ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

The Lennon/McCartney song Michelle from the Rubber Soul album was never released as a single by the Beatles in the UK.  Which group did have a UK Number 1 hit with the song in January 1966?

2.

Who was the first Hindu and Bengali speaker to win the Nobel Prize in Literature?

3.

What was the unusual cause of death of photographer Janet Parker in Birmingham in September 1978?

4.

Angelique Kerber is the 2018 Wimbledon Ladies Singles Champion.  Can you name any two of the five women who won from 2000 to 2017 (inclusive) not to be called Williams?

5.

Brooks Koepka is the 2018 US PGA Championship winner.  Can you name any one of the eight winners between 2006 and 2017 (inclusive) not to be called Woods or McIlroy?

6.

What was the unusual cause of death of Chinese national Gee Jon in Nevada on 8th February 1924?

7.

Who is the most recent Japanese born winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature?

8.

The Lennon/McCartney song Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da from the White Album was never released by the Beatles as a single in the UK.  Which group did have a Number 1 hit with a cover version in January 1969?

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - Hidden theme - 'New Royalty'

1.

Which Academy Award winning actress is married to Academy Award winning actor Javier Bardem?

2.

Which painter’s works include The Death of Marat, Napoleon at St Bernard’s Pass and Portrait of Pope Pius the Seventh?

3.

Who was appointed the first American ambassador to Great Britain in 1785?

4.

George C Parker and William Cloundy both served sentences for fraud following separate attempts to sell which item?

5.

Selling over 6 million copies in 1968 which single topped the Billboard Top 100 and the US Hot Country Singles Chart for Jeannie C Riley?  The song inspired a 1978 film and a 1981 TV series starring Barbara Eden.

6.

What was the name of the Larne-Stranraer ferry that sank during the storm of 31st January 1953 with the loss of 133 lives?

7.

Which surname connects the retired Cardinal Archbishop of Palermo, the guitarist of progressive metal group Symphony X and the songwriter whose biggest hit was the Partridge Family’s No 1 I Think I Love You?

8.

In which 2002 film did Keira Knightley play Juliette Paxton?  Although not her first film it was to prove to be her big breakthrough.

Sp

What is the nickname of Peterborough football club?

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - Pairs

1.

Which author’s autobiographical memoir of his early life in Russia and Europe was published in 1951 as Speak, Memory?  The original title, Speak, Mnemosyne, was rejected by the publisher who feared that readers would not buy a book whose title they could not pronounce?

2.

Born Peter Gene Hernandez in 1985 which US singer songwriter has had five UK Number 1 hits and three studio albums (two at Number 1) and world sales of over 180 million copies?

3.

This year Croatia became the fifth country to have contested a Football World Cup final but to have never won the final.  Name two of the other four countries who have reached a World Cup final (sometimes more than once) but who have never been champions.

4.

Strelsau is the capital of which fictional country?

5.

Mildendo is the capital of which fictional country?

6.

This year Belgium became the seventh country to have third as their highest ever finish in the Football World Cup.  Name two of the other six who have been third but who have never contested a final.

7.

Which English singer song writer born in 1984 was runner up in X-factor in 2009 but has gone on to have five studio albums (four at Number 1) and four Number 1 solo singles?

8.

Which literary author’s recent autobiographical memoir I am, I am, I am is structured around the seventeen near death experiences she has had in her 45 year life so far?

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme - 'Lest We Forget'

1.

Which tragedy dominated the news on June 14th 2017 and whose repercussions continue to the present day?

2.

What was the birth name of the first and last Viscount Tonypandy?

3.

What is the eponymous name for toxic diffuse goitre that can lead to hyperthyroidism and bulging of the eyeballs?

4.

Which actress was married to tennis player Andre Agassi from 1997 to 1999?

5.

Which desert in Western Australia is the fifth biggest on the continent and named after an explorer who disappeared in 1874?

6.

Which Welsh courtier married the widow of Henry V (fifth) and became the grandfather of the future Henry VII (seventh)?  (both names needed)

7.

What name is shared by a singer / songwriter / actor born in Openshaw in 1945 and a singer / songwriter / actor born in Brixton in 1947?

8.

Who were the notorious parents of Michael and Robert Meeropol?  They continue to campaign on their behalf. (surname sufficient)

Go to Round 4 questions with answers

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

The ABC islands in the Dutch Antilles consist of Bonaire, Curacao and which other island?

2.

Which grouping, still very important in national life, has as its motto “Per mare, per terram”?

3.

Who played the role of the Home Secretary, Julia Montague, in the recent BBC 1 TV drama series Bodyguard?

4.

'Lindow Man' aka Pete Marsh is on permanent display in a museum in which city?

5.

Dolly the Sheep, the first mammalian clone from an adult cell, is on permanent display in a museum in which city?

6.

Who is playing the role of Joanna Lindsay, a schoolteacher whose four-month old child goes missing, in the BBC 1 TV drama series The Cry?

7.

Which organisation previously very important in national life but now rather diminished, with membership dropping from 170, 000 in 1981 to an active membership of c100 in 2015, has as its motto “The past we inherit, the future we build”?

8.

Situated off the coast of Mayo what is Ireland’s largest island?

Go to Round 5 questions with answers

ROUND 6 - Announced theme - 1958 was an important year - a certain History man was born (and it’s not Young David)

How many other events can you recall from that year?

1.

Bobby Fischer won the US Chess Championship in January 1958.  How old was he?

2.

Expo 58 opened in Brussels in April 1958.  What was the name of the striking centre piece depicting the unit cell of an iron crystal?

3.

Which American Right wing anti-communist organisation was established in December 1958?  It took its name from an American Baptist missionary killed in China in 1945.

4.

In October 1958 Blue Peter appeared for the first time on BBC television.  Name either of the two hosts.

5.

In January 1958 Godtfred Kirk Christiansen filed a patent for which iconic item?  Over 400 billion items have been produced since then.

6.

In April 1958 14 year old Cheryl Crane stabbed her mother’s lover, Johnny Stompanato to death in what was deemed justifiable homicide.  Who was Cheryl’s actress mother?

7.

Which Formula 1 World Champion was kidnapped in Havana on 23rd February 1958 but was released a day later?

8.

Which pianist won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition held in Moscow in April 1958. Despite cold war tensions Nikita Khrushchev allegedly told nervous officials: “If he is the best give him the prize!”

Sp1

Who declared Saint Clare as the patron saint of television?

Sp2

Ruth Carol Taylor was the first African-American flight attendant on an American airline (Mohawk Airlines).  Why did she lose her job six months later?

Go to Round 6 questions with answers

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

What is the nickname of the Australian Women’s Soccer team?

2.

Which politician recently survived an attempt to force a by-election under the Recall of MPs Act of 2015 following his 30 day suspension for failure to declare financial interests?  9.4% of his constituents signed thus falling short of the 10% required.

3.

Which Poet Laureate had a grandson who became an England cricket captain?

4.

Composed by Ron Goodwin the theme music from the 1966 film The Trap is used for which televised sporting event?

5.

Name the 1984 film whose theme music, composed by Carl Davis, provided the theme music for the BBC coverage of the Grand National?

6.

Author and broadcaster Candida Lycett Green was the daughter of which Poet Laureate?

7.

American politician Dick Tuck died this year.  Complete the sentence he made in his concession speech when he lost the Democratic nomination in a primary election for California state senator in 1966: “The people have spoken….”

8.

What is the nickname of the New Zealand Men’s Basketball team?

Go to Round 7 questions with answers

ROUND 8 - Lucky dip

Pick a number between one and twelve to get your question

1.

Royal County Down has been voted the best golf course in the world by he US Golf Digest magazine.  In which town is Royal County Down?

2.

Why was Donna Strickland in the news this month?

3.

In which year did Mr Bean (Alan Bean) walk on the moon?

4.

If (amongst others) Dorothy Hodgkin is No 115, Veronica Wedgwood is No 127, Cicely Saunders is No 156, Ninette de Valois is No 161 and Anne Dowling is No 194 what is it we are talking about?

5.

Which is the second densest and most corrosion resistant of the natural elements deriving its name from its coloured salts?

6.

Much feted by the tabloids which model granddaughter of the Duke of Kent is allegedly “the most beautiful of the Windsors”?

7.

Who composed Symphony No 1 Jeremiah, Symphony No 2 The Age of Anxiety, and Symphony No 3 Kaddish?

8.

If (amongst others) Cecil Parkin is 187, George Brown is 199, the Nawab of Pataudi is 265, Jack Crapp is 335, and David Steele is 462 what is it we are talking about?

9.

Hugo Drax is the villainous character from which James Bond film?

10.

Which horse won the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe this month?  He also won the race in 2017, only the eighth horse to win more than once.

11.

Every premiership team of 2017/18 provided at least one player who took part in the opening rounds of the 2018 Football (Soccer) World Cup finals except for two teams.  Name either.

12.

Carole Hersee made her television debut as an eight year old in 1967 with her cloth doll Bubbles and last appeared in a broadcast in 1999.  What role did she make famous?

Go to Round 8 questions with answers

ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

The Lennon/McCartney song Michelle from the Rubber Soul album was never released as a single by the Beatles in the UK.  Which group did have a UK Number 1 hit with the song in January 1966?

The Overlanders

2.

Who was the first Hindu and Bengali speaker to win the Nobel Prize in Literature?

Rabindranath Tagore

(in 1913)

3.

What was the unusual cause of death of photographer Janet Parker in Birmingham in September 1978?

Smallpox

(she was the last ever case)

4.

Angelique Kerber is the 2018 Wimbledon Ladies Singles Champion.  Can you name any two of the five women who won from 2000 to 2017 (inclusive) not to be called Williams?

(two from)

Maria Sharapova

Amelie Mauresmo

Petra Kvitova

Marion Bartoli

Garbine Muguruza

5.

Brooks Koepka is the 2018 US PGA Championship winner.  Can you name any one of the eight winners between 2006 and 2017 (inclusive) not to be called Woods or McIlroy?

(one from)

Padraig Harrington

Yang Yong-eun

Martin Kaymer

Keegan Bradley

Jason Dufner

Jason Day

Jimmy Walker

Justin Thomas

6.

What was the unusual cause of death of Chinese national Gee Jon in Nevada on 8th February 1924?

Executed with cyanide gas

(the first to die by such a method)

7.

Who is the most recent Japanese born winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature?

Kazuo Ishiguro

(in 2017)

8.

The Lennon/McCartney song Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da from the White Album was never released by the Beatles as a single in the UK.  Which group did have a Number 1 hit with a cover version in January 1969?

Marmalade

ROUND 2 - Hidden theme - 'New Royalty'

1.

Which Academy Award winning actress is married to Academy Award winning actor Javier Bardem?

Penelope Cruz

2.

Which painter’s works include The Death of Marat, Napoleon at St Bernard’s Pass and Portrait of Pope Pius the Seventh?

(Jacques-Louis) David

3.

Who was appointed the first American ambassador to Great Britain in 1785?

John Adams  

4.

George C Parker and William Cloundy both served sentences for fraud following separate attempts to sell which item?

The Brooklyn Bridge  

5.

Selling over 6 million copies in 1968 which single topped the Billboard Top 100 and the US Hot Country Singles Chart for Jeannie C Riley?  The song inspired a 1978 film and a 1981 TV series starring Barbara Eden.

Harper Valley PTA

6.

What was the name of the Larne-Stranraer ferry that sank during the storm of 31st January 1953 with the loss of 133 lives?

Princess Victoria

7.

Which surname connects the retired Cardinal Archbishop of Palermo, the guitarist of progressive metal group Symphony X and the songwriter whose biggest hit was the Partridge Family’s No 1 I Think I Love You?

Romeo  

8.

In which 2002 film did Keira Knightley play Juliette Paxton?  Although not her first film it was to prove to be her big breakthrough.

Bend It Like Beckham

Sp

What is the nickname of Peterborough football club?

The Posh

Theme: It’s our other Royal Family, the Beckhams......

David and Victoria (nee Adams AKA Posh) and children Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - Pairs

1.

Which author’s autobiographical memoir of his early life in Russia and Europe was published in 1951 as Speak, Memory?  The original title, Speak, Mnemosyne, was rejected by the publisher who feared that readers would not buy a book whose title they could not pronounce?

Vladimir Nabokov

2.

Born Peter Gene Hernandez in 1985 which US singer songwriter has had five UK Number 1 hits and three studio albums (two at Number 1) and world sales of over 180 million copies?

Bruno Mars

3.

This year Croatia became the fifth country to have contested a Football World Cup final but to have never won the final.  Name two of the other four countries who have reached a World Cup final (sometimes more than once) but who have never been champions.

(two from)

Netherlands (1974,1978, 2010);

Hungary (1938, 1954)

Czechoslovakia (1934, 1962);

Sweden (1958)

4.

Strelsau is the capital of which fictional country?

Ruritania

5.

Mildendo is the capital of which fictional country?

Lilliput

6.

This year Belgium became the seventh country to have third as their highest ever finish in the Football World Cup.  Name two of the other six who have been third but who have never contested a final.

(two from)

Poland (1974, 1982;

Austria (1954);

Portugal (1966);

USA (1930);

Chile (1962);

Turkey (2002)

7.

Which English singer song writer born in 1984 was runner up in X-factor in 2009 but has gone on to have five studio albums (four at Number 1) and four Number 1 solo singles?

Ollie Murs

8.

Which literary author’s recent autobiographical memoir I am, I am, I am is structured around the seventeen near death experiences she has had in her 45 year life so far?

Maggie O’Farrell

Go back to Round 3 questions without answers

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme - 'Lest We Forget'

1.

Which tragedy dominated the news on June 14th 2017 and whose repercussions continue to the present day?

Grenfell Tower fire

2.

What was the birth name of the first and last Viscount Tonypandy?

George Thomas

3.

What is the eponymous name for toxic diffuse goitre that can lead to hyperthyroidism and bulging of the eyeballs?

Graves’ Disease

4.

Which actress was married to tennis player Andre Agassi from 1997 to 1999?

Brooke Shields

5.

Which desert in Western Australia is the fifth biggest on the continent and named after an explorer who disappeared in 1874?

Gibson Desert

6.

Which Welsh courtier married the widow of Henry V (fifth) and became the grandfather of the future Henry VII (seventh)?  (both names needed)

Owen Tudor

7.

What name is shared by a singer / songwriter / actor born in Openshaw in 1945 and a singer / songwriter / actor born in Brixton in 1947?

David Jones

8.

Who were the notorious parents of Michael and Robert Meeropol?  They continue to campaign on their behalf. (surname sufficient)

(Ethel and Julius) Rosenberg

Theme: Eight of the sixteen Great War poets commemorated on a plaque in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey...

Julian Grenfell, Edward Thomas, Robert Graves, Rupert Brooke, Wilfred Gibson, Wilfred Owen, David Jones and Isaac Rosenberg

Go back to Round 4 questions without answers

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

The ABC islands in the Dutch Antilles consist of Bonaire, Curacao and which other island?

Aruba

2.

Which grouping, still very important in national life, has as its motto “Per mare, per terram”?

The Royal Marines

3.

Who played the role of the Home Secretary, Julia Montague, in the recent BBC 1 TV drama series Bodyguard?

Keeley Hawes

4.

'Lindow Man' aka Pete Marsh is on permanent display in a museum in which city?

London

(in the British Museum)

5.

Dolly the Sheep, the first mammalian clone from an adult cell, is on permanent display in a museum in which city?

Edinburgh

(National Museum of Scotland)

6.

Who is playing the role of Joanna Lindsay, a schoolteacher whose four-month old child goes missing, in the BBC 1 TV drama series The Cry?

Jenna Coleman

7.

Which organisation previously very important in national life but now rather diminished, with membership dropping from 170, 000 in 1981 to an active membership of c100 in 2015, has as its motto “The past we inherit, the future we build”?

National Union of Mineworkers

8.

Situated off the coast of Mayo what is Ireland’s largest island?

Achill Island

Go back to Round 5 questions without answers

ROUND 6 - Announced theme - 1958 was an important year - a certain History man was born (and it’s not Young David)

How many other events can you recall from that year?

1.

Bobby Fischer won the US Chess Championship in January 1958.  How old was he?

2.

Expo 58 opened in Brussels in April 1958.  What was the name of the striking centre piece depicting the unit cell of an iron crystal?

3.

Which American Right wing anti-communist organisation was established in December 1958?  It took its name from an American Baptist missionary killed in China in 1945.

4.

In October 1958 Blue Peter appeared for the first time on BBC television.  Name either of the two hosts.

(one from)

Christopher Trace, Leila Williams

5.

In January 1958 Godtfred Kirk Christiansen filed a patent for which iconic item?  Over 400 billion items have been produced since then.

The Lego brick

6.

In April 1958 14 year old Cheryl Crane stabbed her mother’s lover, Johnny Stompanato to death in what was deemed justifiable homicide.  Who was Cheryl’s actress mother?

7.

Which Formula 1 World Champion was kidnapped in Havana on 23rd February 1958 but was released a day later?

8.

Which pianist won the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition held in Moscow in April 1958. Despite cold war tensions Nikita Khrushchev allegedly told nervous officials: “If he is the best give him the prize!”

Sp1

Who declared Saint Clare as the patron saint of television?

Sp2

Ruth Carol Taylor was the first African-American flight attendant on an American airline (Mohawk Airlines).  Why did she lose her job six months later?

She got married

(and only unmarrieds could be attendants)

Go back to Round 6 questions without answers

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

What is the nickname of the Australian Women’s Soccer team?

The Matildas

2.

Which politician recently survived an attempt to force a by-election under the Recall of MPs Act of 2015 following his 30 day suspension for failure to declare financial interests?  9.4% of his constituents signed thus falling short of the 10% required.

Ian Paisley Junior

3.

Which Poet Laureate had a grandson who became an England cricket captain?

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

4.

Composed by Ron Goodwin the theme music from the 1966 film The Trap is used for which televised sporting event?

The London Marathon

5.

Name the 1984 film whose theme music, composed by Carl Davis, provided the theme music for the BBC coverage of the Grand National?

Champions

6.

Author and broadcaster Candida Lycett Green was the daughter of which Poet Laureate?

John Betjeman

7.

American politician Dick Tuck died this year.  Complete the sentence he made in his concession speech when he lost the Democratic nomination in a primary election for California state senator in 1966: “The people have spoken….”

"…the bastards"

8.

What is the nickname of the New Zealand Men’s Basketball team?

The Tall Blacks

Go back to Round 7 questions without answers

ROUND 8 - Lucky dip

Pick a number between one and twelve to get your question

1.

Royal County Down has been voted the best golf course in the world by he US Golf Digest magazine.  In which town is Royal County Down?

2.

Why was Donna Strickland in the news this month?

3.

In which year did Mr Bean (Alan Bean) walk on the moon?

4.

If (amongst others) Dorothy Hodgkin is No 115, Veronica Wedgwood is No 127, Cicely Saunders is No 156, Ninette de Valois is No 161 and Anne Dowling is No 194 what is it we are talking about?

5.

Which is the second densest and most corrosion resistant of the natural elements deriving its name from its coloured salts?

6.

Much feted by the tabloids which model granddaughter of the Duke of Kent is allegedly “the most beautiful of the Windsors”?

7.

Who composed Symphony No 1 Jeremiah, Symphony No 2 The Age of Anxiety, and Symphony No 3 Kaddish?

8.

If (amongst others) Cecil Parkin is 187, George Brown is 199, the Nawab of Pataudi is 265, Jack Crapp is 335, and David Steele is 462 what is it we are talking about?

9.

Hugo Drax is the villainous character from which James Bond film?

10.

Which horse won the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe this month?  He also won the race in 2017, only the eighth horse to win more than once.

11.

Every premiership team of 2017/18 provided at least one player who took part in the opening rounds of the 2018 Football (Soccer) World Cup finals except for two teams.  Name either.

12.

Carole Hersee made her television debut as an eight year old in 1967 with her cloth doll Bubbles and last appeared in a broadcast in 1999.  What role did she make famous?

She was the girl on the Test Card

(Test Card F)

Go back to Round 8 questions without answers