Quizology.Online

Tag: nature

  • Swimming with Sharks—Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier questions..

    Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). 
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    Which shark is pictured? 

    Answer: Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)

    The tiger shark, the largest member of the Galeocerdo genus, is a solitary, nocturnal predator found in tropical and temperate waters. It has a diverse diet and is considered near-threatened due to human activities. 

    Two

    What 1964 film starring Stanley Baker and Michael Cain depicts the 1879 Battle of Rorke’s Drift?

    Answer: Zulu

    Zulu is a 1964 British historical drama film about the Battle of Rorke’s Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War. Directed by Cy Endfield, it stars Stanley Baker and Michael Caine, and received critical acclaim for its sets, soundtrack, cinematography, and performances.

    Three

    Complete the title of this short story by Alan Sillitoe which was published in 1959: The Loneliness of the…?

    Answer: Long-Distance Runner (The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner)

    Alan Sillitoe’s 1959 short story The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner follows Smith, a Nottingham teenager who finds solace in running.

    Four

    Which state or territorial capital of mainland Australia is the only one north of the Tropic of Capricorn?

    Answer: Darwin (Northern Territory)

    Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory, is the smallest, wettest, and most northerly capital city. It has a tropical climate with a wet and dry season, and its proximity to Southeast Asia makes it a key link between Australia and countries like Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The city has been rebuilt four times due to cyclones and WWII air raids.

    Chumbawamba’s The Boy Bands Have Won
    Image The Independent

    Five

    Chumbawamba’s 2008 album The Boy Bands Have Won holds the Guinness World Record for the longest album title.  Can you tell me how many words are in the full title?  A decade (a group of ten) is acceptable. For example, if the answer is 104 then 101-110 is fine.

    Answer: 156 (151-160 acceptable)

    Its full title contains 156 words, or 865 characters, and holds the Guinness World Record for the longest album title. In full, it is…

    The boy bands have won, and all the copyists and the tribute bands and the TV talent show producers have won, if we allow our culture to be shaped by mimicry, whether from lack of ideas or from exaggerated respect. You should never try to freeze culture. What you can do is recycle that culture. Take your older brother’s hand-me-down jacket and re-style it, re-fashion it to the point where it becomes your own. But don’t just regurgitate creative history, or hold art and music and literature as fixed, untouchable and kept under glass. The people who try to ‘guard’ any particular form of music are, like the copyists and manufactured bands, doing it the worst disservice, because the only thing that you can do to music that will damage it is not change it, not make it your own. Because then it dies, then it’s over, then it’s done, and the boy bands have won.

  • Swimming with Sharks

    Today’s five questions are random with no connection.

    Image Wikipedia

    One

    Which shark is pictured? 

    Two

    What 1964 film starring Stanley Baker and Michael Cain depicts the 1879 Battle of Rorke’s Drift?

    Three

    Complete the title of this short story by Alan Sillitoe which was published in 1959: The Loneliness of the…?

    Four

    Which state or territorial capital of mainland Australia is the only one north of the Tropic of Capricorn?

    Five

    Chumbawamba’s 2008 album The Boy Bands Have Won holds the Guinness World Record for the longest album title.  Can you tell me how many words are in the full title?  A decade (a group of ten) is acceptable. For example, if the answer is 104 then 101-110 is fine.

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • There’s a Theme Running Through It—Answers

    Here are the answers to the questions I posted earlier.

    Swallowtail.
    Image Wildlife Trusts

    One

    What is the largest butterfly in the UK? It has a ten-letter name and lives in the Norfolk Broads. 

    Answer: Swallowtail

    The swallowtail is the largest and most localised butterfly in the UK. Adults emerge from winter chrysalises, drying their wings in reedbeds before displaying their bright colours. Their swallow-like tails and false eye spots confuse predators. Even as caterpillars, they are striking, with bulging horns for defence and orange scent glands that release a pineapple-like odor when threatened.

    Two

    In what 1975 novel does IRA member Liam Devlin take part in a wartime plot to kidnap Winston Churchill?

    Answer: The Eagle Has Landed

    Irish Republican Liam Devlin and Joanna Grey, an Afrikaner woman and seasoned Abwehr agent residing in England, team up with German paratroopers to plan and execute the kidnapping of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

    Three

    In the 1955 film, To Catch a Thief (1955), who is seen sitting beside Cary Grant and a pair of caged birds on a bus? 

    Answer: Alfred Hitchcock

    Producer and director Alfred Hitchcock makes his signature cameo, approximately ten minutes into the film, as a bus passenger sitting next to Cary Grant and a caged pair of birds.

    Four

    What single answer satisfies all of the following: the title of Fleetwood Mac’s only number one hit on the UK Singles Chart; a significant being in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; and in golf, refers to a score of three strokes under par for a hole?

    Answer: Albatross

    Albatross is a guitar-based instrumental by Fleetwood Mac, composed by Peter Green. It was released as a single in 1968 and became their only number one single on the UK charts. The albatross that saves the ship by leading the way from the ice in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and is then shot; and the word used as an alternative to double eagle meaning a score of three strokes under par for a hole.

    A nesting pair of Macaroni penguins, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands.
    Image Wikipedia

    Five

    Eudyptes chrysolophus: part of this bird’s name is also a type of pasta. What pasta? 

    Answer: Macaroni 

    The macaroni penguin—Eudyptes chrysolophus—is a crested penguin with a distinctive yellow crest, it is the most numerous penguin species, with an estimated 18 million individuals. Despite its abundance, the species is vulnerable due to widespread population declines since the mid-1970s.

    Theme

    The theme was of course Birds. Question 1. swallow (from swallowtail); 2. Eagle; 3. Caged birds mentioned in the question plus Hitchcock was the director of The Birds; 4. Albatross and 5. penguin.

  • There’s a Theme Running Through It

    Today, a common thread weaves through five seemingly unrelated questions.

    Image Wildlife Trusts.

    One

    What is the largest butterfly in the UK? It has a ten-letter name and lives in the Norfolk Broads. 

    Two

    In what 1975 novel does IRA member Liam Devlin take part in a wartime plot to kidnap Winston Churchill?

    Three

    In the 1955 film, To Catch a Thief (1955), who is seen sitting beside Cary Grant and a pair of caged birds on a bus? 

    Four

    What single answer satisfies all of the following: the title of Fleetwood Mac’s only number one hit on the UK Singles Chart; a significant being in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner; and in golf, refers to a score of three strokes under par for a hole?

    Five

    Eudyptes chrysolophus: part of this bird’s name is also a type of pasta. What pasta? 

    Good luck! The answers will be posted later.

  • Unsinkable—Answers

    Here are the answers to the questions I posted earlier.

    One

    In the film Titanic what were Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s fictional characters full names?

    Answer: Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater

    Titanic film poster.
    Image Original Vintage

    Two

    Name the independent countries in Africa that have names beginning with ‘M’?

    Answer: Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco and Mozambique

    Three

    What type of animal was Flipper, the star of the sixties American television series?

    Answer: Bottlenose dolphin

    Bottlenose dolphins.
    Image American Oceans

    Four

    There’s only been one instance of a father and daughter performing a number one song in America. Can you name the song and the performers?

    Answer: Somethin’ Stupid Frank and Nancy Sinatra

    This 1967 hit, which was billed as being by ‘Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra’, was the first and only instance of a father-daughter number-one song in America. Nancy Sinatra has said, ‘Some people call (it) the Incest Song, which I think is, well, very sweet!’

    Five

    Name any US presidents and British prime ministers with the same surname?

    Answer: Woodrow Wilson and Harold Wilson

    Woodrow Wilson, was the 28th President of the United States and was in office from 1913 to 1921.
    Harold Wilson, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and was in office from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976.

  • Unsinkable

    Today’s questions are random with no connection between them.

    RMS Titanic.
    Image Encyclopædia Britannica

    One

    In the film Titanic what were Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s fictional characters full names?

    Two

    Name the independent countries in Africa that have names beginning with ‘M’?

    Three

    What type of animal was Flipper, the star of the sixties American television series?

    Four

    There’s only been one instance of a father and daughter performing a number one song in America. Can you name the song and the performers?

    Five

    Name any US presidents and British prime ministers with the same surname?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Presidential Genesis—Answers

    Here are the answers to the questions I posted earlier.

    Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    The US state of Virginia is in pole position with eight US presidents being born there. What state would be in second place?

    Answer: Ohio

    Ohio ranks second to Virginia in the number of US presidents born there. These seven presidents hail from Ohio: Ulysses S Grant, Rutherford B Hayes, James A Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft and Warren G Harding.

    Two

    Which mammal family, common or scientific name, is the wolverine the largest member of?

    Answer: Weasels or Mustelidae

    The wolverine, the largest member of the Mustelidae family – commonly known as the weasel family – includes other animals like weasels otters martens and badgers. Renowned for their stocky build thick fur and impressive strength relative to their size, wolverines are truly remarkable creatures.

    Petrus Kartner—Father Abraham.
    Image Wikipedia

    Three

    In 1977 Petrus Kartner was commissioned to compose a promotional song for The Smurfs which became a hit single and album. What nationality was Kartner and under what stage name did he perform?

    Answer: Dutch and Father Abraham

    Dutch musician and record producer Petrus Antonius Laurentius Kartner (1935-2022), known as Vader Abraham, wrote around 1600 songs. He is best known for his Smurf-themed music, including The Smurf Song, which sold 400,000 copies after a repress and a full album that sold 500,000 copies.

    Four

    In volleyball, a defensive specialist who can’t serve or rotate to the front line and wears a different coloured jersey is known as a …. What six-letter word describes this player?

    Answer: Libero

    The word originates from Italian and means ‘free’. The libero, is a defensive specialist in volleyball, wearing a different coloured jersey and unable to serve or attack above the net. Libero replacements don’t count against the substitution limit, but can only be made with the original libero.
    Established in 1998, this position is recognised by most volleyball governing bodies and is credited with lengthening rallies.

    Neptune’s Staircase, Caledonian Canal, Scotland, UK.
    Image Wikipedia

    Five

    What eventually links Loch Ness to Neptune’s Staircase?

    Answer: Caledonian Canal

    Built by Thomas Telford between 1803 and 1822 the Caledonian Canal is one of Scotland’s most remarkable engineering achievements — a scenic 60-mile (97 km) waterway that cuts through the Great Glen, connecting the east coast at the Beauly Firth near Inverness with the west coast’s Loch Linnhe at Corpach near Fort William. Some 60 miles (97 km) in length with 22 miles (35 km) of man-made canal while the rest is natural lochs which include Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy. Neptune’s Staircase is a flight of eight locks near to the Loch Linnhe end of the canal.

  • Presidential Genesis

    Here are five random questions for you to consider.

    Wolverine, see question 2.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    The US state of Virginia is in pole position with eight US presidents being born there. What state would be in second place?

    Two

    Which mammal family, common or scientific name, is the wolverine the largest member of?

    Three

    In 1977 Petrus Kartner was commissioned to compose a promotional song for The Smurfs which became a hit single and album. What nationality was Kartner and under what stage name did he perform?

    Four

    In volleyball, a defensive specialist who can’t serve or rotate to the front line and wears a different coloured jersey is known as a …. What six-letter word describes this player?

    Five

    What eventually links Loch Ness to Neptune’s Staircase?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Space Oddity—Answers

    Here are the answers to my earlier post

    LRV-1, Apollo 15.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    Who was the first astronaut to drive a Lunar Rover on the Moon’s surface?

    Answer: David Scott

    Between July 30 and August 2, 1971, David Scott, commander of Apollo 15, drove the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV-1) for 3 hours and 2 minutes. These journeys covered A total of 17.25 miles (27.76 km) across the lunar surface. Apollo 15(LRV-1) 17.25 miles (27.76 km) 3 h 02 min 7.75 miles (12.47 km) 3.1 miles (5.0 km)

    Two

    What, in Roman numerals, is the sum of LXXXIV and DCCLIX?

    Answer: DCCCXLIII

    LXXXIV =

    • L = 50
    • XXX = 30
    • IV = 4
      → 50 + 30 + 4 = 84

    DCCLIX =

    • D = 500
    • CC = 200
    • L = 50
    • IX = 9
      → 500 + 200 + 50 + 9 = 759

    84 + 759 = 843

    Convert 843 to Roman numerals:

    • 800 = DCCC
    • 40 = XL
    • 3 = III

    → 843 = DCCCXLIII

    Three

    John F. Kennedy had a dog called Dunker. What breed was it?

    Answer: Dachshund

    The Dachshund is a small, long-bodied dog breed originally developed in Germany to hunt badgers. The name literally means ‘badger dog’—Dachs = badger, Hund = dog. They’re often called ‘sausage dogs’ because of their shape.

    Four

    Which character in a work by Alexandre Dumas was possibly inspired by the vengeful shoemaker Pierre Picaud of Nîmes?

    Answer: Edmond Dantes, The Count of Monte Cristo

    Pierre Picaud, a shoemaker from Nîmes, is believed to have inspired Edmond Dantès, the protagonist of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
    Picaud’s story is strikingly similar to that of Dantès. In the early 19th century, Picaud was wrongfully imprisoned due to the betrayal of his friends and his fiancée. During his imprisonment in the Château d’If, he met an old man who shared with him knowledge of treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo. Upon his release, Picaud used this treasure to exact revenge on those who had wronged him, much like Edmond Dantès does in Dumas’ novel.
    This story of Picaud’s life—his unjust imprisonment, subsequent escape, and thirst for vengeance—closely mirrors the narrative of The Count of Monte Cristo.

    Five

    Please list the US states whose names start with the letter ‘M’?

    Answer: Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri and Montana

  • Space Oddity

    Today’s questions are random and unrelated.

    LRV-1.
    Image Wikipedia

    One

    Who was the first astronaut to drive a Lunar Rover on the Moon’s surface?

    Two

    What, in Roman numerals, is the sum of LXXXIV and DCCLIX?

    Three

    John F. Kennedy had a dog called Dunker. What breed was it?

    Four

    Which character in a work by Alexandre Dumas was possibly inspired by the vengeful shoemaker Pierre Picaud of Nîmes?

    Five

    Please list the US states whose names start with the letter ‘M’?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later today.