#2 'The Light Fantastic': Dance Around the Disc Quiz

Answer: They weren't on the Disc; they were falling off the edge of the world.

The reason that Rincewind and Twoflower were no longer on the Disc is a little complicated and you'll find the best explanation in 'The Colour of Magic'. Basically, the wizard and the tourist persistently failed to die, which was annoying Fate. Fate, being a god, made a deal with the Krullians: if they sacrificed Rincewind and Twoflower, he would ensure that the Discworld's first space explorers would have a safe journey.

In order to avoid a sacrificial death, Rincewind and Twoflower escaped. The problem was, they escaped into the spaceship that was about to be launched off the edge of the world. Well, strictly speaking Twoflower was in the capsule. Rincewind and the Luggage were plummeting off the Discworld behind him.

Answer: Unseen University

With its tatty leather cover, the book didn't look impressive from the outside. Inside, however, it held seven of the most dangerous spells. Spells that were believed to have been first used by the Creator. The eighth spell was not in the book; it was in Rincewind's head. The Octavo went to great lengths to ensure that its final spell did not plunge off the edge of the Disc.

Answer: The walls were made of nougat.

Swires led the two travellers to a gingerbread cottage in the forest, a relic of the Confectionary School of Architecture. A strong magical field meant that the house could regenerate when someone took a bite out of it. Which is just what the hungry men did.

The walls were indeed nougat, the door knocker was licorice, and the bed was made of toffee. Watch out for the doormat; it's candyfloss.

Answer: Death's house

Bethan was about to be sacrificed by druids and Twoflower wanted to rescue her. Cohen also wanted to steal the druids' treasure. In the battle that followed, Twoflower was poisoned and ended up in Death's house, where Rincewind found him teaching Death and his anthropomorphic colleagues how to play bridge.

Death's garden was well kept with an array of black, purple, and white flowers. It had a marble path and a freshly-scythed lawn. The cottage itself had Early Crypt decorations and was much bigger on the inside.

Answer: The Octavo

The Octavo was not like other spell books: it was much more powerful. The seven spells had brought Rincewind inside its pages to explain why they were trying very hard to ensure no one said them out loud. The wizards of Unseen University had assumed that the approaching red star was going to collide with the Disc.

They planned to say the eight spells (the seven in the Octavo and the one in Rincewind's head) to prevent the end of the world. They had assumed wrong.

Answer: Old Grandad

Twoflower and Cohen were being kept captive in the mouth of a cave. Except it wasn't actually a cave mouth: it was a troll mouth. Old Grandad had spent too long philosophising and had turned into what looked like a cliff face. The barbarians, thinking themselves clever, had lit a fire to keep man-eating trolls away. Rincewind, who was hiding in the shadows nearby, pointed out to them that the fire would be ineffective in keeping trolls away, as it had been lit in the mouth of a particularly huge one.

Answer: A wandering shop

The three of them were cornered in an alleyway when a door appeared in the wall. It was the kind of shop that sold weird and useless things, and when you went back the next day it had vanished. Not closed for the afternoon or no longer in business, but gone - front door, windows, and all. Almost as soon as the trio had rushed inside, the door vanished and the shop was en route to its next location.

The wandering shops were also known as tabernae vagnates. One theory for their existence was that they were invented by a capitalist species to maximise profit. Another suggested that they were created by Fate to supply 'exactly the right thing at the right time'. The final theory argued that the shops were a sneaky way of getting around Sunday trading laws.

Answer: He could smell it.

The wandering shop landed in Ankh-Morpork and Rincewind instantly said 'We're here'. Twoflower had no sense of smell, which was probably a good thing in this case. Somewhere in the city there is a statue to commemorate the defeat of an invading army. The reason they were defeated? Their nose plugs gave out.

Answer: The Agatean Empire

While all of the options are places on the Discworld, Twoflower was a native of the Agatean Empire on the Counterweight Continent. Gold was incredibly common there, which is why Twoflower had a few problems when he first arrived in Ankh-Morpork in 'The Colour of Magic'. (Twoflower didn't realise there was an issue at first and no one was quick to correct him as he handed out coins of solid gold for small things like a pint of beer and posing for a photo.)

Answer: To watch its eggs hatch

The people of the Discworld were expecting the end of the world as the huge red star appeared to be on a collision course with their beloved world. Great A'Tuin had other plans though. Hovering near the red sun were eight spheres. As A'Tuin (and the rest of the Disc) watched, the spheres cracked open and a family of baby turtles emerged, each one carrying four elephant calves with a tiny, newly-formed Disc on their collective backs.