Sunday, October 26, 2008

The Monday Quiz IL

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DorkFest badges available on yesterday's post.
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National Flags!
Time to get all vexillogical on you again. From the flag and the clue, can you identify the country? Why or why not?

1. By some measures, it's the largest country in Africa.


2. By some measures, it's the largest country in Europe.



3. The world's 23rd largest economy.


4. It has failed to function as a country for more than 15 years.



5. In its own language, it is the Eesti Vabariik.


Submit your answers in the comments.

20 comments:

MJ said...

ok, somebody has to be first in proudly showing ignorance:
1. Namibia
2. Ukraine
3. Argentina
4. Bosnia-Herzegovina?
5. Estonia (i was going to write Lithuania, but the word "Eesti"...)

Unknown said...

1. Sudan
2. Ukraine
3. Argentina
4. Yugoslavia
5. Estonia

Christine M. said...

1. Sudan
2. Ukraine
3. Argentina
4. Liberia
5. Estonia

Anonymous said...

That's one funny looking roman numeral (IL).

1 / Sudan
2 / Ukraine
3 / USA in last month
4 / CSA
5 / Estonia

Rebel said...

#5 - Estonia!!!!

Rex Parker said...

Egypt
Russia
Portugal
Myanmar
Latvia

Cartophiliac said...

BTW,

EC_Jamie above is Cartophiliac. I was just logged onto Google with one of my many alter egos...

Did you pick that flag (that I now know is not Sudan) just to tease me?

Chance said...

This is totally a Quiz Show! topic. But despite my one-time post ont he subject, I'm actually not so good at it. How vexing. Get it?? Vexing??

1. It's not the Sudan or Egypt or Algeria, so I really don't know.
2. Ukraine
3. Uruguay? looks familiar.
4. Florida! Bonnie Blue!
5. Estonia

Anonymous said...

Okay, I read this at school and couldn't wait to see the images because they are blocked there still.

Okay I remember one or two of these for sure from previous searching (I promise!).
5. Estonia!
4. Somalia!
3. No idea
2. Ukraine!
1. Uhm...Nigeria, Uganda no idea.

I cannot believe I remembered the ones I did. Okay, I do believe Estonia. It's become a bit of a favored nation.

McGuff said...

1. Thinking.....nope. Nada.
2. Ukraine
3. Argentina
4. Tibet??
5. ESTONIA

This isn't going to go all too well. Oh well.

Dan Nolan said...

1. by population and oil? Nigeria.
2. by electoral poison and oil? Ukraine.
3. Argentina
4. Czechoslovakia
5. Estonia

Anonymous said...

I don't feel very confident with these, but maybe I'll do OK on the "Why or why not?"

1. No, I can't identify the country, because it's in Africa, which is a big continent with a lot of countries that I'm all too ignorant about, and also because I don't know what to make of the clue "by some measures." Is it largest in population, not area? Is there territory in dispute? I am going to guess it is one of the big Saharan countries. . . Libya! I guess Libya!

2. Yes, I think I can identify this, because the architecture at the end of the street is pretty distinctive. Also the statue of the horseman seems vaguely familiar, and the qualification "by some measures" could refer to a country that is in more than one continent. So, although the flag looks ludicrously UNfamiliar to me, I am going to say Russia.

3. Yes, I think I can identify this one, because I know that random unsupportable hunches are often correct, and therefore I will rather blindly say Indonesia.

4. No, I don't think I can identify this one, because it looks completely unfamiliar, the dull gray sky is not helping, and I'm not very confident about my knowledge of all the countries failing to function. Yet Yugoslavia seems a pretty reasonable guess.

5. Yes, I think I can identify this one, because I have perhaps admired its color scheme in this very blog, and because the word "Eesti" could very plausibly refer to the one country to have established diplomatic ties to michael5000, Estonia.

Anonymous said...

I am applying for extra-credit. I don't think I did too well identifying the flags. On the other hand, I am very sure about the poles in #s 4 and 5.

In #4, the pole is a circa 1988 Dubrov telescoping "Egrance" model with an average 12.7 cm circumference and a maximum length of 8.1 meters.

In #5, the pole is the legendary Estik-99 from Baltiphlagaccess.co.es. It is equipped with the highly desirable "Lance Tip" feature, now unavailable, making this pole a highly desirable collector's item.

Michael5000 said...

Well, the good thing is, I apparently managed to succeed in my determination not to make this one too easy.

Apparently I'm a great big flag dork. Always the last to know.

1. Nigeria -- the most populous country in Africa.

2. Ukraine -- the largest country in Europe, in area.

3. Argentina

4. Somalia, bucking for two solid decades as the world's largest failed state.

5. L&TM5K Most Favored Nation Estonia!

Michael5000 said...

First of all, props to everybody who gave it a go.

Hats off to Dan, who had a solid 4/5 to bring home his third MQ Exclamation Point. Dan, who Starred last Thursday, is on a bit of a roll.

It took some careful deliberation by the judging committee, and a rules clarification on the Quiz FAQ, but Boo also hit 4/5 and qualifies for her fourth MQEP.

Well done!

Michael5000 said...

@Karma: I've read that the Romans were far more loose with the rules of their number system than we generally are. I'm pretty sure IL is legit. And XLIX is kinda wierd too. And XXXXVIIII is just unconscionable.

@Carto: I assure you, sir, I would never tease a man with the Nigerian flag.

@Chance: Very good! Vexing!

@Mrs.5000: Points for reasoning, dear.

@Karma: Giving away the flagpole makes on my stock photos is really going to come back to haunt you in MQLXXII, "Flagpoles of the World..."

@Michael5000: Hey, that's me!

Rebel said...

I wish *my* blog had established diplomatic ties with a country as cool as Estonia. The best I get my entire dashboard in Thai when I log in.

Kritkrat said...

So, wait... Estonia is a real place?

Chance said...

I wasn't kidding about Bonnie Blue. #4 is the flag of the failed republic of Florida.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I thought I only had two or three. I don't look at flags the same way now after the previous posts about them. Much more careful consideration is now employed. But I still forget.