@Mictorrani 16 May 2022

Quizzes & Puzzles 12 *Some new problems with which to exercise the brain. But first a look at answers and solutions to* *Quizzes & Puzzles 11**. New problems below the image (cartoon).* https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/quizzes-puzzles-11-2b51c21c Answer to Quiz 11:1 *Countries sometimes change name. Although it doesn't have to be so, this is often done to mark some fundamental change in the country's status or a major change of its policy.* *Below you find seven old names; what are the names of these countries today?* *a. Upper Volta* *b. New Hebrides* *c. Siam* *d. Persia* *e. Burma* *f. Ellice Islands* *g. Rhodesia* Upper Volta is **Burkina Faso**, New Hebrides is **Vanuatu**,Siam is **Thailand**, Persia is **Iran**, Burma is **Myanmar**, Ellice Islands is **Tuvalu**, and Rhodesia is **Zimbabwe**. Answer to Quiz 11:2 “*Which ruler ruled the largest connected empire in human history? "Connected" here means one single connected territory - not pieces of land spread out with sea or other countries in between.”*

The answer is **Ögedei** Khan (1186 – 1241), successor and son of the great Genghis Khan. His empire reached from the Pacific Ocean in the East (including China), all the way into eastern Europe. Answer to Quiz 11:3 “*Which Japanese artist is often, rightly or wrongly, said to be the one who originally created manga?”* **Katsushika Hokusai** (1760-1849), probably the internationally most famous Japanese artist ever, created something called *Hokusai Manga.* This was a collection of sketches, and the first time the word “manga” was used. Based on this, it is often claimed that Hokusai invented manga, a claim that can be questioned. In Hokusai, Manga & the Most Famous Japanese Artwork Ever, I wrote: https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/hokusai-manga-the-most-famous-japanese-artwork-ever-21e50210 “*In contrast to common claims, Hokusai did not invent the artistic style and form that is known as Manga today. He called his sketches “manga” and several later artists also came to create their own collections of manga. It is possible that this art had some influence on the development of modern manga, but to say that Hokusai would have invented modern manga is to take it too far.”* Answer to Quiz 11:4 “*Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, but which was the first altcoin?”* It was **Namecoin**, about which you can read more on their own website: https://www.namecoin.org/ Answer to Quiz 11:5 “*What are we talking about when we call colours "tinctures"?*

Then we are discussing heraldry. You can read more about heraldry and tinctures in my article Vexillology & Heraldry. https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/vexillology-heraldry-e8be6267 Answer to Quiz 11:6 “*Let's also take a question about sports. It is soon time for the yearly ice hockey world championship. But which national team won this tournament last year (2021)?”* It was **Canada**. For those of you liking ice hockey or if you want to acquaint yourself with this sport, why not watch the present world championships! All games are available for free, streamed live at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtmgna7qB0oQF2oOcVgndbw

*And now some new exercises for brain & memory...* Quiz 12:1 Which is the oldest national flag still in use? Quiz 12:2 What causes the illness schistosomiasis? Quiz 12:3 “Guernica” is famous, but what is it? Quiz 12:4 What is “the Pythagorean comma”? Quiz 12:5 A great author, one of the foremost novelists of world literature, is said to have spent 12 hours per day writing, 6 hours eating, and 6 hours sleeping. While he wrote, he drank coffee all the time. Sometimes it is claimed that he died by overconsumption of coffee. That conclusion should be taken with a grain of salt, but he did indeed drink a lot of it, probably 50 cups per day or more. He expressed his devotion to this beverage in "The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee", where he concluded: “Coffee is a great power in my life [...]” Who was this author? Quiz 12:6 Last time we had a question about ice hockey, let's take one about another sport on ice. Which sport are we talking about if we say it is... “... a team sport, played on ice, where two teams take it in turns to slide stones made of granite towards a target – known as a House.“ The source of this definition will be given in the next “Quizzes & Puzzles”. I cannot state it now, because it would immediately reveal the answer. **You'll find answers and solutions in the next “Quizzes & Puzzles”.** Quizzes & Puzzles has now its own label in my Index, where all issues of the series can be found. https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/index-over-my-articles-at-read-cash-5f7c1e34#quizzes-amp-puzzles **In my** **INDEX****, you can find all my writings on Read.Cash, sorted by topic.** https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/index-over-my-articles-at-read-cash-5f7c1e34 Copyright © 2022 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved *(Cartoon by Christian Dorn/Pixabay, CC0/Public Domain.* *Portrait of Ögedei* *Khan. From an album in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. Public Domain.)* Selected old articles: Hokusai, Manga & the Most Famous Japanese Artwork Ever https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/hokusai-manga-the-most-famous-japanese-artwork-ever-21e50210 Hiroshige, the Great Master of Landscapes https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/hiroshige-the-great-master-of-landscapes-abba4af3 Satoshi & Sharaku https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/satoshi-sharaku-103177b2 The Master of the Macabre https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/the-master-of-the-macabre-c753c740 Oops, she was ugly - How art can influence language https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/oops-she-was-ugly-how-art-can-influence-language-06db9b20