ROUND 1 - Paired

1.

Whose recent autobiography is called Selective Memory?

2.

Germaine Greer has recently published a biography – whose?

3.

What is the meaning of the original Greek root that is common to the words: lithograph, lithium, and Paleolithic?

4.

Which ‘lithic’ follows Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic?

5.

In which Italian city will you find the Palazzo Brera, the Bocconi University and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele?

6.

In which Italian city will you find the Piazza Castello, the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento housed in the Palazzo Carignano, and the Museo Egizio?

7.

Which of the following statements about CB Fry (1872 – 1956) is incorrect?

a.   He won 12 blues at Oxford, at one stage captaining the football, athletics and cricket teams (he missed captaining the rugby team through injury).

b.   In 1896 he equalled the world long jump record of 23 feet 5 inches despite never having been coached or even trained in the sport.  His record stood until 1917.

c.   At cricket, Fry captained both Sussex and England (as captain he never lost a Test Match) and score over 30,000 first-class runs at an average of over 50.  He scored 94 100’s, including an unprecedented six consecutive centuries in 1901.  He also played in the 1902 FA Cup Final for Southampton and played rugby for Oxford, Blackheath and the Barbarians.

d.   In Geneva the Albanian delegation, upon finding that their ruling family, the Wieds, had vanished back to their native Germany, tried to recruit Fry to be their new King. Sadly, the Albanians wanted a man of independent wealth, and Fry simply didn’t have the readies.

e.   He twice stood for Parliament for the Liberal Party, but lost on both occasions.

f.   His athletic skills were in demand at parties where a favourite trick of his was to leap backwards from the floor to stand on a mantelpiece.  He was also a popular nude model and it seems he toyed with the idea of an acting career, going so far as to visit Hollywood in the 1930s, but nothing came of it.

8.

Which of the following statements about Max Woosnam (1892 – 1965) is incorrect?

a.   At Oxford, he represented the university in football, tennis, real tennis, golf and cricket.

b.   He played for Chelsea, and captained Manchester City and the England team.

c.   He played tennis in the 1920 Olympics and won gold in the men’s doubles and silver in the mixed, both on the same day.  He won the Wimbledon Men’s Doubles and came runner-up in the Mixed Doubles.  He was captain of Britain’s Davis Cup squad.

d.   He beat Charlie Chaplin at table tennis, using a butter knife instead of a bat.

e.   He was a scratch golfer, Centurion at Lord’s, and had a 147 snooker break.

f.   When his sporting career was over, he joined ICI, working his way up to the board.

ROUND 2 - A Seasonally Themed Round

Just when you thought Christmas was all over, a round where each answer contains a reference to the carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas (though not necessarily the reference you’d associate with the question number)

1.

Who was the fictional host of the TV show on which Glen Ponder was the musical director?

2.

Which constituency has Tory, Theresa May, as its MP?

3.

What led to the formation of Lake Nasser in 1970?

4.

In which 1988 disaster did 167 lose their lives in the North Sea?

5.

What was the name of the former CEO of US company, ENRON, who was found guilty of fraud in 2006?

6.

Unadjusted for inflation, which film has grossed the second highest box office amount of all time? (full name of the film is required)

7.

What was the family name of the 1st Earl of Ypres who commanded the British Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of World War I?

8.

Which London road skirts the south side of St James Park, joining Buckingham Palace to Whitehall?

ROUND 3 - Paired

1.

What name links: Klapka, Winston Churchill, and librarians?

2.

What name links: a Pink Floyd song, Eileen Derbyshire, and a 1960s film starring James Garner and Julie Andrews?

3.

In which of its 10 boroughs is Greater Manchester’s most northerly point?

4.

In which of its 10 boroughs is Greater Manchester’s most easterly point?

5.

In which English county is Fontwell Racecourse?

6.

In which English county is Wincanton Racecourse?

7.

Which chemical element derives its name from the Greek word for smell?

8.

Which chemical element derives its name from the German word for a demon?

ROUND 4 - A Musically Themed Round

All the questions involve nonsense lyrics

1.

Name either the tune or the singer most associated with these lyrics:

“Dooby dooby doo, du du du du du

Da da da da da da da da da da

Da da da da da da da da da da.”

2.

Name the tune or the singer most associated with these lyrics (the singer sings a lyric and the lyric in brackets is the backing group or audience singing it back):

“Hidehidehidehi   (hidehidehidehi)

Hodehodehodeho (hodehodehodeho)

Hedehedehedehe  (hedehedehedehe)

Hidehidehideho    (hidehidehideho)”

3.

The following are the concluding lyrics of a song that featured in a 1959 Oscar winning comedy film. Name the tune or the singer:

“Ba deedily deedily deedily dum

Boo boo bee doo!”

4.

Name the tune which starts with these lyrics - or the singer most associated with them:

“A-wop-bop-a-loo-lop a-lop bam boo”

5.

Name the tune with these lyrics:

“Val-da-ree, val-da-rah,

Val-da-ree, val-da-rah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Val-da-ree, val-da-rah, …”

6.

Name either of the two television programmes which are most closely associated with the song containing these lyrics:

“Do doo be-do-do be-do-do be-do-do be-do-do-doodle do do do-doo do!”

7.

What repeated first line precedes these lyrics:

“Heyla, heyla sheyla, heyla sheyla heyla ho. [Repeat]

Shali walli, shali walli, shali walli, shali walli, [Repeat]

Oompha, Oompah, Oompha, Oompah. [Repeat]”

8.

What’s the next line after this sung introduction:

“There’s a song that I recall my mother sang to me.

She sang it as she tucked me up when I was 93”?

ROUND 5 - Themed - British Prime Ministers

There were 20 British Prime Ministers during the 19th Century - all of the following questions include one of them in their answer - and none of the answers are Gladstone or Disraeli!

1.

Formerly called Fort Duquesne, which city is the second largest in a state in which the 3rd and 4th largest cities are Allentown and Erie?

2.

Which Elizabethan sailor met his demise following a sea battle where his ship ‘The Revenge’ took on a Spanish fleet of 53 ships on its own, the event being commemorated some 300 years later in a poem by Alfred Tennyson?

3.

Which children’s TV series includes the characters Ross and Cromarty, and Dogger - and is set on Guillemot Island?

4.

Which Welsh knight of the Round Table completed the quest for the Holy Grail with Sir Galahad and Sir Bors?

5.

Which British cavalry Regiment (extant from 1678 until 1971 when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers) was famous for their charge at the Battle of Waterloo, and, oddly, for their chart topping single, on both sides of the Atlantic, in 1971?

6.

The hard felt hat with a rounded crown created for Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, in 1850 is known as a bowler hat, but by what name is it more commonly known in the USA?

7.

Which Prime Minister promoted the idea of building lots of small forts (after a recommendation made by an 1860 Royal Commission)?  The forts were named after him, but were also known as his follies as they were obsolete even before their completion.

8.

This African city was founded in 1890 and named after the British Prime Minister of the time.  It remains the capital of the country, but under a different name since 1982.  What was it called when founded?

ROUND 6 - Paired

1.

Which sportsman won his first Olympic gold medal at the 1984 games in Los Angeles and his fifth and final one in 2000?

2.

In the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, which runner won the 5000 metres, the 10000 metres and, never having competed in the event before, the marathon?  His wife Dana won the javelin.

3.

There are four silver Assay Offices in Great Britain.  Which one is missing from this list: London, Sheffield, Edinburgh?

4.

Three of the current Assay marks are a Leopard’s Head, a Yorkshire Rose and a Castle.  What is the other?

5.

Born in Salford 1818; a pupil of Dalton; discovered that heat and mechanical energy are interchangeable; gave his name to a unit of work; died 1889.  Who was he?

6.

Born in London 1791, the son of a blacksmith; assistant to Humphry Davy; discovered magneto-electric induction in 1831; died 1867.  Who was he?

7.

Llanwrtyd Wells hosts which world championship every August Bank Holiday Monday?

8.

The 14th annual Golden Spurtle Championships took place in Carrbridge, Inverness-shire, Scotland, on Sunday 7th October 2007.  By what name is it more commonly known?

ROUND 7 - Themed - 'The Inevitable Opsimaths’ Pub Round'

1.

From which royal house do pubs named ‘The White Horse’ take their name?

2.

Which 18th century General showed great concern for his men on their retirement and on occasions provided funds to establish taverns for them of which a number were named after him?

3.

What is the derivation of the pub named the ‘Dew Drop Inn’?

4.

Which public house name is derived from the symbol of the Knights’ Templar (as well as Merchant Taylor’s and St John’s College Oxford)?

5.

Name two of the five stations on the London Underground named after a pub.

6.

Formerly the Redesdale Arms, why is the pub ‘The First and Last’ so named?

7.

After which football club is ‘The Magpies’ in Meadow Lane named?

8.

From what is the pub name the ‘Cross Keys’ derived?

ROUND 8 - Paired

1.

Which series of wars began in 264 BC and ended in 146 BC?

2.

Which series of wars began in 1096 and ended in 1272?

3.

The South African flag has 6 colours.  Which one is missing from this list: black, white, yellow, green, red?

4.

The Olympic flag has 6 colours.  Which one is missing from this list: white, red, yellow, blue, black?

5.

Adolph, Herbert, Julius, Leonard and Milton were better known collectively as whom?

6.

Mike, Neil, Rick and Vyvyan were collectively known as whom?

7.

Oenology is the study of what?

8.

Zythology is the study of what?

1.

Which football club failed to be re-elected to the league at the end of the 1972 season and was replaced by Hereford United?

2.

Which football club failed to be re-elected to the league at the end of the 1970 season and was replaced by Cambridge United?

3.

Whose most recent advertising slogan is ‘Invent’?

4.

Whose most recent advertising slogan is ‘Now, there’s a thought’?

5.

Which country’s flag features an armillary sphere, a type of early navigational instrument?

6.

Which country’s flag features a representation of the Buddhist Charkra symbol standing for peaceful change?

ROUND 1 - Paired

1.

Whose recent autobiography is called Selective Memory?

Katherine Whitehorn

2.

Germaine Greer has recently published a biography – whose?

Shakespeare’s Wife

(accept Ann Hathaway)

3.

What is the meaning of the original Greek root that is common to the words: lithograph, lithium, and Paleolithic?

Stone

4.

Which ‘lithic’ follows Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic?

Chalcolithic

(accept Aeneolithic aka ‘The Copper Age’)

5.

In which Italian city will you find the Palazzo Brera, the Bocconi University and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele?

Milan

6.

In which Italian city will you find the Piazza Castello, the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento housed in the Palazzo Carignano, and the Museo Egizio?

Turin

7.

Which of the following statements about CB Fry (1872 – 1956) is incorrect?

a.   He won 12 blues at Oxford, at one stage captaining the football, athletics and cricket teams (he missed captaining the rugby team through injury).

b.   In 1896 he equalled the world long jump record of 23 feet 5 inches despite never having been coached or even trained in the sport.  His record stood until 1917.

c.   At cricket, Fry captained both Sussex and England (as captain he never lost a Test Match) and score over 30,000 first-class runs at an average of over 50.  He scored 94 100’s, including an unprecedented six consecutive centuries in 1901.  He also played in the 1902 FA Cup Final for Southampton and played rugby for Oxford, Blackheath and the Barbarians.

d.   In Geneva the Albanian delegation, upon finding that their ruling family, the Wieds, had vanished back to their native Germany, tried to recruit Fry to be their new King. Sadly, the Albanians wanted a man of independent wealth, and Fry simply didn’t have the readies.

e.   He twice stood for Parliament for the Liberal Party, but lost on both occasions.

f.   His athletic skills were in demand at parties where a favourite trick of his was to leap backwards from the floor to stand on a mantelpiece.  He was also a popular nude model and it seems he toyed with the idea of an acting career, going so far as to visit Hollywood in the 1930s, but nothing came of it.

e

(he stood three times and lost every time)

8.

Which of the following statements about Max Woosnam (1892 – 1965) is incorrect?

a.   At Oxford, he represented the university in football, tennis, real tennis, golf and cricket.

b.   He played for Chelsea, and captained Manchester City and the England team.

c.   He played tennis in the 1920 Olympics and won gold in the men’s doubles and silver in the mixed, both on the same day.  He won the Wimbledon Men’s Doubles and came runner-up in the Mixed Doubles.  He was captain of Britain’s Davis Cup squad.

d.   He beat Charlie Chaplin at table tennis, using a butter knife instead of a bat.

e.   He was a scratch golfer, Centurion at Lord’s, and had a 147 snooker break.

f.   When his sporting career was over, he joined ICI, working his way up to the board.

a

(he was at Cambridge, when he represented the university at these sports)

ROUND 2 - A Seasonally Themed Round

 Just when you thought Christmas was all over, a round where each answer contains a reference to the carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas (though not necessarily the reference you’d associate with the question number)

1.

Who was the fictional host of the TV show on which Glen Ponder was the musical director?

Alan Partridge

(Knowing Me….Knowing You)

2.

Which constituency has Tory, Theresa May, as its MP?

Maidenhead

3.

What led to the formation of Lake Nasser in 1970?

The completion of the Aswan Dam

4.

In which 1988 disaster did 167 lose their lives in the North Sea?

The Piper Alpha oil platform explosion

5.

What was the name of the former CEO of US company, ENRON, who was found guilty of fraud in 2006?

Kenneth Lay

6.

Unadjusted for inflation, which film has grossed the second highest box office amount of all time? (full name of the film is required)

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

(Titanic is the highest grossing)

7.

What was the family name of the 1st Earl of Ypres who commanded the British Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of World War I?

French

(Sir John French)

8.

Which London road skirts the south side of St James Park, joining Buckingham Palace to Whitehall?

Birdcage Walk

ROUND 3 - Paired

1.

What name links: Klapka, Winston Churchill, and librarians?

Jerome

(K in Jerome K Jerome; Jennie Jerome was Churchill’s mother; patron saint St Jerome)

2.

What name links: a Pink Floyd song, Eileen Derbyshire, and a 1960s film starring James Garner and Julie Andrews?

Emily

(See Emily Play; plays Emily Nugent in Coronation Street; The Americanization of Emily)

3.

In which of its 10 boroughs is Greater Manchester’s most northerly point?

Rochdale

4.

In which of its 10 boroughs is Greater Manchester’s most easterly point?

Oldham

5.

In which English county is Fontwell Racecourse?

West Sussex

6.

In which English county is Wincanton Racecourse?

Somerset

7.

Which chemical element derives its name from the Greek word for smell?

Osmium

8.

Which chemical element derives its name from the German word for a demon?

Cobalt

ROUND 4 - A Musically Themed Round

All the questions involve nonsense lyrics

1.

Name either the tune or the singer most associated with these lyrics:

“Dooby dooby doo, du du du du du

Da da da da da da da da da da

Da da da da da da da da da da.”

(either)

Strangers in the Night

(or)

Frank Sinatra

2.

Name the tune or the singer most associated with these lyrics (the singer sings a lyric and the lyric in brackets is the backing group or audience singing it back):

“Hidehidehidehi   (hidehidehidehi)

Hodehodehodeho (hodehodehodeho)

Hedehedehedehe  (hedehedehedehe)

Hidehidehideho    (hidehidehideho)”

(either)

Minnie the Moocher

(or)

Cab Calloway

3.

The following are the concluding lyrics of a song that featured in a 1959 Oscar winning comedy film. Name the tune or the singer:

“Ba deedily deedily deedily dum

Boo boo bee doo!”

(either)

I Wanna Be Loved by You

(or)

Marilyn Monroe

(from Some Like It Hot)

4.

Name the tune which starts with these lyrics - or the singer most associated with them:

“A-wop-bop-a-loo-lop a-lop bam boo”

(either)

Tutti Frutti

(or)

Little Richard

5.

Name the tune with these lyrics:

“Val-da-ree, val-da-rah,

Val-da-ree, val-da-rah ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

Val-da-ree, val-da-rah, …”

The Happy Wanderer

6.

Name either of the two television programmes which are most closely associated with the song containing these lyrics:

“Do doo be-do-do be-do-do be-do-do be-do-do-doodle do do do-doo do!”

The Mahna Mahna Song

(from The Muppet Show and Sesame Street)

7.

What repeated first line precedes these lyrics:

“Heyla, heyla sheyla, heyla sheyla heyla ho. [Repeat]

Shali walli, shali walli, shali walli, shali walli, [Repeat]

Oompha, Oompah, Oompha, Oompah. [Repeat]”

“Ging gang gooli gooli gooli watcha, ging gang goo, ging gang goo”

(The Ging Gang Goo song from the Scouting for Boys Song Book)

8.

What’s the next line after this sung introduction:

“There’s a song that I recall my mother sang to me.

She sang it as she tucked me up when I was 93”?

“Ying-tong, ying-tong, ying-tong iddle I po”

 (from The Goons)

ROUND 5 - Themed - British Prime Ministers

There were 20 British Prime Ministers during the 19th Century - all of the following questions include one of them in their answer - and none of the answers are Gladstone or Disraeli!

1

Formerly called Fort Duquesne, which city is the second largest in a state in which the 3rd and 4th largest cities are Allentown and Erie?

Pittsburgh

(William Pitt)

2.

Which Elizabethan sailor met his demise following a sea battle where his ship ‘The Revenge’ took on a Spanish fleet of 53 ships on its own, the event being commemorated some 300 years later in a poem by Alfred Tennyson?

Richard Grenville

(Lord Grenville)

3.

Which children’s TV series includes the characters Ross and Cromarty, and Dogger - and is set on Guillemot Island?

Portland Bill

(The Duke of Portland)

4.

Which Welsh knight of the Round Table completed the quest for the Holy Grail with Sir Galahad and Sir Bors?

Sir Perceval

(Spenser Perceval)

5.

Which British cavalry Regiment (extant from 1678 until 1971 when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers) was famous for their charge at the Battle of Waterloo, and, oddly, for their chart topping single, on both sides of the Atlantic, in 1971?

Scots Greys

(Earl Grey)

6.

The hard felt hat with a rounded crown created for Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, in 1850 is known as a bowler hat, but by what name is it more commonly known in the USA?

Derby

(being named after the Earl of Derby)

7.

Which Prime Minister promoted the idea of building lots of small forts (after a recommendation made by an 1860 Royal Commission)?  The forts were named after him, but were also known as his follies as they were obsolete even before their completion.

Palmerston

(Viscount Palmerston)

8.

This African city was founded in 1890 and named after the British Prime Minister of the time.  It remains the capital of the country, but under a different name since 1982.  What was it called when founded?

Salisbury

(Marquis of Salisbury)

ROUND 6 - Paired

1

Which sportsman won his first Olympic gold medal at the 1984 games in Los Angeles and his fifth and final one in 2000?

Steve Redgrave

2.

In the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, which runner won the 5000 metres, the 10000 metres and, never having competed in the event before, the marathon?  His wife Dana won the javelin.

Emil Zatopek

(the Czech)

3.

There are four silver Assay Offices in Great Britain.  Which one is missing from this list: London, Sheffield, Edinburgh?

Birmingham

4.

Three of the current Assay marks are a Leopard’s Head, a Yorkshire Rose and a Castle.  What is the other?

An Anchor

(somewhat bizarrely for Birmingham)

5.

Born in Salford 1818; a pupil of Dalton; discovered that heat and mechanical energy are interchangeable; gave his name to a unit of work; died 1889.  Who was he?

James Prescott Joule

6.

Born in London 1791, the son of a blacksmith; assistant to Humphry Davy; discovered magneto-electric induction in 1831; died 1867.  Who was he?

Michael Faraday

7.

Llanwrtyd Wells hosts which world championship every August Bank Holiday Monday?

World Bog Snorkelling Championship

8.

The 14th annual Golden Spurtle Championships took place in Carrbridge, Inverness-shire, Scotland, on Sunday 7th October 2007.  By what name is it more commonly known?

World Porridge Making Championship

ROUND 7 - Themed - 'The inevitable Opsimaths' Pub Round'

1.

From which royal house do pubs named ‘The White Horse’ take their name?

Hanover

2.

Which 18th century General showed great concern for his men on their retirement and on occasions provided funds to establish taverns for them of which a number were named after him?

Marquis of Granby

3.

What is the derivation of the pub named the ‘Dew Drop Inn’?

'Do drop in'

(it’s a pun)

4.

Which public house name is derived from the symbol of the Knights’ Templar (as well as Merchant Taylor’s and St John’s College Oxford)?

Lamb & Flag

5.

Name two of the five stations on the London Underground named after a pub.

(2 from)

Angel, Manor House, Royal Oak, Swiss Cottage, Elephant & Castle

6.

Formerly the Redesdale Arms, why is the pub ‘The First and Last’ so named?

It’s the first pub you encounter when entering England from Scotland on the A68

(and the last when your journey is more happily in the other direction)

7.

After which football club is ‘The Magpies’ in Meadow Lane named?

Notts County

8.

From what is the pub name the ‘Cross Keys’ derived?

The sign of St Peter

ROUND 8 - Paired

1.

Which series of wars began in 264 BC and ended in 146 BC?

The Punic Wars

2.

Which series of wars began in 1096 and ended in 1272?

The Crusades

3.

The South African flag has 6 colours.  Which one is missing from this list: black, white, yellow, green, red?

Blue

4.

The Olympic flag has 6 colours.  Which one is missing from this list: white, red, yellow, blue, black?

Green

5.

Adolph, Herbert, Julius, Leonard and Milton were better known collectively as whom?

The Marx Brothers

6.

Mike, Neil, Rick and Vyvyan were collectively known as whom?

The Young Ones

7.

Oenology is the study of what?

Wine

8.

Zythology is the study of what?

Beer

1.

Which football club failed to be re-elected to the league at the end of the 1972 season and was replaced by Hereford United?

Barrow

2.

Which football club failed to be re-elected to the league at the end of the 1970 season and was replaced by Cambridge United?

Bradford Park Avenue

3.

Whose most recent advertising slogan is ‘Invent’?

Hewlett Packard

4.

Whose most recent advertising slogan is ‘Now, there’s a thought’?

Barclays Bank

5.

Which country’s flag features an armillary sphere, a type of early navigational instrument?

Portugal

6.

Which country’s flag features a representation of the Buddhist Charkra symbol standing for peaceful change?

India

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