A century of bewilderment
The King William's College quiz

It's 100 years old and it'll still outsmart you. The King William's College quiz is devised for the intellectual torture of the school's pupils, and this is your chance to suffer with them. Answers in the new year...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1379479,00.html

sidewalker123

Kalamazoo, MI

January 2004

DEC 27, 2004 07:22 PM

Whew. I might have to get back to you later on that one.

Amitabha

Black Rock City, NV

July 2003

DEC 27, 2004 07:24 PM

that quiz is filled with questions that have me going "Uhhh.. who GIVES a fuck?"

"Who was the vicar of Tredannick Wollas, with whom Mr Mortimer Tregennis lodged?" WTF? I mean seriously..

Fahrvergnugen

Calgary, AB

December 2003

DEC 27, 2004 07:33 PM

If you do well on that, does that mean you are smart? ....i'm glad i'm dumb.

sportdeath

I'm lost

December 2003

DEC 27, 2004 07:33 PM

Amitabha said:
that quiz is filled with questions that have me going "Uhhh.. who GIVES a fuck?"

"Who was the vicar of Tredannick Wollas, with whom Mr Mortimer Tregennis lodged?" WTF? I mean seriously..

That was my own reaction at first, but somehow it gnawed away at me.

And your quote in particular seemed to be tickling my brain, so I just googled "Mortimer Tregennis" and found that it is from the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Devil's Foot" which I certainly read once upon a time:

I have said that scattered towers marked the villages which dotted this part of Cornwall. The nearest of these was the hamlet of Tredannick Wollas, where the cottages of a couple of hundred inhabitants clustered round an ancient, moss-grown church. The vicar of the parish, Mr Roundhay, was something of an archaeologist, and as such Holmes had made his acquaintance. He was a middle-aged man, portly and affable, with a considerable fund of local lore. At his invitation we had taken tea at the vicarage, and had come to know, also, Mr Mortimer Tregennis, an independent gentleman, who increased the clergymans scanty resources by taking rooms in his large, straggling house.

Surely useless, but ...

Zahara

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 10:05 PM

I'm such a geek.

1 Insular reef was struck by Captain Gundal's vessel?

On June 24, 1904, Norge sailed from Denmark with 700 passengers and 80 crew under Captain Waldemar Gundal. Over the course of the next few days, the ship drifted about 375 miles off course, and on June 28, she struck the island reef of Rockall, about 5 miles long and 75 feet at its highest, located about 250 miles northwest of Ireland in 57°35N, 13°48W. As the ship was backed off the rock, she was holed badly and quickly sank. Of the 780 people aboard, about 550 went down with her. The survivors were picked up six days later by an eastbound German tanker, although several more people died after their rescue.

katiebarthedoor

Louisville, KY

December 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:10 PM

it took me a minute just to figure out how the question are formated

Zahara

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 10:17 PM

2 Was uncovered by Gustafsson beside Slagenbekken?

The Oseberg ship was found in a large burial mound on Slagen farm in Vestfold, Norway and excavated in 1904. The ship was built in around 815-820 A.D. and had been used as a sailing vesssel for many years before it was put to use as a burial ship for a prominent woman who died in 834.

katiebarthedoor

Louisville, KY

December 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:18 PM

Zahara said:
2 Was uncovered by Gustafsson beside Slagenbekken?

show-off

Zahara

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 10:20 PM

3 Designed Tea Rooms opened in "The Alley of the Willows"?

Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh nearly 100 years ago, the Willow Tea Rooms took its name from its location on the alley of the willows

Zahara

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 10:21 PM

eheh.....can you tell I'm a librarian?

Zahara

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 10:31 PM

Last one, then I'll quit.

4 Began a reign which, with one slight hiatus, was to last 55 years?

1904
Sisavangvong (reign 1904-59) became king of Laos.

katiebarthedoor

Louisville, KY

December 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:34 PM

*standing ovation*

silverstreak

Fort Wayne, IN

October 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:46 PM

5 Made a postmortem journey from Badenweiler to the Novodeviche Monastery?

[Anton] Chekhov died on July 15, 1904, in Badenweiler, Germany. He is buried in the cemetery of the Novodeviche Monastery in Moscow.

I knew that Russian Studies major was good for something after all.

katiebarthedoor

Louisville, KY

December 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:48 PM

silverstreak said:
5 Made a postmortem journey from Badenweiler to the Novodeviche Monastery?

[Anton] Chekhov died on July 15, 1904, in Badenweiler, Germany. He is buried in the cemetery of the Novodeviche Monastery in Moscow.

I knew that Russian Studies major was good for something after all.

little miss egghead mcsmartiepants

silverstreak

Fort Wayne, IN

October 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:53 PM

Whatever. Watch me work the Google magic for the next 5 answers

BuckKnuckle

Portland, OR

September 2004

DEC 27, 2004 11:02 PM

6 After a fiasco in Milan, received seven curtain calls in Brescia three months later?

Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini

Zahara

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 11:03 PM

7 Celebrated its centenary with the opening of new HQ in Vincent Square? Royal Horticultural Society

8 City followed Paris and was itself followed in 1908 by London? St. Louis (where the Olympics were held)

9 Tragedy befell the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company? More than 1,000 people died when their steamship, the General Slocum, burst into flames while moving up the East River.

I'm stumped on #10

[Edited on Dec 27, 2004 by Zahara]

BuckKnuckle

Portland, OR

September 2004

DEC 27, 2004 11:05 PM

Section 2

1 Who was the albino Vicar of Altarnum?

Francis Davey

[Edited on Dec 27, 2004 by AdamBalm]

silverstreak

Fort Wayne, IN

October 2004

DEC 27, 2004 11:20 PM

2 Which zealous High Churchman gained preferment?

The Vicar of Bray

Zahara

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 11:20 PM

I have no clue.

10 Midland Railway initiative took place on June 15? The Rochester & Eastern Rapid Railway was officially opened June 15, 1904. ???

BuckKnuckle

Portland, OR

September 2004

DEC 27, 2004 11:23 PM

Zahara said:
I have no clue.

10 Midland Railway initiative took place on June 15? The Rochester & Eastern Rapid Railway was officially opened June 15, 1904. ???

Better than anything I found.

katiebarthedoor

Louisville, KY

December 2004

DEC 27, 2004 11:24 PM

man, i wish i could find the tulaine entrance exam for contrast.
(i.e.-what sound does a doggie make?)

Zahara

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 11:30 PM

Section 3 (that way hopefully, we won't overlap)

1 Where does Molly display her long legs?

Portrait of Molly Long Legs is on display in the Fores Gallery.

[Edited on Dec 27, 2004 by Zahara]

Zahara

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 11:50 PM

2 Who lived at the fictitious 30 Kelsall Street? Boswell family, (Bread)

3 Who are represented by Murphy in Church Street? Rescue Muni, the transit riders association for San Francisco

4 What replicates a memorial in Edinburgh to the Keeper of the Signet? The Greyfriars Kirkyard

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I'm lost

December 2003

DEC 27, 2004 07:12 PM

Kalamazoo, MI

January 2004

DEC 27, 2004 07:22 PM

Black Rock City, NV

July 2003

DEC 27, 2004 07:24 PM

Calgary, AB

December 2003

DEC 27, 2004 07:33 PM

I'm lost

December 2003

DEC 27, 2004 07:33 PM

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 10:05 PM

Louisville, KY

December 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:10 PM

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 10:17 PM

Louisville, KY

December 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:18 PM

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 10:20 PM

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 10:21 PM

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 10:31 PM

Louisville, KY

December 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:34 PM

Fort Wayne, IN

October 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:46 PM

Louisville, KY

December 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:48 PM

Fort Wayne, IN

October 2004

DEC 27, 2004 10:53 PM

Portland, OR

September 2004

DEC 27, 2004 11:02 PM

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 11:03 PM

Portland, OR

September 2004

DEC 27, 2004 11:05 PM

Fort Wayne, IN

October 2004

DEC 27, 2004 11:20 PM

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 11:20 PM

Portland, OR

September 2004

DEC 27, 2004 11:23 PM

Louisville, KY

December 2004

DEC 27, 2004 11:24 PM

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 11:30 PM

HOPEFUL

I'm lost

DEC 27, 2004 11:50 PM