ROUND 1 - Paired

1.

There are two Anglican cathedrals in Kent.  One is at Canterbury.  The other one was the model for Cloisterham Cathedral in The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  The city is also the home of Britain’s only museum of Huguenot history. Where is it?

2.

In Mathematics which 3 consecutive letters of the alphabet are usually used to denote the unit vectors of Cartesian vectors?

3.

Which song has been a hit for Dusty Springfield, The Young Rascals and David Cassidy?

4.

In opera, how was the Duke of Mantua’s court jester better known?

5.

In Mathematics, what is the value of i⁴ (i to the power 4) where i is an imaginary number?

6.

Which song has entered the UK Top Twenty for Dusty Springfield, Bay City Rollers, The Tourists and Samantha Fox?

7.

Chief of Police Scarpia is murdered by which operatic character?

8.

There is only one Anglican cathedral in Sussex.  The cathedral, with its 277 ft tall spire, featured in several paintings by Constable and Turner.  Where is it?

Sp1

There is one Anglican cathedral in Suffolk.  Where is it?

Sp2

In an opera by Janacek, what type of animal is Bystrouska?

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - Paired

1.

John Mayall, George Melly, The Rolling Stones and the Who (amongst others) all played there.  Trevor Bayliss and Nigel Planer (amongst others) lived there and it was once home to the UK’s largest hippie commune.  Where is it?

2.

Whose album Sweetener won the best pop vocal album at the Grammy awards last Sunday ?

3.

What is David Lidington’s official (that is to say paid) role in cabinet?

4.

 France has 69, Switzerland 26 and India and South Africa have 10 each.  What?

5.

Why has Alfonso Cuaron been in the news this week?

6.

The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac played their first ever live gigs here.  For fifty years everyone who was anyone played it.  A Wetherspoons pub, The Montagu Pyke, now occupies one of its, at least six, former sites.  What was it?

7.

Only one Australian born writer has won the Nobel prize for literature.  Who?

8.

Mel Stride holds two government ministerial positions.  One is Financial Secretary to the Treasury.  What is the other

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - Hidden theme - 'A Beautiful Friendship'

1.

Serial killer, David Berkowitz, murdered 6 people and wounded 7 others in New York between 1976 and 1977.  He taunted police with letters left at the scenes of his crimes, in which he referred to himself by what by-name?

2.

This film director, who directed 45 feature films and wrote many screenplays for others before his death in 2007, but considered his best 3 works to be Winter Light, Persona and Cries and Whispers?

3.

This song was written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper in 1966.  It subsequently produced UK top ten hits for David Bowie in 1974 and Amii Stewart in 1979.  The chorus begins with the line “It’s like thunder, lightning”.  Name the song.

4.

In 2005 and 2006, Fernando Alonso provided which Formula 1 team with their only World Drivers’ Championships?

5.

In 1931, this Hungarian journalist invented one of the most widely used tools in the world.  Over 100 billion have been sold.  What is his name?  (forename and surname required)

6.

Which sometimes controversial showman first came to the attention of British audiences with his 1999 TV special Street Magic?

7.

Which 1995 film features Kevin Spacey concocting the details of his story from items in the office of the police officer interviewing him?

8.

What connects a character played by Sophie Grabel which made an icon of the Faroese jumper, and a university city in southern Sweden?

Sp

The fabulous palaces and villas of Sintra lie about 30km west of which capital city?

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme and Paired

1.

"Ill met by moonlight" is a phrase from which Shakespeare play?

2.

"The way to dirty death" is a phrase from which Shakespeare play?

3.

She was the daughter of Herod the Second and Herodias.  She has been the subject of paintings by Titian and Caravaggio.  She was played by Rita Hayworth in a 1953 film.  Who is she?

4.

She was the daughter of Pope Alexander the Sixth.  She has been the subject of a painting by Rossetti.  She was played by Paulette Goddard in the 1948 film Bride of Vengeance.  Who is she?

5.

Gustav Von Aschenbach is the central character of which book published in 1912?

6.

Which book published in 1678 features the line: "Hanging’s too good for him said Mr Cruelty."?

7.

He was the son of Laius and Jocasta and the father of Antigone.  Who is he?

8.

 He was reputed to have fathered over 100 children including Hector, Paris, Cassandra and Troilus. Who is he?

Sp

The play Romeo and Juliet, the novel Steppenwolf and the musical The Phantom of the Opera all feature which kind of entertainment?

Go to Round 4 questions with answers

ROUND 5 - Announced theme

All the answers feature the name of a stage musical

1.

What connects John F Kennedy, Richard Nixon, George W Bush, the Doors and Edward Snowden?

2.

This song was written by Banjo Patterson in 1895.  Over 500 recordings of it have been made including versions by Rod Stewart, Chubby Checker, Liberace and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. What is the song called?

3.

This 1940 novel by Howard Spring covers the rise of the labour movement.  It was made into a film in 1947 starring Michael Redgrave.  What is it called?

4.

The Germans describe it as ‘having a counter-beer’, the Portuguese speak of ‘having a hit’, the Italians refer to ‘a nail dislodging a nail’.  What is the equivalent expression in English?

5.

They were invented in 1934 in Halifax by Percy Shaw.  In the United Kingdom they can be white, red, amber, green or blue.  In the United States they are known as turtles or buttons.  What are they?

6.

The poet Carl Sandburg is describing which city in these lines:
"Hog Butcher for the World / Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat / Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler / Stormy, Husky, Brawling, City of the Big Shoulders."?

7.

She photographed John Lennon five hours before he was shot in 1980.  Her other most famous images include a heavily pregnant Demi Moore in 1991 and a heavily pregnant Serena Williams in 2017.  Who is she?

8.

What name links a city in Canada, a city in New Zealand and the leader of UKIP in Wales?

Sp

Go to Round 5 questions with answers

ROUND 6 - A Sequential Round

The answers form a sequence - both names needed each time

1.

The plays Absurd Person Singular, A Chorus of Disapproval and Bedroom Farce, which all had their premieres in Scarborough, were written by which playwright?

2.

Which composer’s works include 6 string quartets, the ballet The Miraculous Mandarin and A Concerto for Orchestra?

3.

Which Frenchwoman, whose original forenames were Gabrielle Bonheur, was played in a 2009 film by Audrey Tautou?

4.

Whose work’s include A Journal of the Plague Year and Roxana?

5.

Which actress, who was born in 1888 and died in 1976, received Oscar nominations for Tom Jones, The Chalk Garden and The Whisperers but is probably best remembered for her delivery of the line “A handbag” in The Importance of Being Earnest?

6.

Do You Mind if I Smoke is the title of the memoirs of which actress who died last year?

7.

Which phrase, used to describe a dramatic production designed to shock, is derived from the name of a theatre in the Pigalle district of Paris?

8.

What is the name of the main character in Herman Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf?

Sp

Coming of Age in Western Samoa is a book by which American anthropologist?

Go to Round 6 questions with answers

ROUND 7 - Paired

1.

Which is the only grape variety used to make Chablis wine?

2.

In church hierarchy where is the seat of The Primate of England?

3.

Who was named Parliamentarian of the Year at The Spectator’s 2018 parliamentary awards last November?

4.

He was Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1953 to 1954 and has several public facilities in the city named in his honour, including a school, a library and a tram stop.  Who was he?

5.

In church hierarchy where is the seat of The Primate of Ireland”?

6.

Who was named Minister of the Year at The Spectator’s 2018 parliamentary awards last November?

7.

He was a textile entrepreneur and Manchester’s first multi-millionaire.  He has a library in the city named in his honour.  Who was he?

8.

Which is the only grape variety used to make Sancerre wine?

Go to Round 7 questions with answers

ROUND 8 - Paired

1.

Which cheese is made with an outer shell of mozzarella, filled with a mixture of stracciatelli (cheese shreds) and cream?

2.

Which international women’s football team is nicknamed The Super Falcons?

3.

Who is the MP for Epsom and Ewell.  He has been described by a senior Conservative colleague as, “No f***ing good” and has earned his rhyming nickname in a variety of government roles.

4.

After crossing the Rubicon river with his legions in 49BC, Julius Caesar is reported as having commented, “Alea iacta est”.  How is this translated into English?

5.

Which international women’s football team is nicknamed Blågult (unimaginatively, the same as the men’s team)?

6.

Who is the MP for North-East Somerset.  In 2011 he said, during a parliamentary debate that, “We could have two referendums…it might make more sense to have the second referendum after the renegotiation is completed”.

7.

General Charles Napier reportedly communicated to his superiors the capture of which city in 1843 using a single Latin word?

8.

The Sardinian cheese, casu marzu, is a form of pecorino (sheep’s cheese) which contains what unusual ingredient?

Sp

Which city is the capital of West Flanders?  The historic city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Go to Round 8 questions with answers

ROUND 1 - Paired

1.

There are two Anglican cathedrals in Kent.  One is at Canterbury.  The other one was the model for Cloisterham Cathedral in The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  The city is also the home of Britain’s only museum of Huguenot history. Where is it?

Rochester

2.

In Mathematics which 3 consecutive letters of the alphabet are usually used to denote the unit vectors of Cartesian vectors?

i, j, k

3.

Which song has been a hit for Dusty Springfield, The Young Rascals and David Cassidy?

How Can I Be Sure

4.

In opera, how was the Duke of Mantua’s court jester better known?

Rigoletto

5.

In Mathematics, what is the value of i⁴ (i to the power 4) where i is an imaginary number?

1

(i × i = -1 and -1 × -1 = 1)

6.

Which song has entered the UK Top Twenty for Dusty Springfield, Bay City Rollers, The Tourists and Samantha Fox?

I Only Want to Be With You

7.

Chief of Police Scarpia is murdered by which operatic character?

Tosca

8.

There is only one Anglican cathedral in Sussex.  The cathedral, with its 277 ft tall spire, featured in several paintings by Constable and Turner.  Where is it?

Chichester

Sp1

There is one Anglican cathedral in Suffolk.  Where is it?

St Edmundsbury

(or Bury St Edmunds)

Sp2

In an opera by Janacek, what type of animal is Bystrouska?

Vixen/Fox

(The Cunning Little Vixen)

ROUND 2 - Paired

1.

John Mayall, George Melly, The Rolling Stones and the Who (amongst others) all played there.  Trevor Bayliss and Nigel Planer (amongst others) lived there and it was once home to the UK’s largest hippie commune.  Where is it?

Eel Pie Island

2.

Whose album Sweetener won the best pop vocal album at the Grammy awards last Sunday ?

Ariana Grande

3.

What is David Lidington’s official (that is to say paid) role in cabinet?

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

(Minister for the Cabinet Office is not an official paid cabinet post)

4.

 France has 69, Switzerland 26 and India and South Africa have 10 each.  What?

Nobel laureates

5.

Why has Alfonso Cuaron been in the news this week?

He is the director of the film Roma which won Best Film and Best Director at the BAFTA awards last Sunday

6.

The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac played their first ever live gigs here.  For fifty years everyone who was anyone played it.  A Wetherspoons pub, The Montagu Pyke, now occupies one of its, at least six, former sites.  What was it?

The Marquee Club

7.

Only one Australian born writer has won the Nobel prize for literature.  Who?

Patrick White

(J M Coetzee was born in South Africa and became an Australian citizen in 2006, four years after he won the Nobel literature prize)

8.

Mel Stride holds two government ministerial positions.  One is Financial Secretary to the Treasury.  What is the other

Paymaster General

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - Hidden theme - 'A Beautiful Friendship'

1.

Serial killer, David Berkowitz, murdered 6 people and wounded 7 others in New York between 1976 and 1977.  He taunted police with letters left at the scenes of his crimes, in which he referred to himself by what by-name?

Son of Sam

2.

This film director, who directed 45 feature films and wrote many screenplays for others before his death in 2007, but considered his best 3 works to be Winter Light, Persona and Cries and Whispers?

Ingmar Bergman

3.

This song was written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper in 1966.  It subsequently produced UK top ten hits for David Bowie in 1974 and Amii Stewart in 1979.  The chorus begins with the line “It’s like thunder, lightning”.  Name the song.

Knock on Wood

4.

In 2005 and 2006, Fernando Alonso provided which Formula 1 team with their only World Drivers’ Championships?

Renault

5.

In 1931, this Hungarian journalist invented one of the most widely used tools in the world.  Over 100 billion have been sold.  What is his name?  (forename and surname required)

Lazslo Biro

6.

Which sometimes controversial showman first came to the attention of British audiences with his 1999 TV special Street Magic?

David Blaine

7.

Which 1995 film features Kevin Spacey concocting the details of his story from items in the office of the police officer interviewing him?

The Usual Suspects

8.

What connects a character played by Sophie Grabel which made an icon of the Faroese jumper, and a university city in southern Sweden?

Lund

Sp

The fabulous palaces and villas of Sintra lie about 30km west of which capital city?

Lisbon

Theme:  Each answer has a connection to the film Casablanca...

Sam ("play it, Sam"), the divine Ingrid Bergman, Knock on Wood (the only original song in the film), Louis Renault (the chief of police), Victor Laszlo (the husband), Rick Blaine (the hero), the people who keep being 'rounded up', Ilsa Lund (the heroine), and the city everyone is trying to get to

Go back to Round 3 questions without answers

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme and Paired

1.

"Ill met by moonlight" is a phrase from which Shakespeare play?

A Midsummer Night's Dream

2.

"The way to dirty death" is a phrase from which Shakespeare play?

Macbeth

(setter’s apology, the correct quote is “The way to dusty death")

3.

She was the daughter of Herod the Second and Herodias.  She has been the subject of paintings by Titian and Caravaggio.  She was played by Rita Hayworth in a 1953 film.  Who is she?

Salome

4.

She was the daughter of Pope Alexander the Sixth.  She has been the subject of a painting by Rossetti.  She was played by Paulette Goddard in the 1948 film Bride of Vengeance.  Who is she?

Lucrezia Borgia

5.

Gustav Von Aschenbach is the central character of which book published in 1912?

Death in Venice

6.

Which book published in 1678 features the line: "Hanging’s too good for him said Mr Cruelty."?

The Pilgrim's Progress

7.

He was the son of Laius and Jocasta and the father of Antigone.  Who is he?

Oedipus

8.

 He was reputed to have fathered over 100 children including Hector, Paris, Cassandra and Troilus. Who is he?

King Priam

Sp

The play Romeo and Juliet, the novel Steppenwolf and the musical The Phantom of the Opera all feature which kind of entertainment?

A masked ball

Theme:  Each answer contains the name of an opera...

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Britten); Macbeth (Verdi); Salome (Richard Strauss); Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti); The Pilgrim's Progress (Vaughan Williams); Death in Venice (Britten); King Priam (Tippett); Oedipus Rex (Stravinsky); and A Masked Ball (Verdi)

Go back to Round 4 questions without answers

ROUND 5 - Announced theme

All the answers feature the name of a stage musical

1.

What connects John F Kennedy, Richard Nixon, George W Bush, the Doors and Edward Snowden?

They are all the subjects of films directed by Oliver Stone

2.

This song was written by Banjo Patterson in 1895.  Over 500 recordings of it have been made including versions by Rod Stewart, Chubby Checker, Liberace and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. What is the song called?

Waltzing Matilda

3.

This 1940 novel by Howard Spring covers the rise of the labour movement.  It was made into a film in 1947 starring Michael Redgrave.  What is it called?

4.

The Germans describe it as ‘having a counter-beer’, the Portuguese speak of ‘having a hit’, the Italians refer to ‘a nail dislodging a nail’.  What is the equivalent expression in English?

The hair of the dog

5.

They were invented in 1934 in Halifax by Percy Shaw.  In the United Kingdom they can be white, red, amber, green or blue.  In the United States they are known as turtles or buttons.  What are they?

Cats' eyes

6.

The poet Carl Sandburg is describing which city in these lines:
"Hog Butcher for the World / Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat / Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler / Stormy, Husky, Brawling, City of the Big Shoulders."?

Chicago

7.

She photographed John Lennon five hours before he was shot in 1980.  Her other most famous images include a heavily pregnant Demi Moore in 1991 and a heavily pregnant Serena Williams in 2017.  Who is she?

Annie Leibovitz

8.

What name links a city in Canada, a city in New Zealand and the leader of UKIP in Wales?

Hamilton

Sp

Hairstyles

The musicals are...

Oliver, Matilda, Fame, Cats, Hair, Chicago, Annie, Hamilton and Hairstyles

Go back to Round 5 questions without answers

ROUND 6 - A Sequential Round

The answers form a sequence - both names needed each time

1.

The plays Absurd Person Singular, A Chorus of Disapproval and Bedroom Farce, which all had their premieres in Scarborough, were written by which playwright?

Alan Ayckbourn

2.

Which composer’s works include 6 string quartets, the ballet The Miraculous Mandarin and A Concerto for Orchestra?

Bela Bartok

3.

Which Frenchwoman, whose original forenames were Gabrielle Bonheur, was played in a 2009 film by Audrey Tautou?

Coco Chanel

4.

Whose work’s include A Journal of the Plague Year and Roxana?

Daniel Defoe

5.

Which actress, who was born in 1888 and died in 1976, received Oscar nominations for Tom Jones, The Chalk Garden and The Whisperers but is probably best remembered for her delivery of the line “A handbag” in The Importance of Being Earnest?

Edith Evans

6.

Do You Mind if I Smoke is the title of the memoirs of which actress who died last year?

Fenella Fielding

7.

Which phrase, used to describe a dramatic production designed to shock, is derived from the name of a theatre in the Pigalle district of Paris?

Grand Guignol

8.

What is the name of the main character in Herman Hesse’s novel Steppenwolf?

Harry Haller

Sp

Coming of Age in Western Samoa is a book by which American anthropologist?

Margaret Mead

Go back to Round 6 questions without answers

ROUND 7 - Paired

1.

Which is the only grape variety used to make Chablis wine?

Chardonnay

2.

In church hierarchy where is the seat of The Primate of England?

York

(Canterbury is the Primate of All England)

3.

Who was named Parliamentarian of the Year at The Spectator’s 2018 parliamentary awards last November?

Frank Field

4.

He was Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1953 to 1954 and has several public facilities in the city named in his honour, including a school, a library and a tram stop.  Who was he?

Abraham Moss

5.

In church hierarchy where is the seat of The Primate of Ireland”?

Dublin

(Armagh is the Primate of All Ireland)

6.

Who was named Minister of the Year at The Spectator’s 2018 parliamentary awards last November?

Geoffrey Cox

(Attorney General)

7.

He was a textile entrepreneur and Manchester’s first multi-millionaire.  He has a library in the city named in his honour.  Who was he?

John Rylands

8.

Which is the only grape variety used to make Sancerre wine?

Sauvignon Blanc

Go back to Round 7 questions without answers

ROUND 8 - Paired

1.

Which cheese is made with an outer shell of mozzarella, filled with a mixture of stracciatelli (cheese shreds) and cream?

Burrata

2.

Which international women’s football team is nicknamed The Super Falcons?

Nigeria

(their men’s team is The Super Eagles)

3.

Who is the MP for Epsom and Ewell.  He has been described by a senior Conservative colleague as, “No f***ing good” and has earned his rhyming nickname in a variety of government roles.

Chris ('Failing') Grayling

(just the name will do)

4.

After crossing the Rubicon river with his legions in 49BC, Julius Caesar is reported as having commented, “Alea iacta est”.  How is this translated into English?

"The die is cast"

5.

Which international women’s football team is nicknamed Blågult (unimaginatively, the same as the men’s team)?

Sweden

(The 'Blue and Yellows')

6.

Who is the MP for North-East Somerset.  In 2011 he said, during a parliamentary debate that, “We could have two referendums…it might make more sense to have the second referendum after the renegotiation is completed”.

Jacob Rees-Mogg

7.

General Charles Napier reportedly communicated to his superiors the capture of which city in 1843 using a single Latin word?

Sindh

(the word was 'peccavi' which means 'I have sinned' in Latin)

8.

The Sardinian cheese, casu marzu, is a form of pecorino (sheep’s cheese) which contains what unusual ingredient?

Live insect larvae

(accept maggots)

Sp

Which city is the capital of West Flanders?  The historic city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Bruges

Go back to Round 8 questions without answers