1.

Who is the regular presenter of the BBC’s weekly rugby league programme The Superleague Show?

2.

Sharing his name with a murderer, who is the presenter of BBC’s American football coverage?

3.

Which Indian city, which gives its name to an India Pale Ale from Thornbridge brewery, is known as the 'Pink City'?

4.

Which Indian city, which gives its name to an article of clothing, is known as the 'Blue City'?

5.

What name and regnal number are shared by a Tsar known as the Peacemaker, the last king of the house of Atholl (or Dunkeld) and the victor of Gaugamela?

6.

What name and regnal number are shared by the father of Alexander the Great, the French king who was joint leader of the Third Crusade, and the king who sent the Spanish Armada?

7.

Mina Murray is the only woman in which group of Victorian adventurers, created by Alan Moore?

8.

Laurie Juspeczyk, alias Silk Spectre, is the only active woman member of which group of super-heroes, created by Alan Moore?

Sp.

Only four countries have flags that consist of two horizontal bands of colour.  Poland (white over red) and the Ukraine (blue over golden yellow) are two of them.  Name either of the other two.

1.

The Hughes H-4 Hercules was the largest flying boat ever built and has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history.  Its only flight was on 2nd November 1947.  By what nickname is it better known?

2.

This long-range supersonic jet interceptor/fighter-bomber was in US military service from 1960 to 1996.  Nicknames included: Rhino, Snoopy, Double Ugly, and the Flying Anvil.  It downed large numbers of Soviet-built MiGs, so was also called the ‘World’s Leading Distributor of MiG Parts’.  Name the plane.

3.

Launched in 1906, this ship had two revolutionary features: an all-big-gun armament, and steam turbine propulsion.  What was it called?

4.

At what venue in Norfolk, Virginia was a Star Trek convention held in October 1994?
 

5.

On the 19th September 1960, Dr Thomas Creighton was the first man in the UK to experience what traffic-related event?

6.

What traffic measure was introduced in Slough on the 12th September 1956?

7.

On 15^th September 1830, William Huskisson became the first widely reported passenger train death, when he was killed by the locomotive ‘Rocket’.  Where was he killed?

8.

It was open for passenger services from 15^th September 1830, until 4^th May 1844.  It continued as a goods yard until 1975.  Now a Grade I listed building, which is the world’s oldest surviving terminal railway station?

Sp.

On 18th August 2009, Ken Looi set a world record by travelling 30 kilometres in one hour.  What form of transport did he use?

ROUND 3 - 'Letters from the Opsimaths'

Each answer in this round contains one or more individual letters of the alphabet on its/their own separate from the other words of the answer

1.

There are versions by Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck, and Charles Mingus, and it was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra.  What is the name of this jazz standard?

2.

In 2003, who was awarded both the Booker Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread First Novel Award for Vernon God Little?
 

3.

This troupe was formed in December 1966 in London.  Who is missing from this 60’s line-up: ‘Flick’ Colby, Louise, Ruth, ‘Andi’, beautiful ‘Babs’ and …...who?

4.

We use AD or BC when labelling years.  What three letters did the Romans use when they were dating years ‘from the founding of the City’ of Rome?

5.

In WW1, merchant ships were designed to lure U-boats into making surface attacks, giving them a chance to open fire with concealed weaponry and sink them.  Referring to their homeport in Ireland, what codename were they given?

6.

The ‘Boston Strong Boy’ is generally recognized as the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing under the London Prize Ring Rules, and as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing, holding the title from February 7, 1882, to 1892.  What was this US boxer’s name?

7.

Who is the main character in Franz Kafka’s novel The Trial?  (full name is required, not just the letter)

8.

As the house band for Stax Records in the 1960s, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists such as Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding.  Under their own name, they are probably the best known for the 1962 intrumental hit single Green Onions.  Name this R&B/funk band.

Sp.

The United Kingdom Special Forces comprises the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, the SAS and which other regiment?

1.

POP

The plot of which entertainment hinges on the fact that a leading character is born on February 29th and so is not actually 21 until he has lived for over 80 years?

2.

ANSIBS

Which Maschwitz/Sherwin 1939 hit song, that has gone on to be a standard romantic ballad, often opens with a fluttering clarinet reflecting the title of the song?

3.

E

Which is the most southerly Motorway Service Station in the UK?

4.

EKG

With Protected Designation of Origin, what is the name of hops prepared, processed and produced in a specific area of South East England?

5.

R

In Spanish it means ‘to bunk off school’, but in sport it describes a particular type of movement recently famously used by Dmitri Payet – what is the word?

6.

TTMR

Jude Law won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his role in which film?

7.

WM

Who wrote the poem that ends:

“Then hurrah! for the mighty monster whale,
Which has got 17 feet 4 inches from tip to tip of a tail!
Which can be seen for a sixpence or a shilling,

That is to say, if the people all are willing.”?

8.

JP

 What was the name of the character, who was a drug-dealing high school dropout and played a leading role in the TV series Breaking Bad?

9.

OL

What states that ‘the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points’?

10.

SB

Which cheese gets its distinctive taste from being washed in perry made from a particular sort of pear?

11.

GU

 Matthew Sykes and Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Breakwell currently hold which parliamentary office?

12.

BOTDF

Which was Michael Jackson’s last UK Number One hit single?

13.

MR

What is the title of the Spanish national anthem?

14.

TPF

The real-life 1970s far-left group, the Brixton-based Workers' Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought is regarded as the basis for which other far-left group?

15.

GNAGL

Based on a phrase used by Princess Elizabeth in her radio broadcasts during World War 2, what sign off phrase did Ed Murrow habitually use in closing his broadcasts from London during the Blitz?

16.

SBB

Opened in 2009 what is the name of the newest structure to cross the River Liffey in Dublin?

17.

CLC

Which pre-nationalisation railway company ran services, amongst others, between Liverpool Central and Manchester Central stations?

18.

MT

Which 1936 film features a factory worker employed on an assembly line being subjected to such indignities as being force-fed by a malfunctioning ‘feeding machine’ and an accelerating assembly line where he screws nuts at an ever-increasing rate onto pieces of machinery?

19.

IOW

What one-off musical extravaganza was performed on July 27th 2012?

20.

MCC

What is the folklore name for the European Storm Petrel?

ROUND 6 - 'Numbers from the Opsimaths'

Each answer in this round is a number, or contains a number

1.

According to the lyrics of the signature tune from the play The Music Man (1957) "Seventy-six trombones led the big parade", but how many instruments followed close at hand?

2.

The Protestant Reformation begun in Wittenberg, Germany, when Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door of the Castle Church on October 31, 1517.  How many theses were there?

3.

What is the maximum number of men who can be at the cricket field at one time during play?

4.

Operation Chastise on 16-17 May 1943 used ‘bouncing bombs’ to attack German dams.  What was the squadron number of the ‘Dam Busters’?

5.

Since it began in 1969, how many Booker Prize winners have had a number in the title?

6.

How many astronauts have walked on the moon?

7.

What name applies to a series of chalk cliffs by the English Channel in East Sussex, a group of oil companies which formed the ‘Consortium for Iran’ cartel and dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s to the 1970s, and a London Underground station?

8.

Composed by John Cage in 1952 for any instrument or combination of instruments, the score instructs the performer(s) "not to play their instrument(s) during the entire duration of the three movements".  What is this piece called?

Sp1

During the interval at the 1935 premier of this British thriller film, the author John Buchan asked the director Alfred Hitchcock how the film finished.  What was the name of the film?

Sp2

His books include The Wilderness of Zin (with C. Leonard Wooley, 1915), The Forest Giant (a translation in 1924 of a French novel by Adrien Le Corbeau), and The Odyssey of Homer (translated from the Greek 1932). Posthumous publications include Crusader Castles (1936) and The Mint (1955).  What is his best known book, published in 1922, called?

Sp3

What term was coined by Jerry Dammers of The Specials to describe a late 1970s ska revival in the UK, which included other bands such as Madness, and Bad Manners?

1.

Born Margaretha Zelle in Holland in 1876, Margreet MacLeod was convicted of spying for Germany, and was executed in France in 1917.  By what name is she better known?

2.

On 19 January 1944, Helen Duncan was arrested and was later jailed for 9 months. Supporters said it was because military intelligence feared she would reveal the secret plans for D-Day. What was she convicted of?

3.

Opened in London in 1965, this secret installation did not appear on Ordnance Survey maps until 1971.  In a 1978 court case, the judge ordered that it could only be referred to as ‘Location 23’.  Finally, in February 1993, MP Kate Hoey invoked parliamentary privilege to reveal its location.  By what name is ‘Location 23’ better known?

4.

What was the real first name of the British Intelligence officer ‘Kim’ Philby, who famously defected to the Soviet Union in 1963?

5.

In the 1963 novel by John le Carré, what was the name of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold?

6.

Major General Sir Vernon Kell was the first between 1909 and 1940.  Since 2013, it has been Andrew Parker. Who was it between 1992 and 1996?  As an extra hint, in 2011 she and her fellow Man Booker Prize judges were criticised for focusing on ‘readability’, rather than literary quality.  She responded by comparing British literary critics to the KGB.

7.

This three-part espionage TV drama aired on BBC 1 in July 2016 and was based on the 1907 novel by Joseph Conrad, with the same name.  It starred Toby Jones as Adolf Verloc.  What was it called?

8.

The Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov was assassinated in London by someone associated with the Bulgarian secret police in September 1978.  How was he killed?

Sp1

Co-founded in 1994 by Joseph Corré (the son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren), this company has 100 branches in 13 countries, including one on King Street and one in the Trafford Centre.  In March 2017, the company was purchased by Four Holdings, leading Corré to say that his brand was ‘dropped like a pair of dirty knickers’.  What is the company called?

Sp2

Charles Warrell, whose pseudonym lived at Wigwam-by-the-Water EC4, started publishing a series of books in 1949. What was the series called?

1.

Which Nigerian musician, composer and political activist, who died in 1997, was a pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre?

2.

Inspired by Ancient Egypt and known for his 'cosmic' philosophy, which American jazz composer, pianist and, until his death in 1993, leader of 'The Arkestra' was a pioneer of the Afrofuturism cultural genre?

3.

In which British city is the Laing Art Gallery?

4.

In which British city would you find the McManus Galleries?

5.

The Italian alcoholic beverage grappa is made using which fruit?

6.

The Italian alcoholic beverage frangelico is flavoured with which nut?

7.

Discovered in a cave in the Dordogne in 1868, by what two-word term are the first European specimens of early modern humans known?

8.

The Cro-Magnon people shared their world with Neanderthals and which other type of human, named after the cave in the Altai Mountains in which they were discovered in 2011?

Sp.

Which singer, songwriter and composer played the role of Oluaudah Equiano in the film Amazing Grace, and was Senegal’s minister of tourism 2012-2013?

1.

Dunkers scored a total of 829 points in this season’s Withquiz, and TMTCH scored 456.  What was the total number of points scored by all 11 teams this season?  (calculators may be used)

2.

The interesting number paradox arises from the attempt to classify natural numbers as ‘interesting’ or ‘dull’. One definition of a dull number is if it does not appear in the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.  In this case the lowest boring number is currently 18159.  Another definition of the lowest boring number, is not to have its own page on Wikipedia.  According to this definition, what is currently the lowest boring number?

1.

Who is the regular presenter of the BBC’s weekly rugby league programme The Superleague Show?

Tanya Arnold

2.

Sharing his name with a murderer, who is the presenter of BBC’s American football coverage?

(Andrew) Mark Chapman

3.

Which Indian city, which gives its name to an India Pale Ale from Thornbridge brewery, is known as the 'Pink City'?

Jaipur

4.

Which Indian city, which gives its name to an article of clothing, is known as the 'Blue City'?

Jodphur

5.

What name and regnal number are shared by a Tsar known as the Peacemaker, the last king of the house of Atholl (or Dunkeld) and the victor of Gaugamela?

Alexander III

6.

What name and regnal number are shared by the father of Alexander the Great, the French king who was joint leader of the Third Crusade, and the king who sent the Spanish Armada?

Philip II

7.

Mina Murray is the only woman in which group of Victorian adventurers, created by Alan Moore?

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

8.

Laurie Juspeczyk, alias Silk Spectre, is the only active woman member of which group of super-heroes, created by Alan Moore?

Watchmen

Sp.

Only four countries have flags that consist of two horizontal bands of colour.  Poland (white over red) and the Ukraine (blue over golden yellow) are two of them.  Name either of the other two.

1.

The Hughes H-4 Hercules was the largest flying boat ever built and has the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history.  Its only flight was on 2nd November 1947.  By what nickname is it better known?

The Spruce Goose

(despite its nickname, it was made almost entirely of birch, due to wartime restrictions on the use of aluminium and concerns about weight)

2.

This long-range supersonic jet interceptor/fighter-bomber was in US military service from 1960 to 1996.  Nicknames included: Rhino, Snoopy, Double Ugly, and the Flying Anvil.  It downed large numbers of Soviet-built MiGs, so was also called the ‘World’s Leading Distributor of MiG Parts’.  Name the plane.

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II

(accept just 'Phantom')

3.

Launched in 1906, this ship had two revolutionary features: an all-big-gun armament, and steam turbine propulsion.  What was it called?

HMS Dreadnought
USS Enterprise

4.

At what venue in Norfolk, Virginia was a Star Trek convention held in October 1994?
 

On board the aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise

5.

On the 19th September 1960, Dr Thomas Creighton was the first man in the UK to experience what traffic-related event?

Get a Parking Ticket

(he parked his Ford Popular outside a West End hotel, while answering an emergency call to help a heart attack victim)

6.

What traffic measure was introduced in Slough on the 12th September 1956?

Yellow lines

(to prohibit parking)

7.

On 15^th September 1830, William Huskisson became the first widely reported passenger train death, when he was killed by the locomotive ‘Rocket’.  Where was he killed?

Parkside station, Newton-le-Willows

(accept 'Parkside' or 'Newton-le-Willows' - it happened during the opening ceremony of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway)

8.

It was open for passenger services from 15^th September 1830, until 4^th May 1844.  It continued as a goods yard until 1975.  Now a Grade I listed building, which is the world’s oldest surviving terminal railway station?

Manchester Liverpool Road station

(now part of Manchester’s Museum Of Science and Industry)

Sp.

On 18th August 2009, Ken Looi set a world record by travelling 30 kilometres in one hour.  What form of transport did he use?

(Looi said afterwards "I might be walking a bit funny tomorrow")

1.

There are versions by Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck, and Charles Mingus, and it was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra.  What is the name of this jazz standard?

Take the ‘A’ Train

2.

In 2003, who was awarded both the Booker Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread First Novel Award for Vernon God Little?
 

DBC Pierre

(he was the first writer to receive a Booker and a Whitbread for the same book)

3.

This troupe was formed in December 1966 in London.  Who is missing from this 60’s line-up: ‘Flick’ Colby, Louise, Ruth, ‘Andi’, beautiful ‘Babs’ and …...who?

Dee Dee

(Patricia Wilde from Pan’s People)

4.

We use AD or BC when labelling years.  What three letters did the Romans use when they were dating years ‘from the founding of the City’ of Rome?

AUC

(ab Urbe condita or Anno Urbis conditae. 1 AUC = 753BC)

5.

In WW1, merchant ships were designed to lure U-boats into making surface attacks, giving them a chance to open fire with concealed weaponry and sink them.  Referring to their homeport in Ireland, what codename were they given?

Q-ships

(referring to Queenstown)

6.

The ‘Boston Strong Boy’ is generally recognized as the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing under the London Prize Ring Rules, and as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing, holding the title from February 7, 1882, to 1892.  What was this US boxer’s name?

John L. Sullivan
 

7.

Who is the main character in Franz Kafka’s novel The Trial?  (full name is required, not just the letter)

Josef K

8.

As the house band for Stax Records in the 1960s, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists such as Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding.  Under their own name, they are probably the best known for the 1962 intrumental hit single Green Onions.  Name this R&B/funk band.

Booker T. & the M.G.'s
 

Sp.

The United Kingdom Special Forces comprises the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, the SAS and which other regiment?

(Special Boat Service)

ROUNDS 4 & 5 - Blockbuster Bingo

Quizzers are invited to choose from any of the 20 offerings - the same grid is to be used for both rounds

1.

POP

The plot of which entertainment hinges on the fact that a leading character is born on February 29th and so is not actually 21 until he has lived for over 80 years?

Pirates of Penzance

2.

ANSIBS

Which Maschwitz/Sherwin 1939 hit song, that has gone on to be a standard romantic ballad, often opens with a fluttering clarinet reflecting the title of the song?

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

3.

E

Which is the most southerly Motorway Service Station in the UK?

Exeter

4.

EKG

With Protected Designation of Origin, what is the name of hops prepared, processed and produced in a specific area of South East England?

East Kent Goldings

5.

R

In Spanish it means ‘to bunk off school’, but in sport it describes a particular type of movement recently famously used by Dmitri Payet – what is the word?

Rabona

(a kick in football where the kicking foot wraps round the back of the standing foot)

6.

TTMR

Jude Law won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his role in which film?

The Talented Mr Ripley

7.

WM

Who wrote the poem that ends:

“Then hurrah! for the mighty monster whale,
Which has got 17 feet 4 inches from tip to tip of a tail!
Which can be seen for a sixpence or a shilling,

That is to say, if the people all are willing.”?

 William McGonagall
(The Famous Tay Whale)

8.

JP

 What was the name of the character, who was a drug-dealing high school dropout and played a leading role in the TV series Breaking Bad?

Jesse Pinkman

9.

OL

What states that ‘the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points’?

Ohm’s Law

10.

SB

Which cheese gets its distinctive taste from being washed in perry made from a particular sort of pear?

Stinking Bishop

11.

GU

 Matthew Sykes and Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Breakwell currently hold which parliamentary office?

Gentleman Ushers

12.

BOTDF

Which was Michael Jackson’s last UK Number One hit single?

Blood on the Dance Floor

13.

MR

What is the title of the Spanish national anthem?

Marcha Real

14.

TPF

The real-life 1970s far-left group, the Brixton-based Workers' Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought is regarded as the basis for which other far-left group?

Tooting Popular Front
(from the TV comedy Citizen Smith)

15.

GNAGL

Based on a phrase used by Princess Elizabeth in her radio broadcasts during World War 2, what sign off phrase did Ed Murrow habitually use in closing his broadcasts from London during the Blitz?

"Good Night and Good Luck"

16.

SBB

Opened in 2009 what is the name of the newest structure to cross the River Liffey in Dublin?

Samuel Beckett Bridge

17.

CLC

Which pre-nationalisation railway company ran services, amongst others, between Liverpool Central and Manchester Central stations?

Cheshire Lines Committee

18.

MT

Which 1936 film features a factory worker employed on an assembly line being subjected to such indignities as being force-fed by a malfunctioning ‘feeding machine’ and an accelerating assembly line where he screws nuts at an ever-increasing rate onto pieces of machinery?

Modern Times
(starring Charlie Chaplin)

19.

IOW

What one-off musical extravaganza was performed on July 27th 2012?

Isles of Wonder
(as part of the London Olympics Opening Ceremony)

20.

MCC

What is the folklore name for the European Storm Petrel?

Mother Carey’s Chicken

1.

According to the lyrics of the signature tune from the play The Music Man (1957) "Seventy-six trombones led the big parade", but how many instruments followed close at hand?

110

("With a hundred and ten cornets close at hand")

2.

The Protestant Reformation begun in Wittenberg, Germany, when Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door of the Castle Church on October 31, 1517.  How many theses were there?

95
 

3.

What is the maximum number of men who can be at the cricket field at one time during play?

17

(11 in the fielding team, 2 umpires, 2 batsmen, 2 runners)

4.

Operation Chastise on 16-17 May 1943 used ‘bouncing bombs’ to attack German dams.  What was the squadron number of the ‘Dam Busters’?

617

5.

Since it began in 1969, how many Booker Prize winners have had a number in the title?

2

(The Life of Pi by Yann Martel in 2002, and A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James in 2015)

6.

How many astronauts have walked on the moon?

12

(two each from Apollo 11 through to Apollo 17, except for Apollo 13)

7.

What name applies to a series of chalk cliffs by the English Channel in East Sussex, a group of oil companies which formed the ‘Consortium for Iran’ cartel and dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s to the 1970s, and a London Underground station?

Seven Sisters
 

8.

Composed by John Cage in 1952 for any instrument or combination of instruments, the score instructs the performer(s) "not to play their instrument(s) during the entire duration of the three movements".  What is this piece called?

4’33’’

(pronounced "Four minutes, thirty-three seconds" or just "Four thirty-three")

Sp1

During the interval at the 1935 premier of this British thriller film, the author John Buchan asked the director Alfred Hitchcock how the film finished.  What was the name of the film?

The 39 Steps
 

Sp2

His books include The Wilderness of Zin (with C. Leonard Wooley, 1915), The Forest Giant (a translation in 1924 of a French novel by Adrien Le Corbeau), and The Odyssey of Homer (translated from the Greek 1932). Posthumous publications include Crusader Castles (1936) and The Mint (1955).  What is his best known book, published in 1922, called?

Seven Pillars of Wisdom
 

Sp3

What term was coined by Jerry Dammers of The Specials to describe a late 1970s ska revival in the UK, which included other bands such as Madness, and Bad Manners?

ROUND 7 - 'I Could Tell You the Answer, but Then I’d Have to Kill You'

Each question in this round relates to spies, secrecy, espionage, and the like

1.

Born Margaretha Zelle in Holland in 1876, Margreet MacLeod was convicted of spying for Germany, and was executed in France in 1917.  By what name is she better known?

Mata Hari

2.

On 19 January 1944, Helen Duncan was arrested and was later jailed for 9 months. Supporters said it was because military intelligence feared she would reveal the secret plans for D-Day. What was she convicted of?

Witchcraft

(the last person to be charged under the British Witchcraft Act of 1735)

3.

Opened in London in 1965, this secret installation did not appear on Ordnance Survey maps until 1971.  In a 1978 court case, the judge ordered that it could only be referred to as ‘Location 23’.  Finally, in February 1993, MP Kate Hoey invoked parliamentary privilege to reveal its location.  By what name is ‘Location 23’ better known?

The Post Office Tower

(accept also GPO Tower, Telecom Tower, or BT Tower)

4.

What was the real first name of the British Intelligence officer ‘Kim’ Philby, who famously defected to the Soviet Union in 1963?

Harold

(...Adrian Russell ‘Kim’ Philby)

5.

In the 1963 novel by John le Carré, what was the name of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold?

Alec Leamas

6.

Major General Sir Vernon Kell was the first between 1909 and 1940.  Since 2013, it has been Andrew Parker. Who was it between 1992 and 1996?  As an extra hint, in 2011 she and her fellow Man Booker Prize judges were criticised for focusing on ‘readability’, rather than literary quality.  She responded by comparing British literary critics to the KGB.

(Dame) Stella Rimington, (author and former Director General of MI5)

7.

This three-part espionage TV drama aired on BBC 1 in July 2016 and was based on the 1907 novel by Joseph Conrad, with the same name.  It starred Toby Jones as Adolf Verloc.  What was it called?

The Secret Agent

8.

The Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov was assassinated in London by someone associated with the Bulgarian secret police in September 1978.  How was he killed?

By a pellet containing ricin, fired into his leg via an umbrella

(accept anything that mentions poison and umbrella)

Sp1

Co-founded in 1994 by Joseph Corré (the son of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren), this company has 100 branches in 13 countries, including one on King Street and one in the Trafford Centre.  In March 2017, the company was purchased by Four Holdings, leading Corré to say that his brand was ‘dropped like a pair of dirty knickers’.  What is the company called?

Agent Provocateur

Sp2

Charles Warrell, whose pseudonym lived at Wigwam-by-the-Water EC4, started publishing a series of books in 1949. What was the series called?

The I-Spy books

(Warrell a.k.a. Big Chief I-Spy died in 1995, aged 106)

1.

Which Nigerian musician, composer and political activist, who died in 1997, was a pioneer of the Afrobeat music genre?

Fela Kuti

(Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome Kuti)

2.

Inspired by Ancient Egypt and known for his 'cosmic' philosophy, which American jazz composer, pianist and, until his death in 1993, leader of 'The Arkestra' was a pioneer of the Afrofuturism cultural genre?

Sun Ra

(Herman Poole Blount / Le Sony’r Ra)

3.

In which British city is the Laing Art Gallery?

Newcastle upon Tyne

4.

In which British city would you find the McManus Galleries?

Dundee

5.

The Italian alcoholic beverage grappa is made using which fruit?

Grapes

(specifically from pomace, the skins, pulp, seeds and stems left over from winemaking)

6.

The Italian alcoholic beverage frangelico is flavoured with which nut?

Hazelnut

7.

Discovered in a cave in the Dordogne in 1868, by what two-word term are the first European specimens of early modern humans known?

Cro-Magnon

8.

The Cro-Magnon people shared their world with Neanderthals and which other type of human, named after the cave in the Altai Mountains in which they were discovered in 2011?

Denisovan

(accept Denisova Cave)

Sp.

Which singer, songwriter and composer played the role of Oluaudah Equiano in the film Amazing Grace, and was Senegal’s minister of tourism 2012-2013?

Youssou N’Door

1.

Dunkers scored a total of 829 points in this season’s Withquiz, and TMTCH scored 456.  What was the total number of points scored by all 11 teams this season?  (calculators may be used)

7831

2.

The interesting number paradox arises from the attempt to classify natural numbers as ‘interesting’ or ‘dull’. One definition of a dull number is if it does not appear in the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.  In this case the lowest boring number is currently 18159.  Another definition of the lowest boring number, is not to have its own page on Wikipedia.  According to this definition, what is currently the lowest boring number?