ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

What contribution to British politics was made in 1993 by Alan Sked, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics?

2.

What is the name of the Conservative MP who defected to UKIP in 2008 without standing for re-election, thus becoming the party’s first MP?

3.

Which band, who won the 2012 Mercury Music Prize with their debut album, reached number one this year with their second album entitled This Is All Yours?

4.

Which band, who won the 2010 Mercury Music Prize with their debut album, reached number one last year with their second album entitled Co-exist?

5.

In relation to US history, what is the significance of Abraham Zapruder, a manufacturer of women’s clothing?

6.

In relation to US history, what is the significance of Mark Felt, who made his name investigating organised crime in Nevada?

7.

In November 2013 Asmir Begovic of Stoke City became the 5th goalkeeper to score in a Premier League game. Name 2 of the previous 4.

8.

As of last week, which current Premier League footballer jointly holds the record for the most red cards in a Premier League career with no less than 8?

Sp.

Which English town or city had the Roman name Aquae Arnemetiae?

1.

For his performance in which play by Richard Bean did James Corden win numerous awards, including a 2012 Tony award for the Broadway production?

2.

In which award-winning 2013 play by Peter Morgan did Helen Mirren reprise her role as Queen Elizabeth II?

3.

Parthian, Achaemenid and Sassanid were all dynastic empires of which ancient power?

4.

Ashoka the Great was the long-standing ruler of the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BC.  In which modern country was his empire mainly located?

5.

In Greek mythology, who was Helen of Troy’s half-sister who was NOT fathered by Zeus?

6.

In Greek Mythology, who was the wife of King Minos who gave birth to the minotaur?

7.

Which award-winning French film of 2009 starred Tahar Rahim as an incarcerated petty criminal who rises rapidly in the inmate hierarchy?

8.

What is the name of the 2012 French film which won the foreign-language Oscar and whose star Emmanuelle Riva became the oldest nominee for the 'actress in a leading role' award?

Sp.

Which scientific theory postulates that subatomic particles are tiny one-dimensional loops?

ROUND 3 - Hidden theme in pairs

1.

The town of New Mills in Derbyshire is at the confluence of which two rivers?

2.

Which river, after which a 1948 John Wayne film was entitled, is a major tributary of the Mississippi, rising in the Texas Panhandle and forming the border between Texas and Oklahoma before joining a further Mississippi tributary in Louisiana?

3.

Which actor, who had previously played the title role in a film which won the Oscar for Best Picture, claimed in 2009 that he may have been the biological father of Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris?

4.

Which 1998 Woody Allen film about a couple’s lives following their divorce, starred Kenneth Branagh, Winona Ryder and Leonardo Di Caprio amongst others?

5.

Which singer-songwriter whose only UK hit single was Free Electric Band in 1973, achieved far greater success as co-writer of huge-selling songs such as The Air That I Breathe and Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now?  His son is a member of the band The Strokes.

6.

Which 1970s soul/funk band, led by George Clinton, released albums called Mothership Connection and The Clones of Dr Funkenstein which were voted among the ten best funk albums of all-time in a Blues & Soul magazine poll?

7.

What is the surname of the twin brothers David and Frederick whose business empire includes many media titles such as the Daily Telegraph and Spectator?

8.

Which publication that first appeared in 1851 has long held the nickname 'The Gray Lady' and the motto 'All the news that’s fit to print'?

Sp.

What is the family name of the Dukes of Westminster?

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme (with sound-a-likes & half-rhymes)

1.

Known as 'Pearl' to her friends, which American singer-songwriter role to fame as the lead singer of the band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and had a posthumous No 1 US chart single in 1971 with Me and Bobby McGee?

2.

Which American singer, dancer and actor had his only No. 1 hit in 1971 with his cover version of The Candy Man, originally written for the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?

3.

Which Manchester Park, a former paupers’ burial ground, lying just to the north of the city centre and between Rochdale Road and the valley of the River Irk, was featured on Spring Watch in 2006?

4.

Who wrote the 14,000 line epic poem which (in translation) begins:

“In the middle of our life’s journey, I found myself in a dark wood”?

5.

This military dictator took power in 1981, perpetrated what is now known as the 'Dirty War' against political activists, and was rapidly removed from power following a military reverse against a foreign power.  Who was he?

6.

Which 1990 Spanish film, directed by Carlos Saura and starring Carmen Maura, deals with the ups and downs of a travelling vaudeville troupe during the Spanish Civil War, and takes its title from the favourite song of the International Brigades during that war?

7.

Which eponymous heroine of a Jacobean tragedy speaks these lines to her lover:

“We’ll only lie, and talk together, and plot
T’appease my humorous kindred; and if you please,
Like the old tale, in Alexander and Lodovic
Lay a naked sword between us, keep us chaste”

She met her death later on at the hands of her two brothers, Duke Ferdinand and The Cardinal?

8.

In the Caribbean, you’d be eating 'saltfish', in France 'morue', and in Scandinavian countries 'clipfish'.  What would you be eating in Italy?

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme

1.

What is the Irish equivalent of the Inns of Court?

2.

Who was sentenced 'to be whipped through the streets of London five times a year for the rest of his life' for the offence of perjury?

3.

Song of the South was a hit Live Action/Animation picture by Walt Disney based of the works of which author?

4.

Whose latest work is The Girl Next Door?

5.

Who commanded the American 5th Army in Italy, leading it to capture Rome in June 1944, in defiance if an express order not to do so?

6.

Who wrote The Prince of Denmark’s March, often called The Trumpet Voluntary?

7.

Which actor, who played the part of Dr Preston Burke, was fired from the TV Series Grey's Anatomy for fighting with a fellow actor?

8.

Who played the part of Milo Trindle in the 2007 film Sleuth?

Sp.

John Cabot sailed from Bristol to discover Newfoundland in 1497.  What was his ship called?

ROUND 6 - Linked Questions and Answers

From Question 2 onwards (apart from the spare question) each question is linked to the answer of the previous question

1.

Which 1955 film, directed by Charles Laughton, starred Robert Mitchum as a villainous preacher?

2.

Which keen amateur hunter is thought to have killed 300,000 animals before being fatally (and fatefully) himself shot?

3.

Which European Prince competed in the bobsleigh in every Winter Olympics from Calgary to Salt Lake City?

4.

Which model of car was memorably advertised by Bert Kwouk in the late 1970s?

5.

Who stayed up all night playing cards and then played 36 holes of golf immediately before playing for, and winning, a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics?

6.

Jordan (not the Katie Price one) became the most notorious shop assistant in England in the summer of 1976.  At which boutique did she work?

7.

Whose book Sex sold more than 1,500,000 copies in 1992?

8.

Who painted two versions of The Madonna of Port Lligat in 1949-50?

Sp.

What is Rugby Union player Billy Twelvetrees’ nickname?

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

Eurydice Colette Clytemnestra Dido Bathsheba Rabelais Patricia Cocteau Stone is a character in a TV sitcom.  By what name is she better known?

2.

Benjamin Franklin Pierce MD and John Francis Xavier McIntyre MD are characters in a TV sitcom.  By what names are they better known?

3.

From what do you suffer if you have nomophobia?

4.

From what do you suffer if you have dromophobia?

5.

Who collaborated with Sir Paul McCartney to write the Liverpool Oratorio?

6.

Who is the composer of the oratorio The Creation?

7.

Which Secretary General of the TGWU became the first Minister of Technology in 1964?

8.

Whom did Bob Crow succeed as President of the RMT union?

Sp.

Five times shortlisted for the Booker Prize, who won the Guardian Fiction Prize for The Bottle Factory Outing and the Whitbread Prize for Every Man For Himself?

ROUND 8 - Hidden theme

1.

Which band had a hit in 1994 with Independent Love Song?

2.

What is the name of the play by Tom Stoppard which parodies Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap?  When it opened in London in 1968 it starred Richard Briers and Ronnie Barker.

3.

What musical instrument is Vanessa Mae famous for playing?

4.

Captain Blackadder was court-martialled for shooting a carrier pigeon which had been raised by General Melchett.  What was the name of the pigeon?

5.

Who is the British number one female tennis player?

6.

What is the nickname of Macclesfield Town Football Club?

7.

Which film won the Best Picture Award at the Oscars in 1978?

8.

What was the name of the RAF airbase on Anglesey where Prince William was based until recently?

Sp.

What award has been won by Stephen Fry, Harold Wilson and Tony Benn?

ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

What contribution to British politics was made in 1993 by Alan Sked, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics?

He founded the United Kingdom Independence Party

2.

What is the name of the Conservative MP who defected to UKIP in 2008 without standing for re-election, thus becoming the party’s first MP?

Bob Spink

3.

Which band, who won the 2012 Mercury Music Prize with their debut album, reached number one this year with their second album entitled This Is All Yours?

Alt-J

4.

Which band, who won the 2010 Mercury Music Prize with their debut album, reached number one last year with their second album entitled Co-exist?

The XX

5.

In relation to US history, what is the significance of Abraham Zapruder, a manufacturer of women’s clothing?

His home movie documented the assassination of President Kennedy

6.

In relation to US history, what is the significance of Mark Felt, who made his name investigating organised crime in Nevada?

He was the ‘Deep Throat’ of the Watergate scandal

7.

In November 2013 Asmir Begovic of Stoke City became the 5th goalkeeper to score in a Premier League game. Name 2 of the previous 4.

(2 from)

Peter Schmeichel, Brad Friedel, Paul Robinson, Tim Howard

8.

As of last week, which current Premier League footballer jointly holds the record for the most red cards in a Premier League career with no less than 8?

Richard Dunne

(of QPR)

Sp.

Which English town or city had the Roman name Aquae Arnemetiae?

Buxton

1.

For his performance in which play by Richard Bean did James Corden win numerous awards, including a 2012 Tony award for the Broadway production?

One Man, Two Guv’nors

2.

In which award-winning 2013 play by Peter Morgan did Helen Mirren reprise her role as Queen Elizabeth II?

The Audience

3.

Parthian, Achaemenid and Sassanid were all dynastic empires of which ancient power?

Persia

4.

Ashoka the Great was the long-standing ruler of the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BC.  In which modern country was his empire mainly located?

India

5.

In Greek mythology, who was Helen of Troy’s half-sister who was NOT fathered by Zeus?

Clytemnestra

6.

In Greek Mythology, who was the wife of King Minos who gave birth to the minotaur?

Pasiphae

7.

Which award-winning French film of 2009 starred Tahar Rahim as an incarcerated petty criminal who rises rapidly in the inmate hierarchy?

A Prophet

8.

What is the name of the 2012 French film which won the foreign-language Oscar and whose star Emmanuelle Riva became the oldest nominee for the 'actress in a leading role' award?

Amour

Sp.

Which scientific theory postulates that subatomic particles are tiny one-dimensional loops?

String Theory

ROUND 3 - Hidden theme in pairs

1.

The town of New Mills in Derbyshire is at the confluence of which two rivers?

The Goyt and the Sett

2.

Which river, after which a 1948 John Wayne film was entitled, is a major tributary of the Mississippi, rising in the Texas Panhandle and forming the border between Texas and Oklahoma before joining a further Mississippi tributary in Louisiana?

Red River

3.

Which actor, who had previously played the title role in a film which won the Oscar for Best Picture, claimed in 2009 that he may have been the biological father of Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris?

Mark Lester

4.

Which 1998 Woody Allen film about a couple’s lives following their divorce, starred Kenneth Branagh, Winona Ryder and Leonardo Di Caprio amongst others?

Celebrity

5.

Which singer-songwriter whose only UK hit single was Free Electric Band in 1973, achieved far greater success as co-writer of huge-selling songs such as The Air That I Breathe and Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now?  His son is a member of the band The Strokes.

Albert Hammond

6.

Which 1970s soul/funk band, led by George Clinton, released albums called Mothership Connection and The Clones of Dr Funkenstein which were voted among the ten best funk albums of all-time in a Blues & Soul magazine poll?

Parliament

7.

What is the surname of the twin brothers David and Frederick whose business empire includes many media titles such as the Daily Telegraph and Spectator?

Barclay

8.

Which publication that first appeared in 1851 has long held the nickname 'The Gray Lady' and the motto 'All the news that’s fit to print'?

New York Times

Sp.

What is the family name of the Dukes of Westminster?

Grosvenor

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme (with sound-a-likes & half-rhymes)

1.

Known as 'Pearl' to her friends, which American singer-songwriter role to fame as the lead singer of the band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and had a posthumous No 1 US chart single in 1971 with Me and Bobby McGee?

Janis Joplin

2.

Which American singer, dancer and actor had his only No. 1 hit in 1971 with his cover version of The Candy Man, originally written for the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?

Sammy Davis, Junior

3.

Which Manchester Park, a former paupers’ burial ground, lying just to the north of the city centre and between Rochdale Road and the valley of the River Irk, was featured on Spring Watch in 2006?

Angel Meadow

4.

Who wrote the 14,000 line epic poem which (in translation) begins:

“In the middle of our life’s journey, I found myself in a dark wood”?

Dante (Alighieri)

5.

This military dictator took power in 1981, perpetrated what is now known as the 'Dirty War' against political activists, and was rapidly removed from power following a military reverse against a foreign power.  Who was he?

Leopoldo Galtieri

6.

Which 1990 Spanish film, directed by Carlos Saura and starring Carmen Maura, deals with the ups and downs of a travelling vaudeville troupe during the Spanish Civil War, and takes its title from the favourite song of the International Brigades during that war?

Ay Carmela!

7.

Which eponymous heroine of a Jacobean tragedy speaks these lines to her lover:

“We’ll only lie, and talk together, and plot
T’appease my humorous kindred; and if you please,
Like the old tale, in Alexander and Lodovic
Lay a naked sword between us, keep us chaste”

She met her death later on at the hands of her two brothers, Duke Ferdinand and The Cardinal?

The Duchess of Malfi

8.

In the Caribbean, you’d be eating 'saltfish', in France 'morue', and in Scandinavian countries 'clipfish'.  What would you be eating in Italy?

Baccala

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme

1.

What is the Irish equivalent of the Inns of Court?

Kings Inns

2.

Who was sentenced 'to be whipped through the streets of London five times a year for the rest of his life' for the offence of perjury?

Titus Oates

3.

Song of the South was a hit Live Action/Animation picture by Walt Disney based of the works of which author?

Joel Chandler Harris

4.

Whose latest work is The Girl Next Door?

Ruth Rendell

5.

Who commanded the American 5th Army in Italy, leading it to capture Rome in June 1944, in defiance if an express order not to do so?

General Mark W Clark

6.

Who wrote The Prince of Denmark’s March, often called The Trumpet Voluntary?

Jeremiah Clarke

(not Henry Purcell – a frequent misattribution)

7.

Which actor, who played the part of Dr Preston Burke, was fired from the TV Series Grey's Anatomy for fighting with a fellow actor?

Isaiah Washington

8.

Who played the part of Milo Trindle in the 2007 film Sleuth?

Jude Law

Sp.

John Cabot sailed from Bristol to discover Newfoundland in 1497.  What was his ship called?

The Matthew

ROUND 6 - Linked Questions and Answers

From Question 2 onwards (apart from the spare question) each question is linked to the answer of the previous question

1.

Which 1955 film, directed by Charles Laughton, starred Robert Mitchum as a villainous preacher?

Night of the Hunter

2.

Which keen amateur hunter is thought to have killed 300,000 animals before being fatally (and fatefully) himself shot?

Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand

3.

Which European Prince competed in the bobsleigh in every Winter Olympics from Calgary to Salt Lake City?

Albert of Monaco

4.

Which model of car was memorably advertised by Bert Kwouk in the late 1970s?

VW Golf

5.

Who stayed up all night playing cards and then played 36 holes of golf immediately before playing for, and winning, a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics?

Michael Jordan

6.

Jordan (not the Katie Price one) became the most notorious shop assistant in England in the summer of 1976.  At which boutique did she work?

Sex

(Seditionaries is also acceptable as the shop changed its name later in the year)

7.

Whose book Sex sold more than 1,500,000 copies in 1992?

Madonna

8.

Who painted two versions of The Madonna of Port Lligat in 1949-50?

Salvador Dali

Sp.

What is Rugby Union player Billy Twelvetrees’ nickname?

36

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

Eurydice Colette Clytemnestra Dido Bathsheba Rabelais Patricia Cocteau Stone is a character in a TV sitcom.  By what name is she better known?

Patsy

(in Absolutely Fabulous)

2.

Benjamin Franklin Pierce MD and John Francis Xavier McIntyre MD are characters in a TV sitcom.  By what names are they better known?

Hawkeye and Trapper John

(in M*A*S*H)

3.

From what do you suffer if you have nomophobia?

The fear of being out of mobile phone contact

4.

From what do you suffer if you have dromophobia?

The fear of crossing the road

5.

Who collaborated with Sir Paul McCartney to write the Liverpool Oratorio?

Carl Davis

6.

Who is the composer of the oratorio The Creation?

Joseph (Franz Josef) Haydn

7.

Which Secretary General of the TGWU became the first Minister of Technology in 1964?

Frank Cousins

8.

Whom did Bob Crow succeed as President of the RMT union?

Jimmy Knapp

Sp.

Five times shortlisted for the Booker Prize, who won the Guardian Fiction Prize for The Bottle Factory Outing and the Whitbread Prize for Every Man For Himself?

Beryl Bainbridge

ROUND 8 - Hidden theme

1.

Which band had a hit in 1994 with Independent Love Song?

Scarlet

2.

What is the name of the play by Tom Stoppard which parodies Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap?  When it opened in London in 1968 it starred Richard Briers and Ronnie Barker.

The Real Inspector Hound

3.

What musical instrument is Vanessa Mae famous for playing?

Violin

4.

Captain Blackadder was court-martialled for shooting a carrier pigeon which had been raised by General Melchett.  What was the name of the pigeon?

Speckled Jim

5.

Who is the British number one female tennis player?

Heather Watson

6.

What is the nickname of Macclesfield Town Football Club?

The Silkmen

7.

Which film won the Best Picture Award at the Oscars in 1978?

The Deer Hunter

8.

What was the name of the RAF airbase on Anglesey where Prince William was based until recently?

RAF Valley (accept Valley)

Sp.

What award has been won by Stephen Fry, Harold Wilson and Tony Benn?

Pipe Smoker of the Year