Quizzes & Puzzles 45

Some new problems with which to exercise the brain. But first a look at answers and solutions to Quizzes & Puzzles 44. New problems below the image (cartoon).

Answer to Quiz 44:1

In navigation, what is a sextant used for?

It is used to measure the angle between the horizon and a celestial body. This is essential in determining one's position. Not needed today, all navigators still must know how to use one, and every ship carries sextants.

Answer to Quiz 44:2

Which author coined the expression “Big Brother” for a totalitarian authority?

It was George Orwell, and he introduced Big Brother in the famous, dystopian novel “1984”, published in 1949.

Answer to Quiz 44:3

Which of the following (living or dead) languages are not Indo-European?

• German

• Basque

• Sogdian

• Lithuanian

• Albanian

• Finnish

• Sanskrit

• Arabic

Basque, Finnish and Arabic are not Indo-European – the others are.

Incidentally, Lithuanian is considered as the still living Indo-European language which is best preserving old Indo-European characteristics.

@Sashaa knew that Arabic is not Indo-European.

Answer to Quiz 44:4

"With other men, perhaps, such things would not have been inducements; but as for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts. Not ignoring what is good, I am quick to perceive a horror, and could still be social with it - would they let me - since it is but well to be on friendly terms with all the inmates of the place one lodges in."

This is said by the main character in a great novel, about a captain who seeks revenge on a large mammal, which once took one of his legs.

Which is the novel, and who is the author?

The novel was Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. This story has a mythic quality, but it is a massive book to read.

Answer to Quiz 44:5

Who was the French 19th century artist who painted this?

The artist is Paul Cézanne (1839-1906). The painting shows La Maison du pendu, Auvers-sur-Oise, and is from about 1874. The original can be found at Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Cézanne is one of the most influential artists of the 1800s, forming a connection between the art of the 1800s with that of the 1900s.

Answer to Quiz 44:6

I want a word for a digestive organ, a muscular pouch, sometimes with grit, functioning as a mill when breaking down food. It is most known for being found in birds, but it is more common than that; we'll also find it in some fish and reptiles, and in quite a number of invertebrates. What am I talking about?

The digestive organ I asked for is a gizzard. @BlueFlipper knew the right answer.

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

Quiz 45:1

Gymnopédie is a peculiar little piece of music. Who composed it?

Quiz 45:2

The coat of arms of the city of Nimes, in France, looks like this:

There are no crocodiles in Nimes, so why is there a chained crocodile on their coat of arms?

Quiz 45:3

What fundamental difference is there between, on the one hand, vitamin B and C, and on the other hand, vitamins A, D, and E?

Quiz 45:4

Between 1192 and 1867, Japan was ruled by hereditary military dictators (even though the emperor was the formal head of state). What was the title of such a dictator?

Quiz 45:5

There is only one genuine lunar calendar used in the world today – which calendar is that?

Quiz 45:6

In 1805, there was a battle, sometimes known as the Battle of the Three Emperors. I have three questions about it:

• Where did it take place?

• In which present day country can we find the site of the battle?

• Who were the three emperors?

Quiz 45:7

Thomas De Quincey relates this anecdote about one of the greatest thinkers of European history – who? This man really loved coffee!!!

“At the beginning of the last year of his life, he fell into the custom of taking, immediately after dinner, a cup of coffee. [...] Sometimes, in the interest of conversation, the coffee was forgotten, but not for long. He would remember and with the querulousness of old age and infirm health would demand that coffee be brought 'upon the spot'. Arrangements had always been made in advance, however; the coffee was ground, and the water was boiling; and in the very moment the word was given the servant shot like an arrow and plunged the coffee into the water. All that remained, therefore, was to give it time to boil up. But this trifling detail delayed seemed unendurable to [name removed for the quiz]. If it were said 'Dear Professor, the coffee will be up in a moment', he would say 'Will be! There's the rub, that it only will be.' Then he would quiet himself with a stoical air, and say, 'Well, one can die after all; it is but dying; and in the next world, thank God, there is no drinking of coffee and consequently no waiting for it.' When at length the servant's steps were heard upon the stairs, he would turn round to us, and joyfully call out: 'Land, land! my dear friends, I see land!'”

Who was this fanatical coffee lover?

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.

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

(All the images are in the Public Domain.)