The Wombat File Is Yours to Keep

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 Most of its provisions were repealed in 1972.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).