This is the Asterix quiz I had conducted in June for the GEC Quiz Club, Thrissur. Let me know how you like it!

1. Research and Content
Ajay Parasuraman
These quizzers are crazy

2. Originally from Middle Breton, what is the
French word for ‘Long Stone’?
1

3. Menhir

4. 2
- Celtic ‘Sun God’
- Band which performs its signature song
‘Spicilege’ here:
- Germanic word for ‘tribe’
- Rings dedicated to him (image) were
discovered all across Britain
Connect the two sets:

6. Belenos and Toutatis

7. One year after Caesar’s victory at Thapsus,
he manages to mop up the survivors at
Montilla, bringing the whole of Hispania
under Roman rule.
Before heading back to Rome, Caesar
inspects his Tenth Legion in a certain way –
that can be described using a phrase
wrongly attributed in this book.
Give your answer in four words.
3

8. ‘Lent him their ears’

9. Relatively lesser known usages include the
words ‘Black’, ‘Cheap’, and ‘Green’
preceding the titular holiday. The most
famous one uses another colour, and is
featured in an Academy Award winning
musical from more than 70 years ago.
Cacofonix, in Asterix in Spain, uses ‘solstice’
instead of the holiday.
Identify the original song and its writer.
4

10. ‘I’m dreaming of a White Christmas’,
Irving Berlin

11. Which episode is this from?
Therefore, what mistake does Uderzo commit
in this panel?
No part points
5

12. Asterix in Britain
Hence, they should be driving on the left

13. French: “Je suis, mon cher ami, tres heureux
de te voir”
English : “My dear old Getafix, I hope I find
you well”
These are a particular form of verse, named
after the hero of a collection of romances
written in the 12th Cent.
What are they called?
And what are they / How do they work?
6

14. Alexandrine, after Alexander the Great
Each line is composed of 12 syllables

15. One of the methods by which the Goths
decide to kill Asterix is dismemberment
using a certain animal.
The reference is to a man of science who
thwarted said animal in the mid-17th century
with nothing more than an object of radius 25
cm.
What is the reference to?
7

16. Magdeburg spheres experiment

17. Before the gladiatorial games commences,
Caesar receives a thunderous ovation. Only
one person doesn’t applaud.
How does Caesar command him to do so –
which would become prophetic, in a way?
8

18. Et tu brute

19. These symbols (pic) are pivotal to the work
performed by employees – who prefer
anonymity - of a certain publication
established, in 1900, by brothers.
Where are they used?
9

20. Michelin Guide

21. A facet of humour in Asterix is the naming of
minor characters.
In French, the name is derived from a
concept in psychology to indicate prejudiced
mindset, that which resists modification.
The English name is thus a double pun.
Give both - French and English - names.
10

22. Idefix; Dogmatix

23. Although the proclamations are attributed to
someone, the character is not modelled on
said person.
Who? Give one of the three proclamations.
11

24. Muhammad Ali

25. The phrase that has been blanked out
originated during the English Civil War, and
is a type of shunning.
The titular city was a stronghold of the
Roundheads (Parliamentarians). It is,
however, most famous for a curiosity.
What is the three-word phrase?
12

27. (To) send to Coventry

28. Which character shares its name with the
larger of the two muscles shown here?
13

29. Gluteus Maximus

30. News reaches Aquarium that Gluteus
Maximus has been selected to represent
Rome at the Olympics.
The American version ‘reacts’ using the
phrase “Semper Fidelis.” Whose motto was
Asterix honoring? (5)
The English version uses the title of a 1945
song that is famous as an anthem. Which? (5)
14

31. United States Marine Corps
You’ll Never Walk Alone

32. These panels are from The Olympic Games.
Identify the two people in the drawing.
The two words near their faces read out
“despot”, and “tyrant.”
15

34. Goscinny and Uderzo

35. 1. Which test of endurace is being paid
tribute to?
2. Which famous ‘windmill’, in the same
country, are Asterix & Obelix asked if they
wanted to visit?
16

36. 1
2

37. 1. Le Mans
2. Moulin Rouge

38. 1. Asterix is marooned on an island, and
Obelix has built a heap of stones to signal
for help.
What gift lies in the panel after, as a tribute?
2. What does the Viking say when he jumps
out of his boat?
17

39. 1
2

40. 1. Statue of Liberty
2. One small step for man...

41. Contrary to what his name might suggest, he
was only chieftain of the Averni tribe, and
united the Gauls in a fight against Caesar.
However, at the Battle of Alesia, he was
defeated and captured by Roman forces. He
was held prisoner for nearly five years after
which he was executed.
Identify him.
18

43. Vercingetorix

44. At the very start of Chieftain’s Shield,
Vitalstatistix is shown to be taken ill. A case
of liver trouble, Getafix declares.
The druid suggests that he go to a health
farm – aqua calidae – for treatment. Although
there are several famous ones across
Europe, this refers to a famous resort town in
Auvergne.
Which town?
19

46. Vichy

47. The second panel, taken from Caeser’s Gift,
refers to two fictional characters.
Fill in the blanks with the last words of a
famous Prince of Denmark to get the first
reference.
What does Asterix carve onto the man’s
chest – which is the second reference?
20

49. Hamlet’s last words, “The rest is silence”
Zorro

50. The waitress is serving Calvados, the
‘national’ drink of a particular region in
France.
Which region? (3)
Which fruit is used to make Calvados? (4)
What does Calva mean in Latin, which effects
the pun (visual)? (3)
21

52. Normandy; Apple; “skull”

53. Who is this, from Black Gold, a caricature of?
Possibly because his “actual name” would
not fit the usual syntax of the comics, what is
the character called instead?
22

55. Sean Connery; Dubbelosix

56. Which 17th-18th Century Irishman popularized
this format in ‘On Poetry: A Rhapsody’? (4)
Lewis Richardson created these lines to explain
his theory of fractal currents:
Big whorls have little whorls
That feed on their _______;
And little whorls have lesser whorls
And so on to ________.
Fill up the blanks. (6)
23

58. Jonathan Swift;
velocity, viscosity

59. Refers to:
1. Connection of switches and circuits within a
telephone exchange
2. A method of providing network access by
using a shared set of frequencies
3. Link aggregation, in computer networking
4. The type which is typically long distance
Alternatively, you can fill the pun in the visual.
24

61. Trunk call

62. 1. The protagonist of Secret Weapon gets his
name from an Italian word which refers to a style
of music intended to show off the skill of a
performer.
Which word?
2. Fill up the blanks with a frequently referenced
part of a Shakespearean work which implies the
immateriality of proper nouns.
25

64. 1. Bravura
2. What’s in a name? That which we call a
rose by any other name would smell as
sweet – Romeo and Juliet

65. Shown on the next slide are panels from The
Actress. The name of the actress receiving the
award is the same as that of an opera from the
1850’s.
What is her name?
Which award – first given exactly 4 decades ago
– is it supposed to represent?
26

67. 1. La Traviata
2. Cesar Awards

68. Asterix’s first journey to the British Isles was in
Britain.
Named for a group of tribal people who lived
north of the Forth-Clyde isthmus, which was his
second journey?
27

70. Asterix and the Picts

71. In Laurel Wreath, an actor impersonates three
works of art. Identify the following:
1. Art and artist (3)
2. Art (3)
3. Art and artist (4)
The name of the third artist (5 letters) is one
letter away from a celebrated poet, and might be
considered profanity in these parts.
28

72. 1
2
3

73. 1. The Thinker, by Rodin
2. Laocoon
3. The Discus Thrower, by Myron

74. Falling Sky, a rare instance of aliens who
resemble some common superheroes, is a
tribute to comics in general.
1. ‘Tadsilweny’ (a character) anagrams to the
name of someone from the Western world
who inspired Uderzo
2. The alien race is named in tribute to the
Eastern world. It is an anagram for a style of
comics, and shares its name with a once-
popular South Indian actress
29

75. 1. Walt Disney
2. Nagma, (anagram of Manga)

76. A dagger (also called X) is a common typographic
symbol used to indicate critical points in printed
material. While X is used for corrective deletions, Y is
used for corrective additions.
Give ‘Y’ and ‘X’, in that order. (6)
When used in conjunction, particularly seen in the
Bible, they indicate a breath mark during chanting of
Psalms. Their other purpose is to remind them of an
action.
What?
30

77. Asterisk and Obelisk
A reminder to make the sign of the Cross