Author: Quizologist

  • The Writer Writes—Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier post.

    The Man in the Iron Mask.
    Image The Movie DB

    One

    Who wrote The Man in the Iron Mask?

    Anawer: Alexandre Dumas

    The person known as the Man in the Iron Mask was an unidentified prisoner of state during Louis XIV’s reign. His imprisonment was kept secret, leading to a long-lasting legend about his identity. Warranted for arrest on 19 July 1669 as ‘Eustache Dauger’, he was apprehended near Calais on 28 July, incarcerated on 24 August, and held for 34 years in four successive French prisons, including the Bastille. He died there on 19 November 1703, and his burial certificate bore the name of ‘Marchioly’, leading historians to conclude he was Italian diplomat Ercole Antonio Mattioli.

    Two

    Complete this Nevil Shute novel’s title: On the …?

    Answer: Beach

    Nevil Shute’s 1957 apocalyptic novel On the Beach follows a diverse group of people in Melbourne as they brace for the arrival of deadly radiation from the Northern Hemisphere. This radiation follows a nuclear war that occurred some years earlier.  As the radiation draws nearer each character grapples with their impending death in their own unique way.

    Three

    In what story did John Le Carre first introduce the character of George Smiley?

    Answer: Call for the Dead

    John le Carré’s first novel, Call for the Dead (1961), introduces George Smiley and the fictional ‘Circus‘ based on MI6.

    Four

    What author was accused of obscenity after the 1915 publication of The Rainbow?

    Answer: D.H. Lawrence

    D. H. Lawrence’s novel The Rainbow, first published by Methuen & Co. in 1915, explores three generations of the Brangwen family in Nottinghamshire.  It delves into their individual struggles for growth and fulfilment within the constraints of English social life. Lawrence’s Women in Love (1920) is the sequel and continues the story of the Brangwen family.

    Five

    TRUE! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?

    Who wrote the short story which opens with the above sentence?

    Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

    TRUE! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses — not destroyed — not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily — how calmly I can tell you the whole story.
    — First paragraph of The Tell-Tale Heart By Edgar Allan Poe, 1843. Poe Stories

    The Tell-Tale Heart is a short story about a narrator who murders an old man with a “vulture-eye” and hides the body. The narrator’s sanity is questioned as they hear a thumping sound, believing it to be the dead man’s beating heart.

  • The Writer Writes

    Here are five questions related to writers and writing.

    Alec Guinness as George Smiley.
    Image BBC via Pinterest

    One

    Who wrote The Man in the Iron Mask?

    Two

    Complete this Nevil Shute novel’s title: On the …?

    Three

    In what story did John Le Carre first introduce the character of George Smiley?

    Four

    What author was accused of obscenity after the 1915 publication of The Rainbow?

    Five

    TRUE! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?

    Who wrote the short story which opens with the above sentence?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later

  • Bits and Pieces —Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier post.

    Poker Night.
    Image Pinterest

    One

    Thomas Hart Benton’s 1948 painting Poker Night depicts a scene from which Tennessee Williams play?

    Answer: A Streetcar Named Desire


    Two

    What skill can be called funambulism?

    Answer: Tightrope walking


    Three

    A ribauldequin was a type of musical instrument. Is this true or false?

    Answer: False

    It was a type of multiple barrelled gun


    Four

    The Taj Mahal is located on the south bank of what river?

    Answer: Yamuna

    The Taj Mahal, an ivory-white marble mausoleum in Agra, India, was commissioned by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1631 to house the tomb of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.


    Five

    Who is the world’s best-selling fiction writer?

    Answer: Agatha Christie

    The world’s best-selling fiction writer is the late Dame Agatha Christie (née Miller, later Lady Mallowan, 1890–1976), whose 78 crime novels have sold an estimated 2 billion copies in 44 languages. Agatha Christie (UK) also wrote 19 plays and, under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, six romantic novels. Royalty earnings are estimated to be worth millions per year.

    Guinness World Records 05/10/2025.

  • Bits and Pieces

    Here are five unrelated questions.

    Poker Night.
    Image Pinterest

    One

    Thomas Hart Benton’s 1948 painting Poker Night depicts a scene from which Tennessee Williams play?

    Two

    What skill can be called funambulism?

    Three

    A ribauldequin was a type of musical instrument. Is this true or false?

    Four

    The Taj Mahal is located on the south bank of what river?

    Five

    Who is the world’s best-selling fiction writer?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Lists too…—Answers

    Here are today’s answers.

    One

    An alphabetical list begins with the numbers 2, 6 and 21. The surname “2” starts with “A” and includes “John” somewhere in the name. What is the subject of this list and which names (their full names as commonly known) are associated with these three numbers in this context?

    Answer: Presidents of the US. John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Chester A. Arthur

    The second, sixth and twenty-first presidents of the US listed alphabetically by their surnames, ie, Adams, Adams and Arthur.


    Two

    Tanner, Bob, Florin and … were names for various coins used in pre-decimal currency in the UK. The fourth coin in this ascending list is missing but it’s the sum of two already listed. Can you name it and give the face value in old pence (d) for each of the four coins?

    Answer: Half-crown. 6d, 12d, 24d and 30d

    Tanner (aka sixpence) 6d (2.5p)
    Bob (shilling) 12d (5p)
    Florin (two bob or two shillings) 24d (10p)
    Half-crown (two shillings and sixpence or 2/6 (pronounced ’2 and 6’)) 30d (12.5p)
    Old British currency was known as pounds, shillings and pence or ’l.s.d.’ from Latin librae ( ‘pounds’), solidi, denarii (both denoting Roman coins).


    Three

    Arrange these capital cities by latitude from north to south: Baku, Azerbaijan; Beijing, China; London, UK; Ottawa, Canada; and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

    Answer: London, UK; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Ottawa, Canada; Baku, Azerbaijan and Beijing, China

    London Coordinates: 51°30′26″N 
    Ulaanbaatar Coordinates: 47°55′19″N
    Ottawa Coordinates: 45°25′29″N 
    Baku Coordinates: 40°23′43″N  
    Beijing Coordinates 39°54′24″N


    Four

    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Gosford Park; and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
    These films were all nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award but none of them won it. Put them in chronological order of the year of their release?

    Answer: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Gosford Park, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was released 2000; Gosford Park, 2001 and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in 2002.

  • Lists too…

    Four more questions about lists.

    One

    An alphabetical list begins with the numbers 2, 6 and 21. The surname “2” starts with “A” and includes “John” somewhere in the name. What is the subject of this list and which names (their full names as commonly known) are associated with these three numbers in this context?

    Two

    Tanner, Bob, Florin and … were names for various coins used in pre-decimal currency in the UK. The fourth coin in this ascending list is missing but it’s the sum of two already listed. Can you name it and give the face value in old pence (d) for each of the four coins?

    Three

    Arrange these capital cities by latitude from north to south: Baku, Azerbaijan; Beijing, China; London, UK; Ottawa, Canada; and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

    Four

    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Gosford Park; and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
    These films were all nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award but none of them won it. Put them in chronological order of the year of their release?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Lists—Answers

    Today there are five questions relating to various lists.

    Taylor Swift Eras Tour – Arlington Texas, US.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    Here’s a chronological list of studio albums released since 2017: Reputation, Lover, … Evermore. Who released these and which album is missing?

    Answer: Taylor Swift and Folklore

    Swift released the studio album Folklore in 2020.


    Two

    …, Aconcagua, Denali. This is the second and third items in a list of seven. What’s the first?

    Answer: Everest

    It is a list of the highest peaks the on seven continents: Everest, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Vinson, Elbrus, Mount Wilhelm. There are variations to this list depending on definition used but the first five peaks remain the same regardless of definition.


    Three

    Which film follows in this list from an ‘official’ film series: Thunderball, You Only Live Twice? Secondly, who played the main protagonist in this film?

    Answer: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and George Lazenby

    This was Lazenby’s only outing as Bond.


    Four

    Out of the 193 member states of the United Nations, nine follow Oman and precede Qatar in alphabetical order. Can you name as many of these nine as you can?

    Answer: Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland and Portugal

    Wikipedia


    The Rolling Stones in July 1963.
    From left: Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Keith Richards.
    Image Wikipedia

    Five

    The Encyclopædia Britannica and Wikipedia agree on the first stable lineup of this group. Listed alphabetically by surname, they are Mick Jagger, …, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman. Who is missing from second place in this list?

    Answer: Brian Jones

    Formed in London as an alliance between Jagger, Richards, and multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones along with Watts and bassist Bill Wyman, the Stones began as a grubby conclave of students and bohemians playing a then-esoteric music based on Chicago blues in pubs and clubs in and around West London. Their potential for mass-market success seemed negligible at first, but by 1965 they were second to the Beatles in the collective affection of teenage Britain. — Encyclopædia Britannica

  • Lists

    Today we have five questions about different lists.

    One

    Here’s a chronological list of studio albums released since 2017: Reputation, Lover, … Evermore. Who released these and which album is missing?

    Two

    …, Aconcagua, Denali. This is the second and third items in a list of seven. What’s the first?

    Three

    Which film follows in this list from an ‘official’ film series: Thunderball, You Only Live Twice? Secondly, who played the main protagonist in this film?

    Four

    Out of the 193 member states of the United Nations, nine follow Oman and precede Qatar in alphabetical order. Can you name as many of these nine as you can?

    Five

    The Encyclopædia Britannica and Wikipedia agree on the first stable lineup of this group. Listed alphabetically by surname, they are Mick Jagger, …, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman. Who is missing from second place in this list?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later today.

  • Two Capitals (at least)—Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier post.

    Sucre.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    If Sucre is described as the constitutional and judicial capital, where is the seat of government?

    Answer: La Paz

    Bolivia has two official capitals: Sucre, the constitutional capital and seat of the judiciary, and La Paz, the seat of government, executive and legislature.


    Two

    name: Yamoussoukro (legislative capital), Abidjan (administrative and economic capital); note – the US Embassy is in Abidjan — CIA’s The World Factbook

    This quote is from the CIA’s The World Factbook. Which nation does it refer to?

    Answer: Côte d’Ivoire

    Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d’Ivoire and officially the Republic of the Ivory Coast, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is the port city of Abidjan. — Wikipedia


    Three

    Mbabane and Lobamba are the two capitals of which nation?

    Answer: Eswatini

    Eswatini has two capitals: Mbabane, the administrative capital and seat of government, and Lobamba, the royal and legislative capital.


    Four

    South Africa is unique in having three separate capital cities: one for the executive and administrative branch, one for the legislative branch, and one for the judicial branch. Can you name these three capitals?

    Answer: Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein

    Pretoria is the executive and administrative capital while Cape Town serves as the legislative capital and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital.


    Five

    If Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte serves as the legislative capital of a nation, which city functions as the economic, executive and judicial capital? Secondly, what is the name of the country?

    Answer: Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is located adjacent to the urban area of Sri Lanka’s de facto economic, executive, and judicial capital, Colombo. — Wikipedia

  • Two Capitals (at least)

    Today’s questions are about capital cities.

    Sucre.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    If Sucre is described as the constitutional and judicial capital, where is the seat of government?

    Two

    name: Yamoussoukro (legislative capital), Abidjan (administrative and economic capital); note – the US Embassy is in Abidjan — CIA’s The World Factbook

    This quote is from the CIA’s The World Factbook. Which nation does it refer to?

    Three

    Mbabane and Lobamba are the two capitals of which nation?

    Four

    South Africa is unique in having three separate capital cities: one for the executive and administrative branch, one for the legislative branch, and one for the judicial branch. Can you name these three capitals?

    Five

    If Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte serves as the legislative capital of a nation, which city functions as the economic, executive and judicial capital? Secondly, what is the name of the country?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later today.