• Ansers and results: Erland's occasional quiz

    From Erland Sommarskog@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jun 22 21:09:10 2025
    This quiz is over, and with a little help of being Canadian,
    Mark Brader emerges as the winner. Congratulations!

    Here is the score table:

    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total
    -- -------------------------------------------
    Mark B 1 1 - 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 1 - 9
    Joshua K - 1 - 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 1 - 8
    Dan B - 1 - 1 1 - - 1 1 1 - - 6
    Dan T - - - 1 - - 1 1 - 1 - - 4


    1. This 18-year old swimmer has impressed the world by setting
    three world records recently in three different events. What's
    her name?

    Summer McIntosh

    Mark was the only one to know this, which possibly is due to that
    she is Canadian.

    2. The Decemberists were a short-lived revolutionary movement in
    which 19th century country?

    Russia. This occurred in 1825 after the sudden death of Alexander I.

    3. In the film "Perfect Days" from 2023 by Wim Wenders what is the
    occupation of the main character Hirayama?

    He cleans public toilets in Tokyo. He very much loves his job, and
    this is what the movie is centred around.

    4. Asahi, Bitburger, Leffe, Quilmes and Tuborg are all brands of
    sort of product?

    Beer. The brands are from these countries respectively: Japan, Germany, Belgium, Argentina and Denmark.

    5. Fredric Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee are more known under
    what joint pseudonym? The name is also shared by the main hero
    in many of their books.

    Ellery Queen.

    6. Name a capital in Europe which is on the same latitude, within one,
    as Seoul.

    My fairly simplistic investigation on Google Maps shows that Athens is
    the best bet, but Lisbon is within the limit as well.

    The inspiration for this question was when I told a friend that the
    sun brought more warmth in Seoul than in Stockholm since it's further
    south. "Is it on the same level as Germany", she said, and I just looked
    at her and thought no, no. A key point to remember is that the DMZ is
    around 38�N.

    Of the answers given, Mark's answer of Valetta was way better than any
    other answer, even he ended up a little too much on the south side. Had
    there been a draw, I would have declared Mark as a winner based my
    normal rule of "best incorrect answer".

    By the way, on my first day in Seoul, March 29th, it was snowing...

    7. At the end of my flight from Tokyo to Helsinki, the flight attendant
    handed out a certificate that we had been flying over the North
    Pole. How come we took this route?

    Shortest route when avoiding Russian airspace.

    I noticed on the flight map that we had been flying along the east coast
    of Russia and then through Bering Strait, and from there more or less
    a straight line to Helsinki.

    8. Which politician has given name to the teddybear?

    Theodore Roosvelt.

    I learnt about this at the teddybear musuem in Seogwipo on the Korean
    island of Jeju.

    9. In 2012 PSY had a smashit about the life in a part south of the
    river in Seoul. What was the name of the song?

    Gangnam Style

    My hotel in Seoul was in Gangnam. And the meaning of Gangnam is exactly
    "south of the river".

    10. What circumstance of transportation is common for three cities?
    Juneau, Alaska, USA
    Manuas, Amazonas, Brazil
    Petropavlosk, Kamchatka Krai, Russia

    Can't be reached by road from the rest of the country, despite that
    they all are on mainland.

    11. What is the number of Beethoven's "Pastoral" symphony?

    6th.

    It's odd in that is has five movements. It's not consider as one of
    his prime symphonies.

    12. Carlos Alcaraz recently won the final in French Open over
    Jannik Sinner. It was the longest final ever played in
    French Open. Within 20 minutes, for how long time did they
    play?

    Five hours and 29 minutes, accepting 5:09 to 5:49.


    Thanks to everyone that played!

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  • From Mark Brader@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jun 23 08:19:42 2025
    Erland Sommarskog:
    Mark Brader emerges as the winner. Congratulations!

    Ooh, thanks1

    1. This 18-year old swimmer has impressed the world by setting
    three world records recently in three different events. What's
    her name?

    Summer McIntosh

    Mark was the only one to know this, which possibly is due to that
    she is Canadian.

    She's from Toronto, in fact. And beautiful.

    10. What circumstance of transportation is common for three cities?
    Juneau, Alaska, USA
    Manuas, Amazonas, Brazil
    Petropavlosk, Kamchatka Krai, Russia

    Can't be reached by road from the rest of the country, despite that
    they all are on mainland.

    It helped that I've been to Juneau. (Port call on a cruise.)
    --
    Mark Brader, Toronto | "These days, it seems even PCs have to be PC." [email protected] | -- Michael Quinion

    My text in this article is in the public domain.

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