The all new, revised and easier quiz! (mod note posts 1 and 2042)

It's Ola.
She is the child of a Spanish mother and Norwegian father. The name Ola is in fact an abbreviation of the Spanish word Hola, an endearment used by her father. Obviously Hola drops the silent H with a careless informality but her singular monogram is both her fore and sur names.

BrensBenz wrote: »

I think I saw this episode so does that disqualify me?

Our Russian friends, of whom Natalya Andrinov is one, have this strange alphabet where several of "our" letters are either reversed or in (what we think is) the wrong place, e.g. H = N. Therefore, I suggest to the court that it was Natalya Andrinov wot dunnit. Her crime? Smuggling hankies out of the motherland.

Yep! For the sake of the full list, Misses Horton and Hansdottir are disqualified, because really, the likelihood of putting one's surname initial alone on a hanky are fairly remote, especially for the Icelandic lady (of a country with very few surnames!)

So the hanky could belong to
Helene Ansbacher
Hortense Kiely
Natalya Andrinov, as H is N in the Cyrillic alphabet.


Christie's used that trick at least three times now

I pass it to Brens there, as, although no-one listed the full group, and Helene Ansbacher was mentioned, he came closest to getting the trick!

As for whodunnit, give Murder on the Orient Express a shot at some point It's an entertaining one.

OK. If I were to ask "where's Eblana?" I calculate that, with average broadband speeds and other technical jargon that nobody really understands, it would take about "that" long for someone to post "Dublin" and "it's Latin for Dublin", etc., etc. We might even get the bit about Ptolemy's map of about 140ish AD referring to Eblana where Dublin is today.

However, some really clever people now think, with some justification, that the settlement which Ptolemy called Eblana in c.140AD was not / is not Dublin at all.....at all. So, if these people are correct, where is Eblana?

Oh, we already know that Skerries is the Centre of the Cosmos but it appears that Ptolemy didn't know this. The eejit overlooked Skerries entirely!

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Well if it wasn't Dublin, and it wasn't (saints preserve us!) SKERRIES, then I bet its somewhere near Skerries, (or should that be Sjkerries (in Norwegish))? Deffo northside, Howth, Rush, hmmmmm.....Finglas. It could be Finglas (called after Finland obviously ) and that's where Olaf and his pals landed and took over Erland. Y'see it's true, those compewter games have all da answers! :D

Fair play to them Vikings for getting their boats all the way to Finglas!

No, it's not Howth or Rush either. Bear in mind that this is only a theory, though admittedly from people who got loads of points in their Leaving Cert.

So, we're looking for a settlement which existed in Ptolemy's time almost 2,000 years ago, probably beside the seaside, not too far from Dublin and, I promise, this time it's not an island.

A further hint: I was working in Italy in mid 1990's when, one morning, my minder, excitedly pointing to his newspaper, said that "our people" (the Romans) HAD been to "your country" after all! Evidence of trade with Roman Britain had been found where, we think, Eblana actually was. Then the Irish theory geniuses looked at a map of the area and thought "Hmmm, dem pesky Romans! Day weren't trading with us, day were just sussing the place out for an invasion when they thought "hic perfectus est" ("HERE" is perfect")."

The Skerries branch of Mensa report that the Romans did assemble an invasion force but, when they got to "Eblana", it was early closing so they went home.

Dammit that was the one i was trying to remember, but Brens said 2000 years old, so its a bit too old for that.

No takers? OK, the latest theory on the location of Eblana is......Loughshinny.

Ptolemy showed Eblana to be not "on" but "between" two major rivers (Liffey and Boyne?). It has good, rocky protection of its sandy beach and "Drumanagh" on its southern edge, with its elevated flat land, rocky protection from naval attack on three sides and an iron age wall / ditch on its western side. Drumanagh also has a Martello Tower from c.1800.

Archaeologists found Roman goods here in the mid 1990's. Their trading trips "may" have been a rehearsal for a more formal visit later.

Unfortunately, probably because of damage by motorbike scramblers to the grassland or to the iron age structure or both, either Drumanagh's owner or the Museum authorities have closed Drumanagh to walkers. However, Loughshinny remains a very pleasant spot for a day trip - no crowds, no yobs, recommended - and they even have interesting geological patterns in the rock cliffs west of its little beach. Now, it's not Skerries but hey?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eblana

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

Of course (smacks hand to forehead)...Loughshinny....what was I thinking! :rolleyes:

Well, if you was thinking it you shuddov wrote it.

Who worked at the 53rd (fifty-thoid) Precinct in De Bronx, Noo Yoik?
Hmm, better re-word this: Who were the two best known members of the 53rd (fifty-thoid) Precinct in De Bronx, Noo Yoik?

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

The two coppers from "Car 54 where arrrrrrrrrrrrrre you?' Can't remember their names.

The tall actor was Fred Gwynne who also played the part of Herman in the TV series The Munsters.

As for the precinct question, no idea whatsoever.
Cagney & Lacey.
Starsky & Hutch.
Hall and Oates.
Shaggy & Scuby.

Yeah, somebody and Muldoon. Not making any claims on this one as I have totally no idea.

Jellybaby1 wrote: »

I remember! Muldoon and Gunther? Was Gunther his surname though?

OOOh...OOOh...I think we have to give this to JB1 for getting the title of the show; "Muldoon" and "Gunther" (rhymes with Liza Minnelli's Mother's name = "Judy") Toody. As far as I remember, Gunther was rarely referred to as "Toody" but "Muldoon" was usually "Muldoon".

Also, there's no trivia left in my head, so over to you, JB1.

1953?

Edit: Looked it up there after answering and all I can say is "lol" at my wild guess