Under the Microscope/Prof William Reville:This week for your amusement I offer you some puzzles and a quiz.
1. What 6-letter word has four Os in it?
2. Which is not the name of an individual star? (a) Sirus; (b) Regel; (c) Orion; (d) Vega.
3. Which word is the odd one out? jig, tag, lure, gag, sag, gaffe.
4. The most prominent crater on the moon is: (a) Brahe; (b) Tycho; (c) Mare; (d) Kepler.
5. Oxymorons are sayings composed of two words which have opposite meanings. Pair the following words into oxymorons: intense, holiday, minor, court, difference, even, crisis, working, odds, same, apathy, divorce.
6. What are the hill and valley of a wave called? (a) wave landscape; (b) length and depth; (c) crest and trough; (d) top and bottom.
7. A man spends €21 in an off-licence. The whiskey costs twice as much as the beer, which costs twice as much as the lemonade. How much was the beer?
8. Which analytical technique exploits difference in density? (a) distillation; (b) filtration; (c) chromatography; (d) centrifugation.
9. Which four-letter word links all of these? Step, loose, sore, hold, lights.
10. Which is the collar bone? (a) clavicle; (b) patella; (c) ulna; (d) femur.
11. If a lion has four legs, a cheetah has six legs and an antelope eight legs, how many legs has a buffalo?
12. What is the life span of a taste bud? (a) 10 days; (b) 10 weeks; (c) 10 months; (d) 10 years.
13. A man who is dumb goes to a concert. He finds his seat in the stalls and waits for the concert to begin. When the concert commences he really enjoys the music and afterwards goes home and tells his wife all about it. How is this possible?
14. Molecules are made of: (a) atoms; (b) compounds; (c) ions; (d) neutrons.
15. Jimmy's math teacher asked him to multiply three and four, four times. What is the correct answer?
16. A herbivore eats: (a) plants; (b) other animals; (c) plants and animals; (d) insects.
17. Rearrange this anagram to find a famous historical figure: flint on cheering angel.
18. Which statement about asthma is untrue: (a) usually allergy related; (b) respiratory ailment; (c) chronic disorder; (d) unaffected by stress.
19. Can you pair the groups of letters to make six words with a common theme? bra sch cat nac bit skey kir ndy ter mus whi cog.
20. Myology is a branch of anatomy that deals with: (a) the stomach; (b) muscle; (c) circulation; (d) liver.
21. What piece of machinery is represented here? P:N.
22. Which refers to explosive death of a star?: (a) quasar; (b) pulsar; (c) brown dwarf; (d) supernova.
23. This number and letter group refers to a well-known phrase: can you work out what it is? 29 D in F in a LY.
24. The first heart transplant took place in: (a) US; (b) UK; (c) Australia; (d) South Africa .
25. My favourite team has won seven times this season but has not scored a goal. How is this possible?
26. The tonsure is a haircut associated with: (a) rappers; (b) hippies; (c) monks; (d) 18th century courtiers.
27. I joined a couple talking at a party. The man left shortly after and the woman remarked, "His mother was my mother's only daughter." What is their relationship?
28. Find two numbers, composed only of ones, which give the same result when added and when multiplied.
29. What can you add to a bucket of water to make it weigh less?
30. In your sock drawer you have 14 brown socks, 14 black socks and 14 blue socks. Without looking to check, how many socks must you remove to be sure you have a matched pair?
31. Can you name the originators of these three quotations? (1) To do is to be; (2) To be is to do; (3) Dobedobedo.
32. Which is the odd one out?: (a) Cube; (b) Square; (c) Sphere; (d) Cylinder; (e) Octahedron.
33. Who was the first to suggest that everything is built up from atoms? (a) Leucippus of Miletus; (b) Democritus of Abdera; (c) Isaac Newton.
34. Is Euclid 's collection of geometric proofs known as the Elements, published around 300 BC, still in use? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Yes, but only as a publication of historical interest.
35. Who compiled the first comprehensive star chart in 134BC? (a) Titus Lucretius Carus; (b) Hipparchus of Rhodes; (c) Sosigenes of Alexandria .
Answers: 1. Voodoo. 2. (c). 3. Sag - The others are all fishing terms. 4. (b). 5. Intense apathy; working holiday; minor crisis; divorce court; same difference; even odds. 6. (c). 7. 6 Euro. If the lemonade is 1X, the beer is 2X and the whiskey is 4X. 7X=21 Euro, X=3 Euro. 8. (d). 9. Foot. 10. (a). 11. 6. Two legs for each vowel. Buffalo has six legs. 12. (a). 13. The man is dumb not deaf, so he is able to hear the music. He uses sign language to communicate with his wife. 14. (a). 15. Twelve each time. 16. (a). 17. Florence Nightingale. 18. (d). 19. Brandy Muscat Cognac Bitter Whiskey Kirsch. 20. (b). 21. Piston (P is to N). 22. (d). 23. 29 days in February in a Leap Year. 24. (d). 25. They are a cricket team. 26. (c). 27. She was his mother. 28. 11 and 1.1. 29. Holes. 30. 4. 31. (1) Rousseau; (2) Sartre; (3) Sinatra. 32. (b) Square - others are all 3-D. 33. (b). 34. (a). 35. (b).