Quizology.Online

Category: Pursuit of the Trivial

  • Gallimaufry IV | Answers

    Here are the answers to the questions from my earlier post.

    Today, more gallimaufry — ‘a confused jumble or medley of things’.

    Dobby, see question two.
    Image Harry Potter Fandom

    One

    In July 1985, Live Aid was held simultaneously at two venues on either side of the Atlantic. What were the venues?

    Answer: Wembley Stadium, London and JFK Stadium, Philadelphia

    Live Aid, a benefit concert held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985, was organised by Boomtown Rats frontman Bob Geldof and Ultravox vocalist Midge Ure. The event attracted an estimated 1.5 billion television viewers and raised millions of dollars for famine relief in Ethiopia.

    Two

    Dobby, the house-elf from Harry Potter, was in the news a couple of years ago when the National Trust asked fans not to leave memorabilia at the site of his grave at Freshwater West Beach, Pembrokeshire, Wales. What one item associated with Dobby and Harry Potter have fans been leaving?

    Answer: Sock

    Many fans have been leaving a sock for Dobby, referencing the fact that it was a sock Harry Potter used to trick Lucius Malfoy to set the house-elf free. Freshwater West, a ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’, is home to large grey seals, harbour porpoises, and some of the world’s largest seabird populations. The National Trust asks visitors to leave no trace – no socks included.

    Three

    What creature, from Greek mythology, is being described here: ‘a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse’?

    Answer: Centaur

    Centaurs, creatures from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse, were known for their wild nature and inhabited various regions in Thessaly and beyond. They also appear in Roman mythology and medieval bestiaries. In modern fiction, centaurs appear in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter.

    Four

    What song opens ‘We’re caught in a trap, I can’t walk out’?

    Answer: Suspicious Minds

    Mark James’s 1968 song Suspicious Minds initially failed to chart, but Elvis Presley later recorded it, transforming it into a number one hit and earning it a Grammy Hall of Fame induction.

    Five

    An African dictator who was in office as the President between January 1971 and April 1979 declared himself the uncrowned King of Scotland. Who was this dictator, and what country did he rule?

    Answer: Idi Amin; Uganda

    Idi Amin, a Ugandan military officer, ruled as a dictator from 1971 to 1979 after overthrowing President Milton Obote. His regime was marked by human rights abuses, economic collapse, and international isolation. Amin, who had become known as ‘The Butcher of Uganda’, was ousted by Tanzanian forces in 1979 and lived in exile until his death in 2003.

  • Gallimaufry IV

    Today, more gallimaufry — ‘a confused jumble or medley of things’.

    Dobby, see question two.
    Image Harry Potter Fandom

    One

    In July 1985, Live Aid was held simultaneously at two venues on either side of the Atlantic. What were the venues?

    Two

    Dobby, the house-elf from Harry Potter, was in the news a couple of years ago when the National Trust asked fans not to leave memorabilia at the site of his grave at Freshwater West Beach, Pembrokeshire, Wales. What one item associated with Dobby and Harry Potter have fans been leaving?

    Three

    What creature, from Greek mythology, is being described here: ‘a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse’?

    Four

    What song opens ‘We’re caught in a trap, I can’t walk out’?

    Five

    An African dictator who was in office as the President between January 1971 and April 1979 declared himself the uncrowned King of Scotland. Who was this dictator, and what country did he rule?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Gallimaufry III—Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier post. According to the Oxford English Dictionary ‘gallimaufry’ originated: mid-16th century: from archaic French galimafrée ‘unappetizing dish’, perhaps from Old French galer ‘have fun’ + Picard mafrer ‘eat copious quantities’.

    Today we have gallimaufry, ‘a confused jumble or medley of things’.

    Robert Langdon, The Da Vinci Code.
    Image Screenrant

    One

    What ’S’ is a subject in which Professor Robert Langdon specialises at Harvard in the novel and film The Da Vinci Code?

    Answer: Symbology

    Langdon is Professor of Religious Iconology and Symbology at Harvard University. The Oxford English Dictionary defines symbology as ‘the study or use of symbols’ or ‘symbols collectively’.

    Two

    What ‘S’ is the town of Freddie Mercury’s birth?

    Answer: Stone Town (in Zanzibar)

    Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town, in the British Protectorate of Zanzibar (now Tanzania) in 1946. He spent a large part of his childhood in India, where he attended St. Peter’s School and formed a band, the Hectics.

    Three

    What ‘W’ does an oenophile love?

    Answer: Wine

    Oenophile is defined as ‘a connoisseur of wines’. Its origins are from the mid-19th century: from Greek oinos ‘wine’ + -phile. Oxford English Dictionary.

    Four

    What ‘A’ is the name of the submarine commanded by Gene Hackman’s character in Crimson Tide?

    Answer: Alabama (USS Alabama)

    The film centres on a conflict between a submarine commander and his XO over a missile launch order, mirroring a Cuban Missile Crisis incident onboard the Soviet submarine B-59.

    Five

    ‘G’ was the first initial of the author of The Canterbury Tales. What are this writer’s first and last names?

    Answer: Geoffrey Chaucer

    Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet and writer, is best known for The Canterbury Tales and is considered the ‘father of English literature.’ The Canterbury Tales, an anthology of twenty-four stories written by Chaucer between 1387 and 1400, are widely regarded as his magnum opus and a paramount work of English literature. The tales, presented as part of a fictional storytelling contest, are incomplete, with Chaucer’s intention being to write four stories from the perspective of each of the 30 pilgrims.

  • Gallimaufry III

    Today we have gallimaufry, ‘a confused jumble or medley of things’.

    Robert Langdon, The Da Vinci Code.
    Image Screenrant

    One

    What ’S’ is a subject in which Professor Robert Langdon specialises at Harvard in the novel and film The Da Vinci Code?

    Two

    What ‘S’ is the town of Freddie Mercury’s birth?

    Three

    What ‘W’ does an oenophile love?

    Four

    What ‘A’ is the name of the submarine commanded by Gene Hackman’s character in Crimson Tide?

    Five

    ‘G’ was the first initial of the author of The Canterbury Tales. What are this writer’s first and last names?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Of Brownyis and of Bogolis—Answers

    Of Brownyis and of Bogolis

    The post title is from the epigraph in Tam o’ Shanter.

    Here are the answers to the questions I posted earlier.

    Today’s questions begin with a person born on this day and continue in a theme from there.

    Robert Burns, engraving from A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, 1870.
    Image Encyclopædia Britannica

    One

    Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland, was born in Alloway, Ayrshire on this day. In what century did he life?

    Answer: 18th century

    Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, was born in 1759 to a struggling farmer. Witnessing his father’s hardships fuelled Burns’ rebellion against the social order and his satirical writing. He received some formal education and was influenced by 18th-century English writers, Scottish folk songs, and his own experiences. He died in 1796.

    Two

    The title character in a Robert Burns narrative poem had a horse, Maggie, which was left without a tail — ‘And left poor Maggie scarce a stump’ — who was this title character?

    Answer: Tam o’ Shanter

    Tam o’ Shanter by Robert Burns tells of Tam, who, after a long drinking session, rides home late at night and encounters witches and the Devil dancing in a haunted church. His drunken curiosity nearly kills him, and he escapes only by fleeing across a river, losing his horse’s tail.

    Three

    In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield bases his fantasy of being a ‘catcher in the rye’ on a misheard line from a song. What song?

    Answer: Comin’ Thro’ the Rye

    Holden mishears the lyric ‘If a body meet a body coming through the rye’ as ‘If a body catch a body coming through the rye’, and the mishearing symbolises his desire to protect the innocence of children by saving them from the loss of childhood and the corruption of the adult world.

    Four

    Where did Robert Burns die in 1796, and where is he buried?

    Answer: Dumfries

    Living in Dumfries, Robert Burns died aged 37, possibly due to a rheumatic heart condition and a bacterial infection, and was initially buried in St. Michael’s Churchyard before being moved to the Burns Mausoleum in the same churchyard. His son, Maxwell, was born on the day of his funeral. In 1834, his widow, Jean Armour, was buried beside him.

    Five

    What item was Burns describing with these words?

    Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
    Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!

    — Scottish Poetry Library

    Answer: Haggis

    The quote in the question is from Burns’s Address to a Haggis (1786) and might be translated from Scots into English as ‘Good luck to your honest, cheerful face, / Great leader of the sausage race!’.
    Address to a Haggis is described by Burns Country as —

    A humorous and celebratory poem by Robert Burns, addressed to a haggis, a traditional Scottish dish made of sheep’s stomach. The poem praises the haggis as a symbol of Scottish identity and culture, and contrasts it with the French cuisine of the elite.

    — Scottish Poetry Library

    The full text of Address to a Haggis is shown below.


    ‘His knife see Rustic-labour dight,
    An’ cut ye up wi’ ready slight,
    Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
    Like onie ditch;
    And then, O what a glorious sight,
    Warm-reekin, rich!’
    Image Wikimedia Commons
    Verse Scottish Poetry Library

    Address to a Haggis (1786)

    Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
    Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!
    Aboon them a’ ye tak your place,
    Painch, tripe, or thairm:
    Weel are ye wordy of a grace
    As lang ‘s my arm.

    The groaning trencher there ye fill,
    Your hurdies like a distant hill,
    Your pin wad help to mend a mill
    In time o’ need,
    While thro’ your pores the dews distil
    Like amber bead.

    His knife see Rustic-labour dight,
    An’ cut ye up wi’ ready slight,
    Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
    Like onie ditch;
    And then, O what a glorious sight,
    Warm-reekin, rich!

    Then, horn for horn, they stretch an’ strive:
    Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
    Till a’ their weel-swall’d kytes belyve
    Are bent like drums;
    Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
    Bethankit hums.

    Is there that owre his French ragout,
    Or olio that wad staw a sow,
    Or fricassee wad mak her spew
    Wi’ perfect sconner,
    Looks down wi’ sneering, scornfu’ view
    On sic a dinner?

    Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
    As feckless as a wither’d rash,
    His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
    His nieve a nit;
    Thro’ bluidy flood or field to dash,
    O how unfit!

    But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
    The trembling earth resounds his tread,
    Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
    He’ll make it whissle;
    An’ legs, an’ arms, an’ heads will sned,
    Like taps o’ thrissle.

    Ye Pow’rs wha mak mankind your care,
    And dish them out their bill o’ fare,
    Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
    That jaups in luggies;
    But, if ye wish her gratefu’ prayer,
    Gie her a Haggis!

    — Scottish Poetry Library

  • Of Brownyis and of Bogolis

    Today’s questions begin with a person born on this day and continue in a theme from there.

    See question two. Robert Burns Statue,
    Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    One

    Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland, was born in Alloway, Ayrshire on this day. In what century did he life?

    Two

    The title character in a Robert Burns narrative poem had a horse, Maggie, which was left without a tail — ‘And left poor Maggie scarce a stump’ — who was this title character?

    Three

    In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield bases his fantasy of being a ‘catcher in the rye’ on a misheard line from a song. What song?

    Four

    Where did Robert Burns die in 1796, and where is he buried?

    Five

    What item was Burns describing with these words?

    Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
    Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race!

    — Scottish Poetry Library

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Omnium Gatherum—Answers

    Here are the answers for the questions in my earlier post, Omnium Gatherum.

    Today we have five random questions with no connections or related dates.

    Olympic Rings in 2023.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    One

    In sport, where were the Games of the XXX Olympiad held?

    Answer: London, United Kingdom

    The 2012 Summer Olympics, held in London, featured 10,518 athletes from 206 countries. The United States topped the medal table, while Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian. The Games were praised for their organisation and the opening ceremony, directed by Danny Boyle.

    Two

    For what film did James Cagney win the Best Actor Oscar in 1942?

    Answer: Yankee Doodle Dandy

    Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 biographical musical drama film about George M. Cohan, starring James Cagney. The film was a major hit, winning three Academy Awards, and was later selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

    Three

    In what country did the artist Pablo Picasso die?

    Answer: France

    Pablo Picasso, a Spanish artist, was a leading figure in 20th-century art. He co-founded the Cubist movement, invented constructed sculpture and collage, and explored various styles throughout his 76-year career. Picasso’s most famous works include Les Demoiselles d’Avignon and Guernica.

    Four

    What sporting organisation does the abbreviation WPBSA stand for?

    Answer: World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association

    The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), headquartered in Bristol, England, governs professional snooker and English billiards. It devises rules, promotes global development, enforces conduct regulations, combats corruption, and supports various related organisations.

    Five

    An 1831 novel’s major characters include the following: Claude Frollo — the Archdeacon; Pierre Gringoire — a struggling poet; Phoebus de Chateaupers — the Captain of the King’s Archers. What novel, and who was its author?

    Answer: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French title: Notre-Dame de Paris); Victor Hugo

    The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, was published in 1831. The novel, set in 15th-century Paris, focusses on the story of Quasimodo, Esmeralda, and Claude Frollo. Hugo championed historical preservation, particularly of Gothic architecture, through this work.

    Omnium Gatherum

    The post title —

    Definition of omnium gatherum in English:

    omnium gatherum
    NOUN 

    A collection of miscellaneous people or things: 

    ‘an omnium gatherum of anecdotes’


    Origin

    Early 16th century: mock Latin, from Latin omnium ‘of all’ and gather + the Latin suffix –um.

    — Oxford English Dictionary

  • Omnium Gatherum

    Today we have five random questions with no connections or related dates.

    Olympic Rings.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    One

    In sport, where were the Games of the XXX Olympiad held?

    Two

    For what film did James Cagney win the Best Actor Oscar in 1942?

    Three

    In what country did the artist Pablo Picasso die?

    Four

    What sporting organisation does the abbreviation WPBSA stand for?

    Five

    An 1831 novel’s major characters include the following: Claude Frollo — the Archdeacon; Pierre Gringoire — a struggling poet; Phoebus de Chateaupers — the Captain of the King’s Archers. What novel, and who was its author?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Then Peace will Guide the Planets—Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier questions.

    These questions all relate to today’s date, January 23rd.

    Image Astrology-Online

    One

    Some astrologers believed that a 1997 planetary alignment with the Sun and Moon, which had not occurred since 1475, indicated the beginning of a new age. What age?

    Answer: Age of Aquarius

    When the moon is in the Seventh House

    And Jupiter aligns with Mars

    Then peace will guide the planets

    And love will steer the stars

    — Lyricfind

    Two

    In 1229, Pope Gregory IX first mentioned the town of Aboa in his bull; Aboa is the Latin name of Turku. This date is increasingly considered the founding of Turku. In what modern country is Turku?

    Answer: Finland

    Turku, Finland’s oldest city, is the regional capital of Southwest Finland. With a population of approximately 207,000, it is the country’s third-most populous urban area. Turku, a bilingual municipality, is a significant business and cultural centre, known for its rich history, vibrant food scene, and as a major port city.

    Three

    In 1957, American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sold the rights to his disc to the Wham-O toy company. What did they later rename it?

    Answer: Frisbee

    A frisbee, also known as a flying disc, is a gliding toy used for recreational and competitive throwing and catching. It is typically made of plastic and has a pronounced lip, allowing it to fly with reduced drag and increased lift.

    Four

    In 1998, which corporation announced the creation of Mozilla, a free software community?

    Answer: Netscape Communications Corporation

    Netscape announced its Communicator browser software would be free and open-source in 1998, leading to the creation of the Mozilla project. Initially a technology provider, Mozilla later focused on developing independent applications like Firefox and Thunderbird, and expanded into mobile platforms and other projects.

    Five

    In 1977, the television miniseries Roots debuted in the United States. The series was an adaptation of whose best-selling novel, and what was that novel’s full title?

    Answer: Alex Haley

    Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley’s novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The series, which aired on ABC, received critical acclaim and numerous awards, including nine Primetime Emmy Awards. It was followed by a sequel, Roots: The Next Generations, and a remake commissioned by the History Channel in 2016.

  • Then Peace will Guide the Planets

    These questions all relate to today’s date, January 23rd.

    Image Astrology-Online

    One

    Some astrologers believed that a 1997 planetary alignment with the Sun and Moon, which had not occurred since 1475, indicated the beginning of a new age. What age?

    Two

    In 1229, Pope Gregory IX first mentioned the town of Aboa in his bull; Aboa is the Latin name of Turku. This date is increasingly considered the founding of Turku. In what modern country is Turku?

    Three

    In 1957, American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sold the rights to his disc to the Wham-O toy company. What did they later rename it?

    Four

    In 1998, which corporation announced the creation of Mozilla, a free software community?

    Five

    In 1977, the television miniseries Roots debuted in the United States. The series was an adaptation of whose best-selling novel, and what was that novel’s full title?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers tomorrow.