English Chess Forum

And here are the answers

I'll leave a few gaps

so that you can close this

without seeing them

if you're quick!


1) 443 ft
2) 1810 (came as a surprise)
3) Waterloo
4) Daffodil
5) Fire
6) Every five years
7) True (In theory – practice maybe not.)
8 National Trust
9) True
10) Boudicca
11) Churchill
12) 1928
13) Wiltshire
14) 15th C
15) Nine
16) Park
17) Scotland
18) Stained glass
19) Norman
20) Falkland Islands
21) Cyclist
22) Pantomime (although doubtless the others occur also)
23) Abolition of slavery in British Empire
24) Beowulf
25) Indian Head Massage

As Roger says, one teaches to the test. I know a number of people who just brought the book, laughed at it and memorized their way through. People can retake it time and again it seems, and I imagine that quite a bit of money is made from those who do.

What does it mean by 'valid' in no 7?

"What does it mean by 'valid' in no 7?"

I took it to mean that you could use them in shops and nobody would complain. "Valid" might mean that shops should accept them...

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 31, 2021 8:08 pm

"What does it mean by 'valid' in no 7?"

I took it to mean that you could use them in shops and nobody would complain. "Valid" might mean that shops should accept them...

Well, they are not legal tender (not even in Scotland) so no shop is obliged to accept them. However, if any shopkeeper refused to accept one then I would take my custom elsewhere! The only reasonable excuse for not accepting them would be if the issuing bank has gone bust.

Reg Clucas wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:10 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 31, 2021 8:08 pm

"What does it mean by 'valid' in no 7?"

I took it to mean that you could use them in shops and nobody would complain. "Valid" might mean that shops should accept them...

Well, they are not legal tender (not even in Scotland) so no shop is obliged to accept them. However, if any shopkeeper refused to accept one then I would take my custom elsewhere! The only reasonable excuse for not accepting them would be if the issuing bank has gone bust.

My understanding was that even if they were legal tender a shop would not be obliged to accept them. If you buy something in a shop you come to a mutually agreed deal. If either party is not prepared to accept some part of the deal that the other insists on, there is no deal. Bank of England notes are legal tender but a shop can insist on payment by card. As you say, if you don't like it, you go elsewhere.

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 29, 2021 7:03 pm

Why on earth a newcomer to these shores would know (unless they came from the right country) is beyond me.

Depends on your definition of newcomer, I guess

When I went to a ceremony (which I'm fairly sure was British citizenship, although the test may be called UK citizenship), the person I went with had been in the UK for a number of years already; given English was her 4th or 5th language, passing the test was impressive in itself

The ceremony was a very uplifting experience, given what some of those present had experienced before they got here (and no doubt the shed loads of racism they have experienced ever since)

David Williams wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:31 pm

Reg Clucas wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:10 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 31, 2021 8:08 pm

"What does it mean by 'valid' in no 7?"

I took it to mean that you could use them in shops and nobody would complain. "Valid" might mean that shops should accept them...

Well, they are not legal tender (not even in Scotland) so no shop is obliged to accept them. However, if any shopkeeper refused to accept one then I would take my custom elsewhere! The only reasonable excuse for not accepting them would be if the issuing bank has gone bust.

Bank of England notes are legal tender but a shop can insist on payment by card.

Yes, that's true. Another example would be if you tendered, say, £100 in 1p coins!

Stamps are legal tender too, even a bus driver has to accept them.

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:54 pm

Stamps are legal tender too, even a bus driver has to accept them.

Stamps are not legal tender, and even if they were a bus driver would not have to accept them.

According to David Brent in The Office they are.

£100 in 1p coins is not legal tender. For coins of lower value than £1, there are limits, as follows:

50p - for any amount not exceeding £10

20p - for any amount not exceeding £10

10p - for any amount not exceeding £5

5p - for any amount not exceeding £5

2p - for any amount not exceeding 20p

1p - for any amount not exceeding 20p

IM Jack Rudd wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 01, 2021 5:17 am

£100 in 1p coins is not legal tender. For coins of lower value than £1, there are limits, as follows:

50p - for any amount not exceeding £10

20p - for any amount not exceeding £10

10p - for any amount not exceeding £5

5p - for any amount not exceeding £5

2p - for any amount not exceeding 20p

1p - for any amount not exceeding 20p

So you could pay £100 with 100 £1 coins then?

The amounts above are: 50p - 20 coins; 20p - 50 coins; 10p - 50 coins; 5p - 100 coins; 2p - 10 coins; 1p - 20 coins.

In practice, I think if you tried to pay a £5 bill with 100 5p coins, you would get short shrift from most shop-keepers if they thought you were taking the mickey, possibly the same with 50 20p/10p pieces. At the other end of the scale, I frequently used more than 10 or 20 2p or 1p coins in shopping transactions to use them up as they accumulated over time. Certainly the machines in supermarkets don't seem to mind waiting while you feed in the coins!

I suppose when the machines take over, the first thing they will do is re-program the supermarket machines...

This point has probably been laboured too much already, but 'legal tender' has got NOTHING to do with paying for things in shops.

David Williams wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 01, 2021 10:42 am

but 'legal tender' has got NOTHING to do with paying for things in shops.

Other than that most shops operate on the basis that it has.