Tag: words

Spaghetti Tree

Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner in Zoom and Bored, 1957. Wikipedia

April 1. Some of these may be true, indeed they may all be, but on the other hand they may, some or all, be false. Don’t be fooled!

  1. True or false: a platypus, aka a duck-billed platypus, is a venomous mammal.
  2. True or false: novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe, who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama?
  3. True or false: Yogi Bear made his television debut in The Bugs Bunny Show.
  4. True or False: A bat mitzvah is a coming-of-age ritual in Judaism.
  5. True or false: The roadrunner is one of two species of fast-running ground cuckoos.
  6. True or false: Sequoia is another name for Bigfoot, the legendary creature from the forests of North America’s Pacific Northwest.

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Confused to Start With | Answers

J. M. Flagg’s recruiting poster, 1917
Wikipedia
  1. Luc means—is an anagram of Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam, a national personification of the United States, represents the federal government and is a symbol of patriotic emotion. The character, popularised by a 1917 recruiting poster, originated during the War of 1812 and is distinct from Columbia, representing the nation, and Brother Jonathan, representing the populace.
    Lonesome George.
    Wikipedia
  2. Pinta—Pinta Island tortoise, a subspecies of Galápagos tortoise, was hunted to near extinction by the end of the 19th century. A single male, Lonesome George, was discovered in 1971 but died in 2012, leading to the subspecies’ presumed extinction.
  3. Yesterday—Yesterday was the only “solo” Beatles Track.

    “He [McCartney] played it to John, George and Ringo, who approved but didn’t think it required them to play on it. Yesterday would be a Beatles song with only one Beatle on it.”

    – The Sunday Times, 23 March 2025 © Ian Leslie 2025. Extracted from John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs.

  4. AA Milne—Heffalumps and Woozles appear in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories
  5. Galahad—Sir Galahad, a knight of King Arthur’s Round Table, is the illegitimate son of Sir Lancelot and Lady Elaine. He is renowned for his gallantry and purity, replacing Percival as the hero in the quest for the Holy Grail.
  6. Arachnophobia—fear of spiders. Shelob is a spider featured in The Lord of the Rings. Emetophobia is the fear of vomiting and pogonophobia is having an extreme dislike of beards.
Piglet dreams of the Heffalump. E. H. Shepard’s original illustration, from Winnie-the-Pooh.
Wikipedia

Confused to Start With


Nothing to do with today’s date just a selection of questions.

Flag of the US
Wikipedia
  1. Which one of the following can become a personification of the US government?
    • Clean Sue
    • Muscleman
    • Luc means
  2. Lonesome George, the last of his subspecies, died in 2012. His subspecies, now extinct, was named…
    • Niña Island tortoise
    • Pinta Island tortoise
    • Santa Maria Island tortoise
  3. The only Beatles song featuring just one Beatle was…
    • If I Fell
    • This Boy
    • Yesterday
  4. Heffalumps and Woozles appear in books by…
    • AA Milne
    • CS Lewis
    • JRR Tolkien
  5. One of King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table; the son of Sir Lancelot du Lac and Lady Elaine of Corbenic; renowned for his gallantry and purity as the most perfect of all knights, is…
    • Bedivere
    • Galahad
    • Percival
  6. An irrational fear of the fictional Shelob is…
    • Arachnophobia
    • Emetophobia
    • Pogonophobia
The Arming and Departure of the Knights,
one of the Holy Grail tapestries, 1890s, figures by Edward Burne-Jones
Wikipedia

Good luck! The answers will be posted later.

Mysteries and Meanings: A Trivial Journey Through Alfa-Foxtrot—Answers

Aardwolf at Buffalo Springs NP, Kenya
Wikipedia
  1. A is for Aardwolf. African wild dog—is NOT an another name for the Aardwolf. The other two maanhaar-jackal and termite-eating hyena are such alternatives.
  2. B is for Bacchus. Dionysus—is the Greek god of wine making
  3. C is for the Chrysanthemum Throne. Naruhito—is the current emperor of Japan. In a metonymic sense, the “Chrysanthemum Throne” also rhetorically refers to the head of state and the Japanese monarchy itself.
  4. D is for Drouthy. Thirsty—the line “And drouthy neibors, neibors, meet;” translates to “And thirsty neighbours, neighbours meet;”
  5. E is for Elephant. Mahout—a mahout is a trainer, keeper or rider of an elephant. A howdah is related; it is a seat for carrying people on the back of an elephant or camel. Burlak was the occupation of a person who manually hauled river boats or barges in the Russian Empire.
  6. F is for the Fortingall Yew. Pontius Pilate—An article in the New York Times on 15 January 1899 explored the possibility of Pontius Pilate having Scottish origins. It suggested that during the period between the Romans’ initial and later invasions of Britain, Caesar Augustus sent envoys to establish relations with British and Caledonian chieftains, including Metellanus of Glen Lyon. A Roman envoy fathered a child with a Caledonian woman, who later returned to Rome with him and was raised as Pilate. Although there is no definitive record of Pilate’s birth or parentage, this story is as plausible as other theories suggesting he was born in Tarragona, Spain, or Forchheim, Germany. If true, Pilate would be one of many Scots who have historically achieved high positions in foreign empires.
One trunk of the Fortingall Yew. The original size of the trunk is marked by the wooden poles.
Wikipedia

Mysteries and Meanings: A Trivial Journey Through Alfa-Foxtrot

Chrysanthemum
Wikipedia
  1. A is for Aardwolf. Which of these is NOT an alternative name for an aardwolf?
    • African wild dog
    • Maanhaar-jackal
    • Termite-eating hyena
  2. B is for Bacchus. Commonly known as Bacchus by the Greeks—a name later adopted by the Romans—for a frenzy he is said to induce called baccheia, who is the Greek god of wine-making?
    • Dionysus
    • Marsyas
    • Uranus
  3. C is for the Chrysanthemum Throne. Who currently sits on the Chrysanthemum Throne?
    • Akihito
    • Fumihito
    • Naruhito
  4. D is for Drouthy. What does the word “drouthy” mean in this line from Robert Burns’s Tam o’Shanter? “And drouthy neibors, neibors, meet;”
    • Testy
    • Thirsty
    • Trusty
  5. E is for Elephant. Which of these is a trainer, keeper or rider of an elephant?
    • Burlak
    • Howdah
    • Mahout
  6. F is for the Fortingall Yew. Estimates place the age of this tree in Perthshire, Scotland between 2,000 and 5,000 years. Which biblical figure does local legend say was born in its shadow?
    • Andrew the Apostle
    • Herod Agrippa
    • Pontius Pilate
Fortingall Yew
Wikipedia

Good luck! The answers will be posted later today.