There's no 'I' in Team Trivia Quiz

Answer: Twitcher

Twitcher especially refers to the more competitive type of birder who races off to see rare birds to add to their list.

Many birders "pish" making a noise to entice birds from the brush, but the term "pisher" is unrelated, referring to an insignificant person - which you might argue applies to birders, but be nice. Aviarists keep birds captive, and kveller is a Yiddish term for a person gushing with pride. A twitcher who locates a rarity might kvell on occasion!

This question was tweeted by team member pusdoc.

Answer: He was hiking along the Bibbulmun track

The Bibbulmun track is situated in Western Australia. The route is a 1,002 kilometre journey from the Perth hills area, winding its way through the scenic South West of the state to finish on its south coast in Albany. The track is well marked by small, bright yellow signs bearing the image of a wagyl, the Aboriginal Dream Time serpent, and is sectioned out into fifty nine stops. The stops are either major towns or a number of three-sided shelters that provide places to sleep, eat, toilet and, in some cases, fireplaces.

This question was trekked out by Phoenix Rising resident hiker polluci19.

Answer: Sydney Harbour, Verrazzano-Narrows, Thames River

Gephyrophobia is the fear of bridges. 1nn1 loves bridges especially walking across them and would like to see "gephyrorophilia" introduced into the English lexicon. Favourite bridge cities include Brisbane, Pittsburgh, Shanghai and Hamburg.

Question contributed by Phoenix Rising team's resident gephyrorophiliast 1nn1

Answer: Cooking

Macedoine describes a mixture of diced vegetables, usually celery, carrots and onion; barding refers to the use of fat (such as bacon or tallow) to ensure lean meat stays moist during cooking; and en papillote refers to a method of cooking ingredients such as seafood or chicken in paper. This method creates a gentle packet of steam while the food cooks in the oven.

This question was infused by Phoenix Rising teamy VegemiteKid.

Answer: Philatelist

Philately is the hobby of stamp collecting.

The "Cape Triangle" was a series of stamps issued by the Cape of Good Hope (now part of South Africa) in the 1850s and 1860s. They are triangular in shape, and printed in sheets of 240.

The "upside-down aeroplane" is one of the most famous error issues, and is better known at the "Inverted Jenny". It was issued by the USA in 1918 and shows a Curtiss JN-4 plane. The error occurred when one plate was fed into the print the wrong way! These stamps command extraordinary prices, starting at $1,000,000 and going up!

The five shilling "Harbour Bridge" stamp is one of the most desirable pieces in an Australian collection, and was part of a set of three issued in 1932 to celebrate the opening of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I would LOVE to have all three of these items in my albums, but it ain't going to happen...

An oologist collects bird's eggs and an archtophilist likes teddy-bears. Vexillology is the study of flags.

This question was minted by ozzz2002.

Answer: Both solve and create crosswords

The history of crosswords is unclear. While puzzles that resemble crosswords have been known since the late 18th century, in 1913, Arthur Wynne, a Liverpool (UK) journalist published a "word-cross" puzzle in the New York World. This puzzle is frequently regarded as the first crossword puzzle, and Mr Wynne as the inventor. Around 1919 the name of the puzzle was changed to "crossword". There are many formats including the American, Japanese and British formats.

This question was crossed off 1nn1's to do list (both across and down) as a Phoenix Rising team member.

Answer: SPaG

SPaG is short for spelling, punctuation and grammar, all of which are very important in any aspect of writing, be it creative, professional or casual, regardless of the user's profession or status. It is a means of effectively communicating in the written language, as incorrect usage can alter the meaning of sentences. The well known example of "Let's eat Grandma!" may have you accused of conspiring to partake in cannibalism of your ancestor. If you add a comma, changing the sentence to "Let's eat, Grandma!" then this is a suggestion of having a meal or snack. Much more acceptable.

While the use of acronyms and incorrect spelling has become the norm in messages and texts, proper SPaG should always be used in all other communications.

While you could write using a pencil, you can also use pens, quills, typewriters and computers. I prefer computers, because it's faster, easier to correct mistakes and do re-writes. It's also very easy to delete, either intentionally or accidentally. Coffee is a definite must have for many writers, me included, but it is not strictly essential. A cat can be good company while slaving over a hot computer, as long as Kitty sits on your lap, not your laptop. Unless she's a fat-cat like my itty-Kitty, so she is relegated to the floor. Where she sits on my shoes.


This question was dreamed up, rough drafted, composed and edited by leith90, who has taken a page out of e.e. cummings' book and not used capitals.

Answer: Records (music)

Whilst Poll's flavour is vinyl or compact disc, the collection of fine music is not restricted to these mediums. There are also 8-Track cartridges, reel-to-reel recordings and cassettes though, in Poll's case, he has not gone so far as to collect wax phonograph cylinders. Collectors will vary as to their fastidiousness; some will don gloves to handle them and take care not to get fingerprints on their precious LPs (fingerprints contain oil, which will attract dirt) whilst others are not so precious. Put Poll in the latter because the listening to the music is as important as the collection. Arranging music can also create some fun. At present the collection is in alphabetic order, next month it could be in genre order to best cater to the mood the listener is in.

This question was grooved out by the collector in question, pollucci19. Thank you for listening.

Answer: Foot of crane

Well, Tiger51 floored me with that answer. Once she explained that the original concept was to do with the spreading shape of a crane's foot - thought to resemble a family tree - I understood! Original pedigrees only recorded the parents of dogs (or cats, or horses); but because that did not record traits of conformity to a dog's ancestor(s), a colour code for traits was introduced. Later, further notations for breeding purposes were added, to enable dogs to be bred for favourable traits, and to reduce deformities.

This question was carefully gestated in the mind of Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid (with the assistance of Tiger51).

Answer: Chess

Chess traces its origins back to the Gupta Empire in India where the game involved infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariotry. From there it spread both easterly to China and westerly into the Arab and Western world. Its modern incarnation can be traced back to around 1500 AD. Modern competitive chess came into being in the 1850s. One of the early masters was American Paul Morphy.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.