Guest Post: A quiz
April 18th, 2012 at 7:00 am by David FarrarA guest post by Peter Freedman:
I love quizzes, but only if they are trivia ones. That doesn’t mean the question can’t be serious, so long as the atmosphere is fun!
Once when I was a budget adviser I ran a quiz night for Lower Hutt members of the NZ Budget Federation. Most there couldn’t answer some questions because they were rolling on the floor. No, they were laughing, you pillocks, not the other thing!
Someone once told me I knew more senseless, absolutely useless pieces of history than any man she had ever met.
The reason is that as a journalist you know a bit about everything while not knowing much about anything.
So here’s a chance to prove her wrong!
Of the following 10 statements only ONE is true. All the rest I have made up. Your task is simple. FIND THE ONE TRUE STATEMENT.
Anyone using the internet will automatically be disqualified.
I will answer any question, on any of the statements, which is an open-ended question. If you don’t understand what THAT means, look it up, then reconsider whether to take part at all, you are not up to it.
Q!: Henry VIII had six wives
Q2: The capital of Brazil is Rio de Janeiro
Q3: British Secret Service used chickens to pass secret messages between France and Germany during WW1
Q4: Napoleon’s Army never invaded Egypt
Q5: There has been only one Boer War in history
Q6: In his will Shakespeare left his best bed to his wife
Q7: Perth isn’t the most remote major city in the world
Q8: During the shooting of the film the Prince and the Showgirl Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier didn’t fall in love and have a secret affair
Q9: Before he committed suicide, Hitler appointed a Nazi as his successor
Q10: Genius can never be seen on television
As this is a contest there will be a mystery prize. This will go to the first contestant who produces the correct answer IF IM AM CONVINCED HE OR SHE DIDN’T USE THE INTERNET TO DO IT.
Ready, steady, go!
PS: To misquote Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes: When you have eliminated all the false statements the one remaining, however unlikely, is the true one.
PPS: This competition ends when I or David decides to end it. All our decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into. David can enter if he likes but he won’t win anything even if he is successful. I was beginning to like the guy, but that was before our separation.
As I know the answer, I won’t be entering!
Related posts:
- Guest Post: Kiwis in Australia
- Guest Post: Australia Quirks
- Guest Post: Nothing is quite what it seems
- Dom Post Quiz wrong
April 18th, 2012 at 7:13 am
I assume we post the answer here? Or do you want it emailed in?
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 7:17 am
What’s the point of this, the true statement is the first one. Unless you’re doing some of your weak double meanings and “Henry VIII” is your neighbour’s dog or something, which seems to be the kind of thing that amuses you.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 7:21 am
My pick would be the Boer War one.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 7:26 am
I agree with Put it away, it was too easy. Unless it is a trick question, as he laid out.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 7:29 am
I’m going with the WWI chickens. Thanks to studying 5th form geography I know the capital of Brazil.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 7:54 am
I think Genius can’t be seen on television. How can you see genius? A genius, perhaps, but how would you see and recognise genius?
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 7:57 am
Thrash I assume thats a lame pun over the radio show “genius”, which has been adapted for tv, making it false
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 8:03 am
Is there any significance that q1 is actually written with an exclamation mark instead of a digit 1 ? Also is there any significance in putting Q in front of the statements? I imagine freedman might have some childish trick in mind where that makes them all questions not statements.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 8:26 am
I’ve got a vague inkling it may be number 6. I think I read that somewhere….
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 8:27 am
When will the “guest” have outstayed his welcome – or does “DPF’s Kiwiblog” now stand for “David and Peter Freedman’s Kiwiblog”?
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 8:33 am
Question 4
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 8:37 am
The trick on Question 1 if it isn’t the answer could possibly be that since two of the marriages were annulled then it can be argued the marriages never happened and therefore he only had four wives… (Did he get have the marriages to the wives he beheaded annulled? I don’t know the answer to that one)
Question 2 – capital of Brazil is Brasilia I can’t see a trick there
Question 3 – No idea?
Question 4 – Napoleon invaded Egypt – can’t see a trick
Question 5 – There were two Boer wars – can’t see a trick
Question 6 – I believe that he left his wife his second best bed but I will need to google that.
Question 7 – Not sure how to define isolated. I remember seeing Honolulu as the most remote (maybe a trick) so may have to call this as the correct answer.
Question 8 – Not sure on that might be a true statemet
Question 9 – no idea?
Question 10 – Going with PIA that the trick is this is the radio show
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 8:37 am
The answer is (I think):
As this is a contest there will be a mystery prize. This will go to the first contestant who produces the correct answer IF IM AM CONVINCED HE OR SHE DIDN’T USE THE INTERNET TO DO IT.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 8:39 am
Actually, Henry VIII did not have 6 wives or 4 wives – he only had one wife (at a time). He just married many times.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 8:42 am
Librarians are also full of useless trivia but not sure how you can convince someone you didn’t use the internet to find answers
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 8:57 am
Before he committed suicide, Hitler appointed a Nazi as his successor
True. Hitler appointed Goring as his successor. I guess there might be a loophole here, in that he later relieved him and appointed someone in the army (Doenitz) who may not have been a member of the Nazi Party. But technically (imitates Graeme Edgeler’s voice) Goring was appointed ‘before [Hitler] committed suicide’.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 9:07 am
The answer is . . . oh damn! How do I get the answer to him without using the internet? Anyone know Peter Freedman’s postal address?
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 9:10 am
Q10 definitely seems the odd one out as it is meaningless. Quibbles could be had with Q7 – what is a ‘major city’ and how do you define remote? I’m pretty sure the rest are all false.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 9:17 am
Got to be 3
Why else would the French worship the Cockerel as a national symbol.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 9:45 am
A1: Henry VIII had only four wives, the others were annulled [annulled, beheaded, died; annulled, beheaded, survived]
A2: The capital of Brazil is Brasilia.
A3: Must be the one; after all, why would the British Secret Service send messages from Germany to France, and why use chickens and not pigeons if they were to carry messages?
A4: They did, and lost.
A5: At least three between British and Boer
A6: Famously, Shakespeare left his second-best bed to his wife
A7: Perth is the most remote major city in the world, if we call the various large settlements in Hawaii separate cities, which they do. What is a ‘major city’ anyway? Honolulu is bigger than Wellington, but all the others are small [40,000 or so].
Q8: During the shooting of the film the Prince and the Showgirl Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier didn’t fall in love and have a secret affair; he treated her like dirt.
Q9: Before he committed suicide, Hitler appointed a Nazi as his successor; both Göring and Dönitz were Nazis.
Q10: Genius can never be seen at all.
So I go for chicken- Q3
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 9:53 am
Surely it’s Q.8 – it is true that Olivier and Munroe didn’t fall in love and have an affair (at least according to “My Week With Marilyn”, which I saw earlier this year)?
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 10:01 am
The true statement is: “Q9 Before he committed suicide, Hitler appointed a Nazi as his successor”
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 10:33 am
Peter states: “Of the following 10 statements only ONE is true.”
The following 10 statements are:
All the rest I have made up.
Your task is simple.
FIND THE ONE TRUE STATEMENT.
Anyone using the internet will automatically be disqualified.
I will answer any question, on any of the statements, which is an open-ended question.
If you don’t understand what THAT means, look it up, then reconsider whether to take part at all, you are not up to it.
Q!: Henry VIII had six wives
Q2: The capital of Brazil is Rio de Janeiro
Q3: British Secret Service used chickens to pass secret messages between France and Germany during WW1
Q4: Napoleon’s Army never invaded Egypt
The true statement is “FIND THE ONE TRUE STATEMENT”.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 10:58 am
Q3 – sounds mad enough to be true.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 11:09 am
Slade – that’s not a statement, it’s an imperative.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 11:15 am
Q3: British Secret Service used chickens to pass secret messages between France and Germany during WW1
On a related “Fun Fact” note:
During WWI the British experimented with all sorts of different liquids as ‘invisible ink’ including, but not limited to, Sperm…
True story.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 11:33 am
Given that this blog is on the internet, anyone reading it will be using the internet.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 11:38 am
Put it Away – good point. I still think the 10 statements start before the list of “Q”s though.
beautox – indeed, so therefore the statement “Anyone using the internet will automatically be disqualified.” must be false.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Who caaaaaares. God, save us from more Freeman authored shit please.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 12:54 pm
“Q9: Before he committed suicide, Hitler appointed a Nazi as his successor; both Göring and Dönitz were Nazis.”
Vote:No Donitz was not a Nazi party member. Danyl is correct, at a time while Hitler was alive the order of replacement was Goring and then Himmler. Goring asked Hitler for the leadership before the suicide and pissed Hitler off. Himmler tried to negotiate a peace deal. Both were struck off the peaking order and Donitz was put on top with Goebbels the leader of government or something like that. Of course Goebbels wasnt leader of government very long.
So if its not Q9 then Danyl has got Peter on a technicality. Looking foward to Peter’s reply
April 18th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Thrash I assume thats a lame pun over the radio show “genius”, which has been adapted for tv, making it false
Never heard of either program. I was referring to the idea of ‘genius’ being a bit nebulous.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 2:13 pm
Q1
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Q7 – friends were emigrating to Perth years ago and were going on how one of the major reasons is that it was the most remote city in the world. Someone pointed out this wasn’t true – a popular misconception.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 5:02 pm
@Danyl – Doenitz was an Admiral, and was in the Navy, not the Army.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 7:09 pm
Find the one true statement.
“Anyone using the internet will automatically be disqualified”
All disqualified because you are on the internet reading this
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 10:27 pm
Steve – I think it will turn out to be something as anticlimactic as that. Given Freedman’s penchant for feeble ambiguous wordplays that he thinks are profound “I shared a bed with…” etc , I think the contest is pretty much pointless and unanswerable, since almost any word in the whole text could be being used in silly non-literal way. Meh, I have no further interest.
Vote:April 18th, 2012 at 11:12 pm
It’s number 3. The chicken answer is correct. No need to use the internet either. It’s the most absurd question that would normally trick people – but we are Kiwiblog readers and so are cynical.
Vote: