ROUND 1 - Given theme - 'One Direction?  Not in this round!'

1.

Which 19^th century novel, partly set in Bath, features the adventures of 17 year-old Catherine Morland, one of ten children of a country clergyman?

2.

Which serial killer was convicted of multiple murder in November 1995?  The sentencing judge Mr Justice Mantell said, “If attention is paid to what I think, you will never be released.”  Jack Straw subsequently confirmed a whole life tariff.

3.

Which pop group did two members of the Housemartins, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, found at the end of the 1980s?

4.

Which town in West Sussex is the British HQ (and formerly world HQ) for the Church of Scientology?  L Ron Hubbard lived there until 1967.

5.

From 1950 to 1974 Enoch Powell was the Tory MP for the South West constituency of which English city?

6.

From 1950 to 1983 Tony Benn was the Labour MP for the South East constituency of which English city?

7.

Which Shakespeare play has the line “I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw”?  It is allegedly the origin of the Hitchcock film title North by Northwest?

8.

Sam Northeast, though a former schools and county champion in rackets and squash, is currently a professional in which sport?

1.

Who, in 1859, was Queen Victoria’s first-born grandchild?

2.

Which writer’s 2011 autobiography Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? also details her successful search for her birth mother?

3.

Which singer’s recent album Fall To Grace is the long awaited follow up to her debut album Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?

4.

In which year of the 1980s did the following occur: Grittar won the Grand National, Alex Higgins beat Ray Reardon in the Snooker World Championship, ET was the top grossing film in the USA and the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Harrogate?

5.

Who created a big splash by winning a TV celebrity contest this week?

6.

The transuranic element, No 111 with the symbol Rg, is named after which Nobel Prize winning physicist?

7.

Which actress has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards for her role in Les Miserables?

8.

Rose and Joseph Kennedy (JFK’s parents) had nine children.  Name any two of the five girls.

ROUND 3 - Paired with Round 2

1.

Cherie and Tony Blair have four children.  Name any two of them.

2.

Which actress has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards for her role as Mrs Lincoln in Lincoln?  She has already won two Best Actress Oscars.

3.

The transuranic element, No 112 with the symbol Cn, is named after which early scientist?

4.

Who created a bigger splash by being appointed to the Order of Merit last year?

5.

6.

Which singer has followed up her eponymous debut album with Fearless,  Speak Now and most recently Red?

7.

Which polymath’s 1997 autobiography is entitled Moab Is My Washpot?

8.

Queen Victoria’s last-born grandchild (her 42^nd) was Prince Maurice of Battenberg (son of Princess Beatrice).  What were the somewhat ironic circumstances of his death at the age of 23?

ROUNDS 4 & 5 - 'Pick Your Own'

Competitors must pick their question from the song titles given - each title makes cryptic reference to the subject of the question

1.

Gonna Make You Sweat

Which sport played by a team of 4 male and 4 female members was invented in the Netherlands in 1902?  It is played on a 20m x 40m court with a basket in each half 3.5m off the ground.  There are more than half a dozen teams in Manchester that play this minority sport.

2.

The Air I Breathe

What is the missing sixth member from this list: Mesosphere, Exosphere, Troposphere, Magnetosphere, and Thermosphere (aka Ionosphere)?

3.

Word Up

By the removal of a letter can you go from a disfigured scientist permanently disabled in a battle against the Thals on Skaro, to an Alpine ski resort with a population of 11,000 regarded as the highest city in Europe?   Both words needed.

4.

White Flag

Ireland's flag is a vertical tricolour of (from left to right) green, white and orange - but which West African country's flag is the exact reverse i.e. orange, white and green from left to right?

5.

Scotland The Brave

Where in Scotland would you find Hell, The Principal's Nose, and Miss Grainger's Bosoms?

6.

Celluloid Heroes

Sheriff W Pride is the lead character of a trilogy of films from 1995, 1999 & 2010.  His first line in cinema was “Reach for the sky”.  How is he better known?

7.

World In Motion

Which two current Premier League managers played opposite each other in the Barcelona v Sampdoria 1992 European Cup final at Wembley?

8.

9.

I Need A Hero

Which superhero was frozen in the icy waters of the North Atlantic in the 1940s for several decades before being thawed out?  A recent film adaptation of this character had scenes filmed in Manchester city centre.

10.

River Deep, Mountain High

Which range of American mountains in the Western USA is reputedly named by trappers after the French for large breasts or nipples?  Spoilers, however, claim it’s because of a local Native American name.  

11.

Take Me To The River

At only 32 km long the River Onyx is the longest river in which region of the world?

12.

The Red Flag

The Polish flag consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, red below white - but which South East Asian country is the exact reverse i.e. red above white?

13.

Space Oddity

Of the five official dwarf planets which is missing from this list: Makemake, Eris, Haumea and Pluto?

14.

Build Me Up Buttercup

Which architect born in 1917 has designed a wide variety of buildings in the modern style worldwide? These include Dallas City Hall, the Bank of China in Hong Kong, the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha and the pyramid at the Louvre?  (surname will do)

15.

16.

17.

Classic

Which piece of music became the official anthem of The European Union in 1972, and still is?

18.

19.

20.

ROUND 6 - Given theme - 'Oh what transports of delight!'

1.

Which comedian, a graduate of Gonville and Caius, was recently condemned for his use of the controversial K2 tax avoidance scheme?

2.

Which controversial film of 1976 includes the characters Senator Charles Palantine who is running for president, Iris Steensma a child prostitute, and Matthew 'Sport' Higgins her pimp?

3.

Which US psychedelic rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965 has a name that is slang for a used paper match split to hold a marijuana joint that has been smoked too short to hold without burning the fingers?

4.

What was the name of the locomotive than ran over former cabinet minister William Huskisson at the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway on 15^th September 1830?

5.

Which jazz singer and bandleader who died aged 86 in 1994 was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem NY?  His best-known song was Minnie the Moocher which he also performed in the 1980 comedy The Blues Bothers?

6.

Which Italian film of 1948 written by Cesare Zavattini from a novel by Luigi Bartolini, directed by Vittorio de Sica and starring Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola is regarded as a masterpiece of Italian neorealism and regularly features in the Top 10 lists of greatest films of all time?

7.

Which French town near the Belgian border has been the location of two battles, one in 1870 in the French-Prussian war where the French Emperor Napoleon III was captured, and the second in 1940 leading to the fall of France?

8.

Against who or what did Margaret Thatcher declare war in Scarborough on 18^th March 1989?

ROUND 7 - Picture Round

1.

What is the name of this cat?

2.

What is the name of this dog?

3.

Who was this firebrand Labour MP who died in 1947?  Most closely associated with the North East she was the second woman to achieve Cabinet rank.

4.

Who was this firebrand Labour MP who died in 1970?  Most closely associated with Liverpool (the statue shown is by Tom Murphy and is in Lime Street Station) she is the subject of an apocryphal story involving a drunk Winston Churchill.

5.

Who is this Austrian composer who died age 31 in 1828 after three years of debilitating illness, possibly syphilis?

6.

Who is this German composer who died aged 46 in 1856 after two years of mental illness, possibly caused by syphilis?

7.

Which gland of the human body (there are four of them) is pictured here?  It was the last major organ to be described in the human body (in 1880).

8.

Which gland of the human body (there are two of them) is indicated with the arrow?  Most men do not know they have one, let alone two.

ROUND 8 - Mini Bingo Round

Competitors should select a question number

1.

In which county are the following tourist attractions: Dyrham Park, Hidcote Manor Garden, St Briavels Castle and Berkeley Castle?

2.

The English National Opera is resident in which London venue?

3.

Washington DC National Airport was renamed on February 6th 1998 in whose honour?

4.

What is the common name of the hypericum plant?

5.

In the Book of Genesis who was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin?

6.

There were two sets of brothers amongst Jesus’s 12 apostles.  James and John were one set.  Name the other set.

7.

Which city was the birthplace of Charles Dickens, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Peter Sellers?

8.

Give a year in the life of the explorer Abel Tasman.

9.

Milos Zeman has recently been elected president of which country?

10.

What is the commonest surname in the Irish Republic?

11.

Who will be the first king of the Netherlands since 1890 following the abdication of Queen Beatrix?

12.

Which Ulster politician was unseated by Naomi Long in the General Election in May 2010?

13.

Which actors played the Fletchers in the 1970s BBC comedy series Happy Ever After and reprised their roles in a similar series of the 1980s as the Medfords?

14.

How many sides were there on the edge of a pre-decimal brass threepenny bit?

15.

In which Kenyan hotel did Princess Elizabeth learn of her accession to the throne following her father’s death this day 61 years ago?

ROUND 1 - Given theme - 'One Direction?  Not in this round!'

1.

Which 19^th century novel, partly set in Bath, features the adventures of 17 year-old Catherine Morland, one of ten children of a country clergyman?

Northanger Abbey

2.

Which serial killer was convicted of multiple murder in November 1995?  The sentencing judge Mr Justice Mantell said, “If attention is paid to what I think, you will never be released.”  Jack Straw subsequently confirmed a whole life tariff.

Rosemary West

3.

Which pop group did two members of the Housemartins, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, found at the end of the 1980s?

The Beautiful South

4.

Which town in West Sussex is the British HQ (and formerly world HQ) for the Church of Scientology?  L Ron Hubbard lived there until 1967.

East Grinstead

5.

From 1950 to 1974 Enoch Powell was the Tory MP for the South West constituency of which English city?

Wolverhampton

6.

From 1950 to 1983 Tony Benn was the Labour MP for the South East constituency of which English city?

Bristol

7.

Which Shakespeare play has the line “I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw”?  It is allegedly the origin of the Hitchcock film title North by Northwest?

Hamlet

8.

Sam Northeast, though a former schools and county champion in rackets and squash, is currently a professional in which sport?

(he plays for Kent)

1.

Who, in 1859, was Queen Victoria’s first-born grandchild?

The future Kaiser Wilhelm (II) of Germany

(son of Princess Victoria)

(QM: accept Prince Wilhelm or William or Kaiser Bill - be generous with the answer)

2.

Which writer’s 2011 autobiography Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? also details her successful search for her birth mother?

Jeanette Winterson

3.

Which singer’s recent album Fall To Grace is the long awaited follow up to her debut album Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?

Paloma Faith

4.

In which year of the 1980s did the following occur: Grittar won the Grand National, Alex Higgins beat Ray Reardon in the Snooker World Championship, ET was the top grossing film in the USA and the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Harrogate?

1982

5.

Who created a big splash by winning a TV celebrity contest this week?

(accept Michael Edwards)

6.

The transuranic element, No 111 with the symbol Rg, is named after which Nobel Prize winning physicist?

William Roentgen

7.

Which actress has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards for her role in Les Miserables?

Anne Hathaway

8.

Rose and Joseph Kennedy (JFK’s parents) had nine children.  Name any two of the five girls.

Jean

ROUND 3 - Paired with Round 2

1.

Cherie and Tony Blair have four children.  Name any two of them.

2.

Which actress has been nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards for her role as Mrs Lincoln in Lincoln?  She has already won two Best Actress Oscars.

3.

The transuranic element, No 112 with the symbol Cn, is named after which early scientist?

4.

Who created a bigger splash by being appointed to the Order of Merit last year?

5.

6.

Which singer has followed up her eponymous debut album with Fearless,  Speak Now and most recently Red?

7.

Which polymath’s 1997 autobiography is entitled Moab Is My Washpot?

8.

Queen Victoria’s last-born grandchild (her 42^nd) was Prince Maurice of Battenberg (son of Princess Beatrice).  What were the somewhat ironic circumstances of his death at the age of 23?

ROUNDS 4 & 5 - 'Pick Your Own'

Competitors must pick their question from the song titles given - each title makes cryptic reference to the subject of the question

1.

Gonna Make You Sweat

Which sport played by a team of 4 male and 4 female members was invented in the Netherlands in 1902?  It is played on a 20m x 40m court with a basket in each half 3.5m off the ground.  There are more than half a dozen teams in Manchester that play this minority sport.

Korfball

2.

The Air I Breathe

What is the missing sixth member from this list: Mesosphere, Exosphere, Troposphere, Magnetosphere, and Thermosphere (aka Ionosphere)?

Stratosphere

3.

Word Up

By the removal of a letter can you go from a disfigured scientist permanently disabled in a battle against the Thals on Skaro, to an Alpine ski resort with a population of 11,000 regarded as the highest city in Europe?   Both words needed.

Davros & Davos

4.

White Flag

Ireland's flag is a vertical tricolour of (from left to right) green, white and orange - but which West African country's flag is the exact reverse i.e. orange, white and green from left to right?

Cote d'Ivoire

(accept Ivory Coast)

5.

Scotland The Brave

Where in Scotland would you find Hell, The Principal's Nose, and Miss Grainger's Bosoms?

St Andrews

(all features on the Old Course at St. Andrews)

6.

Celluloid Heroes

Sheriff W Pride is the lead character of a trilogy of films from 1995, 1999 & 2010.  His first line in cinema was “Reach for the sky”.  How is he better known?

Woody

(from the Toy Story movies)

7.

World In Motion

Which two current Premier League managers played opposite each other in the Barcelona v Sampdoria 1992 European Cup final at Wembley?

Roberto Mancini & Michael Laudrup

(Barcelona beat Sampdoria 1-0 in extra time)

8.

Peter Gabriel

(latterly fans have given them alternative titles relating to the cover)

9.

I Need A Hero

Which superhero was frozen in the icy waters of the North Atlantic in the 1940s for several decades before being thawed out?  A recent film adaptation of this character had scenes filmed in Manchester city centre.

Captain America

10.

River Deep, Mountain High

Which range of American mountains in the Western USA is reputedly named by trappers after the French for large breasts or nipples?  Spoilers, however, claim it’s because of a local Native American name.  

Grand Tetons

(in Wyoming)

11.

Take Me To The River

At only 32 km long the River Onyx is the longest river in which region of the world?

Antarctica

12.

The Red Flag

The Polish flag consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, red below white - but which South East Asian country is the exact reverse i.e. red above white?

Indonesia

13.

Space Oddity

Of the five official dwarf planets which is missing from this list: Makemake, Eris, Haumea and Pluto?

Ceres

14.

Build Me Up Buttercup

Which architect born in 1917 has designed a wide variety of buildings in the modern style worldwide? These include Dallas City Hall, the Bank of China in Hong Kong, the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha and the pyramid at the Louvre?  (surname will do)

(Ieoh Ming) Pei

15.

Transfer directly from Manchester United to Liverpool

16.

Laois (pronounced ‘leash’) & Lois

17.

Classic

Which piece of music became the official anthem of The European Union in 1972, and still is?

Ode to Joy

(from 9^th symphony by Beethoven - it was originally a poem by Friedrich Schiller and set to music later on)

18.

Batemans

19.

Georgia

20.

Osbourne

(Ozzy, Sharon, Jack and Kelly )

ROUND 6 - Given theme - 'Oh what transports of delight!'

1.

Which comedian, a graduate of Gonville and Caius, was recently condemned for his use of the controversial K2 tax avoidance scheme?

2.

Which controversial film of 1976 includes the characters Senator Charles Palantine who is running for president, Iris Steensma a child prostitute, and Matthew 'Sport' Higgins her pimp?

3.

Which US psychedelic rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965 has a name that is slang for a used paper match split to hold a marijuana joint that has been smoked too short to hold without burning the fingers?

4.

What was the name of the locomotive than ran over former cabinet minister William Huskisson at the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway on 15^th September 1830?

5.

Which jazz singer and bandleader who died aged 86 in 1994 was a regular performer at the Cotton Club in Harlem NY?  His best-known song was Minnie the Moocher which he also performed in the 1980 comedy The Blues Bothers?

6.

Which Italian film of 1948 written by Cesare Zavattini from a novel by Luigi Bartolini, directed by Vittorio de Sica and starring Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola is regarded as a masterpiece of Italian neorealism and regularly features in the Top 10 lists of greatest films of all time?

7.

Which French town near the Belgian border has been the location of two battles, one in 1870 in the French-Prussian war where the French Emperor Napoleon III was captured, and the second in 1940 leading to the fall of France?

8.

Against who or what did Margaret Thatcher declare war in Scarborough on 18^th March 1989?

ROUND 7 - Picture Round

1.

What is the name of this cat?

2.

What is the name of this dog?

3.

Who was this firebrand Labour MP who died in 1947?  Most closely associated with the North East she was the second woman to achieve Cabinet rank.

4.

Who was this firebrand Labour MP who died in 1970?  Most closely associated with Liverpool (the statue shown is by Tom Murphy and is in Lime Street Station) she is the subject of an apocryphal story involving a drunk Winston Churchill.

5.

Who is this Austrian composer who died age 31 in 1828 after three years of debilitating illness, possibly syphilis?

6.

Who is this German composer who died aged 46 in 1856 after two years of mental illness, possibly caused by syphilis?

7.

Which gland of the human body (there are four of them) is pictured here?  It was the last major organ to be described in the human body (in 1880).

8.

Which gland of the human body (there are two of them) is indicated with the arrow?  Most men do not know they have one, let alone two.

ROUND 8 - Mini Bingo Round

Competitors should select a question number

1.

In which county are the following tourist attractions: Dyrham Park, Hidcote Manor Garden, St Briavels Castle and Berkeley Castle?

Gloucestershire

2.

The English National Opera is resident in which London venue?

London Coliseum

3.

Washington DC National Airport was renamed on February 6th 1998 in whose honour?

Ronald Reagan

4.

What is the common name of the hypericum plant?

St John’s Wort

5.

In the Book of Genesis who was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin?

Rachel

6.

There were two sets of brothers amongst Jesus’s 12 apostles.  James and John were one set.  Name the other set.

Simon Peter and Andrew

7.

Which city was the birthplace of Charles Dickens, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Peter Sellers?

Portsmouth

8.

Give a year in the life of the explorer Abel Tasman.

Any year between 1603 and 1659

9.

Milos Zeman has recently been elected president of which country?

Czech Republic

10.

What is the commonest surname in the Irish Republic?

Murphy

11.

Who will be the first king of the Netherlands since 1890 following the abdication of Queen Beatrix?

Prince Willem-Alexander

12.

Which Ulster politician was unseated by Naomi Long in the General Election in May 2010?

Peter Robinson

13.

Which actors played the Fletchers in the 1970s BBC comedy series Happy Ever After and reprised their roles in a similar series of the 1980s as the Medfords?

Terry Scott and June Whitfield

14.

How many sides were there on the edge of a pre-decimal brass threepenny bit?

12

15.

In which Kenyan hotel did Princess Elizabeth learn of her accession to the throne following her father’s death this day 61 years ago?

Treetops