Can't Quite Place It Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dublin

Bloomsday celebrates James Joyce, the influential Irish author. 16 June 1904 was the date of the action of his lengthy 1922 novel "Ulysses". Referring to the classic by Homer, "The Odyssey", (Ulysses is the Latin for Odysseus, the hero of "The Odyssey"), the novel follows Leopold Bloom as he travels through the city of Dublin, and has encounters with various people, such as Molly Bloom, his wife, and Stephen Dedalus (Joyce's alter ego). On Bloomsday there are many events, some involving culture, some dressing up as characters, and some involving drinking on a pub crawl. Other cities have Bloomsday celebrations, such as Paris, where Joyce lived for much of his life, and where "Ulysses" was first published.

The picture shows some of Dublin's famous stout, Guinness.

Answer: Vienna

"The Third Man" was directed by Carol Reed, and written by Graham Greene. Joseph Cotten stars as an American author who comes to a war-devastated Vienna, because a friend offered him a job. When he is told his friend is dead, he investigates, and discovers criminality around a black market in stolen penicillin. The movie was shot on location and made use of Vienna's locations, including the sewers and the Wiener Riesenrad, the Ferris wheel which is still a popular tourist attraction. Other stars of the movie were Orson Welles and Trevor Howard.

The picture is of a Wiener Schnitzel.

Answer: Las Vegas

Siegfried & Roy were famous for their magic and animal act, particularly their use of big cats. Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn became famous in their native Germany and started working in Las Vegas in 1981. "Siegfried & Roy at the Mirage Resort and Casino" became the most popular draw in Las Vegas, running from 1990 until an incident in 2003, when Roy was attacked on stage by a white tiger, and suffered severe injury. The pair attempted a comeback, but retired from show business in 2010.

Hopefully the picture of a toy casino set helped.

Answer: Cuba

"GoldenEye 007" was one of the most popular games on the Nintendo N64 game console. It combined two elements - a story line based on the 1995 James Bond movie "GoldenEye", and a split-screen multiplayer combat mode. In the story following the movie, the action involved a dam in Russia, a tank chase through the streets of St Petersburg and a climactic fight with a rogue double 0 agent on a radio antenna in Cuba. If you completed the whole mission on the Secret Agent setting, two bonus levels became available after the battle on the radio antenna.

The photo is a cube of Fool's gold or Iron Pyrites.

Answer: Scotland

"Lucia di Lammermoor" was written by Gaetano Donizetti in 1835. He based it on the book "The Bride of Lammermoor" by Sir Walter Scott. The setting was the Lammermuir Hills, in the Scottish Borders. The story is one of forbidden love, a family feud, murder, and suicide. A highlight is the coloratura soprano "mad scene" that did much to build the reputation of the likes of Maria Callas and Dame Joan Sutherland.

The photo is of a thistle - the national emblem of Scotland.

Answer: Copenhagen

Tivoli Gardens opened in Copenhagen in 1843 and is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world. Its attractions include several rollercoasters, including one made from wood, a Pantomime theatre, an animal carousel, bumper cars, dragon boats, and an aquarium.

The picture shows a way marker for a Viking themed footpath in the UK. The Vikings came from Scandinavia, including Denmark, where Copenhagen is.

Answer: Japan

Miss International was first held at Long Beach in the 1960s, and has been back there since, and also in China, but the majority of its pageants have been held in Japan. The pageant is usually held in October or November. Its twin aims are to foster "correct understanding of Japan in the international community" and "the realization of world peace through mutual understanding". The "Miss International Fund" distributes money to impoverished children in partnership with UNICEF and other charities. The other members of the so-called Big Four are Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss Earth.

The picture is of sakura cherry blossom in Japan. The celebration of the cherry blossom in Japan is a big annual event.

Answer: Canary Islands

Manolo Blahnik was born in Santa Cruz de La Palma, in the Canary Islands, in 1942. After studying Literature and Architecture at the University of Geneva, he worked in the fashion business in Paris and London as a buyer and a writer. When he showed his drawings to Diana Vreeland from US Vogue, she advised him to start designing and making shoes. He worked with Ossie Clark and Zandra Rhodes in the 1970s and then his career really took off. Blahnik started off making men's shoes but moved into the elegant women's footwear for which he became famous.

The photograph is a canary. The bird is named after the islands. The islands are named after the wild dogs that were found there.

Answer: New York City

In the Marvel Universe, the Avengers Mansion was originally owned by the Stark family. Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, donated it to the Avengers. Its location was on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Avengers creator Stan Lee was often quizzed by Avengers fans about why they couldn't see the mansion on a visit to New York City.
The picture shows the Statue of Liberty from an odd angle.

Answer: Mornington Crescent

The Mornington Crescent tube station is on the Northern line of the London Underground Railway. The station closed in 1992 for some refurbishment work, but stayed closed until a campaign which included fans of the BBC radio programme "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue". On that humorous radio panel show, one regular round is a game called "Mornington Crescent", which consists of players naming tube stations in turn, following a convoluted and made up logic. The winner is the person who first manages to "play" Mornington Crescent. When the station reopened in 1998, the cast of "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" were given the honour of officiating.

The photograph is of French croissants. Croissants are named after their shape, a crescent.