Quizzes & Puzzles 34

Some new problems with which to exercise the brain. But first a look at answers and solutions to Quizzes & Puzzles 33. New problems below the image (cartoon).

Answer to Quiz 33:1

If you read a word or a sentence from left to right, and it becomes the same if you read from right to left – what is such a word or sentence called?

A simple example is the name “Anna”; you can read that from the left or from the right, and it still becomes “Anna”.

It is called a palindrome. In old Greece, palindromes were called “sotadics”, named after a poet, Sotades, who often used them.

"Lewd I did live, & evil did I dwel.", is said to be the oldest palindrome in English.

You can read more about palindromes and other word games in Anagrams, Palindromes, Cryptarithms and Alphametics.

@Aimure knew the right answer: palindrome.

Answer to Quiz 33:2

In old Rome, what was the title of the high priest, the head of the Roman religion? Strangely, the title is still in use, still for the head of the Roman religion, although the religion is not the same anymore.

The tile of the Roman high priest was Pontifex Maximus. When Rome became Christian, the title continued to be used by the head of the new Roman religion, now in form of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. Pontifex Maximus is still one of the official titles of the Roman Catholic Pope. Read more in Pontifex Maximus & The Imperial Purple of Rome.

Answer to Quiz 33:3

Has there ever been a king named Dagobert? Yes it has - but where?

There have been two Merovingian (Frankish) kings with that name, Dagobert I and Dagobert II – both during the 7th century AD.

Answer to Quiz 33:4

Why is a so-called “blue baby” blue?

The skin turns blueish because the blood contains too little oxygen. There are several different possible causes to this, some of them potentially deadly if not treated correctly.

Answer to Quiz 33:5

What is paraskavedekatriaphobia?

There is another long word for the same thing, can you tell me that word too?

Paraskavedekatriaphobia stands for an unreasonable fear of Friday the 13th. Another word for the same thing is friggatriskaidekaphobia.

But why the fear? Why is this specific day especially ominous? Learn more in Why are Number 13 & Friday the 13th Associated with Bad Luck?

Answer to Quiz 33:6

In old lore, there are two “dragon points”. But what is a “dragon point”?

It is a lunar node. But what is that?

It is where the moon's orbit and the ecliptic intersect.

Or those not being familiar with this terminology, it also can be justified to explain what the “ecliptic” is. I quote my article Zodiac, Month, Year: Some Scientific Elementa:

“The ecliptic is the path, an imaginary line, the sun apparently follows across the sky during a year. It is "apparent", because it is the earth that rotates round the sun, but that is not how we see it. The path can be the basis for an imaginary plane, the ecliptic plane. The whole solar system is often approximated as lying in that plane, although in reality it is not entirely flat.”

Answer to Quiz 33:7

What does amber and dragon's blood have in common?

The substance called dragon's blood is a resin, and so is amber. So the answer is that both are resinous substances.

Read more about dragon's blood in Dragon's Blood; and about amber in Amber, Organic Gem with a Long History & Many Properties, Part I and Amber, Organic Gem with a Long History & Many Properties, Part II.

And now some new exercises for brain & memory...

Quiz 34:1

Where did they speak Oscan?

Quiz 34:2

In the past there was a city, in Greek called Crocodilopolis (crocodile city); in which country could it be found?

Quiz 34:3

The Colt Single Action Army revolver is a classical handgun. You'll see it almost all Western films.

How many shots could be fired from it without reloading?

Quiz 34:4

There is an animal with no brain and no nervous system of any description. What animal?

Quiz 34:5

What is a number called that is the sum of its own divisors (not including the number itself)?

Let's take a simple example to make it clear: 28 is such a number. The divisors are 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14 – and the sum of these divisors is 28.

Another such number is 6. But what is such a number called?

Quiz 34:6

Who was crowned to Imperator Augustus, when he essentially became the first emperor of The Holy Roman Empire?

You'll find answers and solutions in the next “Quizzes & Puzzles”.

Quizzes & Puzzles has its own label in my Index, where all issues of the series can be found.

In my INDEX, you can find all my writings on Read.Cash, sorted by topic.

Copyright © 2022 Meleonymica/Mictorrani. All Rights Reserved

(Cartoon by Christian Dorn/Pixabay, CC0/Public Domain.)