Shots, Shocks, and Sherlocks
Friday Quiz - Questions from the Mnemonist
Another 10 from the master!
I’ve decided if he’s going to hand-pick the best questions he has each week - the least I can do is research the heck outta them. So after you finish the quiz, have a bonus fact about the question from me that I found particularly interesting!
I hope you have a wonderful time reading them - and if you learn something consider shouting me a coffee!
I got 7/10 in this quiz. Can you beat me? Tell me if you did in the Discord!
You can play it here on WikiQuiz - and compare some scores! Or you can try and get nominated for the “Funniest Answer of the Week” award! (Or simply, scroll down!)
Friday Quiz - Questions from The Mnemonist
What is the current name of this building seen here, the world's tallest from 1973 to 1998? Key word is "Current" here. After this were the Petronas Towers, Taipei 101, and then the Burj Khalifa.
Which North American animal's scientific name - Procyon lotor - comes from the original belief that it washes its food, as "lotor" means "washer"? Carl Linnaeus originally put the animal in the "bear" subcategory.
Just one letter different to an Italian city that is closest to San Marino, and one letter different to an item of clothing named for an atoll, which archipelago is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States? Nicknamed the Fishing Capital of the Bahamas, snorkeling and scuba diving are also popular activities here, due to many shipwrecks in the area.
Which actor, best known for a leading role in an 80s TV series, coined the term EGOT as his personal goal - referring to the achievement of winning all four major American entertainment awards? He sadly failed to win any of them.
The name of which band, formed in 1973, was supplied by Margaret - a sister of the founders - after she spotted certain initials on a sewing machine?
Which island, a British Overseas Territory in the south Atlantic, is home to an airport dubbed "the world's most useless airport" due to the difficulty of landing there?
What was the last full-length James Bond novel by Ian Fleming to be published? It was made into a film that was the second to star a particular actor as 007.
Which fictional detective lodges at 7B Praed Street in London with Dr Parker, has a landlady called Mrs Johnson, and a smart elder brother called Bancroft?
Which French concert pianist won gold in the women's discus and shot put at the 1948 London Olympics? After winning the shot put she gave a Beethoven recital later that day at Royal Albert Hall.
A polar mirage caused by high refraction of sunlight between atmospheric thermal layers, giving the impression that the sun is rising earlier than it actually should, is an effect named for which archipelago in northern Russia?
Time for the Answers!
What is the current name of this building seen here, the world’s tallest from 1973 to 1998? Key word is “Current” here. After this were the Petronas Towers, Taipei 101, and then the Burj Khalifa.
WILLIS TOWER (Formerly named the Sears Tower). Its famous Skydeck is so high that on a clear day you can see four U.S. states. (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan)Which North American animal’s scientific name - Procyon lotor - comes from the original belief that it washes its food, as “lotor” means “washer”? Carl Linnaeus originally put the animal in the “bear” subcategory.
RACCOON. A raccoon’s front paws are so sensitive that they contain more than four times as many sensory receptors as their hind paws. They essentially “see” the world with their hands - which is why they need to be kept to clean!Just one letter different to an Italian city that is closest to San Marino, and one letter different to an item of clothing named for an atoll, which archipelago is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States? Nicknamed the Fishing Capital of the Bahamas, snorkeling and scuba diving are also popular activities here, due to many shipwrecks in the area.
BIMINI. Ernest Hemingway lived in Bimini in the 1930s, and a giant blue marlin allegedly caught off the island helped inspire The Old Man and the Sea. It’s also where he invented the absinthe and champagne cocktail “Death in the Afternoon”.Which actor, best known for a leading role in an 80s TV series, coined the term EGOT as his personal goal - referring to the achievement of winning all four major American entertainment awards? He sadly failed to win any of them.
PHILIP MICHAEL THOMAS. He starred in Miami Vice! There are now 28 EGOT winners, and here they are in order: Richard Rodgers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, Scott Rudin, Robert Lopez, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, John Legend, Alan Menken, Jennifer Hudson, Viola Davis, Elton John, Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Steven Spielberg.The name of which band, formed in 1973, was supplied by Margaret - a sister of the founders - after she spotted certain initials on a sewing machine?
AC/DC. In Australia, it’s Accadacca, and will be referred to by no other name.Which island, a British Overseas Territory in the south Atlantic, is home to an airport dubbed “the world’s most useless airport” due to the difficulty of landing there?
ST. HELENA. Napoleon Bonaparte spent his final years in exile on St. Helena because the island was considered so remote that escape was virtually impossible.What was the last full-length James Bond novel by Ian Fleming to be published? It was made into a film that was the second to star a particular actor as 007.
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. The film features one of the most famous stunts in Bond history: the AMC Hornet’s corkscrew jump, which was the first stunt designed and calculated with computer assistance.Which fictional detective lodges at 7B Praed Street in London with Dr Parker, has a landlady called Mrs Johnson, and a smart elder brother called Bancroft?
SOLAR PONS. . August Derleth created Solar Pons after Conan Doyle stopped writing Sherlock Holmes stories. Ironically, Derleth eventually wrote more Solar Pons stories than Doyle wrote Holmes stories.Which French concert pianist won gold in the women’s discus and shot put at the 1948 London Olympics? After winning the shot put she gave a Beethoven recital later that day at Royal Albert Hall.
Micheline OSTERMEYER. She won Olympic gold in the discus throw despite having only taken up the event a few weeks before the win. She was also the great niece of Victor Hugo!A polar mirage caused by high refraction of sunlight between atmospheric thermal layers, giving the impression that the sun is rising earlier than it actually should, is an effect named for which archipelago in northern Russia?
NOVAYA ZEMLYA. It can make the Sun appear days or even weeks before it has actually risen, bending sunlight around Earth’s curvature. Early reports were dismissed as impossible until physics proved them correct centuries later.
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