|
1 |
Pat Keating, from the USA,
was first in with the correct answer, just six minutes after midnight.
He wins his first-choice prize. His order of preference was
A
d h b f e g c |
A decorative banner,
originating at the merchandise booth that travelled around the Danish
orchestral concerts that Procol Harum played in January 2011. Measuring
about 2 x 1 metres, and made from a kind of strong, woven vinyl, it has
been specially signed by the band for ‘Beyond the Pale’ – Gary Brooker,
Josh Phillips, Geoff Whitehorn, Matt Pegg, Geoff Dunn – and the image,
which derives like all the graphics for the Danish tour from Spencer
Zahn’s Grand Hotel artwork, has been adapted by the musicians so
that the face is grinning and there is a ‘2/6’ price-tag – reminiscent
of that worn by the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
– protruding from the top-hat. |
|
2 |
Mark Allister, from the UK,
wins his second choice: his response came in two minutes later. His
order of preference was
a B
h d c f e g
|
A delightful small chunky metal
Procol Harum lapel badge, of the very popular ‘lifebelt’ A Salty
Dog design originally commissioned by Kellogs. All supplies were
thought to have been exhausted long ago, but this spanking new specimen
– recently found in a drawer in his own studio – was kindly donated by
Gary Brooker. |
|
3 |
Marvin Chassman, from the
USA, wins his first choice. His response came in mere seconds after
Mark's. His order of preference was
H
e
a b
d c g f
|
A Procol Harum tee-shirt,
featuring the ‘Weird Fish’ cartoon image of the band, kindly donated by
Chris Cooke |
|
4 |
Barbara Black, from France, wins her first
choice. Her order of preference was
C
e g
a h b
d f |
A Gary Brooker solo CD
re-release, Lead Me to the Water, kindly donated by Esoteric
Records. |
|
5 |
John Commons, from the UK, wins his second
choice. His order of preference was
c
G
e
h a
d
b
f |
An Italian CD entitled Songs
from the Procol Harum Song Book, by Antonio Zambrini, Andrea di
Biase, and Jon Scott – total timing 48.40 – kindly donated by Stefano
Ciccioriccio |
|
6 |
Kerry Canfield, from the
USA, wins his fourth choice. His order of preference was
b h a
F
e d
c g |
A Procol Harum ‘vuvuzela’,
the recreational instrument issued to each member of the audience to
promote participation in Procol’s orchestral concerts in Denmark,
January 2011. Fashioned from cardboard and plastic, it is decorated with
images of the band, and uses a single reed to produce one
comically-strident note when blown. |
|
7 |
Heidi Widmer, from
Switzerland, wins her third choice. Her order of preference was
a b
D
c h g
e
f |
An oval, self-adhesive vinyl
promotional sticker from 1974 (about 14 x 7 cm), advertising the
Exotic Birds and Fruit album and Procol Harum, ‘The best that
Britain produces’. Designed in imitation of a fruiterer’s affidavit, it
depicts a brightly-coloured parrot, squawking ‘Be sure of the label’;
other wording assures us that ‘The guarantee is in the flavour and
sweetness’. This ultra-rare item was kindly donated by Gary Brooker, and
will look über-stylish stuck on your guitar-case / laptop / forehead. |
|
8 |
Tormod Ringvold, from
Norway, wins his third choice. His order of preference was
d b
E
a f c h g
|
CD Mick Grabham's
Guitar Orchestra kindly donated by Angel Air records.
|
|
Some comments from competitors – not all
of whom got the answer right!: 'Interestingly enough, the more I worked at the intermediate solutions, I
found that it was actually harder to come up with an incorrect final answer than
it was the correct one'. 'Ha! Of course! The answer is so obvious! (but boy, you
made me work for it!)' 'Great
fun as always and I learned a lot!'. 'Thanks, as always, for all the
effort and thought you put into this festive conundrum. For me
it has become a most eagerly anticipated “new” Christmas
tradition.'
'As always, it was a challenging quiz and thoroughly enjoyable';
'The Christmas quizzes are such
a nice tradition – this one was particularly tricky though!'
'I had a lot of fun trying to solve the statements,
and no.4 brought back some memories.' 'I was very surprised – and
initially let down – that the answer was ‘42’. I know I should be
better at spotting the obvious “giveaways” during the competition' 'I
never “guessed” or “surmised” the answer would be ‘42’ – even though I
should have, in retrospect.' 'Half the fun is jumping through your
hoops: using the same answer as the last one was truly diabolical ! As
soon as I saw the wallpaper behind the first clue, I thought, “42
again? No they wouldn’t ...”'. |
