ROUND 1 - 'Double Letters'

The answer in each case is the letter which is doubled in all of the following questions; e.g. 'Legendary Bond film producer, composer of the opera Turandot and writer of the Decameron' would require the answer 'C ' (from Broccoli, Puccini and Boccaccio)

Only the letter is required for the points

1.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the authors of The Handmaids Tale and Goodbye to Berlin?

2.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the authors of Absolute Friends and The Silence of the Lambs?

3.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the painters of Street, New York (1926), Rhythmical (1930) and Girl With a Red Hat (1665-6)?

4.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the painters of St Francis in Ecstasy (c1480), Blue Poles Number 11 (1952) and War (1964/66)?

5.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the composers of The Hebrides Overture, Die Fledermous and La Mer?  

6.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the composers of the operas Lucia de Lammermoor, The Midsummer Marriage and Death in Venice?

7.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of a musical family from Chorlton and the author of Cold Comfort Farm?

8.

What letter is doubled in the surnames of a football family from Amsterdam and the composers of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and La Papillon?

Sp.

What letter is doubled in the names of a Peter Cook and Dudley Moore film from 1967 and the incongruous name of Utah's basketball team?

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - 'Tony's Round'

1.

Thought to have been created in St Petersburg in 1818 by Marie-Antoine Careme, 'Cotelette de Volaille' is usually known as what?

2.

Originally called the Richelieu Stairs, or the Boulevard Stairs, by what name is this architectural feature better known?

3.

Once the capital of the province of Galicia, the city of Lvyv was known by what German name?

4.

What name is generally given to the meeting which took place at the Livadia Palace in February 1945?

5.

Which artillery officer began his rise to literary fame with his Sevastopol Sketches, written during the Crimean War?

6.

One consequence of the Crimean War became known as Seward’s Folly. What was Seward’s Folly?

7.

Which river forms 115 miles of the Polish-Ukrainian border?

8.

Which river forms part of the Moldova-Ukraine border before flowing through Moldova towards the Black Sea?

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - Pairs with a hidden theme

1.

Which footballer starred for Celtic from 1979 to 1983 before moving to Arsenal where he stayed until 1988?

2.

Which Nigerian winger played for Crystal Palace and Wigan before being on Chelsea's books for nine years (2012-2021) though he spent most of that time on loan?

3.

What, in 1979, became Martha and the Muffins' only UK hit single?

4.

Thin Lizzy had a hit with which traditional lrish song in 1973?

5.

In which UK police drama (1980-1985) was Inspector Jean Darblay replaced by inspector Kate Langton?

6.

What was the forename of the character played by Jack Klugman in the US TV series The Odd Couple?

7.

Which 1989 US film featured Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell as LAPD narcotics detectives? 

8.

Which 2012 US film starred Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaghy as a stripper and an ex- stripper, respectively?

Sp.

Who ruled Haiti from 1957 to 1971?

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 4 - 'Very Ianteresting'

The consecutive letters 'ian' occur in every answer

1.

Who was the protagonist of the 1961 novel Catch 22?

2.

Which fictional character got a model aeroplane stuck to his nose when he attempted to sniff glue?

3.

Which royal dynasty preceded the Carolingians as rulers of the Franks?

4.

Which people founded the city of Ur around 3800 BC?

5.

Which school of philosophy was founded by Jeremy Bentham?

6.

Which Christian doctrine rejects the Trinity and included four US presidents among its adherents?

7.

According to Byron, which ancient people came down "Like a wolf on the fold" when they besieged Jerusalem?

8.

Who was the fourth and final person to serve as emperor of Rome in AD 69?  His son Titus also besieged Jerusalem.

Sp.

The surname Kardashian is of which ethnic origin?

Go to Round 4 questions with answers

ROUND 5 - Pairs with a hidden theme

1.

Which German shell-shock victim was taken to Hollywood in 1918 and had a successful film career before dying in 1932?

2.

ln which Bond film did Britt Ekland play Mary Goodnight?

3.

Which football team, nicknamed The Elephants, won their first African Cup of Nations in 1992?

4.

Which Welsh athlete won Taekwondo gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics?

5.

Who was the lead singer of The Move and later Wizzard?

6.

Which husband and wife duo finished second for the UK in the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest?

7.

In the TV show Breaking Bad, what illegal substance was being produced by Walter White?

8.

Which 1979-81 British sci-fi TV series starred Joanna Lumley and David McCallum?

Sp.

At which motor racing circuit would you find the Abbey curve?

Go to Round 5 questions with answers

ROUND 6 - 'Days like these'

Each answer can be followed by the word 'day' or 'days' to make a common phrase

1.

What is said to have been invented by an Italian immigrant chef at a hotel in Tijuana in 1924?

2.

What is the name for a racehorse (not a thoroughbred) bred to race over 2 furlongs?

3.

Which company, founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1921, sold electrical goods in many countries before suffering several bankruptcies in the 2010s?  Their TRS-80 was one of the first mass-produced home computers?

4.

How was the Wanjohi Valley in Kenya, notorious for the debauchery of its white settler inhabitants in the 1930s and 1940s, known?

5.

Which Sheridan play, from 1777, features Lady Sneerwell and Sir Peter Teazle among the characters?

6.

What word links novels by Richard Adams, Ian McEwan and Frederick Forsyth?

7.

Who became Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1783?

8.

What name is given to over 1,000 flowering plant species of the family Convolvulacae, many of them belonging to the genus Ipomoae?

Sp.

The title of which Dario Fo play was adopted by an early 1980s campaign for lower fares on the London Underground?

Go to Round 6 questions with answers

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

What is the highest point on Dartmoor?

2.

What is the highest point in the Yorkshire Dales?

3.

In January 1981, the first what rolled off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland?

4.

Also in 1981, who became President of Egypt following the assassination of Anwar Sadat?

5.

What was officially dissolved in Prague on 1st July 1991?

6.

7.

Napoleon's 1806 victory over the Prussians; and a long-running Daily Mirror cartoon strip are anagrams of each other.  Give both.

8.

The surnames of the authors of The Rotters Club (2001) and The Name of the Rose (1980) are anagrams of each other.  Give both. 

Sp1

W B Yeats lies beneath Ben Bulben in which lrish County?

Sp2

Curracloe Beach in County Wexford was used as a stand-in location for which multi-Oscar winning film of 1998?

Sp3

Who was stabbed during a tennis match in Hamburg in April 1993?

Sp4

Who was shot in a studio in New York in June 1968?

Go to Round 7 questions with answers

ROUND 8 - Hidden theme

Theme words may form part of larger words

1.

Which conductor began his career in 1899 and co-founded the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with Malcolm Sargent, in 1932?

2.

Which of the boroughs of Greater Manchester reaches furthest East?

3.

What is the name given to a shelter used to protect meteorological instruments which forms part of a weather station?

4.

Who was the author of Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and The Apocalypse of St John, published in 1733, 6 years after his death?

5.

Who was appointed Reichsminister for Armaments and War Production in 1942?

6.

Who became South Africa's leading test wicket taker in 2018, surpassing Shaun Pollock's total of 421?

7.

The Quebec Bridge is the world's longest, beating the Forth Bridge by 28 metres.  But longest what?

8.

Which Roman emperor withdrew from the city to Capri, after the deaths of his nephew Germanicus and son Drusus, leaving the government in the hands of the unpopular Sejanus?

Sp.

Which US entrepreneur and philanthropist founded CNN?

Go to Round 8 questions with answers

ROUND 1 - 'Double Letters'

The answer in each case is the letter which is doubled in all of the following questions; e.g. 'Legendary Bond film producer, composer of the opera Turandot and writer of the Decameron' would require the answer 'C ' (from Broccoli, Puccini and Boccaccio)

Only the letter is required for the points

1.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the authors of The Handmaids Tale and Goodbye to Berlin?

'O'

(Atwood and lsherwoocl)

2.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the authors of Absolute Friends and The Silence of the Lambs?

'R'

(Le Carré and Harris)

3.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the painters of Street, New York (1926), Rhythmical (1930) and Girl With a Red Hat (1665-6)?

4.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the painters of St Francis in Ecstasy (c1480), Blue Poles Number 11 (1952) and War (1964/66)?

'L'

(Bellini, Pollock and Chagall)

5.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the composers of The Hebrides Overture, Die Fledermous and La Mer?  

'S'

(Mendelssohn, Strauss and Debussy)

6.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of the composers of the operas Lucia de Lammermoor, The Midsummer Marriage and Death in Venice?

'T'

(Donizetti, Tippett and Britten)

7.

Which letter is doubled in the surnames of a musical family from Chorlton and the author of Cold Comfort Farm?

'B'

(Gibb and Gibbons)

8.

What letter is doubled in the surnames of a football family from Amsterdam and the composers of Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and La Papillon?

'F'

(Cruyff, Rachmaninoff and Offenbach)

Sp.

What letter is doubled in the names of a Peter Cook and Dudley Moore film from 1967 and the incongruous name of Utah's basketball team?

'Z'

(Bedazzled and The Jazz)

ROUND 2 - 'Tony's Round'

1.

Thought to have been created in St Petersburg in 1818 by Marie-Antoine Careme, 'Cotelette de Volaille' is usually known as what?

Chicken Kiev

(or Kyiv)

2.

Originally called the Richelieu Stairs, or the Boulevard Stairs, by what name is this architectural feature better known?

The Potemkin Steps

(or the Odessa Steps)

3.

Once the capital of the province of Galicia, the city of Lvyv was known by what German name?

Lemburg

4.

What name is generally given to the meeting which took place at the Livadia Palace in February 1945?

The Yalta Conference

5.

Which artillery officer began his rise to literary fame with his Sevastopol Sketches, written during the Crimean War?

(Leo) Tolstoy

6.

One consequence of the Crimean War became known as Seward’s Folly. What was Seward’s Folly?

The purchase of Alaska by the USA

7.

Which river forms 115 miles of the Polish-Ukrainian border?

The Bug

8.

Which river forms part of the Moldova-Ukraine border before flowing through Moldova towards the Black Sea?

The Dneister

(not the Dneipr which is a different river)

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - Pairs with a hidden theme

1.

Which footballer starred for Celtic from 1979 to 1983 before moving to Arsenal where he stayed until 1988?

Charlie Nicholas

2.

Which Nigerian winger played for Crystal Palace and Wigan before being on Chelsea's books for nine years (2012-2021) though he spent most of that time on loan?

Victor Moses

3.

What, in 1979, became Martha and the Muffins' only UK hit single?

Echo Beach

4.

Thin Lizzy had a hit with which traditional lrish song in 1973?

Whiskey in the jar

5.

In which UK police drama (1980-1985) was Inspector Jean Darblay replaced by inspector Kate Langton?

Juliet Bravo

6.

What was the forename of the character played by Jack Klugman in the US TV series The Odd Couple?

Oscar (Madison)

7.

Which 1989 US film featured Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell as LAPD narcotics detectives? 

Tango and Cash

8.

Which 2012 US film starred Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaghy as a stripper and an ex- stripper, respectively?

Magic Mike

Sp.

Who ruled Haiti from 1957 to 1971?

Papa Doc Duvalier

Theme: Each answer contains a letter from the NATO phonetic alphabet

Go back to Round 3 questions without answers

ROUND 4 - 'Very Ianteresting'

The consecutive letters 'ian' occur in every answer

1.

Who was the protagonist of the 1961 novel Catch 22?

(John) Yossarian

2.

Which fictional character got a model aeroplane stuck to his nose when he attempted to sniff glue?

Adrian Mole

3.

Which royal dynasty preceded the Carolingians as rulers of the Franks?

Merovingian

4.

Which people founded the city of Ur around 3800 BC?

Sumerian

5.

Which school of philosophy was founded by Jeremy Bentham?

Utilitarian

(or Utilitarianism)

6.

Which Christian doctrine rejects the Trinity and included four US presidents among its adherents?

Unitarianism

7.

According to Byron, which ancient people came down "Like a wolf on the fold" when they besieged Jerusalem?

The Assyrians

8.

Who was the fourth and final person to serve as emperor of Rome in AD 69?  His son Titus also besieged Jerusalem.

Vespasian

Sp.

The surname Kardashian is of which ethnic origin?

Armenian

Go back to Round 4 questions without answers

ROUND 5 - Pairs with a hidden theme

1.

Which German shell-shock victim was taken to Hollywood in 1918 and had a successful film career before dying in 1932?

Rin Tin Tin

2.

ln which Bond film did Britt Ekland play Mary Goodnight?

The Man with the Golden Gun

3.

Which football team, nicknamed The Elephants, won their first African Cup of Nations in 1992?

Ivory Coast

(or Cote d'lvoire)

4.

Which Welsh athlete won Taekwondo gold at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics?

Jade Jones

5.

Who was the lead singer of The Move and later Wizzard?

Roy Wood

6.

Which husband and wife duo finished second for the UK in the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest?

Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson

7.

In the TV show Breaking Bad, what illegal substance was being produced by Walter White?

Crystal Meth

8.

Which 1979-81 British sci-fi TV series starred Joanna Lumley and David McCallum?

Sapphire and Steel

Sp.

At which motor racing circuit would you find the Abbey curve?

Silverstone

Theme: Each answer contains the name of a wedding anniversary

Go back to Round 5 questions without answers

ROUND 6 - 'Days like these'

Each answer can be followed by the word 'day' or 'days' to make a common phrase

1.

What is said to have been invented by an Italian immigrant chef at a hotel in Tijuana in 1924?

Caesar Salad

2.

What is the name for a racehorse (not a thoroughbred) bred to race over 2 furlongs?

Quarter horse

3.

Which company, founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1921, sold electrical goods in many countries before suffering several bankruptcies in the 2010s?  Their TRS-80 was one of the first mass-produced home computers?

Radio Shack

4.

How was the Wanjohi Valley in Kenya, notorious for the debauchery of its white settler inhabitants in the 1930s and 1940s, known?

Happy Valley

5.

Which Sheridan play, from 1777, features Lady Sneerwell and Sir Peter Teazle among the characters?

The School for Scandal

6.

What word links novels by Richard Adams, Ian McEwan and Frederick Forsyth?

'Dogs'

7.

Who became Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1783?

Pitt the Younger

8.

What name is given to over 1,000 flowering plant species of the family Convolvulacae, many of them belonging to the genus Ipomoae?

Morning Glory

Sp.

The title of which Dario Fo play was adopted by an early 1980s campaign for lower fares on the London Underground?

Can't Pay Won't Pay

Go back to Round 6 questions without answers

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

What is the highest point on Dartmoor?

High Willhays

2.

What is the highest point in the Yorkshire Dales?

Whernside

3.

In January 1981, the first what rolled off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland?

Delorean

4.

Also in 1981, who became President of Egypt following the assassination of Anwar Sadat?

(Hosni) Mubarak

5.

What was officially dissolved in Prague on 1st July 1991?

The Warsaw Pact

6.

Pan Am

7.

Napoleon's 1806 victory over the Prussians; and a long-running Daily Mirror cartoon strip are anagrams of each other.  Give both.

Jena and Jane

8.

The surnames of the authors of The Rotters Club (2001) and The Name of the Rose (1980) are anagrams of each other.  Give both. 

Coe and Eco

Sp1

W B Yeats lies beneath Ben Bulben in which lrish County?

Sligo

Sp2

Curracloe Beach in County Wexford was used as a stand-in location for which multi-Oscar winning film of 1998?

Saving Private Ryan

Sp3

Who was stabbed during a tennis match in Hamburg in April 1993?

Monica Seles

Sp4

Who was shot in a studio in New York in June 1968?

Andy Warhol

Go back to Round 7 questions without answers

ROUND 8 - Hidden theme

Theme words may form part of larger words

1.

Which conductor began his career in 1899 and co-founded the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with Malcolm Sargent, in 1932?

Thomas Beecham

2.

Which of the boroughs of Greater Manchester reaches furthest East?

Oldham

3.

What is the name given to a shelter used to protect meteorological instruments which forms part of a weather station?

Stevenson Screen

4.

Who was the author of Observations on the Prophecies of Daniel and The Apocalypse of St John, published in 1733, 6 years after his death?

Isaac Newton

5.

Who was appointed Reichsminister for Armaments and War Production in 1942?

Albert Speer

6.

Who became South Africa's leading test wicket taker in 2018, surpassing Shaun Pollock's total of 421?

7.

The Quebec Bridge is the world's longest, beating the Forth Bridge by 28 metres.  But longest what?

Cantilever Bridge

(both words are needed)

8.

Which Roman emperor withdrew from the city to Capri, after the deaths of his nephew Germanicus and son Drusus, leaving the government in the hands of the unpopular Sejanus?

Tiberius

Sp.

Which US entrepreneur and philanthropist founded CNN?

Ted Turner

Theme: Each answer contains the name of a street in Manchester's Northern Quarter

Go back to Round 8 questions without answers