Why Why Why Winona? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tungsten

All the answers are chemical elements. Tungsten is commonly used to make the filament in incandescent light bulbs. The element takes its name from the old Swedish name for the mineral scheelite, namely 'tung sten' meaning 'heavy stone'. The other main source for the metal is the ore wolframite, which is where the chemical symbol W comes from.

Tin gets its chemical symbol Sn from stannum, the Latin name for the metal. The other symbols are respectively Ta (tantalum) and Tm (thulium).

Answer: Waterloo

The War of the Seventh Coalition was the fifth and final conflict of the Napoleonic Wars and it was the Battle of Waterloo which turned the war in 1815. Wellington defeated Napoleon and this led to Napoleon's second abdication.

The Battle of Worcester in the English Civil War was during the Seventeenth century, Wounded Knee Massacre took place during the Sioux Wars in the US during 1890 and the Chronicle of Fredegar records the Slavs as beating the Franks at the Battle of Wogastisburg in 631 AD but not exactly where.

Answer: H G Wells

Best known for his science fiction writing, he was responsible for such classics as "War of the Worlds" (1898) and "The Time Machine" (1895). He also moved from being a devout Christian to a Darwinist atheist, something that the quote perhaps hints at.

Of the others, John Wyndham was a science fiction writer with such titles as "The Day of the Triffids" (1951) and "The Midwich Cuckoos" (1957) to his name. Dennis Wheatley wrote thrillers and occult novels, notably "The Devil Rides Out" (1934). Novels, biographies and travel books were Evelyn Waugh's fare. "Brideshead Revisted" (1945) is one of his better known ones.

Answer: Woad

The plant woad (Isatis tinctoria) was the main European source of indigo for millennia. In the First Century AD the Celtic queen Boudicca led her Iceni warriors with woad-painted faces into battle against the Romans.

Weld (Reseda luteola) is another plant lending its name to a dye, in this case yellow. Walnut husks (Juglans sp.) have been used to produce a brown dye and the water oak (Quercus nigra) can produce a red dye.

Answer: Wilhelm Gustloff

The MV Wilhelm Gustloff was a German military transport sunk by Soviet submarine S-13 on 30 January 1945 with an estimated loss of 9,400 (including about 5,000 children). It was packed with a mix of military and civilians from Gydnia in the Baltic, trying to escape the approaching Red Army.

The S-13 was the most successful Soviet submarine in terms of tonnage sunk and with five vessels sunk to its credit, including the SS General von Steuben (upwards of 3,600 lives) some ten days after the Wilhlem Gustloff. This was the Steuben's second sinking.

Alexander Marinesko, the S-13's captain, was facing a court martial at the time of these sinkings due to problems with alcohol. He was dishonourably discharged from the navy later that year. It was not until 1990 that he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Of the other ships mentioned, all sank with loss of life: Wusung (900 Japanese workers in 1927), the British steamship Waratah (211 in 1909) and the Lake Michigan freighter William B Davock (32/33 during a storm in 1940).

Answer: Wormwood

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is a bitter herb used in various alcoholic drinks such as absinthe and vermouth as well as having some medicinal uses. Absinthe became very popular in France during the latter half of the 19th century. Smear campaigns by the temperance movement and the wine industry led to absinthe being banned in a number of countries. The chemical compound thujone in particular (present in such herbs as juniper, oregano, sage and wormwood) was considered a problem, being labelled as hallucinogenic. This is now generally accepted as wrong.

Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) is used in many American products (such as chewing gum, mouthwash and smokeless tobacco) to provide a minty flavour, although it is not a member of the mint family. Woodruff (Galium odoratum) is a herb with a sweet coumarin scent and is used in potpourri and in various German food and drink products. The root of wasabi (Eutrema japonicum) is used to make a hot and pungent paste. Its rarity means that most 'wasabi' paste found outside Japan contains no wasabi but is made from horseradish, mustard and something to provide the green colour.

Answer: What Dreams May Come

Starring Robin Williams and Cuba Gooding Jr., this fantasy drama was based on Richard Matheson's 1978 novel of the same name. The title comes from the 'To be, or not to be' soliloquy of Shakespeare's play "Hamlet". The Oscar was for the visual effects rather than the acting.

All the others were Oscar-winning films: the drama "Whiplash" (2014) starring Miles Teller and J K Simmons, the 2005 comedy musical "West Bank Story" and the comedy-drama "Wonder Boys" (2000) starring Michael Douglas.

Answer: Wallaby

The clue is in the word 'macropod', which could be translated as 'large foot'. Macropods are marsupials belonging to the kangaroo family, which includes the wallaby and the wallaroo. In fact all three are from the same taxonomic family and are distinguished by size, wallabies being the smallest.

With somewhat smaller feet are: the warthog, a type of wild pig; the woodchuck, also known as the groundhog, which is not a pig but a marmot (a type of rodent); and the wolverine, which looks a bit like a small bear but isn't. The wolverine's name hints that it could be related to the wolf but is actually a member of the mustelid family (which includes weasels and stoats).

Answer: Wepwawet

With a name meaning 'opener of the ways', Wepwawet is typically depicted as a wolf or a jackal and in time was linked to the gods Anubis and Seth. He started as a war god, then became more associated with passage to and through Duat, the kingdom of the dead.

Winalagalis was the god of war for the Kwakwaka'wakw people, native to British Columbia in Canada. Wurrukatte was the war god in the Hittite Empire, which started around 1,600 BC in what is now Turkey. Wōden (or Odin) is from Germanic mythology, which also encompasses Norse mythology and Anglo-Saxon mythology. The Romans associated Odin with the Roman god Mercury, who lent his name to one of the Roman days of the week (hence Mercredi in French). The Germanic equivalent was Wodenstag until the 10th century (Wednesday in English-speaking countries) when the Germans changed to Mittwoch (literally 'mid-week').

Answer: Winona Ryder

The song "Why, Winona, Why?" comes from the 2002 album "Get It Right" by folk-rock band The Kennedys, a husband and wife duo. The song (and the title to this quiz) possibly refers to the Winona Ryder shoplifting incident in 2001 which was followed by a hiatus in her acting career.

Winona Kirk was the fictional mother of James T Kirk of "Star Trek" fame, Wynonna Judd (born Christina Claire Ciminella) is a country singer and Wynona Lipman was a long-serving member of the New Jersey Senate.