Tuesday 26 June 2007

THE 15th TUESDAY QUIZ

Hello. How about this fine selection:

1. Which comic opera by Benjamin Britten was based on Guy de Maupassant's story 'Le Rosier de Madama Husson'?
2. What is the name of the popular Japanese dessert made from seaweed jelly, bean paste and fruit and served with a sweet black syrup?
3. Which body of water separates the Arabian Sea from the Persian Gulf?
4. Which of the competitors for the Scottish crown was pronounced King of Scotland at Scone on St Andrew's Day 1292?
5. Literally meaning 'guardian' in Arabic, which word is used to describe a Muslim who has completely memorised the Koran?
6. Which British athlete-turned-politician won the silver medal for the 1500m at the 1920 Olympic Games and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1959?
7. What was the name of the hugely popular Armenian-Iranian pop singer, known as the 'Sultan of Pop' and famous throughout the Near and Middle East, who died in 2003?
8. A phenomenon often encountered by mountaineers and believed to be the cause of many myths involving mountain-dwelling monsters, what name is given to an apparently enormously magnified shadow of an observer cast upon the upper surfaces of clouds that are below the observer giving the impression of a huge stalking figure?
9. Who was the American athlete who, in 1991, broke Bob Beamon's 23-year old long jump world record?
10. Which 1936 film, starring Greta Garbo as Marguerite Gautier and directed by George Cukor, was based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas?
11. Which 20th Century French painter and sculptor coined the term Art Brut (or 'raw art') to describe the kind of art created by psychotics and children?
12. Which bright red winter apple, native to America and popular for use in ciders, is named after an American commander at the Battle of Lexington who discovered it in Massachusetts?
13. Found on the Liver Building in Liverpool, what species of bird are the Liver Birds?
14. On which American warship did Japan sign the instruments of surrender that ended the Second World War?
15. In Greek mythology, which river of Hades is known as 'the river of fire'?
16. Stimulated by her repugnance for the September Massacres, who assassinated the French Revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat in 1793?
17. Which famous Hollywood actor was used as the narrator on Michael Jackson's 1982 number 1 single 'Thriller'?
18. What name is given to a male weasel?
19. Iomain is the Gaelic name for which team sport?
20. In which country was the 1980s TV programme 'The Children of Fire Mountain' set?
21. The lecherous Lothario was a character introduced in the 1703 play 'The Fair Penitent', written by which English dramatist?
22. Which paste, with a name deriving from the Catalan for 'garlic and oil', is made from garlic, oil, mayonnaise and salt?
23. In 2000, the International Hydrographic Organisation created the Earth's fifth ocean from the southern portions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans; what name has it been given?
24. Which French style of military cap, with a circular top and horizontal peak, was popular in the 19th century?
25. In the Christian calendar, what name is given to the three days immediately prior to Ascension Thursday, upon which special prayers are said in the hope of producing a good harvest?
26. In 1999, the former professional wrestler and actor Jesse Ventura became the Governor of which American state?
27. In terms of album sales, which singer was the best selling artist worldwide of the 1990s?
28. Which ancient Greek astronomer is credited with having compiled the first known star catalogue?
29. Which county cricket team won the first Gillette Cup in 1963?
30. Which American film actress, born in 1921, was known as 'The Sweater Girl' because of her tight-fitting clothes in the 1937 film 'They Won't Forget'?
31. Published in the early 20th Century, 'Free Fields' and 'Songs of the Rye' are among the most famous works of which Danish poet?
32. Opened in Madrid in 1725, the Sobrino de Botín is listed by the 'Guinness Book of Records' as the world's oldest example of what type of establishment?
33. Located on a peninsular in Corunna Bay in Galicia in northwestern Spain, what is the name of the oldest ancient Roman lighthouse still in use?
34. With which treaty of 1492 did Henry VII disclaim all historic rights to French territories, except Calais, in return for an end to French support for the pretender, Perkin Warbeck, and an indemnity of £159,000?
35. According to legend, who was King Arthur's illegitimate son who fought against Arthur at the Battle of Camlann?
36. In 1996, Jose Ramos-Hortha and Bishop Carlos F.X. Belo were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to bring peace and independence to which country?
37. Which American rockabilly singer-songwriter wrote the Elvis Presley hit song 'Blue Suede Shoes'?
38. Who was the French physician and pathologist who discovered the parasite that causes malaria and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1907?
39. In 1966, the Englishman David Bryant became the first World Champion in which sport?
40. Who played the title character in the 1987 film 'Robocop'?
41. Which French Impressionist, best known for his painting 'Family Reunion', was killed in action at Beaune-la-Rolande, Loiret during the Franco-Prussian War?
42. Which spice is obtained from the rhizomes of the curcuma plant?
43. In which modern-day country is Samarkand, the ancient capital of Tamerlane's empire?
44. What was the name of the German Nazi military officer and doctor who personally selected the prisoners who would die at the gas chambers at Auschwitz?
45. According to Korean legend, who was the grandson of the god of the heavens who founded the kingdom of Gojoseon in 2333BC, thus becoming the first king of the Koreans?
46. Which former Irish international rugby union player became Chairman of the Heinz Company in 1973?
47. Which singer and musician was the driving force behind the first World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival, held in Shepton Mallet in 1982?
48. Deriving from the Greek for 'crescent', what is name is given to the convex or concave upper surface of a column of liquid, the curvature of which is caused by surface tension?
49. Which American sprinter broke the 100m world record in 1968 and held that record for the next 15 years?
50. Which film of 1998, directed by Darren Aronofsky, told the story of the troubled but brilliant maths prodigy Maximillian Cohen?


And to the answers:


1. ALBERT HERRING
2. ANMITSU
3. GULF OF OMAN
4. JOHN BALLIOL (or JOHN DE BALLIOL)
5. HAFIZ (or HAFITH)
6. PHILIP NOEL-BAKER
7. VIGEN DERDERIAN
8. BROCKEN SPECTRE
9. MIKE POWELL
10. CAMILLE
11. JEAN DUBUFFET
12. BALDWIN APPLE
13. CORMORANT
14. USS MISSOURI
15. PHLEGETHON
16. CHARLOTTE CORDAY
17. VINCENT PRICE
18. WHITTRET
19. SHINTY
20. NEW ZEALAND
21. NICHOLAS ROWE
22. ALIOLI
23. SOUTHERN OCEAN
24. KEPI
25. ROGATION DAYS
26. MINNESOTA
27. GARTH BROOKS
28. HIPPARCHUS
29. SUSSEX
30. LANA TURNER
31. AAKJAER JEPPE
32. RESTAURANT
33. TOWER OF HERCULES
34. TREATY OF ETAPLES
35. MORDRED
36. EAST TIMOR
37. CARL PERKINS
38. ALPHONSE LAVERAN
39. BOWLS
40. PETER WELLER
41. FRÉDÉRIC BAZILLE
42. TURMERIC
43. UZBEKISTAN
44. JOSEF MENGELE
45. DANGUN
46. TONY O'REILLY
47. PETER GABRIEL
48. MENISCUS
49. JIM HINES
50. PI

Tuesday 19 June 2007

THE 14th TUESDAY QUIZ

Welcome back to your second 50-question Tuesday quiz. It's not too difficult this week (ie. I've got some real nasty ones lined up for you in the next few weeks!). Hope you enjoy.


1. The British authors Aldous Huxley and CS Lewis both died on 22 November of which year?
2. The first Harry Ramsden restaurant was set up in 1928 in which small town in West Yorkshire?
3. In which English seaside town would you find the De La Warr Pavilion?
4. Which patriotic anthem, written by the American abolitionist and poet Julia Ward Howe in 1861, was popularised by the Unionists during the American Civil War?
5. Who was the ancient Greek river deity, eldest son of Oceanus and Thethys, who assumed the form of a bull and fought with Heracles for the love of Deianira?
6. Who was the US Democratic Presidential candidate who was left paralysed after he was shot in an assassination attempt in 1972?
7. 'Scrambled Eggs' was the working title of which of The Beatles' number 1 singles?
8. This Hellenized Egyptian of the 2nd-Century AD is noted for the astronomical treatises 'Almagest' and 'Geography', a thorough discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. What is his name?
9. Which sport was invented in 1887 by George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade?
10. Who was the American serial killer, necrophiliac and cannibal whose spate of murders in the 1940s and 50s inspired the films 'Psycho', 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' and 'The Silence of the Lambs'?
11. Which word, deriving from the Latin for 'swaddling clothes', is used to describe books printed prior to 1501?
12. The dish rijsttafel, that takes its name from the Dutch for 'rice table', originated in which country?
13. This small archipelago in the German Bight is noted for its red sedimentary rock, not found anywhere else in the North Sea. It has formerly belonged to Denmark and the Duchy of Schleswig but was seized by the British during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1890 Britain gave up the islands to Germany in exchange for German assurances to not interfere with British interests in Africa. It became an important naval base during the First World War and is now known as a holiday resort and tax haven. What is its name?
14. Which castle near Edenbridge, Kent was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn and is said to be haunted by her ghost?
15. According to Islamic tradition, what was the name of the winged horse upon which the Prophet Mohammed flew to Jerusalem?
16. Which novelist and journalist stood for the Dog Lovers' Party against the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe at the 1979 General Election?
17. Released in 1980, which was Abba's last UK number 1 single?
18. Quinine is derived from the bark of which tree native to South America?
19. In 1996, who became the first non-Spanish footballer to sign for Athletic Bilbao since World War I?
20. Who played the character Eddie Yeats in 'Coronation Street' and later went on to play Onslow in 'Keeping Up Appearances'?
21. If the protagonist is the central character in a work of fiction, what name is given to the second most important character?
22. In North America, what name is given to peeled bulls' testicles that are coated in flour and salt and deep fried ready for consumption?
23. What is the name of the new town on the outskirts of Paris which is the site of Euro Disney, opened in 1992?
24. Which Spanish Conquistador founded the South American city of Lima in 1535?
25. Who was the Norse god of light, wisdom and righteousness who was killed by his brother Hod?
26. What was the name of the British warship that hosted talks between Harold Wilson and the Rhodesian Prime Minister, Ian Smith, regarding the latter's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, in December 1966?
27. Which chart hit from the 1980s begins with the words, "Poor old Johnny Ray sounded sad upon the radio"?
28. All of the known moons of Uranus are named after characters from Shakespeare, with the two exceptions of Umbriel and Belinda that are named after characters from the works of which English poet?
29. What name is given to the assistant leader of a Cub Scouts pack?
30. What is the name of the actor and singer who voiced the character Chef in the animated series 'South Park' from 1997 to 2006?
31. Which sculptor created the statue entitled 'Liverpool Resurgent' which stands above the main entrance to the Lewis's department store in Liverpool?
32. Which vegetable, also known as Chinese broccoli, has a name deriving from the Cantonese for 'mustard orchid'?
33. Nicknamed Paddy's Milestone, what is the name of the island in the outer Firth of Clyde that stands halfway between Glasgow and Belfast?
34. Which English king was the last Earl of Wessex prior to the title being conferred upon Prince Edward in 1999?
35. In Greek mythology, who was the king of Thessaly who was bound to a burning wheel for attempting to seduce Zeus' wife Hera?
36. Which Irish patriot, regarded as the 'Father of Irish Republicans', committed suicide by slitting his throat after being sentenced to death for his part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798?
37. Three of the future members of which band recorded and released the single 'I Can Hear Music' in 1973 under the name Larry Lurex?
38. What is the name of the star in the constellation Octans that serves as the Southern Hemisphere's pole star and counterpart to Polaris in the Northern Hemisphere?
39. In which month does the Salmon Season start in Scotland?
40. In 1954, who became the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress?
41. Deriving from the Italian for 'to repent', which word, used in art, is given to the faint images, that were painted out when the artist changed his mind, that begin to show through the paint over time?
42. What is the name of the leaf vegetable grown in Japan, Taiwan and Korea, related to the turnip, that is sometimes referred to as Japanese mustard spinach?
43. The Turkish port of Bodrum is built on the ruins of which ancient city?
44. During which naval conflict of World War II was the British battlecruiser HMS Hood sunk by the German battleship Bismarck?
45. According to tradition, which prophet is said to have written the Book of Lamentations?
46. In 1969, which former West Indian cricketer and politician became the first person of African descent to be given a life peerage?
47. The group Simple Minds took their name from a line in which David Bowie single?
48. In mathematics, which letter of the alphabet is given to the imaginary number equal to the square root of -1?
49. For which club was Peter Shilton playing when he made his 1000th League appearance in December 1996?
50. Who played Dr No in the 1962 film of the same name?


Hope that wasn't too bad. And, John, I simply don't believe you got 42 last week. You are a little fibber - a well known quizzer, ranked in the top ten in Britain (who shall remain nameless), only got 36. I just don't believe you!!! Anyway, to the answers:


1. 1963
2. GUISELEY
3. BEXHILL-ON-SEA
4. THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC
5. ACHELOÜS
6. GEORGE WALLACE
7. YESTERDAY
8. PTOLEMY
9. SOFTBALL
10. ED GEIN
11. INCUNABULA
12. INDONESIA
13. HELIGOLAND
14. HEVER CASTLE
15. AL-BORAK (or BORAK)
16. AUBERON WAUGH
17. SUPER TROUPER
18. CINCHONA
19. BIXENTE LIZARAZU
20. GEOFFREY HUGHES
21. DEUTERAGONIST
22. ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS
23. MARNE-LA-VALLÉE
24. FRANCISCO PIZARRO
25. BALDER
26. HMS TIGER
27. COME ON EILEEN
28. ALEXANDER POPE
29. BALOO
30. ISAAC HAYES
31. JACOB EPSTEIN
32. KAI-LAN
33. AILSA CRAIG
34. HAROLD GODWINSON
35. IXION
36. WOLFE TONE
37. QUEEN
38. SIGMA OCTANTIS
39. JANUARY
40. DOROTHY DANDRIDGE
41. PENTIMENTI
42. KOMATSUNA
43. HALICARNASSUS
44. BATTLE OF THE DENMARK STRAIT
45. JEREMIAH
46. LEARIE CONSTANTINE
47. THE JEAN GENIE
48. I
49. LEYTON ORIENT
50. JOSEPH WISEMAN

Tuesday 12 June 2007

THE 13th TUESDAY QUIZ

Hello, once again. Changes afoot this week. As you may have gathered by now, one of my primary reasons for writing this blog is to consolidate otherwise transient information in my mind through the medium of quiz. I am writing so many questions at the moment (100s a day) that I cannot continue to justify the 30-question limit per weekly quiz. Therefore, from this week onwards, you lucky people shall be treated to 50 (yes, that's 50!) quiz questions. Here we go:


1. Which English composer was appointed the first Master of the King's Musick in 1625?
2. Which sub-tropical citrus fruit was developed in the 18th Century as a cross between a pomelo and an orange?
3. Which island nation is, in terms of area, the world's smallest republic?
4. In which modern-day capital city was Mother Teresa born?
5. Who was the son of Odysseus who, when his father had not returned after twenty years, went in search of him and was reunited with Odysseus on Ithaca after being told of his father's homecoming by King Menelaus?
6. During the 20th Century, only two leaders of the Conservative Party failed to become Prime Minister; one was William Hague, who was the other?
7. What is the real first name of the soul singer Smokey Robinson?
8. Also known as the monkey bread trees, the Adansonia are a genus of trees native to Madagascar, Central and Southern Africa and Australia. Occurring only in arid areas they are noted for their capacity to store up to 120,000 litres of water within their trunks. By what name are they commonly known?
9. Which country has appeared in the most football World Cup qualifying campaigns without ever qualifying?
10. Which 1966 film, starring Kirk Douglas and Angie Dickinson, told the story of Colonel David Marcus' attempt to establish the state of Israel in 1948?
11. Published in 1908, 'The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp' was the autobiography of which Welsh poet?
12. What is the name of the paste, used in Middle Eastern cuisine, that is made from ground sesame seeds and is a major ingredient of hummus?
13. In which Devonian fishing port would you find a replica of Francis Drake's ship The Golden Hind?
14. Which African-American abolitionist, who died in 1913, was known as 'The Moses of Her People'?
15. In the Bible, who was the son of King David who was slain in the boughs of an oak tree?
16. Which British author and historian was sentenced to three years in prison in Austria in February 2006 for denying the Holocaust?
17. To what did the pop group The B52s change their name when they released their 1994 top 5 hit 'Meet the Flintstones' taken from the film 'The Flinstones' starring John Goodman?
18. Derived from the Latin for ‘white’, what name is given to the proportion of light or radiation reflected by the surface of a planet or moon?
19. In 1972, she became the youngest ever female Olympic high jump gold medallist and in 1984 she became the oldest ever female Olympic high jump gold medallist; who was this German athlete?
20. What is the name of the animator who created 'Beavis and Butthead' and 'King of the Hill'?
21. In the play by Christopher Marlowe, how many years of happiness is Dr Faustus promised by the Devil?
22. Considered a delicacy, tomalley is a soft, green paste that is extracted from the innards of which creature?
23. La Tomatina is a tomato-throwing festival that takes place annually in which town on the outskirts of Valencia in Spain?
24. From the 14th to the 19th Centuries, what name was given to the infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguard?
25. According to Norse mythology, who was the first human who, with his wife Embla, was created from trees?
26. Elected by Congress in 1781 as President of the Continental Congress, who was the first person to use the title President of the United States?
27. How many copies of a single need to be sold in the UK to be awarded a gold disc?
28. Named after a French novelist, which syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that causes its sufferer to become dizzy and confused when exposed to works of art?
29. Which 19th Century English flat race jockey was Champion Jockey for 13 consecutive years before his suicide in 1886 at the age of 29?
30. In the 1941 film 'Citizen Kane', what is the name of the huge Floridian estate of Charles Foster Kane?
31. Carl Andre's famous sculpture entitled 'Equivalent VIII' is made from which material?
32. Which tropical fruit, native to the Malay Archipelago and related to the lychee, has a name meaning 'hairy' in Malay?
33. Which island off the south-west coast of Iceland, the name of which means 'Fire Island' in Icelandic, is home to the world's largest gannet colony and was the last home of the great auk before it was hunted to extinction in 1844?
34. Who was the Provost of Paris who built the Bastille in the 14th Century and promptly became the first person to be confined there after he was placed on trial for heresy?
35. By which English name is the Jewish festival of Shavuot commonly known?
36. What name is given to the US President's official helicopter?
37. Which jazz singer was arrested in the USA in 1978 for tax evasion, having refused to pay tax in protest at the Vietnam War?
38. Although it sounds as though it should refer to the puffin, Puffinus puffinus is, in fact, the Latin name for which bird?
39. Which Scottish international footballer scored nine goals in an FA Cup match for Bournemouth in an 11-0 win over Margate in 1971?
40. What is the name of the British television producer who founded Ragdoll Productions in 1984 and has created 'Rosie and Jim', 'Roland Rat' and 'The Teletubbies'?
41. Which Greek philosopher founded the Cynic school?
42. Located in Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands, which is Britain's most northerly operational whisky distillery?
43. The Oregon Trail linked Oregon to which southern US state?
44. 'De Medicina' is the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopaedia written by which Roman encyclopaedist?
45. A torii is the name given to a traditional red gate found at the entrance to shrines of which religion?
46. In which year were the Corn Laws repealed?
47. Which group did Ronnie Wood leave to join the Rolling Stones?
48. The domestic horse is descended from which species of wild horse, the last example of which died in captivity in Ukraine in 1918?
49. Which British world champion boxer was charged with the attempted murder of his promoter, Frank Warren, in 1987?
50. In which fictional Birmingham suburb was the soap opera 'Crossroads' set?


Hopefully that first 50 didn't turn out too badly for you. The answers:

1. NICHOLAS LANIER
2. GRAPEFRUIT
3. NAURU
4. SKOPJE
5. TELEMACHUS
6. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN
7. WILLIAM
8. BAOBAB
9. LUXEMBOURG
10. CAST A GIANT SHADOW
11. WH DAVIES
12. TAHINI
13. BRIXHAM
14. HARRIET TUBMAN
15. ABSALOM
16. DAVID IRVING
17. BC52s
18. ALBEDO
19. ULRIKE MEYFARTH
20. MIKE JUDGE
21. 24
22. LOBSTER
23. BUÑOL
24. JANISSARIES
25. ASK
26. JOHN HANSON
27. 500,000
28. STENDHAL SYNDROME
29. FRED ARCHER
30. XANADU
31. FIRE BRICKS
32. RAMBUTAN
33. ELDEY
34. HUGUES AUBRIOT
35. FESTIVAL OF WEEKS
36. MARINE ONE
37. NINA SIMONE
38. MANX SHEARWATER
39. TED MacDOUGALL
40. ANNE WOOD
41. ANTISTHENES
42. HIGHLAND PARK
43. MISSOURI
44. AULUS CORNELIUS CELSUS
45. SHINTO
46. 1846
47. THE FACES
48. TARPAN
49. TERRY MARSH
50. KING'S OAK

Tuesday 5 June 2007

THE 12th TUESDAY QUIZ

Once more unto the brain, dear friends. I think this week's selection is fairly straightforward - I hope there are a few to distract you, however. Onwards....


1. Deriving from the German for 'novel of education', which literary term refers to a novel that traces the spiritual, moral, psychological or social development of the protagonist from childhood to maturity?
2. Which type of fish is split and cooked in order to make a spitchcock?
3. The Rhine and the Ruhr meet at which German city to create one of the largest inland ports in Europe?
4. Who was the leader of the Native American Minneconjou Sioux who was killed at the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890?
5. Probably deriving from the Icelandic for 'crush', and regarded as the most fearsome weapon in the arsenal of the Norse pantheon, what is the name of Thor’s hammer?
6. Which American President signed into law the Indian Citizenship Act that granted full US citizenship to Native Americans?
7. Which American female R&B singer, who had number 1 hits in the UK with 'Miss You' and 'More Than a Woman', died in a plane crash in August 2001?
8. Of what is hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia the fear?
9. Which card game was invented by the English poet Sir John Suckling in the early 17th Century?
10. Who was the first male presenter of the children's television show 'Blue Peter'?
11. Who founded the Stoic school of philosophy in Athens?
12. Which herb, used in French cookery, is sometimes known as 'dragon herb'?
13. Common in English usage, the word 'taboo', meaning 'forbidden', is taken from the language of the indigenous people of which country?
14. In which English castle was the 10th Century king Edward the Martyr murdered?
15. This branch of theology, its name deriving from the Greek for 'study of the last', is concerned with the final events in the history of mankind. What is it called?
16. Coming to office in 1850, who was the last American President not to represent either the Republican or Democratic Parties?
17. The practising Mormon Brandon Flowers is the lead singer of which American rock group?
18. With a name deriving from the Greek for 'branch', which branch of biology, the most prominent form of phylogenetic systematics, determines the evolutionary relationships between organisms based on derived similarities?
19. What was the surname of the seven brothers who all played county cricket for Worcestershire between 1899 and 1934?
20. Which British dramatist, who wrote the award-winning play 'Beautiful Thing', also wrote the scripts for the sit-com 'Gimme Gimme Gimme'?
21. What was the pen name of the cartoonist Cyril Kenneth Bird, who became editor of 'Punch' magazine in 1949?
22. What is the name of the white sauce, flavoured with onion and herbs, that is named after a French courtier who attended Louis XIV?
23. Despite having a population of just 780,000 which city is, in terms of area, the largest in the United States?
24. About what, in 1066, did the 11th Century Benedictine monk, Eilmer of Malmesbury, say, “You've come, have you? … You've come, you source of tears to many mothers. It is long since I saw you; but as I see you now you are much more terrible, for I see you brandishing the downfall of my country”?
25. In Greek mythology, what was the name of the hunter who was turned into a stag by the goddess Artemis because he saw her naked?
26. In 2004, Indulis Emsis became the first European Prime Minister to represent the Green Party when he was elected Prime Minister of which country?
27. R Kelly's 1997 number 1 hit 'I Believe I Can Fly' was taken from the soundtrack to which film?
28. The last surviving example of which bird, once the most common bird in the world, died in Cincinnati Zoo in 1914?
29. Which twelve-letter word, invented by James Joyce for his novel 'Ulysses', and meaning 'the sound of a knock on the door', is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary as the longest single-word palindrome in the English language?
30. Which 1988 film, starring Meryl Streep, told the true story of Lindy Chamberlain, a mother, convicted of killing her baby even though she maintained that a dingo had killed it?


Did you get a warm, glowing feeling when you realised you knew the answers? Good....


1. BILDUNGSROMAN
2. EEL
3. DUISBURG
4. BIG FOOT
5. MJOLNIR
6. CALVIN COOLIDGE
7. AALIYAH
8. LONG WORDS
9. CRIBBAGE
10. CHRISTOPHER TRACE
11. ZENO
12. TARRAGON
13. TONGA
14. CORFE CASTLE
15. ESCHATOLOGY
16. MILLARD FILLMORE
17. THE KILLERS
18. CLADISTICS
19. FOSTER
20. JONATHAN HARVEY
21. FOUGASSE
22. BECHAMEL
23. JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
24. HALLEY'S COMET
25. ACTAEON
26. LATVIA
27. SPACE JAM
28. PASSENGER PIGEON
29. TATTARRATTAT
30. A CRY IN THE DARK