Hello and welcome to 2022. May I be (very likely, by the time this comes out) the last to wish you a Happy New Year. I was putting the kettle on for a mug of tea a few minutes ago and I suddenly thought of a candidate for the worst joke of the year. I thought that I had better commit it to paper before I think better of it. So here it is: Which of Henry VIII’s wives was “hot stuff”? Anne Boilin’
Moving quickly on (though probably not quickly enough), it’s time to introduce the first AndyP number puzzles of the year:
1.10 F in a P (BDC)
2.6 TMMMT is the AM of the E
3.7 M for a SNTBT
4.12 T on a TTS
5.3 P for the GB in S
6.1 L of DMT
7.7 P on a CH
8.1024 is T to the P of T
9.3 L of M by IN
10.145 is a G and O
When I run short of inspiration I tend to go back and repeat something I’ve done before. Oh look! It’s 5BY4 time again; in full unoriginality mode, I have chosen ten more London Brewers. Can you match the breweries with their locations? Can you be bothered (You might as well; you don’t want to read this page just for this guff):
1.SlyBeast A. Croydon
2.Ignition B. Walworth
3.Bianca Road C. Sidcup
4.Tankleys D. Wood Green
5.Orbit E. Bermondsey
6.Greywood F. Loughborough Junction
7.Deviant & Dandy G. Wandsworth
8.Neckstamper H. Hackney
9.Ansbach & Hobday I. Leyton
10.London Beer Lab J. Sydenham
What to do for “Trivia Time?” I wondered. Okay, I know it’s February already (but it wasn’t when I compiled this lot), so here’s a bunch of things that happened on the first of January:
1.The British coal industry was nationalised on 1 January in what year?
2.On 1 January 1909, the first old age pensions were paid in Britain, a weekly payment of five shillings (25p) to people over what age?
3.Two British coins ceased to be legal tender on 1 January – one in 1970 and one in 1985. What were their denominations?
4.A new daily newspaper, the Daily Universal Register was founded on 1 January 1785. Three years later it changed its name – to what?
5.From the 1 January of what year did British ‘silver’ coins cease to contain any silver and became fully cupro-nickel?
6.Samuel Pepys started writing his famous diary on 1 January 1660. After recording the restoration of the monarchy and the Great Fire of London, he discontinued it on 31 May, but in what year?
7.The British Board of Film Censors began operating on the 1 January – in what year?
8.What country became an independent republic on 1 January 1956, having been jointly administered by Great Britain and Egypt?
9.On 1 January 1981, which country became the tenth member of the EEC (now EU), following Britain, Ireland and Denmark which joined in 1973?
10.In what year did the 1 January first become a national holiday throughout the whole of Great Britain?
So there we have it – another batch of useless drivel over and done with and another few minutes of your life which you will never get back. Best wishes for the coming year and stay safe.
Andy Pirson
As usual, here are the solutions to the puzzles set in the December Idle Moments column.
Number Puzzles:
1.4 Services Areas on the M Twenty-Five
2.7 Lions on the Royal Standard
3.4130 Miles is the Length of the River Nile
4.3 Rows of Strings on a Welsh Triple Harp
5.11 Violent Storm on the Beaufort Scale
6.2 Pips on a Lieutenant’s Epaulette
7.8 ‘O’ Tiles in a Scrabble Set
8.2159 Miles is the Mean Diameter of the Moon
9.5 Lions on the Royal Standard in Scotland
10.7 Points on the Big Star on the Australian Flag
5BY4:
British Islands – Top Ten (excluding Great Britain and Ireland) in square miles
1.Isle of Mull – 6th [338]
2.Isle of Wight – 12th [147]
3.Mainland (Shetland) – 5th [374]
4.Isle of Skye – 4th [639]
5.Lewis & Harris – 3rd [841]
6.Mainland (Orkney) –10th [202]
7.Anglesey (incl. Holy Island) – 7th [276]
8.Isle of Man – 9th [221]
9.Isle of Arran – 11th [167]
10.Islay – 8th [239]
General knowledge:
1.The tune ‘Cranbrook’ by Canterbury cobbler Thomas Clark (as in “On Ilkla Moor ‘Baht ‘At”) was written for While Shepherds Watched (Their Flocks by Night).
2.Similarly, the hymn sung to the tune Crimond is The Lord’s my Shepherd (or the 23rd Psalm).
3.The only vowel that is not on the top letters row of the standard English keyboard is A.
4.Although there had been earlier court poets, the first Poet Laureate, appointed by King Charles II in 1668, was John Dryden.
5.John Dryden was the only Poet Laureate to have been dismissed because, as a Catholic convert, he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance to the new monarchs William III and Mary II.
6.Three people have held the post of Poet Laureate in the 21st century. They are Andrew Motion, Carol Ann Duffy and (currently) Simon Armitage.
7.The most powerful class of steam railway locomotive ever was the Union Pacific Railway 4884 ‘Big Boy’ class of 1941.
8.If you subtract Flying Scotsman (60103) from Tornado (60163), you are left with 60.
9.In the Twelve Days of Christmas, the remarkably (nay ridiculously) generous ‘True Love’ gave 364 gifts to the object of his affection.
10.And of those presents, the most numerous were the Geese-a-Laying and the Swans-a-Swimming – 42 of each (6 geese on 7 days and 7 swans on 6 days).