Baloo's Very Silly Little Quiz

Answer: The Sparrow

The Sparrow killed Cock Robin, of course, with his bow and arrow in the nursery rhyme 'Who Killed Cock Robin'. It's interesting that all the birds 'fell a-sighing and a-sobbing' in the rhyme, but no one seems to have thought of arresting the Sparrow, or even finding out why he did it!

The Penguin is an opponent of Batman, whose sidekick is Robin. The Sheriff of Nottingham was Robin Hood's opponent.

Answer: Handel

Obvious? Not on the BBC's 'University Challenge' it wasn't. It was passed on about three occasions (but don't quote me, or complain if that's not exact). Jeremiah Clarke wrote the 'Trumpet Voluntary', which many people still think Henry Purcell wrote (but he didn't). Al-Faqtotim? Ringing a bell somewhere in connection with largos? Rossini's 'Barber of Seville' contains the show-stopping (usually - not if I sang it) aria 'Largo al Factotum' or 'Make way for the Factotum' in English. If you don't know what a factotum is, look it up. I'm not doing all the work around here.

Answer: A feather

'...And called it macaroni', but it was only a feather. Macaroni, originally called 'maccherone', was a fashion style that not even the '70s could match. It included hats so high up they could only be taken off with the aid of a sword. Probably the person who wrote it (yes, someone did, but they've managed to cover their tracks very well) was suggesting that Yankee Doodle hadn't got a clue about REAL fashion. This suggests to me that it could be by a British officer having a go...Those hats with arrows 'through' them (as opposed to hats with real Native American arrows through them) are more modern, and people don't usually wear sparrows in their hats.

(OK, Baloo has a hat with a chick on it, as well as caterpillars, butterflies and daffodils. Don't ask... I mean it, DON'T ASK.)

Answer: Remo Giazotto

Pachelbel wrote much, but is only remembered widely for his Canon in D Major (which he really did write...). Remo who? He's remembered for one piece which he claimed was by Albinoni. He published it in 1958, at which time Benjamin Britten was going strong - but wasn't involved. Handel quite often pinched bits of other people's music and stuck them in things of his (as his own), and recycled his own older pieces. You can't get away with it now - too many recordings about.

Answer: Beefeaters

Odor-Eaters should have a trademark symbol next to its name, but that would have spoiled the look of it here, and I'm not sure how to do it anyway. Please don't tell me.

The Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters, are guards of the Tower of London. If you try stealing the Crown Jewels, you might be excused for confusing the Beefeaters with Death Eaters, as the guards definitely won't be happy little bunnies.

Cheese Eaters? I suppose a vegetarian Beefeater might be, but only in private.

Answer: Percy Grainger

Yes, I do know that Hermione is a Granger not a Grainger.

'Handel in the Strand' is a nice piece by Percy Grainger, which bears little resemblance to anything by Handel. Handel and Benjamin are not guilty. J.K. Rowling has not written any music that Baloo has heard of. (You never know what people get up to in the privacy of their homes. Some people even compile quizzes. Shocking, isn't it?).

Answer: Batman

The servant did handle things for the officer's comfort, but he was called a batman. This was an official title for the soldier doing the job, unlike the unofficial American equivalent 'dog robber'. The batman might have been a joker called Robin Handel, but that is extremely unlikely (to the point there probably was one...), but batman was the official title.

In the Navy, they had stewards--and might still have. It doesn't worry me.

Answer: omnibuses

Omnibus is actually in the dative case in the Latin original, meaning 'for all'. When it became an English word (meaning a public conveyance 'for all'), it took a standard English plural ending. Had 'omnibus' been a nominative case in Latin, then 'omnibi' would have been correct. If it had been 'omnibos' in Greek, 'omniboi' would be correct (so far as I know - don't argue, it's a wrong answer anyway). Train? I ask you...

Answer: They live too far apart

Polar bears live in the Arctic (or 'Artic' as some misspell it, confusing a vast expanse of ice with a type of lorry/truck). Penguins live south of the Equator - not all in the Antarctic. Some live in the Galapagos, and some in Australia and New Zealand (these are cute little blue and white things). The bit about wrappers is from a British joke referring to Penguin choccy biccies.

Robins don't live in the Arctic--not for very long, anyway. I'm not commenting about how fast penguins fly. There used to be a bird in the northern seas called a pingwen by the Welsh, but known mostly now that it's extinct as the Great Auk. It is no relation to the southern penguins (or the choccy biccies or books), and not the bird referred to in the question. It seems they never met polar bears anyway.

Answer: A book where you can find lists of words

My young cousin (then just turned eight) was delighted when I gave her a grown-up dictionary for a birthday present. "And it's got a THEEZ-orus in it!" she said. "Thess-OR-us," I said. "Whatever. I NEED one of them!" she said.

This set me wondering how many eight-year-olds knew what a thesaurus was, let alone felt a burning need for one. It probably says something about Baloo and his family, too.

The lizardy thing is a tuatara, and forget the dinosaur (it's herbivorous and doesn't exist anyway,) as well as the penguin (ditto). Just watch some Joker of a scientist name some fossilized leg bone or toenail as 'Thesaurus quizii' now.