Place these six names...!

Hi

For old times sake I'll formulate a Tintin problem. (This is just a separate question, not a revival of our former quiz, so Happy Team should have no reason to be unhappy)

Here are six names:

Rastapopoulos
Maharajah of Gobal
Archibald Haddock
Oliveira da Figueira
Lord Chamberlain of Syldavia
Colonel Sponsz

One name is wrong, take it out and replace it by a new name and then the six men are all assembled. There is a strong connection between them. Who is the one who belongs to the gang and who doesn't and what is this "gang"?

Hi Tuhatkauno. Good to hear from you.

The name that doesn't fit in your list is Oliveira da Figueira. If we replace him with someone called Baron Halmaszout, then we have the list of men whom the press have claimed to be engaged to Bianca Castafiore. Haddock's supposed "engagement" to her is reported, of course, in the Paris Flash article which he reads on p.27 of The Castafiore Emerald. The other five men are named by Banca Castafiore on page 28 as she reassures Haddock that she's quite used to the press engaging her to people.

She uses Rastapopoulos's alias name, the Marquis di Gorgonzola, in her list, which suggests to me that the press speculation regarding her attachment to him may have happened around the time she was on his yacht in the Red Sea Sharks.

Maybe the press engaged her to Sponz after she went back to his house to sing for his party in The Calculus Affair. Even though Sponz mentions his wife when inviting her, he certainly seems somewhat besotted by Castafiore as he attempts to impress her with his handling of the rather suggestive champagne bottle.

Oliveira is surely not glamourous or famous enough to ever be linked romantically with Bianca by the press. But he does send Haddock a congratulations telegram (also on page 28 of The Castafiore Emerald), which I'm guessing is why his name came into your mind to use as the false name for us to spot in your list.

Well done Balthazar

You're right: Figueira out and Halmaszout in. Why am I not surprised it was you who gave the correct answer?

And your guessing concerning Mr. Figueira's appearence in the list is again correct.

I read regularly this forum, twise a week perhaps, but i don't have much to say any more. There is nothing wrong with the items here, but I tell you Balthazar I really miss the good old trivia challenge, its post-mortems, jokes and everything which caused its death.

One moral point to you Balthie and nice to hear from you as well. :-)