'Bad Machinery' #1 - 'The Case of the Team Spirit' Online Trivia | Entertainment

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. On the first day at Senior School, who is the first of the gang that we see, struggling to get up for breakfast?

Answer: Jack

Quiet, bright, music-loving Jack is our first sight of the 'Bad Machinery' team. His elder sister already goes to Griswalds Grammar School in Keane End, Tackleford, and is quick to let him know all of the terrible things that can happen to a new kid on the first day of school. She is secretly protective of little bro though, so they're probably not going to happen to Jack on her watch.

2. Next door to Tackleford Rovers' football ground lives Russian exile Elena Nabokova. How is she known to Shauna and Lottie?

Answer: Mrs. Biscuits

The two girls go to visit Mrs. Biscuits as part of a homework project. Shauna, who came from the wrong side of the tracks, used to visit her with Shauna's Mum when she was younger. She doesn't know a lot about her; Mrs. Biscuits comes from Russia and has that weird glass eye...

3. While walking through a Tackleford venue, old Scary Go Round mainstays Ryan and Amy (now married) bump into the last member of the detective septet, Mildred. Where do they meet?

Answer: The Farmers Market

And very embarrassing it is for poor Ryan too, who doesn't like his pupils to see him without his aura of being a teacher. As Amy said, 'She was certainly intimidating. All four feet nine of her'.

4. What strange event happens at the Tackleford City home game watched by Linton and his Dad?

Answer: A satellite crashes onto the pitch

First new signing Cyrus Rosetti of Dukla Plovdiv is laid low by a septic paper cut, then an out of control satellite plunges onto the Tackleford City pitch like something out of 'Armageddon'! Coincidence? The boys think not!

5. What unusual but very Russian method has Kropotkin, evil owner of Tackleford City, been using to try to evict Mrs. Nabokova?

Answer: Having two men boil cabbage and horse sausage under her bedroom window every night

It's the cabbage and horse sausage. Oh, the smell. Still, why mess around?
To the best of our knowledge, Mrs. Nabokovahas no pets, and cattle in West Yorkshire are too dour to stampede. As for the Russian spirit...

6. What item must Jack provide to get a place on the Tackleford City stadium tour?

Answer: Mad Terry's red bow tie

Yes, it's Mad Terry's bow tie. I made the other ones up.
Lauren, Jack's sister's best pal, is daughter to the Tackleford City FC General Secretary and can get the young detectives onto the stadium tour so they can investigate the strange goings on at the City Ground. The price, however, is high...
Mad Terry is an emotionally divergent bald person of indeterminate age who has been seen in the background of John Allison's work for years. He once claimed to be the King of England (but it turned out to be false) and he leaves money in the streets so he can jump out on people who try to pick it up. Predictable he isn't.

7. At a glamourous house party at the Kropotkins' there is a savage attack committed in the garden. Who is/are the victim/s?

Answer: The garden gnomes

A falling tree (or possibly flagpole) crashes into Kropotkin's 'gnome area' committing mass gnomicide and incidentally totalling his car too. A ghostly one-eyed figure is seen at a distance, flying away. It looks like Yuri has brought more than just a love of the peoples' game with him from the old country.

8. On the stadium tour, which one of the kids confronts Kropotkin?

Answer: Sonny

Well, confronted is a bit of a strong word. Closer would be to say that after he wandered off from the stadium tour, Sonny found Kropotkin sitting alone, crying to himself over the abuse he'd received from the press and the fans, and through all the bad luck the club had had. Kropotkin is just a simple lad from Omsk made good, who had followed City ever since he saw them demolish Lokomotiv Omsk 9-0 in a European Fairs Cup match in the Seventies. Surely not a man who wishes to drive Tackleford City into the ground?

9. In the final act on top of the stadium roof, what is Mrs. Nabokova revealed to be?

Answer: A Lykho

In Slavic mythology, the Lykho is a malevolent one-eyed creature, embodiment of ill fortune. Mrs. Nabokova, although indeed a Lykho, had merely come to West Yorkshire to get away from the cursing life, only to be hounded by Yuri Kropotkin. However, she didn't bring the satellite, papercut Cyrus Rosetti or destroy Yuri's garden gnomes. Who, then, is Tackleford City FC's Nemesis?

10. So, who was really trying to put Tackleford City out of business?

Answer: Jana Kropotkin

Jana, Kropotkin's wife, furious that he didn't buy the Tampa Bay Crazy Men and instead, forced her to live in Yorkshire with its constant rain (she may have a point). An expert computer hacker, she diverted the satellite onto Tackleford City's stadium, crushed the Kropotkin garden gnomes by sawing through a conveniently placed flagpole and put extra-sharp paper into the printer just before Rosetti was due to sign his contract. No supernatural powers were involved. There is a happy ending though - Yuri forgives her and even takes on Mrs. Nabokova, the Lykho, as her personal assistant.

The kids' first case is concluded.

Source: Author spaceowl

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
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'Bad Machinery' #1 - 'The Case of the Team Spirit' Quiz

'The Case of the Team Spirit' is the first book in John Allison's 'Bad Machinery' series that follows on from 'Scary Go Round'. This introduces the young detectives and gives them a difficult case involving Russian Oligarchs, Russian Spirits and football

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