Continuing the recent trend, today’s first question is connected to today’s date, 9 June. The remainder of the questions are not date-related but follow on a theme begun in question one.
One
In 1781, an English engineer who Encyclopædia Britannica describes as ‘the principal inventor of the railroad locomotive’ was born. Who is he, and which of his locomotives inaugurated public rail travel in September 1828?
Two
Tea bags were reportedly invented by accident. Modern tea bags are made from paper but what material were the early ones made from?
Three
(Note, in this question, the word ‘houghing’ is an obsolete form of ‘hoeing’ as done with a horse-drawn hoe (hough)).
What name links the book The New Horse Houghing Husbandry: Or an Essay on the Principles of Tillage and Vegetation, which was published in 1731, with the 1978 album Heavy Horses?
Four
Adolphe Sax, best known for inventing the saxophone, was born in which present-day country, and in what decade did he patent the saxophone?
Five
What are the ‘Four Great Inventions’ traditionally attributed to ancient China?
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.
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%)?
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.
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)?
On which of the Great Lakes did the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sink with the loss of her entire crew in 1975?
Lake Michigan
Lake Ontario
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?
Larsons
Ramsons
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?
T
Gs
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?
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Joni Mitchell
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?
Loch Ness
Scapa Flow
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.
On which of the Great Lakes did the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sink with the loss of her entire crew in 1975?
Lake Michigan
Lake Ontario
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?
Larsons
Ramsons
Tamsons
Three
What letter(s) is the symbol which represents the element tungsten?
T
Gs
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?
Crosby, Stills and Nash
Joni Mitchell
Simon & Garfunkel
Five
In which Scottish body of water was the German High Seas Fleet scuttled in June 1919?
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.
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?
