The questions are here

 Here’s how it worked. There were 10 sets of five questions. The answers to each set of questions formed a common theme or Missing Link.

There were no prizes on offer, simply the inestimable rewards of brain exercise.

MIKE’S MAVERICK MISSING LINK MINDBENDER #2

SET ONE 

Oscar winner in 2001 for his role in Training Day. Denzel Washington.

Mrs Dalloway author and part of the Bloomsbury set. Virginia Woolf.

Tblisi is the capital of this country. Georgia.

Stage musical which includes the song Oh what a beautiful mornin’. Oklahoma.

1967 Bee Gees hit about a place where all the lights went out.  Massachusetts.

MISSING LINK = American states – Denzel Washington, Virginia Woolf, Georgia, Oklahoma, Massachusetts.

SET TWO

Famous fictional steam locomotive created by Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son. Thomas the Tank Engine.

Acronym for the South African government’s controversial five-year economic plan, published in 1996, which focused on privatisation and the removal of exchange controls. GEAR (The Growth, Employment & Redistribution programme).

1968 Blood, Sweat & Tears hit in which they “ride a painted pony”. Spinning Wheel.

Guitar maker of the Stratocaster. Fender.

Southernmost headland of Tierra del Fuego which marks the meeting point of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Cape Horn.

MISSING LINK = Car parts – Thomas the Tank Engine, Gear, Spinning Wheel, Fender, Cape Horn.

SET THREE 

Ground-breaking American “love rock musical” which opened on Broadway in 1968. Hair. 

Bingo call for 11. Legs.

Hugely popular child movie star of the 1930s who later became the US Ambassador to Ghana. Shirley Temple.

Type of orange characterised by the growth of a second fruit at the apex, which protrudes slightly. Navel.

Name given to Diego Maradona’s infamous first goal of the FIFA World Cup quarter-final in 1986. The Hand of God.

MISSING LINK = Body parts – Hair, Legs, Shirley Temple, Navel, Hand.

SET FOUR  

Issued in 1840, this was the world’s first adhesive postage stamp used on a public postal system. Penny Black.

R.I.P. and Let You Love Me singer who also had a role in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie. Rita Ora.

Becoming author. Michelle Obama.

A word beginning with “p” which means “care, caution and good judgment”. Prudence.

American actress who was in the Ally McBeal TV series and the Charlie’s Angels movies. Lucy Liu.

MISSING LINK = Women’s names in Beatles song titles – Penny Lane, Lovely Rita, Michelle, Dear Prudence, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

SET FIVE

Solitary, territorial animals whose adults only associate in the mating season and whose growling is also called “sawing”. Leopards. 

The Curse of the Black Pearl was the first of six movies in this series. Pirates of the Caribbean.

KZN school which includes Alan Paton, Jonty Rhodes and Joel Stransky among its former pupils. Maritzburg College.

Team which won the American football Super Bowl this year. Kansas City Chiefs.

Thuli Madonsela holds a chair of social justice at this university. Stellenbosch. 

MISSING LINK = South African Premier Soccer League teams – Black Leopards, Orlando Pirates, Maritzburg United, Kaizer Chiefs, Stellenbosch FC.

SET SIX

John Travolta smash hit movie in 1977. Saturday Night Fever. 

Popular name for a dachshund. Sausage dog.

A container for holding arrows, bolts, darts, or javelins. Quiver.

Author of The Story of an African Farm. Olive Schreiner.

Common name for the part of the body called the metacarpus which is the underside area between the five phalanges and the carpus. The palm.

MISSING LINK = Trees – Saturday Night Fever, sausage dog, quiver, Olive Schreiner, the palm.

SET SEVEN 

Author of Moby Dick. Herman Melville. 

Annie’s Song singer. John Denver. 

Famous English military academy. Sandhurst. 

Biggest selling cigarette brand globally for more than 35 years. Marlboro.

Tallahassee is the capital of this south-eastern American state. Florida.

MISSING LINK = Johannesburg suburbs – Herman Melville, John Denver, Sandhurst, Marlboro, Florida.

SET EIGHT 

Infamous South African gang that committed suicide in a cave during a stand-off with police in 1914. The Foster Gang.

Legendary Arabist and author of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia).

Zoologist who published the first comprehensive guide to South African birds in 1940 and whose name is still on current field guides. Austin Roberts. 

Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 documentary film-maker. Michael Moore. 

A granodiorite stele which became the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, thereby opening a window into ancient Egyptian history. Rosetta Stone. 

MISSING LINK = Academy Award winners for Best Actress – Jodie Foster (1988 & 1991), Jennifer Lawrence (2012), Julia Roberts (2000), Julianne Moore (2014), Emma Stone (2016).

SET NINE 

Cartoon strip about a boy and his tiger created by Bill Watterson. Calvin & Hobbes.

The Greek shipping tycoon who married Jackie Kennedy. Aristotle Onassis.

Rapper whose name sounds timid and spent five months in jail in 2017/18. Meek Mill.

New Zealand-born actor who was Oscar nominated for A Beautiful Mind and The Insider. Russell Crowe.

“Sandpaper-gate” Australian cricket captain. Steve Smith.

MISSING LINK = famous philosophers – Thomas Hobbes, Aristotle, John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell, Adam Smith.

SET TEN  

The second largest province in SA by size. Eastern Cape.

Meghan and Harry’s former title. Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Capital where you would find St Basil’s Cathedral. Moscow.

City served by the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport. Lusaka. 

Sir Herbert Baker creation on Meintjieskop. The Union Buildings.

MISSING LINK = Thabo Mbeki – born in Eastern Cape, went to Sussex University, trained in Moscow for a year, lived in exile in Lusaka, inaugurated as president at the Union Buildings. DM