1.

What is the English equivalent of a Bronx cheer? 

2.

Reputedly Manchester’s oldest pub situated on the junction of Deansgate & John Dalton Street, what's it called?

3.

What was the subject of Kepler’s 3 Laws published between 1609 and 1619?

4.

What is a mark on a stone post or other permanent feature  used as a reference in surveying?

5.

Name the Devon fishing and tourist centre situated between Exmouth and Teignmouth.

6.

What imperial office was created in 1858 and held by Charles Canning from 1858 to 1862? 

7.

What medical condition can be summarised as pregnancy-induced hypertension?

8.

What is the name given to a type of light shoe with a canvas upper and typically with a braided cord sole.

ROUND 2 - 'Who am I?'

Identify the well-known people being described all of whom have something in common

1.

I am a luvvie and I like to go 'tweet, tweet, tweet'.  In 1997 I was Wilde but in 1995 I was so depressed I deserted my cell mate and buggered off  to Bruges.

2.

I am a veteran reporter.  In 2001 I got carried away and embarrassed both myself and the BBC by claiming to have liberated Kabul.

3.

I am a historian and broadcaster.  I know even more about British  monarchs than Damian from the Charabancs.  I take great pride in being called  'the rudest man in Britain'.

4.

I am a controversial English-American writer and journalist born in 1949.  Over the years my politics have veered sharply from left to right wing.  I am a champion of New Atheism and I have bitterly attacked the reputation of  Mother Teresa.

5.

Though I make most of  my money from voiceovers (I was the female rabbit in the Cadbury’s Caramel adverts) I am also a popular and versatile actress.  My countless  film and TV roles include Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films and Queen Victoria in Blackadder’s Christmas Carol.

6.

I am a team captain on Radio 4’s  literary quiz The Write Stuff.  My latest novel is called A Week in December  but most people know me for a trilogy of novels set in France.  One of these came 13th a few years ago in a poll to find Britain's favourite read.

7.

'From toe job to no job' jeered the Sun newspaper in 1992 when I was forced to resign from the cabinet following a sex scandal.  I am also fondly remembered as being Radio 5’s  worst ever football pundit.

8.

I am Withington’s foremost authority on the music of Belle and Sebastian.  I manage my own indie record label which I call Cherryade Recordings. Sometimes I pop into the university but mostly I am content just to be on the telly.

ROUNDS 3 & 4 - Blockbuster Bingo (Part 1)

Choose your question based on the subject matter specified - there are 4 spare questions

1.

Cinema

In which film of 1993 did Johnny Depp star alongside Leonardo di Caprio and Juliette Lewis?

2.

Name the year

In which year did the following events take place:

• Tommy Cooper dies;

• Methane explosion at Abbeystead Water Treatment Plant;

• France beat Spain in the Euro Cup;

• Space Shuttle Discovery's maiden voyage?

3.

Children's literature

In The Jungle Book series, what kind of animal was Kotick?

4.

Mythology

Who, along with Lachesis and Atropos, makes up The Fates in Greek mythology?

5.

Painting

For which specific type of art was Nicholas Hilliard famous?

6.

Birds

How is the bird Sula Bassanus, an aggressive clifftop dweller, more commonly known?

7.

Name the year

In which year did the following occur:

• Boutros Boutros Ghali replaced Perez de Cuellar as UN Secretary General;

• A court in Milwaukee sentenced Jeffrey Dahmer to life imprisonment;

• EuroDisney officially opened; In California,

• Four Los Angeles policemen were acquitted of beating up Rodney King?

8.

TV

In which recent BBC serial did David Tennant star alongside former Coronation Street star, Suranne Jones?

9

Cinema

Name the 2006 Sam Mendes film based on a memoir by marine Anthony Swofford which starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx.

10.

Warfare

Whose army was heavily defeated by the Basques at the Battle of Roncesvalles in 778?

11.

Words

What name is given to the science and engineering of the very small? 

12.

Name the year

In which year did the following take place:

• Racing driver Jim Clarke was killed in a Formula 2 race at Hochenheim;

• Pope Paul VI published his Humanae Vitae condemning birth control;

• NASA launched Apollo 7, the first manned mission;

• The Beatles released their White Album?

13.

TV

Name the game show hosted by Keith Lemon aided by Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton.

14.

American literature

Suttree, All The Pretty Horses and The Crossing are works by which American author?

15.

European royalty

Which Italian-born queen was consort to Henri II of France and mother to three other French kings?

16.

Connections

Who or what links Arthur Kinsey, Rob Roy McGregor and Michael Collins?

17.

American literature

As I Lay Dying, Absalom and Light In August were all written by which American author?

18.

Name the year

In which year did these events take place:

• First commercial flight by Concorde;

• Patty Hearst found guilty of armed robbery of a San Francisco bank;

• Apple Computers founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniak;

• Trial of Donald Neilson, The Black Panther, begins at Oxford Crown Court?

19.

Connections

What connects these songs: The Boys Of Summer, The Heat Is On and Life's Been Good?

20.

Words

In days gone by every lady would have in her possession a reticule.  What was it?

1.

Who first represented the constituency of Maidstone as an MP in 1987 as well as writing a series of novels including The Clematis Tree (2000) and An Act of Peace (2005)?

2.

Who was born in Berlin in 1924, served as a MP between 1973 and 1987 and was succeeded in his North East Cambridgeshire seat by Malcolm Moss?

3.

Which mediaeval sect was persecuted and finally eradicated by the Catholic Church at Chateau de Montsegur in 1244?

4.

Which French king defeated a Muslim army at the battle of Tours (also called the battle of Poitiers) in 732, subsequently driving the Muslim army out of France?

5.

James I of England presided over an important conference held at Hampton Court on 1604.  What did it bring about?

6.

Born Jean Chauvin in Picardy in 1509, by what name is he remembered?

7.

According to Goldbach’s conjecture how can every even number greater than 2 be expressed?

8.

What branch of mathematics can be defined as: 'The study of the properties of geometric figures or solids that are not changed by homeomorphisms, such as stretching or bending'?

ROUND 6 - 'Who am I?'

Identify the well-known people being described all of whom have something in common - full names are required in all cases

1.

American-born British novelist, author of The Glittering Prizes, Oxford Blues and After The War.

2.

The real name of the mischievous sprite Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

3.

Blond American actress who co-starred in such films as Pal Joey, Vertigo and The Adventures of Moll Flanders.

4.

English folk musician, singer and songwriter of Scots-Irish parentage who is a founding member of the popular band Planxty.

5.

The most prominent descendant of King William IV in British public life today.

6.

Welsh-born actor who made a name for himself in America by playing the characters Robin Colcord in Cheers and Lord John Marbury in The West Wing.

7.

Mediaeval Spanish monk described by a contemporary chronicler as "The hammer of heretics, the light of Spain, the saviour of his country".

8.

American actor and comedian whose most famous role on television was playing the character Latka Gravas in the popular, long-running American TV serial Taxi.

ROUNDS 7 & 8 - Blockbuster Bingo (Part 2)

Choose your question based on the initial letter(s) of the answer given - there are 4 spare questions

1.

FF

He lived with his family at number 301 Cobblestone Way.

2.

LLTP

Iconic painting by Eugene Delacroix celebrating the revolution of 1830 which overthrew King Charles X of France.

3.

G

Region that could be in Spain or along the Polish-Ukrainian border.

4.

RC

Politician who coined the slogan 'Ulster shall fight and Ulster shall be right'.

5.

TES

1980 Pulitzer prize winning book by Norman Mailer about the life and death of Gary Gilmore.

6.

STB

Title of a film starring Kenneth More and also of a beer brewed in Scotland which, at 41% and £40 per bottle, is the world’s strongest and most expensive India Pale Ale.

7.

AATI

Scottish Catholic diocese with its cathedral in Oban.

8.

CV

Common heather or ling, closely related to the genus Erica.

9

MO

Translated into the Welsh language it is a 'popty ping'.

10.

GO

Character in Thackeray’s novel Vanity Fair killed at Waterloo.  Brave and dashing but reckless and profligate with money.

11.

LR

French region of which Montpellier is the centre of administration.

12.

MMAM

1969 animated children’s TV series narrated by Richard Baker. It described the adventures of a little girl who lived in a tower block with her dog and pet mouse.

13.

TB

Colloquial name for the condition properly known as DCS or Caisson disease.

14.

MCFKA

Best selling book of poetry by Wendy Cope published in 1986. The title contains a reference to an English novelist.

15.

TM

English potter who became famous in the 1790s for his design and production of blue willow pattern china ceramics.

16.

FMOAM

Composed by Gounod and used as the theme music for the TV drama series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and the later series The Hitchcock Hour.

17.

W

You can find them all over the place. Charles Darwin called them “examples of evolution on the fast track”.

18.

MC

His tactics were adopted by Yitzhak Shamir in the 1940s in his efforts to drive the British out of Palestine.

19.

JTA

Name by which this complex character became known in history. He was born in present day Turkey and was Roman Emperor from 361 – 363 AD.

20.

SPL(AC)

The final object recently chosen by Radio 4 and the British Museum to tell The History of the World in 100 Objects.

Spares

1.

Where might you expect to physically bump into ALICE and  ATLAS?

2.

In the world of nuclear science and cosmology, what is a WIMP?

1.

What is the English equivalent of a Bronx cheer? 

Blowing a Raspberry

2.

Reputedly Manchester’s oldest pub situated on the junction of Deansgate & John Dalton Street, what's it called?

Sawyers’ Arms

3.

What was the subject of Kepler’s 3 Laws published between 1609 and 1619?

(accept any answer that includes this meaning)

4.

What is a mark on a stone post or other permanent feature  used as a reference in surveying?

Benchmark

5.

Name the Devon fishing and tourist centre situated between Exmouth and Teignmouth.

Dawlish

6.

What imperial office was created in 1858 and held by Charles Canning from 1858 to 1862? 

Viceroy of India

7.

What medical condition can be summarised as pregnancy-induced hypertension?

Pre-eclampsia

8.

What is the name given to a type of light shoe with a canvas upper and typically with a braided cord sole.

Espadrille

ROUND 2 - 'Who am I?'

Identify the well-known people being described all of whom have something in common

1.

I am a luvvie and I like to go 'tweet, tweet, tweet'.  In 1997 I was Wilde but in 1995 I was so depressed I deserted my cell mate and buggered off  to Bruges.

Stephen Fry

2.

I am a veteran reporter.  In 2001 I got carried away and embarrassed both myself and the BBC by claiming to have liberated Kabul.

John Simpson

3.

I am a historian and broadcaster.  I know even more about British  monarchs than Damian from the Charabancs.  I take great pride in being called  'the rudest man in Britain'.

David Starkey

4.

I am a controversial English-American writer and journalist born in 1949.  Over the years my politics have veered sharply from left to right wing.  I am a champion of New Atheism and I have bitterly attacked the reputation of  Mother Teresa.

Christopher Hitchens

5.

Though I make most of  my money from voiceovers (I was the female rabbit in the Cadbury’s Caramel adverts) I am also a popular and versatile actress.  My countless  film and TV roles include Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films and Queen Victoria in Blackadder’s Christmas Carol.

Miriam Margolyes

6.

I am a team captain on Radio 4’s  literary quiz The Write Stuff.  My latest novel is called A Week in December  but most people know me for a trilogy of novels set in France.  One of these came 13th a few years ago in a poll to find Britain's favourite read.

Sebastian Faulks

7.

'From toe job to no job' jeered the Sun newspaper in 1992 when I was forced to resign from the cabinet following a sex scandal.  I am also fondly remembered as being Radio 5’s  worst ever football pundit.

David Mellor

8.

I am Withington’s foremost authority on the music of Belle and Sebastian.  I manage my own indie record label which I call Cherryade Recordings. Sometimes I pop into the university but mostly I am content just to be on the telly.

Rachael Neiman

(a.k.a. captain of Compulsory Meat Raffle)

Link: All have appeared on University Challenge

ROUNDS 3 & 4 - Blockbuster Bingo (Part 1)

Choose your question based on the subject matter specified - there are 4 spare questions

1.

Cinema

In which film of 1993 did Johnny Depp star alongside Leonardo di Caprio and Juliette Lewis?

What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

2.

Name the year

In which year did the following events take place:

• Tommy Cooper dies;

• Methane explosion at Abbeystead Water Treatment Plant;

• France beat Spain in the Euro Cup;

• Space Shuttle Discovery's maiden voyage?

1984

3.

Children's literature

In The Jungle Book series, what kind of animal was Kotick?

A (white) seal

4.

Mythology

Who, along with Lachesis and Atropos, makes up The Fates in Greek mythology?

Clotho

5.

Painting

For which specific type of art was Nicholas Hilliard famous?

Miniature portaits

6.

Birds

How is the bird Sula Bassanus, an aggressive clifftop dweller, more commonly known?

Gannet

7.

Name the year

In which year did the following occur:

• Boutros Boutros Ghali replaced Perez de Cuellar as UN Secretary General;

• A court in Milwaukee sentenced Jeffrey Dahmer to life imprisonment;

• EuroDisney officially opened; In California,

• Four Los Angeles policemen were acquitted of beating up Rodney King?

1992

8.

TV

In which recent BBC serial did David Tennant star alongside former Coronation Street star, Suranne Jones?

A Single Father

9.

Cinema

Name the 2006 Sam Mendes film based on a memoir by marine Anthony Swofford which starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx.

Jarhead

10.

Warfare

Whose army was heavily defeated by the Basques at the Battle of Roncesvalles in 778?

Charlemagne

11.

Words

What name is given to the science and engineering of the very small? 

Nanotechnology

12.

Name the year

In which year did the following take place:

• Racing driver Jim Clarke was killed in a Formula 2 race at Hochenheim;

• Pope Paul VI published his Humanae Vitae condemning birth control;

• NASA launched Apollo 7, the first manned mission;

• The Beatles released their White Album?

1968

13.

TV

Name the game show hosted by Keith Lemon aided by Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton.

A Celebrity Juice

14.

American literature

Suttree, All The Pretty Horses and The Crossing are works by which American author?

Cormac McCarthy

15.

European royalty

Which Italian-born queen was consort to Henri II of France and mother to three other French kings?

Catherine de Medici

16.

Connections

Who or what links Arthur Kinsey, Rob Roy McGregor and Michael Collins?

Liam Neeson

(he played them all on film)

17.

American literature

As I Lay Dying, Absalom and Light In August were all written by which American author?

William Faulkner

18.

Name the year

In which year did these events take place:

• First commercial flight by Concorde;

• Patty Hearst found guilty of armed robbery of a San Francisco bank;

• Apple Computers founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniak;

• Trial of Donald Neilson, The Black Panther, begins at Oxford Crown Court?

1976

19.

Connections

What connects these songs: The Boys Of Summer, The Heat Is On and Life's Been Good?

All solo hits by former members of the group The Eagles

20.

Words

In days gone by every lady would have in her possession a reticule.  What was it?

A drawstring purse or handbag

(accept purse or handbag)

1.

Who first represented the constituency of Maidstone as an MP in 1987 as well as writing a series of novels including The Clematis Tree (2000) and An Act of Peace (2005)?

Ann Widdecombe

2.

Who was born in Berlin in 1924, served as a MP between 1973 and 1987 and was succeeded in his North East Cambridgeshire seat by Malcolm Moss?

Clement Freud

3.

Which mediaeval sect was persecuted and finally eradicated by the Catholic Church at Chateau de Montsegur in 1244?

The Cathars

(accept The Albigensians)

4.

Which French king defeated a Muslim army at the battle of Tours (also called the battle of Poitiers) in 732, subsequently driving the Muslim army out of France?

Charles Martel

(the 'Hammer')

5.

James I of England presided over an important conference held at Hampton Court on 1604.  What did it bring about?

The authorised translation of the Bible

(completed 1611)

6.

Born Jean Chauvin in Picardy in 1509, by what name is he remembered?

John Calvin

7.

According to Goldbach’s conjecture how can every even number greater than 2 be expressed?

The sum of 2 prime numbers

8.

What branch of mathematics can be defined as: 'The study of the properties of geometric figures or solids that are not changed by homeomorphisms, such as stretching or bending'?

Topology

ROUND 6 - 'Who am I?'

Identify the well-known people being described all of whom have something in common - full names are required in all cases

1.

American-born British novelist, author of The Glittering Prizes, Oxford Blues and After The War.

Frederick Raphael

2.

The real name of the mischievous sprite Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Robin Goodfellow

3.

Blond American actress who co-starred in such films as Pal Joey, Vertigo and The Adventures of Moll Flanders.

Kim Novak

4.

English folk musician, singer and songwriter of Scots-Irish parentage who is a founding member of the popular band Planxty.

Andy Irvine

5.

The most prominent descendant of King William IV in British public life today.

David Cameron

6.

Welsh-born actor who made a name for himself in America by playing the characters Robin Colcord in Cheers and Lord John Marbury in The West Wing.

Roger Rees

7.

Mediaeval Spanish monk described by a contemporary chronicler as "The hammer of heretics, the light of Spain, the saviour of his country".

Tomas de Torquemada

8.

American actor and comedian whose most famous role on television was playing the character Latka Gravas in the popular, long-running American TV serial Taxi.

Andy Kaufman

Raphael Nadal, Robin Soderling, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych and Andy Roddick

ROUNDS 7 & 8 - Blockbuster Bingo (Part 2)

Choose your question based on the initial letter(s) of the answer given - there are 4 spare questions

1.

FF

He lived with his family at number 301 Cobblestone Way.

Fred Flintstone

2.

LLTP

Iconic painting by Eugene Delacroix celebrating the revolution of 1830 which overthrew King Charles X of France.

Liberty Leading the People

3.

G

Region that could be in Spain or along the Polish-Ukrainian border.

Galicia

4.

RC

Politician who coined the slogan 'Ulster shall fight and Ulster shall be right'.

Randolph Churchill

5.

TES

1980 Pulitzer prize winning book by Norman Mailer about the life and death of Gary Gilmore.

The Executioner’s Song

6.

STB

Title of a film starring Kenneth More and also of a beer brewed in Scotland which, at 41% and £40 per bottle, is the world’s strongest and most expensive India Pale Ale.

Sink the Bismarck

7.

AATI

Scottish Catholic diocese with its cathedral in Oban.

Argyll And The Isles

8.

CV

Common heather or ling, closely related to the genus Erica.

Calluna Vulgaris

9.

MO

Translated into the Welsh language it is a 'popty ping'.

Microwave Oven

10.

GO

Character in Thackeray’s novel Vanity Fair killed at Waterloo.  Brave and dashing but reckless and profligate with money.

George Osborne

11.

LR

French region of which Montpellier is the centre of administration.

Languedoc-Roussilon

12.

MMAM

1969 animated children’s TV series narrated by Richard Baker. It described the adventures of a little girl who lived in a tower block with her dog and pet mouse.

Mary, Mungo and Midge

13.

TB

Colloquial name for the condition properly known as DCS or Caisson disease.

The Bends

(DCS = decompression sickness)

14.

MCFKA

Best selling book of poetry by Wendy Cope published in 1986. The title contains a reference to an English novelist.

Making Cocoa For Kingsley Amis

15.

TM

English potter who became famous in the 1790s for his design and production of blue willow pattern china ceramics.

Thomas Minton

16.

FMOAM

Composed by Gounod and used as the theme music for the TV drama series Alfred Hitchcock Presents and the later series The Hitchcock Hour.

Funeral March of a Marionette

17.

W

You can find them all over the place. Charles Darwin called them “examples of evolution on the fast track”.

Weeds

18.

MC

His tactics were adopted by Yitzhak Shamir in the 1940s in his efforts to drive the British out of Palestine.

Michael Collins

19.

JTA

Name by which this complex character became known in history. He was born in present day Turkey and was Roman Emperor from 361 – 363 AD.

Julian the Apostate

20.

SPL(AC)

The final object recently chosen by Radio 4 and the British Museum to tell The History of the World in 100 Objects.

Solar Powered Lamp (and Charger)

Spares

1.

Where might you expect to physically bump into ALICE and  ATLAS?

Large Hadron Collider at CERN

(they are the names of 2 of the experiments running there)    

2.

In the world of nuclear science and cosmology, what is a WIMP?

Weakly Interacting Massive Particle