6 questions, easy to hard, then Ivy's pick. Here is every answer, and why.
Answer: Black Death. Spread by fleas on rats carried along trade routes. Labour became so scarce afterwards that wages rose and serfdom began to break down.
Answer: Tilde. It began as a small 'n' written above another to save parchment: 'anno' became 'año'. Since 'año' means year and 'ano' means anus, Spanish does not treat the tilde as optional.
Answer: False. He had mastered calculus by 15 and topped his class in maths. The story probably grew from a Swiss school that flipped its grading scale the year he was there, making his top marks look like bottom ones to later readers.
Answer: Hummingbird. Its wings rotate at the shoulder in a figure of eight, up to 80 beats a second. It burns energy so fast it would starve overnight without dropping into a torpor close to hibernation.
Answer: True. Most Icelanders have no family name, only a patronymic: Jónsdóttir means 'Jón's daughter'. Even the prime minister is addressed by first name, and the directory lists jobs to tell people apart.
Answer: Raymond Chandler. He started writing at 44 after being sacked from an oil company for drinking. When Hollywood filmed the book, nobody could work out who killed the chauffeur, and Chandler admitted he did not know either.
6 new questions. Free, no sign-up. Ivy judges every answer.
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