It’s that time of year. There’ll be only a little blogging here until Christmas is done for one more time. So here, as the season demands, is a wee quiz to keep you occupied. You could, I suppose, google some of the answers but where’s the fun or satisfaction in that? So don’t google. No prizes save the glory I’m afraid: It’s Just For Fun.
But if you feel like emailing me your answers that would be fine. Otherwise, tough as this must seem, you’ll have to wait until the New Year before the answers are published. Have at it…
1. What’s the connection between Dartford, St Pancras North, Beaconsfield and Edinburgh South?
2. Can you identify a dog’s skipper, a military bridge, a fish and an oil field? Where might you find them together?
3. My Man, Inimitable, Carry On, Thank You, Very Good. What comes next?
4. 2 and 6 are as closely connected as 41 and 43. 9 and 23 are more distant but not nearly so removed as 26 and 32. Explain.
5. A Duke, a Banker,a Parson, a General, an Admiral, Young Ascoyne, Young Henry, Lady Agatha. Who are they and who unites them?
6. The tenth and latest is also a college at both Oxford and Cambridge, the third a former British foreign secretary and the sixth Britain’s first Empress. Where? And what do the numbers signify?
7. How might a Roman god’s means of ascent, a Pacific island and running a Roaring Game inspire a child to verse?
8. 287, 325, 334, 336, 364, 365. Which three numbers come next?
9. Blaze, League, Carbuncle, Pips. What’s the colour sequence?
10. In the bible, who or what killed one quarter of the world’s population?
11. Why could an infamous duelist, America’s most popular limousine and the Year of the Telephone all be seen from the Diners Club?
12. She was a darling in song, he was an actor who wasn’t perfect, while another scoffed at the cuckoo clock: who are they and why would they be related to a civil servant?
13. The first was assassinated, the second done in by friendly fire while the third and fourth were killed in action by the enemy. Who? And which number eventually prevailed?
14. Sandy in Oregon, James in Virginia, Floyd in Iowa, Charles in Massachusetts. The connection?
15. Galway in 2001, Dublin in 1995, Cork in 1990 and Limerick in 1896. What?
16. One had a farm made famous in rhyme while another sounded rather equine; others included one who ruled Sweden and one who married his boss’s sister? Who are they and, why, collectively, could they be said to have been given the boot?
17. Diplomats were to Washington DC as Roughnecks were to Tulsa and Surf to California. How so?
18. Why might a seat where the Lady was not chosen, the English rendition of a left-leaning Italian port, a pioneering landing place and a colourfully socialist-sounding American state each help you decide which came first?
19. Delaware, Wyoming, Tennessee, Indiana, Texas, Minnesota: Which three states come next?
20. Why is Pontius Pilate’s Bodyguard now a matter for history?
21. Lambs’ Ears, Snails and Little Worms. Adding butterflies might over-egg it, no?
22. Multiply the Men of Moidart by London’s tubular sisters. Then add the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the number of French Republics before dividing by the hostages rescued by Richard Hannay. What number do you arrive at?
23. Road-trip! If you visited Guy Boniface, Marcel Michelin, Aime Giral and Jean Bouin where, specifically, would you have been?
24. A windy doctor and an English batsman were among those who shared victory with Dorset’s flagship writer. Who? Where? And for whom?
25. If Keats was conversing with Chapman and they were interrupted by the Brother who claimed to be representing the Plain People of Ireland then what newspaper might you have been reading and who’d be responsible for it all?
26. What are: a Belgian Blue, a Norwegian Red, a Hungarian Grey and a British White?
27. What’s shared by Cabbage, the London home of light opera and a Franco-Italian Duchy?
28. Valencia and Reims are the opposite of Porto and Nottingham Forest. How so?
29. Which novel ends with the line: “I never saw any of them again—except the cops. No way has yet been invented to say goodbye to them.”
30. Identify, please, a father and son double-act, a brace of lexicographers, the Prime Minister’s generic neighbour, an almanack compiler and a naval hero and explain the journalistic connection.
Remember, it’s just for fun. If you want a soccer-specific quiz then I suggest you have a tilt at Left Back In the Changing Room’s excellent brain-frazzler.
Comments