1.

Which Irish bred horse was foaled in 1965 by Quorum out of Mared?

2.

Which English bred horse was foaled in 1979 by Flower Child out of Grey Mirage?

3.

You are in a hip hostelry in Hulme.  You order a starter of brandade de Nimes and the waiter brings you a fishy paste on toast.  What fish is the principal ingredient?  Be precise.

4.

You are in a chic cafe-bar in Chorlton.  You order a starter of traditional Cullen Skink, and the waitress brings you a fish soup.  What fish is the principal ingredient?

5.

What peculiarity includes Florence Nightingale, Winona Ryder and Casey ,Zones, the driver of the cannonball express, amongst its population but not Chelsea Clinton?

6.

What peculiarity includes Zeus, Denis Thatcher and Darth Vader amongst its population but not George W Bush?  Be precise.

7.

It was published in the USA as Edge of day: boyhood in the West of England, but what was the title of this autobiographical work when it was originally published in the UK in 1959?

8.

It was published in the USA as Survival in Auschwitz but what was the title of this autobiographical work when it was published in the UK a year earlier in 1958?

ROUND 2 - Announced theme - Cock & Bull

Famed for giving answers that are invariably a load of cock and bull, The Men They Couldn't Hang felt it was about time everyone joined in – even SPW. All answers contain either the word "cock" or "bull" or a word that contains either of them.

1.

Who came to sticky end in a Dickens' novel when, "missing his aim, he fell into the ditch, and turning completely as he went, dashed out his brains"?

2.

Who was the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a famous signatory to the Declaration of Independence?

3.

In 1836 the residents of what is now Hazel Grove voted overwhelming to change the village name. How was it known until then?

4.

The traditional Chief of the Clan Gordon is the Marquis of Huntly.  What is the Chief's soubriquet, as used by the London and North Eastern Railway to name a P2 class of locomotive designed to haul express passenger trains to Aberdeen?

5.

Which Scottish country dance, a 32-bar reel requiring multiples of 3 couples, shares its name with the title of a song by Robert Burns which opens "My love was born in Aberdeen, the bonniest lad that ever was seen"?

6.

In which 1988 film does the lead character Crash Davis claim that he "believes there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter"?

7.

Who is standing beside Lord Mountbatten?

8.

Name this Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath.

Sp.

What was the title of the 2006 film starring Steve Coogan which told the story of the filming of Tristram Shandy?

1.

Which geographical feature is pictured?

2.

Name the singer guitarist pictured.

3.

Which London institution opened in 1938 on the North Circular Road, closed on December 30 1969 but has been reincarnated in the 21^st century?

4.

Which 1990's television comedy was originally going to be called Dead Belgians Don't Count but was, at the last minute, given a title that ultimately entered into the English lexicon?

5.

Which Thomas Hardy novel features Diggory Venn a purveyor of red ochre to sheep farmers?

6.

Which film of 1942 earned Noel Coward an Academy Honorary Award for his outstanding achievement in not only writing the screenplay and co-directing alongside David Lean, but also for starring in the leading role as Captain Kinross?

7.

In bell ringing the word ‘minor’ is used to describe those peals that are rung on six bells, as in ‘plain bob minor’.  What word is used to collectively describe those that are rung on five bells?

8.

Weighing 22,000 pounds and designed to destroy by camouflet, or earthquake effect, what name was given to the heaviest bomb dropped by the RAF in the Second World War?

Sp.

The River Kinder flows from the plateau of Kinder Scout for a distance of three miles to its confluence with which other river?

1.

What old adage is given credence by the Peutinger Table, a schematic drawing made by Konrad Peutinger in the fifteenth century but copied from an older original probably dating back to the fourth century?

2.

Which catchphrase from an animated film of 1995 has its origins in a schematic drawing published in 1576 by Thomas Digges, a close associate of Doctor Dee the scientific advisor to Queen Elizabeth I?

3.

The area around Buxton is notorious for its limestone quarries but what rock was extensively quarried at Calton Hill and used predominantly for road paving setts?

4.

The area around Buxton was heavily mined for lead but the ore of which metal was mined at Ecton Hill before the near surface deposits discovered on Anglesey rendered it uneconomic?

5.

Which country with a current estimated population of 5.3 million is the least populous nation to have hosted the modern summer Olympic games?

6.

Eight countries, including three from Britain, have hosted the Commonwealth Games.  Which, with a landmass of eleven thousand square kilometres, is the smallest?  Indeed it is so small that it is half the size of the next smallest.

7.

Located on the road running south from Ribbleshead viaduct the appropriately named Hill Inn lies on the western slopes of which Yorkshire hill?

8.

On the ascent of which British hill is it possible to stop for refreshment at the appropriately named Halfway House cafe?

1.

Which very select sporting ‘club’ lists its most recent members as salesman Ricky George, admitted in 1972, schools examiner Mick Mahon in 1975, and bricklayer Matthew Hanlan in 1987? Be precise.

2.

Similarly, which select sporting ‘club’ has the following luminaries within its membership: the aforementioned giant killing Ricky George, the hamster eating Freddie Starr, the celebrities’ hairdresser Teazy Weazy Raymond and the holiday magnate Sir Fred Pontin?

3.

After surviving the British army's expedition to Murmansk in 1918 to fight the Bolsheviks, this Anglo Irish hero was to die in a remote corner of the globe in January 1922.  Name him.

4.

After surviving the Battle of the Somme this local hero was to die in a remote corner of the globe in June 1924.  Name him.

5.

Why was the hitherto unknown Carole Bonahan, an estate agent from Shepton Mallett, in the national news in July?

6.

Why was the hitherto unknown Rachel Wardell, a housewife from Lincolnshire, in the national news in July?

7.

In the General Election of 1959 Lt Commander John Kerans became the last Tory to win the seat of Hartlepool.  He did however possess an earlier claim to fame having played a pivotal role in which controversy of 1949?

8.

Stuart Drummond won the inaugural election to be the Mayor of Hartlepool.  He did however possess an earlier claim to fame for some unseemly antics in his role as the monkey mascot for Hartlepool United.  What was the monkey's rather apt name?

ROUND 6 - Announced theme - 'A Different Kind of Blue'

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Miles Davis's seminal work The Men They Couldn't Hang have concocted a round entitled A Different Kind of Blue.  All answers contain either a shade of, or a misspelling of, blue.  No answer contains a correctly spelt ‘blue’

1.

Name the footballer who, whilst scoring a career total of 317 goals in the top flight of English football, also helped Derby County win the British Baseball championship three times in the 1890s.

2.

George Stephenson's first ever locomotive was built in 1814 for the Killingworth wagonway and was named in honour of a famous general.  What was its name?

3.

Of the twenty-five UNESCO world heritage sites in the United Kingdom two are in Yorkshire.  One is Saltaire's Mill.  What is the other?

4.

Which poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley opens "Hail to thee blithe spirit, bird thou never wert"?

5.

Properly it is the clitocybe nuda.  What, apart from Blue Shanks, is the popular name for this fungus?

6.

Name this recipient of the OBE in 2006.

7.

Which BBC production was first broadcast in March 1959 and featured Leslie Phillips with his catchphrase "Left hand down a bit"?

8.

Which 1979 number 1 UK single incorporated the lines "Now the light fades out, and I'm wondering what am I doing in a room like this?"?

Sp.

Which war fought in 1866 is sometimes referred to as the Seven Week War and was concluded by the Peace of Prague after the decisive battle of Konnigratz?

1.

Which River flows through Basle?

2.

In which 1966 hit does Donovan inform us that quote "electric banana is gonna be a sudden craze"?

3.

Where in Hundred Acre Wood was the house for Eeyore built?

4.

Name the English batsman who played in his last test in 2005 and captained Kent to the title in the second division of the LV County Championship this season.

5.

William "Billy" Bones was first mate on the Walrus.  Name either its infamous Captain or its irrepressible Quartermaster.

6.

Which British nineteenth century political philosopher and author of On Liberty remarked that "most stupid people are conservative"?

7.

The winner of the Oscar for best actor in 1969 declared in his acceptance speech that "If only I'd have known this then, I'd have put that eye patch on forty years ago.”  For his role in which film did this actor win his first and only Oscar?

8.

Which character, created by Graham Greene, makes a comparison between the Italian Renaissance and Switzerland, a country where, "they had brotherly love and five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did they produce - the cuckoo clock"?

Sp.

Which 1994 film set in Edinburgh and starring Ewan MacGregor and Christopher Eccleston was the feature length directorial debut for Danny Boyle?

1.

Which Nobel Prize winning German author and Wehrmacht veteran wrote The End of the Mission set in immediate post war Germany?

2.

Which French composer and army medic wrote Quartet for the End of Time while incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp during the Second World War?

3.

Which former blue riband holder ended its revenue earning days as a floating wool and coal warehouse in the Falklands until being scuttled in 1937?

4.

Which vessel, having been badly damaged in action, ended its days as a prison hulk before being famously broken up on the Thames in 1831?

5.

It begins on August 12^th but when does the Grouse shooting season end in England? (a leeway of one week either way is allowed)

6.

It begins on June 18^th but when does the Coarse Fishing season end on English rivers? (a leeway of one week either way is allowed)

7.

Production of Samson bitter came to an end in 1999 when the board of which Sunderland-based brewery decided to cease all brewing operations and to concentrate resources on their hotel business?

8.

Which brand of bitter had been brewed at the Star Brewery in Nottingham for 139 years until production came to an end in 1991 when Greenalls, who had acquired the brand in 1978, announced the cessation of all brewing operations?

1.

What is a Carrick Bend?

2.

Which British Prime Minister was the school fencing champion at Harrow?

3.

Who was the self-confessed English opium eater?

4.

From the seed of which tree is the spice mace derived?

1.

Which Irish bred horse was foaled in 1965 by Quorum out of Mared?

Red Rum

(Red from Mared, Rum from Quorum)

2.

Which English bred horse was foaled in 1979 by Flower Child out of Grey Mirage?

Desert Orchid

(mirage provides the Desert, flower provides the Orchid)

3.

You are in a hip hostelry in Hulme.  You order a starter of brandade de Nimes and the waiter brings you a fishy paste on toast.  What fish is the principal ingredient?  Be precise.

Salted cod

4.

You are in a chic cafe-bar in Chorlton.  You order a starter of traditional Cullen Skink, and the waitress brings you a fish soup.  What fish is the principal ingredient?

Smoked haddock

(or more correctly finnan haddie - a haddock cold smoked over peat)

5.

What peculiarity includes Florence Nightingale, Winona Ryder and Casey ,Zones, the driver of the cannonball express, amongst its population but not Chelsea Clinton?

Being named after their place of birth

(Clinton Junior was born in Little Rock and named after the song Chelsea Morning.  Casey Jones adopted a corruption of his birthplace, Cayce Kentucky, as his professional name)

6.

What peculiarity includes Zeus, Denis Thatcher and Darth Vader amongst its population but not George W Bush?  Be precise.

Fathering twins of different sexes

(Apollo and Artemis, Carol and Mark, and Luke and Leia - while Dubya is excluded as he fathered twins of the same sex)

7.

It was published in the USA as Edge of day: boyhood in the West of England, but what was the title of this autobiographical work when it was originally published in the UK in 1959?

Cider with Rosie

8.

It was published in the USA as Survival in Auschwitz but what was the title of this autobiographical work when it was published in the UK a year earlier in 1958?

If This Is a Man

ROUND 2 - Announced theme - Cock & Bull

Famed for giving answers that are invariably a load of cock and bull, The Men They Couldn't Hang felt it was about time everyone joined in – even SPW. All answers contain either the word "cock" or "bull" or a word that contains either of them.

1.

Who came to sticky end in a Dickens' novel when, "missing his aim, he fell into the ditch, and turning completely as he went, dashed out his brains"?

Bullseye

(Bill Sykes's dog in Oliver Twist)

2.

Who was the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a famous signatory to the Declaration of Independence?

John Hancock

3.

In 1836 the residents of what is now Hazel Grove voted overwhelming to change the village name. How was it known until then?

Bullock Smithy

4.

The traditional Chief of the Clan Gordon is the Marquis of Huntly.  What is the Chief's soubriquet, as used by the London and North Eastern Railway to name a P2 class of locomotive designed to haul express passenger trains to Aberdeen?

The Cock o' the North

5.

Which Scottish country dance, a 32-bar reel requiring multiples of 3 couples, shares its name with the title of a song by Robert Burns which opens "My love was born in Aberdeen, the bonniest lad that ever was seen"?

The White Cockade

6.

In which 1988 film does the lead character Crash Davis claim that he "believes there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter"?

Bull Durham

7.

Who is standing beside Lord Mountbatten?

Christopher Cockerell

(the propeller belongs to a hovercraft)

8.

Name this Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath.

Eliza Manningham Buller

Sp.

What was the title of the 2006 film starring Steve Coogan which told the story of the filming of Tristram Shandy?

A Cock and Bull Story

1.

Which geographical feature is pictured?

San Andreas Fault

2.

Name the singer guitarist pictured.

Courtney Love

3.

Which London institution opened in 1938 on the North Circular Road, closed on December 30 1969 but has been reincarnated in the 21^st century?

Ace cafe

4.

Which 1990's television comedy was originally going to be called Dead Belgians Don't Count but was, at the last minute, given a title that ultimately entered into the English lexicon?

Drop the Dead Donkey

5.

Which Thomas Hardy novel features Diggory Venn a purveyor of red ochre to sheep farmers?

The Return of the Native

6.

Which film of 1942 earned Noel Coward an Academy Honorary Award for his outstanding achievement in not only writing the screenplay and co-directing alongside David Lean, but also for starring in the leading role as Captain Kinross?

In Which We Serve

7.

In bell ringing the word ‘minor’ is used to describe those peals that are rung on six bells, as in ‘plain bob minor’.  What word is used to collectively describe those that are rung on five bells?

Doubles

8.

Weighing 22,000 pounds and designed to destroy by camouflet, or earthquake effect, what name was given to the heaviest bomb dropped by the RAF in the Second World War?

The Grand Slam

(in case of contention the Tallboy was only 16,000lbs and in any case the theme would require it to be a ball boy)

Sp.

The River Kinder flows from the plateau of Kinder Scout for a distance of three miles to its confluence with which other river?

Sett

Theme: Each answer contains a term used in tennis

1.

What old adage is given credence by the Peutinger Table, a schematic drawing made by Konrad Peutinger in the fifteenth century but copied from an older original probably dating back to the fourth century?

All roads lead to Rome

(the table showed which roads to use to get to Rome from anywhere in the Empire)

2.

Which catchphrase from an animated film of 1995 has its origins in a schematic drawing published in 1576 by Thomas Digges, a close associate of Doctor Dee the scientific advisor to Queen Elizabeth I?

To infinity and beyond!

(the drawing being the earliest document to express the concept that space went on forever)

3.

The area around Buxton is notorious for its limestone quarries but what rock was extensively quarried at Calton Hill and used predominantly for road paving setts?

Basalt

4.

The area around Buxton was heavily mined for lead but the ore of which metal was mined at Ecton Hill before the near surface deposits discovered on Anglesey rendered it uneconomic?

Copper

5.

Which country with a current estimated population of 5.3 million is the least populous nation to have hosted the modern summer Olympic games?

Finland

(in 1952)

6.

Eight countries, including three from Britain, have hosted the Commonwealth Games.  Which, with a landmass of eleven thousand square kilometres, is the smallest?  Indeed it is so small that it is half the size of the next smallest.

Jamaica

(in 1966 - and half the size of Wales)

7.

Located on the road running south from Ribbleshead viaduct the appropriately named Hill Inn lies on the western slopes of which Yorkshire hill?

Ingleborough

8.

On the ascent of which British hill is it possible to stop for refreshment at the appropriately named Halfway House cafe?

Snowdon

(on the Llanberis route)

1.

Which very select sporting ‘club’ lists its most recent members as salesman Ricky George, admitted in 1972, schools examiner Mick Mahon in 1975, and bricklayer Matthew Hanlan in 1987? Be precise.

Scorers of the winning goal for a non-league team that knocked a team from the old first division out of the FA Cup

(Hereford v Newcastle, Wimbledon v Burnley and Sutton v Coventry respectively.  In case of dispute Ronnie Radford put Hereford 1-0 up with his 30 yard shot. George made it 2-1 with a simple tap in)

2.

Similarly, which select sporting ‘club’ has the following luminaries within its membership: the aforementioned giant killing Ricky George, the hamster eating Freddie Starr, the celebrities’ hairdresser Teazy Weazy Raymond and the holiday magnate Sir Fred Pontin?

They all owned (or part owned) a winner of the Grand National (Earth Summit in 1998, Minnehoma in 1994, Rag Trade in 1976 and Specify in 1971)

3.

After surviving the British army's expedition to Murmansk in 1918 to fight the Bolsheviks, this Anglo Irish hero was to die in a remote corner of the globe in January 1922.  Name him.

Ernest Shackleton

(died on South Georgia bound for Antartica)

4.

After surviving the Battle of the Somme this local hero was to die in a remote corner of the globe in June 1924.  Name him.

George Mallory

(he commanded a heavy artillery battery at the Somme)

5.

Why was the hitherto unknown Carole Bonahan, an estate agent from Shepton Mallett, in the national news in July?

She was selected as the Witch of Wookey Hole

6.

Why was the hitherto unknown Rachel Wardell, a housewife from Lincolnshire, in the national news in July?

She was first on the fourth plinth

7.

In the General Election of 1959 Lt Commander John Kerans became the last Tory to win the seat of Hartlepool.  He did however possess an earlier claim to fame having played a pivotal role in which controversy of 1949?

The Yangtse Incident

(he assumed command of HMS Amethyst)

8.

Stuart Drummond won the inaugural election to be the Mayor of Hartlepool.  He did however possess an earlier claim to fame for some unseemly antics in his role as the monkey mascot for Hartlepool United.  What was the monkey's rather apt name?

h'Angus

(monkeyhangers being a term of abuse applied to the town's residents after a ship's monkey was hung as a spy during the Napoleonic Wars on the basis that as it was small, hairy, and spoke gibberish it had to be French)

ROUND 6 - Announced theme - 'A Different Kind of Blue'

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Miles Davis's seminal work The Men They Couldn't Hang have concocted a round entitled A Different Kind of Blue.  All answers contain either a shade of, or a misspelling of, blue.  No answer contains a correctly spelt ‘blue’

1.

Name the footballer who, whilst scoring a career total of 317 goals in the top flight of English football, also helped Derby County win the British Baseball championship three times in the 1890s.

Steve Bloomer

2.

George Stephenson's first ever locomotive was built in 1814 for the Killingworth wagonway and was named in honour of a famous general.  What was its name?

Blücher

(not the last late arrival at Waterloo...)

3.

Of the twenty-five UNESCO world heritage sites in the United Kingdom two are in Yorkshire.  One is Saltaire's Mill.  What is the other?

Studley Royal

(parkland incorporating Fountains Abbey)

4.

Which poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley opens "Hail to thee blithe spirit, bird thou never wert"?

To a Skylark

5.

Properly it is the clitocybe nuda.  What, apart from Blue Shanks, is the popular name for this fungus?

Wood Blewit

6.

Name this recipient of the OBE in 2006.

Heston Blumenthal

7.

Which BBC production was first broadcast in March 1959 and featured Leslie Phillips with his catchphrase "Left hand down a bit"?

The Navy Lark

8.

Which 1979 number 1 UK single incorporated the lines "Now the light fades out, and I'm wondering what am I doing in a room like this?"?

Are friends electric?

Sp.

Which war fought in 1866 is sometimes referred to as the Seven Week War and was concluded by the Peace of Prague after the decisive battle of Konnigratz?

Austro-Prussian

1.

Which River flows through Basle?

Rhine

2.

In which 1966 hit does Donovan inform us that quote "electric banana is gonna be a sudden craze"?

Mellow Yellow

(cheap laugh available for any QM with the chutzpah to reply "that's right" to a correct answer)

3.

Where in Hundred Acre Wood was the house for Eeyore built?

Pooh Corner

4.

Name the English batsman who played in his last test in 2005 and captained Kent to the title in the second division of the LV County Championship this season.

Robert Key

5.

William "Billy" Bones was first mate on the Walrus.  Name either its infamous Captain or its irrepressible Quartermaster.

Cap'n Flint or Long John Silver (Advise the teams that either answer maintains the theme. Bones lodged at the Admiral Benbow at the start of the novel)

6.

Which British nineteenth century political philosopher and author of On Liberty remarked that "most stupid people are conservative"?

John Stuart Mill

7.

The winner of the Oscar for best actor in 1969 declared in his acceptance speech that "If only I'd have known this then, I'd have put that eye patch on forty years ago.”  For his role in which film did this actor win his first and only Oscar?

True Grit

(John Wayne as Rooster Coburn)

8.

Which character, created by Graham Greene, makes a comparison between the Italian Renaissance and Switzerland, a country where, "they had brotherly love and five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did they produce - the cuckoo clock"?

Harry Lime

(as a point of interest, while Greene wrote the screenplay based on his earlier novella, this line was apparently scripted by Welles himself)

Sp.

Which 1994 film set in Edinburgh and starring Ewan MacGregor and Christopher Eccleston was the feature length directorial debut for Danny Boyle?

Shallow Grave

Theme: Each answer contains a word that can be succeeded by the word ‘stone’

1.

Which Nobel Prize winning German author and Wehrmacht veteran wrote The End of the Mission set in immediate post war Germany?

Heinrich Boll

2.

Which French composer and army medic wrote Quartet for the End of Time while incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp during the Second World War?

Oliver Messaien

3.

Which former blue riband holder ended its revenue earning days as a floating wool and coal warehouse in the Falklands until being scuttled in 1937?

SS Great Britain

(although subsequently, and gloriously, restored)

4.

Which vessel, having been badly damaged in action, ended its days as a prison hulk before being famously broken up on the Thames in 1831?

The Temeraire

5.

It begins on August 12^th but when does the Grouse shooting season end in England? (a leeway of one week either way is allowed)

December 10^th

(allow December 3^rd to 17^th)

6.

It begins on June 18^th but when does the Coarse Fishing season end on English rivers? (a leeway of one week either way is allowed)

March 14^th

(allow March 7^th to 21^st)

7.

Production of Samson bitter came to an end in 1999 when the board of which Sunderland-based brewery decided to cease all brewing operations and to concentrate resources on their hotel business?

Vaux

8.

Which brand of bitter had been brewed at the Star Brewery in Nottingham for 139 years until production came to an end in 1991 when Greenalls, who had acquired the brand in 1978, announced the cessation of all brewing operations?

Shipstones

1.

What is a Carrick Bend?

A Knot

2.

Which British Prime Minister was the school fencing champion at Harrow?

Winston Churchill

3.

Who was the self-confessed English opium eater?

Thomas de Quincey

4.

From the seed of which tree is the spice mace derived?

Nutmeg