ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

Clemency Burton-Hill and Petroc Trelawny are regular breakfast show presenters/DJs on which radio station?

2.

Which actor, who died in 2006, played the role of the boorish Ezra Fitton in the 1966 Boulting Brothers’ comedy film The Family Way?

3.

Malcolm Mitchell Young died of early onset dementia in November 2017.  He was the founder, rhythm guitarist and songwriter of which band?

4.

Which chemical element was formerly known as hydrargyrum?

5.

Which chemical element derives its name from the Spanish word meaning 'little silver'?

6.

Every Wimbledon Ladies Singles champion since 1959 is still alive, bar one.  Who is the first to shuffle off this mortal coil?

7.

Which Hollywood Great, who died in 2003, played the role of Ezra Penny Baxter in the 1946 weepie film The Yearling (which included the killing of two deer)?  He was nominated for an Academy Award for this role.

8.

Clemency Burton-Hill’s father Humphrey Burton (along with Walter Todds and Roy Tipping) established which music competition in 1978?

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - 'No Sniggering at the Back'

1.

In the Arthur Ransome novel Swallows and Amazons, and in the 1974 film version, what is the name of the third Walker child who was the Able Seaman of the Swallow?

2.

Which Enid Blyton novel of 1943 with children called Bessie, Dick and Fanny is now republished with the names Beth, Rick and Frannie?

3.

What kind of animal is Patrick, currently living in Bikini Bottom?

4.

What kind of animal is Punxsutawney Phil, currently living in Gobbler’s Knob?

5.

In a poem of 1833 what lines follow “The mirror cracked from side to side”?

6.

In the 1979 film Life of Brian what was the name of Pontius Pilate’s friend who was married to Incontinentia Buttux?

7.

In 1994 which Tory MP commented on the authorship of Gordon Brown’s commitment to 'the neoclassical endogenous growth theory' with the response “It’s not Brown’s, its Balls’”?

8.

When Labour MP Seymore Cocks (Broxtowe 1929-53) was delivering a speech in the House of Commons which Tory MP was heard to mutter: “Seymore Cocks - hear more balls”?

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - 'Missing from the List'

Who or what is missing from the following lists or sequences?

('....' appearing before or after the list indicates a longer sequence)

1.

St Andrew’s; Royal Troon; Turnberry; Muirfield; BLANK

2.

 …..; Joel Amos; BLANK; Jonah; Micah; Nahum; …..

3.

BLANK; BLANK; Venetia Williams; Sue Smith; Lucinda Russell

4.

…..; Salt Lake City; BLANK; Vancouver; Sochi; Pyeongchang; Beijing

5.

Q; Z; J; X; K; W; V; BLANK; F; Y; .…

6.

…..; Mo Yan; Alice Monroe; Patrick Modiano; Svetlana Alexievich; BLANK; .…

7.

Michael Keaton; Val Kilmer; BLANK; Christian Bale; Ben Affleck

8.

.…; Girls; Dick; Behind; England; That’s; BLANK; Columbus

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme

Every answer contains a link to a popular drama (usually involving some trickery and at least one outrageous sound-alike)

1.

Which member of the European Parliament from 1975 to 1999 had the sobriquet Madame Écosse bestowed on her by Le Monde?

2.

Which Jamaican born footballer played 79 times for England scoring 11 goals and is currently a pundit for ESPN and SuperSport?

3.

Who was Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford from 1945 to 1959?

4.

David Dimbleby has fronted the BBC Election Night programme every election since February 1974.  Which broadcaster, who died in 2016 aged 96, fronted the June 1970 election night broadcast?

5.

Which paralympian has won 5 gold medals in three Olympics and in 2009 at 14 became the youngest recipient of an MBE?

6.

The original hand-written lyrics of which song by John Lennon, inspired by a nursery school drawing by his son Julian, sold for $230 000 in 2011?

7.

Who was Whitney Houston’s husband from 1992 to 2007?

8.

The word 'tumour' is derived from the Latin word 'tumor'.  What is its literal meaning?

Go to Round 4 questions with answers

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

Only one world record was broken at this year’s World Athletic Championships when Portuguese athlete Ines Henriques won which event?

2.

Meghan Markle made her first official royal visit with Prince Harry last week. Which city did they visit?

3.

Five members of Margaret Thatcher’s first cabinet (May 1979) are still alive.  Name any two of them.

4.

Sandra Kim won the Eurovision Song Contest at the age of 13 in 1986 with the song J'aime la Vie. Which country did she represent? 

5.

Celine Dion won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988 with the song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.  Which country did she represent?

6.

Three members of Tony Blair’s first cabinet (May 1997) are already dead.  Name any two.

7.

Prince William gave Prince George’s hand written Christmas wish list to Santa in Finland last week.  What was the only gift George wanted?

8.

In this year’s World Athletic Championship the longest lasting Men’s world record was not threatened.  In which event did Jurgen Schult set this record in 1986?

Go to Round 5 questions with answers

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

Every answer contains the name of a former MP - and these 8 MPs also have a unique common connecting theme

1.

Who has won 30 Tour de France stages, which is second on the all time list, but has never won the Tour itself (the 'general classification')?

2.

Which actor played the role of the court physician Gaius in the popular BBC drama series Merlin that ran from 2008 to 2012?

3.

Which town was the birthplace of barrister Cherie Booth, author Richmal Crompton, prime minister Robert Peel and John Kay (of flying shuttle fame)?

4.

Which city was the birthplace of composer Frederick Delius, author J B Priestly, cricketer Jim Laker and comic actor Adrian Edmondson?

5.

Which actor/comedian/singer who died in 2015 is best remembered for his improvised comic calypsos on That Was The Week That Was?

6.

Scion of a prominent Irish acting dynasty who played the role of Dr Kate Rowan in the popular ITV series Heartbeat?

7.

What sporting first did Sue Brown achieve on 4th April 1981?

8.

Australian model Elle Macpherson was born in 1964, but Macpherson is her stepfather’s name she has used since she was 10.  What was her birth surname?

Go to Round 6 questions with answers

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

Whose career as a novelist began with From Doon With Death and ended with Dark Corners?

2.

From which oratorio of 1741 does the chorus All We Like Sheep appear?

3.

What service was celebrated in a 1936 documentary British film that moved along to a W H Auden poem and a score by Benjamin Britten?

4.

From which British film of 1945 do these lines come: “It’s awfully easy to lie when you know that you’re trusted implicitly? So very easy, and so very degrading.”?

5.

Which actress’s first ever spoken lines in film were: “Gimme a viskey.  Ginger ale on the side.  An’ don’ be stingy, ba-bee.”?

6.

Which director, criticised for her documentary subject matter in a celebrated film of 1935, justified herself by saying: “I filmed the truth as it was then.  Nothing more”?

7.

Who is the composer of the Hunting Cantata?  The best known aria from the piece is Sheep May Safely Graze.

8.

Whose career as a crime novelist began with Whose Body? and ended with Double Death: A Murder Story?

Go to Round 7 questions with answers

ROUND 8 - Lucky Dip

Pick a number from 1 to 12 to get your question

1.

Only one constituency in existence since the Great Reform Act of 1832 has never elected a Conservative MP.  Past MPs for the seat include James Chuter Ede, David Clark and David Miliband.  Which constituency is it?

2.

With a salary of £468 000 which university pays most to its Vice Chancellor?

3.

Give a year in the life of the artist George Stubbs.

4.

Chemical element 115 was officially named in 2016 after which capital city?

5.

Who has recently (November 2017) been appointed to the unenviable position of Conservative Chief Whip?

6.

Aunt Pittypat is a character in which celebrated novel of 1936?

7.

In which year was the male homosexual age of consent lowered to 16 in Great Britain ( and to 17 in Northern Ireland) by the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act?  (one year either way is allowed)

8.

Which Biblical character, a great-grandson of Noah, is described as: “a mighty hunter before the Lord and… began to be mighty in the earth”?

9.

Eating polar bear or seal livers can result in fatal intoxication due to an overdose of which vitamin?

10.

What is Newton’s Second Law of Motion?

11.

Which organ of the body is affected by Hashimoto’s Disease?

12.

When St Maria Goretti was canonised in 1950 rather unusually her mother was at the ceremony.  So too was Alessandro Serenelli.  What role had he played?

Go to Round 8 questions with answers

ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

Clemency Burton-Hill and Petroc Trelawny are regular breakfast show presenters/DJs on which radio station?

Radio 3

2.

Which actor, who died in 2006, played the role of the boorish Ezra Fitton in the 1966 Boulting Brothers’ comedy film The Family Way?

John Mills

3.

Malcolm Mitchell Young died of early onset dementia in November 2017.  He was the founder, rhythm guitarist and songwriter of which band?

AC/DC

4.

Which chemical element was formerly known as hydrargyrum?

Mercury

(from the Greek for 'water-silver')

5.

Which chemical element derives its name from the Spanish word meaning 'little silver'?

Platinum

(from the Spanish 'platina')

6.

Every Wimbledon Ladies Singles champion since 1959 is still alive, bar one.  Who is the first to shuffle off this mortal coil?

(in November 2017)

7.

Which Hollywood Great, who died in 2003, played the role of Ezra Penny Baxter in the 1946 weepie film The Yearling (which included the killing of two deer)?  He was nominated for an Academy Award for this role.

Gregory Peck

8.

Clemency Burton-Hill’s father Humphrey Burton (along with Walter Todds and Roy Tipping) established which music competition in 1978?

Young Musician of the Year

ROUND 2 - 'No Sniggering at the Back'

1.

In the Arthur Ransome novel Swallows and Amazons, and in the 1974 film version, what is the name of the third Walker child who was the Able Seaman of the Swallow?

Titty

(renamed Tatty in the 2016 film version)

2.

Which Enid Blyton novel of 1943 with children called Bessie, Dick and Fanny is now republished with the names Beth, Rick and Frannie?

The Magic Faraway Tree

3.

What kind of animal is Patrick, currently living in Bikini Bottom?

A starfish

4.

What kind of animal is Punxsutawney Phil, currently living in Gobbler’s Knob?

A groundhog

5.

In a poem of 1833 what lines follow “The mirror cracked from side to side”?

“The curse is come upon me, cried the Lady of Shalott”

6.

In the 1979 film Life of Brian what was the name of Pontius Pilate’s friend who was married to Incontinentia Buttux?

Biggus Dickus

7.

In 1994 which Tory MP commented on the authorship of Gordon Brown’s commitment to 'the neoclassical endogenous growth theory' with the response “It’s not Brown’s, its Balls’”?

Michael Heseltine

8.

When Labour MP Seymore Cocks (Broxtowe 1929-53) was delivering a speech in the House of Commons which Tory MP was heard to mutter: “Seymore Cocks - hear more balls”?

Winston Churchill

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - 'Missing from the List'

Who or what is missing from the following lists or sequences?

('....' appearing before or after the list indicates a longer sequence)

1.

St Andrew’s; Royal Troon; Turnberry; Muirfield; BLANK

Carnoustie

(Scottish golf courses that currently host the Open)

2.

 …..; Joel Amos; BLANK; Jonah; Micah; Nahum; …..

Obadiah

(Old Testament books 29-34)

3.

BLANK; BLANK; Venetia Williams; Sue Smith; Lucinda Russell

Jenny Pitman

(winning women trainers of the Grand National winner)

4.

…..; Salt Lake City; BLANK; Vancouver; Sochi; Pyeongchang; Beijing

Turin

(Winter Olympic Cities 2002-2022)

5.

Q; Z; J; X; K; W; V; BLANK; F; Y; .…

H

(Scrabble tiles in descending point value)

6.

…..; Mo Yan; Alice Monroe; Patrick Modiano; Svetlana Alexievich; BLANK; .…

Bob Dylan

(Nobel Literature Prize winners 2012-2016)

7.

Michael Keaton; Val Kilmer; BLANK; Christian Bale; Ben Affleck

George Clooney

(actors who played Batman in the film franchise)

8.

.…; Girls; Dick; Behind; England; That’s; BLANK; Columbus

Emmanuelle

(the last seven Carry On films made)

Go back to Round 3 questions without answers

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme

Every answer contains a link to a popular drama (usually involving some trickery and at least one outrageous sound-alike)

1.

Which member of the European Parliament from 1975 to 1999 had the sobriquet Madame Écosse bestowed on her by Le Monde?

Winnie Ewing

2.

Which Jamaican born footballer played 79 times for England scoring 11 goals and is currently a pundit for ESPN and SuperSport?

John Barnes

3.

Who was Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford from 1945 to 1959?

J R R Tolkien

4.

David Dimbleby has fronted the BBC Election Night programme every election since February 1974.  Which broadcaster, who died in 2016 aged 96, fronted the June 1970 election night broadcast?

Cliff Michelmore

5.

Which paralympian has won 5 gold medals in three Olympics and in 2009 at 14 became the youngest recipient of an MBE?

Ellie Simmonds

6.

The original hand-written lyrics of which song by John Lennon, inspired by a nursery school drawing by his son Julian, sold for $230 000 in 2011?

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

7.

Who was Whitney Houston’s husband from 1992 to 2007?

Bobby Brown

8.

The word 'tumour' is derived from the Latin word 'tumor'.  What is its literal meaning?

A swelling

Ewing, Barnes, JR (Ewing), Cliff (Barnes), (Miss) Ellie, Lucy, Bobby, and Sue-Ellen (Ewing)

Go back to Round 4 questions without answers

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

Only one world record was broken at this year’s World Athletic Championships when Portuguese athlete Ines Henriques won which event?

2.

Meghan Markle made her first official royal visit with Prince Harry last week. Which city did they visit?

Nottingham

3.

Five members of Margaret Thatcher’s first cabinet (May 1979) are still alive.  Name any two of them.

(two from) Peter Carrington, Michael Heseltine, John Nott, Nicolas Edwards (now Lord Crickhowell) and David Howell

4.

Sandra Kim won the Eurovision Song Contest at the age of 13 in 1986 with the song J'aime la Vie. Which country did she represent? 

5.

Celine Dion won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988 with the song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.  Which country did she represent?

Switzerland

6.

Three members of Tony Blair’s first cabinet (May 1997) are already dead.  Name any two.

(two from) Robin Cooke, Mo Mowlam and Donald Dewar

7.

Prince William gave Prince George’s hand written Christmas wish list to Santa in Finland last week.  What was the only gift George wanted?

8.

In this year’s World Athletic Championship the longest lasting Men’s world record was not threatened.  In which event did Jurgen Schult set this record in 1986?

Men’s Discus

Go back to Round 5 questions without answers

ROUND 6 -  Hidden theme

Every answer contains the name of a former MP - and these 8 MPs also have a unique common connecting theme

1.

Who has won 30 Tour de France stages, which is second on the all time list, but has never won the Tour itself (the 'general classification')?

Mark Cavendish

2.

Which actor played the role of the court physician Gaius in the popular BBC drama series Merlin that ran from 2008 to 2012?

Richard Wilson

3.

Which town was the birthplace of barrister Cherie Booth, author Richmal Crompton, prime minister Robert Peel and John Kay (of flying shuttle fame)?

Bury

4.

Which city was the birthplace of composer Frederick Delius, author J B Priestly, cricketer Jim Laker and comic actor Adrian Edmondson?

Bradford

5.

Which actor/comedian/singer who died in 2015 is best remembered for his improvised comic calypsos on That Was The Week That Was?

Lance Percival

6.

Scion of a prominent Irish acting dynasty who played the role of Dr Kate Rowan in the popular ITV series Heartbeat?

Niamh Cusack

7.

What sporting first did Sue Brown achieve on 4th April 1981?

She was the first female cox in the Men’s Oxford / Cambridge Boat Race

8.

Australian model Elle Macpherson was born in 1964, but Macpherson is her stepfather’s name she has used since she was 10.  What was her birth surname?

Gow

Lord Frederick Cavendish (1882, Irish Nationalists), Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson (1922, IRA), Sir Anthony Berry (1984, IRA), Reverend Robert Bradford (1981, IRA), Spencer Perceval (1812, angry constituent), Airey Neave (1979, INLA), Jo Cox (2016, Neo-nazi) and Ian Gow (1990, IRA)

Go back to Round 6 questions without answers

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

Whose career as a novelist began with From Doon With Death and ended with Dark Corners?

Ruth Rendall

2.

From which oratorio of 1741 does the chorus All We Like Sheep appear?

Messiah

(by Handel)

3.

What service was celebrated in a 1936 documentary British film that moved along to a W H Auden poem and a score by Benjamin Britten?

Night Mail

4.

From which British film of 1945 do these lines come: “It’s awfully easy to lie when you know that you’re trusted implicitly? So very easy, and so very degrading.”?

Brief Encounter

5.

Which actress’s first ever spoken lines in film were: “Gimme a viskey.  Ginger ale on the side.  An’ don’ be stingy, ba-bee.”?

Greta Garbo

(in Anna Christie)

6.

Which director, criticised for her documentary subject matter in a celebrated film of 1935, justified herself by saying: “I filmed the truth as it was then.  Nothing more”?

Leni Riefenstahl

7.

Who is the composer of the Hunting Cantata?  The best known aria from the piece is Sheep May Safely Graze.

J S Bach

8.

Whose career as a crime novelist began with Whose Body? and ended with Double Death: A Murder Story?

Go back to Round 7 questions without answers

ROUND 8 - Lucky Dip

Pick a number from 1 to 12 to get your question

1.

Only one constituency in existence since the Great Reform Act of 1832 has never elected a Conservative MP.  Past MPs for the seat include James Chuter Ede, David Clark and David Miliband.  Which constituency is it?

South Shields

2.

With a salary of £468 000 which university pays most to its Vice Chancellor?

University of Bath

3.

Give a year in the life of the artist George Stubbs.

1724 to 1806

4.

Chemical element 115 was officially named in 2016 after which capital city?

Moscow

5.

Who has recently (November 2017) been appointed to the unenviable position of Conservative Chief Whip?

Julian Smith

6.

Aunt Pittypat is a character in which celebrated novel of 1936?

Gone With The Wind

7.

In which year was the male homosexual age of consent lowered to 16 in Great Britain ( and to 17 in Northern Ireland) by the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act?  (one year either way is allowed)

2000

(accept 1999-2001)

8.

Which Biblical character, a great-grandson of Noah, is described as: “a mighty hunter before the Lord and… began to be mighty in the earth”?

Nimrod

9.

Eating polar bear or seal livers can result in fatal intoxication due to an overdose of which vitamin?

Vitamin A

10.

What is Newton’s Second Law of Motion?

Force= Mass x Acceleration (F=ma)

11.

Which organ of the body is affected by Hashimoto’s Disease?

Thyroid gland

12.

When St Maria Goretti was canonised in 1950 rather unusually her mother was at the ceremony.  So too was Alessandro Serenelli.  What role had he played?

He was the man who had murdered her

(he later repented his act and ended his days as a lay brother in a monastery)

Go back to Round 8 questions without answers