SFF Quiz 2015! (winners revealed on page 7!)

[bloom]

Round 5 - Geography

Same.

Opposite!

??????

[Anonymouse]

Round 5 - Geography

Same.

Opposite!

??????

WHAT IS HAPPENING

ETA the American public school system failed me re: geography and most of everything else THIS IS WHAT YOUR TAX DOLLARS HAVE CREATED, TAX-PAYING CITIZENS OF THE USA

[Dusty15]

JOAL! Can you clarify #8? Is it largest by area or population??

8. Which country is the largest landlocked country in the world?

Mongolia

Afghanistan

Chad

Kazakhstan

[Jorm]

the American public school system failed me re: geography and most of everything else THIS IS WHAT YOUR TAX DOLLARS HAVE CREATED, TAX-PAYING CITIZENS OF THE USA

Oh yeah, my competency in geography as a grand total of nothing to do with my formal education. Now that I think about it, I'm actually not sure where I got my geography knowledge... I guess probably my interest in foreign culture and history led to a decent amount of geography by default.

JOAL! Can you clarify #8? Is it largest by area or population??

8. Which country is the largest landlocked country in the world?

Mongolia

Afghanistan

Chad

Kazakhstan

This is a really good question that had not even occurred to me. I'm glad you thought to ask!

ETA: Regarding question 11: Is the ACCENT Australian?

[Joal 555]

JOAL! Can you clarify #8? Is it largest by area or population??

8. Which country is the largest landlocked country in the world?

Mongolia

Afghanistan

Chad

Kazakhstan

Good point! Thanks for asking this, Dusty. I have now edited the question to show that it is by area.

There are 4 entrants who have already submitted their answers. If any of those 4 individuals/teams feel that this changes your answer, you may submit a revised answer for question 8. Of course, you may already have the right answer, so it's completely up to you, but if you do change your answer, I will obviously only accept your second answer and disregard the first.

Apologies for the ambiguity in the question as originally worded.

Regarding question 11: Is the ACCENT Australian?

Allegedly

(no points are on offer for that though!)

[Joal 555]

MIDWEEK REMINDER FOR ROUND 5

So far, Joal has received 5 sets of answers, so he's asked me to post the usual first reminder!

The deadline for round 5 is 8am SATURDAY (UK TIME), or a little later if he doesn't post the answers precisely at that time, but he says not to risk it! That means you should have until at least MIDNIGHT ON FRIDAY NIGHT, whatever time zone you are in.

PLEASE LET JOAL HAVE YOUR ANSWERS BEFORE THEN!

THANK YOU!

BRUCE 555

(sorry about the shouting - Bruce gets carried away)

(Joal)

[Jorm]

Bruce's "555" suffix clearly refers to his volume setting.

[Joal 555]

It's final reminder time for round 5!

I currently have 9 sets of answers and I'm expecting a further 9 entries (probably), so it's going to be a busy night! You now have just 10 and a half hours left to submit your answers!

[Joal 555]

There were 15 entrants this week, so thank you to everyone for taking part and here are the..................

Answers to round 5

1. Ukraine

2. Mount McKinley

3. Oslo

4. Sahara

5. Argentina - everyone got this right!

6. 5 - (Austria, Germany, Italy, France & Liechtenstein) - only 3 entrants got this right!

7. New South Wales

8. Kazakhstan

9. Michigan

10. Zambia

11. China

The scores

Bonus question

From the introduction provided, 2 entrants correctly identified the national anthem as China, so well done to melonbun and Satan and PortlandLove and PuddinPop.

Winners of Round 5

The average score for round 5 was 6.13 making it the second hardest round this year (so far). I hereby declare the winner of the round to be:

SomethingClever

You should be able to work out your own scores, but if you would like official confirmation, then please PM me. Either way, at the end of the quiz, I will send you all your own scores by PM on a round by round basis.

As mentioned previously, there will be separate awards for the best overall team and the best overall individual, so there's still all to play for with two rounds to go.

The end approaches...........tune in tomorrow when the double round finale commences (and I warn you again, round 6 is an absolute stinker! but hopefully, fun).

[Anonymouse]

Very clever, SomethingClever!

[Jorm]

*quietly hides confidence on geography knowledge and pretends it never happened*

[Joal 555]

Welcome to the double round finale of the SFF Quiz 2015!

First, the usual reminders!

1. You can still take part in rounds 6 and 7, even if you didn't compete in one or more of the earlier rounds. Simply send me a PM (entitled “{member’s name}’s 2015 answer thread”) with your answers if you fall into this category and you will still be eligible to win the individual rounds.

2. Another reminder that this is a test of what you know (or can guess) rather than how good you are at looking things up – so once again, please:

-do not use google

-do not do any other form of research (electronic or otherwise)

-do not ask anyone else to help you (on or off the forum), other than your teammate (where applicable)

You are all on your honour - let’s continue to have a fair contest!

3. Anyone for whom English is not their first language may PM me and ask if they may look up the translation (but not the meaning) of a specific word (or words) into their native language. I will then decide whether or not I think they will be gaining an unfair advantage by knowing the translation of that word and will PM back accordingly (but see the note regarding round 6).

4. You must send your replies to me for both rounds (using the PM threads already set up) by the time I post the answers on Saturday 14 March. This will not be before 8am (UK time) so you all have until at least midnight on Friday 13 March, whichever time zone you are in, but please don’t leave it until the last minute, in case you have internet connection issues or some other problem. I won’t be able to accept any replies after I have posted the answers (even if you can honestly claim not to have seen them yet).

Ok, it's question time

Round 6 – Words

(When I compiled this round, I confess that I hadn't given any thought to people for whom English isn't their first language. However, with the exception of question 1, which I think many people will know, I suspect that most of the other questions will require educated guesswork from just about everyone. Therefore, for this round only, the option to PM me to request translating any words into your native language is NOT available, as this may completely give away the answer in some cases)

Which description best fits each of the following words?

1. Narcolepsy

A foot disorder where sufferers often cannot feel their feet

A nasal disorder causing a permanent runny nose

A brain disorder causing sufferers to fall asleep and/or feel excessively drowsy

A disorder whereby sufferers cannot tell the difference between day and night

2. Terrazzo

A type of flooring

A type of earthenware pot

A style of painting with interlocking geometric shapes

A terrapin in captivity

3. Xerophagy

The art of printing symmetrical objects

An x-ray process, whereby the camera must be partially inserted

A strict Christian fast, when only dry food (usually bread) may be eaten

The study of mathematical graphs

4. Jentacular

Almost perpendicular

Belonging to the human jaw

Relating to breakfast

The opposite of spectacular

5. Agelast

A wise Indian man

A person who appears to age more slowly than normal expectations

A device to measure the age of shoes

A person who never laughs

6. Ventripotent

Being gluttonous or having a large stomach

Being scared of the open air

Being able to walk on a tightrope

Having a strong talent for talking with your mouth closed

7. Quiddany

A nickname for the person who designed the sterling pound coin

A jelly or syrup made from fruit

The desire to make more and more money

An ancient sport similar to polo

8. Cariogenic

Providing calcium

Pertaining to carrier pigeons

Having many circles within

Causing tooth decay

9. Yakow

A rare type of bird related to the kestrel

A writing style originating from central Europe

An alien race on Doctor Who

A cross between a yak and a cow

10. Palamate

Literate

Web-footed

Extremely friendly

Able to read palms

Joal's vocaroo bonus

11. Answer the question in the following link http://vocaroo.com/i/s1SfiaXBJGce

Enjoy!

(the seventh and final round will be posted below shortly)

[Joal 555]

(see also above for round 6 - answers to both rounds required this week)

Round 7 – Most, highest, largest etc

(Such a snappy title )

1. Who has won the most American Football Superbowls?

New York Giants

Dallas Cowboys

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

2. Out of these British Prime Ministers, who served the longest?

Winston Churchill

Tony Blair

Harold Wilson

Margaret Thatcher

3. Which of these pairs of cities are the furthest apart in distance?

Tokyo and New York City

Lahore and Rio de Janeiro

Berlin and Montreal

Tianjin and Melbourne

4. Which of the following singles has the most world wide sales?

Candle In The Wind 1997

White Christmas

Rock Around The Clock

We Are The World

5. Out of those listed here, which is the most widely used first language (based on number of people)?

Hindi

Spanish

English

Arabic

6. Based on theatrical revenues only, what is the highest-grossing film of all time?

Avatar

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - part 2

The Avengers

Titanic

7. What is the tallest entirely self supported tower in the world?

Tokyo Skytree (Japan)

Ostankino Tower (Russia)

CN Tower (Canada)

Canton Tower (China)

8. Who has the most twitter followers?

Barack Obama

Katy Perry

Taylor Swift

Justin Bieber

9. Which TV show had the largest audience on transmission of its series finale?

Seinfeld

Friends

M*A*S*H

Cheers

10. Based on capacity for spectators, which is the largest stadium in the world?

Rungrado May Day Stadium (North Korea)

Salt Lake Stadium (India)

Michigan Stadium (US)

Estadio Azteca (Mexico)

Joal's vocaroo bonus

11. Answer the question in the following link http://vocaroo.com/i/s1gU2xa23uV6

Good luck!

[SomethingClever]

Very clever, SomethingClever!

WOAH.

Thanks! The national geo bee was a huge deal in my middle school, I guess I didn't repress ALL the memories from that time period

[Jorm]

5. Out of those listed here, which is the most widely used first language?

Hindi

Spanish

English

Arabic

Just to clarify, by "most widely used" do you mean "used by the most number of people" or "used in the most number of countries"?

[Joal 555]

5. Out of those listed here, which is the most widely used first language?

Hindi

Spanish

English

Arabic

Just to clarify, by "most widely used" do you mean "used by the most number of people" or "used in the most number of countries"?

Although I originally thought the question made sense as it stood, on reflection I have altered it to make it clear it is based on the number of people. Apologies for the ambiguity!

There are 3 entrants who have already submitted their answers. If any of those 3 individuals/teams feel that this changes your answer, you may submit a revised answer for question 5. Of course, you may already have the right answer, so it's completely up to you, but if you do change your answer, I will obviously only accept your second answer and disregard the first.

[Joal 555]

Midweek reminder for rounds 6 and 7

So far, I have received 4 sets of answers, so here is your usual first reminder!

The deadline for the double round finale is 8am Saturday (UK time), or a little later if l don't post the answers precisely at that time, but don't risk it! That means you should have until at least midnight Friday night, whatever time zone you are in.

Please let me have your answers to both rounds before then.

Thank you!

[Joal 555]

It's the final, final reminder of the SFF Quiz 2015!

I only have 6 sets of answers for rounds 6 and 7, so once again it's going to be a "Frantic Friday" as you now have just 11 hours left to submit your answers to both rounds!

Tomorrow is the day of reckoning with not only the answers to rounds 6 and 7, but also the announcement of the individual winners and the team winners of this year's quiz.

Stay tuned to this frequency!

[Joal 555]

It's been a busy morning of marking, scoring, PMs and spreadsheets! Thank you to the 15 entrants who took part in rounds 6 and 7 and I am now ready to provide the answers............

Answers to round 6

1. A brain disorder causing sufferers to fall asleep and/or feel excessively drowsy (this had the most correct answers)

2. A type of flooring

3. A strict Christian fast, when only dry food (usually bread) may be eaten

4. Relating to breakfast

5. A person who never laughs

6. Being gluttonous or having a large stomach

7. A jelly or syrup made from fruit

8. Causing tooth decay

9. A cross between a yak and a cow (ignoring the bonus, this had the fewest correct answers)

10. Web-footed

11. Portuguese

Answers to round 7

1. Pittsburgh Steelers

2. Margaret Thatcher (ignoring the bonus, this had the joint fewest correct answers, with only 3 getting it right)

3. Lahore and Rio de Janeiro (ignoring the bonus, this had the joint fewest correct answers, with only 3 getting it right)

4. White Christmas

5. Spanish

6. Avatar (this had the most correct answers)

7. Tokyo Skytree (Japan)

8. Katy Perry

9. M*A*S*H

10. Rungrado May Day Stadium (North Korea)

11. Michael Phelps

The scores

Bonus questions

Nobody identified Portuguese.

And nobody identified Michael Phelps (American swimmer), the man with the most olympic medals of all time.

So no bonus points this week!

Round 6

The average score for round 6 was 5.73, which was better than I thought it might be, considering how hard I thought the questions were.......and I can now reveal that the winners of the round are:

PortlandLove and PuddinPop

Round 7

This turned out to be the most brutal round in the history of the SFF Quiz, with an all time low average score of 4.13.......and the winners of the round are:

PortlandLove and PuddinPop (again!)

Overall winners

I'll be posting the nominations for the overall winners within the next half an hour or so!

[Joal 555]

Further to my post above, it's time to reveal the nominations for the overall winners!

The scores over the two years have shown (perhaps not surprisingly) that two heads are better than one, so this year there will be two awards, one for the best individual and one for the best team.

Nominations for best individual - the three best overall scores were achieved by (in alphabetical order):

Bruyere

SomethingClever

TaurielRiver

Nominations for best team - the three best overall scores were achieved by (in alphabetical order):

hankman and snufflebunny

Junia and Azuralis

PortlandLove and PuddinPop

The winners will be announced between 8pm and 9pm, UK time - see you then!

[TaurielRiver]

AW YEAH!

I totally wasn’t expecting to see my name here, what an awesome surprise! I’m excited!

Partay of one whilst listening to ‘Flashdance… What A Feelin’ commences… NOW!

[bloom]

Nominations for best team - the three best overall scores were achieved by (in alphabetical order):

hankman and snufflebunny

Junia and Azuralis

PortlandLove and PuddinPop

The winners will be announced between 8pm and 9pm, UK time - see you then!

LOL WUT.

[Dusty15]

OH NOOOOOO I didn't send ours in time :-/ Dom and I will (I hope) graciously hand over the crown

[Joal 555]

My Lords, Ladies and Fetishists........welcome to tonight's ceremony to crown our overall quiz winners!

Just before we come to our two main awards, I'd like to say some thank yous, as follows:

Thank you to those of our younger members who took part - I don't think this was an easy quiz and for most people, the older we get, the more knowledge we acquire (until you get to my sort of age, when you start forgetting the things you used to know ) so I appreciate your support in entering each week, despite being at a disadvantage against some of our older more experienced members.

Thank you to those members from outside Great Britain and North America who took part - although I try to include a range of questions, I think the quiz is less suited to those who live in other areas and especially those for whom English is not a first language. If we do another quiz next year, I will try to include at least one round on "Continental Europe" or Asia or some other subject that is less favourable to the Brits and North Americans.

Finally, thank you to everyone - this kind of thing can only work with the enthusiastic participation of all who entered and I hope you enjoyed battling with the weekly challenge and didn't get too frustrated with some of the more brutal rounds (and especially, some of the almost impossible vocaroo bonuses!).

Ok, that's enough prattling for now - it's time to reveal our overall winners.

Individual Award

As a reminder, the nominees are (in alphabetical order):

• Bruyere
  
• SomethingClever
  
• TaurielRiver
  

And the winner is........

SomethingClever

Team Award

Again, a reminder of the nominees, who are (in alphabetical order):

• hankman and snufflebunny
  
• Junia and Azuralis
  
• PortlandLove and PuddinPop
  

And the winners are........

PortlandLove and PuddinPop

So huge congratulations to our winners! And a big well done to everyone else!

That marks the official end of the quiz, but I'll be tidying things up by sending you individual PMs tomorrow with your personal scores and then returning to this thread with some very interesting, at least for me completely dull statistics and useless trivia about the quiz.

Until then, signing off for now.....

Joal

(and "I got by with a little help from my friends" - Joan, Jock and Bruce)

[Sitruuna]

Congatulations SomethingClever and PortlandLove and PuddinPop. (:

yey my 1000 post, lol