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Today’s Answers
One
Trick…
In the Book of Genesis, who was tricked into marrying Laban’s elder daughter Leah instead of Rachel?
Answer: Jacob.
Laban deceived Jacob by substituting his older daughter, Leah, for Rachel on Jacob’s wedding night. Laban claimed it was against local custom to marry off a younger daughter first, but agreed to let Jacob marry Rachel as well in exchange for another seven years of work.
Two
… or treat
Whose version of Treat Her Like a Lady made it into the top 40 of several charts in Europe and Canada in the late-1990s?
Answer: Celine Dion.
Critical reviews of Celine Dion’s song Treat Her Like a Lady varied, David Browne from Entertainment Weekly called it an ‘over-arranged stab at reggae dancehall’, while Jonathan Bernstein of The New York Observer felt it was a low point for her. In contrast, Steven Wells from NME noted the song’s intense delivery of ‘hardcore radical feminism’ and its message about respecting women.
Three
In what culture is Samhain celebrated at this time of year?
Answer: Celtic.
Samhain /saʊn , ˈsaʊɪn , ˈsawɪn /
Oxford Dictionary of English
▸ noun the first day of November, celebrated by the ancient Celts as a festival marking the beginning of winter.
– ORIGIN Irish, from Old Irish samain.
Four
In what culture is Pangangaluluwa associated with this time of year?
Answer: Filipino.
Pangangaluluwa is a Tagalog word which translates as ‘souling’ or ‘asking for souls’. It refers to a traditional Filipino folk custom observed on the eve of All Saints’ Day and sometimes on All Saints’ Day itself. Groups of people visit houses at night, singing songs about the dead and soliciting alms, traditionally representing lost souls wandering in purgatory and seeking prayers and assistance from the living. The tradition has similarities to the older British and Irish custom of souling, in which people went from house to house offering prayers for the dead in return for food. It makes an interesting historical comparison with modern Halloween trick-or-treating.
Five
What five-letter word is missing from this definition: ‘2 the plant of the … family that produces pumpkins’?
Answer: Gourd.
pumpkin /ˈpʌm(p)kɪn /
Oxford Dictionary of English
▸ noun 1 a large rounded orange-yellow fruit with a thick rind, the flesh of which can be used in sweet or savoury dishes. ▪ North American English informal used as an affectionate term of address, especially to a child: listen, pumpkin, I thought you ought to know.
2 the plant of the gourd family that produces pumpkins, having tendrils and large lobed leaves and native to warm regions of America. Genus Cucurbita, family Cucurbitaceae: several species, in particular C. pepo.
– ORIGIN mid 17th century: alteration of earlier pumpion, from obsolete French pompon, via Latin from Greek pepōn ‘large melon’ (see pepo).
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