The Off Topic Topic

[Sheilbh]

Leveller, of course, with Roundhead Independent following at a certain distance and the rest quite far.

Please somebody get Recanting Cavalier so I can read what it says about them. 

I had my hopes on BBoy. Disappointling Roundheaded

[Barrister]

Leveller, of course, with Roundhead Independent following at a certain distance and the rest quite far.

Please somebody get Recanting Cavalier so I can read what it says about them. 

I had my hopes on BBoy. Disappointling Roundheaded

I couldn't help myself from answering all the "except the catholics, naturally" answers. 

[Syt]

The conservative vice governor of Tirol talked to some World Wildlife Fund activists the other day. They were quizzing him on why his government was ignoring EU water standards.

He tries to interrupt her, but she has none of it, to which he says, with a smile, "Can't even interrupt her. Obnoxious bitch." The exchange is caught on video.

He has since offered a mealy mouthed apology where he tried to switch the facts (she tried to interrupt him), and nothing else happens.

[Syt]

https://twitter.com/PulpLibrarian/status/1268867938364391426?s=20

For today's #FridayFeeling... see if you can answer these 10 general knowledge questions from a 1993 edition of the BBC's Mastermind!

1. At the end of the Wars of the Roses whom did Henry VII marry?

2. What term meaning trick or subterfuge is used in Bridge for a hand containing no trumps?

3. Who was the French drill master of the reign of Louis XIV whose name is used in English to describe a rigid disciplinarian?

4. What is the collective term used in English translations of the Bible for the leaders of Israel between Joshua and the Kings?

5. Who was the communist leader of Albania from the Second World War until his death in 1985?

6. At Oxford University the Spring term is known by what name?

7. What colour is the pigment umber?

8. What name is given to the 180th meridian of longitude, modified to avoid land and to avoid dividing countries?

9. Which animal did G.K. Chesterton describe as "The devil's walking parody on all four-footed things"?

10. In piano music what is meant by the instruction Una Corda?

I can answer none of these questions.

[garbon]

1 and 7 are pretty straightforward.

I only know 6 from having been there right before that term.

[The Larch]

3 is Martinet, 4 is Judges (I think...), 5 is Enver Hoxha, 8 is the International Date Line.

[Sheilbh]

I can answer none of these questions.

1 - Elizabeth Woodville(?) something like that
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 - Enver Hoxha
6 - Whitsun?
7 - Brown/red?
8 - International date line (180 = opposite GMT)
9 - I want to say giraffe?
10 - Pedals

I think I would have got 2-3

[Valmy]

1 - Elizabeth Woodville(?) something like that

He married the White Princess Elizabeth Plantagenet of York, Edward IV's daughter Thus the Tudor Rose being both Red and White.

Elizabeth Woodville was her mother.

So pretty close!

2 -

Yeah...um...erm...

3 -

Martinet

4 -

Judges. You know, the Book of Judges.

5 - Enver Hoxha

6 - Whitsun?

Man no clue, but them having a special word for the term is so very Oxbridge.

7 - Brown/red?

Brown...surely...right?

8 - International date line (180 = opposite GMT)

Yes!

9 - I want to say giraffe?

I think so.

10 - Pedals

Heh. I think so.

So there is my effort.

[Sheilbh]

So pretty close!

But, crucially in the context of a quiz, wrong

[Duque de Bragança]

martinet as a noun in French predates Martinet though.

[Grey Fox]

2 - A Strain?

8 is the only I actually am sure of.

[Syt]

5 - Enver Hoxha

I remember the name, but I thought it was wrong, because surely he wouldn't share a name with a Simpsons character (Adil Hoxha, the Albanian spy in one of the earlier episodes).

8 - International date line (180 = opposite GMT)

Simpler than I thought.

Re umber, there's raw and burnt umber per Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umber

Raw umber's RGB is (130, 102, 68) and burnt umber's    (138, 51, 36).

[Agelastus]

Knew (1), (3), (4), (5), (7) and (8)

Would not have guessed the right animal for (9).

Googled (2) and (6) out of curiousity as despite having Contract Bridge players two generations back in the family and Oxford graduates in this generation I did not know either; nor, having looked up the answers, could I possibly have guessed.

[Although Oxford's autumn term has the same name as my school used, Spring...not so much.)

(10) I didn't know.

I very much doubt the current generation of Mastermind contestants would know either from what I've seen of the current incarnation of the show. The current host is slower with the questions than Magnus was, but that's not the only reason for how low the scoring is.

[ulmont]

Googled (2) and (6) out of curiousity as despite having Contract Bridge players two generations back in the family and Oxford graduates in this generation I did not know either; nor, having looked up the answers, could I possibly have guessed.

I played Contract Bridge in college and never used the term (2).

[Eddie Teach]

I guessed camel, but giraffe is good too.