What the Dickens Shall I Call You? Trivia Game | Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In what book would you find David METALMEADOW? Hint - Split the surname of the eponymous hero into two parts and find synonyms for each part.

Answer: David Copperfield

Since copper is a kind of metal and field is a kind of meadow, a combination gives the name Copperfield.

In many ways "David Copperfield" is autobiographical. David's traumatic experience in the blacking factory mirrors Dickens' own. The character of Mr Micawber is reminiscent of Dickens' own impecunious father and many critics believe that David's "child wife", Dora Spenlow, is a picture of Catherine Hogarth, Dickens' first wife.

2. In a book which has an on-going lawsuit as part of its plot, this lady, Honoria MORIBUNDHAIR, plays a prominent part. What is her real name? Hint - Moribund is a synonym for what? Hair could also be called what?

Answer: Honoria Dedlock

Moribund is a rather pompous word for dead, derived from the Latin word "mors" meaning "death". Hair can also be called a lock. Putting the two together gives us Deadlock. Lady Honoria Deadlock is the mother of Esther Summerson, the heroine of "Bleak House".

Lady Deadlock is the wife of a somewhat prejudiced English aristocrat, Sir Leicester Deadlock, and the mother of illegitimate Esther Summerson, whose father is a poor law copier.

The book is a critical commentary on the Victorian Court of Chancery and the hypocritical mores of the age.

3. Who is this eponymous hero of a book dealing with the social ills of Victorian England and the criminal underworld of London? Oliver CORKSCREW A characteristic of a corkscrew will give you the answer to this question

Answer: Oliver Twist

The action of a corkscrew is to TWIST and so the book is "Oliver Twist", telling the story of a parish orphan of that time. It portrays the horrendous conditions of workhouse life and the vicious criminal strata of London. The hero somewhat improbably retains his integrity in spite of intensive criminal grooming, and is finally reunited with some members of his family and adopted by Mr Brownlow, a benevolent gentleman who had previously helped him.

4. Mr Winkle, Mr Snodgrass and Mr Tupman are all members of a gentleman's club which forms the basis of the plot in a picaresque Dickens novel. Mr Samuel CHOOSETAPER is a cryptic version of the name of the president of the club. Can you work it out? His name appears in the title of the book.

Answer: Samuel Pickwick

"Pickwick Papers" tells of the adventures of the Pickwick club. Mr Pickwick is benevolent and quite harmless, but unfortunately very naive, and consequently finds himself in embarrassing or compromising situations. On one occasion he is discovered in a maiden lady's bedroom at midnight. On another he is found drunk and asleep in a wheelbarrow in an animal pound.

5. "Little Dorrit" has a character who is a twin and is a scheming servant - Jeremiah HARDROCKHOIST. What is his real name? Hint - Split the surname into two and substitute synonyms. His name has no adjoining doubled consonants.

Answer: Jeremiah Flintwinch

Flint is a very hard rock. A winch is form of hoist. Together they give Flintwinch.

Arthur Clenham, the book's hero, has always been dominated by his supposed mother. Her life is full of dark secrets and in her turn she is dominated by her sinister servant Jeremiah Flintwinch. She employs Amy Dorrit, a young girl born and raised in the debtors' prison, as a seamstress, thus enabling Arthur Clenham to meet her. They are able to render mutual help and eventually they are married.

6. POETMEASURE versus Pickwick is a breach of promise suit in "Pickwick Papers". Who is the plaintiff? Hint - Shakespeare is often known as "the bard of Avon". Add the word which means "poet" to another which means an old fashioned measurement.

Answer: Mrs Bardell

Mrs Bardell is Mr Pickwick's landlady. Her counsel interprets "Chops and tomato sauce" as a message of love! Mrs Bardell wins her case (unjustly) and Mr Pickwick has to spend some time in prison until he finally agrees to pay her damages.

7. Betsy CANTERFOREST is David Copperfield's aunt What is her name? Hint - Split the word into two and substitute others with a similar meaning. However, beware! The replacement for "canter" isn't quite a synonym!

Answer: Betsy Trotwood

"Canter" and "trot", while not synonymous, are both descriptive of a horse's gait.
Miss Trotwood adopts David and gives him the Christian name of Trotwood. She lives in Dover with her friend Mr Dick. She is obsessed with chasing donkeys from the front of her cottage.

8. In a book whose action takes place in two capital cities, Sydney AUTOWEIGHT saves the life of his rival in love. Who is he?

Answer: Sydney Carton

The book is "A Tale of Two Cities". Sydney Carton, who is a lawyer, takes the place of the aristocrat Everemonde at the guillotine. Carton is a profligate barrister who makes amends at the end by his heroic act. His final reflection, as he dies, is well known: "It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done. It is a far, far better rest I go to now than I have ever known."

9. Stephen SABLETARN is a character in "Hard times". How does his beloved Rachel know him? His name is also that of a Northern UK seaside town. Think about sable as a colour.

Answer: Stephen Blackpool

Stephen Blackpool loves Rachel but is tied to a drunken wife. He is eventually accidentally drowned while running away from an unjust accusation of stealing.

The book deals with the soulless toil of the factories of Northern England and is also a condemnation of Utilitarianism as exemplified by teacher Thomas Gradgrind.

10. Who is the architect in "Martin Chuzzlewit" whose name could be represented as Seth NIPSNORT, after a little substitution?

Answer: Seth Pecksniff

Seth Pecksniff is a smoothly hypocritical charlatan who makes his apprentices do all the work.

Young Martin Chuzzlewit goes to America to seek his fortune and undergoes many hardships which have a profound effect on his character, making him less selfish and much wiser. The book gave great offence in America since it dealt with fraudulent land developers and speculators.

Source: Author balaton

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

What the Dickens Shall I Call You? Quiz

Can you find the surnames of these Dickens characters from the twisted clues?

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