Quizology.Online

A Serious Pursuit of the Trivial

  • Music to my Ears—Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier posts.

    Jailhouse Rock film poster.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone,
    Little Joe was blowin’ on the slide trombone.
    The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang,
    The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang.
    — AZ Lyrics

    Which two musical instruments are missing from this excerpt of Jailhouse Rock?

    Answer Tenor saxophone and slide trombone

    Written by Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber it was released as a single, accompanying Elvis Presley’s motion picture, Jailhouse Rock, on the 24 September 1957.

    Two

    What musical instrument features in the title of a musical film starring Roy Orbison: The Fastest … Alive?

    Answer: Guitar

    The Fastest Guitar Alive is a 1967 American musical film comedy Western film directed by Michael D. Moore and starring singer Roy Orbison in his only acting role. The film features Orbison performing seven original songs, which appeared on his 1967 MGM album of the same name. Near the end of the American Civil War, a Southern spy (Orbison) with a bullet-shooting guitar is given the task of robbing gold bullion from the United States Mint in San Francisco to help finance the ill-fated Confederacy’s last-ditch war effort.

    Three

    Charlie, a young English actress, is the title character of which John le Carré novel?

    Answer: The Little Drummer Girl

    The Little Drummer Girl, a 1983 spy novel by John le Carré, follows Israeli spymaster Martin Kurtz’s plan to kill Palestinian terrorist Khalil.

    Four

    What was the title of Elton John’s first number one album on the UK Albums Chart?

    Answer: Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player

    Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player is the sixth studio album by British musician Elton John. Released on 26 January 1973 by DJM Records, it was the first of two studio albums he released in 1973 (the second was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, released nine months later), and was his second straight No. 1 album on the US Billboard 200 and first No. 1 album on the UK Albums Chart.

    Combo Waterhole Queensland. Probably the archetype of a billabong, under the shade of a coolibah tree from the song Waltzing Matilda by Banjo Paterson.
    Image Alun Hoggett/Wikipedia

    Five

    Who composed Waltzing Matilda, the song widely regarded as Australia’s unofficial national anthem?

    Answer: Banjo Paterson

    Banjo Paterson, an Australian bush poet and journalist, is celebrated for his works capturing the Australian bush life. His poems, including Clancy of the Overflow and The Man from Snowy River, were published in The Bulletin, and Waltzing Matilda is considered Australia’s unofficial national anthem.

  • Music to my Ears

    Today’s questions have a musical connection and each answer features at least one musical instrument or musician.


    Landscape with Swagman (also known as The swagman’s camp by a billabong), Gordon Coutts, 1889.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    Spider Murphy played the …,
    Little Joe was blowin’ on the ….
    The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang,
    The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang.

    Which two musical instruments are missing from this excerpt of Jailhouse Rock?

    Two

    What musical instrument features in the title of a musical film starring Roy Orbison: The Fastest … Alive?

    Three

    Charlie, a young English actress, is the title character of which John le Carré novel?

    Four

    What was the title of Elton John’s first number one album on the UK Albums Chart?

    Five

    Who composed Waltzing Matilda, the song widely regarded as Australia’s unofficial national anthem?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • In a Hole in the Ground—Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier post.

    Hobbit village.
    Image ArtStation.com

    One

    In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a Hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

    What one word has been omitted from the above opening lines which were first published in 1937?

    Answer: Hobbit

    The openings words from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit (1937).

    Two

    The story so far: in the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

    The second book of an unusual trilogy begins with the above lines. What is the title of this book? How many books did the creator of this work write in the ‘trilogy’?

    Answer: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Five (books)

    The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is the second book in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a ‘trilogy of five books’ by Douglas Adams with a sixth book written by Eoin Colfer.

    Three

    It was a pleasure to …

    In Ray Bradbury’ Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, the protagonist, was responsible for the opening sentence. What four-letter word completes it?

    Answer: Burn

    Montag is a fireman. In the world depicted in Fahrenheit 451 firemen are employed to burn books which are illegal to own. Disillusioned with his role as a censor and destroyer of knowledge, Montag eventually quits his job and dedicates himself to preserving literary and cultural writings.

    Four

    Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.

    Who was the subject of this opening sentence (the name has been removed from the above quote) from Ulysses by James Joyce?

    Answer: Buck Mulligan

    Ulysses by James Joyce, follows the lives of three Dubliners over a single day, 16 June 1904, now celebrated annually as Bloomsday by its fans.

    The Martian.
    Image Disney

    Five

    LOG ENTRY: SOL 6
    I’m pretty much fucked.
    That’s my considered opinion.
    Fucked.
    — The Martian by Andy Weir

    The opening lines of The Martian are displayed above. Who was the American astronaut writing this log entry?

    Answer: Mark Watney

    Andy Weir’s 2011 science fiction debut, ‘The Martian’, began as a serialised blog post before Crown Publishing Group acquired and re-released it in 2014. The novel follows Mark Watney, an American astronaut stranded alone on Mars in 2035, who must use his ingenuity to survive. Ridley Scott’s 2015 film adaptation, starring Matt Damon, is based on the novel. Drew Goddard wrote the screenplay, and 20th Century Fox distributed it. Both the novel and film depict the astronaut’s struggle for survival and NASA’s rescue mission.

  • In a Hole in the Ground

    Here are five questions about the opening lines of books.

    One

    In a hole in the ground there lived a …. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a …-hole, and that means comfort.

    What one word has been omitted from the above opening lines which were first published in 1937?

    Two

    The story so far: in the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

    The second book of an unusual trilogy begins with the above lines. What is the title of this book? How many books did the creator of this work write in the ‘trilogy’?

    Three

    It was a pleasure to …

    In Ray Bradbury’ Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, the protagonist, was responsible for the opening sentence. What four-letter word completes it?

    Four

    Stately, plump … came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.

    Who was the subject of this opening sentence (the name has been removed from the above quote) from Ulysses by James Joyce?

    Five

    LOG ENTRY: SOL 6
    I’m pretty much fucked.
    That’s my considered opinion.
    Fucked.
    — The Martian by Andy Weir

    The opening lines of The Martian are displayed above. Who was the American astronaut writing this log entry?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • 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.