h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

19a = TURNIP ?
19a = RADISH ?

Ooops... those are suggestions for 19b obviously, (not 19a)

Hi Popa,

If I could award points for enthusiasm, you'd be at the top of the leaderboard. Sadly I can't.

The only one you got was 15. CAPER.

As most of the others are fairly difficult, here are some clues:


5d. Often confused with lovage, this spice has a number of alternative names, one of which is ecclesiastical.

6. Used to flavour liqueurs and chewing-gum pastilles.

9. Comes from the bark of a Chinese tree.

14. A bit of a cheat, this one. It's a brand name.

16. Also used as red food colouring, body paint and lipstick.

19. Ground, dried berries of a Chinese tree - Again, this one has an alternative name.

25. No clue here, this one's easy.

26. Hairy covering of the fruit of a woody shrub - used as a spice in the Middle East, or to make a soft drink in North America.

Hope this helps.

Icy

Smiles at Icy... if 25 is as easy as you say, it can only be:-

BAY LEAF

But that is definately two words... ( 3,4 ) Ok, thay add up to seven, but I'll bet everyone else is also looking for a seven letter word.

Thanks Popa.

I can't argue with that!

If I think they're too easy, I may bend the rules from time to time to make them slightly more difficult. Keeps you on your toes, I suppose

Icy (aka Eagle Eye)

p.s. Just realised I've misspelled your name on the new leaderboard. I'll get that fixed...

Finally found another

16 = ANNATTO

I've never heard of it though. Still we live and learn, then, as Noel Coward remarked... "We die and forget it all"

Popa.

It's good to see that I'm not the only one who's quite good at making up words - you shoukd see some of my anagrams

I do like anagrams B'Elana, there's a conversation devoted to them in here ( H2G2 ).
Sadly however thay don't like it if you submit more than 9 letters

For the intrusion on your thread Icy,but I'm astonished Popa_mintin has managed to escape A2180512 Anagrammitis.He's very welcome to join in the madness and confusion that dwells there
I suppose I'll have to wait for EE5 now if I've any chance of solving something..
Early bells Wednesday Icy?

Absolutely, Arty.

I recommend Anagrammitis for all incurables everywhere. I'd be on there more often if I didn't have this page to run. And - you can post anagrams which are not 9 letters long (the scandal!).

I'm not sure what your early bells Wednesday is referring to, Arty - maybe it's been too long a day for me already

Annatto is correct, btw.

Icy (aka Eagle Eye)

Thanx Artisan, seems like a nice thread...
Thanx Icy, The others are still elusive.

Popa, you don't have to explain the anagrams you solved - thnk god, I couldn't do that
Arty, have a look at the linkword, please, I have no idea

All that research yesterday wasted. It's a shame you couldn't put the answer in the 'Answer Length' box, write over the (X) maybe, when you're giving the credit to the solver.

Any way... Tries again with 5d, I found a few botanical items which fit the letters, if not the definition. If any of these are previous answers it's because it takes longer to search for credited answers than to just type 'em in 'ear.

ANISE ..... I reckon this has been done.
ARECA ..... This may stand a chance.
CANNA ..... So may this.
CRESS ..... TeeHee
RUNCH ..... This could be right too.

Popa

Thanks Popa,

You raise a few points here.

1. I'm very sorry if you feel you have been wasting time researching things which are irrelevant. I do my best to make the quiz as clear as I can.

My idea all along has been to post questions where the answers were obvious when solved, but I can see that some of the herbs and spices in this particular quiz were a little too obscure.

I have given clues to help clear them up, and if anyone spots an alternative which fits, then I will give them the point. This quiz is still quite new, and I'm still learning. I hope the Sports and Doctors were easier to spot.


2. Should I type the answers on the quiz front page when they are solved?

I have wanted to keep the answers off the front page, so that anyone can look at the quiz in the future and have a go at it. If they need the answers, then they are in the discussion thread. For completed quizzes (only), I was thinking of posting another discussion thread with just the answers in it - saves people trawling through the other thread.

I believe you are solving the puzzles in a way I hadn't intended - i.e. thinking of candidate answers and matching them to questions. I thought people would stare at the question until the answer popped out. I can see that it would be easier for you to see the answers which have been claimed so far, but I'm not sure how to do this. Maybe someone has a suggestion?

3. Back to question 5d

We've already had Anise, Cress and Orris claimed. You didn't spot my answer, but I will give you the point for ARECA, which does have medicinal properties - I did give a point to Puzzler for Hellebore after all. My answer is an alternative name for another spice, and comes from a recognised reference, but it seems to be more obscure than I imagined.

Hope this is acceptable.

Icy

Please don't think I was criticizing, I was only making comment. Sadly the only way of finding the names of things I do not know is to search, no amount of looking will make the answers 'pop out'. I'm enjoying the thread.

Popa

Thanks Popa,

No worries.

Icy

6 = MASTIC

9 = CASSIA

26 = SUMAC

01 = VANILLA (Original answer I think)

19b = SANCHO (Sichuan pepper, Fagara, Flower pepper, Szechwan pepper, Anise pepper)