Unutterably Silly Quiz

[orlok]

21? ...

[HomeInMyShoes]

A little high.

[pdurrant]

18 then?

[drjd]

You gentlemen argue on the numbers, while I hatch my grand scheme for new quiz.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

18 then?

That would be correct. I was surprised it was that high. 18 of the 27 and I've got a book penciled in to cover the 19th and 20th of the list.

The four missing countries:
Belize, Djibouti, Fiji, Tajikistan

The countries I've read:
Azerbaijan, Belize, Brazil, Czech Republic, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mozambique, New Zealand, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zambia, Zimbabwe


We eagerly await the next quiz drjd.

[drjd]

How good a sleuth are you?
Here are 15 questions bearing one point each to test your detective power and logic.

1. Political Intrigue

Two politicians are invited to a bar by one of their political opponents. When they arrive, their host is already waiting, and there is a cocktail pitcher on the table. The two politicians pour themselves drinks. To relax his nerves, the first politician drains his in one go. The second politician enjoys his over the course of the evening.

As they leave the restaurant, the second politician collapses.

Can you explain why?

2. Card Sharks

A police unit raids a house to arrest a suspected criminal. They have no idea what the man looks like, but they know that he is currently inside the house, and that his name is Michael. The raid interrupts a game of poker. Around the table are an electrician, a carpenter, a fireman, and a politician. The police immediately know that the carpenter is Michael and arrest him without asking any questions of the others.

How did they correctly identify the suspect?

3. The True Champion

In a closely contested race, the judges call for a photo finish to determine the winner. It becomes clear that Alfonso crossed the line in first place, just ahead of Samuel. None of the judges dispute this, and yet they award the trophy to Frankie, who crossed the line in third place. Alfonso and Samuel have not broken the rules or done anything that might prejudice the judges against them.

So why does Frankie receive the trophy?

4. Tunnelling Prisoners

A man is imprisoned in the king’s dungeon. The walls are made of stone and the oak door is permanently locked. High up on one of the walls is an unbarred window. There is no way of climbing the walls, and there is no furniture in the room that the man can stand on to reach it. The man abandons hope of escaping through it and decides to try and dig his way out. He makes slow progress and calculates that it will take his entire lifetime to tunnel out. For a few days he abandons this project as well. Suddenly an idea comes to the man, and he begins to dig again.

What is his plan?


5. Mystery in the Snow

A man with a pack on his back is found dead in a snow-covered field. He is miles from the nearest town, and yet there are no tracks in the snow.

How did he die?

6. A Suspicious Death

A woman’s father died. At the funeral she saw a man she had never seen before and instantly fell in love with him. Nobody could tell her who he was, however, or where he came from. A few days later, the woman’s mother was dead as well.

Can you explain what happened?

7. The Elevator

A man lives on the twelfth floor of an apartment block. Each morning he takes the elevator down to the ground floor and goes to work. When he returns in the evening, he enters the lift on the ground floor. If it has been raining that day, he usually goes directly to the twelfth floor. Likewise, if there are other people in the elevator, he goes directly to the twelfth floor.
However, at all other times, he takes the elevator to the ninth floor and walks up the remaining three flights of steps to his apartment.

Can you explain why he does this?

8. Camel Race

The dying ruler of a desert kingdom decreed that his empire would not be split between his two sons, but passed in its entirety to whichever of them proved more deserving of it. He devised a test of stamina. His sons would ride camels in a race across the desert. It was not a race in the ordinary sense however — the son whose camel arrived at the finish line last would inherit the kingdom.
The brothers saddled their camels and set off. They were soon wandering hopelessly through the desert. After many days without seeing another living creature, they encountered a man sitting cross-legged at the crest of a great sand dune. In desperation, they dismounted to seek his counsel. He proved wise indeed, for once he had spoken, the brothers leapt onto the camels and galloped away as fast as they could towards the finish line.

What did the wise man tell them?

9. Welcome to the Saloon

A man enters a saloon and asks the barman for a glass of water. The barman reaches under the bar, pulls out a gun, and points it at the man. The man says “Thank you”, and leaves the saloon.

How do you explain their behavior?


10. A Black Cat

A black cat stepped out onto a black road where there were no street lights, and not even the faintest glimmer of light from the moon. A black car approached with its lights turned off, and yet the driver slowed down and allowed the cat to cross the road.

How did he know the cat was there?

11. A Sleepy Bus Driver

A bus driver is heading down a street in San Francisco. It’s been a long day and he’s feeling tired. He pays no attention to a stop sign, and as a police car is passing, he goes onto the pavement, and turns the wrong way into a one-way street. The policemen have seen everything.

Can you explain why the bus driver isn’t arrested?

12. Anthony and Cleopatra

When Anthony and Cleopatra were discovered dead on the floor of their Egyptian villa, there was a broken bowl lying beside them. Their bodies were examined and there was nothing to indicate that they had been attacked or poisoned. The door was locked, and although the window was open, it appeared that nobody else had entered the room.

How did they die?

13. An Unusual Word

I know a word of letters three. Add two more, and fewer there will be.

14. An Unusual Sentence


What is unusual about the sentence below?

A big cowboy, dancing elegantly for grand hotels in Jersey, knitting lovely mittens nicely on pretty quilted rubber shoes, thought untrained vets would X-ray yellow zebras.

15. An Unusual Paragraph

“If youth, throughout all history, had had a champion to stand up for it; to show a doubting world that a child can think; and, possibly, do it practically; you wouldn’t constantly run across folks today who claim that “a child don’t know anything.” A child’s brain starts functioning at birth; and has, amongst its many infant convolutions, thousands of dormant atoms, into which God has put a mystic possibility for noticing an adult’s act, and figuring out its purport.”

This is the first paragraph from Gadsby, a most unusual work of fiction. What is unusual about it?

[orlok]

2. The rest are women?

[orlok]

5. His parachute didn't open?

[orlok]

7. He's short, and can't reach to the twelfth button, unless he has his umbrella with him, or another passenger presses it for him?

[orlok]

10. It's daytime.

[orlok]

12. Anthony and Cleopatra are fish, and their bowl has been knocked to the floor, perhaps by the wind (a flapping curtain)?

[orlok]

13. ten(th)?

[orlok]

14. Each word begins with successive letters of the alphabet.

[drjd]

Wow! you got all the correct!!

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orlok : 5

[orlok]

15. Avoids the use of the letter "e" throughout.