December 16, 2004
Quizvitational Round 2: Hintsville

There has been a general wailing and gnashing of the collective teeth over the latest questions. Email submissions have in part or in whole indicated a hatred of the quiz, the quizmaster, and geography. I hereby apologize for, in the words of one correspondent, "ruining Christmas."

Here are some hints. Half-credit to correct answers submitted from here on in; quarter-credit to any half-correct answers submitted. Send your last-minute triumphs to quiz at wombatfile dot com before 12:01 AM Friday.

1. This country lost some of its historic territory when James Brooke, the first "White Rajah" of Sarawak, forced treaties on the ruler and grabbed land. Britain remained in quasi-control until the country gained full independence in 1984.

2. The capital of one of these countries is memorialized in a famous song celebrating an aspect of U.S. military prowess. These countires are not in the Americas.

3. A military coup in 1980 brought the brutal Desi Bouterse to power. There were free elections later in the '80s, but Bouterese staged a second coup in the 1990s and is still around as an opposition leader. The main export of this country is bauxite.

4. The capital of this 90%-desert country is Ashgabat, which gets its name from the Arabic for "City of Love." However, another language (from a different "family" of languages entirely) predominates in this Muslim country named after its nomadic inhabitants. It borders Afghanistan, Iran and Kazakhstan, among others.

5. There are exactly ten of these states.

Hope that helps -- don't forget: BONUS LIGHTNING ROUND tomorrow at noon. First correct answer posted to comments will get bonus points toward the final score.

Posted by BT at December 16, 2004 10:49 AM
Comments

Oh, well bauxite, sure. That helps.

Posted by: boxjam on December 16, 2004 11:26 AM

Hey, Bill, I just sent in some revised answers (which I'm hoping will raise my score from the first set, which was a probable zero), but my email program was acting slightly wonky--if they don't come through, let me know.

Posted by: Gavin, King of the Bauxite on December 16, 2004 12:04 PM

What can we do with bauxite when we have no flax?

Posted by: Scraps on December 16, 2004 12:11 PM

crudites, maybe?

Posted by: Scott on December 16, 2004 12:14 PM

Even better, I completely forgot about the first deadline. On the bright side, I think I would have scored zero anyway.

Posted by: Garthmeister J. on December 16, 2004 03:40 PM

If you happened to have had the pleasure of last night's South Park, you undoubtedly noticed the striking similarity between the Satanic Woodland Critters' Christmas Anti-Christ and a living aborted womabt foetus, no?

Posted by: The Lady B. YO! gurt. on December 16, 2004 07:22 PM

The lady doth talk trash.

Boy am I gonna lull y'all into a false sense of security with my score.

Posted by: hackly_fracture on December 16, 2004 07:38 PM

I'm sure the answer to one of these is Fredonia.

I don't know about the rest of you but I've enjoyed a fine week of rafting down the Mississippi of my Mind. Thanks, Bill.

Posted by: art on December 16, 2004 08:54 PM

For me, it's been more like a whitewater trip through the Grand Canyon of my Ignorance.

Posted by: Jonathan on December 17, 2004 12:45 AM

Apologies in advance for missing the Bonus Lightning Round. What with time-zone differences and all, it clashes with the Bonus Friday Afternoon Christmas Drinks Round. Cheers!

Posted by: Rory on December 17, 2004 06:45 AM

I thought Fredonia was on the Missouri.

Lulling phase.

Posted by: teenidol on December 17, 2004 09:47 AM

Bauxite crudites -- get it?

I'm going to be in meetings from noon until my flesh crumbles into a thin grey powder, so I'm unlikely to get a guess in on the lightning round. Well, after the question, anyhow. I do want to enter my guess now: "Howard the Duck."

If the answer is, in fact, "Howard the god damned Duck," I hope the Wombino will grant me the points anyhow.

(See, it looks like it should rhyme, but. . .)

Posted by: Scott on December 17, 2004 09:50 AM

Barring that, I guess "The Whiskey and Boxers Rebellion."

(Fought only last weekend against my wife, two strings of colored Christmas lights, and numberless dry oak leaves in the gutters of our home. On my side were two digital cable channels showing live soccer all weekend.)

Posted by: Scott on December 17, 2004 09:57 AM