Mystery Quiz #12: What’s your sign, baby?
We had a three-way tie in KW Mystery #12! Congrats to NathanL, SportsNightonCSC, and UllspergerA for standing atop the podium, each with a perfect score. Ten other players also got all 12 questions, but weren’t as successful with their money choices.
The theme this time around: signs of the Zodiac, particularly their representations. They also went in order from Aries – traditionally first, starting around the vernal equinox – through Pisces.
KW Mystery #13 is now open. Due to the long weekend in the United States, it will close next Monday evening.
Keep reading for more on each question.
Q1. This diagram shows the inner workings of a medieval version of what device?
BATTERING RAM (Aries) (98%)
I hadn’t realized that battering rams could have canopies – usually when you see them they’re out in the open or covered by other men’s shields.
My favorite defense against a battering ram is dropping a mattress in front of the door.
Q2. According to Investopedia, what economic trend is “characterized by optimism, investor confidence and expectations that strong results will continue”?
BULL MARKET (Taurus) (93%)
The opposite of a bull market is a bear market.
Q3. What advertising moniker is shared by the pairs seen here?
DOUBLEMINT TWINS (Gemini) (78%)
Double your pleasure, double your fun! (A few people put some derivative of that tagline, but it’s not really a moniker.)
Q4. When Trader Vic’s first offered this crustacean appetizer in the 1950s, the restaurant claimed it came from “an old Burmese recipe” – highly unlikely, as cream cheese isn’t exactly a staple of southeast Asian diets. What is it?
CRAB RANGOON (Cancer) (74%)
MCW:
CRAB CAKES (7%)
“Crustacean” + “Burmese” might have gotten you there, presuming you’ve ever heard of it…
Q5. The man seen here, appearing on a December 1956 episode of What’s My Line?, is best known for what role?
THE COWARDLY LION (Leo) (64%)
BWA:
THE MILLIONAIRE IN SOME LIKE IT HOT
It took three tries, but I got the level of difficulty I wanted for this question. Here are the images I had previously planned to use:
Q6. The United States Constitution has been suspended (due to fear of Islamic terrorism) and replaced by a Christian theocracy hell-bent on obliterating women’s rights. These events provide the background for what dystopian 1985 novel, told from the point of view of a woman selected for breeding purposes?
THE HANDMAID’S TALE (Virgo) (64%)
MCW:
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (9%)
BWA:
MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS
This book, by Margaret Atwood, has some strange (and scary) parallels to today’s political environment.
Lessons learned: Virgo is known as both the virgin and the maiden. I wrote this down as “The Handmaiden’s Tale”, came back to it, realized it was “Handmaid’s”, and forgot the actual connection to the theme. Apologies to those who got thrown off by it.
Q7. The Roman goddess Iustitia is usually portrayed carrying a sword in one hand and what in the other? (Her now-ubiquitous headgear dates only from the 16th century.)
SCALES (Libra) (86%)
MCW:
SCORPION (10%)
BWA:
DAVID HASSELHOFF
Just like “V” was a stand-in for “U” in Latin text, “I” was a stand-in for “J”. The headgear in question is her blindfold.
Lessons learned: One issue with the sans-serif font on AlpacaFarm (and here) is it’s unclear whether it’s a capital i or a lower-case L.
Q8. What band holds the record for highest-selling single by a German artist, a 1991 power ballad celebrating the end of the Cold War?
THE SCORPIONS (Scorpio) (68%)
“Wind of Change” was the song in question.
Q9. This comes from the opening credits to what television show?
ARCHER (Sagittarius) (84%)
Someone wrote “you just couldn’t resist, could you?” knowing my love of this show. Jessica Walter plays Malory Archer, Sterling’s mother and the de facto head of whatever agency happens to be the focus of the show in any given season.
Q10. Name the song.
THE LONELY GOATHERD (Capricorn) (58%)
BWA:
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
From The Sound of Music.
Q11. In what comedy film does the stuttering Bobby Boucher find his calling after being told his father had died of dehydration in the Sahara desert?
THE WATERBOY (Aquarius) (83%)
The father later comes back and tries to get Boucher (played by Adam Sandler) to play in the NFL after he becomes a berserker on the football field.
Q12.
一条鱼
两条鱼
红色的鱼
蓝色的鱼
Written in Simplified Chinese, this is the Mandarin title of what 1960 book?
ONE FISH TWO FISH RED FISH BLUE FISH (Pisces) (48%)
MCW:
THE LITTLE RED BOOK (9%)
BWA:
TROUT FISHING IN AMERICA
I am really happy with this question, because I love the questions that make you slap your head and yell out, “Oh, you idiot!” upon the reveal.