Games – The Word Wenches

Another Christmas Quiz

December 23, 2025December 22, 2025 by Anne Gracie

Anne here, and after the last quiz (about first lines) I thought I’d offer you a proper Christmas quiz.

Some of these questions have been asked before, but since I posted the first Regency Christmas quiz back in 2014, it wouldn’t surprise me if you’ve forgotten the answers, or maybe you started following the wenches after that. At any rate, as always, I’ll be doing my best to lead you astray with plausible alternatives.

As usual, make a note of your answers and then click on the link at the end, where you will find the correct ones.

1) The first member of the English royal family to display a Christmas tree was
a) Queen Adelaide in 1820.
b) Queen Charlotte in 1800.
c) Queen Victoria in 1848.
d) Queen Caroline in 1825.

2) A roasted capon was a dish commonly served at Christmas. A capon is:
a) a stuffed, rolled slice of belly pork.
b) a kind of duck.
c) a castrated cockerel.
d) a pudding made of fruit and nuts.

A quiz — on First Lines

December 9, 2025December 7, 2025 by Anne Gracie

Anne here. It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a single line in possession of a novel, must be in want of a quiz. Or words to that effect.
I normally do a Christmas quiz at this time of year, but I’m running thin on new material (or inspiration) so I thought I’d make a change. This one is about well-known (or fairly well-known) opening lines of a novel. Your task is to match the opening line with the name of the novel.
Make a note of your answers, check them via the link at the bottom and come back and tell us how you went, and whether you enjoyed it or not.

1) The whole affair began so very quietly.
a) The Mysterious Affair at Styles — Agatha Christie
b) A Secret Affair — Mary Balogh
c) Madam Will You Talk — Mary Stewart
d) The End of the Affair — Graham Greene

2) Here is a small fact: you are going to die.
a) Bonded In Death — J.D. Robb
b) The Book Thief — Markus Zusak
c) Endless Night — Agatha Christie
d) The Spymaster’s Lady — Joanna Bourne

Let’s Get Together!

May 12, 2025 by Nicola Cornick

Nicola here. Sorting out my old photographs the other day, I came across a picture from about five years ago that I had forgotten about. It was the original Georgian Assembly Rooms in the Cornish city of Truro, which I visited back in 2021. Only the façade of the building remains these days but it is a very fine façade indeed, originally built in 1780 when the assembly rooms were the hub of entertainment in the city, hosting splendid balls once a month. The elegant frontage features a series of three Wedgwood plaques representing Thalia, the muse of comedy, the playwright William Shakespeare and the actor David Garrick. This was an allusion to the fact that the ballroom could double up as a theatre; during the 1810 – 1811 season, a theatrical company performed over 70 different plays there. It was also the location for concerts and exhibitions.

These days we are accustomed to having a big variety of different entertainments to choose from but back in the Georgian and Regency period, of course, things were very different, especially for women. The home was the centre of most activity and opportunities for meeting up with family and friends, particularly of the opposite sex, was limited. No wonder that in the provincial towns and cities particularly, the anticipation of the monthly ball gave rise to extreme excitement and the assembly room was the hub of the social universe!

A Third Georgette Heyer Quiz

July 9, 2024July 8, 2024 by Anne Gracie

Anne here, and today for your entertainment, I’m presenting another quiz — the third Georgette Heyer quiz, where we test your knowledge of her novels. It’s just for fun, and it doesn’t matter if you get most of them wrong, but I hope some of the quotes will make you smile, and encourage you to read (or reread) her books.

Make a note of your answers, check them on the link at the bottom and come back and tell us how you went, and whether you enjoyed it, found it too hard or too easy.

1) “M’sieur, I am as a slave to my wife.” He kissed the tips of his fingers. “I am as the dirt beneath her feet.” He clasped his hands. “I must bestow on her all that she desires, or die!”
“Pray make use of my sword, ” invited X. “It is in the corner behind you.”
Who is X in this encounter?
a) Sir Tristram Shield
b) The Marquis of Alverstoke
c) The Duke of Avon
d) Lord Damerel