Today: Carpe Diem — Answers

Today’s Answers

Today: carpe diem! Following on from yesterday, we again have five questions but ten answers.

One

The above picture is of a national capital city (population population of 452,563), sitting on its country’s north coast and on the Gulf of Finland. What is the city, and of what country is it the capital?

Answers: Tallinn; Estonia.

Tallinn is Estonia’s capital and main centre, with 452,563 residents in 2026 and a 2024 metropolitan estimate of 646,315. Historically known as Reval, it gained Lübeck rights in 1248 and hosts the EU IT agency and NATO Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. The picture above is by Hendrik Mändla and shows Tallinn old town during sunrise. It was taken from the Patkul viewing platform in September 2018 and was a Wikipedia Picture of the Day on 5 September 2026. The image is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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Two

The Moon landing in November 1969 landed in one of the Moon’s maria: what was the landing site named, and what mission was it?

Answers: Oceanus Procellarum aka Ocean of Storms; Apollo 12.

Award yourself a bonus point if you answered Oceanus Procellarum. The landing site for the Apollo 12 mission in 1969, Oceanus Procellarum, which translates from Latin as the ‘Ocean of Storms’, is the largest of the dark plains (maria) on the near side of the Moon, and unique in being the only one to be named an ocean. It covers roughly 10.5% of the total lunar surface and was formed by ancient volcanic eruptions that flooded the area with solidified magma.

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Three

… 45 is a 170 m high tourist attraction in a desert in the Sossusvlei area of Namibia, which gets its name from being at the 45th kilometre on the Sesriem–Sossusvlei road. What word is missing from … 45, and what desert is it in?

Answer: Dune; Namib Desert.

Dune 45 is a star dune in Namibia’s Sossusvlei area, named after the 45th kilometre of the Sesriem–Sossusvlei road. Over 170 m high, it comprises 5-million-year-old sand from the Orange River and Kalahari Desert. It is frequently photographed and climbed.

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Four

What 2009 film became the first film to gross more than $2 billion, and who directed it?

Answers: Avatar; James Cameron.

James Cameron’s 2009 film Avatar depicts humans mining Pandora and using genetically engineered bodies to interact with the Na’vi. It used new visual effects, earned over $2 billion, won three Academy Awards and became the highest-grossing film.

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Five

The Wallis WA-116 featured in a James Bond film: what film, and what was it?

Answers: You Only Live Twice; autogyro.

Sean Connery’s James Bond is sent to Japan after American and Soviet spacecraft disappear. On a remote island, he confronts SPECTRE’s Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who is inciting Cold War conflict for an unnamed Asian power. During his investigation of Blofeld’s base Bond uses the autogyro Little Nellie on a reconnaissance mission.

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Today: Carpe Diem

This post is headed ‘Today: Carpe Diem‘ (seize the day). My intention is that you seize the specific ‘day’ mentioned: Today. The answers therefore begin with the letters T, O, D, A, Y.

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