This nine-letter noun means ‘a tiny trace or spark of a specified quality or feeling’. What is the word?
Two
A twelve-letter noun used in law, mainly in Scotland, meaning ‘the preliminary examination of witnesses, especially to decide whether there is ground for a trial’. What is this noun?
Three
This four-letter noun, the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet, means ‘an extremely small amount’. Can you guess what it is?
Four
This is a fourteen-letter noun meaning ‘a person who enjoys or is skilled at solving crosswords’. Can you identify the word?
Five
This ten-letter noun means ‘the formal art and practice of horsemanship and horse riding’. What is the word?
HMS Challenger, 1858 by William Frederick Mitchell. Orginaly published in the Royal Navy in a series of illustrations. Image Wikimedia Commons
Today’s first question concerns the date May 26th. The subsequent questions share a theme established in the first one.
One
On 26 May 1876, HMS Challenger returned to Great Britain from a three-and-a-half-year, groundbreaking oceanographic expedition which circumnavigated the Earth. How many miles or kilometres, to the nearest 1,000, did the ship sail on its voyage?
Answer: 79,000 miles or 128,000 kilometres.
The Challenger expedition (1872–1876), led by Captain George Nares and supervised by Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, was a groundbreaking scientific programme that established oceanography. HMS Challenger, a joint effort by the British Admiralty and the Royal Society, travelled 68,890 nautical miles (79,278 miles or 127,584 kilometres), cataloguing over 4,000 unknown species, collecting ocean floor samples, measuring depths, and recording currents. It was the first to photograph icebergs and approached Antarctica, significantly advancing planetary knowledge.
Two
These three points all relate to the same person, there are three answers.
What is the name of the explorer and navigator after whom the Americas are named?
In what modern country is his birthplace?
What two countries sponsored his voyages?
Answers.
Amerigo Vespucci
Italy
Spain and Portugal
America is named after Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), an Italian explorer from the Republic of Florence. He participated in voyages for Spain (1499–1500) and Portugal (1501–1502) during the Age of Discovery. Two booklets published under his name in 1503 and 1505 described these explorations, although their authorship is disputed. Vespucci argued that Brazil was part of a previously unknown continent—the ‘New World’—which inspired the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller to use the name ‘America’, the Latinised feminine form of Amerigo, on his 1507 world map.
Three
These three points all relate to the same person, there is only one answer.
Edgar Allan Poe dedicated his final major work Eureka: A Prose Poem to this scientist and explorer
The same explorer authored the five-volume treatise Kosmos (1845-62)
Charles Darwin read and referenced Helen Maria Williams’s English translation of this explorer’s Relation historique du voyage aux régions équinoxiales du nouveau continent during his voyage on the HMS Beagle.
Which explorer do the above all refer to?
Answer: Alexander von Humboldt.
Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was a German naturalist and explorer renowned for advancing geography, biogeography, and Earth sciences. Initially a restless student, he became passionate about botany, mineralogy, and geology, later joining the Prussian Mining Department. Driven by scientific ambition, he financed and undertook a five-year expedition (1799–1804) across Central and South America with Aimé Bonpland, studying flora, fauna, rivers, mountains, and the Humboldt Current. His discoveries, measurements, and writings, notably Kosmos, profoundly popularised science worldwide.
Four
How many years did Marco Polo spend travelling across Asia?
Answer: 24 years.
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant and adventurer who travelled across Asia from 1271 to 1295, spending 17 years in China under the rule of Kublai Khan. Accompanying his father and uncle along the Silk Road, he journeyed through Persia, Central Asia, and the Gobi Desert before reaching the Mongol court. His experiences were recorded in Il milione(The Travels of Marco Polo), one of history’s most influential travel books, introducing Europeans to the cultures, cities, and wealth of Asia.
Five
In what century did a Greek explorer first visit the British Isles?
Answer: 4th century BCE.
Pytheas was a Greek navigator, geographer, and astronomer from Massalia (Marseille) who explored northern Europe around 325 BC. Sailing beyond the Mediterranean into the Atlantic, he visited Spain, Brittany, Cornwall, and much of Britain, accurately estimating distances and Britain’s circumference. Although his book On the Ocean is lost, later writers preserved his observations on tides, polar ice, the midnight sun, and northern peoples. His voyages greatly expanded Greek knowledge of Europe and the far north.
HMS Challenger, 1858 by William Frederick Mitchell. Orginaly published in the Royal Navy in a series of illustrations. Image Wikimedia Commons
Today’s first question concerns the date May 26th. The subsequent questions share a theme established in the first one.
One
On 26 May 1876, HMS Challenger returned to Great Britain from a three-and-a-half-year, groundbreaking oceanographic expedition which circumnavigated the Earth. How many miles or kilometres, to the nearest 1,000, did the ship sail on its voyage?
Two
These three points all relate to the same person, and there are three answers.
What is the name of the explorer and navigator after whom the Americas are named?
In what modern country is his birthplace?
What two countries sponsored his voyages?
Three
These three points all relate to the same person, there is only one answer..
Edgar Allan Poe dedicated his final major work Eureka: A Prose Poem to this scientist and explorer
The same explorer authored the five-volume treatise Kosmos (1845-62)
Charles Darwin read and referenced Helen Maria Williams’s English translation of this explorer’s Relation historique du voyage aux régions équinoxiales du nouveau continent during his voyage on the HMS Beagle.
Which explorer do the above all refer to?
Four
How many years did Marco Polo spend travelling across Asia?
Five
In what century did a Greek explorer first visit the British Isles?
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor, theatrical poster. Image Wikimedia Commons
All of these questions are related to today’s date, May 25th.
One
What was the first X-rated film to win the Academy Award for best picture?
Midnight Cowboy.
Released on this day in 1969, Midnight Cowboy, directed by John Schlesinger, stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight as New York hustlers. It won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and is the only X-rated film to do so. Ranked 36th and 43rd on AFI’s lists, it was preserved in the U.S. National Film Registry in 1994. X-certification has been renamed in some domains; for example, in the U.K., it is now an 18 certificate, which is suitable only for persons aged 18 years and over, and in the U.S., NC-17, No one 17 and under admitted.
Two
He did not wear his scarlet coat, For blood and wine are red, And blood and wine were on his hands When they found him with the dead, The poor dead woman whom he loved, And murdered in her bed.
The above lines are the opening verse of an 1897 poem which was published under the pseudonym C.3.3. What is the poem, and who wrote it?
Answer: The Ballad of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde.
On 25 May 1895, Wilde had been convicted of ‘committing acts of gross indecency with certain male persons’, sentenced to two years’ hard labour; he served the majority of his sentence in Reading Gaol. His poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, which was written after his release from prison, narrates the execution of Charles Thomas Wooldridge. It highlights the brutalisation of punishment and Wilde’s identification with prisoners. Published in 1898, under the pseudonym C.3.3. — his prison identification by which he was addressed — it remained anonymous until Wilde’s identity as author was revealed in 1899. The poem, which sold well, provided Wilde with an income for life.
Three
The author who created the character Jason Bourne in a 1980 novel was born in 1927. Who was this author?
Answer: Robert Ludlum.
Robert Ludlum, an American author known for his spy thrillers, wrote best-sellers like The Bourne Identity and The Scarlatti Inheritance. Despite criticism of his plots and prose, his fast-paced espionage novels were immensely popular. He authored 27 thriller novels, including the Jason Bourne series, which have been published in 33 languages and sold an estimated 300-500 million copies.
Four
An actor, born in 1939, links the roles of John Profumo in 1989, Mithrandir (2001), and Leigh Teabing (2006). What actor?
Answer: Ian McKellen.
Ian McKellen, who was born in England on this day in 1939, played John Profumo in Scandal (1989). In 2001, he took on the role of Gandalf the Grey in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring — Mithrandir is how Gandalf is known by the Elves in their Sindarin language. He portrayed Sir Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code (2006).
Five
…; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor, a comic opera, debuted in London in 1878. What has been omitted from the beginning of the opera’s title?
Answer: H.M.S. Pinafore.
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor, a comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, premiered in 1878, running for 571 performances. Set on a Royal Navy ship, it humorously critiques the British class system and authority. Its success led to other popular works, influencing modern musical theatre.
…; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor, theatrical poster (cropped). See question five. Image Wikimedia Commons
All of these questions are related to today’s date, May 25th.
One
What was the first X-rated film to win the Academy Award for best picture?
Two
He did not wear his scarlet coat, For blood and wine are red, And blood and wine were on his hands When they found him with the dead, The poor dead woman whom he loved, And murdered in her bed.
The above lines are the opening verse of an 1897 poem which was published under the pseudonym C.3.3. What is the poem, and who wrote it?
Three
The author who created the character Jason Bourne in a 1980 novel was born in 1927. Who was this author?
Four
An actor, born in 1939, links the roles of John Profumo in 1989, Mithrandir (2001), and Leigh Teabing (2006). What actor?
Five
…; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor, a comic opera, debuted in London in 1878. What has been omitted from the beginning of the opera’s title?
Today the first question relates to today’s date, May 24th. The following questions follow a theme which is explained here but is basically the same as yesterday.
Theme
The gist of today’s quiz is that the first question results in you having three five-letter words in the answer.
One of those words supplies the initial letters for the remaining questions.
After discounting the initial letter which has already been used the remaining four letters supply the initial letters to the answers to the remaining questions but they will not necessarily be in the correct order.
Once you have answered all the questions you should be able to take the initial letters of the five questions, rearrange and have one of the words from the answer to question one.
One
Mike … was …; while Cameron was …; and Eddie was a bit of an ass. Three five-letter names are missing from the above statement. What are they?
Answers: Myers; Shrek and Fiona.
Shrek (2001), an animated fantasy comedy film, follows an ogre’s quest to reclaim his swamp from banished fairy tale creatures. Mike Myers voices Shrek and Cameron Diaz is Princess Fiona. Eddie Murphy was the voice of Donkey.
Two
The nurse shark pictured above is accompanied by a fish of the family Echeneidae. What is the common six-letter name of the smaller fish?
Answer: Remora.
Remoras, or suckerfish, are eight species of marine fish known for attaching to larger marine animals and ships using a specialised sucking disk. They typically range from 30 to 90 cm in length and feed on leftovers or parasites.
Three
This UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is 15 miles (25 km) long by 7 miles (12 km) wide, is one of the world’s remotest places. It is 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from the nearest inhabited island and almost 2,200 miles (3,500 km) from the nearest continent. Where is it?
Answer: Easter Island.
Easter Island, a special territory of Chile in the eastern Pacific Ocean, is renowned for its nearly 1,000 moai statues created by the early Rapa Nui people. Originally called Rapa Nui, the island has a mixed population predominantly of Polynesian descent. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.
Four
What is the most abundant element in the known universe?
Answer: Hydrogen.
Hydrogen is the simplest chemical element, a colourless, odourless, flammable gas. It is the most abundant element in the universe and is used industrially to make ammonia and hydrogenate compounds.
Five
The name of which unicameral national legislature means ‘gathering’ or ‘assembly’ in Hebrew?
Answer: Knesset.
The Knesset, Israel’s unicarmel parliament, is responsible for passing laws, electing the president and prime minister, approving the cabinet, supervising the government, and electing the state comptroller. It has the authority to waive member immunity, remove officials, dissolve the government or itself, and call elections. Members are elected through proportional representation in Jerusalem. The term Knesset originates from the ancient Knesset HaGdola, or Great Assembly, a group of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets from the end of Biblical prophets to Rabbinic Judaism’s development, around 200 BCE. Despite the name, there is no organisational continuity; the ancient Knesset was unelected and religious.
Explanation
Answers
In full, the first part of question one read ‘Mike Myers was Shrek; while Cameron was Fiona; and Eddie was a bit of an ass.’
Today the first question relates to today’s date, May 24th. The following questions follow a theme which is explained here but is basically the same as yesterday.
Theme
The gist of today’s quiz is that the first question results in you having three five-letter words in the answer.
One of those words supplies the initial letters for the remaining questions.
After discounting the initial letter which has already been used the remaining four letters supply the initial letters to the answers to the remaining questions but they will not necessarily be in the correct order.
Once you have answered all the questions you should be able to take the initial letters of the five questions, rearrange and have one of the words from the answer to question one.
One
Mike … was …; while Cameron was …; and Eddie was a bit of an ass. Three five-letter names are missing from the above statement. What are they?
Two
The nurse shark pictured above is accompanied by a fish of the family Echeneidae. What is the common six-letter name of the smaller fish?
Three
This UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is 15 miles (25 km) long by 7 miles (12 km) wide, is one of the world’s remotest places. It is 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from the nearest inhabited island and almost 2,200 miles (3,500 km) from the nearest continent. Where is it?
Four
What is the most abundant element in the known universe?
Five
The name of which unicameral national legislature means ‘gathering’ or ‘assembly’ in Hebrew?
Today the first question relates to today’s date, May 23rd. The following questions follow a theme which is explained here.
Theme
The gist of today’s quiz is that the first question results in you having three five-letter words in the answer.
One of those words supplies the initial letters for the remaining questions.
Firstly, discount the initial letter as it has already been used. The remaining four letters supply the initial letters to the answers to the remaining questions but they will not necessarily be in the correct order.
Once you have answered all the questions you should be able to take the initial letters of the five answers, rearrange and have one of the words from the answer to question one.
The country that is home to the building in the image above was annexed by a neighbour on this day in 1951. In what city is the building, and what two neighbouring countries are referred to?
Answers: Lhasa; Tibet and China.
The Potala Palace, pictured, in Lhasa, Tibet, served as the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas from 1649 to 1959. Built in the dzong style, it’s named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical dwelling of Avalokiteśvara. Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, stands at 11,995 feet (3,656 m), making it one of the world’s highest cities. The incorporation of Tibet into China in 1950 remains a contentious issue. While China considers it a rightful part of its territory, many Tibetans and the international community view it as an occupation.
Two
In what film from the 1990s is El Toro air base destroyed?
Independence Day.
Independence Day is a 1996 American science fiction action film directed by Roland Emmerich. The film, which focuses on a worldwide attack by extraterrestrials, was a significant turning point in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster and grossed over $817.4 million worldwide.
Three
What explorer, in c.986 CE, was the founder of the first European settlement on Greenland?
Answer: Erik the Red.
While exiled, Erik the Red explored a land later known as Greenland, which he named to attract settlers. He returned to Iceland, successfully recruiting colonists, and in c.986 CE, established two settlements on Greenland’s southwest coast, the Eastern and Western Settlements.
Four
Who in The Lord of the Rings is described by Gandalf as ‘the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth’?
Answer: Treebeard.
Treebeard, an Ent, recounts to Merry and Pippin how the Ents were created to protect trees and how he remembers the vast forests of Middle-earth. He learns of Saruman’s treachery and, realising the danger he poses, rallies the Ents to attack Isengard, destroying it and trapping Saruman in his tower. After the war, Treebeard remains at Isengard, now called the Treegarth of Orthanc, and is entrusted with its care by the king, Elessar (Aragorn).
Five
The Beagle Channel, the Straits of Magellan to the north, and the open-ocean Drake Passage to the south are the three navigable passages around South America between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. — Wikipedia
What body of water is missing from this quote?
Answer: Beagle Channel.
The channel was named after HMS Beagle, which surveyed South America’s coasts from 1826 to 1830. During a second voyage, captain FitzRoy took Charles Darwin, who saw glaciers for the first time in the channel, and noted
It is scarcely possible to imagine anything more beautiful than the beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and especially as contrasted with the dead white of the upper expanse of snow. — Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle
Today the first question relates to today’s date, May 23rd. The following questions follow a theme which is explained here.
Theme
The gist of today’s quiz is that the first question results in you having three five-letter words in the answer.
One of those words supplies the initial letters for the remaining questions.
Firstly, discount the initial letter as it has already been used. The remaining four letters supply the initial letters to the answers to the remaining questions but they will not necessarily be in the correct order.
Once you have answered all the questions you should be able to take the initial letters of the five answers, rearrange and have one of the words from the answer to question one.
Image Encyclopædia Britannica
One
The country that is home to the building in the image above was annexed by a neighbour on this day in 1951. In what city is the building, and what two neighbouring countries are referred to?
Two
In what film from the 1990s is El Toro air base destroyed?
Three
What explorer, in c.986 CE, was the founder of the first European settlement on Greenland?
Four
Who in The Lord of the Rings is described by Gandalf as ‘the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth’?
Five
The … …, the Straits of Magellan to the north, and the open-ocean Drake Passage to the south are the three navigable passages around South America between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. — Wikipedia
The first of today’s questions relates to the date, May 22nd. The remainder follow on a theme.
One
The writer who created Sherlock Holmes was born on this day in 1859. Who was he, and in what city was he born?
Answers: Arthur Conan Doyle; Edinburgh, Scotland.
Arthur Conan Doyle, a Scottish writer, is best known for creating the detective Sherlock Holmes, inspired by his medical professor, Dr. Joseph Bell. Conan Doyle’s medical background influenced his writing, evident in both his Sherlock Holmes stories and his semi-autobiographical novels. Despite the popularity of Holmes, Conan Doyle believed his other works, particularly historical fiction, deserved more recognition.
Two
In the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, who played the role of Dr. Watson, and who directed the film?
Answers: Jude Law; Guy Ritchie.
Sherlock Holmes (2009), directed by Guy Ritchie, stars Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson. Set in 1890, they investigate Lord Blackwood, played by Mark Strong, who seems resurrected. The screenplay, by Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham, and Simon Kinberg, is based on a story by Wigram and Johnson. Released by Warner Bros. on 25—26 December 2009, it grossed $525 million, earning Downey a Golden Globe and two Academy Award nominations.
Three
Who was Sherlock Holmes’ elder brother, and by how many years is he older? (FYI, the answer to the age gap part of the question is one of the first five prime numbers.)
Answers: Mycroft Holmes; Seven years.
Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older brother, is a government official with a unique role, described as a ‘central exchange’ for information across departments. He appears in several stories, including The Greek Interpreter and The Bruce-Partington Plans, where his superior deductive abilities are noted. Mycroft’s exact position is not named, but it is implied to be highly influential and essential to the British government.
Four
The day that Sherlockians celebrate as Sherlock Holmes’s ‘birthday’ has both a Shakespearean and religious festival connection. What is that date?
Answer: 6 January.
Sherlock Holmes’s birth date is celebrated on 6 January, a date chosen by readers and scholars, known as Sherlockians, as it aligns with the character’s symbolic nature of revealing hidden truths. Although Arthur Conan Doyle never explicitly stated Holmes’s birth date, clues in the canon suggest he was born around 1854. The connection is that Twelfth Night is the only Shakespeare play Holmes quotes twice, and Twelfth Night, the religious feast of the Epiphany, is on 6 January.
Five
In the world of Sherlock Holmes, which street urchin gang is led by a boy named Wiggins?
Answer: Baker Street Irregulars.
The Baker Street Irregulars are a group of street boys employed by Sherlock Holmes as intelligence agents. Led by Wiggins, they run errands and gather information for Holmes, who values their sharp minds and ability to gather information. The group appears in three Sherlock Holmes stories, including the novels A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of the Four, and the short story The Adventure of the Crooked Man.
The Game is Afoot
The post title is a quote by Sherlock Holmes from the short story Adventure of the Abbey Grange by Arthur Conan Doyle. It was originally used in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1.
Quizology.Online 