Life-long Montrealers would probably say something about how the places in Column A relate to their counterparts in Column B.

And they would be wrong.

Why?

UPDATE: The answer, as slowly zeroed in on by the group below, is that the places in column A are south (actually west-southwest) of the respective places in column B, while they fit the definition of “Montreal north,” a seeming contradiction.

The disparity comes because the island is crooked. Its major east-west streets turn toward the northeast as they pass through downtown, and the “South Shore” is more accurately the East Shore, surrounding the island on the south and east but also continuing northeast.

It may be simpler to think of every street as having only four directions (and the streets and highways are named as if this is the case), but don’t think you’re going to get to the Eastern Townships by taking the 40 Est.

Monday went by and I totally forgot about the geography question this week. Christmas shopping (and writing stories to be published over the holidays) have gotten the better of me.

So here we go, another what-do-these-things-have-in-common quiz:

• Ste. Thérèse
• Du Moulin
• Rochon
• St. Jean
• St. Pierre

Go fish.

UPDATE: Yul B. has the answer below. They’re all (mostly) undeveloped islands in the waters immediately adjacent to Montreal. Ste. Thérèse is the largest, next to the eastern tip of the island, Du Moulin and Rochon are north of the island in Pointe-aux-Trembles, and St. Jean and St. Pierre are part of the Iles de Boucherville.

After last week’s head-scratcher (now updated with the answer, for those who missed it), here’s one that should be a bit easier for you:

In the United States, the borders between Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico are defined along specific latitudonal and longitudonal lines (instead of, say, along rivers). As a result, the four meet at the Four Corners, where you and three of your friends can hold hands and stand in four states at once.

Montreal has similar locations, though there are no monuments there. Places where four boroughs or reconstituted municipalities meet at an exact spot.

Where?

UPDATE: This one only took about an hour:

1. Ste. Anne de Bellevue/Baie d’Urfé/Kirkland/Beaconsfield, in the West Island near Anse à l’Orme/Highway 40
2. Côte-des-Neiges/Mount-Royal/Saint-Laurent/Côte-Saint-Luc near the end  of Royalmount Ave. in the trainyard.
3. Plateau-Mont-Royal/Ville-Marie/Rosemont-Petite-Patrie/Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, where Sherbrooke St. crosses the tracks just east of Frontenac.

What do the following names have in common:

• Ste. Catherine
• Ontario
• Dorchester
• René Lévesque
• De la Gauchetière

that they do not have in common with the following:

• De Maisonneuve
• St. Jacques
• St. Antoine
• Viger
• Hochelaga

(In other words, what statement can you make about Group A that you can’t make about Group B?)

UPDATE: No correct answer yet, so I’ve added a hint: Sherbrooke and Notre-Dame could be placed in either category, depending on how you phrase the answer.

UPDATE 2: Still nothing but frustrated guessers, so here’s the latest hint: This question is related to Montreal Geography Trivia Question No. 2.

UPDATE (Dec. 7): It took four days, but we finally have a correct answer: The first five names are the names of streets in Montreal-East and Pointe-aux-Trembles that are unconnected with their downtown namesakes. The second list is names that are not of streets in the east end, and Sherbrooke and Notre-Dame are contiguous all the way downtown.

The assumption you were all making was that you knew which streets I was talking about.

It’s well known that many of Montreal’s streets are split in two by a highway or railway or giant buildings. In many of these cases, the two unconnected streets are on the same “axis” and so keep the same name.

But this street is ridiculous, being split into eight unconnected pieces, all with the same name. The number gets larger if you include intersections that are offset slightly, looking like a pair of Ts more than a four-way cross.

Some parts go through affluent areas filled with detached houses with swimming pools. Others are row houses squeezed together. Still others go through industrial areas with no trees in sight.

What is this street’s name?

UPDATE: The answer is Ontario St., though give yourself a point anyway if you answered Jeanne-Mance St., which was the original basis for this question, but has one fewer split in it.

Let’s start this easy:

What is the longest road entirely contained within the limits of the City of Montreal?

First one with the correct answer gets a free hug.

UPDATE: Correct answer below. Gouin Blvd., the longest street on the island, runs through Pierrefonds, Ste. Geneviève, Roxboro, Cartierville, Ahuntsic, Montreal North and Rivière des Prairies before ending at Sherbrooke Street near the eastern tip of the island (a total of five boroughs).

Senneville Road extends Gouin Blvd. west into Senneville and around the western tip to Ste. Anne de Bellevue, but it’s not counted in this trivia question.

Only Sherbrooke St. sees more borough action, crossing through Côte-des-Neiges/NDG, Ville-Marie and then straddling the borders of Plateau Mont-Royal, Rosemont-Petite-Patrie and Mercier/Hochelaga-Maisonneuve before ending in Pointe aux Trembles/Rivière des Prairies (6 total). In between it stops in the independent cities of Montreal West, Montreal East and Westmount. There are also separate, unconnected Sherbrooke Streets in Lachine and Beaconsfield.

The bonus question, whether one can drive from one end to the other uninterrupted, is also correct below. The street is one-way through eastern Ahuntsic, and oncoming traffic meet at de Lorimier Ave., forcing a detour toward Henri-Bourassa Blvd.