1.

Who was the last boxer to fight Muhammad Ali, in Nassau in 1981?  He briefly Held the WBC heavyweight title in 1986 and was murdered by his nephew.

2.

Which poet’s wife had his heart preserved and carried it with her wherever she went, wrapped in silk?

3.

In 1931, which author of the Clayhanger novels drank water in a Paris restaurant in an attempt to show that the city’s water was safe to drink, but caught typhoid from it and died two months later?

4.

Which fabric takes its name from the papal residence in Avignon during the 15th century?

5.

What event connects the following people: Ingrid Bergman, Captain Lawrence Oates, Arnold Bennett, William Shakespeare, and FD Roosevelt?

6.

Which two famous people are mentioned in the song Mrs Robinson from the film The Graduate?

7.

Which British playwright said he started every day by checking the obituary column in The Times to make sure he was still alive, and then got down to work?

8.

The name of which band, who won the Mercury Prize for their debut album An Awesome Wave, takes its name from the key sequence for the ‘delta’ symbol on some Apple Mac keyboard layouts?

9.

What is the connection between Popes John XIV and XXIII?

10.

What is the connection between Natalie Wood & Robert Wagner, Melanie Griffith & Don Johnson, Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera, Rosemary Clooney & Jose Ferrer?

11.

In 1953, an edition of which novel was published on asbestos boards?

12.

Which sisters are the only siblings to have won lead acting Academy Awards?

13.

If you had a pizza of thickness 'a', and radius 'z', what is its volume?

14.

Which Swiss mathematician introduced the concept of a function, introduced the modern notation for the trigonometric functions and the letter 'e' for the base of the natural logarithm?

15.

Which company’s name in its logo consists of 4 letters, 3 of which are upper-case in blue, the second letter being a lower-case red 'i', tilted backwards at an angle of 45 degrees?

16.

Which company’s name in its logo consists of 8 blue upper-case letters in which the 5th and 6th letters are L and A, which are joined together?

17.

Which German mathematician is believed to have developed calculus independently of Newton, his notation having been widely used ever since it was published?

18.

Which is the only number that, when written as a word, has its letters in alphabetical order?

19.

Which winner of 8 Oscars was the model for the character Edna Mode in the animated film The Incredibles, according to director Brad Bird, who voiced the character?

20.

What was unusual about the 200-page book entitled What Men Know About Women, published in 1996?

21.

What relationship connects Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius and Henry VIII?

22.

What is the connection between Popes Benedict X, John XVI, and Alexander V?

23.

The name of which band who won the Mercury Prize for their album The Seldom Seen Kid was inspired by a line in Denis Potter’s The Singing Detective, in which Philip Marlow describes their name as the loveliest word in the English language?

24.

Which novelist once said “Every woman should marry an archaeologist, because to him she grows increasingly attractive as she grows older”?

25.

Which two famous people are mentioned in the song Taxman on the Beatles’ Revolver album?

26.

What date connects the following American Presidents: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Calvin Coolidge?

27.

The name of which tufty, velvety cord or yarn is French for 'hairy caterpillar'?

28.

Which philosopher, statesman, scientist, orator and author, who served as both Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England, died in 1626 from pneumonia after stuffing a chicken?  He stuffed its carcass with snow in an effort to discover if chilled meat could be preserved in this fashion, but caught a chill in the process.

29.

Which English author’s wife had his body exhumed and cremated and his ashes tipped into a concrete mixer and incorporated them into the altar of a private chapel in New Mexico?

30.

Trevor Berbick is one of only two professional boxers who have fought both Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.  Who is the other?  He retired after losing a rematch to Michael Spinks, but made repeated comebacks.

ROUND 2 - Stockport style - Written

1.

Which horse race held at Newmarket is named after the son of Nicholas I of Russia?

2.

Which political party leader advocated the following policies that were eventually adopted by the governments of the day: votes at 18; passports for pets; all-day Sunday pub opening; licensing for commercial radio; and abolition of the 11-plus exam?

3.

Which commercially unsuccessful model of Ford car, manufactured in the late 1950s, was named in honour of the son of the company’s founder?

4.

In 1960, which soon-to-be Nobel Laureate set off on a 37-state road trip in a van he named Rocinante (after Don Quixote’s horse) with his pet poodle, resulting in the publication of Travels with Charley?

5.

The national anthem of the Maldives is sung to which Scottish folk melody that the lyricist heard on his uncle's alarm clock?  The tune is also used by the International Boy Scout youth movement in many countries to close their jamborees.

6.

In 1956, East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps which mistakenly featured one composer’s picture against a score written by a different composer.  Which two composers were involved in the mistake?

7.

Oscar Wilde’s rivalry of which writer was encapsulated in his statement that he “hasn’t an enemy in the world, and none of his friends like him”?

8.

Two silent films have won the Oscar for best picture, made 84 years apart. What are they?

9.

What Presidential record is held by Pedro Lascuráin, who served as the 34th President of Mexico in 1913?

10.

Although - according to Cardinal Ximinez - they were not expected, which outfit should have been expected, because they were legally obliged to give 30 days notice?

ROUND 3 - WithQuiz style - Hidden theme

1.

What is the title of the Pink Floyd album released in 1994 whose artwork features two large heads in a field, positioned close together and photographed in profile, presenting the viewer with a third face?

2.

Under what guise did George Logan and Patrick Fyffe perform, seemingly celebrating their former careers on the provincial operatic stage?

3.

Which pop group, founded in London in 1965, are mainly remembered for their million-selling hit Baby, Come Back?

4.

Who is the author of the novel The Joy Luck Club?

5.

What is the English version of the name of the absent-minded, half-deaf physicist friend of Tintin, who invents sophisticated devices used in the series?

6.

Born Keith Valentine Graham, this musician and celebrity chef gained widespread fame after appearing on Dragons' Den, where he gained funding for his produce.  By what name is he better known?

7.

In the Sherlock Holmes novel The Sign of Four, what phrase, spoken by Holmes, comes next: "He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened.  'It is cocaine, he said, ….........'?

8.

What is the title of Donald Rumsfeld’s 2011 autobiography, which is a play on a famous remark he made in a press conference in 2002?

ROUND 4 - WithQuiz style - Hidden theme

1.

Which film features characters such as Patsy and Sir Robin, and locations called Castle Anthrax and the Gorge of Eternal Peril?

2.

Which Elvis Presley film is a musical remake of a 1937 version staring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart?

3.

Which edible is a variety of the species Allium cepa?  In Europe, the types Pikant, Atlas and Ed's Red are the most common.

4.

In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, which character starts the play as Shylock’s servant before switching his allegiance to Bassanio?

5.

Which social networking and charitable organisation for men between the ages of 18 and 45 was founded in Norwich, in 1927?  Its title and maxim comes from a speech made to the British Industries Fair in 1927 by the Prince of Wales.

6.

Who is the only British Prime Minister to have held the post of Solicitor General, or Attorney General and during whose term George III celebrated his Golden Jubilee?

7.

What acronym is used for the interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England and run from Jodrell Bank?

8.

What is the name of the operator of franchised motor dealers based in Nottingham, who acquired Stratstone, Lex, Evans Halshaw, and Reg Vardy?

ROUND 5 - WithQuiz style - Pairs

1.

'Moon starer' is an apt anagram for what 10-letter word?

2.

'Erode liver' is an apt anagram of the name of which actor?

3.

The full title of which Dickens novel ends with '…the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)'?

4.

The full title of which Dickens novel contains the phrase 'A Tale of the Riots of Eighty'?

5.

What catchphrase used to comment on an action perceived as foolish or stupid is also the code for Qatar’s Hamad International Airport?

6.

What acronym for an expression of disbelief is also the abbreviation of the governing body for taekwondo?

7.

Which country’s flag is red with a silhouetted black double-headed eagle in the centre?

8.

Which country’s flag contains a red and white checked shield on top of which is a five-pointed crown?

ROUND 6 - WithQuiz style - Linked Questions

Each answer is a connection between items specified in the question, and each question from question 2 onwards is linked to the previous question

1.

What name connects Graham Greene’s The Third Man and the TV programme Red Dwarf?

2.

What is the connection between Harry Lime in The Third Man and a Scot who made a discovery in 1928, for which a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in 1945?

3.

What is the connection between the American co-recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and a narrator/biographer portrayed in films by Andre Morell, Robert Duvall, James Mason and Jude Law?

4.

What is the connection between Dr. Watson and a co-founder of the Scottish folk band The Humblebums?

5.

What is the connection between Gerry Rafferty and a straight razor?

6.

What is the connection between Reservoir Dogs and Paddington Bear?

7.

What is the connection between Paddington Bear and the number 320?

8.

What is the connection between Monopoly and Pitt the Younger?

1.

Who was the first tenor to make records in 1902?

2.

Which actress slept in a coffin and continued acting after she had a leg amputated?

3.

Patricia Neal, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Hud was married to which author?

1.

There is a sign on the M62 where it crosses the Pennines which states that it is the highest motorway in England. What is its height in feet?

2.

How many test wickets did Muttiah Muralitharan take during his career?

3.

What is the highest Kochel number in the catalogue of Mozart’s work?

1.

Who was the last boxer to fight Muhammad Ali, in Nassau in 1981?  He briefly Held the WBC heavyweight title in 1986 and was murdered by his nephew.

Trevor Berbick

2.

Which poet’s wife had his heart preserved and carried it with her wherever she went, wrapped in silk?

Percy Bysshe Shelley

3.

In 1931, which author of the Clayhanger novels drank water in a Paris restaurant in an attempt to show that the city’s water was safe to drink, but caught typhoid from it and died two months later?

Arnold Bennett

4.

Which fabric takes its name from the papal residence in Avignon during the 15th century?

Poplin

(from papelino)

5.

What event connects the following people: Ingrid Bergman, Captain Lawrence Oates, Arnold Bennett, William Shakespeare, and FD Roosevelt?

They died on their birthday

6.

Which two famous people are mentioned in the song Mrs Robinson from the film The Graduate?

Joe DiMaggio and Jesus

7.

Which British playwright said he started every day by checking the obituary column in The Times to make sure he was still alive, and then got down to work?

Noel Coward

8.

The name of which band, who won the Mercury Prize for their debut album An Awesome Wave, takes its name from the key sequence for the ‘delta’ symbol on some Apple Mac keyboard layouts?

alt-J

9.

What is the connection between Popes John XIV and XXIII?

There were two of them

10.

What is the connection between Natalie Wood & Robert Wagner, Melanie Griffith & Don Johnson, Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera, Rosemary Clooney & Jose Ferrer?

Each couple divorced and remarried

11.

In 1953, an edition of which novel was published on asbestos boards?

Fahrenheit 451

12.

Which sisters are the only siblings to have won lead acting Academy Awards?

Joan Fontaine

(for Suspicion)

Olivia de Havilland

(for To Each His Own and The Heiress)

13.

If you had a pizza of thickness 'a', and radius 'z', what is its volume?

pi*z*z*a (or pi*z²*a)

14.

Which Swiss mathematician introduced the concept of a function, introduced the modern notation for the trigonometric functions and the letter 'e' for the base of the natural logarithm?

(Leonhard) Euler

(pronounced 'oiler')

15.

Which company’s name in its logo consists of 4 letters, 3 of which are upper-case in blue, the second letter being a lower-case red 'i', tilted backwards at an angle of 45 degrees?

LiDL

16.

Which company’s name in its logo consists of 8 blue upper-case letters in which the 5th and 6th letters are L and A, which are joined together?

B A R C LA Y S

17.

Which German mathematician is believed to have developed calculus independently of Newton, his notation having been widely used ever since it was published?

(Gottfried) Leibniz

18.

Which is the only number that, when written as a word, has its letters in alphabetical order?

Forty

19.

Which winner of 8 Oscars was the model for the character Edna Mode in the animated film The Incredibles, according to director Brad Bird, who voiced the character?

Edith Head

20.

What was unusual about the 200-page book entitled What Men Know About Women, published in 1996?

All the pages were blank

21.

What relationship connects Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius and Henry VIII?

They married their brother’s widow

22.

What is the connection between Popes Benedict X, John XVI, and Alexander V?

They were Antipopes

(specifically, they were included in the conventional numbering of later Popes who took the same name)

23.

The name of which band who won the Mercury Prize for their album The Seldom Seen Kid was inspired by a line in Denis Potter’s The Singing Detective, in which Philip Marlow describes their name as the loveliest word in the English language?

Elbow

24.

Which novelist once said “Every woman should marry an archaeologist, because to him she grows increasingly attractive as she grows older”?

Agatha Christie

(whose second marriage was to the archaeologist Max Mallowan)

25.

Which two famous people are mentioned in the song Taxman on the Beatles’ Revolver album?

Harold Wilson and Edward Heath

26.

What date connects the following American Presidents: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Calvin Coolidge?

July 4th

(the first three died, Coolidge was born)

27.

The name of which tufty, velvety cord or yarn is French for 'hairy caterpillar'?

Chenille

28.

Which philosopher, statesman, scientist, orator and author, who served as both Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England, died in 1626 from pneumonia after stuffing a chicken?  He stuffed its carcass with snow in an effort to discover if chilled meat could be preserved in this fashion, but caught a chill in the process.

Francis Bacon

29.

Which English author’s wife had his body exhumed and cremated and his ashes tipped into a concrete mixer and incorporated them into the altar of a private chapel in New Mexico?

D H Lawrence

30.

Trevor Berbick is one of only two professional boxers who have fought both Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.  Who is the other?  He retired after losing a rematch to Michael Spinks, but made repeated comebacks.

Larry Holmes

ROUND 2 - Stockport style - Written

1.

Which horse race held at Newmarket is named after the son of Nicholas I of Russia?

The Cesarewitch

2.

Which political party leader advocated the following policies that were eventually adopted by the governments of the day: votes at 18; passports for pets; all-day Sunday pub opening; licensing for commercial radio; and abolition of the 11-plus exam?

Lord David Sutch

3.

Which commercially unsuccessful model of Ford car, manufactured in the late 1950s, was named in honour of the son of the company’s founder?

Edsel

4.

In 1960, which soon-to-be Nobel Laureate set off on a 37-state road trip in a van he named Rocinante (after Don Quixote’s horse) with his pet poodle, resulting in the publication of Travels with Charley?

John Steinbeck

5.

The national anthem of the Maldives is sung to which Scottish folk melody that the lyricist heard on his uncle's alarm clock?  The tune is also used by the International Boy Scout youth movement in many countries to close their jamborees.

6.

In 1956, East Germany issued a pair of postage stamps which mistakenly featured one composer’s picture against a score written by a different composer.  Which two composers were involved in the mistake?

Schumann and Schubert

7.

Oscar Wilde’s rivalry of which writer was encapsulated in his statement that he “hasn’t an enemy in the world, and none of his friends like him”?

George Bernard Shaw

8.

Two silent films have won the Oscar for best picture, made 84 years apart. What are they?

Wings (1927)

The Artist (2011)

9.

What Presidential record is held by Pedro Lascuráin, who served as the 34th President of Mexico in 1913?

He had the shortest presidency in the history of the world

(He was President for less than one hour, being forced to resign by the man who overthrew the previous president)

10.

Although - according to Cardinal Ximinez - they were not expected, which outfit should have been expected, because they were legally obliged to give 30 days notice?

The Spanish Inquisition

(Cardinal Ximinez featured in the Monty Python sketch)

ROUND 3 - WithQuiz style - Hidden theme

1.

What is the title of the Pink Floyd album released in 1994 whose artwork features two large heads in a field, positioned close together and photographed in profile, presenting the viewer with a third face?

The Division Bell

2.

Under what guise did George Logan and Patrick Fyffe perform, seemingly celebrating their former careers on the provincial operatic stage?

Hinge and Bracket

3.

Which pop group, founded in London in 1965, are mainly remembered for their million-selling hit Baby, Come Back?

The Equals

4.

Who is the author of the novel The Joy Luck Club?

Amy Tan

5.

What is the English version of the name of the absent-minded, half-deaf physicist friend of Tintin, who invents sophisticated devices used in the series?

Professor (Cuthbert) Calculus

6.

Born Keith Valentine Graham, this musician and celebrity chef gained widespread fame after appearing on Dragons' Den, where he gained funding for his produce.  By what name is he better known?

Levi Roots

7.

In the Sherlock Holmes novel The Sign of Four, what phrase, spoken by Holmes, comes next: "He raised his eyes languidly from the old black-letter volume which he had opened.  'It is cocaine, he said, ….........'?

“…a seven-per-cent solution”

8.

What is the title of Donald Rumsfeld’s 2011 autobiography, which is a play on a famous remark he made in a press conference in 2002?

Known and Unknown (A Memoir)

Theme: Each answer contains a mathematical term

ROUND 4 - WithQuiz style - Hidden theme

1.

Which film features characters such as Patsy and Sir Robin, and locations called Castle Anthrax and the Gorge of Eternal Peril?

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

2.

Which Elvis Presley film is a musical remake of a 1937 version staring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart?

Kid Galahad

3.

Which edible is a variety of the species Allium cepa?  In Europe, the types Pikant, Atlas and Ed's Red are the most common.

Shallot

4.

In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, which character starts the play as Shylock’s servant before switching his allegiance to Bassanio?

Launcelet Gobbo

5.

Which social networking and charitable organisation for men between the ages of 18 and 45 was founded in Norwich, in 1927?  Its title and maxim comes from a speech made to the British Industries Fair in 1927 by the Prince of Wales.

Round Table

6.

Who is the only British Prime Minister to have held the post of Solicitor General, or Attorney General and during whose term George III celebrated his Golden Jubilee?

Spencer Perceval

7.

What acronym is used for the interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England and run from Jodrell Bank?

MERLIN

(Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network)

8.

What is the name of the operator of franchised motor dealers based in Nottingham, who acquired Stratstone, Lex, Evans Halshaw, and Reg Vardy?

Pendragon plc

Theme: Each answer contains a reference to Arthurian legend

1.

'Moon starer' is an apt anagram for what 10-letter word?

Astronomer

2.

'Erode liver' is an apt anagram of the name of which actor?

Oliver Reed

3.

The full title of which Dickens novel ends with '…the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)'?

David Copperfield

4.

The full title of which Dickens novel contains the phrase 'A Tale of the Riots of Eighty'?

Barnaby Rudge

5.

What catchphrase used to comment on an action perceived as foolish or stupid is also the code for Qatar’s Hamad International Airport?

DOH

6.

What acronym for an expression of disbelief is also the abbreviation of the governing body for taekwondo?

WTF

(World Taekwondo Federation)

7.

Which country’s flag is red with a silhouetted black double-headed eagle in the centre?

Albania

8.

Which country’s flag contains a red and white checked shield on top of which is a five-pointed crown?

Croatia

ROUND 6 - WithQuiz style - Linked Questions

Each answer is a connection between items specified in the question, and each question from question 2 onwards is linked to the previous question

1.

What name connects Graham Greene’s The Third Man and the TV programme Red Dwarf?

Holly

(Holly Martins is played by Joseph Cotton in the film version of The Third Man, and the talking computer in Red Dwarf is called Holly)

2.

What is the connection between Harry Lime in The Third Man and a Scot who made a discovery in 1928, for which a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in 1945?

Penicillin

(Harry Lime dealt in diluted stolen penicillin, and Alexander Fleming was a joint recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine)

3.

What is the connection between the American co-recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and a narrator/biographer portrayed in films by Andre Morell, Robert Duvall, James Mason and Jude Law?

Watson

(James Watson was a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, and these actors have all played Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes stories)

4.

What is the connection between Dr. Watson and a co-founder of the Scottish folk band The Humblebums?

Baker Street

(Gerry Rafferty, who was a co-founder of The Humblebums, had a hit with Baker Street, which is where Dr. Watson lived)

5.

What is the connection between Gerry Rafferty and a straight razor?

Stuck in the Middle With You

(Gerry Rafferty co-wrote the song with a member of Stealer’s Wheel, and the song was used in the torture scene in Reservoir Dogs)

6.

What is the connection between Reservoir Dogs and Paddington Bear?

Brown

(Quentin Tarantino played Mr. Brown in Reservoir Dogs and the Brown family
adopted Paddington)

7.

What is the connection between Paddington Bear and the number 320?

Bond

(The stories were written by Michael Bond and, in Monopoly, Bond Street is worth £320)

8.

What is the connection between Monopoly and Pitt the Younger?

Income Tax

(introduced by Pitt in 1798)

1.

Who was the first tenor to make records in 1902?

Enrico Caruso

2.

Which actress slept in a coffin and continued acting after she had a leg amputated?

Sarah Bernhardt

3.

Patricia Neal, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Hud was married to which author?

Roald Dahl

Tiebreakers

Add together the answers to the following questions

1.

There is a sign on the M62 where it crosses the Pennines which states that it is the highest motorway in England. What is its height in feet?

1221

(372m)

2.

How many test wickets did Muttiah Muralitharan take during his career?

800

3.

What is the highest Kochel number in the catalogue of Mozart’s work?

TOTAL