Find the Clandestine Canine Trivia Quiz

Answer: Crookshanks

Firstly, an explanation of the solution:

Starting with Feline 9's statement about Feline 6's name being two letters longer and Feline 5's being two letters shorter. That means those three cats must have names that contain either 11, 9 and 7 letters; 9, 7 and 5 letters; or 7, 5 and 3 letters. The first option can be ruled out as Feline 6 cannot have the only 11-letter name (Crookshanks) as its name comes directly before Feline 1's alphabetically and Feline 1 can't be Dinah as its name has to be at least 7 letters long (i.e. longer than the names of both Feline 2 and Feline 3). The second option can also be ruled out for the same reason as the two 9-letter names, Pyewacket and Sylvester, come alphabetically before Salem and Tom respectively. That means that Feline 6 has the only 7-letter name, Bagpuss; Feline 9 has one of the 5-letter names; and Feline 5 is Tom (the only 3-letter name). Feline 4's name comes directly before Feline 5's alphabetically, so has to be Sylvester.

We also know that Feline 8's name ends with the same letter as that of the Canine. The only remaining names that meet that criteria are Macavity and Snowy and the Canine tells us that their name contains an 'O' so we can identify Feline 8 as Macavity and the Canine as Snowy. Feline 7 has a name that starts with the same letter as Sylvester (Feline 4) so has to be Salem, which leaves Dinah as the only 5-letter name left available for Feline 9.

That just leaves Felines 1, 2 and 3 to be Crookshanks, Pyewacket and Garfield respectively, as we know Feline 1 has a longer name than Feline 2 and that Feline 2 has a longer name than Feline 3.

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Crookshanks is Hermione Granger's cat from the 'Harry Potter' series by J.K. Rowling. Hermione buys him from the Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley at the start of the events of 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'. He was a half-kneazle and showed his high levels of intelligence in his distrust of Peter "Scabbers the Rat" Pettigrew and when he helped Sirius Black to enter Hogwarts in order to catch him.

Answer: Pyewacket

Pyewacket was the name of the Siamese cat in the 1958 film 'Bell, Book and Candle' starring Kim Novak and James Stewart. Novak's character was a witch and Pyewacket was her familiar rather than just a pet. The name Pyewacket was also that of one of the supposed familiars of a "witch" interrogated by England's Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, in 1644.

Answer: Garfield

Garfield is the ginger and black-striped cat from the comic strip of the same name that was created by Jim Davis in 1976. The lazy, lasagna-loving feline who lives with his owner Jon Arbuckle and Odie the dog has gone on to be a major star of TV, film and video games.

Answer: Sylvester

Sylvester is the scheming black-and-white cat who regularly attempts (but generally fails) to torment a yellow canary named Tweety in the 'Looney Tunes' and 'Merrie Melodies' cartoon series. Sylvester made his first appearance in the 1945 cartoon 'Life with Feathers' and is known for his lisping catchphrase "Sufferin' succotash".

Answer: Tom

There are lots of fictional cats named 'Tom' (presumably due to a male cat being known as a Tom), but the most famous is probably the Tom of 'Tom and Jerry' fame. These cartoons were created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and featured the adventures of a grey cat named Tom and his attempts to chase a brown mouse named Jerry.

The characters first appeared in 1940 and new episodes were still being produced well into the 21st century!

Answer: Bagpuss

Bagpuss is the pink and white-striped toy cat from the 1974 children's TV series of the same name. The show was set in a shop, where various toys and items - along with Bagpuss himself - would come to life once their owners were out of sight. Only 13 episodes of the show were made, but the "saggy, old cloth cat, baggy, and a bit loose at the seams" still managed to become a well-loved household name.

Answer: Salem

Salem is the cat that appears in the comic books, TV series and films of 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch'. Salem is not really a cat, but actually a witch named Salem Saberhagen who was turned into a cat as a punishment. In the original comic books Salem was ginger but in later editions and on screen he is generally depicted as a black cat.

Answer: Macavity

Macavity the Mystery Cat is a character from T.S. Eliot's 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical 'Cats' that is based on the poems. Macavity is a feline villain and according to Eliot is "the bafflement of Scotland Yard" and "the Napoleon of Crime". In the musical 'Cats' he has his own eponymous song and he was portrayed by Idris Elba in the 2019 film version.

Answer: Dinah

Dinah is Alice's cat and best friend from Lewis Carroll's children's books 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking-Glass' and also appears in the 1951 film 'Alice in Wonderland'. While Dinah doesn't actually get to follow Alice to Wonderland, Alice frequently mentions her and her prowess at hunting during the course of the story.

Answer: Snowy

Snowy is of course the fictional canine mixed in with this group of fictional felines. He is a character from the 'Adventures of Tintin' comics written by Hergé (whose real name was Georges Prosper Remi). Snowy, a white wire fox terrier, was Tintin's sidekick and regular companion and is noted for his love of whiskey and occasionally getting drunk on it! Both characters were introduced in the 1929 comic 'Tintin in the Land of the Soviets'.