"The Princess Bride" Is the Real Deal Quiz

Answer: Vezzini the genius

Along with just about everything, rhymes drive Vezzini crazy. After Vezzini, Fezzik, and Inigo kidnap Buttercup, they sail away from Florin towards Guilder. While sailing, Fezzik and Inigo come up with several rhymes specifically about why Vezzini is in a bad mood. Vezzini shouts at the two, "Enough of that! No more rhymes now, I mean it!" to which Fezzik responds, "Anybody want a peanut?"

Interesting fact: according to an Entertainment Weekly article, William Goldman wanted to write a story for his two daughters. One girl wanted a story about a princess and the other wanted a story about a bride, and thus the title "Princess Bride" was born!

Answer: He's not left-handed.

Both Inigo and the Man in Black are expert swordsmen. Inigo decided he wanted the fight to last longer, so he started with his non-dominant left hand. As the fight wore on and he found he was losing lefthanded, he surprised the Man in Black by switching to his right hand. At this point the tide turns, and it is the Man in Black who is losing... but also reveals that he is not left-handed either and switches to his dominant right hand. Fortunately, for Inigo, the Man in Black only knocks him out rather than killing him.

Interesting fact: Mandy Patinkin told "Entertainment Weekly" that he really identified with the role of Inigo. Patinkin lost his father to pancreatic cancer and found himself talking to his father as he prepared each day bringing him a sense of healing.

Answer: In Greenland

Vizzini is never one to shy away from threatening others to do his bidding. Fezzik objects when he discovers that Vizzini has plans to kill the princess. When Inigo joins in opposing the idea of murdering the princess, Vizzini reminds them that they both had it much worse before the Sicilian found them. Inigo was so drunk he could not even buy brandy, and Fezzik was all alone and unemployed in Greenland!

Interesting fact: In William Goldman's book, "The Princess Bride", Fezzik's parents had died, and he had spent his time making up rhymes until Vizzini came and employed him!

Answer: Barehanded

When Vizzini realized Inigo must have lost his sword fight, he told Fezzik to finish the Man in Black while the Sicilian kept on going with the princess. Vizzini suggested that Fezzik should pick up a large rock and hide behind a boulder and then smash the Man in Black's head in with the rock. Fezzik thought that was unsportsmanlike, so he decided the Man in Black should fight him as God intended, barehanded. Of course, due to Fezzik's huge size, he would still have a massive advantage! The Man in Black knocks Fezzik out by choking him until he loses consciousness.

Interesting fact: Andre Roussimoff was a natural actor from his experience as a wrestler. However, the giant was a Frenchman who struggled with English. So director Rob Reiner recorded all of Fezzik's lines on a cassette so Roussimoff could memorize his lines and get the proper pronunciation for each line.

Answer: He was immune.

Iocaine is a fictitious poison supposedly from Australia. In the film we are told it is colorless, odorless, and dissolves completely in water. During his duel of wits with Vizzini, Westley challenged the Sicilian to figure out which wine goblet contained the poison. Due to Vizzini's... ah... brilliance he came up with a dozen reasons why he could not choose one or the other goblet. Finally Vizzini distracts the Man in Black and switches the goblets. When they both drink the Man in Black tells Vizzini that he has lost which results in hysterical laughter...until Vizzini falls over dead. The Man in Black tells the princess that he poisoned both goblets and that he had spent years building up an immunity to iocaine.

Interesting fact: The actor, Wallace Shawn, who played Vizzini, actually is a genius! Shawn earned a history degree from Harvard and a philosophy degree from Oxford!

Answer: Fairy thunder rings

Shockingly, I made up the fairy thunder rings, but if they did exist they would most certainly have been found in a fire swamp! We learn in the movie that no one has survived entering the fire swamp as Westley and Buttercup contemplate entering it to hide from Prince Humperdinck. There are three hazards of the fire swamp: random flame spurts, lightning sand, and ROUSs. The couple discovers that random flame spurts are easily avoidable because they make a popping sound before they appear. The lightning sand is a quicksand that almost kills them, but they manage to use a vine to pull out of it. Finally, Westley fights a "rat of unusual size" about the size of a wild boar. Miraculously, the couple make it out of the fire swamp... to stumble upon Humperdinck and his men.

Interesting fact: Everyone knows that swamps are mostly wet, so it might be surprising that swamps are sometimes at a high risk for fires. Swamps are on floodplains that have periodic droughts (otherwise they would be lakes!) During these times of drought, the chance of fire is extremely high as there is rich peat in the soil that burns easily.

Answer: To be honest

Dear old Count Rugen is indeed a man of science and wants Westley to be as honest as possible about how "the machine" makes Westley feel. The machine seems to use a water wheel connected to bellows that use suction cups to suck life out of the victim. Count Rugen seems a little disappointed when all Westley does is moan and cry after being tortured. Soon afterward, Humperdinck turns the machine up to the highest level causing the sound of ultimate suffering and appears to kill Westley.

Interesting fact: The torture machine used on the set "The Princess Bride" had actually been created as a torture device for the film "Never Say Never Again" to be used on James Bond. Ultimately, it was not used for the Bond film, but was perfect for "The Princess Bride"!

Answer: Mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich

Billy Crystal is at his most brilliant as the recently fired Miracle Max. Inigo and Fezzik bring a supposedly dead Westley to Max for a miracle cure. Max tells the two they are in luck as Westley appears to be only mostly dead... which means he is partially alive! Using a bellows to blow air into Westley's mouth, Max asks him what there is to live for. Inigo hears Westley say in a garbled voice "True love!" Max confirms that true love is the greatest thing there is... except for a mutton, lettuce, and tomato sandwich when the mutton is sliced just right.

Interesting fact: Lazarus syndrome is a rare occurrence when a person who is in cardiac arrest fails to be resuscitated by artificial means but then later spontaneously goes back into normal rhythm. In 2008, Velma Thomas went 17 hours without a heartbeat before coming back and making a full recovery.

Answer: "Careful, or I will turn you into a frog!"

When the magician tries to suggest that Westely actually said "to blave" (which Max translates as "to bluff") instead of "true love", Max's wife comes out and calls him a liar! Max responds by calling her a witch which she denies. She also does not threaten to turn him into a frog. It is clear in the film from the exchange that Max and Valerie have a long and probably happy marriage together. Definitely one of the best scenes in the film.

Interesting fact: While most of the film had strict control of the script to the letter, Reiner gave Billy Crystal free rein to adlib. As a result, the three days of filming for the 5-minute scene were filled with uproarious laughter. In fact, Crystal had everyone laughing so hard that at places they had to use a dummy in place of Elwes' character because he found it impossible not to laugh while he was supposed to be dead!

Answer: Swimming

As they coat the large pill with chocolate, they tell Inigo and Fezzik that Westley should wait at least an hour before swimming. After giving Westley the pill his brain returns quickly but he is unable to move his body. As each part of Westley's body returns to normal Fezzik is there with encouragement. "You just moved your head! Doesn't that make you happy?"

Interesting fact: Medieval doctors often followed the "wisdom" of the Greek physician Galen who proposed the human body consisted of four "humors" that needed to stay in balance to stay healthy. The four humors were black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. This is one of the reasons bloodletting in the form of leeches became popular as it was thought to help balance the humors.

Answer: A holocaust cloak

Ah, yes... a holocaust cloak! In this scene, the three adventurers are trying to come up with a way to defeat 60 men who were guarding the gate to the castle. In the end, they used the holocaust cloak to cover Fezzik's huge form and put him on a wheelbarrow. Fezzik then claimed to be the dread pirate Roberts and was lit on fire to great effect. All the men ran except for the gatekeeper who decided it would be better to give over the key than have his arms ripped off!

Interesting fact: A holocaust cloak is black, thick, long-sleeved, and hooded. Think of the Grim Reaper. In medieval times the holocaust cloak was thought to have magical properties and sometimes was used to punish a wearer by lighting them on fire.

Answer: His letter "R" sounds like a "W."

The most pronounced speech impediment for the minister is his trouble with pronouncing the letter "R" which sounds more like a "W". This is by no means the only challenge he had communicating as he mispronounces other letters too! This particular scene has many memorable quotes including "Marwage! Marwage is what bwings us togever today!"

Interesting facts: Almost all medieval weddings were arranged by the parents. Often the girl was a young teen and had no choice in the matter. The young man would have been in his early twenties. The bride's father would give the groom a dowry of money at the wedding. The proposed marriage would be posted on the church door so anyone who knew a reason to object could do so. Most commonly, objections were due to the proposed couple being too closely related.

Answer: She had kissed him on the head.

After the truncated wedding, a worried Humperdinck hands Buttercup off to his father. It is quite clear that the old king is not at all in his right mind. Buttercup kisses the old king on the top of his head. He asks her what the kiss was for and Buttercup tells him that she will be dead in the morning. The king responds, "Won't that be nice" and then tells the queen, "She kissed me!"

Interesting fact: Many of the traditions of a medieval wedding are still in practice today including where the bride and groom stand. The exchange of rings to be placed on the fourth finger was also done, along with an after-wedding feast to celebrate the union.

Answer: His ears

When Humperdinck entered the room he said he killed Westley too quickly and suggested the two fight to the death. Westley says he preferred a fight to the pain and then goes on to explain what "to the pain" means. He describes how he would mutilate the prince but leave the ears perfectly intact so he will be able to hear clearly the shock people have when they see his mutilated form. His description is enough to scare the prince into dropping his sword and agreeing to be tied up in a chair. The humiliation comes when the prince realizes that Westley can barely stand.

Interesting facts: Honor duels were fought between two nobles when an ego was bruised. Duels had agreed upon rules to make them more fair and establish the victor. Another type of duel was a judicial duel where the outcome was determined to be God's judgement.

Answer: Kiss

At the very end of the movie, Westley and Buttercup are riding away, and the narrator says that in the history of the world, there have been five greatest kisses. He goes on to say that the kiss Westley and Buttercup shared beat them all! It is as close to a happily-ever-after ending as you can get.

Interesting fact: Not all cultures partake in kissing. In Sudan, the mouth is considered to be the doorway to the soul, and kissing would invite death to take your soul! Yikes. A few other cultures object to kissing as something dirty or improper. Thankfully most of us quiz-takers do not live in one of those societies!