ROUND 1 - Pairs submitted by Compulsory Mantis Shrimp

1.

Which 19th Century novelist, best known for his work set in the fictional Barchester, is often credited as introducing the pillar post box to the UK?

2.

Which 'celebrity' recently visited a very famous fictional village in the vicinity of Borchester to celebrate the re-opening of the Village Hall?  She can typically be found hosting a Saturday breakfast radio show.

3.

Which was the only decade during which all five of the following lived: William III; Edmond Halley; René Descartes; John Milton; Rembrandt?

4.

Which was the only decade during which all five of the following lived: Charles I; Tycho Brahe; Thomas Hobbes; Ben Jonson; Anthony van Dyck?

5.

Which 1986 Disney animated film featured the unique voice talents of Vincent Price and was based on a series of children's books which were, in turn, based on the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous creation?

6.

Which 1988 animated Disney film, which featured vocal performances from Billy Joel, Bette Middler and Robert Loggia, was very loosely based on a Charles Dickens novel, though the action was moved from London to New York City and many of the principal roles were taken by cats and dogs?

7.

Which creature from Greek mythology, one of Heracles' labours, shares its name with a genus of squishy freshwater animals that are apparently ‘biologically immortal’?

8.

Which creature from Greek mythology, first described in Homer's Iliad, shares its name with a biological phenomenon that results from an organism developing from two or more fertilised egg cells?

Sp.

Gerald Scarfe designed the characters for which 1997 Disney film?

ROUND 2 - ‘Crawling the A6’ submitted by The Men They Couldn't Hang

This round takes the form of a pub crawl along the A6 starting in Levenshulme and ending in Disley.  All answers will include the name of a pub and will be in the order that the pubs are encountered along that thoroughfare.  Not all pubs, however, are considered worthy of a visit.

1.

According to Dante what message is written on the portal above the entrance to hell? (answer in English, please)

2.

What utilitarian object, although undoubtedly attractive to certain elements, has been the trademark of John Smith’s Brewery for more than a century?

3.

Starting from the end of the Second World War what would be next in the following sequence: Alben, Richard, Lyndon, Hubert, Spiro, Gerald…..?

4.

What image was created by Benedetto Pistrucci for the Royal Mint in 1817 specifically to make the reverse of the gold sovereign look distinctive?

5.

There are only four of these left in the United Kingdom.  London’s has always been the head of a leopard; Edinburgh’s is, unsurprisingly, a castle; while Sheffield’s changed from a crown to a rose in 1977. What has been Birmingham’s since its inception in 1773?

6.

According to lyrics written by Julia Ward Howe that were first published in 1861, what exactly was being stored where the vintage was being trampled out?

7.

Which building has, according to a UK number one single of 1964, been the ruin of many a poor boy?

8.

What is the common name for the mammalian genus Rhinolophus? Two species, the greater and the lesser, are resident in the United Kingdom.

Sp.

What was the name of the pink hippopotamus who was a long time close companion of Zippy and Bungle?

ROUND 3 - Hidden theme submitted by The Opsimaths

1.

This actor established Bryna Productions, named after his mother Bryna Demsky.  Between 1955 and 1986, it produced 19 films, including Spartacus in 1960.  Name the actor.

2.

On 7th September 1838, the paddle steamer Forfarshire ran aground on the Farne Islands.  Name the lighthouse keeper’s daughter, famed for participating in the rescue of the survivors.

3.

This group’s only No. 1 single in the UK was When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman in November 1979.  Name the group.

4.

Who is the only solo artist to have won consecutive Grammy Awards for Record of the Year with the songs The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face in 1973 and Killing Me Softly with His Song in 1974?

5.

There are only four fully British owned car manufacturers: Bristol, Caterham, McLaren are three, which is the fourth?

6.

This 2003 film tells the story of Marlin who, along with Dory, searches for his abducted son all the way to Sydney Harbour.  What is the film called?

7.

Voiced by Sandra Bullock, what is the name of the supervillain in the 2015 film Minions?

8.

This novel by Sir Walter Scott was published in 1815.  The title character is an astrologer who predicts Henry Bertram’s future on the day of his birth.  What is the book called?

Sp1

Which smoked fish is traditionally an essential ingredient of kedgeree, and cullen skink?

Sp2

Which song title links Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, with Simon and Garfunkel, and with Neil Diamond?

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme submitted by The Electric Pigs

1.

Which composer’s symphonies include four with titles A Sea Symphony, A London Symphony, A Pastoral Symphony and Sinfonia Antarctica?

2.

Which British film of 1971 was re-made by Warner Brothers in 2000, changing Michael Caine to Sylvester Stallone and its industrial northern England setting to Seattle?

3.

Which surname links: the captain of Burnley FC in their early 60’s league championship and FA Cup Final teams; a founding actor in Coronation Street; and the biographical husband and wife roles played by Virginia McKenna and her real-life husband Bill Travers in a 1966 film for which the former was nominated for a Golden Globe?

4.

Which film actor’s roles included Mike O’Hallorhan, Michael Delaney, Virgil Hilds, Vin Tanner and Steve Andrews?

5.

Who is the only tennis player to have completed a career Grand Slam in both Singles and Doubles?

6.

Which electrical small appliance manufacturer, bought by Gillette in 1967, is now owned by Proctor & Gamble after P&G’s acquisition of Gillette in 2005?

7.

The lyrics of which Deep Purple song, itself a classic from their Deep Purple In Rock album, are an amalgam of multiple references to Little Richard and Elvis Presley rock and roll classics such as Lucille, Rip It Up, Good Golly Miss Molly, Tutti-Frutti and Hard-headed Woman?

8.

Whose death in 1963 is linked, by cause & by family connection, to those of Assia Wevill in 1969 and Nicholas Hughes in 2009?

Sp.

In the 2nd Test of England’s cricket tour of South Africa earlier this year England’s Ben Stokes scored 258, putting on a world-record partnership of 399 runs for the 6th wicket.  Who was his partner in this 6th wicket stand, who himself scored 150 not out, his maiden Test century?

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme submitted by Dunkin' Dönitz

“There’s a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall

1.

What is the state capital of Minnesota?

2.

Which port, on a river which forms part of the border of a country with the same name, is the capital of the Rio Negro department of that country?

3.

Which novelist, writing in the adventure fiction genre, created the character Allan Quartemain?

4.

Which 19^th century Massachusetts born essayist and poet led the transcendentalist movement and was known as ‘The Concord Sage’?

5.

Which British car company named its most famous series of models using the initials of its post war owner?

6.

Which British fashion designer and entrepreneur founded the Next chain and the Per Una brand as well as an eponymous label for Asda?

7.

Who, as well as being one of the most successful English commanders of the Hundred Years War was also the first Duke of Cornwall and the first Knight of the Garter?

8.

Who, before a famous death in 1836, first found notoriety 9 years earlier as a participant in a brawl?  During the brawl he was both shot and stabbed multiple times yet was still able to kill the sheriff with the weapon that came to bear his name?

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme – ‘Who ate all the pies?’ submitted by The Opsimaths

1.

What is the name of the cocktail that has the ingredients of one part Scotch Whisky, one part Tennessee Whiskey and one part Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey?

2.

Jonty Rhodes, the former South African Test cricketer was particularly famed for his fielding prowess.  Which fielding position did he usually occupy?

3.

Apsley House, the former home of the Duke of Wellington, is often known by which nickname?

4.

In terms of revenue which is currently the fourth largest retail business in the world after Wal-Mart, Tesco and Costco?

5.

Which celebrated, and much recorded, Gershwin song includes the following lyrics:

“I'd like to add his initial to my monogram

Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost lamb?”

6.

A US advertising slogan in the 1930s coined a phrase still in everyday use today.  It told people that use of Gem Micromatic products would cure a late afternoon ailment.  What was this ailment?

7.

What was finally declared open at a ceremony held on Malham Moor on 24 April 1965?

8.

Who is the only actor to have won a Best Actor Oscar posthumously and for which film?

Sp1

Scientist Michael Gregsten was the victim of what notorious crime which took place at Deadman's Hill, near Clophill, Bedfordshire in August 1961?

Sp2

Which TV show often ended an episode with Detective Captain Steve McGarrett instructing his subordinate to “Book 'em, Danno!”?

ROUND 7 - Pairs submitted by 'Knocked Out United'

1.

What surname links the 19-year old daughter of a wealthy family in the novel Dracula, and a New Zealand singer, whose first internationally released album, Pure, reached No. 1 in the UK classical charts in 2003?

2.

What surname links the ship’s captain, whose letters to his sister form part of the novel Frankenstein, and an Oldham-born classical composer, whose 1923 work Façade was described by The Manchester Guardian as ‘relentless cacophony’?

from OPSIMATHS

3.

On this day in 1812, a man called John Bellingham caused an upheaval in British politics.  How did he do this?

from THE CHARABANCS OF FIRE

4.

On this day in 1812, something was first introduced into English ballrooms that some observers thought was disgusting and immoral. What was it?

from THE CHARABANCS OF FIRE

5.

Which Michelin 2-starred restaurant in London takes its name with that of a street urchin in Hugo’s Les Miserables?

from THE MEN THEY COULDN'T HANG

6.

Which cut of fillet steak takes its name from the French aristocratic author of the Genius of Christianity who greatly influenced Victor Hugo?

from THE MEN THEY COULDN'T HANG

7.

Which words, consecutive in a dictionary, mean:

• Disturb or disconcert

• Disconcert or baffle

• Slight pain

from THE ELECTRIC PIGS

8.

Which 3 words, appearing consecutively in a dictionary, mean:

• a small, barrel-shaped cheese

• aggressively defiant

• go on foot laboriously

from THE ELECTRIC PIGS

Sp1

Which letter of the Greek alphabet is used to represent the following: in lower case, the nuclear cross-section and the electrical conductivity; and in upper case, the summation operator? 

from COMPULSORY MANTIS SHRIMPS

Sp2

Which lower-case letter of the Greek alphabet is used to represent the reduced mass and the coefficient of friction, and is the SI prefix for one millionth (10^-6)?

from COMPULSORY MANTIS SHRIMPS

ROUND 8 - '...and finally' submitted by The Charabancs of Fire

1.

In which 1988 film did David Bowie play Pontius Pilate?

2.

What is the title of Simon Singh’s 2002 best-selling popular science book?  Its subtitle is The Story of a Riddle that Confounded the World’s Greatest Minds for 358 Years.

3.

On April 21st 1997 what happened to Gene Roddenberry, Timothy Leary and 22 others.

4.

Whose sarcophagus now lies in a vault below the dome of St Paul’s cathedral?  The sarcophagus had been intended for Cardinal Wolsey before it was spitefully confiscated by King Henry the Eighth.  It then lay unused for more than 275 years before King George the Third presented it for the entombment of its present occupant.

5.

Which classic film from the 1960s ends with the following  lines:

“I’m not even gonna swat that fly.  I hope they are watching.  They’ll see.  They’ll see and they’ll know and they’ll say ‘Why, she wouldn’t even harm a fly.’”

6.

Which poem, although written in the safe, conventional form of a Petrarchan sonnet is often described as the angriest poem written in the 20th century?  It ends with the lines:

“And  each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds”

7.

An away win at Maine Road in May 1960 meant that which club became the first, and so far only, team to win the English League Division 1 or Premiership by going top of the table for the first time on the final day of the season?

8.

Complete this front page headline from the Sun newspaper on the morning of Thursday April 9th 1992.

“If Kinnock wins today…………………………………..”

Sp1

Thirteen Nazi war criminals went to the scaffold at Hameln prison, near Hanover, on Friday 13th December 1945.  Who was the overworked executioner?

Sp2

What were the last words of Colonel Sanders, of KFC fame?

Sp3

Name the triskaidekaphobic:

He was born on September 13th 1874 in Vienna and was a gifted painter and musician.  He went on to become one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.  Despite his fame he lived miserably thanks to his morbid fear of the number 13.  His opera Moses and Aron was deliberately misspelt because the correct spelling had 13 letters.  He was convinced that he would die in his 76th year because 7 + 6 = 13.  He started to relax a little when 10 months of that year passed without incident.  However his last big obstacle was Friday July 13th which he spent fretfully in bed.  Waking up in the middle of the night he was at first relieved to have survived the day but then horrified to discover that it was not yet midnight.  He suffered a panic attack which resulted in a heart attack and died a few minutes before midnight on Friday 13th July 1951.

Tiebreaker submitted by The Opsimaths

1.

As of the 2011 census how many inhabited offshore islands were there in Scotland?

2.

What is the shortest distance by road in miles between Newcastle-under-Lyme and Newcastle-upon-Tyne?

ROUND 1 - Pairs submitted by Compulsory Mantis Shrimp

1.

Which 19th Century novelist, best known for his work set in the fictional Barchester, is often credited as introducing the pillar post box to the UK?

Anthony Trollope

2.

Which 'celebrity' recently visited a very famous fictional village in the vicinity of Borchester to celebrate the re-opening of the Village Hall?  She can typically be found hosting a Saturday breakfast radio show.

Anneka Rice

3.

Which was the only decade during which all five of the following lived: William III; Edmond Halley; René Descartes; John Milton; Rembrandt?

1650s

4.

Which was the only decade during which all five of the following lived: Charles I; Tycho Brahe; Thomas Hobbes; Ben Jonson; Anthony van Dyck?

1600s

5.

Which 1986 Disney animated film featured the unique voice talents of Vincent Price and was based on a series of children's books which were, in turn, based on the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous creation?

Basil The Great Mouse Detective

6.

Which 1988 animated Disney film, which featured vocal performances from Billy Joel, Bette Middler and Robert Loggia, was very loosely based on a Charles Dickens novel, though the action was moved from London to New York City and many of the principal roles were taken by cats and dogs?

Oliver and Company

7.

Which creature from Greek mythology, one of Heracles' labours, shares its name with a genus of squishy freshwater animals that are apparently ‘biologically immortal’?

Hydra

8.

Which creature from Greek mythology, first described in Homer's Iliad, shares its name with a biological phenomenon that results from an organism developing from two or more fertilised egg cells?

Chimera

Sp.

Gerald Scarfe designed the characters for which 1997 Disney film?

Hercules

ROUND 2 - ‘Crawling the A6’ submitted by The Men They Couldn't Hang

This round takes the form of a pub crawl along the A6 starting in Levenshulme and ending in Disley.  All answers will include the name of a pub and will be in the order that the pubs are encountered along that thoroughfare.  Not all pubs, however, are considered worthy of a visit.

1.

According to Dante what message is written on the portal above the entrance to hell? (answer in English, please)

“Abandon hope all who enter here”

2.

What utilitarian object, although undoubtedly attractive to certain elements, has been the trademark of John Smith’s Brewery for more than a century?

Magnet

3.

Starting from the end of the Second World War what would be next in the following sequence: Alben, Richard, Lyndon, Hubert, Spiro, Gerald…..?

Nelson

(….Rockefeller - given names of US Vice Presidents)

4.

What image was created by Benedetto Pistrucci for the Royal Mint in 1817 specifically to make the reverse of the gold sovereign look distinctive?

George and Dragon

5.

There are only four of these left in the United Kingdom.  London’s has always been the head of a leopard; Edinburgh’s is, unsurprisingly, a castle; while Sheffield’s changed from a crown to a rose in 1977. What has been Birmingham’s since its inception in 1773?

Anchor

(assay office hallmarks)

6.

According to lyrics written by Julia Ward Howe that were first published in 1861, what exactly was being stored where the vintage was being trampled out?

“The grapes of wrath”

7.

Which building has, according to a UK number one single of 1964, been the ruin of many a poor boy?

The House of the Rising Sun

8.

What is the common name for the mammalian genus Rhinolophus? Two species, the greater and the lesser, are resident in the United Kingdom.

Horseshoe Bats

Sp.

What was the name of the pink hippopotamus who was a long time close companion of Zippy and Bungle?

George

ROUND 3 - Hidden theme submitted by The Opsimaths

1.

This actor established Bryna Productions, named after his mother Bryna Demsky.  Between 1955 and 1986, it produced 19 films, including Spartacus in 1960.  Name the actor.

Kirk Douglas

2.

On 7th September 1838, the paddle steamer Forfarshire ran aground on the Farne Islands.  Name the lighthouse keeper’s daughter, famed for participating in the rescue of the survivors.

Grace Darling

3.

This group’s only No. 1 single in the UK was When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman in November 1979.  Name the group.

Dr Hook

4.

Who is the only solo artist to have won consecutive Grammy Awards for Record of the Year with the songs The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face in 1973 and Killing Me Softly with His Song in 1974?

Roberta Flack

5.

There are only four fully British owned car manufacturers: Bristol, Caterham, McLaren are three, which is the fourth?

The Morgan Motor Company

6.

This 2003 film tells the story of Marlin who, along with Dory, searches for his abducted son all the way to Sydney Harbour.  What is the film called?

Finding Nemo

7.

Voiced by Sandra Bullock, what is the name of the supervillain in the 2015 film Minions?

Scarlet Overkill

8.

This novel by Sir Walter Scott was published in 1815.  The title character is an astrologer who predicts Henry Bertram’s future on the day of his birth.  What is the book called?

Guy Mannering

Sp1

Which smoked fish is traditionally an essential ingredient of kedgeree, and cullen skink?

Haddock

Sp2

Which song title links Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, with Simon and Garfunkel, and with Neil Diamond?

America

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme submitted by The Electric Pigs

1.

Which composer’s symphonies include four with titles A Sea Symphony, A London Symphony, A Pastoral Symphony and Sinfonia Antarctica?

Ralph Vaughan Williams

(his symphonies nos. 1,2,3 and 7 respectively)

2.

Which British film of 1971 was re-made by Warner Brothers in 2000, changing Michael Caine to Sylvester Stallone and its industrial northern England setting to Seattle?

Get Carter

3.

Which surname links: the captain of Burnley FC in their early 60’s league championship and FA Cup Final teams; a founding actor in Coronation Street; and the biographical husband and wife roles played by Virginia McKenna and her real-life husband Bill Travers in a 1966 film for which the former was nominated for a Golden Globe?

Adamson

(Jimmy Adamson ; Peter Adamson - Len Fairclough; Joy and George Adamson -  Born Free)

4.

Which film actor’s roles included Mike O’Hallorhan, Michael Delaney, Virgil Hilds, Vin Tanner and Steve Andrews?

Steve McQueen

(Towering Inferno, Le Mans, The Great Escape, The Magnificent 7, The Blob)

5.

Who is the only tennis player to have completed a career Grand Slam in both Singles and Doubles?

Roy Emerson

6.

Which electrical small appliance manufacturer, bought by Gillette in 1967, is now owned by Proctor & Gamble after P&G’s acquisition of Gillette in 2005?

Braun

7.

The lyrics of which Deep Purple song, itself a classic from their Deep Purple In Rock album, are an amalgam of multiple references to Little Richard and Elvis Presley rock and roll classics such as Lucille, Rip It Up, Good Golly Miss Molly, Tutti-Frutti and Hard-headed Woman?

Speed King

8.

Whose death in 1963 is linked, by cause & by family connection, to those of Assia Wevill in 1969 and Nicholas Hughes in 2009?

Sylvia Plath

(She was married, at the time of her own suicide, to Ted Hughes, whose 2nd wife was Assia Wevill.  Nicholas Hughes was the son of Hughes and Plath.  All 3 committed suicide)

Sp.

In the 2nd Test of England’s cricket tour of South Africa earlier this year England’s Ben Stokes scored 258, putting on a world-record partnership of 399 runs for the 6th wicket.  Who was his partner in this 6th wicket stand, who himself scored 150 not out, his maiden Test century?

Jonny Bairstow

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme submitted by Dunkin' Dönitz

“There’s a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall

1.

What is the state capital of Minnesota?

Saint Paul

2.

Which port, on a river which forms part of the border of a country with the same name, is the capital of the Rio Negro department of that country?

Fray Bentos

(the country/river is Uruguay)

3.

Which novelist, writing in the adventure fiction genre, created the character Allan Quartemain?

H Rider Haggard

4.

Which 19^th century Massachusetts born essayist and poet led the transcendentalist movement and was known as ‘The Concord Sage’?

Ralph Waldo Emerson

5.

Which British car company named its most famous series of models using the initials of its post war owner?

Aston Martin

(the ‘DB’ series utilising the initials of the owner, David Brown)

6.

Which British fashion designer and entrepreneur founded the Next chain and the Per Una brand as well as an eponymous label for Asda?

George Davies

(the label being ‘George’ at Asda)

7.

Who, as well as being one of the most successful English commanders of the Hundred Years War was also the first Duke of Cornwall and the first Knight of the Garter?

Edward, the Black Prince

8.

Who, before a famous death in 1836, first found notoriety 9 years earlier as a participant in a brawl?  During the brawl he was both shot and stabbed multiple times yet was still able to kill the sheriff with the weapon that came to bear his name?

James ‘Jim’ Bowie

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme – ‘Who ate all the pies?’ submitted by The Opsimaths

1.

What is the name of the cocktail that has the ingredients of one part Scotch Whisky, one part Tennessee Whiskey and one part Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey?

Three Wise Men

2.

Jonty Rhodes, the former South African Test cricketer was particularly famed for his fielding prowess.  Which fielding position did he usually occupy?

Backward Point

(accept just Point)

3.

Apsley House, the former home of the Duke of Wellington, is often known by which nickname?

Number One, London

4.

In terms of revenue which is currently the fourth largest retail business in the world after Wal-Mart, Tesco and Costco?

Carrefour

5.

Which celebrated, and much recorded, Gershwin song includes the following lyrics:

“I'd like to add his initial to my monogram

Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost lamb?”

Someone To Watch Over Me

6.

A US advertising slogan in the 1930s coined a phrase still in everyday use today.  It told people that use of Gem Micromatic products would cure a late afternoon ailment.  What was this ailment?

Five o’clock shadow

(the product was a razor)

7.

What was finally declared open at a ceremony held on Malham Moor on 24 April 1965?

Pennine Way

8.

Who is the only actor to have won a Best Actor Oscar posthumously and for which film?

Peter Finch; Network

Sp1

Scientist Michael Gregsten was the victim of what notorious crime which took place at Deadman's Hill, near Clophill, Bedfordshire in August 1961?

The A6 murder

(for which James Hanratty was hanged)

Sp2

Which TV show often ended an episode with Detective Captain Steve McGarrett instructing his subordinate to “Book 'em, Danno!”?

Hawaii Five-O

ROUND 7 - Pairs submitted by 'Knocked Out United'

1.

What surname links the 19-year old daughter of a wealthy family in the novel Dracula, and a New Zealand singer, whose first internationally released album, Pure, reached No. 1 in the UK classical charts in 2003?

Westenra

(Lucy and Hayley)

2.

What surname links the ship’s captain, whose letters to his sister form part of the novel Frankenstein, and an Oldham-born classical composer, whose 1923 work Façade was described by The Manchester Guardian as ‘relentless cacophony’?

from OPSIMATHS

Walton

(Robert and William)

3.

On this day in 1812, a man called John Bellingham caused an upheaval in British politics.  How did he do this?

from THE CHARABANCS OF FIRE

He assassinated the Prime Minister

(Spencer Perceval)

4.

On this day in 1812, something was first introduced into English ballrooms that some observers thought was disgusting and immoral. What was it?

from THE CHARABANCS OF FIRE

The Waltz

5.

Which Michelin 2-starred restaurant in London takes its name with that of a street urchin in Hugo’s Les Miserables?

from THE MEN THEY COULDN'T HANG

Le Gavroche

6.

Which cut of fillet steak takes its name from the French aristocratic author of the Genius of Christianity who greatly influenced Victor Hugo?

from THE MEN THEY COULDN'T HANG

Chateaubriand

7.

Which words, consecutive in a dictionary, mean:

• Disturb or disconcert

• Disconcert or baffle

• Slight pain

from THE ELECTRIC PIGS

Discombobulate

Discomfit

Discomfort

8.

Which 3 words, appearing consecutively in a dictionary, mean:

• a small, barrel-shaped cheese

• aggressively defiant

• go on foot laboriously

from THE ELECTRIC PIGS

Truckle

Truculent

Trudge

Sp1

Which letter of the Greek alphabet is used to represent the following: in lower case, the nuclear cross-section and the electrical conductivity; and in upper case, the summation operator? 

from COMPULSORY MANTIS SHRIMPS

Sigma

Sp2

Which lower-case letter of the Greek alphabet is used to represent the reduced mass and the coefficient of friction, and is the SI prefix for one millionth (10^-6)?

from COMPULSORY MANTIS SHRIMPS

Mu

ROUND 8 - '...and finally' submitted by The Charabancs of Fire

1.

In which 1988 film did David Bowie play Pontius Pilate?

The  Last Temptation of Christ

2.

What is the title of Simon Singh’s 2002 best-selling popular science book?  Its subtitle is The Story of a Riddle that Confounded the World’s Greatest Minds for 358 Years.

Fermat’s Last Theorem

3.

On April 21st 1997 what happened to Gene Roddenberry, Timothy Leary and 22 others.

Their ashes were blasted into space

(aboard a Pegasus rocket)

4.

Whose sarcophagus now lies in a vault below the dome of St Paul’s cathedral?  The sarcophagus had been intended for Cardinal Wolsey before it was spitefully confiscated by King Henry the Eighth.  It then lay unused for more than 275 years before King George the Third presented it for the entombment of its present occupant.

Admiral Horatio Nelson

5.

Which classic film from the 1960s ends with the following  lines:

“I’m not even gonna swat that fly.  I hope they are watching.  They’ll see.  They’ll see and they’ll know and they’ll say ‘Why, she wouldn’t even harm a fly.’”

Psycho

(spoken by Norman Bates in the persona of his dead mother)

6.

Which poem, although written in the safe, conventional form of a Petrarchan sonnet is often described as the angriest poem written in the 20th century?  It ends with the lines:

“And  each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds”

Anthem for Doomed Youth

(by Wilfred Owen)

7.

An away win at Maine Road in May 1960 meant that which club became the first, and so far only, team to win the English League Division 1 or Premiership by going top of the table for the first time on the final day of the season?

Burnley

8.

Complete this front page headline from the Sun newspaper on the morning of Thursday April 9th 1992.

“If Kinnock wins today…………………………………..”

“Will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights”

Sp1

Thirteen Nazi war criminals went to the scaffold at Hameln prison, near Hanover, on Friday 13th December 1945.  Who was the overworked executioner?

Albert Pierrepoint

Sp2

What were the last words of Colonel Sanders, of KFC fame?

“So, that’s what it tastes like”

Sp3

Name the triskaidekaphobic:

He was born on September 13th 1874 in Vienna and was a gifted painter and musician.  He went on to become one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.  Despite his fame he lived miserably thanks to his morbid fear of the number 13.  His opera Moses and Aron was deliberately misspelt because the correct spelling had 13 letters.  He was convinced that he would die in his 76th year because 7 + 6 = 13.  He started to relax a little when 10 months of that year passed without incident.  However his last big obstacle was Friday July 13th which he spent fretfully in bed.  Waking up in the middle of the night he was at first relieved to have survived the day but then horrified to discover that it was not yet midnight.  He suffered a panic attack which resulted in a heart attack and died a few minutes before midnight on Friday 13th July 1951.

Arnold Schoenberg

Tiebreakers submitted by The Opsimaths

1.

As of the 2011 census how many inhabited offshore islands were there in Scotland?

89

2.

What is the shortest distance by road in miles between Newcastle-under-Lyme and Newcastle-upon-Tyne?

191 miles