Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats Multiple Choice Quiz | Authors

Answer: Macavity

From "Macavity: the Mystery Cat": "And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known/(I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)/Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time/Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!"

Answer: Rumpuscat

This poem has a rather longwinded title: "Of the Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles: Together with Some Account of the Participation of the Pugs and the Poms, and the Intervention of the Great Rumpuscat."

Answer: "The Fox and French Horn"

In the third Stanza of "Old Deuteronomy."

Answer: Siamese

From "Growltiger's Last Stand": "But most to Cats of foreign race his hatred had been vowed,/To Cats of foreign name and race no quarter was allowed./The Persian and the Siamese regarded him with fear-/Because it was a Siamese had mauled his missing ear."

Answer: Mr. Mistoffelees

From ?Mr. Mistoffelees" (who's my favourite Cat!): "At prestidigitation/And at legerdemain/He'll defy examination/And deceive you again."

Answer: the Theatre Cat

From "Gus: the Theatre Cat": "In the Pantomime season I never fell flat,/And I once understudied Dick Whittington's Cat./But my grandest creation, as history will tell,/Was Firefrorefiddle, the Fiend of the Fell."

Answer: Rumpelteazer

From "Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer": "Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer had a very unusual gift of the gab./They were highly efficient cat-burglers as well, and remarkably smart at a smash-and-grab."

Answer: disobliging

From "The Rum Tum Tugger": "The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious beast:/His disobliging ways are a matter of habit./If you offer him fish then he always wants a feast,/When there isn't any fish then he won't eat rabbit."

Answer: Jellicle

From "The Song of the Jellicles".

Answer: "O Cat!"

From "The Ad-dressing of Cats: "I say, you should ad-dress a Cat./But always keep in mind that he/Resents familiarity./I bow, and taking off my hat,/Ad-dress him in this form: 'O CAT!' ... And so in time you reach your aim,/And finally call him by his NAME."

Answer: Mr. Mistoffelees

From "Mr. Mistoffelees": "If you look for a knife or fork/And you think it is merely misplaced-/You have seen it one moment, and then it is gawn!/But you'll find it next week lying out on the lawn."

Answer: Peter

From "The Naming of Cats" "The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,/It isn't just one of your holiday games,/You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter/When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES./First of all, there's the name that the family uses daily,/Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,/Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey-/All of them sensible everyday names."

Answer: sitting

From "The Old Gumbie Cat": "I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots,/Her coat is of the tabby kind, with tiger stripes and leopard spots./All day she sits upon the stair or on the steps or on the mat,/She sits and sits and sits and sits--and that's what makes a Gumbie Cat!"

Answer: The poems allude they are both male.

"They made their home in Victoria Grove.
They had no regular occupation.
They were plausible fellows who liked to engage
A friendly policeman in conversation." (Credit to Stargate for pointing out this verse.)

The word "fellows" is a good indication that Eliot wrote these characters as male. In Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical adaptation, Mungojerrie is usually male with a female Rumpelteazer.

Answer: 11:42

From "Skimbleshanks: the Railawy Cat": "At 11.42 then the signal's nearly due/And the passengers are frantic to a man-/Then Skimble will appear and he'll saunter to the rear:/He's been busy in the luggage van!"

Answer: barking

From "The Ad-dressing of Cats": "Now dogs pretend they like to fight,/They often bark, more seldom bite,/But yet a Dog is, on the whole,/What you would call a simple soul."

Answer: Growltiger

From "Growltiger's Last Stand": "Growltiger had no eye or ear for aught but Griddlebone,/And the Lady seemed enraptured by his manly baritone,/Disposed to relaxation, and awaiting no surprise-/But the moonlight shone reflected from a thousand bright blue eyes."

Answer: "the Oldest Inhabitant"

From "Old Deuteronomy".

Answer: Pekes and Pollicles

The Pugs and Poms don't start in until the end of the third stanza.

Answer: St. James's

From "Bustopher Jones: the Cat about Town": "Bustopher Jones is not skin and bones-/In fact, he's remarkably fat./He doesn't haunt pubs--he has eight or nine clubs,/For he's the St. James's Street Cat!"