1.

Giovanni Schiaparelli was in the news last week.  He was the first to map the canals of which location?

2.

Christiaan Huygens gave his name to a landing craft which remains the most distant ever solid-surface-landing of a man-made spacecraft.  Having landed it sent its signals to the Cassini orbiter to be relayed to earth.  Where did it go to?

3.

Which country lays claim to being the oldest site of wine production in the world with vineyards dating back to 2500BC or earlier?  After some lean years its wines are increasingly popular with Chateau Musar being the most notable.

4.

What is the sixth most populous Iranian city?  It is known as a city of poets, literature, wine and flowers.  The finest wine of the Middle East was reputed to come from there in the Middle Ages although these days the vineyards are allegedly used purely to produce table grapes and raisins.

5.

Who is the current shadow transport spokesperson?

6.

Who is the current Chair of the Conservative party and a former Minister of Transport

7.

Which English composer wrote the hugely successful cantata The Rio Grande in 1927 and the ballet Horoscope in 1938?  He died in 1951.

8.

Which English composer whose father came from Sierra Leone was at one time so successful that he was dubbed 'the African Mahler'?  His best known work was his 1898 cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast?

1.

In astrophysics the CMB pervades the entire universe.  What does CMB stand for?

2.

3.

In baseball what is a pinch hitter?

4.

In baseball what is meant by the term to bunt?

5.

Margherita Peak, formerly known as Mount Stanley, and standing at 5109m, is the highest point on the border of 2 countries in Africa.  Give one of the countries.

6.

The mountain formerly known as Mount Communism, and standing at over 7000m, is close to the border between 2 countries.  Name one of them.

7.

Name a candidate in the US presidential election apart from Clinton and Trump.

8.

In which city was the most recent presidential debate between Clinton and Trump?

1.

Which author and broadcaster who was born in Wigan in 1967 is the current Chancellor of Manchester University?

2.

Which Olympic Rowing Gold medallist in the Double Sculls in London and Silver Medallist in Rio, who was born in Glasgow in 1975, is the current Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University?

3.

This thoroughfare in Notting Hill, that runs parallel to Ladbroke Grove, changed its name to its current one to commemorate the capture of this Spanish port in Panama during the War of Jenkins Ear by Admiral Vernon.  Today it is frequented by buyers of antiques, and is particularly popular with Paddington Bear.  What is the name of the thoroughfare?

4.

This thoroughfare in the Paddington area is an extension of Edgware Road and is named after a battle between English and French forces that took place in 1806 in Italy.  There is also a tube station of the same name on the Bakerloo line 2 stops from Paddington.  What is the name of the thoroughfare?

5.

Which pop group had Nick Baines, Nick Hodgson, Simon Rix, Andrew White and Ricky Wilson in its original line up?

6.

Which American rock band comprises four Followill brothers?

7.

Who won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2008 for her performance in La Vie en Rose?

8.

Which actor won the award for Best Actor in the 2012 Oscars for his role in The Artist?

1.

Born in Liverpool in 1930 and passing away in 1913 this scriptwriter wrote for David Frost, Ronnie Corbett and Ken Dodd amongst others but was mostly connected with Morecambe and Wise.  Who was he?

2.

This mid-sized luxury SUV is still in production today having been first introduced in the UK in 1989 as a 3-door version only.  It is now available as a 5 door version.  Produced in Solihull the third generation Series 5 was launched in September 2016 and is expected to be available in early 2017.  What is it?

3.

Henry Sandon was an expert on pottery and porcelain on the Antiques Road Show and was especially known as an expert on which manufacturer of porcelain?  He was also the curator of the Dyson Perrins museum between 1966 and 1982.

4.

Which is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to have the word 'Palace' in its title? It became a World Heritage site in 1987.

5.

Which Bolton-born (1976) Radio and TV presenter infamously said live on air that the Queen Mother "smelt of pee".  She has presented a number of shows on radio and TV including The Breakfast Show on Radio in the early 2000s and The Great Pottery Throw Down on TV in 2015.

6.

Who was the 14th President of Nigeria before losing the election in 2015 to Muhammadu Buhari?

7.

A burgh in Selkirkshire and a major commercial centre for the Border Region it is particularly renowned for its textile making and is home to Heriot Watt University's School of Textile and Design.  It lies 2-3 miles upstream on the Tweed from Abbotsford house.  Name this town .

8.

This is a late 17th century French card game in which Nicholas Rostov lost 43,000 rubles in War and Peace and Barry Lyndon, in the Luck of Barry Lyndon by Thackeray, ran a crooked bank.  It was also known as 'buck the tiger' in reference to the common design on the back of the cards used.  What is it?

Sp1

This mountain stands 12,389 feet high and has an exceptionally symmetrical cap.  A holy mountain in its country it was added to the World Heritage List as a cultural site in 2013.  What is it?

Sp1

A graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University this Barbados-born England international cricketer played 17 Tests between 1986 and 1991 as a right arm fast-medium bowler.  He suffers from Klippel-Feil Syndrome, which is a congenital fusion of any two of the cervical vertebrae.  Who is he?

1.

From which Shakespeare play do the lines "Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal I served my King he would not in mine age have left me naked to mine enemies" come?

2.

From which Shakespeare play does the line "and therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,... I am determined to prove a villain" come?

3.

With which movement are the British artist Wyndham Lewis and the American poet Ezra Pound associated?

4.

With which art movement are the artists Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings and Hans Arp associated?

5.

This town was in the old Welsh county of Radnor and is now the administrative centre of Powys.  What is its name?

6.

This historic town situated close to Gordonstoun School and Lossiemouth is the administrative centre of the Scottish County of Moray.  What is its name?

7.

In the early Christian church there were patriarchs at Rome, Byzantium, Jerusalem, Alexandria and at which city, then in Syria but now in southern Turkey?

8.

According to Islamic writings from which city did Mohammed make the second part of his night journey to heaven around the year 621 AD?

1.

2.

3.

In tennis, what is a 'bagel'?

4.

Which writer married a Barnacle and had a mentally handicapped daughter named Lucia who fell in love with Samuel Beckett?  When Beckett shunned her, the writer never forgave him.

5.

When she was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was offered passport number 007 but she turned it down.  Which unlikely colleague - her longest-serving Cabinet minister - bagged it instead?

6.

Which gay poet married Erika, the daughter of Thomas Mann, so that she could get a British passport, the pair having met for the first time on the day of the wedding?

7.

The first cloned cat was called CC.  What is 'CC' short for?

8.

The colony of Maryland, originally founded as a potential haven for Catholics, was named after the wife of which King?

Sp.

When Pope John II visited California, what was the Hollywood sign changed to?

1.

This Scottish band was formed by Roddy Frame and had hits with Oblivious and Somewhere In My Heart.

An optical device that takes its name from the Latin for ‘dark chamber’.

2.

This company was founded in 1896 and became the first to mass-produce Vitamin C under the brand name Redoxon.

3.

This person will take over the post of Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra in September 2017.

The reptile genus Crotalus derives its name from the Greek word for castanet and is better known by this name.

4.

This talent spotter is the daughter of Don Arden, a former manager of Black Sabbath.

5.

Born Caryn Johnson, she was the second black woman in the history of the Academy Awards to win an acting Oscar and one of the few entertainers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony.

The common name of BWV 998, a work for harpsichord by JS Bach comprising 31 pieces.

6.

In 1973, this man established a world record by doing an entrechat-douze - a jump with twelve beats of the feet, a record that still stands to this day.

7.

This traditional American folk song has been recorded many times, the most famous of which is the 1964 recording by a British group that was the first number 1 in the USA unconnected with the Beatles.

8.

He has twice won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and has scored a number of Disney-Pixar films, including the three Toy Story films.

Sp.

The mathematical term for a positive integer that is the sum of its positive divisors (excluding itself).  For example 6 = 1+2+3.

1.

2.

What is the name of the poem written by Thomas Moore in 1805 and originally sung to an Irish melody. It has been set to music many times including by Beethoven, Benjamin Britten and Gounod.  The poem is about the loneliness when all one's friends have died.

3.

Which book by Hubert Selby Jr published in 1964 and made into a controversial film in 1989 is written in 6 self-contained sections.  One of which, Tralala, recounts the story of a prostitute and petty thief.

4.

What was played at Scarborough between the 8th and 11th September 1962?  The winning side was captained by Freddie Trueman.

5.

What is the name of the 1971 film in which Ben Johnson won Best Supporting Actor Oscar and which relates the coming-of-age of Sonny Crawford in Texas in 1951/2?

6.

Which film was made in 1977 and starred the director Marty Feldman?  The story is an often-filmed tale of the adventures of 3 brothers.  Michael York played the eponymous hero.  Up to now the title has not been contradicted.

7.

In which document was an art collection left to "my hometown of Linz in Austria"?

8.

What is the name of the detective story written by E C Bentley and first published in 1913 in which the detective fails to solve the case and is told by the perpetrator of the murder how he should have gone about it.  In spite of the title it is the first appearance of the detective.

1.

Name the city where the Munster rugby union club play the majority of their home games.

2.

Who won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1998 for her performance in As Good As It Gets?

3.

Which pop group had Rob Davis, Les Gray, Dave Mount and Ray Stiles in its line-up?

1.

Giovanni Schiaparelli was in the news last week.  He was the first to map the canals of which location?

Mars

(the lander which crashed was named after him)

2.

Christiaan Huygens gave his name to a landing craft which remains the most distant ever solid-surface-landing of a man-made spacecraft.  Having landed it sent its signals to the Cassini orbiter to be relayed to earth.  Where did it go to?

Titan

3.

Which country lays claim to being the oldest site of wine production in the world with vineyards dating back to 2500BC or earlier?  After some lean years its wines are increasingly popular with Chateau Musar being the most notable.

Lebanon

4.

What is the sixth most populous Iranian city?  It is known as a city of poets, literature, wine and flowers.  The finest wine of the Middle East was reputed to come from there in the Middle Ages although these days the vineyards are allegedly used purely to produce table grapes and raisins.

Shiraz

5.

Who is the current shadow transport spokesperson?

Andy McDonald

6.

Who is the current Chair of the Conservative party and a former Minister of Transport

Patrick McLoughlin

7.

Which English composer wrote the hugely successful cantata The Rio Grande in 1927 and the ballet Horoscope in 1938?  He died in 1951.

Constant Lambert

8.

Which English composer whose father came from Sierra Leone was at one time so successful that he was dubbed 'the African Mahler'?  His best known work was his 1898 cantata Hiawatha's Wedding Feast?

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

1.

In astrophysics the CMB pervades the entire universe.  What does CMB stand for?

Cosmic microwave background

2.

(or) Hot dark matter

3.

In baseball what is a pinch hitter?

A substitute batter

4.

In baseball what is meant by the term to bunt?

Hitting the ball softly into the infield

(in order to steal a base for example)

5.

Margherita Peak, formerly known as Mount Stanley, and standing at 5109m, is the highest point on the border of 2 countries in Africa.  Give one of the countries.

(either) Uganda

(or) Democratic Republic of Congo

6.

The mountain formerly known as Mount Communism, and standing at over 7000m, is close to the border between 2 countries.  Name one of them.

(either) Tajikistan

(or) Kyrgyzstan

7.

Name a candidate in the US presidential election apart from Clinton and Trump.

Johnson, Stein, Castle, McMullin

8.

In which city was the most recent presidential debate between Clinton and Trump?

Las Vegas

1.

Which author and broadcaster who was born in Wigan in 1967 is the current Chancellor of Manchester University?

Lemn Sissay

2.

Which Olympic Rowing Gold medallist in the Double Sculls in London and Silver Medallist in Rio, who was born in Glasgow in 1975, is the current Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University?

Kathleen Grainger

3.

This thoroughfare in Notting Hill, that runs parallel to Ladbroke Grove, changed its name to its current one to commemorate the capture of this Spanish port in Panama during the War of Jenkins Ear by Admiral Vernon.  Today it is frequented by buyers of antiques, and is particularly popular with Paddington Bear.  What is the name of the thoroughfare?

Portobello Road

4.

This thoroughfare in the Paddington area is an extension of Edgware Road and is named after a battle between English and French forces that took place in 1806 in Italy.  There is also a tube station of the same name on the Bakerloo line 2 stops from Paddington.  What is the name of the thoroughfare?

Maida Vale

5.

Which pop group had Nick Baines, Nick Hodgson, Simon Rix, Andrew White and Ricky Wilson in its original line up?

Kaiser Chiefs

6.

Which American rock band comprises four Followill brothers?

Kings of Leon

7.

Who won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2008 for her performance in La Vie en Rose?

Marion Cotillard

8.

Which actor won the award for Best Actor in the 2012 Oscars for his role in The Artist?

Jean Dujardin

1.

Born in Liverpool in 1930 and passing away in 1913 this scriptwriter wrote for David Frost, Ronnie Corbett and Ken Dodd amongst others but was mostly connected with Morecambe and Wise.  Who was he?

Eddie Braben

2.

This mid-sized luxury SUV is still in production today having been first introduced in the UK in 1989 as a 3-door version only.  It is now available as a 5 door version.  Produced in Solihull the third generation Series 5 was launched in September 2016 and is expected to be available in early 2017.  What is it?

Land Rover Discovery

3.

Henry Sandon was an expert on pottery and porcelain on the Antiques Road Show and was especially known as an expert on which manufacturer of porcelain?  He was also the curator of the Dyson Perrins museum between 1966 and 1982.

Royal Worcester

(accept just 'Worcester')

4.

Which is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to have the word 'Palace' in its title? It became a World Heritage site in 1987.

Blenheim Palace

5.

Which Bolton-born (1976) Radio and TV presenter infamously said live on air that the Queen Mother "smelt of pee".  She has presented a number of shows on radio and TV including The Breakfast Show on Radio in the early 2000s and The Great Pottery Throw Down on TV in 2015.

Sarah Cox

6.

Who was the 14th President of Nigeria before losing the election in 2015 to Muhammadu Buhari?

Goodluck Jonathan

7.

A burgh in Selkirkshire and a major commercial centre for the Border Region it is particularly renowned for its textile making and is home to Heriot Watt University's School of Textile and Design.  It lies 2-3 miles upstream on the Tweed from Abbotsford house.  Name this town .

Galashiels

8.

This is a late 17th century French card game in which Nicholas Rostov lost 43,000 rubles in War and Peace and Barry Lyndon, in the Luck of Barry Lyndon by Thackeray, ran a crooked bank.  It was also known as 'buck the tiger' in reference to the common design on the back of the cards used.  What is it?

Faro

Sp1

This mountain stands 12,389 feet high and has an exceptionally symmetrical cap.  A holy mountain in its country it was added to the World Heritage List as a cultural site in 2013.  What is it?

Mount Fuji

Sp2

A graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University this Barbados-born England international cricketer played 17 Tests between 1986 and 1991 as a right arm fast-medium bowler.  He suffers from Klippel-Feil Syndrome, which is a congenital fusion of any two of the cervical vertebrae.  Who is he?

Gladstone Small

1.

From which Shakespeare play do the lines "Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal I served my King he would not in mine age have left me naked to mine enemies" come?

Henry VIII

2.

From which Shakespeare play does the line "and therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,... I am determined to prove a villain" come?

Richard III

3.

With which movement are the British artist Wyndham Lewis and the American poet Ezra Pound associated?

Vorticism

4.

With which art movement are the artists Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings and Hans Arp associated?

Dada

5.

This town was in the old Welsh county of Radnor and is now the administrative centre of Powys.  What is its name?

Llandrindod Wells

6.

This historic town situated close to Gordonstoun School and Lossiemouth is the administrative centre of the Scottish County of Moray.  What is its name?

Elgin

7.

In the early Christian church there were patriarchs at Rome, Byzantium, Jerusalem, Alexandria and at which city, then in Syria but now in southern Turkey?

Antioch

8.

According to Islamic writings from which city did Mohammed make the second part of his night journey to heaven around the year 621 AD?

Jerusalem

1.

He died aged 84, which is length of time it takes Uranus to orbit the sun

2.

Montenegro

3.

In tennis, what is a 'bagel'?

A set won 6–0

(the loser’s zero supposedly representing a bagel)

4.

Which writer married a Barnacle and had a mentally handicapped daughter named Lucia who fell in love with Samuel Beckett?  When Beckett shunned her, the writer never forgave him.

James Joyce

5.

When she was Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was offered passport number 007 but she turned it down.  Which unlikely colleague - her longest-serving Cabinet minister - bagged it instead?

Geoffrey Howe

6.

Which gay poet married Erika, the daughter of Thomas Mann, so that she could get a British passport, the pair having met for the first time on the day of the wedding?

W H Auden

7.

The first cloned cat was called CC.  What is 'CC' short for?

Carbon Copy

8.

The colony of Maryland, originally founded as a potential haven for Catholics, was named after the wife of which King?

Charles

(his wife was Henrietta Maria who, although French, was known as Queen Mary in England)

Sp.

When Pope John II visited California, what was the Hollywood sign changed to?

Holywood

ROUND 7 - Linked pairs

Each question results in two answers, the first of which has its last word in common with the first word of the second answer

Note that the words 'a' and 'the' are disregarded

1.

This Scottish band was formed by Roddy Frame and had hits with Oblivious and Somewhere In My Heart.

An optical device that takes its name from the Latin for ‘dark chamber’.

Aztec CAMERA Obscura

2.

This company was founded in 1896 and became the first to mass-produce Vitamin C under the brand name Redoxon.

Tales of HOFFMAN La Roche

3.

This person will take over the post of Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra in September 2017.

The reptile genus Crotalus derives its name from the Greek word for castanet and is better known by this name.

Simon RATTLE Snake

4.

This talent spotter is the daughter of Don Arden, a former manager of Black Sabbath.

Ariel SHARON Osbourne

(accept 'Levy' instead of 'Osbourne', since this was her maiden name)

5.

Born Caryn Johnson, she was the second black woman in the history of the Academy Awards to win an acting Oscar and one of the few entertainers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony.

The common name of BWV 998, a work for harpsichord by JS Bach comprising 31 pieces.

Whoopi GOLDBERG Variations

6.

In 1973, this man established a world record by doing an entrechat-douze - a jump with twelve beats of the feet, a record that still stands to this day.

John WAYNE Sleep

7.

This traditional American folk song has been recorded many times, the most famous of which is the 1964 recording by a British group that was the first number 1 in the USA unconnected with the Beatles.

Man about the HOUSE of the Rising Sun

8.

He has twice won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and has scored a number of Disney-Pixar films, including the three Toy Story films.

James RANDI/RANDY Newman

Sp.

The mathematical term for a positive integer that is the sum of its positive divisors (excluding itself).  For example 6 = 1+2+3.

Peter PERFECT number

ROUND 8 - 'The Last Round'

Each answer contains the word 'last'

1.

"An hour to play and the last man in"

2.

What is the name of the poem written by Thomas Moore in 1805 and originally sung to an Irish melody. It has been set to music many times including by Beethoven, Benjamin Britten and Gounod.  The poem is about the loneliness when all one's friends have died.

The Last Rose of Summer

3.

Which book by Hubert Selby Jr published in 1964 and made into a controversial film in 1989 is written in 6 self-contained sections.  One of which, Tralala, recounts the story of a prostitute and petty thief.

Last Exit to Brooklyn

4.

What was played at Scarborough between the 8th and 11th September 1962?  The winning side was captained by Freddie Trueman.

The last gentlemen versus players cricket match

5.

What is the name of the 1971 film in which Ben Johnson won Best Supporting Actor Oscar and which relates the coming-of-age of Sonny Crawford in Texas in 1951/2?

The Last Picture Show

6.

Which film was made in 1977 and starred the director Marty Feldman?  The story is an often-filmed tale of the adventures of 3 brothers.  Michael York played the eponymous hero.  Up to now the title has not been contradicted.

The last remake of Beau Geste

7.

In which document was an art collection left to "my hometown of Linz in Austria"?

Hitler's Last Will (and Testament)

8.

What is the name of the detective story written by E C Bentley and first published in 1913 in which the detective fails to solve the case and is told by the perpetrator of the murder how he should have gone about it.  In spite of the title it is the first appearance of the detective.

Trent's Last Case

1.

Name the city where the Munster rugby union club play the majority of their home games.

Limerick

2.

Who won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1998 for her performance in As Good As It Gets?

Helen Hunt

3.

Which pop group had Rob Davis, Les Gray, Dave Mount and Ray Stiles in its line-up?

Mud