Dai the Dap and the Totally... Trivial Quiz

Answer: Charlie Chaplin lookalike contest

"Lookalike" competitions were once a very popular form of entertainment. In the early part of the 20th century, one of the more popular themes for these contests was "Charlie Chaplin". This would make sense - with no TV, and few newspaper pictures in those days, the cinema was the only really accessible form of visual mass communication. As Chaplin was one of the biggest cinema stars of the era, and had quite a distinctive look, it all makes some sort of sense.

The winner of one such contest, held in Cleveland, is reported to be a young emerging actor by the name of Bob Hope. But it wasn't Bob who beat Charlie.

Chaplin's reported contest took place in Monte Carlo (or it may have been Switzerland). He finished third (or it may have been second). The winner may have been his brother Sid - or it may not. But Chaplin certainly didn't win.

Answer: From a whistle moulded into a cup

Quite a prosaic explanation really - Many years ago in England, regular drinkers in pubs would have a whistle baked or affixed to some part of their ceramic drinking cups. When said drinker fancied a top up, they would use the whistle to get the barman's attention to order another drink. The phrase 'Wet your whistle' arose from this practice.

Answer: The Guinness Book of Records

When Dai the Dap first came across this question, he thought how ironic it would be if there was an entry in the Guinness Book of Records which stated the Guinness Book of Records as the book most stolen from Public Libraries across the world. When Dai found out that this was precisely the case, he spent a few minutes bathing in a pool of overwhelming irony.

Then he got a life again. By which time, he realized he'd wandered out of the Library unwittingly clutching a copy of.. you know the rest!

Answer: A Jumbo jet landing at a nearby airport

"Ben Hur" was released in 1959 - and Jumbo jets didn't appear till the late 1960s. So that clue was an anachronism in itself!

Answer: New Jersey

The eggplant is also known as the aubergine, or by its original Indian name, the brinjal. It is native to India, and has been cultivated there since pre-history.

Although China is the world's largest producer of all types of eggplant, the purple variety is most popular with Western palates - and New Jersey grows over two thirds of this type of eggplant.

Answer: Lethologica

"Lethology" is a psychological disorder which leads to the forgetfulness of words. Though to a lot of us, it's an everyday occurrence. It seems perverse somehow to create a word which is so difficult to remember to stand as a phrase for difficulty in remembering words. Almost as perverse as the wordsmith who decided to include the "s" in the word "Lisp".

Answer: True

It is true that scorpions are immune to their own venom. A scorpion could eat another scorpion, but it is not able to poison itself.

Answer: Alaska

Outside the two main cities of Fairbanks and Anchorage, the majority of the rest of the Alaskan population is grouped into small towns and villages, a very long distance from other settlements. Therefore, there's not much point in owning a car when everything you need is almost literally on your doorstep.

Answer: Three

Twelve sets of eyelids? Be serious! And if a camel had no eyelids at all, how would it keep all of that sand out of its eyes in a sandstorm? So just the one pair wouldn't be that much good either, would it? But with three pairs, it can blink with one set whilst the other two keep the sand out of its eyes. Makes perfect sense. Must cost a bomb in mascara mind.

Answer: Derived from an old law regarding wife beating

For a long time, it was popularly believed that the "rule of thumb" derived from an old English Law which forbade men to beat their wives with anything wider than a thumb - hence the "rule". Although there was an English Law which allowed men to beat their wives "in moderation" (and believe me, this in itself was shocking enough to Dai), there is no reliable evidence to say that it was defined in any way.

It's more likely that the saying derives from the notion of using the thumb as a measuring unit - but the urban myth is a lot more intriguing - though the whole episode does cast rather a shadow on our forefathers' standards of behaviour.