Word Alchemy Trivia Quiz

Answer: dales

Dales are river valleys and hills, found in Yorkshire, one of England's historic counties. Most of these dales were incorporated into the Yorkshire Dales National Park in 1954. Here, many river valleys are named after their river or stream, with "dale" appended; like Airedale, Ribblesdale and Teesdale. However, Wensleydale is named for the town of Wensley, rather than the local River Ure.

In earlier times, lead (Pb) was considered to be an impure base metal: common and inexpensive compared with precious metals like silver and gold.

Answer: elands

Elands are large African antelopes belonging to the genus "Taurotragus" (Greek: "bull" and "male goat"). Elands have a tuft of hair resembling a goat's beard, growing in their ears. The two extant species are the common eland ("T. oryx") and the giant eland ("T. derbianus"), with the latter being the world's largest antelope. Both species have large spiral-shaped horns.

Answer: dangles

Something that dangles hangs loosely and will probably sway in a breeze. The verb dates to the late 16th century and may be of Scandinavian origin with "dangla" in Norwegian and Swedish meaning "swing about". When offering someone an enticement, it may be dangled in front of them, sometimes euphemistically referred to as a "carrot".

Answer: Donegals

Donegal is a county in northwest Ireland in the Province of Ulster. Its county town is Lifford and one of Donegal's nicknames is "The Forgotten County". Donegal's Latin motto translates as "Have love for one another". Donegal tweeds (Donegals) have been woven in County Donegal for centuries.

Answer: Gladstone

A Gladstone bag is a type of hinged bag, a forerunner of the briefcase. William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) was a Liberal politician and British statesman. Between 1868 and 1894 he was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on four occasions, for a total of 12 years.

Answer: Dog Tales

Warner Bros. produced "Dog Tales" (1958), a "Looney Tunes" animated cartoon short. "Dog Tales", first broadcast in 2007, is a syndicated US television series hosted by Alex Paen. This half-hour weekly show features dogs and their owners.

Answer: gloated

Gloated is the past tense of gloat. The word originally meant "looking furtively" in the 16th century and was probably derived from "glout" ("stare", "scowl or pout"). The Old Norse and Swedish "glotta" added meanings such as peeping, grinning and smiling scornfully, leading to a sense of malicious satisfaction. Certainly, someone who likes to gloat takes pleasure from their own achievements and others' misfortunes.

Answer: gaoled

In British and Australian English, the word was "gaoled" while in other cultures it has been spelled "jailed". The j-version is quite old: in the 13th and 14th centuries Middle English's "jaile", Old French's "jaiole" and Medieval Latin's "gabiola" all meant "cage" or "prison". Middle English manuscripts tended to favour the g-version, leading to the difference in spellings.

Answer: lodge

Beavers are large rodents in the genus "Castor", found in the Northern Hemisphere. The two extant species are the North American ("C. canadensis") and Eurasian ("C. fiber") beavers. They are semi-aquatic herbivores, creating wetlands by building dams and lodges on waterways.

A beaver's lodge is a domed-shaped house formed from sticks, grasses and mosses, then plastered with mud. The lodge provides shelter and protection from predators.

Answer: gold

Gold (Au) is an unreactive and relatively rare (and therefore expensive) metal. Throughout history it has been used for jewellery, coinage and latterly electronics. Many consider it a desirable and precious commodity, with historical gold rushes happening as people have tried to get their hands on new discoveries of the metal.

For alchemists, their supreme quest was to transmute lead into gold. There's just one major problem. Lead (element number 82) has 82 protons in each of its atoms. Gold (element number 79) has only 79 protons. Chemical processes cannot change the number of protons.