1 Which of his characters did Herge base mostly on the Swiss Auguste Piccard, and what change did he make to the character’s appearance?

2 In the Cigars of The Pharaoh, what was the poison with which drug smugglers poisoned all opposition including the former Maharaja of Gaipajama?

3 The telephone number of Marlinspike Hall, 431, is often confused with the phone number of which other establishment in Marlinspike town?

4 What was the name of the tame gorilla that the forgers were using to guard their establishment in the remote island of Kiltoch in the story, Tintin and The Black Island?

5 Of which of his stories did Herge say, “My ambition was to try and tell a tale in which nothing happened just to see whether I was capable of keeping the readers attention till the end?”

6 In the English version, which esteemed organisation does insurance salesman Jolyon Wagg, often at the receiving end of Captain Haddock’s temper, represent?

7 Tintin won many honours and awards in his career. Which special award was he bestowed by the King of Syldavia after Tintin had recovered the royal sceptre and helped prevent a Bordurian-backed coup?

8 Which esteemed organisation feted Captain Haddock just before he left to recover the meteorite in Tintin and the Shooting Star?

9 Captain Haddock is shown to be drunk in many of the comics, but there’s only one comic that shows Tintin in a completely inebriated state just before he is due to be executed. Which story?

10 Who is the dictator of the fictional country of Borduria, who never appears as a character in the series, but is mentioned and shown in statues and portraits in at least two of the stories?

Answers

1 . Professor Calculus. He made Calculus much shorter than the towering Piccard, so that he could fit into the frames of the comic strip

2 . The Rajaijah juice

3 . Cutts the Butcher, who appears in quite a few comics and is also the president of the Music Society of Marlinspike

4 . Ranko, who later goes to a zoo

5 . The Castafiore Emerald, about a missing jewel which was actually a gift from the Maharaja of Gopal

6 . The Rock Bottom Insurance Company, it was Assurances Mondass in the original French version

7 . The Order of the Golden Pelican. Interestingly, Herge is portrayed as one of the guests at the ceremony

8 . The Society of Sober Sailors. Haddock was their president

9 . Tintin and the Broken Ear. Tintin is rescued by General Alcazar, who appoints him as his aide-de-camp

10 . Marshall Kurvi-Tasch. Bordurians often swear ‘by the whiskers of Kurvi-Tasch’

Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup; Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj

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