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

Encore une fois
*listen very carefully - I will say this only once*

I believe they shout "Bis!" while doing that lip-smacking thing with their fingers.

B

And well done there Master B

Tis a pity though that loosehead got in there first with an incorrect solution And you all know what that means don't you...





...New chain.

Q1: What did Tchaikovsky die of?

syphilis

Cholera.


Q1 (again): What is biltong?

South African dried meat.

Fairly unpleasant, from the little I've tried...

For the uninitiated Biltong is a dried meat product made mostly in South Africa

Yes, biltong is dried meat of one sort or another. Usually beef or ostrich, but sometimes gazelle or other ruminates. I really liked the stuff when I tried it.

Q2: From which port did the Mary Celeste leave on her fateful final journey?

New York

I hope some of my grey cells have survived the weekend

Enough seem to have New York is right.


Q3: Which letter begins the fewest English words?

I just want to reassure all the afficianados that as I have no idea I will not be offering q, x or z as answers

*reaches for concise oxford dictionary*

I didn't realise that the concise dictionary was that long

Perhaps it was unwise to count the entries manually.
*decides to count pages instead*

Do you think the ratios between say, q x and z, would be different if you used the Shorter or even the Full Oxford English Dictionary rather than the Concise?

*hopes not*

:-S

* stern look *

I presume that that was an attempt at a smiley of some sort and not an answer to my question.

That was indeed a [poor] attempt at a smilie: I wouldn't guess 'that' letter anyways!

Especially as it was a punctuation mark!