Only Consonants Trivia Quiz

Answer: A Tale of Two Cities

The two cities referred to in the title of this 1859 literary classic are London and Paris. Set amidst the French Revolution as well as during the lead-up to it, the book follows a number of characters and their lives as these events go on around them.

Answer: Bleak House

At the heart of 'Bleak House' is a court case, namely "Jarndyce v. Jarndyce", which has cost an enormous amount of money and been running for a very long time, partly due to the multiple wills associated with the deceased's estate and the slowness of the English Chancery.

Answer: Oliver Twist

'Oliver Twist' is one of Dickens' most popular works, having spawned films and musicals the likes of which old Charlie boy could never have imagined. The story follows Oliver, who escapes from the child workhouse and falls in with the Artful Dodger, Fagin, and the rest of the street urchins.

Answer: Tunisia

Located in northern Africa, Tunisia is nestled between Algeria and Libya, with the Mediterranean Sea lapping against its northern and eastern edges. Film buffs will know that the Tunisian deserts doubled as the alien planet Tatooine in the 'Star Wars' films.

Answer: Cameroon

Cameroon is located in the western portion of central Africa, essentially at the apex of the 'curve' where the African coastline begins to head south towards South Africa.

Answer: Lesotho

Despite the spelling, Lesotho is, more or less, pronounced 'le-soo-too'. Similarly, natives of Lesotho are referred to as Mosotho and Basotho (single and plural, respectively). Lesotho itself is an enclave, being completely surrounded by South Africa.

Answer: Supernova

A supernova occurs when a star explodes. It creates an intense display of light and releases a phenomenal amount of energy (more so than a nova, hence its name).

Answer: Black hole

Without getting too technical (after all, we're not here for an astronomy lesson), black holes are areas of space that have such a gravitational pull that any objects that cannot withstand the pull get sucked in. Even light gets sucked in, hence the name 'black hole'.

The phrase 'event horizon' refers to the 'point of no return'; that is, the point at which all hope of escaping the black hole disappears and it's probably best to put your head between your legs and say goodbye to your posterior.

Answer: The Big Bang

The Big Bang is possibly the biggest theory of astrophysics. It suggests that all matter in the universe was once concentrated at a single point, which then erupted, releasing all the energy and expanding extremely rapidly, thus creating the known universe. The theory also suggests that the universe is still expanding some 13 billion-odd years after its creation.

Answer: Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for founding the Missionaries of Charity, which helps the poor and the ill. She requested that the monetary portion of the Nobel Prize go to the poor people of India.

Answer: Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela shared the prize in 1993 with Frederik Willem de Klerk for their work in bringing an end to apartheid in South Africa.

Answer: Barack Obama

It was in 2009 that Barack Obama, then-recently elected president of the United States, won the Nobel Peace Prize for spearheading a new wave of international diplomatic relations. Before Obama, Jimmy Carter was the last US president (though he wasn't president at the time) to receive the prize, in 2002.

Answer: Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty. Her birth was rather odd, having risen from the sea after Uranus', er, intimate area, was cut off and thrown into the sea.

Answer: Poseidon

Poseidon is the god of the sea, often depicted with his iconic trident. He is the brother to such gods as Zeus, Hera and Hades.

Answer: Dionysus

Dionysus is the god of wine and winemaking. As a bit of a party enthusiast, Dionysus' extravagant festivals were the inspiration for Greek theatre, with Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes being some of the many notable exponents of this theatre.