Silver Service Trivia Quiz

Answer: Silver Wraith

Established in 1904 in Manchester (England) by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, Rolls Royce Limited quickly became a byword for luxury cars of superior quality. The company was active under that name until 1971: after that its business structure underwent various changes, and its current incarnation, Rolls Royce Motor Cars Ltd., is owned by BMW. In its nearly 70 years of activity, Rolls Royce Limited produced some of the world's most iconic motor cars, recognizable by the mascot (hood ornament) designed by English sculptor Charles Sykes in 1910 and known as "Spirit of Ecstasy".

One of Rolls Royce's traditions is the naming of some of its most renowned car models after ghosts or atmospheric phenomena; some of these names are preceded by the adjective "silver". The very first of these "spooky" models was the Silver Ghost, produced in 1906-1925. The Silver Wraith was introduced in 1946 to replace the Wraith and manufactured until 1958. In keeping with the subdued mood of the post-WWII years, the car was smaller than previous models (25-30 hp). Supplied as rolling chassis, it was ready to be completed with custom-made bodywork - in most cases in the stately limousine design that can be seen in the photo. Vintage Silver Wraiths are used as ceremonial state cars by various heads of state - such as the Presidents of Brazil, Ireland and Zimbabwe, and the ruling monarch of Denmark. The Silver Wraith has also made appearances in a number of well-known films.

In J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", the Ringwraiths are the Dark Lord Sauron's most feared servants - nine invisible, undead kings bound to the One Ring.

Answer: tequila

Tequila is produced in the central-western Mexican state of Jalisco, in the area surrounding the city of Tequila and in the Altos de Jalisco (Jaliscan Highlands). This alcoholic beverage is distilled exclusively from the cores (known as "piñas" because of their resemblance to pineapples) of the blue agave that grow in the region's red volcanic soil. The juice extracted from the cores is left to ferment for several days, then it is distilled twice to produce clear tequila known in Spanish as "plata" (silver) or "blanco" (white).

Silver tequila is usually bottled immediately after distillation; it can be aged for no longer than two months in stainless steel or neutral oak barrels. Tequila aged for less than a year in oak barrels is called "reposado" (rested), while "añejo" (vintage) is aged for one to three years: aging imparts a golden or amber colour to the spirit. Silver is tequila's purest form, and the one most often used for popular cocktails such as margarita or Tequila Sunrise. In Mexico, tequila is generally served neat, without salt and lime, which are believed to alter the beverage's flavour.

Bourbon is American whiskey distilled from corn (maize), while pisco is a Peruvian grape brandy, and cachaça is a Brazilian spirit distilled from sugarcane juice.

Answer: Thetis

Thetis was one of the Nereids, the fifty daughters of the sea god Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea, and his consort Doris, one of the Oceanids. The similarly-named Tethys, a Titaness, was her maternal gramdmother. In various sources Thetis is referred to as the leader of the Nereids, who embodied the positive aspects of the sea and were thus especially venerated by sailors.

In the statue in the photo - a Roman copy of an earlier Greek original - she is depicted in the company of a young Triton. Like other marine deities, she was able to change shape, suggesting the ever-changing nature of the sea. One of Thetis' epithets was Halosydne, meaning "brine-born". However, in various literary texts (including Homer's "Iliad") she is given the epithet Argyropeza, which has been translated as "silver-footed" or "silver-shod" - the silver referring to either the bright white colour of the goddess' skin or the material of which her footwear was made.

Like her sister Amphitrite, who became Poseidon's spouse, Thetis is famous because of her marriage, though her spouse was a mortal rather than another deity. Worried by a prophecy about Thetis' son growing up to be more powerful than his father, Zeus arranged for her to be married to Peleus, king of Phthia, who managed to subdue her in spite of her shapeshifting abilities. The wedding of Peleus and Thetis was celebrated in the presence of all gods and goddesses, with one exception - Eris, the goddess of strife, whose retaliation for the snub (the golden apple meant to be awarded "to the fairest" of goddesses) eventually led to the Trojan War. The couple's son was Achilles, the greatest of all Greek warriors, whom she tried to protect throughout his life, but whose death she was unable to prevent. Thetis is an important character in the "Iliad", where she appears as Achilles' helper and counsellor.

Iris was the goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of the gods, while Hebe was the goddess of youth and the gods' cupbearer. Selene, often identified with Artemis, was the goddess of the moon.

Answer: pheasant

All of the birds listed as possible answers belong to the family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, which also includes the domestic chicken - the world's most common bird. The striking bird depicted in the photo is a pheasant, a common name that designates several genera of gamebirds native to Eurasia and characterized by strong sexual dimorphism, as shown in the photo. Males boast brightly coloured plumage, long tails and other distinctive traits (such as wattles) and play no part in rearing the young.

The silver pheasant (Lophura nycthemera) is one of 11 species of its genus, also known as gallopheasants, all native to South and Southeast Asia. It is found in forested mountain areas of mainland Southeast Asia and eastern and southern China; though common in the wild, it is also frequently kept in captivity. The silver pheasant is relatively large: a male's upper parts are white with subtle black markings, which produce a "silvery" effect, while its underparts and crest are a glossy blue-black. Males also have bright red faces; females, on the other hand, are brown, considerably smaller and shorter-tailed. Both sexes have red legs.

Answer: Strasbourg

The military outpost of Argentoratum was established around 12 BC by Nero Claudius Drusus, a Roman general and politician who was Augustus' stepson, Tiberius' brother and Claudius' father. The fortified town, part of the Germania Superior province of the Roman Empire, was built near a Gaulish village named Argentorate - a word related to the Latin "argentum", which may have been a reference to the silvery waters of the Rhine or to the presence of silver or gold mines in the vicinity of the settlement. In 90 AD, Argentoratum became the permanent headquarters of Legio VIII Augusta, one of the oldest legions of the Imperial army. The centre of the outpost was located in what is now known as the Grande Île, an island in the river Ill, a tributary of the Rhine.

The name Strasbourg, first mentioned in writing in the 6th century AD, is of Germanic origin and means "town of roads". Present-day Strasbourg, located in the historic region of Alsace, is the prefecture (main administrative centre) and largest city of France's Grand Est region. Renowned for its stunning medieval architecture, in particular its towering Gothic cathedral, Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parliament, as well as other important institutions such as the non-EU Council of Europe. The historic centre of Strasbourg was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.

Answer: platinum

With an atomic number of 78, platinum (Pt) is a transition metal, part of group 10 of the periodic table of elements. It is also a member of a group of six elements (platinum, palladium, ruthenium, osmium, rhodium and iridium) with similar physical and chemical properties, which are often found together in the same mineral deposits. Distinguished by their lustrous, silvery-white appearance and extreme ductility and malleability, platinum-group metals are also classified as noble metals, resistant to oxidation and corrosion. Because of these characteristics, platinum is a key component of catalytic converters, and has many other important industrial applications. It is also used in jewellery, especially in luxury watchmaking.

Platinum has been known to humankind since antiquity, in particular in pre-Columbian South America: the artisans of the Tumaco-La Tolita culture of present-day Colombia and Ecuador (350 BC-400 AD) are believed to have been the first to have worked with platinum. Though Spanish colonizers of the Americas had already encountered the element in the 16th century, platinum was officially discovered in 1735 by Spanish officer Antonio de Ulloa during an expedition to Peru and Colombia. In his writings he gave the element the nome of "platina", meaning "little silver".

Though sharing some of the features of platinum-group metals, titanium is not considered a noble metal because it oxidizes by forming a thin passivation layer.

Answer: Ancient Rome

"The Silver Pigs" is the first of a series of 20 historical mystery novels whose main character is Marcus Didius Falco, an informer and Imperial agent. Written by Lindsay Davis and published between 1989 and 2010, the books are set in ancient Rome and other parts of the Roman Empire during the reign of Vespasian (69-79 AD).

"The Silver Pigs" is set in 70 AD: its title refers to 200-pound lead ingots filled with silver and stolen from Britain, where Falco is sent by the emperor to uncover a conspiracy. Besides Falco - a worldwise plebeian with a soft heart - other main characters of the series are introduced, in particular his sidekick Lucius Petronius Longus, a member of the Vigiles (night watchmen and firefighters) and Falco's own love interest, Helena Justina, a senator's daughter.

The series' next four books also have the name of a metal in the title. In 2013, Davis (who is originally from Birmingham, England) published the first book of a new, ongoing series whose protagonist is Flavia Albia, Falco's adopted daughter, who also works as a private informer.

The photo shows a silver skyphos (drinking vessel) from the famed Boscoreale Treasure, found in 1895 near Pompeii. The cup, a magnificent example of the skill of Roman silversmiths, depicts Emperor Augustus on a military campaign.

Answer: Phnom Penh

Officially called Wat Ubaosoth Rataranam, the Silver Pagoda is a temple located within the Royal Palace complex in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. It is a relatively recent building, as it was originally constructed in 1892-1902 as a wooden structure, and then rebuilt in 1962 during the reign of King Norodom Sihanouk, who had spent a year there as a Buddhist monk in 1947. Though the photo suggests gold rather than silver, the temple owes its name to the over 5,300 silver tiles that pave its floor. The Silver Pagoda is also known for housing a number of sacred Buddhist artifacts, such as the Emerald Buddha and the diamond-studded, life-sized Golden Maitreya Buddha. The walls of the temple are decorated with frescoes, executed in the early years of the 20th century, depicting scenes from the "Reamker", the Cambodian national epic.

In the 1970s, the Silver Pagoda, rather miraculously, escaped destruction during the Cambodian Civil War and the Khmer Rouge reign of terror. The remains of Norodom Sihanouk, who also survived those troubled years and died in Beijing in 2012, are interred in one of the stupas (dome-shaped shrines) that surround the pagoda, a tall, beautiful white marble structure originally built to house the ashes of Sihanouk's daughter, Kantha Bopha, who died in 1952 at 4 years of age.

Answer: Arjuna

In the "Mahabharata", one of the two major epics from ancient India, Arjuna is one of the five Pandava brothers who fight in the Kurukshetra War against the Kauravas. However, his real father is not Pandu, king of Kuru, but Indra, the king of the gods: in fact, all five brothers are sons of various deities. Arjuna is the third-oldest of the Pandava, known for his prowess as an archer and his mastery in the use of "astras" (celestial weapons). He is described as dark-complexioned (like Krishna, whose name means dark or black): his name, related to the Greek "argyros" and the Latin "argentum", refers to the purity of his spirit, the embodiment of heroic and chivalric values. The statue in the photo, found on the Indonesian island of Bali (most of whose population practices Hinduism), shows Arjuna wielding the divine bow Gandiva, made by Brahma himself.

Arjuna is bound to his maternal cousin and charioteer Krishna (the eighth avatar of the god Vishnu) by a close friendship. At the beginning of the Kurukshetra War Arjuna is troubled by the thought of killing people he knows and respects who have sided with the Kaurava, and shares his misgivings with Krishna. In the 700-line extract from Chapter 18 of the epic, known as "Bhagavad Gita" (Song of God), Krishna counsels Arjuna on his duty as a warrior ("dharma") and the importance of devotion as a path to liberation ("moksha").

Arjuna is a common male name in India, where a major sporting award is also named after him. Of the three wrong answers, Rama is the seventh avatar of Vishnu, while Varuna is the god of the waters, and Surya the god of the sun.

Answer: Finland

Also known as European or East Asian white birch, the silver birch (Betula pendula) is a deciduous tree in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hornbeams and hazels. This slender, medium-sized tree is native to Europe and the temperate regions of Asia, from the Caucasus to Siberia and northern China and Japan. However, in southern Europe it is only found in mountain areas, as it prefers cooler climates. The silver birch has also been introduced into North America, where it has occasionally become an invasive species.

As the photo clearly shows, the silver birch is distinguished by its greyish-white peeling bark, to which it owes its common name. The specific name "pendula" refers to its slim, often pendulous branches with triangular, serrated leaves that turn yellow in the autumn months. Birch woods support a large number of plant and animal species, such as wild flowers, berry-producing shrubs, birds and insects.

The silver birch is a common sight in Northern Europe, where it is often found in combination with conifers. In that part of the world this tree is not only economically important - being a major source of lumber and pulp - but also a distinctive cultural symbol with many traditional uses. In Finland, where the silver birch ("rauduskoivu" in Finnish) was designated as national tree in 1988, people use bunches of young, leafy birch boughs ("vihta" or "vasta") to massage the skin when bathing in the sauna.