(Roughly) Daily

A special Holiday joint posting with Scenarios and Strategy…

With an eye to amusement during the Holiday break– and with thanks to reader RR…

The Daily Telegraph / QI Christmas 2008 quiz
A quite interesting festive test launched by Stephen Fry

(Link to answers, at the bottom of this email…)

Round One: Dasher or Dancer?

Dasher questions (Sport):

1.According to mathematicians, what is the fastest time a man will ever be able run the 100m?
a)9.6 seconds
b)9.44 seconds
c)There is no limit

2.In horse racing, what odds does the slang term “ruof” signify?
a)2/1
b)4/1
c)33/1

3.In the 1870s, what was the second largest gambling sport, behind Horse Racing, in the US?
a)Racewalking
b)Pigeon racing
c)Spelling Bees

4.Compared to their body length, which of the following is the fastest swimmer?
a)Michael Phelps
b)A seahorse
c)A goldfish

5.What was interesting about Nadia Comaneci’s performance in the 1976 Olympics?
a)She was the first person to ever score a perfect 10 in an Olympic event.
b)Her score was so high that it didn’t fit on the scoreboards.
c)She was the youngest ever Olympic winner.

Dancer questions (Music):

6.What type of music helps children improve their mental ability?
a)Mozart
b)Death Metal
c)It doesn’t matter, any music will do

7.What is sol-re-sol?
a)A language based on music
b)A way of using music to perform arithmetic
c)A way of using music to encrypt computer data

8.What is quite interesting about Coldplay frontman Chris Martin?
a)He has taken part in the Tour de France
b)He shares a name with the President of Namibia
c)He is related to the man who invented daylight saving

9.Fans of the band Madness did what, at a concert in 1992?
a)Took part in the world’s largest pillow fight
b)Caused an earthquake
c)Invented the mosh-pit

10.What were Les Horribles Cernettes the first band to do?
a)Have their own website
b)Record a record in zero gravity
c)Sell a record on iTunes

Round Two: Prancer or Vixen?

Prancer questions (Geography):

11.Which is the world’s longest river?
a)Nile
b)Amazon
c)An un-named river under the ice in Antarctica

12.In which country were casino chips used as currency in the 19th century?
a)Siam
b)Zaire
c)Ceylon

13.What is the most southerly point of Africa?
a)Cape of Good Hope
b)Cape Horn
c)Cape Agulhas

14.Which of these might you go looking for at Homey Airport?
a)Aliens
b)Bigfoot
c)God

15.In which country can you find the world’s oldest university?
a)England
b)Morocco
c)Macedonia

Vixen questions (Animals):

16.In the film Finding Nemo, what sex is Nemo?
a)Male
b)Female
c)Both

17.How do squirrels impress their partners?
a)Throwing nuts at them
b)Vandalising trees
c)Attacking their elders

18.What animal did French lovers like to keep in a cage around their necks?
a)Mice
b)Crickets
c)fleas

19.Which of the following is a popular natural medicine in India?
a)Dog tears
b)Pelican blood
c)Camel urine

20.Fossils of which animals were traditionally used to weigh butter in Oxfordshire?
a)Sea urchins
b)Pterodactyls
c)Trilobites

Round Three: Comet or Cupid?

Comet questions (Science):

21.Which of the following might you experience if you went too near a black hole?
a)Spaghettification
b)Sausaging
c)Swiss-Cheesicles

22.What causes an ice-cream headache?
a)A nerve at the back of the throat
b)Cold air passing through the sinuses
c)The condition doesn’t exist and was invented as a way to prevent children from eating quickly.

23.What gas is the main constituent of flatulence?
a)Methane
b)Carbon dioxide
c)Nitrogen

24.Which of the following disturbances are you more likely to experience in Stockport than anywhere else in the UK?
a)Earthquakes
b)Lightning strikes
c)Tornadoes

25.Which of the following is a rare gemstone?
a)Ouchite
b)Painite
c)Agonyite

Cupid questions (Mythology)

26.Which of these was Odin’s great-grandfather in Norse mythology?
a)A reindeer
b)A herring
c)An ice cube

27.Which god was helped by a gap-toothed goat?
a)Thor
b)Zeus
c)Yahweh

28.Which of the following were Aztec Gods?
a)The half-worm, half-snake goddess
b)The 400 drunken rabbit gods
c)The eight foot children from Mars

29.According to Ainu mythology, what is the world resting on?
a)Another 500 worlds
b)A giant trout
c)A singing tree

30.Where did man originate according to the Hopi Americans?
a)The Grand Canyon
b)Niagara Falls
c)Mount St Helens

Round Four: Donner or Blitzen?

Donner questions (Food & Drink)

31.What is unusual about Lambic Beer?
a)It is made from holy water
b)It is made with radioactive barley
c)It is made from wild yeasts and bacteria

32.Which Christmas item caused one of the first ever health scares?
a)Cranberries
b)Brussels Sprouts
c)Christmas Pudding

33.Which part of the Christmas Dinner should you drop to check it is good to eat?
a)Cranberries
b)Brussels Sprouts
c)Christmas Pudding

34.Which part of the Christmas Dinner caused an alarm to sound at Weymouth’s Sea Life Centre in 2006?
a)Cranberries
b)Brussels Sprouts
c)Christmas Pudding

35.Which gets you drunk most quickly, champagne or wine?
a)Champagne
b)Wine
c)There is no difference between the two

Blitzen questions (History):

36.What was the hottest year in the history of the United States?
a)2008
b)2005
c)1934

37.In which modern-day country was Alexander the Great born?
a)Greece
b)Macedonia
c)Albania

38.Which country is the only in the world to have been awarded a medal for bravery?
a)Scotland
b)Malta
c)Cuba

39.Which of the following allows a US citizen to seize a territory on behalf of the US government?
a)Oil
b)Cowrie shells
c)Bird dung

40.Which of the following was NOT present at the Battle of Bravalla in the 8th century?
a)Sonny the Shouter
b)Alf the Proud
c)Hothbrodd the Furious

(Answers here.)