Easter Quiz: Answers and Results

The quiz turned out to be harder, or less interesting, than I intended: no one got full marks. The key to it was that all the answers could be made from the letters of the word ‘Easter’. Because of this limitation, the questions were fairly cryptic, and further disguised by putting them into mock categories rather than into their real categories.

Nevertheless, Tim produced a respectable score within a few days, and filled in some of the gaps later. He is therefore the outright winner.

Of the others who tried, Teresa was doing well (without any help from me) before she got stuck, and several made a good start without finishing.

Congratulations to Tim. Here is your virtual cup:

And the answers were:

Nature

1. ART

2. SEA

3. SEER

4. TEA

History

5. EASE

6. SAT

7. SET

8. STAR

9. TEASE

Literature

10. SEE

11. TERSE

Religion

12. STARE

Sport

13. ERSE

14. RATE

15. REST

Proverbs and Sayings

16. SEAT

17. STEER

18. TAR

General Knowledge

19. EAR

20. EAST

21. TEAR

22. TEE

Brainteasers

23. ASTER

24. EAT

25. TREE

Commentary

The answers in alphabetic order, together with the question, its actual category and its mock category, and a gloss on the answer, are as follows:

art Said to hide itself to deceive you (Proverbs and Sayings/Nature) Ars est celare artem (there is an art which hides art)

aster Large daisy (Nature/Brainteaser) Botanically similar

ear Should Antony have applied to the listening bank? (Literature/General Knowledge) ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears’ (from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar)

ease Life of Reilly? (Proverbs and Sayings/History) Equals a life of ease (saying)

east Company of imperial rulers (History/General Knowledge) The East India Company, which ran India in the 19^th Century

eat Carpe diem, loosely (Proverbs and Sayings/Brainteaser) ‘Eat, drink and be merry For tomorrow we die’ (sayings, Latin and English)

erse Celtic form of expression (General Knowledge/Sport) Form of Gaelic language spoken in Ireland and Scotland

rate Now under Bank’s control, but not Gordon’s (General Knowledge/Sport) Interest rates now set by the Bank of England, not the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Gordon Brown)

rest Taken at the seventh (Religion/Sport) The day of rest

sat A common example of early writing (General Knowledge/History) ‘The cat sat on the mat’ – sentence often used in teaching reading and writing

sea Water for Iris (Literature/Nature) The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch

seat Bob may have two or four (Sport/Proverbs and Sayings) Bobsleigh events are for two and four men sleighs

see Pope would write here (Religion/Literature) The Holy See

seer Dry weather forecaster? (Brainteaser/Nature) Pun: ‘seer’, a prophet or fortune-teller, sounds like ‘sere’ (dry)

set After diversionary activity, put before marriage in the end (Sport/History) ‘Game, set and match’ called at the end of a tennis match

star Superior body providing guidance to Kings (Religion/History) The star followed by the Magi

stare Tramp’s philosophical question (Literature/Religion) ‘What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?’ (W H Davies)

steer Cox (Sport/Proverbs and Sayings) Steering is the main function of the cox in rowing

tar Blackjack? (Brainteaser/Proverbs and Sayings) ‘Tar’ – associated with blackness, and ‘Jack Tar’, colloquial for sailor

tea Chaotic meal for young explorer (Literature/Nature) The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

tear Rip-off in floods (Brainteaser/General Knowledge) Pun: ‘rip off’ meaning to tear, also ‘floods of tears’

tease Richard’s plea for honest dealing (General Knowledge/History) ‘Please, please, don’t tease’ – Cliff Richard hit of 1960

tee Provides support for drivers (Sport/General Knowledge) Tee as used in golf

terse Laconic speech in English (General Knowledge/Literature) ‘Laconic’ means terse, or of few words

tree Sequoia (Nature/Brainteaser) The giant American Redwood tree