ROUND 1 - Paired questions

1.

This writer was born in the Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian Empire in 1809.  His works include The Inspector, The Nose and The Overcoat.  Who is he?

2.

This writer was born in the Zhytomyr Oblast of Ukraine then part of the Russian Empire, in 1857.  His works include Chance, Victory and The Shadow Line.  Who is he?

3.

What Latin phrase, attributed to Cicero, is now used as an expression of alarm about behaviour in modern society?

4.

What Latin phrase is used to describe an unexpected event arriving in the nick of time to save a seemingly hopeless situation?

5.

Which English poet wrote the poem 1967 in 1867?

6.

Which American writer wrote the novel ’1919’ published in 1932?

7.

In 1922 who was described in the Daily Express as "The man with the bomb who would blow what remains of Europe into the sky.  His intention so far as he has any social intention is completely anarchic."?

8.

In 1922 who said “It's better to live one day as a lion than a thousand years as a sheep”?

Sp1

What links the TV series State of Play and A Very English Scandal and the films The Iron Lady and Ali G Indahouse?

Sp2

In 1948 what became the first non-Hollywood film to win the Oscar for Best Picture?

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - Paired questions

1.

Only one Prime Minister has represented a Manchester constituency while Prime Minister.  Who was he?

2.

Only one Prime Minister has represented a Birmingham constituency while Prime Minister.  Who was he?

3.

Born in Venice in 1518 how was Jacopo Robusti better known?

4.

Born in Venice in 1697 this artist is famous for painting many views of his home city.  He also spent ten years in England during which time he painted many views of London.  Who was he?

5.

Manchester University claims connections with 25 Nobel Laureates.  The first was the son of an antiquarian bookseller from Cheetham Hill.  He entered the university at age 14, won his Nobel prize aged 50 and is credited with discovering the electron.  Who was he?

6.

One of Thomson’s students was the university’s second Nobel Laureate.  Though a physicist he won the chemistry prize for work done at a Canadian university prior to his move to Manchester.  Who was he?

7.

Born this day in 1910 this filmmaker first achieved international fame with a 1950 film which shows several characters recounting the murder of a warrior in a forest from different points of view and perspectives.  Who was the filmmaker?

8.

Born this day, sometime between 1904 and 1908, Lucille LeSueur won her only Oscar for a 1945 film in which she starred.  How was she better known?

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - Paired questions

1.

The Chateau d’If, a fortress situated 1.5km offshore from Marseille, is one of the main settings in which novel completed in 1844?

2.

From which song from a 1956 film musical do the following lines come...

"Have you heard?  It’s in the stars / Next July we collide with Mars"?

3.

Ping, Pang and Pong are characters in which opera?  The opera was unfinished at the time of the composer’s death and was first performed in 1926.

4.

Who were the last English Football League Champions before the outbreak of WW II?  The next time they were champions was in 1963.

5.

Who won the last FA Cup before the outbreak of WW II?  The next time they won it was in 2008.

6.

Bran Castle, 25km from Brasov, is associated with an historical character who was the inspiration for which novel of 1897?

7.

From which song from a 1955 film musical do the following lines come...

"The corn is high as an elephant’s eye, And it looks like it’s climbing clear up to the sky"?

8.

Amneris and Radames are characters in which opera first performed in 1871?

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 4 - "It seems there may be a theme emerging here, Watson"

1.

The second verse of which song, first released in 1965, begins...

“Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Well, I got down on my knees
And I pretend to pray”?

2.

What name is given to the collection of views about the meaning of quantum mechanics principally attributed to Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg?

3.

Which genus of 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers is named after the Greek god of rainbows?

4.

What name was given to the medieval state, also known as Rus, corresponding to what is now Ukraine, Belarus and parts of western Russia?  It now refers only to the territory inhabited by the Rusyn people in the Carpathian mountains.

5.

Which company started life as the 'Green Shield Gift House' and is now owned by Sainsbury’s?

6.

The lyrics of which jazz classic begin...

“You ain't never been blue; no, no, no,
You ain't never been blue,
Till you've had that…..”?

7.

What given name is shared by: a British cyclist who won multiple world titles in the 1950s and 60s; a British artist whose works include Tea in the Garden, My Fur Coat and Dustbinmen; and a British actress, who was educated at Levenshulme High School and who won a Tony for her performance in The Killing of Sister George?

8.

The village of Borodino, site of Napoleon Bonaparte’s most Pyrrhic victory, lies about 80 miles west of which city?

Sp1

Which mythological being wields Mjolnir?

Sp2

Oak Ridge, a city established in the 1940s to house the Manhattan Project’s uranium enrichment facility, lies in which US state?

Go to Round 4 questions with answers

ROUND 5 - Picture round

1.

Identify this British bird.

2.

Name this National Trust property.

3.

What is this spice?

4.

Name this country.

5.

Name this National Trust property.

6.

Identify this bird.

7.

Name this country.

8.

What is this spice?

Sp1

Identify this flower.

Sp2

Name this medieval weapon.

Go to Round 5 questions with answers

ROUND 6 - Paired questions

1.

The word ‘ombudsman’ is derived from which language?

2.

The word ‘tycoon’ is derived from which language?

3.

Who is the only Republican US President to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

4.

Which writer declined the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964?

5.

Which two European capital cities are also the nicknames of symphonies by Mozart?

6.

Which two European capital cities are also the nicknames of symphonies by Haydn?

7.

This UK building was opened in 2004.  It has been described as "a curved glass and steel shell".  It has also been described as "resembling a shiny condom".  What is it?

8.

This UK building opened in 1998.  It has been described as "an irregularly shaped red brick building in the Scandinavian Modernist style".  Its construction was described as "The 30 Years War".  What is it?

Sp1

What is the highest point in Greater Manchester?

Sp2

It last took place in Marseilles on 10 September 1977.  What is it?

Go to Round 6 questions with answers

ROUND 7 - Paired questions

1.

What is the nth term formula for the sequence 7, 12, 17, 22,…?

2.

Symphonically speaking, give one of the missing names from this list:

Winter Daydreams, Little Russian and Polish?

3.

Anglia Ruskin University has campuses in Cambridge, Peterborough, London and which city in Essex, the site of the only Anglican cathedral in the county?

4.

Which author was born in Manchester in 1785 and died in Edinburgh in 1859?  His famous autobiographical account is believed to be one of the influences on Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique.

5.

Give either name missing from this group of five composers:

Cui, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, ....

6.

Stockport is in which Roman Catholic diocese?  The town is the county town of a county without any Anglican cathedrals.

7.

Little Wilson and Big God was the first part of the autobiography by which Manchester born author.  The title partly comes from his original surname.

8.

Calculate the Interquartile Range for this list of numbers 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13.

Sp.

What is the nickname of Mahler’s 2nd Symphony?

Go to Round 7 questions with answers

ROUND 8 - Hidden theme

Beware - there are soundalikes!

1.

Born in Italy in 1856 to American parents this artist worked chiefly in Paris and London and was considered to be the leading portrait artist of his generation.  Who was he?

2.

Published in 1969 what was the title of the first novel in a twenty book series set during the Napoleonic Wars?

3.

In business from 1958 to 1994 this company made the best-selling single computer model of all time.  What was the name of the company?

4.

This Canadian company had made buses, trains and commercial aircraft but it now concentrates on producing business jets.  What is its name?

5.

What name is given to the computer program at the core of a computer’s operating system which controls everything in the system?

6.

This financial services company has its headquarters in Cardiff.  It sells vehicle insurance products and operates the price comparison service Compare.com.  What is its name?

7.

Which 20th century literary character was described thus: “Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.  With ....... it had been all three.”?

8.

Featured in the film Dead Poets Society what poem was written about the death of Abraham Lincoln?

Go to Round 8 questions with answers

ROUND 1 - Paired questions

1.

This writer was born in the Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian Empire in 1809.  His works include The Inspector, The Nose and The Overcoat.  Who is he?

Nikolai Gogol

2.

This writer was born in the Zhytomyr Oblast of Ukraine then part of the Russian Empire, in 1857.  His works include Chance, Victory and The Shadow Line.  Who is he?

Joseph Conrad

3.

What Latin phrase, attributed to Cicero, is now used as an expression of alarm about behaviour in modern society?

'O tempora, O mores'

('What times! What ways!')

4.

What Latin phrase is used to describe an unexpected event arriving in the nick of time to save a seemingly hopeless situation?

'Deus ex machina'

('God from the machinery')

5.

Which English poet wrote the poem 1967 in 1867?

Thomas Hardy

6.

Which American writer wrote the novel ’1919’ published in 1932?

John Dos Passos

(the second part of his USA trilogy)

7.

In 1922 who was described in the Daily Express as "The man with the bomb who would blow what remains of Europe into the sky.  His intention so far as he has any social intention is completely anarchic."?

James Joyce

(following the publication of Ulysses)

8.

In 1922 who said “It's better to live one day as a lion than a thousand years as a sheep”?

Mussolini

Sp1

What links the TV series State of Play and A Very English Scandal and the films The Iron Lady and Ali G Indahouse?

All contain scenes filmed in the Manchester Town Hall

Sp2

In 1948 what became the first non-Hollywood film to win the Oscar for Best Picture?

Hamlet

(directed by, and starring Laurence Olivier)

ROUND 2 - Paired questions

1.

Only one Prime Minister has represented a Manchester constituency while Prime Minister.  Who was he?

Arthur Balfour

(Prime Minister 1902 to 1905 while MP for Manchester East)

2.

Only one Prime Minister has represented a Birmingham constituency while Prime Minister.  Who was he?

Neville Chamberlain

(Prime Minister 1937 to 1940 while MP for Birmingham Edgbaston)

3.

Born in Venice in 1518 how was Jacopo Robusti better known?

Tintoretto

4.

Born in Venice in 1697 this artist is famous for painting many views of his home city.  He also spent ten years in England during which time he painted many views of London.  Who was he?

Canaletto

(Giovanni Antonio Canal)

5.

Manchester University claims connections with 25 Nobel Laureates.  The first was the son of an antiquarian bookseller from Cheetham Hill.  He entered the university at age 14, won his Nobel prize aged 50 and is credited with discovering the electron.  Who was he?

J J Thomson

6.

One of Thomson’s students was the university’s second Nobel Laureate.  Though a physicist he won the chemistry prize for work done at a Canadian university prior to his move to Manchester.  Who was he?

Ernest Rutherford

7.

Born this day in 1910 this filmmaker first achieved international fame with a 1950 film which shows several characters recounting the murder of a warrior in a forest from different points of view and perspectives.  Who was the filmmaker?

Akira Kurosawa

(the film was Rashomon)

8.

Born this day, sometime between 1904 and 1908, Lucille LeSueur won her only Oscar for a 1945 film in which she starred.  How was she better known?

Joan Crawford

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - Paired questions

1.

The Chateau d’If, a fortress situated 1.5km offshore from Marseille, is one of the main settings in which novel completed in 1844?

Count of Monte Cristo

2.

From which song from a 1956 film musical do the following lines come...

"Have you heard?  It’s in the stars / Next July we collide with Mars"?

Well Did You Evah

(from High Society)

3.

Ping, Pang and Pong are characters in which opera?  The opera was unfinished at the time of the composer’s death and was first performed in 1926.

Turandot

4.

Who were the last English Football League Champions before the outbreak of WW II?  The next time they were champions was in 1963.

Everton

(incidentally, Grimsby Town finished 10th that season, Martin would like you to know)

5.

Who won the last FA Cup before the outbreak of WW II?  The next time they won it was in 2008.

(incidentally, Grimsby Town reached the Semi-Final that season, says Martin)

6.

Bran Castle, 25km from Brasov, is associated with an historical character who was the inspiration for which novel of 1897?

7.

From which song from a 1955 film musical do the following lines come...

"The corn is high as an elephant’s eye, And it looks like it’s climbing clear up to the sky"?

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!

(from Oklahoma)

8.

Amneris and Radames are characters in which opera first performed in 1871?

Aida

Go back to Round 3 questions without answers

ROUND 4 - "It seems there may be a theme emerging here, Watson"

1.

The second verse of which song, first released in 1965, begins...

“Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Well, I got down on my knees
And I pretend to pray”?

California Dreamin’

2.

What name is given to the collection of views about the meaning of quantum mechanics principally attributed to Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg?

The Copenhagen Interpretation

3.

Which genus of 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers is named after the Greek god of rainbows?

Iris

4.

What name was given to the medieval state, also known as Rus, corresponding to what is now Ukraine, Belarus and parts of western Russia?  It now refers only to the territory inhabited by the Rusyn people in the Carpathian mountains.

Ruthenia

5.

Which company started life as the 'Green Shield Gift House' and is now owned by Sainsbury’s?

Argos

6.

The lyrics of which jazz classic begin...

“You ain't never been blue; no, no, no,
You ain't never been blue,
Till you've had that…..”?

Mood Indigo

7.

What given name is shared by: a British cyclist who won multiple world titles in the 1950s and 60s; a British artist whose works include Tea in the Garden, My Fur Coat and Dustbinmen; and a British actress, who was educated at Levenshulme High School and who won a Tony for her performance in The Killing of Sister George?

Beryl

(Burton, Cook and Reid)

8.

The village of Borodino, site of Napoleon Bonaparte’s most Pyrrhic victory, lies about 80 miles west of which city?

Moscow

Sp1

Which mythological being wields Mjolnir?

Thor

Sp2

Oak Ridge, a city established in the 1940s to house the Manhattan Project’s uranium enrichment facility, lies in which US state?

Tennessee

Theme: Each answer contains the origin of the name of an element...

Californium, Hafnium (Hafnia being the Latin name for Copenhagen), Iridium, Ruthenium, Argon, Indium, Beryllium, Moscovium, Thorium, Tennessine

Go back to Round 4 questions without answers

ROUND 5 - Picture round

1.

Identify this British bird.

Dipper

2.

Name this National Trust property.

Biddulph Grange

3.

What is this spice?

Fenugreek

(or methi)

4.

Name this country.

Kenya

5.

Name this National Trust property.

Little Moreton Hall

6.

Identify this bird.

Nuthatch

7.

Name this country.

Afghanistan

8.

What is this spice?

Mace

Sp1

Identify this flower.

Snake’s Head Fritillary

Sp2

Name this medieval weapon.

Trebuchet

Go back to Round 5 questions without answers

ROUND 6 - Paired questions

1.

The word ‘ombudsman’ is derived from which language?

Swedish

2.

The word ‘tycoon’ is derived from which language?

Japanese

3.

Who is the only Republican US President to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

Theodore Roosevelt

(in 1906 - 3 Democratic Presidents have been awarded the prize: Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama)

4.

Which writer declined the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964?

Jean Paul Sartre

5.

Which two European capital cities are also the nicknames of symphonies by Mozart?

Paris & Prague

6.

Which two European capital cities are also the nicknames of symphonies by Haydn?

Paris & London

7.

This UK building was opened in 2004.  It has been described as "a curved glass and steel shell".  It has also been described as "resembling a shiny condom".  What is it?

The Sage Gateshead

8.

This UK building opened in 1998.  It has been described as "an irregularly shaped red brick building in the Scandinavian Modernist style".  Its construction was described as "The 30 Years War".  What is it?

The British Libarary

Sp1

What is the highest point in Greater Manchester?

Black Chew Head

(on Saddleworth Moor - accept simply 'Saddleworth Moor')

Sp2

It last took place in Marseilles on 10 September 1977.  What is it?

Execution by guillotine

Go back to Round 6 questions without answers

ROUND 7 - Paired questions

1.

What is the nth term formula for the sequence 7, 12, 17, 22,…?

5n + 2

(common difference is 5 and 5 x 1 + 2 = 7)

2.

Symphonically speaking, give one of the missing names from this list:

Winter Daydreams, Little Russian and Polish?

(either) Pathetique

(or)  Manfred

(nicknames of Tchaikovsky symphonies)

3.

Anglia Ruskin University has campuses in Cambridge, Peterborough, London and which city in Essex, the site of the only Anglican cathedral in the county?

Chelmsford

4.

Which author was born in Manchester in 1785 and died in Edinburgh in 1859?  His famous autobiographical account is believed to be one of the influences on Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique.

Thomas de Quincey

5.

Give either name missing from this group of five composers:

Cui, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, ....

(either) Borodin

(or) Balakirev

(the group of Russian composers known as 'The Five' or 'The Mighty Handful')

6.

Stockport is in which Roman Catholic diocese?  The town is the county town of a county without any Anglican cathedrals.

Shrewsbury

7.

Little Wilson and Big God was the first part of the autobiography by which Manchester born author.  The title partly comes from his original surname.

Anthony Burgess

8.

Calculate the Interquartile Range for this list of numbers 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13.

7

(Upper quartile, the 6th term – lower quartile the 2nd term)

Sp.

What is the nickname of Mahler’s 2nd Symphony?

Resurrection Symphony

Go back to Round 7 questions without answers

ROUND 8 - Hidden theme

Beware - there are soundalikes!

1.

Born in Italy in 1856 to American parents this artist worked chiefly in Paris and London and was considered to be the leading portrait artist of his generation.  Who was he?

John Singer Sargent

2.

Published in 1969 what was the title of the first novel in a twenty book series set during the Napoleonic Wars?

Master and Commander

3.

In business from 1958 to 1994 this company made the best-selling single computer model of all time.  What was the name of the company?

Commodore Business Machines

(accept Commodore, the computer was the Commodore 64)

4.

This Canadian company had made buses, trains and commercial aircraft but it now concentrates on producing business jets.  What is its name?

Bombardier Inc.

5.

What name is given to the computer program at the core of a computer’s operating system which controls everything in the system?

Kernel

6.

This financial services company has its headquarters in Cardiff.  It sells vehicle insurance products and operates the price comparison service Compare.com.  What is its name?

Admiral Group plc

7.

Which 20th century literary character was described thus: “Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.  With ....... it had been all three.”?

Major Major

(from Catch 22)

8.

Featured in the film Dead Poets Society what poem was written about the death of Abraham Lincoln?

O Captain! My Captain!

(by Walt Whitman)

Theme: Each answer contains the name of a military rank

Go back to Round 8 questions without answers