If a face could launch a thousand ships — Answers

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Quizologist

Pursuit of the Trivial

Here are the answers to today’s questions.

Telly Savalas in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Image liveabout.com

Today’s questions are neither date related nor themed.

One

By what two initials is chronic fatigue syndrome commonly known?

Answer: ME.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic illness causing severe fatigue, sleep, and memory issues, worsened by activity (PEM). Its cause is unknown, often following infections, with genetic factors. Diagnosis relies on symptoms, as no tests exist. Treatment focuses on symptom relief, with pacing and counselling beneficial.
ME/CFS significantly impacts society and the economy, with symptoms causing social isolation. A quarter of sufferers are bedridden or housebound. Stigma in healthcare and controversies over its cause and treatments complicate care. Doctors often lack familiarity due to limited medical school coverage, and research funding is historically inadequate.

Two

What American actor, a television detective and a Bond villain, had a U.K. number one with If in 1975?

Answer: Telly Savalas.

Aristotelis ‘Telly’ Savalas (1922–1994) was an American actor and singer, active from 1950 to 1994, renowned for his bald head and deep voice. He gained fame as Lt. Theo Kojak in Kojak (1973–1978) and as James Bond’s nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). Savalas starred in films like Birdman of Alcatraz, earning an Academy Award nomination. He was married three times, had six children, and served in the U.S. Army. He released a cover of Bread’s If in 1975, which topped the UK charts.

Three

What is the birth name of author Lee Child, and who is the main fictional character he is known for?

Answers: James ‘Jim’ Grant; Jack Reacher.

The Jack Reacher series by Lee Child (Jim Grant) includes 30 books and a short story collection as of November 2025. It follows Jack Reacher, a former major in the U.S. Army Military Police Corps turned drifter, solving dangerous situations across the U.S. and internationally. The series has been adapted into films and a TV series.

Four

…▸ noun an edible bivalve mollusc with a ribbed fan-shaped shell. …s swim by rapidly opening and closing the shell valves

— Oxford English Dictionary

Which word, appearing twice in the definition above, has been removed?

Answer: Scallop.

scallop ▸ noun an edible bivalve mollusc with a ribbed fan-shaped shell. Scallops swim by rapidly opening and closing the shell valves. Family Pectinidae: Chlamys, Pecten, and other genera.

▪ short for scallop shell ▪ a small pan or dish shaped like a scallop shell and used for baking or serving food.

— Oxford English Dictionary

Five

The lightest halogen, which is a pale yellow gas with the atomic number 9, is a highly reactive chemical element?

Answer: Fluorine.

Fluorine, atomic number 9, is a reactive, pale yellow gas, first isolated in 1886. It’s used in uranium enrichment, steelmaking, pharmaceuticals, with global sales over $15 billion annually. Fluorocarbon gases, with global-warming potentials 100 to 23,500 times that of CO2, persist environmentally due to strong bonds. Organofluorine compounds are toxic, produced by some plants and marine sponges.