Gallimaufry XIII — Answers

Here are the answers to today’s questions.

Five unassociated questions.

One

Travelling west along the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) from its western terminus, how many provincial and territorial capitals do you pass through, and what, in geographical order, are their names along with their respective province or territory?

Answers: Six; Victoria, British Columbia; Regina, Saskatchewan; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Québec City, Quebec; Fredericton, New Brunswick; St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Trans-Canada Highway is a transcontinental highway system spanning all ten Canadian provinces, with its main route covering 7,821 kilometres from Victoria, British Columbia, to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Construction began in 1950, the highway officially opened in 1962, and the final section was completed in 1971. The entire system, including routes such as the Yellowhead Highway, totals about 12,800 kilometres. Design standards vary along its length, although most sections remain two-lane, undivided highways. The longest continuous divided section extends for about 1,500 kilometres from the Rocky Mountains to the Manitoba–Ontario border. Although the network does not extend into Canada’s three territories or to the U.S. border, it forms part of the National Highway System. In addition to passing through six provincial capitals, the Trans-Canada Highway also serves Canada’s national capital, Ottawa.

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Two

A fictitious error deliberately placed in a reference work is a what?

• Ballicatter
• Frauendienst
• Mountweazel

Answer: Mountweazel.

A fictitious entry is a deliberate error in reference works used as a copyright trap. Types include Mountweazel, trap street, and paper town. Henry Alford coined “Mountweazel” after a fake entry in the 1975 New Columbia Encyclopaedia. These entries are also known as nihilartikel.

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Three

The title of a 2017, single by Drake shares its name with a fruit, the flower of which is shown above. What was the title of the single?

Answer: Passionfruit.

Passionfruit by Drake, featuring Zoë Kravitz, is a tropical house, R&B, pop, and dancehall song from his 2017 mixtape More Life. It peaked at number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 on the Canadian Hot 100.

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Four

Three questions based the standard UK and US editions of monopoly. 

• What on the UK edition is the equivalent of the American Marvin Gardens?
• The British Leicester Square is the equivalent of what on the American edition?
• What colour are these properties on both the British and American versions?

Answers

• Piccadilly
• Atlantic Avenue
• Yellow

Monopoly, derived from Lizzie Magie’s 1903 game, involves moving tokens to buy properties and bankrupt opponents. Parker Brothers published it in 1935; Hasbro acquired it in 1991. It has sold 275 million copies across 113 countries.

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Five

In this post, No. 3 was appointed on 30 November 1962. The first, Gladwyn Jebb, serving in an ‘acting’ capacity and therefore unnumbered, held the post for 101 days in 1945/46. Nos. 1 and 2 were Scandinavian, while No. 3 was the first non-European. What is this post, who was No. 3, and what was his nationality?

Answers: Secretary-General of the United Nations; U Thant and Burmese.

The secretary-general of the United Nations oversees the Secretariat under Chapter XV of the Charter, appointed by the General Assembly after a Security Council recommendation, with any permanent member able to veto. Precedent excludes permanent members’ citizens, favours regional rotation and gender equality, and all appointees are career diplomats. Since 1971, five-year terms are standard, with reselection common. The secretary-general’s duties include advocacy, diplomacy, and civil service, with informal powers for dispute prevention.

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