New Scaratings

15 Questions, 1000 Points each, Points decrease rapidly from 4 to 20 seconds after appearance of Question & 5 Choices, & with 3 Clues:

1. St. Petersburg, Russia, is often called the "_______________ of the North".
[Choices: Athens, Tokyo, Venice, Copenhagen, Cairo ]

2. Thomas a Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of English King:________________.
[Choices: Henry II, William I, George IV, Charles III, Edward V ]

3. "Sanctuary" and "Requiem for a Nun" are among this author's lesser-known novels:__________________.
[Choices: William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway ]

4. In the Middle East, what is a souq?___________________
[Choices: Fountain pen, Wagon, Robe, Frying pan, Open-air market ]

5. Lusitania was the ancient name of this modern-day country:____________________.
[Choices: Finland, Egypt, Turkey, Portugal, Mongolia ]

6. Both agate and _________________ are varieties of layered chalcedony.
[Choices: Hematite, Onyx, Hornblende, Tantalite, Rutile ]

7. "La Gioconda" is the official name of the painting usually called:__________________.
[Choices: Bacchus and Ariadne, The Birth of Venus, L'Absinthe, Mona Lisa, The School of Athens ]

8. Mickey Cochrane, Jimmy Foxx, Bill Terry and Babe Ruth all wore this baseball uniform number:___________.
[Choices: 3, 1, 10, 7, 44 ]

9. What god in Roman mythology is the counterpart to the Greek god Hephaestus?_________________
[Choices: Bacchus, Jupiter, Neptune, Vulcan, Somnus ]

10. Which French city remained British until recaptured in 1558?______________
[Choices: Calais, Marseilles, Lyon, Cherbourg, Brest ]

11. Richard Wagner's father-in-law was this other famous composer:_________________.
[Choices: Felix Mendelssohn, Hugo Wolf, Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert, Franz Liszt ]

12. Which famous American journalist is buried in The Kremlin?____________________
[Choices: John Reed, William Randolph Hearst, Edward R. Murrow, Grantland Rice, Horace Greeley ]

13. Which animal has a telson?_____________________
[Choices: Stork, Lobster, Gorilla, Kangaroo, Zebra ]

14. This 1862 Civil War battle was fought near Pittsburg Landing:___________________.
[Choices: Shiloh, Lexington, Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg ]

15. The krone is the basic monetary unit of:___________________.
[Choices: Belarus & Moldova, Poland & Hungary, Slovakia & Slovenia, Bulgaria & Macedonia, Denmark & Norway ]






Answers:

1. Venice [I (REACH, LESTER) at Buster's Bar, Ottawa ON pre-called this; see the section "Toponymy" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg ]

2. Henry II [I pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Becket ]

3. William Faulkner [Chris (CEEZED, KAYZED) and Sue (SWIFT, ACE) guessed right for 1000 Points; the rest of the 6 of us struck out. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_(Faulkner_novel) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_for_a_Nun ]

4. Open-air market [Chris pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souq ]

5. Portugal [I pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusitania ]

6. Onyx [I called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyx ]

7. Mona Lisa [I pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa ]

8. 3 [I called this one; see the section "Cancer and death" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth ]

9. Vulcan [I pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephaestus ]

10. Calais [I pre-called this one; see the section "16th century" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calais ]

11. Franz Liszt [I pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosima_Wagner ]

12. John Reed [I pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Reed_(journalist) ]

13. Lobster [I split my votes, getting 916 Points as LESTER; Dave (TULADI, YELDOR) got 965 & 972 Points, but the others struck out. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telson ]

14. Shiloh [Because some were confused between Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Landing, we mostly ended up with zero Points on this gimme for Americans. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shiloh ]

15. Denmark & Norway [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_krone and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_krone ]