Lizzie Quizzie in the Herald News

[Stefani]

Our own MB has crafted a Lizzie Borden quiz that was published online in the Fall River Herald News today. Take it if you dare!

http://www.heraldnews.com/news/20160731 ... -this-quiz

Way to go!

[twinsrwe]

Awesome quiz, MB!

I got 19 of the 20 questions correct, with a final score of 95%. There were a couple of pretty tricky questions in that quiz!

Stefani, thank you for posting this quiz; I really enjoyed it.

[mbhenty]

Thanks Twins:

In developing the quiz I had to be mindful of my audience. Thus, the test is not that difficult. The only real difficult question is the one about Lizzie's phone number. Until I put it out there years ago it was never mentioned in any other publication that I know of. (I was going to use 867-5309. You remember that 80s song, huh? Jenny's number! To many digits)

There were a couple of tricky questions... a little tricky, anyway. Like the one about Abby getting sick. Many believe it was the mutton that made her sick. As a matter of fact, it was the mutton which some writers insisted was bad and which made her ill. But in reality, mutton was had for breakfast. Swordfish was had for lunch and super. If the mutton made Abby sick she should have been sick by the end of the day. If she woke up sick the next day, then it was what she had for supper the night before which brought on her infirmity.

And when fish goes bad it does so very quickly. So it was probably the fish that made her ill. But we don't know. That includes successful authors. Maybe she had some left over mutton for supper that we weren't aware of. We just don't know. All we can do is make an educated guess, and I for one believe there was a better chance that the swordfish made her sick before the mutton did. Or maybe Lizzie really tried to poison her with something. That could have been as easy as keeping the fish out in the heat all day and placing it back in the ice box ready for supper after it was spoiled (Getting sick just talking about it ). We don't know. Did I say, we don't know?

So I made the quiz an easy one for the common reader of the Herald. But it's all relative. To students of the case this was an easy quiz. At least I thought so. To the common reader, who may know something of the Borden murders or have read a book or two, it was a comfortable challenge. Most of my Fall River friends would have failed it miserably. Just because you're from Fall River.....

Glad you liked it.

[twinsrwe]

You're welcome, MB.

I agree, the quiz was not that difficult, except for the one about Lizzie’s phone number, which is the question I missed! (Very clever of you.) I remember her number was posted years ago, but for the life of me I couldn’t recall what it was, and I didn’t want to cheat by looking it up, ya know? Unfortunately, my guess was incorrect.

A lot of people who are familiar with the Borden murder case have seen the film, The Legend of Lizzie Borden, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, and believe that it was the mutton that made so many in the household sick. The close-up scene of the bowl of mutton with the fly in it, tends to stick in their minds. I agree that it was most likely the fish, but we really don’t know.

I think your quiz is a very well rounded one, and a fun quiz to take. Are you planning on creating another quiz?

[mbhenty]

If asked again

The Herald had contacted Stefani and asked her for one. She in turn passed the assignment to me.

Who knows, perhaps next year I'll make up another.

Yes, the Montgomery movie was a hoot. I remember the flies and mutton. And Andrew Borden embalming bodies in the cellar. Fiction at its best. When compared to the rubbish that is displayed on the silver screen these days, The Legend of Lizzie Borden was well done.

[twinsrwe]

IMO, The Herald picked the best person to ask. and Stefani chose one of the best for that assignment! It would be cool if you do decide to make up another quiz next year.

I don’t think any of us, who have seen The Legend of Lizzie Borden film, will EVER forget the fly in the mutton! That scene was a shocker after seeing Abby and Andrew shovelling the mutton into their mouths, as if they hadn’t eaten in a week!

I agree, of all the films put out on Lizzie, this film is the best. All of the cast played their parts very well, and I especially liked the music, which I think was appropriate for the time period.

[Phil1963]

Nice quiz! 17/20 here.

I got the phone number right, but only because of a wild hunch. I don't know if it's possible to hide spoilers on this board, so here's the hunch encoded in ROT13 (how we old farts disguised text on the Internet back in the old days); Google it if you've never heard of it ...

Ubzr cubarf jrer irel hapbzzba onpx gura. V svtherq gung Yvmmvr, jvgu ure hcjneqyl zbovyr nfcvengvbaf, cebonoyl jnagrq gb nccrne gb or uvtu pynff va rirel jnl. Fb V nffhzrq gung fur tbg n cubar sbe Zncyrpebsg ng gur rneyvrfg bccbeghavgl, nf n fgnghf flzoby; V nffhzrq gung cubar ahzoref jrer nffvtarq frdhragvnyyl onpx gura; naq fb V cvpxrq gur ybjrfg ahzorerq thrff.

> I don’t think any of us, who have seen The Legend of Lizzie Borden film, will EVER forget the fly in the mutton! That scene was a shocker after seeing Abby and Andrew shovelling the mutton into their mouths, as if they hadn’t eaten in a week!

I've seen that movie three times and laugh at that scene every time, but not just because of the fly. Something about the way those two (especially Andrew) are shoveling it away is hilarious, especially since the movie's set Andrew up to be a creepy guy anyway. I halfway expected him to morph into some sort of giant mutant insect, jam his proboscis into the rancid broth, and start slurping it up ...