ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

Which group has included as members Lindsay Armaou, Edele Lynch, Kealy Lynch and Sinead O'Carroll?

2.

Which group has included Charlie Simpson, Matt Willis, Ki Fitzgerald and James Bourne as members at various times?

3.

Which Scottish author (1859-1932) writer of The Reluctant Dragon amongst other works was Secretary to the Bank of England?

4.

Which English novelist and poet (1785-1866), whose name is probably better known than his oeuvre, wrote Headlong Hall, Nightmare Abbey and Crotchet Castle amongst other works, and was Chief Examiner of the East India Company?

5.

Who was the mother of Paris?

6.

Name either of the goddesses defeated by Aphrodite in the Judgement of Paris.

7.

Handbags and Gladrags written by Mike d'Abo is the title of the opening music for which comedy TV show?

8.

The Schickel Shamble by Ron Goodwin is the opening music for which long-running Radio 4 show?

1.

Which vegetable is the main ingredient, along with rice, in a soubise sauce?

2.

The word 'noix' is normally translated into English as 'nut' but but the French refer to a particular kind of nut with this word.  What kind nut is it?

3.

In Great Expectations what is the name of the lawyer who serves both Miss Haversham and Magwitch?

4.

What is the name of the retired mill owner who runs a school in Hard Times?

5.

In which English county would you find the National Trust property, Montacute House, used in the filming of Wolf Hall?

6.

In which English county would you find the National Trust property Hughenden Manor, once the home of a 19th-century British Prime Minister?

7.

Which pop star's real name is Alicia Moore?  She was born in 1979 and was originally a member of the girl group Choice.

8.

Which actor and comedian born in 1926 had the real name Joseph Levitch?   Because his original adopted stage name sounded very similar to that of a world heavyweight boxing champion (as pronounced in the US) he made a small alteration to his Christian name to avoid ambiguity.

ROUND 3 - Hidden theme

There are no sound-alikes but one of the theme words comprises just part of a word in the answer.

1.

What is the title of the state representative appointed by the French President for each region or department in France?  They are principally in charge of safety and security and handling crises.

2.

What was the highest elected political office in the Roman republic?

3.

What was the name of the poem published in 1814 by Lord Byron thought to have been based on the life of the pirate Jean Lafitte.  Berlioz wrote a concert overture of the same name based on the poem.

4.

In which constellation does the red giant star Antares lie?

5.

Which United States former world number one woman tennis player won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics at the age of 16 and went on to win three grand slams?

6.

Which Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation was founded by George Habash in 1967?

7.

Of which company, based in Norwich, was Mary Archer a director when it became a potential takeover target in 1994?  A Department of Trade and Industry enquiry was set up into possible insider trading by herself and her husband.  No charges were brought.

8.

This 1948 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston, and directed by John Huston, was one of the first Hollywood films to be shot in a location outside the US, in this case in Durango state, Mexico where most of the plot takes place.  What was its name?

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme

There are sound-alikes

1.

Which sitcom starring Steve Coogan is about a former roadie with anger issues who now owns a pest control business?

2.

Which 2010 Disney animated feature film is adapted from the Grimm Brothers’ tale Rapunzel?

3.

On which British island would you find Parys Mountain, which provided the copper sheathing for the hulls of warships of the British Navy, between 1778 and 1782?

4.

Which poet wrote many volumes of autobiography, the first of which was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?  She married a Welsh carpenter and ex-husband of Germaine Greer in 1973.  She later became Oprah Winfrey’s close friend and mentor.

5.

Which Scottish band whose biggest hit was 1988’s Somewhere in My Heart was fronted by Roddy Frame?

6.

What nickname for New York City was first used by Washington Irving in his satirical periodical Salmagundi, and was based on the alleged stupidity of the people of its namesake village in Nottinghamshire?

7.

During which battle fought on 5 November 1854, did the allied troops hold their ground, despite being severely outnumbered?  The amount of fog during the battle led to many of the troops on both sides being cut off and fighting mostly on their own initiative.  The battle became known as 'The Soldier's Battle'.

8.

Which British film director, playwright and screenwriter, who died in 2008, won the Academy Award for Best Director for The English Patient?

Sp.

What nickname has been given to the Kushtaka, a mythological half-human/half-animal shape-shifting creature that lives in Alaska?

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

What word is the name of a French mathematician and a computer programming language devised in 1970 by Nicolas Wirth, designed to bring robust principles to programming?

2.

What word describes a speech deficiency and one of the first artificial intelligence computer programming languages that was created in 1958 by John McCarthy?

3.

There are 30 pupils in a class.  15 are learning German and 18 are learning French.  4 are learning neither.  How many are learning both?

4.

In the same vein....In a class all pupils either play cricket or row, and some do both.  There are 15 pupils who play cricket and 60% of the pupils row.  One fifth of the pupils do both.  How many pupils are there in the class?

5.

The stately home of Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham is apparently the largest private house in the country.  It was the home of which British Prime Minister of the 2nd half of the 18th century who was in office for 2 terms but whose ministry only lasted a total of 18 months?

6.

Spencer Compton was the name at birth of the British Prime Minister who succeeded Walpole although in fact he was a puppet for Lord Carteret.  He was succeeded by Henry Pelham, brother of the Duke of Newcastle.  How is he better known?

7.

Although born in Switzerland Angelica Kauffman had a successful career in London and Rome.  She became the first female member of what in 1769?

8.

In 1974 Anthony Hewish and Martin Ryle were awarded the Nobel Prize for physics.  Many people in the science world, including Fred Hoyle, were outraged because the pioneering work for this award was done by the Cambridge graduate Jocelyn Bell.  What had she discovered?

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

1.

What was the capital of India between 1773 and 1911?

2.

What is the name of the city lying on the River Yarra voted the world's most liveable city in 2011?

3.

Which film star made her first appearance in Beetlejuice in 1988 when she was 17 and has been nominated for Academy Awards for her appearances in The Age of Innocence and Little Women?

4.

What was a number 1 single in August 1980 for David Bowie?

5.

Who was the presenter of ITV’s World of Sport from 1968 until its demise in 1985?

6.

What was the former name of the town on the River Congo called Kisangani since 1966?

7.

Which UK racecourse was founded by Queen Anne in 1711?

8.

Although a legitimate international transport company founded in 2009, it has had its activities ruled illegal in Australia, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, India, Germany, France and many other countries in the past year.  What is its name?

ROUNDS 7 & 8 - 'Pick Your Own Radio Station'

Questions sort of relate subject-wise to the nature of the station selected

1.

Radio 1

Whose Radio 1 show immediately follows The Breakfast Show at 10am on weekdays?  It has been announced that there will be a new host in this slot from May 2015 due to maternity leave.

2.

Radio 2

The Monday Night Rhythm and Blues Show on Radio 2 has been presented for the last 29 years by the former lead singer of Manfred Mann.  Who is he?

3.

Radio 3

What links (not exclusively) composers Tailleferre, Chaminade, Boulanger, Wieck (Schumann) and Weir?

4.

Radio 4

Name either of The Today Programme’s two regular female presenters.

5.

Radio 5 Live

Radio 5’s football phone-in, which generally starts at 6.06pm is called 6-0-6.  Other sports have had this title adapted for their own phone-ins; for example 6 Love 6 for Tennis and 6-Duck-6 for Cricket.  Which similarly painful pun serves as the title for the Formula 1 equivalent phone-in?

6.

Radio 6 Music

Which musician presents a Radio 6 show called ------- -------‘s Finest Hour, which has elbowed Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service into a later timeslot on Sunday afternoons?

7.

Radio 7

Radio 7 has been rebranded as Radio 4 Extra, but some concepts remain such as The 7th Dimension sci-fi section.  Doctor Who audio dramas often fill this slot, mostly featuring the Eighth Doctor.  More than 70 episodes of this were recorded, featuring which actor as The Doctor?

8.

BBC Asian Network

BBC Asian Network is often broadcast from The Mailbox in which city?

9.

Radio 1 extra

Radio 1 Extra features styles such as hip hop, garage, drum & bass, house, and R&B.  What is the all-encompassing name of the genre describing stations that play this kind of music?

10.

Xfm

West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum released in 2009, was the third studio album by which British indie rock band?              

11.

Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

In the 2015 Cricket World Cup, what is the witty nickname for the travelling fans of the Irish Cricket Team?

12.

BBC World Service

Which marvellously deep-voiced World Service continuity announcer (who also works for Radio 4) was born and brought up in Kingston, Jamaica?

13.

Kerrang!

Guitarist and Lead Singer Eddie Vedder performs with which American Alternative Rock Band still going strong after 25 years?

14.

Planet Rock

Which band had a number 4 UK hit in 1972 with the Instrumental Sylvia - described as 'a pop song written with Baroque harmony and counterpoint performed with rock arrangements'?  Thijs van Leer’s yodelling and a Hammond organ feature alongside Jan Akkerman’s masterful guitar.

15.

Jazz fm

Which New Orleans pianist and singer, known for his startling 1968 album Gris-Gris (in his 'Night Tripper' persona) has recently released an album of Louis Armstrong covers?

16.

Heart

Who had late 70s hits with Easy, Sail On, Three Times a Lady, and Still?

17.

Classic fm

Perhaps more famous for his work in television, who is Classic fm’s Composer in Residence?

18.

Radio 4 extra

Which Classic Radio 4 comedy from 1991-2 features presenter Chris Morris, various characters such as Radio Wow’s Wayne Carr and his French counterpart Jacques Oeuf?  It also marked the debut of sports news presenter Alan Partridge.  It was remade on TV as The Day Today.

19.

Key 103

Along with 140 other local stations in the UK, Key 103 outsources its Chart show, using the Vodaphone Big Top 40 franchise.  This is co-presented by which ex-JLS singer?

20.

BBC Radio Manchester

The former presenter of the Radio Manchester Breakfast Show used to be a soldier, a bus driver, and a mental health nurse.  He now does a late night phone-in.  Who is he?

Spares

1.

What grape is traditionally used to make the wine asti spumante?

2.

Zaragoza is the capital of which region of Spain?

3.

What is the highest point in the Southern Alps?

4.

Which character regularly said "I didn't get where I am today..."?

5.

Who regularly said "I think the answer lies in the soil"?

6.

What is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of February every year in United States?

ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

Which group has included as members Lindsay Armaou, Edele Lynch, Kealy Lynch and Sinead O'Carroll?

B*witched

2.

Which group has included Charlie Simpson, Matt Willis, Ki Fitzgerald and James Bourne as members at various times?

Busted

3.

Which Scottish author (1859-1932) writer of The Reluctant Dragon amongst other works was Secretary to the Bank of England?

Kenneth Grahame

4.

Which English novelist and poet (1785-1866), whose name is probably better known than his oeuvre, wrote Headlong Hall, Nightmare Abbey and Crotchet Castle amongst other works, and was Chief Examiner of the East India Company?

(Thomas Love) Peacock

5.

Who was the mother of Paris?

Hecuba

6.

Name either of the goddesses defeated by Aphrodite in the Judgement of Paris.

(either)

Hera

(or)

Athena

7.

Handbags and Gladrags written by Mike d'Abo is the title of the opening music for which comedy TV show?

The Office

8.

The Schickel Shamble by Ron Goodwin is the opening music for which long-running Radio 4 show?

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue

1.

Which vegetable is the main ingredient, along with rice, in a soubise sauce?

Onion

2.

The word 'noix' is normally translated into English as 'nut' but but the French refer to a particular kind of nut with this word.  What kind nut is it?

Walnut

3.

In Great Expectations what is the name of the lawyer who serves both Miss Haversham and Magwitch?

Jaggers

4.

What is the name of the retired mill owner who runs a school in Hard Times?

(Thomas) Gradgrind

5.

In which English county would you find the National Trust property, Montacute House, used in the filming of Wolf Hall?

Somerset

6.

In which English county would you find the National Trust property Hughenden Manor, once the home of a 19th-century British Prime Minister?

Bucks

7.

Which pop star's real name is Alicia Moore?  She was born in 1979 and was originally a member of the girl group Choice.

P!nk

8.

Which actor and comedian born in 1926 had the real name Joseph Levitch?   Because his original adopted stage name sounded very similar to that of a world heavyweight boxing champion (as pronounced in the US) he made a small alteration to his Christian name to avoid ambiguity.

Jerry Lewis

ROUND 3 - Hidden theme

There are no sound-alikes but one of the theme words comprises just part of a word in the answer.

1.

What is the title of the state representative appointed by the French President for each region or department in France?  They are principally in charge of safety and security and handling crises.

Prefect

2.

What was the highest elected political office in the Roman republic?

Consul

3.

What was the name of the poem published in 1814 by Lord Byron thought to have been based on the life of the pirate Jean Lafitte.  Berlioz wrote a concert overture of the same name based on the poem.

The Corsair

4.

In which constellation does the red giant star Antares lie?

Scorpio

5.

Which United States former world number one woman tennis player won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics at the age of 16 and went on to win three grand slams?

Jennifer Capriati

6.

Which Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation was founded by George Habash in 1967?

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

7.

Of which company, based in Norwich, was Mary Archer a director when it became a potential takeover target in 1994?  A Department of Trade and Industry enquiry was set up into possible insider trading by herself and her husband.  No charges were brought.

Anglia TV

8.

This 1948 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston, and directed by John Huston, was one of the first Hollywood films to be shot in a location outside the US, in this case in Durango state, Mexico where most of the plot takes place.  What was its name?

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme

There are sound-alikes

1.

Which sitcom starring Steve Coogan is about a former roadie with anger issues who now owns a pest control business?

Saxondale

2.

Which 2010 Disney animated feature film is adapted from the Grimm Brothers’ tale Rapunzel?

Tangled

3.

On which British island would you find Parys Mountain, which provided the copper sheathing for the hulls of warships of the British Navy, between 1778 and 1782?

Anglesey

4.

Which poet wrote many volumes of autobiography, the first of which was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?  She married a Welsh carpenter and ex-husband of Germaine Greer in 1973.  She later became Oprah Winfrey’s close friend and mentor.

Maya Angelou

5.

Which Scottish band whose biggest hit was 1988’s Somewhere in My Heart was fronted by Roddy Frame?

Aztec Camera

6.

What nickname for New York City was first used by Washington Irving in his satirical periodical Salmagundi, and was based on the alleged stupidity of the people of its namesake village in Nottinghamshire?

Gotham

7.

During which battle fought on 5 November 1854, did the allied troops hold their ground, despite being severely outnumbered?  The amount of fog during the battle led to many of the troops on both sides being cut off and fighting mostly on their own initiative.  The battle became known as 'The Soldier's Battle'.

Inkerman

8.

Which British film director, playwright and screenwriter, who died in 2008, won the Academy Award for Best Director for The English Patient?

Anthony Minghella

Sp.

What nickname has been given to the Kushtaka, a mythological half-human/half-animal shape-shifting creature that lives in Alaska?

The Otter Man

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

What word is the name of a French mathematician and a computer programming language devised in 1970 by Nicolas Wirth, designed to bring robust principles to programming?

Pascal

2.

What word describes a speech deficiency and one of the first artificial intelligence computer programming languages that was created in 1958 by John McCarthy?

Lisp

3.

There are 30 pupils in a class.  15 are learning German and 18 are learning French.  4 are learning neither.  How many are learning both?

7

4.

In the same vein....In a class all pupils either play cricket or row, and some do both.  There are 15 pupils who play cricket and 60% of the pupils row.  One fifth of the pupils do both.  How many pupils are there in the class?

25
 

5.

The stately home of Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham is apparently the largest private house in the country.  It was the home of which British Prime Minister of the 2nd half of the 18th century who was in office for 2 terms but whose ministry only lasted a total of 18 months?

Lord (Marquis of) Rockingham

6.

Spencer Compton was the name at birth of the British Prime Minister who succeeded Walpole although in fact he was a puppet for Lord Carteret.  He was succeeded by Henry Pelham, brother of the Duke of Newcastle.  How is he better known?

Lord (Earl of) Wilmington

7.

Although born in Switzerland Angelica Kauffman had a successful career in London and Rome.  She became the first female member of what in 1769?

Royal Academy

8.

In 1974 Anthony Hewish and Martin Ryle were awarded the Nobel Prize for physics.  Many people in the science world, including Fred Hoyle, were outraged because the pioneering work for this award was done by the Cambridge graduate Jocelyn Bell.  What had she discovered?

Pulsars

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

1.

What was the capital of India between 1773 and 1911?

Calcutta

2.

What is the name of the city lying on the River Yarra voted the world's most liveable city in 2011?

Melbourne

3.

Which film star made her first appearance in Beetlejuice in 1988 when she was 17 and has been nominated for Academy Awards for her appearances in The Age of Innocence and Little Women?

Winona Ryder

4.

What was a number 1 single in August 1980 for David Bowie?

Ashes to Ashes

5.

Who was the presenter of ITV’s World of Sport from 1968 until its demise in 1985?

Dickie Davies

6.

What was the former name of the town on the River Congo called Kisangani since 1966?

Stanleyville

7.

Which UK racecourse was founded by Queen Anne in 1711?

Ascot

8.

Although a legitimate international transport company founded in 2009, it has had its activities ruled illegal in Australia, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, India, Germany, France and many other countries in the past year.  What is its name?

Uber

ROUNDS 7 & 8 - 'Pick Your Own Radio Station'

Questions sort of relate subject-wise to the nature of the station selected

1.

Radio 1

Whose Radio 1 show immediately follows The Breakfast Show at 10am on weekdays?  It has been announced that there will be a new host in this slot from May 2015 due to maternity leave.

Fearne Cotton

2.

Radio 2

The Monday Night Rhythm and Blues Show on Radio 2 has been presented for the last 29 years by the former lead singer of Manfred Mann.  Who is he?

Paul Jones

3.

Radio 3

What links (not exclusively) composers Tailleferre, Chaminade, Boulanger, Wieck (Schumann) and Weir?

They are all women

(who were celebrated on R3 in the context of International Women’s Day last weekend)

4.

Radio 4

Name either of The Today Programme’s two regular female presenters.

(either)

Sarah Montague

(or)

Mishal Husain

(not Carolyn Quinn who left in 2008)

5.

Radio 5 Live

Radio 5’s football phone-in, which generally starts at 6.06pm is called 6-0-6.  Other sports have had this title adapted for their own phone-ins; for example 6 Love 6 for Tennis and 6-Duck-6 for Cricket.  Which similarly painful pun serves as the title for the Formula 1 equivalent phone-in?

Slicks-0-6

6.

Radio 6 Music

Which musician presents a Radio 6 show called ------- -------‘s Finest Hour, which has elbowed Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service into a later timeslot on Sunday afternoons?

Guy Garvey

(lead singer of Elbow)

7.

Radio 7

Radio 7 has been rebranded as Radio 4 Extra, but some concepts remain such as The 7th Dimension sci-fi section.  Doctor Who audio dramas often fill this slot, mostly featuring the Eighth Doctor.  More than 70 episodes of this were recorded, featuring which actor as The Doctor?

Paul McGann

8.

BBC Asian Network

BBC Asian Network is often broadcast from The Mailbox in which city?

Birmingham

9.

Radio 1 extra

Radio 1 Extra features styles such as hip hop, garage, drum & bass, house, and R&B.  What is the all-encompassing name of the genre describing stations that play this kind of music?

Urban Contemporary

(accept Urban)

10.

Xfm

West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum released in 2009, was the third studio album by which British indie rock band?              

Kasabian

11.

Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

In the 2015 Cricket World Cup, what is the witty nickname for the travelling fans of the Irish Cricket Team?

The Blarney Army

12.

BBC World Service

Which marvellously deep-voiced World Service continuity announcer (who also works for Radio 4) was born and brought up in Kingston, Jamaica?

Neil Nunes

(pronounced 'Noo-nezz')

13.

Kerrang!

Guitarist and Lead Singer Eddie Vedder performs with which American Alternative Rock Band still going strong after 25 years?

Pearl Jam

14.

Planet Rock

Which band had a number 4 UK hit in 1972 with the Instrumental Sylvia - described as 'a pop song written with Baroque harmony and counterpoint performed with rock arrangements'?  Thijs van Leer’s yodelling and a Hammond organ feature alongside Jan Akkerman’s masterful guitar.

Focus

15.

Jazz fm

Which New Orleans pianist and singer, known for his startling 1968 album Gris-Gris (in his 'Night Tripper' persona) has recently released an album of Louis Armstrong covers?

Dr John

(a.k.a. Mack Rebennack)

16.

Heart

Who had late 70s hits with Easy, Sail On, Three Times a Lady, and Still?

The Commodores

(featuring Lionel Richie – but he’s not the answer)

17.

Classic fm

Perhaps more famous for his work in television, who is Classic fm’s Composer in Residence?

Howard Goodall

(amongst other things, he wrote the Blackadder theme)

18.

Radio 4 extra

Which Classic Radio 4 comedy from 1991-2 features presenter Chris Morris, various characters such as Radio Wow’s Wayne Carr and his French counterpart Jacques Oeuf?  It also marked the debut of sports news presenter Alan Partridge.  It was remade on TV as The Day Today.

On the Hour

(originally broadcast at 6.30, of course)

19.

Key 103

Along with 140 other local stations in the UK, Key 103 outsources its Chart show, using the Vodaphone Big Top 40 franchise.  This is co-presented by which ex-JLS singer?

Marvin Humes

(Marvin will do)

20.

BBC Radio Manchester

The former presenter of the Radio Manchester Breakfast Show used to be a soldier, a bus driver, and a mental health nurse.  He now does a late night phone-in.  Who is he?

Allan Beswick

Spares

1.

What grape is traditionally used to make the wine asti spumante?

Muscat

2.

Zaragoza is the capital of which region of Spain?

Aragon

3.

What is the highest point in the Southern Alps?

Mount Cook

(in New Zealand)

4.

Which character regularly said "I didn't get where I am today..."?

CJ

(in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin - accept this or the actor's name, John Barron)

5.

Who regularly said "I think the answer lies in the soil"?

Kenneth Williams

(in Beyond Our Ken - accept the character's name, Arthur Fallowfield)

6.

What is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of February every year in United States?

Washington's birthday