Find the Common Link Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bo Peep

"Toy Story" was released in 1995. This excellent animated tale featured the voices of Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allen as the hilarious Buzz Lightyear. The plot revolved around a group of toys belonging to a young boy named Andy, whose birthday is fast approaching. Woody, a cowboy doll that is worked by pulling a string, has been Andy's favourite toy for a long time. On Andy's birthday however, he is replaced in the boy's affection by a new toy usurper, a Buzz Lightyear space action figure. Woody's subsequent jealousy leads to a series of hilarious misfortunes for himself, Buzz, and all the other toys in the nursery.

The gentle and sweet Bo Peep, whose voice is provided by actress Annie Potts, is one of those toys. She and Woody are coyly very fond of each other, and she is the only toy who stays true to Woody during all of the misfortunes that befall him during the course of the movie.

Answer: Cradles hung on branches of trees

Native American mothers were known to securely fasten these snug cradles, made from the bark of birch trees, onto the branches of trees, while they carried out their other everyday chores...well, in pleasant weather at any rate. The gentle breezes rocked the babies to sleep in no time at all.

This so impressed the early settlers - well, the mothers at any rate - that many of them copied this soothing and practical method of child care for themselves.

Answer: Winkie

In 1942, at the height of the Second World War, a British Beaufort bomber crashed in the North Sea following a dog fight with the enemy. Struggling in the freezing waters, and having had no time to radio for help, one member of the crew remembered the vital feathered passenger on board.

A desperate message was tied to her leg and the little bird flew her incredible journey home in record time. Her owner immediately alerted the authorities and a rescue mission was launched. The RAF used four factors in their calculations to find the freezing airmen, and, amazingly so, the mission was launched within fifteen minutes of Winkie arriving back home.

These were a combination of the time she landed, the time the note said the plane had ditched in the waters of the North Sea, the direction the wind was blowing at the time, and the air drag on the little bird's feathers caused by the oil from the damaged plane. Winkie was later awarded the Dickin Medal for her conspicuous service, and, during the presentation ceremony in 1943, both she and the crew she had rescued were all present. Perhaps the wee Winkie may have even said "Coo....l" when she received her award?

Answer: Horn

A hayward was quite an important job in the agricultural field (pardon the pun) from the middle ages until the onset of the industrial and modern ages when more advanced farming methods and equipment saw its demise. This professional not only had the responsibility of keeping cattle and sheep away from the areas where agricultural produce was grown, he was also in charge of maintaining the various styles of fences built around hay meadows.

These included the temporary fences built on common lands during times of harvest. Part of the equipment necessary for the job was a horn.

This had to be blown loud and long to call for assistance should any animals break through those barriers. Such was the importance of that horn, it became the symbol for the hayward's profession.

Answer: Dough

The dough, which is usually made from flour, can also be made from bread or potatoes as well. Fillings for these delicious and very fattening little snacks can include just about anything your taste buds desire, but some dumplings are simply balls of dough by themselves. Whatever their filling is, they can either be cooked and eaten on their own, or in combination with soups, stews or gravies, or any other foods that take your fancy. Dumplings once were sold from carts by street vendors in various cities across the world.

The call that heralded their approach was a loud "Diddle, diddle, diddle!"

Answer: Mary Had a Little Lamb

Thomas Edison was born in Ohio, USA in 1847. He was an incredibly prolific inventor whose inventions and their derivatives are used right throughout the world today. Listed as the fourth most important inventor in history, he held the patent on over 1,000 various designs.

These included the electric light bulb, the motion picture camera, electric battery, phonograph, and a means of electricity distribution. Yet this was a man who as a child was described by one of his teachers as being addled. Amazingly so, Edison only had one term of official schooling.

His genius was left to develop, unfettered and unmoulded by the constraints of education, on its own. His disability of extremely poor hearing was a blessing in disguise for the young man. It allowed him to direct his attention on reading as many books as he possibly could, all of which proved fuel for his fertile mind. Edison recorded "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on his newly invented phonograph in the year 1876.

He died in 1931.

Answer: Humpty Dumpty

A Humpty Dumpty includes cranberry juice, orange juice, eggs, a generous serve of Triple Sec, and a more than generous serve of vodka. All are mixed together in various potent quantities and garnished with a mint leaf. Triple Sec, one should point out, is 23 percent alcohol content, while vodka is 40 pershent alcohol conshent...er...tonshent...content...hic...ossifer. An earlier form of the drink with the same name was manufactured in the 17th century, but this included brandy boiled in ale instead.

After the third glass, the mint leaf is no longer required.

Answer: A lit candle

How peculiar is that? And the results, I hear you ask? If you were nimble enough to clear the burning candle without extinguishing it, or, one presumes, catching on fire, then that meant good luck for a year. Otherwise, you fell over or burned yourself instead, which was quite bad luck indeed. Alarmingly so, prior to leaping over a candlestick, this fortune-telling practice was carried out by jumping over large fires.

It usually took place on Saint Catherine's Day, on the 25th November each year. Saint Catherine herself was born in Alexandria in Egypt many centuries ago.

She was beheaded for the dual reasons of refusing to abandon her Christian beliefs and for rejecting the amorous advances of the Roman Emperor Maxentius.

Answer: Glasses of ale

This was particularly noted during the reign of Charles I of England (1600-1649), who was king of England from 1625 until his death. He wanted to reform the tax system on alcohol in order to increase his revenue. However parliament refused to pass the law to enable him to do so. Accordingly, to get past this blockade, he ordered instead that a Jack of ale (equal to half a pint) be reduced. That way, he received extra taxes on the extra sales of ale this brought about. Thirst stayed at the same level, regardless of the amount in the glass.

A Jill, or a Gill, was a quarter of a pint of ale, and was also reduced by default. Even today in England, many pint glasses of alcohol have the half pint line marked with a small crown above each one.

Answer: nursery rhymes

These questions are all associated with famous nursery rhymes. Question one was "Little Bo Peep", question two was "Rock-a-bye Baby", while question three was "Wee Willie Winkie". Question four was "Little Boy Blue", question five was "Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling, My Son John", and question six was about "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Question seven featured "Humpty Dumpty", question eight was derived from "Jack Be Nimble", and "Jack and Jill" polished off the last question.