麻豆社

Going into today's contest, the RBQ league table for 2021 so far stands as follows:
1聽 North of England聽 聽Played 3聽 Won 2聽 Drawn 1聽 Lost 0聽 Total points 63
2聽 Midlands聽 聽P2聽 W2聽 D0聽 L0聽 Pts 41
3聽 Northern Ireland聽 聽P3聽 W1聽 D0聽 L2聽 Pts 53
4聽 Wales聽 聽P3聽 W1聽 D0聽 L2聽 Pts 51
5聽 Scotland聽 P2聽 W1聽 D0聽 L1聽 Pts 35
6聽 South of England聽 P3聽 W0聽 D1聽 L2聽 Pts 58聽

The question was: Paul Hollywood, Fergus Henderson, Mike Oldfield, Horace Rumpole, Mark Carney, Philip Treacy and Castor fiber: what could they all be looking for, and what might it turn out to be instead?聽
Loosely interpreted, that list of names could give us a baker, a butcher, a bellman, a barrister, a banker, a 'maker of bonnets and hoods', and a beaver. They are among the characters who are on the quest in Lewis Carroll's 'The Hunting of the Snark'.
(We've left out billiard-maker, broker and Boots).
So the answer is the Snark: but, as one of them warns early on, it may well turn out to be a Boojum instead.
Well done if you saw this connection. There'll be another question to tackle at the end of today's edition.

Q1聽 Can you explain how extracting carbon might help a supernatural gathering create a device for cooking, cause your notes and coins to turn to cinders, and make a pandemic teach you about the Art of Love?
Q2聽 I had a magic sprig of heather. When I smiled broadly, it made me a wood-carving. When I struck it like a bell, it took me to the circus. When I shot an arrow, it became an RA. Which wine did it provide when I met Beethoven's secretary?
Q3聽 Music: In what way does each of these depict an object of affection?
Q4聽 Which half of rugby could send Red Rum into the Tabanidae, Frasier into the Tipulidae, Smaug into the Anisoptera and Rapunzel into the Zygoptera?
Q5 (from Brian David)聽 How might's Frankie's toast to his sweetheart, another Frankie's Cold War combatants, another Frankie's small fry, and yet another Frankie's annual cycle, form a logical progression?
Q6聽 Music: Why might these together suggest an infestation?
Q7 (from Lorimer Mackenzie)聽 Why might a passerine mimic, ice, Alice's entrance, Gruff and a Kirkcaldy footballer all be used in an attempt to send you to sleep?
Q8聽 Why might Henry VIII's sister, Cameron's Best Picture and the Roman province of Portugal all find themselves in a play by Terence Rattigan?

Why might Martin Scorsese approve of a Scottish goalkeeper, the inventor of the hole-in-the-wall cashpoint, and a 'shrewd and knavish sprite' in Athens?
There are no prizes, but you can see if your answer matches ours when we reveal it next time.