ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

Why does the common basilisk have the nickname of the ‘Jesus Christ lizard’?

2.

What type of extinct reptile has been given the scientific name psephophorus terrypratchetti?

3.

A word more likely to have been invented for comedy than paranoia, of what is aibohphobia the fear?

4.

'FOMOOT' is a phobia phenomenon first described in 2014.  Apparently, 31% of us have missed social events because of this, and 7% have left a wedding or funeral early.  According to Freesat, who claimed to have an easy solution to the problem, 1 in 10 have even pulled a sickie because of it.  For what does the acronym stand?

5.

Which Oscar winning film composer died in a plane crash in 2015 aged 61?  Amongst his films were Aliens and Avatar.

6.

Which Oscar winning film composer is currently on a worldwide stadium tour, including Manchester?  Amongst his films are Gladiator, The Lion King and Inception.

7.

In which US state is Cape Hatteras, the nearest mainland point to Bermuda?

8.

Cape Gracias a Dios, the nearest mainland point to Jamaica, lies on the border of two countries.  Name either.

ROUND 2 - 'Shakespeare in Music'

1.

Which knighted English composer wrote the opera Troilus and Cressida first performed in 1954?

2.

Which English composer, who refused a knighthood, wrote the opera Sir John in Love first performed in 1946?

3.

In which Shakespeare play does the song It was a Lover and his Lass appear?

4.

In which Shakespeare play does the song Who is Sylvia appear?

5.

From which stage show does the song Brush up your Shakespeare come?

6.

On which Shakespeare comedy play is the musical The Boys from Syracuse based?

7.

Name one of the American jazz composers who wrote the suite Such Sweet Thunder , first performed in 1957.

8.

Name the British jazz composer and saxophonist who wrote the suite Shakespeare and all that Jazz first performed in 1964.

ROUND 3 - Linked Pairs

Each question has two answers - the last word of the answer to the first question is the first word of the answer to the second question - beware of sound-alikes

Give your answer as a continuous sentence

1.

Born Cathleen Mary Collins, this actress scored a perfect 10 in 1979.

This panellist on Just a Minute often improvised descriptions of his experiences abroad, derived from his theatrical tours.

2.

This female guitarist appeared in Happy Days as the bass player Leather Tuscadero.

This pizza is divided into four quadrants, each of which is dressed with different ingredients.

3.

With 91 caps, he is second on the list of most-capped players for Scotland.

This football team plays their home games at Brisbane Road and was bought for £5 by Barry Hearn in 1995.

4.

This city’s name means 'Father of the Gazelle' and is the second most populous city in the UAE.

This couple were first mentioned in a poem published in The Gentleman's Magazine in 1735 and have subsequently been mentioned in the ballad The Folks Who Live On the Hill and Oliver Goldsmith’s play She Stoops To Conquer.

5.

This Italian football team was founded in 1899 by two expatriates from Nottingham.

This Czech-born writer’s best known work is The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

6.

This play, first performed in 1895, is subtitled A Trivial Comedy for Serious People.  The father of the author’s aristocratic lover planned to present the writer with a bouquet of rotten vegetables and disrupt the show, but was refused admission.

This Nobel Literature Laureate flew several missions with the Royal Air Force and crossed the English Channel with American troops on D-Day.

7.

This choreographer and film director has won more Tony Awards for choreography than anyone else and won an Oscar for directing Cabaret.

This thoroughfare marked the western frontier of Roman rule in Iron Age Britain.

8.

This writer’s maiden name was Stephen.  She and her husband founded the Hogarth Press.

This Booker Prize-winning novel is named after the Seymour family seat in Wiltshire.

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme

1.

Which position has been held by Thomas Cromwell (1534-36), Sir Julius Caesar (1614-36) and Lord Denning (1962-1982) whilst the incumbent since 2012 has been Lord Dyson?

2.

What is the nickname of Partick Thistle?

3.

Who was hanged in 1953 for killing a policeman in a botched burglary but was given a posthumous pardon in 1993 and had his conviction for murder quashed in 1998?

4.

Which English author (1905-83) was renowned for her historical novels mainly set in Ancient Greece?  Her works include The King Must Die, The Bull From The Sea, Fire From Heaven and The Charioteer, the latter of which was also adapted for Radio 4's Book at Bedtime in 2013.

5.

Which Manchester graduate and TV journalist was MP for Great Grimsby from 1977-2015?

6.

Which soft drink which was originally produced in Australia in 1903, and has been available in Britain since 1917, is made by Atlantic Industries, a subsidiary of Coca Cola?

7.

In which area of entertainment south of the river Thames in London was the Royal Fireworks Music first performed?

8.

Which 1962 Yorkshire-born dancer, actress and television presenter hosted the Generation Game, alongside Bruce Forsyth in the early 1990s and later hosted Come Dancing?  She is currently married to the actor Robert Lindsay.

Sp1

Brian Capron played which character in Coronation Street between 2001 and 2003?

Sp2

This stately home near Stanmore was the Headquarters of Fighter Control throughout the second World War. What is its name?

Sp3

Who was the other cricketer who in 1991, along with David Gower 'buzzed' the ground in Queensland where England were playing and was never selected for England again in any form of cricket?  Principally associated with Derbyshire (1982-93) he also played for Durham (1994-1999) and Nottinghamshire in 2000 and 2001.

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

Where, amongst others would you find 'Strong Winds', 'The White Mountain', 'The Iron' and 'The Big Dog'?

2.

Where would you find 'The Long White Cloud' and 'The Waters of Greenstone'?

3.

Which actor/actress is currently playing King Lear at the Royal Exchange Manchester?

4.

Which actor/actress, who has not acted for over a quarter of a century, is set to return to the stage playing King Lear at the Old Vic from October?

5.

Which political commentator/journalist is Glenda Jackson’s son?

6.

Which political commentator/journalist is Michael Gove’s wife?

7.

Which composer’s tone poems include Macbeth, Don Juan and Don Quixote?  He died in 1949.

8.

Which composer’s operas include Macbeth, Falstaff and Otello?  He died in 1901

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

1.

Which football stadium in Northern Ireland is home to Linfield FC, and is the most frequent venue for the Irish Cup final?

2.

Which English model and photographer, known for her modelling work for lingerie brand Ultimo, was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2007?

3.

Which London hotel that opened in 1889 was the first luxury hotel in Britain?  It hired César Ritz as manager and Auguste Escoffier as chef de cuisine.

4.

Which former test cricketer holds the record for the highest-ever score by an English night-watchman, scoring 99 not out against New Zealand?  He also holds the distinction of bowling one of the most expensive overs on record when he bowled for Surrey against Andrew Flintoff at Old Trafford in 1998; he conceded 34 runs, and in bowling 2 no balls incurred, under ECB regulations at the time, four more penalty runs making a total of 38 runs in one over.

5.

Which American TV series - one of Netflix’s most-watched original series - is based on Piper Kerman’s experiences in a federal prison?

6.

Which thoroughfare in the French quarter of New Orleans, known for its bars and strip clubs, extends 13 blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue?

7.

Nicknamed 'The Smiling Assassin', which footballer appeared in 6 different World Cup campaigns for Trinidad and Tobago from 1990 to 2010?

8.

Which Anglo-Irish ballet dancer, born Edris Stannus, founded the Royal Ballet in 1931?

ROUND 7 - 'Colours'

Each answer contains the name of a colour

1.

Which novel published in 1887 in Beeton's Christmas annual was the first in which the magnifying glass was used as an investigative tool?

2.

Who was the Cambridge mathematician who collaborated with Bertrand Russell in writing Principia Mathematica?

3.

Which headland is the nearest point on the French mainland to England?

4.

What is the name of Horace Walpole's house in London built in Gothic revival style?

5.

What is the name of the character in Nicholas Nickleby who forces his attentions on Kate and then kills Lord Frederick?

6.

What was the studio in Shepherd's Bush that was named after the street in which it stood?  It was purchased by the BBC from the Rank Organisation in 1949 as a temporary measure and used until 1991 for making such programs as Doctor Who, Top of the Pops and Steptoe and Son.  It was demolished in 1993.

7.

Who, apart from his wife, was regarded as Winston Churchill's best female friend?  She was also the mother-in-law of Jo Grimond, former leader of the Liberal party.

8.

What is the slang expression predominantly used in United States for the state of mind of somebody who has taken mind-altering drugs such as LSD?  It is was also the title of a hit record from the late 1960s.

Sp1

Which song, written by George Harrison, is the B-side to the single The Ballad of John and Yoko?

Sp2

Name one of the 2 magazines set up by Tariq Ali in the 1960s.

ROUND 8 - Pot luck

1.

Which novelist, who died in February this year, wrote Georgy Girl?

2.

Which prolific English author, playwright, British intelligence officer and homosexual who was born in 1874 and died in 1965, described the Riviera as "a sunny place for shady people"?

3.

Eric Morecambe joked that the return of summer was signalled by "the sound of leather" on which English cricketer who died in 2015?

4.

Which is the only team to be ever present in the German Bundesliga First Division since it started in 1963?  The club last won the Bundesliga championship in the 1982-83 season.

5.

Which now independent country and former Soviet republic is known to its inhabitants as Hayastan?  The patron saint of the country is St Gregory.

6.

Which European country is known to its inhabitants as Crna Gora?

7.

Which device, first built in 1960 by Theodore Maiman at the Hughes research laboratory, is now so widespread that it can be found in most households?  Indeed many households have two or more.

8.

Only two directors have been nominated for Best Director and Best  Actor Oscars for the same film.  Name either of these directors/actors.

Spares

1.

This landlocked country has a population of 27 million and is the only one in the world to have the clock set 5 hours 45 minutes ahead of GMT.  Which is it?

2.

Which animal disease, when it is transmitted to humans, is known as undulant fever, Malta fever or contagious abortion?

3.

The edible fish with the binomial Sprattus Sprattus, is a sardine-like fish, generally bought in tins in this country.  It is normally supplied from Scottish and Norwegian waters.  What name is usually given on the tin?

4.

Milvus Milvus is the binomial for a bird of prey, voted the Bird of the Century in 1999 by the British Trust for Ornithology.  In danger of extinction in this country it has recently experienced an increase in its numbers on account of a reintroduction scheme.  What is its common name?

5.

Name one of the 2 women to have won gold medals in 3 consecutive Olympic Games in the same individual event.

Tiebreaker

ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

Why does the common basilisk have the nickname of the ‘Jesus Christ lizard’?

Because it can walk on water

(well, technically it can run on water - it sinks if it goes too slow)

2.

What type of extinct reptile has been given the scientific name psephophorus terrypratchetti?

Giant turtle

(accept turtle)

(Discworld is carried on 4 elephants, which stand on the back of such a beast)

3.

A word more likely to have been invented for comedy than paranoia, of what is aibohphobia the fear?

Palindromes

(the opposite, of course is ailihphilia)

4.

'FOMOOT' is a phobia phenomenon first described in 2014.  Apparently, 31% of us have missed social events because of this, and 7% have left a wedding or funeral early.  According to Freesat, who claimed to have an easy solution to the problem, 1 in 10 have even pulled a sickie because of it.  For what does the acronym stand?

Fear Of Missing Out On Telly

(accept approximations if the point of the answer is right)

5.

Which Oscar winning film composer died in a plane crash in 2015 aged 61?  Amongst his films were Aliens and Avatar.

James Horner

6.

Which Oscar winning film composer is currently on a worldwide stadium tour, including Manchester?  Amongst his films are Gladiator, The Lion King and Inception.

Hans Zimmer

7.

In which US state is Cape Hatteras, the nearest mainland point to Bermuda?

North Carolina

8.

Cape Gracias a Dios, the nearest mainland point to Jamaica, lies on the border of two countries.  Name either.

(either)

Honduras

(or)

Nicaragua

ROUND 2 - 'Shakespeare in Music'

1.

Which knighted English composer wrote the opera Troilus and Cressida first performed in 1954?

William Walton

2.

Which English composer, who refused a knighthood, wrote the opera Sir John in Love first performed in 1946?

Vaughan Williams

3.

In which Shakespeare play does the song It was a Lover and his Lass appear?

As You Like It

4.

In which Shakespeare play does the song Who is Sylvia appear?

The Two Gentlemen Of Verona

5.

From which stage show does the song Brush up your Shakespeare come?

Kiss Me Kate

6.

On which Shakespeare comedy play is the musical The Boys from Syracuse based?

A Comedy Of Errors

7.

Name one of the American jazz composers who wrote the suite Such Sweet Thunder , first performed in 1957.

(either)

Duke Ellington

(or)

Billie Strayhorn

8.

Name the British jazz composer and saxophonist who wrote the suite Shakespeare and all that Jazz first performed in 1964.

John Dankworth

ROUND 3 -  Linked Pairs

Each question has two answers - the last word of the answer to the first question is the first word of the answer to the second question - beware of sound-alikes

Give your answer as a continuous sentence

1.

Born Cathleen Mary Collins, this actress scored a perfect 10 in 1979.

This panellist on Just a Minute often improvised descriptions of his experiences abroad, derived from his theatrical tours.

Bo DEREK Nimmo

2.

This female guitarist appeared in Happy Days as the bass player Leather Tuscadero.

This pizza is divided into four quadrants, each of which is dressed with different ingredients.

Suzi QUATRO/QUATTRO Stagioni

3.

With 91 caps, he is second on the list of most-capped players for Scotland.

This football team plays their home games at Brisbane Road and was bought for £5 by Barry Hearn in 1995.

Jim LEIGHTON/LEYTON Orient

4.

This city’s name means 'Father of the Gazelle' and is the second most populous city in the UAE.

This couple were first mentioned in a poem published in The Gentleman's Magazine in 1735 and have subsequently been mentioned in the ballad The Folks Who Live On the Hill and Oliver Goldsmith’s play She Stoops To Conquer.

Abu DHABI/DARBY and Joan

5.

This Italian football team was founded in 1899 by two expatriates from Nottingham.

This Czech-born writer’s best known work is The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

AC MILAN Kundera

6.

This play, first performed in 1895, is subtitled A Trivial Comedy for Serious People.  The father of the author’s aristocratic lover planned to present the writer with a bouquet of rotten vegetables and disrupt the show, but was refused admission.

This Nobel Literature Laureate flew several missions with the Royal Air Force and crossed the English Channel with American troops on D-Day.

The Importance of Being EARNEST/ERNEST Hemingway

7.

This choreographer and film director has won more Tony Awards for choreography than anyone else and won an Oscar for directing Cabaret.

This thoroughfare marked the western frontier of Roman rule in Iron Age Britain.

Bob FOSSE Way

8.

This writer’s maiden name was Stephen.  She and her husband founded the Hogarth Press.

This Booker Prize-winning novel is named after the Seymour family seat in Wiltshire.

Virginia WOOLF/WOLF Hall

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme

1.

Which position has been held by Thomas Cromwell (1534-36), Sir Julius Caesar (1614-36) and Lord Denning (1962-1982) whilst the incumbent since 2012 has been Lord Dyson?

Master of the Rolls

(accept Keeper of the Rolls)

2.

What is the nickname of Partick Thistle?

The Jags

3.

Who was hanged in 1953 for killing a policeman in a botched burglary but was given a posthumous pardon in 1993 and had his conviction for murder quashed in 1998?

Derek Bentley

4.

Which English author (1905-83) was renowned for her historical novels mainly set in Ancient Greece?  Her works include The King Must Die, The Bull From The Sea, Fire From Heaven and The Charioteer, the latter of which was also adapted for Radio 4's Book at Bedtime in 2013.

Mary Renault

5.

Which Manchester graduate and TV journalist was MP for Great Grimsby from 1977-2015?

Austin Mitchell

6.

Which soft drink which was originally produced in Australia in 1903, and has been available in Britain since 1917, is made by Atlantic Industries, a subsidiary of Coca Cola?

Kia Ora

7.

In which area of entertainment south of the river Thames in London was the Royal Fireworks Music first performed?

Vauxhall Gardens

8.

Which 1962 Yorkshire-born dancer, actress and television presenter hosted the Generation Game, alongside Bruce Forsyth in the early 1990s and later hosted Come Dancing?  She is currently married to the actor Robert Lindsay.

Rosemary Ford

Sp1

Brian Capron played which character in Coronation Street between 2001 and 2003?

Richard Hillman

Sp2

This stately home near Stanmore was the Headquarters of Fighter Control throughout the second World War. What is its name?

Bentley Priory

Sp3

Who was the other cricketer who in 1991, along with David Gower 'buzzed' the ground in Queensland where England were playing and was never selected for England again in any form of cricket?  Principally associated with Derbyshire (1982-93) he also played for Durham (1994-1999) and Nottinghamshire in 2000 and 2001.

John Morris

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

Where, amongst others would you find 'Strong Winds', 'The White Mountain', 'The Iron' and 'The Big Dog'?

In the Canary Islands

(translations of the names of the islands Fuertaventura, Tenerife, El Hierro and Gran Canaria)

2.

Where would you find 'The Long White Cloud' and 'The Waters of Greenstone'?

New Zealand

(translations from the Maori 'Aotearoa' for the North Island and 'Te Waipounamu' for the South Island - 'Aotearoa' is sometimes used by Maoris to describe NZ as a whole)

3.

Which actor/actress is currently playing King Lear at the Royal Exchange Manchester?

Don Warrington

4.

Which actor/actress, who has not acted for over a quarter of a century, is set to return to the stage playing King Lear at the Old Vic from October?

Glenda Jackson

5.

Which political commentator/journalist is Glenda Jackson’s son?

Dan Hodges

6.

Which political commentator/journalist is Michael Gove’s wife?

Sarah Vine

7.

Which composer’s tone poems include Macbeth, Don Juan and Don Quixote?  He died in 1949.

Richard Strauss

8.

Which composer’s operas include Macbeth, Falstaff and Otello?  He died in 1901

Giuseppi Verdi

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

1.

Which football stadium in Northern Ireland is home to Linfield FC, and is the most frequent venue for the Irish Cup final?

Windsor Park

2.

Which English model and photographer, known for her modelling work for lingerie brand Ultimo, was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2007?

Penny Lancaster

3.

Which London hotel that opened in 1889 was the first luxury hotel in Britain?  It hired César Ritz as manager and Auguste Escoffier as chef de cuisine.

The Savoy

4.

Which former test cricketer holds the record for the highest-ever score by an English night-watchman, scoring 99 not out against New Zealand?  He also holds the distinction of bowling one of the most expensive overs on record when he bowled for Surrey against Andrew Flintoff at Old Trafford in 1998; he conceded 34 runs, and in bowling 2 no balls incurred, under ECB regulations at the time, four more penalty runs making a total of 38 runs in one over.

Alex Tudor

5.

Which American TV series - one of Netflix’s most-watched original series - is based on Piper Kerman’s experiences in a federal prison?

Orange is the New Black

6.

Which thoroughfare in the French quarter of New Orleans, known for its bars and strip clubs, extends 13 blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue?

Bourbon Street

7.

Nicknamed 'The Smiling Assassin', which footballer appeared in 6 different World Cup campaigns for Trinidad and Tobago from 1990 to 2010?

Dwight Yorke

8.

Which Anglo-Irish ballet dancer, born Edris Stannus, founded the Royal Ballet in 1931?

Ninette de Valois

ROUND 7 - 'Colours'

Each answer contains the name of a colour

1.

Which novel published in 1887 in Beeton's Christmas annual was the first in which the magnifying glass was used as an investigative tool?

A Study in Scarlet

2.

Who was the Cambridge mathematician who collaborated with Bertrand Russell in writing Principia Mathematica?

A N Whitehead

3.

Which headland is the nearest point on the French mainland to England?

Gris Nez

4.

What is the name of Horace Walpole's house in London built in Gothic revival style?

Strawberry Hill

5.

What is the name of the character in Nicholas Nickleby who forces his attentions on Kate and then kills Lord Frederick?

Sir Mulberry Hawk

6.

What was the studio in Shepherd's Bush that was named after the street in which it stood?  It was purchased by the BBC from the Rank Organisation in 1949 as a temporary measure and used until 1991 for making such programs as Doctor Who, Top of the Pops and Steptoe and Son.  It was demolished in 1993.

Lime Grove

7.

Who, apart from his wife, was regarded as Winston Churchill's best female friend?  She was also the mother-in-law of Jo Grimond, former leader of the Liberal party.

Violet Bonham Carter

8.

What is the slang expression predominantly used in United States for the state of mind of somebody who has taken mind-altering drugs such as LSD?  It is was also the title of a hit record from the late 1960s.

Purple Haze

Sp1

Which song, written by George Harrison, is the B-side to the single The Ballad of John and Yoko?

Old Brown Shoe

Sp2

Name one of the 2 magazines set up by Tariq Ali in the 1960s.

(either)

Black Dwarf

(or)

Red Mole

ROUND 8 - Pot luck

1.

Which novelist, who died in February this year, wrote Georgy Girl?

Margaret Forster

2.

Which prolific English author, playwright, British intelligence officer and homosexual who was born in 1874 and died in 1965, described the Riviera as "a sunny place for shady people"?

W Somerset Maugham

3.

Eric Morecambe joked that the return of summer was signalled by "the sound of leather" on which English cricketer who died in 2015?

Brian Close

4.

Which is the only team to be ever present in the German Bundesliga First Division since it started in 1963?  The club last won the Bundesliga championship in the 1982-83 season.

S V Hamburg

5.

Which now independent country and former Soviet republic is known to its inhabitants as Hayastan?  The patron saint of the country is St Gregory.

Armenia

6.

Which European country is known to its inhabitants as Crna Gora?

Montenegro

7.

Which device, first built in 1960 by Theodore Maiman at the Hughes research laboratory, is now so widespread that it can be found in most households?  Indeed many households have two or more.

Laser

8.

Only two directors have been nominated for Best Director and Best  Actor Oscars for the same film.  Name either of these directors/actors.

(either)

Warren Beatty

(or)

Clint Eastwood

Spares

1.

This landlocked country has a population of 27 million and is the only one in the world to have the clock set 5 hours 45 minutes ahead of GMT.  Which is it?

Nepal

2.

Which animal disease, when it is transmitted to humans, is known as undulant fever, Malta fever or contagious abortion?

Brucellosis

3.

The edible fish with the binomial Sprattus Sprattus, is a sardine-like fish, generally bought in tins in this country.  It is normally supplied from Scottish and Norwegian waters.  What name is usually given on the tin?

Brisling or skipper

4.

Milvus Milvus is the binomial for a bird of prey, voted the Bird of the Century in 1999 by the British Trust for Ornithology.  In danger of extinction in this country it has recently experienced an increase in its numbers on account of a reintroduction scheme.  What is its common name?

Red kite

5.

Name one of the 2 women to have won gold medals in 3 consecutive Olympic Games in the same individual event.

(either)

Dawn Fraser

(or)

Krisztina Egerszegi

Tiebreaker

According to the 2010 census what is the population of Malaysia?

28,334,135