Well hello again! The sun is shining; the weather is getting warmer (at least, it is as I sit here typing this). I wonder what it will be like by the time this London Drinker arrives in the blue cardboard stand in your local pub (or the porcelain bed pan in mine).
For the second time, I have replaced the number puzzles with some new generation London brewery anagrams and, once again, I have managed to source breweries that all produce cask beer, though I have now reached the end of these (and only made the full list by a slight subterfuge; can you spot it?). So, here they are:
- DID CRAWL
- THEM? . . .ROMAN?
- SOAKS BROM
- BILLET ARIA
- AH! A CANDY SHOP BAND
- REDEST ROOF
- RUB RED MONK
- AUK POOL ARM
- WE MASK FLEET IN CHINA
- PETTY CENTRED
And so, with the inevitability of a conversation about the weather, come some more Consecutive Celebrities. Those of you who like spotting such things will notice that some combinations of initials have been used before; with only 26 letters in the alphabet and thus only 50 possible consecutive pairs, this is inevitable, particularly as there are a few combinations that do not provide any celebrities. As time progresses we are likely to get certain pairs of letters predominating – or I shall give up and move on to Reverse Celebrities (ZY to BA). Anyway, for now, see how you do with these:
- JK: Here Comes Summer
- VW: Modernist writer (Orlando)
- BC: Harry, Crooner
- KL: Nobel laureate Austrian zoologist
- ST: Last of the Red Hot Mamas
- FG: World’s fastest recorded female runner
- DE: General, President
- TU: Japanese female wrestler. Sorry about that – I’m running out!
- IJ: Architect (St. Paul’s)
- MN: Queen of Wimbledon?
‘Where shall I go this time for general trivia’ I wondered. Then I dragged out a book I bought about 33 years ago: Chambers Dates, Second edition. It must have been about then as it’s a 1991 reprint. If you want to cheat, there are several copies available on Amazon, all for less than the cover price of £5.99 (hardly a collector’s item, then). I decided that I would select events that occurred in years ending in 24 (easier to explain why than 37) and, so far as possible, in June or July to match the circulation window of this edition of the Drinker. But then I let one slip in from 1 August, because I found it interesting(-ish). So here they are:
- On 16 June 1624, which (now) state of the USA became the first English crown colony, following the bankruptcy of its sponsoring company in London?
- Who was the English civil engineer born on 8 June 1724 in Austhorp near Leeds? He is commemorated on Plymouth Hoe.
- On 8 June 1824, the first example of what domestic appliance was patented in Quebec?
- What charity was founded on 16 June 1824 by Richard Martin, William Wilberforce and Rev Arthur Broome?
- On 7 July 1924, the results of the first public opinion poll were published (into the projected outcome of the 1924 presidential election): in what US state?
- Which French playwright, particularly known for ‘La Dame aux Camélias’, was born on 27 July 1824?
- Who were seen for the last time, about 800 feet below the summit, on their third attempt to climb Mount Everest on 6 June 1924?
- Which former President of the USA was born on 12 June 1924 in Milton, Massachusetts?
- The eighth Olympic Games opened on 5 July 1925; in which city?
- 10.Which of the ‘Three W’s’, West Indian test cricketers, commemorated by at stand at the Oval, was born on 1 August 1924 in Bridgetown, Barbados??
So there we are; that’s me done. Now it’s your turn, if you decide to accept the challenge. The answers will be found in the next edition of London Drinker, so long as I don’t lose them.
Andy Pirson
As usual, here are the solutions to the puzzles set in the April/May Idle Moments column.
Brewery anagrams:
- ROLLS ME – MELLORS
- WE BORE THE PLUMES – TEMPLE BREW HOUSE
- MIND BELOW – WIMBLEDON
- GIVES ALL – VILLAGES
- PETTY CENTRED – PRETTY DECENT
- PAST TEA – TAP EAST
- MICK WENT “HA!” – TWICKENHAM
- TO FINE SPIV – FIVE POINTS
- PROTO BELL – PORTOBELLO
- NOTED PRIME – REDEMPTION
Consecutive celebrities:
- VW: Acorn Antiques proprietor [Victoria Wood]
- YZ: Tunisian footballer/manager [Youssef Zouaou]
- LM: Wife of Paul [Linda McCartney]
- HI: Triple US Open winner [Hale Irwin]
- CD: English male singer (Terence Perkins) [Craig Douglas]
- RS: Mandolin Maestro [Ricky Skaggs]
- GH: Laugh-In blonde [Goldie Hawn]
- AB: 1930’s crooner (from Mozambique) [Al Bowlly]
- OP: Clown (from Russia) [Oleg Popov]
- EF: What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For? [Emile Ford]
General knowledge:
- The Interislander ferry in New Zealand sails from Wellington to Picton on the South Island;
- The name of the body of water between the North and South Islands of New Zealand is the Cook Strait;
- The name of the third largest island of New Zealand, off the southern tip of South Island is Stewart Island (or Rakiura in Māori);
- The name of the body of water between the tip of Queensland in Australia and the island of Papua/New Guinea is the Torres Strait;
- The name of the peninsula forming the northern part of Queensland is Cape York;
- The car company in Kenilworth which builds brand new ‘continuation’ models from its original 1930’s blueprints is the Alvis Car Company;
- The owner of Kenilworth Castle, who built a new wing specifically to entertain Queen Elizabeth I in 1575, was Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester;
- The European country whose national flag is white with five red crosses on it is Georgia. It bears the cross of St. George (like England) with a smaller red cross in each corner field;
- The African nation whose national flag has three vertical bands in orange/white/green (like a left handed version of Ireland’s flag) is the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire (or Ivory Coast);
- The Caribbean Commonwealth country whose flag comprises three vertical bands in blue/yellow/blue with a black trident superimposed on the yellow band is Barbados.