Extremely difficult quiz questions

First topic message reminder :

This extremely difficult quiz question is possible to answer using the internet, lets see who gets the correct answer first.

What is the name of the cottage next door to The Crown & Anchor pub, near Kilnsea, East Yorkshire. ?

Ah, the power of guesswork...!

Indeed. That's what's fuelling Tory policy on Brexit.

What is this intended to depict?  


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DHTD2nUVYAA79iU.jpg

Umm.  Guess we can all learn from that.  But life isn't just Black-and-White so possibly the message is that too many unpleasant people hide behind a mask of respectability.

Not only Presidents, of course.

I had set aside this afternoon for sympathising with that poor Mr Trump in his current travails, but was distracted by the sight of a large-ish bird happily feeding on our lawn.  Colourful compared with most avian visitors, this angry-looking male with a long beak made repeated stabs at the ground where I know there to be a thriving ant colony.  Odd choice of diet, but chacun à son gout as our friends in Brussels might say.  The internet informs us that its long prehensile tongue - useful for grabbing insects - is coiled in the back of the head, which reminded me of a personal encounter some time ago now, though not relevant to the present topic. The Past is another country, they did things differently there, and besides, the wench is dead.

The bird is common to most European countries, but what do we call it?

"...what do we call it?"

It's not 'Eric' is it...?

Do try to be serious; "Eric" is a fish.

Of course.

So, it could be Arnold, the green woodpecker...

Certainly a green woodpecker, though we weren't formally introduced.

Lovely plumage.

For those with an uncertain grasp on reality, this correspondence carries a "PG" rating.

Nobody under the age of Fifty will have had much practical experience of the English currency before the advent of decimal coinage, but most people have heard of "Pounds, shillings and pence".



BBC radio is currently airing a series "Rumpole of the Bailey", based on the novels of (Barrister) John Mortimer which are still fun to read.

In the books, solicitors send out their Bills to clients with curious itemized entries such as "To engrossing instructions - Thirteen shillings and fourpence"; or "Attending you on the telephone - Six shillings and eightpence."

Why on earth would they have chosen those specific amounts?

I can only imagine that such sums represented , respectively, two-thirds and a third of a £1 note. The charge was likely to be a whole number of pounds per hour and segments of an hour would be charged appropriately , eg at the rate of 4d per minute if the hourly charge were £1. ( 6/8d= 20 minutes and 13/4d = 40 minutes )

But I am , of course, far too young to recall pre-decimal currency...

"far too young to recall pre-decimal currency"

Clearly, and not only correct, but sensible enough to avoid trying to calculate percentages of a fraction.

At current "values", when professionals charge £200+ an hour, it's not difficult to imagine their response to being offered 100 pence instead.

And we are still resistant to Kilometres per hour as a measure of speed.

If we had to contemplate kilometres, I'd run a mile...  

If you want to know something these days, the usual recourse is to Google.

But some explanations are easier to understand than others. What knowledge is being imparted (and for whose benefit) in this extract from an Instruction Manual?

".... there is a good way, and a not-so-good way, which can jam up and lead to swearing.
Start with the line on the inboard side of the cleat. Make one, complete, round turn followed by 2 - 3 figure of eight turns. Finish with a locking turn. (Purists never add a locking hitch because it is an invitation to a jam. However our rope/cleat sizes make it necessary). If you are really paranoid about your pride and joy going walk-about, tie the ends together inside the forestay/backstay."

Sounds like something to do with securing a boat on the water ( a subject about which - like so many - I know nothing.).

I understand that there is big business currently in the theft of outboard motors and there may be a link to that.

I appreciate that my attempt at this poser may be deemed a load of rowlocks...

Ah, those carefree childhood days of electric trains, although - alas! - they were always "too dear" for my parents to meet my Christmas gift pleadings!

However, it was fun to peruse the catalogues  - and dream .

But which hotel is depicted top right in the picture above?

Umm. I remember it well. Had all of the catalogues but none of the products. Money was tight because silly Daddy went and got himself killed by the Germans. Where I went to school we had a new arrival whose parents had been Missionaries in Burma (Myanmar) but for some reason came back to England. I was invited to play with Bryan when he opened his trainset: Box after box of Hornby electric engines, carriages, goods vehicles and lineside furniture.

There must have been a lot of money in God-bothering.

The hotel in the picture? Probably called something like "The Midland", or "North British" if it was in Edinburgh.

Well before my appearance, my own Dad was spared the fate of so many children's fathers as, despite having volunteered for the Navy, he was in a reserved occupation - namely aircraft inspection . Still insufficient funds post-war to extend beyond secondhand clockwork trains, nevertheless.

Excellent answer. It is indeed what was the North British Hotel on Princes Street, Edinburgh.

Now called The Balmoral , one can enjoy a three-course dinner there today for about £75. I never have, much preferring some haggis, neeps and tatties, and a pint of Dragonhead, in a small bar just up some narrow steps ( a 'wynd') near Waverley Station. Dad, in those early days, did not have a great deal of cash - and I never waste mine...

For Centuries, the principal Export from the Indian sub-continent has been "Indians". Its people have left their homeland in search of a better existence elsewhere, and nowhere has been more successful in attracting former Indian citizens than ********.

What is the name and location of that city?

Clue: Their local delicacy is called a "Bunny Chow".

Where?

Hashim Amla is a South African cricketer whose roots are Indian.

He was brought up in Durban and has doubtless eaten Bunny Chow, unless such a dish is not permitted to Muslims...

Durban is indeed the place where Bunny Chow originated - Curry in a hollowed-out loaf.

For an extra point, where in the British Isles do they have a traditional dish which is also served in a loaf with the "crumb" taken out?

No answers after three weeks, so I guess you win on that one and get to keep the bonus point!

Here's something much easier just to keep this thread ticking over:-

What do Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ingrid Bergman and Sidney Bechet have in common?

I don't think the answer will have changed in the four or five years since it was first posed on this thread, but there are of course many new readers who might like to explain how "Unhappy Birthday" could be appropriate.

One must assume they each died on their birthday. Bergman certainly did.

Such bad planning....

.... and apparently never did master the soprano saxophone - nor be a President.

Can you think of a nation which has a land area of 7,682,300 square metres but no borders?

Vatican City perhaps...?

VC full of people who only board there, but definitively bordered by the rest of Italy.

A Nation without borders?

If you count only land borders as borders, all island nations are borderless, but I'm sure that's not the required answer.

Are we talking about somewhere such as Kurdistan? The Kurds definitely see themselves as a nation.

Oo-err. It's for others to say whether I've been devious but I thought this was a simple question, though requiring a certain amount of cogitation.

Ivan seized immediately on the essential ingredient - an Island Nation - but then suspected that was too pat to be the answer.

Cutting Edge is nothing if not political, and I was thinking about political boundaries, the ones where you have customs posts and/or grim-faced guards with a striped pole barring the way.

Places like the Isle of Man or Malta have no such impediment, but the land area quoted in the question (more than seven and a half million m²) is enormous enough to eliminate all but one such location not having a land border with any other nation.

[Antarctica is not a nation.]

Well tie me kangaroo down, sport! Will we see Matilda doing the waltz on 'Strictly Come Dancing' any time soon?

Well Bruce, why don't we throw another prawn on the barbie grab a tinnie and await developments?  She'll be right, you'll see!

Which England cricketer had a Test career which lasted for less than half an hour?

Was this the unfortunate Andy Lloyd of Warwickshire back in the 1980s...?

I think there was also another chap in the 1920s whose debut was ruined by rain to the extent that he had no chance to do anything of any note in the match...

Yes, Andy Lloyd. He opened the batting for England against the West Indies in June 1984 on his home ground of Edgbaston. He had scored 10 runs when the 17th ball he faced hit him on the head and put him in hospital. The bowler was Malcolm Marshall.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/16322.html

Once the teams are selected and the coin has been tossed, I think you are deemed to have 'played' in a Test Match even if it rains for all five days. That gentleman in the 1920s would have been available to take the field had the rain stopped, so technically his Test career lasted longer than that of poor Mr Lloyd, for whom a substitute fielder was obviously required as soon as England had to field.

Which all-rounder played one Test for England in which he scored 0 and 0 with the bat, took no wickets and held no catches, but who then went on to play cricket for another country?

Could be Gavin Hamilton - the question suggests his 'second country' did not have Test status and Scotland ( for whom he played) has never had to date...

Well done, Phil.  Got us off the hook there.
I was about to suggest this little fella:

Yes, it was Gavin Hamilton, who played his one Test for England in South Africa in November 1999. After England discarded him, he then had to wait four years to re-qualify for Scotland.

Can anyone find a suitable job for this chap?