The deadline has now passed, so I can reveal the winners of the ELO Christmas Challenge 2016.
Thanks to all who entered.
In bronze medal position, pipping another entrant by just one point, was
elophile . Well done!
(Forumheads who entered the competition will know that "Elophile" was one of the answers in the anagram round - and so shall be known from now on as "Hello Pie", well, to me anyway!)
In silver medal position was one half of the forum's Two-Headed Monster,
unomusette . Bravo, Uno!
But the clear winner was our own
Horacewimp . Congratulations to Horace, a man who clearly knows his ELO.
For anyone still being driven mad - here are the answers:
ROUND 1
Missing Vowels – The Songs
BVTHCLDS
Above The CloudsTSVR
It's OverSHNGRL
Shangri LaNSTPTTM
One Step At A TimePLSTRNMVR
Please Turn Me OverNTHRN
On The RunMLV
I'm AliveCHKCHKHLLY
Chooka Chooka Hoo La LeyROUND 2
Connections
a) What’s the connection between these four songs:
Do Ya; Don’t Bring Me Down; Laredo Tornado; Oh No Not Susan
(A clue: Jungle could also be on this list)
They all mention animals in their lyrics
b) What’s the connection between:
Shine A Little Love; Calling America; I’m Alive; Rock ‘N’ Roll Is King
They were the first singles released off their respective albums
c) What’s the connection between:
Mr Radio; Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle; Starlight; and From The End Of The World
They are all track number 2 on Side 2 of their respective albums (I also accepted: They are all track number six on their respective albums.)
d) The connection between:
Can’t Get It Out Of My Head; So Fine; Night In The City; When The Night Comes
(A clue: This could be special for American ELO fans...)
They all mention midnight in their lyrics
The clue referred to ELO presenting the Midnight Special on American TV more than once.e) What’s the connection between these five writers:
James A. Hunter, Gillian Cross, Brian Freeman, Aphrodite Jones, Arleta Richardson
They have all written books with the same titles as ELO songs.
James A. Hunter -
Strange Magic
Gillian Cross –
Tightrope
Brian Freeman -
Turn to Stone
Aphrodite Jones -
All She Wanted
Arleta Richardson -
Across the Border
ROUND 3
Sequences
a) In a poll of favourite ELO songs, Xanadu got 10 votes.
Last Train To London got 50 votes.
Confusion got 100 votes.
Don’t Walk Away got 500 votes.
How many votes did Mr Blue Sky get?
The first letter of each song is a Roman numeral:
X = 10
L = 50
C = 100
D = 500
So Mr Blue Sky, beginning with M, got 1,000 votes
b) On his last tour, Jeff packed five DVDs to watch in between shows.
He watched The Wild One; O Brother Where Art Thou?, Five Easy Pieces, and Three Kings.
Name a fifth DVD Jeff could have watched.
The first four films contain the words One, O, Five, Three…
So to complete the sequence 10538, we need a film with a title containing the word “Eight”.
Such as: Ocean’s Eight, 8-Mile, 8½, The Hateful Eight, or Eight-Legged Freaks (Helmut’s favourite…heh)
c) Mandalay; Helpless; Livin’ Thing...
Can you name a song that could come next, in this sequence?
The key to this is the vowels in the song title.
Mandalay contains only As
Helpless contains only Es
Livin’ Thing contains only Is
So we need a song title that contains only Os – such as Showdown.
I would have accepted Poor Boy as well.
d) Jeff recorded four TV shows to watch when he got home from his tour.
He recorded The Devil’s Music, On The Record; Shades of Blue; and one other show.
Was it: Match Of The Day; University Challenge; Strictly Come Dancing; or A Question Of Sport?
The last word in the four TV show titles is also the last word in an ELO album title.
Music – Face The Music
Record – A New World Record
Blue – Out Of The Blue
So the correct answer is Match of the Day - the last word is also the last word of an album title, On The Third Day
e) Jeff once asked the band to choose which song they wanted to open the show with.
He gave them one week to decide. But they all chose different songs:
Bev wanted Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle
Louis picked Telephone Line
Richard went for Waterfall
Mel chose The Whale
Kelly asked for Fire On High
Mik liked Standin’ In The Rain.
Which song did Hugh choose:
Big Wheels? Steppin’ Out? Need Her Love? or Poker?
(A clue: Jeff was surprised that no one chose The Diary Of Horace Wimp).
Steppin' Out. The first letters of each song title make up the days of the week.
Two clues here: Jeff gave the band “one week” to decide, and The Diary Of Horace Wimp lists the days of the week (well, most of them)
ROUND 4
ELO Anagrams
Can you solve these ELO-related anagrams:
Big Wolf Sin
Wilf Gibson
Natty modern handbag
The Tandy Morgan Band
Manlike chord
Reinhold Mack
Drive dagger
Edvard Grieg
Hotter for bed
Fred The Robot
Horrid advance
Richard Avedon
Really a nun
Laura Lynne
ROUND 5
Anagrams – Forum Fun
These are all anagrams of people or topics mentioned on the forum this year:
A sainted trollop
Lost Planet Radio
Hello Pie
Elophile
Skirt dance thug
The Custard King
Won’t have a malt
That Vela Woman
Hot news, moderated
Two Headed Monster
ROUND 6
Miscellaneous
a) When ELO had a day off work:
Bev Bevan went to play Scrabble
Roy Wood went to the carwash
Richard Tandy went go-karting
Kelly Groucutt played backgammon.
Which of these four activities did Mik Kaminski do?
He went geocaching
He went to a gymkhana
He went waterskiing
He went kayaking
The band member’s initials are in the activity:
Bev Bevan (BB) played ScraBBle, and so on.
“Gymkhana” contains the initials MK, so that’s where Mik went. (And probably had a bet on the horses, while he was there.)
b) When ELO toured America:
In Boston, audiences loved Evil Woman.
In Little Rock, they wanted Tears In Your Life.
In Sacramento, they cheered Can’t Get It Out Of My Head.
In Nashville, they shouted for Summer And Lightning.
Which song did audiences want to hear in Madison?
Each city is the capital of a US state. The state code is in the song title:
e.g. Boston (Massachussetts) – Evil woMAn
Little Rock (Arkansas) – TeARs in your life
Sacramento (California) – CAn’t get it out of my head
Nashville (Tennessee) – Summer And LighTNing
So for Madison (Wisconsin), we need a song that contains the letters WI.
Wild West Hero, The Diary of Horace Wimp, Without Someone, all would have been correct answers.
d) And for the finale –
A lot of you liked the idea of playing ELO Cluedo – so here’s your chance!
A body was found in near a large country house where ELO and some of their acquaintances were staying. Several band members and friends were suspects in the case:
Was it Richard, with a sword, in the study?
Was it Colin, with a gun, in the shower?
Was it Chereene, with a rope, in the garden?
Was it Michael de A., with a scalpel, behind the barbecue?
Was it Mike E., with a knife, in the grounds?
And there were four other suspects – can you identify them?
Who had darts, in the car-park?
Louis Clark
Who had a wrench, in the hall?
Hugh McDowell
Who had a Beretta, in the undergrowth?
Camelia Kath
And who had a scarf, in the extension?
Wilf Gibson
The last letter of the weapon is the last letter of the suspect’s first name, and the last two letters of the location are the last two letters of the suspect’s surname.Hope you all enjoyed the Challenge!
Shall we have another one next year...?