Always Arriving Late Trivia Quiz

Answer: Geoffrey Chaucer

The phrase appears in 'The Yeoman's Prologue and Tale' in the 'Canterbury Tales', around 1386. The actual wording he used was 'For bet than never is late', which over the years has been modified to the form we know today. Often, the phrase is countered with: "better never late", usually delivered by a sarcastic educator looking over his glasses!

Answer: Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves have a mascot called Crunch, who looks a lot friendlier than the legends surrounding him suggest. According to his story page, it's the "howling of fans that lures him out on game days".

Answer: Deceased

Some people who became 'late' in 2012 include: singer Whitney Houston; the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong; Jim Stynes, the Irish-born Australian rules football player; British comedy writer and actor, Eric Sykes ('The Goon Show'); and the first American woman in space, Sally Ride.

Answer: John Denver

This haunting instrumental piece appeared on his album 'Rocky Mountain High', released by RCA in 1972. It's part of the 'Season' suite, not surprisingly sandwiched between 'Winter' and 'Spring'. If you haven't heard it, it's worth a listen.

Answer: Orson Welles

The book on which the movie was based was written in 1970 by Hal Lindsey, and co-authored by Carole Carlson. They also wrote several sequels about the prophecies regarding the end-times found in the Bible.

Orson Welles was, of course, famous for the 1938 presentation of H.G. Wells' 'War of the World', which was so realistic that many actually believed a Martian invasion was taking place.

Answer: Late Bloomer

So-called 'late bloomers' are probably most notable in sporting arenas. For example, Australia's 'Mr Cricket', Mike Hussey, did not debut as a Test cricketer until the age of 30, relatively old to do so. He enjoyed a successful but short career, retiring in January 2013, at the age of 38.

Answer: White rabbit

'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' was written by Charles Dodgson under the pen name of Lewis Carroll. The White Rabbit appears to be scatterbrained and whimsical - he even thinks that his watch is running two whole days slow! My life sometimes feels like that!

Answer: Wooden leg

My research tells me this may be a peculiarly Aussie expression - often, we leave off the second part of the saying, shortening it to 'too late, she cried'.

There's some dispute as to how the expression originated, but it's generally agreed that it went something like this: A woman in the early days of the white settlement of Australia secured herself a husband. Upon sealing the marriage in the traditional way, she surprised her groom by revealing that one of her legs was wooden; indeed, she waved it to show him! She indicated it was too late to draw back now, as the marriage had taken place.

In those days of hard work and few luxuries, one of the main things to look for in a bride was her physical durability.

Answer: Def Leppard

Though an English band (from Sheffield), Def Leppard has had several nominations and at least two wins in American music awards. In 1989, the group won both Favourite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Album (for the album 'Hysteria') and Favourite Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist.

Answer: True

Late is a very small island - only approximately six km across. It is located along a known series of faults, and due to previous eruptions has a 'graben' running along its length. A graben is a depression formed by ground subsiding during volcanic activity.