The Wombat File Is Yours to Keep

Well, this is super-cliché. I'm sitting in a freaking Brooklyn cafe with wireless internet access, don't you know. Typing away at the old laptop. Listening to the freaking iPod. Listening as of a second ago to Tom freaking Waits. Now its some mod power pop thing downloaded from Bill Pearis's blog.

So I feel a bit of the schmuck, I must say.

Switched to a bit of Brahms/Schumann. Much better. Less schmuckish instantly.

I had the day off and Helena's preschool is closed this week, so we spent a pleasant morning together, riding the subway (which she pretended was the cat bus) to a friends house for play. But because we have the babysitter today anyway, taking care of Imogen, once Helena was down for a nap I grabbed T's laptop and headed out for a rare excursion into the Brooklyn afternoon, with the hope of sneaking in a little writing time (and no, this doesn't really count).

Three years ago, when we moved to this neighborhood, the idea of a cafe serving decent coffee -- to say nothing of a spot featuring wireless Internet access -- was so alien to this corner of Brooklyn as to seem like nothing one could hope for. Now, we've got two. It seems, for better and for worse, a harbinger of change, like our increasingly frequent encounters with young parents here who have moved from Manhattan or pricier sections of Brooklyn. Windsor Terace is a peculiar little area; its charm is in its tucked-awayness -- we have a few pretty blocks but more that boast nothing distinguished, and a few that are ass-ugly from end to end.

I feel mostly grateful for the presence of a place like this one; admirably located directly across from the park and playground, big windows in the front giving on to the park in all of its arboreal glory.

At this season, the vista into the park has a particular charm related to the leaflessness of the trees; when the peripatetic traffic flow wanes, I can look across the street, through the wrought iron fence, into and through the playground where we've logged innumerable hours with Helena. With the wintery branches providing little screen one sees, beyond, what is hidden the rest of the year: the broad lake itself stretched out in tranquility. The sky is overcast with cloud, but dellicately, even luminously so, grey giving way upon close examination to pearlescent blues and muted indigo. Gulls are flap-wheeling over the water, poetically prosaic in doing their basic bird-stuff. It's nice to watch them against the purpling clouds.

Ah, crap. Shift change behind the counter and the new crew have decided to musically pump themselves up on a boring year-end afternoon. At least its some kind of a mix ("Tears of a Cown" is in there, and now something else motownish) but also some irritating contemporary bump-n-grind nonsense. It's a cold dishtowel rubbed across the face of my mood. Brahms can't compete; try to find something suitable atmospheric but high-volume enough to drown it out without making me think I should be jogging, not writing.

Oh, man, Radiohead. Is that the best you can do, iPod?

Yeah, I feel like a schmuck.

Still and all, this records the pleasure of simple variety. Nice not to be in a cubicle of a Friday afternoon. More than nice.

Posted by BT at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Hark, the chronically late angels sing of Round Three of the unquenchable if slow-burning Q.U.I.Z. Bestir yourself from your eggnog hangover and get ready for an all-geography round.

Rules are as in previous rounds, covered here and here. The schedule for this one is as follows.

Pre-clue answers will be due by 12:01 A.M. Tuesday, January 2 -- that is, essentially the end of the day on New Year's Day. I'll post clues on Tuesday, and final answers for Round Three will be due 12:01 AM Friday, January 5.

Please avert your eyes from maps, gazetteers, guidebooks, and the endpapers of A Wizard of Earthsea, just in case, to say nothing of the Internetty version of the same.

On your marks...

1. It has eight townships, two rivers two incorporated towns, and six Indian reserves. It also contains Lake Manitou, the largest lake of its kind in the world. What record is set by this geological formation? Lake Manitou is the largest among lakes of what sort? 40 points/40 points.

2. The northernmost point of mainland Europe is in Norway. It's southernmost is in Spain and easternmost westernmost is in Norway Portugal (please excuse an exhausted Wombat's idiot typos). If the Urals demarcate mainland Europe's eastern border, in what country is its exact geographic center located? 80 points.

3. The number of new additions to the list of states in the United Nations since January 1, 2000, is five. Two are islands or part of islands, one of which has the lowest per capita GDP in the world. One of the others was in the League of Nations in 1926 but only recently joined the U.N. The other two slots can be accounted for by a nation that was admitted in 2000, changed its name in 2003, and then had part of it break away and join the U.N. this year -- prompting yet another name change for the remainder. As the roster currently stands, what are the names of the five states which have joined the U.N. since 2000? 20 points each (100 total)

4. The second-largest river on its continent, running for over 1600 miles, this waterway lends its name to a nation and is one of the world's largest generators of hydroelectric power -- making the country that takes its name from the river one of the globe's biggest exporters of hydroelectric power. What is the name of the country? 80 points.

5. This subsection of a U.S. state was the site of the nation's first copper boom in the 1850s. Covering an area as large as the nation of Denmark, it is the only area of its size in the U.S. where a plurality of residents claim Finnish ancestry. What state is it part of? 80 points

6. The bioweapons laboratory and testing site called Renaissance Island" (translated) is now no longer a bioweapons facilty, nor an island. What two countries now share jurisdiction? What phenomenon has caused it to lose its identity as an island? 40 points/ 40 points.

Posted by BT at 01:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Although the Wombat has absolutely nothing bad to say about the sacred festival of Sunreturn (indeed, as regular readers know, this site has long been a chronicle of our culture's liberal War on Sunreturn), we must admit that the holiday, and its attendant consequences of Family Activity, Gift-Purchasing Activity, and Preparing to Take Time Off Frenetic Work Activity, take a toll on the best-laid plans of quizmasters everywhere, your humble host included.

Given that we are heading into December 24 here on the North American fundament, and that as Gavin remarks in the comments to the previous post, some of us (shockingly) spend this time of year with limited access to the All-Distractor, it seems that my initial, in retrospect rather goofy, plan to forge ahead with a normal third-round deadline this week is less than wise.

And given that the third-round questions have taken a bit of an overhaul, on account of my realizing that one was way too easy and another just plan too confusing (even for me), some revision to the calendar is in order.

So: third-round questions will be posted by the end of the day on December 25; possibly sooner. Pre-clue answers will be due by 12:01 A.M. Tuesday, January 2 -- that is, essentially the end of the day on New Year's Day. I'll post clues on Tuesday, and final answers for Round Three will be due 12:01 AM Friday, January 5.

We'll carry on with the fourth round into the next week. Not that I'm trying to drag this out, but with many of us flung a bit far over this coming week, I imagine it'll make for a more robust competition in the second half.

In the meanwhile, consider your health drunk heartily in this fine season of bonfire, begging, blowout sales, bell-bashing, bowdlerized old pagan rituals, and big-ass displays of conspicuous consumption. So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Something pleasant, hopes the Wombat. He's happy to know you.

Posted by BT at 12:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Way down in the ridiculously long string of comments that resulted from the Lightning Round, Gavin of the Factoids asks:

Can we open up a new topic to discuss the round 2 questions?

Here you go. I have some errands to run, so try not to break MovableType while I'm gone.

Posted by BT at 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Round Two is now part of our collective memory of how much fun the quiz used to be before it all got lame.

With final answers for the round all tallied, here are the updated standings:

1. The Ipso Factoids: 200+338=538
2. The Whiskey Rebellion: 225+225+75=525*
3. The Dependent Clauses: 80+363=443
4. Bob Hope's Your Uncle: 105+125=230

Congrats to the Factoids for breaking into the lead, but with over 1100 points left to go, it's still wide open; the Whiskey Rebels and the Clauses are practically tied for second, and even Bob still has plenty of Hope for a race to the finish.

Before we get to the Lightning Round -- which addresses the only unsolved portion of the previous questions -- a little explanation of scores are in order. Quite a few guessed that the subject of the famous phrase in Question #3 was the "Gordian knot." He who could successfully grapple with its intricate windings would be, according the prophecy, the ruler of Asia. Alexander the Great, according to myth, solved the problem with his sword -- hence the expression "to cut the Gordian knot." If you mentioned the knot, but left out the manner of the solution, you got 1/2 credit for that part of the question; 1/4 credit for getting it post-clue.

Question #4 was probably too easy, and Question #2 tricked at least one team by seeming more recondite than it actually was. I'm ashamed of the former, and proud of the latter.

Question #1 was not a universal stumper, but only one crew got the three-letter main answer right, and nobody, to my surprise, guessed the second part.

So it's time for a LIGHTNING ROUND. First team to post the correct answer to the part in bold below wins the 75 points that were left up for grabs.

In 1559, Dr. Gilbert Lymborch wrote a treatise on the "acidulous" waters of this location in an area variously claimed over the years by more than one European power. Over two centuries later, to capitalize on the town's rising fame, Cardinal Jean-Theodore of Bavaria announced the construction of a large building called the Redoute, which took seven years to complete, and became one of the grandest facilities of its kind. Those who worked within were notorious for their haughty bearing, and styled themselves with such titles as "captain," "gendarme," or "hussar." What is the name of the town? What was the profession of these self-titled men?

One final note: I keep meaning to mention that BHYU player James and his wife Kim are now the proud parents of Paisley Julianna; and Dependent Clause Josh and his wife Yvonne are at this very moment expecting their daughter Naomi to arrive. Would that we all had such good reasons to abandon this futile pursuit of trivial triumphs. Congratulations, guys.

*POST LIGHTNING ROUND UPDATE: After an avalanche of guesses, Bootsy adds 75 points to the Rebellion's score. Scroll way, way, way down in the comments to see the answer.

Posted by BT at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (158)

Just a few more minutes left to get revised answers in round two. I can already tell this is going to be a hard-fought battle in the second half of the tourney. More in the morning.

Posted by BT at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

All right all right. Full credit responses to Round Two are in. Guesses and revised answers submitted between now and 12:01 AM Friday will -- if correct -- receive half-credit.

Below, our five hysterically historical questions, with the light of clue-age appended for those still enshrouded with perplexity.

1. In 1559, Dr. Gilbert Lymborch wrote a treatise on the "acidulous" waters of this location in an area variously claimed over the years by more than one European power. Over two centuries later, to capitalize on the town's rising fame, Cardinal Jean-Theodore of Bavaria announced the construction of a large building called the Redoute, which took seven years to complete, and became one of the grandest facilities of its kind. Those who worked within were notorious for their haughty bearing, and styled themselves with such titles as "captain," "gendarme," or "hussar." What is the name of the town? What was the profession of these self-titled men? Clue: the name of the town is a word which has passed into common -- even trendy -- parlance. The men in question worked in a field which is not now associated with this term, but was closely tied to it at the time. (50 points/75 points) (25 points/38 points).

2. Executive Order 6102 was signed on April 5, 1933 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Most of its provisions were repealed in 1972. This order restricted the ownership and use of what substance? Clue: It is believed that many people ignored this order and were secretive about their possession of this substance throughout this period. (100 points) (50 points)

3. The reign of the Phrygian king Midas, in myth, was said to be legitimized by the landing of an eagle on his father's ox-cart. That ox-cart became a commemorative emblem of Phrygian royalty and was still to be found in the palace of the (now long-gone) kings of Phrygia in the fourth century B.C.E. The cart, and a challenge associated with it, was the subject of a famed prophecy. When a well-known leader arrived, he is said to have tackled the problem ingeniously, and the prophecy was fulfilled. Who was the man? What famous phrase was the result of his (possibly legendary) solution? Clue: In some languages, this man was known as "the two-horned one," because coins minted during his rule seemingly depicted him with the two ram's horns of the Egyptian god Ammon. He was recently represented in a big-budget film. The phrase is often used with regard to an intellectual feat. (75 points/ 50 points) (38 points/ 25 points)

4. James Leonard Plimpton made an important advance in the design of this product in 1863, creating the template that more or less defined the product until late in the 20th century. The first public facility for its use was opened in Newport, Rhode Island, a few years later. After major improvements made in England, the product hit its first real boom in the 1880s, when manufacturers produced thousands every week during peak sales. What was it? Clue: In 1979 Scott Olson and Brennan Olson of Minnesota created a revolution in the industry when they revitalized a design from the 1960s. The company they founded has become synonymous with this change in both the industry and the practice it enables. (50 points) (25 points)

5. The Battle of Three Kings was fought largely due to the actions of a monarch who styled himself "Most Obedient King." In 1574, his religious idealism led him to offer his support to one side in a civil war being fought on another continent, in the hopes of eventually toppling both sides. He took with him in his expedition 500 ships and 23,000 men, including the flower of his country's nobility. The battle itself was a rout for his forces, and resulted in his death, and that of the leaders of both sides in the civil war, as well as the slaughter of his force and the capture (and expensive ransoming) of its surviving leaders. As a direct result of this catastrophe, his country lost its independence for more than half a century. What country did he rule? In what foreign nation was The Battle of Three Kings fought? This adventure more or less marked the end of the invading country's globe-spanning imperial ambitions. The name of its antagonist can be translated as the phrase "The Western Kingdom." It is, interestingly, the only country on its continent that does not belong to the continent-spanning association of sovereign states. (75 points/25 points). (38 points/13 points).

And if you're finding this whole exercise tediously easy, please feel free to break your skull against the mighty King William College Quiz.

Posted by BT at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

With great apologies for the delay, here are the updated standings, a revised schedule for round two answers (pre- and post-clue), and then the noggin-melters themselves.

First, our updated standings after Friday's Lightning Round, in which the Whiskey Rebels caroused passed the early Factoid lead:

1. The Whiskey Rebellion: 160+65=225
2. The Ipso Factoids: 200
3. Bob Hope's Your Uncle: 80+25=105
4. The Dependent Clauses: 80

Rules for Round Two are as in Round One, with the following amendment: the full-credit deadline for ROUND TWO is 12:01 AM EST ThursdayDecember 21. All correct answers received by that time will receive full credit. Early Thursday I'll post the typically maddening clues. There will be a second, post-clue deadline for answers of 12:01 AM Friday, December 22. In other words, you've got a chance to use the clues to get closer to any question that stumped you. All answers (or changes to previous answers) sent after the clues are posted will get half-credit.

Now, on to our questions. Oh, Clio, bless this our strange little muse-um of nonsense, as we muse ourselves silly over these musings.

1. In 1559, Dr. Gilbert Lymborch wrote a treatise on the "acidulous" waters of this location in an area variously claimed over the years by more than one European power. Over two centuries later, to capitalize on the town's rising fame, Cardinal Jean-Theodore of Bavaria announced the construction of a large building called the Redoute, which took seven years to complete, and became one of the grandest facilities of its kind. Those who worked within were notorious for their haughty bearing, and styled themselves with such titles as "captain," "gendarme," or "hussar." What is the name of the town? What was the profession of these self-titled men? (50 points/75 points).

2. Executive Order 6102 was signed on April 5, 1933 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Most of its provisions were repealed in 1972. This order restricted the ownership and use of what substance? (100 points)

3. The reign of the Phrygian king Midas, in myth, was said to be legitimized by the landing of an eagle on his father's ox-cart. That ox-cart became a commemorative emblem of Phrygian royalty and was still to be found in the palace of the (now long-gone) kings of Phrygia in the fourth century B.C.E. The cart, and a challenge associated with it, was the subject of a famed prophecy. When a well-known leader arrived, he is said to have tackled the problem ingeniously, and the prophecy was fulfilled. Who was the man? What famous phrase was the result of his (possibly legendary) solution? (75 points/ 50 points)

4. James Leonard Plimpton made an important advance in the design of this product in 1863, creating the template that more or less defined the product until late in the 20th century. The first public facility for its use was opened in Newport, Rhode Island, a few years later. After major improvements made in England, the product hit its first real boom in the 1880s, when manufacturers produced thousands every week during peak sales. What was it? (50 points)

5. The Battle of Three Kings was fought largely due to the actions of a monarch who styled himself "Most Obedient King." In 1574, his religious idealism led him to offer his support to one side in a civil war being fought on another continent, in the hopes of eventually toppling both sides. He took with him in his expedition 500 ships and 23,000 men, including the flower of his country's nobility. The battle itself was a rout for his forces, and resulted in his death, and that of the leaders of both sides in the civil war, as well as the slaughter of his force and the capture (and expensive ransoming) of its surviving leaders. As a direct result of this catastrophe, his country lost its independence for more than half a century. What country did he rule? In what foreign nation was The Battle of Three Kings fought?(75 points/25 points).

Posted by BT at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Round two questions are delayed due to the sleeplessness and related demands of various young Wombats, leaving your quizmaster without his expected time to get it together.

Round two will be posted tomorrow evening.

You may vent your outrage in the comments, bearing in mind that one of the hallmarks of the quiz is its shambolic and error-strewn path to fruition.

Posted by BT at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

One final publishing-oriented question to throw your beleagured schedules even more out of whack.

First correct answer (to each part of this question) comments wins the team represented 50 bonus points (total possible is 100).

According to Publishers Weekly's yearly bestseller lists for 2000-2005, there have been three author-partnerships which have spawned novels that made the annual top 10 for any given year in the 21st century (this is true even if you don't count the year 2000 as part of the 21st century). One of those partnerships is that of Dustin Thomason and Ian Caldwell, who co-wrote 2005's The Rule of Four.

What are the other two partnerships that delivered bestsellers in the past 6 years? Note that books published this year are not included. No Googling, etc. etc.

Go.

Posted by BT at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (30)

Good morning, players.

Here are the standings for Round One of the Q.U.I.Z.

1. The Ipso Factoids: 200
2. The Whiskey Rebellion: 160
3 (tie) Bob Hope's Your Uncle: 80
          The Dependent Clauses: 80

My congratulations to all concerned for excellent play in a challenging opening round. There was very little full-credit scoring for this set of questions (indeed, 2 of 5 questions were not answered correctly by any team until after the clues), but most teams picked up some half-credit points.

Following time-honored tradition, your host mean-spiritedly refuses to reveal the precise answers to the questions in a prompt fashion, but leaves the field open for a mass comparing-of-notes in the comments.

Check back in the mid-morning for a lightning round worth an additional 100 points.

Posted by BT at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

For those of you just joining us, we are smack-dab in the midst of Round One of the glorious Q.U.I.Z. Read all about it here. And then here.

The full-credit segment first round has come to its mandated end. The answers are in and our four teams are accordingly credited.

Before I move on to comments and clues, let me pause to introduce a late-arriving member of The Dependent Clauses, Dr. Julie Brown of Carnegie-Mellon University. Welcome, Julie, to our pointless little world. You'll find it a uselessly seductive addition to your life.

Our first round questions are reprinted below, with a clue appended to each:. Answers submitted at this point -- whether as revisions to your earlier guesses, or simply for the first time -- now only earn half-credit. If your answer is partially correct, you may get 1/4 credit.¹
_________________________

CLUESVILLE

1. Collected for his book of tales in 1634 by the Italian writer Giambattista Basile, and appearing there as "Gagliuso," this narrative involves a disinherited child, an imposter aristocrat, and in the end, a loyalty test in the form of a faked death. A version of the story was committed to animation by Walt Disney in 1922, and a live-action version starring Christopher Walken was released in 1988. By what English title is this story known? Clue: The story begins with the death of a miller, and the inheritance by his son of only one thing: an animal who inhabited his father's granary. 80 40 points

2. From one of the first exchanges in Eleanor H. Porter's bestselling novel of 1913:

"Well, really, Nancy, just because I happened to have a sister who was silly enough to marry and bring unnecessary children into a world that was already quite full enough, I can't see how Ishould particularly WANT to have the care of them myself.

"However, as I said before, I hope I know my duty. See that you clean the corners, Nancy," she finished sharply, as she left the room.

There have been multiple big screen and television adaptations of the book, and Parker Brothers sold a game based on the book from 1915 to 1967. The title of the book has passed into popular culture as an expression used by people otherwise unfamiliar with the book itself. What was the title? Clue: Here is the closing passage of the novel: "Pretty soon, they say, I shall go home. I wish I could walk all the way there. I do. I don't think I shall ever want to ride anywhere any more. It will be so good just to walk. Oh, I'm so glad! I'm glad for everything. Why, I'm glad now I lost my legs for a while, for you never, never know how perfectly lovely legs are till you haven't got them -- that go, I mean. I'm going to walk eight steps to-morrow.

"With heaps of love to everybody,
"[name]." 80 40 points

3. The publishing house of Simon & Schuster was founded with the publication of this collection in 1924, which became one of the bestselling non-fiction books of the year. It was also the very first collection of its kind published. What was it a collection of? Clue: Barnes & Noble.com lists over 400 of these collections. The current bestseller among them is published in conjunction with TV Guide magazine. Another is offered with the AARP's imprimatur. You will not find many of these in used bookstores. 80 40 points

4. Known by a surname that he altered slightly from his birth name, he was variously a merchant of hosiery, wool and wine. He once imported a shipment of civet cats to make perfume, but they were seized with his other assets when he went for the first time into debt. He was exiled for his political activities, and after three years returned to his native country, taking up a post as a collector of tarriffs on glass bottles. A few years afterward, however, he commenced what became a productive writing career, and in his mid-forties published his first book, The Storm,, a nonfiction account of a deadly hurricane which claimed thousands of lives in his native land. He is, however, best known for the works of fiction he published in the following years. What is his (altered) name? Clue: Not only did he write the aforementioned account of a hurricane's unprecedented impact on his country, he also published, eighteen years later, a fictionalized account of a devastating epidemic, which ravaged his nation when he was just a child. This work was often taken as nonfiction, though it is not now classed that way. He is most famous for another work, which, although fictional, drew heavily on nonfictional sources. 80 40 points

5. The most popular novel of 1926 was John Erskine's The Private Life of Helen of Troy. The No. 2 bestseller was the tale of the rapid rise of a girl from Arkansas. It was penned by a female screenwriter and playwright who had at one point written the subtitles for D.W. Griffith's silent epic Intolerance. It became an overnight sensation, translated into 14 languages including Chinese. A musical version hit broadway in 1926, and a silent movie version came out in 1928. A version was made with sound more than two decades later, and that version is the one most people now remember. What was the title? Clue: Carol Channing starred in the Broadway adaptation, but not in either film. Its most famous song rhymes "rental flat" with "automat." 80 40 points
_________________________

These should be child's play now, right? Remember, final answers/revisions to previous guesses by 12:01 AM Friday EST -- that is to say, late Thursday night. Friday I'll publish scores, and perhaps there'll be a Lightning Round based on any questions left unsolved by all.

¹In any given round, you might in fact wind up with a mix of pre- and post-clue answers, thus getting full credit for some and half for others. Let's assume your team submitted 5 guesses before the 12:01 Wednesday deadline; then, after the clues came in, felt happy with the answers to 1, 2, and 3 but smacked its collective forehead over questions 4 and 5. Revised guesses to the latter two are submitted before 12:01 AM Friday, but 1, 2, and 3 are left to stand. In the final tally, 1, 2, and 3 would each receive up to 80 points each, while 4 and 5 are worth only 40 points each. Capice?

Posted by BT at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Welcome, friends. Welcome to the most satisfyingly pointless end-of-year event you could possibly be a part of. The Quizmaculately Ultimate International Zuperfest. Let the Q.U.I.Z. begin!

(We've been talking it up for some time, but just to bring those of you who've been actually involved with the real world up to speed, we do a Quiz thing every Friday, and for the third year in a row, this is our multi-week tourney of skull-softening "trivia." Join us, won't you? It's weirdly addictive, like wasabi peas dipped in caffeine, DMT, and ginkgo-bilboa.)

Now, as this year's competition attempts to advance world harmony by fostering co-operation, those of you kind enough to indicate your desire to participate have been divided (for the first time in this history of the Quiz) into teams. Our four squads are, at the time of this writing:

The Whiskey Rebellion
Boxjam, Bootsy, Hackly, & Jonathan

Bob Hope's Your Uncle
Herbivorous, James, & Shannon

The Dependent Clauses
Scraps, Josh, & Bruce

The Ipso Factoids
Gavin, Rachel, & Art

Note: teams are free to reject these lame names in favor of better ones.

Late-starting prospective players -- let me know as soon as you can and you can still be hooked up with one of these fine outfits. I realize that the Whiskey Rebellion has an extra player right now, but that's because Bootsy and Hackly report that their relationship is hanging by a thread, and if they're forced now to compete against one another, it'll mean Fracture v. Fracture and poor little JoJo will blame me for her broken home. Hopefully, we'll even up the personnel issues as latecomers join the fun.

On to the RULES AND REGULATIONS. (If they look familiar, it's 'cause I lifted them from last year, mostly.)

The unimaginative goal: answer (as a team) correctly, earn points, acquire greatest number of points, celebrate victory and enjoy fleeting moment of satisfaction.

Teams will communicate via email and pick their answers, then send along. I will share with each team the email addresses of their teammates, only. Please, no network marketing to your teammates. It spoils concentration.

Please send all answers (and quiz-related correspondence) to

bt AT wombatfile DOT com

with the word "quiz" in the subject line. That last bit is important, as I will only be looking for answers in a filtered folder. Please choose ONE person on your team to submit the answers. If I get competing answers sent to me I will consider them all null until a final, authoritative answer is submitted.

Deadlines: the full-credit deadline for ROUND ONE (see the ten questions just below) is 12:01 AM EST Wednesday December 13. All correct answers received by that time will receive full credit. Early Wednesday will post a set of Helpful Clues for each thought-destroyer. There will be a second, post-clue deadline for answers of 12:01 AM Friday, December 15. In other words, you've got a chance to use the clues to get closer to any question that stumped you. All answers (or changes to previous answers) sent after the clues are posted will get half-credit.

You may submit some answers before the first deadline, and hold others until after the clues, and there is no penalty for changing your answer, although any changes made post-clue take your possible points for that question down to 1/2. Your final answer is the one you are stuck with. Please be sure you're clear about which is your final.

General prohibitions and good sportsmanship: You're on your honor, here, just as in the Friday quizzes. No Googling in pursuit of the answers, and no trips to the reference shelf, the reading room, or that pile of old Popular Mechanics in the den. Points acquired by playing fast and loose with this rule will be with you on the day of judgment, in the form of life-size lead wombats piled onto the bad side of the karmic scale.

Also, use the comments for general trash-talking, boasting, and witty rejoinders, but under no circumstances should you be offering hints to other players, should you have figured out any of the answers. Pain of disqualification, etc. (If you want a question clarified, feel free to email. If a serious emendation of the question is mandated, I'll make sure it goes in the comments).

There are, of course, 2007 points to be scored (although lightning rounds along the way may yet add some additional bonus opportunities -- stay tuned). And the rounds will go something like this:

Round One: Hell's Belles Lettres -- 400 points
Round Two: The Past, our Duchy -- 500 points
Round Three: This World Over and Over -- 500 points
Round Four: The Rag and Bone Shop of the Quiz -- 607 points

All set? All right. Here are:

ROUND ONE -- HELL'S BELLES LETTRES

1. Collected for his book of tales in 1634 by the Italian writer Giambattista Basile, and appearing there as "Gagliuso," this narrative involves a disinherited child, an imposter aristocrat, and in the end, a loyalty test in the form of a faked death. A version of the story was committed to animation by Walt Disney in 1922, and a live-action version starring Christopher Walken was released in 1988. By what English title is this story known? 80 points

2. From one of the first exchanges in Eleanor H. Porter's bestselling novel of 1913:

"Well, really, Nancy, just because I happened to have a sister
who was silly enough to marry and bring unnecessary children into
a world that was already quite full enough, I can't see how I
should particularly WANT to have the care of them myself.

"However, as I said before, I hope I know my duty. See that you
clean the corners, Nancy," she finished sharply, as she left the
room.

There have been multiple big screen and television adaptations of the book, and Parker Brothers sold a game based on the book from 1915 to 1967. The title of the book has passed into popular culture as an expression used by people otherwise unfamiliar with the book itself. What was the title? 80 points

3. The publishing house of Simon & Schuster was founded with the publication of this collection in 1924, which became one of the bestselling non-fiction books of the year. It was also the very first collection of its kind published. What was it a collection of? 80 points

4. Known by a surname that he altered slightly from his birth name, he was variously a merchant of hosiery, wool and wine. He once imported a shipment of civet cats to make perfume, but they were seized with his other assets when he went for the first time into debt. He was exiled for his political activities, and after three years returned to his native country, taking up a post as a collector of tarriffs on glass bottles. A few years afterward, however, he commenced what became a productive writing career, and in his mid-forties published his first book, The Storm, a nonfiction account of a deadly hurricane which claimed thousands of lives in his native land. He is, however, best known for the works of fiction he published in the following years. What is his (altered) name? 80 points

5. The most popular novel of 1926 was John Erskine's The Private Life of Helen of Troy. The No. 2 bestseller was the tale of the rapid rise of a girl from Arkansas. It was penned by a female screenwriter and playwright who had at one point written the subtitles for D.W. Griffith's silent epic Intolerance. It became an overnight sensation, translated into 14 languages including Chinese. A musical version hit broadway in 1926, and a silent movie version came out in 1928. A version was made with sound more than two decades later, and that version is the one most people now remember. What was the title? 80 points

Posted by BT at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

A number of our unfortunate readers have recently received a junk-filter-ready missive from Quiz Central...determined as we are to bring the Greater Wombat File Community into the big tent o' trivia that is the Q.U.I.Z., I've e-mailed a number of our more prominent lurkers and neo-lurkers (not to be confused with neoconservatives, although I'm pretty sure that "The Lady B. Yogurt" is really Wolfowitz), asking, begging, pleading with them to throw their collective hats into the ring.

Because there's nothing better than a ring full of hats. Especially collective ones.

So, as we wait for these mighty minds to bestow upon us the news of their participation in the upcoming Quiztivities, I thought I would note that we have a roster of players so far committed which easily supports three teams, and -- when added to what I hope will be a flood of late entries -- should stretch to at least four, if not five squads.

The first round of questions is shaping up nicely. As a teaser, I'll mention that one of them is the result of my pursuit of a good question about the third-largest city in Tennessee. I didn't wind up with one, but found something even better.

Posted by BT at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ah, another Friday looms -- but so does December, the Friday to a worn-out year (though the joke's on you, 2006 -- you have to work the weekend!). So, before we get to this week's question, provided by Once and Future Guest Wombat Scott Williams, a few details about the Q.U.I.Z., our upcoming tournament, in the form of that Internet staple, the Q.N.O.H.B.T.A.B.W.A.B.A.A.¹:

Q: What the Hell?
A: OK, so, every Friday we do one of these cockamamie Quiz things, right?

Q. Right.
A. Form of a question, please.

Q. Er...right?
A. And for the last two years we've offered, first as a December thing and then as a January event, a sort of overblown multiweek version of the same. Where people score points over the course of multiple weeks by submitting guesses. And now it seems like it's something of a tradtion; hence, this year's Quizmaculately Ultimate International Zuperfest or Q.U.I.Z.

Q. So, this is basically that same silly year end thing again, where you make a farcical ordeal out of what should be a pleasurable end-of-week whimsy?
A. Yes. But with teams.

Q. Come again?
A. Teams. As in, everyone who plays is assigned to a team, so that players can combine forces and collaborate on the fiendishly diabolical and infernally...um...hellish...uh...Cthul'hu-spawned questions.

Q. How long will this last?
A. Four weeks, more or less, with one round a week. We'll start on Friday, December 8th, which is a week from now. Every week I'll put out questions, and there will be a deadline the next week for submitting answers via email. One or more weeks will have a subject or theme, like geography, literature, or people who smoke crack in the vicinity of enormous reptiles. Teams can email one another with their answers and come up with an agreed-upon set of answers, which they'll send via email. Correct answers win full credit. However, at that point I'll post some clues to the answers, and one's team gets partial credit for submissions that come in after the clue deadline. Each Friday the updated standings will be published, along with a teasingly delayed revelation of the answers. After the first round, new questions will be posted over the weekend. There may be additional "lightning rounds" along the way to allow straggling teams to catch up. These will inevitably happen on Fridays, and will work like our ordinary Quizzes.

Q. That sounds torturous and awful.
A. Is that a question? [Sighs petulantly]

Q. Is it as torturous and awful as it sounds?
A. I'm beginning to dislike your attitude. No, it'll be steaming gobs of holiday fun, in which those of you too shy to participate in our regular Friday outings will be able to quietly contribute as members of a gloriously selfless collective. All for one! One for all! That sort of thing...

Q. Prizes?
A. Regular readers know that while the prizes awarded in the regular Friday quizzes are at best mythical (and at the worst not only made-up, but shoddily so), the champs of our last two yearly scuffles have actually been awarded material trinkets. The winners of this year's contest will receive an awesome collection of Hideous Galleys, plus $4.75 (U.S.), to be divided amongst the team members.

Q. What?
A. You heard me!

Q. Are we quite finished?
A. Yes, except to say that we still need those of you who have, in moments of human weakness, confessed to me that you ACTUALLY READ THIS. And yet never play the Quiz. Friends, we need you. These teams -- the Bob Hopeless, the Whiskey Rebels, the Yogurt Mafia -- they need you. I need you. Don't leave me standing here. Lead me to your door.

Now that you've been bullied and bored, you're nicely tenderized for this week's question, the last of our weekly outings before the big tourney gets underway. Scott, what cranial-wrinkle-remover have you got in that dusty brown bottle? Here it is:

When she was the toast of society in London, she went by her married name, Lady Rebecca Rolfe. But she's best known by a childhood nickname, and through her relationship with another man.

What was that nickname, and who was the man?

First correct answer posted to comments wins decorative fruit made from recycled newspaper. Yes, THIS is what's being done with your diligently-bundled Sunday Times. No Googling or Ailuromancy. One guess per comment, but you may comment as often as you like.

¹ Questions No One Has Bothered To Ask But Which Are Being Answered Anyway.

Posted by BT at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (32)