Extremely difficult quiz questions

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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. ?

Indeed, the lad is Alexander 'Eric' McMordie and the tale you tell is at least partially true.

But he did return to England to play for Middlesbrough, York City, Sheffield Wednesday and Hartlepool.

Clever detective work!

Who was this?

- He was born in Devon, died in Kent, and was then buried in a coffin painted in salmon and cucumber colours.

- A vicar and then an antique dealer - two things which are so different as to have no opportunity to unite. (Isn’t there a shorter expression for that?)

- Deeds can speak louder than words, but even if you are a high court judge??

Is there a Doctor in the house?

There was in 1954...and one at large in 1957...

So what was the significance of the salmon and cucumber coffin? And which ex-con read the eulogy at the funeral?

Those tasteful Garrick Club colours!

It was Lord Archer who did the honours at the funeral service - can there be a worse send-off than that...?

It was Lord Archer who did the honours at the funeral service - can there be a worse send-off than that...?

Sinden was spoofed on Spitting Image. His puppet, sitting in a restaurant, summons a waiter and asks "Do you serve a ham salad?" the waiter replies "Yes, Sir, we serve anyone".

Ah yes - Spitting Image.

I used to feel it was particularly disgraceful how they treated our politicians with so much undeserved respect...

There's a melancholy list of popular entertainers linked by an inexplicable coincidence, but who has been the most recent addition to this unfortunate "club"?

Robert Johnson, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain ... and ?

The '27 Club' victims.

Amy Winehouse wasn't particularly recent, but possibly the latest to die from drug abuse , including alcohol-related issues...

Correct as always, Phil. Now a friend of mine asks me why men are prompted to sing in the shower. What's the psychology behind THAT?

That's easy.

They forgot to put a lock on the door...

Can you make a link between a 16th century livery stable owner and the actor Charles Laughton?

It's Hobson's choice, one would imagine...

Very good, yet again. Thomas Hobson (1544-1631) offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in his stall nearest the door or taking none at all. In 1954, Charles Laughton starred in what we would now call a ‘romcom’ entitled ‘Hobson’s Choice’.

The tale is not dissimilar to one from the greek mythological adventures of Theseus, several years earlier than the disobliging Mr. Hobson.

His encounter with a host who adjusted his guests to their bed, was arguably the most interesting of Theseus's challenges on the way to becoming a hero. This fellow kept a house by the side of the road where he offered hospitality to passing strangers, who were invited in for a pleasant meal and then a night's rest in his very special bed. **** described it as having the unique property that its length exactly matched whomsoever lay down upon it. What **** didn't volunteer was the method by which this "one-size-fits-all" was achieved, namely as soon as the guest lay down **** went to work upon him, stretching him on the rack if he was too short for the bed and chopping off his legs if he was too long. Theseus turned the tables on this inhospitable landlord, fatally adjusting him to fit his own bed.

What was the name of this evilly inhospitable landlord?

That sounds like the sort of thing which Peter Rackman or Nicholas van Hoogstraten might have done, but I think I'll suggest Procrustes?

Perhaps that Theseus could offer us a favour by 'doing a Sinis' on that evil bastard, Duncan Smith.

It would seem only just...

Perhaps a booking could be made for him at the Hotel California.

Born Edinburgh 1850, died Samoa 1894, Robert Louis Stevenson is best known for his successful novels Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The last-mentioned he wrote in 1886 whilst living at his home in Bournemouth, which he had named after a large rock which is situated to the southwest of Tiree in the Hebrides.

What name did he give the house, and why did he choose that name for it?

After a call to Nicola Sturgeon this afternoon, I can suggest that the house was called Skerryvore after the lighthouse of the same name which the Stevenson family designed and built.

Naturally, I would not have known this without help from the First Minister...

So is she going to put 1p extra on Income Tax for the Scots?

I didn't ask for fear of getting the "Nothing's ruled in and nothing's ruled out*" response...

( * see also " We have no plans at present..." )

(A King complains to his courtiers,)

"A man who has eaten my bread,
who came to  my court poor,
and I have raised him high -
how he draws up his heel to kick me in the teeth!
He has shamed my kin,
shamed my realm; the grief goes to my heart,
and no-one has avenged me."

Over the centuries this has become considerably shortened, and is now known to every modern schoolboy as the rather querulous enquiry ......

What phrase?

Not at all sure, but it sounds like a version of : " Why does everybody hate me...?"

.. or even, "Infamy, infamy they've all got it in for me!"

But it's not that either. Please keep stirring the brain cells. Everybody definitely knows the answer, if one can be certain of anything in this uncertain world.

There looks to be a touch of the 'biting the hand that feeds you' in all that.

But , so far, it remains a mystery for me...

It sound as though it could come from Henry 2nd regarding Thomas Becket, "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest" . A few knights got the wrong end of the stick or rather unfortunately Thomas did.

Prezackly, redfordray, and if you'd like to read it in either Latin or Old French, here's a link -

http://conclarendon.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/who-will-rid-me-of-this-turbulent-priest.html

Just a reminder to all on the Cutting Edge, that this brain-teaser column is a two-way-street.

Well done, redfordray.

There's a lot of Psalm 41:9 about the thing - which is where my musings failed!

A simple task for those of you who have a mastery of figures ( ie not me! ) :

What are the missing numbers (?) in this sequence - and why?

3... ? ...5...4...?...3...5...?...4...3

I've watched enough "Count-down" to recall adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing and objectifying the female presenter to recognise the type of question. But in MENSA papers and the eleven-plus I think you get multiple-choice answers. You can usually get a pass-mark by answering "b" or "c" alternately down the page, but we are not afforded that luxury by Mr Hornby so it's likely to be a football player strategy. of which 4-2-4 is the only one which has been around long enough to impinge upon my semi-conscious awareness.

An impressive and skilled commentary, based upon a clear analysis of the prevailing possibilities.

All it lacks is an answer.

The sequence of ten numbers has nothing to do with football . However , experience of Countdown and its component parts may well assist in finding a solution...

Phil Hornby wrote:A simple task for those of you who have a mastery of figures ( ie not me! ) :

What are the missing numbers (?) in this sequence - and why?

3... ? ...5...4...?...3...5...?...4...3

Here we have a sequence of ten numbers. It may assist to focus on each number individually rather than any mathematical progression in the sequence...

Is it that bloody hypotenuse thing again? Perhaps someone else will have an angle on it. My diary tells me I'm down for inventing the wheel for the rest of today, or until the psychiatrist appears.

Mr Pythagoras and his Hippopotamus do not feature here, I'm afraid.

It's all much simpler than that - although a Man of Letters might have an advantage.

Maybe the psychiatrist can cast a spell...if he is wheely clever...

Phil Hornby wrote:A simple task for those of you who have a mastery of figures ( ie not me! ) :

What are the missing numbers (?) in this sequence - and why?

3... ? ...5...4...?...3...5...?...4...3

Ok - a final clue :

Why not give each of the figures in the sequence of ten an individual number starting with 1 , then 2, and so on. Does that help...?

All the jelly is again double jelly and is in the 4 corners of the board. Unfortunately reaching it is a bit harder than you’d like. Now you have 45 moves to complete the level, but you have to zip through all of the bombs by your 35th move or you will fail the level if you don’t extinguish them. You have 6 jellyfish and one striped candy frozen for you already for a headstart. You need to make some striped candies to mix with the jellyfish as you won’t have enough jellyfish on their own. Once you are out of jellyfish, you have to use striped candies or color bombs to get to the jelly squares. Just remember after the first hit the pieces will no longer be there for the second one.

Phil. My questions are always too easy, but on this occasion you’ve lived up to the requirement of the thread. At first I thought the numbers must be some of Craig Revel Horwood’s marks from ‘Strictly Come Dancing', but they're clearly much too high. Then I thought they might be Chelsea’s positions in the Premier League this season, but again they are much too high (or rather the numbers are too low). So I surrender.  

If we’re in the business of difficult number questions, you and the sage could try this one:-

These were once the scores in a Test Match. Country A scored 355 and 101. Country B won after scoring 284 and 174-6. Name the countries. When and where was the match played?

Being kind and generous by nature, I will offer a clue. Might this have been the match which the major took his lady friend to see? (I’m not referring to John and Edwina!).

Not very Sporting, I know, but Sports stats. are to be found on the internet,

e.g. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/ECKP90170

Looks like India's victory over England at the Oval in August 1971.

Having Wisden Almanacs can assist on these occasions...unless they are Fawlty...