Hands Across the Water Trivia Quiz

Answer: Danish

The added letter is I.

This layered pastry (the Danish) is synonymous with Denmark, but the country can thank their bakers for going on strike, back in 1850, for this delicacy. With no bakers available the bakeries sought help from their Austrian neighbours. The bakers that ventured across brought the recipe and techniques with them. They (the pastries) were such a hit that, when the strike was over, the Danish bakers adapted the cake to their own tastes.

Answer: Dashi

The letter lost is N.

Dashi is said to accentuate umami, one of the five basic tastes. The most common version of the stock made in Japan is created by placing kombu, an edible kelp, and kezurikatsuo, shavings of fermented tuna, into water. That is brought to (almost) boiling point and then strained.

Answer: Dais

The letter dropped is the H.

The dais is usually a raised platform that is placed at the front of a room or hall and is utilized by speakers or lecturers. In medieval times it was the area at the front of the hall where the lord of the manor would dine.

Answer: Sad

This time the letter dropped is I.

The dictionary will define sad as being unhappy or showing sorrow, however, SAD is also an acronym that stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder. This is a form of depression that is brought about or affected by the changes in the seasons.

Answer: DA

To get to DA you needed to have dropped the letter S.

"The Shaggy D.A." was created as a sequel to the 1959 film "The Shaggy Dog". In the original, Wilby Daniels is a boy who, thanks to a magical ring, gets turned into a dog. In the new film, Wilby is now grown but gets robbed. When the District Attorney does little to help him, Wilby decides to run for election and oust the sitting DA. The film stars Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Tim Conway and Keenan Wynn as the inept DA.

Answer: A

Your removalist should have packed up and taken away the letter D.

Named after Dutch physicist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, this equation is prevalent in chemistry and thermodynamics and works against the Ideal (or General) Gas Law, instead working on the principle that real gases do not act in an ideal manner.

Answer: AE

You needed to have added the letter E.

Born in County Armagh, Ireland in 1867, Russell was a writer, poet, painter and a strong supporter of Irish nationalism. He became the editor of "The Irish Homestead" and then "The Irish Statesman". His home in Dublin became a meeting place for any who wished to discuss the economic and artistic future of his country and many would cite him as an influence and great mentor. Among those was P.L. Travers of "Mary Poppins" fame. He chose the AE moniker, derived from aeon, as it signified the lifelong quest of man.

Answer: Ace

The letter required to complete the above equation was C.

Generally, the number of kills required to qualify as an "ace" was five, though this varied dependent upon the country that you fought for. The idea of an "ace" emerged during the dogfights of World War I, a conflict that gave us Manfred von Richthofen, better known as "The Red Baron".

Answer: Acne

Throw the letter N into the mix and you can spot the difference... sorry, bad pun.

Common among teenagers, acne occurs when hair follicles become plugged up with dead skin cells or oil. The key word there is "common" among teenagers as it can affect people of all ages. There are treatments for the condition, but they do take time. This, and the severity of the condition, may cause distress with some.

Answer: Canoe

Did you throw in the letter O or did you just say "Oh dear".

Canoes have no definitive origin as they have been developed all over the world. In some places they may be called kayaks. The are generally lightweight, narrow vehicles that are open at the top and narrow at both ends.

As a final little play on this puzzle the word canoe can also be anagrammed to create the word ocean, a fine place to take a canoe.