The Fly in the Ointment Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joseph

The subject of the first sequence is Popes. The sequence lists the real first names of the last six Popes of the 20th century, so you need to identify who came next.

Austrian-born Achille Ratti was the 259th Pope, Pius XI who held office from 1922-39. Roman-born Eugenio Pacelli was Pope Pius XII from 1939-58. Another Italian, Àngelo Roncalli, was John XXIII from 1958-63. Italian Giovanni Montini reigned from 1963-78 as Pope Paul VI. Then came the short-lived Pope John Paul I, Italian Albino Luciani, who held office for just 33 days. Polish-born Karol Wojtyła (probably the biggest clue) reigned as Pope John Paul II from 1978-2005. The first 21st-Century and the 265th Pope (and the next in the sequence) was German-born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, who took office as Benedict XVI in 2005 and abdicated in February 2013.

Answer: Hawaii

The subject of this sequence is U.S. Presidents elected 1976 to 2008. It is not, though, the state of which they were the governor before they became President (George H.W. Bush was never a state governor), so Illinois was an option just to tempt you. The key is the state in which each President was born.

The 39th US President, Jimmy Carter, was in office from 1977-81. He was born in Plains, Georgia. Ronald Reagan (the first divorcée to become President) held office from 1981-89. He was born in Tampico, Illinois. George H.W. Bush, President from 1989-93, was born in Milton, Massachusetts. Bill Clinton, only the second President to take office under a name other than the one he was born with (Gerald Ford was the first), held office from 1993-2001. He was born in Hope, Arkansas. George W Bush, President from 2001-2009 and the second son of a former President to hold the job (John Quincy Adams was the first), was born in New Haven, Connecticut. Barack Obama, who began the first of his two terms as the 44th President in 2009 (and is the next in the sequence), was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Answer: Chinese

This might have been a tough one -- the subject of this sequence is the winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature from 2007 to 2012. The list actually gives their nationality.

British poet/playwright/novelist Doris Lessing won in 2007 but she was actually born in Kermanshah, Persia (now in Iran). Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Clézio won in 2008. Romanian-born German poet/novelist Herta Müller won in 2009. Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa won in 2010 and Sweden's Tomas Tranströmer in 2011. The 2012 winner (and the next in the sequence) was the Chinese novelist and short story writer Mo Yan.

Answer: Cronus

As many of you will have realized, those gods in the list all comes from Greek mythology. They all have Roman equivalents, and if you look at that list instead you will see a very familiar pattern. The Roman equivalent for Hermes, the Messenger God, is Mercury. Aphrodite's equivalent is Venus.

There is no God named Earth. Mars is the Roman equivalent of Mars. Zeus, the King of the Greek Gods, is matched by Jupiter, the Roman equivalent. The next in the sequence is, therefore, Saturn's Greek equivalent, which is Cronus. Of the alternatives, Poseidon and Hades are equivalents to Neptune and Pluto, whilst Rhea is married to Cronus.

Answer: Robinson

U.S. Presidents elected 1976 to 2008- the sequence is their wives and, specifically, the surname that the First Ladies were born with. Eleanor Smith became First Lady in 1977 as the wife of Jimmy Carter. Nancy Robbins first became Nancy Davis before she married Ronald Reagan. Barbara Pierce married the first President Bush and is the mother of the second. The biggest clue was probably Hillary Rodham, who still sometimes uses the name with 'Clinton' appended. Laura Welch became First Lady as the wife of George W Bush. The next in the sequence is, therefore, Robinson, which was the surname with which Michelle Obama was born.

The alternatives would appeared earlier in the sequence -- Elizabeth Bloomer became Betty Ford, Thelma Ryan was the birth name of Pat Nixon, and Claudia Taylor is better known as Ladybird Johnson.

Answer: Witney

The subject for this list is British Prime Ministers and, specifically, the constituencies from which they were elected to Parliament. James Callaghan (PM 1976-79) was the MP for Cardiff South East in Wales. Margaret Thatcher (PM 1979-90) was the MP for the London constituency of Finchley. John Major (PM 1990-97) was the MP for Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. Tony Blair (PM 1997-2007) was the MP for Sedgefield in County Durham. Gordon Brown (PM 2007-2010) was sent to Parliament by the voters of Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath in Scotland. The next in the sequence, therefore, is the constituency represented by David Cameron, which is Witney in Oxfordshire.

The alternatives are also constituencies represented by earlier post-War Prime Ministers: Huyton was the constituency of Harold Wilson, Sidcup sent Edward Heath to Parliament, and Sir Alec Douglas-Home was the MP for Kinross and Western Perthshire.

Answer: South Korea

The subject of this sequence is the Secretary-General of the United Nations and, specifically, his nationality. The Secretary-General from 1953 until his death in a place crash in 1961 was Sweden's Dag Hammarskjöld. Burma's U Thant held the office from 1961-71. Controversial Austrian Kurt Waldheim served from 1972-81 but his potential third term was vetoed by China. Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar held the office from 1982-91. Egyptian Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Sec-Gen 1992-96), the first of two African to hold the post, was succeeded by Ghana's Kofi Annan (1997-2006). Ban Ki-moon from South Korea (which is thus the next country in the sequence) took office in 2007.

Answer: Joseph

The subject of this sequence is the first name of the US President's running mate 1976 to 2008 elections. Walter Mondale, nicknamed 'Fritz', was Jimmy Carter's Vice-President from 1977-81. Future President George H W Bush was Ronald Reagan's Veep from 1981-89. James Danforth Quayle, known as 'Dan' was Bush's second-in-command from 1989-93. Albert Arnold 'Al' Gore, Jr. was V-P during the Clinton administration of 1993-2001. Richard Cheney, known as 'Dick', served under George W Bush from 2001-2009.

The 47th Vice-President of the U.S. (and the next in the sequence), Joseph Robinette 'Joe' Biden Jr., took office with Barack Obama in 2009.

Answer: Lincoln

The subject of this sequence is films. Only two of them won the Oscar for Best Picture, but all produced winning performances in the Best Actor category. Daniel Day-Lewis won the 2007 Best Actor award for his performance as Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood". Sean Penn won in 2008 for the title role in "Milk". Jeff Bridges won as Otis 'Bad' Blake in "Crazy Heart" in 2009. Colin Firth's King George III won for him in 2010 in "The King's Speech". "The Artist" produced an Oscar-winning performance in 2011 from Jean Dujardin as George Valentin.

The 2012 Oscar winner was Daniel Day-Lewis, again, for his performance as the title character in (the next in the sequence) "Lincoln".

Answer: Samantha

Britain does not formally have a 'First Lady', and the Prime Minister's spouse has a less-defined role than in the USA. Britain has had only two bachelor PMs in the last 100+ years (Edward Heath and Arthur Balfour) and the subject of this sequence is the first name of recent PM's spouses.

Harold Wilson's wife Mary (née Baldwin and later Lady Wilson of Rievaulx) ended her second term at number ten in 1976. She was followed by Audrey (née Moulton and later Baroness Callaghan of Cardiff) Callaghan, wife of James (PM 1976-79). Denis Thatcher, husband of Margaret (PM 1979-90), was the first male 'First Spouse'. Norma (née Wagstaff, later Johnson, now Dame Norma Major) was the wife of Sir John Major (PM 1990-97). Cherie Blair (christened Theresa Cara Booth) was the wife of Tony Blair (PM 1997-2007). Sarah (née Macaulay) Brown was the wife of James Gordon Brown (OM 2007-10). The next name in the sequence is Samantha (née Sheffield) Cameron, wife of David, who became Prime Minister in 2010. The alternatives are names of the three surviving children of the Camerons.