ROUND 1 - Hidden theme - 'ZZ Top’

To ensure that the new WithQuiz season gets off to a rip-roaring start and to vindicate the wisdom of the X-Pats’ decision to drop out and find something useful to do of a Wednesday evening, we have devoted the first round to those giants of musical culture, ZZ Top.  Our only regret is that the late, great Mike Heale is no longer around to bellow his appreciation of an entire round dedicated to a crappy rock band more famous for the length of their beards than for the depth of their music.

1.

Two African capital cities are situated on opposite banks of the River Congo within sight of each other.  One is Kinshasa.  Name the other.

2.

Complete the title of this English pop band formed in 1986 by Clark Datchler:‘Johnny Hates……’.

3.

Specifically what common word is used to describe rainfall consisting of droplets less than 0.5 millimetres in diameter?

4.

What word can mean: a) the projecting part of the face of animals such as the dog or horse; b) the front end of a gun barrel; c) to prevent from being heard or noticed?

5.

Which Italian footballer was infamously (but very stylishly) headbutted by Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup Final?

6.

Which film, made in 2000 and starring Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley, was a remake of the 1967 film of the same name originally written by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore?

7.

Who am I?  Born in Yemen in 1962, my early life was spent in County Down and Eastbourne.  I was kicked off my accountancy degree course at Sheffield University so became instead a brilliantly eccentric stand-up comedian and actor, also a writer and political campaigner.  John Cleese has called me “The Lost Python”.

8.

Where am I?  As befits any location between Luton and Milton Keynes this Bedfordshire town is very uninteresting.  In fact if it wasn’t for its quirky name, it would probably never get used as a quiz question.  In fairness though it does have the Grand Union Canal and the British Head Office of the renowned Tupperware Company.

1.

Which royalist (and royal) commander in the English Civil War is commemorated by a blue plaque on the wall of Didsbury Library?

2.

A blue plaque at Didsbury Library also commemorates a Cheshire-born Parliamentary commander in the English Civil War.  Who was he?

3.

Which 2 of the 4 Grand Slam tennis tournaments have been won this year by the world no.1 men’s tennis player, Roger Federer?

4.

Which 2 of the 4 Grand Slam tennis tournaments have been won this year by the world no.2  women’s tennis player, Serena Williams?

5.

According to Norse Mythology, who were Ask and Embla?

6.

According to Egyptian Mythology, who were Geb and Nut?

7.

Who is Samantha Geimer and why has she been in the news recently?

8.

Who is Terry Herbert and why has he been in the news recently?

1.

Name the popular Western-themed TV series that originally ran from 1967 to 1971 and starred Leif Erikson as Big John Cannon.

2.

What was the title and real name of The Scarlet Pimpernel?

3.

How was Manchester-born Derrick Errol Evans better known during his appearances on  the breakfast television show GMTV in the early 1990s?

4.

How is the King James Bible of 1611 otherwise known in the United Kingdom?

5.

Combine the first name of the actor who co-starred with Barbra Streisand in the 1976 version of  A Star Is Born with a collective name for relatives?

6.

Combine a word that denotes something fresh and original with one that denotes coming towards someone or something?

7.

What name has been given to the Global Navigation Satellite System that is currently being built by the European Union in conjunction with the European Space Agency.  It is intended to complement the US Global Positioning System GPS and the Russian Glonass?

8.

For what purpose might Sir Patrick Moore look through his home-made reflecting telescope in his garden at Selsey in Sussex?

1.

00.48, 05.35, 12.01, 17.54  .In terms of British broadcasting, what do these times have in common?

2.

He was captain of the Beagle and later on he founded the Meteorological Office.  Give his surname.

3.

What name was given to the diplomatic incident of 1904 when the Russian Baltic Fleet opened fire on 40 fishing trawlers from Hull?

4.

The sea area of Heligoland had a change of name in 1956. What is it now called?

5.

Name the headland that marks the border between the shipping areas of Tyne and Humber.

6.

In his Wessex novels, Thomas Hardy refers to which island as the ‘Isle of Slingers’ on account of its natives’ quaint custom of throwing rocks at any mainlanders foolhardy enough to set foot on their island?

7.

What new name was given to sea area Mersey in 1956?

8.

Which sea area has land boundaries stretching from Rosslaire around Southern Ireland to Valentia Island just south of Dingle Bay?

1.

Which British river is the largest in terms of water discharged to the sea?

2.

Which is the highest pub in England?

3.

Which fiction writer claims proudly in the foreword to all his books that he was born in the kingdom of Fife in 1960 and worked variously as a grape-picker, taxman and alcohol researcher before publishing Knots & Crosses in 1987, the first of a long series?

4.

Which British playwright,  novelist and journalist died on September 4^th 2009 aged 80?

5.

Typographical sources refer to these type-faces as ‘Grotesque’ or ‘Gothic’.  How are they better known on the modern PC?

6.

What does the prefix HTTP stand for at the beginning of all web site addresses?

7.

In which Dickens novel would you find the impoverished but charitable Jellyby family?

8.

In which Dickens novel would you find a hangman called Ned Dennis?

1.

In the Muppet Show,what is the name of the bespectacled backstage assistant?

2.

What sea route passes between the islands of Tierra del Fuego and forms part of the border between Chile and Argentina?

3.

Which South African actress received critical acclaim and a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the film ‘Monster’?

4.

Which 1953 British film comedy depicted villagers trying to prevent British Railways closing their local line?

5.

Arguably the best mountain walk in Britain, this circular route south of Ben Nevis includes 4 Munros and takes its name from a nearby ruined village and not from the sharpness of the peaks?

6.

What financial arrangement can be defined as : money, property, a deed, or a bond put into the custody of a third party for delivery to a grantee only after the fulfillment of the conditions specified?

7.

Which composer was born in Dublin in 1563, died in London in 1626 and is best known for his melancholy songs set to the lute and recently revived by Sting?

8.

In computer science what is the name of a programme that makes one computer system appear to work exactly like a different computer system?

1.

Fats Domino had a hit with this song in the 1950s.New Order had a hit with a completely different song but with the same title in the 1980s.  What was the song called?

2.

Who said, “The world would be a better place if everybody loved everybody the way everybody loves me”?

3.

On May 2^nd 2009 the world record for an attendance at a rugby union club match was shattered when over 82,000 fans turned up to watch which two teams play?

4.

Also known as Benares what is Hinduism’s most holy city?

5.

Which atmospheric 1976 film,directed by John Carpenter,was inspired by the Howard Hawks western ‘Rio Bravo’ and was also influenced by George A Romero’s  “Night of the Living Dead”?

6.

The banner headline on the front page of the Guardian on Monday July 21^st 1969 was, “ON THE MOON AFTER PERFECT TOUCHDOWN”.  Just above this headline was the price.  So how much did the Guardian cost in those days?

7.

Who is the patron saint of politicians?

8

The 16^th met his end in a building that had the same name as the 38^th.  Explain.

9.

What notable first was achieved by Canadian Guy Laliberte in Kazakhstan on September 30^th 2009?

10.

What is the only town in England to have a port, a garrison and a university with a royal charter (perhaps not coincidentally it also has one of the highest rates of venereal disease in the country)?

11.

With which sport would you associate the commentator’s cliché, ‘the clash of the ash’?

12.

Which correspondence lasted from March 1946 to February 2004?

13.

Leeds Utd (1971):  Lazio (1999): Shaktar Donetsk (2009).  What is the connection?

14.

The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World were spread across four modern countries.  Name them.

15.

What was the subject of Norman Mailer’s 1970s essay entitled, Of a small and modest malignancy, wicked and bristling with dots?

16.

Formerly in Yorkshire but now in Cumbria, this high point is the highest on the Pennines at 893 metres.  Name it.

17.

Engraved around the rim of  the current pound coin is the Latin inscription, ’Decus et Tutamen’.  What does it mean?

18.

Which modern city recently commemorated the 400th anniversary of its founding when Henry Hudson sailed up the river to the site where it is now located on September 11^th 1609?

19.

Mary de Bohun was the mother of which English king?

20.

Which former professional dancer will shortly be joining the panel of judges in the current series of Strictly Come Dancing?

21.

Which disgraced (and now deceased) former billionaire US hotel owner and property developer was notorious for declaring, ”We don’t pay taxes.  Only the little people pay taxes!”

22.

The market town of Reeth is situated at the meeting point of Arkengarthdale and which other Yorkshire dale?

1.

Two African capital cities are situated on opposite banks of the River Congo within sight of each other.  One is Kinshasa.  Name the other.

Brazzaville

2.

Complete the title of this English pop band formed in 1986 by Clark Datchler:‘Johnny Hates……’.

Jazz

3.

Specifically what common word is used to describe rainfall consisting of droplets less than 0.5 millimetres in diameter?

Drizzle

4.

What word can mean: a) the projecting part of the face of animals such as the dog or horse; b) the front end of a gun barrel; c) to prevent from being heard or noticed?

Muzzle

5.

Which Italian footballer was infamously (but very stylishly) headbutted by Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 World Cup Final?

 (Marco) Materazzi

6.

Which film, made in 2000 and starring Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley, was a remake of the 1967 film of the same name originally written by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore?

Bedazzled

7.

Who am I?  Born in Yemen in 1962, my early life was spent in County Down and Eastbourne.  I was kicked off my accountancy degree course at Sheffield University so became instead a brilliantly eccentric stand-up comedian and actor, also a writer and political campaigner.  John Cleese has called me “The Lost Python”.

Eddie Izzard

8.

Where am I?  As befits any location between Luton and Milton Keynes this Bedfordshire town is very uninteresting.  In fact if it wasn’t for its quirky name, it would probably never get used as a quiz question.  In fairness though it does have the Grand Union Canal and the British Head Office of the renowned Tupperware Company.

Leighton Buzzard

1.

Which royalist (and royal) commander in the English Civil War is commemorated by a blue plaque on the wall of Didsbury Library?

Prince Rupert of the Rhine

(who mustered his army nearby at Barloe Moor in 1644)

2.

A blue plaque at Didsbury Library also commemorates a Cheshire-born Parliamentary commander in the English Civil War.  Who was he?

Sir William Brereton

(who also mustered his army at Barloe Moor in 1645)

3.

Which 2 of the 4 Grand Slam tennis tournaments have been won this year by the world no.1 men’s tennis player, Roger Federer?

The French Open (or Roland Garros) & Wimbledon

4.

Which 2 of the 4 Grand Slam tennis tournaments have been won this year by the world no.2  women’s tennis player, Serena Williams?

The Australian Open & Wimbledon

5.

According to Norse Mythology, who were Ask and Embla?

The first man and woman

6.

According to Egyptian Mythology, who were Geb and Nut?

The God of the Earth and the Goddess of the Sky

7.

Who is Samantha Geimer and why has she been in the news recently?

She was the 13 year old American girl whom film director Roman Polanski is accused of having raped back in 1977

(At the time of writing he is currently under arrest in Switzerland for this alleged offence pending his possible extradition to the US)

8.

Who is Terry Herbert and why has he been in the news recently?

He is the man  who discovered the largest ever hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure in a field in Staffordshire using a metal-detector

(Reckoned to be much larger than the 1939 Sutton Hoo discovery, the treasure is now on display at a museum in Birmingham)

1.

Name the popular Western-themed TV series that originally ran from 1967 to 1971 and starred Leif Erikson as Big John Cannon.

The High Chaparral

2.

What was the title and real name of The Scarlet Pimpernel?

Sir Percy Blakeney

3.

How was Manchester-born Derrick Errol Evans better known during his appearances on  the breakfast television show GMTV in the early 1990s?

Mr Motivator

4.

How is the King James Bible of 1611 otherwise known in the United Kingdom?

The Authorised Version

5.

Combine the first name of the actor who co-starred with Barbra Streisand in the 1976 version of  A Star Is Born with a collective name for relatives?

Kris Kin

(the actor ‘s surname being Kristofferson)

6.

Combine a word that denotes something fresh and original with one that denotes coming towards someone or something?

New Approach

7.

What name has been given to the Global Navigation Satellite System that is currently being built by the European Union in conjunction with the European Space Agency.  It is intended to complement the US Global Positioning System GPS and the Russian Glonass?

Galileo

8.

For what purpose might Sir Patrick Moore look through his home-made reflecting telescope in his garden at Selsey in Sussex?

To See (Sea) The Stars

Theme: The answers plus the theme each contain the names (in italics) of eight recent Derby winners

1.

00.48, 05.35, 12.01, 17.54  .In terms of British broadcasting, what do these times have in common?

Times when the shipping forecast is broadcast on BBC Radio 4

2.

He was captain of the Beagle and later on he founded the Meteorological Office.  Give his surname.

Fitzroy

3.

What name was given to the diplomatic incident of 1904 when the Russian Baltic Fleet opened fire on 40 fishing trawlers from Hull?

The Dogger Bank Incident

4.

The sea area of Heligoland had a change of name in 1956. What is it now called?

German Bight

5.

Name the headland that marks the border between the shipping areas of Tyne and Humber.

Flamborough Head

6.

In his Wessex novels, Thomas Hardy refers to which island as the ‘Isle of Slingers’ on account of its natives’ quaint custom of throwing rocks at any mainlanders foolhardy enough to set foot on their island?

Portland

7.

What new name was given to sea area Mersey in 1956?

Irish Sea

8.

Which sea area has land boundaries stretching from Rosslaire around Southern Ireland to Valentia Island just south of Dingle Bay?

Fastnet

1.

Which British river is the largest in terms of water discharged to the sea?

The River Tay

2.

Which is the highest pub in England?

The Tan Hill Inn in Yorkshire

(582m above sea level)

3.

Which fiction writer claims proudly in the foreword to all his books that he was born in the kingdom of Fife in 1960 and worked variously as a grape-picker, taxman and alcohol researcher before publishing Knots & Crosses in 1987, the first of a long series?

Ian Rankin

4.

Which British playwright,  novelist and journalist died on September 4^th 2009 aged 80?

Keith Waterhouse

5.

Typographical sources refer to these type-faces as ‘Grotesque’ or ‘Gothic’.  How are they better known on the modern PC?

Sans-Serif

6.

What does the prefix HTTP stand for at the beginning of all web site addresses?

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

7.

In which Dickens novel would you find the impoverished but charitable Jellyby family?

Bleak House

8.

In which Dickens novel would you find a hangman called Ned Dennis?

Barnaby Rudge

1.

In the Muppet Show,what is the name of the bespectacled backstage assistant?

Scooter

2.

What sea route passes between the islands of Tierra del Fuego and forms part of the border between Chile and Argentina?

The Beagle Channel

3.

Which South African actress received critical acclaim and a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the film ‘Monster’?

Charlize Theron

4.

Which 1953 British film comedy depicted villagers trying to prevent British Railways closing their local line?

The Titfield Thunderbolt

5.

Arguably the best mountain walk in Britain, this circular route south of Ben Nevis includes 4 Munros and takes its name from a nearby ruined village and not from the sharpness of the peaks?

The Ring of Steal

6.

What financial arrangement can be defined as : money, property, a deed, or a bond put into the custody of a third party for delivery to a grantee only after the fulfillment of the conditions specified?

Escrow

7.

Which composer was born in Dublin in 1563, died in London in 1626 and is best known for his melancholy songs set to the lute and recently revived by Sting?

John Dowland

8.

In computer science what is the name of a programme that makes one computer system appear to work exactly like a different computer system?

An emulator or emulation software

ROUNDS 7 & 8 - Mini Bingo

Select a number between 1 and 22

1.

Fats Domino had a hit with this song in the 1950s.New Order had a hit with a completely different song but with the same title in the 1980s.  What was the song called?

Blue Monday

2.

Who said, “The world would be a better place if everybody loved everybody the way everybody loves me”?

Muhammed Ali

3.

On May 2^nd 2009 the world record for an attendance at a rugby union club match was shattered when over 82,000 fans turned up to watch which two teams play?

Munster v Leinster

(Heineken Cup semi-final at Croke Park)

4.

Also known as Benares what is Hinduism’s most holy city?

Varanasi

5.

Which atmospheric 1976 film,directed by John Carpenter,was inspired by the Howard Hawks western ‘Rio Bravo’ and was also influenced by George A Romero’s  “Night of the Living Dead”?

Assault on Precinct 13

6.

The banner headline on the front page of the Guardian on Monday July 21^st 1969 was, “ON THE MOON AFTER PERFECT TOUCHDOWN”.  Just above this headline was the price.  So how much did the Guardian cost in those days?

6d

(six old pence, a tanner, 2.5 new pence)

7.

Who is the patron saint of politicians?

St.Thomas More

8

The 16^th met his end in a building that had the same name as the 38^th.  Explain.

The 16^th president of the USA, Abraham Lincoln, was shot in the Ford Theatre and Gerald Ford was the 38^th president

9.

What notable first was achieved by Canadian Guy Laliberte in Kazakhstan on September 30^th 2009?

He became the first professional clown to go into orbit

(as a space tourist aboard the Soyuz craft to the International Space Station)

10.

What is the only town in England to have a port, a garrison and a university with a royal charter (perhaps not coincidentally it also has one of the highest rates of venereal disease in the country)?

Colchester

11.

With which sport would you associate the commentator’s cliché, ‘the clash of the ash’?

Hurling

12.

Which correspondence lasted from March 1946 to February 2004?

Alastair Cooke’s Letter From America

13.

Leeds Utd (1971):  Lazio (1999): Shaktar Donetsk (2009).  What is the connection?

The last winners of 3 now defunct European football trophies, i.e. The Fairs Cup, The Cup Winners Cup and The UEFA Cup respectively

14.

The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World were spread across four modern countries.  Name them.

Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq

15.

What was the subject of Norman Mailer’s 1970s essay entitled, Of a small and modest malignancy, wicked and bristling with dots?

Television

(this question is dedicated to Roz)

16.

Formerly in Yorkshire but now in Cumbria, this high point is the highest on the Pennines at 893 metres.  Name it.

Cross Fell

17.

Engraved around the rim of  the current pound coin is the Latin inscription, ’Decus et Tutamen’.  What does it mean?

'An ornament and a safeguard'

18.

Which modern city recently commemorated the 400th anniversary of its founding when Henry Hudson sailed up the river to the site where it is now located on September 11^th 1609?

New York

(originally named New Amsterdam by Hudson’s Dutch employers)

19.

Mary de Bohun was the mother of which English king?

Henry V

20.

Which former professional dancer will shortly be joining the panel of judges in the current series of Strictly Come Dancing?

Darcey Bussell

21.

Which disgraced (and now deceased) former billionaire US hotel owner and property developer was notorious for declaring, ”We don’t pay taxes.  Only the little people pay taxes!”

Leona Helmsley

(Not surprisingly known as ‘The Queen of Mean’)

22.

The market town of Reeth is situated at the meeting point of Arkengarthdale and which other Yorkshire dale?

Swaledale