Tag Archives for quiz

Friday mystery object #100

It’s the one hundredth mystery object and I’ve decided to give you a challenge that I had to deal with at work this week.

I found a box of mandibles with no data, I identified them and checked them against their respective specimen types in the Horniman collections (that I’ve worked hard to organise for such a purpose).

The whole process took me half a morning and 5 of the 6 specimens were successfully reunited with the skulls they were separated from over 70 years ago – a satisfying outcome for a curator (our fun is cheap).

Now it’s your turn to identify the mystery mandibles (click image for bigger version):

From top to bottom: A, B, C, D, E, F

Put your suggestions and questions in the (newly organised) comments section below and I’ll do my best to respond.

Best of luck!

Friday mystery object #25 answer

It seems that the change of tack on the mystery object was a welcome variation – record views and far more comments than usual as everybody strove to find the answer. Given that favourable response I will try to include a more diverse theme for the choice of Friday mystery objects in future!

Here is the object in question:

You were also given a couple of detail images and asked to work out a) what is it, b) what animal bits it’s made from and c) where it’s from. I thought this would be fairly easy, which is why I didn’t include the photo below, which would probably have given the game away immediately:

Clearly this is a Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #25

I think it may be time for a change of tack on the mystery object. In the museum I am often called upon to identify bits of animal used in anthropological artefacts and musical instruments, so here is something that I was presented with by my colleagues Drew and Helen who work in our store building:

Can you work out a) what is it, b) what animal bits it’s made from and c) where it’s from?

Put your answers in the comments section below and feel free to ask me questions about the object – I’ll do my best to respond.

Best of luck!

Friday mystery object #24

Hello blogosphere! It’s Friday again – the first of the New Year, so I’d like to wish everyone a happy and productive 2010!

Having been on the road for the last couple of weeks I have been struggling to find a suitable mystery object, but here’s one I prepared earlier:

Simple question – what is it? Answers in the comments section below – I will try to feedback on questions as opportunity permits. Good luck and happy New Year!

Friday mystery object #13

Today’s mystery object has been selected by a very helpful work experience volunteer who was assisting me in the collections yesterday, so my thanks to Harrison! He is rather more cruel than me, so there’s no multiple choice on this – we just want you to see if you can work out what it is. I will attempt to answer any questions (time permitting) since our broadband seems to have been sorted out at home.

So here it is:

mystery13a

Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #12

I am still without internet at home, so apologies for slow responses to comments and the lower quality of my recent posts.

This Friday’s mystery object is pretty straight-forward, a simple case of ‘what is it?’

mystery12amystery12b

If you think you know what this is just leave a comment below – I will attempt to respond to any questions when (and if) I am able, but I can’t make any guarantees I’m afraid.

Good luck!

Friday mystery object #7 answer

Here’s what I said on Friday, just before 7am:

Just posted the Friday Mystery Object. Not a skull, no options and just one clue (for now): http://wp.me/pvJGH-6M You’ll never get it! #FMO

[PaoloViscardi on Twitter, Friday 4th September]

Of course, I was hoping to be proved wrong, but Gimpy managed to prove me wrong in record time (about an hour). So well done to Gimpy, although I now can’t help but hate you just a little bit for ruining my fun… (is this how the woo merchants feel?). Clearly the clue I left was far too much of a give-away (I should have listened to Melissa).

The question was “what is it and what’s it made of?” and it referred to this:

Scale in cm

Scale in cm

If you read the comments you probably worked out that it is indeed a Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #7

Since there have been calls for some variety (skulls not good enough for you eh?) and there have even been accusations of the FMO being “too easy” I have decided to unleash a tricky one for you this week.

Scale in cm

Scale in cm

Simple questions, what is it and what’s it made of?

No poll this week, just leave your thoughts in the comments section below. I will give you a clue however – it’s supposed to be magical (even Harry Potter’s used one).

More clues to follow if they’re needed!

Friday mystery object #3

More poorly labelled stuff I’ve found at work this week – do you know what this is and where it came from?

Dorsal view

Dorsal view (total width ~5cm)

Ventral view (width ~5cm)

Ventral view (total width ~5cm)

I’ve decided to trial multiple choice answers for this one, so please vote on what you think it is! [N.B. don’t forget to hit the “vote” button after making your selection!] Continue reading →

Friday mystery object #2

Delving deeper into the world of natural history this week, with the second of my Friday Mystery Objects!

This should be much easier than last week’s object since you only need to work out what it is and I have provided two views (scale is in cm BTW). If it proves too simple I will up the difficulty next week!

mystery object #2a

mystery object #2b

As before, put you thoughts in the comments section below. Answer will follow on Monday in a seperate post and I may drop in some extra clues if they’re needed.

Friday mystery object #1

I’ve decided to share my world with others – at work I get to see some amazing stuff and often I have to work out what it is, because the label has gone missing. So here is the first of my Friday Mystery Objects!

mystery1

So, what is it and why does it look like that?

Put you thoughts in the comments section below. Answer will follow on Monday in a seperate post.

Good luck!