ROUND 1 - Run-ons with a twist

In this version of Run-ons the last part of the first answer and the first part of the second answer are different but together they form the title of a work of literature.

Note that the definite and indefinite articles and the word 'and' don’t count - and beware of soundalikes.

1.

Kylie Minogue's first number 1 single in the UK,

&

Three piano compositions by Erik Satie whose title comes the ancient Greek word for an annual festival where young men danced naked.

2.

Comedian who is a team captain on Would I Lie To You,

&

British gymnast, the bronze medalist on uneven bars at the 2012 Olympics.

3.

Boxer nicknamed 'The Dark Destroyer',

&

The final track on the Beatles' Abbey Road album - at 23 seconds long, it is their shortest song.

4.

Traditional Christmas song describing Mary's journey to Bethlehem,

&

A professional dancer, talent show judge and presenter, born in South Africa in 1990.

5.

1989 song written and performed by Phil Collins about homelessness,

&

2003 film starring Bill Murray as a fading American movie star who is having a midlife crisis when he travels to Tokyo to promote Suntory whisky.

6.

A ceremony held on the second Saturday in June in the UK in which flags are prominent,

&

1984 American rock musical drama film scored by and starring Prince in his acting debut.

7.

Drug also known as acetaminophen, used to treat fever and mild-to-moderate pain - it accounts for most drug overdoses in the UK, leading to liver failure,

&

Comedy duo parodied by Armstrong & Miller as Donald Brabbins and Teddy Fyffe.

8.

Since the mid-1990s, the principal editorial cartoonist of The Guardian, probably best known for the daily strip called 'If...',

&

The first fully computer-generated supporting character in a live-action film, a character of the Gungan race from the Star Wars saga.

Sp.

Resort on the Wirral that has the UK's longest promenade,

&

Jukebox musical built around glam rock songs from the 1980s whose title is also that of a Def Leppard song.

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - Hidden theme - 'A New World Order'

1.

What is the acronym of the development project in Manchester that is the largest development project in the North West, at the heart of which is the One Angel Square building?

2.

Which strait separates Java and Sumatra?

3.

The Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla was noted for which type of dance music?

4.

What given name connects the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2002 and a Portuguese-British visual artist born in 1935?

5.

Which disease, whose name is derived from the Latin for 'madness', is caused by lyssaviruses?

6.

Born Margaret Mary Hyra, which actress was married to Dennis Quaid throughout the 1990s?  She earned her first Golden Globe nomination for playing a character whose surname is Albright.

7.

In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, what is the name of Lyra's father?  He was played on film by Daniel Craig and on TV by James McAvoy.

8.

Following the First World War, which city became the capital of the newly created Prussian Province of Lower Silesia of the Weimar Republic in 1919?  Following World War II, it changed its name.

Sp.

From the Greek for 'dilation', what term is used for a bulging, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall?

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - Pairs

1.

What is the name of the new federal US holiday signed into law by President Biden last year?

2.

The last federal holiday before that was signed into law by Ronald Reagan in 1983 and is celebrated about the middle of January.  What is it?

3.

Which post-war heavyweight boxing champion for 4 years was known as 'The Brockton Blockbuster' after his birthplace in Massachusetts?

4.

Which heavyweight boxing champion for 12 years was known as 'The Brown Bomber'?

5.

What's the 3rd item missing from this list of Rolling Stones UK number ones in chronological order:

It's All Over Now; Little Red Rooster; ?????? ; I Can't Get No Satisfaction;

Get Off My Cloud; Paint It Black?

6.

What is the 3rd item missing from this list of Abba UK number ones in chronological order:

Waterloo; Mamma Mia; ?????? ; Dancing Queen;

Knowing Me Knowing You; The Name of the Game?

7.

A friend of mine had a degree in natural philosophy which he explained was a posh name for which subject?

8.

What is the common name of the degree 'Literae Humaniores' obtainable from Oxford University?

Sp.

Which red pigment used in painting is manufactured from mercuric sulphide?

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 4 - Pairs

1.

Reliant Motors were based in which Midlands town?

2.

Jensen Motors were based in which Midlands town?

3.

The son of Zeus and Semele (who Zeus plucked out of Semele’s dying body and sewed into his own leg until he was born), which god was considered a very welcome addition when he joined the twelve great Gods on Olympus?  He is the God of the grape-harvest and wine-making amongst other things.

4.

The daughter of Zeus and Demeter (often the personification of the seasons), who became queen of the underworld after her abduction by Hades?

5.

Elbow’s Guy Garvey is married to actress Rachel Stirling.  His mother-in-law who died in 2020 was described by Michael Parkinson in 1972 as "the most desirable woman he’d ever met".  Who was she?

6.

Emilia Fox was married between 2005 and 2010 to the actor son of an accomplished but notoriously hellraising actor who told Gay Byrne that he once "went out for a newspaper and was gone for two weeks".  Who is the son?

7.

What is the name of the small village in the Southern Lake District which contains a Norman Priory and two Michelin starred restaurants - one of which became, in February, the first Michelin 3-star restaurant in the North of England.

8.

There are a total of 8 Michelin 3-star restaurants in the UK.  Five of the rest are in London. In which small town are the other 2?

Go to Round 4 questions with answers

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme - 'You Can't Touch Me'

1.

Which Latin phrase is defined as the legal brief where someone who is not a party to a case assists a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case.

2.

What does the word Taliban mean in pashto?

3.

What is the common 5-word translation of the last words of the Communist Manifesto written by Marx and Engels?

4.

Which post in the cabinet did R A Butler hold between 1941 and 1945?  He was responsible for an act that was a key part of the reform package that helped reshape post-war society.  It was the only reform for which the Conservatives obtained popular credit.

5.

In the Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan the leading character Frederick is a pirate.  What was his father's intended profession for him?

6.

The Nimrod was a converted comet aircraft used by the RAF for antisubmarine warfare and designated as an MPA.  What does the 'M' stand for in this abbreviation?

7.

In music, what is defined as "two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time"?

8.

What is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from assets?

Go to Round 5 questions with answers

ROUND 6 - Pairs

1.

Which Prime Minister always carried a photograph of the 1926 Football League Champions in his jacket pocket?

2.

Who is the only 20th century Prime Minister to have held all three major offices of state (Foreign Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary) before becoming Prime Minister?  Unusually for a Prime Minister he didn’t go to university.

3.

Where is the prefecture (essentially the chief city) of the French region of Normandy?

4.

Where is the prefecture of the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes?

5.

Who was Queen Mary Tudor's father-in-law?

6.

Who was Louis XVI's mother-in-law?

7.

Which snack especially popular in United States would Spooner express as "blue movies for the police force"?

8.

Which female British solo artist with 3 number ones in the nineteen sixties would Spooner express as "a disgruntled weakly alcoholic drink"?

Go to Round 6 questions with answers

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

Which Arabic word which describes a large region of North Africa means 'West'?

2.

The name of which predominantly Arab-speaking country of North East Africa is a shortened version of the Arabic for 'land of the Blacks'?

3.

What are these 3 consecutive entries in the dictionary:

• practicable, possible, probable, likely,

• a rich and abundant meal,

• a deed manifesting extraordinary strength skill or courage?

4.

What are these 3 consecutive entries in the dictionary:

• the front part of a ship,

• bravery, valour, daring,

• to keep moving about, restlessly as if in search of something?

5.

What is the name of the German poet who died in 1856 whose romantic poetry was set to music by Schubert and Schumann amongst other composers?  His career finished on the rocks like the subject of his most famous poem, having to live the last 25 years of his life in France after being expelled from Germany for his political views.

6.

Which Belgian author, poet and playwright and Nobel Prize winner who died in 1949 was a leading member of the symbolist group and whose major work inspired music by Debussy, Faure, Schoenberg and Sibelius amongst others?

7.

A man swims 1 mile downstream which takes 20 minutes.  He then swims 1 mile upstream at the same speed which takes 30 minutes.  How fast is the current?

8.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee share £144 between them.  If Tweedledum had received 50% more Tweedledee would have received 25% less.  How much did each receive?

Go to Round 7 questions with answers

ROUND 8 - Pairs

1.

Following the death of Sidney Poitier, who became the oldest living and earliest surviving Best Actor Oscar winner?  He is 6 months older than Clint Eastwood and won his 1st Oscar for a role in a film released in 1971.

2.

The oldest ever recipient of an Honorary Oscar for acting was honoured in 2010 at 14 days short of his 95th Birthday.  He was described as “one of the greatest character actors ever to appear on stage and screen”.  He is well-known for playing not particularly nice men in films of the 1960s.  He often appeared alongside his wife Anne Jackson.  Who was he?

3.

Bach wrote preludes and fugues in all the major and minor keys.  Which Russian composer did the same?

4.

In terms of Symphonies, what did Beethoven, Mahler, Schubert and Dvorak all fail to do?

5.

What’s the name of Will Smith’s wife?

6.

What’s the name of the CODA actor who won Best Supporting Actor at the 2022 Oscars?

7.

Which 19th-century novel published in 1847-8 and illustrated by its author has the subtitle "a novel without a hero"?

8.

Which 19th-century novel published in 1871-2 has the subtitle "a study of provincial life"?

Sp1

Who is the only Prime Minister to have played first class cricket?

Sp2

Who, at the age of 43, became the youngest Prime Minister in the 20th century and the youngest since Lord Liverpool?

Sp3

Whose Premiership was attacked in a short book entilted The Guilty Men written by
‘Cato’, one of whose authors was Michael Foot?

Sp4

Which singing duo, who had their first minor hit in 1957, were originally known as Tom and Jerry?

Go to Round 8 questions with answers

ROUND 1 - Run-ons with a twist

In this version of Run-ons the last part of the first answer and the first part of the second answer are different but together they form the title of a work of literature.

Note that the definite and indefinite articles and the word 'and' don’t count - and beware of soundalikes.

1.

Kylie Minogue's first number 1 single in the UK,

&

Three piano compositions by Erik Satie whose title comes the ancient Greek word for an annual festival where young men danced naked.

I should be so LUCKY / GYMnopédies

(Lucky Jim)

2.

Comedian who is a team captain on Would I Lie To You,

&

British gymnast, the bronze medalist on uneven bars at the 2012 Olympics.

Lee MACK /

BETH Tweddle

(Macbeth)

3.

Boxer nicknamed 'The Dark Destroyer',

&

The final track on the Beatles' Abbey Road album - at 23 seconds long, it is their shortest song.

Nigel BENN /

HER Majesty

(Ben Hur)

4.

Traditional Christmas song describing Mary's journey to Bethlehem,

&

A professional dancer, talent show judge and presenter, born in South Africa in 1990.

Little DONKEY /

OTI Mabuse

(Don Quixote)

5.

1989 song written and performed by Phil Collins about homelessness,

&

2003 film starring Bill Murray as a fading American movie star who is having a midlife crisis when he travels to Tokyo to promote Suntory whisky.

Another Day in PARADISE/

LOST In Translation

(Paradise Lost)

6.

A ceremony held on the second Saturday in June in the UK in which flags are prominent,

&

1984 American rock musical drama film scored by and starring Prince in his acting debut.

Trouping the COLOUR /

PURPLE Rain

(The Color Purple)

7.

Drug also known as acetaminophen, used to treat fever and mild-to-moderate pain - it accounts for most drug overdoses in the UK, leading to liver failure,

&

Comedy duo parodied by Armstrong & Miller as Donald Brabbins and Teddy Fyffe.

ParacetaMOL /

FLANDERS and Swann

(Moll Flanders)

8.

Since the mid-1990s, the principal editorial cartoonist of The Guardian, probably best known for the daily strip called 'If...',

&

The first fully computer-generated supporting character in a live-action film, a character of the Gungan race from the Star Wars saga.

Steve BELL /

JAR jar Binks

(The Bell Jar)

Sp.

Resort on the Wirral that has the UK's longest promenade,

&

Jukebox musical built around glam rock songs from the 1980s whose title is also that of a Def Leppard song.

New BRIGHTON /

ROCK of Ages

(Brighton Rock)

ROUND 2 - Hidden theme - 'A New World Order'

1.

What is the acronym of the development project in Manchester that is the largest development project in the North West, at the heart of which is the One Angel Square building?

NOMA

2.

Which strait separates Java and Sumatra?

Sunda

3.

The Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla was noted for which type of dance music?

Tango

4.

What given name connects the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2002 and a Portuguese-British visual artist born in 1935?

Paula

(Radcliffe & Rego)

5.

Which disease, whose name is derived from the Latin for 'madness', is caused by lyssaviruses?

Rabies

6.

Born Margaret Mary Hyra, which actress was married to Dennis Quaid throughout the 1990s?  She earned her first Golden Globe nomination for playing a character whose surname is Albright.

Meg Ryan

7.

In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, what is the name of Lyra's father?  He was played on film by Daniel Craig and on TV by James McAvoy.

Asriel

8.

Following the First World War, which city became the capital of the newly created Prussian Province of Lower Silesia of the Weimar Republic in 1919?  Following World War II, it changed its name.

Breslau

Sp.

From the Greek for 'dilation', what term is used for a bulging, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall?

Aneurism

Theme: Each answer is an anagram of the name of a country...

Oman, Sudan, Tonga, Palau, Serbia, Germany, Israel, Belarus, Suriname 

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - Pairs

1.

What is the name of the new federal US holiday signed into law by President Biden last year?

Juneteenth

2.

The last federal holiday before that was signed into law by Ronald Reagan in 1983 and is celebrated about the middle of January.  What is it?

Martin Luther King day

3.

Which post-war heavyweight boxing champion for 4 years was known as 'The Brockton Blockbuster' after his birthplace in Massachusetts?

Rocky Marciano

4.

Which heavyweight boxing champion for 12 years was known as 'The Brown Bomber'?

Joe Louis

5.

What's the 3rd item missing from this list of Rolling Stones UK number ones in chronological order:

It's All Over Now; Little Red Rooster; ?????? ; I Can't Get No Satisfaction;

Get Off My Cloud; Paint It Black?

The Last Time

6.

What is the 3rd item missing from this list of Abba UK number ones in chronological order:

Waterloo; Mamma Mia; ?????? ; Dancing Queen;

Knowing Me Knowing You; The Name of the Game?

Fernando

7.

A friend of mine had a degree in natural philosophy which he explained was a posh name for which subject?

Physics

8.

What is the common name of the degree 'Literae Humaniores' obtainable from Oxford University?

The Greats

(accept Classics)

Sp.

Which red pigment used in painting is manufactured from mercuric sulphide?

Vermilion

Go back to Round 3 questions without answers

ROUND 4 - Pairs

1.

Reliant Motors were based in which Midlands town?

Tamworth

2.

Jensen Motors were based in which Midlands town?

West Bromwich

3.

The son of Zeus and Semele (who Zeus plucked out of Semele’s dying body and sewed into his own leg until he was born), which god was considered a very welcome addition when he joined the twelve great Gods on Olympus?  He is the God of the grape-harvest and wine-making amongst other things.

Dionysus

(or Bacchus)

4.

The daughter of Zeus and Demeter (often the personification of the seasons), who became queen of the underworld after her abduction by Hades?

Persephone

(or Kore/Kora)

5.

Elbow’s Guy Garvey is married to actress Rachel Stirling.  His mother-in-law who died in 2020 was described by Michael Parkinson in 1972 as "the most desirable woman he’d ever met".  Who was she?

Diana Rigg

6.

Emilia Fox was married between 2005 and 2010 to the actor son of an accomplished but notoriously hellraising actor who told Gay Byrne that he once "went out for a newspaper and was gone for two weeks".  Who is the son?

Jared Harris

7.

What is the name of the small village in the Southern Lake District which contains a Norman Priory and two Michelin starred restaurants - one of which became, in February, the first Michelin 3-star restaurant in the North of England.

8.

There are a total of 8 Michelin 3-star restaurants in the UK.  Five of the rest are in London. In which small town are the other 2?

Bray

Go back to Round 4 questions without answers

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme - 'You Can't Touch Me'

1.

Which Latin phrase is defined as the legal brief where someone who is not a party to a case assists a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case.

Amicus curiae

2.

What does the word Taliban mean in pashto?

Students

(accept seekers)

3.

What is the common 5-word translation of the last words of the Communist Manifesto written by Marx and Engels?

"Workers of the world unite"

4.

Which post in the cabinet did R A Butler hold between 1941 and 1945?  He was responsible for an act that was a key part of the reform package that helped reshape post-war society.  It was the only reform for which the Conservatives obtained popular credit.

Minister of Education

5.

In the Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan the leading character Frederick is a pirate.  What was his father's intended profession for him?

A pilot

6.

The Nimrod was a converted comet aircraft used by the RAF for antisubmarine warfare and designated as an MPA.  What does the 'M' stand for in this abbreviation?

Maritime

7.

In music, what is defined as "two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time"?

Unison

8.

What is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from assets?

Equity

Theme: Each answer contains the name of a British Trade Union...

Amicus, Students, Unite, Education, Pilot, Maritime, Unison , Equity

Go back to Round 5 questions without answers

ROUND 6 - Pairs

1.

Which Prime Minister always carried a photograph of the 1926 Football League Champions in his jacket pocket?

Harold Wilson

2.

Who is the only 20th century Prime Minister to have held all three major offices of state (Foreign Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary) before becoming Prime Minister?  Unusually for a Prime Minister he didn’t go to university.

James Callaghan

3.

Where is the prefecture (essentially the chief city) of the French region of Normandy?

Rouen

4.

Where is the prefecture of the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes?

Lyon

5.

Who was Queen Mary Tudor's father-in-law?

Charles V

6.

Who was Louis XVI's mother-in-law?

Maria Theresa

7.

Which snack especially popular in United States would Spooner express as "blue movies for the police force"?

Popcorn

("cop porn")

8.

Which female British solo artist with 3 number ones in the nineteen sixties would Spooner express as "a disgruntled weakly alcoholic drink"?

Sandie Shaw

("shandy sore")

Go back to Round 6 questions without answers

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

Which Arabic word which describes a large region of North Africa means 'West'?

Maghreb

2.

The name of which predominantly Arab-speaking country of North East Africa is a shortened version of the Arabic for 'land of the Blacks'?

Sudan

3.

What are these 3 consecutive entries in the dictionary:

• practicable, possible, probable, likely,

• a rich and abundant meal,

• a deed manifesting extraordinary strength skill or courage?

Feasible, Feast, Feat

4.

What are these 3 consecutive entries in the dictionary:

• the front part of a ship,

• bravery, valour, daring,

• to keep moving about, restlessly as if in search of something?

Prow, Prowess, Prowl

5.

What is the name of the German poet who died in 1856 whose romantic poetry was set to music by Schubert and Schumann amongst other composers?  His career finished on the rocks like the subject of his most famous poem, having to live the last 25 years of his life in France after being expelled from Germany for his political views.

(Heinrich) Heine

6.

Which Belgian author, poet and playwright and Nobel Prize winner who died in 1949 was a leading member of the symbolist group and whose major work inspired music by Debussy, Faure, Schoenberg and Sibelius amongst others?

(Maurice) Maeterlinck

7.

A man swims 1 mile downstream which takes 20 minutes.  He then swims 1 mile upstream at the same speed which takes 30 minutes.  How fast is the current?

Half a mile an hour

8.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee share £144 between them.  If Tweedledum had received 50% more Tweedledee would have received 25% less.  How much did each receive?

£48 and £96

Go back to Round 7 questions without answers

ROUND 8 - Pairs

1.

Following the death of Sidney Poitier, who became the oldest living and earliest surviving Best Actor Oscar winner?  He is 6 months older than Clint Eastwood and won his 1st Oscar for a role in a film released in 1971.

Gene Hackman

2.

The oldest ever recipient of an Honorary Oscar for acting was honoured in 2010 at 14 days short of his 95th Birthday.  He was described as “one of the greatest character actors ever to appear on stage and screen”.  He is well-known for playing not particularly nice men in films of the 1960s.  He often appeared alongside his wife Anne Jackson.  Who was he?

Eli Wallach

3.

Bach wrote preludes and fugues in all the major and minor keys.  Which Russian composer did the same?

Shostakovich

4.

In terms of Symphonies, what did Beethoven, Mahler, Schubert and Dvorak all fail to do?

Write a 10th Symphony

(often referred to as 'the curse of the 9th')

5.

What’s the name of Will Smith’s wife?

Jada Pinkett-Smith

(Jada Pinkett will do)

6.

What’s the name of the CODA actor who won Best Supporting Actor at the 2022 Oscars?

Troy Kotsur

7.

Which 19th-century novel published in 1847-8 and illustrated by its author has the subtitle "a novel without a hero"?

Vanity Fair

8.

Which 19th-century novel published in 1871-2 has the subtitle "a study of provincial life"?

Middlemarch

Sp1

Who is the only Prime Minister to have played first class cricket?

Alec Douglas-Home

Sp2

Who, at the age of 43, became the youngest Prime Minister in the 20th century and the youngest since Lord Liverpool?

David Cameron

Sp3

Whose Premiership was attacked in a short book entilted The Guilty Men written by
‘Cato’, one of whose authors was Michael Foot?

Neville Chamberlain

Sp4

Which singing duo, who had their first minor hit in 1957, were originally known as Tom and Jerry?

Simon and Garfunkel

Go back to Round 8 questions without answers