07:07 -0800

Holy hell. That thing really is hard. They're not even posting the answers until sometime in January. I'm not at all sure I want to test myself against it, but I'm happy to see it in the blue. Thanks, biffa.

By: Chunder

Chunder — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:24:15 -0800

Every year numerous people fail miserably at answering this... just think of the students who sit this in exam conditions! :) Muahahahah!

By: Lebannen

Lebannen — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:24:15 -0800

OK, come on, someone else must want to play? Round 4 is lines: 4.1 Waterloo and City 4.7 Maginot 4.8 Mason-Dixon 4.9 Bowline 7.6 is the Inn of the Sixth Happiness, which I only know thanks to accidentally listening to Radio 4 yesterday afternoon. Round 16 is cars? 16.2 Lotus? 16.5 Citroen 2CV? 17.2 might be Dr Stephen Maturin?

By: jiroczech

jiroczech — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:26:58 -0800

Elitist wank. (Maybe I'm just pissed off cos I glanced at it and didn't know anything...)

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:37:52 -0800

just think of the students who sit this in exam conditions! :) Muahahahah! What class is this for? Trivial Pursuit 101?

By: parki

parki — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:37:58 -0800

Done! [puts pencil down, smugly]

By: krunk

krunk — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:58:19 -0800

1.4 is Coca-Cola That's it for me! Don't forget to tip your waitress!

By: Mocata

Mocata — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:03:36 -0800

1.3 Theodore Roosevelt 1. 9 Dreyfus 2.3 Tom Jones 3.4 Halley? 7.2 Childhood 9.7 Probably in The Riddle of the Sands 14.5 The Ancient Mariner 16.7 Parker? 17.10 Hannibal Lecter

By: MtDewd

MtDewd — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:16:10 -0800

Oh, there are themes?? Now I can get 4.3- Plimsol 4.2-Rock Island? 4.10-Succession Thanks, Lebannen It's hard to work out themes if you only get 1 out of ten, though.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:23:29 -0800

krunk: "1.4 is Coca-Cola " I think you meant 1.5, but that was my guess too.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:26:03 -0800

And I believe 10.3 is William Blake. A foundling whose road to excess led to the palace of wisdom?

By: parmanparman

parmanparman — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:38:44 -0800

Bedstefar is Christian IX, king of Denmark, dead in 1906

By: miagaille

miagaille — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:42:04 -0800

Group 2 is "Joneses" 2.3 Tom Jones 2.4 Catherine Zeta-Jones 2.5 Edward Burne-Jones 2.9 Bridget Jones

By: antifuse

antifuse — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:58:57 -0800

General knowledge exam? How in the world is ANY of this general knowledge???

By: Slack-a-gogo

Slack-a-gogo — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 06:43:38 -0800

According to Wikipedia the King William's College Quiz is given twice, once before the holidays and once after the holidays, after the students have had time to research the questions over break. And I feel a little better after reading "a common score being just two correct answers from the list of several hundred".

By: Lebannen

Lebannen — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 07:25:48 -0800

OK, themes. Round 3 looks like it's all astronomy (I thought Halley too but I don't know for sure), Round 9 seems to be all about railways, maybe specifically railway stations? Round 11 seems to have some kind of ghostly/musical/songs about ghosts thing going on, but the only one I got without cheating was Molly Malone, Round 14 is beards, Round 17 ... Hannibal Lecter was Dr Lecter and 17.7 sounds like a doctor too, so go with a doctors theme?

By: krunk

krunk — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 07:33:48 -0800

I think you meant 1.5, but that was my guess too. That would certainly make more sense than Coca-Cola emerging for a journey that would eventually take him to join the Iron Age dead.

By: smoothvirus

smoothvirus — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:29:34 -0800

18.3 Pluto

By: smoothvirus

smoothvirus — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:32:03 -0800

I think 3.3 is Galileo

By: smoothvirus

smoothvirus — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:34:27 -0800

3.6 Verrier - Adams

By: smoothvirus

smoothvirus — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:39:20 -0800

3.7 Venus 3.8 1930 3.9 Penias - Wilson 3.10 wobble?

By: smoothvirus

smoothvirus — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:43:20 -0800

3.1 Johannes Kepler

By: smoothvirus

smoothvirus — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:46:59 -0800

3.2 Copernicus?

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:47:38 -0800

Seems more like a Brit version of trivial pursuit than anything else. How is that test at all a valid measure of intelligence the first time around is beyond me, but as tool to sharpen research skills it sounds fun and beneficial from all the ambient (more important) shit picked up from finding the answers to that twaddle.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:49:21 -0800

Ooh! Ooh! Round 11 is ghosts! 11.2 is Jacob Marley, and 11.6 is Molly Malone.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:52:01 -0800

And I believe that 18.3 is Pluto.

By: flug

flug — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 08:52:58 -0800

Putting together some listed above with some new--it's all there but 4.6: 4.1 Waterloo and City 4.2-Rock Island (The phrase used in the song "Rock Island Line") 4.3- Plimsoll line (mark on the side of ships showing their load limit) 4.4 Clapton's (green line seen on the gums from copper poisoning) 4.5 Caroline Wilhelmina Dorothea, queen of George II 4.6 ? (maybe some kind of British rail line? "embraces Cheshire, Kent, Lancashire and Oxfordshire under three legs") 4.7 Maginot 4.8 Mason-Dixon 4.9 Bowline 4.10-Succession (SoS Haig claimed to be in charge when Reagan was shot by Hinkley, jumping ahead of the VP & causing an uproar)

By: flug

flug — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 09:15:28 -0800

Putting together some from above & some new (and YAY for google--but usually you need some kind of a clue or inkling to know what to google for . . . ): 3.1 Johannes Kepler 3.2 Copernicus? 3.3 Ole Roemer (speed of light) 3.4 Halley 3.5 Olbers (Olbers' Paradox) 3.6 Verrier & Adams (they did the calculations) 3.7 Venus (crosses the sun's face) 3.8 1930 (Holst's "Planets" written during WW I . . . ) 3.9 Penzias - Wilson (a cosmic discovery . . . ) 3.10 wobble? (used to detect planetary systems) gravitational lensing?

By: smoothvirus

smoothvirus — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 09:39:18 -0800

By: flug

flug — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:01:13 -0800

Flug.... Galileo tried to calculate the speed of light based on his observations of Jupiter's moons. It's supposed to be chronological so he falls in between copernicus and Halley. I don't think it's Roemer. Could be, but Roemer's dates are 1644-1710 so he fits chronologically, too. Roemer actually calculated the speed to a reasonable precision with the method. The story I've heard about Galileo is that he tried to measure the speed of light hilltop to hilltop, unsuccessfully.

By: flug

flug — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:12:52 -0800

8.6 It is the ship captained by the protagonist in Joseph Conrad's The Shadow Line--I don't know if it the ship is ever named. See The Shadow Line on Project Gutenberg.

By: goofyfoot

goofyfoot — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:12:52 -0800

17.4 is Dr. Aziz from Forster's A passage to India, which suggests that Lebannen is correct about Round 17 concerning doctors.

By: Cyclopsis Raptor

Cyclopsis Raptor — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:38:28 -0800

Darn you smoothvirus! That's the only one I could get (since I read the sections like this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 18.)

By: thinkingwoman

thinkingwoman — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:52:39 -0800

that thing reads like a final exam for "alice in wonderland." (which is not really called "alice in wonderland," but whatever.) aside from the astronomy questions, i'm baffled. i assume there are a lot of puns and references to things that would be more commonly understood by a resident.

By: flug

flug — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 11:24:02 -0800

8.1 ? 8.2 Octodecimo 8.3 Oophore? Or some other tricky O-word meaning something like "flowerless"? 8.4 Orsino (From The Twelfth Night) 8.5 Orgoglio (from canto VII of Spenser's Faerie Queene) 8.6 Otago (This is tricky--it is the ship captained by the protagonist in Joseph Conrad's The Shadow Line but the ship is not mentioned even once by name in the novel--nor is the protagonist. So who is the protagonist and what ship was he captaining?) 8.7 Orvieto Cathedral 8.8 Oviedo 8.9 Orbetello 8.10 ? An obvious trend here . . . should be enough for some of you geniuses to figure out the remainder (8.1, 8.3, 8.10).

By: flug

flug — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 11:52:36 -0800

aside from the astronomy questions, i'm baffled. i assume there are a lot of puns and references to things that would be more commonly understood by a resident. They are lot like a crossword puzzle clues. You have to figure out what they are alluding to, what they are deliberately disguising, put that together with the theme of that section, etc. Also have a bit of faith that they are giving you enough clues to figure out the answer but not enough to make it easy. Also realize they are sent home over the holidays, so they might not be things you would know off the top of your head but rather things you could figure out by research & a bit of thinking. Like crossword puzzle clues, they usually suggest more than they actually say--ie, "in modern parlance" in 8.5 hints that the original is in some kind of parlance that isn't modern--suggesting both possible sources (works in archaic English) and how to search (ie, "giant" might be spelled "gyant" or "geaunt" or some other archaic way). Others have layers of trickiness, like 8.6. But there are enough clues that when you have the final answer, you know it. Some might be anglo-centric, but I don't really think that is the problem for the vast majority. How would pupils of King William's College, know about the Rock Island Railroad line (4.2), which is smackin the middle of the USA? Just by chance I live 200 yards from the Rock Island line & I didn't know it was a "mighty good road". But a little research shows there is a famous song that uses that phrase, combined with the fact that it is in a section of questions about "lines" and--there you go.

By: tabbycat

tabbycat — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:41:08 -0800

I'm guessing that 5:8 is Lincoln Cathedral, which is adorned by a carving of the Lincoln Imp and 5:9 is Lindisfarne.

By: vbfg

vbfg — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:57:30 -0800

Given the English (-ish, this being from the Isle of Man) origins of this quiz, I suspect 4.10 refers to Douglas Haig and the Hindenburg Line rather than coup attempts in barbaric foreign lands.

By: MtDewd

MtDewd — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:11:21 -0800

Is 8.10 Orson Welles?

By: vbfg

vbfg — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:13:42 -0800

1.10: Rugby League. Switched from 15 players to 13 in 1906 which, in the eyes of the layman, is the thing which most likely distinguishes us from Rugby Union which still has 15. 1.2 Might be Satsuma. The Japanese started building the first all big gun battleship before we did and they called the ship Satsuma. The navy started HMS Dreadnought after that but finished it first, and all big gun battleships thereafter were known as dreadnoughts. But they were nearly all Satsumas instead, which I think I prefer. I don't see any connection with Rugby Leagu though, if the're as themed as they otherwise look. Shame it's an actual fruit rather than a fruity concoction, otherwise I'd be convinced.

By: vbfg

vbfg — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:20:15 -0800

But then ships are concoctions of a sort, so I'm going to stick with it before I talk myself out of my best score yet.

By: verstegan

verstegan — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:34:38 -0800

2:2 Bustopher Jones 3:2 Galileo 5 is cathedral cities: 5:1 Wells 5:5 Oxford 5:8 Lincoln 5:9 Durham 5:10 Exeter 6 is Irish towns mentioned in songs or poems: 6:3 Lifford 6:6 Wicklow 6:9 Coleraine 6:10 Kilkenny 10:2 Primrose 14:5 Ancient Mariner

By: flug

flug — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:50:35 -0800

Given the English (-ish, this being from the Isle of Man) origins of this quiz, I suspect 4.10 refers to Douglas Haig and the Hindenburg Line rather than coup attempts in barbaric foreign lands. Undoubtedly you're correct. BTW I make no warranties about any of the answers in my comments above. More than one may, er, prove the fact that some of the questions are susceptible to more than one reasonable answer. (Also in the interest of humility as well as trying to shift the blame as far as possible without getting caught, I should mention that some answers are my own but others are just summarized from others' comments, in an effort to put together the solution to a complete section.)

By: vbfg

vbfg — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:46:13 -0800

Actually, the theme in section 1 is 1906. The Rugby League thing happened in 1906. Those ships were launched in 1906. The Bestefar answer appears to be 1906 related.

By: vbfg

vbfg — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:55:15 -0800

Hmmm. Subsequently spotting the same information in the section heading makes that feel like less of an intellectual victory somehow.

By: flug

flug — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 16:32:38 -0800

Some from discussion above & some new for section 11: 11.1 Sicilius Leonatus (ghostly father of Posthumus Leonatus) 11.2 Jacob Marley 11.3 ? 11.4 ? 11.5 ? 11.6 Molly Malone (you've likely sung about Molly and her shellfish, though if you're like me you couldn't put it together right off . . . ) 11.7 Spectre of Sir Roderic (Gilbert & Sullivan . . . ) 11.8 Brisbane, from The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford 11.9 Tom Pierce's grey mare 11.10 Ann Boleyn

By: flug

flug — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 17:13:01 -0800

Group 2 is "Joneses" 2.3 Tom Jones 2.4 Catherine Zeta-Jones 2.5 Edward Burne-Jones 2.9 Bridget Jones 2.10 Edward German (Another tricky one . . . )

By: Sand Reckoner

Sand Reckoner — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 23:42:57 -0800

Number 7 so far, with a couple of new answers: 7.1 ? 7.2 Childhood 7.3 ? 7.4 ? 7.5 ? 7.6 The Inn of the Sixth Happiness 7.7 ? 7.8 Royal Troon 7.9 Mozart 7.10 ?

By: flug

flug — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 01:26:58 -0800

OK, duh. Round 8, all the correct answers both start and end with "O". So a few more stabs: 8.1 Orfeo 8.2 Octodecimo 8.3 Oloroso ("florless"--that's pretty tricky) 8.4 Orsino (From The Twelfth Night) 8.5 Orgoglio (from canto VII of Spenser's Faerie Queene) 8.6 Otago (ship in Joseph Conrad's The Shadow Line) 8.7 Orvieto Cathedral 8.8 Oviedo 8.9 Orbetello 8.10 ? ("Who was the voice?")

By: hypersloth

hypersloth — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 04:22:31 -0800

Most of the answers are "Backstreet Boys", but the last one is "'N Sync".

By: verstegan

verstegan — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 02:53:55 -0800

Am I the only person still doing this? Here are a few more answers (based on about 10% general knowledge, 40% educated guesswork and 50% Google): 9 is railway stations in popular fiction: 9:3 Gare de l'Est, Paris (Madonna of the Sleeping Cars) 9:4 sounds like Kim, but I can't place it 9:5 Leeds (The 39 Steps) 9:7 Emden (Riddle of the Sands) 9:8 Bombay (Around the World in 80 Days) 12 is headgear in popular fiction and poetry: 12:1 A Cardinal's hat (Jackdaw of Rheims) 12:2 A lum hat wantin' the croon (Scottish song) 12:4 Men's Sunday hats (The Pied Piper of Hamelin) 12:5 A mantilla of black lace (Greenmantle) 12:6 sounds like The Moonstone 12:7 Red caps (Swallows and Amazons) 12:8 A beryl coronet (Sherlock Holmes) 12:9 A solar topee (Mad Dogs and Englishmen) 12:10 might be something in P.G. Wodehouse 15 is characters in Shakespeare: 15:1 Edgar (Lear) 15:3 Helena (All's Well) 15:4 Falstaff (1 Henry IV) 15:8 Touchstone (As You Like It) 15:9 The Clown (Winter's Tale) 17 is doctors in fact and fiction: 17:1 Dr Wolfe Macfarlane (The Body Snatcher) 17:2 Dr Stephen Maturin (the Patrick O'Brian novels) 17:3 Drosselmeyer (The Nutcracker) 17:5 Sir Patrick Cullen (The Doctor's Dilemma) 17:6 Doc Daneeka (Catch 22) 17:7 probably Dr Simon Forman 17:8 Dr Watson (Sherlock Holmes) 17:9 probably Dr Johnson

By: verstegan

verstegan — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 11:00:20 -0800

And some more (getting on for 90% Google by this time): 7:2 Second childhood 7:4 The Fourth Protocol 7:5 probably King Edward V, but I can't place the reference 7:6 The Inn of the Sixth Happiness 7:7 The seventh nerve 7:8 The eighth hole at Troon 13 is all to do with silver: 13:1 Mercury (= quicksilver) 13:4 Silverfish 13:5 Silver reeds in a silver stream (poem by Walter de la Mare) 13:7 A little silver trout (poem by Yeats) 13:8 King George VI's silver wedding (= postage stamp) 13:9 probably Silver Blaze (in the Sherlock Holmes story) 13:10 The Silver Tassie (play by Sean O'Casey)

By: squarehead

squarehead — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 13:31:42 -0800

16.6 BMW? no?

By: flug

flug — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 22:53:36 -0800

Summarizing round 16, which seems to be about automobile names (plus 1 new): >16.2 Lotus? >16.5 Citroen 2CV? >16.6 BMW? >16.7 Parker? 16.10 A Toyota?

By: robbrad

robbrad — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 04:48:16 -0800

Wow! Thanks to everyone who has posted answers here. This infernal quiz has been a long - standing annual 'tradition' in my wife's family - with her parents usually getting ahead & tormenting everyone with 'superior knowledge'. This year, the children (we're all in our 40s & 50s!!) have 'rebelled'!! Yep, we got hold of the quiz on the same day & pooled our collective knowledge - but this site has been a boon!! We are well ahead of the 'aged Ps' & they do NOT like it one little bit!!!! Actually - it has been fun researching. In the spirit of sharing - here are answers not previously posted (apologies if I accidentally repeat some). Hope they are correct!!! 1.6 The balloon "United States" - winner of the Gordon Bennett trophy 1.7 suffragette/s 1.8 Italian liner "Sirio" 2.6 Brian Jones (late Rolling Stone!) 2.8 inspector Jones of the (Scotland) Yard 10.1 Rambling Rector? 11.3 The Monkey's Paw (creepy short story - can't recall author) 13.6 Lord Silverbridge 16 (I don't believe that this section is about motor cars/automobiles - but rather manufacturers' products. If I'm right - the answers could be as follows...) 16.2 Cadbury's Roses 16.5 HP sauce! 16.7 Byrd's custard (Charlie Parker = Bird!) 16.10 Oxo 17.5 Cricket umpire Daryl Hare 17.6 racehorse Desert Orchid 17.10 Sir Paul McCartney - "When I'm 64"! Keep the answers coming, please! Cheers! Rob PS - Re: 1.2 - could be Dreadnought/Satsuma or...??? the English satirical magazine "Punch" (a fruity concoction?) had a regular pseudonymous contributor called "Dreadnought" for many, many years. A possibility???

By: flug

flug — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 23:04:14 -0800

11.3 The Monkey's Paw (creepy short story - can't recall author) Aha! That one (What Indian souvenir brought £200 and a fatal industrial accident?) rang a bell in my head but I couldn't quite put it together. Full text is here, author is English writer W. W. Jacobs. For those keeping score, only two of round 11 are left: 4 What had particular qualities of silence, power and trustworthiness? 5 Which invited dinner guest returned the invitation before guiding his host to Hell?

By: robbrad

robbrad — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 05:57:30 -0800

11.5 - the Commendatori (statue that comes to life!) in Mozart's "Don Giovanni"

By: CCBC

CCBC — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 03:58:39 -0800

Excuse duplicates, except for complete sections. for section 1: 1.3: Teddy Roosevelt, 1.9: Dreyfus.(1.4 is still missing) For Section 2: 2.1: Sorrowful Jones, 2.2 Bustopher Jones, 2.3 Tom Jones, 2.4: Catherine Zeta-Jones, 2.5: Burne-Jones, 2.6: Brian Jones, 2.7 Inigo Jones, 2.8 Inspector Jones, 2.9: Bridget Jones, 2.10: Edward German (born German Edward Jones). 3: 3.1: Copernicus, 3.2 Galileo, 3.3 Ole Romer, 3.4: Edmond Halley, 3.5: Heinrich Olbers, 3.6: le Verrier and Adams, 3.7: Venus, 3.8 Pluto (not included in Holst's Planets), 3.9: Penzias and Wilson, 3:10 lensing (because of "focus") completes 3. 4.6 is missing. A royal line perhaps? 5: Cathdrals 5.1: Wells,5.2: St.Paul's, 5.3 Peterborough (Catherine of Aragon's grave), 5.4: Ely, 5.5: Christminster (Jude the Obscure), 5.7: Canterbury? (King John is "he who sits...etc."), 5.9: Derby (Peregrine falcons now nest in the cathedral/cuddy ducks, e.g., eider, are local). 5.6 is missing. Can this be Barcelona, Sagrada? But no, I'm thinking has to be English cathedrals only. Nothing to add to 6, yet. 7.2 is "childishness", actually, not to be pedantic or anything, 7.7 is the seventh cranial nerve or facial nerve, 7.9: Shostakovich. 8.10 is still missing. 9.1 Tallow Road Station (another Betjeman -- see 5.10 Exeter -- answer, from Moira McCavendish), 9.3 Gare de l'est, Paris from Dekobra's Madonna of the Sleeping Cars, 9.5 Leeds from Buchan's 39 Steps, 9.7 Emden from Childers, Riddle of the Sands. 10 needs work. Tomorrow. 11.4 is the only one missing and it sounds so goddam familiar! 12.6 straw hat from Stevenson's Travels with a Donkey, 12.8 the beryl coronet (another Sherlock Holmes answer). 12.3,12.10 are missing. 13.2 is Silverspot, Ernest Thompson Seton, 13.3 Sigewulf was one of Alcuin's pupils/bumboys but I can't locate the silver, 13.9 is also missing. 14.1: Peter the Great, 14.3 Swein Forkbeard, 14.9 Svengali, 14.10 plucking of Gloucester's beard. 2,4,6,7,and 8 missing. Did the Hunan spies get their pigtails lopped off? 15 Shakespeare's food 15.1 Poor Tom/Edgar (Lear), 15.2 Tamora (Titus Andronicus), 15.3 Helena (All's Well That etc.), 15.4 Falstaff (Henry IV 1), 15.5 Prospero (Tempest), 15.6 Fluellen (Henry V), 15.7 Bottom (Midsummer Night's Dream), 15.8 Touchstone (As You Like It), 15.9 Clown (Winter's Tale), 15.10 possibly Andrew AgueCheek? (Twelfth Night). 16 Cars? I thought 16.10 was Oxo, but 16.8 is surely Kangoo (Renault). 17 Doctors 17.2 is Maturin, 17.3 Dr. Plarr (Greene, Honorary Consul), 17.5 Sir Doctor Patrick Cullen (Shaw, Doctor's Dilemma), 17.9 Dr. Caius (Williams' opera, Falstaff in Love). 17 may be complete. I want to double-check. 18.1 Tiger Woods (Ryder Cup. He lost his nine-iron into the water hazard at the 7th hole), 18.2 I think the asshole Tory, Eric Forth, 18.5 has to do with Blair(?) or maybe Prescott(?) wanting severance package. Scandal from early summer I think. God, there are so many scandals. This should have been Conrad Black but his severance scandal hit in late 2005. 18.7 Pam Ayres (commedienne with a song about Prescott, MP caught in a sex scandal), 18.10 Sir Paul McCartney. So what the hell are those glass balls? And the Elizabethan purse? And the Day?

By: doca

doca — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 05:05:37 -0800

17 is about car model names 17.2 Toyota (Corolla) 17.6 Skoda (Octavia) 17.8 Renault (Kangoo) 17.9 Daihatsu (Charade) 17.10 Honda (Civic) 18.5 Darryl Hare? 18.9 Syd Barrett's obituary? (1450 is ten to three)

By: CCBC

CCBC — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 15:04:26 -0800

16.1 KIA Cerato, 16.7 Hyundai Getz

By: CCBC

CCBC — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:04:05 -0800

14.2 Lear's Old Man with a beard (who said, "It is just as I feared -- Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren, Have all built their nests in my beard."), 14.4 Yellow Goat's-beard, common name for Trapogon sp. aka Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon, 16.4 Suzuki Liana

By: CCBC

CCBC — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:54:55 -0800

7.3: Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III, the first Hohenstaufen, 7.5: maybe Louis V whose Carolingian line ended when the Church favored the Robertians, 9.9 Carlisle (Skimbleshanks -- this is the second of Old Possum's Cats to appear in this quiz).

By: CCBC

CCBC — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 17:23:05 -0800

ERROR ALERT! King Billy's has screwed up, ha-ha! 14.7 should ask about Hanun, not Hunan. The answer is in Second Samuel 10:4. Hanun believes David's emissaries are spies: Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. So I claim moral victory, no matter how many I get wrong!

By: doca

doca — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 09:25:47 -0800

Sorry. The cars are Q16! Can't count. Anyway I think 18.8 is Windsor Castle at the queen's birthday celebrations. I have some of Q10 : 10.1 Buddleia 10.2 Rafflesia 10.4 Fothergilla 10.5 Camellia 10.7 Dahlia 10.8 Rudbeckia 10.9 Bougainvillia

By: CCBC

CCBC — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:16:58 -0800

10.6 Forsythia

By: flug

flug — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 04:50:30 -0800

10. Which decorative plant owes its name to . . . 10.3 a royal commissioner in Santo Domingo: Could be "Columbine" after "Columbus" but this seems a stretch as the name Columbine seems to stem directly from the Latin "columbinus" ("dove") rather than from Christopher Columbus. 10.10 An ophthalmic anatomist: Fuchsia, named after physician, herbalist, and botanist Leonhart Fuchs. The cover of Fuchs's treatise on the anatomy of the eye (PDF) is quite interesting and beautiful. Fuchs is responsible for coining the Latin name "digitalis"--and I suppose this is a conceivable answer to the question as well, as digitalis (or 'foxglove') is an ornamental plant of sorts and it certainly "owes its name" to Fuchs. Perhaps not coincidentally, Fuchsia was discovered in Santo Domingo. To confuse matters there is an Ernst Fuchs who lived a few hundred years after Leonhart, wrote a standard ophthalmology textbook, and is sometimes erroneously given as the namesake of Fuchsia.)

By: CCBC

CCBC — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:08:32 -0800

6.1 Armagh (from W.R.Rogers via Seamus Heaney), 6.8 Derry (from an Orange ballad "Derry's Deathless Story")

By: flug

flug — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:32:48 -0800

Hmm . . . thinking a little more about this fact I mentioned in the last post: Perhaps not coincidentally, Fuchsia was discovered in Santo Domingo. I'm going to nominate as the answer to 10.3 ("Which decorative plant owes its name to a royal commissioner in Santo Domingo") , Begonia. Like Fuchsia, Begonia was discovered and named by Charles Plumier. Plumier named Begonia after Michel Begon, who financed one of Plumier's expeditions. Begon apparently had a royal appointment (different sources list him as governor or intendant) in Saint Domingue at about this same time. So there is our "decorative plant" that owes its name to a "royal comissioner". Other well-known discoveries of Plumier include Plumeria , Magnolia and Lobelia. Magnolia and Lobelia are named for other botanists Plumier knew, while Plumeria was named (posthumously, by colleagues) for Plumier himself. Summing up round 10: 10.1 Buddleia 10.2 Rafflesia 10.3 Begonia 10.4 Fothergilla 10.5 Camellia 10.6 Forsythia 10.7 Dahlia 10.8 Rudbeckia 10.9 Bougainvillea 10.10 Fuchsia

By: CCBC

CCBC — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 17:49:36 -0800

I think 10.2 is incorrect. Rafflesia was named after Stanford Raffles, Nineteenth century founder of Singapore and not James First's physician.

By: doca

doca — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 10:13:38 -0800

Yes 10.2 is wrong. I think I had it as an answer to another plant at first and misentered it. The correct answer is Lobelia after Matthias de l'Obel physician to James 1.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 14:42:15 -0800

14.6 Robinson Crusoe 18.8 may refer to Paul Burrell and the theft (or not) of about 300 items, many of them purses, after Diana's death. If so, St. James' Palace is the place.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 14:57:03 -0800

13.9 a silver churn (from Gilbert & Sullivan, Patience -- this damn quiz wouldn't be complete without at least one G&S question.)

By: lindola

lindola — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 15:23:23 -0800

10.4 is Wisteria, named after Caspar Wistar, thus the misspelling thing.

By: lindola

lindola — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 15:32:27 -0800

13.3 is Silverstone, the racing track in Northamptonshire, England. Silverstone means 'Sigewulf's farm' in Old English.

By: lindola

lindola — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 15:38:27 -0800

5.6 is Chichester Cathedral. It has a window designed by the artist, Marc Chagall.

By: lindola

lindola — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 16:20:04 -0800

11.6 is the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. ' Silence, power, trustworthy' was it's advertising slogan.

By: flug

flug — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 16:35:42 -0800

11.6 is the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. 'Silence, power, trustworthy' was it's advertising slogan. Aha--that's got to be it: Adverts for the car read: "Silent as a Ghost, Powerful as a Lion, Trustworthy as Time."

By: lindola

lindola — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 17:17:22 -0800

15.2 Bassiano - offered a 'dish of doves' by Old Gobbo in Merchant of Venice. 15.6 Pistol - tells Captain Fluellen to eat the leek in his hat in Henry V. 15.10. Christopher Sly in Taming of the Shrew.

By: lindola

lindola — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 17:19:18 -0800

16.3 BMW Vishnu.

By: lindola

lindola — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 17:30:11 -0800

12.10 (maybe) Alpine hats in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by Wodehouse.

By: lindola

lindola — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 17:46:32 -0800

6.4 Finnea. In John Betjeman's An Impoverished Irish Peer.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 11:03:35 -0800

I got an e-mail from Mark, a non-MeFite who is following our efforts to crack this thing, who suggests that 10.10 refers to Johann Zinn (Zinnia), not Fuchs.

By: flug

flug — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:06:30 -0800

I got an e-mail from Mark, a non-MeFite who is following our efforts to crack this thing, who suggests that 10.10 refers to Johann Zinn (Zinnia), not Fuchs. Aha! Zinnia is at least a strong a candidate as Fuchsia, maybe stronger. Interestingly enough, there is a third candidate, Fallopia, after Gabriello Fallopio who is known for his description of the lachrymal passages in the eye. It's hard to figure out which might be the "right" answer just based on the clue given, "10. Which decorative plant owes its name to an ophthalmic anatomist". I'm not an expert on plants by any means, but both Zinnia, and Fuchsia seem to be the type of plant one might plant or keep for decorative value. "Fuchsia are popular flowering holiday gift plants." "Zinnias are popular garden flowers." Some varieties of Fallopia are sold as garden plants (though some are invasive and considered pests). I'm not an expert in the history of anatomy, either, but both Fuchs and Zinn wrote complete works on the anatomy of the eye and both works appear to be important or seminal in some way. The term "ophthalmic anatomist" might apply more to Zinn, just based on the fact that, because of his short life, his book on the anatomy of the eye is considered his major accomplishment whereas for Fuchs it is but one accomplishment among many. Both Zinn & Fuchs seem to have a stronger claim to that title than Fallopia--though he certainly did important work in the anatomy of the eye, too! There might be some "invisible thread" in this category that we haven't recognized yet, that would allow us to break the tie. Or maybe someone better versed in plants or ophthalmic anatomy can give a better perspective. For now I'm saying Zinn is the strongest answer but Fuchs is almost as strong and Fallopio is somewhat weaker. Here is a summary of this category--again, no guarantee these are the "right" answers, just a summary of what's been said above. Answer in order of my reckoning of their priority, when more than one given: 10.1 Buddleia 10.2 Lobelia 10.3 Begonia 10.4 Wisteria 10.5 Camellia 10.6 Forsythia 10.7 Dahlia 10.8 Rudbeckia 10.9 Bougainvillea 10.10 Zinnia, Fuchsia, Fallopia

By: flug

flug — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:17:08 -0800

Summing up round 11--unlike some of the other rounds, I'm pretty certain of all of these: 11.1 Sicilius Leonatus (ghostly father of Posthumus Leonatus) 11.2 Jacob Marley 11.3 The Monkey's Paw (from short story by WW Jacobs) 11.4 The Rolls Royce Silver Ghost 11.5 The Commendatori from Mozart's "Don Giovanni" 11.6 Molly Malone 11.7 Spectre of Sir Roderic (Gilbert & Sullivan . . . ) 11.8 Brisbane, from The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford 11.9 Tom Pierce's grey mare 11.10 Ann Boleyn The one that is driving me crazy now is 8.10 (Who was the voice?). This is almost certainly a name or word beginning and ending with "O". As obscure as that sounds, I've a feeling when we know the answer it will be entirely obvious--like a well-known play where a character is identified as "the voice" and later revealed to be the ghost of "Ombo", or something equally obvious.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:12:29 -0800

Aside from the voice I am haunted by "the dredger grumbling in the harbour all night" which I know I've read somewhere. Masefield? And the old grenadier's beard? And the three missing answers for section 9! And, most of all, who was the emergent who wound up joining the Iron Age dead?

By: flug

flug — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:15:17 -0800

Re: "who emerged for a journey that would eventually take him to join the Iron Age dead": Someone suggested something related to this story about Stonehenge (see also neat photo here). I confess I don't get the connection. Maybe someone else can figure it out. (Though it's a good story and worth a read regardless.) Even if that doesn't pan out, it does suggest another line of inquiry--"100 year anniversary" type events that were covered the media during 2006. I poked around on Google news archives a little without any particular results.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:11:50 -0800

Mark has posted his answers here. Note 18.4 Gambia and some discussion of various other answers. I'm thinking 7.1 might be Scythrop in Thomas Love Peacock's Nightmare Abbey. He suffered his "first disappointment" when his sweetheart married Mr.Lackwit. I'm not totally convinced but I like that answer better than "James". Also I still like 7.3 Conrad III (first Hohenstaufen) rather than William of Orange who was never, so far as I know, called William I. (His father was known as William II in the Netherlands). But Mark raises the point that King William's College usually works in a question that refers to King Billy, so...

By: lindola

lindola — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:11:35 -0800

5.6 Chichester Cathedral. This has been doubted by Mark, as Chagall was not a Surrealist. However, he had links to the surrealist movement, and sometimes painted in their style. However the real clue is this: his window in Chichester is based on Psalm 150, which mentions praising God with assorted musical instruments e.g. harp, trumpet etc; Hence the reference to 'praise with various instruments' in the original question.

By: lindola

lindola — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:36:17 -0800

13.3 Silverstone. The Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names says this derives from Old English: Sigewulf's tun, the latter meaning farmstead or settlement.

By: lindola

lindola — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:44:40 -0800

9.10 Carlsruhe. From the novel 'Three Men on the Bummel' by Jerome K. Jerome.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 15:25:37 -0800

Lindola, I think you are totally correct on Silverstone. Mark also takes exception to 4.5 Caroline (of Ansbach, wife/consort of Geo.II) because Wikipedia does not mention "Dorothea" as one of her three names, but other on-line Royal genealogies do. I don't like Chagall as surrealist either, but your answer seems better than any other I've seen. Henry Moore was a member of a surrealist group and has many works in a number of cathedrals. The question does not say "painting"... And 9.10 Carlsruhe is a good catch

By: CCBC

CCBC — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 15:31:26 -0800

Mark doesn't like the Citroen deux chevals for 16.5, either. Perhaps Dodge Colt would work.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:20:31 -0800

Okay, I know things are desperate when I come up with: 12.3 Rabbit Ears (which Wallace hides under a hat in Curse of the Were-Rabbit). Jeez! Can't somebody find that William Wallace left a tam full of crumbs in his cell or something? I found a reference to William I of Ireland, so I have to go with Mark's 7.3 King Billy. Also, his 18.2 Tom Fox is worth considering. But I'm about done on this sucker.

By: lindola

lindola — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:26:54 -0800

16.5 Mitsubishi Colt. I agree with Mark - the Citroen 2cv seems too obvious. This quiz is set by someone who lives in the British Isles, and therefore, as has been pointed out, tends to be Anglocentric. The Dodge Colt is not a well-known model of car in Britain. whereas the Mitsubishi Colt is. The Hyundai Pony seems invalidated by the fact that another Hyundai model is the answer elsewhere. A further point is, all the answers in this round are cars that are currently in production - at least for the British market. As far as I am aware, the 2cv, the Pony, and the Dodge Colt are no longer in production. The Mitsubishi Colt is in current production, and readily available to buy in Britain.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 13:49:45 -0800

The answers we have so far are here.

By: lindola

lindola — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:54:58 -0800

18.9 Cambridge? Syd Barrett died there. ' Remember a Day' is a track by Pink Floyd, and the title of a film said to be based on Syd's life. 1450 is ten to three (2.50pm). Ten to three is the time showing on the clock in the poem 'Grantchester' by Rupert Brooke. Grantchester is a village near Cambridge. Also, 'Grantchester Meadows' is a song by Pink Floyd. Complicated, but plausible??!!

By: CCBC

CCBC — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 23:34:35 -0800

I've updated this to include stuff I left off before and to mention some alternatives. Meanwhile I have received the following challenge: The answer to 1.4 is staring you in the face, really. I'm 100% sure of my answer here. You've got to get into the mindset of the question-setter. 1930 is correct for 3.8, because what counts is what was thought to be the case back then. I have an answer to 4.6. "Three legs" is definitely not a reference to the Isle of Man. I think your answer to 5.7 is wrong. I have a different cathedral and am confident I'm right. I also have a different Cathedral for 5.9, which I'm also confident about. I think the pilgrim/peregrine link is ingenious, but I think my answer is better for the eider clue. Not quite convinced by your 7.1, but I'm gonna get hold of the book and check. I have a different answer for 7.5, one I think previously discussed on your page but apparently rejected. A bit more historical background would fill in the gaps on this. I have a guess for 8.10, but am not particularly confident. Not Orson Welles. I've got 9.6. It's from a novel by a well known author. I've plumped for the more common plant on 10.10. For 12.10, I've went with the Wodehouse answer quite early on and have seen no reason to change. For 15.6, I think you've got the wrong character. You have to read the play quite carefully. 16.3 is absolutely not the BMW Vishnu, which doesn't seem to fit the clue. What I think the correct answer is, is a bit cuter than that. It's really devious, in fact, and not at all obvious. I also have different answers for 16.5 and 16.7. I agree a manufacturer isn't going to be listed twice, so this hinges on the meaning of "colt", and my reading of the what question says. I simply don't think "colt" fits. 17.7: Forman keeps coming up, doesn' t he? I remain unconvinced, but it might turn out to be him. I don't have a better answer. Your 18.2 is very wrong. It's neither Eric Forth nor Tom Fox. I only got it with some judicious newspaper searches. It's not anyone British. Somebody had 18.4 right on some page somewhere. It's an interesting one. The correct answer should ring a bell, and that's handing it to you on a plate. 18.8 is not St James' Palace. I think that's just a wild guess. This was a very particular kind of occasion we're talking about here. I'm pleased at getting 18.9. The clue is definitely in the question. Let's hope you get this before time runs out. Dan

By: lindola

lindola — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 05:26:52 -0800

18.9 Grantchester. This may be a more precise answer than Cambridge. A 'Tribute Day' for Syd Barrett was held at Grantchester Meadows in August 2006. It also fits in better with the Rupert Brooke reference. 5.9 Durham. The cathedral is the resting place of St. Cuthbert. Eider ducks were nicknamed 'Cuddy ducks' after him. Cuthbert was originally interred at Lindisfarne, which became a place of great pilgrimage. He was later entombed in Durham, so his body-following pilgrims went there instead! 15.6 Pistol. Still think this is the answer. Pistol is an ordinary soldier, whereas Fluellen is a Captain. The question seems to make this distinction. Fluellen is the 'quarrelsome captain' insulted by the subordinate Pistol. 16.3 BMW Vishnu. Yes, wrong. I'm with Dan on this. Vishnu is linked to the Brahmin religion, but the BMW Vishnu is not a specific model of car.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 11:42:30 -0800

lindola: I have edited the answer page to show Pistol, Grantchester, and to list Durham and Mitsubishi Colt as first in their categories. I agree about Vishnu, but until we have something better, it'lll stay up. I'm trying to represent a MeFi consensus (if there is one) so editing suggestions are welcome.

By: lindola

lindola — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 16:23:03 -0800

1.4 John Betjeman. Suggested by others, but here is the clue: the 'Iron Age Dead' is a quotation from his poem, 'By the Ninth Green, St. Enodoc'. He is buried at St. Enodoc Church, Trebetherick, Cornwall. He was born ('emerged') in 1906 - I guess the 'journey' was his life/poetic life. He also travelled widely - particularly around Britain. Yes, Dan, it was there in front of us all the time!

By: CCBC

CCBC — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 17:43:59 -0800

Good one, lindola! Because I was about to post that answer from Dan Bye. Also he has these: 4.6 West Coast Main Line (which has three branches) 7.5 King Edward V, accused of being illegitimate by Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells , on alleged grounds of bigamous marriage of his father Edward IV to his mother. 9.6 Liege (Graham Greene, Stamboul Train) I think 16.5 is Hyundai Pony, because "pony" would fit the clue "limited horse" much more closely (look it up). This means, assuming manufacturers appear only once, that 16.7 is Pontiac Ventura (Charlie Ventura). However, if we're assuming that models must be current, then I'd go with Colt and Getz respectively. 16.3 Fiat Panda [Dan says to work it out.] 18.2 P.W.Botha whose autobiography was Voice in the Wilderness. 18.9. Grantchester is correct, but not for any reason to do with Pink Floyd or Syd Barrett. Paul Day's statue in memory of Rupert Brooke was unveiled by Margaret Thatcher at 2:50 (Stands the clock at ten to three...). Personally, I find some of these convincing, some I want to digest. I'll hold off editing the answer page until tomorrow.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 17:46:37 -0800

Mark Lew wants to know how come I've got 17.9 Dr.Caius from the Vaughan Williams opera when I could just as easilly said the same character from Merry Wives of Windsor. I dunno. I have a reason somewhere, I'll find it if I have to invent it.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:09:44 -0800

Dan Bye sent an answer for 8.10 (Okolo from The Voice by Okara) but King William has posted the answers. And ours for comparison.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 13:29:30 -0800

We got 164 plus 2 (the silver reference from de la Mare, was "silver claws" but changed to "silver trees" to more exactly reflect the question. "Christminster" is the cathedral in Jude the Obscure, even though it is a fictionalized Oxford.) And some of Billy's answers aren't so hot: Phaeton?