You might be mad to try this quiz. All the answers contain "bat", but what are the questions?
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Recommended for grades: 7,8,9
Category:
Words Within Words
All these answers begin with the letters KIN. No other kin have they.
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Starting With ...
If it wasn't for explorers there would be far less Geography! See if you can identify the places associated with these intrepid adventurers.
This is a team quiz from the Geographers team.
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Nov 14 20
Category:
Historical Geography
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You are probably familiar with these Biblical people who were spoken to by God or said something inspired by God. Can you identify them from these quotes from the King James Bible?
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Jul 21 17
Category:
Who Said It?
There are lots of different sorts of chest: can you pick the right one from the description?
Very Easy, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 22 21
Category:
Thematic Furniture
Words beginning Ost... often have to do with bones, from the Greek osteo. Do any of the following? Let's see.
Very Easy, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Vocabulary
Driving home from Bath recently, it occurred to me that there were many places in England whose name might be found in any dictionary. These places are all listed in my British Encyclopaedia 1933 and its companion dictionary, so should not be too obscure
Easier, 15 Qns, davejacobs,
Sep 07 19
Category:
England - General
The Mediterranean Sea is huge, and has many individually named regions within it. Can you identify them from the clues?
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Dec 10 21
Recommended for grades: 10,11,12
Category:
Mediterranean Sea
You have probably heard of these London buildings, but can you identify them from their postal addresses? A clue if you know in what part of London they lie: the postcode may contain N, S, E and W for the compass points, and C for centre.
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Sep 24 18
Category:
Mixed Sites in Europe
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Many places have very short names, and each of the following has, in English, only two letters in its name. Can you identify these places?
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Feb 07 21
Category:
Place Names
Shakespeare seems to have had a good knowledge of European geography, and his plays have a range of settings throughout that area. Can you match the locations of some of his plays?
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Oct 25 20
Recommended for grades: 11,12
Category:
Name the Play
I'm not sure the Bridge on the River Kwai has another name, that's simply what it's called. But many other bridges have individual names; can you match just ten of them with the descriptions?
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Nov 22 17
Category:
Bridges
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable is a rich source of unusual uses of words. From that source I have found these phrases involving the word BELL.
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
May 07 19
Category:
Idioms and Proverbs
As if you haven't suffered enough of my alphabetic quizzes! All these words start with SUFF: do you know what they mean?
Very Easy, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Starting With ...
Ladybirds or ladybugs have many superstitions associated with them, in many countries. Do you know where these ideas come from?
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Nov 03 19
Category:
Superstitions, Magic, and Legends
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Domino (plural dominoes) can mean many things, and the word "domino" appears in all these answers. Can you pick the right one from the description?
Very Easy, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 22 21
Category:
Thematic Toys
All the answers contain the word "earth". Can you unearth the right one from the questions?
Very Easy, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Dec 22 17
Category:
Thematic Earth
I found a lot of imps causing mischief in my dictionary. Can you help identify these objects beginning with Imp...?
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Starting With ...
Hats off to you if you know all these answers. They all start with the letters "Hat".
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Starting With ...
Modern sports with their coded rules and millions of adherents mostly emerged in the Victorian era, and many derive from the primeval urge to hit something, but can you identify them?
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Jul 22 19
Category:
Name The Sport
There are words that seem to imply some kind of "act", and you have to pick the right one from the description. All the answers start with "act".
Very Easy, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Starting With ...
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The next in my series of object quizzes starts with Gen. Are you genius enough to find them all?
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Vocabulary
In this quiz, the composer of a piece of music has referenced a particular place which may possibly have influenced him, in naming it. Can you identify the place from the description?
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 17 22
Category:
Classical Music
There are over 6000 islands making up the British Isles. I have picked four (Anglesey, the Isle of Man, Skye and the Isle of Wight) and the answer to each of these questions is one of those.
Average, 15 Qns, davejacobs,
Sep 28 19
Category:
British Isles
What do you know about the last tiny section of my old dictionary/encyclopaedia? Can you match the description I give with the right Z word?
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Aug 16 18
Category:
Y - Z
You can't get closer to Christian music than Requiem Masses, which are among the most stirring of musical compositions. Requiems have been created by several well known classical composers, and some lesser known. Can you identify them from the clues?
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Dec 08 24
Category:
Classical Music
The Channel Islands lie in the English Channel, although closer to France than England. What do you know about this fascinating group of islands?
Average, 15 Qns, davejacobs,
May 07 20
Category:
British Isles
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What kind of fan are you? One who knows one sort from another? All these answers start with "fan".
Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Starting With ...
Skimming the advertisements in an 1876 British Directory, I came across a number of items that you might not be familiar with. Or are you?
Average, 15 Qns, davejacobs,
Feb 23 19
Category:
Victorian Social History
I write this as a layman reading as though for the first time the early chapters of Genesis in the King James version of the Bible (KJV). Be careful, the answers to these questions may not be what "everyone knows".
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
May 30 22
Category:
Genesis
The depiction of someone dying, or being killed, or recently dead, is a popular theme of artists. Can you pick the authors of the following death scenes?
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Dec 14 21
Category:
Art By Subject
John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come", generally shortened to "The Pilgrim's Progress" was immensely influential in 17th century England, and has been translated into over 200 languages.
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
May 21 17
Category:
B
Here are a few advertisements from an 1861 Directory for Southampton, England. Can you say what they are about?
Average, 15 Qns, davejacobs,
Feb 19 19
Category:
Victorian Social History
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Units of Measurement
There are so many units in which distances may be measured, and the answers to each of these questions involves its own particular unit. Easier, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Dec 07 22
Category:
Thematic Sci/Tech
Poets have often written about places, but are sometimes somewhat oblique with their references. You should have no trouble though identifying these geographic locations from Geographers Team's clues.
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Nov 14 20
Category:
Thematic Places
This quiz was inspired by my recollections of when I was researching occupants of "Southampton Old Cemetery" plus a visit recently to Bath Abbey.
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Dec 11 18
Category:
European Cultures
A hundred years or more ago missionaries were viewed with approbation, often seen as heroes, but today they are less popular. Whether you admire or disapprove of them, they have their place in history.
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
May 11 21
Category:
Christian People / Saints
I thought Q might be a problem, but on inspection there are dozens of words starting QUA, so have a go at finding which is which.
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Starting With ...
The Greek prefix PARA usually indicates against, beside or beyond: but not always. See if you know the meanings of these words which all start with PARA...
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Starting With ...
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My 1933 British Dictionary has a section on "Tables of Weights and Measures" that reveals a complex situation with different sets of measures for various different commercial activities. Can you answer these questions?
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Aug 22 18
Category:
Measurements, Time and Distance
Many English Benedictine and Cistercian abbeys are ruined, thanks to Henry VIII, but they are still worth visiting - if you find old ruined buildings romantic.
I have indicated where each abbey is located and all the wrong answers are a long way off.
Average, 15 Qns, davejacobs,
Mar 25 19
Category:
Religious Buildings
All the answers in this quiz start with the letters 'JAC'. Not just because my name does the same, but some interesting subjects come up this way.
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Vocabulary
Some English place-names begin with a number. Sometimes these refer to a group of trees, bridges, rivers, or nothing at all. See if you can discover the missing number from these clues where * should be replaced by the appropriate number - as a word.
Tough, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Jun 06 18
Category:
England - General
All the words here start with the letters NON. Can you puzzle them out?
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Vocabulary
Words starting mal... usually indicate something bad, but not always. See if you can pinpoint these words, all beginning with the letters MAL, from the clues.
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Vocabulary
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These adverts appeared in the Southampton Directory for 1851, a year famous for the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, and for the first really useful English Census. But never mind that, what about these advertisements?
Average, 15 Qns, davejacobs,
Nov 27 19
Category:
Victorian Social History
I found some more quaint measures at the back of my old 1933 Dictionary, and I think some of them - but not all - may still be in use. Can you make these numbers fit?
Tough, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Aug 29 18
Category:
Measurements, Time and Distance
All these answers begin with the letters LAN. Can you find their meaning?
Average, 10 Qns, davejacobs,
Apr 24 19
Category:
Vocabulary
English cathedrals are mostly dedicated to one or more saints. Often these are the usual biblical people, but some are local to England. Anyway, see what you can do with these questions.
Average, 15 Qns, davejacobs,
Feb 14 20
Category:
Religious Buildings
Charles Dodgson as Lewis Carroll created some timeless characters, but do you remember in which book a particular character appeared: "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", "Through the Looking-Glass", both books, or perhaps another work? Your choice.
Tough, 15 Qns, davejacobs,
Aug 19 21
Recommended for grades: 8,9,10
Category:
Carroll, Lewis