A Quiz!

Calin Leafshade · Wed 09/10/2013 13:18:37

There is a show on british radio (the name of which I will omit to discourage cheating) and it asks a panel a series of general knowledge questions masked as a riddle. It's a great show and this week they had a great question which I will now put to you, the AGS Forum.

You are allowed to ask for confirmation that you're on the right lines and for hints but every time I help you you will lose some points!! OH NO NOT POINTS!

All the questions take the same form and its something like "guess all these things and then make a connection or do something with the answers to get the final answer"

Here is the question:

Taken in order, how can an 1864 conflagration; one of Lear's dukes; a formidable relative of Henry Pulling or Jack Worthing; and a cinque port, produce a mythical cupbearer?

Billbis · Wed 09/10/2013 13:35:10

Jesus! that seems hard.

Calin Leafshade · Wed 09/10/2013 13:37:54

It's actually not if you approach it in pieces and try and work out each individual piece. Then, even if you can't get a part, you might be able to piece it together with the parts you do know.

Stupot · Wed 09/10/2013 15:50:42

Are we allowed to Google the individual bits of information?
The only one I know anything about is the Cinque Ports (having been born in Hastings).

CaptainD · Wed 09/10/2013 15:54:41

I think Jack Worthing was in The Importance of Being Earnest but I can't remember the aunt's name! (I think it was Aunt something... the "A HAAAAAAAAAAAAANCBAG?!" woman...)

Stupot · Wed 09/10/2013 16:11:24

Well the other Cinque Ports other than Hastings are New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich.

Spoiler

If Captain D says the formidable relative is an 'aunt' and we combine it with a Cinque Port then perhaps we get something like AuntDover or Andover.

[close]

Is this along the right lines?

P.S. You say we drop points for asking if we're on the right lines (sorry everyone). But how many points do we start with?

Calin Leafshade · Wed 09/10/2013 16:46:31

In the game you start with 6 points but I won't penalise you for just asking if youre on the right lines.

So I will say this,
CaptainD is onto something.
Stupot picked the right port.

A good start!

I can't stop you googling stuff but it might be nicer if you didn't and tried to pool your knowledge as a community i guess.

CaptainD · Wed 09/10/2013 17:07:32

I propose two scoring systems:

Old-School - you start with 3 points, lose 1 point for every incorrect guess / request for help, and it's GAME OVER when you lose all 3.
Casual - you start with 100 points, lose 1 when you get stuff wrong, intermittently get bonus points for no apparent reason, and even if you do somehow manage to lose all your points, the game just keeps going anyway.

Ah... not an aunt... is the formidable relative

Spoiler

Lady Augusta Bracknell

[close]

? (Sorry I had to cheat - it was driving me mad!)

Calin Leafshade · Wed 09/10/2013 17:11:47

Yep, 2 down.

As for scoring it's usually done by ear. You start with 6 and the host gives you a proportion of that depending on how much help you had.

So far you have a full 6 as far as i can see. [EDIT: oh now wait you cheated, MINUS 1 POINT!]

Also, put your answers in hide tags so others can try and guess the answer if they are late to the party.

Renal Shutdown · Wed 09/10/2013 19:10:06

Spoiler

Conflagration's a big fire, and judging by the year, I figured Atlanta, Georgia due to Gone with the Wind. I admit I ended up Googling the movie to check which year it was set.

The only Lear I know is Shakespeare's king, and I don't have a clue who was in it.

I have no clue what to do with that, at all. Not even remotely.

[close]

Calin Leafshade · Wed 09/10/2013 19:17:24

Spoiler

That is indeed the conflagration in question and Lear does refer to shakespeares king lear.

[close]

I think you have enough information now to start thinking about connections.

Stupot · Wed 09/10/2013 19:51:23

Spoiler

Well we have Atlanta, (Duke) [...?...], (Lady) Bracknell and Dover.
All place names (assuming the Duke is a Duke of somewhere. My Shakespeare is terrible though. Anybody?).

[close]

I've no idea how to relate any of this to a mythical cupbearer.

Andail · Wed 09/10/2013 20:02:49

Spoiler

If it's the duke of Cornwall, we have place names that could be arranged alphabetically a,b,c,d. No idea if that means anything. No idea yet about the riddle at all, really

[close]

Mythical characters and tales should really be my table, but when it comes to cup bearers I'm drawing a total blank, sorry.

Stupot · Fri 11/10/2013 19:38:57

I've had a brainwave. Atlanta is in Georgia, whose code thing is GA, which sounds like a good lead.

I thought maybe the postcodes of the other places would be involved (I had to Google them I'm afraid).
Cornwall has several (EX, PL, TR) - [If it is Cornwall]
Bracknell's Postcode is RG (Reading) [If it is Bracknell]
Dover's is CT (Canterbury)

There's a distinct lack of vowels in that lot, so unless GAEXRGCT is a word, I'm probably barking up the wrong tree.

CaptainD · Fri 11/10/2013 19:52:17

Hmm... if "GA" is correct for the first two letters I do have an idea... 8 letters beginning with those two... but none of the other letters you've put fit and I have no idea what the connection is if my guess is right.

Unless...

Cornwall, Bracknell and Dover are in England, but... are they also in the States? So they would have a 2-letter code for the state they're in if so?

Spoiler

Especially if there's a Cornwall in New York, a Bracknell in New England and ... Dover in..... um, DElaware maybe?)

[close]

Tibatonk · Sat 12/10/2013 08:02:21

I think this post might contain the right answer, so careful with opening the tabs if you still want to guess along.

According to my copy of King Lear there's also a

Spoiler

Duke of Albany

[close]

So we have:

Spoiler

Atlanta, Georgia
Albany, New York
Augusta, Maine
Dover, Delaware

All US state capitals...

[close]

And that would leave us with:

Spoiler

GA, NY, ME, DE = Ganymede. No idea who that is, but I think I heard the name before.

[close]

Andail · Sat 12/10/2013 08:16:22

Oh, yes, absolutely. Solved.
That was pretty tricky but fun. It was funny that we couldn't just google the answer, and it took the combined thinking of several members. One more please! These shouldn't be too hard to construct.

Stupot · Sat 12/10/2013 09:17:00

Ahh nice. I fell into the trap of assuming the last three were referring to English places.
Otherwise I'd totally have got it

That was fun

Renal Shutdown · Sat 12/10/2013 12:30:18

I was leaning to the using the first name of the relative, but all I was coming up with was some sort of golf references. >_<

Calin Leafshade · Tue 15/10/2013 20:55:13

Oh hey, you got it.

Well done. Yes

Spoiler

Ganymede is the cup bearer of olympus!

[close]

Ok second round:

You're going to need a film buff for this one.

In which Affair might Deborah Kerr be envious of a fruit coming down, a Wallace creation going up, and Tom Hanks taking the lift?