1.
Agatha Christie, whom Joan Acocella writes about in The New Yorker this week, is
Correct Answer
C. A dame
Explanation
Agatha Christie is referred to as a "dame" because she was awarded the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1971. This title is given to women who have made significant contributions to their field and have achieved great success. It is a prestigious honor bestowed by the British monarchy, recognizing Christie's accomplishments as a renowned author and her impact on the literary world.
2.
Which of the following is the pseudonym that Christie has used?
Correct Answer
B. Mary Westmacott
Explanation
"Mary Westmacott" was the pseudonym under which Christie wrote six romance novels.
3.
Which actor has not played Christie’s foppish lead detective Hercule Poirot, who, as Acocella describes, “wears pointy patent-leather shoes ill-suited to walking the grounds of the country houses where he must often do his sleuthing” and “deplores the English preference for fresh air, thin women, and tea”?
Correct Answer
D. Patrick Stewart
Explanation
Jason Alexander's portrayal of Poirot, perhaps the least known of the three, was for an episode of "Muppets Tonight." Kermit the Frog played the train conductor, and the passengers confuse Hercule Poirot with Hercules.
4.
In “Elephants Can Remember,” Poirot notes that his initials are the same as HP Brown sauce, which he calls “such a fine delicacy, a good English creation." Where did HP Brown sauce get its initials?
Correct Answer
D. The Houses of Parliament, which the founder claimed was serving it
Explanation
The bottle features a picture of Westminster Palace, where the House of Lords and House of Commons meet.
5.
Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” was based in part on what real-life murder?
Correct Answer
C. Charles Lindbergh’s son
Explanation
The Lindbergh kidnapping also makes appearances in Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America" and Danielle Steele's "Vanished."
6.
In 1993, the scientist Douglas Erwin used the phrase “Murder on the Orient Express” to describe his model of what?
Correct Answer
C. The Permian–Triassic extinction event
7.
Christie’s book “Curtain” topped the New York Times best-seller list for fiction on January 11, 1976, the day before she died. What was in second place?
Correct Answer
A. “Ragtime,” by E. L. Doctorow
Explanation
On January 11, 1976, the day before Agatha Christie died, her book "Curtain" topped the New York Times best-seller list for fiction. The question asks for the book that was in second place on that list, and the correct answer is "Ragtime" by E. L. Doctorow.
8.
Who invented the detective story?
Correct Answer
B. Edgar Allen Poe
Explanation
Edgar Allen Poe is credited with inventing the detective story. He is known for his famous detective character, C. Auguste Dupin, who appeared in three of Poe's stories. Poe's stories laid the foundation for the modern detective genre, introducing elements such as a brilliant detective, a mysterious crime, and the use of deductive reasoning to solve the case. His works greatly influenced future detective fiction writers and established the conventions that are still used in the genre today.
9.
When Christie disappeared for eleven days in 1926 following her first husband’s request for a divorce, she was finally discovered by whom?
Correct Answer
D. The drummer and saxopHonist whose shows she was frequenting
Explanation
The reward was a hundred pounds.
10.
Christie wrote “The Mousetrap,” which is the longest continually running play in history, as a birthday present for Queen Mary. What was President Obama’s birthday present for Queen Elizabeth II, who turned eighty last year?
Correct Answer
D. An iPod
Explanation
It was loaded with show tunes.
11.
In “The Secret Adversary,” Christie’s 1922 book that introduces the detective duo Tommy and Tuppence, what does Tuppence say she thinks about “morning, noon and night!”?
Correct Answer
C. Money
Explanation
The duo started their career as blackmailers.
12.
Who attacked Agatha Christie and the entire mystery genre in three essays in The New Yorker in the nineteen-
forties?
Correct Answer
A. Edmund Wilson
Explanation
Of Christie, Wilson said, "I did not care for Agatha Christie and never expect to read another one of her books!"