Tag: geography

  • Bunkered—Answers

    Bunker on the Old Course, St Andrews.
    Image Lee Abbamonte

    One

    — Answer: False

    The word bunker originates from the Scots language.

    OED’s earliest evidence for bunker is from before 1758, in the writing of Allan Ramsay, poet.

    Bunker

    1 a large container or compartment for storing fuel: a coal bunker. 

    2 a reinforced underground shelter, typically for use in wartime. 

    3 a hollow filled with sand, used as an obstacle on a golf course.

    – ORIGIN mid 16th century (originally Scots, denoting a seat or bench): perhaps related to bunk1.

    — Oxford English Dictionary 


    Brooklyn Bridge.
    Chromolithograph of the “Great East River Suspension Bridge” by Currier and Ives, created in 1883. Image Wikipedia

    Two

    — Answer: False

    The New York City government rented out vaults under the Manhattan anchorage of the bridge starting in 1876 to fund maintenance. These vaults, used for wine storage due to their consistent temperature, were closed during WWI and Prohibition but reopened later. By the late 20th-century the spaces were being used as storage for maintenance equipment.


    This 3D topographical view of Antarctica gives an idea of its high elevations and mountains with ice that covers them. A topographical map shows the elevation and other features of a land surface in greater detail. Credit: NASA

    Three

    — Answer: True

    The South Pole is always colder

    North Pole

    32° F (0° C) summer

    −40° F (−40° C) winter

    South Pole

    −18° F (−28.2° C) summer

    −76° F (−60° C) winter

    Data from NASA

    The North Pole is located in the Arctic Ocean, which is mostly covered in sea ice due to its cold climate. This sea ice floats over water, affecting its thickness as the ocean warms the air and the water below the ice changes temperature. In contrast, Antarctica is a dry, high continent with extremely thick ice, up to 3 miles (5 kilometres), forming a plateau above sea level. The ice sits on tall mountains, and as altitude increases, the air becomes colder. The South Pole is significantly colder than the North Pole due to strong winds surrounding Antarctica, which prevent warmer air from mixing with the cold polar air. These winds are unimpeded by land, unlike around the Arctic, where land slows down the winds, allowing warmer air from the south to occasionally mix with the polar air, making the Arctic relatively warmer.


    Four

    Millvina Dean Memorial Stone, Southampton, UK.
    Image Wikipedia

    — Answer: True

    Millvina Dean, the last living survivor of the Titanic, was born in 1912 and boarded the ship as a nine-week-old infant with her family. After the Titanic sank, her mother returned to England with Millvina and her brother, as their father perished. Millvina became involved in Titanic-related events in her later years, but declined to see the film Titanic and criticised the BBC for a Doctor Who episode featuring a similar ship.


    Five 

    — Answer: True

    Margarine, created in 1869 as a cost-effective substitute for butter, encountered significant resistance from the American dairy industry. Although it was favoured by the lower classes, margarine was taxed and prohibited in various states, with critics arguing it endangered the American lifestyle. By 1902, 32 states imposed restrictions on margarine’s colour, with Vermont, New Hampshire, and South Dakota requiring pink dye. The Supreme Court eventually invalidated the ‘pink laws’ but maintained the ban on yellow margarine.

  • Bunkered

    We have five random true or false questions today.

    One

    Golf courses traditionally include hazards like bunkers (sand traps). Is it true or false that the word ‘bunker’ originates from the Flemish dialect of Dutch?

    Two

    Is it true or false that vaults constructed within the ramps of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge were used as arsenals storing weapons for the National Guard?

    Three

    The South Pole is significantly colder than the North Pole during both summer and winter, as shown in a comparison of their average temperatures. Is the foregoing statement true or false?

    Four

    Is it true or false that the last survivor of the RMS Titanic died in 2009?

    Five 

    The US State of New Hampshire had a law which required margarine to be dyed pink. Is this statement true or false?

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • Q | Answers

    Quagga (Equus quagga quagga), 1870. Now extinct.
    Image Encyclopædia Britannica

    One

    A quagga died in Amsterdam Zoo on 12 August 1883. Native to South Africa, the quagga was a type of…

    Answer: Zebra

    The quagga, a subspecies of plains zebra, was native to South Africa, where it was found in vast herds on the great plains, but is now extinct. It had a reddish-brown body with dark stripes and a white underside.


    Two

    What ‘Q’ links the novelist Herman Melville with Special Agent Dana Scully?

    Answer: Queequeg

    Queequeg, a Polynesian royal with facial tattoos, befriends Ishmael in Moby-Dick and becomes a harpooner on the Pequod. In The X-Files Scully names her dog Queequeg after the Moby-Dick character and used the name as her email handle and home alarm password.


    Three

    In which fictional series does Max Quordlepleen, a comedian and host, appear hosting a show at Milliways?

    Answer: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

    ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he said, ‘the Universe as we know it has been in existence for over one hundred and seventy thousand million billion years and will be ending in a little over half an hour. So, welcome to Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe!’

    With a gesture he deftly conjured another round of spontaneous applause. With another gesture he cut it.
    “I am your host for tonight,” he said, “my name is Max Quordlepleen.”
    — The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Pan Books).


    Four

    What ‘Q’ is a capital city which sits on the equator and is officially known as San Francisco de …

    Answer: Quito

    Officially known as San Francisco de Quito, the capital of Ecuador, is the highest national capital city in the world. It is the political and cultural centre of Ecuador, with a rich history dating back to its incorporation into the Inca Empire in the late 15th century.


    Five 

    Quirinus Quirrell is a character in the works of which novelist?

    Answer: J.K. Rowling

    In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter stories, Quirinus Quirrell, Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, is possessed by Voldemort during Harry’s first year at Hogwarts. Harry defeats Quirrell, allowing Dumbledore to arrive and Voldemort to flee, resulting in Quirrell’s death.

    Professor Quirinus Quirrell.
    Image Pinterest

  • Q

    The first question relates to today’s date, August 12th, and contains a word beginning with a ‘Q’. The rest of the questions follow a ‘Q’ theme, either with a ‘Q’ in the question or answer.

    One

    A quagga died in Amsterdam Zoo on 12 August 1883. Native to South Africa, the quagga was a type of…

    Two

    What ‘Q’ links the novelist Herman Melville with Special Agent Dana Scully?

    Three

    In which fictional series does Max Quordlepleen, a comedian, appear hosting a show at Milliways?

    Four

    What ‘Q’ is a capital city which sits on the equator and is officially known as San Francisco de …

    Five 

    Quirinus Quirrell is a character in the works of which novelist?

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • Fly Me to the Moon | Answers

    Jim Lovell, Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13.
    (March 25, 1928—August 7, 2025).
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    Answer: Apollo 8

    Apollo 8, launched on 21 December 1968, became the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. During its mission, the crew orbited the Moon ten times, conducting various tasks such as photography and navigation, while also transmitting telecasts worldwide. The spacecraft safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 27 December, 147 hours after launch.
    This question was prompted by the death of Jim Lovell, aged 97, on 7 August 2025. He flew to the Moon and back twice but never landed.


    Two

    Answer: Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie

    Jean Van de Velde, ranked 152nd, nearly won the 1999 Open Championship but famously collapsed on the 18th hole. His triple-bogey seven led to a playoff, which he lost to Paul Lawrie.


    Three

    Encyclopædia Britannica

    Answer: Christianity

    Nietzsche’s quote suggests that he viewed both Christianity and alcohol as ‘narcotics’, substances or influences that dull the senses and provide an escape from reality.


    Four

    Answer: Alberta

    Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the wife of John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, who served as Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. The name was originally given to the District of Alberta in 1882. The Princess also gave her name to Mount Alberta and Lake Louise.


    Five 

    What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

    — Wilfred Owen

    Answer: Anthem for Doomed Youth

    Wilfred Owen’s poem Anthem for Doomed Youth, written in 1917, vividly captures the horrors of war. Enlisting in the British army in 1915, Owen was sent to France with the Lancashire Fusiliers to fight in the trenches during World War I. In 1917, during his first six months of battle, his troop was gassed and forced to sleep in an open field of snow. One incident involved Owen spending several days huddled in a foxhole near the body of a fallen soldier. These experiences profoundly impacted Owen as a poet, leading to rapid maturity. The poems written after January 1917 are characterised by anger at war’s brutality, and pity for those who ‘die as cattle’.


    Anthem for Doomed Youth

    BY WILFRED OWEN

    What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

          — Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

          Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle

    Can patter out their hasty orisons.

    No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; 

          Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—

    The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

          And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

    What candles may be held to speed them all?

          Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

    Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

          The pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall;

    Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

    And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

    — Wilfred Owen

    Poetry Foundation

  • Fly Me to the Moon

    Earthrise.
    Image NASA

    One

    In 1968, what became the first crewed spacecraft to reach the Moon, orbit it and return?

    Two

    The 1999 Open Championship was decided in a play-off between Jean Van de Velde and which two other players?

    Three

    The two great European narcotics, alcohol and…

    — Friedrich Nietzsche: Twilight of the Idols

    What word is missing from the end of the above quote?

    Four

    Which Canadian province is named after the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, born 1848?

    Five 

    What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

    — Wilfred Owen

    The above quote is the opening line of which poem?

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • We Have All the Time in the World | Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown below.

    One

    Answer: Republic of Upper Volta

    This landlocked West African country, which had been a French colony, gained full independence in 1960 and changed its name to Burkina Faso on this day in 1984.


    Two

    Answer: Amsterdam

    Diarist Anne Frank (Annelies Marie Frank), a German-born Jewish girl, documented her life in hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands in a diary. After being arrested by the Gestapo and transported to concentration camps, Anne and her sister Margot died in Bergen-Belsen, likely from typhus. Her diary, published posthumously by her father Otto, became a global bestseller and a powerful testament to the Holocaust. The warehouse, offices and secret annex are now a museum, Anne Frank House.


    Three

    Answer: Billy Bob Thornton

    Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, filmmaker, singer, and songwriter. He gained international attention for his work in Sling Blade and has since appeared in numerous films and television series, winning several awards including an Academy Award and Golden Globes. Thornton is also a musician, having released four solo albums and performing with the Boxmasters.


    Four

    Answer: Elizabeth and Her Majesty the Queen

    Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, born on 4 August 1900, reigned as Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952, as the wife of King George VI.  She held the title of Empress of India from 1936 until the dissolution of the British Raj on 15 August 1947. Following her husband’s passing, she was officially known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to distinguish her from her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.


    Five

    a prolifically gifted natural musician and the leading trumpeter in jazz history

    Answer: Louis Armstrong

    Louis Armstrong, a highly influential American jazz trumpeter and vocalist, was born in New Orleans and rose to prominence in the 1920s. He shifted jazz’s focus from collective improvisation to solo performance and became an international icon by the 1950s. We Have All the Time in the World” was featured on the soundtrack of the James Bondfilm _On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

  • We Have All the Time in the World

    These are all linked by today’s date, August 4th.

    One

    Burkina Faso, an African country, changed to that name on August 4, 1984. What was its name prior to that?

    Two

    On this day in 1944, following a tip from an informer the Gestapo search a warehouse and find and arrest Jewish diarist Anne Frank, her family, and four others. In what city was the warehouse located?

    Three

    An actor born today in 1955, played Dan Truman, a NASA executive, in Armageddon (1998) and Davy Crockett in The Alamo (2004). Who is he?

    Four

    The last Empress of India was born 4 August 1900 in England. What was her name, and her primary title between December 1936 and February 1952?

    Five

    A man described by Encyclopædia Britannica as…

    a prolifically gifted natural musician and the leading trumpeter in jazz history

    …was born 4 August 1901. Almost seven decades later he sang We Have All the Time in the World in a Bond film. Who was he?

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • All at Sea | Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown below.

    One

    The Alboran Sea is the westernmost part of what larger sea?

    Answer: Mediterranean Sea

    The Alboran Sea, the westernmost part of the Mediterranean, stretches between Spain and North Africa, connecting to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar.


    Two

    The Diomede Islands are located in what strait between Alaska, the United States, and Siberia, Russia?

    Answer: Bering Strait

    The Diomede Islands, located in the Bering Strait, are the northernmost islands in the Pacific Ocean. The two islands are only 2.4 miles (3.8 km) apart but due to the International Date Line, Big Diomede (Russia) is 21 hours ahead of Little Diomede (US), earning them the nicknames ‘Tomorrow Island’ and ‘Yesterday Island’.


    Three

    Te Moana-o-Raukawa separates North and South Islands in New Zealand. By what English name is it known?

    Answer: Cook Strait

    Cook Strait, separating New Zealand’s North and South Islands, connects the Tasman Sea and South Pacific Ocean. Regular ferry services operate between Picton and Wellington across what has been described as “one of the most dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world”.


    Four

    Greenland and Iceland are separated by what strait?

    Answer: Denmark Strait

    The Denmark Strait connects the Greenland Sea, an extension of the Arctic Ocean, to the Irminger Sea, a part of the Atlantic Ocean.


    Five

    This tidal strait or estuary separates Brooklyn and Queens (on Long Island) from Manhattan Island, and The Bronx (on the North American mainland). What is it called?

    Answer: East River

    The East River, despite its name it’s not a river but a saltwater tidal estuary or strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end separating Brooklyn and Queens (on Long Island) from Manhattan Island, and The Bronx (on North American mainland).

  • All at Sea

    One

    The Alboran Sea is the westernmost part of what larger sea?

    Two

    The Diomede Islands are located in what strait between Alaska, the United States, and Siberia, Russia?

    Three

    Te Moana-o-Raukawa separates North and South Islands in New Zealand. By what English name is it known?

    Four

    Greenland and Iceland are separated by what strait?

    Five

    This tidal strait or estuary separates Brooklyn and Queens (on Long Island) from Manhattan Island, and The Bronx (on the North American mainland). What is it called?

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.