Calling all Quiz-lovers! Are you there, PamG?!

Sheila, first glance at this tells me answer 3 is: Fairy tale of New York (The Pogues) . . . . . .

Oops ... perhaps I should PM my other answers!

Wow - thanks Shirley. Sounds good, tho' I've never heard of it!

I only know it as my daughter used to play it each and every Christmas! She has just popped in and answered question no.4 which I shall now PM to you ... :o)

Brilliant. Do you both watch Uni Challenge too?! I had some good guesses tonight, and got 14 . . . that's a record, lol.

Is the first one Cupid? (Roman equivalent of Eros)

This is good!

2 is "goose". Counting up each day, the 31st bird to be given in "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

5 is "wings". Clarence earns his in the film "It's a Wonderful Life"

6 might be "Advent Calendar"

7 is "stable" (double meaning of "steady")

8 is "Nutcracker" (I think!) from the fairytale (or ballet)

Shirley's definitely correct with "Fairy tale of New York" wonderful song! (from the lyrics) and I think Steragram is right, too.

I'll have to get help with 4.

I'll enlist OH's help - he's good at cryptic clues.

Love the picture!

Haven't a clue about 4! Good luck!

Hi Melchi ... No. 4, according to my daughter, is Alan Partridge ... comedian/actor. I agree with you on Nos. 2, 6, 7 and 8 but thought 'Angel' for No.5! PM'd my answers to Sheila last night ... wonder how many others did.

Sheila ... I have not watched University Challenge for such a long time ... well over a year I should think! Well done you for answering 14 .... clever girl! :o)

Hi Sheila......better late than never!
But you seem to be doing very well without me. :0))

I think Clarence got his wings as Mel says x

And thats Brilliant Sheila!
I didn't understand the questions on some.....let alone the answers!
It was exciting though, right to the tie break question, you could see the disappointment in the losing team, just that nanosecond later pressing the buzzer....

Thanks so much everyone . . . amazing answers - that's clever Stera :) Will write properly this evening - just out for the day to see the gardens at Glyndebourne!!! x

(Yes Pam, UC is often too erudite these days, but it was a good one, and the team we liked won!)

I expect your daughter is right, Shirley. I don't know much about Alan Partridge! I think 5 must be "wings" because Clarence is the angel.

I felt guilty when I woke up today, because I should have
PMd my answers. It only occurred to me too late - the editing button had disappeared. Ah well - life is full of regrets!!!

Ooh Sheila ... I hope you have a lovely day out ... the sun is shining brightly now down here on the coast ... beautiful blue sky too ... :o)

Regarding Alan Partridge ... same here Melchi! There aren't many young comedians making me laugh these days ... signed 'Grumpy Old Woman!' ... lol!

No worries about PMs Mel - I think these are difficult enough that most members "looking in" will be glad to see the answers!

Thanks Shirley - yes, sun is shining here too - feel quite lucky. The 'garden consultant' at Glyndebourne used to run our local plant nursery (John Hoyland), so it will be fun if we bump into him. Will probably buy some seeds anyway!

I've just been listening to " I'm sorry I haven't a clue" with chairman jack dee, and panelists tim brooke-taylor graeme garden and barry crier, theres usually a guest 4th.....
Its laugh out loud funny, daft and clever, the bit just now about the rules of mornington crescent really had me giggling. :0))

It's a brilliantly sunny day here, too - but cold. Lovely!

I went to a dress rehearsal of Don Giovanni at Glyndebourne many years ago ('67 or '68, I think) when I was a student. It was lovely. We had a picinic in the garden. I've never made it back, though.

Mornington Crescent - how long did it take you before you discovered the "rules" Pam? Ashamed to say I was slow on the uptake there. I used to love Humph, but Jack Dee is doing very well. Melchisedech, I'm lost in admiration. You must have a real "crossword brain"!

Thanks, Stera. OH and I do crosswords quite often. (He taught me how to solve cryptic clues when we started going out together.) I have never got the hang of skeleton crosswords, though - I never suss out the symmetry properly!

How funny, Mel . . . I remarked to my OH while we were at Glyndebourne today, "it would be fun to come to a dress rehearsal here"! I wonder if that is still possible. It was wonderful to have a back-stage tour though, and to go into the beautiful 'new' building, and see the Green Rooms, and hear many anecdotes. I recommend a visit if anyone ever has the chance.

I'm so impressed with everyone's solving skills, and if you'd like any more of these clues, just let me know!!

Please Sheila its pouring rain outside and cold &grey.....

'Advent calendar' is clever, Mel, thanks!!

OK, Pam and all, here we go and good luck :)

9.Saint George's home (6)
10.Copland's were simple (5)
11.Unlike her father's, Lilibet's is flawless (6,6)
12.So it sounds as if solitary walking is out of the question (4)
13.I'd like breakfast with her, even without the jewellery (5)
14.The green tights really clash though! (5,9)
15.Carouse, medieval style (7)
16.Frodo's jolly companion (5)
17.34th Street is where it happened (7)
18.Served vowels, consonants and one from the top for years (5)
19.Tess's lost love (5)
20.Danny or Edna would be a perfect one (4)

In my defence, I have solved 72 others . . . just not the difficult ones. And I know where Frodo comes from, but have never read Lord of the Rings (or The Hobbit), to the huge indignation of a customer once who couldn't believe it as I worked in the bookshop!

Hope you "enjoy" these clues :))

Are we still on the Christmas theme please Sheila? .......

Yes Shirley - all from the same quiz. Sometimes, it makes you wonder though . . . I asked OH about Cupid, and he said it is the name of one of Santa's reindeer.

Which reminds me of the answer to one of the easier clues, Take your umbrella darling - look at the weather (8). Our ADULT son was once given a soft toy reindeer which he christened "Willett" (as in, Will it rain, dear?)!!

Groan at the last bit of info.!!!

Sheila ... I have just hand written the clues out for OH and realised that

No. 14 may be Robin Redbreast

No. 16 is Merry,
No. 17 is Miracle
No.18 is Carol (Vorderman) from Countdown
No. 20 is Dame ( as in pantomime)

Fantastic Shirley . . . thank you and your OH!! Either I'm dim (or, hopefully, just v. tired after yesterday's outing . . ) but now that I see the answers, I probably should have 'got' No.17, 18 and 20. Or maybe they're always obvious once you know.

Was Robin Redbreast a nick-name for Robin of Sherwood?? Pretty clever of your hubby if so :))

Definitely not dim, Sheila! I have no idea why OH thought Robin Redbreast ... shall ask him when he returns from his errand ... :o)

10 is "gifts" ("Simple Gifts" is the Shaker tune Copland used in "Appalachian Spring")

I think 11 is "Queen's Speech"!

I think 13 is "Holly" (Holly Golightly from "Breakfast at Tiffany's")

Is 15 "Wassail"?

19 might be "Angel" (Tess's husband in "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", who leaves her) but it might not.

6 and 4 have me stumped!

I hope you enjoyed your Glyndebourne visit, Sheila. We were all music students, and the visit was arranged by the college. I don't know if it was a common arrangement or not. I would get far more out of it now than I did then, much as i enjoyed it. How true that is of so many things. Education is truly so often wasted on the young!

Mel, you are a treasure . . . I must find you a prize! Yes, I've belatedly realised that 19 is Angel; and like Wassail for 15 and Holly for 13 (good one that). Queen's Speech is brilliant, and I would never have got 10, so thank you very much :))

Yes thanks, the backstage tour was wonderful - a real treat to see the auditorium, clad in slatted pine for a perfect acoustic, and amazing to see the huge size of the rehearsal rooms, flies and scenery. We were also shown some wigs and costumes, at which point my admiration for the singers soared: the thought of donning a heavy costume, hot wig, then negotiating a flight of concrete stairs to the stage and then singing . . . well, they deserve praise simply for doing it!

Don't mention it, Sheila! I thoroughly enjoy them (and "Queen's Speech" was OH's contribution anyway!)

I once saw my eldest on stage singing in a fur coat and hat - at Buxton, in the middle of a heatwave. (He said afterwards that their view of the audience was just a sea of fanning programmes!) I have also watched him singing whilst donning a soldier's uniform, pausing only to "drink" out of a mug. He has sung whilst carrying out a medical examination of Violetta in "La Traviata" (stabbing her - unintentionally, of course) during one performance, and climbed up and down ladders and on to balconies. He once had to fall off a balcony into the garden, but that was a trick - there was a mattress 3 feet below on the other side. One of his colleagues filmed and blogged the fall from backstage - absolutely hilarious! Like you, I don't know how they do it. He would just say that it's part of the job.

(Have just reread this and laughed at my explananation that falling off a high balcony was a trick!)

How exciting to see and listen to your son in all these exploits . . . I can't remember a medical examination in Traviata, although it's my favourite! Is he a tenor? And you said that you were a music student - are you a singer, or instrumentalist?? Do you still play?

The character in "La Traviata" is the doctor - it is a small role, and it was in ENO's most recent production that the director decided he wanted to give him plenty of business! It's my favourite opera, as well. (ENO's previous production had used only a settee on the set - this latest one used only a chair!)

I studied music as my main subject for three years at College of Education. My instrument was voice. I sang at weddings and funerals until fairly recently. My piano playing was adequate, that's all! I play the organ at church every week, but anything other than accompanying hymns is pretty much beyond me. I used to play for weddings, but it gradually became too stressful. The expectations are often rather high...

The kids are much more talented than I - eldest is professional (bass baritone) next son amateur (baritone) and daughter is doing her doctorate (musicology). She is a "proper" church organist and also studied singing at university.

We've spent many hours in halls and churches witnessing various performances, but also quite a lot in very nice theatres as well, which is rather good!

What a talented family - that's so interesting Mel. Do you manage to see many operas? I imagine your eldest son gets parts all over the country? Maybe we ought to continue our conversation in PMs . . . in fact I'll send you one now!

Thanks, Sheila - A PM is the right thing to do!