Mark Brader
2024-02-17 07:30:54 UTC
These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2024-01-29,
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 the Misplaced Modifiers
and are used here by permission, but have been reformatted and may
have been retyped and/or edited by me. The posting and tabulation
of current-events questions is independent of the concurrent posting
of other rounds. For further information please see my 2023-05-24
companion posting on "Questions from the Canadian Inquisition
(QFTCI*)".
* Game 1, Round 7 - Geography - Places Named After Famous People
1. Besides Washington, DC, there's only one other capital city in
the world that's named after an American president. It's located
in West Africa. Name either the city or that president.
2. Let's go the other way. What is the only US state capital
which is named for a foreign statesman? It was done in an
attempt to attract German capital for railway building.
3. This beautiful Upper-Midwest US state capital, situated on an
isthmus separating two lakes, was named in late 1836 after
the 4th US president, who had died just 5 months earlier.
He was president during the War of 1812. Name the capital.
4. The next one is not a state capital, but rather the largest city
within this US state in the Pacific Northwest. The city is
named for the chief of the Duwamish and Squamish people, a chief
who is better remembered for his environmentalist speeches.
Name the city.
5. John Montagu, a British earl, lent his hereditary title to a
group of central Pacific islands (since renamed), as well as
a suburb of Windsor, Ontario. What was he the Earl of?
6. Another British statesman and famous military leader lent his
family name to a downtown street and subway station in Toronto;
however, he lent his hereditary title to the capital of a nation
in Australasia. Name that capital.
7. This city, the second largest in Afghanistan, was named in 330 BC
after a foreign conqueror. The second-largest city in Egypt is
also named for this leader, but we want the Afghan city name,
which is a local variant of the leader's name.
8. During colonial times, this capital city in Africa was named
after the king of the colonizing country. In fact, the colony
was considered his private kingdom. Since independence, the
capital city has been renamed. It has the largest number of
French-speakers in the world. Give either the old colonial
name or the new name.
9. It was Tsaritsyn until 1925, and then Stalingrad from 1925
to 1961. Finally, Nikita Kruschev removed that name as part of
his de-Stalinization process. What is the city's current name,
referencing the river it lies on?
10. The longest river in Canada is named for this Scottish
fur-trading businessman, who in his 1789 journal named it "River
of Disappointment" because it led to the Arctic instead of the
hoped-for Pacific Ocean. Name the river.
* Game 1, Round 8 - Literature - Food for Thought
Terrible pun aside, food -- and food metaphors -- figures large
in literature. From Proust's madelines to Joyce's grilled
mutton kidneys, food can symbolize any number of things. In this
round, all books mentioned will have food or drink in the title.
There will be no plays, and no wordplay, so don't expect "Hamlet"
"The Three Musketeers" to come up.
1. John Steinbeck's towering work of social commentary is the story
of the Joad ["Jode"] family, travelling across the Dust Bowl
in the 1930's. It was hugely successful, winning the Pulitzer
Prize and National Book Award in 1940 and adapted into an
Oscar-winning film the same year. What is the title?
2. The bold and brilliant 11-year-old detective Flavia de Luce
made her debut in this, Alan Bradley's first novel for adults,
in 2009. Bradley sold the book and two follow-ups based only
on a chapter and a synopsis. What is the title of this period
mystery?
3. This children's author, one of the world's most famous, described
food with gusto. From the names of characters like Henry Sugar
and Veruca Salt to books about giant peaches and chocolate
factories, there's simply too many food-titled books and
stories by this British-Norwegian writer to name just one.
Who is the *author*?
4. This much beloved British author's best-known series contains
five novels and is known as "the increasingly inaccurate
Hitchhiker's trilogy." The one that fits our category is
book #4 -- "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish". But who is
the author?
5. "The Price of Salt", a lesbian romance published in 1952, was
written by "Claire Morgan" -- a pseudonym for Patricia
Highsmith of "The Talented Mr. Ripley" fame and based, loosely,
on incidents from her own life. It wasn't until 1990 that the
book was republished under her own name -- and with a new title.
In 2015, it was adapted into a prestige film starring Cate Blanchett
and Rooney Mara. The movie's title does not mention food or drink --
what is it?
6. Mexican author Laura Esquivel's novel of romance, family,
tradition, and magical realism was a hit both in her native
country and internationally in 1989. Each chapter concludes
with a recipe, carrying the food theme even further. The title
refers to turbulent, bubbling feelings ready to boil over.
What is the title (in English)?
7. This 1987 novel by Fannie Flagg is a classic of folksy Americana,
but with a same-sex romance among its entwined stories of
friendship and love. The novel's profile was boosted by the
phenomenal success of the 1991 film adaptation. Give *either*
the title of the book or the movie.
8. British author Jeannette Winterson's 1985 coming-of-age novel
straddles fiction and memoir. The title, which states that
there is more than one type of healthy snack, is a metaphor
for the different choices and different directions children
can take from their parents. What is the title?
9. This Hunter S. Thompson novel never achieved the notoriety of
"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", possibly because, although it
was written in the early 1960s, it wasn't published until 1998.
The manuscript was found among Thompson's papers by none other
than actor Johnny Depp who produced and starred in the 2011
film adaptation, to mixed reviews.
10. This modern children's classic was written in 1978, but it
really took off when it was loosely adapted into a successful
animated children's movie in 2009. Its plot centers around
an eccentric inventor who accidentally creates a machine that
creates storms not of rain, but of food. What's the title?
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 the Misplaced Modifiers
and are used here by permission, but have been reformatted and may
have been retyped and/or edited by me. The posting and tabulation
of current-events questions is independent of the concurrent posting
of other rounds. For further information please see my 2023-05-24
companion posting on "Questions from the Canadian Inquisition
(QFTCI*)".
* Game 1, Round 7 - Geography - Places Named After Famous People
1. Besides Washington, DC, there's only one other capital city in
the world that's named after an American president. It's located
in West Africa. Name either the city or that president.
2. Let's go the other way. What is the only US state capital
which is named for a foreign statesman? It was done in an
attempt to attract German capital for railway building.
3. This beautiful Upper-Midwest US state capital, situated on an
isthmus separating two lakes, was named in late 1836 after
the 4th US president, who had died just 5 months earlier.
He was president during the War of 1812. Name the capital.
4. The next one is not a state capital, but rather the largest city
within this US state in the Pacific Northwest. The city is
named for the chief of the Duwamish and Squamish people, a chief
who is better remembered for his environmentalist speeches.
Name the city.
5. John Montagu, a British earl, lent his hereditary title to a
group of central Pacific islands (since renamed), as well as
a suburb of Windsor, Ontario. What was he the Earl of?
6. Another British statesman and famous military leader lent his
family name to a downtown street and subway station in Toronto;
however, he lent his hereditary title to the capital of a nation
in Australasia. Name that capital.
7. This city, the second largest in Afghanistan, was named in 330 BC
after a foreign conqueror. The second-largest city in Egypt is
also named for this leader, but we want the Afghan city name,
which is a local variant of the leader's name.
8. During colonial times, this capital city in Africa was named
after the king of the colonizing country. In fact, the colony
was considered his private kingdom. Since independence, the
capital city has been renamed. It has the largest number of
French-speakers in the world. Give either the old colonial
name or the new name.
9. It was Tsaritsyn until 1925, and then Stalingrad from 1925
to 1961. Finally, Nikita Kruschev removed that name as part of
his de-Stalinization process. What is the city's current name,
referencing the river it lies on?
10. The longest river in Canada is named for this Scottish
fur-trading businessman, who in his 1789 journal named it "River
of Disappointment" because it led to the Arctic instead of the
hoped-for Pacific Ocean. Name the river.
* Game 1, Round 8 - Literature - Food for Thought
Terrible pun aside, food -- and food metaphors -- figures large
in literature. From Proust's madelines to Joyce's grilled
mutton kidneys, food can symbolize any number of things. In this
round, all books mentioned will have food or drink in the title.
There will be no plays, and no wordplay, so don't expect "Hamlet"
"The Three Musketeers" to come up.
1. John Steinbeck's towering work of social commentary is the story
of the Joad ["Jode"] family, travelling across the Dust Bowl
in the 1930's. It was hugely successful, winning the Pulitzer
Prize and National Book Award in 1940 and adapted into an
Oscar-winning film the same year. What is the title?
2. The bold and brilliant 11-year-old detective Flavia de Luce
made her debut in this, Alan Bradley's first novel for adults,
in 2009. Bradley sold the book and two follow-ups based only
on a chapter and a synopsis. What is the title of this period
mystery?
3. This children's author, one of the world's most famous, described
food with gusto. From the names of characters like Henry Sugar
and Veruca Salt to books about giant peaches and chocolate
factories, there's simply too many food-titled books and
stories by this British-Norwegian writer to name just one.
Who is the *author*?
4. This much beloved British author's best-known series contains
five novels and is known as "the increasingly inaccurate
Hitchhiker's trilogy." The one that fits our category is
book #4 -- "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish". But who is
the author?
5. "The Price of Salt", a lesbian romance published in 1952, was
written by "Claire Morgan" -- a pseudonym for Patricia
Highsmith of "The Talented Mr. Ripley" fame and based, loosely,
on incidents from her own life. It wasn't until 1990 that the
book was republished under her own name -- and with a new title.
In 2015, it was adapted into a prestige film starring Cate Blanchett
and Rooney Mara. The movie's title does not mention food or drink --
what is it?
6. Mexican author Laura Esquivel's novel of romance, family,
tradition, and magical realism was a hit both in her native
country and internationally in 1989. Each chapter concludes
with a recipe, carrying the food theme even further. The title
refers to turbulent, bubbling feelings ready to boil over.
What is the title (in English)?
7. This 1987 novel by Fannie Flagg is a classic of folksy Americana,
but with a same-sex romance among its entwined stories of
friendship and love. The novel's profile was boosted by the
phenomenal success of the 1991 film adaptation. Give *either*
the title of the book or the movie.
8. British author Jeannette Winterson's 1985 coming-of-age novel
straddles fiction and memoir. The title, which states that
there is more than one type of healthy snack, is a metaphor
for the different choices and different directions children
can take from their parents. What is the title?
9. This Hunter S. Thompson novel never achieved the notoriety of
"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", possibly because, although it
was written in the early 1960s, it wasn't published until 1998.
The manuscript was found among Thompson's papers by none other
than actor Johnny Depp who produced and starred in the 2011
film adaptation, to mixed reviews.
10. This modern children's classic was written in 1978, but it
really took off when it was loosely adapted into a successful
animated children's movie in 2009. Its plot centers around
an eccentric inventor who accidentally creates a machine that
creates storms not of rain, but of food. What's the title?
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "You don't SIT IN the traffic jam;
***@vex.net | you ARE the traffic jam." -- Werner Icking
My text in this article is in the public domain.
Mark Brader, Toronto | "You don't SIT IN the traffic jam;
***@vex.net | you ARE the traffic jam." -- Werner Icking
My text in this article is in the public domain.