It's time for one of my occasional quizzes again, and this time
it's an "odd one out" with a slightly revamped format.

For each question there is first a topic for the question. Then you
get a list of six items. Five of these items share a common
property of some noteworthy, while the sixth item does not have
this property. Your task is to spot the odd one. In all questions
one item is preceded by three asterisks. This marks that this item
is one of the five with something in common.

When you give your answer, you can, but don't have to, include a
motivation for your answer. However, if you don't include a
motivation, you answer *must* agree with what I have in mind.
If you answer something else that I had in mind, but you leave a
motivation, I might still reward you a point, if I find that the
motivation is correct and noteworthy enough. Observe that the item
marked with asterisks can never be a correct answer - even if
there is something apparently odd about it.

If you give the intended answer with an incorrect motivation, you
will still get your point.

As always, only use your own head. Don't consults wives, brothers,
cats, Chat GPT etc.

I plan to score this on Firday 19th.

Have fun!

1. Football: Juventus, Manchester United, ***Nacional da Madeira,
Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Sporting Lisbon

2. Kings of England: Edward IV, ***George VI, Henry V, Henrvy VII,
Richard II, Richard III

3. Chemistry: 2, 8, 18, 32, 40, ***50

4. Nuclear physics: 2, 8, 20, 26, ***50, 82

5. Internatonal organisations: Belgium, ***Canada, Finland, Hungary,
Sweden, Turkey.

6. Music: Arrival, Joyride, Super Trouper, Voulez-Vous, ***Voyage, Waterloo

7. Litterature: ***Dodo, Doormouse, Hatter, Mock Turtle, Tigger,
White Rabbit

8. Mountains: Cotopaxi, Fujiyama, Matterhorn, ***Mount Cameroon,
Mount Erebus, Mount Rainer

9. History: ***Bannockburn 1314, Borodino 1812, Kosovo Polje 1448,
Lützen 1632, Poltava 1709, Wittenberg 1517

10. Capitals: ***Berne, Canberra, Dublin, Ottawa, Washington, Wellington.

11. Airports: ARN, ATL, CDG, NRT, ORD, ***YYZ

12. City life. See https://wwww.sommarskog.se/temp/Citylife.html.
Picture A, Picture B, Picture C, Picture D, Picture E, ***Picture F.

On Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 4:02:08 PM UTC-5, Erland Sommarskog wrote:
> It's time for one of my occasional quizzes again, and this time
> it's an "odd one out" with a slightly revamped format.
>
> For each question there is first a topic for the question. Then you
> get a list of six items. Five of these items share a common
> property of some noteworthy, while the sixth item does not have
> this property. Your task is to spot the odd one. In all questions
> one item is preceded by three asterisks. This marks that this item
> is one of the five with something in common.

I don't have a lot of good answers here, but I am going to take some guesses anyway.

> 1. Football: Juventus, Manchester United, ***Nacional da Madeira,
> Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Sporting Lisbon

Sporting Lisbon

> 2. Kings of England: Edward IV, ***George VI, Henry V, Henrvy VII,
> Richard II, Richard III

Henrvy VII -- only one who is misspelled
(yes, I know that's not what you have in mind, but it's the best I can come up with so far)

> 3. Chemistry: 2, 8, 18, 32, 40, ***50

40

> 4. Nuclear physics: 2, 8, 20, 26, ***50, 82

20

> 5. Internatonal organisations: Belgium, ***Canada, Finland, Hungary,
> Sweden, Turkey.

Sweden -- only one that is not a member of NATO as of this writing, although they are expected to join soon

> 6. Music: Arrival, Joyride, Super Trouper, Voulez-Vous, ***Voyage, Waterloo

Joyride -- only one by Roxette rather than ABBA

> 7. Litterature: ***Dodo, Doormouse, Hatter, Mock Turtle, Tigger,
> White Rabbit

Tigger -- only one from the Winnie the Pooh books by A. A. Milne, rather than the Alice books by Lewis Carroll

> 8. Mountains: Cotopaxi, Fujiyama, Matterhorn, ***Mount Cameroon,
> Mount Erebus, Mount Rainer

Mount Rainer -- only one which is misspelled
(again, this is the best I can come up with so far)

> 9. History: ***Bannockburn 1314, Borodino 1812, Kosovo Polje 1448,
> Lützen 1632, Poltava 1709, Wittenberg 1517

Poltava 1709

> 10. Capitals: ***Berne, Canberra, Dublin, Ottawa, Washington, Wellington.

Ottawa

> 11. Airports: ARN, ATL, CDG, NRT, ORD, ***YYZ

ORD

> 12. City life. See https://wwww.sommarskog.se/temp/Citylife.html.
> Picture A, Picture B, Picture C, Picture D, Picture E, ***Picture F.

Picture A (I can't access this page; I get a "This site can't be reached" message, but that's no reason for me to avoid guessing)

--
Joshua Kreitzer
gromit82@hotmail.com

Erland Sommarskog:
> It's time for one of my occasional quizzes again, and this time
> it's an "odd one out" with a slightly revamped format.

I like the format change.
> 3. Chemistry: 2, 8, 18, 32, 40, ***50

40. (Capacities of electron shells.)

> 5. Internatonal organisations: Belgium, ***Canada, Finland, Hungary,
> Sweden, Turkey.

Sweden? (NATO members.)
> 6. Music: Arrival, Joyride, Super Trouper, Voulez-Vous, ***Voyage, Waterloo

Joyride. (ABBA songs.)
> 7. Litterature: ***Dodo, Doormouse, Hatter, Mock Turtle, Tigger,
> White Rabbit

Tigger. (Lewis Carroll characters.)
> 8. Mountains: Cotopaxi, Fujiyama, Matterhorn, ***Mount Cameroon,
> Mount Erebus, Mount Rainer

Matterhorn. (Volcanoes.)

> 10. Capitals: ***Berne, Canberra, Dublin, Ottawa, Washington, Wellington.

Dublin. (Not the country's largest city.)
> 11. Airports: ARN, ATL, CDG, NRT, ORD, ***YYZ

NRT? (Named after people.)
> 12. City life. See https://wwww.sommarskog.se/temp/Citylife.html.
> Picture A, Picture B, Picture C, Picture D, Picture E, ***Picture F.

Picture D (after finding it). (Paris. I don't know where D is, but
it's definitely nowhere in Paris or anywhere else I've been. Maybe
somewhere in Brazil or Italy? See also the signature quote, which
was selected randomly.)
--
Mark Brader | "I passed a sign that said 'you are here',
Toronto | but I didn't entirely believe it." --Michael Levine
msb@vex.net | "Sometimes I don't... but it beats
| believing the alternative." --Rodney Boyd

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Erland Sommarskog:
> > 12. City life. See https://wwww.sommarskog.se/temp/Citylife.html.
> > Picture A, Picture B, Picture C, Picture D, Picture E, ***Picture F.
Joshua Kreitzer:
> Picture A (I can't access this page; I get a "This site can't be
> reached" message, but that's no reason for me to avoid guessing)

You were supposed to notice the misspelling of "www", along with
the ones in other questions. Also of "47.jpg".
--
Mark Brader | "...Backwards Compatibility, which, if you've made as
msb@vex.net | many mistakes as Intel and Microsoft have in the past,
Toronto | can be very Backwards indeed." -- Steve Summit

Erland Sommarskog (esquel@sommarskog.se) writes:
> 8. Mountains: Cotopaxi, Fujiyama, Matterhorn, ***Mount Cameroon,
> Mount Erebus, Mount Rainer

The last item is better spelt Mount Rainier.
> 12. City life. See https://wwww.sommarskog.se/temp/Citylife.html.
> Picture A, Picture B, Picture C, Picture D, Picture E, ***Picture F.
>

The URL should be https://www.sommarskog.se/temp/Citylife.html. There
was also a problem with the link to one of the pictures, which I've
fixed.

This quiz is over and with only two entrants it was not much of a
success. Maybe the questions were a little too difficult. It's getting
harder and harder to come with new ideas for this type of questions.

Mark Brader won with 7-4 over Joshua Kreitzer and deserves the
awe from all other rec.games.trivia regulars. Yes, also those of
you who did not enter!

Here are the answers:

>1. Football: Juventus, Manchester United, ***Nacional da Madeira,
> Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Sporting Lisbon

Paris Saint-Germain is the only club that Cristiano "CR7" Ronaldo
has not played for.

(This question was also the major reason for the format change.
Without it, Madeira would be the obvious odd answers. As would his
current club in Saudi Arabia.)

>2. Kings of England: Edward IV, ***George VI, Henry V, Henry VII,
> Richard II, Richard III

Henry V, the only one to succeed his father.

Richard II succeeded his grandfather Edward III, as his own father, The
Black Prince, predeceased Edward III.

Edward IV snatched the throne from Henry VI (twice).

Richard III snatched the throne from his nephew, Edward V.

Henry VII put an end to Richard III.

George VI succeeded his brother who was marrying a divorced American woman.

> 3. Chemistry: 2, 8, 18, 32, 40, ***50

40. All others are the number electrons in a full shell.

Both Mark and Joshua got this.

> 4. Nuclear physics: 2, 8, 20, 26, ***50, 82

26.

The others are the "magic numbers" of nuclear physics. An isotope with
this number of protons or neutrons are extra stable.

The odd number is devilish. At least I have learnt that helium and
iron are the most stable elements in the universe, so one would
expect 26 to be a magic number. And when I originally wrote the question,
I had another number as the odd one and 26 a regular number. But when I
double-checked my reference I found that it said 28 not 26! I decided to
keep 26 as a trap that I would have walked into myself.

>5. International organisations: Belgium, ***Canada, Finland, Hungary,
> Sweden, Turkey.

Sweden is, sob, not a member of NATO, still waiting for Turkey and
Hungary to give their nod.

Mark and Joshua got this.

> 6. Music: Arrival, Joyride, Super Trouper, Voulez-Vous, ***Voyage,
> Waterloo

Joyride is an album by Roxette. The rest are albums by ABBA. Mark said
songs, but I have not checked if all ABBA albums have a title track.
Not that it matters.

Mark and Joshua got this.

> 7. Literature: ***Dodo, Doormouse, Hatter, Mock Turtle, Tigger,
> White Rabbit

Tigger is from Winnie the Pooh. The others are characters from
Alice Adventures in Wonderland.

Mark and Joshua got this.

>8. Mountains: Cotopaxi, Fujiyama, Matterhorn, ***Mount Cameroon,
> Mount Erebus, Mount Rainer

Matterhorn is not a volcano. The others are.

Mark got this.

>9. History: ***Bannockburn 1314, Borodino 1812, Kosovo Polje 1448,
> Lützen 1632, Poltava 1709, Wittenberg 1517

Five of these are the site and the year for a battlefield, but
Wittenberg 1517 is not.

In Bannockburn 1314, the Scots won an important victory over England
for their independence.

In Borodino 1812, Napoleon technically emerged as the winner against
Russia, but it will still the beginning of his down fall.

The battle at Kosovo Polje in 1448 was the end of the Hungarian attempt
to hold down the Ottomans, and after this battle there was nothing to
save Bosnia and Serbia. Yes, the battle in 1389 in the same place is
more known, but that battle was not as decisive as some people think.

The battle in Lützen is famous in Sweden, since Gustav Adolphus II
was killed in that battle.

The battle at Poltava was an important victory for Peter the Great
against Sweden and Ukrainian Cossacks headed by Ivan Mazepa.

Wittenberg 1517 is when and where Martin Luther wrote his Ninety-five
Theses.

> 10. Capitals: ***Berne, Canberra, Dublin, Ottawa, Washington, Wellington.

Dublin, the only capital to also be the biggest city in the country.

Interesting enough, while there are many examples of this outside Europe,
Berne is about the only case in Europe.

Mark got this.

> 11. Airports: ARN, ATL, CDG, NRT, ORD, ***YYZ

ATL, the only code that relates to the city it's serving (Atlanta).

ARN - Stockholm. ARN = Arlanda is the name of the Airport.
CDG - Paris, CDG = Charles de Gaulle
NRT - Tokyo, NRT = Narita.
ORD - Chicago O'Hare (not really ORD)
YYZ - Toronto.

>12. City life. See https://www.sommarskog.se/temp/Citylife.html.
> Picture A, Picture B, Picture C, Picture D, Picture E, ***Picture F.

Picture D is from Buenos Aires. All others are from Paris.

Mark got this.

Thanks to Mark and Joshua for playing!

Erland Sommarskog <esquel@sommarskog.se> wrote:

> ATL, the only code that relates to the city it's serving (Atlanta).

> ARN - Stockholm. ARN = Arlanda is the name of the Airport.
> CDG - Paris, CDG = Charles de Gaulle
> NRT - Tokyo, NRT = Narita.
> ORD - Chicago O'Hare (not really ORD)
> YYZ - Toronto.

IIRC ORD is for Orchard Field, the old name of the airport.

Sorry I didn't play, just too busy to concentrate on it.

--
_______________________________________________________________________
Dan Blum tool@panix.com
"I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't just made it up."

Erland Sommarskog:
>> 11. Airports: ARN, ATL, CDG, NRT, ORD, ***YYZ
>
> ATL, the only code that relates to the city it's serving (Atlanta).

Arrrgh! I knew where all of them are (and have used four of them),
but didn't think of that. Good question.
>> Picture A, Picture B, Picture C, Picture D, Picture E, ***Picture F.
>
> Picture D is from Buenos Aires.

I was off by one county in one of my guesses, eh?

> All others are from Paris.
>
> Mark got this.

It's my favorite city in the world to visit. I recognized locations
A and E, and while I can't place B, I think the buildings must be
well-known ones. Then F has the word Paris in it (on the blue
rectangle). But C just looks like a typical downtown Paris
location. Other than the style of street signs (with the
arrondissement on top), was there anything specifically Parisian
in it that people were supposed to spot? (It wasn't necessary to
confirm that, because D is nothing like any street in Paris.)
--
Mark Brader | "The only physical constants that can be measured
Toronto | are the ones in universes that contain physicists."
msb@vex.net | --Peter Moylan

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Mark Brader (msb@vex.net) writes:
> It's my favorite city in the world to visit. I recognized locations
> A and E, and while I can't place B, I think the buildings must be
> well-known ones. Then F has the word Paris in it (on the blue
> rectangle). But C just looks like a typical downtown Paris
> location. Other than the style of street signs (with the
> arrondissement on top), was there anything specifically Parisian
> in it that people were supposed to spot?

Your comment of C sums it up quite well. I selected pictures
with various scenes from Paris that were distinct enough from
the picture in Buenos Aires. I purposely avoided pictures with
more well-known sights, although Notre Dame can be spotted in A.
Picture F is from Forum-Les Halles. Well-spotted to find to word
"Paris" in the picture - I did not notice this myself!

Beside the architecture etc, there is also a distinct difference
in the vegetation. The pictures are actually all taken in the same
period in spring (around 12 April in Paris and around 12 October in
Buenos Aires), but the cities are on quite different latitudes