JimZ

Scoreboard update! 19 points - JimZ 15 points - Harvey 10 points - Hauptmann 8 points - Christophe 8 points - UB6365 8 points - Gunner 1 3 points - Valter 2 points - kapten_windu 1 point - Tachel Gunner and UB are neck to neck after the last two questions where they each earned a point. They've also caught up with Christophe. Question 74 now belongs to Gunner 1 !!! Jim

Enjoy California!!! No stress.... rest assured we'll be waiting!!! Jim :cheers:

As a further note - I am really OK with sitting out on questions to help the person asking the question set the hints. Should anyone ever needs help - just send me a PM and I'll help. That should iron out any language problems. Best of luck to all, and awaiting the next question eagerly.

Scoreboard update! 19 points - JimZ 15 points - Harvey 10 points - Hauptmann 8 points - Christophe 7 points - UB6365 7 points - Gunner 1 3 points - Valter 2 points - kapten_windu 1 point - Tachel Question 72 belongs to Gunner 1 !!!

Ok Christophe.....I actually agree with your original post. Gunner did guess the "Group" in question so he does deserve the point..... Awarded!!

I will wait for Christophe's feed back..... ....since the last question went unanswered, I will set things in motion again with a new question myself - Points will remain unchanged as per the last update..... Jim :cheers:

Guys, I have had a word with UB and have explained to him that the quesions and hints are way to cryptic, and we are risking having players losing interest in the quiz. The idea of the quiz is to keep things moving, having ideally a new question or even two per day. This keeps us coming back for more. I have also explained that tough questions kill the quiz as members simply lose interest and drop out. The game is all about answering as many questions rather than asking tough questions, and in a way, each one of us should be trying to get out of asking the question so that we can answer the next one. Agreed, the last few questions have been tough. I have asked UB6365 to look at some of the earlier questions to get a feel of the style and I am sure, his next challenges will be less complicated. So lets press the reset button and try to get things onto the right track. May I thank you all for playing so far....the quiz is dead without your feedback so every player is greatly appreciated as it keeps things alive!!! Christophe - as you are the daddy of the quiz is there anything else that you might like to add? Jim

No Christophe, Speedytop was following up on the previous question. Looks like we've tripped up again. Lets wait for UB6365 to come back to us with some hints and hopefully, things will get back to their regular flow. Jim :cheers:

Well Alex, It is a "Croce Al Merito di Servizio per la Guardia di Finanza" - this would be worn with a yellow-green ribbon (YGYGY) and is definitely an Italian Republic cross from the RI cypher. I believe these are awarded under the Republic for 16,25 and 40 years service. However I am not familiar with these crosses to tell you which one this is. I also understand that these existed prior to the Republic and carried the eagle and crossed shield against a red enemalled background. Somehow not the easiest medal to find pictures of on line. Perhaps one of our Italian members could chip in here... Jim :cheers:

Well done Bill!!! Thanks for helping us represent the Soviet section. GENTLEMEN..... JUST A FEW DAYS LEFT!!!! LETS MAKE THE LAST EFFORT TO GET SOME OF THE PRIZES!!!! BRING OUT THE BIG GUNS!!!

Oh how embarassing to have him look at you like that!! Let us know how it goes with the dubbin and these boots on a 1 - 10 score. Jim :cheers:

Hi Speedytop And welcome to the quiz!! Would be nice to see you joining in on the fun here..... Looking forward to seeing you participate! Jim :cheers:

Scoreboard update! 19 points - JimZ 15 points - Harvey 10 points - Hauptmann 8 points - Christophe 7 points - UB6365 6 points - Gunner 1 3 points - Valter 2 points - kapten_windu 1 point - Tachel Question 71 presently open - see post 776.

Scoreboard update! 19 points - JimZ 15 points - Harvey 10 points - Hauptmann 8 points - Christophe 6 points - UB6365 6 points - Gunner 1 3 points - Valter 2 points - kapten_windu 1 point - Tachel Question 70 goes to Gunner 1. Gentlemen, a general comment - in terms of the hints please try to give hints that help. There have been few questions where the hints were irrelevant to the question or at so much of an angle to the general direction that these have been rather frustrating to some - including myself. Also, and this is a comment that is not referring to anyone in particular, please remember that for many of the members, English is not a first language. The more we try to complicate hints in a language that may not be our first language, the more frustrating it can be for those who are trying to understand a language that is not their first one either. Gunner, re your previous comment, names are some times bastardised when transliterated into English! However, on the other hand not everyone understands the cyrillic alphabet. Whereas nobody stops you from including the proper Russian name in the reply, and I agree that is to be encouraged, the transliterated name should also be used for all those who cannot read the cyrillic alphabet. Well done on your last victory! Jim

:banger: The olympic hint was not helpful to me and a total distraction as it suggested that Vlasov was an athlete! Apart from the common surname what other link is there?? I was looking for olympic athletes who were not champions and to whom some sort of political or other tragedy happened. The reference to troops came after I had spent time searching and I was not interested in starting another search with such limited information. And its not like I did not know Andrei Vlasov!!! Nevertheless, I guess its well done to Gunner 1 but we'll wait for UB6365 to confirm the correct reply.

Scoreboard update! 19 points - JimZ 15 points - Harvey 10 points - Hauptmann 8 points - Christophe 6 points - UB6365 5 points - Gunner 1 3 points - Valter 2 points - kapten_windu 1 point - Tachel Question 69 goes to UB6365. Jim

Are we looking for the boy or the older man ? :)

MOVING ON: Scoreboard update! CHRISTOPHE GETS A VERY WELL DESERVED POINT! 19 points - JimZ 15 points - Harvey 10 points - Hauptmann 8 points - Christophe 5 points - Gunner 1 5 points - UB6365 3 points - Valter 2 points - kapten_windu 1 point - Tachel Question 68 is up to Christophe. Jim

Hi UB, You must understand that many do not read russian and are limited to english search engines. Whereas I get by with lots of effort, it does not occur to me to run a search on a russian search engine. Of course, he also does turn up on regular google! What is important is that questions are readily researchable by all. Interest in the quiz depends more on the turnover of questions and the chance to particpate then detective work, which is what we needed here. Notwithstanding, I too find myself facinated by this book and would like to get my hands on it! And guess what.....I briefly mentioned it to my wife and she knows about it Jim :cheers:

I admit that many of the clues were distracting and no matter how I searched, nothing would turn up. The blur and bounce between fact and fiction was very unclear and I think it complicated matters. I also feared that as it went on, members would lose interest in the question. I personally cannot believe how much time I spent on this question alone!!! I fully understand Harvey's frustration too! When UB told me the name, I however realised that some basic hints did exist - as common as a Private Ivan may be in the Russian Army, a search for "private Ivan" on yahoo reveals the name of our man!!! We need to be more precise in future questions - and as we add hints, we should narrow the scope of the answer not widen it. Well done Christophe on a well deserved point! Jim :cheers: