Comments on: King William College Quiz

King William College Quiz

biffa — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:46:50 -0800

The King William College Quiz, apparently now my only FPP in a year (since the last quiz), hopefully as hard as ever, but unlikely to reward my brand of laziness. Merry Christmas! See previous posts for laying out answers, I'll post the Guardians' answer sheet in January.

By: beagle

beagle — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:37:47 -0800

Thanks for our annual reminder that we are not as smart as we think we are.

By: facetious

facetious — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:51:31 -0800

Wow do I not have a cluuuuuuuue about any of this stuff. Reminds me of how pathetically Google-bound I've become.

By: matthewr

matthewr — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:04:41 -0800

Yeah, just a side note: anyone who uses Google on this is a filthy dirty cheater. It's a general knowledge quiz, not a Googling quiz, dammit!

By: coolhappysteve

coolhappysteve — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:05:56 -0800

This is fantastic(ally difficult)! Against all odds, I have managed to crack #6 without any of the Google; who wants to chip in? 6. [Something about Russians] 2 - Molotov 3 - Anton Chekov 8 - Dmitri Mendelev 9 - Yuri Gagarin? 10 - Ivan Pavlov Of course, if it's Yuri Gagarin, that ruins everyone's name ending with 'V.' Maybe that's what the category is... hmmm...

By: MtDewd

MtDewd — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:13:48 -0800

Happy to get the first one. Section 13 seems to be military ranks. 1- Sergeant Pepper 7- The Modern Major General 8- Corporal Himmelstoss 9- Private Mulvaney

By: Memo

Memo — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:16:08 -0800

Hogwarts and Pavlov. YOU DO REALIZE THAT I'LL NEVER FEEL COMPLETE AGAIN UNTIL I'M ABLE TO ANSWER THIS TEST WITHOUT GOOGLE, RIGHT?

By: BigCalm

BigCalm — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:17:42 -0800

Well, 13.1 has to be the beatles, but I'm a bit stumped. I remember posting the one here 3 (4?) years ago. I'm so sorry!

By: limon

limon — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:22:59 -0800

A few random ones: 11.5 Heart of Darkness 13.1 Sgt. Pepper 16.2 Leiden 18.1 Jelly Bean 18.10 Oleg Gordievsky

By: Tube

Tube — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:23:20 -0800

14.9 Who or what might be regarded as the pharmacist's bible? I have a bad feeling that the answer is going to turn out to be the Physician's Desk Reference, which seems to be the favorite of many doctors, though generally reviled by pharmacists. Facts and Comparisons is by far superior. This being an English quiz, I have no idea if this text is also used in the UK.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:24:22 -0800

Theme of three is faked documents by the looks of it, with the Hitler Diaries and Zinoviev letter in there.

By: The White Hat

The White Hat — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:25:35 -0800

I have a bad feeling that the answer is going to turn out to be the Physician's Desk Reference, which seems to be the favorite of many doctors, though generally reviled by pharmacists. Facts and Comparisons is by far superior. I'd vote for the Pharmacopoeia over either text.

By: Tube

Tube — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:32:56 -0800

I should like to amend my guess to Martindale's...

By: The White Hat

The White Hat — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:33:44 -0800

Also, 8.2= Hook

By: dws

dws — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:56:44 -0800

Hamlet and... and... damn, should have paid more attention in that English class.

By: humannaire

humannaire — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:58:35 -0800

Test says, "Answer all of these general knowledge questions without using Google." [Humannaire unplugs test; reconfigs.]

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:59:28 -0800

Who are these plural Guardians who have the answer sheet? Did they steal it from the The (formerly Manchester) Guardian newspaper?

By: The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal

The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:01:03 -0800

ſome Anſwers regarding Pirates (the Numeral Eight): 1. John Gow 2. Captain Hook 3. Captain Sharkey (of Arthur Conan Doyle's Captain Sharkey) 5. Anne Bonny 8. Francois L'Olonnais 9. Captain Blood I'm not really sure what they have in common aside from pirate-ness, though. And 6.9 is Yuri Gagarin; I found it while I was testing to see if it was Alexei Leonov.

By: eriko

eriko — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:07:17 -0800

17.1 : Paddington 17.4: Whitechapel 17.5: (Victoria) Embankment (Cleopatra's Needle) 17.8: Waterloo 17.9: Hyde Park Corner (Copenhagen is Wellington's Horse.) The theme seems to be tube stations.

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:32:18 -0800

I'm...not smart. Certainly not as smart as I like to think I am, and judging by this, probably not even smart at all.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:35:32 -0800

14 is all about various Martins. Here's what I remembered without Google: 14-2: St. Martin of Tours 14-3: martingale 14-4: freemartin 14-5: Martinique So 14-9 has to have martin somewhere in its name or as one of the editors/authors, or is a sly allusion to something that really isn't a formal pharmacist's source.

By: CitizenD

CitizenD — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:37:09 -0800

oh, poo.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:38:13 -0800

(And Tube got it with Martindales -- sorry, didn't see that before I posted).

By: T.D. Strange

T.D. Strange — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:38:28 -0800

11.4 is either Robotussin or Nyquil. I think.

By: oxford blue

oxford blue — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:56:08 -0800

*wipes away smug smile*

By: Joe Invisible

Joe Invisible — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 18:33:01 -0800

13.6 - A reference to Catch-22, without resorting to research, I think it was (Captain) Havermeyer? Definitely from Catch-22, even if I have the wrong name.

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:38:04 -0800

Darn you, Joe Invisible - I was just coming in here to say Catch-22! (Could it have been Major Major Major? He was also pretty crazy.)

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:45:35 -0800

11.9 - the Red Queen? "Off with his/her head!"

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:52:27 -0800

Whoops - section 11 is about hearts. 11.9 would be the Queen of Hearts, and the Tolbooth was a prison in Glasgow(? Edinburgh?) that was heart-shaped, if you believe Sir Walter Scott's The Heart of Midlothian.

By: katiewa

katiewa — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:57:28 -0800

My first metafilter post!! I think these are right: 4.2 is Graham's Town in Africa (Just So Stories) 4.6 has to be Winnie the Pooh 5.8 is Howard's End 8.7 is Frederick in the Pirates of Penzance 10.3 is Mr. Rochester (Jane Eyre) 11.6 is the flower Puck picks for Oberon in Midsummer Night's Dream - "Love in Idleness" 11.9 is the Queen of Hearts, 'Alice in Wonderland'

By: sonic meat machine

sonic meat machine — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:16:00 -0800

You know, I have to confess that when I see things like this I feel absolutely no compunction to answer the questions. It just doesn't interest me. Where do I turn in my card? :(

By: borkingchikapa

borkingchikapa — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:03:48 -0800

3 looks like famous hoaxes. I'm pretty sure 3-1 is William Henry Ireland, who forged a "lost" Shakespeare play, and 3-8 is the Piltdown man, a homonid skull forgery.

By: dws

dws — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:06:34 -0800

Captain Blood was one of my grandfather's favorite books. He twisted my arm for many years to get me to read some Rafael Sabatini. And damn, grandpa was right: Sabatini writes wrote some great stories.

By: johnj

johnj — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:12:37 -0800

I have looked over the quize and, quite honestly, I don't think I like ANY of you anymore.

By: coolhappysteve

coolhappysteve — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:32:22 -0800

Whoops - section 11 is about hearts. Then that would make 11.5 'Heart of Darkness;' should have gotten that. 14.10 is Martin Chuzzlewit, the eponymous Dickens protagonist.

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:32:56 -0800

1.1 is Oklahoma (46th state, founded in 1907)

By: Lucinda

Lucinda — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 21:40:42 -0800

and for 18.7, the "noontide run" - isn't there some college in England where you have to run around some large part of the campus at noon? It figured into "Chariots of Fire", I think...

By: Grod

Grod — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 22:14:47 -0800

7.2 Hamlet and Laertes that and the Winnie the Pooh one were all I got. Thanks, my ego just made a comic balloon sound and spiraled around the room before falling fully deflated behind the sofa.

By: Grod

Grod — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 22:15:44 -0800

Oh, wait. I think 6.4 is Tchaikovsky but don't quote me on it.

By: Grod

Grod — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 22:17:06 -0800

Ah, I got a few more. Still, the old ego is on life support and unlikely to pull through. Bastards.

By: emf

emf — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 00:22:53 -0800

I think 2/7 is St Custard's, of Molesworth fame. Also, 6 – whose 20th century lymantrid emulalated a 17th century cervid doesn't inspire confidence.

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 00:42:33 -0800

17 is about locations in London: 17.1 Paddington 17.2 Little Venice 17.4 Whitechapel 17.5 Victoria Embankment 17.6 Connaught Hotel 17.7 Jack Straw's Castle 17.10 Lambeth

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 01:03:40 -0800

9 is about farms - all fictional, I think: 9.1 A little farm in Arkansaw? Don't know if it had a name (Huckleberry Finn) 9.2 Animal Farm (Orwell) 9.3 Talbothays Farm (Tess of the d'Urbervilles) 9.4 Salt Lake Farm (Under Milk Wood-DylanThomas) 9.6 Philip's Farm (The Brook-Tennyson) 9.10 Renshent Farm (Tommy Big-Eyes-T. E. Brown)

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 01:21:36 -0800

4 seems to be about South Africa - in fact and fiction: 4.1 Rorke's Drift 4.2 Graham's Town (Just So Stories-Kipling) 4.3 Tchaka (Prester John-John Buchan) 4.4 Basil D'Oliveira - cricketer 4.5 Solomon Plaatje 4.7 Cecil Rhodes 4.8 Hendrik Verwoerd 4.9 Dromedaris

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 01:29:07 -0800

14 has 'martin' as part of the answer: 14.1 Dean Martin 14.2 St. Martin of Tours 14.3 Martingale 14.4 Freemartinism 14.5 Martinique 14.6 Martinware 14.8 Remy Martin 14.9 Martindale 14.10 Martin Chuzzlewit

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 01:53:04 -0800

13 is military ranks: 13.1 Sergeant Pepper 13.2 Lieutenant Godet (Sir Percy Hits Back- Baroness Orczy) 13.4 Battery Sergeant-Major Tudor Bryn Williams (from British TV comedy series It Ain't Half Hot Mum) 14.6 Bombardier Havermayer (Catch 22) 14.7 Major-General Stanley (Pirates of Penzance) 14.8 Corporal Himmelstoss (All Quiet on the Western Front) 14.9 Private Mulvaney (Kipling) 14.10 Brigadier Gerard (Conan Doyle)

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:01:47 -0800

16 is European Universities: 16.1 Coimbra (Portugal) 16.2 Leyden (Germany) 16.3 Tartu (Estonia) 16.4 Salamanca (Spain) 16.5 Bristol (England) 16.6 Turku (Finland) 16.7 Cambridge (England) 16.8 Padua (Italy) 16.9 Gottingen (Germany) 16.10 Dublin (Ireland)

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:09:21 -0800

15 is about the 'Swallows and Amazons' books by Arthur Ransome: 15.1 Peter Duck 15.2 George Owdon and Ralph Strakey 15.3 motor cruiser Margoletta 15.4 The Mastodon 15.5 Wildcat 15.6 Great Northern Diver 15.7 Kanchenjunga 15.8 Mumps 15.9 Mariehamn 15.10 Timothy

By: lesbroux

lesbroux — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:18:20 -0800

Section 1.9 Colin Blythe, aka Charlie Blythe. Cricketer who played for Kent. The figures in question are his bowling figures for the match against Northamptonshire. For those of you not conversant with the idiosyncrasies of of cricket, interpretation as follows: 31.1 overs (an over consists of 6 balls) 14 maidens (overs in which no runs were scored) 48 runs for 17 wickets

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:23:24 -0800

11 answers contain the word 'heart': 11.1 Hole in the heart? (ventricular septal defect) 11.2 The Heart of the Matter (Graham Greene) 11.3 Kind Hearts and Coronets 11.4 Purple Hearts 11.5 Heart of Darkness (Conrad) 11.6 Heart's-Ease 11.7 Sick Heart River (John Buchan) 11.8 Heartbeat (British TV series) 11.9 Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland) 11.10 The Heart of Midlothian

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:37:24 -0800

10 answers contain the word 'chester' 10.1 Winchester Light Automatic Rifle 10.3 Edward Rochester (Jane Eyre) 10.4 Melchester Rovers (Roy of the Rovers cartoon strip) 10.5 G. K. Chesterton (about Father Brown) 10.6 Sir Francis Chichester 10.7 Silchester 10.8 Chesterfield 10.9 Barchester (Anthony Trollope) 10.10 Colchester Utd.

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:53:52 -0800

7 is famous duels in fact and fiction: 7.1 Lenski (Eugen Onegin) 7.2 Hamlet and Laertes 7.3 Colonel David Fawcett 7.5 Professor Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes) 7.7 Sohrab (Matthew Arnold) 7.8 Charles, 4th Baron Mohun 7.9 11th Earl of Shrewsbury

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 03:10:10 -0800

8 is pirates in fact and fiction: 8.1 John Gow 8.2 Captain Hook 8.3 Captain Sharkey (The Green Flag - Conan Doyle) 8.4 Radio Caroline (pirate radio station) 8.5 Anne Bonny 8.6 Billy Bones (Treasure Island) 8.7 Frederick (Pirates of Penzance) 8.8 Francois L'Ollonais 8.9 Captain Blood (Sabatini) 8.10 Conrad the Corsair (Byron)

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 03:27:09 -0800

2 is schools in fiction: 2.1 St. Dominic's (The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's - Talbot Baines Reed) 2.2 Lowood Institute (Jane Eyre) 2.3 Beardsley School (Lolita) 2.4 Dotheboys Hall (Nicholas Nickleby) 2.5 Fernhurst (The Loom of Youth - Alec Waugh) 2.6 Marcia Blaine Academy (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark) 2.7 St. Custard's (Willans/Searle) 2.8 Roslyn School (Eric or Little by Little - Frederic Farrar) 2.9 Hogwarts (Harry Potter) 2.10 Greyfriars (Billy Bunter)

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 03:38:13 -0800

1 events in 1907: 1.1 Oklahoma 1.2 Irish 'crown jewels' (insignia of the illustious order of St. Patrick) stolen in Dublin 1.3 Persil washing powder 1.4 Robert Baden - Powell 1.5 Rudyard Kipling 1.6 The Playboy of the Western World - J. M. Synge 1.7 Horace Rayner 1.8 Thomas W. Lawson schooner 1.10 First TT race on Isle of Man

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 03:55:52 -0800

3 is famous forgers/forgeries 3.1 William Henry Ireland 3.2 Eric Hebborn 3.3 Zinoviev letter 3.4 Konrad Kujau 3.6 Alceo Dossena 3.7 George Psalmanazar 3.8 Piltdown Man 3.10 Lothar Malskat

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 04:11:06 -0800

5 answers contain the word 'end': 5.1 Land's End (Cornwall) 5.3 Endgame (Samuel Beckett) 5.4 Turnip Townshend (Charles, 2nd Viscount Raynham) 5.5 The End of the Affair (Graham Greene) 5.6 Manhood End (Eddi's Service - Kipling) 5.7 Mile-end (The Life of Colonel Jack - Defoe) 5.8 Howard's End (E. M. Forster) 5.9 Southend-on-Sea 5.10 Great End (Lake District)

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 04:28:48 -0800

12 the names of tunes to famous hymns: 12.1 Dear Lord and Father of Mankind 12.2 I vow to thee my country 12.3 O Jesus I have promised 12.4 When I survey the wondrous cross 12.5 Come down O love divine 12.6 Guide me O thou Great Redeemer 12.7 Glorious things of thee are spoken 12.8 The day thou gavest Lord is ended 12.9 Let us with a gladsome mind 12.10 In the bleak midwinter

By: QuarterlyProphet

QuarterlyProphet — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 05:43:11 -0800

tigris I'm not sure if I'd be madder at you for using google or if you actually knew the answers.

By: Lebannen

Lebannen — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 08:04:20 -0800

QuarterlyProphet - I'll go with being madder if tigris was cheating, because I was damn sure I was going to be the only person who knew what the T. W. Lawson was, and briefly felt incredibly smug about it. I will now go back to just feeling incredibly full and slightly drunk, thank you for your time.

By: Burger-Eating Invasion Monkey

Burger-Eating Invasion Monkey — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 08:43:45 -0800

Section 18: 4 must be Bob Woolmer in the West Indies. The hyoid bone being broken is a tell-tale sign of strangulation. 9 is Kevin Rudd, elected Aus PM. 10 is Gordievsky.

By: Burger-Eating Invasion Monkey

Burger-Eating Invasion Monkey — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 08:44:14 -0800

18.7 is at Trinity in Cambridge. Varsity reported someone beating the record this year.

By: djgh

djgh — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 09:43:40 -0800

18.7 - Specifically Great Court, no? Sam Dobin, if memory serves.

By: beagle

beagle — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 10:56:55 -0800

Correcting tigris, 16.2 Leyden is in the Netherlands, not Germany

By: beagle

beagle — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:29:45 -0800

Keeping score: Sections now fully answered above, whether correctly or not, and whether by tigris or not: 1, 2, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16 Not yet answered at all: 3.9 4.10 5.2 6.1, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7 7.4, 7.6, 7.10 9.5, 9.7, 9.8, 9.9 10.2 13.3, 13.5 14.6 17.3 18.2, 18.3, 18.5, 18.6, 18.8

By: beagle

beagle — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:44:04 -0800

6.5 Ivan IV, the Terrible

By: beagle

beagle — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:50:45 -0800

10.2 Grantchester (Rupert Brooke, "The Old Vicarage") (completes section 10)

By: beagle

beagle — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:53:30 -0800

13.5 Major Jonquier (C.S. Forester, The Gun)

By: beagle

beagle — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:54:47 -0800

correction to the score sheet: 14.7 is not answered, 14.6 is answered

By: beagle

beagle — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:56:01 -0800

14.7 Purple Martin

By: beagle

beagle — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 11:59:18 -0800

18.8 Prince Harry

By: beagle

beagle — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 12:07:16 -0800

See also Mark D. Lew's annual answer page.

By: verstegan

verstegan — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 12:13:53 -0800

9.5. The farm (Hill Farm?) in Tarka the Otter 7.10. The Green Knight (in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight)

By: coolhappysteve

coolhappysteve — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 13:42:48 -0800

I don't think we've really conquered it until we formulate the category titles in such a way as to work with every question. Come on, people!

By: lesbroux

lesbroux — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 14:19:12 -0800

4.10 Machadodorp. Temporary Boer government. 7.8 Lord Mohun? Duel between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun in 1712; Lord Mohun's second was accused of having stabbed the Duke while the Duke's second was lifting him up. 7.10 Goliath?

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 14:43:51 -0800

14.7 Sandmartin? Nests in the same sort of terrain as the kingfisher and bee-eater, and a 'British' bird may be a more likely answer, given the origin of the quiz.

By: lesbroux

lesbroux — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 14:54:56 -0800

Sorry tigris - didn't notice you'd already posted Lord Mohun for 7.8. Blame it on a long day (it's nearly midnight here...)

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 15:30:19 -0800

7.10 Goliath? Sounds absolutely right, lesbroux! Felled with a stone and then decapitated!

By: tigris

tigris — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 02:42:40 -0800

7.4 George Tierney. Lived 1761 – 1830. English politician, born in Gibraltar. Fought a duel with William Pitt the Younger in 1798, after Pitt impugned his patriotism. Both came through unscathed.

By: tigris

tigris — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 06:00:26 -0800

9.7 Cold Comfort Farm. From the novel by Stella Gibbons: " Edward the Sixth had originally owned it....but he had grown tired of it, and had it rebuilt....William and Mary had pulled it down again....George the Second....burned it down....George the Fourth pulled it down again".

By: beagle

beagle — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 09:33:27 -0800

9.9 Dickson appears to have been associated with King William's College -- there is a Dickson House there. So this 500-acre farm may be on the Isle of Man; perhaps it even became the campus itself -- the college site has no details on Dickson.

By: lesbroux

lesbroux — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 14:24:07 -0800

6.1 Nikodim, Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod; died of a heart attack during an audience with Pope John Paul I in 1978.

By: tigris

tigris — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 03:58:51 -0800

7.4 William Pitt the Younger. Many thanks to Mark D. Lew for pointing out that we mistakenly put his opponent as our answer earlier on!

By: tigris

tigris — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 08:26:47 -0800

18.3 Margaret Thatcher. In February 2007, a bronze statue of her was placed in the Houses of Parliament. She quipped: "I might have preferred iron — but bronze will do. It won't rust."

By: tigris

tigris — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:55:44 -0800

17.9 Hyde Park Corner. There is a bronze equestrian statue of the Iron Duke there, near the Wellington Arch. It was designed by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm Bart., R.A. (1834-90) in 1888.

By: tigris

tigris — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:06:22 -0800

9.8 Holgersson Farm. From 'The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgerssonn' by Selma Lagerlöf.

By: tigris

tigris — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 08:08:19 -0800

13.3 Colonel Bramble. From 'The Silence of Colonel Bramble' by Andre Maurois...."the orderlies brought the rum, sugar and boiling water; the colonel put the gramophone to speed 61, and Dr O'Grady talked about the Russian Revolution..."

By: tigris

tigris — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:02:28 -0800

9.9 Blaweary. The retirement home acquired by Dickson McCunn in 'Castle Gay' by John Buchan. "A farm of some five hundred acres had been bought ......he had on the whole made a pleasing thing of Blaweary (it was the name which had first taken his fancy)..."

By: beagle

beagle — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:54:05 -0800

Blaweary. Nice job. Sorry about the red herring, before. There seems to be some Buchan-KWC connection, but I haven't figured that out, either.

By: tigris

tigris — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:00:03 -0800

re: Blaweary......I think the 'retirement' bit refers to McCunn having sold his grocery business in Glasgow in order to settle down as a country gentleman. 15.9 Mariehamn. This appears to come from Ransome's book 'We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea'. This is a quotation from it:......"Pommern. They listened to Daddy telling them of the island harbour of Mariehamn in the Baltic to which the barque belonged." 9.8 Holger Nilsson's farm. This seems definitely to be from Lagerlöf's 'The Wonderful Adventures of Nils', but as Mark D. Lew points out, the farm would bear the name of the father rather than the son. The farm appears to have no other actual name in the book.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:29:48 -0800

I'm still not convinced of Mariehamn, but that quote is evidence in favor.

By: tigris

tigris — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 04:34:24 -0800

Re: Mariehamn.........think the other Ransome book that has been suggested is Racundra's First Cruise, but so far we can find no mention of either the Pommern or Mariehamn in there. PS: the KWC quiz has finally been published in the Guardian today. The words 'gate', 'horse', and 'bolted' spring somewhat to mind!

By: tigris

tigris — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 05:47:32 -0800

14.8 Julian Pemartin Laborde. This seems the most feasible answer and the building in question is probably the Palacio de Las Cadenas (now the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art) in Jerez. Apparently construction began in 1860 from a plan by the French architect, Charles Garnier, and was finished in 1866. It was originally the home of the Frenchman Julian Pemartin Laborde, who settled at Jerez as a sherry producer. Other information suggests that it does indeed border the Sandeman edifice.

By: CCBC

CCBC — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:18:25 -0800

I think 4.6 is Xixo from The Gods Must Be Crazy. Can't find a video to confirm, though.

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 08:58:19 -0800

18.6 Sir Ian Botham......I think the 'previous recognition of bovine excellence' probably refers to the legend that a particularly succulent piece of beef steak was knighted by a king in appreciation, and thus became known as "Sir Loin" (sirloin). The king is variously said to be Henry VIII, James Ist, or Charles II of England.

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 11:52:45 -0800

18.5 Alan Coren. British journalist, known as the 'Sage of Cricklewood' - died Oct. 2007.

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 12:03:30 -0800

Re: Alan Coren. Wrote a book called 'The Cricklewood Diet'. Cricklewood is a district in North London.

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:50:35 -0800

4.6 Have found the answer at last! Yay! It is: The Bushman of the Kalahari, and comes from the book 'The Lost World of the Kalahari' by Sir Laurens van der Post.

By: tigris

tigris — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 17:00:41 -0800

Re: The Bushman of the Kalahari - the quotation is from Chapter 1, 'The Vanished People'.

By: lesbroux

lesbroux — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:36:28 -0800

Well done tigris - I've been racking my brains over both of those!

By: tigris

tigris — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:02:28 -0800

Re: The Bushman of the Kalahari - here is part of the paragraph that contains the quotation: "The Bushman loved honey. He loved honey with a passion that we, with a sweet-shop on every corner, cannot hope to understand. Bitterness is to the tongue what darkness is to the eye; darkness and bitterness are forms of one another. And the taste of honey to the Bushman was like the light of the fire to his eye, and the warmth of its ruby flame in the black night of Africa".

By: lesbroux

lesbroux — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:53:23 -0800

Tha answers were published on the King William College web site today. We didn't do too badly although the quizmaster's maths (17.8) leaves something to be desired!!