10 questions from the program “What? Where? When?" to test erudition and ingenuity

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Find out if you qualify for the connoisseur's chair.

– 1 –

In San Francisco, a heart of stone can be seen in front of the main entrance to one building. This monument was erected for the edification of those who believe that the employees of this institution can be pityed. What kind of institution is this?

The sculpture "Supremacy" by Masayuki Nagare was installed outside the building that once served as the headquarters of the Bank of America. Later the monument began to be called "The Banker's Heart".

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– 2 –

Once on the streets of Ancient Greece one could meet a man carrying a hand made of marble. Or a man carrying an eye of gold. And even a person who had with him some kind of internal organ made of silver. They all went to the temple of Asclepius. Who were these people and what united them?

In ancient Greek mythology, Asclepius was considered the god of medicine. In those days, it was customary to donate to the deity that part of the body that a person had just healed.

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– 3 –

In 1948, the writer Lev Uspensky published an article about a bummer who existed in tsarist Russia. In Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace alone, the researcher found 115,000 such idlers. He found out that in 1894, when only this novel was published, a thousand cubic meters of forest were harvested for the "parasite". Whom or what did the writer mean?

Lev Uspensky meant the letter that was written at the end of nouns and did not carry any semantic load. This is "b".

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– 4 –

What do the Finns mean when they say about a person: “His back is unwashed”?

This is how Finns talk about bachelors. If there is no wife, then there is no one to rub their backs.

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– 5 –

In the old days, women independently made linen and yarn. They did it all night long. Why did the craftswomen, before starting spinning, put a saucer of cranberries next to them?

To make the linen thread strong, even and well-twisted, female needlewomen moistened it with saliva. And cranberries contributed to its increased secretion.

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– 6 –

The Roman emperor Licinius, who lacked another 16.6% of the tax collected annually for complete happiness, managed, without increasing the monthly tax, to increase the revenues to the treasury from the citizens of Rome. Licinius could increase the amount by 8.3%, but he wanted to 16.6%. What decree did he issue to get what he wanted?

When the taxes that were collected every month were no longer enough for the emperor Licinius, he issued a decree according to which the year was not 12 months, but 14.

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– 7 –

In the 5th century BC. NS. merchants from Armenia, going down the Euphrates River, brought Phoenician wine to Babylon. They made the skeleton of the ship from willow rods, covered them with skins. Then they loaded the ship with vessels of wine, took on board a few donkeys and set off. Why did they need donkeys?

The merchants needed donkeys to return home. They'll sell the rest.

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– 8 –

Before using this device, especially neat owners place it in a bucket and boil it for two hours, periodically changing the water. Sometimes they add pine needles, thyme or wormwood to the water. Then, without touching with bare hands, put the device in a canvas bag and transfer it to where it will be used for its intended purpose. What is it about?

The described preparations fight off odors. So carefully it is customary to prepare a trap for a large predator for use.

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– 9 –

Once a king turned to his jester: "Explain why my income is decreasing and decreasing?" In response, the jester lined up all the courtiers, gave the last of them an object and asked, passing from hand to hand, to deliver it to the king. When the item finally fell into the hands of the ruler, he understood why his income was decreasing. What did the courtiers convey?

The jester asked the courtiers to give the king a piece of ice. When the ice reached the addressee, almost nothing remained of the piece. So incomes melted in the hands of the courtiers on the way to the treasury.

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– 10 –

It is said that some families in Malaysia sometimes have an interesting action. As a rule, in the evening, the hostess of the house begins to list the names of all her relatives and those of her husband up to the tenth or fifteenth tribe. At what point does she stop this transfer?

The Malaysian woman stops transferring when the child falls asleep. This action has two functions: it lulls the child and helps him remember his family tree.

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The puzzles for this collection are taken from this archive.