ROUND 1 - Hidden theme

1.

Derived from the character Pulcinella of 16th-century Commedia dell’Arte, which character is now voiced by a ‘professor’ using a swazzle?

2.

He completed over 170 war operations before dying in action in 1944, aged 26.  Who led the Dam Busters raid in 1943, and was awarded the VC?

3.

Who wrote numerous hit songs include Begin the Beguine, I Get a Kick Out of You, Well, Did You Evah!, I’ve Got You Under my Skin and You’re the Top?

4.

This 1999 drama film follows Homer Wells (actor Toby Maguire], who lives in a World War 2-era Maine orphanage run by a Dr Wilbur Larch (Oscar-winning Michael Caine), and his journey after leaving there.  What is it called?

5.

Which novel published between 1759 and 1767 includes the eponymous hero, his parents Walter and Elizabeth, his uncle Toby, Corporal Trim, Doctor. Slop, and Parson Yorick?
 

6.

The chorus of the 1979 song Escape by Rupert Holmes originally started as If You Like Humphrey Bogart.  The song is better known by what title?

7.

Superman’s alter ego adopted a passive and introverted personality and conservative mannerisms. In radio and TV show intros, Clark Kent was often described as what sort of "…reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper"?

8.

In 1975, 5-year-old Raymond Leitch was the last person in Britain to die from what?

Sp1

Which song was performed by, among others, Thin Lizzy in 1972, the Pogues (with the Dubliners) in 1990, Metallica in 1998, and Bryan Adams in 2019?

Sp2

Which German fairy tale is about an imp, who spins straw into gold, in exchange for a girl’s firstborn?

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - 'Order, Order, Order, Order'

Put four items in order.

Possible answers, where given in the question, are usually presented in alphabetic sequence.

1.

Starting with the one furthest back in time, name the four presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore.

2.

Put these curries in their order of strength from mildest to hottest:

Dhansak,

Jalfrezi,

Korma,

Vindaloo.

3.

Starting with the oldest, put these Wonders of the World in the order they were built:

Colossus of Rhodes,

Hanging Gardens of Babylon,

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus,

Statue of Zeus.

4.

None of the following are in the Summer Olympic programme, but, starting with the earliest, put these sports in the order they were first played as demonstration sports:

American Football

Australian Rules Football

Basque Pelota

Lacrosse

5.

Since 1896, 10 sports have disappeared from the Olympic schedule.  Starting with the oldest, put the following four in the order they were last played:

Cricket

Motorboating

Polo

Tug of War

6.

Starting with the oldest, put these places in the order of when they were granted official city status:

Cardiff

Edinburgh

Londonderry

Worcester

7.

Starting with oldest, put these four Bond films starting with ‘The’ in chronological order:

The Living Daylights

The Man with the Golden Gun

The Spy Who Loved Me

The World Is Not Enough

8.

Standing normally, and working top to toe, put these four afflictions in order:

Epistaxis

Lateral epicondylitis

Prepatellar bursitis

a Syndesmotic injury

Sp1

Starting with the one with the largest annual revenue, put the ‘Big Four’ global accounting networks in order of size:

Deloitte

Ernst & Young (EY)

KPMG

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

Sp2

Put these brands in chronological order of when they were first produced, starting with the oldest:

Captain Morgan Rum

Famous Grouse Whisky

Gordon’s Gin

Smirnoff Vodka

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - Dead People

All the people in this round have something in common. Apart from being dead.

1.

Following his death in 2001, an annual lecture in his name helps fund ‘Save the Rhino International’.  As a Founding Patron, he once climbed Kilimanjaro in a rhino costume.  More famously, which author’s life is celebrated by ‘Towel Day’ on May 25th each year?

2.

She wrote romantic, devotional, and children's poems, and the words of the carol In the Bleak Midwinter.  Who was buried in a family grave in 1895; which her brother had notoriously opened in 1869, to retrieve unpublished poems that he had buried with his wife.
 

3.

This Polish-born mathematician and philosopher, was nicknamed Bruno by friends and colleagues.  Who is best known for developing a humanistic approach to science, and as the writer and presenter of 13-part BBC TV documentary series in 1973?

4.

This comedian’s career covered music hall, films, TV, and theatre.  As the strangely attired and hilariously strutting Professor Wallofski, who influenced John Cleese in the Ministry of Silly Walks sketch?

5.

Which impresario, visual artist, musician, and fashion designer was an early commercial architect of the punk subculture, and managed the Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and Bow Wow Wow?

6.

He played more than 60 cinema roles, and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Heiress (1949) and posthumously for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), but with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century?

7.

This portrait photographer devised cameras in 1888–1891 and shot moving pictures in London.  Who became wealthy with inventions in printing, and from a chain of photographic studios, but spent it all on inventing, went bankrupt three times, was jailed once, and died in poverty in 1921?

8.

This political campaigner, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party, is best-known for his journalism.  This included the exposure of corrupt architect John Poulson and overturning the convictions of the Birmingham Six.  In whose name did The Guardian and Private Eye set up an award for investigative or campaigning journalism?

Sp1

He established the concept of the electromagnetic field; discovered the principles of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and electrolysis; invented electromagnetic rotary devices, thus founding electric motor technology.  Whose picture did Einstein keep on his study wall, alongside Schopenhauer and James Clerk Maxwell?

Sp2

One writer is best known for the play Sleuth, and the other perhaps for the plays Equus and Amadeus.  Born on May 15th 1926, which twin brothers were born in Liverpool, but are both buried in Highgate Cemetery?  (both first names are required, but not necessarily in the right order)

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 4 - Bingo Round - Deaths in 2023

Pick a date in 2023 to get a question about someone who died on that day.

Where a person’s name is requested, family name will suffice.

4/1

She published 31 novels, from The Fat Woman’s Joke in 1967, to After the Peace in 2018.  Her best-known 1983 novel, televised by the BBC in 1986, is about a very unattractive woman taking revenge on her husband and his attractive lover.  What is the name of this author, essayist, and playwright?

23/2

 Beginning with the BBC in 1971, who commentated on over 2000 games on television and radio, including 10 FIFA World Cups, 10 UEFA European Championships and 29 FA Cup finals?

1/3

The Canadian-born jazz clarinettist and a cartoonist, Wally Fawkes, illustrated the Flook cartoon strip in The Daily Mail from 1949 to 1984.  What was his pen name for this satire of British politics?

27/4

Which former Mayor of Cincinnati and talk show host was born in 1944 in London’s Highgate Tube Station?

24/5

She was the first black artist and first woman to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.  She was the opening act for the 1981 US tours by the Rolling Stones and by Rod Stewart, and the 1984 Lionel Richie tour.  Which Swiss citizen’s estimated wealth was about 225 million Swiss francs (about £200 million)?

10/6

The American terrorist Ted Kaczynski committed suicide in prison.  Based on the FBI case identifier, what nickname did the media give him?

21/7

His first of over 70 albums was Because of You released in 1952.  His last album was Love for Sale in 2021 with Lady Gaga.  Who was this American jazz and traditional pop singer?

23/8

What was the name of the mercenary leader and oligarch, who was killed along with nine other people when a business jet crashed in Tver Oblast, north of Moscow?

10/9

As an embryologist, Sir Ian Wilmut led a research group near Edinburgh.  From 1996 to 2003, with which specific individual animal was he associated?  (the answer comprises three words)

2/10

Before he retired in 1976, which footballer founded a firm in Bolton that recycled paper into products such as kitchen roll and toilet paper, and sold it in 1984 for £8.35 million?

Go to Round 4 questions with answers

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme

1.

Since August 3rd 2023, General Lyndon Buckingham has served as the international leader and CEO of which organization?

2.

In response to Neil Young’s 1970 song Southern Man, which describes racism towards the blacks in the American South, which band released a song in 1974 extolling the Yellowhammer state?

3.

A mosaic outside St Giles Cathedral marks the entrance to Edinburgh's Old Tolbooth which was demolished in 1817.  Giving its name to an 1818 novel by Sir Walter Scott, what is this mosaic called?

4.

Livorno in Tuscany is a port city on the Ligurian Sea.  By what name is it traditionally known in English?

5.

Complete this expression from a 1675 letter by Isaac Newton:

"If I have seen further [than others], it is by…."

How?

6.

Established in the early 19th century when it began importing cotton and silk from Shanghai, which European city has the oldest Chinatown?

7.

First appearing in 1965, by what name is the puppet Hiram K Hackenbacker more commonly known?

8.

Sometimes called the 'Heart of Industrial England' or 'The Gateway to the Peak', which market town has a local football team is known as The Spireites?

Sp1

Taweret is the protective ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility.  She is typically depicted with the limbs and paws of a lion, and the back and tail of a Nile crocodile, pendulous female human breasts, and the body of which animal?

Sp2

Which idiom meaning to express one’s anger, derives from the medieval belief that different organs of the body are the repositories of different emotions?

Go to Round 5 questions with answers

ROUND 6 - A Science round

1.

Which element, first isolated in 1807, is missing from this list:

barium

boron

calcium

magnesium

potassium?

2.

Which country successfully soft-landed a probe near the moon’s South Pole on August 23rd 2023?

3.

Modern physics rests on the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics.  A TOE would reconcile these frameworks and link together all aspects of the universe.  What does the acronym TOE stand for?

4.

The ‘Dusseldorf patient’ (a 53-year-old man) received a bone marrow transplant 10 years ago, and has become only the fourth person to be cured of which disease?

5.

In a 2021 study, scientists used a virus to switch off the gene that triggers which genetic illness? Instead of misshapen blood cells clogging blood vessels, depriving the body of oxygen, and causing tremendous pain, the patients, generally of African descent, produced healthy red blood cells.

6.

Several GUTs have been proposed over the years to unify electromagnetism and the weak and strong forces.  What does the acronym GUT stand for?

7.

The Galileo probe studied Jupiter, its moons, and the asteroids Gaspra and Ida from 1995 to 2003. What is the name of space probe currently orbiting Jupiter from 2016 until 2025?

8.

Which element, discovered in 1843, is missing from this list:

yttrium

ytterbium

terbium?

Sp1

There are six flavours of quark.  Which one is missing from this list: Up, down, top, bottom, and charm?

Sp2

On August 4th 1922, for one minute at 6:25 p.m. Eastern Time, every phone on the continent of North America was silenced.  In whose honour?

Go to Round 6 questions with answers

ROUND 7 - Run-ons

NB: There is at least one sound-alike

1.

Which orchestral march by William Walton, was commissioned for the coronation of King George VI?

&

For many years it was largest manufacturer in Britain.  Founded in 1926, it disappeared in 2008, when AkzoNobel acquired it.  Give the full name of this company, of which Sir John Harvey-Jones was chairman from 1982 to 1987.

2.

From 1974 to 1993, which Dutch actress starred as the eponymous character in five Emmanuelle films?

&

Also called ‘ice’ or ‘glass’, the clear or shiny blue-white chunks of methamphetamine, used as a party drug, are most commonly known as what?

3.

Which 1898 Henry James Gothic horror novella follows a governess who, caring for two children at a remote estate, is convinced that the grounds are haunted?

&

Which 1942 C S Lewis novel is sub-titled Letters from a Senior to a Junior Devil?

4.

Which 1939 dance goes as follows: face partner, tap hands; clap hands to knees; ‘with great delicacy and discretion’, bump hip against bustle; place hand on heart, bow; waltz for four bars; repeat?

&

In The Great Gatsby, what is the name of the wealthy socialite that Jay Gatsby obsesses over?

5.

Which phrase, attributed to Napoleon, is used to spurn someone’s sexual advances?

&

Which American dancer dressed in a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image of the Jazz Age?  She was the first black woman to be inducted into the Pantheon in Paris.

6.

In the Bible which book comes between The Book of Joel and The Book of Obadiah?

&

The actor Ronald Magill portrayed which character, from the first episode of Emmerdale Farm in 1972, until 1995?

7.

Best known for his 1968 hit Tiptoe Through the Tulips, what was the stage-name of singer and ukulele player Herbert Khaury?

&

Which former Lib Dem Leader has been MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005?

8.

What nickname is applied to New Orleans?

&

Founded 1995 by Greek-Cypriot businessman Stelios Haji-Ioannou, which company has its head office at Hanger 89 at Luton Airport?

Sp1

Which 1938 Graham Greene novel is a murder thriller set in the 1930s with Pinkie Brown and Ida Arnold as its main characters?

&

Popularized in the early 1950s by artists such as Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley, which style of music blended Western musical styles such as Country with Rhythm & Blues?  The style waned in the late 1950s.

Sp2

This footballer played for Manchester City and Liverpool, and gained one Scottish cap in 1933.  His managerial career included the GB Olympic team in 1948 and Scotland in 1958.  Knighted in 1968, who was he?

&

In films such as 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933, and Footlight Parade, which American choreographer devised elaborate musical production numbers, often involving complex geometric patterns?

Go to Round 7 questions with answers

ROUND 8 - A Pot Pourri round

1.

Following the death of Frank Williams in 2022 who played the Reverend Timothy Farthing, who is the only surviving member of the Dad’s Army cast?

2.

Which British jazz musician, known principally for his saxophone playing, also plays the flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, and keyboards?  He founded the black British band the Jazz Warriors in 1986.

3.

Which tree is missing from this list of five national flags:

Coconut Palm, Mahogany, Royal Palm, Silk Cotton?

4.

A 2007 biographical musical about Edith Piaf won Best Actress and Best Makeup Oscars.  In France the film was called La Môme, but, using Piaf’s signature song, what was its French title in the UK and US?

5.

Excelling in both dramatic and comic roles, which American actor was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning Best Supporting Actor in 1956 for a comedy-drama, and Best Actor in 1974 for a straight drama?

6.

Which one is missing from this 1910 list:

Cape, Natal, Transvaal?

7.

In 1968, when Donovan is singing that she lives upon a hill and is sitting very still and asks "Is she sleeping? I don't think so. Is she breathing? Yes, very low.", who is he singing about?

8.

What was the name of the TV mystery thriller series starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris as gardening detectives, which ran from August 2003 until August 2007?

Sp1

Established in 578AD, the Kongo Gumi construction company in Osaka is the world’s oldest continually operating company.  With its origins in 886AD, which is the oldest UK company?  It moved from London to Llantrisant in Wales in 1968.

 

Sp2

In 1960, which country became the first in the world to put its map on its flag?  The map is a copper-orange colour, symbolising the country’s large deposits of copper ore, from which it may have got its name.

Go to Round 8 questions with answers

ROUND 1 - Hidden theme

1.

Derived from the character Pulcinella of 16th-century Commedia dell’Arte, which character is now voiced by a ‘professor’ using a swazzle?

Mr Punch

2.

He completed over 170 war operations before dying in action in 1944, aged 26.  Who led the Dam Busters raid in 1943, and was awarded the VC?

Guy Gibson

3.

Who wrote numerous hit songs include Begin the Beguine, I Get a Kick Out of You, Well, Did You Evah!, I’ve Got You Under my Skin and You’re the Top?

Cole Porter

4.

This 1999 drama film follows Homer Wells (actor Toby Maguire], who lives in a World War 2-era Maine orphanage run by a Dr Wilbur Larch (Oscar-winning Michael Caine), and his journey after leaving there.  What is it called?

The Cider House Rules

5.

Which novel published between 1759 and 1767 includes the eponymous hero, his parents Walter and Elizabeth, his uncle Toby, Corporal Trim, Doctor. Slop, and Parson Yorick?
 

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

(accept just Tristram Shandy)

6.

The chorus of the 1979 song Escape by Rupert Holmes originally started as If You Like Humphrey Bogart.  The song is better known by what title?

7.

Superman’s alter ego adopted a passive and introverted personality and conservative mannerisms. In radio and TV show intros, Clark Kent was often described as what sort of "…reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper"?

"mild-mannered"

8.

In 1975, 5-year-old Raymond Leitch was the last person in Britain to die from what?

A snake bite

(accept ‘bitten by a snake’, but 'snakebite' is required for the theme - he was bitten by an adder on the ankle, and in the Trossachs)

Sp1

Which song was performed by, among others, Thin Lizzy in 1972, the Pogues (with the Dubliners) in 1990, Metallica in 1998, and Bryan Adams in 2019?

Whiskey in the Jar

Sp2

Which German fairy tale is about an imp, who spins straw into gold, in exchange for a girl’s firstborn?

Rumpelstiltskin

Theme: Each answer contains the name of an alcoholic drink

ROUND 2 - 'Order, Order, Order, Order'

Put four items in order.

Possible answers, where given in the question, are usually presented in alphabetic sequence.

1.

Starting with the one furthest back in time, name the four presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore.

Washington

(1789-1797)

Jefferson

(1801-1809)

Lincoln

(1861-1865)

Theodore Roosevelt

(1901-1909)

2.

Put these curries in their order of strength from mildest to hottest:

Dhansak,

Jalfrezi,

Korma,

Vindaloo.

Korma

Dhansak

Jalfrezi

Vindaloo

3.

Starting with the oldest, put these Wonders of the World in the order they were built:

Colossus of Rhodes,

Hanging Gardens of Babylon,

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus,

Statue of Zeus.

Hanging Gardens

(c.600BC)

Statue of Zeus

(c.435BC)

Mausoleum

(c351BC)

Colossus of Rhodes

(292-280BC)

4.

None of the following are in the Summer Olympic programme, but, starting with the earliest, put these sports in the order they were first played as demonstration sports:

American Football

Australian Rules Football

Basque Pelota

Lacrosse

Basque Pelota

(1924 Paris)

Lacrosse

(1928 Amsterdam)

American Football

(1932 Los Angeles)

Australian Rules Football

(1956 Melbourne)

5.

Since 1896, 10 sports have disappeared from the Olympic schedule.  Starting with the oldest, put the following four in the order they were last played:

Cricket

Motorboating

Polo

Tug of War

Cricket

(1900 Paris)

Motorboating

(1908 London)

Tug of War

(1920 Antwerp)

Polo

(1936 Berlin)

6.

Starting with the oldest, put these places in the order of when they were granted official city status:

Cardiff

Edinburgh

Londonderry

Worcester

Worcester

(1189)

Edinburgh

(1329)

Londonderry

(1613)

Cardiff

(1905)

7.

Starting with oldest, put these four Bond films starting with ‘The’ in chronological order:

The Living Daylights

The Man with the Golden Gun

The Spy Who Loved Me

The World Is Not Enough

The Man with the Golden Gun

(1974)

The Spy Who Loved Me

(1977)

The Living Daylights

(1987)

The World Is Not Enough

(1999)

8.

Standing normally, and working top to toe, put these four afflictions in order:

Epistaxis

Lateral epicondylitis

Prepatellar bursitis

a Syndesmotic injury

Epistaxis

(Nose bleed)

Lateral epicondylitis

(Tennis elbow)

Prepatellar bursitis

(Housemaid’s knee)

Syndesmotic injury

(Sprained ankle)

Sp1

Starting with the one with the largest annual revenue, put the ‘Big Four’ global accounting networks in order of size:

Deloitte

Ernst & Young (EY)

KPMG

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

Deloitte

$59.3 billion

PwC

$50.3 billion

EY

$45.4 billion

KPMG

$32.1 billion

Sp2

Put these brands in chronological order of when they were first produced, starting with the oldest:

Captain Morgan Rum

Famous Grouse Whisky

Gordon’s Gin

Smirnoff Vodka

Gordon’s Gin

1769

Smirnoff Vodka

1864

Famous Grouse Whisky

1896

Captain Morgan Rum

1943

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - Dead People

All the people in this round have something in common. Apart from being dead.

1.

Following his death in 2001, an annual lecture in his name helps fund ‘Save the Rhino International’.  As a Founding Patron, he once climbed Kilimanjaro in a rhino costume.  More famously, which author’s life is celebrated by ‘Towel Day’ on May 25th each year?

Douglas Adams

2.

She wrote romantic, devotional, and children's poems, and the words of the carol In the Bleak Midwinter.  Who was buried in a family grave in 1895; which her brother had notoriously opened in 1869, to retrieve unpublished poems that he had buried with his wife.
 

Christina Rossetti

(her brother was the poet and Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti)

3.

This Polish-born mathematician and philosopher, was nicknamed Bruno by friends and colleagues.  Who is best known for developing a humanistic approach to science, and as the writer and presenter of 13-part BBC TV documentary series in 1973?

Jacob Bronowski

(as in The Ascent of Man)

4.

This comedian’s career covered music hall, films, TV, and theatre.  As the strangely attired and hilariously strutting Professor Wallofski, who influenced John Cleese in the Ministry of Silly Walks sketch?

Max Wall

5.

Which impresario, visual artist, musician, and fashion designer was an early commercial architect of the punk subculture, and managed the Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and Bow Wow Wow?

Malcolm McLaren

6.

He played more than 60 cinema roles, and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Heiress (1949) and posthumously for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), but with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century?

Sir Ralph Richardson

7.

This portrait photographer devised cameras in 1888–1891 and shot moving pictures in London.  Who became wealthy with inventions in printing, and from a chain of photographic studios, but spent it all on inventing, went bankrupt three times, was jailed once, and died in poverty in 1921?

William Friese-Greene

(accept William Green)

8.

This political campaigner, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party, is best-known for his journalism.  This included the exposure of corrupt architect John Poulson and overturning the convictions of the Birmingham Six.  In whose name did The Guardian and Private Eye set up an award for investigative or campaigning journalism?

Paul Foot

Sp1

He established the concept of the electromagnetic field; discovered the principles of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and electrolysis; invented electromagnetic rotary devices, thus founding electric motor technology.  Whose picture did Einstein keep on his study wall, alongside Schopenhauer and James Clerk Maxwell?

Michael Faraday

Sp2

One writer is best known for the play Sleuth, and the other perhaps for the plays Equus and Amadeus.  Born on May 15th 1926, which twin brothers were born in Liverpool, but are both buried in Highgate Cemetery?  (both first names are required, but not necessarily in the right order)

Anthony and Peter Shaffer

Hidden commonality: They are all buried in Highgate Cemetery

Go back to Round 3 questions without answers

ROUND 4 - Bingo Round - Deaths in 2023

Pick a date in 2023 to get a question about someone who died on that day.

Where a person’s name is requested, family name will suffice.

4/1

She published 31 novels, from The Fat Woman’s Joke in 1967, to After the Peace in 2018.  Her best-known 1983 novel, televised by the BBC in 1986, is about a very unattractive woman taking revenge on her husband and his attractive lover.  What is the name of this author, essayist, and playwright?

Fay Weldon

(the famous novel was The Life and Loves of a She-Devil)

23/2

 Beginning with the BBC in 1971, who commentated on over 2000 games on television and radio, including 10 FIFA World Cups, 10 UEFA European Championships and 29 FA Cup finals?

John Motson

1/3

The Canadian-born jazz clarinettist and a cartoonist, Wally Fawkes, illustrated the Flook cartoon strip in The Daily Mail from 1949 to 1984.  What was his pen name for this satire of British politics?

Trog

27/4

Which former Mayor of Cincinnati and talk show host was born in 1944 in London’s Highgate Tube Station?

Jerry Springer

24/5

She was the first black artist and first woman to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.  She was the opening act for the 1981 US tours by the Rolling Stones and by Rod Stewart, and the 1984 Lionel Richie tour.  Which Swiss citizen’s estimated wealth was about 225 million Swiss francs (about £200 million)?

Tina Turner

(she became a Swiss citizen and relinquished her American citizenship in 2013)

10/6

The American terrorist Ted Kaczynski committed suicide in prison.  Based on the FBI case identifier, what nickname did the media give him?

Unabomber

(from University and Airline Bomber, hence the FBI case identifier 'UNABOMB'; he initially targeted various Universities and American Airlines, United Airlines, and Boeing)

21/7

His first of over 70 albums was Because of You released in 1952.  His last album was Love for Sale in 2021 with Lady Gaga.  Who was this American jazz and traditional pop singer?

Tony Bennett

23/8

What was the name of the mercenary leader and oligarch, who was killed along with nine other people when a business jet crashed in Tver Oblast, north of Moscow?

Yevgeny Prigozhin

10/9

As an embryologist, Sir Ian Wilmut led a research group near Edinburgh.  From 1996 to 2003, with which specific individual animal was he associated?  (the answer comprises three words)

Dolly the Sheep

2/10

Before he retired in 1976, which footballer founded a firm in Bolton that recycled paper into products such as kitchen roll and toilet paper, and sold it in 1984 for £8.35 million?

Francis Lee

Go back to Round 4 questions without answers

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme

1.

Since August 3rd 2023, General Lyndon Buckingham has served as the international leader and CEO of which organization?

The Salvation Army

2.

In response to Neil Young’s 1970 song Southern Man, which describes racism towards the blacks in the American South, which band released a song in 1974 extolling the Yellowhammer state?

Lynyrd Skynyrd

(the song was Sweet Home Alabama)

3.

A mosaic outside St Giles Cathedral marks the entrance to Edinburgh's Old Tolbooth which was demolished in 1817.  Giving its name to an 1818 novel by Sir Walter Scott, what is this mosaic called?

The Heart of Mid-Lothian

4.

Livorno in Tuscany is a port city on the Ligurian Sea.  By what name is it traditionally known in English?

Leghorn

5.

Complete this expression from a 1675 letter by Isaac Newton:

"If I have seen further [than others], it is by…."

How?

"...standing on the shoulders of giants."

6.

Established in the early 19th century when it began importing cotton and silk from Shanghai, which European city has the oldest Chinatown?

Liverpool

7.

First appearing in 1965, by what name is the puppet Hiram K Hackenbacker more commonly known?

Brains

(from the Thunderbirds TV series)

8.

Sometimes called the 'Heart of Industrial England' or 'The Gateway to the Peak', which market town has a local football team is known as The Spireites?

Chesterfield

Sp1

Taweret is the protective ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility.  She is typically depicted with the limbs and paws of a lion, and the back and tail of a Nile crocodile, pendulous female human breasts, and the body of which animal?

Hippopotamus

Sp2

Which idiom meaning to express one’s anger, derives from the medieval belief that different organs of the body are the repositories of different emotions?

To vent one’s spleen

Theme: Each answer contains the name of a part of the body

Go back to Round 5 questions without answers

ROUND 6 - A Science round

1.

Which element, first isolated in 1807, is missing from this list:

barium

boron

calcium

magnesium

potassium?

Sodium

(all isolated by Sir Humphry Davy)

2.

Which country successfully soft-landed a probe near the moon’s South Pole on August 23rd 2023?

India

(Chandrayaan-3)

3.

Modern physics rests on the theories of general relativity and quantum mechanics.  A TOE would reconcile these frameworks and link together all aspects of the universe.  What does the acronym TOE stand for?

Theory of Everything

4.

The ‘Dusseldorf patient’ (a 53-year-old man) received a bone marrow transplant 10 years ago, and has become only the fourth person to be cured of which disease?

HIV

(accept AIDS - he has been off anti-retroviral medication for four years with no trace of the virus in his body)

5.

In a 2021 study, scientists used a virus to switch off the gene that triggers which genetic illness? Instead of misshapen blood cells clogging blood vessels, depriving the body of oxygen, and causing tremendous pain, the patients, generally of African descent, produced healthy red blood cells.

Sickle Cell Disease

(accept Sickle Cell Anaemia)

6.

Several GUTs have been proposed over the years to unify electromagnetism and the weak and strong forces.  What does the acronym GUT stand for?

Grand Unified Theory

7.

The Galileo probe studied Jupiter, its moons, and the asteroids Gaspra and Ida from 1995 to 2003. What is the name of space probe currently orbiting Jupiter from 2016 until 2025?

Juno

8.

Which element, discovered in 1843, is missing from this list:

yttrium

ytterbium

terbium?

Erbium

(all named after the Swedish village of Ytterby)

Sp1

There are six flavours of quark.  Which one is missing from this list: Up, down, top, bottom, and charm?

Strange

Sp2

On August 4th 1922, for one minute at 6:25 p.m. Eastern Time, every phone on the continent of North America was silenced.  In whose honour?

Alexander Graham Bell

Go back to Round 6 questions without answers

ROUND 7 - Run-ons

NB: There is at least one sound-alike

1.

Which orchestral march by William Walton, was commissioned for the coronation of King George VI?

&

For many years it was largest manufacturer in Britain.  Founded in 1926, it disappeared in 2008, when AkzoNobel acquired it.  Give the full name of this company, of which Sir John Harvey-Jones was chairman from 1982 to 1987.

Crown Imperial Chemical Industries

2.

From 1974 to 1993, which Dutch actress starred as the eponymous character in five Emmanuelle films?

&

Also called ‘ice’ or ‘glass’, the clear or shiny blue-white chunks of methamphetamine, used as a party drug, are most commonly known as what?

Sylvia Kristel/Crystal Meth

3.

Which 1898 Henry James Gothic horror novella follows a governess who, caring for two children at a remote estate, is convinced that the grounds are haunted?

&

Which 1942 C S Lewis novel is sub-titled Letters from a Senior to a Junior Devil?

The Turn of the Screw Tape Letters

4.

Which 1939 dance goes as follows: face partner, tap hands; clap hands to knees; ‘with great delicacy and discretion’, bump hip against bustle; place hand on heart, bow; waltz for four bars; repeat?

&

In The Great Gatsby, what is the name of the wealthy socialite that Jay Gatsby obsesses over?

Boomps-a-Daisy Buchanan

(or Hands, Knees, and Boomps-a-Daisy Buchanan)

5.

Which phrase, attributed to Napoleon, is used to spurn someone’s sexual advances?

&

Which American dancer dressed in a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image of the Jazz Age?  She was the first black woman to be inducted into the Pantheon in Paris.

Not tonight, Joséphine Baker

6.

In the Bible which book comes between The Book of Joel and The Book of Obadiah?

&

The actor Ronald Magill portrayed which character, from the first episode of Emmerdale Farm in 1972, until 1995?

The Book of Amos Brearly

7.

Best known for his 1968 hit Tiptoe Through the Tulips, what was the stage-name of singer and ukulele player Herbert Khaury?

&

Which former Lib Dem Leader has been MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005?

Tiny Tim Farron

8.

What nickname is applied to New Orleans?

&

Founded 1995 by Greek-Cypriot businessman Stelios Haji-Ioannou, which company has its head office at Hanger 89 at Luton Airport?

The Big EasyJet

Sp1

Which 1938 Graham Greene novel is a murder thriller set in the 1930s with Pinkie Brown and Ida Arnold as its main characters?

&

Popularized in the early 1950s by artists such as Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley, which style of music blended Western musical styles such as Country with Rhythm & Blues?  The style waned in the late 1950s.

Brighton Rockabilly

Sp2

This footballer played for Manchester City and Liverpool, and gained one Scottish cap in 1933.  His managerial career included the GB Olympic team in 1948 and Scotland in 1958.  Knighted in 1968, who was he?

&

In films such as 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933, and Footlight Parade, which American choreographer devised elaborate musical production numbers, often involving complex geometric patterns?

Sir Matt Busby Berkeley

Go back to Round 7 questions without answers

ROUND 8 - A Pot Pourri round

1.

Following the death of Frank Williams in 2022 who played the Reverend Timothy Farthing, who is the only surviving member of the Dad’s Army cast?

Ian Lavender

(Private Frank Pike)

2.

Which British jazz musician, known principally for his saxophone playing, also plays the flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, and keyboards?  He founded the black British band the Jazz Warriors in 1986.

Courtney Pine

3.

Which tree is missing from this list of five national flags:

Coconut Palm, Mahogany, Royal Palm, Silk Cotton?

Cedar

(of Lebanon - trees on other national flags: Fiji, Belize, Haiti, and Equatorial Guinea respectively)

4.

A 2007 biographical musical about Edith Piaf won Best Actress and Best Makeup Oscars.  In France the film was called La Môme, but, using Piaf’s signature song, what was its French title in the UK and US?

La Vie en Rose

5.

Excelling in both dramatic and comic roles, which American actor was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning Best Supporting Actor in 1956 for a comedy-drama, and Best Actor in 1974 for a straight drama?

Jack Lemmon

(1956 Mr Roberts, 1974 Save the Tiger)

6.

Which one is missing from this 1910 list:

Cape, Natal, Transvaal?

Orange Free State

(or Orange River - they are the four British colonies which formed the Union of South Africa)

7.

In 1968, when Donovan is singing that she lives upon a hill and is sitting very still and asks "Is she sleeping? I don't think so. Is she breathing? Yes, very low.", who is he singing about?

Jennifer Juniper

8.

What was the name of the TV mystery thriller series starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris as gardening detectives, which ran from August 2003 until August 2007?

Rosemary & Thyme

Sp1

Established in 578AD, the Kongo Gumi construction company in Osaka is the world’s oldest continually operating company.  With its origins in 886AD, which is the oldest UK company?  It moved from London to Llantrisant in Wales in 1968.

 

The Royal Mint

(some of you might remember Llantrisant being referred to as ‘The Hole with the Mint’)

Sp2

In 1960, which country became the first in the world to put its map on its flag?  The map is a copper-orange colour, symbolising the country’s large deposits of copper ore, from which it may have got its name.

Cyprus

Theme: Each answer contains the name of an ingredient that may be found in a pot pourri

Go back to Round 8 questions without answers