1.

Which town is mentioned in the lyrics of the Beatles’ song A Day in the Life?

2.

Born in Davenham, near Northwich, which now retired sportswoman is married to her former coach, Gary Lough?

3.

Which Irish county has become known in recent times for its propensity for reaching the All-Ireland Senior Gaelic Football Final, only to fall at the final hurdle?  Their defeat in last year’s final means they have lost in their last eight final appearances including three times in the last five years.

4.

What is the surname of the family in Coronation Street headed by matriarch Eileen, played by Sue Cleaver, and her sons Jason and Todd?

5.

What is the name of the musician and journalist who appeared as a panellist on That’s Life from 1989 to 1992 and who, under the pseudonym Ivor Biggun, has released four albums of smutty songs?

6.

Which fictional character from a 1976 film is a socially inept 26-year-old who becomes smitten with Betsy, a woman working in the campaign office of presidential candidate Charles Palatine?

7.

Which current Cabinet minister is the first openly gay or bisexual Cabinet minister in the UK?

8.

Which cricketer has, since retiring in 1992, amassed a fortune of £14 million through business interests in the mining and petroleum industries?  He also acted as chairman of Middlesex CCC from 1999 to 2007.

Sp1

What is the name of the overzealous jobsworth fire safety officer, played by Peter Kay in Phoenix Nights and That Peter Kay Thing?  The similarity of the character’s name to a real Bolton Council safety officer led to an apology and payment of £10,000 to the injured party.

Sp2

Which controversial footballer currently plays as a striker for Chesterfield FC?

1.

Increasing your score by 100%.

2.

Is this the place to get plastered?

3.

Put father in a paper receptacle.

4.

Reserve a peaceful break.

5.

Three times the fifth letter.

6.

The French think Miss Taylor’s good.

7.

Hades sounds very black.

8.

The barefoot 1984 Olympic distance runner is a nuisance.

Sp.

Cockney’s little pet makes a water barrier.

ROUND 3 - Plants

Either the answer or the question contains the name of a plant

1.

In the early days of BBC television, which mischievous schoolboy was portrayed by Gerald Campion?

2.

Before the club moved to the Liberty Stadium, where did Swansea City play?

3.

Which Beano character was described as ‘the strongman’s daughter’?

4.

In the Rupert Bear stories, what is the name of the mischievous daughter of the conjuror?

5.

In which 20th century English novel is belladonna used throughout as a sexual symbol?

6.

In which 20th century American novel does a character named Rose of Sharon use her breast milk, which is now useless as her baby was stillborn, to nourish a man dying of starvation?

7.

Who wiped the face of Jesus when he was carrying the cross and was rewarded with his image on the towel?

8.

Which word can be used as a prefix to both ‘smock’ and ‘tresses’ to provide the names of two flowering plants?

Sp.

According to a popular German song in the 1930s, which plant with yellow flowers covered in white hair was said to be Hitler’s favourite flower?

ROUND 4 - Bingo pairs

Choose your subject - the same categories are used in Round 5

1.

Music

On a musical score, what does the marking ‘Sul G’ mean?

2.

Countries

Which capital city is the highest in Europe? (give country or capital city)

3.

Last two

In London, what did Gavin Sherriff and Darryl Smith cease to be in August 2016?

4.

Fourths

What is the fourth item of this set: Home, Heart, Brain, ________?

5.

Tests

After whom is this test named?

6.

Chemical spellings

What is the surname of the American writer who is now president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England?  Spell the answer using symbols for elements in the periodic table and give the names of the elements: for example the answer ‘Fife’ would be given as Fluorine; Iodine; Iron.

7.

Theme songs

The lyrics to which long-running TV comedy series’ theme song begin "It’s cold outside"?

8.

Fiction

Where would you end up if you were to follow the directions "Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning"?

9.

Links

What links Ravel’s piano concerto in D and Prokofiev’s 4th piano concerto?

10.

Walk-outs

Who walked out of a TV interview after being described by the interviewer, Robin Day, as "a here today, gone tomorrow politician"?

11.

Quotations

Which Shakespearean title character says "I will do such things / What they are, yet I know not, but they shall be / The terrors of the earth"?

12.

Relatives

How was the wheelchair-bound man who gave orders to Steed and Mrs Peel known?

ROUND 5 - Bingo pairs

Choose your subject - the same categories are used in Round 4

1.

Music

On a musical score, what does the marking ‘Col Legno’ mean?

2.

Countries

Andorra is a non-heriditary principality, whose ex officio princes are the holders of two officers.  Give one office or one current prince.

3.

Last two

In August 1964 Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans became the last two what?

4.

Fourths

What completes this quartet: cervical; thoracic; lumbar, _______?

5.

Tests

After whom is this test named?

6.

Chemical spellings

What is the surname of the American cartoonist and humourist, author of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?  Spell the answer using symbols for elements in the periodic table and give the names of the elements: for example, the answer `fife’ would be given as `Fluorine, Iodine, Iron’.

7.

Theme songs

The lyrics to which long-running TV comedy series’ theme song begin “Hey baby I hear the blues a-callin’”?

8.

Fiction

What did Peter Pan say would be "an awfully big adventure"?

9.

Links

What word links a remark by Admiral Beatty, prompted by the explosion and sinking in 1916 of HMS Indefatigable and HMS Queen Mary, and a line in a play by George Bernard Shaw which caused a furore when first spoken on stage in 1913 by Mrs Patrick Campbell?

10.

Walk-outs

Which actor walked out of a BBC radio 4 interview shortly after being accused of adopting an Irish accent for the character he had recently played in a film?

11.

Quotations

Which Shakespearean title character says "For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground / And tell sad stories of the death of kings"?

12.

Relatives

In Hilaire Belloc’s poem who, when told that George had been as good as gold, promised in the afternoon to buy him an immense balloon?

1.

Which 20th century author’s first novel was This Side of Paradise?

2.

In Robert Burns’ poem Tam O’Shanter, the Devil appears in the form of an animal playing the bagpipes. What is the precise description of the animal?

3.

In 1946 George Orwell wrote an essay describing the perfect pub.  What is the title of the essay?

4.

Which cricketer was included as the wicket keeper in England’s Greatest Post War XI by Wisden in 2004?

5.

Which American film studio, established in 1914, is the only remaining film company with its headquarters in Hollywood?

6.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Archers, Nigel Pargeter plunged to his death from which building in Ambridge?

7.

Which loquacious fictional Irish heroine was based on the author’s wife, Milly?

8.

Which Ben Jonson play concerning fraud features the characters Subtle, Face and Doll Common?

Sp.

What is the name of the group of islands which lie just north of Haiti?

1.

Only one President has ever patented a mechanical invention (a device for lifting boats over rocks and reefs).  Name him.

2.

How many US Presidents have won the Nobel Peace Prize?

3.

Four Presidents have been assassinated. How many have died naturally in office?

4.

What links the 22nd and 24th Presidents?

5.

How old does a person have to be to stand for the Presidency?

6.

Which US President invented the folding bed and the swivel chair?

7.

Which two Presidents were born in 1913?

8.

Who did Richard Nixon beat in the 1968 presidential election?

Sp.

What is the name of the President played by Martin Sheen in The West Wing?

1.

American author who became a British citizen in 1915, the year before his death, and was appointed to the Order of Merit; Irish author, one of whose characters is commemorated annually on 16th June.

2.

Knighted writer, humourist and independent last member of parliament for Oxford University (the seat was abolished in 1950); Conductor best known for his association with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 1955 to 1989.

3.

Journalist and bon viveur whose columns in The Spectator were often absent, replaced by a note which became the title of a West End show; Chairman of a family tailoring firm who became a Conservative MP and Speaker of the House of Commons from 1983 to 1992.

4.

Neurologist and author, perhaps best known for The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat; German Duchy whence came Queen Victoria’s consort.

5.

Lover of Cleopatra, whose departure led to her engagement with an asp; Former American senator, husband of Hillary Clinton’s aide Huma Abedin, with unfortunate smartphone habits.

6.

English actor whose best known line followed an unnecessarily destructive explosion; Film about a Second World War rebellion starring Humphrey Bogart.

7.

First named half of British TV comedy duo, popular in the 1980s and 90s, who also appeared as the title characters in A Pinch of Snuff, the first television adaptation of the Dalziel and Pascoe novels; Name of the brightest comet of the 20th century, visible to the naked eye for 18 months in 1996/7.

8.

Oscar nominated British Hollywood actor who in one film arranged for an attack by a crop-spraying aircraft; Border which formed the demarcation between slave and free territory in the USA.

Sp.

Last unmarried Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Surname of the English cartoonist known for drawings of overly-complex machines designed to accomplish simple objectives.

1.

Which town is mentioned in the lyrics of the Beatles’ song A Day in the Life?

Blackburn

2.

Born in Davenham, near Northwich, which now retired sportswoman is married to her former coach, Gary Lough?

Paula Radcliffe

3.

Which Irish county has become known in recent times for its propensity for reaching the All-Ireland Senior Gaelic Football Final, only to fall at the final hurdle?  Their defeat in last year’s final means they have lost in their last eight final appearances including three times in the last five years.

Mayo

4.

What is the surname of the family in Coronation Street headed by matriarch Eileen, played by Sue Cleaver, and her sons Jason and Todd?

Grimshaw

5.

What is the name of the musician and journalist who appeared as a panellist on That’s Life from 1989 to 1992 and who, under the pseudonym Ivor Biggun, has released four albums of smutty songs?

Doc Cox

6.

Which fictional character from a 1976 film is a socially inept 26-year-old who becomes smitten with Betsy, a woman working in the campaign office of presidential candidate Charles Palatine?

Travis Bickle

(from the film Taxi Driver)

7.

Which current Cabinet minister is the first openly gay or bisexual Cabinet minister in the UK?

Justine Greening

8.

Which cricketer has, since retiring in 1992, amassed a fortune of £14 million through business interests in the mining and petroleum industries?  He also acted as chairman of Middlesex CCC from 1999 to 2007.

Phil Edmonds

Sp1

What is the name of the overzealous jobsworth fire safety officer, played by Peter Kay in Phoenix Nights and That Peter Kay Thing?  The similarity of the character’s name to a real Bolton Council safety officer led to an apology and payment of £10,000 to the injured party.

Keith Lard

Sp2

Which controversial footballer currently plays as a striker for Chesterfield FC?

Ched Evans

1.

Increasing your score by 100%.

Dublin

2.

Is this the place to get plastered?

Paris

3.

Put father in a paper receptacle.

Baghdad

4.

Reserve a peaceful break.

Bucharest

5.

Three times the fifth letter.

Tripoli

6.

The French think Miss Taylor’s good.

Lisbon

7.

Hades sounds very black.

Helsinki

8.

The barefoot 1984 Olympic distance runner is a nuisance.

Budapest

Sp.

Cockney’s little pet makes a water barrier.

Amsterdam

1.

In the early days of BBC television, which mischievous schoolboy was portrayed by Gerald Campion?

Billy Bunter

2.

Before the club moved to the Liberty Stadium, where did Swansea City play?

Vetch Field

3.

Which Beano character was described as ‘the strongman’s daughter’?

Pansy Potter

4.

In the Rupert Bear stories, what is the name of the mischievous daughter of the conjuror?

Tiger Lily

5.

In which 20th century English novel is belladonna used throughout as a sexual symbol?

The Go Between

6.

In which 20th century American novel does a character named Rose of Sharon use her breast milk, which is now useless as her baby was stillborn, to nourish a man dying of starvation?

The Grapes of Wrath

7.

Who wiped the face of Jesus when he was carrying the cross and was rewarded with his image on the towel?

St Veronica

8.

Which word can be used as a prefix to both ‘smock’ and ‘tresses’ to provide the names of two flowering plants?

Lady’s

(Lady's Smock and Lady’s Tresses)

Sp.

According to a popular German song in the 1930s, which plant with yellow flowers covered in white hair was said to be Hitler’s favourite flower?

Edelweiss

ROUND 4 - Bingo pairs

Choose your subject - the same categories are used in Round 5

1.

Music

On a musical score, what does the marking ‘Sul G’ mean?

To be played on the G string

2.

Countries

Which capital city is the highest in Europe? (give country or capital city)

Andorra or Andorra la Vella

3.

Last two

In London, what did Gavin Sherriff and Darryl Smith cease to be in August 2016?

The last two journalists working in Fleet Street

(for The Sunday Post)

4.

Fourths

What is the fourth item of this set: Home, Heart, Brain, ________?

Courage

(desires of the main characters in The Wizard of Oz)

5.

Tests

After whom is this test named?

Ishihara

6.

Chemical spellings

What is the surname of the American writer who is now president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England?  Spell the answer using symbols for elements in the periodic table and give the names of the elements: for example the answer ‘Fife’ would be given as Fluorine; Iodine; Iron.

Bryson - Bromine; Yttrium; Sulphur; Oxygen; Nitrogen

7.

Theme songs

The lyrics to which long-running TV comedy series’ theme song begin "It’s cold outside"?

Red Dwarf

8.

Fiction

Where would you end up if you were to follow the directions "Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning"?

Neverland

(from Peter Pan)

9.

Links

What links Ravel’s piano concerto in D and Prokofiev’s 4th piano concerto?

They were written for only the left hand

(for Paul Wittgenstein, brother of Ludwig)

10.

Walk-outs

Who walked out of a TV interview after being described by the interviewer, Robin Day, as "a here today, gone tomorrow politician"?

John Nott

11.

Quotations

Which Shakespearean title character says "I will do such things / What they are, yet I know not, but they shall be / The terrors of the earth"?

King Lear

12.

Relatives

How was the wheelchair-bound man who gave orders to Steed and Mrs Peel known?

Mother

1.

Music

On a musical score, what does the marking ‘Col Legno’ mean?

Play with the wood of the bow (just ‘with wood’ is not enough; the word ‘bow’ is vital)

2.

Countries

Andorra is a non-heriditary principality, whose ex officio princes are the holders of two officers.  Give one office or one current prince.

The President of France / François Hollande

3.

Last two

In August 1964 Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans became the last two what?

Men to be hanged in the UK

4.

Fourths

What completes this quartet: cervical; thoracic; lumbar, _______?

Sacral

(spinal nerve roots)

5.

Tests

After whom is this test named?

Snellen

6.

Chemical spellings

What is the surname of the American cartoonist and humourist, author of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?  Spell the answer using symbols for elements in the periodic table and give the names of the elements: for example, the answer `fife’ would be given as `Fluorine, Iodine, Iron’.

Thurber - Thorium; Uranium; Rubidium; Erbium

7.

Theme songs

The lyrics to which long-running TV comedy series’ theme song begin “Hey baby I hear the blues a-callin’”?

Frasier

8.

Fiction

What did Peter Pan say would be "an awfully big adventure"?

"To die"

9.

Links

What word links a remark by Admiral Beatty, prompted by the explosion and sinking in 1916 of HMS Indefatigable and HMS Queen Mary, and a line in a play by George Bernard Shaw which caused a furore when first spoken on stage in 1913 by Mrs Patrick Campbell?

Bloody

("There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today" and "Walk? Not bloody likely!")

10.

Walk-outs

Which actor walked out of a BBC radio 4 interview shortly after being accused of adopting an Irish accent for the character he had recently played in a film?

Russell Crowe

(in the film Robin Hood)

11.

Quotations

Which Shakespearean title character says "For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground / And tell sad stories of the death of kings"?

Richard II

12.

Relatives

In Hilaire Belloc’s poem who, when told that George had been as good as gold, promised in the afternoon to buy him an immense balloon?

His grandmamma

1.

Which 20th century author’s first novel was This Side of Paradise?

F Scott Fitzgerald

2.

In Robert Burns’ poem Tam O’Shanter, the Devil appears in the form of an animal playing the bagpipes. What is the precise description of the animal?

A black dog

('dog' is not enough)

3.

In 1946 George Orwell wrote an essay describing the perfect pub.  What is the title of the essay?

The Moon under the Water

4.

Which cricketer was included as the wicket keeper in England’s Greatest Post War XI by Wisden in 2004?

Alan Knott

5.

Which American film studio, established in 1914, is the only remaining film company with its headquarters in Hollywood?

Paramount

6.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Archers, Nigel Pargeter plunged to his death from which building in Ambridge?

Lower Loxley Hall

7.

Which loquacious fictional Irish heroine was based on the author’s wife, Milly?

Molly Bloom

(in James Joyce’s Ulysses)

8.

Which Ben Jonson play concerning fraud features the characters Subtle, Face and Doll Common?

The Alchemist

Sp.

What is the name of the group of islands which lie just north of Haiti?

Turks and Caicos

The Fitzgerald; The Black Dog Ballroom; The Moon under the Water; The Knott Bar; The Paramount; The Lower Turk’s Head; The Molly Bar and The Alchemist

1.

Only one President has ever patented a mechanical invention (a device for lifting boats over rocks and reefs).  Name him.

Abraham Lincoln

2.

How many US Presidents have won the Nobel Peace Prize?

Four

(Theodore Roosevelt; Woodrow Wilson; Jimmy Carter; Barack Obama)

3.

Four Presidents have been assassinated. How many have died naturally in office?

Four

(W Harrison; Z Taylor; W Harding; F D Roosevelt)

4.

What links the 22nd and 24th Presidents?

They were the same person

(Grover Cleveland)

5.

How old does a person have to be to stand for the Presidency?

35

6.

Which US President invented the folding bed and the swivel chair?

Thomas Jefferson

7.

Which two Presidents were born in 1913?

Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon

8.

Who did Richard Nixon beat in the 1968 presidential election?

Hubert Humphrey

Sp.

What is the name of the President played by Martin Sheen in The West Wing?

Josiah Bartlett

ROUND 8 - Run-ons

The last word of the first answer is the first of the second: for example, 'Innocuous statue and Irish actor' would be Venus de Milo O’Shea

First names (or initials) and last names of people are required unless otherwise specified - look out for some sound-alikes

1.

American author who became a British citizen in 1915, the year before his death, and was appointed to the Order of Merit; Irish author, one of whose characters is commemorated annually on 16th June.

Henry James Joyce

2.

Knighted writer, humourist and independent last member of parliament for Oxford University (the seat was abolished in 1950); Conductor best known for his association with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 1955 to 1989.

Sir Alan (AP) Herbert von Karajan

3.

Journalist and bon viveur whose columns in The Spectator were often absent, replaced by a note which became the title of a West End show; Chairman of a family tailoring firm who became a Conservative MP and Speaker of the House of Commons from 1983 to 1992.

Jeffery Bernard Wetherill

4.

Neurologist and author, perhaps best known for The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat; German Duchy whence came Queen Victoria’s consort.

Oliver Sachs/Saxe Coburg (and) Gotha

5.

Lover of Cleopatra, whose departure led to her engagement with an asp; Former American senator, husband of Hillary Clinton’s aide Huma Abedin, with unfortunate smartphone habits.

Mark Antony Weiner

6.

English actor whose best known line followed an unnecessarily destructive explosion; Film about a Second World War rebellion starring Humphrey Bogart.

Michael Caine Mutiny

7.

First named half of British TV comedy duo, popular in the 1980s and 90s, who also appeared as the title characters in A Pinch of Snuff, the first television adaptation of the Dalziel and Pascoe novels; Name of the brightest comet of the 20th century, visible to the naked eye for 18 months in 1996/7.

Gareth Hale-Bopp

8.

Oscar nominated British Hollywood actor who in one film arranged for an attack by a crop-spraying aircraft; Border which formed the demarcation between slave and free territory in the USA.

James Mason-Dixon line

Sp.

Last unmarried Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Surname of the English cartoonist known for drawings of overly-complex machines designed to accomplish simple objectives.

Ted Heath Robinson