miscellany – Page 4 – Quizology Online

Z is for… | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.

Aerial view of the Boudewijnkanaal linking the city of Bruges (middle of image) with the port of Zeebrugge (top).
Image Wikipedia

One

The caption (copied below) for the above photo is missing the name of a port. What port?

Aerial view of the Boudewijnkanaal linking the city of Bruges (middle of image) with the port of … (top).

Answer: Zeebrugge

The Port of Zeebrugge, a major North Sea port in Bruges, Belgium, handles over 50 million tonnes of cargo annually. In 1987, the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized outside the port, killing 193 passengers.

Detail of Zephyrus with Aura from Sandro Botticelli’s *The Birth of Venus*.
Image Wikipedia

Two

What six letter word can mean all of the following?

a soft, gentle breeze
a personification of the west wind
a fine cotton gingham
a very light article of clothing

Answer: Zephyr

late Old English zefferus, denoting a personification of the west wind, via Latin from Greek zephuros ‘(god of the) west wind’. The sense ‘soft, gentle breeze’ dates from the late 17th century.
– Oxford English Dictionary

Three

The above picture is of the … of Ur. What word is missing?

Answer: Ziggurat

The Ziggurat in Ur, dedicated to Nanna/Sîn, was built by King Ur-Nammu and completed by King Shulgi in the 21st century BC. It served as the centre of a temple complex and a shrine to the moon god.

(in ancient Mesopotamia) a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple. Ziggurats are first attested in the late 3rd millennium BC and probably inspired the biblical story of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1–9).

origin from Akkadian ziqqurratu.

– Oxford English Dictionary

Four

What river flows over these falls, and on which international border are they situated?

Answer: Zambezi. (Border of) Zimbabwe and Zambia

Victoria Falls, on the Zambezi River, is one of the world’s largest waterfalls. It was named after Queen Victoria by David Livingstone in 1855. The Lozi name, Mosi-oa-Tunya, meaning ‘The Smoke That Thunders’, is also commonly used.

David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust.
Image Wikipedia

Five

Now … played guitar
Jamming good with Weird and Gilly
And The Spiders from Mars

The first three lines of a song originally released in 1972 are shown above. What word is missing from the first line?

Answer: Ziggy

Ziggy Stardust is a glam rock song about a bisexual alien rock star. The character, created by David Bowie, symbolised an over-the-top rock star and commented on celebrity worship. The lyrics for Ziggy Stardust are shown below.

Ziggy Sturdust

David Bowie

Now Ziggy played guitar
Jamming good with Weird and Gilly
And The Spiders from Mars
He played it left hand
But made it too far
Became the special man
Then we were Ziggy’s Band

Ziggy really sang
Screwed-up eyes and screwed-down hairdo
Like some cat from Japan
He could lick ’em by smiling
He could leave ’em to hang
He came on so loaded, man,
Well-hung, snow-white tan

So where were the spiders
While the fly tried to break our balls?
Just the beer light to guide us
So we bitched about his fans
And should we crush his sweet hands?
Oh yeah

Ziggy played for time
Jiving us that we were Voodoo
The kids was just crass
He was the naz
With God-given ass
He took it all too far
But boy, could he play guitar

Making love with his ego
Ziggy sucked up into his mind (ah)
Like a leper messiah
When the kids had killed a man
I had to break up the band

Ziggy played guitar

Z is for…

Continuing, and finishing, the alphabet theme and all today’s answers begin with the letter ‘Z’.

Aerial view of the Boudewijnkanaal linking the city of Bruges (middle of image) with the port of … (top).
Image Wikipedia

One

The caption (copied below) for the above photo is missing the name of a port. What port?

Aerial view of the Boudewijnkanaal linking the city of Bruges (middle of image) with the port of … (top).

Two

What six letter word can mean all of the following?

a soft, gentle breeze
a personification of the west wind
a fine cotton gingham
a very light article of clothing

Three

The above picture is of the … of Ur. What word is missing?

Four

What river flows over these falls, and on which international border are they situated?

Five

Now … played guitar
Jamming good with Weird and Gilly
And The Spiders from Mars

The first three lines of a song originally released in 1972 are shown above. What word is missing from the first line?

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

O is for… | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.

The three fictional superstates of the dystopian novel *Nineteen Eighty-Four* are Oceania (black), Eurasia (red) and Eastasia (yellow). Areas shown in grey are ‘disputed’.
Image Wikipedia

One

The map above depicts the three fictional superstates from George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, along with disputed territories (in grey). The black-coloured state encompassing the Americas, Australia and the United Kingdom, among others, is known by what name?

Answer: Oceania

In George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, the world is divided into three superstates—Oceania (black on map), Eurasia (red) and Eastasia (yellow)—engaged in a perpetual war. The origins of these states, which may not even exist, are unclear, emerging from nuclear warfare and civil unrest between 1945 and 1965. In this post-war world, totalitarian ideologies such as English Socialism, Neo-Bolshevism and Obliteration of the Self dominate.

Ogden Nash and Dagmar from the television game show *Masquerade Party*, 1955
Image Wikipedia

Two

Some tortures are physical and some are mental, but the one that is both is dental.

The above quote was originally made by which American humorist and poet?

Answer: Ogden Nash

Frederic Ogden Nash, an American humorist, wrote over 500 pieces of light verse, including 20 volumes of poetry and lyrics for musicals and children’s books.

Three

A competitive sport in which runners have to find their way across rough country with the aid of a map and compass.
– Oxford English Dictionary

What sport is being defined above?

Answer: Orienteering

Orienteering is a sport involving map and compass navigation through unfamiliar terrain. Participants use specially prepared maps to locate control points, with foot orienteering being the oldest and most popular variation. Orienteering features in the programs of global sporting events, such as the World Games and the World Police and Fire Games.

Oberammergau Passion Play 1860 Production.
Image Wikipedia

Four

A Passion Play, depicting the final phase of the life of Jesus Christ, has taken place in a Bavarian village once every ten years (barring a few exceptions) since the 17 century. What is the village name?

Answer: Oberammergau

The Oberammergauer Passionsspiele, a passion play performed by the inhabitants of Oberammergau, Germany, depicts Jesus’ final days from His visit to Jerusalem to His crucifixion. The play, composed by several individuals and the village inhabitants, is the earliest surviving continuous vernacular drama of the Christian era.

Librarian of the Unseen University, Ankh-Morpork.
Image Pinterest

Five

What one creature answers both the following
– In The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett, the university librarian is accidentally turned into one of these
– One is featured in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Answer: Orangutan (or orangutang)

In The Light Fantastic, the second instalment in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld fantasy novel series, the Librarian of the Unseen University undergoes an unexpected transformation into a sentient orangutan. This transformation persists throughout the series, and he actively resists any attempts to revert him to his original state.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue tell how a sailor’s orangutan, imitating him shaving, runs off with his straight razor and later kills a woman and her daughter. The sailor, attempting to catch it, was heard arguing with the animal. The orangutan fled, leaving the sailor to sell it and the police to release their suspect, Le Bon.

O is for…

The alphabet theme continues with some questions with answers beginning with ‘O’.

One

Two

Some tortures are physical and some are mental, but the one that is both is dental.

The above quote was originally made by which American humorist and poet?

Three

A competitive sport in which runners have to find their way across rough country with the aid of a map and compass.
– Oxford English Dictionary

What sport is being defined above?

Four

Five

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

N is for… | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.

Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond.
Image Madly Odd

One

The writer of You Don’t Brine Me Flowers had a hit duet with it alongside Barbra Streisand. Who is the songwriter?

Answer: Neil Diamond

You Don’t Bring Me Flowers was originally written for a TV sitcom but later expanded into a duet by Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978.

Fully defined compass rose displaying 32 points.
Image Wikipedia

Two

The compass point found at 22.5° from North is what?

Answer: NNE or north-northeast

The points of the compass are a set of horizontal directions used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose typically consists of four cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) and four ordinal directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest). A fully defined compass has 32 points.

Three

In The Lord of the Rings how many Nazgûl were there?

Answer: Nine

The Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths, are nine men corrupted by Sauron’s Rings of Power, becoming immortal wraiths bound to his will. Led by the Witch-king of Angmar, they serve as Sauron’s most terrifying servants, using terror and weapons like Morgul-knives to pursue the One Ring. They are also known as The Nine, Úlairi (in Quenya), Black Riders, Fell Riders, and Ringwraiths.

Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory in relation to New South Wales
Image Wikipedia

Four

Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory are enclaves within which Australian state?

Answer: New South Wales

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is an internal territory of Australia, home to the capital city of Canberra. It was established in 1911 as the seat of the Australian government, hosting Parliament House, the High Court, and numerous government agencies. The ACT is governed by a locally elected legislative assembly, though the Commonwealth retains authority over certain areas, including the Parliamentary Triangle. The Jervis Bay Territory is an internal territory of Australia, established in 1915 to provide the federal government with a port near the ACT.

Portrait of Isaac Newton, 1689.
Image Wikipedia

Five

The SI unit of force. It is equal to the force that would give a mass of one kilogram an acceleration of one metre per second per second, and is equivalent to 100,000 dynes.
– Oxford English Dictionary

What word is being defined above?

Answer: Newton

The newton (symbol: N) is the unit of force in the International System of Units. It is defined as the force that accelerates a mass of one kilogram at one metre per second squared, expressed in terms of SI base units. The unit is named after Isaac Newton in recognition of his groundbreaking work in classical mechanics, particularly his second law of motion.

N is for…

The alphabet theme continues with some questions where all the answers begin with ‘N’.

One

The writer of You Don’t Brine Me Flowers had a hit duet with it alongside Barbra Streisand. Who is the songwriter?

Two

The compass point found at 22.5° from North is what?

Three

In The Lord of the Rings how many Nazgûl were there?

Four

Australian Capital Territory and Jervis Bay Territory are enclaves within which Australian state?

Five

The SI unit of force. It is equal to the force that would give a mass of one kilogram an acceleration of one metre per second per second, and is equivalent to 100,000 dynes.
– Oxford English Dictionary

What word is being defined above?

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

K is for… | Answers

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

Tourists at London King’s Cross Platform 9¾ in July 2016.
Image Wikipedia

One

Which London railway station has a marker indicating the location of Platform 9¾?

King’s Cross

King’s Cross is the starting point of the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter books. The film crew used the brick roof-support arches between platforms 4 and 5 to represent the fictional Platform 9¾.

Kuwaiti 20 Dinar note.
Image Left Over Currency

Two

In April 2024, Forbes named which country’s dinar as the highest valued currency in the world?

Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD)

The Kuwaiti dinar, the strongest currency globally, is pegged to an undisclosed basket of currencies. Kuwait, a leading oil exporter, introduced the dinar in the 1960s.

Three

What bird has the biggest egg of any bird species relative to its size?

Kiwi

The brown kiwi (Apteryx australis) of New Zealand lays the largest eggs relative to its body size. One female kiwi weighing 1.7 kg (3 lb 12 oz) laid an egg weighing 406 g (14 oz), which is almost one quarter of her total body mass, and weights of up to 510 g (1 lb) have been reliably reported for other kiwi eggs. — Guinness World Records https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/83111-largest-bird-egg-relative-to-body-size

Four

Who is the oldest male tennis player to win a major singles title in the Open Era?

Ken Rosewall

The oldest tennis Grand Slam singles winner (male, open era) is Ken Rosewall (Australia, b. 2 November 1934), who was aged 37 years 62 days when he won the 1972 Australian Open at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on 3 January 1972. Rosewall defeated Malcolm Anderson 7–6, 6–3, 7–5 in the final match of the tournament.

— Guinness World Records, 23 June 2025

Five

In the opening verse of Queen’s Killer Queen, both a United States President and a Soviet Premier are named. Please provide the surnames of these individuals?

Khrushchev and Kennedy

The lyrics are written below. Killer Queen is a song by Queen about a high-class call girl. It was written by Freddie Mercury and reached number two in the UK Singles Chart and number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100.

Killer Queen

She keeps Moët et Chandon
In her pretty cabinet
“Let them eat cake,” she says
Just like Marie Antoinette
A built-in remedy
For Khrushchev and Kennedy (Ooh, ooh)
At anytime an invitation
You can’t decline (Ooh, ooh)

Caviar and cigarettes
Well versed in etiquette
Extraordinarily nice

She’s a killer queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
(Pa-pa-pa-pa) Anytime
Ooh
Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?

To avoid complications
She never kept the same address
In conversation
She spoke just like a baroness
Met a man from China
Went down to Geisha Minah (Ooh, ooh)
(Killer, killer, she’s a killer queen)
Then again incidentally
If you’re that way inclined

Perfume came naturally from Paris (Naturally)
For cars, she couldn’t care less
Fastidious and precise

She’s a killer queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
(Pa-pa-pa-pa)
Anytime

Drop of a hat she’s as willing as
Playful as a pussycat (Ooh)
Then momentarily out of action (Ooh)
Temporarily out of gas (Ta-taaa)
To absolutely drive you wild, wild
She’s out to get you

She’s a killer queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam (Pa-pa-pa-ra)
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime
Ooh
Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?
You wanna try

— AZ Lyrics, 23 June 2025.

K is for…

The alphabet theme continues with some questions where all the answers begin with ‘K’.

Platform 9¾, Kings Cross Railway Station, London. Image https://www.pexels.com

One

Which London railway station has a marker indicating the location of Platform 9¾?

Two

In April 2024, Forbes named which country’s dinar as the highest valued currency in the world?

Three

What bird has the biggest egg of any bird species relative to its size?

Four

Who is the oldest male tennis player to win a major singles title in the Open Era?

Five

In the opening verse of Queen’s Killer Queen, both a United States President and a Soviet Premier are named. Please provide the surnames of these individuals?

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

J is for… | Answers

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

Title page of first edition of *Gulliver’s Travels* by Jonathan Swift.
Image Wikipedia

1 Gulliver’s Travels was written by…

Jonathan Swift—an Anglo-Irish writer and satirist, is known for his deadpan and ironic style, particularly in works like A Modest Proposal and Gulliver’s Travels. He is regarded as the greatest satirist of the Georgian era and one of the foremost prose satirists in English literature. The above illustration and the quote from it, below, shows he credited Gulliver’s with the authorship.

By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships

MS *Queen Elizabeth* at Juneau, Alaska, 2024.
Image Wikipedia

2 Can you identify the US state capital being described? Its indigenous name is Dzántik’i Héeni, and it was originally named Harrisburg before becoming Rockwell. Notably, it is the largest state capital by area.

Juneau—the capital of Alaska, is located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. It is the second-largest municipality in the United States by area and is not connected to the rest of the state or contiguous United States by road due to its rugged terrain. Juneau is home to the state legislature, governor and lieutenant governor; it experiences a significant influx of visitors during the summer months.

Front cover, first edition of Jaws by Peter Benchley, 1974.
Image Wikipedia

3 ‘The great fish moved silently through the night water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail…’ are the opening words of what 1974 novel?

Jaws—a novel by Peter Benchley, was published in 1974 and tells the story of a great white shark terrorising a resort town. The novel’s success led to a blockbuster film adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975, which became the highest-grossing film of its time.

Fireworks of 14 July 2017 in Paris.
Image Wikipedia

4 The Bastille was stormed by a Parisian crowd in 1789. On what month and date?

July 14—Commonly known in English as Bastille Day, Festival de la Fédération or La fête nationale, is celebrated annually on 14 July, it is France’s national day commemorating the Storming of the Bastille in 1789, a key event in the French Revolution. Officially established in 1880, the holiday includes speeches, military parades, fireworks and public festivities; and is observed in France, its overseas territories, and by Francophiles globally.

5 The Striding Man logo is used by which Scotch whisky brand?

Johnnie Walker—John Walker, born in 1805, managed a grocery and spirits shop in Kilmarnock, Scotland. After his death in 1857, his son Alexander expanded the business, introducing the signature square bottle and the Striding Man mascot. The company’s success grew under Alexander and his sons, with the introduction of blended whiskies like Johnnie Walker Red and Black Labels.

J is for…

The alphabet theme continues with some questions where all the answers begin with ‘J’.

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.
ISBN 978-5-389-02434-2, 2012.
Illustrator Vadim Chelak.
Image Pinterest

Gulliver’s Travels was written by…
Can you identify the US state capital being described? Its indigenous name is Dzántik’i Héeni, and it was originally named Harrisburg before becoming Rockwell. Notably, it is the largest state capital by area.
‘The great fish moved silently through the night water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail…’—these are the opening words of what 1974 novel?
The Bastille was stormed by a Parisian crowd in 1789. On what month and date?
The Striding Man logo is used by which Scotch whisky brand?

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.