Quizology.Online

Tag: literature

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part V

    Some trivia related to the letters V to Z.

    1. V) In which state is Naulakha, the home built for Rudyard Kipling in 1892-93?
      • Veracruz, Mexico
      • Vermont, US
      • Virginia, US
    2. (W) What are Caol Ila, Laphroaig and Rosebank?
      • Water (spring water )—
      • Wine
      • Whisky
    3. (X) Which of these words is omitted from this poem’s opening lines?
      • Xagacía
      • Xai-xai
      • Xanadu

        In ___ did Kubla Khan
        A stately pleasure-dome decree:
        Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
        Through caverns measureless to man
        Down to a sunless sea.

    4. (Y) Which former Soviet republic capital is located on the Hrazdan River?
      • Yaounde
      • Yaren
      • Yerevan
    5. (Z) What activity consisting of rolling downhill inside an orb, typically made of transparent plastic, pictured, is taking place here?
      • Zooming
      • Zorbing
      • Zowing

    Zorbing Wikipedia

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part IV | Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier post.

    Portrait of Samuel Pepys by John Hayls. Wikipedia
    See #3.

    1. Q) Question mark—The question mark, used to indicate questions in many languages, has a history dating back to the 5th century. Its modern form, a curved mark, emerged in the 13th century and was standardised in the 15th century. The term “question mark” was first used in the 1850s.
      Rebecca book cover. Wikipedia
    2. (R) Rebecca—Rebecca is a 1938 Gothic novel by Daphne du Maurier about a young woman who marries a wealthy widower haunted by his late first wife. The novel, a bestseller, has been adapted for stage, screen and as a musical.
    3. (S) Samuel Peyps—Eleanor Gwyn, also known as Nell Gwyn, was an English actress and mistress of King Charles II, celebrated for her comic performances and as a folk heroine of Restoration England. She had two sons with the King, Charles and James Beauclerk. Known for her frank recklessness, generosity and good temper, Nell rose from humble beginnings as an orange-girl to become a leading comedienne in the King’s Company, performing in plays by John Dryden and James Howard. After becoming Charles II’s mistress in 1669, she retired from the stage, lived extravagantly, entertained the king and his friends and secured titles for her sons.
      Inland Taipan aka Fierce snake. Wikipedia
    4. (T) Taipan—Taipans are large, fast-moving, highly venomous snakes endemic to Australia and New Guinea. There are three recognised species, with the coastal taipan having two subspecies. Taipan refers to foreign-born senior business executives or entrepreneurs operating in China or Hong Kong. The term also refers to influential business families in the Philippines. Tai-Pan, a 1966 novel by James Clavell, is the second book in his Asian Saga and introduces the Struan family.
    5. (U) Uranus—Gustav Holst’s The Planets is a seven-movement orchestral suite depicting the planets as astrological symbols. The suite premiered in 1918 and quickly became popular.
    Uranus on 1986-01-23 formula NASA’s Voyager 2 probe. Wikipedia

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part IV

    Nell Gwyn. Wikipedia

    Some trivia related to the letters Q to U

    1. (Q) An eroteme is a …
      • Quartz crystal
      • Question mark—
      • Quetiapine medication
    2. (R) “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again”, is the opening line of what novel?
      • Rebecca
      • Rowena
      • Roxanne
    3. (S) Which contemporary of Charles II’s mistress, Nell Gwyn, described her as “pretty, witty Nell”?
      • Samuel Johnson
      • Samuel Pepys
      • Samuel Richardson
    4. (T) One word links snakes of the genus Oxyuranus; a foreign-born senior business executive in China or Hong Kong and a novel by James Clavell. What word?
      • Taipan
      • Titanoboa
      • Trinket
    5. (U) In Gustav Holst’s suite what is “the Magician”?
      • Uluru
      • United States
      • Uranus

    Good luck. I will post the answers later today.

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part III | Answers

    Flag of Kazakhstan. Wikipedia
    1. (K) Kazakhstan—The flag of Kazakhstan was adopted on 4 June 1992, replacing the Soviet-era flag. The flag was designed by Shaken Niyazbekov.
    2. (L) Lake Huron—Manitoulin Island, the largest lake island in the world, is located in Lake Huron, Ontario. With an area of 2,766 sq km, it contains over 100 lakes, including Lake Manitou, Lake Kagawong and Lake Mindemoya.
      Lady Macbeth, Sleepwalking scene, Macbeth. Wikipedia
    3. (M) Macbeth—In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth sleepwalks, rubbing her hands and recalling the deaths of King Duncan, Lady Macduff and Banquo. The Doctor, observing her guilt-ridden state, believes she needs divine help rather than medical treatment.
    4. (N) Naughtiest—Enid Blyton’s Naughtiest Girl series, set at a progressive boarding school, was written in the 1940s and 1950s. Anne Digby later added to the series.
      Poster for Hyde Park of Hudson Wikipedia
    5. (O) Olivia Colman—is an English actress, is known for her roles in television series like Peep Show, Broadchurch and The Crown, as well as films like The Favourite, The Father and The Lost Daughter. She has received numerous awards, including an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmys and three Golden Globes. As well as playing Elizabeth II in The Crown she played her mother, Queen Elizabeth, who was King George VI’s consort and the future Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in Hyde Park on Hudson.
    6. (P) Putney Bridge—The Boat Race is an annual rowing competition between Cambridge and Oxford universities, held on the River Thames in London. The men’s race began in 1829 and the women’s race in 1927. Cambridge leads in both the men’s and women’s races, with 87 and 47 wins respectively.
    Putney Bridge at Dusk as viewed from the south-west at the boat sheds along the Thames. Wikipedia

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part III

    Some trivia related to the letters K to P.

    See question 1. Image Wikipedia
    1. (K) The flag pictured above is the flag of…
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kuwait
      • Kyrgyzstan
    2. (L) Manitoulin Island, the world’s largest island within a freshwater lake, is in…
      • Lake Huron
      • Lake Superior
      • Lake Winnipeg
    3. (M) The quote, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” is from Shakespeare’s…
      • Hamlet
      • Macbeth
      • Othello
    4. (N) The _ Girl in the School was the first in a series by Enid Blyton, the word missing from this title is …
      • Nastiest
      • Naughtiest
      • Nicest
    5. (O) This actress has played both Queen Elizabeth II and her mother, Queen Elizabeth. She is…
      • Olivia Colman
      • Olivia de Havilland
      • Olivia Hussey
    6. (P) The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, which is held in London annually, starts on the River Thames just downstream of…
      • Ponders End
      • Pratt’s Bottom
      • Putney Bridge

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part II | Answers

    Freesia. Wikipedia
    1. (F) Freesia—Freesia is a genus of herbaceous perennial flowering plants native to eastern southern Africa. Cultivated hybrids of Freesia species are commonly known as “freesias” and grown as ornamental plants.
    2. (G) Golden Cap—Golden Cap, a hill and cliff in Dorset, England, is the highest point near the south coast of Great Britain. It is owned by the National Trust and part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site.
      H.G. Wells by George Charles Beresford, 1920. Wikipedia
    3. (H) H.G. Wells—Half a Sixpence is a 1963 musical comedy based on H.G. Wells’s novel Kipps. The show, tailored for Tommy Steele, follows Arthur Kipps, an orphan who inherits a fortune and learns that money can’t buy happiness.
    4. (I) Ireland—In May 1915, the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner, was sunk by the German submarine U-20, 11 miles (18 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. This tragic event resulted in the loss of 1,197 lives, including passengers, crew, and stowaways. The sinking significantly boosted American support for entering World War I.
    5. (J) J. Alfred Prufrock—The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is T. S. Eliot’s first published poem, reflecting the title character’s thoughts in stream-of-consciousness style. Initially considered outlandish, it is now seen as a landmark in the shift from Romanticism to Modernism in poetry.
      Regarding the wrong alternative answers: J. Bruce Ismay was the chairman of the White Star Line, the owners of the Titanic. He faced criticism and was branded a coward after surviving the sinking. J. Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the FBI. He served in that role in the predecessor organisation, the BOI, and the FBI for a total of 48 years.
    RMS Lusitania. See #4 above. Wikipedia

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part II

    Some trivia related to the letters F to J.

    See question 2. Image Wikipedia
    1. (F) Named after a German botanist, what is a flowering plant of the iris family?
      • Foxglove
      • Freesia
      • Fuchsia
    2. (G) Which hill, on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, is the highest point on England’s south coast?
      • Golden Cap
      • Golden Law
      • Golden Tor
    3. (H) Half a Sixpence, the musical, was adapted from the 1905 novel Kipps. Who wrote this novel?(I)
      • H.E. Bates
      • H. Rider Haggard
      • H.G. Wells
    4. (I) In 1915, the RMS Lusitania was torpedoed 11 miles (18 km) off the coast of which country?
      • Iceland
      • Ireland
      • Ivory Coast
    5. (J) What T.S. Eliot character says, “I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;”?
      • J. Alfred Prufrock
      • J. Bruce Ismay
      • J. Edgar Hoover
    T.S. Eliot. Wikipedia

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part I | Answers

    Some trivia related to the letters A to E.

    Melvyn Bragg (Official photo of Lord Bragg), 2018. Winner of the Bad Sex in Fiction Award 1993 for A Time to Dance. See question 2. Wikipedia
    1. (A) Aardvark—The Raccoons is a Canadian animated series about Bert, Ralph and Melissa Raccoon, who thwart the schemes of Cyril Sneer, an industrialist aardvark, to destroy their forest home. The series ran from 1985 to 1992 and was created by Kevin Gillis.
    2. (B) Bad Sex in Fiction award—The Literary Review has presented the Bad Sex in Fiction Award annually since 1993 to the author of the worst sex scene description in a novel. The award, established by Rhoda Koenig and Auberon Waugh, aims to discourage crude and tasteless sexual descriptions in modern novels.
      Colossus of Rhodes. Wikipedia
    3. (C) Colossus—One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue of the Greek sun god Helios, was erected in 280 BCE to celebrate Rhodes’ successful defence against Demetrius I of Macedon. Standing at 33 metres tall, it was the tallest statue in the ancient world until it collapsed in an earthquake in 226 BCE.
      Dylan Thomas, 1952. Wikipedia
    4. (D) Dylan Thomas—Do not go gentle into that good night is a villanelle* by Dylan Thomas, written in 1947 and published in 1951. The poem, about resisting death, entered the public domain in 2024.
      *Villanelle is a pastoral or lyrical poem of nineteen lines, with only two rhymes throughout, and some lines repeated (Oxford English Dictionary).
    5. (E) Europa—The Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, are Jupiter’s four largest moons. Discovered by Galileo in 1610, they were the first objects found to orbit a planet other than Earth, challenging the geocentric Ptolemaic world system. Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, surpassing Mercury in size. Europa is the smallest of the four Galilean moons.
    Europa. Wikipedia

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part I

    Some trivia related to the letters A to E.

    Seven Wonders of the World. Wikipedia
    1. (A) An animated television series which began in the 1980s featured Cyril Sneer. Which of these best describes Cyril?
      • Aardvark
      • Ass
      • Anaconda
    2. (B) The following works of literature won what award in the year indicated. 1993: Melvyn Bragg, A Time to Dance; 2007: Norman Mailer, The Castle in the Forest and 2019: Didier Decoin, The Office of Gardens and Ponds and John Harvey, Pax?
      • Bad Sex in Fiction award
      • Balint Balassi Memorial Sword Award
      • Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year
    3. (C) Complete this: the ___ of Rhodes was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?
      • Colosseum
      • Colossus
      • Colostrum
    4. (D) Which poet wrote the line: “Do not go gentle into that good night”?
      • DH Lawrence
      • Dorothy Parker
      • Dylan Thomas
    5. (E) The smallest of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter is named what?
      • Eirene
      • Epimetheus
      • Europa
    Jupiter. Wikipedia

    Good luck! The answers will be posted later

  • Odd One Out | Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below.

    Moon. Wikipedia
    1. Moon—The Moon, Earth’s satellite, is different from planets like Mercury and Mars. While the Moon orbits the Earth, Mercury and Mars, like Earth, orbit the Sun.
      Lotus Cars logo. Wikipedia
    2. Emira—it has a petrol engine and is not electric, unlike the Eletre and Emeya. Lotus Group is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and electric vehicles. It comprises Lotus Cars, Lotus Tech and Lotus Engineering. Currently majority-owned by Geely, Lotus has a history of Formula One racing and producing iconic cars like the Lotus Seven and Elise.
      Sargasso Sea.
      1891 Krummel Petermanns lores/Wikipedia
    3. Sargasso—aka Sargasso Sea is a marine ecosystem whereas the others are both land-based. The Sargasso Sea, a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents, is distinguished by its brown Sargassum seaweed and calm blue water. The Gobi Desert, the sixth largest desert globally, is a vast cold desert and grassland area located in northern China and southern Mongolia. In contrast, the Atacama Desert in Chile is renowned as the driest nonpolar desert, characterised by its extreme aridity due to a temperature inversion, the rain shadow effect created by two mountain ranges, and the influence of the Humboldt ocean current.
      Poster for the 1935 film A Night at the Opera. Wikipedia
    4. A Kind of Magic—A Day at the Races, like Queen’s previous album, A Night at the Opera, takes its name from Marx Brothers films. On the other hand, although A Kind of Magic has a film connection, it is not to a film title; it takes its name from a Connor MacLeod quote from the film Highlander: “Hey, it’s a kind of magic!”
      The Devil’s Alternative by Frederick Forsyth Wikipedia
      Deception Point by Dan Brown Wikipedia
      Digital Fortress by Dan Brown Wikipedia
    5. The Devil’s Alternative—was written by British novelist Frederick Forsyth. Deception Point and Digital Fortress are two stand-alone novels by Dan Brown which, unlike The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons etc, do not feature Robert Langdon.
    6. Botswana—Botswana is in Southern Africa while the others are in Asia—Brunei is in Southeast Asia and Bhutan in South Asia. They are all small countries and both Botswana and Bhutan are landlocked while Brunei has a coastline.
    Sub-regional map of the World.
    The UN geoscheme/Wikipedia