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'A Murder is Announced' Trivia Quiz

This quiz is about the Joan Hickson television adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, co-starring Joan Sims - the book will not necessarily help here.

A multiple-choice quiz by ArleneRimmer. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
ArleneRimmer

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
161,516

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
8 / 15

Plays
706

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. The whole of Chipping Cleghorn was reading the Chipping Cleghorn Gazette, but for one person, Edmund Sweatenham. What was he reading at the breakfast table? Hint

The Daily Worker

Arise and Unite

Russia Today

The Weekly News

NEXT>

Question 2 of 15

2. How many people were in Little Paddocks (including Hannah the maid and Scherz the intruder) at 7pm that evening? Hint

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Question 3 of 15

3. Only one of the villagers who came that evening asked Miss Blacklock about the murder which was due to take place - what was this person's surname?

Answer: (one word - the name is mentioned in the content of this quiz)

4. Inspector Craddock spoke to everyone the next day, and got similar, but contrasting stories from them all. During the course of the interviews, we learn that Patrick and Julia are distant cousins to Miss Blacklock and both are studying. Patrick is reading engineering at Milchester University, but what is Julia studying? Hint

English

History

Explosives

Dispensing

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Question 5 of 15

5. Why was Miss Marple at the Royal Spa Hotel? Hint

she was having a holiday by the sea

she was recuperating from an illness

she was visiting her nephew

she was taking the spa waters

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Question 6 of 15

6. Everyone who had been in the drawing room at the time of the incident testified that Scherz had both gun and torch. Who was the first person to question the presence of a gun? Hint

Miss Hinchcliffe

Miss Murgatroyd

Miss Marple

Mrs Harmon

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Question 7 of 15

7. As the investigation progressed, we learn about Mr Gurdler's will. His widow, Belle, was still alive, but on her death the inheritance would pass to Miss Blacklock. In the event that Miss Blacklock not be alive to inherit, who would get the fortune? Hint

Patrick and Julia Simmons

Edmund Sweatenham

Ronald and Philippa Haymes

Pip and Emma Stamfordis

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Question 8 of 15

8. Sergeant Fletcher was alone at Little Paddocks when Mrs Sweatenham came in to the kitchen; he was surprised that no one seemed to lock doors and that anyone could just walk in at any time. Mrs Sweatenham responded with 'how else could I bring - what - and leave them in the kitchen?' Hint

blancmanges

quinces

sausage rolls

magazines

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Question 9 of 15

9. What colour were the tablecloths in the tea room in the village? Hint

green

pink

blue

yellow

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Question 10 of 15

10. The vicarage cat was a help in Miss Marple working out how the lights went out at the right time, but do you remember whether it was the Shepherd lamp or the Shepherdess lamp which was destroyed in the process?

Answer: (either shepherd or shepherdess)

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Question 11 of 15

11. When Miss Hinchcliffe asked Miss Murgatroyd to pretend to be Scherz and come into the room brandishing both torch and gun, what did she give her to represent the gun? Hint

a hearth brush

a hairbrush

a milk bottle

a trowel

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Question 12 of 15

12. Was Miss Blacklock short or long sighted?

Answer: (answer short or long)

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Question 13 of 15

13. Where was Miss Hinchcliffe when Miss Murgatroyd was being murdered? Hint

doing the shopping in town

fetching a dog from the station

visiting Miss Marple

taking provisions to Little Paddocks

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Question 14 of 15

14. When Pip and Emma were split up, how was it done? Hint

Emma went with father, Pip with mother

Emma went with mother, Pip with father

Emma went with grandmother, Pip with mother

Emma went with mother, Pip with grandmother

NEXT>

Question 15 of 15

15. What was the colour of Philippa's wedding dress? Hint

white

blue

pink

cream

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The whole of Chipping Cleghorn was reading the Chipping Cleghorn Gazette, but for one person, Edmund Sweatenham. What was he reading at the breakfast table?

Answer: The Daily Worker

The conversations throughout the village centred on the advertisement announcing a murder at Little Paddocks that evening - in Edmund's case there was much confusion as his mother did not understand such phrases as 'the opium of the people', which he used to describe the 'murder games' so popular in richer homes at the time.

2. How many people were in Little Paddocks (including Hannah the maid and Scherz the intruder) at 7pm that evening?

Answer: 14

They were: Miss Blacklock, Dora Banner (Bunny), Patrick and Julia Simmons, Philippa Haymes, Edmund and Mrs Sweatenham, Miss Hinchcliffe and Miss Murgatroyd, Colonel and Mrs Easterbrook, Bunch Harmon, Hannah and Scherz. By the end of the programme three of these would be dead, and one would be arrested for their murder.

3. Only one of the villagers who came that evening asked Miss Blacklock about the murder which was due to take place - what was this person's surname?

Answer: Harmon

Everyone else commented on the central heating and the chrysanthemums, pretending that they just dropped in as they were passing.

Answer: Dispensing

She told Craddock that if she wanted to kill someone she would not shoot them - as a dispenser she would poison her prey. Unfortunately the next death would be by poison!

5. Why was Miss Marple at the Royal Spa Hotel?

Answer: she was taking the spa waters

When Craddock came to see her, she told him that she was taking the waters for her rheumatism. We had already seen Miss Marple at the beginning of the programme when Scherz left the hotel to put the advertisement in the paper, and was able to direct Craddock back to speak again to his girlfriend, Mirna Harris.

6. Everyone who had been in the drawing room at the time of the incident testified that Scherz had both gun and torch. Who was the first person to question the presence of a gun?

Answer: Miss Marple

Miss Marple doubted that anyone had seen Scherz with a gun because it was too dark to see him, let alone what was in his other hand as he waved the torch around. Later Miss Hinchcliffe was to use Miss Murgatroyd to re-enact the event and proved that Scherz could not have had a gun because he needed his second hand to hold the door open.

Answer: Pip and Emma Stamfordis

Unfortunately Pip and Emma were long since lost, not having been seen since before the war. Craddock surmised that they could be living in Chipping Cleghorn, and had a list of possible suspects for them, and also for their mother, Sonia. This list included virtually all of those present at the murder!

Answer: quinces

Sure that Miss Blacklock was the intended victim, the police kept a watch on the house, but no other reference is made to the unlocked doors. When the poisoned aspirin is found in the house it is assumed that someone at the party placed them there - it could be that the police persuaded Miss Blacklock to lock her doors.

9. What colour were the tablecloths in the tea room in the village?

Answer: blue

Miss Marple sat and talked with Bunny before Miss Blacklock came, and then she talked with her niece, Bunch, the vicar's wife. It was during this conversation that Miss Marple got a clue in the mistaken identity incident with the waitress.

Answer: shepherd

The broken lamp was stored away in the attic room and was found when Craddock went looking for old photographs of Sonia. Bunny had mentioned this to Miss Marple in the tea room and could well have been the reason why Bunny was poisoned by drugged aspirin tablets.

11. When Miss Hinchcliffe asked Miss Murgatroyd to pretend to be Scherz and come into the room brandishing both torch and gun, what did she give her to represent the gun?

Answer: a trowel

This was to prove to her that Scherz did not carry a gun when he came into the room at Little Paddocks. As she put the torch and trowel back, she played the part of a cowboy and called herself 'Two gun Hinchcliffe, the terror of Kidderminster' as a joke.

12. Was Miss Blacklock short or long sighted?

Answer: short

Miss Marple ascertained this fact from Bunch just before the vicarage cat, Delilah, fused all the lights knocking a drink over a frayed lamp flex.

13. Where was Miss Hinchcliffe when Miss Murgatroyd was being murdered?

Answer: fetching a dog from the station

Miss Murgatroyd had just remembered who was missing from the room while Scherz was waving the torch around, and the murderer realised how close she was to being discovered. The only clue left for Miss Hinchcliffe and Miss Marple was that Miss Murgatroyd used the word 'she'.

14. When Pip and Emma were split up, how was it done?

Answer: Emma went with father, Pip with mother

The young lady we know as Julia was, in fact, Emma. The real Julia was in Scotland, following an acting career; Emma and Patrick kept up the pretence so his parents could not stop his sister acting. Pip was Philippa Haymes - everyone assumed that Pip was male.

15. What was the colour of Philippa's wedding dress?

Answer: blue

The very last scene saw Edmund and Philippa coming out of church after the wedding; Craddock and Miss Marple meet in the churchyard. Miss Marple was invited, but Craddock came because he read about it in the Chipping Cleghorn Gazette.

Source: Author ArleneRimmer

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
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