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| The Well of Lost Plots |
| The 2003 Nextian Brain Competition |
| for details, see below: |
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| The prize. (Houses, trees, sky, etc, not included.) |
Yes, this is a mammoth roadsign, modelled on the ever-popular triangular warning sign that grace roads in the Nextian Universe. Measuring 2' or 61cm high, this life-size Nextian icon will grace your living room and entertain guests for seconds to come. Doesn't this sound like a similar promotion you did for the launch of Lost in a Good Book? Not really. Last year it was a dodo sign, and this year it's a mamoth. Can't get much more different, can you? Finely crafted out of MDF and painted by the fair hand of Fforde himself in acrylics. Yeah, yeah. Do mammoths appear in Well of Lost Plots? Not really. Not really or not at all? Okay, not at all. So what you're doing is fobbing us off with a roadsign that should have been in last year's competition? Well...yes. Okay. Glad we got that straightened out. What would you have us do? It's very simple. Think you know a lot about Thursday Next? Consider yourself the Nextian Brain of 2003? Yes. Hah! Think again. Just answer as many of the questions as you can and send them to me at: wizardwheeze at jasperfforde dot com (email address is in this form to foil spam address trawlers!) with the subject line 'Nextian Brain 2003'. Some of them are easy, some hard, some very hard. But there is nothing here that can't be answered with some diligent homework and a good knowledge of my books. And a couple of inspired guesses. And luck. QUESTIONS: 1: What is Mrs Bradshaw's first name? 2: What should be for eternity, not just page 27? 3: Who murdered Dora Spenlow? 4: Under which design order does Martin-Bacon produce the Eject-O-Hat? 5: Which Book does Sam Weller the Bootboy reside in? 6: If Miss Havisham drove straight on at the Jesmond, where would she end up? 7: What do Thursday's Room number at the Finis, the number of the mugged John Milton and Braxton's office number all have in common? 8: Apropos the above question: Where does the next number in the series appear? 9: Who approaches Thursday and Havisham when they enter the Jurisfiction offices prior to session 40319? 10: Who wrote Bunyan's Footscraper? 11: At the BookWorld awards, which book is represented by table eight? 12: What does Mathias' pretentious latin quote actually mean? 13: Which couple serve Apple Benedict at dinner parties? 14: What did Mycroft leave in 'The Wreck of the Hesperus'? 15: Which letter does Thursday's middle name begin with? 16: Which book is JurisTech located within? (Not Plum's regional office at Norland Park) 17: Where was Bowden's stand-up comedy night held? 18: What is Spike's girlfriend's profession? 19: What award did the 'magic roundabout' in Swindon win? 20: Where can Anton's grave be found? 21: How many chapter headings in TN2 were written by Thursday's uncle? 22: Why was Mycroft's splicence revoked? 23: What was the name of the motorway services before it was changed to 'Leigh Delamare'? 24: Why was Mycroft having problems with his overbite? 25: Which Outlander company make Dream Topping? 26: In Chronoguard parlance, What is a 'time aggregation' euphemistically reffered to as? 27: Where is the 1st reference to the Titanic? (TN2; easy) 28: Where is the 2nd reference to the Titanic? (TN3; hard) 29: Where is the 3rd reference to the Titanic? (TN3; so-so) 30: What is a World Croquet League final called? 31: Why couldn't Eeyore appear at the BookWorld awards? 32: What is the Neanderthal title of the book: 'I, Robot' ? 33: Why are bananas called bananas? 34: Where is the reference to the 60's TV show The Prisoner in TN3? 35: What is Mycroft Next's middle name? 36: On what date was the 1987 Chimera Amnesty? 37: Which parishoner of Joffy's is profoundly deaf? 38: Highlight at least one outbreak of Churchillianism in TN3 39: What car does Thursday drive when we first meet her? 40: What year did Sergeant Tozer die? 41: What excuse do the authorities usually use when a SEB escapes? 42: What is the tradename for the vacumn cleaner Spike uses to suck up the SEB? 43: Where is the John Steinbeck reference in TN3? 44: In the Bookworld, which celebrity wore a Kalvin Hobbs matching tunic and spats? 45: What do Slow-and-Solid and Stickly-Prickly become? 46: Who was Daisy Mutlar's first husband? 47: Which SpecOps department does John Smith work at? 48: What do SO-26 do? 49: Who is Emperor Zhark's teacher at Jurisfiction? 50: Which literary work does the Bellman usually reside in? Be very brief in your answers. Each correct answer is worth two points. A semi-answer which showed you were vaguely on the right track will gain you one point. Clever-clogs answers, deep obsufication, long-windedness or pseudo-intellectuality will garner you negative points. Maximum score: 100 points. The person with the most correct answers by the 1st AUGUST 2003 will be crowned Nextian Brain 2003 and win the roadsign. Three runners-up will get a Nextian themed Tee-Shirt each. Full answers to all these questions will be posted when the winner is announced. In the unlikely event of several people getting them all right, I will set five stonkingly hard Nextian questions for the Nextian Brain 2003 Penalty Sudden Death Shoot Out. Judge's decision (me) is final. It is a condition of entry that you accept that this competition is strictly for fun and that the prize has no real value at all - just a bit of MDF with paint splashed on it. USA residents may enter, but will not win - you get your own super-duper quiz next year at the Penguin WOLP launch. Perhaps. Maybe. We'll see. Oh yes - I may extend the finishing date if no-one has tried hard enough. To view the results of the 'Wherefore that name?' competition, click HERE To view the results of the 'Summarising TN3' competition, click HERE |