The Cedar Lounge Revolution

And you thought you had already heard the stupidest thing John Bruton could say in 2016 October 17, 2016

Posted by Garibaldy in Crazed nonsense....
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John Bruton

The decision to leave is reversing 1,000 years of history between Britain and Ireland.

CLR Cryptic Quiz – The Answers January 11, 2016

Posted by clrgo in Crazed nonsense....
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1 (a) What started between the release of Please Please Me and the verdict in the criminal trial R v Penguin Books Ltd, and (b) for whom was it rather late?

Answer
The first lines of Philip Larkin’s poem Annus Mirabilis are as follows:
Sexual intercourse began
In nineteen sixty-three
(which was rather late for me) –
Between the end of the “Chatterley” ban
And the Beatles’ first LP.

So, the answers we were looking for were:
(a) sexual intercourse
(b) Philip Larkin

 

2 (a) Why in Ireland are there no 12th, 22nd, 24th, 25th, or 32nd?
(b) And why can we not yet say if the most recent, not included in this question, will remain in the list?
(c) In the USA, what happened to the 18th?

Answer
This question is about amendments to constitutions. Part (a) lists the ‘missing’ amendments to the Constitution of Ireland.
The 12th proposed to exclude the risk of suicide as a ground for permitting abortion. The vote on that was held on the same day as the votes for the 13th and 14th amendments; the 12th was not approved by the people and the 13th and 14th were.
The proposed 22nd amendment was never put to the people as the Bill did not complete the legislative process in the houses of the Oireachtas. The number could have been used for one of the amendments put to the people in June 2001, but it wasn’t.
The 24th amendment would have allowed the State to ratify the Nice Treaty in June 2001. That amendment was defeated and the number was not used for the next proposed amendment in March 2002. (The 26th amendment to allow ratification of the Nice treaty was passed in November 2002.)
The 25th amendment revisited the question of suicide and abortion. It was rejected in March 2002.
The 32nd proposed the abolition of the Seanad, and the vote was held on 3 October 2013; it was rejected by the people. The 33rd amendment was also decided that day, and was passed.
The 35th amendment was voted on in May 2015, and proposed to lower the age for eligibility to be president. That vote was held on the same day that the 34th amendment (on marriage equality) was passed. We don’t know yet if that number will be re-used for the next proposed amendment.

The 18th amendment to the USA’s Constitution prohibited alcohol.

So, the answers for (a) are, respectively:

• amendment rejected,
• amendment not put to the people,
• amendment rejected,
• amendment rejected, and
• amendment rejected.

(b): the number may be used again

(c): It was repealed by the 21st amendment.

 

3 When most of the world, including sellers of Dublin’s evening paper, hear Mendelssohn, why do certain Dubliners and listeners to RTÉ radio hear Handel?

Answer
Because the version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing sung at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, on Christmas Eve uses a melody by Handel.

The best known version of that carol is sung to a melody by Mendelssohn. The service is broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 at 4.00 pm on Christmas Eve each year.

 

4 The one in Kerry is designated 08/26, the one in Donegal 3/21, as is the one in Waterford (although they may not be exactly parallel), and the one in Sligo 11/29. The location of the one in Co Clare has a different name, but it is designated 06/24. Apart from those we ask about, there is one other which we have not identified because it would give subject of the question away. What are the designations in Cork and Dublin?

Answer
The answers we were looking for were: Cork: 17/35 and 7/25 & Dublin: 10/28 and 16/34.

The numbers are the designations of runways at those airports. The designation of a runway is based on its bearing compared with magentic north. The actual magentic bearing (which can run from 0 to 360 degrees) is divided by ten and rounded to give a two digit number (0 degrees and 360 degrees are the same direction; 36 and not zero is used). Because a runway has two ends, it has two directions, which are separated by 180 degrees, and this converts to two numbers that differ by 18.

The airports named or referred to in the question are those in Ireland that are permitted to operate scheduled services. We did not name Shannon Airport in the question, but referred to it as ‘the one in Co Clare’. The other airport permitted to receive scheduled flights, which we did not identify because it would give the subject of the question away, is officially named Ireland West (although popularly known as Knock).

 

5 Pythagoras’s is bigger than Didymus’s and Oxford’s is altogether different. What are they?

Answer
The answer is: commas.

A musical comma is the enharmonic difference between two notes (e.g. between A# and Bb) in non-equal temperaments. A Pythagorean comma is about 24 cents (100 cents = 1 semitone), a comma of Didymus is circa 22 cents, thus smaller. The Oxford comma refers to the use of the punctuation mark, so it is altogether different.

 

6 In a ten year period starting in the early 1980s in the US there were eleven of them sent somewhere on behalf of an organisation that had no official name. What were they?

Answer
They were military space shuttle flights, operated by the US National Reconnaisance Office.

The existence of the NRO was not officially acknowledged by the US government until 1992. Information concering most of those flights remains classified. The flights were: 27 June 1982 Columbia STS-4; 24 January 1985 Discovery STS-51-C; 3 October 1985 Atlantis STS-51-J; 2 December Atlantis 1988 STS-27; 8 August 1989 Columbia STS-28; 22 November 1989 Discovery STS-33; 28 February 1990 Atlantis STS-36; 15 November Atlantis 1990 STS-38; 28 April 1991 Discovery STS-39; November 1991 Atlantis STS-44; and 2 December Discovery 1992 STS-53.

 

7 When it was first used, it included a queen, two kings, an elected monarch, two princes, an owl worth four, and a musical instrument. Since then in the real world, the queen and both kings have been replaced by kings, the elected monarch by two other elected monarchs, and one of the princes replaced the other. These changes have been reflected in it through new additions although the originals are all valid. Two earlier additions arose because those in it with two of the monarchs did not comply fully with the guidelines. The musical instrument remains unchanged. It has been expanded to include an idol, and a cross. What is it?

Answer
‘It’ is the set of €1 coins.

The first set of €1 coins that went into circulation in 2002 had on the national sides images of the Queen of the Netherlands, the King of Spain, the King of the Belgians, the pope (who is an elected monarch), the then-reigning prince and the then “Hereditary Prince” of Monaco, an owl from the design of a historical four-drachma coin on the Greek coin, and a harp on the Irish coin. Since the first set of coins were issued, Belgium and Spain updated their designs to comply with the guidelines for the design of national sides. Various monarchs have died and abdicated, and coins with the images of their successors have been issued. (We do not know if the new Spanish coins are in general circulation yet, although proof sets have been sold to coin collectors.) A number of countries have joined the eurozone, and the two picked for the question are Cyprus, which has a cruciform idol from 5,000 years ago on its national side, and Malta, which has a Maltese Cross on its national side.

 

8 (a) Where in 2015, colourfully, did Clochán an Aifir and Galway City Museum join Rathmines Road, did Cnoc an Anfa and NUI Galway join Grafton Street, and did An Blascaod Mór and the Latin Quarter join Oliver Plunkett Street?
(b) Why might it have been unfair to have used O’Connell Street, Patrick Street, Dawson Street or the Aran Islands in part a of this question?

Answer
(a) On the boards of different versions of Monopoly.

In 2015, an Irish language version and a Galway version of Monoply were issued. The 1972 Irish edition of the game was the source of the third location in each set in the question.
Clochán an Aifir on the Irish language version, Galway City Museum on the Galway version and Rathmines Road on the 1972 Irish version are all light blue properties; Cnoc an Anfa, NUI Galway and Grafton Street are brown properties; and An Blascaod Mór, the Latin Quarter, and Oliver Plunkett Street are red properties.

(b) It would have been unfair to use O’Connell Street, Patrick Street, Dawson Street or the Aran Islands because they have been placed in different colour-sets on other editions of Monopoly.

O’Connell Street was a yellow property on the 1972 edition but an orange property on the Ireland edition issued in 2000 (as ‘O’Connell Street, Dublin’). Patrick Street was a red property on the 1972 Irish edition but ‘St Patrick’s Street’ is an orange property on the 2012 Cork edition. Dawson Street was a dark orchid property on the original 1972 edition but a brown property on the 2000 Ireland edition. The Aran Islands were a light blue property in the 2000 Ireland edition but a yellow property on the 2015 Galway edition.

 

9 This comes up too frequently, but what’s the next number:
587 659 698 587 659 587 523 493

Answer
523

The numbers are the frequencies (in Hz) of musical notes. These convert to D E F D E D C B C which are the notes for ‘Fa la la la la, la la, la la’, with the last note missing if the tune is played in C, an octave above middle.

 

10 It first occurred in 1963 and was not repeated until 1982. In 1983 it was done by a different state for the first time, but was not until 1994 that it was done by, technically, a further different state for the first time (although three other states had other firsts in this field in the intervening period). Then in 2012, the final state to have done it did it for the first time (although another state has had a first in this field since then). What is it?

Answer
‘It’ is women in space.

Four states have put women in space, although women from more than four countries have gone into space. The four states that have done it, the first time they did, and the women are as follows:
1963 – Soviet Union mission – Valentina Tereshkova
1983 – USA mission – Sally Ride
1994 – Russia mission – Yelena Londakova
2012 – China mission – Liu Yang
The second time a woman went into space was also on a Soviet mission, in 1982. The cosmanout was Svetlana Savitskaya.
The other ‘firsts’ referred to in the question concerned the nationalities of the women
1991 – Soviet Union mission – Helen Sharman – UK citizen
1992 – USA mission – Roberta Bondar – Canadian citizen
1994 – USA mission – Chiaki Mukai – Japanese citizen
2014 – Russia mission – Samantha Cristoforetti – Italian citizen
In addition to those mentioned in the question, the following ‘firsts’ for French, Koren, and Japanese women in space also occurred:
1996 – Russia mission – Claudie Haigneré – French citizen
2008 – Russia mission – Yi So-yeon – Korean (south/republic of) citizen
2010 – USA mission – Naoko Yamazaki – Japanese citizen
Finally, for completeness, the two following could also be considered firsts. The two women were naturalised citizens of the USA at the time of their flights. They were the first women from their countries of birth to go into space (although we make not claim here on CLR about the legal status of their nationalities!)
1997 – USA mission – Kalpana Chawla – US citizen & originally Indian
2006 – Russia mission – Anousheh Ansari – US citizen & originally Iranian

 

11 How are Galway United, Longford Town and Kildare County related?

Answer
All of these soccer clubs were managed by Tony Cousins.

 

12 A small square sail at the top of a mast on a sailing ship was the eleventh in 1979 (or twelfth if you count the vehicle for a Dusty Springfield song in 1967). A ghost is the most recent, in 2015. The first, a negative, had a connection with the flower-head of Brassica oleracea, as did almost all of the others. What was that first called?

Answer
Dr No.

The subject matter of this question is the James Bond films. All but two were made by Eon Productions. The eleventh film from that company was Moonraker, which is the name of the sail referred to in the question. It is the twelfth Bond film if you count Casino Royale in 1967, which was not made by Eon. Dusty Springfield rendition of ‘The look of love’ is in the soundtrack to that that film. The 2015 Bond film is called Spectre, which is a ghost. Brassica oleracea is the scientific name for the botanical species that includes cabbages and brussels sprouts. The variety of Brassica oleracea that is eaten as a flower head is brocolli. Albert Brocolli produced or co-produced most Bond films until 1989, and his daughter Barbara Brocolli has been co-producer all of the Bond films made since 1990.

 

13 In 2015, which leaders got
(a) 34/179 (though that was not the largest)
(b) 74/230 (though that, too, was not the largest)
(c) 30/101
(d) 49/200
(e) 149/300 and 145/300
(f) 235/460 and
(g) 306/650?
(h) Why might (some on) CLR hope that 69/350 or 90/350 would be another outcome?

Answer
This question is about general, legislative or parliamentary elections in Europe in 2015. The numbers in the question are the number of seats the succesful prime minister’s party (or electoral coalition) won and the total number of seats in the parliament. The elections that we included in parts (a) to (g) of the question were, in order of the question, those in: Denmark, Portugal, Estonia, Finland, Greece (two electios), Poland, and the UK. Part (h) is about Spain. Podemos won 69 and the PSOE won 90 of the 350 seats in the congress of deputies.

So the answers we were looking for were:
(a) Lars Løkke Rasmussen
(b) António Costa
(c) Taavi Rõivas
(d) Juha Sipilä
(e) Alexis Tsipras
(f) Beata Szydło
(g) David Cameron
(h) Some on CLR hope that Pedro Sánchez Pablo Iglesias, leader of Podemos, or Pablo Iglesias Pedro Sánchez, leader of PSOE, will become prime minister of Spain following the election in the week before Christmas.

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CLR Christmas Quiz 2015