Like nearly all things to do with the sport of cricket, the Ashes, a long-standing rivalry between the national teams of England and Australia, has a story behind it. In fact, a lot of stories. For instance, the fact that the Ashes got started at all is largely due to the singular efforts of an Australian fast bowler named Fred Spofforth, seen at right. One fateful day in 1882, Spofforth’s diabolical deliveries demolished the cream of English batting, bringing consternation on the land. A pundit gloomily announced the death of English cricket, adding that its ashes would be taken to Australia. And thus was born one of the great traditions of international sport. With the 2019 Ashes about to get started in England in a couple of days, please go ahead and give our Ashes Quiz a try.
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July 30, 2019
July 10, 2019
The Two Towers Trivia Quiz
Our Tolkien series of quizzes continues this week with The Two Towers Quiz, which sees the Fellowship split up or, as Tolkien would say, sundered, not to mention riven. Frodo and Sam go off in one direction, while Merry and Pippin head off in another, though not voluntarily. The remaining members of the Company are left wondering which pair to go after. Meanwhile, Orcs — including the fearsome Uruk-hai — are butting in everywhere, Saruman is plotting new wickedness, and Nazgûl keep flitting about on their winged steeds and making your blood run cold. We hope you enjoy it. By the way, if you need to catch up on our quizzes about The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, not to mention the one on Tolkien himself, those are all still up and available. We hope you try The Two Towers Quiz, and return soon for the final entry in our Tolkien series, covering The Return of the King, which will appear in a few weeks’ time.