ROUND 1 - Hidden theme

1.

Which British military leader nicknamed ‘the Spartan’ was shot through his right lung, and was noted by Lord Alanbrooke as being ‘’liable to commit untold errors in lack of tact’’?

2.

Which German statesman said ‘’the great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood’’?

3.

Which American statesman said "Nearly all men can stand adversity but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power’’?

4.

Which country and western singer died on October 12, 1997, when his experimental Adrian Davis Long-EZ plane crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California?

5.

Which explorer who demanded 10% of the Spanish crowns earned from profiteering in the New World, cited his travels as "a missionary process to convert non-believers"?  He died 20th May 1506 in Valladolid Spain at the age of 54.

6.

Which American singer signed to Motown records in 1969 as part of a group which had 6 US #1 singles.  They also appeared as a judge on the BBC celebrity singing competition Just the Two of Us with co-judges CeCe Sammy, Stewart Copeland and Trevor Nelson in 2007?

7.

Which Canadian politician was PM of Canada from April 20th 1968 to June 4th 1979, and again from March 3rd 1980 to June 30th 1984?  His funeral was attended by both Fidel Castro and Jimmy Carter.

8.

Who was the third president of the USA, the second Vice President of the USA, and was the lead author of the 1776 Declaration of Independence?

1.

What is the significance of the simultaneous deaths of Peter Allen and Gwynne Owen Evans at 8.00am on 13th August 1964?

2.

In 1955 Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in Britain.  What is, either the name of her shooting victim, or the pub in Hampstead outside which the crime was committed?

3.

Holly Woodlawn an actress from Miami who died in June 2015 was immortalised in which hit song of 1972?

4.

Boxer Reuben Carter who died in April 2014 was immortalised in which 1975 song?

5.

In a month of pop music-related deaths which Donald Trump look-a-like entertainment tycoon who managed Cream, Eric Clapton and The Bee Gees died aged 81 on 4th January?  The ruthless Don Arden threatened to throw him out of a fourth floor window in 1966.

6.

Who is Don Arden's famous daughter?

7.

What is the origin of the expression 'Back to Square One'?

8.

For which organisation was Leslie Mitchell working on 22nd September 1955, the night of Grace Archer's death in The Archers?  He had performed a similar role for a similar organisation in 1936.

ROUND 3 - Hidden theme

1.

Which British actress starred in The Mummy in 1999, The Mummy Returns in 2001, About a Boy opposite Hugh Grant in 2002 and received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the 2005 film The Constant Gardener? (forename and surname are required to fit the theme)

2.

Who won the 1997 Man Booker Prize with the novel The God of Small Things?

3.

For which Formula One construction team, founded in 1958, was Jackie Stewart driving when he won all three of his Formula One World Championship titles in 1969, 1971 and 1973?

4.

This American professional basketball player entered the NBA in 1996 and has played his entire career for the LA Lakers.  He has won 5 NBA championships and led the Lakers to a hat-trick of titles between 2002 and 2004.  He is a 15-time member of the All-NBA team and ranks third in the NBA all time scoring list.  He has also won two gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.  He is set to retire at the end of the 2015/16 season by which time he will have set an NBA record for the most number of seasons with the same team.  Who is he?

5.

Football team Real Sociedad play in which Spanish city?

6.

7.

This UK mobile telephone network business runs as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator using the O2 network. Founded by O2’s owners Telefonica in 2009 it won Which? magazine’s 'Best Telecom Services Provider' award in 2014.  What is its name?

8.

Which multi-million selling band’s albums include Youth and Young Manhood (2003), Because of the Times (2007), Only by the Night (2008) and Mechanical Bull (2013)?

Sp.

This politician left the Anglican priesthood to enter politics and has been the MP for Rhondda since 2001.  He has held posts as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and Minister for Europe.  He is currently Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.  Openly gay, his civil partnership ceremony was the first ever held in the Houses of Parliament.  Who is he?

ROUND 4 - Pairs

1.

What is the only palindromic-named band to have had a palindromic-titled No.1 in the UK? (band and song required for a correct answer).

2.

This 1970s No.1 single did not include the title of the song in the lyrics but it did include the title of the song that replaced it at No.1.  Name both songs.

3.

On whose tombstone would you find the following epitaph: “Teenage dreams - so hard to beat”?

4.

On which tombstone would you see the following epitaph: “To save your world you asked this man to die.  Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?”?

5.

Who is England’s most capped test cricket player?

6.

Who is Australia’s most capped test cricket player?

7.

Which thriller writer created US military police major Jack Reacher in an ongoing series of novels?

8.

Which thriller writer created policeman DI Tom Thorne in an ongoing series of novels?

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

Which song title is shared by the dance club anthem of Calvin Harris & Disciples which reached no. 2 in the UK charts in the summer of 2015, and by a UK no. 3 for the Bee Gees in the 1970's which was the only Bee Gees song played at the funeral of Robin Gibb?

2.

Which rock musician's death in 1993 preceded by 23 years that of the more celebrated front man with whom he was most notably associated ?

3.

Which current Labour MP, whose previous Shadow Cabinet positions have included Health Secretary, Education Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer, has had 2 volumes of memoirs published, entitled This Boy and Please, Mr. Postman?

4.

Which English actor has been nominated 4 times for a BAFTA for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor (Billy Liar,  King & Country, The Dresser and A Rather English Marriage) and twice for an Oscar (Dr. Zhivago and The Dresser), though his only such award is the BAFTA for Best Newcomer after only his second film in 1962?

5.

Which British multinational plc owns Allied Bakeries, British Sugar and the retailer Primark?  Its brands include Allinson, Kingsmill, Silver Spoon, Jordan's, Ovaltine, Patak's, Ryvita and Twinings.

6.

Which British plc bought Campbell's in 2006 and RHM (Rank Hovis McDougall) in 2007?  Its brands include Ambrosia, Angel Delight, Atora, Batchelor's, Bisto, Homepride, McDougall's, Mother's Pride, Mr. Kipling, Oxo and Sharwood's.

7.

Which English politician and evangelical Christian changed the world as champion of a single-issue cause but also called the trades union movement "a general disease of our society" opposing any enquiry into the Peterloo Massacre?  This was an apparent paradox which prompted the essayist William Hazlitt to condemn him as one "who preaches vital Christianity to untutored savages, and tolerates its worst abuses in civilised states".

8.

In the eponymous poem of 1794, of whom or what is it asked:

"What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?"

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

1.

Who was the first composer to be given a peerage?

2.

Who painted Les Desmoiselles D’Avignon?

3.

Who is the Principal of Springfield Elementary School?

4.

Which American icon, born on June 9th 1934, featured in a 1942 Oscar winning animated short film set in Nutzi land?

5.

In 2007 who was the only non-American in the Forbes list of top ten highest earning actresses (she was the second highest earner with $32 million)?

6.

In 1947, while Humphrey Bogart and 80 celebrities protested, this star (later internationally famous) appeared as a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee?

7.

Newman Noggs is a devoted friend of which Dickens character?

8.

In January 1977 a Gallup poll showed 54% rated which man as the most powerful person in the country after the PM?

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

By the time the Railways Act of 1921 came into effect on 1st January 1923 only 4 companies were left and these were dubbed 'The Big Four of the New Railway Era'.  Name them.

2.

Which motor manufacturer, founded in Coventry in 1887, merged with Hillman in 1929, and then successively became part of the Rootes Group in 1932, Chrysler in 1967 and Peugeot in 1979?

3.

10 years ago, Gary was half the age of Andrew.  If the ratio of their present ages is 3:4 what is the combined total of their present ages ?

4.

Dave is 14 years older than his son. In 2 years he will be twice the age of his son. How old is his son now?

5.

On February 3rd 1972 at the Locarno Ballroom, Coventry, an international rock icon performed what became known, after its release as a ‘live’ recording.  It was his only no. 1 in both the UK and the USA.  What was the song and who was the singer?

6.

On 30th January 1969 the Beatles performed live for the last time.  Where was it and what was the last song they played?

7.

Who is the only Nobel laureate to have played first-class cricket?  He played twice for Dublin University in first-class fixtures, against Northamptonshire in 1925 and 1926.

8.

When WG Grace was caught behind for 110 whilst playing for London County against the MCC on August 25th 1900 he became the only first class wicket of which famous author?

ROUND 8 - 'Home Sweet Home' - a Greater Manchester round

1.

Who stares stonily at what was the 16th century home of Robert Tatton?

2.

Which ancient Roman General and Governor with a Manchester connection is on permanent sentry duty at the main entrance to Manchester Town Hall?

3.

In 2007 which Salfordian became one of the newest Freeman of the City of Manchester?

4.

In Jan 2010 this Red Devil became a freeman of the City of Salford.  Name him.

5.

Which City Centre pub is described thus:
"The emerald and green tiling and Art Nouveau lettering of the exterior catches the eye, never more so than in summer when the flowers of the hanging baskets are in full bloom.  Grade II listed.  Another point of interest is the 1955 table football table said to be the oldest in continuous use in the UK."

6.

Which City Centre pub is described thus:
"(It) has stood proudly on its current site since 1806.  Inside there is a mural of the nearby Peterloo Massacre of 1819 showing the pride this pub has for the city.  There is a beer garden to the rear.  There is a good selection of real ales, and whisky lovers will be in paradise with a selection of over 300 to choose from."

7.

Manchester's coat of arms contains a red shield with three gold bands drawn diagonally across to the right hand side.  What three things does this signify? (each must be specifically named)

8.

On the right of Manchester's coat of arms a gold lion stands guardant crowned with a red castle.  To what does this refer?

Sp1

Which famous Mancunian was born Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson?

Sp2

In 1745, which invader used Artillery Street off Deansgate as a gun park?

Spares

1.

Brazil had two capitals before its current one (Brasilia).  One was Rio de Janiero.  What was the other?

2.

Name 3 of the 5 largest cities in the world in terms of population.

3.

Which game console, which first appeared in 2000, continued production until 2013, sold more than 150 million units, and is the best selling game console of all time?

ROUND 1 - Hidden theme

1.

Which British military leader nicknamed ‘the Spartan’ was shot through his right lung, and was noted by Lord Alanbrooke as being ‘’liable to commit untold errors in lack of tact’’?

Bernard Montgomery

2.

Which German statesman said ‘’the great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood’’?

Otto Von Bismarck

3.

Which American statesman said "Nearly all men can stand adversity but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power’’?

Abraham Lincoln

4.

Which country and western singer died on October 12, 1997, when his experimental Adrian Davis Long-EZ plane crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California?

John Denver

5.

Which explorer who demanded 10% of the Spanish crowns earned from profiteering in the New World, cited his travels as "a missionary process to convert non-believers"?  He died 20th May 1506 in Valladolid Spain at the age of 54.

Christopher Columbus

6.

Which American singer signed to Motown records in 1969 as part of a group which had 6 US #1 singles.  They also appeared as a judge on the BBC celebrity singing competition Just the Two of Us with co-judges CeCe Sammy, Stewart Copeland and Trevor Nelson in 2007?

Tito Jackson

7.

Which Canadian politician was PM of Canada from April 20th 1968 to June 4th 1979, and again from March 3rd 1980 to June 30th 1984?  His funeral was attended by both Fidel Castro and Jimmy Carter.

Pierre Trudeau

8.

Who was the third president of the USA, the second Vice President of the USA, and was the lead author of the 1776 Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson

1.

What is the significance of the simultaneous deaths of Peter Allen and Gwynne Owen Evans at 8.00am on 13th August 1964?

They were the last people to be hanged in Britain

(for committing the same crime, the murder of John West in Cumbria)

2.

In 1955 Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in Britain.  What is, either the name of her shooting victim, or the pub in Hampstead outside which the crime was committed?

(either)

David Blakely

(or)

The Magdala

3.

Holly Woodlawn an actress from Miami who died in June 2015 was immortalised in which hit song of 1972?

A Walk on the Wild Side

(by Lou Reed)

4.

Boxer Reuben Carter who died in April 2014 was immortalised in which 1975 song?

The Hurricane

(by Bob Dylan)

5.

In a month of pop music-related deaths which Donald Trump look-a-like entertainment tycoon who managed Cream, Eric Clapton and The Bee Gees died aged 81 on 4th January?  The ruthless Don Arden threatened to throw him out of a fourth floor window in 1966.

Robert Stigwood

6.

Who is Don Arden's famous daughter?

Sharon Osbourne

(wife of Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath, one of Arden's bands)

7.

What is the origin of the expression 'Back to Square One'?

BBC Radio's football coverage which initially included a grid system describing the position of the ball

(Square One was the penalty area)

8.

For which organisation was Leslie Mitchell working on 22nd September 1955, the night of Grace Archer's death in The Archers?  He had performed a similar role for a similar organisation in 1936.

ITV

(He was the continuity announcer for the opening night of ITV and was therefore the first voice heard on the fledgling channel.  He had done a similar job for the launch of BBC TV in 1936.  In 1955 the BBC tried to spoil the ITV party by killing off one of its most popular characters at the same time as the launch.  They drew a radio audience of 20 million as a result.)

ROUND 3 - Hidden theme

1.

Which British actress starred in The Mummy in 1999, The Mummy Returns in 2001, About a Boy opposite Hugh Grant in 2002 and received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the 2005 film The Constant Gardener? (forename and surname are required to fit the theme)

Rachel Weisz

2.

Who won the 1997 Man Booker Prize with the novel The God of Small Things?

Arundhati Roy

3.

For which Formula One construction team, founded in 1958, was Jackie Stewart driving when he won all three of his Formula One World Championship titles in 1969, 1971 and 1973?

Tyrrell

4.

This American professional basketball player entered the NBA in 1996 and has played his entire career for the LA Lakers.  He has won 5 NBA championships and led the Lakers to a hat-trick of titles between 2002 and 2004.  He is a 15-time member of the All-NBA team and ranks third in the NBA all time scoring list.  He has also won two gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.  He is set to retire at the end of the 2015/16 season by which time he will have set an NBA record for the most number of seasons with the same team.  Who is he?

Kobe Bryant

5.

Football team Real Sociedad play in which Spanish city?

San Sebastian

6.

Prisoner, Prissy, Pristine

7.

This UK mobile telephone network business runs as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator using the O2 network. Founded by O2’s owners Telefonica in 2009 it won Which? magazine’s 'Best Telecom Services Provider' award in 2014.  What is its name?

Giffgaff

8.

Which multi-million selling band’s albums include Youth and Young Manhood (2003), Because of the Times (2007), Only by the Night (2008) and Mechanical Bull (2013)?

Kings of Leon

Sp.

This politician left the Anglican priesthood to enter politics and has been the MP for Rhondda since 2001.  He has held posts as Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and Minister for Europe.  He is currently Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.  Openly gay, his civil partnership ceremony was the first ever held in the Houses of Parliament.  Who is he?

Chris Bryant

ROUND 4 - Pairs

1.

What is the only palindromic-named band to have had a palindromic-titled No.1 in the UK? (band and song required for a correct answer).

ABBA; SOS

2.

This 1970s No.1 single did not include the title of the song in the lyrics but it did include the title of the song that replaced it at No.1.  Name both songs.

Bohemian Rhapsody (by Queen) succeeded by

Mamma Mia (by Abba)

3.

On whose tombstone would you find the following epitaph: “Teenage dreams - so hard to beat”?

John Peel

4.

On which tombstone would you see the following epitaph: “To save your world you asked this man to die.  Would this man, could he see you now, ask why?”?

The Unknown Soldier

5.

Who is England’s most capped test cricket player?

Alec Stewart

(133 caps)

6.

Who is Australia’s most capped test cricket player?

(either)

Steve Waugh

(or)

Ricky Ponting

(accept either player's name - both have won 168 caps)

7.

Which thriller writer created US military police major Jack Reacher in an ongoing series of novels?

Lee Child

8.

Which thriller writer created policeman DI Tom Thorne in an ongoing series of novels?

Mark Billingham

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

Which song title is shared by the dance club anthem of Calvin Harris & Disciples which reached no. 2 in the UK charts in the summer of 2015, and by a UK no. 3 for the Bee Gees in the 1970's which was the only Bee Gees song played at the funeral of Robin Gibb?

How Deep Is Your Love?

2.

Which rock musician's death in 1993 preceded by 23 years that of the more celebrated front man with whom he was most notably associated ?

Mick Ronson

(David Bowie's lead guitarist in the 1970's)

3.

Which current Labour MP, whose previous Shadow Cabinet positions have included Health Secretary, Education Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer, has had 2 volumes of memoirs published, entitled This Boy and Please, Mr. Postman?

Alan Johnson

4.

Which English actor has been nominated 4 times for a BAFTA for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor (Billy Liar,  King & Country, The Dresser and A Rather English Marriage) and twice for an Oscar (Dr. Zhivago and The Dresser), though his only such award is the BAFTA for Best Newcomer after only his second film in 1962?

Tom Courtenay

5.

Which British multinational plc owns Allied Bakeries, British Sugar and the retailer Primark?  Its brands include Allinson, Kingsmill, Silver Spoon, Jordan's, Ovaltine, Patak's, Ryvita and Twinings.

Associated British Foods

6.

Which British plc bought Campbell's in 2006 and RHM (Rank Hovis McDougall) in 2007?  Its brands include Ambrosia, Angel Delight, Atora, Batchelor's, Bisto, Homepride, McDougall's, Mother's Pride, Mr. Kipling, Oxo and Sharwood's.

Premier Foods

7.

Which English politician and evangelical Christian changed the world as champion of a single-issue cause but also called the trades union movement "a general disease of our society" opposing any enquiry into the Peterloo Massacre?  This was an apparent paradox which prompted the essayist William Hazlitt to condemn him as one "who preaches vital Christianity to untutored savages, and tolerates its worst abuses in civilised states".

William Wilberforce

8.

In the eponymous poem of 1794, of whom or what is it asked:

"What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?"

The Tiger

(by William Blake - accept Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright)

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

1.

Who was the first composer to be given a peerage?

Benjamin Britten

2.

Who painted Les Desmoiselles D’Avignon?

Pablo Picasso

3.

Who is the Principal of Springfield Elementary School?

Seymour Skinner

4.

Which American icon, born on June 9th 1934, featured in a 1942 Oscar winning animated short film set in Nutzi land?

Donald Duck

5.

In 2007 who was the only non-American in the Forbes list of top ten highest earning actresses (she was the second highest earner with $32 million)?

Keira Knightley

6.

In 1947, while Humphrey Bogart and 80 celebrities protested, this star (later internationally famous) appeared as a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee?

Ronald Reagan

7.

Newman Noggs is a devoted friend of which Dickens character?

Nicholas Nickleby

8.

In January 1977 a Gallup poll showed 54% rated which man as the most powerful person in the country after the PM?

Jack Jones

(leader of the TGWU)

Theme: Both names in each answer have the same initial

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

By the time the Railways Act of 1921 came into effect on 1st January 1923 only 4 companies were left and these were dubbed 'The Big Four of the New Railway Era'.  Name them.

LMS

(London, Midland & Scottish),

GWR

(Great Western Railway),

LNER

(London & North-Eastern Railway),

SR

(Southern Railway)

2.

Which motor manufacturer, founded in Coventry in 1887, merged with Hillman in 1929, and then successively became part of the Rootes Group in 1932, Chrysler in 1967 and Peugeot in 1979?

Humber

3.

10 years ago, Gary was half the age of Andrew.  If the ratio of their present ages is 3:4 what is the combined total of their present ages ?

35

(Present ages of G and A = 3x and 4x respectively; 10 years ago, G was half of A in age

so (3x – 10) = ½ (4x – 10)

so 6x – 20 = 4x – 10

so 2x = 10

so x = 5

so G=15, A=20)

4.

Dave is 14 years older than his son. In 2 years he will be twice the age of his son. How old is his son now?

12

(Present age of Dave’s son = x; present age of Dave = (x+14) years; in 2 years, Dave’s age will be twice the age of his son

so (x+14) +2 = 2(x+2)

so x + 16 = 2x + 4

so x = 2x -12

so 0 = x -12

so x = 12)

5.

On February 3rd 1972 at the Locarno Ballroom, Coventry, an international rock icon performed what became known, after its release as a ‘live’ recording.  It was his only no. 1 in both the UK and the USA.  What was the song and who was the singer?

My Ding-a-Ling;

Chuck Berry

6.

On 30th January 1969 the Beatles performed live for the last time.  Where was it and what was the last song they played?

The roof-top of the Apple record label's HQ in London;

Get Back

7.

Who is the only Nobel laureate to have played first-class cricket?  He played twice for Dublin University in first-class fixtures, against Northamptonshire in 1925 and 1926.

Samuel Beckett

8.

When WG Grace was caught behind for 110 whilst playing for London County against the MCC on August 25th 1900 he became the only first class wicket of which famous author?

Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle

ROUND 8 - 'Home Sweet Home' - a Greater Manchester round

1.

Who stares stonily at what was the 16th century home of Robert Tatton?

Oliver Cromwell

(in Wythenshawe Park)

2.

Which ancient Roman General and Governor with a Manchester connection is on permanent sentry duty at the main entrance to Manchester Town Hall?

Gnaeus Julius Agricola

3.

In 2007 which Salfordian became one of the newest Freeman of the City of Manchester?

Tony Wilson

4.

In Jan 2010 this Red Devil became a freeman of the City of Salford.  Name him.

Ryan Giggs

5.

Which City Centre pub is described thus:
"The emerald and green tiling and Art Nouveau lettering of the exterior catches the eye, never more so than in summer when the flowers of the hanging baskets are in full bloom.  Grade II listed.  Another point of interest is the 1955 table football table said to be the oldest in continuous use in the UK."

The Peveril of the Peak

6.

Which City Centre pub is described thus:
"(It) has stood proudly on its current site since 1806.  Inside there is a mural of the nearby Peterloo Massacre of 1819 showing the pride this pub has for the city.  There is a beer garden to the rear.  There is a good selection of real ales, and whisky lovers will be in paradise with a selection of over 300 to choose from."

The Britons’ Protection

7.

Manchester's coat of arms contains a red shield with three gold bands drawn diagonally across to the right hand side.  What three things does this signify? (each must be specifically named)

The 3 rivers on which Manchester stands...

The Irwell,

The Irk,

The Medlock

8.

On the right of Manchester's coat of arms a gold lion stands guardant crowned with a red castle.  To what does this refer?

Manchester’s sandstone Roman fort

Sp1

Which famous Mancunian was born Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson?

Mrs Gaskell

Sp2

In 1745, which invader used Artillery Street off Deansgate as a gun park?

Bonnie Prince Charlie

Spares

1.

Brazil had two capitals before its current one (Brasilia).  One was Rio de Janiero.  What was the other?

Salvador

2.

Name 3 of the 5 largest cities in the world in terms of population.

(three from)

Tokyo, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Mexico City

3.

Which game console, which first appeared in 2000, continued production until 2013, sold more than 150 million units, and is the best selling game console of all time?

Sony Playstation 2