It's here: the King William's College Quiz 2017!
December 21, 2017 4:59 PM   Subscribe

 
12 - 5 Pumba. That's all I got (so far).
posted by DaddyNewt at 5:05 PM on December 21, 2017


4 -3, as any good Kiwi knows, is Sir Peter Blake
posted by Sparx at 5:09 PM on December 21, 2017


9-10 Has to be the Grand Old Duke Of York
posted by Sparx at 5:14 PM on December 21, 2017


1-6 Balfour
1-7 Zimmerman letter
posted by PMdixon at 5:14 PM on December 21, 2017


3-10 is Lydia Bennet from Pride and Prejudice.
posted by andraste at 5:15 PM on December 21, 2017


12 - 10 looks like it's Rasher, the UK Dennis the Menace's pet pig.
posted by Merus at 5:15 PM on December 21, 2017


12 - 6 is Napoleon in Animal Farm
posted by Sparx at 5:17 PM on December 21, 2017


Is it just me or are the Brits particularly obsessed with trivia and minutiae?
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:17 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


12-8: Wilbur.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:18 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


8-1 Salisbury
posted by PMdixon at 5:19 PM on December 21, 2017


12-1: The Mangalitsa is a furry breed of pig from Hungary. Looks a bit sheepish.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:19 PM on December 21, 2017


I'm pretty sure 15-4 is from Arthur Ransome's Pigeon Post but I can't remember the circumstances.
posted by andraste at 5:19 PM on December 21, 2017


1-5: Siegfried Sassoon
1-7 Zimmerman letter
Actually the Zimmermann telegram, but close enough.

I really should be doing better at the 1917 one.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:20 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


I love you nerds.
posted by schadenfrau at 5:26 PM on December 21, 2017 [3 favorites]


11-2 I suspect may be Jesus - unless there's someone else who saw Mathew, Mark, Luke and John in a significant way
posted by Sparx at 5:26 PM on December 21, 2017


I think 9-5 is Duke Ellington, who is associated with the song "Take the A Train," but is that really *the* subway line to Harlem? Surely its *a* subway line to Harlem.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:26 PM on December 21, 2017


7-4: The Möhne and Edersee Dams. (Maltby and Young were flight commanders in Operation Chastise, the bombing raid dramatised in The Dam Busters.)
posted by Iridic at 5:28 PM on December 21, 2017


11 - 7 Must be Saul with his vision on the road to Dasmascus
posted by Sparx at 5:29 PM on December 21, 2017


9 seems like Dukes so yeah I think 9-5 is Duke Ellington
posted by PMdixon at 5:29 PM on December 21, 2017


11-6 Fatima
posted by PMdixon at 5:30 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


7 must be "Dams."

7-3 ("two relics of Roman Iberia still in use") seems to refer to the ancient Proserpina and Cornalvo Dams.
posted by Iridic at 5:31 PM on December 21, 2017


11-2 is Ezekiel
posted by PMdixon at 5:32 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


7-1: The Tignes Dam, decorated with a fresco of Hercules.
posted by Iridic at 5:32 PM on December 21, 2017


"To know where you can find anything is, after all, the greatest part of erudition" was given as permission to Google last year. Are we doing that again?
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:33 PM on December 21, 2017


9-6 if the round is Dukes I'm going with the Duke of Wellington, the Iron Duke
posted by Sparx at 5:33 PM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


2-4 Lindisfarne
posted by Akhu at 5:33 PM on December 21, 2017


1-4 is Halifax.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 5:36 PM on December 21, 2017


Section 4 seems to be mostly kiwis.

4 3 is Sir Peter Blake
4 4 is Sir Edmund Hillary
4 5 is Sir Ernest Rutherford
4 6 is Colonel Arthur Espie Porritt, Baron Porritt
4 9 is Hōne Wiremu Heke Pōkai or just Hone Heke
4 10 is Sir Apirana Ngata and the bird is spelt wrong (Kokako)
posted by poxandplague at 5:37 PM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


Also this is the most I've ever gotten before. I was happy enough to know the Pride and Prejudice question.
posted by poxandplague at 5:38 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


3-9 might be George Bernard Shaw. Maybe. I have no real support for that.
posted by dilettante at 5:40 PM on December 21, 2017


9-9: Which Butcher is remembered as both Dianthus and Jacobaea?

Prince William, Duke of Cumberland

"He is best remembered for his role in putting down the Jacobite Rising at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, which made him immensely popular throughout Britain.[1][2] He is often referred to by the nickname given to him by his Tory opponents: 'Butcher' Cumberland."

Dianthus barbatus (bar-baa' tuss)--Sweet William, zones 3-8,10-18" x 1',various color flowers in clusters in late spring, green foliage, a biennial but self sows readily, named after British historic figure William, Duke of Cumberland.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:42 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


10-2 is Steve Jobs and the category is organ transplants.
posted by howfar at 5:43 PM on December 21, 2017


18-6 is Kazuo Ishiguro winning the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Also the theme for 12 is clearly pigs.
posted by Merus at 5:44 PM on December 21, 2017


7-2: The Malpasset Dam collapsed in 1952, flooding the Côte d’Azur and drowning 423 people.
7-5: The Vaiont Dam: during initial filling in 1963, a landslide into the reservoir triggered an 800 foot wave that overtopped the dam and killed over a thousand people.
7-9: The Nant-y-Gro Dam in Wales was destroyed in a test of Barnes Wallis' "Upkeep" bomb (later used in the aforementioned Operation Chastise)
7-10: The Queen Mary Reservoir was used in '43 as the testing site for a bizarre submersible canoe, codenamed "Sleeping Beauty"
posted by Iridic at 5:45 PM on December 21, 2017


12-3: Who partook of muffins and crumpets in the cook’s cabin?

Little Pig Robinson. "But Robinson he invited most affably to descend into the cabin, to partake of muffins and crumpets."
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:48 PM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


Is it just me or are the Brits particularly obsessed with trivia and minutiae

I've no idea if that's true, but even if it were, it would have very little to do with the thrill of this kind of quiz. Similar to a cryptic crossword, cryptic quizzes (which vary in just how cryptic they are, from quiz to quiz and question to question, but that's actually part of the game too) are just as much about grasping the psychology and tastes of the setter as they are about knowing trivia and minutiae. This is why, although, it's vastly easier with multiple people, it's still not a walkover in the way than an ordinary quiz would be.
posted by howfar at 5:50 PM on December 21, 2017


11-10: Teresa of Ávila. It's The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.
posted by Akhu at 5:55 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


6-3 is the Capital and Counties Bank, Oxford Street branch.
posted by howfar at 5:59 PM on December 21, 2017


6: "Banks"
6-6: John Pull was shot during a robbery at Lloyd's Bank, Durrington, West Sussex
posted by Iridic at 6:02 PM on December 21, 2017


6-8: Hoare's, a bank mentioned in Patrick O'Brian's The Commodore. (The quiz author is a notorious Aubrey/Maturin fan.)
posted by Iridic at 6:05 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


Could the theme of 13 be related to the Olympics?

13-8: 48.12, Mexico City.

"Great Britain's David Hemery wins the men's 400m hurdles in a then world record of 48.12 seconds at the Mexico City Games in 1968."
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:09 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


13-2 Chris Chataway
13-9 Paula Radcliffe
posted by young_simba at 6:16 PM on December 21, 2017


13-1 Mary Rand
13-3 Jonathan Edwards
posted by young_simba at 6:20 PM on December 21, 2017


I'm in the process of creating a Google Sheet for us :)
posted by andraste at 6:20 PM on December 21, 2017


Google Spreadsheet here. I haven't put any of the answers in yet, so feel free to help out there :)
posted by andraste at 6:23 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


13-6 Ian Black
posted by young_simba at 6:26 PM on December 21, 2017


If 2-4 is Lindisfarne, and 2-6 is Chillingham (ref. Thomas Bewick engraving), then category 2 might have to do with Northumberland? And Oswald was a king of Northumbria whose great-grandfather was Ida of Bernicia, so 2-8 might be Bamburgh Castle.
posted by LionIndex at 6:27 PM on December 21, 2017


12-7: What Savage view was slightly marred by seven huge skyscrapers?

Hog's Back, from Huxley's Brave New World: "On the north the view was bounded by the long chalk ridge of the Hog's Back, from behind whose eastern extremity rose the towers of the seven skyscrapers which constituted Guildford. Seeing them, the Savage made a grimace; but he was to become reconciled to them in course of time; for at night they twinkled gaily with geometrical constellations, or else, flood-lighted, pointed their luminous fingers (with a gesture whose significance nobody in England but the Savage now understood) solemnly towards the plumbless mysteries of heaven."
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:32 PM on December 21, 2017


11-8 is surely Joan of Arc, right? (Usually knowing a lot about opera gets me farther in these...but not this one!)
posted by fast ein Maedchen at 6:34 PM on December 21, 2017


It appears the Wor Jackie statue has been moved from Station Road in Ashington (2-10) - it's still in Ashington, just at the leisure center.
posted by LionIndex at 6:35 PM on December 21, 2017


If 4 is Kiwis then I'm sure 4.7 is Dame Kiri te Kanawa.
posted by andraste at 6:39 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


11-5: Which Sephardic Jew had a vision of Christ inviting him to follow him as a 16-year-old Rugby pupil?

Hugh William Montefiore. "At Rugby, young Hugh was greatly influenced by the headmaster, PBH Lyon, and although, as a Jew, he did not attend the school chapel and had little knowledge of Christian teaching, at the age of 16 he had a vision of Christ which led to his immediate conversion. He later recalled: "I was sitting in my study… when a figure in white approached and said 'Follow me.' How I knew that the figure was Jesus is totally beyond me. But I did." He added: "When I first ate a bacon sandwich I felt very, very guilty." By the time he left Rugby he had decided to seek ordination."
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:40 PM on December 21, 2017


andraste, can you turn editing on? The spreadsheet is currently view only.
posted by waninggibbon at 6:40 PM on December 21, 2017


Sorry all - editing is now switched on.
posted by andraste at 6:43 PM on December 21, 2017


10-10: which antirejection drug takes its name from the land of the Moai?

Rapamycin. Easter Island fungus hope for kidney patients
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:45 PM on December 21, 2017


2-8 is definitely Bamburgh Castle since Scott referred to it as "huge and square" in "Lindisfarne."
posted by mightygodking at 6:50 PM on December 21, 2017


UGH! Terrible!

12-2: What might represent Denmark at cross-country?

The Danish Landrace!
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:55 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


12-9 Who escaped, to the consternation of air traffic control?

Pink Floyd's pig. "After painstakingly attaching the pig to Battersea’s southernmost chimney, disaster struck as the tether holding the balloon in place broke during a wind gust, causing the gigantic inflatable porcine to begin lazily drifting away.

"The pig was loose...

"As the pig began to climb ever higher, rising to heights no pig, inflatable or otherwise, had ever hoped or dared to dream, a terrible realisation crept over those watching it sail toward the heavens- the pig was flying directly towards Heathrow airport. As panic began to set in, the band did what many would do in such a situation, according to Powell, “Pink Floyd left the site.”
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:59 PM on December 21, 2017 [4 favorites]


9-2: Who was the grossly obese grandson of King Edward II?

Reginald III, Duke of Guelders


Son of Eleanor of Woodstock, who was daughter to Edward II.
With the death of his father in 1343, his mother held the regency until 1344. From 1350, his brother Edward asserted his rights and a quarrel of succession burst out between the two brothers until 1361. Reginald was overcome in Tiel and was imprisoned in the castle of Nijenbeek. There he became so large that he could not have left, even if the door had remained open—hence his appellation "The Fat". Edward died on August 24, 1371, having been mortally wounded in the Battle of Baesweiler, and Reginald was released (according to the legend, the walls had to be cut away so he could leave); he held the ducal throne for only a short period, dying a few months later.
posted by Panjandrum at 7:02 PM on December 21, 2017


If specifics are important, 9-5 would be not Duke Ellington per se but his band: the tune is by Billy Strayhorn.
posted by huimangm at 7:11 PM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


1-1 is "The Loom of Youth" by Alec Waugh.

information from here
posted by booksherpa at 7:14 PM on December 21, 2017


12-4: Who frightened Mustard in the bathroom of the Garden Suite?

Could this be the Empress of Blandings? Not sure in which of the Wodehouse novels, but perhaps Uncle Fred in the Springtime?

“The Empress of Blandings was a pig who took things as they came. Her motto, like Horace’s, was nil admirari. But, cool and even aloof as she was as a general rule, she had been a little puzzled by the events of the day. In particular, she had found the bathroom odd. It was the only place she had ever been in where there appeared to be a shortage of food. The best it had to offer was a cake of shaving-soap, and she had been eating this with a thoughtful frown when Mr. Pott joined her. As she emerged now, she was still foaming at the mouth a little and it was perhaps this that set the seal on Lord Bosham’s astonishment and caused him not only to recoil a yard or two with his eyes popping but also to pull the trigger of his gun.”

(Love my Berkshires. Pretty sure they would not eat shaving-soap, though.)
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:20 PM on December 21, 2017


11-1 There's a very famous 7th Day Adventist Dykes (black woman, earned a PhD) in the US who gets taught in seminaries, but I don't know if she followed anyone's dream, but since the rest of the 11s are religious I offer it up.

11-2 Ezekiel (and, yep, it's the symbols of the evangelists later on)

11-3 Patmos is a Dodecanese island, and Revelation has 7 gold candlesticks(/lampstands), so I assume it's John of Patmos

11-4 Jacob and the Angel, it's a Gauguin painting

11-5 Hugh Montefiore, this is a wildly British question (kind-of a big-shit deal in Jewish-Anglican relations)

11-6 Fatima

11-7 St. Paul

11-8 Joan of Arc

11-9 This has me stumped, I can't sort who "the poet" is so my mind is racing over like 40 different English/British poets who wrote about heaven from time to time and none of them seems right.

11-10 Vision of Constantine, it's in the Vatican
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:32 PM on December 21, 2017


11-9 This has me stumped, I can't sort who "the poet" is so my mind is racing over like 40 different English/British poets who wrote about heaven from time to time and none of them seems right.

Milton, perhaps?
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:39 PM on December 21, 2017


omg I was wondering when this was going to be posted. I'm like, it's near the end of the year, there should be the annual quiz... (***sends to knowledgeable fiance'***)
posted by JoeXIII007 at 7:42 PM on December 21, 2017


3-4 is Johannes Vermeer
posted by LionIndex at 7:43 PM on December 21, 2017


10-2 is Steve Jobs
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:51 PM on December 21, 2017


12-5 is asking about the Disney movie the Lion King (I don’t know the answer, but that’s the source material)
posted by janell at 7:54 PM on December 21, 2017


13-9 is Paula Radcliffe's world record in the Chicago marathon, and a bunch of the 13s look like similar big sports things, especially race times.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:55 PM on December 21, 2017


(Paula Radcliffe is British, I'm going to guess the 13s are all famous British sports records, seek accordingly!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:56 PM on December 21, 2017


10-4: What was Ronald’s most famous Christmas present to his twin brother Richard?

A kidney. "The group’s perseverance and skill would bear fruit just before Christmas that year when they performed the world’s first successful organ transplant, between Richard and Ronald. At 11:15 a.m. on Dec. 23, their work not only gave Richard a new lease on life, it ushered in the era of organ transplantation, giving hope to thousands of patients each year whose own organs are failing. Richard Herrick lived eight more years."
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:59 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


5-1: "What was bitten by B and cut by C?"

There's a (super-annoying) children's song that goes "A was an Apple Pie, B bit it, C cut it, D dealt it, E et it, etc." ... could that be it?
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:11 PM on December 21, 2017


5-2, Eating Crow maybe? Or humble pie? I think the 5s are foods, or possibly pastries.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:14 PM on December 21, 2017


5-2, Eating Crow maybe? I think the 5s are foods.

Or eating humble pie?
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:16 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


In 3-1, could the Tibby mentioned be from Howards End?
posted by booksherpa at 8:16 PM on December 21, 2017


3-3: "the Cockchafer" Teehee!
posted by hwyengr at 8:18 PM on December 21, 2017


I think 5 is not just food, but pie - 5-4 is Eel Pie, from a book called The Eel Pie Murders.
posted by booksherpa at 8:21 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


1-3 Lawrence of Arabia accidentally shot his camel in the head during a charge near the outpost outside of Akaba, Aba el Lissan (It's known as the Battle of Aqaba)
posted by blob at 8:29 PM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


5-7: What projectile should preferably be directed at a bishop rather than a curate?

I want to say that 5-7 is meat pie, from the lyrics of "A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd, but it doesn't quite work... unless I'm overthinking it.
posted by booksherpa at 8:34 PM on December 21, 2017


9-4: The Duke of Plaza- Toro The Gondoliers Gilbert and Sullivan

When, to evade Destruction's hand,
To hide they all proceeded,
No soldier in that gallant band
Hid half as well as he did.
He lay concealed throughout the war,
And so preserved his gore, O!
That unaffected,
Undetected,
Well-connected
Warrior,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!
posted by dannyboybell at 8:37 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


3-5: Who, in her letters to her psychiatrist, addressed him as Mon Capitaine and challenged the doctor-patient relationship?

Nicole Warren, before she marries that psychiatrist, Dick Diver, in Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:38 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


I think you're right, booksherpa; which probably means it was Henry Wilcox who did the writing. Can't find my copy to check, though.
posted by andraste at 8:38 PM on December 21, 2017


andraste, maybe this will help. :)
posted by booksherpa at 8:41 PM on December 21, 2017


10-5: David Hookes?
posted by N-stoff at 8:41 PM on December 21, 2017


Aha! Searching for "Mounts Bay" got me Penzance, and searching for Penzance pie got me stargazey pie. Category 5 is definitely pie.
posted by booksherpa at 8:49 PM on December 21, 2017


1-9 is Mata Hari.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:50 PM on December 21, 2017


3-7: Whose letter from his prison cell implored his brother-in-law to repossess his lodgings in the Rue de la Croix Blanche?

Sir Percy Blakeney, a.k.a. the Scarlet Pimpernel.
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:52 PM on December 21, 2017


booksherpa: it does help, but the mystery thickens! I can't find anything on searching for letter, Tibby, paper or disgraceful. Maybe it's not Howard's End.
posted by andraste at 8:55 PM on December 21, 2017


3-9: Who wrote to Ellen enquiring as to whether her new husband was mad or the devil?

Heathcliff's wife, Isabella Linton
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:58 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


1-8 is Yeats, with "Wild Swans at Coole"
posted by mystikspyral at 9:01 PM on December 21, 2017


andraste: Hmmm..... maybe figuring out the category theme would help? Letters seems too obvious. Maybe letters about marriages, taken from novels?
posted by booksherpa at 9:04 PM on December 21, 2017


andraste, I don't think it's Howard's End, I think it's from Gilbert Canaan's The Stucco House (he attended King's College).
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:04 PM on December 21, 2017


Also, I'm adding answers to category 3 in blue ("I am not sure if my answer is correct.") if I didn't work on them. If you did, and you're certain of your answer, feel free to change it to black ("I am certain my answer is correct.")
posted by booksherpa at 9:06 PM on December 21, 2017


3-2 is Titus, I think.
posted by freelanceastro at 9:57 PM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


17 is Robert Burns. 17-8 is Cree.
posted by triggerfinger at 9:58 PM on December 21, 2017


Could 11-9 be a poem/poet in the bible? Something like Song of Solomon, but not Song of Solomon.
posted by triggerfinger at 10:08 PM on December 21, 2017


16-6 is definitely John Tenniel.
posted by freelanceastro at 10:14 PM on December 21, 2017


The theme for 16 has got to be political cartoons.
posted by freelanceastro at 10:25 PM on December 21, 2017


1-2 By Royal Proclamation
posted by PMdixon at 10:31 PM on December 21, 2017


1-9 Mata Hari
posted by PMdixon at 10:35 PM on December 21, 2017


Added category numbers to the category headings. Hope that’s okay.

Thanks so much to andraste for setting this up !!!
posted by marsha56 at 11:05 PM on December 21, 2017


5-9 is most likely a reference to the TV series Pie in the Sky though I don't know what the question is specifically asking for.
posted by divabat at 11:17 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


Section 8 looks like anagrams ("unravel")! The one answer that's in the spreadsheet (8-6, Maidstone) is an anagram of the word "dominates".
posted by divabat at 11:20 PM on December 21, 2017


Isn't there usually an Isle of Man category on here?
posted by divabat at 11:28 PM on December 21, 2017


5-9 is most likely a reference to the TV series Pie in the Sky though I don't know what the question is specifically asking for.

You're right. I think it can only be asking for the title of the programme, on the basis that it "revealed" his story to us.
posted by howfar at 11:44 PM on December 21, 2017


Yes, about to say that I'd flagged 16 as political cartoons.

16-1 is Ben Franklin's 'Join or Die'
16-2 is Thomas Rowlandson's 'The Corsican Spider in his web' (re Napoleon)
16-3 is Cyril 'Fougasse' Bird's 'Careless Talk Costs Lives' series
16-6 is Sir John Tenniel's 'Dropping the Pilot' (Kaiser Wilhelm II sacks Bismarck)
16-8 is James Gillray's 'The Plum Pudding in Danger' (Pitt the Younger and Napoleon carve up Europe)
posted by Major Clanger at 11:50 PM on December 21, 2017


Oh, and 10-1 is Eddie Large. God, I'm sure British celebrity autobiography titles are deeply reflective of something in our culture. I just don't know what.
posted by howfar at 11:52 PM on December 21, 2017


10-5 Phillip Hughes?
posted by emf at 12:02 AM on December 22, 2017


4-8 would be Captain Charles Upham (kiwi double VC)
posted by mbo at 12:43 AM on December 22, 2017


4-1 is likely Sir Richard John Hadlee (doubled at Nottinghamshire in 1984)
posted by mbo at 1:25 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


10-6 is Sir Roy Yorke Calne
posted by halcyonday at 1:52 AM on December 22, 2017


15-5 is Stacklepoole Junction - the engine burglar is Bobbie from the Railway Children
posted by halcyonday at 2:06 AM on December 22, 2017


5-4 Is the Eel Pie Murders/Mystery... so section 5 is all 'pies'

(on edit, missed the previous answer to this)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:07 AM on December 22, 2017


5-10 Is 'Melton Mowrbay Pork Pie' as it has PGI status due to his characteristic bow shape
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:16 AM on December 22, 2017


5-8 is Stargazy Pie ... The village of Mousehall in Cornwall is on Mounts Bay and they have a celebration on Tom Bawcock's Eve which is the day before Christmas Eve that includes eating Stargazy Pie
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:23 AM on December 22, 2017


5-6 is Bellamy's Mutton/Meat Pie... The last words of Pitt the Younger (who represented Cambridge University as an MP) were supposed to be 'I think I could eat one of Bellamy's mutton pies.' (or 'meat' pie depending on the quote)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:35 AM on December 22, 2017


5-3 Is mouse pie (or mouse and bacon if they are gonna be really technical) ... from The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:52 AM on December 22, 2017




18-7 refers to the 2 pound toll on the Mersey Gateway bridge (the ferry once cost tuppence)
posted by mbo at 3:10 AM on December 22, 2017


6-4 Is Martins Bank - has the symbol of the grasshopper (orthopterous) and founded by goldsmiths
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:17 AM on December 22, 2017


6-5 Is The Bank of England - A man called Robinson shot three times at Kenneth 'Wind in the Willow' Grahame when was a secretary there (he missed).
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:22 AM on December 22, 2017


18-1 I think is Joost van der Westhuizen, who passed in 2017 and set up the J9 foundation for motor neurone disease.
posted by halcyonday at 3:27 AM on December 22, 2017


7-8 is Bilberry reservoir dam / embankment
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:50 AM on December 22, 2017


17 are all Rabbie Burns poems, I think.

17-8 is Cree, The River
posted by halcyonday at 4:06 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


9-1 Is Duke of Lancaster
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:07 AM on December 22, 2017


10-7 is Éric Abidal - played for Barcelona, Monaco and Olympiacos, had a liver transplant
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:17 AM on December 22, 2017


11-1 Samuel Taylor Coleridge - inspired by an opium dream to write Kubla Khan. James Dykes Campbell was his editor and wrote his biography.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:25 AM on December 22, 2017


11-9 The Merchant of Venice... I think. “Look how the floor of heaven is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold!” (there's several poets who had golden visions of heaven - but Shakespeare is The Poet and the 'commercial' is a double reference)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:36 AM on December 22, 2017


13-4 is David Steele who scored 50, 45, 73, 92, 39 and 66 against Australia in 1975
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:52 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


17-2 is Devon (Fairest Maid of Devon Banks)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:14 AM on December 22, 2017


2-5 is Haltwhistle and WOAH I GOT ONE
posted by sarahdal at 5:24 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


aha because the theme for section 2 is Northumbria? Which is where I'm from!
2 - 8 I want to say Bamburgh?
2 - 6 is Chillingham Castle (Bewick and the White cattle)
2 - 9 is Alnwick
2 - 10 is Ashington, but they've moved the statue now
posted by sarahdal at 5:27 AM on December 22, 2017


18-13 is Storm Brian (The first track on The Artic Monkeys' album Favourite Worst Nightmare is 'Brianstorm')
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:29 AM on December 22, 2017


2-2 is Collingwood's Statue at Tynemouth
posted by sarahdal at 5:36 AM on December 22, 2017


2-3 is the statue of Earl Grey in Newcastle, struck by lightning
posted by sarahdal at 5:38 AM on December 22, 2017


13-9 Tirunesh Dibada
Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba dusts women's field at Chicago Marathon
posted by lovelyzoo at 5:47 AM on December 22, 2017


9-7 John S. Marmaduke
Battle of Bayou Meto
posted by lovelyzoo at 6:04 AM on December 22, 2017


14-5 is a reference to Madame Bovary, and the answer is "Le Lion d'Or".
posted by snakeling at 6:05 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


9-6
The Duke of Wellington
posted by lovelyzoo at 6:08 AM on December 22, 2017


18-5 is Mark Beaumont, who finished an 80 day cycle around the world at the Arc de Triomphe (Phileas Fogg finished his at a club in Pall Mall)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:18 AM on December 22, 2017


10-3 is Dr. James Hardy
posted by ernielundquist at 8:30 AM on December 22, 2017


13-5 looks to me like a chess score that implies a best of 12 head-to-head match played in South Yorkshire, which I've been unable to find. The only significant chess event I could find in that area was the 2011 British Chess Championship held in Sheffield -- except, that was a tournament so the winning record(s) wouldn't be presented as "7½ – 4½".
posted by mhum at 11:00 AM on December 22, 2017


4-6 Arthur Porritt
posted by mhum at 12:10 PM on December 22, 2017


4-5 is typically attributed to Ernest Rutherford
posted by mhum at 12:12 PM on December 22, 2017


4-4 is most probably Edmund Hillary who was part of the failed Cho Oyu expedition but then summitted Everest in 1953.
posted by mhum at 12:16 PM on December 22, 2017


4-3 Peter Blake
4-8 Charles Upham (while there have been 3 double winners of the Victoria Cross, the other two were awarded as medics while Upham was awarded as a combatant)

I guess the theme of section #4 is "Famous New Zealanders".
posted by mhum at 12:24 PM on December 22, 2017


There's a Google Spreadsheet where people have been entering answers (thank you andraste!) if folks are so inclined. Black for answers you are sure of, blue for ones you're not.
posted by booksherpa at 12:30 PM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


I think 15-9 (Where is transmission compromised by Naja’s bite?) is "Neuromuscular junction". Googling "Naja" gave me cobra, Googling snakebite and junction gave me a medical article titled "Neurotoxicity in Snakebite" which talked about venom messing with the neuromuscular junction.

Google isn't impossible to use for some of these, but it's a tool that works better on some than others, and it takes multiple searches with varying keywords.
posted by booksherpa at 12:47 PM on December 22, 2017


4-9 Hōne Heke
4-7 Kiri Te Kanawa
posted by mhum at 12:55 PM on December 22, 2017


4-10 Āpirana Ngata, who appears on the NZ $50 note that features a Kōkako bird on the other side.
posted by mhum at 12:59 PM on December 22, 2017


19-10 Zubair Iftikar - a guy who was arrested for dealing in large amounts of laughing gas
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:24 PM on December 22, 2017


17-9 The Tweed (from Address to the Shade of Thomson)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:28 PM on December 22, 2017


15-10 Cemetery Junction
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:34 PM on December 22, 2017


15-16 Spaghetti Junction aka the Gravelly Hill Interchange where the M6 (Catthorpe to Gretna) intersects with the A38 (Bodmin to Mansfield)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:44 PM on December 22, 2017


15-10 Pyewipe Junction - Lindsey is an area of Lincolnshire, Pyewipe is a word for a plover (vanelline) and there's an engine shed / train depot there
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:54 PM on December 22, 2017


16-8 brought together premier and emperor at the global table?

A guess: The Plumb-pudding in danger, or, State epicures taking un petit souper, by Gillray; a famous British political cartoon. "William Pitt, wearing a regimental uniform and hat, sitting at a table with Napoleon. They are each carving a large plum pudding on which is a map of the world. Pitt's slice is considerably larger than Napoleon's."
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:49 PM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


13-10 is Jonny Wilkinson (he kicked the winning drop goal in the rugby world cup final in 2003 in Sydney, final score England 20-17 Australia).

It's interesting how this can become relatively easy once you have the theme, if it's something you're familiar with - I've never got more than 2-3 questions, but once I got 4-1 and realised the rest of 4 was New Zealand themed, I managed to get most of them. Equally knowing a bit about running meant that 13-9 has to be a marathon time, probably a woman's, and therefore it's bound to be Paula Radcliffe; 13-2 is surely a 5000m time, though I wrongly guessed Mo Farah at the London Olympics.
posted by Pink Frost at 7:53 PM on December 22, 2017


May be of assistance for 8: GB Placename anagrams Also, perhaps relevant to 8-10, drummer Kenney Jones owns a polo club.
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:36 PM on December 22, 2017


I thought 9-8 might be a King Lear reference, but it's backwards - Gloucester is blinded but does not leap to his death. And he's an earl, not a duke. But posting here in case it sparks a thought for someone.
posted by une_heure_pleine at 5:27 AM on December 23, 2017


15-8 What nominally recalls a confrontation with Medina Sidonia?

Here's another "I don't know the answer but maybe I can help someone else towards it" - the Duke of Medina Sidonia led the Spanish Armada in 1588.
posted by une_heure_pleine at 5:42 AM on December 23, 2017


14-3 is the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters, from Dickens' Our Mutual Friend
posted by une_heure_pleine at 6:04 AM on December 23, 2017


I thought 9-8 might be a King Lear reference, but it's backwards - Gloucester is blinded but does not leap to his death. And he's an earl, not a duke. But posting here in case it sparks a thought for someone.

Yeah, This one has been driving me mad... Also Gloucester in Lear is tricked into thinking he's leaped to his death when he hasn't - so it's totally opposite. I've tried to find another Duke of Gloucester that the leaping to death might apply to but I can only find one reference of a man dying in a parachute demonstration for a Duke of Gloucester and that seems way too obscure
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:14 AM on December 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


18-2 Topos de Tlatelolco - I think... They are the earthquake rescue works (Lit -The moles of Mexico city) who would have traveled to the aftermath of the earthquake in Southern mexico earlier this year.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:34 AM on December 23, 2017


14-4. The Tappit Hen
14-8. The McLellan Arms

11-1 Samuel Taylor Coleridge - inspired by an opium dream to write Kubla Khan. James Dykes Campbell was his editor and wrote his biography.

Ingenious but incorrect. The correct answer is Gerontius.
posted by verstegan at 10:39 AM on December 23, 2017


Ingenious but incorrect. The correct answer is Gerontius.

Goddamit!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:13 AM on December 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


15-8 What nominally recalls a confrontation with Medina Sidonia?


There used to be a pub called the Armada at Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham. As it's "nominally", I think that the name has to have "Armada" in it, and I don’t think anything else fits. I'll add it and leave it in blue for now, though, in case anyone else has any thoughts.
posted by howfar at 4:17 PM on December 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


« Older The Next Bechdel-Wallace Test   |   Iqaluit Rock City Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments