B4. This is St. John Lateran's Basilica, the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome. Who is currently the Bishop whose ecclesiastical seat this is?

A. The Bishop of Rome, which happens to be one of the traditional titles of the Pope, therefore Pope Benedict XVI

D3. The ancient Egyptians called this constellation Scarabeus (for the sacred scarab beetle). In Greek mythology, it represented a creature sent by the goddess Hera to distract Hercules while he fought the Lernean Hydra, one of his Twelve Labours. In one version of the story, Hercules kicked it into the sky, where it resides. What is the constellation called in English?

A. Cancer

F3. With the words, "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it", what name did Jesus use to refer to the fisherman-apostle originally named Simon?

A. Peter, from the Greek 'petros', meaning 'rock' (the root of 'petroleum' -- rock oil, 'petrified' -- turned to stone, etc). In the original Aramaic, which is what Jesus and his disciples spoke, he called him 'Cephas', also meaning 'rock', which was translated when the story was rendered in Latin (in which it was 'Petrus').

G3. In a 1955 article in 'The Economist', this person used the following opening line: "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." Name him (just his surname will do, but for brownie points, will appreciate a full name).

A. C. Northcote Parkinson. The statement has come to be known as 'Parkinson's Law'.

Brownie points to Groucho, the only one to get the full name exactly right (Doc M spelt it wrong).

B3. Given below are the main points of this footballer's CV (I have left out the most recent items). Name him.

Born: Santpedor, Catalonia 18/1/71
Position: Midfield
Clubs:

* FC Barcelona 1990-2001
* Brescia Calcio 2001-2002
* AS Roma 2002-2003
* Al-Ahli 2003-2005
* Dorados de Sinaloa 2006


A. Pep Guardiola, who's just departed after a successful coaching stint with his former club, Barcelona (and, before that, its junior team)

D2. In Japanese mythology, Namazu is a giant catfish that lives in the mud beneath the earth, guarded by the god Kashima. Whenever Kashima lets his guard down, Namazu thrashes about. This is a mythical explanation for what natural phenomenon?

A. Earthquakes

Answers I received were split between 'earthquakes' and 'tsunamis'. A few hedged their bets and put both in. I have treated those as multiple answers and, as per standard quizzing rules, taken the first answer as the one to consider. 

F2. The name of the goddess depicted in this painting derives from a Proto-Germanic word for 'lady', and is as such linked to words with similar meaning in modern Teutonic languages. The first line of the Danish national anthem invokes her name: "It is called Old Denmark and it is _______'s hall". Identify her (any one of several spellings will do).

A. Freyja, from the same root as 'Frau'

G2. Raised in the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam, he lived quietly as a lens grinder, turning down rewards and honors throughout his life, including prestigious teaching positions. His given name, rendered as Baruch in Hebrew, Benedito in Portuguese and Benedictus in Latin, means "the blessed" in all these languages. His magnum opus, the posthumous 'Ethics', in which he opposed Descartes's mind–body dualism, has earned him recognition as one of Western philosophy's most important contributors.

A. Spinoza

C2. We are familiar with only a couple of these, but the International Society of Blood Transfusion lists 30 of them! MNS, Lutheran, Diego, XG, Indian and 25 others are systems to classify what?

A. Blood types

B2. This Brazilian footballer had a very successful stint with Bayern Munich in the early part of the previous decade, helping them win the domestic league and Cup double three times between 2002 and 2006. When he found his place in the starting XI threatened under new coach Felix Magath, though, he left amidst much acrimony, foretelling the downfall of the club. But he was back in 2007, and Bayern again won the double that year. Name the player.

A. Ze Roberto


Now that second clues have started to appear for the various Themes, guessing at the Themes is open. You can do that once for each Theme at each stage. Please remember that there are negative points for getting Theme guesses wrong.