Quizology.Online

Tag: food and drink

  • S is for… — Answers

    Today’s answers are shown below.

    Kurt Vonnegut, 1965.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    The first question relates to today’s date, April 11th, and the answer begins with the letter ‘S’. The remaining questions are not date-related but follow the ‘S’ theme.

    One

    Kurt Vonnegut, who passed away at the age of 84 on this day in 2007, published a novel in 1969. It follows the life and psychological traumas of Billy Pilgrim. What ‘S’ is the title of this novel?

    Answer: Slaughterhouse-Five.

    Slaughterhouse-Five is a 1969 anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows Billy Pilgrim, a soldier who experiences time travel and psychological trauma after surviving the Allied firebombing of Dresden whilst he was being held as a prisoner of war, like Vonnegut himself.

    Two

    What ‘S’ is an acoustic sensing method first used by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century but more associated with the Cold War?

    Answer: Sonar.

    Sonar, a technique using sound propagation, is employed for navigation, distance measurement, communication, and object detection underwater. It can operate passively by listening for sounds or actively by emitting sound pulses and listening for echoes. Initially used by Leonardo da Vinci in 1490, who employed a tube inserted into the water to detect vessels by ear, sonar was further developed during WWI with a passive sonar system to counter submarines developed by 1918. Modern active sonar utilises acoustic transducers to detect objects.

    Three

    What ’S’ can this description apply to?

    • A republic with two heads of state
    • Official language: Italian
    • Currency: Euro

    Answer: San Marino.

    San Marino, a landlocked country in Southern Europe. It claims to be the oldest sovereign state and constitutional republic, being founded in AD 301. It has a unique political structure with two heads of state, the Captains Regent, elected every six months. San Marino is a member of the Council of Europe, uses the euro, and has a strong economy based on finance, industry, services, retail and tourism.

    Four

    What ‘S’ was the traditional garment worn by Roman women and the equivalent of the toga worn by men?

    Answer: Stola.

    The stola was the traditional garment of Roman women, akin to the men’s toga, and was also referred to as vestis longa due to its length. A well-known depiction of the stola is on the Statue of Liberty in New York City, which represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of liberty. Libertas, known to the ancient Greeks as Eleutheria, is portrayed wearing the stola, a crown, and sandals.

    Five

    What ‘S’ connects the Moby-Dick to coffee (at least to 88.889%)?

    Answer: Starbuck(s).

    Starbuck, the young chief mate, is a thoughtful Quaker who opposes Ahab’s quest for revenge against Moby Dick, believing it to be madness and blasphemous. Despite his objections and desire to return home, he feels bound to obey Ahab.

    Moby-Dick didn’t have anything to do with Starbucks directly; it was only coincidental that the sound seemed to make sense.

    — Gordon Bowker, co-founder of Starbucks

  • S is for…

    Kurt Vonnegut, 1965.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    The first question relates to today’s date, April 11th, and the answer begins with the letter ‘S’. The remaining questions are not date-related but follow the ‘S’ theme.

    One

    Kurt Vonnegut, who passed away at the age of 84 on this day in 2007, published a novel in 1969 which follows the life and psychological traumas of Billy Pilgrim. What is the title of this novel?

    Two

    What ‘S’ is an acoustic sensing method first used by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century but more associated with the Cold War?

    Three

    What ’S’ can this description apply to?

    • A republic with two heads of state
    • Official language: Italian
    • Currency: Euro

    Four

    What ‘S’ was the traditional garment worn by Roman women and the equivalent of the toga worn by men?

    Five

    What ‘S’ connects the Moby-Dick to coffee (at least to 88.889%)?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • From Alfa to Echo — Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier questions.

    Five questions with the answers beginning with the letters from A to E, with each letter being used only once, but they are not in alphabetical order.

    See question two. Death in the Afternoon.
    Image A Couple Cooks

    One

    Who wrote, produced, and directed Moulin Rouge (2001) and Australia (2008)? 

    Answers: Baz Luhrman.

    Baz Luhrmann is an Australian film director, producer, writer, and actor known for his Red Curtain Trilogy and other films like Australia, The Great Gatsby, and Elvis. He is also involved in opera, theatre, music, and the recording industries, with Grammy-nominated soundtracks and his own record label.

    Two

    An absinthe-Champagne cocktail was invented by an author and shares its name with his 1932 non-fiction book about a sport in a southern European nation. Who is the author, and what is the book and cocktail’s shared name? 

    Answers: Ernest Hemingway; Death in the Afternoon.

    Death in the Afternoon, a 1932 non-fiction book by Ernest Hemingway, explores Spanish bullfighting, fear, and courage. Its namesake, a cocktail invented by Hemingway, is made with absinthe and Champagne. The drink, known for its decadence and high strength, can be made with absinthe alternatives like Absente or Pernod.

    Three

    Which chemical element derives its name from the Latin for ‘coal’?

    Answer: Carbon.

    Carbon, symbol C and atomic number 6, a non-metal which has two main forms, diamond and graphite, and which also occurs in impure form in charcoal, soot and coal. It is the 15th most abundant element in Earth’s crust and the fourth most abundant in the universe.

    Four

    Which small dog breed, which is not a terrier, is sometimes known as the monkey terrier?

    Answer: Affenpinscher.

    The Affenpinscher, a German toy dog breed, originated as a ratter and is now a popular companion worldwide. The breed, whose name is sometimes translated from German as ‘Monkey Terrier’, is believed to be ancestral to the Griffon Bruxellois and Miniature Schnauzer.

    Five

    The Malawian city of Blantyre was named after the Scottish birthplace of which missionary and explorer (1813-73)?

    Answer: David Livingstone

    Blantyre, Malawi’s second-largest city and commercial centre, was founded in 1876 by the Church of Scotland. It grew rapidly due to its role in colonial trade and became a major manufacturing centre. The city’s development was influenced by various factors, including commerce, industry, and administration, and it was merged with Limbe in 1956.

  • From Alfa to Echo

    Five questions with the answers beginning with the letters from A to E, with each letter being used only once, but they are not in alphabetical order.

    See question two.
    Image A Couple Cooks

    One

    Who wrote, produced, and directed Moulin Rouge (2001) and Australia (2008)? 

    Two

    An absinthe-Champagne cocktail was invented by an author and shares its name with his 1932 non-fiction book about a sport in a southern European nation. Who is the author, and what is the book and cocktail’s shared name? 

    Three

    Which chemical element derives its name from the Latin for ‘coal’?

    Four

    Which small dog breed, which is not a terrier, is sometimes known as the monkey terrier?

    Five

    The Malawian city of Blantyre was named after the Scottish birthplace of which missionary and explorer (1813-73)?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Luna Links

    Some more random trivia for your enjoyment.

    Apollo Landing Sites.
    Image NASA.

    One

    What creature is missing from the title of this Nathaniel West novel: The Day of the ——?

    Two

    Also, the oldest, who was the fifth Apollo astronaut to walk on the Moon?

    Three

    200 million years ago all land on Earth was in one landmass, what name do scientists give to this super-continent?

    Four

    Who played Simon Templar in a 1997 film and what was the film?

    Five

    In Judaism hat is the only insect which is considered kosher?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • The Wind in the Wires Made a Tattle-tale Sound—Answers

    Five random questions for you to ponder today. 

    Edmund Fitzgerald.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    One

    On which of the Great Lakes did the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sink with the loss of her entire crew in 1975?

    1. Lake Michigan
    2. Lake Ontario
    3. Lake Superior

    Answer: 3. Lake Superior.

    The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest ship on the Great Lakes, sank during a storm on November 10, 1975, with all 29 crew members lost. The cause of the sinking remains unknown, though it is believed to have been due to a combination of factors such as structural failure and high waves. The disaster led to changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations and practices. The Edmund Fitzgerald disaster, immortalised in Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad, led to significant changes in Great Lakes shipping regulations, including mandatory survival suits and increased inspections.

    Two

    This Eurasian woodland plant, Allium uranium, with broad shiny leaves and round heads of flowers, producing a strong aroma of garlic is also called wild garlic. What is it?

    1. Larsons
    2. Ramsons
    3. Tamsons 

    Answer: 2. Ramsoms.

    Allium ursinum, or wild garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant native to Eurasia. It is a wild relative of onion and garlic. It has several names including ramsons; it is also known as buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, cowleekes, cows’s leek, cowleek, wood garlic, Eurasian wild garlic, onion grass, bear leek and bear’s garlic. 

    Three

    What letter(s) is the symbol which represents the element tungsten?

    1. T
    2. Gs
    3. W

    Answer: 3. W.

    Tungsten, also known as wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally in compounds and was first isolated as a metal in 1783.

    Four

    Who, on a sixties album, released a version of the Christmas carol Silent Night with a simulated 7 O’clock News, which featured real events from the preceding summer, being read over it? 

    1. Crosby, Stills and Nash
    2. Joni Mitchell
    3. Simon & Garfunkel

    Answer: 3. Simon & Garfunkel.

    7 O’Clock News/Silent Night by Simon & Garfunkel is a sound collage from their 1966 album, combining Silent Nightwith a simulated news bulletin. A sound collage juxtaposes Silent Night with a news report, highlighting social issues like civil rights, Lenny Bruce’s death, and the Vietnam War. The track’s mix emphasises the contrast between the news and the Christmas song.

    Five

    In which Scottish body of water was the German High Seas Fleet scuttled in June 1919?

    1. Loch Ness
    2. Scapa Flow
    3. Firth of Lorn

    Andwer: 2. Scapa Flow.

    Scapa Flow is a strait in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. It was an important British naval base, especially in the First World War. The German High Seas Fleet was interned there after its surrender, and was scuttled in 1919 as an act of defiance against the terms of the Versailles peace settlement.

    The Wind in the Wires Made a Tattle-tale Sound — Post Title

    The post title is a line from The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot. Full lyrics below from AZ Lyrics.

    The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

    By Gordon Lightfoot.

    The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
    Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
    The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
    When the skies of November turn gloomy
    With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
    Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
    [Former version:] That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
    [Latter version:] That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
    When the gales of November came early 

    The ship was the pride of the American side
    Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
    As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
    With a crew and good captain well seasoned
    Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
    When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
    Then later that night when the ship’s bell rang
    Could it be the north wind they’d been feelin’? 

    The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
    When the wave broke over the railing
    And every man knew, as the captain did too
    ‘Twas the witch of November come stealin’
    The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
    When the gales of November came slashin’
    When afternoon came it was freezing rain
    In the face of a hurricane west wind 

    When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck
    Saying, “Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya.”
    [Former version:] At seven PM a main hatchway caved in
    [Latter version:] At seven PM it grew dark, it was then
    He said, “Fellas, it’s been good to know ya.”
    The captain wired in he had water comin’ in
    And the good ship and crew was in peril
    And later that night when his lights went out of sight
    Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald 

    Does anyone know where the love of God goes
    When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
    The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
    If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her
    They might have split up or they might have capsized
    They may have broke deep and took water
    And all that remains is the faces and the names
    Of the wives and the sons and the daughters 

    Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
    In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
    Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams
    The islands and bays are for sportsmen
    And farther below, Lake Ontario
    Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
    And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
    With the gales of November remembered 

    [Former version:] In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
    [Latter version:] In a rustic old hall in Detroit they prayed
    In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral
    The church bell chimed ’til it rang twenty-nine times
    For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald
    The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
    Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
    Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
    When the gales of November come early.
    AZ Lyrics.

  • The Wind in the Wires Made a Tattle-tale Sound

    Five random questions for you to ponder today. 

    Edmund Fitzgerald.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    One

    On which of the Great Lakes did the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sink with the loss of her entire crew in 1975?

    1. Lake Michigan
    2. Lake Ontario
    3. Lake Superior

    Two

    This Eurasian woodland plant, Allium uranium, with broad shiny leaves and round heads of flowers, producing a strong aroma of garlic is also called wild garlic. What is it?

    1. Larsons
    2. Ramsons
    3. Tamsons 

    Three

    What letter(s) is the symbol which represents the element tungsten?

    1. T
    2. Gs
    3. W

    Four

    Who, on a sixties album, released a version of the Christmas carol Silent Night with a simulated 7 O’clock News, which featured events from the preceding summer, being read over it? 

    1. Crosby, Stills and Nash
    2. Joni Mitchell
    3. Simon & Garfunkel

    Five

    In which Scottish body of water was the German High Seas Fleet scuttled in June 1919?

    1. Loch Ness
    2. Scapa Flow
    3. Firth of Lorn

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • A Pear-fect Fit—Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier questions.

    Today we have a mixed orchard supplying a variety of questions.

     

    Pear tree.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    One

    What is the alcoholic drink that is made from the fermented juice of pears?

    Answer: Perry.

    noun (plural perries) [mass noun] an alcoholic drink made from the fermented juice of pears. 
    origin Middle English: from Old French pere, from an alteration of Latin pirum ‘pear’.
    — Oxford English Dictionary 

    Two

    Which Avril Lavigne album cover features her with a red ‘X’ on her sleeve?

    Answer: Under My Skin.

    Avril Lavigne’s second studio album, Under My Skin, was released in 2004 and debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart and US Billboard 200. The album, produced by Raine Maida, Don Gilmore and Butch Walker, received mixed to positive reviews and is considered a classic that defined pop-punk in the early 2000s.

    Three

    —— was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, ‘and what is the use of a book’, thought —— ‘without pictures or conversation?’

    What name is missing twice from, and what book opens with, the above quote?

    Answers: Alice; Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

    Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a children’s novel by Lewis Carroll, follows a girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world. The novel, known for its literary nonsense genre, has had a lasting influence on popular culture and literature.

    Four

    List all the countries and their capital cities where that city stands on the River Danube.

    Answers: Vienna, Austria; Bratislava, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary and Belgrade, Serbia.

    The Danube, Europe’s second-longest river, flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, connecting ten countries and serving as a vital trade route. Flowing from the Black Forest to the Black Sea, it is navigable for 2,415 km and supports various fish species, including carp and sturgeon.

    Five

    How many playing squares does a Scrabble board have?

    Answer: 225.

    Alfred Mosher Butts invented Scrabble in 1931. It is a word game played on a 15×15 grid of 225 squares. It is produced by Hasbro in the US and Canada—Mattel elsewhere—with 150 million sets sold worldwide.

  • A Pear-fect Fit

    Today we have a mixed orchard supplying a variety of questions.

     

    Pear tree.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    One

    What is the alcoholic drink that is made from the fermented juice of pears?

    Two

    Which Avril Lavigne album cover features her with a red ‘X’ on her sleeve?

    Three

    —— was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, ‘and what is the use of a book’, thought —— ‘without pictures or conversation?’

    What name is missing twice from, and what book opens with, the above quote?

    Four

    List all the countries and their capital cities where that city stands on the River Danube.

    Five

    How many playing squares does a Scrabble board have?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Gallimaufry VII—Answers

    Today we have a mixed bag of trivia with no theme.

    Tom kha kai soup.
    Image Pinterest

    One

    Tom kha kai is a Thai soup made with which milk?

    Answer: Coconut

    Tom kha, a Thai soup originating around 1890, evolved from tom kha pet (duck and galangal) to tom kha kai (chicken) and tom kha kung (shrimp). It is distinguished from tom yam by its coconut milk base.

    Two

    In which country is Punta Gallinas, the northernmost part of mainland South America?

    Answer: Colombia

    Punta Gallinas, also known as Cape Gallinas or Cape Hens, is a northern Colombian headland in the Caribbean Sea.  Situated in Uribia Municipality within La Guajira Department, it marks the northernmost point on South America’s mainland and is one of the continent’s extreme points.

    Three

    Caspian, Indian, and monocled are species of which snake?

    Answer: Cobra

    The Caspian cobra, a highly venomous snake endemic to Central Asia, and the monocled cobra, found in South and Southeast Asia, are both known for their potent venom and are responsible for numerous snakebite incidents. The Indian cobra, native to the Indian subcontinent, is one of the ‘big four’ species responsible for the most snakebite cases in Sri Lanka and India.

    Four

    In what game was a character renamed in 2023 as Boden ‘Boddy’ Black Jr?

    Answer: Cluedo/Clue.

    In the 2023 update of Cluedo/Clue, Boden “Boddy” Black Jr. finally aligns the British Dr. Black with the American Mr. Boddy.

    Five

    Where in Ireland is the cultural region of Connemara?

    Answer: County Galway.

    Connemara, a region in western County Galway, Ireland, is renowned for its traditional Irish culture. It’s Ireland’s largest Gaeltacht, a district where Irish is the predominant language, and boasts mountains, peninsulas, coves, islands and small lakes. Clifden serves as its largest settlement.