Question 481: Hand Made to perfection

The painting shows a large room in the Madrid palace of King Philip IV of Spain, and presents several figures, most identifiable from the Spanish court, captured, according to some commentators, in a particular moment as if in a snapshot. Some look out of the canvas towards the viewer, while others interact among themselves. The young _____ is surrounded by her entourage of __X___, chaperone, bodyguard, two dwarfs and a dog. Just behind them, Velázquez portrays himself working at a large canvas. Velázquez looks outwards, beyond the pictorial space to where a viewer of the painting would stand.In the background there is a mirror that reflects the upper bodies of the king and queen. They appear to be placed outside the picture space in a position similar to that of the viewer, although some scholars have speculated that their image is a reflection from the painting Velázquez is shown working on.


A parody of the painting (yes, it was inevitable), is given here.
So id the painting (aka X)

Feedback, please?

You've all been answering questions for quite some time now, and you have expressed your preferences of what you'd like to see on the blog---via polls, conducted by *US*.

So you'd have o say a simple "Yes", or a "No.", or in some cases, some crazy option.

Now, what we're looking at is a descriptive feedback from you guys.


So PLEASE- State quite clearly what you want on the blog, as a comment under this post.
Be as descriptive as possible. Don't hesitate to write long comments, please. If you think it's gonna trouble us reading all that, all the more reason for you to write long stuff, right? Your chance to hassle us.

So, COmment!
Thanks!

Question 480: Casting pearls before swine

Below is an excerpt from the introduction of one of the most well loved works of fiction ever produced.

"AS will be seen later on, __X___needs, not a preface, but a sequel, which I have supplied in its due place.

  The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it. They spell it so abominably that no man can teach himself what it sounds like. It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him. German and Spanish are accessible to foreigners: English is not accessible even to Englishmen. The reformer England needs today is a__________: that is why I have made such a one the hero."

-X-

Connect it to this painting, which belongs to a family of 4 paintings on this very subject __X__.
( All four paintings will be released in order when the answer is given out)

Question:

1. ID X
2. Then if you're feeling lucky or generous, ID what the person believes is the need, who he supplied as the hero, and the author.
3. But im mainly concerned about X, since too many questions seem to exhaustion in the extinguished. (Smirk)

Question 479: Set a Thief to catch a thief.

Guys,
read this carefully
Below, is the description of __X___ , by ___Y____
Gimme both, X and Y.




The poor, meme-ridden "comedy" website ___X____ is the stuff of Internet legend and infamy. The site, which is thought to have originated in 1860 as an imperialistic for global domination, is now a multi national effort and is viewed as the best of its kind by some. ___X_____ currently specializes in tedious mockery of perceived competitors and petty in-fighting, with much of the content seen as mass-produced junk.


The site was founded by billionaire entrepreneur and media tycoon Oscar Wilde in 1860( Oct). however, the early ___X______ was not the impressive effort it is today. It all began when Wilde would often write puerile childish jokes on scraps of paper to his male friends to encourage more 'intimate relations'. The internet was, conveniently, invented in 1880 and allowed Wilde to pursue the same method though technology and thus he was able to go global.


ft-porn tycoon Jimbo Wales bought ___X____ from Oscar Wilde in 2005 off the back of economic difficulties and bad press over Wilde's 'libertine lifestyle'.

Question 478: Live and Let Die

Id the person in pic 1 (most prominent personality)
ANd what followed this famous picture

Ive removed that pic, since it was a dead give away
smirk

Pic 1

Question 477: See, I tOld you!

Right. Back to the good old days of nice books.

This picture is from which book, a classic, if I may say so.

Question 476: Bet a pound of flesh that this won't go unanswered

The BBC informed the guardian about it latest project in this succinct statement. "You can have three words to work from, Adler, Hound, Reichenbach. Those are your clues."


Your clues as well.
Deduce the what is being referenced to here.
(only exact answers will be accepted)


The question


ALSO TRY QUESTION 474, WHICH HAS BEEN SANDWICHED BY MANY ANNOUNCEMENTS!

Question 475: Lemme do it

depicts what?

Theme Answer: Serendipitous Inventions

Serendipity: Serendipity is a propensity for making fortunate discoveries while looking for something unrelated.


Etymology:
The first noted use of this word was by Horace Walpole (1717–1792). In a letter to Mann (dated January 28^th) he said he formed it from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of". The name stems either from Serendip, an old name for Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), or from Arabic Sarandib, or from Sanskrit Simhaladvipa which literally translates to "Dwelling-Place-of-Lions Island".


Hence the name of the theme, fortune favours the brave (lucky would have been a give-away)


Answer:


All the Discoveries were made by accident.




Red Herring:


Bra, was made with an intent to keep assets afloat
(smirk)


Results:


1) Theme Cracked By:


a) Nagaratna (Question 5) : +20
b) SyntaxError (Question 6) : +10
c) Tom Sawyer  (Question 6) : +10


2) Red Herring: (+20)


a) Nagaratna 
b) SyntaxError


3) Wrong Guess:


a) SyntaxError (Question 4): -15


Thats the end of the theme folks
Scores will be updated duly.


Cheers.

Scoreboard Update

Scores have been updated. Till 472.

Check if they're right.

The Theme will be disclosed shortly.

DO answer it!

Mind you, extra points for spotting the red herring