ROUND 1 - Pot pourri

1.

In US slang what is a 'Saturday Night Special'?

2.

Which 1970’s cop show included the characters Detective Lieutenant Mike Stone and Inspector Steve Keller?

3.

59 in Scotland, 18 in Northern Ireland, 40 in Wales - how many in England?

4.

How many teams compete in the NFL (American Football)?

5.

Who painted The Son of Man in 1964?

6.

Which band, formed in 1967, whose past members have included Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny amongst many others hold an annual festival at Cropredy, Oxfordshire?

7.

In Base Jumping for what does the acronym B.A.S.E. stand?

8.

Phyllis & Ada; Elizabeth & Victoria; Mary & Sophia; Jessica & Ellie.  These have all assisted in the construction of what?

1.

Which photographer, born 1949, worked for Rolling Stone magazine between 1970 and 1983, and was the last person to take a professional photograph of John Lennon five hours before he was killed?

2.

The Willis Tower, The John Hancock Centre and The Aon Centre are all skyscrapers in which city?

3.

Which one word links the titles of singles by Gwen Guthrie, The Pet Shop Boys and Dido?

4.

Which 1945 film starring Margaret Lockwood as a nobleman’s wife who secretly becomes a highwaywoman, was loosely remade by Michael Winner in 1983 with Faye Dunaway in the lead role?

5.

In video gaming Mao, Spitz, and Willy are all types of what?

6.

Which highly rated Channel 4 series arose from a Cutting Edge documentary first screened in 2010?  It made a star of Paddy Doherty who went on to win Celebrity Big Brother.

7.

Which product was first packaged by Chase products in 1948?  The industry first saw the potential of sales during World War 2 by monitoring the US government's use of insecticides to combat malaria among the troops.

8.

Which 1940 novel by Howard Spring covers the rise of the socialist labour movement in Britain from the mid 19th century to the 1930s?

ROUND 3 - 'A Celebration of Great Women' (part 1)

Loosely paired with Round 4

1.

Who was the first woman to head a major TV Studio?

2.

On 7th September 2013 Marin Alsop became the first woman to do what?

3.

Dilma Roussef is the first female president of which country?

4.

In 1987 who was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

5.

Dame Barbara Mills was the first woman to hold which position? Alison Saunders is the current holder.

6.

Who won BAFTA TV award for best actress for her roles in My Beautiful Son (2002), Murder (2003), Canterbury Tales (2004) and Mo (2010)?

7.

Geva Mentor of England and Melbourne Vixens was voted number one best player in which sport in 2014?  She beat Australia’s Laura Geitz and New Zealand’s Laura Langman into second and third place respectively.

8.

Which Manchester born politician, who was Minister of Education from 1945, was one of the leaders of the Jarrow March in 1936 when she was MP for Jarrow.  The School of Psychological Sciences building at the University of Manchester is named after her.

ROUND 4 - 'A Celebration of Great Women' (part 2)

Loosely paired with Round 3

1.

Since 2014 Judith Weir is the first woman to hold which position?

2.

Who was the first female to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony, a Peabody and a Golden Globe?

3.

In 1994 who was the first female solo host of the Academy Awards?

4.

Kim Campbell was the first female Prime Minister of which country in 1993?

5.

Who is the BAFTA winning screenwriter of The Last Tango in Halifax, Happy Valley and At Home with the Braithwaites?  Her first foray into screenwriting was with The Archers.

6.

Whose memoir, published in 2001, is entitled Open Secret?

7.

Which woman, born 1883 who served on Manchester Council from 1924 to 1933, was first female chair of the Manchester Education Committee?  She served on the Manchester Education Committee for forty years and has a Manchester Educational institution named after her.

8.

In 2013 Sportswoman Casey Stoney was the first woman to be elected on to the management committee of which organisation?

What links these first names?  For example: given 'John, Paul, George and Ringo', the answer would be 'The Beatles'

1.

Peter, Janet, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam, Colin

2.

Diane, Edward, David, Andrew, Edward

3.

David, Stephen, Graham, Neil

4.

Olga, Maria, Irina

5.

Wes, Alejandro, Richard, Bennett, Morden

6.

Keith, Greg, Carl

7.

Leonard, Adolf, Julius, Herbert, Milton

8.

Peter, Harry, Michael, Terence

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

1.

What name links a brand of fashionable sunglasses and The Deserted Village, a poem published in 1770?

2.

In the US TV sitcom Frasier what is the name of the eponymous character’s father, played by old Withingtonian John Mahoney? (forename and surname needed)

3.

What links the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, author of The Future of the Christian Church, and a town 105 miles from Manchester?

4.

Name the Mathematician, Physicist and Christian Philosopher born in Clermont-Ferrand in 1623.

5.

Which island was ruled by the Order of the Knights of St John until conquered by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522?

6.

Which Ingmar Bergman movie won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1984?

7.

Which company is the UK’s leading manufacturer of cricket bats?

8.

Which pioneer of modernism wrote The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas and asserted unambiguously that “a rose is a rose is a rose”?

ROUNDS 7 & 8 - 'UK City Bingo'

Choose your question topic - each answer contains the name of a UK city

1.

URBAN HYMNS 

The hymns I Cannot Tell, I Would be True, and O Dreamer Leave Thy Dreams for Joyful Waking are sung to which popular tune?

2.

FUNNY HA HA

Which actor, writer and satirist played Denis Thatcher opposite Angela Thorne’s Margaret Thatcher in the 1981 stage farce Anyone for Denis. He contributed to Mrs Wilson’s Diaries and the Dear Bill column in Private Eye magazine

3.

PLOUGHMAN’S LUNCH 

Huntsman’s Cheese, which is also known as Stilchester, is made with alternating layers of Stilton and which other cheese?

4.

BIRTH OF A NATION

The year 1620 is carved into which iconic American historical symbol, which is located in Massachusetts?

5.

READ ALL ABOUT IT      

Who did Alan Rusbridger succeed as editor of The Guardian in 1995?

6.

YES PRIME MINISTER

What was the maiden name of Samantha Cameron before she married the current Prime Minister?

7.

ASIA

Which area and town on Hong Kong Island, which has a population of around 80,000, is known in Cantonese by words that translate as 'Little Hong Kong'?  The area is known for its floating village and floating restaurants located in its harbour.

8.

INSPIRATION

A 1944 Powell and Pressburger film; a 1961 Erik Chisholm opera; a 1993 concept album by Sting and a 2014 short story by M L Millard have all been based on which major literary work?

9.

FLASH BANG WALLOP 

How was Patrick Anson, who lived between 1939 and 2005 better known?

10.

WRITERS

What was the pen-name of the American author John Griffith Chaney? He was born in 1876 and wrote novels such as The Sea Wolf and The Iron Heel.

11.

HAMMING IT UP

Which character has been played on film by Melvin Cooper, Alan Rickman, Robert Shaw and Matthew Macfadyen, and on TV by Alan Wheatley, Nickolas Grace, Keith Allen and Ben Miller?

12.

TOP OF THE POPS

Reaching the top of the charts in 1989, what was the title of Simple Minds first and so far only UK number one single?

13.

ART SCHOOL

Which art movement was founded by John Crome and Robert Ladbrooke in 1803?  It is said that it was the first provincial art movement in Britain.

14.

LURGY 

Which contagious disease of birds was first identified in Java, Indonesia, in 1926?  It can cause mild conjunctivitis and flu-like symptoms when transmitted to humans.

15.

NEED FOR SPEED

In 1960 which sportsman was found guilty of dangerous driving?  He was fined £50 and banned from driving for 12 months after an incident in Chetwynd, Shropshire when he was test driving a Mini. 

16.

ELEVENSES 

Invented by a physician around 1750 who bequeathed the recipe to his coachman Mr Atkins, which hard dry biscuit or cracker is made from flour, butter, yeast and milk?  The biscuit has been referenced in literary works such as The Borrowers and Puck of Pook’s Hill.

17.

18.

BORN TO RULE

Edward Smith-Stanley was better known as which three-time 19th century Prime Minister.

19.

SECONDS OUT

Which boxing trainer and cornerman worked with 16 world boxing champions, most notably with Muhammed Ali between 1960 and 1981?

20.

BEST OF BRITISH 

Brian Roberts, D’Artagnan, Logan 5 and Basil Exposition are all roles played on screen by which actor?

21.

PINT SIZE POP

Who was lead singer of The Seekers from 1963 before leaving to pursue her solo career in 1968?

22.

21st CENTURY LITERATURE 

In the Twilight series of books by Stephanie Meyer, what is the first name of Esme’s husband, who is the adoptive father of Edward, Emmett and Alice?

23.

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THE BASS

How is Haydn’s symphony number 92 in G major better known?

24.

EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION

Robert Southey, A A Milne, Jeremy Bentham, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tony Benn along with Helena Bonham Carter and Shane MacGowan all went to which Public School?

Spares

1.

Which country’s currency is nicknamed 'The Loonie'?

2.

Which country became the 10th Member of the European Economic Community in 1981?

3.

Who was first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director?

4.

Who was the controversial Governor General of Australia who dismissed the government of Gough Whitlam?

ROUND 1 - Pot pourri

1.

In US slang what is a 'Saturday Night Special'?

A gun

(especially a cheap firearm)

2.

Which 1970’s cop show included the characters Detective Lieutenant Mike Stone and Inspector Steve Keller?

The Streets of San Francisco

3.

59 in Scotland, 18 in Northern Ireland, 40 in Wales - how many in England?

533

(Parliamentary seats - 650 in total)

4.

How many teams compete in the NFL (American Football)?

32

5.

Who painted The Son of Man in 1964?

Rene Magritte

(the one with the apple for a face and a bowler hat)

6.

Which band, formed in 1967, whose past members have included Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny amongst many others hold an annual festival at Cropredy, Oxfordshire?

Fairport Convention

7.

In Base Jumping for what does the acronym B.A.S.E. stand?

Buildings, Antennae, Span, Earth

8.

Phyllis & Ada; Elizabeth & Victoria; Mary & Sophia; Jessica & Ellie.  These have all assisted in the construction of what?

Crossrail

(they are tunnel boring machines)

1.

Which photographer, born 1949, worked for Rolling Stone magazine between 1970 and 1983, and was the last person to take a professional photograph of John Lennon five hours before he was killed?

Annie Leibovitz

2.

The Willis Tower, The John Hancock Centre and The Aon Centre are all skyscrapers in which city?

Chicago

3.

Which one word links the titles of singles by Gwen Guthrie, The Pet Shop Boys and Dido?

Rent

4.

Which 1945 film starring Margaret Lockwood as a nobleman’s wife who secretly becomes a highwaywoman, was loosely remade by Michael Winner in 1983 with Faye Dunaway in the lead role?

The Wicked Lady

5.

In video gaming Mao, Spitz, and Willy are all types of what?

Cats

6.

Which highly rated Channel 4 series arose from a Cutting Edge documentary first screened in 2010?  It made a star of Paddy Doherty who went on to win Celebrity Big Brother.

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

7.

Which product was first packaged by Chase products in 1948?  The industry first saw the potential of sales during World War 2 by monitoring the US government's use of insecticides to combat malaria among the troops.

Hairspray

8.

Which 1940 novel by Howard Spring covers the rise of the socialist labour movement in Britain from the mid 19th century to the 1930s?

Fame is the Spur

ROUND 3 - 'A Celebration of Great Women' (part 1)

Loosely paired with Round 4

1.

Who was the first woman to head a major TV Studio?

Lucille Ball

2.

On 7th September 2013 Marin Alsop became the first woman to do what?

Conduct the Last Night of the Proms

3.

Dilma Roussef is the first female president of which country?

Brazil

4.

In 1987 who was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Aretha Franklin

5.

Dame Barbara Mills was the first woman to hold which position? Alison Saunders is the current holder.

Director of Public Prosecutions

(DPP)

6.

Who won BAFTA TV award for best actress for her roles in My Beautiful Son (2002), Murder (2003), Canterbury Tales (2004) and Mo (2010)?

Julie Walters

7.

Geva Mentor of England and Melbourne Vixens was voted number one best player in which sport in 2014?  She beat Australia’s Laura Geitz and New Zealand’s Laura Langman into second and third place respectively.

Netball

8.

Which Manchester born politician, who was Minister of Education from 1945, was one of the leaders of the Jarrow March in 1936 when she was MP for Jarrow.  The School of Psychological Sciences building at the University of Manchester is named after her.

Ellen Wilkinson

ROUND 4 - 'A Celebration of Great Women' (part 2)

Loosely paired with Round 3

1.

Since 2014 Judith Weir is the first woman to hold which position?

Master of the Queen’s Music

2.

Who was the first female to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, a Tony, a Peabody and a Golden Globe?

Barbara Streisand

3.

In 1994 who was the first female solo host of the Academy Awards?

Whoopi Goldberg

4.

Kim Campbell was the first female Prime Minister of which country in 1993?

Canada

5.

Who is the BAFTA winning screenwriter of The Last Tango in Halifax, Happy Valley and At Home with the Braithwaites?  Her first foray into screenwriting was with The Archers.

Sally Wainwright

6.

Whose memoir, published in 2001, is entitled Open Secret?

Stella Rimington

7.

Which woman, born 1883 who served on Manchester Council from 1924 to 1933, was first female chair of the Manchester Education Committee?  She served on the Manchester Education Committee for forty years and has a Manchester Educational institution named after her.

Shena Simon

8.

In 2013 Sportswoman Casey Stoney was the first woman to be elected on to the management committee of which organisation?

The Professional Footballers Association

(PFA - not the FA)

What links these first names?  For example: given 'John, Paul, George and Ringo', the answer would be 'The Beatles'

1.

Peter, Janet, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam, Colin

The Secret Seven

(Enid Blyton)

2.

Diane, Edward, David, Andrew, Edward

Candidates for 2010 Labour Party Leadership

(Abbot, Ball, Miliband, Burnham, Miliband)

3.

David, Stephen, Graham, Neil

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

4.

Olga, Maria, Irina

The Three Sisters

(Chekhov)

5.

Wes, Alejandro, Richard, Bennett, Morden

2015 Oscar Best Director nominees

(Anderson, Inarritu, Linklater, Miller, Tyldum)

6.

Keith, Greg, Carl

Emerson, Lake and Palmer

7.

Leonard, Adolf, Julius, Herbert, Milton

The Marx Brothers

(Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Zeppo, Gummo)

8.

Peter, Harry, Michael, Terence

The Goons

(Spike’s real name was Terence)

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

1.

What name links a brand of fashionable sunglasses and The Deserted Village, a poem published in 1770?

Oliver Goldsmith

2.

In the US TV sitcom Frasier what is the name of the eponymous character’s father, played by old Withingtonian John Mahoney? (forename and surname needed)

Martin Crain

3.

What links the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, author of The Future of the Christian Church, and a town 105 miles from Manchester?

Ramsey

(Michael and a town on the Isle of Man)

4.

Name the Mathematician, Physicist and Christian Philosopher born in Clermont-Ferrand in 1623.

Blaise Pascal

5.

Which island was ruled by the Order of the Knights of St John until conquered by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522?

Rhodes

6.

Which Ingmar Bergman movie won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1984?

Fanny and Alexander

7.

Which company is the UK’s leading manufacturer of cricket bats?

Duncan Fearnley

8.

Which pioneer of modernism wrote The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas and asserted unambiguously that “a rose is a rose is a rose”?

Gertrude Stein

ROUNDS 7 & 8 - 'UK City Bingo'

Choose your question topic - each answer contains the name of a UK city

1.

URBAN HYMNS 

The hymns I Cannot Tell, I Would be True, and O Dreamer Leave Thy Dreams for Joyful Waking are sung to which popular tune?

Londonderry Air

(accept Derry Air)

2.

FUNNY HA HA

Which actor, writer and satirist played Denis Thatcher opposite Angela Thorne’s Margaret Thatcher in the 1981 stage farce Anyone for Denis. He contributed to Mrs Wilson’s Diaries and the Dear Bill column in Private Eye magazine

John Wells

3.

PLOUGHMAN’S LUNCH 

Huntsman’s Cheese, which is also known as Stilchester, is made with alternating layers of Stilton and which other cheese?

Double Gloucester

(accept Gloucester)

4.

BIRTH OF A NATION

The year 1620 is carved into which iconic American historical symbol, which is located in Massachusetts?

Plymouth Rock

5.

READ ALL ABOUT IT      

Who did Alan Rusbridger succeed as editor of The Guardian in 1995?

Peter Preston

6.

YES PRIME MINISTER

What was the maiden name of Samantha Cameron before she married the current Prime Minister?

Sheffield

7.

ASIA

Which area and town on Hong Kong Island, which has a population of around 80,000, is known in Cantonese by words that translate as 'Little Hong Kong'?  The area is known for its floating village and floating restaurants located in its harbour.

Aberdeen

8.

INSPIRATION

A 1944 Powell and Pressburger film; a 1961 Erik Chisholm opera; a 1993 concept album by Sting and a 2014 short story by M L Millard have all been based on which major literary work?

The Canterbury Tales

9.

FLASH BANG WALLOP 

How was Patrick Anson, who lived between 1939 and 2005 better known?

Lord (Patrick) Lichfield

10.

WRITERS

What was the pen-name of the American author John Griffith Chaney? He was born in 1876 and wrote novels such as The Sea Wolf and The Iron Heel.

Jack London

11.

HAMMING IT UP

Which character has been played on film by Melvin Cooper, Alan Rickman, Robert Shaw and Matthew Macfadyen, and on TV by Alan Wheatley, Nickolas Grace, Keith Allen and Ben Miller?

Sheriff of Nottingham

12.

TOP OF THE POPS

Reaching the top of the charts in 1989, what was the title of Simple Minds first and so far only UK number one single?

Belfast Child

13.

ART SCHOOL

Which art movement was founded by John Crome and Robert Ladbrooke in 1803?  It is said that it was the first provincial art movement in Britain.

Norwich School

14.

LURGY 

Which contagious disease of birds was first identified in Java, Indonesia, in 1926?  It can cause mild conjunctivitis and flu-like symptoms when transmitted to humans.

Newcastle Disease

(it was given its name in 1927 following an outbreak in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne)

15.

NEED FOR SPEED

In 1960 which sportsman was found guilty of dangerous driving?  He was fined £50 and banned from driving for 12 months after an incident in Chetwynd, Shropshire when he was test driving a Mini. 

Stirling Moss

16.

ELEVENSES 

Invented by a physician around 1750 who bequeathed the recipe to his coachman Mr Atkins, which hard dry biscuit or cracker is made from flour, butter, yeast and milk?  The biscuit has been referenced in literary works such as The Borrowers and Puck of Pook’s Hill.

Bath Oliver

17.

Penny Lancaster

18.

BORN TO RULE

Edward Smith-Stanley was better known as which three-time 19th century Prime Minister.

Earl of Derby

19.

SECONDS OUT

Which boxing trainer and cornerman worked with 16 world boxing champions, most notably with Muhammed Ali between 1960 and 1981?

Angelo Dundee

20.

BEST OF BRITISH 

Brian Roberts, D’Artagnan, Logan 5 and Basil Exposition are all roles played on screen by which actor?

Michael York

21.

PINT SIZE POP

Who was lead singer of The Seekers from 1963 before leaving to pursue her solo career in 1968?

Judith Durham

22.

21st CENTURY LITERATURE 

In the Twilight series of books by Stephanie Meyer, what is the first name of Esme’s husband, who is the adoptive father of Edward, Emmett and Alice?

Carlisle

23.

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THE BASS

How is Haydn’s symphony number 92 in G major better known?

Oxford Symphony

24.

EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION

Robert Southey, A A Milne, Jeremy Bentham, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tony Benn along with Helena Bonham Carter and Shane MacGowan all went to which Public School?

Westminster School

(Helena went to do her A Levels; Shane left by mutual consent after a disagreement over the school’s drug policy)

Spares

1.

Which country’s currency is nicknamed 'The Loonie'?

Canada

2.

Which country became the 10th Member of the European Economic Community in 1981?

Greece

3.

Who was first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director?

Kathryn Bigelow

(for The Hurt Locker)

4.

Who was the controversial Governor General of Australia who dismissed the government of Gough Whitlam?

Sir John Kerr