These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2015-05-04,
and should be interpreted accordingly.
On each question you may give up to two answers, but if you give
both a right answer and a wrong answer, there is a small penalty.
Please post all your answers in a single followup to the newsgroup,
based only on your own knowledge. (In your answer posting, quote
the questions and place your answer below each one.) I will reveal
the correct answers in about 3 days.
All questions were written by members of Five Guys Named Moe, and
are used here by permission, but have been reformatted and may
have been retyped and/or edited by me. For further information
see my 2015-08-18 companion posting on "Questions from the Canadian
Inquisition (QFTCI*)".
* Game 3, Round 2 - Literature - Obsolete English Words
Since the days of Chaucer and Shakespeare, English has become less
flowery and some fantastic vocabulary been dropped from everyday
conversation. From author Mark Forsyth's book "The Horologicon",
and his Tumblr and published articles, here are 10 words that
have gone out of use, but perhaps need reviving. In each case,
simply select the word from the handout list:
| Clinomania | Jehu |
| Deipnophobia | Philogrobolize |
| Duffifie | Quomodocunquize |
| Egrote | Smicker |
| Ergophobia | Snecklifter |
| Famelicose | Snollygoster |
| Feague | Sprunt |
| Fudgel | Tangerine |
| Gelotophobia | Ultracrepidarian |
| Gongoozle | Wamblecropt |
| Groke | Zarf |
1. What is the word for "a person who pokes his [or her] head into a
pub to see if there's anyone who might stand him [or her]
a drink"?
2. What 19th century American word means "a shrewd, unprincipled
person, especially a politician"?
3. What do you call "somebody who gives opinions on subjects they
know nothing about"?
4. Vin Diesel will know this. What do you call "a fast or furious
driver"?
5. Which word means "pretending to work when not actually doing
anything at all"?
6. Staying with work, which word means "to feign sickness in order
to avoid work"?
7. What is the word for "a cup-shaped coffee cup holder (often
ornamental)"?
8. This old Scottish verb means "to lay a bottle on its side
for some time so that it may be completely drained of the last
few drops"?
9. What do you call "a morbid fear of dinner parties"?
10. Another Scottish classic, which word means "to chase girls
around among the haystacks after dark"?
So there were 12 decoys. After you've finished with the round,
decode the rot13 if you want to see their definitions and identify
those words for fun, but for no points.
11. Vagbkvpngrq, uhat bire.
12. Na noabezny srne bs jbex; na nirefvba gb jbex.
13. Pbafgnagyl uhatel.
14. Gb chg n yvir rry hc n ubefr'f obggbz.
15. Gb btyr; ybbx nzbebhfyl.
16. Na bofrffvir qrfver gb yvr qbja.
17. Gb znxr zbarl va nal jnl cbffvoyr.
18. N crefba be guvat sebz Gnatvref.
19. Gb tnmr ng fbzrobql juvyr gurl'er rngvat va gur ubcr gung
gurl'yy tvir lbh fbzr bs gurve sbbq.
20. Gb fgner vqyl ng n obql bs jngre, fhpu nf n evire be pnany.
21. Srne bs orvat ynhturq ng.
22. Birepbzr jvgu harnfvarff va gur fgbznpu.
* Game 3, Round 3 - History - The American Mafia
In each case, name the mobster.
1. He is considered the father of modern organized crime in the
United States. He split New York City into five different
Mafia crime families and established the first Commission.
2. A Jewish mobster, he was a founder of Murder Inc. and one of the
driving forces behind the establishment of the Las Vegas Strip.
He was shot to death in 1947 at the Beverly Hills home of his
girlfriend, Virginia Hill.
3. Nicknamed "the Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one
of the most powerful and influential mob bosses in American
history. He served as consigliere to <answer 1> and later led
that man's crime family for 20 years. He retired in 1957 after
surviving an assassination attempt.
4. Nicknamed the "Mad Hatter" and the "Lord High Executioner",
this mobster ran Murder Inc. during the pre-WW2 era. In 1951
he became boss of the modern-day Gambino crime family. He was
assassinated in the barber shop of the Park Sheraton Hotel
in 1957.
5. During the 1920s he helped build the criminal empire known
as the Chicago Outfit, which was inherited by his protege,
Al Capone.
6. Known as the "Howard Hughes of the mob", in 1976 he succeeded
Carlo Gambino as head of Gambino family. He was assassinated
in 1985.
7. He in turn succeeded <answer 6> as head of the Gambino family
in 1985. He became known as the Dapper Don" for his expensive
clothes, and was later nicknamed the "Teflon Don" after three
high-profile trials in the 1980s each ended in his acquittal.
8. <answer 7>'s downfall came in 1992, when his underboss decided
to cooperate with the FBI, thus becoming the highest-ranking
member of New York's five families to break his Cosa Nostra
oath and cooperate with the government. Name that underboss.
9. He was associated with the Lucchese family and had Irish and
Sicilian roots. His life story was documented in the true-crime
book "Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family" by Nicholas Pileggi.
10. Known as "The Chin", this former professional boxer was boss of
the Genovese family from 1981 to 2005. He was also the shooter
in the failed assassination of <answer 3>. He died in prison
in 2005.
--
Mark Brader | "The speed of sound is considerably less than the
Toronto | speed of light -- that is why some people appear bright
m...@vex.net | until you hear them talk."
My text in this article is in the public domain.