Quizzes & Puzzles 5
Some new problems with which to exercise the brain. But first a look at answers and solutions to Quizzes & Puzzles 4. New problems below the image.
Answer to Quiz 4:1
In the Mediterranean there is an island, whose name is derived from that of a metal, or the metal got its name from the island. What island, and what metal? (It is a major island, of which practically everyone has heard.)
Cyprus and copper. The connection is not undisputed. One theory links the name Cyprus to the cypress tree, "kyparissos"; so it would be the "land of the cypress trees". There is also a suggestion of it stemming from "kypros", which is the henna plant. This is quite unlikely. That is a shrub not being native to Cyprus.
But it might very well stem from Sumerian "zubar", meaning copper, or another Sumerian word meaning bronze, "kubar". There is little doubt, however, that Latin for copper, "cuprum", which has led to English copper", is derived from the Latin expression "aes Cyprium", meaning metal from Cyprus. The island was a rich source of copper already during the Bronze Age.
Other theories link the name to various real or mythic persons, most notably Kypros, the child of Kynias. Whether this refers to a male or a female is a matter of doubt.
So is it Cyprus from copper or copper from Cyprus? Your guess is as good as mine.
Answer to Quiz 4:2
In the past, a well-known poison was often given to horses to make them look young and vigorous when they were to be sold. Small amounts given to a human, makes the hair lustrous; if getting much, it brings death. This poison is often used in murder stories. What is it called?
The answer is arsenic. You can more about it in Arsenic – Medicine or Deadly Poison?
Answer to Quiz 4:3
This time I ask for the name of a musician and composer. He was one of the greatest virtuosos (maybe the greatest) of his musical instrument ever; and during a time of the first half of the 19th century, he was a performing superstar, treated very similarly to the greatest rock stars of today.
As a composer and mentor, his impact on the musical development has been enormous. His son-in-law, one of the greatest composers of another musical genre, has got the (undeserved) credit for some of his musical inventions.
Late in life, seven years before his death, he was ordained as Catholic priest - a result of a lifelong religious interest.
Who was this virtuoso, composer, mentor, and priest?
The virtuoso, composer, mentor, and priest was Franz Liszt (1811-1886), a megastar of his time, and probably the greatest pianist of all times.
The other composer, Liszt's son-in-law, was Richard Wagner, married to Cosima, Liszt's daughter. Wagner's genre was opera.
You can read more about Wagner and his relationship with Liszt in a previous article of mine: Richard Wagner: Opera Giant & Pioneer of Fantasy.
Solution to Puzzle 4:4
This was the problem:
A true story is what someone carved on Diophantus' Tomb:
God granted him to be a boy for the sixth part of his life, and adding a twelfth part this, He clothed his cheek with down; He lit him the light of wedlock after a seventh part, and five years after his marriage He granted him a son. Alas! late-born wretched child; after attaining the measure of half his father's full life, chill Fate took him. After consoling his grief by this science of numbers for four years he ended his life.
How old was Diophantus when he died?
The answer is that Diophantus was 84 years old when he died.
You can get that by solving this equation:
x/6 + x/12 + x/7 + 5 + x/2 + 4 = x
And now some new quizzes and puzzles.
Quiz 5:1
The name of a plant is also part of a magic password, or formula, in a well-known story.
What plant, and what story?
Quiz 5:2
Which well-known group of islands was once known for housing a large breed of dog, something also giving this group its name?
Quiz 5:3
Change of personality by the use of a drug. A classical story treats this theme in an almost archetypal way. A man of unquestionable character becomes a beast. What is the name of the story, and who wrote it?
A clue: The author is known for a pirate story, which is generally considered as the unsurpassed classic in that genre.
Puzzle 5:4
Making valid conclusions is not always as simple as it looks. Applying logical thinking is well enough, but most people cannot clearly distinguish between facts and assumptions. Even if the deduction is formally correct, the premises often are invalid, and then the conclusions lead wrong.
As I have described before, the brain cannot stand void. So, if you know only certain facts about something - you tend to fill the gaps with assumptions and guesswork. Unless you are very attentive to this risk, it happens unawares. When you then draw conclusions with these assumed (and often erroneous) facts as premises, you get totally astray. (You can read more about that in Brain & Horror Vacui (Fear of the void))
Now you know that there is a trap somewhere here, so maybe you can solve this puzzle:
What do you get from this?
Only bleary-eyed military men ever try to shave with a toothbrush.
No bleary-eyed military men are musical.
Men who never try to shave with a toothbrush never play golf.
Major Tanner plays the cello on Saturdays.
Only musical people who are golfers forget to change their socks.
Exactly what can you conclude about Major Tanner?
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.
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.)
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It would be good to examine people through your quiz