1.

Which group had a 1967 hit with Let’s go to San Francisco?  Their name was derived from a BBC Children's show with psychedelic era references.

2.

Which was the first single released by The Smiths in 1983, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Indie Chart?  It was covered a year later by Sandie Shaw.

3.

Constructed in 1971, 280 yards long and 140 feet high, what carries the M62 between junctions 21 and 22?

4.

Which word can mean a burial place as well as a castrated domestic pig?

5.

Jason F Sellars is a member of the pop band Scissor Sisters.  What is his stage name?

6.

Who has been the MP for Vauxhall since 1989 and is a former Northern Ireland high jump champion?

7.

Which actor appeared as DCI Tom Haggerty in the TV series Special Branch and as Detective Superintendent Steve Hackett in Target?  Since 2000, he has played Rodney Blackstock in Emmerdale.

8.

Which actor is best known for portraying eccentric characters in films such as Sex, Lies and Videotape, the 1996 version of Crash, and Secretary?

Sp.

Who is the arch enemy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and leader of the criminal organisation known as the Foot Clan?

ROUND 2 - What's My Line?

Each answer contains the name of a profession, vocation or trade (sometimes in a fairly wide interpretation)

1.

This performing arts venue is located on Roseberry Avenue in Clerkenwell.  The current theatre is the sixth on the site since it opened in 1683.  What is its name?

2.

This 'players company' was the one for which Shakespeare wrote for most of his career and for which Richard Burbage played most of the lead roles.  What was its name?

3.

Which novel by a Commonwealth writer was nominated for the 1986 Booker Prize and made into a 1990 film starring Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth McGovern and Robert Duvall?

4.

This 1970s Scottish group was most famous for its 1974 hits of January and Magic.  Who are they?

5.

This English singer, actress and dancer, who received great critical acclaim for her performance in Yerma, has been married to and divorced from both Laurence Fox and Chris Evans.  Who is she?

6.

This British writer, journalist, broadcaster and presenter born in 1936 is a fan of Queen of the South, Carlisle United and Tottenham Hotspur.  He is the author of the only authorized biography of The Beatles.  Who is he?

7.

He played cricket for Gloucestershire but is more famous for his cricket umpiring, standing in 92 full test matches.  Popular throughout the game he was particularly well known for his habit of taking one foot off the ground whenever the score was 111 ('Nelson') or multiples thereof.  Who was he?

8.

Which manager of Slade and the Jimmi Hendrix Experience died of an aortic aneurysm in 1996?

Sp.

Whose studio albums include, amongst others, Red (2012) and Speak Now (2010)?

ROUND 3 - 'GER'

Each answer contains the letters 'ger' consecutively in that order

1.

What is the name of the journalist and documentary maker who wrote for the Daily Mirror between 1963 and 1986 and who was very critical of US, British, and Australian foreign policy?

2.

Who wrote under the pseudonym 'Dr G' for the magazine Oz, as well as under the name 'Rose Blight'?  They wrote the book Sex and Destiny amongst other works.

3.

Which electronic pop group, founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese, has released over 100 albums and composed many film tracks over the last 50 years?

4.

Which marque of British car was first produced in 1970?  The smallest engine available for this vehicle is a 2.5 litre diesel.

5.

What was the name of the newspaper column in the Daily Mirror between 1935 and 1990, appearing on the letters page, which answered queries sent in by readers?

6.

What is another name for the nickel brass compound containing copper, zinc and nickel?  In the early days of car manufacture in continental Europe it was used occasionally instead of sheet steel.

7.

In campanology what is the name given to the art of activating tuned bells in a controlled manner to produce variations in their sounding order?  It is a practice often used with church bells.

8.

Which key, normally placed on the right-hand side of the computer keyboard between the 'delete' key and the 'shift' key, is one of the most used keys on the keyboard?  Its name is a throwback to the days of the manual typewriter.

1.

Which composer is most associated with this musical cryptograph, first used in the 1940s, and featuring prominently in many subsequently works?  It includes an initial and the first three letters of the surname.

2.

Which composer is associated with this musical cryptograph, first used as the motif for a fugue in the 1740s?

3.

A proud nationalist for his native country, this composer had an impressive handlebar moustache in his earlier years, but having reduced this to a ‘toothbrush’ moustache in the 1930s he seems to have got rid of it altogether when his native country changed sides and declared war on Germany in 1944. Who is he?

4.

This composer’s death mask is on display in a corner of the RNCM. It dates from 1849 and is cast in plaster of Paris, which also happens to be where he died – although he was not born in France.  Who is he?

5.

This is a very well known orchestral piece arranged for piano.  It is one of several movements of a larger work first performed in 1899.  What is the larger work called?

6.

This is another very well known orchestral piece in piano reduction (NB - 'Pk' stands for Pauken, or Timpani).  The piece is half an hour long, but best known for the first two minutes.  This extract is the very start of those first two minutes. It was first performed in 1896.  What work is it?

7.

This painting is by Viktor Hartmann.  It is of the Bogatyr gate to the capital of Ukraine.  It inspired the finale of a piece of piano music, subsequently orchestrated by various musicians including Maurice Ravel and Leopold Stokowski.  Which piece and who was it by?

8.

This painting is one of three versions of the same picture by Arnold Böcklin.  It inspired a symphonic tone poem written in 1908.  The push and pull of Charon’s oars as he rows across the Styx are one of very few examples in music of 5 beats in a bar.  What was the piece and who was it by?

ROUND 5 - Linked pairs

Each question consists of two answers joined together - the last word of the answer to the first statement is the first word of the answer to the second statement

Give your answer as a continuous sentence

Note that the words ‘a’ and ‘the’ at the join don’t count and that full names of people are required where relevant

1.

a) A village in Devon whose name contains a punctuation mark was named after the title of a novel by this author.
b) Booker Prize-winning author who was, by his own admission, a serial adulterer.  A famous photograph of him sleeping on a beach shows the slogan (written by his wife Hilly) on his back: "1 Fat Englishman – I f*** anything". (expletive deleted)

2.

a) Author of the controversial works The Atrocity Exhibition (1970) and Crash (1973).
b) He played Major Gowen in a 1970s sitcom.

3.

a) Actress, made a Dame in 1967, who won a Best Supporting Actress for her role as The Duchess of Brighton in the 1963 file The V.I.P.s.
b) US President whose middle name was Birchard.

4.

a) Born in 1942, this singer appeared as Mrs. Murphy in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers.
b) US President from 1853 to 1857.  Shortly after his election, his 11-year old son was crushed to death when their train was derailed.  He died from cirrhosis of the liver in 1869.

5.

a) 1993 film that spawned three sequels and starred Keiko in the title role.  The success of the film inspired a letter-writing campaign to get the star released from captivity.
b) A character in a 1964 novel and its sequel who gives away his business because he has no living relatives and is getting too old to keep running it.

6.

a) One of the four original presenters in the first three years of Top of the Pops, and chairman of Any Questions? on Radio 4 throughout the 1970s.
b) As described in the Book of Genesis, the connection between earth and heaven that one of the Patriarchs dreamed about during his flight from his brother.

7.

a) This author was a co-founder in 1934 of the forerunner of Diabetes UK.  Leó Szilárd, the conceiver of the nuclear chain reaction, said that the author’s book The World Set Free made a great impression on him.
b) American company set up in 1852 by two founders of American Express and now one of the largest banks in the world.  In 2016 it was embroiled in a scandal concerning the alleged creation of over 2 million fake bank accounts created by thousands of its employees.

8.

a) Born in 1988, this footballer played twice for his native Brazil in 2013 before switching his allegiance to Spain in 2014.
b) Following a brief civil war in 1948, this country, lying between latitudes 8° and 12°N, and longitudes 82° and 86°W, abolished its army, thus becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without a standing army.

Sp.

a) Now a football club, but originally a multi-sports club founded in 1865 as a joint football and bandy club.  In 1900 they were British baseball champions.  In 1886 they donated a set of football kits to help Arsenal establish themselves.
b) Actor who played the part of the self-declared King of Scotland.

1.

What is the name of the Scottish Nobel Chemistry prize winner who isolated the noble gases?

2.

3.

What name links Napoleon's second wife and a park in Manchester?

4.

What name links a French circumnavigator and an island in Papua New Guinea?

5.

Which cartoonist drew the cartoon character Maudie Littlehampton?

6.

In The Gambols cartoon strip what is the forename of Mrs Gambol?

7.

Which famous literary figure wrote under the pseudonym of Cornetto Di Bassetto in the late 19th century?

8.

Which famous literary figure wrote detective fiction under the name Nicholas Blake between 1935 and 1968?

1.

What nationality is Manchester City footballer İlkay Gündoğan?

2.

What nationality is Everton footballer Romelu Lukaku?

3.

Who is 18th in line to the British Throne – the first in the line not to be a direct descendent of Liz and Phil?

4.

On this basis, who is 17th in line to the British Throne?

5.

One of the three deputy speakers of the House of Commons is the Labour MP for Chorley.  His father, now a peer, is the chairman of Warrington Wolves Rugby League FC.  Who is he?

6.

The MP for St Helens North resigned from Jeremy Corbyn’s front bench in October 2016.  It was subsequently alleged that JC had “said that he intended to ring his father” over the resignation – his father being a former Sinn Fein councillor, the subtext of which was interpreted as being of somewhat poor taste.  He made the local headlines again a week later, when he delivered his baby daughter on the living room floor as things happened quicker than expected.  Who is he?

7.

On this day in 1923, which became the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar?

8.

What date would February 15th 1923 have been in the Julian calendar that this replaced?

Sp1

A previous deputy speaker of the House of Commons is the Tory MP for Ribble Valley.  He stood down from the post whilst he successfully fought off charges of sexual assault, but remains an MP.  Who is he?

Sp2

What nationality is Manchester United footballer Antonio Valencia?

1.

Which pop group, founded in 2002, has as lead vocalist and guitarist Alex Kapranos?

2.

Which cartoon character first appearing in 1978 is drawn by Jim Davis?  It is apparently the most widely syndicated cartoon strip in the world (as of 2013).

3.

Which is the oldest private university in the United Kingdom?  It is situated in the constituency of the Speaker of the House of Commons.

4.

Which lemon juice and gin-based cocktail, the recipe of which first appeared in print in 1869, is thought to have originated in Rimmer's Old House in Mayfair around 1800?

5.

Who is the former UK Foreign Minister whose favourite type of holiday is going to the continent in a caravan?  The Security services forced them to abandon this type of holiday for one year claiming they were unable to guarantee the safety of the Minister whilst away.

6.

Which well-known blues song, popularised by Louis Armstrong in 1928, contains the following lines:

7.

From which Shakespeare play does this line come: "The better part of valour is discretion"?

8.

Which country has the national anthem Ons Hémécht?

Sp.

What was the name given to a pilgrim to the holy land who indicated this fact by bearing a piece of foliage?

1.

Which island group's capital is Praia?  The group obtained its independence in 1975.

2.

Which island group's capital is Puerto Baquerizo Moreno?  The group is not an independent country.

3.

Which card game was allegedly invented By Sir John Suckling in the 17th century?

1.

Which group had a 1967 hit with Let’s go to San Francisco?  Their name was derived from a BBC Children's show with psychedelic era references.

The Flowerpot Men

2.

Which was the first single released by The Smiths in 1983, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Indie Chart?  It was covered a year later by Sandie Shaw.

Hand in Glove

3.

Constructed in 1971, 280 yards long and 140 feet high, what carries the M62 between junctions 21 and 22?

The Rakewood Viaduct

4.

Which word can mean a burial place as well as a castrated domestic pig?

Barrow

5.

Jason F Sellars is a member of the pop band Scissor Sisters.  What is his stage name?

Jake Shears

6.

Who has been the MP for Vauxhall since 1989 and is a former Northern Ireland high jump champion?

Kate Hoey

7.

Which actor appeared as DCI Tom Haggerty in the TV series Special Branch and as Detective Superintendent Steve Hackett in Target?  Since 2000, he has played Rodney Blackstock in Emmerdale.

Patrick Mower

8.

Which actor is best known for portraying eccentric characters in films such as Sex, Lies and Videotape, the 1996 version of Crash, and Secretary?

James Spader

Sp.

Who is the arch enemy of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and leader of the criminal organisation known as the Foot Clan?

Shredder

Theme: Each answer contains things you might use in the garden

ROUND 2 - What's My Line?

Each answer contains the name of a profession, vocation or trade (sometimes in a fairly wide interpretation)

1.

This performing arts venue is located on Roseberry Avenue in Clerkenwell.  The current theatre is the sixth on the site since it opened in 1683.  What is its name?

Sadler's Wells

2.

This 'players company' was the one for which Shakespeare wrote for most of his career and for which Richard Burbage played most of the lead roles.  What was its name?

Lord Chamberlain's Men

3.

Which novel by a Commonwealth writer was nominated for the 1986 Booker Prize and made into a 1990 film starring Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth McGovern and Robert Duvall?

The Handmaid's Tale
 

4.

This 1970s Scottish group was most famous for its 1974 hits of January and Magic.  Who are they?

Pilot

5.

This English singer, actress and dancer, who received great critical acclaim for her performance in Yerma, has been married to and divorced from both Laurence Fox and Chris Evans.  Who is she?

Billie Piper

6.

This British writer, journalist, broadcaster and presenter born in 1936 is a fan of Queen of the South, Carlisle United and Tottenham Hotspur.  He is the author of the only authorized biography of The Beatles.  Who is he?

Hunter Davies

7.

He played cricket for Gloucestershire but is more famous for his cricket umpiring, standing in 92 full test matches.  Popular throughout the game he was particularly well known for his habit of taking one foot off the ground whenever the score was 111 ('Nelson') or multiples thereof.  Who was he?

David Shepherd

8.

Which manager of Slade and the Jimmi Hendrix Experience died of an aortic aneurysm in 1996?

Chas Chandler

Sp.

Whose studio albums include, amongst others, Red (2012) and Speak Now (2010)?

Taylor Swift

1.

What is the name of the journalist and documentary maker who wrote for the Daily Mirror between 1963 and 1986 and who was very critical of US, British, and Australian foreign policy?

John Pilger
 

2.

Who wrote under the pseudonym 'Dr G' for the magazine Oz, as well as under the name 'Rose Blight'?  They wrote the book Sex and Destiny amongst other works.

Germaine Greer
 

3.

Which electronic pop group, founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese, has released over 100 albums and composed many film tracks over the last 50 years?

Tangerine Dream
 

4.

Which marque of British car was first produced in 1970?  The smallest engine available for this vehicle is a 2.5 litre diesel.

Range Rover
 

5.

What was the name of the newspaper column in the Daily Mirror between 1935 and 1990, appearing on the letters page, which answered queries sent in by readers?

The Old Codgers
 

6.

What is another name for the nickel brass compound containing copper, zinc and nickel?  In the early days of car manufacture in continental Europe it was used occasionally instead of sheet steel.

German silver
 

7.

In campanology what is the name given to the art of activating tuned bells in a controlled manner to produce variations in their sounding order?  It is a practice often used with church bells.

Change ringing
 

8.

Which key, normally placed on the right-hand side of the computer keyboard between the 'delete' key and the 'shift' key, is one of the most used keys on the keyboard?  Its name is a throwback to the days of the manual typewriter.

Carriage return

1.

Which composer is most associated with this musical cryptograph, first used in the 1940s, and featuring prominently in many subsequently works?  It includes an initial and the first three letters of the surname.

2.

Which composer is associated with this musical cryptograph, first used as the motif for a fugue in the 1740s?

(in German musical nomenclature, 'B' natural was known as 'H', and 'Bb' as 'B')

3.

A proud nationalist for his native country, this composer had an impressive handlebar moustache in his earlier years, but having reduced this to a ‘toothbrush’ moustache in the 1930s he seems to have got rid of it altogether when his native country changed sides and declared war on Germany in 1944. Who is he?

Jean Sibelius

4.

This composer’s death mask is on display in a corner of the RNCM. It dates from 1849 and is cast in plaster of Paris, which also happens to be where he died – although he was not born in France.  Who is he?

5.

This is a very well known orchestral piece arranged for piano.  It is one of several movements of a larger work first performed in 1899.  What is the larger work called?

Enigma Variations

(the Nimrod variation by Elgar)

6.

This is another very well known orchestral piece in piano reduction (NB - 'Pk' stands for Pauken, or Timpani).  The piece is half an hour long, but best known for the first two minutes.  This extract is the very start of those first two minutes. It was first performed in 1896.  What work is it?

Also Sprach Zarathustra

(by Richard Strauss)

7.

This painting is by Viktor Hartmann.  It is of the Bogatyr gate to the capital of Ukraine.  It inspired the finale of a piece of piano music, subsequently orchestrated by various musicians including Maurice Ravel and Leopold Stokowski.  Which piece and who was it by?

8.

This painting is one of three versions of the same picture by Arnold Böcklin.  It inspired a symphonic tone poem written in 1908.  The push and pull of Charon’s oars as he rows across the Styx are one of very few examples in music of 5 beats in a bar.  What was the piece and who was it by?

1.

a) A village in Devon whose name contains a punctuation mark was named after the title of a novel by this author.
b) Booker Prize-winning author who was, by his own admission, a serial adulterer.  A famous photograph of him sleeping on a beach shows the slogan (written by his wife Hilly) on his back: "1 Fat Englishman – I f*** anything". (expletive deleted)

2.

a) Author of the controversial works The Atrocity Exhibition (1970) and Crash (1973).
b) He played Major Gowen in a 1970s sitcom.

JG BALLARD Berkeley

3.

a) Actress, made a Dame in 1967, who won a Best Supporting Actress for her role as The Duchess of Brighton in the 1963 file The V.I.P.s.
b) US President whose middle name was Birchard.

Margaret RUTHERFORD B Hayes

4.

a) Born in 1942, this singer appeared as Mrs. Murphy in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers.
b) US President from 1853 to 1857.  Shortly after his election, his 11-year old son was crushed to death when their train was derailed.  He died from cirrhosis of the liver in 1869.

Aretha FRANKLIN Pierce

5.

a) 1993 film that spawned three sequels and starred Keiko in the title role.  The success of the film inspired a letter-writing campaign to get the star released from captivity.
b) A character in a 1964 novel and its sequel who gives away his business because he has no living relatives and is getting too old to keep running it.

Free WILLY Wonka

6.

a) One of the four original presenters in the first three years of Top of the Pops, and chairman of Any Questions? on Radio 4 throughout the 1970s.
b) As described in the Book of Genesis, the connection between earth and heaven that one of the Patriarchs dreamed about during his flight from his brother.

7.

a) This author was a co-founder in 1934 of the forerunner of Diabetes UK.  Leó Szilárd, the conceiver of the nuclear chain reaction, said that the author’s book The World Set Free made a great impression on him.
b) American company set up in 1852 by two founders of American Express and now one of the largest banks in the world.  In 2016 it was embroiled in a scandal concerning the alleged creation of over 2 million fake bank accounts created by thousands of its employees.

8.

a) Born in 1988, this footballer played twice for his native Brazil in 2013 before switching his allegiance to Spain in 2014.
b) Following a brief civil war in 1948, this country, lying between latitudes 8° and 12°N, and longitudes 82° and 86°W, abolished its army, thus becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without a standing army.

Diego COSTA Rica

Sp.

a) Now a football club, but originally a multi-sports club founded in 1865 as a joint football and bandy club.  In 1900 they were British baseball champions.  In 1886 they donated a set of football kits to help Arsenal establish themselves.
b) Actor who played the part of the self-declared King of Scotland.

Nottingham FOREST/FORREST Whitaker

1.

What is the name of the Scottish Nobel Chemistry prize winner who isolated the noble gases?

(William) Ramsay

2.

(Charles) Wilson

3.

What name links Napoleon's second wife and a park in Manchester?

Marie Louise

4.

What name links a French circumnavigator and an island in Papua New Guinea?

5.

Which cartoonist drew the cartoon character Maudie Littlehampton?

Osbert Lancaster

6.

In The Gambols cartoon strip what is the forename of Mrs Gambol?

Gay

7.

Which famous literary figure wrote under the pseudonym of Cornetto Di Bassetto in the late 19th century?

George Bernard Shaw

8.

Which famous literary figure wrote detective fiction under the name Nicholas Blake between 1935 and 1968?

1.

What nationality is Manchester City footballer İlkay Gündoğan?

2.

What nationality is Everton footballer Romelu Lukaku?

3.

Who is 18th in line to the British Throne – the first in the line not to be a direct descendent of Liz and Phil?

4.

On this basis, who is 17th in line to the British Throne?

5.

One of the three deputy speakers of the House of Commons is the Labour MP for Chorley.  His father, now a peer, is the chairman of Warrington Wolves Rugby League FC.  Who is he?

6.

The MP for St Helens North resigned from Jeremy Corbyn’s front bench in October 2016.  It was subsequently alleged that JC had “said that he intended to ring his father” over the resignation – his father being a former Sinn Fein councillor, the subtext of which was interpreted as being of somewhat poor taste.  He made the local headlines again a week later, when he delivered his baby daughter on the living room floor as things happened quicker than expected.  Who is he?

7.

On this day in 1923, which became the last European country to adopt the Gregorian calendar?

8.

What date would February 15th 1923 have been in the Julian calendar that this replaced?

February 2nd 1923
(the gap of 13 days has been the case since 1900, and becomes 14 days in 2100)

Sp1

A previous deputy speaker of the House of Commons is the Tory MP for Ribble Valley.  He stood down from the post whilst he successfully fought off charges of sexual assault, but remains an MP.  Who is he?

Sp2

What nationality is Manchester United footballer Antonio Valencia?

1.

Which pop group, founded in 2002, has as lead vocalist and guitarist Alex Kapranos?

Franz Ferdinand

2.

Which cartoon character first appearing in 1978 is drawn by Jim Davis?  It is apparently the most widely syndicated cartoon strip in the world (as of 2013).

Garfield

3.

Which is the oldest private university in the United Kingdom?  It is situated in the constituency of the Speaker of the House of Commons.

University of Buckingham

4.

Which lemon juice and gin-based cocktail, the recipe of which first appeared in print in 1869, is thought to have originated in Rimmer's Old House in Mayfair around 1800?

Tom Collins

5.

Who is the former UK Foreign Minister whose favourite type of holiday is going to the continent in a caravan?  The Security services forced them to abandon this type of holiday for one year claiming they were unable to guarantee the safety of the Minister whilst away.

Margaret Beckett

6.

Which well-known blues song, popularised by Louis Armstrong in 1928, contains the following lines:

St James Infirmary Blues

7.

From which Shakespeare play does this line come: "The better part of valour is discretion"?

King Henry IV (Part One)

8.

Which country has the national anthem Ons Hémécht?

Luxembourg

Sp.

What was the name given to a pilgrim to the holy land who indicated this fact by bearing a piece of foliage?

Palmer

1.

Which island group's capital is Praia?  The group obtained its independence in 1975.

Cape Verde

2.

Which island group's capital is Puerto Baquerizo Moreno?  The group is not an independent country.

The Galapagos

3.

Which card game was allegedly invented By Sir John Suckling in the 17th century?