Classified Word Ladders Trivia Quiz

Answer: FRANCIUM

The skull is the part of the skeleton that protects the brain and, in humans, it is classified into two distinct components: the neurocranium (eight bones) and the facial skeleton (fourteen bones). The latter of these, as the name hints at very heavily, is the part of the cranium that forms the basis for the structure of the face, whilst the former is the part of the cranium that encloses the brain.

Anagram ( FRANCIUM - F ) = CRANIUM

Answer: FRANCIUM

"Contains 92?" hints at the atomic number of uranium, a radioactive element that consists of 92 protons and 92 electrons; the adjective "uranic" can be used to describe uranium or uranium-containing ores and compounds. This adjective was historically used to refer to astronomy, the night sky or the heavens and was also used much more rarely to refer to homosexual relationships.

Anagram ( CRANIUM - M ) = URANIC

Answer: FRANCIUM

As soon as I think of 'Goldfinger' (1964), I think of Shirley Bassey and hear her belting out the theme song to this iconic 'James Bond' entry. The film's name is the surname of the villain, Auric Goldfinger (played by Gert Fröbe and voiced by Michael Collins), and as both the first and second names allude to, this bad guy was motivated by gold.

Assisted by his henchman - the iconic Oddjob - Goldfinger was plotting to raid Fort Knox with a view to acquiring copious amounts of the metal he so desired. Standing in his way of course was the dapper 007, James Bond. The Mike Myers parody, 'Austin Powers in Goldmember' (2002), was in part inspired by a number of the outlandish moments in 'Goldfinger' such as the fruitless use of convoluted methods of disposing of Bond rather than dealing with matters swiftly, efficiently and successfully.

Anagram ( URANIC - N ) = AURIC

Answer: FRANCIUM

Gout, or "the disease of kings", is an inflammatory condition that arises due to the build-up of uric acid in the blood and the presence of monosodium urate crystals in joints. Whilst gout can occur in many locations in the human body, the big toe ends up being the unfortunate body part that gets afflicted in a little over a half of all cases.

The condition is usually brought about due to diet but rheumatological studies have linked the condition in some instances to genes SLC2A9 and SLC22A12.

AURIC - A = URIC

Answer: FRANCIUM

Tennessee-born Ric Flair (Richard Morgan Fliehr) was a mainstay in the entertaining world of wrestling for over half a century. Making his debut with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1972, the "the Nature Boy" would go on to feature in many of the world's best known wrestling franchises and promotions including World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

URIC - U = RIC

Answer: CHLORINE

The helicon is a typically hefty brass instrument that is closely related to the tuba. Despite being a relatively obscure instrument, the helicon appears fairly frequently in folk ensembles; a particularly notable modern example of the use of the helicon in folk music was at the inaugural 'BBC Folk Prom' in 2008, where musician Ed Neuhauser - of the excellent band Bellowhead - played the instrument at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Anagram ( CHLORINE - R ) = HELICON

Answer: CHLORINE

Whilst a wide variety of lichen colonies exist, such colonies usually contain fungi and algae that thrive in a symbiotic relationship. An example is the wolf lichen (Letharia vulpina) which is a fungus from the family Parmaliaceae that is lichenized with green algae. Wolf lichen contains the toxic compound, vulpinic acid.

Other lichenized structures feature cyanobacteria or yeast.

Anagram ( HELICON - O ) = LICHEN

Answer: CHLORINE

The word "niche" is used in the scientific discipline of ecology and takes on a meaning that is not too far removed from the everyday usage of the word as applied to a specialism or business opportunity; an ecological niche is where a species is well-suited to a specific environment and, broadly defined, plays a specific role within a community or ecosystem through the exploitation of resources available in that environment. More scientifically rigorous definitions exist such as those now referred to as the Grinnellian niche and Eltonian niche.

Niche can also mean a recess, such as a hole in a wall.

Anagram ( LICHEN - L ) = NICHE

Answer: CHLORINE

The mandible is the anatomical name for the lower jaw and mandibular is the associated adjective. Mandibular prominence is often seen as a crossword clue whose solution is chin.

To inject a modicum of intrigue into a rather dry topic you could double the chin and arrive at "chin chin", a fried dough from Nigeria that is made from flour, milk, butter and sugar.

Anagram ( NICHE - E ) = CHIN

Answer: CHLORINE

The 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet is chi and it is represented by an X-shaped symbol in both upper and lower cases. Chi is used to denote a number of scientific and mathematical concepts across a number of fields including statistics (chi-squared tests), chemistry (electronegativity) and physics (magnetic susceptibility).

CHIN - N = CHI