This quiz is over and the winner is STEPHEN W PERRY! Congratulations!
Here is the full scoreboard:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total
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Swp 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 10
Joshua K - 1 - 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 - - 7
Mark B 1 - - - - - 1 - 1 1 - - 4
Dan B 1 - - 1 - - 1 - - - - 1 4
Pete G - - - - - 1 1 - - 1 - - 3
Dan T 1 - - - - - 1 - - - - - 2
> 1. Which nations fought in the Nitrate War?
Chile against Perú and Bolivia.
It was sufficient to give Chile and one of the other two. The war stood
in 1879-1884 and was a major victory for Chile who enlarged its
territory by a third or so, making gains from both Bolivia and Perú.
> 2. Which country recently voted in favour in a referendum that two-thirds
> of neighbouring country is rightfully part of the voting country?
Venezuela. The neighbouring country is Guyana. Apparently, it is an
old grudge from 1899 with the British empire.
> 3. OK boomers, what's a Millennial pause?
That's when you record a video for Tiktok or similar, and there is a
quiet second before you start talking, singing, whatever. The younger
kids thinks that this is a bad habit of the Millennial generation. See
also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennial_pause.
> 4. "The Boy and the Heron" is the most recent work from which
> master of animated films?
Hayao Miyazaki
Miayzaki was sufficient, although his son has also issued animated
films.
> 5. Times of Troubles was a period of turmoil in the beginning of the
> 17th century in which country?
Russia.
In Russian the name is Smutnoye Vremya, and the English name is a
possible translation of this name. In Swedish we know this period as "Den
stora oredan", "The Big Mess" or "The Great Disorder" in English.
In 1598, tsar Fedor died without a heir, and Boris Gudonov became
the tsar, but his situation was as stable as of King Harold of England
in 1066. When bad harvests caused a famine 1600-1603 he was toppled,
and Russia went through a period with several ursurpers and "false
Dmitiris". Both Poland and Sweden stuck their noses in to add insult
to injury. Eventual Mikhail Romanov was elected tsar in 1612, and
things went back to normal.
> 6. Translated into English, "Black Pete" is the name of the sidekick
> of Santa Claus in the folklore of which corner of the world?
The Dutch Lowlands.
The Dutch name is Zwarte Piet.
>7. Aramco is said to be the most profitable company in the world.
> In which country are they based?
Saudi Arabia.
It's the national oil company.
> 8. Name any two of the 2023 Nobel laureates.
Narges Mohannadi (peace)
Jon Fosse (literature)
Pierre Agostini (physics)
Ferenc Krausz (physics)
Anne l'Huiller (physics)
Drew Weissman (physiology or medicine)
Katalin Karikó (physiology or medicine)
Claudiua Goldin (economy)
Aleksej Jekimov (chemistry)
Louis E. Brus (chemistry)
Mougi Bawendi (chemistry)
I will have to admit that the only two I knew myself without looking
up were Fosse and Karikó.
> 9. What is smetana?
To quote Wikipedia: "It is a dairy product produced by souring heavy
cream. It is similar to crème fraîche". Wikipedia points out that its
cooking properties are different from crème fraîche, and, yes, I
noticed this a few weeks ago, when I used crème fraîche as a change
to smetana. Smetana is popular in central and eastern Europe.
And, yes, there was also a composer by that name. You could argue
that if I had been asking for that person, the question would have
read "Who was Smetana". (Past tense, uppercase and all that.) But,
hey, it's Christmas, so I accept it.
> 10. "The Barber of Seville" is an opera by which composer?
Gioachino Rossini
>11. A few days ago, France won the women's World Championships in
> handball, co-hosted by Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Handball is
> not a very big sport in North America, and of 32 teams there
> was only one from North America, which? Hint: it was one of
> the less populous countries.
Greenland.
Stephen was both closest and furhterest away by answering Canada.
Canada can certainly not count as "one of the less populous countries",
but in the final qualification round Greenland won over Canada.
As for how come, I guess there is a Danish influence. Handball is a big
sport in all the Scandinavian countries.
> 12. Name two of the main ingredients in Pesto alla genovese.
Garlic, basil, pine nuts, coarse salt and some hard cheese
like parmesan or pecorino. And of course olive oil.
Thanks to everyone for playing and I wish you all a Merry Christmas!