Quizology.Online

Tag: words

  • Russian Caesars — Answers

    Here are the answers to today’s questions.

    See question two. Zonkey, the hybrid offspring of a donkey and a zebra.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    Today’s questions are not date-related, nor are the questions related, but there is a theme concerning the answers.

    One

    What word completes the title of a 1965 war film starring Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris, which was based on a true story and shot in Norway: The Heroes of …?

    Answer: Telemark.

    The Heroes of Telemark is a 1965 British war film based on a true story. It depicts a sabotage mission against a Norwegian heavy water plant during World War II. At the time, Norway was occupied by German forces and there was a fear that the plant could aid their efforts to build an atomic bomb.

    Two

    What is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘the hybrid offspring of a donkey and a zebra’? (NB. The same word is used in Mexico for donkeys painted as zebras for tourist souvenir photos.)

    Answer: Zonkey.

    Imagine a creature that embodies the rugged resilience of a donkey and the striking elegance of a zebra. This is no mythical beast, but a living, breathing marvel known as the zonkey. A fascinating hybrid, the zonkey captures the imagination with its unique blend of features, often sporting the sturdy body of a donkey adorned with the distinctive stripes of a zebra, typically concentrated on its legs, neck, and sometimes its torso. These captivating animals are a testament to the intricate dance of genetics and the surprising outcomes that can arise when different species meet.

    — Animals Network

    Three

    Dating from the first half of the 20th century from what language did the words ‘rooibos’ and ‘apartheid’ originate?

    Answer: Afrikaans.

    Rooibos is an evergreen South African shrub, and its leaves are used to make a tea. It originated in the early 20th century from Afrikaans, and means literally ‘red bush’.
    Apartheid, a system of racial segregation and discrimination, was adopted as a slogan in the 1948 election by the Afrikaner National Party in South Africa. The system was maintained until February 1991 despite domestic unrest and international isolation. Originating in the 1940s, from Afrikaans, literally ‘separateness’.

    Four

    Who won Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her part in The Constant Gardener?

    Answer: Rachel Weisz.

    The Constant Gardener is a 2005 drama thriller film directed by Fernando Meirelles, based on John le Carré’s novel. It follows a British diplomat in Kenya investigating his wife’s murder. A critical and box office success, it achieved four Oscar nominations, with Weisz winning Best Supporting Actress.

    Five

    What body of water was home to the British Fleet during both the First and Second World Wars, as well as being the site of the 1919 scuttling of the interred German High Sea Fleet and the 1939 sinking of HMS Royal Oak?

    Answer: Scapa Flow.

    Scapa Flow, a sheltered body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, has historical significance as a Viking anchorage and UK naval base. HMS Royal Oak is a war grave for over 800 seamen who perished when the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat. Today, it is known for its diving sites and as a location for oil and LNG transfers.

    Russian Caesars

    The post title Russian Caesars refers to Tzar (also Tsar or Czar) in plural, TZARS which gives the start letter for each of the above answers.

  • Russian Caesars

    See question two. ?, the hybrid offspring of a donkey and a zebra.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    Today’s questions are not date-related, nor are the questions related, but there is a theme concerning the answers.

    One

    What word completes the title of a 1965 war film starring Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris, which was based on a true story and shot in Norway: The Heroes of …?

    Two

    What is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘the hybrid offspring of a donkey and a zebra’? (NB. The same word is used in Mexico for donkeys painted as zebras for tourist souvenir photos.)

    Three

    Dating from the first half of the 20th century from what language did the words ‘rooibos’ and ‘apartheid’ originate?

    Four

    Who won Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her part in The Constant Gardener?

    Five

    What body of water was home to the British Fleet during both the First and Second World Wars, as well as being the site of the 1919 scuttling of the interred German High Sea Fleet and the 1939 sinking of HMS Royal Oak?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • A Word to the Wise — Answers

    Here are the answers to today’s questions.

    See question four. Water crowfoot.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    Today’s questions are all about words and their meanings.

    One

    What is the meaning of the adjective glabrescent?

    • Hairless
    • Raucous
    • Shrinking

    Answer: Hairless.

    glabrescent in British English

    (ɡleɪˈbrɛsənt)
    adjective botany
    1. becoming hairless at maturity
    > glabrescent stems
    2. nearly hairless 
    Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers 
    Word origin
    C19: from Latin glabrescere to become smooth
    — Collins Dictionary

    Two

    What does the name of the dinosaur Falcarius mean?

    • Ground scraper
    • Sickle cutter
    • Wood driller

    Answer: Sickle cutter.

    Falcarius, meaning ‘sickle cutter’, is a primitive therizinosaur from the Early Cretaceous in North America. Discovered in the Cedar Mountain Formation, it was a 4 m long bipedal herbivore with a small head, elongated neck, and tail. It is considered a transitional form between theropods and Therizinosauridae.

    Three

    Spectrophobia, catoptrophobia and eisoptrophobia can all relate to what household item?

    • Kettle
    • Linoleum
    • Mirror

    Answer: Mirror.

    Catoptrophobia, eisoptrophobia and spectrophobia are terms related to fear of mirrors, but they have distinct meanings. Catoptrophobia is the fear of mirrors themselves, eisoptrophobia is the fear of seeing one’s reflection, and spectrophobia can mean fear of mirrors or ghosts. Etymologically, catoptro– and eisoptron– mean ‘mirror’, whereas spectrum means ‘apparition’, explaining spectrophobia’s dual association.

    Four

    What word can be added to crow to complete this plants name: crow …?

    • Foot
    • Quill
    • Steps

    Answer:

    Crowfoot is a herbaceous plant of the genus Ranunculus, related to the buttercups, typically having lobed or divided leaves and white or yellow flowers.

    Many kinds are aquatic with flowers held above the water.
    Crow quill is a quill pen made from a large feather of a crow’s wing and used in fine writing.
    Crow steps are projections resembling steps on the sloping part of a gable, common in Flemish architecture and in 16th- and 17th-century Scottish buildings. Also called corbie steps.
    — all three definitions from Oxford English Dictionary. 

    Five

    Which of these words means the 1938 annexation of Austria by Hitler’s Nazi Germany?

    • Anschluss
    • Rindereintopf
    • Schlafwandeln

    Answer: Anschluss.

    Anschluss /ˈanʃlʊs /
    ▸ the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938. Hitler had forced the resignation of the Austrian Chancellor by demanding that he admit Nazis into his cabinet. The new Chancellor, a pro-Nazi, invited German troops to enter the country on the pretext of restoring law and order.
    – ORIGIN German, from anschliessen ‘to join’.
    — Oxford English Dictionary 

    Rindereintopf is a beef stew, and Schlafwandeln is sleepwalking.

  • A Word to the Wise

    See question four. Water crow …
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    Today’s questions are all about words and their meanings.

    One

    What is the meaning of the adjective glabrescent?

    • Hairless
    • Raucous
    • Shrinking

    Two

    What does the name of the dinosaur Falcarius mean?

    • Ground scraper
    • Sickle cutter
    • Wood driller

    Three

    Spectrophobia, catoptrophobia and eisoptrophobia can all relate to what household item?

    • Kettle
    • Linoleum
    • Mirror

    Four

    What word can be added to crow to complete this plants name: crow …?

    • Foot
    • Quill
    • Steps

    Five

    Which of these words means the 1938 annexation of Austria by Hitler’s Nazi Germany?

    • Anschluss
    • Rindereintopf
    • Schlafwandeln

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • In the Beginning — Answers

    Here are the answers to today’s questions.

    Woodcut representing the waterfront of Memphis, Tennessee, published 1879.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    Today’s five questions form a theme, and that is all I am alluding to.

    One

    The Perry Index sorts fables attributed to which ancient Greek writer?

    Answer: Aesop.

    The Perry Index is a comprehensive index of Aesop’s Fables, attributed to the ancient Greek storyteller Aesop (620-560 BC). Created by Ben Edwin Perry, a University of Illinois classics professor, it categorises and references the fables. Modern scholarship suggests Aesop didn’t compose all of the fables attributed to him; some predate him, others appear over a millennium after him.

    Two

    What singer’s debut album was Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number?

    Answer: Aaliyah.

    Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number is Aaliyah’s debut album, released on 24 May 1994. Produced by R. Kelly, it blends R&B with new jack swing, peaking at number 18 on the US Billboard 200. It sold over three million copies in the US and six million worldwide, featuring two gold-certified singles.

    Three

    In 1938, which national leader was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year?

    Answer: Adolf Hitler.

    TIME explained what was perhaps the most controversial of its choices thus: “Hitler became in 1938 the greatest threatening force that the democratic, freedom-loving world faces today” (1/2/39).

    Hitler’s rise began in 1919, when he joined the German Workers Party, which was renamed the Nazi party. Within two years he was the party’s leader. In 1933, Hitler became chancellor of Germany and soon consolidated his power, banning other parties and establishing totalitarian rule. He put the unemployed to work in public programs, rebuilt the army and sent Jews, communists and others to concentration camps. On September 1, 1939, Hitler began World War II by invading Poland. By 1941, German troops had become bogged down in Russia, and in 1944 the Allies began their advance on Germany. Hitler lived his final months in a Berlin bunker, committing suicide on April 29, 1945.

    — Time Inc. Research Center (Joan Levinstein)

    Four

    Big River, a 1984 musical, is based on which Mark Twain novel?

    Answer: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

    Roger Miller’s Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a musical based on Mark Twain’s novel, featuring bluegrass and country music. The 1985 Broadway production ran for over 1,000 performances and won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

    Five

    What word describes the repetition of the same sound at the start of each word?

    Answer: Alliteration.

    alliteration | əˌlɪtəˈreɪʃn | noun [mass noun] the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words: the alliteration of ‘sweet birds sang’ | [count noun] :  alliterations are clustered in the last few lines. 
    – ORIGIN early 17th century: from medieval Latin alliteratio(n-), from Latin ad– (expressing addition) + littera ‘letter’.
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    In the Beginning

    The post title refers to all the answers beginning with ‘A’.

  • In the Beginning

    Woodcut published 1879.
    Image Wikimedia Commons

    Today’s five questions form a theme, and that is all I am alluding to.

    One

    The Perry Index sorts fables attributed to which ancient Greek writer?

    Two

    What singer’s debut album was Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number?

    Three

    In 1938, which national leader was named Time magazine’s Man of the Year?

    Four

    Big River, a 1984 musical, is based on which Mark Twain novel?

    Five

    What word describes the repetition of the same sound at the start of each word?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Word Spice II — Answers

    Here are the answers to today’s questions.

    Dictionary.
    Image Encyclopædia Britannica


    Identify the five words defined below.

    One

    This twelve-letter noun means ‘a political candidate who seeks election in an area where they have no local connections’. What is this word?

    Answer: Carpetbagger.

    carpetbagger ▸ noun informal, derogatory a political candidate who seeks election in an area where they have no local connections.
    — ORIGIN mid 19th century: originally applied to people from the northern states of the US who went to the South after the Civil War to profit from the Reconstruction.
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    Two

    This six-letter noun means ‘the period of a person’s or thing’s greatest success, popularity, activity, or vigour’. What is this noun?

    Answer: Heyday.

    heyday /ˈheɪdeɪ /
    ▸ (one’s heyday) noun the period of a person’s or thing’s greatest success, popularity, activity, or vigour: the paper has lost millions of readers since its heyday in 1964.

    – ORIGIN late 16th century (denoting good spirits or passion): from archaic heyday!, an exclamation of joy, surprise, etc.
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    Three

    This four-letter verb means ‘move along slowly and carefully’. What is it?

    Answer: Inch.

    inch verb [no object, with adverbial of direction] move along slowly and carefully.
    — ORIGIN late Old English  ynce, from Latin uncia ‘twelfth part’, from unus ‘one’ (probably denoting a unit). Compare with ounce.
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    Four

    This seven-letter verb means ‘criticise (someone or something) harshly’. What is this verb?

    Answer: Lambast.

    lambast /lamˈbast / (lambaste /lamˈbeɪst /)
    ▸ verb [with object] criticize (someone or something) harshly: they lambasted the report as a gross distortion of the truth.

    – ORIGIN mid 17th century (in the sense ‘beat, thrash’): from lam1 + baste3. The current sense dates from the late 19th century.
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    Five

    This five-letter verb means ‘inspire or permeate with (a feeling or quality)‘. What is the word?

    Answer: Imbue.

    imbue /ɪmˈbjuː /
    ▸ (be imbued with) verb ( imbues, imbuing, imbued) [with object] inspire or permeate with (a feeling or quality): his works are invariably imbued with a sense of calm and serenity.

    – ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘saturate’): from French imbu ‘moistened’, from Latin imbutus, past participle of imbuere ‘moisten’.
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    Word Spice

    The post title was a bit of a clue But not as straightforward as yesterday. The first letter of each answer spells ‘chili’ when taken in order — chili being a spice.

  • Word Spice II

    Dictionary.
    Image Encyclopædia Britannica


    Identify the five words defined below.

    One

    This twelve-letter noun means ‘a political candidate who seeks election in an area where they have no local connections’. What is this word?

    Two

    This six-letter noun means ‘the period of a person’s or thing’s greatest success, popularity, activity, or vigour’. What is this noun?

    Three

    This four-letter verb means ‘move along slowly and carefully’. What is it?

    Four

    This seven-letter verb means ‘criticise (someone or something) harshly’. What is this verb?

    Five

    This five-letter verb means ‘inspire or permeate with (a feeling or quality)‘. What is the word?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.

  • Word Spice — Answers

    Here are the answers to today’s questions.

    Dictionary.
    Image Encyclopædia Britannica

    Identify the five words defined below.

    One

    This nine-letter noun means ‘a tiny trace or spark of a specified quality or feeling’. What is the word?

    Answer: Scintilla.

    scintilla | sɪnˈtɪlə | noun [in singular] a tiny trace or spark of a specified quality or feeling: a scintilla of doubt. 
    — ORIGIN late 17th century: from Latin.
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    Two

    A twelve-letter noun used in law, mainly in Scotland, meaning ‘the preliminary examination of witnesses, especially to decide whether there is ground for a trial’. What is the word?

    Answer: Precognition.

    See usage 2 below.

    precognition | ˌpriːkɒɡˈnɪʃn | noun 1 [mass noun] foreknowledge of an event, especially as a form of extrasensory perception. 2 Law, mainly Scottish English the preliminary examination of witnesses, especially to decide whether there is ground for a trial. 
    — ORIGIN late Middle English: from late Latin praecognitio(n-), based on Latin cognoscere ‘know’.
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    Three

    This four-letter noun, the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet, means ‘an extremely small amount’. Can you guess what it is?

    Answer: Iota.

    iota | ʌɪˈəʊtə | noun 1 the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet (Ι, ι), transliterated as ‘i’. • [followed by Latin genitive] Astronomy (Iota) the ninth star in a constellation: Iota Piscium. 2 [in singular, usually with negative] an extremely small amount: nothing she said seemed to make an iota of difference.
    — ORIGIN from Greek iōta. iota (sense 2 of the noun) arose because iota is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet: compare with jot.
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    Four

    This is a fourteen-letter noun meaning ‘a person who enjoys or is skilled at solving crosswords’. Can you identify the word?

    Answer: Cruciverbalist.

    cruciverbalist | ˌkruːsɪˈvəːbəlɪst | noun a person who enjoys or is skilled at solving crosswords. 
    — ORIGIN 1970s: from Latin crux, cruci– ‘cross’ and verbalist.
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    Five

    This ten-letter noun means ‘the formal art and practice of horsemanship and horse riding’. What is the word?

    Answer: Equitation.

    equitation | ˌɛkwɪˈteɪʃn | noun [mass noun] formal the art and practice of horsemanship and horse riding. 
    — ORIGIN mid 16th century: from French équitation or Latin equitatio(n-), from equitare ‘ride a horse’, from eques, equit– ‘horseman’ (from equus ‘horse’).
    Oxford English Dictionary 

    Word Spice

    The post title was a bit of a clue. The first letter of each answer spells ‘spice’ when taken in order.

  • Word Spice

    Dictionary.
    Image Encyclopædia Britannica

    Identify the five words defined below.

    One

    This nine-letter noun means ‘a tiny trace or spark of a specified quality or feeling’. What is the word?

    Two

    A twelve-letter noun used in law, mainly in Scotland, meaning ‘the preliminary examination of witnesses, especially to decide whether there is ground for a trial’. What is this noun?

    Three

    This four-letter noun, the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet, means ‘an extremely small amount’. Can you guess what it is?

    Four

    This is a fourteen-letter noun meaning ‘a person who enjoys or is skilled at solving crosswords’. Can you identify the word?

    Five

    This ten-letter noun means ‘the formal art and practice of horsemanship and horse riding’. What is the word?

    Good luck! I’ll post the answers later.