The Seven Dwarfs: Sleepy Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jonathan Coe

Jonathan Coe's novel deals with the lives of a four people who first met as students during the 1980s while living in Ashdown Hall, a university hall of residence. Ten years later, they all meet again at Ashdown, which is now a sleep disorder clinic. The novel's chapters alternate between the 1980s and 1990s, slowly drawing together events and actions in the two periods. It's also very funny - the "misaligned footnotes" article is worth the price of the book alone.

Question by stedman

Answer: Sprite

If he wanted to stay awake, Sleepy would not gain any benefit from Sprite, as lemon-and-lime flavored soft drinks do not contain caffeine. Caffeine is the most-used drug in the United States, and is a stimulant, so it can prevent you from sleeping. Sugar, an ingredient found in all four of these things, does not actually lead to hyperactivity and sleep deprivation, contrary to popular belief.

Question by Oidioid32123

Answer: Tsetse fly

Tiny parasites, called trypanosomes, infect tsetse flies and are passed along to humans in the flies' bites. Once in the victim's bloodstream, trypanosomes cause a host of problems, from lymph node swelling to anemia to kidney issues. Once they cross the blood-brain barrier, the neurological symptoms include clumsiness, confusion, drowsiness in the daytime and wakefulness at night. It's the latter two symptoms that give it the name "sleeping sickness."

Sleeping sickness is endemic in more than 30 African nations; it has spread quickly over the last century or two, as long-distance travel has become more widespread. Trypanosomes can be killed by drugs if the infection is caught early, and efforts to reduce the population of tsetse flies have seen some success. Perhaps Sleepy can use some of his diamonds and rubies to fund these efforts, and help others fight a more serious sleepiness problem!

Question submitted by CellarDoor

Answer: Rip Van Winkle

Van Winkle wanders off into the mountains where he runs into the crew of Henry Hudson who are playing nine-pins in a mountain hollow. He drinks some of their liquor and falls asleep for 20 years.

Ertrum has been to the Catskill mountains, but didn't play nine-pins there.

Answer: Ivan Goncharov

"Oblomov" is the best-known of Goncharov's novels; it evolved from a short story entitled "Son Oblomova" ("Oblomov's Dream"). Wildly popular in its day, and still very highly regarded, "Oblomov" deftly satirized the typical idle Russian aristocracy of the era, whose pampered lifestyles left them incapable of coping even with ordinary problems. The title character actually never leaves his bed for the first 150 pages or so of the novel. He is currently being evicted from his apartment, is being cheated of his money, and has let his country estate fall to ruin. He falls in love with the beautiful Olga Sergievna, but his inability to commit to marriage causes him to lose her to his more decisive and dynamic friend Andrei Shtolts. Eventually Oblomov marries a widow, Agafina Pshenitsina, and the two have a son together, but Oblomov dies (in his sleep, of course), leaving the boy to be adopted by Shtolts. The type of crippling inertia personified by the book's title character entered the Russian lexicon as "Oblomovschina". Oblomov's devoted friend Andrei, with whom he had attended university, insists that he is not stupid, lazy, nor incompetent; he is merely incapable of taking action on his own. Goncharov's fellow novelist, Ivan Turgenev, declared that "...As long as there is even one Russian alive, "Oblomov" will be remembered!"

Question submitted by jouen58

Answer: Ballet

Sleep was born in Plymouth, Devon, in 1948. Despite being only 5'2" in height, he gained a position as a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet. He would later embark on a career as a choreographer.

Question submitted by Dizart

Answer: Narcolepsy

Narcoleptics can take between 10-15 years to be diagnosed. Diagnosis can be done with blood tests and a multiple sleep latency test. Cataplexy is a sudden loss of muscle tone when awake (a sufferer described it as being like a puppet with its strings cut). Sleep paralysis is very scary, leading you to be unable to move or speak while waking up.

Question by Quiz_Beagle

Answer: Tom Hanks

Romantic flick about a widower who moves to Seattle to escape grief, but still isn't able to enjoy a full night's sleep. Nice film? I don't know: I didn't see it!

Question by Zordy

Answer: 14 hours, 40 minutes

Gardner's feat was achieved in 1964, when he was 17, and was scientifically monitored throughout. According to his doctors, he had a hallucination on day four that he was an American Football player, and thought a road sign was a human being.

The Guiness World Records organisation no longer recognises attempt to break this record, because of the obvious dangers to health by participants.

Question by Oidioid32123

Answer: A speed bump or traffic-calming device

"Sleeping policemen" are raised ridges in the road that are designed to force traffic to slow down, thus improving road safety. It may not be such a good idea for Sleepy to lie down in the road and allow cars to drive over him, however slowly.

Question by stedman