A Fair Day Out Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ring toss

This classic fairground game evolved from a game known as quoits, and variations may involve using rope or horseshoes rather than hoops. It is known by many names, though most will be familiar with the term "ring toss". The aim of the game is to throw the hoop over the peg to win the associated prize. Sounds easy, right? This game has evolved to make things more complicated for the player, however.

Some stalls use coloured blocks rather than pegs, which increases the chance that the ring will land tantalisingly on its intended target before bouncing or spinning off, leaving you heartbroken.

Answer: A hooked pole

The Hook-a-Duck game was always the first to lure me in when I was younger. However, this game is merely a jazzed-up lottery. The task of hooking a duck is really as simple as it sounds, so the matter of winning a prize comes down to whether or not your duck is lucky enough to have the right coloured bottom. All the ducks have a symbol on their underside (often a coloured dot) which tells you whether you can select a prize or whether you should cut your losses and get some candy floss.

Answer: A bell ringing

Unlike many of the games at fairgrounds, the Strength Tester (also known as the High Striker and various other names) does not have to depend on prizes to lure in its guests. Instead it offers people something money can't buy - the chance to prove their strength in front of their friends or prospective partners.

The aim of the game is to hit the base of the column with a mallet with as much force as possible, thus causing a puck within the column to shoot upwards. If you apply sufficient force, the puck will travel high enough to strike the bell which tops the column.

Answer: Metal darts

Metal darts may still be bordering on the dangerous, so these fairground stalls often use air pressure to fire corks or plastic pellets at the targets. Water pistols may also be used. To really make you work for your prizes, some stalls may use moving targets.

A variation on the shooting theme is to fire water from your pistol into a target (typically the mouth of a clown) in order to fill a balloon. This is usually set up as a race between various contestants.

Answer: Basketball

Many basketball hoops are lined up in succession, challenging players to try and throw the basketball into the basket from several feet away. Although an American invention, the basketball free-throw game is common in many British fairs and theme parks.

Other popular sports may be modified for use as a fairground game. The football penalty shoot-out is often irresistible to football-mad British children.

Answer: Coconuts

Coconut shies are one of the more ubiquitous and old-fashioned fairground games. The game challenges players to knock coconuts off of the poles on which they are balanced. You do this by throwing balls at them. While the prize of the coconut itself was always enough for players in the past, people seem less easily drawn nowadays, and a variety of prizes are now offered.

Answer: Guess the number of sweets in the jar

While it may be a challenge to not dive in and help yourself to the lemon bonbons and liquorice allsorts, this is not what the game is actually asking you to do. Instead, you have to guess how many sweets are contained in the jar. When a single type of sweet is used to fill the jar, a more scientific method could be applied by counting how many sweets high, wide, and deep the jar is, though the error is still likely to be rather large.

However, with a mixture of sweets of different shapes and sizes, this approach is pretty much impossible. What is the prize for guessing closest to the real number? All of the sweets, of course! Who could resist?

Answer: Blackpool rock

Blackpool rock is a peppermint-flavoured stick of boiled sugar that is a staple for any tourist visiting this seaside resort. Countless shops on the seafront offer rock of all sizes (the shape is fairly constant), with some bearing people's names, the names of football clubs, or, simply, "Blackpool". Rock is sold at various seaside resorts around the UK (and in some other countries) but few would deny Blackpool the title of Home of the Rock.

Answer: A DVD

The number of times I was whacked over the head with an inflatable hammer won by my older brother at Blackpool Pleasure Beach theme park! Even worse was the spiky inflatable flail he acquired when we visited Camelot theme park. These inflatables are easy to transport from place to place, are cheap and are colourful, drawing the attention of customers. Stuffed animals can be similarly aesthetically pleasing, and are traditionally the target for males who are attempting to win a fair maiden. One of the most iconic fairground gifts is the goldfish, though these are not as common as they once were, with accusations arising of animal cruelty (the fish often cannot be properly looked after by the person who wins it).

Answer: Put your face in a hole to make it look like you are in a funny situation

Large boards with strange and comical scenes invite you to place your face in the hole and become a lifeguard, a dinosaur, a clown, or any number of other weird and wonderful things. Those found at the English seaside are reminiscent of one of Donald McGill's Saucy Seaside postcards. Couples may also pose as a "weedy" man being cradled by a female lifeguard after being saved from drowning.