The All New All New Groundspeak UK Pub Quiz

[+Pajaholic]

FWIW, sources checked after the fact note that the Arctic Desert is the second largest with the Sahara being third. Antarctic = 5.5 million sq miles; Arctic 5.4 million sq miles; Sahara 3.5 million sq miles. (Source, Geology.com)

[+Boggin's Dad]

FWIW, sources checked after the fact note that the Arctic Desert is the second largest with the Sahara being third. Antarctic = 5.5 million sq miles; Arctic 5.4 million sq miles; Sahara 3.5 million sq miles. (Source, Geology.com)

 

Hmm

 

On further investigation using the old faithful, wikipaedia, one list acknowledges the Artic, and the other does not, however the Antartic is still (marginally) larger, and the ding is pointing at Hal-an-tow.

[radicalmm]

I see. The one in Antartica is a polar desert. Hmmm...

[+hal-an-tow]

Thanks for the ding, I know it often suprises folk that a desert is defined by precipitation, not temperature.

 

On to the next question :

The recent death of Gordon Murray, creator and puppeteer of the classic Trumpton TV series got me reminiscing - so, what UK reviewer has a link with a childrens TV show ?

For the ding I want the reviewer name and the programme name please

[radicalmm]

Is it Professor Xavier? The show is X-Men. I don't know if this counts

[+MartyBartfast]

Graculuss, the Cormorant from Noggin the Nog.

 

Edit to add: When I first signed up I wanted to use Graculuss for my handle but it was already taken ;-)

Edited July 7, 2016 by MartyBartfast

[+hal-an-tow]

It was indeed Graculus the wise old bird from Noggin the Nog. I assumed he was a raven mind you ( I vaguely recall Odin may have been associated with ravens somehow so it fitted the viking theme) but that'sneither here nor there.

Googling graculus got me this rather entertainingly appropriate academic paper

 

So a ding to you MartyBartfast (and I guess your second choice of caching name had gone too and you had to be 'Marty' instead of 'Slarty' Over to you ...

[+MartyBartfast]

Thanks.

 

The Marathon race is supposedly based on a run made following the battle of Marathon in ancient Greece, but what was the name of the messenger who made the original run?

[+hal-an-tow]

Thanks.

 

The Marathon race is supposedly based on a run made following the battle of Marathon in ancient Greece, but what was the name of the messenger who made the original run?

Phidippedes ? (that may well be some of the right letters in approximately the correct order )

[+MartyBartfast]

Thanks.

 

The Marathon race is supposedly based on a run made following the battle of Marathon in ancient Greece, but what was the name of the messenger who made the original run?

Phidippedes ? (that may well be some of the right letters in approximately the correct order )

 

That's close enough for me, and pretty quick too.

[+hal-an-tow]

Sometimes being a primary school teacher comes in handy , I have had to teach what one child memorably called 'The Ancient Geeks' a few times ...

 

Right-o, lets swerve to an entirely different bit of U.K. general knowledge:

Red, black, green. What changed from being those colours, and what are the latest colours used ?

[+Pajaholic]

Red, black and green used to be the old standard colour codes for mains electrical wiring: Red = Live (now brown), black = neutral (now blue) and green = earth (now green and yellow).

[+hal-an-tow]

Red, black and green used to be the old standard colour codes for mains electrical wiring: Red = Live (now brown), black = neutral (now blue) and green = earth (now green and yellow).

 

A speedy ding to Pajaholic

[+Pajaholic]

Thanks.

 

And now for something completely different: What is a "cajon"?

[radicalmm]

Isn't a cajon a Peruvian instrument?

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

I first thought it was a type of chicken but then had my doubts and was glad I googled it! (capon).

Edited July 8, 2016 by Yorkshire Yellow

[radicalmm]

Chickens do make some 'annoying instruments'

[+Pajaholic]

Isn't a cajon a Peruvian instrument?

It is, and so you get the DING!

 

For completeness, it's a percussion instrument that looks a bit like an up-ended tea chest. You sit on it to play it and the sounds come from slapping the front of the instrument. FWIW, it's surprisingly versatile and becoming a regular sight on the folk-music scene.

 

Over to radicalmm...

[radicalmm]

Thanks. Time for a picture. If you were looking out of ________ you would see this from one angle:

 

Edited July 8, 2016 by radicalmm

[+martin&lindabryn]

Having been to the top of the CN Tower in Toronto, I recognise this view

[radicalmm]

Ding! I realize that I shouldn't give these questions because martin&lindabrym have been o Toronto.

[+martin&lindabryn]

Thanks for the ding.

Where would you find the waggle dance being performed ?

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

Bees 'waggle dance' in their hives to indicate the distance and direction of food sources.

 

It's also a rather nice beer.

[+martin&lindabryn]

sweet ding to Yorkshire yellow

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

What is the 'lantern rouge' and where would you find it?

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

(deleted duplicate post)

Edited July 8, 2016 by Yorkshire Yellow

[+Pajaholic]

"Lanterne rouge" means "red light". I suspect you might find one in the window of a house of ill repute. However, it's also the nickname given to the currently last rider in a cycling group; e.g. the currently last competitor in a cycle race such as the Tour de France or the current "tail end charlie" at a club run.

[radicalmm]

It's actually lanterne rouge. I expect Pajaholic to take the ding.

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

Sorry for the delay in posting but I've been busy.

 

Yes, you're correct Pajaholic - 'ding!'.

[+Pajaholic]

Thanks. Continuing the theme, in The Tour de France, what does the green jersey signify?

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

The green jersey is worn by the leader of the points classification. As most of the points available in it are awarded for stage wins and also a lesser amount for intermediate sprints, it's often held by a sprinter - a case in point being the current holder this year, Mark Cavendish of Dimension Data.

[+Pajaholic]

A very speedy DING to Yokshire Yellow! ...

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

Here's one you can all have a go at. A 'nearest the bull' (sort of) type question.

 

Still on the Tour De France theme. You've all seen the riders taking on new water bottles numerous times during a stage, chucking the old bottle one away.

 

To the nearest 500, how many water bottles are expected to be used during this year's Tour?

Edited July 11, 2016 by Yorkshire Yellow

[+martin&lindabryn]

purer guess 4500

[radicalmm]

42500? I know this is a lot, but may be close because of how much people are competing, I might be pretty close.

Edited July 11, 2016 by radicalmm

[+subay]

56000???

[radicalmm]

Changed my guess to 42000

[+MartyBartfast]

35,000

[+hal-an-tow]

26500

I wonder, do the French ever use 'em as cache containers ?

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

The 'ding!' here goes to radicalmm.

[radicalmm]

Really? I'm shocked. Relating to martinandlindabryn, I thought I was way off! Staying with the Tour De France topic, about how many kilometres does the race cover?

[+speakers-corner]

About 3500km

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

Really? I'm shocked. Relating to martinandlindabryn, I thought I was way off! Staying with the Tour De France topic, about how many kilometres does the race cover?

So was I. I wondered how many, having seen a veritable cascade of them heading onto the roadside verges during the highlights of a recent day's stage, so checked it out. It's fact 2 here.

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

26500

I wonder, do the French ever use 'em as cache containers ?

I don't know, perhaps they do. I think they're referred to a 'bidon', so if you see that on a French language listing page, then you know they do.

 

I did find this though.

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

About 3500km

I concur with speakers-corner. I have the feeling it's slightly longer this year, if my recollection of what was said on the rest day programme on ITV last night is correct. I do know that they've already covered half distance so far this year in 9 of 21 stages - rather them than me!

[radicalmm]

And the ding goes to speakers-corner. The real distance 3519 km.

[+speakers-corner]

Thanks for the ding, it was just a guess really. The race is normally between 3300 and 3600km.

Staying wih the race. Who heads the list of multiple winners and include number of wins. I will accept 1 of 4 names.

Edited July 12, 2016 by speakers-corner

[dodgydaved]

Thanks for the ding, it was just a guess really. The race is normally between 3300 and 3600km.

Staying wih the race. Who heads the list of multiple winners and include number of wins. I will accept 1 of 4 names.

 

I'll go with the obvious one, Froome!

[+Pajaholic]

I suspect that nobody's beaten Eddie Merckx's record yet?

[+Yorkshire Yellow]

We're talking race winners, not stage winners - yes?