ROUND 1 - 'What Connects....?'

1.

Which word connects a jazz pianist, Rasputin and the plant wolfsbane?

2.

Other than being geographical place names, what connects Cardiff, Rievaulx and Kesteven?

3.

Other than once being popular celebrities, what did Percy Bysshe Shelley, Brian Jones and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa all have in common?

4.

What word connects a bicycle, a stamp and a member of the mint family?

5.

What surname connects an interior designer, an opera by Rossini and a Chancellor of the Exchequer in Edward Heath’s Government?

6.

What surname is shared by a naked rambler, a dancing cricketer and a Badly Drawn Boy?

7.

What connects these three films; Forbidden Planet, My Own Private Idaho and Ran?

8.

What connects these three fictional characters: Falstaff, Sherlock Holmes and PC George Dixon?

ROUND 2 - 'Not so much a theme - more a pattern'

1.

Cinematically, Ellwood P Dowd was the only man who could see.....what?

2.

What was the United Kingdom’s first officially designated area of outstanding natural beauty?

3.

Name the political dramatist who wrote Accidental Death of an Anarchist in 1970 and Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay in 1974?

4.

Asmara is the capital city of which country?

5.

What name is given to the abnormality resulting from a child being born with an extra copy of chromosome number 21?

6.

In Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons who were described as “aimless, pointless and feckless”?

7.

Named after an engraver, what is Britain’s smallest swan?

8.

What did Florence Morphy famously give to Ivo Bligh?

ROUND 3 - 'There's something a bit fishy about this round'

1.

What is the popular name for the piano quintet in A major composed by Franz Schubert in 1819 but not published until 1829, a year after his death?

2.

Premiered at Glyndebourne on June 20 1947 and conducted by the composer, Benjamin Britten, what was the name of this comic opera?

3.

What was the name of the fictional book supposedly written by J R Hartley in an advertisement for yellow pages first shown on television in 1983? 

4.

Between which two other signs of the zodiac does the star sign Pisces appear?

5.

Which famous 18th century Frenchwoman’s real name translates into English as Joan Fish?

6.

Situated just 2 miles west of Chichester in West Sussex, this village is the location of a well-preserved Roman Palace first excavated in 1960.  Name the village.

7.

Which current US tennis player has a first name that makes him sound like a bit of a cry-baby?

8.

Which former Australian tennis player is currently acting as coach to the world number 1 tennis player, Roger Federer?

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme - 'More or less.....but not quite!'

Full names must be given where appropriate, but only the principle word of each answer will conform to the theme

1.

Which Englishman was canonised a saint in 1935, exactly 400 years after his execution?

2.

Who played the title role in the 1968 film Oliver?

3.

Up until his recent retirement, which footballer often had his heterosexuality loudly questioned on the somewhat dubious grounds that he read The Guardian?

4.

Who released the 1972 album Saint Dominic’s Preview?

5.

Which word, now all too commonly used in the English language, derives from 2 old French words meaning dead and pledge?

6.

What word has this medical definition: 'an injury, wound or harmful disturbance to an organ or tissue'?

7.

Which writer, who spent most of her life in what was then Rhodesia, wrote The Golden Notebook  in 1962 and The Good Terrorist in 1985?

8.

Which Protestant sect, still common in the Czech Republic and parts of the USA, follows the teachings of Jan Hus?

ROUNDS 5-8 - Bingo Quiz

1.

Who is the only American President to be buried in a city that shares his name?

2.

Some people in the UK may celebrate this, others may not.  The 300th anniversary of which important constitutional event will occur on May 1st 2007?

3.

Which British journalist, better known as a writer of children’s stories, was married to Trotsky’s private secretary?

4.

For the construction of which national building is the Australian company Multiplex currently responsible?

5.

Connie Fisher is the answer to which question which was posed for a second time in October 2006?

6.

Who is said to have tried to dissuade Queen Victoria from visiting him on his deathbed, confiding to friends that “she will only want me to take a message to Albert"!

7.

Who wear black because they are still in mourning for Queen Mary II who died in 1694?

8.

For the second year on the trot BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing  has been won by a Cricketer.  Name him.

9.

What was the first country to gain official independence in the 21st century?

10.

Who is Shilpa Shetty and why has she been in the news recently?

11.

In which novel, which won the Booker prize in 2001, does the author emphasise the leading character’s short, uneducated, fast living life by refusing to use a single comma in the entire narrative?

12.

Which member of the iconic 1960s folk-rock band The Mamas and the Papas died last week at the age of 66?

13.

What did the Queen start doing in April 1993 that she had never done before?

14.

Of whose grave condition did Alfred, Lord Tennyson, then Poet Laureate, elect to update an anxious British public when he composed these  lines in 1871: “Over the wire, the electric message came - he is no better, he is much the same”?

15.

Astronomically, what is indicated by the well-known mnemonic: “Oh be a fine girl, kiss me right now, sweetheart”?

16.

Why is the conclusion of the 1970 Watney Cup match between Manchester United and Hull City, still fondly remembered by sad, football-obsessed anoraks everywhere?

17.

British actor, Sacha Baron Cohen won a Hollywood Golden Globe award last week for his role as spoof Kazakh reporter Borat in which comic film?

18.

What was the name of the most famous horse sired by Quorum out of Mared'?

19.

According to Forbes Business magazine, who is currently listed as the richest woman in the world?

20.

During the 1950s and 1960s, which ‘educational establishment’ witnessed: Blue Murder, Pure Hell and a Train Robbery?

21.

What happened to Stanislas Wielgus 2 days after he was recently appointed Archbishop of Warsaw by the pope?

22.

What was described by Labour MP Gerald Kaufman in 1983 as “the longest suicide note in history”?

23.

In 1991 McVities won a court case against HM Customs and Excise when they successfully defined their famous Jaffa Cake as a true cake and not a biscuit in order to avoid VAT (chocolate covered biscuits are subject to VAT and cakes are not).  What definition of the difference between cakes and biscuits did McVities use that was accepted by the court?

24.

“I pulled into Nazareth / Was feelin’ ‘bout half past dead” is the first line of which classic song by The Band?

25.

Which two words did Queen Mary I of England declare would be found written on her heart after her death?

26.

Name this object:

27.

Which two iconic English characters, one real and one fictional, have been played on screen by American film actress, Renee Zellwegger?

28.

Which still controversial event of World War II is the subject of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse Five?

29.

Combine a bovine animal with a letter of the alphabet and someone rather stupid to define something contradictory.

30.

Whose last words, whispered to his brother Theo on July 29 1890 were: “This sadness will last forever”?

31.

Which religious artifact first gained world attention when it was photographed in 1898 by the Italian photographer, Secondo Pia?

32.

Currently two football teams in the Nationwide Conference league have the word United in their name.  Both have fairly recently been demoted from the football league and both have long been associated with each other in a non-footballing sense.  Name both teams?

33.

What position in the US Government was Robert Gates appointed to in December 2006?

34.

Which successful BBC comedy series is currently being shown in South Korea under the title Psychoville?

35.

Who recently came in for some criticism from the Scottish Nationalists when he told reporters that he hoped England would both host and win the 2018 World Cup?

36.

The multi-talented editor of the fifth edition of the Chambers Biographical Dictionary, died earlier this year.  Who was he?

37.

Who has followed in the footsteps of Steve Brookstein and Shayne Ward to win the 2006 edition of ITV’s The X-Factor?

38.

Name 2 of the 3 cities which are competing this year to host the 2014 Winter Olympics (the contest being decided by vote in Guatemala on July 4th).

39.

Combine a friend with an old-fashioned hostelry and the first part of a humped animal to define something with two directions.

40.

Name the actress, a former star of the 1960s TV series, The Avengers, who is currently playing the role of suspected murderess Rosemary Sinclair in the popular ITV soap Emmerdale.

41.

In December 2006, Zara Phillips was chosen as Sportsperson of the Year.  In what year was her mother, Princess Anne, similarly honoured?  (we’ll give you a year either way)

42.

The eponymous hero of which popular song: “wears cor blimey trousers and lives in a council flat”?

ROUND 1 - 'What Connects....?'

1.

Which word connects a jazz pianist, Rasputin and the plant wolfsbane?

Monk

(Thelonius, The Mad …. & Monkshood)

2.

Other than being geographical place names, what connects Cardiff, Rievaulx and Kesteven?

They were all peerage titles chosen by former Prime Ministers

(James Callaghan, Harold Wilson & Margaret Thatcher)

3.

Other than once being popular celebrities, what did Percy Bysshe Shelley, Brian Jones and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa all have in common?

They all died by drowning

4.

What word connects a bicycle, a stamp and a member of the mint family?

Penny

(Farthing, Black & Royal)

5.

What surname connects an interior designer, an opera by Rossini and a Chancellor of the Exchequer in Edward Heath’s Government?

Barber

(Linda, Seville & Anthony)

6.

What surname is shared by a naked rambler, a dancing cricketer and a Badly Drawn Boy?

Gough

(Stephen, Darren & Damon)

7.

What connects these three films; Forbidden Planet, My Own Private Idaho and Ran?

They were all based on Shakespeare plays

(The Tempest, Henry IV and King Lear)

8.

What connects these three fictional characters: Falstaff, Sherlock Holmes and PC George Dixon?

They were all killed off and then brought back to life by their authors

ROUND 2 - 'Not so much a theme - more a pattern'

1.

Cinematically, Ellwood P Dowd was the only man who could see.....what?

Harvey, the giant rabbit

2.

What was the United Kingdom’s first officially designated area of outstanding natural beauty?

(The) Gower Peninsula

3.

Name the political dramatist who wrote Accidental Death of an Anarchist in 1970 and Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay in 1974?

(Dario) Fo

4.

Asmara is the capital city of which country?

Eritrea

5.

What name is given to the abnormality resulting from a child being born with an extra copy of chromosome number 21?

Down’s syndrome

6.

In Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons who were described as “aimless, pointless and feckless”?

Cows

7.

Named after an engraver, what is Britain’s smallest swan?

Bewick swan

8.

What did Florence Morphy famously give to Ivo Bligh?

(The) Ashes urn

ROUND 3 - 'There's something a bit fishy about this round'

1.

What is the popular name for the piano quintet in A major composed by Franz Schubert in 1819 but not published until 1829, a year after his death?

The Trout Quintet

2.

Premiered at Glyndebourne on June 20 1947 and conducted by the composer, Benjamin Britten, what was the name of this comic opera?

Albert Herring

3.

What was the name of the fictional book supposedly written by J R Hartley in an advertisement for yellow pages first shown on television in 1983? 

Fly-fishing

4.

Between which two other signs of the zodiac does the star sign Pisces appear?

Aquarius and Aries

5.

Which famous 18th century Frenchwoman’s real name translates into English as Joan Fish?

Madame de Pompadour

(whose real name in French was Jeanne Poisson)

6.

Situated just 2 miles west of Chichester in West Sussex, this village is the location of a well-preserved Roman Palace first excavated in 1960.  Name the village.

Fishbourne

7.

Which current US tennis player has a first name that makes him sound like a bit of a cry-baby?

Mardy Fish

8.

Which former Australian tennis player is currently acting as coach to the world number 1 tennis player, Roger Federer?

Tony Roche

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme - 'More or less.....but not quite!'

Full names must be given where appropriate, but only the principle word of each answer will conform to the theme

1.

Which Englishman was canonised a saint in 1935, exactly 400 years after his execution?

Sir Thomas More

2.

Who played the title role in the 1968 film Oliver?

Mark Lester

3.

Up until his recent retirement, which footballer often had his heterosexuality loudly questioned on the somewhat dubious grounds that he read The Guardian?

Graeme Le Saux

4.

Who released the 1972 album Saint Dominic’s Preview?

Van Morrison

5.

Which word, now all too commonly used in the English language, derives from 2 old French words meaning dead and pledge?

Mortgage

6.

What word has this medical definition: 'an injury, wound or harmful disturbance to an organ or tissue'?

Lesion

7.

Which writer, who spent most of her life in what was then Rhodesia, wrote The Golden Notebook  in 1962 and The Good Terrorist in 1985?

Doris Lessing

8.

Which Protestant sect, still common in the Czech Republic and parts of the USA, follows the teachings of Jan Hus?

The Moravians

ROUNDS 5-8 - Bingo Quiz

1

Who is the only American President to be buried in a city that shares his name?

Lyndon Baines Johnson

(who is buried in Johnson City, Texas)

2.

Some people in the UK may celebrate this, others may not.  The 300th anniversary of which important constitutional event will occur on May 1st 2007?

The Union of the English and Scottish Parliaments

(to form Great Britain)

3.

Which British journalist, better known as a writer of children’s stories, was married to Trotsky’s private secretary?

Arthur Ransome

(author of Swallows and Amazons amongst other works)

4.

For the construction of which national building is the Australian company Multiplex currently responsible?

The new Wembley Stadium

5.

Connie Fisher is the answer to which question which was posed for a second time in October 2006?

“How do you solve a problem like Maria?”

(TV Show)

6.

Who is said to have tried to dissuade Queen Victoria from visiting him on his deathbed, confiding to friends that “she will only want me to take a message to Albert"!

Benjamin Disraeli

7

Who wear black because they are still in mourning for Queen Mary II who died in 1694?

Barristers

8

For the second year on the trot BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing  has been won by a Cricketer.  Name him.

Mark Ramprakash

9.

What was the first country to gain official independence in the 21st century?

East Timor

(in 2002)

10.

Who is Shilpa Shetty and why has she been in the news recently?

She is the Indian Bollywood actress at the centre of a claim of racial abuse on Channel 4’s latest edition of Celebrity Big Brother

11.

In which novel, which won the Booker prize in 2001, does the author emphasise the leading character’s short, uneducated, fast living life by refusing to use a single comma in the entire narrative?

The True History of the Kelly Gang

(by Peter Carey)

12.

Which member of the iconic 1960s folk-rock band The Mamas and the Papas died last week at the age of 66?

Denny Doherty

(Cass Elliot died in 1974 and John Phillips in 2001)

13

What did the Queen start doing in April 1993 that she had never done before?

Paying income tax

14.

Of whose grave condition did Alfred, Lord Tennyson, then Poet Laureate, elect to update an anxious British public when he composed these  lines in 1871: “Over the wire, the electric message came - he is no better, he is much the same”?

The Prince of Wales

(Albert Edward by name, who was suffering from typhoid fever - but he survived to become King Edward VII)

15.

Astronomically, what is indicated by the well-known mnemonic: “Oh be a fine girl, kiss me right now, sweetheart”?

The spectral classification or temperature range of stars

(which are graded o, b, a, f, g, k, m, r, n, s with ‘o’ as the hottest and ‘s’ as the coolest - our sun is classed as spectral type ‘g’)

16.

Why is the conclusion of the 1970 Watney Cup match between Manchester United and Hull City, still fondly remembered by sad, football-obsessed anoraks everywhere?

It was decided by the first ever penalty shootout on English soil

(for the record: George Best scored the first ever penalty shootout goal and Denis Law became the first of a not very select band to miss his spot kick thus allowing Ian McKechnie to become the first keeper in England to save a shootout penalty......but you didn't want to know that!!!)

17.

British actor, Sacha Baron Cohen won a Hollywood Golden Globe award last week for his role as spoof Kazakh reporter Borat in which comic film?

Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

18.

What was the name of the most famous horse sired by Quorum out of Mared'?

Red Rum

(the answer was in the question)

19

According to Forbes Business magazine, who is currently listed as the richest woman in the world?

Oprah Winfrey

(US chat-show host estimated to be worth a cool £725 million)

20.

During the 1950s and 1960s, which ‘educational establishment’ witnessed: Blue Murder, Pure Hell and a Train Robbery?

St Trinians

21.

What happened to Stanislas Wielgus 2 days after he was recently appointed Archbishop of Warsaw by the pope?

He was forced to resign

(after it was revealed that he had been an informer for the secret police during the communist era)

22.

What was described by Labour MP Gerald Kaufman in 1983 as “the longest suicide note in history”?

The Labour Party manifesto of that year

23.

In 1991 McVities won a court case against HM Customs and Excise when they successfully defined their famous Jaffa Cake as a true cake and not a biscuit in order to avoid VAT (chocolate covered biscuits are subject to VAT and cakes are not).  What definition of the difference between cakes and biscuits did McVities use that was accepted by the court?

Cakes go hard when stale whereas biscuits go soft

(Stale Jaffa Cakes go hard and therefore were accepted as true cakes! - bet you never knew that before)

24.

“I pulled into Nazareth / Was feelin’ ‘bout half past dead” is the first line of which classic song by The Band?

The Weight

25

Which two words did Queen Mary I of England declare would be found written on her heart after her death?

Philip and Calais

(‘Philip’ after her absent husband, King Philip of Spain, and ‘Calais’ after the town in France long held by the English but re-captured by the French during her reign)

26.

Name this object:

The Coca-Cola bottle

27.

Which two iconic English characters, one real and one fictional, have been played on screen by American film actress, Renee Zellwegger?

Bridget Jones and Beatrix Potter

28.

Which still controversial event of World War II is the subject of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse Five?

The firebombing of Dresden

29.

Combine a bovine animal with a letter of the alphabet and someone rather stupid to define something contradictory.

Oxymoron

(ox-y-moron)

30.

Whose last words, whispered to his brother Theo on July 29 1890 were: “This sadness will last forever”?

Vincent van Gogh

31

Which religious artifact first gained world attention when it was photographed in 1898 by the Italian photographer, Secondo Pia?

The Shroud of Turin

32.

Currently two football teams in the Nationwide Conference league have the word United in their name.  Both have fairly recently been demoted from the football league and both have long been associated with each other in a non-footballing sense.  Name both teams?

Oxford United and Cambridge United

33.

What position in the US Government was Robert Gates appointed to in December 2006?

US Defence Secretary

(he succeeded Donald Rumsfeld)

34.

Which successful BBC comedy series is currently being shown in South Korea under the title Psychoville?

The League of Gentlemen

35.

Who recently came in for some criticism from the Scottish Nationalists when he told reporters that he hoped England would both host and win the 2018 World Cup?

Gordon Brown

(that well-known Scottish chancellor and the next Prime Minister)

36.

The multi-talented editor of the fifth edition of the Chambers Biographical Dictionary, died earlier this year.  Who was he?

Magnus Magnusson

(sadly, he finally finished what he had started)

37.

Who has followed in the footsteps of Steve Brookstein and Shayne Ward to win the 2006 edition of ITV’s The X-Factor?

Leona Lewis

38.

Name 2 of the 3 cities which are competing this year to host the 2014 Winter Olympics (the contest being decided by vote in Guatemala on July 4th).

(one of)

Pyongchang (South Korea), Salzburg (Austria) or Sochi (Russia)

39.

Combine a friend with an old-fashioned hostelry and the first part of a humped animal to define something with two directions.

Palindrome

(pal-inn-drome/dary)

40

Name the actress, a former star of the 1960s TV series, The Avengers, who is currently playing the role of suspected murderess Rosemary Sinclair in the popular ITV soap Emmerdale.

Linda Thorson

(who played Avengers girl Tara King)

41.

In December 2006, Zara Phillips was chosen as Sportsperson of the Year.  In what year was her mother, Princess Anne, similarly honoured?  (we’ll give you a year either way)

1971

(but accept 1970 or 1972)

42.

The eponymous hero of which popular song: “wears cor blimey trousers and lives in a council flat”?

My Old Man

(from My Old Man’s a Dustman)