This quiz is over, and the winner is STEPHEN W. PERRY who for the
next 24 hours can enjoy the unanimous devotion of this newsgroup!
And we all hope that you recover from covid soon. I hope that given
your shots and previous attack your symptoms are mild!
Here is the score table:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total
-----------------------------------------------------
Stephen P - - 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 8
Dan B 1 - 1 - - 1 1 - 1 1 1 - 7
Joshua K 1 1 1 - - - - 1 1 1 - 1 7
Mark B - 1 1 1 - - 1 - 1 1 - - 6
Pete G - - - 1 - - 1 - 1 1 - 1 5
Dan T 1 - - 1 - - - 1 1 - - 1 5
And here are the correct answers.
> 1. According to a census, this island had a population of 7.7 million
> in 1831. However, the current population is about 10 % less,
> 6.9 million. Which is the island?
Ireland. 1831, that was before the starvation disaster in the 1842.
> 2. The denizens of which national capital are known as Porteños?
Buenos Aires. Which is in Argentina, but I asked for the city,
Two entrants had Lisbon. Had that been the case, the word would
have been spelled "Portenhos". (When I google that word, I end
up in Buenos Aires again.)
> 3. Judit Polgár belongs to the top élite in which field?
Chess.
> 4. The World Championship for Juniors in which sport was slated
> to run for the better part of this week, but was cancelled last
> week after a few games due to several cases of covid-19?
Ice hockey. Hockey was sufficient. They would not play a world championship
in field hockey this time of year, would they?
> 5. Which family situation do President of the European Commission
> Ursula von der Leyen and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have
> in common? (At least according to the official information!)
Both have seven children. Ursula von der Leyen's children all have
the same father, her husband. This in difference to Boris Johnson
who has children with three different women, including his current
wife, whom he married while in office, and who has given birth twice
since. Rumours do not exclude that there might be more, whence the
parenetical remark.
> 6. "The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters", "The Castle of Adventures"
> and "Five Go Off in a Caravan" are all titles from which author
> of children's books?
Enid Blyton. All these titles are from 1946.
> 7. The Hindenburg disaster became the end of what era?
The era of commercial airship travel. All allusions to airship or
Zeppelin were OK.
> 8. In 1960, which country was the first where a woman reached the
> office of Prime Minster through elections?
Sri Lanka. (Sirimavo Bandaranaike). I'm impressed that so many entrants
got his one. Certainly not the first-hand guess. I'm even more impressed
by Stephen of remembering her name!
> 9. If you are making a choice between Lapsang Souchong, Formosa Oolong
> and Darjeeling, what are you contemplating to buy?
Tea
> 10. Which 1988 action movie takes place in the Nakatomi Plaza tower?
Die Hard
> 11. Richard Neville was a key figure during a troubled time in
> British history. He is often referred to by which moniker?
Kingmaker
While himself being a descendant of John of Gaunt, and thus belonging
to the house of Lancaster, the 16th Earl of Warwick (as he might
be more known as) was a close ally of Richard of York, and was
instrumetnal of Edward IV's ascension to the throne.
Later, Warwick got more and more displeased with Edward, and first
tried to replace him with his brother, but this failed. Instead he
allied with the Lancaster leader, Queen Margret, and brought back
Henry VI. But Edward came back, and in the decisive battle between
the two, Warwick lost his life.
> 12. When someone says that this year's model is A(H3N2), what are they
> talking about?
Seasonal flu. Any mention of flu was OK, as long it was not overly
specific in the wrong direction. I did not approve "bird flu", since
those are different strains. (The one in the question is the one behind
the Hongkong flu in 1968.) Nor did I approve of "Influenza vaccine",
since the latter combination really is the identification of the virus.
Hopefully, the vaccine model of the year targets the same strain that
causes the flu, but they do not always bet on the right horse.