This Quiz Is A Mistake!

Answer: Blunder

'Initially' means that we need the first letters of 'But look up, now down, elephants run' for the seven letter word, blunder, which means a mistake.

The word blunder is defined as 'a stupid or careless mistake'. It is probably of Scandinavian origin, and is related to blind.

In Robert Burns' poem, 'To a Louse', he writes "O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us / To see oursels as ithers see us! / It wad frae mony a blunder free us".

Answer: Howler

'Changed' is used to indicate an anagram; rearranging the six letters in 'Her owl' leads to howler, also a mistake.

Howler is defined as 'a ludicrous mistake'. It presumably comes from the verb to howl, and relates to the noise made by someone discovering that mistake.

The term howler is often used to describe unintentionally funny errors produced by school students, often arising from something that is misheard or incorrectly spelled. For example, 'King Arthur lived in the age of shivery' or 'A consonant is a large piece of land surrounded by water'.

Answer: Fault

Here 'about' indicates that the answer is inside the previous word, 'Defaulted', and we can see the five letter word 'fault', another synonym for a mistake.

Fault is defined as 'an unattractive or unsatisfactory feature, or a defect'. It comes through Middle English and Old French from the Latin word 'fallere' meaning to deceive.

In the seventeenth century, the Duc de la Rochefoucauld wrote in 'Les Maximes', "If we had no faults we should not take so much pleasure in noticing them in others".

Answer: Misunderstanding

This clue is possibly simpler than it looks. The words 'is', 'under' and 'stand' are placed inside the word 'Ming' to make the answer, misunderstanding, which is also a synonym for a mistake.

Misunderstanding is defined as 'a failure to understand something correctly, or a disagreement'. It comes from the opposite of 'understand', which is defined as 'perceive the intended meaning'.

In Rudyard Kipling's 1891 novel, 'The Light that Failed', he wrote, "We're all islands shouting lies to each other across seas of misunderstanding".

Answer: Oversight

This is another anagram; rearranging the nine letters from 'Sigh! Voter' makes oversight, another word for a mistake.

Oversight is defined as 'an unintentional failure to notice or do something'.

Roger B. Taney, a Chief Justice of the United States in the nineteenth century, wrote, "A sovereignty is always presumed to act upon principles of justice, and if, from mistake or oversight, it does injury to a nation or an individual, it is always supposed to be ready and willing to repair it".

Answer: Faux pas

'Alternately' suggests that we should use every other one of the fourteen letters in the previous words, 'If Baku axe peaks', to get our answer, faux pas, which is also a mistake.

Faux pas is a French expression, which translates as false step; it is defined as 'a social blunder'.

Twentieth century Oscar winning costume designer, Edith Head, said, "Many faux pas of fashion can be avoided if you curb your instinctive desire to buy things with your heart instead of your head".

Answer: Error

The word 'covers' tells us that the answer is hidden in the previous word, 'Terrorisation'; the five-letter synonym for mistake there is 'error'.

As well as being defined as 'a mistake, the word error is also defined as 'the state of being wrong in conduct or judgement'. It comes through Middle English and Old French from the Latin 'errare' meaning to stray.

In the first century BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote, "Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error".

Answer: Gaffe

Iridium is Ir; taking Ir out of the word 'giraffe', we are left with gaffe, another word for a mistake.

Gaffe is defined as 'an embarrassing blunder'. It is from the twentieth century, coming from a French expression for a boathook, which was in colloquial use as a blunder.

The American journalist, Michael Kinsley, once wrote, "A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth - some obvious truth he isn't supposed to say". Subsequently, such a remark has been described as a Kinsley gaffe.

Answer: Inaccuracy

The word 'move' indicates an anagram; the ten letters in 'Curacy I can' can be rearranged to make 'Inaccuracy', also a synonym for a mistake.

An inaccuracy is defined as something which is not accurate. That word is derived from the Latin 'accurare' meaning do with care.

In his 1924 work, 'The Comments of Moung Ka', Saki wrote, "A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation".

Answer: Slip

The words 'at the end' show that we need the final letters of the four previous words, 'It's well I stop', to give the four letter word slip, which can be another mistake.

Slip has many meanings including a definition as 'a minor or careless mistake'.
In this sense, the word slip comes from Middle English, probably originating with the word 'slippen' from Middle Low German.

Susan Burton, who was active in America around the turn of the millennium, said, "We all make mistakes. Sometimes people slip, but that doesn't mean they're not worthy of the support".