Mount Olympus meets Hollywood | Answers

Here are the answers to the questions posted earlier today.

One

Minerva McGonagall.
Image harrypotter.com

What is the first name of Professor McGonagall, a staff member at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? 

Answer: Minerva

Maggie Smith portrayed Minerva McGonagall in seven Harry Potter films, enjoying the franchise for bonding with her grandchildren.

Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory and the arts. She is often depicted with her sacred creature, an owl, and is revered as a symbol of wisdom and knowledge.


Two

Lyra Belacqua and Pantalaimon or ‘Pan’.
Image BBC

In the 2007 film, The Golden Compass, Lyra Belacqua has a short pet name for her dæmon. What is it?

Answer: Pan

Lyra’s dæmon is named Pantalaimon but she generally shortens this to Pan.

Pan, the Greek god of shepherds and goatherds, originated in Arcadia and was worshipped in caves. He is depicted as a lecherous figure who roams the mountains and plays the syrinx.


Three

The Poseidon Adventure.
Image the MovieDB

Released on 12 December 1972, this disaster film featured Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters and Red Buttons. What was its title?

Answer: The Poseidon Adventure

The Poseidon Adventure is a disaster film about a luxury liner capsized by a tsunami. The film was a commercial success, grossing over $125 million worldwide and winning two Academy Awards.

Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, earthquakes and horses, was worshipped in coastal and inland areas. He is the son of Cronus and Rhea, brother of Zeus and Hades and husband of Amphitrite.


Four

The Martian.
Image Disney.

In Ridley Scott’s 2015 film, Dr. Mark Watney becomes stranded. But where is he stranded? 

Answer: Mars

In The Martian, Matt Damon plays Dr. Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on Mars after being presumed dead.

Mars is the Roman god of war and agriculture, embodying the dual role of protecting the Roman people and securing peace through military power. He is the son of Jupiter and Juno, and father of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome.


Five

Die Hard with a Vengeance.
Image MovieDB

What was Samuel L. Jackson’s character name in Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)?

Answer: Zeus Carver

Zeus Carver, a resourceful shopkeeper, reluctantly assists John McClane, forming a love-hate relationshipship as his ingenuity helps solve Gruber’s puzzles.

Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, is the most powerful deity and the only one of Indo-European origin. He overthrew his father Cronus and the Titans in the Titanomachy, becoming the father of many heroes and progenitors of prominent family lines.

Mount Olympus meets Hollywood 

Today’s film-related questions all share a connection: each answer features a deity from Greek or Roman mythology.

Hogwarts castle at Universal Islands of Adventure amusement park in Orlando, Florida. Image Wikipedia

One

What is the first name of Professor McGonagall, a staff member at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? 

Two

In the 2007 film, The Golden Compass, Lyra Belacqua has a short pet name for her dæmon. What is it?

Three

Released on 12 December 1972, this disaster film featured Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters and Red Buttons. What was its title?

Four

In Ridley Scott’s 2015 film, Dr. Mark Watney becomes stranded. But where is he stranded?

Five

What was Samuel L. Jackson’s character name in Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)?

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Find the Money | Answers

As usual the answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below and additionally I have underlined the monetary connection in the relevant answers.

Ha’penny Bridge, River Liffey, Dublin.
Image Wikipedia

One

Answer: Ha’penny Bridge

Ha’penny Bridge. The common name of the bridge derives from the ha’penny toll the bridge’s buider was allowed to charge anyone crossing it for a period of 100 years. Originally named the Wellington Bridge and after the Irish War of Independence renamed as the Liffey Bridge, Droichead na Life, its official name to this day.


For a Few Dollars More
Image IMDB/Amazon

Two

Answer: For a Few Dollars More

For a Few Dollars More is a 1965 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters. It was the second instalment of the Dollars trilogy.


Euros showing Croatian Croatian national sides. Image Wikipedia https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Croatian_euro_coins_%2810%29.jpg

Three

Answer: Europe

The euro, the currency of the European Union, was introduced in 1999 and became the sole currency of 12 EU member states in 2002. The European Central Bank manages the euro, which is used by 20 EU countries and several non-EU countries. Euro banknotes feature Europa and European symbols, while coins have common and country-specific designs. The euro is the official currency of 20 European Union member states, collectively known as the eurozone. It is also used by several non-EU states and territories, making it the second-largest reserve currency and the second-most traded currency globally. The euro replaced the former European Currency Unit and became the day-to-day currency in 2002.


Popcorn machine.
Image Wikipedia

Four

Answer: Popcorn

This is the red herring with no monetary connection. Ben Elton’s novel is titled Popcorn.

Popcorn, a variety of corn kernel that expands when heated, is one of the oldest snacks. It is commonly eaten salted, buttered, sweetened, or with artificial flavourings.


Mark Spitz, 2012.
Image Wikipedia

Five

Answer: Mark Spitz


The mark was most notabally a currency used in Germany until 1999 although Bosnia and Herzegovina currently use the convertible mark as their currency.

Mark Spitz, a retired American competitive swimmer, achieved remarkable success by winning nine Olympic gold medals between 1968 and 1972. Notably, he secured seven Olympic gold medals in Munich, all of which were achieved in world-record times. This remarkable feat stood as a record for an impressive 36 years. 

Find the Money

There is a theme related to money today. Four of the answers will contain a coin, a currency etc but there is one red herring which has nothing to do with the theme and is not related to money.

River Liffey, Dublin.
Image Wikipedia

One

Which pedestrian bridge crossing Dublin’s River Liffey, as shown in the image above, bears a name derived from an old Irish coin?

Two

Can you name a 1965 Western film by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters?

Three

There is continent with a name which might derive from words meaning ‘wide-gazing’ or ‘sunset’. Another theory suggests the name is from a Goddess, who was a Phoenician princess. What is this continent?

Four

A 1996 novel by the British writer Ben Elton shares its name with a variety of corn kernel?

Five

The remarkable achievement of a swimmer, the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, established a record that stood for 36 years. Can you identify the athlete in question?

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Last to First | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.

Space shuttle Atlantis (STS-135) touches down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, completing the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program.
July 21, 2011, Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Image (NASA/Bill Ingalls)/Wikipedia

One

Answer: Atlantis

From the first launch on April 12, 1981 to the final landing on July 21, 2011, NASA’s space shuttle fleet flew 135 missions, helped construct the International Space Station and inspired generations. 
NASA’s space shuttle fleet began setting records with its first launch on April 12, 1981 and continued to set high marks of achievement and endurance through 30 years of missions. Starting with Columbia and continuing with Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, the spacecraft has carried people into orbit repeatedly, launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge research and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station. The final space shuttle mission, STS-135, ended July 21, 2011 when Atlantis rolled to a stop at its home port, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA


Lyndon B. Johnson at the LBJ ranch, 1972.
Image LBJ Library

Two

Answer: Lyndon B. Johnson

On March 31, 1968, President Johnson delivered a national address that made three significant announcements: he had recently ordered substantial reductions in the bombing campaign against North Vietnam, he was requesting peace negotiations, and he would neither seek nor accept his party’s nomination for re-election.


JK Rowling, 2010.
Image Wikipedia

Three

Answer: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter, a fictional boy wizard created by British author J.K. Rowling, is the subject of seven immensely popular novels (1997–2007) and eight films (2001–11). His coming-of-age exploits were further adapted into a play and a book of its script in 2016.


Four

Answer: Vietnam

The Geneva Accords, signed in 1954, divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel, establishing a cease-fire and calling for troop withdrawals. The Accords also stipulated all-Vietnamese elections by 1956 to reunify the country, though the U.S. and South Vietnam withheld approval.


Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
Image Wikipedia

Five

Answer: Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the world’s first female prime minister, served three terms in Sri Lanka. She carried on her assassinated husband’s socialist policies, promoting Buddhism and Sinhalese culture. However, she encountered economic crisis and defeat in 1965. She subsequently returned to serve two more terms as prime minister (1970–77, 1994–2000).

Last to First

Five questions today, each requiring a single answer without multiple choices or additional hints.

A space shuttle lifts off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, beginning the final mission of the Space Shuttle program.
Image NASA.

One

On July 21, 2011, the Space Shuttle program concluded with the landing of a shuttle at NASA’s Cape Canaveral. Which shuttle made this landing, marking the end of the Space Shuttle program?

Two

On this date in 2024, President Joe Biden announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential election. Prior to this announcement, who was the most recent sitting United States president to decline to seek reelection?

Three

What was the title of the final book in the Harry Potter series, released on July 21, 2007?

Four

Today in 1954 the Geneva Accords divided what country along the 17th parallel?

Five

On 21 July 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike made history as the world’s first female prime minister in which country?

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Mrs Bond | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.

Diana Rigg and George Lazenby. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969.
Image Wikipedia

One

Answer: Diana Rigg

Dame Enid Rigg was an English actress known for roles in The Avengers, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and Game of Thrones. She won a Tony Award for her role in Medea and received numerous accolades for her contributions to drama.

All three were Bond Girls with Jill St John appearing as Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever and Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson in Goldfinger.


Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
Image Wikipedia

Two

Answer: Auckland, New Zealand

In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest using the South Col route. The news of their success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.


Claus von Stauffenberg.
Image Wikipedia

Three

Answer: Wolfsschanze (Wolf’s Lair), East Prussia

On 20 July 1944, German resistance members, led by Claus von Stauffenberg, attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime. The assassination attempt failed, and the subsequent coup d’état, codenamed ‘Operation Valkyrie’, was quickly suppressed by the Nazi regime, resulting in the execution of many conspirators including von Stauffenberg.


Václav Havel.
Image Wikipedia

Four

Answer: Czechoslovakia

In 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first free elections in 44 years, resulting in a victory for Civic Forum and Public Against Violence. Despite increasing tensions and the Slovak Declaration of Independence, Václav Havel supported the retention of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic and resigned as president in 1992. When the Czech Republic was created as one of two successor states, Havel successfully stood for election as its first president on 26 January 1993.


Aldrin next to the Passive Seismic Experiment Package with the Lunar Module Eagle in the background. Image Wikipedia

Five

Answer: 21 hours and 36 minutes

On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the Moon’s surface in the Eagle lunar module. During the descent, they encountered programme alarms and navigated through a boulder-strewn area. Armstrong successfully landed Eagle with only 216 pounds of fuel remaining, signalling to Mission Control, ‘Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed’.

After a longer-than-expected preparation period, Armstrong became the first human to step onto the Moon’s surface, famously declaring, ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’.

Armstrong and Aldrin deployed scientific instruments, collected rock samples, and planted a flag on the Moon and left behind memorial items, including a message disk with goodwill statements from world leaders. After a 21 hours and 36 minutes, they safely lifted off in the LM ascent stage to rejoin Michael Collins in lunar orbit.

Mrs Bond

Today, we have another selection of multiple-choice questions.

Image Wikipedia

One

The actress who played Countess Teresa ‘Tracy’ di Vicenzo in the Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) was born 20 July 1938. Who was she?

  • Diana Rigg
  • Jill St. John
  • Shirley Eaton

Two

Edmund Hillary, one of the first two men to reach the summit of Mount Everest, was born 20 July 1919. In what city was he born?

  • Auckland, New Zealand
  • Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
  • Canberra, Australia

Three

Claus von Stauffenberg, a German army officer, is most renowned for his unsuccessful attempt on 20 July 1944, to assassinate Adolf Hitler. At which of Hitler’s headquarters was this attempt executed?

  • Felsennest, (Rocky Eyrie), Bad Münstereifel
  • Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest), above Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria
  • Wolfsschanze (Wolf’s Lair), East Prussia

Four

On 20 July 1992, Václav Havel resigned as president of…

  • Albania
  • Bulgaria
  • Czechoslovakia

Five

On July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin (Buzz) landed on the Moon in the Lunar Module Eagle. How long did they remain on the Moon between the Eagle’s landing and the ascent stage’s departure for their return journey?

  • 21 hours and 36 minutes
  • 24 hours and 3 minutes
  • 32 hours and 28 minutes

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Aye Aye Captain | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.

Film poster for Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (2001).
Image MovieDB

One

Which Louis de Bernières novel begins with the line, “Dr. Iannis had enjoyed a satisfactory day in which none of his patients had died or deteriorated”?

Answer: Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, released simultaneously in the United States as Corelli’s Mandolin, is a 1994 novel by the British writer Louis de Bernières, set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Italian and German occupation of the Second World War. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 19 on the BBC’s survey The Big Read. It has been adapted for radio, t#heatre and film, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (2001)


The Camels are Coming was the first in the series of Biggles stories by Captain W.E. Johns.
Image Wikipedia

Two

Who wrote the Biggles series of novels?

Answer: Captain W.E. Johns

Biggles, a fictional pilot and adventurer, is the hero of the Biggles series of adventure books written by W.E. Johns. The series, which includes nearly a hundred volumes, began in 1932 and continued until Johns’ death in 1968.


Captain Underpants.
Image Hero.wikia.com

Three

Created by US author Dav Pilkey, which superhero is the alter ego of elementary school principal Mr Krupp?

Answer: Captain Underpants

Captain Underpants is a children’s novel series about two fourth graders, George and Harold, who accidentally bring their comic book superhero to life.


Last expedition of Robert Falcon Scott.
The image shows Wilson, Scott and Oates (standing); and Bowers and Evans (sitting).
Image Wikipedia

Four

Who led the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica in June 1910?

Answer: Captain Robert F. Scott

The Terra Nova Expedition, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, aimed to continue scientific research and reach the South Pole. Scott and four companions reached the pole in 1912, only to find they had been beaten by a Norwegian team. All five of the party died on their return journey from the Pole.


Puppets by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson for Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet at the National Media Museum, Bradford, England.
Image Wikipedia

Five

Which 1960s sci-fi TV series featured the international security organisation, Spectrum?

Answer: Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. It was the sixth Anderson series to use Supermarionation puppetry and scale model special effects.

Aye Aye Captain

Today’s answers are all captains.

Captain Haddock.
Image Tintin.com

One

Which Louis de Bernières novel begins with this line

Dr. Iannis had enjoyed a satisfactory day in which none of his patients had died or deteriorated.

Two

Who wrote the Biggles series of novels?

Three

Created by US author Dav Pilkey, which superhero is the alter ego of elementary school principal Mr Krupp?

Four

Who led the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica (1910-1913?

Five

Which 1960s sci-fi TV series featured the international security organisation, Spectrum?

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.