An Agatha Christie Common Bond Quiz

Answer: Caribbean

The Caribbean consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands, and the surrounding coasts. It is also part of the larger region traditionally known as the West Indies. Its largest island is Cuba. Polynesia is a roughly triangular region in the Pacific Ocean (with Hawaii at the top and including, among others, Samoa, Pitcairn, and Tonga).

The Bermuda Triangle is the inofficial name of a triangular region north of the Caribbean, notorious for a number of unexplained disappearances of ships and airplanes.

The Balearic Islands are situated in the Mediterranean, off the eastern coast of Spain, and include, among others, the islands of Majorca, Menorca, and Ibiza.

Answer: Nemesis

The name Nemesis stems from the Greek "némein" meaning "to give what is due." In some mythologies, she has been put down as the mother of Helen of Troy.
Artemis is the goddess of the hunt and the wilderness; Nike is the goddess of victory, and Persephone is the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of harvest, and the queen of the underworld (a title bestowed on her following her abduction by Hades).

Answer: Gazette

The French word "gazette" comes from the Italian "gazeta", which was a Venetian coin. In the 16th century, "gazeta" was used in Italy to mean "newspaper" because the first Venetian newspapers cost one gazeta.
A Gazette can also denote a public journal of the government.

Answer: Mirror

The Evil Queen in "Snow White" possesses a magic mirror who tells her who the fairest in the land is. The sequel to "Alice in Wonderland" is called "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There," which indicates mirrors even in its title. The "Lady of Shalott" in Tennyson's poem of the same name can only see the people of Camelot through an enchanted mirror. And in "Harry Potter," there is the Mirror of Erised, which shows the onlooker their heart's deepest desire, as well as a Two-Way Mirror as a means of communication.

Answer: gossip

"Gossip Girl" starred Blake Lively as Serena van der Woodsen and Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf. The friendship between Blair and Serena (and all its ups and downs) was at the center of the show in the first few seasons. The show won a total of 16 Teen Choice Awards between 2008 and 2011, and Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass) also won a Young Hollywood Award in 2009 for his performance on "Gossip Girl."

Answer: Vicarage

You can find the word "vicar" in "vicarage". The vicar takes care of his parish, and he does not do so from a palace.
A refectory is a dining room in a monastery, boarding school, or academic institution.

Answer: Trains

"Starlight Express" was first performed in 1984. The story revolves around a group of toy trains who come to life in their owner's mind and partake in a race to find out who is the fastest train. Lloyd Webber has described it as a take on the Cinderella story, where Rusty is Cinderella, Greaseball and Electra the stepsisters, and the Starlight Express the Fairy Godmother.

The performers wear skates during the entire show, and a race track runs through the audience room. "Starlight Express" features some spectacular stunts and a number of popular musical songs, such as "Pumping Iron," "Starlight Express," "A Lotta Locomotion," "Only You" and "The Light at the End of the Tunnel" as well as "Next Time You Fall In Love," which was added later when the show was revised.

Answer: Thirteen

There are different theories as to why the number 13 is regarded as an unlucky number in many Western countries, one being that Jesus was the 13th person at the table at the Last Supper. (This is also believed to be the origin of the superstition that the first person to rise from a table where thirteen people are seated will die soon after.)
In China, the number 13 is regarded with indifference, but the number four is avoided whenever possible. The reason is a bit more pragmatic: the word for "four" closely resembles the word for "death".

Answer: Library

Libraries have always fascinated people, and hopefully they will continue to do so, even with e-books and mail-order shops on the rise. The three libraries from the question are among the most famous in the world: the American Library of Congress, the Bodleian at Oxford, and the fabled Library of Alexandria, the most famous library in the ancient world.

Answer: Miss Marple

All the correct answers point to Miss Jane Marple, one of Agatha Christie's most famous sleuths:
Caribbean: where the ninth Miss Marple novel ("A Caribbean Mystery," 1964) is set.
Nemesis: the title of the last Miss Marple novel to be written (1971) and a nickname Miss Marple has bestowed upon herself.
Gazette: the gossipy newspaper of the village of Chipping Cleghorn in which "A Murder is Announced" (1950).
Mirror: contained in two Miss Marple titles: "They Do It With Mirrors" (1952) and "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side" (1962).
Gossip: Miss Marple's primary source of information and her most efficient method of investigation.
Vicarage: contained in the title of the first full-length Miss Marple novel, "Murder at the Vicarage" (1930), and the location where the body is found in this book.
Trains: feature prominently in the memorable opening scene of "4.50 From Paddington" (1957).
Thirteen: contained in the title of the short story collection where Miss Marple made her first appearance, "The Thirteen Problems" (collection published as a book in 1932).
Library: where "The Body in the Library" (1942) is found.