Hot on the heels of last week's answers, here's the latest batch : -
News Questions
Who or what are the following, and why are they in the news ?
1) Diana Nyad
2) Adam Scott
3) Lt. Cdr Sarah West
4) S and P ( Standard and Poor )
5) Lobsang Sangay
6) Shereka Leigh
7) Warren Jeffs
8) Kevin Anderson
9) Yamile Aldama
10) Mustafa Abdel Jalil
11) Howard Riddle
12) Azyraf Mossli
13) Monica Kancyk
14) Ghazanfar Ali
15) Alexis Bailey
16) Laura Johnson
17) Bay House School, Gosport
18) HTV-2 Falcon
19) Red necked phalarope
20) Shara Nelson
21) Geraldine Lynton Edwards
22) Charla Nash
23) Howard Johnson
24) Suzanne Harrison
25) Stephen Hopson
26) Aaron Bibner
27) Jonathan Knowle
28) Elijah McDermott
29) Liam Bretherton
30) Pretty Green
31) Steve Mullings
32) Dr. Jane Horsey
33) Tony Osborne
34) Rhiannon Brookesbank Jones
35) Don Wales
In Other News
1) Whose government report says kids should all study maths until they are 18 ?
2) Where did the world’s longest guided busway open ?
3) What is being used as a temporary art gallery in Llafrynach, near Brecon ?
4) Abbotsbury swannery using what to keep out foxes ?
5) Most common foreign language needed for jobs in Britain ?
6) Soldiers from which regiment accused of cutting fingers from dead Taliban fighters as trophies
7) Whose flagship was found off the coast of Panama
8) Which 69 year old TV chef died ?
9) Who came in the third test for the injured Jonathan Trott ?
10) Which 74 year old racehorse trainer retired ?
11) Which journalist was beaten on his way home from reporting on the riots ?
12) An extra edition of which TV show was shown on August 11th
13) What did Connie Fisher announce ?
14) What washed up on the beach in Lynmouth ?
15) Flights were briefly grounded when a grenade was found near which airport ?
16) Newsweek courted controversy by featuring a cover photo with whom showing ‘staring eyes ‘ ?
17) Which anniversary did the Mr. Men have this week – who was the first Mr. Man ?
18) A test event in which sport took place in Horseguards Parade ?
19) Who performed a citizen’s arrest on a looter outside his Notting Hill home ?
20) Which celebrity chef was threatened at knife point in his own Manchester restaurant ?
21) Inmates in California jails have been banned from ?
22) Claimed on a spoof BBC news page ?
23) Who accused Cameron of violent repression of peaceful protestors ?
24) Which company announced that it will not show its latest advert which did feature scenes of rioting ?
25) Wales football team lost friendly to ?
26) Which welsh walk is number 3 in a list of the world’s top 10 walks ?
27) Which country launched their first ever aircraft carrier ?
28) Who was bowled in the first ball of the third test ?
29) Who shot a record equaling round of 63 in the first round of the USPGA ?
30) Who were the first Mr. Man and Little Miss ? The Mr. Men are 40 years old, and the little Misses 20.
31) Which landmark closes for restoration in October ?
32) What was the final total of Alastair Cook’s innings in the third test ?
33) Where will author Tony Parsons be taking up a week’s position as writer in residence ?
34) Which anniversary is being marked in Germany this weekend ?
35) In which state will prospective republican presidential candidates be taking part in a straw pole this weekend ?
36) Whose report for the government recommended all children study maths to the age of 18 ?
37) Which indian batsman was out first ball of the third test ?
38) Which 2 giant Japanese corporations are set to merge ?
39) Who announced plans for a free wi – fi network ?
40) Which MP made a gaffe by asking why rioting children and teenagers weren’t in school ?
41) Which Tottenham’s league fixture against whom was postponed due to the riots ?
42) Which magazine apologized after slimming down a photograph of the Duchess of Cambridge ?
43) Which 10 year old BBC drama is to come to an end ?
44) Which part of Rory McIlroy’s body did he injure in the first round of the USPGA ?
45) Spain has won the right to stop any more workers from which country entering Spain ?
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Answers to News Questions
OK – here’s the answers
Who or what are the following, and why are they in the news ?
1) Reverend Neil Carter
2) Liam Tancock
3) Colin Atkinson
4) David Mackay
5) Glynn and Gregor Morris
6) Jim Devine
7) Chai Patel
8) Hayley Wilkins
9) Michael Whitaker
10) Shem Davies
11) Hama
12) Francesca Ariani
13) Jake Davies
14) Ched Evans
15) Abigail Bannatyne
16) Dealz
17) Madeleine Pulver
18) Jose Manuel Borroso
19) The White Shadow
20) Shaun Evans
21) Sean Price
22) Major General Keith Cima
23) Rhys Priestland
24) Myrtle Rose
25) Bill Bratton
26) Mark Duggan
27) Pauline Whitehouse
28) Muifa
29) Rick Perry
30) Alastair Brownlee and Helen Jenkins
Answers
1) He performed Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall’s marriage ceremony
2) Won gold in the world 50m swimming championships
3) He claimed he was mistreated at work for putting up a palm cross in his van .
4) Chief pilot for Virgin Galactic, which begin sub orbital commercial flights in 2013
5) Gregor Morris is autistic and they were thrown out of a West end performance of “Wicked” for being too loud
6) Expenses fraud MP let out after 4 months in prison
7) Big donor to the Labour Party who has asked for his money back
8) Fraudster who dodged Community Service in a charity shop by complaining of a bad bask
9) Showjumper arrested by police after fracas at Copthorne Hotel, Gatwick
10) Britain’s youngest grandfather, at 29 years old – unemployed
11) Syrian city in which tanks committed atrocities
12) Italian waitress whom David Cameron did not tip
13) Hacker from Shetland alleged to have hacked into SOCO
14) Welsh footballer charged with rape.
15) Daughter of Duncan Bannatyne – death threats on Twitter
16) The name of Poundland’s new European stores
17) The Australian girl who was told she had a bomb collar on – hoax
18) President of the European Commission
19) Early Hitchcock film rediscovered in New Zealand
20) He will be playing Morse in the prequel series to be called “Endeavour”
21) Chief Constable of Cleveland who was arrested as part of a corruption investigation.
22) The sacked former chief of The Tower of London
23) Stepped in as fly half for Wales v. England at short notice
24) 75 year old pilot who flew into restricted airspace and was investigated by F16 fighter planes during Obama visit to Chicago.
25) American supercop wanted as Met Chief Constable by Cameron but rejected by Theresa May
26) The man who was shot dead in Tottenham
27) 53 year old woman asked to leave a Morrison’s store when suffering from a stroke
28) Typhoon which failed to hit Shanghai
29) Governor of Texas who publicly prayed for deliverance from America’s woes
30) Winners of Hyde park Olympic Rehearsal triathlon
In other news
1) Who won the Hungarian Grand Prix ?
2) Name the other teams in England’s World Cup Qualifying group
3) The indian cricket team showed great sportsmanship over which England batsman’s dismissal as he walked off for the tea interval ?
4) Which part of Windsor Castle has just been reopened to the public ?
5) Who criticized modern comedians for being too offensive ?
6) Who have been criticized for being shown parking electric cars in disabled parking bays ?
7) 2nd August is the 150th anniversary of the first published what ?
8) Who finally took the blame for the ‘no hurricane’ prediction of 1987 ?
9) 2nd August – a group of illegal immigrants were apprehended trying to enter UK having stowed away in what ?
10) Who took 5 wickets in the Indian second innings of the second test ?
11) What was the name of the film actor grandfather of Toby Flood ?
12) Which footballer will be given a free transfer to anyone who will take him ?
13) Where did a plane belonging to which airline fall off the runway, with nobody seriously hurt ?
14) IN an LA Fitness survey, who were the best bodies – women – men ?
15) Who was Mike Tindall’s best man ?
16) Which department store have introduced their triple boost bra ?
17) Who is joining the TV series Family Guy – to play a dolphin ?
18) Who sang Happy Birthday to barack Obama on his 50th ?
19) Which country has created its own brand scent ?
20) Which TV Presenter was hit by a foam pie ?
21) Scientists claim to have found what on Mars ?
22) Which former world champion was in court accused of attacking her former husband ?
23) Who is the new manager of Brentford FC ?
24) Heather Mills claimed that she has been hacked by which newspaper ?
25) Which team did Fulham beat in the qualifiers for the Europa League ?
26) Which team knocked Rangers out of the European Champions League ?
27) Which Leicester centre made his debut for England RFU v. Wales ?
28) From which country is Noriega being extradited to his native Panama ?
29) Which films tar is facing eviction from her home in New York ?
30) Which Holiday firm went bust, stranding holiday makers in Turkey particularly ?
31) ON which island did the polar bear attack happen
32) Who crashed his Mclaren F1 sports car ?
33) Which company have been given provisional permission to drill for oil in the Beaufort Sea ?
34) The Bratz toy doll company won $309 million damages from whom ?
35) Who was taken to hospital after having a pizza thrown in his eye by Sooty ?
36) Which 73 year old novelist died ?
37) What is the venue for this year’s USPGA ?
38) Which horse racing competition pitted teams from Ireland , The UK, and the Rest of the World ?
39) Score – England v. Wales at Twickenham ?
40) A man was shot dead by police near which station in London ?
41) What celebrated its 20th anniversary on 7th August ?
42) Where were Victorian beachhuts destroyed in an arson attack ?
43) Which town is making its own Hollywood style walk of fame ?
44) Which of his sponsors have announced that they have just ended their association with Tiger Woods ?
45) What was the final score in the Community Shield ?
46) Which team did Leeds beat in their Challenge Cup semi final ?
47) Which team did Wigan beat in their Challenge Cup semi final ?
Answers
1) Jenson Button
2) Moldova- Montenegro – Poland – San Marino – Ukraine
3) Ian Bell
4) The Round Tower
5) Ronnie Corbett
6) James May and Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear
7) Weather Forecast
8) Bill Giles
9) Wheelie Bins
10) Tim Bresnan
11) Albert Lievin
12) Joey Barton
13) Guyana – Caribbean Airways
14) Helen Mirrne – David Beckham
15) Ian Balshaw
16) Debenhams
17) Ricky Gervais
18) Jennifer Hudson
19) Lithuania
20) Fiona Bruce
21) Streams of Water
22) Liz McColgan
23) Uwe Rosler
24) The Daily Mirror
25) RNK Split
26) Malmo
27) Manu Tuilagi
28) France
29) Faye Dunaway
30) Holidays 4U
31) Spitzbergen / Svalbard
32) Rowan Atkinson
33) Shell
34) Mattel (Barbie)
35) Paul Daniels
36) Stan Barstow
37) Atlanta Athletic club
38) The Shergar Cup at Ascot
39) 23 – 29 to England
40) Tottenham Hale
41) The World Wide Web
42) Weymouth
43) Maidenhead
44) Tag Heuer
45) Manchester United 3 – Manchester City – 2
46) Castleford
47) St. Helens
Who or what are the following, and why are they in the news ?
1) Reverend Neil Carter
2) Liam Tancock
3) Colin Atkinson
4) David Mackay
5) Glynn and Gregor Morris
6) Jim Devine
7) Chai Patel
8) Hayley Wilkins
9) Michael Whitaker
10) Shem Davies
11) Hama
12) Francesca Ariani
13) Jake Davies
14) Ched Evans
15) Abigail Bannatyne
16) Dealz
17) Madeleine Pulver
18) Jose Manuel Borroso
19) The White Shadow
20) Shaun Evans
21) Sean Price
22) Major General Keith Cima
23) Rhys Priestland
24) Myrtle Rose
25) Bill Bratton
26) Mark Duggan
27) Pauline Whitehouse
28) Muifa
29) Rick Perry
30) Alastair Brownlee and Helen Jenkins
Answers
1) He performed Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall’s marriage ceremony
2) Won gold in the world 50m swimming championships
3) He claimed he was mistreated at work for putting up a palm cross in his van .
4) Chief pilot for Virgin Galactic, which begin sub orbital commercial flights in 2013
5) Gregor Morris is autistic and they were thrown out of a West end performance of “Wicked” for being too loud
6) Expenses fraud MP let out after 4 months in prison
7) Big donor to the Labour Party who has asked for his money back
8) Fraudster who dodged Community Service in a charity shop by complaining of a bad bask
9) Showjumper arrested by police after fracas at Copthorne Hotel, Gatwick
10) Britain’s youngest grandfather, at 29 years old – unemployed
11) Syrian city in which tanks committed atrocities
12) Italian waitress whom David Cameron did not tip
13) Hacker from Shetland alleged to have hacked into SOCO
14) Welsh footballer charged with rape.
15) Daughter of Duncan Bannatyne – death threats on Twitter
16) The name of Poundland’s new European stores
17) The Australian girl who was told she had a bomb collar on – hoax
18) President of the European Commission
19) Early Hitchcock film rediscovered in New Zealand
20) He will be playing Morse in the prequel series to be called “Endeavour”
21) Chief Constable of Cleveland who was arrested as part of a corruption investigation.
22) The sacked former chief of The Tower of London
23) Stepped in as fly half for Wales v. England at short notice
24) 75 year old pilot who flew into restricted airspace and was investigated by F16 fighter planes during Obama visit to Chicago.
25) American supercop wanted as Met Chief Constable by Cameron but rejected by Theresa May
26) The man who was shot dead in Tottenham
27) 53 year old woman asked to leave a Morrison’s store when suffering from a stroke
28) Typhoon which failed to hit Shanghai
29) Governor of Texas who publicly prayed for deliverance from America’s woes
30) Winners of Hyde park Olympic Rehearsal triathlon
In other news
1) Who won the Hungarian Grand Prix ?
2) Name the other teams in England’s World Cup Qualifying group
3) The indian cricket team showed great sportsmanship over which England batsman’s dismissal as he walked off for the tea interval ?
4) Which part of Windsor Castle has just been reopened to the public ?
5) Who criticized modern comedians for being too offensive ?
6) Who have been criticized for being shown parking electric cars in disabled parking bays ?
7) 2nd August is the 150th anniversary of the first published what ?
8) Who finally took the blame for the ‘no hurricane’ prediction of 1987 ?
9) 2nd August – a group of illegal immigrants were apprehended trying to enter UK having stowed away in what ?
10) Who took 5 wickets in the Indian second innings of the second test ?
11) What was the name of the film actor grandfather of Toby Flood ?
12) Which footballer will be given a free transfer to anyone who will take him ?
13) Where did a plane belonging to which airline fall off the runway, with nobody seriously hurt ?
14) IN an LA Fitness survey, who were the best bodies – women – men ?
15) Who was Mike Tindall’s best man ?
16) Which department store have introduced their triple boost bra ?
17) Who is joining the TV series Family Guy – to play a dolphin ?
18) Who sang Happy Birthday to barack Obama on his 50th ?
19) Which country has created its own brand scent ?
20) Which TV Presenter was hit by a foam pie ?
21) Scientists claim to have found what on Mars ?
22) Which former world champion was in court accused of attacking her former husband ?
23) Who is the new manager of Brentford FC ?
24) Heather Mills claimed that she has been hacked by which newspaper ?
25) Which team did Fulham beat in the qualifiers for the Europa League ?
26) Which team knocked Rangers out of the European Champions League ?
27) Which Leicester centre made his debut for England RFU v. Wales ?
28) From which country is Noriega being extradited to his native Panama ?
29) Which films tar is facing eviction from her home in New York ?
30) Which Holiday firm went bust, stranding holiday makers in Turkey particularly ?
31) ON which island did the polar bear attack happen
32) Who crashed his Mclaren F1 sports car ?
33) Which company have been given provisional permission to drill for oil in the Beaufort Sea ?
34) The Bratz toy doll company won $309 million damages from whom ?
35) Who was taken to hospital after having a pizza thrown in his eye by Sooty ?
36) Which 73 year old novelist died ?
37) What is the venue for this year’s USPGA ?
38) Which horse racing competition pitted teams from Ireland , The UK, and the Rest of the World ?
39) Score – England v. Wales at Twickenham ?
40) A man was shot dead by police near which station in London ?
41) What celebrated its 20th anniversary on 7th August ?
42) Where were Victorian beachhuts destroyed in an arson attack ?
43) Which town is making its own Hollywood style walk of fame ?
44) Which of his sponsors have announced that they have just ended their association with Tiger Woods ?
45) What was the final score in the Community Shield ?
46) Which team did Leeds beat in their Challenge Cup semi final ?
47) Which team did Wigan beat in their Challenge Cup semi final ?
Answers
1) Jenson Button
2) Moldova- Montenegro – Poland – San Marino – Ukraine
3) Ian Bell
4) The Round Tower
5) Ronnie Corbett
6) James May and Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear
7) Weather Forecast
8) Bill Giles
9) Wheelie Bins
10) Tim Bresnan
11) Albert Lievin
12) Joey Barton
13) Guyana – Caribbean Airways
14) Helen Mirrne – David Beckham
15) Ian Balshaw
16) Debenhams
17) Ricky Gervais
18) Jennifer Hudson
19) Lithuania
20) Fiona Bruce
21) Streams of Water
22) Liz McColgan
23) Uwe Rosler
24) The Daily Mirror
25) RNK Split
26) Malmo
27) Manu Tuilagi
28) France
29) Faye Dunaway
30) Holidays 4U
31) Spitzbergen / Svalbard
32) Rowan Atkinson
33) Shell
34) Mattel (Barbie)
35) Paul Daniels
36) Stan Barstow
37) Atlanta Athletic club
38) The Shergar Cup at Ascot
39) 23 – 29 to England
40) Tottenham Hale
41) The World Wide Web
42) Weymouth
43) Maidenhead
44) Tag Heuer
45) Manchester United 3 – Manchester City – 2
46) Castleford
47) St. Helens
RIP Robert Robinson
I was saddened this morning to see that Robert Robinson, broadcaster and writer, and for many years the chairman of Brain of Britain, has passed away. I've said before that the only disappointment about appearing in Brain of Britain for me was that Mr. Robinson had decided that his health would no longer permit him to take part - although Russell Davies did, and will continue to do an excellent job. so alas, I never actually met him myself.
I remember Robert Robinson mainly from watching "Ask the Family" when I was a kid, and then Points of View. He always struck me as a witty , dry chap, and at a time when genuine rather than manufactured personalities are in shorter supply on radio and television than ever, his passing is a cause of sadness. I am sure he will be missed, and my condolences go to his family, friends and those who were lucky enough to have known him.
I remember Robert Robinson mainly from watching "Ask the Family" when I was a kid, and then Points of View. He always struck me as a witty , dry chap, and at a time when genuine rather than manufactured personalities are in shorter supply on radio and television than ever, his passing is a cause of sadness. I am sure he will be missed, and my condolences go to his family, friends and those who were lucky enough to have known him.
Friday, 12 August 2011
Stoppers
It was my turn in the rugby club last night. Often when I compile a quiz for the club I set out , determined to make it easy and thus ensure a set of high scores across the board, yet when I actually start asking the questions I realize that what looked so easy on the computer screen in front of me, doesn’t actually sound so easy now I’m asking it to the teams. So this week I made up my mind that I was going to go out of my way to produce the easiest quiz I possibly could.
In order to do this I paid a visit to the land of the gimmick. Regular readers may remember that I use connections in a quiz on a fairly regular basis, but that tends to be the only gimmick I use. After all, I’m sure you know my feelings about gimmicks in a quiz – a little tends to go a long way. Still, needs must , and for once I was prepared to compromise. So the gimmick I used was ‘last letter – first letter’. I’m sure you know what I mean here, but in case you don’t, all it means is that in each round the first letter of the answer to number 2 is the last letter of the answer to number 1, the first letter of the answer to number 3 is the last letter to answer to number 2 and so on.
As I say, I’m not a great fan of gimmicks like this, but then it’s important to remember that when you compile a quiz for the club, you’re not compiling it for yourself. Still, having gone to the trouble of making it as easy as I could, then I started having little second thoughts. You see, when I went through the quiz , I started to think that there was a very real chance of at least one of the teams answering every single question correctly. Which I’m honest enough to admit I did not want to happen – partly because we are the only team ever to achieve this feat in the club. So I started to put three or four of what I thought would be ‘stoppers’ into the quiz. For the uninitiated a stopper is a question which is not designed to be answered, and is there to stop a team in its tracks. Hence the name. Stoppers seem to be particularly associated with quiz machines, where you will be asked one terribly obscure fact, and given no time at all to answer it. Well, my stoppers weren’t of this sort, but they were the kind of questions which were noticeably less obvious than the majority. The kind of question where even a good team has probably as much chance of getting it wrong as getting it right. For example – which large family car did Citroen produce from 1993 until 2001 ? The answer to the previous question was the River Styx. So that left teams with a quandary – would the answer be the Xsara or the Xantia ? Actually it was the Xantia.
The stoppers didn’t work with the team they were designed for. Yet they still didn’t manage to get everything right. Proving that nobody knows everything, and what is easy to you won’t necessarily be to everyone else, they failed to score a maximum in the very first round, missing out on the name of Lord Sugar’s right hand man in every series of The Apprentice. Which does lead me to make an observation. In my case, its never the questions which I think will catch people out that actually seem to give them the most difficulty, and its never the rounds which I think are hardest which teams have the lowest scores on. More often than not, it’s the round which I think is the easiest. I’m not sure what this goes to prove about me, and I don’t really think I’d like to know the answer even if I was.
In order to do this I paid a visit to the land of the gimmick. Regular readers may remember that I use connections in a quiz on a fairly regular basis, but that tends to be the only gimmick I use. After all, I’m sure you know my feelings about gimmicks in a quiz – a little tends to go a long way. Still, needs must , and for once I was prepared to compromise. So the gimmick I used was ‘last letter – first letter’. I’m sure you know what I mean here, but in case you don’t, all it means is that in each round the first letter of the answer to number 2 is the last letter of the answer to number 1, the first letter of the answer to number 3 is the last letter to answer to number 2 and so on.
As I say, I’m not a great fan of gimmicks like this, but then it’s important to remember that when you compile a quiz for the club, you’re not compiling it for yourself. Still, having gone to the trouble of making it as easy as I could, then I started having little second thoughts. You see, when I went through the quiz , I started to think that there was a very real chance of at least one of the teams answering every single question correctly. Which I’m honest enough to admit I did not want to happen – partly because we are the only team ever to achieve this feat in the club. So I started to put three or four of what I thought would be ‘stoppers’ into the quiz. For the uninitiated a stopper is a question which is not designed to be answered, and is there to stop a team in its tracks. Hence the name. Stoppers seem to be particularly associated with quiz machines, where you will be asked one terribly obscure fact, and given no time at all to answer it. Well, my stoppers weren’t of this sort, but they were the kind of questions which were noticeably less obvious than the majority. The kind of question where even a good team has probably as much chance of getting it wrong as getting it right. For example – which large family car did Citroen produce from 1993 until 2001 ? The answer to the previous question was the River Styx. So that left teams with a quandary – would the answer be the Xsara or the Xantia ? Actually it was the Xantia.
The stoppers didn’t work with the team they were designed for. Yet they still didn’t manage to get everything right. Proving that nobody knows everything, and what is easy to you won’t necessarily be to everyone else, they failed to score a maximum in the very first round, missing out on the name of Lord Sugar’s right hand man in every series of The Apprentice. Which does lead me to make an observation. In my case, its never the questions which I think will catch people out that actually seem to give them the most difficulty, and its never the rounds which I think are hardest which teams have the lowest scores on. More often than not, it’s the round which I think is the easiest. I’m not sure what this goes to prove about me, and I don’t really think I’d like to know the answer even if I was.
Thursday, 11 August 2011
The World According to Ubi
A while ago I posted about quiz board games of days gone by, and both cwj and bj recommended Ubi ( The World According to Ubi. ) This is what cwj said –
“We (good, keen quizzers) played it once, and gave up on it as hopelessly difficult. But then on a subsequent holiday got really into it. It is an excellent game, and would recommend it very highly.You have to be in the right frame of mind to play it and it certainly takes some getting used to. And it will not be suitable for a family game. You need to be play it with solid quizzers.”
I didn’t actually make the post in the first place because I was desperately looking for a good quiz board game to play. Still, this comment and bj’s comment intrigued me enough that I bought the game from ebay for a few pounds.
Apparently The World According to Ubi was created by Scott Abbott and Chris Haney, the creators of Trivial Pursuit, and it was launched on the market in 1986. I don’t think that it ever set the world alight in terms of sales, but it has a very loyal following apparently. I checked Facebook, and there’s at least one group dedicated to the game, with over 50 members.
On opening the package my first thought was that it looked like a Krypton Factor test as redesigned by the freemasons. Triangles, pyramids and single eyes are very much in evidence. The difficulty cwj and bj mentioned becomes obvious from your first reading of the rules. Let me quote a little : -
“The winner is the player who first assembles the four Rubi scoring facets to form a complete Rubi (pyramid) topped by the Rubi Ubi finishing piece. Rubi facets are earned by answering one Ubi in each of the four Ubi Zones with triangular precision.”
That sounds OK – not desperately unlike Trivial Pursuit – with assembling pyramids substituted for collecting cheese. However the key phrase is triangular precision. Again, from the rules : -
“The player born closest to March 15th in the calendar year plays first. The player with the first turn rolls the rubi cubis ( dice ) to determine the ubi zone and degree of precision , either hexagonal or triangular required for the answer.
One rubi cubi is the zone cubi, having one face for each of the four zones, and two for the ubi eye. ( The zones are Americas – Europe – Water ( embracing Australia and the world’s oceans, seas , lakes, islands rivers and shores ) – Universal ( Asia, Africa and other places ) When the ubi eye is rolled the player may choose any ubi zone. The other rubi cubi is the precision cubi which will show either a hexagon , a triangle or an ubi eye. If a hexagon is rolled, then the answer must be the number of the hexagon in which the location is found. If a triangle is rolled, the answer must provide the number of the hexagon and the triangle within it, denoted by S,E,A,R,C or H on the Rubicon Reticule map reader. The player may choose to give hexagonal or triangular precision is the ubi eye is rolled on the precision cubi. “
Yes, it sounds off putting, doesn’t it? Yet once you get the hang of it, its very absorbing. They key is the questions. Each one starts with – ubi – which the latin scholars among us know is the latin for where. So to pick a random sample : -
AMR – Ubi Chile poke at Peru ?
EUR – Ubi Lusitania headed when seabedded ?
WAT - Ubi Seven Sisters see the sea near Seaford ?
UNI - Ubi Morocco’s most populated place plonked ?
Answers –
AMR – Southern Peru 282- A
EUR – Liverpool 454-H
WAT – Seven Sisters Cliffs Sussex 447 – H
UNI – Casablanca – Morocco 340- A 511 – A
The thing is its not enough to know the answer, you have to find the correct spot on the map, and that’s, not to put too fine a point on it, difficult. Which is the really good thing about the game. These are very different from pretty much any other trivia game out there, and all the better for it.
In terms of sales I don’t know how long it was on the market, or how much it sold, but somehow I doubt that it ever set the world alight. Although you can see how it repeats some of the features which gave Trivial Pursuit its appeal – sumptuous box – a lot of ‘game’ for your money – questions to answer and things to collect – you can also see how this would only ever have minority appeal. Its based on one knowledge subject rather than all of them – its complicated and its difficult. Of course, for its fans, these are probably exactly the features which make it much better than Trivial Pursuit.
I wouldn’t say I’m hooked, but the game has already absorbed several hours of admittedly none too valuable time. So cwj and bj - thanks .
“We (good, keen quizzers) played it once, and gave up on it as hopelessly difficult. But then on a subsequent holiday got really into it. It is an excellent game, and would recommend it very highly.You have to be in the right frame of mind to play it and it certainly takes some getting used to. And it will not be suitable for a family game. You need to be play it with solid quizzers.”
I didn’t actually make the post in the first place because I was desperately looking for a good quiz board game to play. Still, this comment and bj’s comment intrigued me enough that I bought the game from ebay for a few pounds.
Apparently The World According to Ubi was created by Scott Abbott and Chris Haney, the creators of Trivial Pursuit, and it was launched on the market in 1986. I don’t think that it ever set the world alight in terms of sales, but it has a very loyal following apparently. I checked Facebook, and there’s at least one group dedicated to the game, with over 50 members.
On opening the package my first thought was that it looked like a Krypton Factor test as redesigned by the freemasons. Triangles, pyramids and single eyes are very much in evidence. The difficulty cwj and bj mentioned becomes obvious from your first reading of the rules. Let me quote a little : -
“The winner is the player who first assembles the four Rubi scoring facets to form a complete Rubi (pyramid) topped by the Rubi Ubi finishing piece. Rubi facets are earned by answering one Ubi in each of the four Ubi Zones with triangular precision.”
That sounds OK – not desperately unlike Trivial Pursuit – with assembling pyramids substituted for collecting cheese. However the key phrase is triangular precision. Again, from the rules : -
“The player born closest to March 15th in the calendar year plays first. The player with the first turn rolls the rubi cubis ( dice ) to determine the ubi zone and degree of precision , either hexagonal or triangular required for the answer.
One rubi cubi is the zone cubi, having one face for each of the four zones, and two for the ubi eye. ( The zones are Americas – Europe – Water ( embracing Australia and the world’s oceans, seas , lakes, islands rivers and shores ) – Universal ( Asia, Africa and other places ) When the ubi eye is rolled the player may choose any ubi zone. The other rubi cubi is the precision cubi which will show either a hexagon , a triangle or an ubi eye. If a hexagon is rolled, then the answer must be the number of the hexagon in which the location is found. If a triangle is rolled, the answer must provide the number of the hexagon and the triangle within it, denoted by S,E,A,R,C or H on the Rubicon Reticule map reader. The player may choose to give hexagonal or triangular precision is the ubi eye is rolled on the precision cubi. “
Yes, it sounds off putting, doesn’t it? Yet once you get the hang of it, its very absorbing. They key is the questions. Each one starts with – ubi – which the latin scholars among us know is the latin for where. So to pick a random sample : -
AMR – Ubi Chile poke at Peru ?
EUR – Ubi Lusitania headed when seabedded ?
WAT - Ubi Seven Sisters see the sea near Seaford ?
UNI - Ubi Morocco’s most populated place plonked ?
Answers –
AMR – Southern Peru 282- A
EUR – Liverpool 454-H
WAT – Seven Sisters Cliffs Sussex 447 – H
UNI – Casablanca – Morocco 340- A 511 – A
The thing is its not enough to know the answer, you have to find the correct spot on the map, and that’s, not to put too fine a point on it, difficult. Which is the really good thing about the game. These are very different from pretty much any other trivia game out there, and all the better for it.
In terms of sales I don’t know how long it was on the market, or how much it sold, but somehow I doubt that it ever set the world alight. Although you can see how it repeats some of the features which gave Trivial Pursuit its appeal – sumptuous box – a lot of ‘game’ for your money – questions to answer and things to collect – you can also see how this would only ever have minority appeal. Its based on one knowledge subject rather than all of them – its complicated and its difficult. Of course, for its fans, these are probably exactly the features which make it much better than Trivial Pursuit.
I wouldn’t say I’m hooked, but the game has already absorbed several hours of admittedly none too valuable time. So cwj and bj - thanks .
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Further to the previous post -
It has just occured to me that the two wild goose chases - or do I mean geese chases ? - I've had in the last 5 days both happened with quizzes in pubs called The North Star ! Is that coincidence - or synchronicity ?
After I wrote the last post I thought I'd have a quick look on the net to see if there was anything anywhere about the Cardiff pub's summer break , so I googled North Star Cardiff quiz . All bar the bottom entry on the first page were related to yesterday night's pub. However the bottom of the first page had an entry for the North Star Worthing - the very pub which wouldn't let Jess play last Thursday night !
After I wrote the last post I thought I'd have a quick look on the net to see if there was anything anywhere about the Cardiff pub's summer break , so I googled North Star Cardiff quiz . All bar the bottom entry on the first page were related to yesterday night's pub. However the bottom of the first page had an entry for the North Star Worthing - the very pub which wouldn't let Jess play last Thursday night !
Serves me right
- I suppose. More than once in this very blog I have rather disparagingly mentioned a quiz in Cardiff which has little else going for it other than a £100 cash prize. That's my opinion , anyway, although as always . . . Well, last night I knew that there was no quiz in the Pill Harriers Club in Newport just this once, and so I decided to give it a go. The thing was that I didn't actually get round to giving my son Mike and Ceri a ring about it until yesterday afternoon. The upshot was that we decided to go anyway, but it meant that I had to pick Ceri up from Cardiff, then we drove into Caerphilly to pick Mike up from work, then straight on to the quiz. Without ringing to find out if the quiz is on.
I think you can probably see where I'm going with this one. I dropped Mike and Ceri outside the pub while I went and parked the car. I needn't have bothered. As soon as they entered they were informed that the quiz was taking a summer break. To be fair to us there wasn't a summer break for the quiz this time last year, but still, that's what you get for slighting a quiz when you don't need it, then just dropping in and still expecting it to be free - sorry , I was channelling Gloria Gaynor there for a moment. Still, a summer break for the quiz - that's a little bit of a new one on me. Mind you , I can see why they wouldn't want to be giving away £100 on a summer night when many people are away on holiday , and lots of the students who often attend the quiz would be dispersed to other parts of the country.
Still, thinking about it that makes two wasted quiz journeys in the space of 5 days - by no means an enviable record, and certainly not one I wish to extend. Thinking about it the round trip probably worked out at about 60 miles all told, which I think is the longest wild goose chase I've done in pursuit of a quiz. Again, not a record I'm in any great hurry to improve upon.
I think you can probably see where I'm going with this one. I dropped Mike and Ceri outside the pub while I went and parked the car. I needn't have bothered. As soon as they entered they were informed that the quiz was taking a summer break. To be fair to us there wasn't a summer break for the quiz this time last year, but still, that's what you get for slighting a quiz when you don't need it, then just dropping in and still expecting it to be free - sorry , I was channelling Gloria Gaynor there for a moment. Still, a summer break for the quiz - that's a little bit of a new one on me. Mind you , I can see why they wouldn't want to be giving away £100 on a summer night when many people are away on holiday , and lots of the students who often attend the quiz would be dispersed to other parts of the country.
Still, thinking about it that makes two wasted quiz journeys in the space of 5 days - by no means an enviable record, and certainly not one I wish to extend. Thinking about it the round trip probably worked out at about 60 miles all told, which I think is the longest wild goose chase I've done in pursuit of a quiz. Again, not a record I'm in any great hurry to improve upon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
