2014, 2015, 2016,
2017, 2018, 2019,
2020, 2021, 2022,
2023, 2024
Dr Ian McLauchlin
ANSWERS TO XMAS QUIZ 2018
1. VARIOUS
- 10 shillings and 6 pence
- The Taming of the Shrew
- Westminster Abbey
- Anthony Burgess
- The Mystery of Edwin Drood
- William the Conqueror
- 2004
- John Wyndham
2. WHAT'S THE CONNECTION
- They all lasted just one day.
- You can add 'gate' to make a word or phrase.
- All contain a body of water.
- All children's TV characters (Mr Turnip, Muffin the mule, Captain Pugwash, morph).
- All are well-known mathematical constants (pi - the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle, e - natural log base, the golden ratio - if S is smaller than L then (S+L)/L= L/S, Euler's constant - the limit as n tends to infinity of 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 . . . ).
- All are UK motor racing circuits.
- All can be rolled.
3. CONSTELLATIONS
- aquarius
- gemini
- pisces
- scorpio
- cassiopeia
- orion
- ursa major
4. THE PERIODIC TABLE
1 point per question, except where indicated.
- Potassium
- Rhodium
- Silver
- Helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), Xenon (Xe), radon (Rn), oganesson (Og)
- Sodium (Na), neon (Ne), nickel (Ni), nitrogen (N), niobium (Nb), neodymium (Nd), nihonium (Nh), nobelium (No), neptunium (Np) - (1 point for each of 5)
- Antimony, Sb (1 point for each)
5. QUOTES
1 point per question, no extra points for source but if you get that, feel smug.
- Terry Pratchett, The Reaper Man
- Richard Dawkins
- Douglas Adams, Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Bob Monkhouse
- Les Dawson
- Victoria Coren-Mitchell, on 'Have I got news for you'
- Edmund Burke
- Bertrand Russell
- Muhammed Ali
- Jose Mourinho
- Confucious - he said.
- Henry Ford
- John Lennon
- George W Bush
6. FOURTH IN THE SERIES
- dlt (First four letter of Greek alphabet without vowels)
- 41=4 (14=1, 23=8, 32=9, 41=4)
- Alto or contralto (voice categories lower to higher)
- 100 (1, 2, 3, 4 in binary number system - 01=0x2+1, 10=1x2+ 0x1, 11= 1x2+1x1. 100=1x4+0x2+0x1)
- TPM (Star Wars A New Hope 1977, The Empire Strikes Back 1980, Return Of The Jedi 1983, The Phantom Menace 1999)
- LH (First two letter of mountains, highest to fourth highest, MOunt Everest 8848m, K2 8611m, KAngchenjunga 8586m, LHotse 8516m )
- CU (First two letters of Spanish numbers UNo, Dos, TRes, CUatro)
- straight (last word of first four lines of nursery rhyme 'One two buckle my shoe')
- nougat (Successive Android operating systems)
- 1:P (sequential number,colon,number of loose ends of straight lines which make up the letter)
- 31-40:2 (next range of numbers : number of prime numbers in the range)
- 441 each term is the numbers written twice going from 1 to 4. What's missing is an operator and an equals sign. so 1+1=2, 2-2=0, 3x3=9. 4/4=1
7. MUSIC
1 point each for title and singer/writer
- Magic - Coldplay
- Robot man - Connie Francis
- Marrakesh express - Crosby, Stills and Nash
- Whole of the moon - The Waterboys
- Hats off to Larry - Del Shannon
- Let's hear it for the boy - Deniece Williams
- Hey soul sister - Train
- Magnificent Seven theme - Elmer Bernstein
- Summertime blues - Eddie Cochran
- How do you do it - Gerry and the Pacemakers
- My best friend's girl - The Cars
- Flagpole Sitta (Signature tune to TV's Peep Show - Harvey Danger)
- WIld west hero - Jeff Lynne/ELO
- Picture of you - Joe Brown
- Big girls don't cry - The Four Seasons
- Wasps overture - Vaughan Williams
- Goodbye to love - The Carpenters
- We built this city (on rock and roll) - The Hit Crew/ Starship
- Light flight (TV programme theme 1969-71 Take three Girls) - Pentangle
- Theme from film Zulu - John Barry
8. ANAGRAMS
i.Trees
- larch
- sycamore
- giant redwood
- weeping willow
- alder
- hawthorn
- mountain ash
ii. Reptiles
- viper
- turtle
- terrapin
- alligator
- komodo dragon
- boa constrictor
iii. Scientists
- Archimedes
- Tesla
- Pauling
- Lavoisier
- Faraday
- Hubble
iv. Authors
- Donleavy
- Salinger
- Paterson
- Larsson
- Nabakov
- Pratchett
v. Mathematicians
- Turing
- Pythagoras
- Fibonacci
- Euclid
- Descartes
9. COUNTRIES
- India
- Brazil
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Madagascar
- Cuba
- Finland
- Norway
- Vietnam
- South Africa
- Chile
10. POETRY
1 point each for poem and 1 for each author.
- The Brook, Alfred Tennyson (A Lord)
- This be the verse, Philip Larkin
- Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare
- A silly poem, Spike Milligan
- Slough, John Betjeman
- The Gas Man cometh, Flanders and Swann
- I wanna be yours, John Cooper Clarke
11. CARS
1 point each for make, each model and each year.
- Triumph, Vitesse, 1962
- Hillman, Imp, 1963
- Ford, Anglia 105E, 1959
- Riley, Elf, 1961
- Austin, A40 Farina, 1958
- Morris, Traveller, 1952
- Austin, A30, 1951
- Jowett, Javelin, 1951
- Standard, Vanguard, 1947
- Ford, Capri, 1969
- Austin, 1800, 1964
- Jaguar, E type, 1961
12. CALL YOURSELF AN EGGHEAD?
- Simmonds
- Webster
- Thiel
- Ashman
- Rainford
- Cooke
- Hughes
- Gibson
- Fowler
- Keppel
13. THEME MUSIC TO TV PROGRAMMES
- Eastenders
- Fawlty Towers
- Pointless
- Blackadder the 3rd
- Eggheads
- Coronation Street
- Only Connect
- Only Fools and Horses
- Mastermind
- Men behaving badly
- Strictly Come Dancing
- One Foot in the Grave
- New Tricks
- Keeping Up Appearances
- Countdown
- Are You Being Served
- Blankety Blank
- Top Gear
- Dad's Army
- Red Dwarf
- Hancock's Half Hour
- ITN News
- Last of the Summer Wine
- University Challenge - arr. for saxophones
- Open All Hours
- Vicar of Dibley
- Steptoe and Sons
- Morse
- Minder
- The Magic Roundabout
- Dixon of Dock Green
- Tomorrow's World - 1987-93
14. MORE VARIOUS
- Eustachian tube
- Arkansas, Illinois - 1 point for each.
- Praline (Marshall du Plessis-Praslin, 1598-1675)
- The Royal Greenwich Observatory
- Helium
- Balti (Baltistan, Baltimore, Baltic)
- Tartar
- Kinetic
- P (W is tungsten and K is potassium)
- Beam, steam, meme - 1 mark for each.
- Chicken (chicken feed, Chicken Little, chicken wire, chicken-hearted or chicken) - 1 point for each
- 1870s (1871-72, 1873-77, 1875, 1874)