There was an industrial-strength dose of a-moanin' and a-groanin' about this final round of questions, but the initial guesses, once grudgingly submitted, prove that the Wombat File Quizvitational playing field is up to the challenge.

So, some clues.

1. With regard to the company's current name, it directly reflects the function of the 26 acquired businesses. Among the other fictional personas associated with its signature products, several are monsters, one a mythical creature of enormous size and power, and one is a hand. With regard to the persona itself, Barnes & Noble.com lists over 200 titles with this persona as the author; the most popular among them is in its 10th edition.

2. A record-setting work of art in the possession of the National Park Service contains a representation of this personage.

3. One of his two best friends was introduced in The Crab with the Golden Claws.

4. A family relationship figures prominently in the title and conceit of this program. The brother of the lead actor is well-known not only for his sitcom success, but in lead roles in popular movie musicals.

5. He shares part of his name with a more infamous Victorian terror, and that his purported means of quasi-aerial locomotion gave him the rest of his popular monicker. There is at least one musical artist who has re-used the name, and another pop star who has a song title which is a variation on the name.

6. Those who owned the rights to Wilson's character have now replaced it with animated bears.

7. The composer of the most successful operatic version of The Barber of Seville also wrote an opera around this figure.

8. His meeting with the Pope (and others) took place at the River Po, and was re-imagined famously by Raphael.

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Final answers to bt AT wombatfile DOT com (with the word "quiz" in the subject line, please), by 12:01 AM Friday.