AUE: SDC 2004: Questions and Answers, 1-26

Q: Two Americans "meet" in an internet chat room. One writes something which makes the other sure that they both live in the same city. In fact the cities they live in don't even share the same name. What are they?

Clue - John Wayne

A: Salem, Oregon and Indianapolis, Indiana (Accept any pair of US cities that share at least two relatively rare features/characteristics.)

See http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=marion+county+capitol&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&meta=

4. Saying undying Welsh poet (Adrian Bailey)

Q: Take a quotation from Shakespeare of at least 9 words and rewrite it in the style of an EFL student. To make it more difficult, no word can be identical with a word in the original, and all the words must be either incorrect or used incorrectly. Finally, you should be able to convince the panel (if necessary) that none of the errors are unlikely to have been made.

A: No totally-official answer - sheeps to be awarded based on preference and whim

5. Pontifus Maximus (Jim Ward)

Q: Who resolved the dispute between the two travellers?

A: http://web.hamline.edu/personal/ksalzberg/classes/wills/Boileau.htm
http://personal.monm.edu/ewilderm/Ovid's_Fasti_on_Web.htm

Editor's note - this is as received... not use I understand it, or whether the 2 URL are part of the question or they are the answer...

6. Summary (Jim Ward)

Schick
Ock
Sulfuric
Midol
Glock

What gives?

A: http://www.bartleby.com/66/18/43618.html

7. Not Quite The Bostonians (Jim Ward)

Q: Sweet angry moon, what color is your candy box?

A: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/cummings/additionalpoems.htm

8. Tri-state Trifecta (Dr Whom)

Q: Here's a collection of four ordered sets of three distinct names of U.S. states. Add another such set to the collection. There is more than one possible correct answer.

Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey
Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois
Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont
Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri

A: Any set of three (distinct) state names {X,Y,Z} such that the border between Y and Z is the X River should be accepted. In addition to the ones above, {Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota}, {Colorado, Arizona, California}, {Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana}, and a whole passel of other Mississippi ones fit the pattern.

9. Dumb and Dumbass (Mickwick)

Q: Sharp-set tea lady loses her trolley and rejects love. Father or son?

A: Son.

In _La Dame aux Camélias_ by Dumas fils (the more famous Dumas père's natural son), Marguerite Gaultier rejects her lover to preserve his family's reputation. (Or so I'm told. I haven't read it.)

Sharp-set? That other Gaultier's traffic-cone brassières. ('Conical' might do better there.)

Tea lady? Tea plants belong to the Camellia genus.

10. No Respect (Adrian Bailey)

Q: Quite a few years back a rock band were interviewed. To one question, while one of the group's members replied "That Godley & Creme effort," the other group members replied in unison with what answer?

Clue - This means nothing to me.

A: "Shaddup You Face" by Joe Dolce

See www.yearsofgold.org.uk/1981WEEK9FEB28.htm

11. Nam we worry? (Garry Vass)

Q: I did not die in Nam. Instead, I earned a degree in Philosophy. Who am I?

A: Jerry "The Beaver" Mathers

12. Vernal Diurnal (Garry Vass)

Q: He arose before sunrise. What did he do next?

A: He put his boots on.

Explanation:

The killer awoke before dawn
He put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall

- The Doors

13. Foreign Bodies (Adrian Bailey)

Q: Four boys sat a science test. Their marks were 31, 32, 71 and 87. What mark did Peter get? What were the names of the other three boys?

Clue - C Elementary, my dear Watson.

A: 32; any three French male names will do. See http://www.webelements.com/

14. The photograph (Adrian Bailey)

Q: A man in a waistcoat is standing at a microphone on a stage. Behind him sit two men in glasses and a woman in a hat. On the wall behind them is a banner bearing three words and the number 770,715. What are the words?

Clue - They were the surprise winners.

A: London's Labour Vote

15. Yo logo (Adrian Bailey)

Q: Why do some people object to this? http://www.geocities.com/dadge.geo/logo.html

Clue - Wot's the 'arm in it?

A: (It's the Birmingham city council logo.) The symbol apparently represents the smith's arm from the city's coat of arms (qv). It is considered by some to be a sexist image, either because it is a male power symbol, or because the position of the arm resembles an offensive gesture.

See www.birmingham.gov.uk/arms

16. Alarming Ditty (Geoff Butler)

Q: What was playing at six o'clock on February 2nd?

A: "I Got You Babe". It's the song that was playing when the alarm clock came on at 06:00 every day in "Groundhog Day".

Alternatively, "Who was playing...", "Sonny and Cher", if more obscurifaction is required.

17. Littoral string (Garry Vass)

Q: Please consider the following unordered list: The Lawrence Welk Show, The Rifleman, My Three Sons, The Donna Reed Show, and Bonanza. Removing an item from this list will make the remaining list meaningful and complete. Please identify which item should be removed and explain your choice.

A: Bonanza.

Explanation: It is the only television show in the list that did not star a former Mouseketeer!

The Lawrence Welk Show: Bobby
The Rifleman: Johnny
The Donna Reed Show: Paul
My Three Sons: Don

Slug: Funicello = "string" in Italian

18. Just for the halibut (Garry Vass)

Q: History tells us that the British taste for fish & chips evolved into national institution in the 19th century. What is the earliest reference to this phenomenon in the works of Charles Dickens?

A: Oliver Twist, 1839, Dickens called it a "fried fish warehouse"

19. Peelers all. (Jerry Friedman)

Q: What is the connection among Wally Whyton, John Crowley, and Bruce Sterling?

A: Shaftoe.

Wally Whyton has recorded the song "Bobby Shaftoe", and John Crowley and Bruce Sterling have both written novels with characters named Bobby

20. Not the average position vector (Jerry Friedman)

Q: Assume that the Earth and Venus both orbit in perfect circles with constant speed and that the period of Venus's orbit is 0.615 years. To three significant digits, what is the average distance between the Earth and Venus in A.U.? Bonus sheep for an exact formula.

A: 1.14 A.U. (As the period squared is proportional to the radius cubed, the radius is about 0.723 A.U. Then the answer is 1/2pi times the integral of the distance with respect to theta, the angle between the radii to the planets. The law of cosines gives the distance in A.U. as 1^2 + 0.723^2 - 2(1)(0.723)cos theta. I calculated the answer on Excel.)

I'll have to get back to you on the exact formula.

21. No anagrams (Jerry Friedman)

Q: Solve this crossword clue: I heard "racks" was in every little dictionary (Asian, anyway).

A: Pandiculation.

Means the human backward stretch and yawn with the arms overhead. A dialect synonym is "rax", "pandicul-" seems like it should be "every little dictionary", and "Asian" is for "-ation". Improvements to this clue are gratefully accepted.

22. Called shot (Jerry Friedman)

Q: A recent a.u.e. thread started with a discussion of a stilted science-fictional conversation. What is the connection between a character in that dialogue and Lions?

Extra sheep for the connection to the slug line.

A: The Gulf of Lions. ("Boss" in that dialogue from _Friday_ had appeared in an earlier Heinlein story called "Gulf". That story was first published in the "time travel" issue of _Astounding_, which was set up to make a fan's prediction come true http://members.fortunecity.com/churchofallworlds/preface.html.)

23. Where is this splendid sheep statue (Mike Barnes)

Q: Where is this splendid sheep statue. Click ../sdc2004/statue.jpg to see the picture

A: Queenstown, New Zealand.

Here are some clues (in following questions)- probably best to reveal them gradually.

24. First sheep clue (Mike Barnes)

Q: Where is this plaque that accompanies the splendid sheep statue. Click ../sdc2004/statue_plaque.jpg to see the picture

A: Answer Goes Here

25. Sheep Connection - further clues (Mike Barnes)

Q: What is the sheep connection in this picture of a building beside a lake? Click ../sdc2004/building.jpg to see the picture

A: It's the famous "The Church of the Good Shepherd" at Lake Tekapo, New Zealand.

Clue: The location is the same island as the sheep statue in previous questions.

If a further clue is needed, here is another picture. Click ../sdc2004/building_plaque.jpg to see this picture

26. Manda 23 (Garry Vass)

Q: Question: Please examine this list...

1 bottle of Belvedere Vodka
1 bottle of Remey Martin brandy VSOP
1 bottle of Smirnoff Vodka
24 bottles of English beer
1 bottle of oxygen & mask
1 bottle of Beaujolais
24 bottles of Corona
6 cans of draught Guinness
1 jar of honey

And note that an item has been surrepitiously added, and removing this item will make the list meaningful, consistent, and tied-in to this question's slug. Please identify the item that does not belong and explain the connection to this question's slug.

A: The Beaujolais does not belong. The rest are in the Who's backstage rider (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/who/who1.html) As to the slug, well, to get from "Soho down to Brighton" (Pinball Wizard), one must first take the M23, then change to the A23. M and A 23, get it?

SDC 2004:

1-26