After the joys of Christmas Lunch, back to normal
for most Green Gymmers this week. Meantime,
the session-blog is taking a holiday.
At time of posting, today’s session was
advertised as: “Scrub clearing on a slope. And a bonfire.” In the absence of site warden with helpful
landie, the warm-up to consist of carrying tools and tea crate from the bottom
of the hill to the work site. At least
the walk at session end would be downhill, with lighter loads. And, depending on weather and precise
location, one might be able to see for miles and miles?
Meantime, for those absent from last week’s festivities,
a challenge: your chance to measure your wits against a WGG team. And for those who were there, some reminiscences
of a merry meal – “delicious and very well presented”.
No crackers this year, but home-grown entertainment
with a quiz which had been set by one of our members. In true Green-Gym fashion ‘solving’ it was
done as a team effort: pooling of resources to tackle the questions – and then
to help consume the (designer-chocolate) prize.
The verdict of one participant in the quiz: “I
don’t think we did it justice even with our combined general knowledge and code
breaking ‘ability’. A— was definitely the master
of the anagrams.” If you would like to
see how you get on, below are the questions.
Answers next time.
The famous
Wallingford Green-Gym Quiz, Xmas 2018
edition:
‘Around The World in 80 Questions’
‘Around The World in 80 Questions’
One
way or another, all 80 items relate to countries current or historic, whether
in the question or the answer. All names
of countries are anglicised.
A) Complete
the quotation:
1) “Something is rotten in the state of
-------”
2) the glory that was ------
3) “I’m Charley’s aunt, from ------, where
the nuts come from”
4) “You’re a very small bear,” said Mrs
Brown, “where are you from?” “Darkest ----,”
said the bear: “I’m not really supposed to be here at all. I’m a stowaway. I came all the way in a lifeboat, and I
ate marmalade. Bears like marmalade.”
5) In today’s modern Galaxy there is, of
course, very little still held to be unspeakable. Many words and expressions which only a matter
of decades ago were considered so distastefully explicit that were they merely
to be breathed in public, the perpetrator would be shunned, barred from polite
society, and, in extreme cases, shot through the lungs, are now thought to be
very healthy and proper, and their use in everyday speech is seen as evidence
of a well-adjusted, relaxed, and totally unf [bleep!] ked-up personality
... But though even words like ‘juju-flop’, ‘swut’, and ‘turlingdrome’ are now
perfectly acceptable in common usage, there is one word that is still beyond
the pale. The concept it embodies is so
revolting that the publication or broadcast of the word is utterly forbidden in
all parts of the galaxy except one – where they don’t know what it means. That word is ‘-------’
B) Can
you match the country to the product or species?
One
has already been done, as an example
6) Canada Sling
7) India
____________________________ Rubber
8) Japan Pine
9) Lebanon Leather
10) Morocco Hat
11) Norway Goose
12) Panama Cedar
13) Singapore Black
C) Books
with countries in the title
Can
you identify title and author?
Example: A------ i- B------ by
G&U = Asterix in Britain - Goscinny and Uderzo
14) A P------
t- I---- by E M F
15) T--
P------ t- I---- by A M
16) H---------
a-- t-- W--- I----- by C S F
17) T--
K-------- o- M---- by N M
18) R-------
i- R----- by S
19) E------,
m- E------ by D H L
20) F---
S---- t-- W--- f-- F----- by H E B
D) Films
with bizarre titles when released in other countries
Sometimes
books are given different titles when published in different countries. eg ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’
is known to readers in USA as ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’. Likewise the movie.
Can
you work out the original title of these films from (or in spite of) the titles
they were given when shown in other countries.
Example: My Boyfriend Is a Psycho (Russia) = Silver Linings Playbook
(Yes, it really was billed as Мой парень –
псих. And the director had tried so hard
to make a sensitive piece about living with mental-health difficulties! ‘Playbook’ I guess is a reference to American
Football, so distributors may thought correctly that would not travel
well. In France and Belgium the film was
called ‘Happiness Therapy’; in Canada, ‘Le bon côté des choses’.)
21) ‘Interplanetary
Unusual Attacking Team’ (Taiwan)
22) ‘Mr. Cat Scat’
(Hong Kong)
and in French-speaking countries: Pour le pire et pour le meilleur
and in French-speaking countries: Pour le pire et pour le meilleur
23) ‘Love in the
Skies’ (Israel)
24) ‘Vaseline’
(Argentina)
E) Songs
with countries in the title
Can
you name the song and original recording artist?
Example: D---- C—F—M- A--------
by JC
= Don’t Cry For Me Argentina – Julie Covington
= Don’t Cry For Me Argentina – Julie Covington
25) B--- i- t-- U--- by TB
26) B--- i- t-- U-- by BS
27) F----- o- S------- by TC
28) P----- by VG
29) P------- by IP
30) F------ by MP
F) Places
in England with names which include foreign countries
Can
you identify?
Example: H------ P--- (London
underground station) = Holland Park
31) G---- H------ (Essex)
32) N--- H------ (Lincs.)
33) N--- Z------ (Bucks.)
34) D------ H--- (London railway station)
35) E---- (Bucks.)
36) L----- S---------- (North Devon)
G) Visual
Images
This
is an experiment. Normally
travel-photographers go to a great deal of trouble to give an image a sense of
place. I often do the same, but
sometimes take shots precisely because I think one would not guess where we
were just by looking. Can you divine which
countries these photographs were taken in?
Bonus point if you can be more precise re location.
Example:
Answer= RUSSIA: ul. Lenina, Novosibirsk
37)
38)
39)
40)
H) ‘H’
for Half way! Time to relax, with some
jokes:
For
completeness of Green-Gym experience: put the kettle on, and cut yourself a
slice of cake. Now, can you work out the
answers to these old chestnuts?
Example: How do you get two whales
in a car?
Answer = Down the M4 and across the Severn Bridge! (Pont Hafren)
or, these days, the Prince of Wales Bridge (Pont Tywysog Cymru)
Answer = Down the M4 and across the Severn Bridge! (Pont Hafren)
or, these days, the Prince of Wales Bridge (Pont Tywysog Cymru)
41) What is the fastest country in the
world?
42) What is the the coldest (and the hottest)
country?
43) What is in the middle of India?
44) What country does a pirate love to sail
his ship to?
45) If a plane crashed on the border of
Canada and the USA, where would they bury the survivors?
I) Fencing
Work
your way down from the top strand of wire on the fence to the bottom
by changing one letter at a time –without scrambling the order of the letters.
by changing one letter at a time –without scrambling the order of the letters.
Example: ‘LOCK’ to ‘GATE’ in 4
moves
--+-- LOCK --+--
--+--
LACK --+--
--+--
LACE --+--
--+--
LATE --+--
--+--
GATE --+--
46) ‘HOME’ to ‘AWAY’ in 9 moves:
--+-- HOME --+--
--+-- _ _ _ _ --+--
--+-- _ _ _ _ --+--
--+-- _ _ _ _ --+--
--+-- _ _ _ _ --+--
--+-- _ _ _ _ --+--
--+-- _ _ _ _ --+--
--+-- _ _ _ _ --+--
--+-- _ _ _ _ --+--
--+-- AWAY --+--
It
would be very much in order to beat the quiz-setter by accomplishing it in
fewer moves, as long as the words deployed may be found in a regular
dictionary. It could be done in 7, if one
used a technical term from the world of administrative management (acronym
SORP: ‘Statement of Recommended Practice’).
J) Country
surnames
These
people each have the name of a country as their main moniker. Can you work out who they are?
Example: M- C---, graffiti
character = Mr Chad
(who is fictional, aka ‘Kilroy’, but questions below relate to people in real life)
(who is fictional, aka ‘Kilroy’, but questions below relate to people in real life)
47) A------ F-----, French writer
48) J--- I------, English classical composer
49) R-- D------, British athlete
50) C---- P-----, thrash-metal muso
51) C------- M---------, Spanish model/dancer/actor
52) T----, Belgian comic-creator
53) M---- Z----, American-Football quarterback
K) Albums
You’ve
done songs. This time, can you name album
and recording artist(s)?
54) S------ E------ b- t-- P---- by G------
55) B--- i- t-- U-- by M--
56) S------- o- S---- by M---- D----
57) R----- t- R----- by R------
L) Anagrams
Match
the country to the jumbled-up version of the letters in its name.
Example: sprucy _______
Cyprus
58) a bison Argentina
59) earn giant Bosnia
60) estimator Cameroon
61) grey man East Timor
62) moon race Ecuador
63) opera sign Germany
64) road cue Netherlands
65) shed lantern Singapore
M) Movies
with the name of a country in the title
Can you name the film and give the year of
its release?
Example:
O--------, B----! = Objective,
Burma! (1945)
66) F--- R----- w--- L---
67) T-- B--- f--- B-----
68) T-- C---- S-------
69) G--- M------, V------
70) M---------
N) for ‘New’
Territories
Can
you link up the territory to the sovereign country, of which it is part?
Example: New Britain – Papua New
Guinea
71) New Ireland
72) New Caledonia
73) New Brunswick
74) New Mexico
75) New Georgia
O) Oh my,
we’re almost there! Some trad knock-knock
jokes
Can
you come up with the/a last line for each?
76) Knock, knock! Who's there?
Jamaica Jamaica who?
Jamaica Jamaica who?
…
77) Knock, knock! Who's there?
Francis Francis who?
…
Francis Francis who?
…
78) Knock, knock! Who's there?
Canada Canada who?
…
Canada Canada who?
…
79) Knock, knock! Who's there?
Kenya Kenya who?
…
Kenya Kenya who?
…
80) Knock, knock! Who's there?
Oman Oman who?
Oman Oman who?
…
Good
job! Time for another slice of cake?
