ROUND 1 - Paired with Round 3

1.

According to the well known rugby club song how many virgins came down from Inverness?

2.

Which actor, who had an aortic valve replacement in 2009, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1997 for Good Will Hunting?

3.

Martina Navratilova came close to winning Wimbledon for a tenth time at the age of 37 in 1994 but which Spaniard defeated her in the final?

4.

Only two non-royal women are Ladies of the Garter at present.  Margaret Thatcher is one.  Which Churchill relative is the other?

5.

Which one-hit wonder topped the singles charts in February 1981 with the song Shaddup You Face?

6.

Which US state is nicknamed the 'Beehive State', has Provo as its third largest city, and is home to Bryce Canyon and the Arches national parks?

7.

What is the smallest bird of the Western Palearctic?

8.

In the Monty Python film The Meaning of Life what was the straw that broke the camel’s back and led to the explosion of Mr Creosote?

1.

Which Hollywood great played an insurance investigator in the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair and a psychiatrist in the 1999 remake?

2.

The classical written Latin alphabet had 23 letters. Name two of the three missing letters now present in our alphabet.

3.

In which county are there attractions including Eccleshall Castle, Foxfield Steam Railway, Izaak Walton’s Cottage and Kinver Edge?

4.

Name any three of the five countries that surround the Caspian Sea.

5.

Name any three of the five countries that surround the double landlocked nation of Uzbekistan.

6.

In which county are there attractions including Clumber Park, Holme Pierrepont Hall, Newstead Abbey and Thoresby Hall?

7.

There are 29 letters in the Turkish alphabet.  Three letters of our alphabet however do not appear at all.  Name one of them.

8.

Which Hollywood great played the villain Max Cody in the 1961 film Cape Fear and a sheriff in the 1991 remake?

ROUND 3 - Paired with Round 1

1.

In the 1970 by-election sketch by Monty Python the Luton seat was won by Tarquin-Fin-Tim-Lin-Bin-Whim-Bin-Lin-Bus-Stop-F’tang-F’tang-Ole-Biscuit-Barrel.  Which political party did he represent?

2.

Which bird has varieties including the Dalmatian, the Great White, the Pink backed and the Brown, the latter being Louisiana’s state bird?

3.

Which US state, whose state flower is the hibiscus, has the only state flag that still includes the Union Jack?

4.

Which one hit wonder topped the singles charts in May 1985 with the song Move Closer, a song she had written herself?

5.

Only two women are members of the Order of Merit at present.  Margaret Thatcher is one. Which parliamentarian is the other?

6.

Tom Watson came close to winning a sixth Open Golf Championship at the age of 59 in 2009 but which fellow American pipped him in a play-off?

7.

Which actor, who had an aortic valve replacement in 1997, is the son-in-law of John F Kennedy’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver?

8.

In the song A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harem how many vestal virgins were heading to the coast?

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme

1.

In children’s literature what forename is shared by the eldest Baudelaire child in A Series of Unfortunate Events and a naughty contestant in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who needs to be 'dejuiced'?

2.

Which citrus fruit is a hybrid originally produced by a French missionary in the orchard of an Algerian orphanage?

3.

Which actress, who died in 1995, is fondly remembered for her role as Samantha in the series Bewitched which ran from 1964-72?

4.

Which children’s animated BBC TV series of 1969 was the first to be set in a tower block and was narrated by Richard Baker?

5.

Who is the author of the 2003 best seller The Time Traveller’s Wife?

6.

Which Stevie Wonder song reached Number 4 in the UK Charts in July 1969?

7.

Which 1831 two act opera by Vincenzo Bellini is set in ancient Gaul?  Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland made notable recordings of it.

8.

Which author who died in 1957 is best remembered for crime fiction but was also a noted poet, translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy and the author of religious works and broadcasts?

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme

1.

Who won the Nobel Prize for medicine along with Ernst Chain and Howard Florey in 1953?

2.

Which eminent biologist, a Fellow of the Royal Society, is married to former Dr Who actress Lalla Ward (who played Romana)?

3.

Which French city, the former capital of the duchy of Lorraine, is now the capital of the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle?

4.

Which long-running sitcom (1972-79) was set in 28 Sebastopol Terrace, East Acton?

5.

Who succeeded Bob Paisley as manager of Liverpool FC in July 1983?

6.

What is the nickname of cricket commentator David Lloyd?

7.

What was the name of the character created by author Robert Bloch, who was based on serial killer Ed Gein, and who first appeared on film in 1960?

8.

Johannesburg International Airport was renamed in 1994 after which central figure in the African National Congress?

ROUND 6 - Lucky Dip

Choose your question from 1 to 10

1.

From which language do we get the word 'dunk' as in 'to dunk a biscuit'?

2.

Which actor is currently the oldest to have reached the North Pole and also the oldest to have ascended 28 000 feet of Mount Everest?

3.

Warsaw stands on which river?

4.

At which archaeological site did Schliemann find a gold mask which led him to claim, erroneously, that he had “gazed on the face of Agamemnon”?

5.

Who is the only Privy Counsellor not to have been appointed by the Queen?

6.

Which Welshman was the first left handed player to win the World Snooker Championship?

7.

Which British city hosted the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest?

8.

Now a World Heritage Site of which geological feature did Dr Samuel Johnson say “Worth seeing? Yes, but not worth going to see”?

9.

Which noble gas lies between helium and argon in the periodic table?

10.

In computing what does the acronym TWAIN stand for?

ROUNDS 7 & 8 - Pick Your Own

Choose your question from the subjects given

1.

CONSPIRACY THEORY

In conspiracy theory what connects the 1st Earl of Stirling, the 2nd Baron Paget, the 2nd Earl of Essex, the 3rd Earl of Southampton, the 3rd Earl of Pembroke, the 5th Earl of Rutland, the 6th Earl of Derby, the 8th Baron Mountjoy, the 17th Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, John Donne, John Webster, the Jesuits and at least seventy others?

2.

JUPITER

What was the number of Mozart’s last symphony K551 in C major nicknamed Jupiter?

3.

DUKE

For what is Spanish grandee the 18th Duke of Albuquerque, who died in 1994, most fondly remembered in the United Kingdom?

4.

BARON

Sacha Baron Cohen, in character as General Aladeen, attended this year’s Academy Awards ceremony carrying an urn allegedly containing the ashes of his doubles tennis partner.  Who was this deceased person?

5.

ELEMENT

Which chemical element was discovered by Henning Brandt in 1669 by evaporating and distilling his own urine?

6.

GEORGE

In which town is the George Hotel where on August 29th 1895 21 clubs voted to secede from the Rugby Football Union?

7.

PRESIDENT

Who is missing from this group of four: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and …?

8.

CARTOON 1

First seen on TV in 1969 by what name is the dog-loving cartoon character Norville Rogers better known?

9.

CARTOON 2

Which cartoon character completes this group of four: Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormack and…?

10.

MOONWALKER

Of the 12 men who have walked on the moon how many are still alive?

11.

HOLLYWOOD KIDS

Which A-list Hollywood actress has three daughters named Rumer, Scout and Tallulah Belle?

12.

ANAGRAM

Which premiership footballer’s surname is an anagram of six hundred and seven?

13.

GRAVEYARD

Elizabeth Arden, Brook Astor, Walter Chrysler, Andrew Carnegie and William Rockefeller are all buried in the same cemetery in a small town in New York State.  A story of 1820 set in this town bears the town’s name.  What is it?

14.

GARDENING

What is the name of the large genus of cultivated shrubs of which the Guelder Rose and the Wayfaring tree are native British examples?

15.

GOTHIC

Which four word phrase connects a congregation of women founded in 1827 in Dublin by Catherine McCauley with a British Gothic rock band founded in Leeds in 1980?

16.

GOING FAR

In which Olympic sport is the longest relay race held? (the Olympic torch relay doesn’t count!)

17.

NEW

In which century was New College, Oxford founded?

18.

QE1

What is Queen Elizabeth the First alleged to have said to the Earl of Oxford when he returned to court following an embarrassing incident seven years before?

19.

H AND H

The family Cannabaceae contains species that produce two legal products of commercial importance. Name both products.

20.

O AND P

Name the two mountains in Thessaly quoted by Virgil in connection with Mount Olympus and used in an expression to illustrate a difficult or fruitless activity.

Spares

1.

Joao Rodriguez Cabrillo was the first known European to set foot in which future US state?

2.

Which country will host this year’s Eurovision Song Contest?

3.

Who is the father of Demi Moore’s three daughters?

4.

Who designed the costumes for the film My Fair Lady?

5.

Who was the first man to go into space twice?

ROUND 1 - Paired with Round 3

1.

According to the well known rugby club song how many virgins came down from Inverness?

Four and twenty

2.

Which actor, who had an aortic valve replacement in 2009, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1997 for Good Will Hunting?

Robin Williams

3.

Martina Navratilova came close to winning Wimbledon for a tenth time at the age of 37 in 1994 but which Spaniard defeated her in the final?

Conchita Martinez

(her only Grand Slam win)

4.

Only two non-royal women are Ladies of the Garter at present.  Margaret Thatcher is one.  Which Churchill relative is the other?

(Baroness Soames or Lady Soames)

5.

Which one-hit wonder topped the singles charts in February 1981 with the song Shaddup You Face?

(accept Joe Dolce)

6.

Which US state is nicknamed the 'Beehive State', has Provo as its third largest city, and is home to Bryce Canyon and the Arches national parks?

Utah

7.

What is the smallest bird of the Western Palearctic?

Goldcrest

(also accept firecrest)

8.

In the Monty Python film The Meaning of Life what was the straw that broke the camel’s back and led to the explosion of Mr Creosote?

A wafer thin mint

1.

Which Hollywood great played an insurance investigator in the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair and a psychiatrist in the 1999 remake?

Faye Dunaway

2.

The classical written Latin alphabet had 23 letters. Name two of the three missing letters now present in our alphabet.

(two from)

J, U, W

3.

In which county are there attractions including Eccleshall Castle, Foxfield Steam Railway, Izaak Walton’s Cottage and Kinver Edge?

Staffordshire

4.

Name any three of the five countries that surround the Caspian Sea.

(three from)

Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan

5.

Name any three of the five countries that surround the double landlocked nation of Uzbekistan.

(three from)

Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan

6.

In which county are there attractions including Clumber Park, Holme Pierrepont Hall, Newstead Abbey and Thoresby Hall?

Nottinghamshire

7.

There are 29 letters in the Turkish alphabet.  Three letters of our alphabet however do not appear at all.  Name one of them.

(one from)

Q, W, X

8.

Which Hollywood great played the villain Max Cody in the 1961 film Cape Fear and a sheriff in the 1991 remake?

Robert Mitchum

ROUND 3 - Paired with Round 1

1.

In the 1970 by-election sketch by Monty Python the Luton seat was won by Tarquin-Fin-Tim-Lin-Bin-Whim-Bin-Lin-Bus-Stop-F’tang-F’tang-Ole-Biscuit-Barrel.  Which political party did he represent?

The Silly Party

(he defeated Alan Jones of the Sensible Party and Kevin Phillips-Bong of the Slightly Silly party)

2.

Which bird has varieties including the Dalmatian, the Great White, the Pink backed and the Brown, the latter being Louisiana’s state bird?

Pelican

3.

Which US state, whose state flower is the hibiscus, has the only state flag that still includes the Union Jack?

Hawaii

4.

Which one hit wonder topped the singles charts in May 1985 with the song Move Closer, a song she had written herself?

Phyllis Nelson

5.

Only two women are members of the Order of Merit at present.  Margaret Thatcher is one. Which parliamentarian is the other?

Betty Boothroyd

(Baroness Boothroyd)

6.

Tom Watson came close to winning a sixth Open Golf Championship at the age of 59 in 2009 but which fellow American pipped him in a play-off?

Stuart Cink

(his only Major win)

7.

Which actor, who had an aortic valve replacement in 1997, is the son-in-law of John F Kennedy’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver?

Arnold Schwarzenegger

8.

In the song A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harem how many vestal virgins were heading to the coast?

Sixteen

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme

1.

In children’s literature what forename is shared by the eldest Baudelaire child in A Series of Unfortunate Events and a naughty contestant in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who needs to be 'dejuiced'?

Violet

2.

Which citrus fruit is a hybrid originally produced by a French missionary in the orchard of an Algerian orphanage?

Clementine

3.

Which actress, who died in 1995, is fondly remembered for her role as Samantha in the series Bewitched which ran from 1964-72?

Elizabeth Montgomery

4.

Which children’s animated BBC TV series of 1969 was the first to be set in a tower block and was narrated by Richard Baker?

Mary, Mungo and Midge

5.

Who is the author of the 2003 best seller The Time Traveller’s Wife?

Audrey Niffenegger

6.

Which Stevie Wonder song reached Number 4 in the UK Charts in July 1969?

My Cherie Amour

7.

Which 1831 two act opera by Vincenzo Bellini is set in ancient Gaul?  Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland made notable recordings of it.

Norma

8.

Which author who died in 1957 is best remembered for crime fiction but was also a noted poet, translator of Dante’s Divine Comedy and the author of religious works and broadcasts?

Dorothy L Sayers

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme

1.

Who won the Nobel Prize for medicine along with Ernst Chain and Howard Florey in 1953?

Alexander Fleming

2.

Which eminent biologist, a Fellow of the Royal Society, is married to former Dr Who actress Lalla Ward (who played Romana)?

Richard Dawkins

3.

Which French city, the former capital of the duchy of Lorraine, is now the capital of the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle?

Nancy

4.

Which long-running sitcom (1972-79) was set in 28 Sebastopol Terrace, East Acton?

Sykes

5.

Who succeeded Bob Paisley as manager of Liverpool FC in July 1983?

Joe Fagan

6.

What is the nickname of cricket commentator David Lloyd?

'Bumble'

7.

What was the name of the character created by author Robert Bloch, who was based on serial killer Ed Gein, and who first appeared on film in 1960?

Norman Bates

8.

Johannesburg International Airport was renamed in 1994 after which central figure in the African National Congress?

Oliver Tambo

ROUND 6 - Lucky Dip

Choose you question from 1 to 10

1.

From which language do we get the word 'dunk' as in 'to dunk a biscuit'?

Pennsylvanian Dutch or Amish

(accept Dutch)

2.

Which actor is currently the oldest to have reached the North Pole and also the oldest to have ascended 28 000 feet of Mount Everest?

Brian Blessed

3.

Warsaw stands on which river?

Vistula

4.

At which archaeological site did Schliemann find a gold mask which led him to claim, erroneously, that he had “gazed on the face of Agamemnon”?

Mycenae

5.

Who is the only Privy Counsellor not to have been appointed by the Queen?

Prince Philip

(he was appointed by George VI)

6.

Which Welshman was the first left handed player to win the World Snooker Championship?

Mark Williams

7.

Which British city hosted the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest?

Edinburgh

8.

Now a World Heritage Site of which geological feature did Dr Samuel Johnson say “Worth seeing? Yes, but not worth going to see”?

The Giant’s Causeway

9.

Which noble gas lies between helium and argon in the periodic table?

Neon

10.

In computing what does the acronym TWAIN stand for?

Technology Without An Interesting Name

ROUNDS 7 & 8 - Pick Your Own

Choose your question from the subjects given

1.

CONSPIRACY THEORY

In conspiracy theory what connects the 1st Earl of Stirling, the 2nd Baron Paget, the 2nd Earl of Essex, the 3rd Earl of Southampton, the 3rd Earl of Pembroke, the 5th Earl of Rutland, the 6th Earl of Derby, the 8th Baron Mountjoy, the 17th Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, John Donne, John Webster, the Jesuits and at least seventy others?

They have all at one time or another been proposed as the 'real' William Shakespeare

(by conspiracy theorists who cannot accept that a middle class grammar school boy can produce great literature)

2.

JUPITER

What was the number of Mozart’s last symphony K551 in C major nicknamed Jupiter?

41

3.

DUKE

For what is Spanish grandee the 18th Duke of Albuquerque, who died in 1994, most fondly remembered in the United Kingdom?

His efforts to win the Grand National as a jockey

(he only completed the course once but holds the record for most bones broken in falls)

4.

BARON

Sacha Baron Cohen, in character as General Aladeen, attended this year’s Academy Awards ceremony carrying an urn allegedly containing the ashes of his doubles tennis partner.  Who was this deceased person?

Kim Jong-Il

5.

ELEMENT

Which chemical element was discovered by Henning Brandt in 1669 by evaporating and distilling his own urine?

Phosphorus

6.

GEORGE

In which town is the George Hotel where on August 29th 1895 21 clubs voted to secede from the Rugby Football Union?

Huddersfield

7.

PRESIDENT

Who is missing from this group of four: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and …?

Theodore Roosevelt

(Mount Rushmore heads)

8.

CARTOON 1

First seen on TV in 1969 by what name is the dog-loving cartoon character Norville Rogers better known?

Shaggy

(in Scooby Doo)

8.

CARTOON 2

Which cartoon character completes this group of four: Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormack and…?

Eric Cartman

(from South Park)

10.

MOONWALKER

Of the 12 men who have walked on the moon how many are still alive?

9

(Irwin (1991), Sheppard (1998) and Conrad (1999) have died

11.

HOLLYWOOD KIDS

Which A-list Hollywood actress has three daughters named Rumer, Scout and Tallulah Belle?

Demi Moore

12.

ANAGRAM

Which premiership footballer’s surname is an anagram of six hundred and seven?

Vidic

13.

GRAVEYARD

Elizabeth Arden, Brook Astor, Walter Chrysler, Andrew Carnegie and William Rockefeller are all buried in the same cemetery in a small town in New York State.  A story of 1820 set in this town bears the town’s name.  What is it?

Sleepy Hollow

14.

GARDENING

What is the name of the large genus of cultivated shrubs of which the Guelder Rose and the Wayfaring tree are native British examples?

Viburnum

15.

GOTHIC

Which four word phrase connects a congregation of women founded in 1827 in Dublin by Catherine McCauley with a British Gothic rock band founded in Leeds in 1980?

The Sisters of Mercy

16.

GOING FAR

In which Olympic sport is the longest relay race held? (the Olympic torch relay doesn’t count!)

Cross country skiing

(accept Nordic skiing - it's 4 x 50 km!)

17.

NEW

In which century was New College, Oxford founded?

Fourteenth

(in 1379)

18.

QE1

What is Queen Elizabeth the First alleged to have said to the Earl of Oxford when he returned to court following an embarrassing incident seven years before?

“Ah my lord we had quite forgot the fart”

19.

H AND H

The family Cannabaceae contains species that produce two legal products of commercial importance. Name both products.

Hemp and Hops

20.

O AND P

Name the two mountains in Thessaly quoted by Virgil in connection with Mount Olympus and used in an expression to illustrate a difficult or fruitless activity.

Ossa and Pelion

Spares

1.

Joao Rodriguez Cabrillo was the first known European to set foot in which future US state?

California

2.

Which country will host this year’s Eurovision Song Contest?

Azerbaijan

3.

Who is the father of Demi Moore’s three daughters?

Bruce Willis

4.

Who designed the costumes for the film My Fair Lady?

Cecil Beaton

5.

Who was the first man to go into space twice?

Virgil 'Gus' Grissom