1. a. Late date, b. Glum plum, c. Current currant, d. Grape gripe
2. a. Anthony Perkins / Psycho; b. Anthony Hopkins / The Silence of the Lambs; c. Jack Nicholson / A Few Good Men
3. Divination using cheese
4. Three
5. They were topless
6. The Spruce Goose
7. Gecko
8. La Perouse
9. less
10. (a) Sydney- Much more rain (1200mm v 650mm); (b) Melbourne – more days of rain (147 v 139)
by Ken Greatorex
This is a collection of odds, ends and newsy bits that have taken our attention in the last month.
The GAC was big enough to have its own fringe, in fact. Our own April Skeptics Café was billed as just such an event, featuring the delightful Eugenie Scott. It may not have represented an enormous crowd for Ms Scott – she is much in demand internationally as a speaker – but it set a record for La Notte’s Club Room. View More Happenings
This month, we have again snared the talent of guest cruciverbalist Roy Arnott. As a result, the May 2012 Skeptical Crossword comes in two versions: with standard clues and with cryptic clues. There’s an unusually large crop of Mixed Bag questions to mark Trivia month at Skeptics Café, and seven new Picture Puzzles. Click on the Puzzles tab at the top of the page.
1. a. Basic / sick bay; b. Welfare / farewell; c. Zero / rosy d. Germaine / manger
2. a. 6 Strings on a guitar; b. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover; c. 4 Suits in a deck of cards; d. 1 Giant Leap for Mankind; e. 9 Lives of a Cat
3. Keeps an eye out for police
4. a hermit
5. John Stonehouse
6. Barbara Cartland
7. Prince Charles
8. Pnom Penh
9. Holding / storing liquids (oil or wine)
10. Jimmy Carter
11. Jimmy Hoffa
12. Fear of the number 13
13. Phar Lap (Australia’s most famous race-horse)
14. The Harbour Bridge
15. Wooden Heart
16. Five
17. Calculus
18. Aluminium
19. Octavian a.k.a Augustus
20. The Melbourne Cup
21. 1966
22. A free shot which your opponent allows you after you’ve made a bad shot
23. Bravo
24. Belgian
25. Tyro
Mixed Bag Puzzles, Picture Puzzles and the Crossword puzzle for April have been posted.
1. Benjamin Disraeli said “Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics“
Joseph Stalin said “One death is a tragedy. 10,000 deaths is a statistic“
Groucho Marx said “I wouldn’t want to join any club that would have me as a member”
Winston Churchill said “The honourable member has much to be modest about“
Neville Wran said “Balmain boys don’t cry“
Paul Keating said “This is a beautiful set of numbers“
2. (a) Letters (b) They are a musical quartet
3. Peter Finch, Geoffrey Rush
4. The Defenders
5. Paracetamol
6. I’ve Never Been to Me
7. a. excited
8. horse
9. Up Pompeii
10. Tightrope walking
1. Middle Age Spread
2. Friday the Thirteenth
3. Black Hawk Down
4. Point blank range
5. Cantankerous
6. No mucking around
7. Gear Shift
1. Assaulted Peanut
2. Melancholy Baby
3. Encyclopedia
4. Parting company
5. Split second timing
6. Bestiality
7. Paradox
