Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 17-10-2025 — The Great London Beer Flood

17th October, 2025: the Great London Beer Flood.

Gosh, I hope they’re OK … !

I’ve just had a very old friend get in touch with me: as she’s having trouble with her Ubuntu-powered laptop.

She felt I’d be the best person to ask: as I’d been the person to give her the install disk.

Hopefully?

The Google links I found seem to imply the problem comes with when the operating system is updated: it causes an issue with the boot loader, the software on a computer that loads things into memory.

From a quick read of this, this, and this?

My friend should be able to re-install the software from either her back-up, or from the original install media!

Here’s hoping!

~≈🥾≈~

Let’s move on.


Yesterday’s Teaser saw Mum*, Olga†, and Debbi‡ putting in their answers: with everyone scoring five out of five.



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 Beer Flood took place on 17th October.   Of which year: 1812, 1814 or 1816?

Q2)        The flood took place outside the Horse Shoe what: brewery, tavern or hotel?

Q3)        The Horse Shoe was in which London borough: the City of Westminster, Lewisham or Southwark?

Q4)        The flood consisted of between 128,000, and 323,000, imperial gallons of what: IPA, Porter or Mild?

Q5)        Finally … ?   How many people died as a result of the flood: seven, eight, nine or ten?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers … 

Q1)        16th October saw Margaret Sanger open America’s first what: cancer clinic, rehabilitation centre or family planning clinic?

A1)        Family planning clinic.

Q2)        She opened it in which year 1916, 1918 or 1920?

A2)        1916.

Q3)        The Royalton Raid too place: on 16th October, 1780.   It was a British led raid on territory then part of which US state: Vermont, New Jersey or Virginia?

A3)        Vermont.

Q4)        The new General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was named on 16th October, 1964.   Who was that General Secretary?

A4)        Leonid Brezhnev.

Q5)        Finally … ?   16th October is World Food Day.   Food usually supplies which ‘N’: nutrients, numismatics or New Zealand?

A5)        Nutrients.

Here’s a thought …

“The escaping liquid dislodged the valve of another vessel and destroyed several large barrels: between 128,000 and 323,000 imperial gallons [ … ] of beer were released in total.”

From the Wikipedia entry on the Flood.

A Jago Hazzard video …

And a piece from J. Draper¶ …

The next ten question set is on 24th October: it’s about Zambia.

Your comments will be published, tomorrow morning.

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

Where possible, we avoid writing these questions with AI.

Decisions about scores are final.

Thank you for coming: have a good day.

*        Hello, Mum!

†        That’s fair enough, Olga: I wouldn’t expect to go bonkers over machinery, just because I have!   (You might find a Chromebook useful, though, as and when the time comes: they’re reasonably priced.)

        I do know I keep an eye on charity shops in Brentwood.   I keep hoping to find the odd Star Trek book in them, the the titles concerned are hard to find.

‡        You’d have trouble in Scotland, Debbi.   Or in Kent.   Auchtermuchty is pronounced OCH-ta-mach-ti: I think.   Sauchiehall Street, in Glasgow?   I have no idea, but I don’t think it’s Saucy Hall!   But Wrotham, in Kent?   Is ROO-tam … 

        I vaguely remember reading about Vermont, and its record on slavery, when I wrote the Teaser about it: it fought on the Union side, if I remember, so that makes sense.

¶        Jenny gives the date of the flood as the 16th October: who’s wrong or right, I don’t know.