The time limit is through. Now the counting begins, and it should take me a while. You are free to return to the main thread. I will announce when the counting has ended (in the game thread). Until then, please refrain from discussing the event.

HERE BE THE ANSWERS:

1) Here's a saying from Ancient Egypt: “Twelve cubits is famine. Thirteen is poor harvest. Fourteen is joy. Fifteen is prosperity. Sixteen is abundance. Eighteen is a catastrophe.” What were the Egyptians talking about?



2) The flag of which country is hidden in this picture?




3) According to a legend, King Edward III was dancing with Joan of Kent, his first cousin and daughter-in-law. During the dance, her garter slipped down to her ankle, and she was ridiculed for it. The King proceeded to place the garter around his own leg, saying “Honi soit qui mal y pense. Tel qui s'en rit aujourd'hui, s'honorera de la porter” which may be translated as “Shame to who thinks ill of it. Those who laugh of it today, will be proud of wearing it”. This (again, according to legend) led to the foundation of an order of chivalry. Please name it.



4) This statue in Alice Springs, Australia, is also an advertisment. What for?




5) Bobby Fischer once said that if those two were to play a chess game, it would probably end in a draw. Who are these two?


6) Here's a poem from Rudyard Kipling:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are AAA and BBB and CCC
And DDD and EEE and FFF.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
I give them all a rest.

Please put in correct words instead of AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD, EEE and FFF.



7) In 1769, Bostonians noticed that mail from England was about 2 weeks slowing to reach Boston than mail sent in the opposite direction. The culprit was found soon, still warm. Name the culprit.



8) I present you Paul Gauguin's “Breton village under snow”

.

One auctioneer tried to sell it as “Niagara Falls”. How did this happen?



9) Complete this limerick by an anonymous author:
There once was a woman named Bright
who traveled much faster than light.
She set out one day
in a relative way
...



10) Precious few people know what all of these books are called. Several know how some of these books are called. Almost everyone knows how the collection of these 77 books is called. Name that collection.



11) In 1854, Lord Palmerston appointed Robert FitzRoy, vice-admiral and scientist, as a head of a newly created Department. In the ensuing 11 years, the Department had been the object of heavy mockery, mostly because of its unkept promises. Some suspect that this was the reason of FitzRoy's suicide. What was the function of that Department, or, if you'd rather answer this, how would you call this Office today?



12) As actor Anthony Quinn used to say, Hollywood is the place when almost all movies have a good ending. What, according to Quinn, almost never ends well in Hollywood?



13) A danish joke: “Our food is better than Swedish food, the climate here is better than in Sweden, the people here are better than the Swedes. There is one category in which they top us: they have better XXX”.

Name XXX.



14) To answer this question, you must answer all three-mini questions below:
What are these doves transforming into?

What is this giraffe transforming into?

What is this lion transforming into?



15) You have probably heard of the “Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre…" aria, better known as “Toreador aria” from “Carmen” by Gustave Bizet. Just in case you did not, here is a youtube video.

And here is a short snippet of the aria, sung in a language that is clearly not French. What is the language in question?



16) In 2011, a referendum took place in South Sudan. Due to the fact that over 25% of its population was illiterate, two pictograms were used (you will notice I have blacked out two words). What was being decided in the referendum?




17) In 1948, famous physicist George Gamow and then-PhD student Ralph Alpher submitted a paper named “The Origin of Chemical Elements” to “The Physical Review”, a scientific journal. Before submitting the paper, Gamow convinced Hans Bethe, another renowned physicist, to put his (Bethe's) name among the authors. What was the reason of Gamow's request?



18) THIS accompanies every rocket launch nowadays. It was first allegedly used by filmmaker Fritz Lang in 1929 in his movie “Frau im Mond” (which means “Woman in the Moon”). What is THIS?



19) A barber school once used a famous self-portrait to announce the possibility of cheap haircuts performed by students of said school. Name the self-portrait that was used, or at least name its author and give a brief description.



20) Below you can find an ad from a bookshop. You can see books with the following titles “Three men in a cuckoo's nest”, “Gone with the Mohicans” and “Grapes of a Geisha”. What was the message of the advertisement?