1,000 trivia questions and answers: literature & arts
Questions 701–800 of 1,000. Answer, explanation and source under each one.
Literature & arts trivia questions 701–750
Q 701Which Tolstoy novel was being serialised in the same journal at the same time as Crime and Punishment?
- AResurrection
- BWar and Peace
- CThe Cossacks
- DAnna Karenina
Show answer
War and Peace
The conservative critic Nikolay Strakhov recalled Dostoevsky's novel, not Tolstoy's, as the literary sensation of the year.
Q 702What is the name of the village where Winnie Foster lives?
- ATreegap
- BHollow Creek
- CPinewood
- DRiverbend
Show answer
Treegap
Her family is the oldest in town and owns the wood next to their house, though they never enter it.
Q 703Linh Song earned the nickname 'the girl of many floods' while mastering which ability?
- AGuster
- BCharger
- CHydrokinetic
- DPyrokinetic
Show answer
Hydrokinetic
She was banished at eleven for flooding Atlantis, and her brother Tam chose to go to Exillium with her so she would not be alone.
Q 704The Southern pronoun 'y'all' is a contraction of which phrase?
- AYou all
- BYon all
- CYe all
- DYou and all
Show answer
You all
The spelling 'you-all' was first recorded in 1824; one theory ties it to the Scots-Irish Ulster Scots phrase 'ye aw'.
Q 705As a child in the 1950s, Allende attended schools in La Paz and which Middle Eastern city?
- ABeirut
- BIstanbul
- CTehran
- DCairo
Show answer
Beirut
Her stepfather Ramón Huidobro was a diplomat posted to Bolivia and Lebanon.
Q 706Which company published the two-player Throne of Glass card game in October 2019?
- ARavensburger
- BZ-Man Games
- CFantasy Flight Games
- DOsprey Games
Show answer
Osprey Games
Players dive into Aelin's memories to help her survive imprisonment at Maeve's hands.
Q 707Who directed the 1968 film starring teenagers Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey?
- AFranco Zeffirelli
- BLuchino Visconti
- CRenato Castellani
- DFederico Fellini
Show answer
Franco Zeffirelli
It won Oscars for cinematography and costume design and was the last Shakespeare film nominated for Best Picture.
Q 708Which early English religious movement led by John Wycliffe is mentioned in the Tales?
- AMethodism
- BLollardy
- CAnabaptism
- DPuritanism
Show answer
Lollardy
The Tales are also among the first English works to mention paper.
Q 709What is the name of the silver-haired venin woman who is Onyx Storm's main antagonist?
- ANarelle Anselm
- BSybil Anselm
- CAura Beinhaven
- DTheophanie
Show answer
Theophanie
She wields storm magic and is finally killed with a dagger Aaric hands to Violet.
Q 710In the poem, what were the children dreaming of as they slept?
- ASugar-plums
- BToy soldiers
- CGingerbread men
- DCandy canes
Show answer
Sugar-plums
'While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads' — sugar-plums were hard comfits of layered boiled sugar, not plums at all.
Q 711What did Alice Mary Norton, later SF's first female Grand Master, do in 1934 that went beyond a mere pseudonym?
- ALegally became Andre
- BPublished only through her brother
- CHired a male actor to attend her signings
- DRegistered as a male author with the Library of Congress
Show answer
Legally became Andre
Publishers reasoned that boys, the main audience for fantasy, would not pick up a book by a woman; the pen name became her legal name for the next seven decades.
Q 712What is Jayfeather's disability?
- AHe is blind
- BHe cannot speak
- CHe is deaf
- DHe has three legs
Show answer
He is blind
He can also walk into other cats' dreams, one of the three powers of the Power of Three arc. His brother Lionblaze cannot be wounded in battle.
Q 713Which 18th-century actor-manager's cleaned-up version of the play held the stage for nearly a century?
- AThomas Betterton
- BEdmund Kean
- CJohn Kemble
- DDavid Garrick
Show answer
David Garrick
Shakespeare's original text did not return to the American stage until 1845.
Q 714Which woman in creator William Moulton Marston's life inspired Wonder Woman's bullet-deflecting bracelets?
- AMargaret Sanger, the activist
- BOlive Byrne, his partner
- CAlice Marble, the tennis star
- DElizabeth Holloway, his wife
Show answer
Olive Byrne, his partner
Marston, who also helped invent an early lie detector, lived with both women in a polyamorous household, and both are credited as inspirations for the character.
Q 715The Kröller-Müller Museum, with the second-largest Van Gogh collection, sits in which Dutch national park?
- AZuid-Kennemerland
- BDe Hoge Veluwe
- CWeerribben-Wieden
- DDe Biesbosch
Show answer
De Hoge Veluwe
Helene Kröller-Müller began buying Van Goghs in 1908, when they were still cheap, and gave her whole collection to the Dutch state in 1935. Visitors ride free white bicycles to reach it.
Q 716What does 'tequitqui', the term for early indigenous-made colonial art, mean in Nahuatl?
- AChurch
- BVassal
- CSacred
- DStone
Show answer
Q 717How did Godwin describe his 15-year-old daughter?
- A'Idle, dreamy and much given to tears'
- B'A plain child of ordinary parts'
- C'Timid, dutiful and fond of needlework'
- D'Singularly bold, somewhat imperious, and active of mind'
Show answer
'Singularly bold, somewhat imperious, and active of mind'
He added that her perseverance in everything she undertook was 'almost invincible'.
Q 718Where did Zeus banish the defeated Titans?
- AThe Isles of the Blessed
- BMount Etna
- CHades
- DTartarus
Show answer
Q 719Hinton was inspired by rival gangs at the Tulsa campus she attended. Which was it?
- AMemorial High School
- BWill Rogers High School
- CBooker T. Washington High School
- DCentral High School
Show answer
Will Rogers High School
She wanted to write from the greasers' point of view so people would stop being 'so quick to judge'.
Q 720Why did Tolstoy go to the Caucasus with his brother and join the army in 1851?
- AHe was fleeing a duel
- BHe was conscripted
- CHe wanted to write a war novel
- DHe had run up heavy gambling debts
Show answer
He had run up heavy gambling debts
He served as an artillery officer and was promoted to lieutenant for courage in the Crimean War.
Q 721Jörmungandr, the Norse World Serpent, is the child of Loki and which giantess?
- ASigyn
- BSkaði
- CAngrboða
- DGerðr
Show answer
Angrboða
His siblings are the wolf Fenrir and Hel; his letting go of his own tail signals Ragnarök.
Q 722How many moons orbit the planet where Wings of Fire is set?
- ATwo
- BFive
- CThree
- DOne
Show answer
Three
NightWings born under the moons can gain telepathy and foresight, a key part of the second arc.
Q 723Neruda's first diplomatic post in 1927 was an honorary consulship in which city?
- ASingapore
- BRangoon
- CColombo
- DBatavia
Show answer
Rangoon
He took the Burma posting out of financial desperation and later served in Colombo, Batavia and Singapore.
Q 724Which publication's condensed-books series reprinted the novel in part, giving it an immediate wide readership?
- AGood Housekeeping
- BThe Saturday Evening Post
- CLife
- DReader's Digest
Show answer
Q 725In which 12th-century writer's work does Joseph of Arimathea first receive the Holy Grail?
- AGeoffrey of Monmouth
- BWolfram von Eschenbach
- CChrétien de Troyes
- DRobert de Boron
Show answer
Robert de Boron
In Joseph d'Arimathie he sends the Grail with his followers to Britain.
Q 726Which of her own characters did Benson call 'a better Nancy Drew than Nancy is'?
- ARuth Fielding
- BRuth Darrow
- CKay Tracey
- DPenny Parker
Show answer
Penny Parker
Parker, a newspaper editor's daughter, appeared under Benson's own name from 1939 to 1947.
Q 727Which painter opened the Cape Cod School of Art in 1898, said to be the first outdoor figure-painting school?
- ACharles Webster Hawthorne
- BHans Hofmann
- CRobert Motherwell
- DMilton Avery
Show answer
Charles Webster Hawthorne
His school seeded the art colony that later drew the Provincetown Players, Eugene O'Neill and generations of painters.
Q 728The Reina Sofía Museum's most famous work is which 1937 Picasso painting?
- AThe Weeping Woman
- BLes Demoiselles d'Avignon
- CThree Musicians
- DGuernica
Show answer
Guernica
The museum opened in 1992 in a former hospital and is named for Queen Sofía; Dalí, Miró and Juan Gris are also strongly represented.
Q 729Which Mabinogion character appears in all Four Branches?
- ABrân
- BRhiannon
- CLleu
- DPryderi
Show answer
Pryderi
He is not always the central figure; the first branch tells of his father Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed.
Q 730Finish the phrase: "It takes two to ___"
- Afight
- Bwaltz
- Ctango
- Dargue
Show answer
tango
The phrase was coined by a 1952 song made famous by Pearl Bailey, and Ronald Reagan later used it about US-Soviet relations.
Q 731Roald Dahl illustrator Quentin Blake was the first holder of which British post in 1999?
- ARoyal Academician
- BBooker Prize judge
- CChildren's Laureate
- DPoet Laureate
Show answer
Children's Laureate
He also drew the first Dr. Seuss book that Seuss did not illustrate himself, Great Day for Up! in 1974.
Q 732Which Barbara Kingsolver novel features Rivera, Kahlo and Trotsky as major characters?
- AThe Poisonwood Bible
- BProdigal Summer
- CFlight Behavior
- DThe Lacuna
Show answer
The Lacuna
Its narrator works as a plaster-mixer and cook in the Rivera household before the Trotsky years.
Q 733The Ghost of a Flea is notable for its innovative use of what?
- ASilverpoint
- BEgg tempera on glass
- CGold leaf
- DOil on copper
Show answer
Gold leaf
The tiny panel, only about 21 by 16 cm, hangs in Tate Britain.
Q 734One cure for saying the name in a theatre is reciting a line from which lucky Shakespeare play?
- AA Midsummer Night's Dream
- BThe Tempest
- CTwelfth Night
- DThe Merchant of Venice
Show answer
The Merchant of Venice
Other remedies include leaving the building, spinning three times, spitting over the left shoulder and swearing before being invited back in.
Q 735How old was Rivera when he died in November 1957?
- A65
- B70
- C68
- D62
Show answer
70
He was buried at the Panteón de Dolores in Mexico City; the government later declared his works historic monuments.
Q 736The English word 'gossip' originally meant what?
- AA godparent
- BA town crier
- CA priest
- DA midwife
Show answer
A godparent
It comes from 'godsib', a god-sibling, the same relationship the Spanish call compadre and the French parrain.
Q 737What title does Simon Basset hold in the first novel?
- AViscount Bridgerton
- BDuke of Hastings
- CEarl of Kilmartin
- DDuke of Wyndham
Show answer
Q 738Which of Moses' relatives became the first hereditary high priest of Israel?
- AHis nephew
- BHis eldest son
- CHis brother
- DHis father-in-law
Show answer
His brother
The priestly line ran through his descendants, while the rest of the tribe of Levi served the sanctuary.
Q 739The literature prize has been awarded posthumously exactly once, in 1931, to whom?
- ARainer Maria Rilke
- BErik Axel Karlfeldt
- CSelma Lagerlof
- DKnut Hamsun
Show answer
Erik Axel Karlfeldt
The Swedish poet had turned the prize down while alive, and the rules were changed in 1974 to bar posthumous awards.
Q 740In the novel, which historic event does Kip learn of through his headset near the end?
- AThe bombing of Hiroshima
- BThe liberation of Rome
- CThe fall of Berlin
- DThe D-Day landings
Show answer
The bombing of Hiroshima
Kip is so shocked that he nearly shoots Almásy, then leaves the villa, estranged from his Western companions, and returns to India.
Q 741In which year did Arnold Wesker's reimagining of the story, titled The Merchant, appear?
- A1966
- B1976
- C1996
- D1956
Show answer
1976
Mark Leiren-Young's 1996 monologue Shylock centres on a Jewish actor cast in the role.
Q 742Which Dutch Golden Age painter created Girl with a Pearl Earring around 1665?
- AJohannes Vermeer
- BFrans Hals
- CRembrandt
- DJan Steen
Show answer
Johannes Vermeer
The painting has hung in the Mauritshuis in The Hague since 1902 and only gained its current title late in the 20th century.
Q 743Why did Sirius, James and Peter secretly become Animagi?
- ATo win a bet with the Slytherins
- BTo sneak into Hogsmeade after curfew
- CTo keep Lupin company during his transformations
- DTo spy on Snape in the dungeons
Show answer
To keep Lupin company during his transformations
In animal form they could safely accompany the werewolf and keep him under control.
Q 744In Goldilocks and the Three Bears, what does Goldilocks eat at the bears' house?
- APancakes
- BSoup
- CHoney
- DPorridge
Show answer
Porridge
She also breaks a chair and falls asleep in Baby Bear's bed before the bears come home.
Q 745Prometheus stole fire from the gods and carried it to humans hidden in what?
- AA bronze shield
- BA fennel stalk
- CAn eagle's feather
- DA clay jar
Show answer
A fennel stalk
Zeus had banned humans from using fire after the sacrifice trick.
Q 746After the trial, who vows revenge and spits in Atticus's face?
- ANathan Radley
- BMr. Cunningham
- CBob Ewell
- DHeck Tate
Show answer
Bob Ewell
He also tries to break into the judge's house and menaces Tom Robinson's widow before attacking the children.
Q 747The gym teacher at Jerome Horwitz Elementary has what fitting name?
- AMr. Meaner
- BMr. Fyde
- CMr. Krupp
- DMr. Rected
Show answer
Mr. Meaner
Mr. Fyde is the science teacher, Mr. Rected the guidance counsellor and Miss Anthrope the grumpy secretary.
Q 748In which Parisian newspaper did the mocking review that named Impressionism appear?
- ALa Presse
- BLe Temps
- CLe Figaro
- DLe Charivari
Show answer
Q 749What is the title of the third and final book?
- AThe Last Summer
- BGoodbye, Cousins
- CWe'll Always Have Summer
- DSummer Forever
Show answer
We'll Always Have Summer
It spent more than a month on The New York Times Best Seller list.
Q 750Which system, first published in 1876, sorts library books into ten main classes?
- ADewey Decimal Classification
- BLibrary of Congress Classification
- CColon Classification
- DUniversal Decimal Classification
Show answer
Dewey Decimal Classification
Each of the ten classes splits into ten divisions and each of those into ten sections, and by 2009 the scheme was in use in some 200,000 libraries across at least 135 countries.
Literature & arts trivia questions 751–800
Q 751In which language did the young Joyce write a fan letter to the playwright Henrik Ibsen?
- AItalian
- BNorwegian
- CDanish
- DGerman
Show answer
Norwegian
His very first publication, in 1900, was a review of Ibsen's When We Dead Awaken; his own only play, Exiles, is often called Ibsenite.
Q 752How is the voice of Sophie's hulking goblin bodyguard Sandor described?
- AA musical baritone
- BSqueaky and high-pitched
- CA deep gravelly rumble
- DA whisper nobody can hear
Show answer
Squeaky and high-pitched
Keefe's nicknames for him include Gigantor and Captain Cuddles; he sews trackers into Sophie's capes just in case.
Q 753What lie keeps the Malfoys out of Azkaban after the war?
- ASnape's posthumous testimony
- BDraco denying he was a Death Eater
- CNarcissa telling Voldemort Harry was dead
- DLucius claiming the Imperius Curse
Show answer
Narcissa telling Voldemort Harry was dead
She felt Harry's heartbeat in the forest but lied so she could return to the castle and find her son.
Q 754Lewis Carroll's hand-lettered manuscript for Alice Liddell was titled 'Alice's Adventures ___'?
- Ain Wonderland
- BDown the Rabbit-Hole
- CUnder Ground
- DThrough the Looking-Glass
Show answer
Under Ground
Carroll dedicated it 'A Christmas Gift to a Dear Child in Memory of a Summer's Day', and in 1928 Alice sold it at Sotheby's for £15,400, then a world record for any manuscript.
Q 755What does the Athenian law invoked by Egeus threaten if Hermia refuses to marry the man he has chosen?
- ALoss of her dowry
- BExile
- CImprisonment
- DDeath
Show answer
Death
Theseus offers a third option: lifelong chastity as a nun of Diana, which the lovers reject before fleeing to the woods.
Q 756Which of these does Stine say never happens in a Goosebumps book?
- AA talking animal
- BA twist ending
- CA haunted house
- DA character dies
Show answer
A character dies
He credits the absence of death, drugs and real violence for the series' success, and says the books carry no moral lessons, just 'reading motivation'.
Q 757Powdered 'unicorn horn' was still sold in Europe as medicine as late as which year?
- A1600
- B1699
- C1666
- D1741
Show answer
1741
It was thought to cure disease and detect poison; the Danish kings even had a unicorn-horn throne.
Q 758Which Roman god was regarded as the equivalent of the Greek king of the gods?
- AJupiter
- BPluto
- CNeptune
- DMars
Show answer
Jupiter
Also called Jove, he was god of the sky and thunder, and the largest planet carries his name.
Q 759Rome imported the Phrygian mother goddess Cybele, the Magna Mater, in 204 BC in what form?
- AA golden statue
- BA black meteoric stone
- CA cult of eunuch priests
- DA sacred pine tree
Show answer
A black meteoric stone
A Sibylline oracle promised it would drive Hannibal out of Italy.
Q 760Tolkien's original manuscripts of the novel, some 9,250 pages, are held at which university?
- AHarvard
- BOxford
- CLeeds
- DMarquette
Show answer
Marquette
The Milwaukee university bought them in 1957 for less than $5,000, years before the book became a bestseller.
Q 761In 2013 Lee sued to regain what from her former agent's son-in-law?
- AThe novel's copyright
- BHer father's papers
- CHer Pulitzer medal
- DThe film rights
Show answer
The novel's copyright
She said she had been duped into signing it over in 2007 while her sight and hearing declined.
Q 762Which greeting-card company won a 2020 EU trademark ruling against Banksy over the Flower Thrower image?
- AFull Colour Black
- BMoonpig Group
- CPaperchase Ltd
- DHallmark Cards
Show answer
Full Colour Black
Banksy had opened his Gross Domestic Product shop in Croydon partly to shore up his trademark claims.
Q 763Who won an Oscar for playing Scout's father in the 1962 film?
- AHenry Fonda
- BGregory Peck
- CJames Stewart
- DSpencer Tracy
Show answer
Q 764Which poet immortalised the 'Queen City' nickname in the 1854 poem 'Catawba Wine'?
- AHenry Wadsworth Longfellow
- BWilliam Cullen Bryant
- CJohn Greenleaf Whittier
- DWalt Whitman of Brooklyn
Show answer
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The nickname itself dates from an 1819 newspaper article; the 'City of Seven Hills' tag came from an 1853 magazine piece.
Q 765The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle eats lots of food and then turns into what?
- AA bird
- BA frog
- CA moth
- DA butterfly
Show answer
A butterfly
The book came out in 1969 and has holes punched right through the pages where the caterpillar has eaten.
Q 766What was the vault height of the first High Gothic cathedral, the benchmark rivals raced to beat?
- A48 m
- B38 m
- C28 m
- D58 m
Show answer
Q 767In Blake's mythology, which of the Four Zoas represents the heart and love?
- AUrizen
- BTharmas
- CUrthona
- DLuvah
Show answer
Luvah
Urizen is the head, Urthona the loins and imagination, and Tharmas the unity of the body.
Q 768What is the trade of Joe Gargery, Pip's kindly brother-in-law?
- ABlacksmith
- BMiller
- CWheelwright
- DCooper
Show answer
Blacksmith
Pip is apprenticed to him and once dreamed of nothing better, before Miss Havisham's house teaches him to be ashamed of the forge.
Q 769Which French writer translated The Amen Corner into French?
- ASimone de Beauvoir
- BFrançoise Sagan
- CMarguerite Duras
- DMarguerite Yourcenar
Show answer
Marguerite Yourcenar
Yves Montand was another friend from the Saint-Paul-de-Vence years.
Q 770For how many years did Lee keep a part-time home on East 82nd Street in Manhattan?
- A40
- B55
- C45
- D50
Show answer
40
It was near her childhood friend Capote, though the friendship eventually petered out.
Q 771Where in Knightsbridge was Wilde found by Robbie Ross before his arrest in April 1895?
- ABrown's Hotel
- BThe Albemarle Club
- CThe Cadogan Hotel
- DThe Savoy Hotel
Show answer
The Cadogan Hotel
Friends urged him to catch the boat train to France; he could only say 'The train has gone. It's too late.'
Q 772Which 1902 novel by Owen Wister is considered the first critically recognised Western?
- AThe Virginian
- BThe Log of a Cowboy
- CRiders of the Purple Sage
- DHondo
Show answer
The Virginian
Zane Grey followed in the early 1900s, and Louis L'Amour became the genre's best-known mid-century novelist.
Q 773Whose life story, often called the first English autobiography, turned up in a Derbyshire house in 1934?
- AJulian of Norwich
- BAnne Askew
- CMargery Kempe
- DChristine de Pizan
Show answer
Margery Kempe
Kempe, a 15th-century Norfolk brewer and mother of 14, could not write, so she dictated her visions and pilgrimages to scribes; the British Library bought the book at auction in 1980.
Q 774Who does Harry take to the dance after Cho Chang turns him down?
- AGinny Weasley
- BHermione Granger
- CLuna Lovegood
- DParvati Patil
Show answer
Q 775Which historical Florentine preacher looms over Eliot's novel Romola?
- ACosimo de' Medici
- BPico della Mirandola
- CGirolamo Savonarola
- DNiccolo Machiavelli
Show answer
Girolamo Savonarola
The novel opens in 1492, just after the death of Lorenzo de' Medici.
Q 776In the Disney version, Prince John is a scrawny, maneless lion voiced by whom?
- AAndy Devine
- BPhil Harris
- CPeter Ustinov
- DTerry-Thomas
Show answer
Peter Ustinov
Terry-Thomas voices his snake sidekick Sir Hiss and Phil Harris is the bear Little John.
Q 777Which critic coined the phrase "motive-hunting of motive-less Malignity" to describe Iago?
- ASamuel Taylor Coleridge
- BCharles Lamb
- CThomas Rymer
- DWilliam Hazlitt
Show answer
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Writing in 1818, he also argued that Shakespeare could not have conceived Othello as black.
Q 778Who created the character of Rudolph, in 1939?
- AGene Autry
- BRobert L. May
- CClement Clarke Moore
- DJohnny Marks
Show answer
Robert L. May
It was a work assignment: his employer wanted a Christmas giveaway booklet of its own.
Q 779Mrs. Malaprop, who gave her name to the malapropism, appears in which 1775 play?
- AThe School for Scandal
- BShe Stoops to Conquer
- CThe Rivals
- DThe Beggar's Opera
Show answer
The Rivals
Sheridan built her name from the French 'mal à propos'; Shakespeare's Dogberry had been mangling words two centuries earlier.
Q 780Which part of speech can modify a verb, an adjective, a sentence or another of its own kind?
- AA conjunction
- BAn adjective
- CAn adverb
- DAn article
Show answer
Q 781What was Carroll's day job at Christ Church, Oxford?
- ACollege chaplain
- BProfessor of Latin
- CMathematics lecturer
- DMusic master
Show answer
Mathematics lecturer
One scholar argues Wonderland is partly a satire on the abstract new mathematics of the mid-1800s.
Q 782Whose 1919 staging first handed the Sugar Plum Fairy's dances to Clara and the Prince?
- ARudolf Nureyev
- BVasili Vainonen
- CNicholas Sergeyev
- DAlexander Gorsky
Show answer
Alexander Gorsky
Gorsky also cast adults in the children's roles; Vainonen's 1934 version adopted the same fixes and influenced many later productions.
Q 783What happens to Satan and his followers when he returns to Hell to boast of his triumph?
- AThey are frozen in a lake of ice
- BThey are chained to burning rocks
- CThey lose their wings and fall silent
- DThey are all turned into snakes
Show answer
They are all turned into snakes
Milton has them share the serpent's punishment because they shared the serpent's guilt.
Q 784Which illness crippled Renoir's hands in his last two decades, though he kept painting?
- ARheumatoid arthritis
- BChronic gout
- CParkinson's disease
- DMultiple sclerosis
Show answer
Rheumatoid arthritis
He moved to Cagnes-sur-Mer on the Mediterranean in 1907 for the warmer climate.
Q 785The Greek poet Sappho, of whom only about 650 lines survive, came from which island?
- ARhodes
- BLesbos
- CSamos
- DCrete
Show answer
Lesbos
Only the 'Ode to Aphrodite' is certainly complete; antiquity called her the Tenth Muse.
Q 786The 'red herring' of detective fiction was originally a real food. What was it?
- AA dried salt cod
- BA salted salmon fillet
- CA strongly cured smoked kipper
- DA pickled sardine
Show answer
A strongly cured smoked kipper
William Cobbett popularised the metaphor in 1807 with a story about dragging one across a hare's trail to throw the hounds off the scent.
Q 787What was placed on Gauguin's grave in 1973, as he had wished?
- AA carved tiki
- BA copy of Noa Noa
- CA ship's anchor
- DA bronze cast of Oviri
Show answer
A bronze cast of Oviri
He is buried in the Calvary Cemetery at Atuona on Hiva Oa.
Q 788In 2008, The Times ranked Orwell where among the greatest British writers since 1945?
- ANo. 1
- BNo. 10
- CNo. 2
- DNo. 5
Show answer
No. 2
The adjective 'Orwellian' and coinages like 'doublethink' and 'thoughtcrime' are all now dictionary words.
Q 789Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman is famous for touring the world with a giant inflatable version of what?
- AA goldfish
- BA garden gnome
- CA teddy bear
- DA rubber duck
Show answer
A rubber duck
His first giant duck, built in 2007, measured 16.5 by 20 by 32 metres and weighed roughly 600 kilograms.
Q 790What scientific development in the 1960s made lost-continent theories of Atlantis wane?
- AAcceptance of continental drift
- BThe discovery of Doggerland
- CDeep-sea sonar mapping
- DRadiocarbon dating
Show answer
Acceptance of continental drift
Plate tectonics showed a continent could not vanish in the geologically recent past.
Q 791In which 1951 Heinlein novel was the phrase 'pay it forward' popularised?
- AThe Puppet Masters
- BRed Planet
- CBetween Planets
- DFarmer in the Sky
Show answer
Between Planets
The phrase already existed as an occasional quotation before Heinlein put it in the mouths of his characters.
Q 792At what age did Whitman leave school to go to work?
- A11
- B12
- C14
- D16
Show answer
11
He became an office boy and then a printer's devil for a Long Island weekly.
Q 793What was the title of Orwell's suppressed preface on self-censorship, published in 1972?
- AWhy I Write
- BThe Freedom of the Press
- CPolitics and the English Language
- DThe Prevention of Literature
Show answer
The Freedom of the Press
Ian Angus found the typescript and Bernard Crick published it in the Times Literary Supplement.
Q 794Bloomsday celebrates the events of Ulysses, which all take place on which date in 1904?
- A1 April
- B4 July
- C31 December
- D16 June
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Q 795Which 2019 book retold the film in the style of William Shakespeare?
- AThe Taming of the Plastics
- BA Midsummer Night's Burn Book
- CMuch Ado About Mean Girls
- DThe Tragedie of Regina
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Much Ado About Mean Girls
Ian Doescher, known for William Shakespeare's Star Wars, wrote it. A 2020 graphic novel, Senior Year, continued the story with a new student.
Q 796For how much did Austen sell the copyright of Pride and Prejudice outright to Thomas Egerton?
- A£250
- B£475
- C£110
- D£50
Show answer
£110
It was the only novel she sold outright rather than publishing at her own risk. Had she published it on commission she would have made about £475, twice her father's annual income.
Q 797The name of the vampire in Le Fanu's Carmilla is an anagram of her original name. What was it?
- AMircalla
- BMillarca
- CCamilla
- DMarcilla
Show answer
Mircalla
Countess Karnstein reshuffles her letters each generation; the anagram trick was borrowed by countless later vampires.
Q 798Asimov's Limericks: Too Gross pairs 144 of his limericks with 144 by which poet and Dante translator?
- AJohn Ciardi
- BOgden Nash
- CRobert Lowell
- DRichard Wilbur
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John Ciardi
The title is a pun: two gross is 288, the total number of verses in the book.
Q 799In the Grimm tale, what does the elder stepsister cut off on her mother's advice so the slipper will fit?
- AHer heel
- BA strip of her sole
- CHer little finger
- DHer toes
Show answer
Her toes
The younger sister trims her heel instead, and both are exposed by two doves who point out the blood dripping from the shoe.
Q 800Which syndicate distributed Calvin and Hobbes for its entire run?
- AUnited Feature
- BKing Features
- CUniversal Press
- DCreators
Show answer
Universal Press
The same Kansas City company syndicated Doonesbury, The Far Side and Cathy, and it merged with Uclick in 2009 to form what became Universal Uclick.
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