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Neil Brownneil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk
Oct 23, 2026, 7:32 AM
Some general knowledge questions to get you going this morning:
1) What Spanish name translates as "God has been gracious"?
2) Complete the song title "Stairway __ Heaven".
3) What's the magic number?
4) Name a popular private key.
5) Which English boy band comprised Abz Love, Scott Robinson, Ritchie Neville, Sean Conlon, and Jason "J" Brown?
6-7 (combined question): Name an Internet meme from 2025ish.
8) What is the past tense of "eat"?
9) What is the German word for "no"?
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Replies

Paulpwaring@social.xk7.net
Oct 23, 2026, 7:33 AM
@neil I see what you did there. 😄
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Hippo 🍉badrihippo@fosstodon.org
Oct 23, 2026, 10:31 AM
@pwaring @neil OMG. Took me a while to get it; I started writing down the questions to work through them and then, when I was near the end, it suddenly hit me. Brilliant! 🤪
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Keith Wansbroughkw217@mathstodon.xyz
Oct 23, 2026, 7:34 AM
@neil Love it!
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SzescstopniSzescstopni@circumstances.run
Oct 23, 2026, 7:38 AM
@neil I don't know the Spanish name.
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Noodlemaznoodlemaz@mstdn.games
Oct 23, 2026, 7:43 AM
@Szescstopni @neil you do if you got the rest
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SzescstopniSzescstopni@circumstances.run
Oct 23, 2026, 7:46 AM
@noodlemaz Yes, but I can't confirm it @neil
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Felixfelurx@troet.cafe
Oct 23, 2026, 8:16 AM
@Szescstopni you can :P
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan
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SzescstopniSzescstopni@circumstances.run
Oct 23, 2026, 8:26 AM
@felurx Ah, the differences in pronunciation of names in various languages :)
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Álex Córcoles (coding)coder@alex.femto.pub
Oct 23, 2026, 11:50 AM
@Szescstopni @felurx to be picky, if you say "one" in any of the ways I've heard it pronounced by English natives, few Spanish speakers will hear "Juan". (As it uses the characteristic strong J sound in Spanish.)
Although I know at least one Spanish joke that hinges on the similarity of esp. the rest of the sounds in "one" and "Juan".
(My guess is that some Chinese word would work?)
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lonely extrovertrothko@beige.party
Oct 23, 2026, 2:22 PM
@coder @felurx @Szescstopni there is (or used to be) a mexican restaurant in austin TX called Juan in a Million.
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João Santosjmcs@jsantos.eu
Oct 23, 2026, 1:15 PM
@noodlemaz @Szescstopni @neil ... and are really bad at pronouncing Spanish names.
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the hatterhatter@metasocial.com
Oct 23, 2026, 1:28 PM
@jmcs @noodlemaz @Szescstopni @neil or great at spanish, but bad at pronouncing english numbers.
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Noodlemaznoodlemaz@mstdn.games
Oct 23, 2026, 2:48 PM
@hatter @jmcs @Szescstopni @neil all of this yes ;)
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Eleder Únelegebeleder@frikiverse.zone
Oct 23, 2026, 12:58 PM
@Szescstopni @neil "Juan" 🙂
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Teapot Benteapot_ben@glammr.us
Oct 23, 2026, 7:42 AM
@neil we can always count on you Neil!
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Giles of the Junglegilester45@twit.social
Oct 23, 2026, 7:47 AM
@teapot_ben @neil Oh, spectacular. Approved.
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d.riftd_rift@beige.party
Oct 23, 2026, 7:43 AM
@neil
10. It's Wednesday, Capt'n. (It's not Wednesday.)
Your list is brilliant, thanks for the laugh.
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Kara GoldfinchKaraLG84@dragonscave.space
Oct 23, 2026, 7:47 AM
@neil Well done.
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Danieldan@axillae.telent.net
Oct 23, 2026, 7:49 AM
@neil
10 fill in the missing word in this joke about/by programmers: "there are __ types of people: ..."
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Adam Burnsvortex@tldr.nettime.org
Oct 23, 2026, 5:30 PM
@dan @neil
There are 3 types of people. Those who can count, and those that cannot.
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Ghost of Hope 🏳️‍⚧️grayface_ghost@tech.lgbt
Oct 23, 2026, 7:51 AM
@neil
Superb
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Giles of the Junglegilester45@twit.social
Oct 23, 2026, 7:51 AM
@neil Easy!
1. Paella
2. Influencer
3. 42
4. My front door key
5. Take That
6-7. Captain it's Wednesday
8. I'm stuffed. Pass the After Eights?
9. Schadenfreude
But I don't see the link.. must be doing something wrong here.
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Owlor 🦋Owlor@meow.social
Oct 23, 2026, 7:54 AM
@neil Friday at my old office used to be the time of weekly trivia, whenever someone decided to put a quiz together. I always liked doing those and this premise would've been really funny to do. See how far into it I could get before someone figures out the trick.
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The Tattooed Nonna 🧙‍♀️Tattooed_Mummy@beige.party
Oct 23, 2026, 8:05 AM
@neil some people are so sharp they had better get back in the cutlery drawer before they cut themselves! 😉
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Simon Brookesimon_brooke@mastodon.scot
Oct 23, 2026, 8:07 AM
@neil Yes, yes, very clever.
It was the private key that gave it away, obvs.
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Renke Meuwesemeuwese@mastodon.social
Oct 23, 2026, 12:12 PM
@simon_brooke @neil indeed it did give it all away!
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SundialGoingDownWithSundial@mastodon.social
Oct 23, 2026, 8:14 AM
@neil lovely!
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RevK :verified_r:revk@toot.me.uk
Oct 23, 2026, 8:26 AM
@neil "Name" of a key, surely "Value" of a key?
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CatButtes :comfywat:catbuttes@freeradical.zone
Oct 23, 2026, 8:38 AM
@revk @neil The question also says "popular" - I'm pretty sure that key is *not* popular!
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RevK :verified_r:revk@toot.me.uk
Oct 23, 2026, 9:04 AM
@catbuttes @neil Is "popular" akin to "well known" or "liked"?
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Shaula EvansShaulaEvans@zirk.us
Oct 23, 2026, 8:36 AM
@neil Magnificent. Bravo!
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🎀𝓀𝒶𝓃𝑒𝑒𝓁🎀kaneel@mas.to
Oct 23, 2026, 8:47 AM
@neil Stairway Of Heaven?
Or wait, is It Stairway Have Heaven?
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Tim Ch-AI-se (now with bonus spooky) 👻gumnos@bsd.cafe
Oct 23, 2026, 11:45 AM
@kaneel @neil
This is Mastodon…clearly Stairway Toot Heaven. 😉
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ddiluted1ddiluted1@mastodon.au
Oct 23, 2026, 9:12 AM
@neil it may be the afternoon here now but with that quiz I've finally woken up! 🤭
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Space Hobospacehobo@teh.entar.net
Oct 23, 2026, 9:27 AM
@neil We all know that the magic number is 105, because you can convert it from octal to decimal or decimal to hexadecimal and still get the same sequence of digits out (nice).
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Neil Brownneil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk
Oct 23, 2026, 10:47 AM
@laliqekuqi42 As scams go, that was dreadful!
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Sue Briccay :flag_asexual:essjayjay@tech.lgbt
Oct 23, 2026, 10:49 AM
@neil
Ho ho, very droll.
You are a Juan. 😉
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Sue Briccay :flag_asexual:essjayjay@tech.lgbt
Oct 23, 2026, 10:51 AM
@neil
Which is my lucky number TBH.
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funnymonkeyfunnymonkey@freeradical.zone
Oct 23, 2026, 11:05 AM
@neil I'm embarrassed to say I had to read this magic number times to get it.
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Martijn van Eetenvaneeten@mastodon.nl
Oct 23, 2026, 11:53 AM
@neil 3) apparently the magic number is 4 nowadays. 😂
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FLOWRI~1 aims to misbehaveflowrider@toot.io
Oct 23, 2026, 12:03 PM
@vaneeten @neil Was thinking that also. Then, at #4 there it is again. "Stairway for heaven"? What is going on here!
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Jason BratcherBlindHedgehogStew@mastodon.stickbear.me
Oct 23, 2026, 12:07 PM
@neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk Here are the answers to Neil's general knowledge questions: 1. **Juan** (or **John** / **Juanita**) — Juan is the Spanish form of John, derived from the Hebrew name *Yohanan* (*Yochanan*), which means "God is gracious" or "God has been gracious." 2. **to** (*Stairway to Heaven* by Led Zeppelin) 3. **3** (as popularized by De La Soul's "3 Is the Magic Number" / *Schoolhouse Rock!*) 4. **`0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001`** (or `id_rsa` / SSH private key files) 5. **Five** (5ive) 6+7. **6-7** (67 / Six-Seven) — A reference to the humorous viral meme/cryptic trend where answering "6 and 7" or "67" solves two steps or numbers in a sequence at once! 8. **Ate** 9. **Nein**
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Neil Brownneil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk
Oct 23, 2026, 12:09 PM
@BlindHedgehogStew Can you delete this, please, and let others discover it for themselves?
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Ginsgins@mastodon.gamedev.place
Oct 23, 2026, 12:15 PM
@neil and on top of that list is the name Neil (nil). genius
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Kim Possible :kimoji_fire:kimlockhartga@beige.party
Oct 23, 2026, 12:43 PM
@neil clever boy.
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Nαtαshα :mastodon:Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbt
Oct 23, 2026, 12:49 PM
@neil
Oh, quite brilliant!
(took me far too long 🙄)
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Neil Brownneil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk
Oct 23, 2026, 12:51 PM
@Natasha_Jay
Why thank you!
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Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPETimWardCam@c.im
Oct 23, 2026, 1:06 PM
@neil Three is a pretty feeble magic number. I claim that seven is considerably more magic.
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Mark Levisonmlevison@hachyderm.io
Oct 23, 2026, 1:24 PM
@neil that took a while but brilliant
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Cthulkucthulku@zeroes.ca
Oct 23, 2026, 1:40 PM
@neil
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milkytwixmilkytwix@social.tchncs.de
Oct 23, 2026, 1:51 PM
@neil The meme thingy made me wake up - brilliant
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Stevanwithaveeay@mastodon.scot
Oct 23, 2026, 2:14 PM
@neil 11) Name a word unintelligible to voice recognition ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMS2VnDveP8 )
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Shar(yna)Tran/Shark(aeopteryx)Sharksonaplane@mastodon.sandwich.net
Oct 23, 2026, 2:47 PM
@neil huh, I didn't know 5ive were British
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