I Remember That - With Help! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Colours of the rainbow

Roy G Biv seems to be the mnemonic of choice in the US, whereas in the UK we tend to remember 'Richard of York gave battle in vain', which relates to the War of the Roses. Both give us the traditional rainbow of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.

Interestingly, mnemonics work whether they are logical or not. How many of you know someone with the surname Biv? There are plenty of mnemonics for numbers of pi, such as 'How I like a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics' - which gives you pi to 15 decimal places if you count the letters in each word. (3.14159265358979) and for the planets of the solar system (My Very Educated Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas - which would have worked before they demoted poor Pluto), but I have never seen a snappy mnemonic for Shakespeare's plays.

Answer: Playing a game of bridge

It is in the nature of mnemonics that ever since I read 'Mr American' by George MacDonald Fraser, where the nervous hero is sent out to play bridge with Edward VII and is given this advice as to the order of trumps from highest to lowest (spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs), I have never been able to forget it - despite never having played bridge in my life.

Answer: The fates of the six wives of Henry VIII

In actual fact, this is not strictly accurate, as the actual events were; Catherine of Aragon, ended when the marriage was annulled, Anne Boleyn who was annulled then beheaded, Jane Seymour who died after childbirth, Anne of Cleves, also annulled, Catherine Howard annulled (then beheaded) and Catherine Parr, who survived him.

The mnemonic also doesn't help you to remember the order of the wives.

Answer: The battles of the War of the Roses

This gives you [St] Albans, Blore Heath, Northampton, Wakefield, Mortimer's Cross, [St] Albans 2, Towton, Hedgeley Moor, Hexham, Barnet, Tewkesbury and Bosworth. Once again, this isn't perfect, as it misses out Ludford Bridge in 1459, Ferrybridge and Towton in 1461, Edgecote Moor in 1469 and Losecote Field in 1470, but it still gives me 12 battles I wouldn't remember without it. Ironically, in the book, someone tries to hold this against David as 'outdated doggerel', but it backfires to David's advantage, as his methods produce excellent results.

Answer: British monarchs from 1066

There are many mnemonics to help remember this, this one goes:

"Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee,
Harry, Dick, John, Harry three;
One, two, three Neds, Richard two
Harrys four, five, six... then who?
Edwards four, five, Dick the bad,
Harrys twain VII VIII and Ned the Lad;
Mary, Bessie, James the Vain,
Charlie, Charlie, James again...
William and Mary, Anna Gloria,
Four Georges I II III IV, William and Victoria;
Edward seven next, and then
George the fifth in 1910;
Ned the eighth soon abdicated
Then George the sixth was coronated;
And if you've not lost your breath
Give a cheer for Elizabeth."

To make it easier, you can apparently sing this to the tune of 'Good King Wenceslas'.

Answer: The lingual nerve

The lingual nerve starts under the lateral pterygoid muscle, in the middle and in front of the inferior alveolar nerve, it then passes between the medial pterygoid muscle and the ramus of the mandible, and crosses to the side of the tongue over the Constrictor pharyngis superior and Styloglossus, and then between the Hyoglossus and the deep part of the submandibular gland; it finally crosses the duct of the submandibular gland, and along the tongue to its tip where it becomes the sublingual nerve. Aren't you glad you asked? I prefer the mnemonic.

Answer: On a boat

This tells you two things. The left of the boat is called port (the right starboard) and a boat will have its red light on that side (green on starboard). This is looking towards the front of the boat when you're on it. As an additional extra, it can also remind you that at a formal dinner, you should pass the port (drink) to the left!

Answer: Mohs scale from 1 to 10

Mohs scale shows the hardness of minerals, in this case going from the softest (1) to the hardest (10). Talc, Gypsum, Calcite, Fluorite, Apatite, Orthoclase feldspar, Quartz, Topaz, Corundum, Diamond. This is based on the fact that Gypsum scratches Talc, Calcite scratches Gypsum, etc.

Answer: The constellations of the zodiac in order

Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. I'm sure if you want them mnemonics exist for all the wrong answers too.

Answer: Tom Lehrer

"There's antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium
And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium
And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium
And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium
Europium, zirconium, lutetium, vanadium
And lanthanum and osmium and astatine and radium
And gold and protactinium and indium and gallium
And iodine and thorium and thulium and thallium

There's yttrium, ytterbium, actinium, rubidium
And boron, gadolinium, niobium, iridium
And strontium and silicon and silver and samarium
And bismuth, bromine, lithium, beryllium, and barium

There's holmium and helium and hafnium and erbium
And phosphorus and francium and fluorine and terbium
And manganese and mercury, molybdenum, magnesium
Dysprosium and scandium and cerium and cesium
And lead, praseodymium, and platinum, plutonium
Palladium, promethium, potassium, polonium
And tantalum, technetium, titanium, tellurium
And cadmium and calcium and chromium and curium

There's sulfur, californium, and fermium, berkelium
And also mendelevium, einsteinium, nobelium
And argon, krypton, neon, radon, xenon, zinc, and rhodium
And chlorine, carbon, cobalt, copper, tungsten, tin, and sodium

These are the only ones of which
The news has come to Harvard
And there may be many others
But they haven't been discovered"

In fact, nine others have been synthesised and named - lawrencium, rutherfordium, dubnium, seaborgium, bohrium, hassium, meitnerium, darmstadtium, and roentgenium.