New Scaratings

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

1. Which country gives out the Governor General's Awards?______________________
[Choices: Tanzania, Jamaica, Canada, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago ]

2. A sitzmark is a term that all beginning __________________ would learn.
[Choices: Golfers, Bowlers, Chess players, Skiers, Tennis players ]

3. Urth, Verthandi and Skuld were well-known women of _____________________ myth.
[Choices: Chinese, Egyptian, Norse, Roman, Greek ]

4. This element with atomic number 117 was given its name in 2016:______________________.
[Choices: Washingtonian, Alaskabium, Mississippone, Tennessine, Coloradium ]

5. The Dnieper River runs through Russia, Belarus and this nation:______________________.
[Choices: Czechia, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey, Kazakhstan ]

6. Pulitzer Prize winner _____________________ recalled her World War I experiences in the 1918 novel "The Marne".
[Choices: Harper Lee, Alice Walker, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton ]

7. The Nahuatl language is spoken by more than one million:_____________________.
[Choices: Seminoles, Cambodians, Mexicans, Hawaiians, Eskimos ]

8. The central character is Quentin, the former wife is Maggie. What's the play?_____________________
[Choices: After the Fall, Camille, The Rose Tattoo, Picture of Dorian Gray, Equus ]

9. Which English ruler's claim to the throne of France led to the Hundred Years' War?________________________
[Choices: Edward III, John, Elizabeth I, Henry VIII, Richard I ]

10. In the opera "Boris Godunov", what haunts Tsar Boris?_______________________
[Choices: Ghost of Russian winter, A melancholy melody, Murder of a young boy, Father Ivan's death, Sister's marriage ]

11. The __________________ is a lithe, catlike carnivore found in Africa.
[Choices: Tapir, Marmot, Manatee, Okapi, Genet ]

12. Because of its strange orbit and spin, a day is actually longer than a year on this planet:___________________.
[Choices: Saturn, Venus, Pluto, Jupiter, Mars ]

13. Benjamin Rubin is in the Inventor's Hall of Fame for his invention of a:_____________________.
[Choices: Theater floodlight, Transistor, Computer mouse, Vaccination needle, Portable cannon ]

14. What is the main argument of John Milton's impassioned essay "Aeropagitica"?_________________________
[Choices: Darwin is a fool, Censorship is terrible, Suffragism is evil, Royalty are dictatorial, Churchill is a hero ]

15. German photographer Peter Lindbergh is best known for his ___________________ photography.
[Choices: Fashion, Nature, Satirical, Abstract, Agitprop ]





Answers:

1. Canada [Myfanwy (SPRAJO) at Whispers Pub, Ottawa ON pre-called this first; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_General's_Awards . On typing the Question, however, I realized that Jamaica too has a Governor-General, and there might be G-G's Awards there too; sure enough, see https://kingshouse.gov.jm/governor-gene ... rd-scheme/ . Queen Elizabeth II is still the Head of State of Canada, and in her absence, the Governor-General is the Queen's representative, reading the Speech from the Throne and performing ceremonial duties. Even if the Prime Minister is a totally corrupt ass, he is not the Head of State, so his overthrow does not mean the State is in peril or in doubt. This may not be the case in countries where the President/Chief Executive Officer is also the Head of State. It is unlikely that a strong Site chose "Jamaica" as the Answer, but its inclusion as a Choice was bad.]

2. Skiers [Andrew C (GRYFON) pre-called this, and Dai (BLADOR) explained that "sitzen" is German for "to sit"; see https://www.dictionary.com/browse/sitzmark ]

3. Norse [Jean (LESTER) pre-called this; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uror ]

4. Tennessine [I (REACH) called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessine . Andrew C asked me if it is a "halogen", and after a quick calculation, I said it was. Presumably Andrew noticed the "ine" ending of the name, as in the halogens: fluorine, F (element 9), chlorine, Cl (element 17), bromine, Br (element 35), iodine, I (element 53), astatine, At (element 85). Note that the atomic numbers increase by 8, 18, 18, 32, and 32 on going from F to Ts. The magic numbers 8, 18 and 32 are twice 4, 9 and 16, which in turn are the number of s & p orbitals, s, p & d orbitals, and s, p, d & f orbitals in a given shell of electrons. Each orbital can hold a maximum of 2 electrons with spins paired, explaining the 8, 18 and 32. The number of orbitals of each kind in a given shell is part of the solution of the Schrodinger Equation for the electron in the hydrogen atom; see the section "Hydrogen atom" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrodinger_equation . The halogens ("salt-formers") are in Group VIIA or Group 17, the second column from the right side of the Periodic Table.]

5. Ukraine [Dai pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnieper ]

6. Edith Wharton [I called this one, by eliminating the other Choices which were mainly more recent than WWI; see the section "Travels and life abroad" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Wharton .]

7. Mexican [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahuatl ]

8. After the Fall [this is the question we all got wrong; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_the_Fall_(play) ]

9. Edward III [Dai pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Y ... (1337-1360) ]

10. Murder of a young boy [Jean called this one first; see the section "Historical basis of the plot" at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Godunov_(opera) , the inspiration for the character Boris Badenov in "Rocky & Bullwinkle".]

11. Genet [Jean called this first; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genet_(animal) ]

12. Venus [Jean pre-called this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus ]

13. Vaccination needle [I guessed this, and Myfanwy called this as her guess; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Rubin .]

14. Censorship is terrible [I called this one, having read it 55 years ago; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areopagitica (note the spelling, based on the god "Ares", and not "Aero").]

15. Fashion [I guessed wrong on this one; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Lindbergh ]


5.

For the Answer to Q3, try the links https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norns and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skuld .