{"id":3462,"date":"2023-03-22T15:51:12","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T15:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=3462"},"modified":"2023-03-28T16:51:46","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T16:51:46","slug":"idle-moments-april-may-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2023\/03\/22\/idle-moments-april-may-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Idle moments – April \/ May 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello and welcome to spring. Well, that\u2019s what the meteorologists say it is, not that it feels like it as I type this. In Sainsbury\u2019s car park this morning there was a really lazy wind blowing (You know; the kind that doesn\u2019t bother going round you) and I think this one was carrying a knife! As Keats put it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their smiles,
Wan as primroses gathered at midnight,
By chilly-fingered spring.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, at least it mentions spring. Anyway, not to worry; let\u2019s have some number puzzles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. 3410 DC is the MP of T<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. 16 P in a G of C<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. 20 P in a TO<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. 9 of D is the C of S<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. 1472 ON of FS<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. 22 B in a G of S<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. 1,609,344 M in a M<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. 4 M of EH no RN (S, J, A, V)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. 16 AN of S<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. 65 US in ZO<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Now, for 5BY4, I thought I would look at our (nearly) longest reigning monarchs. I say nearly as the two longest reigns are so obvious that I thought I would start the list at 3. These are the monarchs of England since 1066 (of the UK since Queen Anne) who reigned between third and twelfth longest. Can you match the kings and queen to their durations as head of state?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. 59 years, 97 days A. Edward I<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. 56 years, 20 days B. Edward III<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. 50 years, 148 days C. Elizabeth I<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. 44 years, 128 days D. George II<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. 39 years, 11 days E. George III<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. 37 years, 282 days F. Henry I<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    7. 35 years, 119 days G. Henry II<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    8. 34 years, 230 days H. Henry III<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    9. 34 years, 200 days I. Henry VI<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    10. 33 years, 126 days J. Henry VIII<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      This time, for the trivia questions, I wanted to avoid just playing with dates, so I looked around for some different subjects: some music, some motoring\/engineering\/technical. I hope they aren\u2019t too difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. The American duo Lester William Polsfuss and Iris Colleen Summers had a successful musical career in the USA between about 1949 and 1964, though just one UK hit with Vaya Con Dios in 1953. Under what names did they perform?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. In 1990, Mark Knopfler produced an album of duets entitled Neck on Neck with which legendary American Country guitarist?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. In 2006, Mark Knopfler produced another album of Country song duets \u2013 Real Live Roadrunning. With whom did he collaborate on this one?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. Which three female American singers collaborated to produce the albums Trio in 1987 and Trio II in 1989 (assembled into a box set with a third disc in 2016?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      5. Raymond Mays (1899 to 1980) of Bourne, Lincolnshire was a racing driver and engineer who was the leading light behind which two British racing car manufacturers (respectively pre and post war)?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      6. What family name (two unrelated people) links a British engine manufacturer and a cricketing formula and what were they named?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      7. What iconic consumer product was first developed by the German engineer Oskar Barnack (in Wetzlar, Hesse) and released to the market in 1925? And under what brand name was it (and is it still) sold?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      8. What notable first in the UK was achieved by Samuel Franklin Cody on 16 October 1907?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      9. According to the National Motor Museum, when was the first British four-wheeled petrol engined motor car driven on a public highway (by Frank William Bremner)?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      10. What term was first used (again, according to the NMM) in 1896 when the product was patented by Carless, Capel & Leonard of Hackney Wick?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        So there we are then. Another spell of time wasting comes to an end and you can now go back to enjoying yourselves. Have a good Easter and enjoy the Coronation (assuming that that\u2019s your sort of thing); I shall be back to plague you in June.
        Andy Pirson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        As usual, here are the solutions to the puzzles set in the February\/March Idle Moments column:
        Number puzzles:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        1. 40 Fluid Ounces in a Quart<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. 3 Counties of Wales have Borders with England<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. 4 Common Logarithm of Ten Thousand<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        4. 3950 Miles is the Polar Radius of the Earth<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        5. 3 Funnels on Queen Mary<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        6. 20 Years to a Porcelain Wedding Anniversary<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        7. 1 Leg of Long John Silver<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        8. 1659 Resignation of Richard Cromwell (Tumbledown Dick) as Lord Protector<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        9. 2 Maximum Simultaneous Population of the Moon (to Date)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        10. 1558 Death of Queen Mary<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          5BY4 (UK\u2019s longest rivers):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          A. 220 miles – River Severn
          B. 215 miles – River Thames
          C. 185 miles – River Trent
          D. 155 miles – River Wye
          E. 143 miles – River Great Ouse
          F. 129 miles – River Ure\/River Ouse (Yorkshire)*
          G. 117 miles – River Tay
          H. 109 miles – River Clyde
          I. 107 miles – River Spey
          J. 100 miles – River Nene
          *Note: The Rivers Ure and Ouse are counted as a single system because the Ure flows straight into the Ouse without another tributary at the junction<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          General knowledge:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n
          1. Together, the three stars Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka form the Belt of Orion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          2. The two stars Merak and Dubhe (in Ursa Major) are pointers to the Pole Star.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          3. Ursa Minor Alpha is commonly known as Polaris (or the North Star or Pole Star).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          4. The best known publication to come from Ursa Minor Beta is the Hitchhiker\u2019s Guide to the Galaxy, published by Megadodo Publications.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          5. The owner of the (first) guitar that bore the legend \u2018This machine kills fascists\u2019 was Woody Guthrie.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          6. The wearing of seat belts in cars became compulsory on 31 January in 1983.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          7. On 3 February 1913, the sixteenth amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. This gave the Government the power to impose and collect income tax.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          8. Red Rum won the first of his three Grand Nationals on 31 March in 1973.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          9. On 6 March 1983, Australian Christopher Massey attained a world speed record of 143.18 mph in water skiing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          10. Alcatraz maximum security prison in San Francisco Bay was closed on 21 March in 1963.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Hello and welcome to spring. Well, that\u2019s what the meteorologists say it is, not that it feels like it as I type this. In Sainsbury\u2019s car park this morning there… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-idle-moments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3462"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3463,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3462\/revisions\/3463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}