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Today’s Answers
Thursday’s Child
Five relevant questions today, though answering number six may be harder because the theme is more cryptic than usual. Award yourself five extra points for identifying the exact theme at the first question; four for the second; three for the third; two for the fourth; and one for the fifth.
One
Umberto Eco’s debut novel was titled what?
Answer: The Name of the Rose.
The Name of the Rose is a 1980 debut novel by Umberto Eco. Set in a 1327 Italian monastery, this historical murder mystery combines semiotics, biblical analysis, and literary theory. A global bestseller, it has sold over 50 million copies and received numerous international awards.
Two
In the 1975 James Clavell novel Shogun the hero was loosely based on the English navigator William Adams. Who was this hero?
Answer: John Blackthorne.
John Blackthorne, also known as Anjin, is the protagonist of James Clavell’s 1975 novel Shōgun. Loosely based on the real-life English navigator William Adams, Blackthorne is an English pilot who becomes stranded in Japan in 1600, eventually rising to become a trusted advisor to Lord Toranaga.
Three
“The two …, Boxer and Clover, came in together”, what word (hyphenated in the original) is missing from this quote from the 1945 novella Animal Farm?
Answer: Cart-horses.
Boxer is a loyal, kind, and hard-working cart-horse on Animal Farm who performs a large share of the physical labour. Despite his immense strength, he is naive and gullible, blindly believing that “Napoleon is always right”. When he is injured, Napoleon betrays him by selling him to a knacker to buy whisky, while Squealer falsifies the circumstances of his death. Clover is a gentle and caring and is particularly protective of Boxer. While she can read all the letters of the alphabet, she is unable to combine them into words.
Four
This archenemy of a superhero first appeared in Action Comics in April 1940 and has been depicted as both a mad scientist and corrupt businessman. Who is he?
Answer: Lex Luthor.
Lex Luthor, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, is a DC Comics supervillain and the archenemy of Superman. Lacking superpowers, he relies on his immense intellect, wealth, and technological prowess. Luthor views Superman as a threat to humanity’s potential, seeking to eliminate him through manipulation and strategy.
Five
In 1969, the Atlantic Ocean was crossed in a facsimile of an ancient Egyptian boat named Ra, who made the voyage?
Answer: Thor Heyerdahl.
In 1969 and 1970, Thor Heyerdahl built two papyrus boats, Ra and Ra II, to demonstrate that ancient Egyptians could have crossed the Atlantic Ocean. The first boat, Ra, was constructed by boat builders from Lake Chad using Ethiopian papyrus but had to be abandoned after taking on water due to a neglected design element. The following year, Ra II was built by Bolivian Aymara builders and successfully crossed the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados.
Six
Who or what is relevant to today and links the foregoing questions?
Answers: THOR
- The Name of the Rose — roses have thorns
- John Blackthorne
- Cart-horses
- Lex Luthor
- Thor Heyerdahl
- Thor
Thursday
ORIGIN Old English Thu(n)resdæg ‘day of thunder’, named after Thunor or Thor, the Germanic god of thunder; translation of late Latin Jovis dies ‘day of Jupiter’, Thor being equated with the Roman god Jupiter. Compare with Dutch donderdag and German Donnerstag.
— Oxford English Dictionary
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