miscellany

21 december 2019


SO HOW DID WE GET TO HERE ?

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THESE

WISH I’D WRITTEN THESE

CONTACT

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WRITTEN

THESE

BUT

SERIOUSLY -

ARTICLES

etc.

           All original writing

                    

AND THESE

2014, 2015, 2016,

2017, 2018, 2019

Ian McLauchlin

XMAS QUIZ 2019


1. SCIENCE AND NATURE

a. What name is given to rapidly rotating neutron stars that emit regular beams of electromagnetic radiation?     

b. What is the chemical symbol that comes next in this series? B, C, N, O, F ?

c. Which Apollo moon mission was the first to carry a lunar rover vehicle?

d. What is the lightest metal?    

e. What is the only animal that cannot jump?

f. What mineral has the lowest number on the Mohs scale of hardness?

g. What does MRSA stand for?

h. If cats are `feline`, which animals are `ovine`?

i. What is the only animal believed to hunt humans actively?

j. What is the tallest grass in the world?


2. WHAT IS THE CONNECTION

a. light, drift, float, bout

b. Miss an assignment, On a vegetable, Not an idea, Mill a large number  

c. sightscreen, catchphrase, Knightsbridge, festschrift

d. A -> M,  A -> P,  S -> P,  S -> W

e. Jasmine, Car tyres, Kashir's Capital, Olympics.

f. A hammer and a feather, Six US flags, Eugene Shoemaker's ashes, Two golf balls.

g. Jolly Roger,  crossword, extremes of an argument (or a blended scotch whisky or a nun),  panda

h.  ida, jury, pinafore, guard

i.  On St Geoffrey's Day, On the Greek Calends, In the reign of Queen Dick, When Dover and Calais meet.

j. Shaking a pair of gloves, Snapping a carrot in half, Crumpling cellophane, Walking in cat litter.  


3. WHO’S SPEAKING 20 voices














4. WHICH BOOK HAS THESE OPENING LINES AND NAME ITS AUTHOR 1 point each for book and author

a. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

b. All children, except one, grow up.  

c. Call me Ishmael.  

d. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.  

e. Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.  

f. All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

g. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.  

h. The past is a foreign country: They do things differently there.  

i. Elmer Gantry was drunk. He was eloquently drunk, lovingly and pugnaciously drunk.   

j. It was the day my grandmother exploded.  


5. WHO FOUNDED, AND IN WHICH YEAR? 1 point for each name and each year

a. Amazon

b. FaceBook

c. Ebay   

d. Wikipedia  

e. Microsoft

f. Apple  

g. Youtube

h. Instagram

i. Paypal  


6. NAME THE BAND AND THE SONG 30 songs, 1 point for each band and each song















7. FOURTH-ish IN THE SERIES?

a. T=3, Q=4,  P=5,  ?    

b. 1-10=4,    11-20=4,    21-30=2,    ?          

c.  4,     1.5,     0.6666,     ?

d. 1: Jon Evans,      2: Robert Wood,     3: Edith Reed,       ?

e. caret,    greater than,    velocity,     ?

f.  3 = T ,     4 = TT ,    5 = HT ,     ?


g.                                                     ?        

       

h. 4th = R,    3rd = I,     2nd = E,      ?


i. H....   ,      S...    ,      I..    ,          ?


j.  I = he,     you = he,     you = me,      ?

       

k. 1 of3=1,    2 of3=2,    3of3=6,      ?


l. What is the UNUSUAL/UNEXPECTED sixth in this series and why?  1, 2, 4, 8, 16,  ?


8. NAME THESE PEOPLE




























9. VARIOUS

a. What's the only country in the world called by a girl's name?

b. What has 2 and 3 got to do with Shakespeare's play "Measure for Measure"?

c. What dog is said to feed the hand that bites it?

d. What links: Pablo Fanque; Edgar Allan Poe; Mao; Heath and Wilson; Walter Raleigh?  

e. What connects these 3? A second century skeleton of a woman found in an Eastbourne Museum in a coffin marked Beachy Head; John Blanke who played the trumpet at Henry VIII’s coronation in 1509; John Edmonstone, a lecturer at Edinburgh University who taught taxidermy to Charles Darwin?   

f. Which singer has a degree in aerospace engineering, saw active service in Kosovo, and is married to the granddaughter of the Duke of Wellington?

g. In a UK emergency, COBRA is convened. What do the letters stand for?   

h.  Why did the Swallow Sidecar Company change its name to Jaguar Cars in 1945?             

i. Who was the oldest: William Shakespeare, Elizabeth I, or Sir Francis Drake?

j.  The comic Sid James came to the UK in 1945 to become an actor but what occupation did he have in Johannesburg?                    


10. WORLD AIRPORT IATA CODES Which airport and country? 1 point for each of these.

a. LGW

b. BRS

c. DXB

d. ORD

e. HND

f. ACI

g. FAO

h. FUE

i. MAH

j. GLA


11. NAME THESE ICONIC SPORTS CARS 1 point for each make and model.




























12. TV COMEDY

a. In the sitcom 'Allo 'Allo Richard Gibson played a gestapo officer called what?

b. In which fictional town was Dad's Army set?

c. Richie Richard and Eddie Hitler were the two starring characters in which comedy series?

d. Who plays the housekeeper Mrs Doyle in Father Ted?

e. In Peep Show, what character does Matt King play?

f. Which show featured Captain Peacock?

g. In Fawlty Towers, who played Sybil?

h. In Car Share with Peter Kay, who generally sat in the front passenger seat?

i. What is the name of the central character in Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister?

j. Who wrote 'Ever Decreasing Circles?


13. TRUE OR FALSE?

a. Two is a prime number.

b. Edinburgh is further East than Carlisle.

c. Cary Grant and Noel Coward were both offered the part of James Bond in Dr. No.

d. The can-opener was not invented until 45 years after the tin can.

e.  The Queen holds UK Passport No.1.

f.  The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race has never ended in a dead heat.

g. Carrots help you see in the dark.

h. Oxford University is older than the Aztec empire.

i. Sideburns were named after a prominent wearer, a General Ambrose E Burnside

j. The initials 'KP', as in the famous British producer of nut-based snacks, stands for Kenya Peanuts.


14. PAIRS OF NAMES

a. Crick and ?

b. Charlie and ?

c. Fred and ?

d. Cassidy and ?

e. Bill and ?

f. Alcock and ?

g. Penn and ?

h. Wallace and ?

i. Holmes and ?

j. Pierre and ?

k. Edison and ?

l. Johnson and ?,

m. Mills and ?

n. St Kitts and ?

o. Wilbur and ?

p. Jobs and ?

q. Flanders and ?

r. Gilbert and ?

s. Sellars and ?

t. Procter and ?

u. Harry Saltzman and ?

v. Cagney and ?

w. Flanagan and ?

x. Lerner and ?

y. Adenine and ?

z. French and ?


15. NAME THESE ICONIC PLANES





























16. ANAGRAMS - chemical elements

a. CRUEMRY  

b. DO RAN  

c. SAME AGENN  

d. CLINKE   

e. POSH PUSHOR

f. HUMLIE   

g. SATTANIE  

h. GUM SEMIAN  

i. MURIUAN  

j. MUD URBII


17. IDENTIFY THESE OBJECTS






































18. DINGBATS What are these well known sayings or phrases?


























19. AND FINALLY

Answers at the end

ANSWERS    >>>>

LAGER  ,

  1&2

RELIC  ,

  2&3

BIGOT  ,

  3&4