Special Sub-Topic: Let's Start at the End Authored by: fringe Sub-topic of: Y - Z

Which band had hits with the songs "Viva Las Vegas" and "Gimme all your lovin'"?

ZZ Top. Known as "that little ol' band from Texas", ZZ Top have been together for more than thirty years, and were asked to perform at President W. Bush's inaugural celebrations.

Douglas Fairbanks, Tyrone Power and, most recently, Antonio Banderas have played this masked and caped swordsman at the movies. Who was the "fox"?

Zorro. Making his first appearance in the 1919 magazine story "The Curse of Capistrano", Zorro's trademark is the "slash! slash! slash!" 'Z' which he inflicts onto the skin or clothing of his adversaries. His name is Spanish for "fox", derived from a word originally meaning "cunning".

What was the first name of the 12th President of the United States?

Zachary. Zachary Taylor, born in Virginia in 1784 became the 12th President in 1849, but only served until the following year, when he died unexpectedly whilst still in office.

Which former African Republic used to have a currency of the same name?

Zaire. When Lawrence Kabila became the ruler of Zaire in 1997 he instigated the change of name to The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The following year saw the replacement of the zaire by the Congolese franc.

An imaginary heavenly belt forming the background for the movements of the moon, sun and planets, this zone was divided into twelve equal parts by the ancients. What is it called?

Zodiac. The signs of the zodiac were originally named for the constellations to which they corresponded, but in modern times these no longer match and in reality should all be moved along one!

This is a north wind, but as it is in Argentina, it's not too cold - just dusty. What is it called?

zonda. The zonda is a hot, dry and dusty wind which leaves the Andes and assaults the Argentinian pampas during the months of July and August.

This musician, famous frontman of "The Mothers of Invention", named his sons Dweezil and Ahmet Rodan. What was their last name?

Zappa. Frank Zappa was born in Maryland just before Christmas in 1940, and died of prostate cancer in December 1993.

Which of the following major cities is not in China?

Zaporozhye. Zaporozhye is a large industrial city to the south-east of Kiev in the Ukraine.

The python god of certain West African tribes, this word is also used to refer to the dead brought back to life. What's the word?

zombi & zombie. The worship of Zombie, the python god, travelled, via the slave trade, to the West Indies and apparently still survives today in Haiti and some southern US States. Voodoo magic is credited with bringing back to life an apparent corpse, also called a zombie.

You may think that this quiz is so good that you are jealous of me (hehe!), but I would then be afraid of you. What do I suffer from?

zelophobia. Zelophobia is the fear of jealousy, zemmiphobia is the fear of the great mole rat, and the other two I made up!