Sunday 15 November 2020

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 15th November, 2020.

15th November, 2020.


Yep: it’s official … it’s Sunday!

Which means, frankly?

That there’s not a lot on.

Bar the odd bit of poking about: and maybe some laundry!

Hey ho!

~≈Ç≈~

Let’s move on, shall we? Yesterday’s Teaser saw Olga*, Trevor†, MumDebbi^ and Edithª putting in their answers: with Olga, Trevor and Debbi scoring five out of five, Mum on four and Edith on two.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video

Q1)        The USSR launched the Buran spacecraft on 15th November, 1988.   The Spaceplane was the Soviet equivalent to which US craft?

Q2)        One of the US Buran equivalents launched on 15th November, 1990.   Which one: the Enterprise, the Challenger or the Atlantis?

Q3)        Which country’s Communist government dissolved, on 15th November, 1990: Romania’s, Bulgaria’s or Russia’s?

Q4)        15th November, 2002, saw Hu Jintao named as General Secretary of the Communist Party of where?

Q5)        Finally … ?   15th November, 2012, saw Xi Jinping named as General Secretary of the Communist Party of where?
Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1)        14th November, 1973, saw Princess Anne marry Captain Mark Phillips. They divorced in which year? 
A1)        1992.

Q2)        14th November, 1948, saw the birth of Anne’s older brother. Who is he?
A2)        Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.

Q3)        14th November, 2008, saw the first meeting of what: the G-20, the UN Security Council or the Latin Monetary Union?
A3)        The G-20.

Q4)        14th November, 1952, saw the UK’s first official Singles Chart published. By which musical magazine?
A4)        The New Musical Express, or NME.

Q5)        Finally … ?   14th November, 1940, saw the Luftwaffe bomb which English city?
A5)        Coventry.   (Coventry was one of the UK’s main munitions producing centres.   From the little I know?   It took Coventry a while to recover from the Blitz.   It took a turn for the worst in the late 1970s: the period inspired the Specials song, Ghost Town.   It’s still a powerful tune.)
Here’s a thought …
“What we need, apparently, is not statesman but hypnotists, not scientists, but witchdoctors, not confidence born of scientific prediction of the future, but confidence created by a political Confidence Trick.”
Aneurin Bevan, November 1897 – 6 July 1960.
Which, given Donald Trump has lost the election, and Dominic Cummings has been fired?

Seems relevant.

Here’s a song …


Today’s questions will be answered in tomorrow’s Teaser.

Feel free to share today’s video Teaser.

Have a good day.








*        From the little I know, Olga, it still would have been traceable.   It would’ve taken longer, as police didn’t have computers.   They’d’ve had to manually check paper records, then send multiple letter to the local banks about the note, then wait for their replies: which would take more time than sending out an email, or using CTRL and F!   Actually, if I recall correctly?   West Yorkshire Police had a dedicated Ripper Office: with a heavily reinforced floor.   They had to reinforce the floors, to hold the weight of the paperwork!
Oh, right: I get you.   I think the nearest UK equivalent would be the Oxford English Dictionaryº … !   I like the Academy’s motto: Cleans, sets, and gives splendor!
And isn’t there an old Italian saying: the translation’s a traitor?   It’s supposed to mean that terms in one language don’t translate exactly … !

†        Do you mind me countering with Orwell, Trevor?   “As I write, highly civilised human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me”.   It seems to be a day for sayings and quotes.   The Lion and the Unicorn’s very quotable.
Yeah, we could: but he’ll possibly go for Charles.   Or maybe Charlotte.   King Charlotte could be good.

‡        Hello, Mum!   Are we still on for dinner?

^        Oh, yes!   Did you know quite a few British cities were Blitzed, Debbi?   Belfast was another, off the top of my head: the Germans were trying to wipe out the ship yards.
Oh, the Big Sur installer took a while to download!   Oh … And there’s a new version of Sosumi!   Yay!!

ª        A dog, you say, Edith!?   That’s not a bad comparison, you know.   Some of the new sound effects on my Mac are — metaphorically — barking.
Drat, I’ve just had a look at the list off effects!   Apple’s removed ChuToy!   Drat!

º        I’ve just looked at the Wikipedia list of Language regulators, Olga.   There’s plenty for Spanish, at least one each for Scots, Welsh, Cornish and Irish.   There’s even one for Klingon!!!   But not a thing for English!
ugh qoH nachDaj je chevlu’ta’
A fool and his head are soon parted!   (Traditional Klingon saying.)

 

5 comments:

trev-v said...

A1 Space Shuttle
A2 Atlantis
A3 Bulgaria’s
A4 China
A5 China

During World War II most Ports in England were heavily bombed. Liverpool and Hull are two that are not far from my home town.

My home town (Scunthorpe) suffered very little bombing despite housing 3 of the largest Iron and Steel works in the UK. Local rumour was that as most of the rolling equipment in the Plate mills and section mills were built in Germany and they wanted them in working order after they had invaded the UK.

Olga said...

Q1) The US Space Shuttle
Q2) The Atlantis
Q3) Bulgaria
Q4) China
Q5) China
I always wondered if whoever who'd written the motto for the RAE wouldn't have made it big in the modern world of advertising (cleaning products come to mind!). Yes, it doesn't surprise me about the English language. That is why sometimes trying to find the answer to a grammar question means reading through tons and tons of comments, posts, and being left scratching your head with no clear answer. I guess that means you can get away with a lot, and also that people who write exam questions should be paid a lot of money because coming up with clear questions with straightforward answers is not an easy task.
It's easy to see why investigations would take such a long time. And a simple mistake somewhere along the line (and not only on the police side but anywhere) could bring it all tumbling down. Of course, anything that simplifies things also tends to come with its own complications and difficulties attached (and expenses). Big criminals always seem to have more resources. I guess the old saying that "crime doesn't pay" isn't exactly right. At least from a financial perspective.

Freda said...

1 Space Shuttle
2 Atantis
3 Russias
4 North Korea
5 China

Debbi said...

I can just imagine about the Blitz. But only imagine.

1. the space shuttle
2. Atlantis
3. Russia's
4. China
5. China

Edith said...

1 Challenger
2. Atlantis
3. Romania
4. North Korea
5. The People's Republic Of China