ANSWERS

1. "Because it is there"   Reply to the question why he wanted to climb Everest. George Herbert Leigh Mallory (18 June 1886 ? 8 June/9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. On the third expedition, in June of 1924, Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew Irvine both disappeared somewhere high on the North-East ridge during (or perhaps after completing) the final stage of their attempt to make the first ascent of the world's highest mountain. The pair's last known sighting was only a few hundred metres from the summit. Mallory's ultimate fate was unknown for 75 years, until his body was finally discovered in 1999. Whether or not they reached the summit before they died remains a subject of speculation and continuing research. Mallory is famously said to have replied to the question "Why do you want to climb Mt. Everest?" with the pithy retort: "Because it is there." Friends have long suspected this quote was too brief for Mallory. The source was finally discovered in the New York Times of 1923-09-13. It was made by a reporter named Carson in a long purple essay about Mallory and mountaineers who challenge the gods. Nonetheless, the quote is forever associated with Mallory, Mount Everest and mountain climbing.

2. Jack's.  From Jack and the beanstalk. "Fe Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, Be he alive, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to make my bread"

3. Hands. 
    1 hand = 4 inches, 
    Ace King Four and Seven is a poker hand, 
    Workmen (and sailors) are 'hands', 
    Shake hands.

4. Five Answers:
    a. Animal Farm (Orwell) 
    b. Great Expectations (Dickens)  
    c. Metamorphosis (Kafka)  
    d. Moby Dick (Melville) 
    e. Trainspotting (Welsh)

5.  Pig or pigs. 
    Drift is a herd of domesticated pigs, 
    Sounder is a herd of wild pigs and 
    Shoat is a young pig after weening. 
    (These names can vary depending on country, county and the amount of cider)

6. Culinary (I'll accept cooking) Fran?ois Vatel (1631 ? April 24, 1671) was a French chef, famous for inventing Chantilly cream, a sweet, vanilla-flavoured whipped cream, for an extravagant banquet for 2,000 people hosted in honor of Louis XIV by Louis, the great Cond? in April 1671 at the Ch?teau de Chantilly - hence the name cr?me Chantilly.
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (April 1, 1755, Belley, France - February 2, 1826, Paris), a French lawyer and politician, and gained fame as an epicure and gastronome. Brillat-Savarin cheese and G?teau Savarin are named in his honor. Brillat-Savarin is often considered as the father of low-carbohydrate diet. He considered sugar and white flour to be the cause of obesity and he suggested instead protein-rich ingredients.

7. Singapore Singapore has the world's highest per capita execution rate, according to a report by Amnesty International. The report said the Asian city-state, which has a population of four million, had hanged more than 400 prisoners in the last 13 years. The rate is three times that of Saudi Arabia, the next country on the list. It singles out drug addicts, many of whom are hanged after being found in possession of relatively small quantities of drugs. It is often addicts and minor dealers who are hanged rather than those behind the trafficking, it says.

8. Ordeal. 
    Ordeal by battle and ordeal by water (common test for witches) are the few exceptions that continued. 
    I wonder what CSI would make of Ordeal by bier . A murder suspect has to touch the corpse of the victim. If the corpse bleeds the suspect is deemed guilty !!

9. Eight Answers
    a. Hungary  
    b. Greece  
    c. Montenegro  
    d. Sweden  
    e. Croatia 
    f. Finland  
    g. Georgia  
    h. Albania

10. February 29th - Leap Day.