ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

Czechoslovakia won the 1976 European Championship after a penalty shoot-out against West Germany.  Who scored the winning penalty?

2.

Which cocktail is a mixture of gin and dry vermouth, garnished with a pickled onion?

3.

Which British actor appeared on TV in the role of Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, had a lead role as Ellie in The Last of Us and appeared as Kelsey in series 2 of Time?  (full name required)

4.

Who was the Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843 and played a major role in the Great Trigonometric Survey of the country?

5.

Which city stands at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers?

6.

Which British actor had a leading role in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in 2008, played the title role in the film Hugo in 2011 and played Otis Milburn in the TV series, Sex Education?

7.

Which cocktail is a mixture of gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup and soda water served over ice?

8.

Which city stands at the confluence of the Blue and White Niles?

Sp1

Who died in Eccles on 15th September 1830, following an accident in Newton-le-Willows a few hours earlier?

Sp2

Who was NASA’s second Administrator?  He headed the organisation during the Apollo programme.

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - Pairs

1.

Who killed the Trojan hero, Hector?

2.

Which Austrian composer’s 4th Symphony was nicknamed the Romantic Symphony?  (both names required)

3.

Which 1983 television drama by Alan Bennett portrays the meeting in Moscow between the actress Coral Browne and the spy Guy Burgess?

4.

Which Greek king was leader of the expedition to Troy?  He sacrificed his daughter before setting off and was murdered by his wife after returning.

5.

Bordeaux is the capital of which French administrative region?

6.

Zaragoza is the capital of which Spanish Autonomous Community)?

7.

Which Austrian composer wrote the operas Wozzeck and Lulu?  (both names required)

8.

The 1981 Best Supporting Actor was won for the portrayal of a character called Hobson in which film?

Sp.

Mars was the Roman equivalent of which Greek god?

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - Pairs

1.

How are Bonnano, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese collectively known?

2.

His song Here In My Heart was the first number one hit in the UK singles chart published by The New Musical Express in November 1952.  Twenty one years later he had another huge hit with Spanish Eyes.  In between he played a character in The Godfather who was closely modelled on his own life and career.  Who was he?

3.

Who plays the character Henry Hill in the 1990 film Goodfellas?

4.

What is the English translation of 'Cosa Nostra'?

5.

The Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of John F Kennedy, had amongst its members a future President of the United States and the longest serving Director of the CIA who had been sacked by Kennedy in 1962 following The Bay of Pigs fiasco.  Name both.

6.

An act passed by the United States Congress in 1919 was used to prosecute numerous figures involved in organised crime, including Al Capone who was charged with over 5,000 breaches.  The act was nicknamed after the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee who managed the legislation through Congress.  How was this act known?

7.

A historic meeting between the United States Mafia and the Cosa Nostra (of Sicily) was held at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana in December 1946.  Who provided the entertainment at this meeting which became known as the Havana Conference?

8.

In which 1984 film does Robert De Niro play a character called Noodles?

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 4 - 'Start the way you mean to finish'

Each answer begins and ends with the same letter - some are one word answers - some are longer - the definite article is required in one answer

1.

This stretch of water is 17 miles long and is situated 12 miles west of Fort William.  At its Northern end is the Glenfinnan monument.  What is its name?

2.

Which Cole Porter song contains the following lyric:

“When you’re near there’s such an air of spring about it
I can hear a lark somewhere begin to sing about it”?

3.

Which poem begins with the lines:

"On either side the river lie, long fields of barley and of rye, that clothe the wold and meet the sky; and thro’ the field the road runs by to many-tower’d Camelot”?

It came second in the BBC’s 1996 poll of The Nation’s Favourite Poems.

4.

Which English seaside town has the UK’s longest promenade?

5.

This musical opened on Broadway in 1964 and became the first musical to have over 3000 performances.  The music was by Jerry Bock and the lyrics by Sheldon Harnick.  The 1971 film version was directed by Norman Jewison.  What is it called?

6.

Which is the largest city in a UEFA member country never to have staged a Champions League match?

7.

What is the SI unit of electrical conductance?

8.

This advertising slogan first appeared in 2002.  It has since entered everyday conversation.  It was widely quoted after Dominic Cummings’ infamous trip to Barnard Castle in May 2020.  What is it?

Sp1

What was the title of Verdi’s final opera?

Sp2

Which English writer’s works include a James Bond novel published in 2008 and a Jeeves novel published in 2013?

Go to Round 4 questions with answers

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme

1.

Which product was controversially advertised in the early 2000s with the slogan “It’s Not For Girls”?

2.

Who in 2002 became the first winner of the reality TV show I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here?

3.

In which make of car was President Kennedy travelling when he was assassinated?

4.

Which writer stated that his epitaph should be “I told you so you damned fools”?

5.

Which phrase was famously used by Del Boy Trotter in Only Fools and Horses when he was feeling happy?

6.

The former pupils of which educational institution include Sir Christopher Wren, A A Milne, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tony Benn, Shane McGowan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Louis Theroux?

7.

Who was the first presenter of the TV series Top Gear (from 1977 to 1979)?

8.

Who became President of the United States in 1881 following the assassination of President Garfield? (both names required)

Sp1

Which literary character has been played on film by amongst others Orson Welles, George C Scott, William Hurt and Michael Fassbender?  (only surname required)

Sp2

Which Football League club was formed in 1883 as Singers FC and adopted its current name in 1896?

Go to Round 5 questions with answers

ROUND 6 - 'Initially the same'

Each question consists of two separate questions with 2 word answers beginning with the same letters.

For example ...

1.

2.

a) Brother of a famous fictional detective

b) Military historian and former editor of the Daily Telegraph who shares his surname with the sidekick of a famous fictional detective

3.

a) British playwright murdered by his lover Kenneth Halliwell - he was the subject of the film Prick Up Your Ears

b) British playwright who created the characters Archie Rice and Jimmy Porter

4.

a) British opera featuring the characters Ellen Orford and Auntie

b) Play written by Ibsen - music written for it includes the pieces Solveig’s Song and In the Hall of the Mountain King

5.

a) Actress whose first husband was Desi Arnaz

b) Actress whose first husband was Humphrey Bogart

6.

a) La Liga team based in Seville

b) Company which sponsors the reigning Austrian Bundesliga champions

7.

a) City from which Santos FC come

b) Hipster football team from Hamburg who play at the Millerntor-Stadion

8.

a) Actress known as the Brazilian Bombshell famous for wearing a fruit-coloured hat

b) Actress famous for being the Lamb’s Navy Rum Girl in the sixties and seventies - she also appeared in several Hammer Horror films

Sp.

a) Booker Prize winning author of Bring Up the Bodies

b) Japanese author whose books include The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Norwegian Wood

Go to Round 6 questions with answers

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

Sportsmen such as Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins and Jurgen Klopp have all benefitted from the use of TUEs.  What does TUE stand for?

2.

On the Saturday closest to October 13th pilgrims walk barefoot to touch whose tomb in Westminster Abbey?

3.

The all-time male leading test run scorer is Sachin Tendulkar and the leading test wicket taker is Muttiah Muralitharan.  Australians are second in each list.  Name both.

4.

Ten male cricketers have scored more than 3,000 test runs and taken more than 300 test wickets. Two of the ten have been knighted.  Name them.

5.

A Muslim on Hajj will reach the climax of their pilgrimage by circling a small stone building.  What is the name of this building?

6.

In planning and development people can be broadly categorised as either 'NIMBY' or 'YIMBY'.  What do both these abbreviations stand for?

7.

Deriving its name from the Italian verb 'to talk', what slang language is used by a variety of people such as merchant navy sailors, street performers and most prominently the gay community?

8.

Mackem is the name for the dialect of Sunderland and Wearside.  What is the name of the dialect of the former mining areas in County Durham and to the north of Newcastle which draws heavily on mining jargon?

Go to Round 7 questions with answers

ROUND 8 - Hidden theme

1.

Which Daphne du Maurier novel of 1941 shares its title with an inlet off the Helston estuary in south Cornwall?

2.

Which ex-Housemartin had hits with Praise You and Right Here, Right Now?

3.

Who made his first speech to the Conservative Party conference in 1977 at the age of 16?

4.

What word links a Scotch whisky distilling company, a British/Swazi actor and a monetary award?

5.

What word links a former Welsh county, a US state capital and an American actor who appeared in From Here to Eternity (1953) and Judgement at Nuremburg (1961)?

6.

Jack Whitehall, Anthony Blunt, John Betjeman, both Middleton sisters and Samantha Cameron were all educated at which Wiltshire ‘public’ school?

7.

What song was first recorded by Richard Harris in 1968 and became a multi-million selling hit for Donna Summer ten years later?

8.

What name is shared by a character in a 1980s TV action series, a fictional killer and a French midfielder who currently wears the number 46 shirt for Manchester United?

Sp1

Zizia aurea, a flowering member of the carrot family, is more commonly known as Golden….?

Sp2

Which comedian grew up in Solihull and is married to fellow comedian Bridget Christie?

Go to Round 8 questions with answers

ROUND 1 - Pairs

1.

Czechoslovakia won the 1976 European Championship after a penalty shoot-out against West Germany.  Who scored the winning penalty?

Antonin Panenka

2.

Which cocktail is a mixture of gin and dry vermouth, garnished with a pickled onion?

A Gibson

3.

Which British actor appeared on TV in the role of Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, had a lead role as Ellie in The Last of Us and appeared as Kelsey in series 2 of Time?  (full name required)

Bella Ramsey

4.

Who was the Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843 and played a major role in the Great Trigonometric Survey of the country?

Sir George Everest

5.

Which city stands at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers?

St Louis

6.

Which British actor had a leading role in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in 2008, played the title role in the film Hugo in 2011 and played Otis Milburn in the TV series, Sex Education?

Asa Butterfield

7.

Which cocktail is a mixture of gin, lemon juice, sugar syrup and soda water served over ice?

A Tom Collins

8.

Which city stands at the confluence of the Blue and White Niles?

Khartoum

Sp1

Who died in Eccles on 15th September 1830, following an accident in Newton-le-Willows a few hours earlier?

William Huskisson

(the first widely reported railway passenger casualty)

Sp2

Who was NASA’s second Administrator?  He headed the organisation during the Apollo programme.

James E Webb

ROUND 2 - Pairs

1.

Who killed the Trojan hero, Hector?

Achilles

2.

Which Austrian composer’s 4th Symphony was nicknamed the Romantic Symphony?  (both names required)

Anton Bruckner

3.

Which 1983 television drama by Alan Bennett portrays the meeting in Moscow between the actress Coral Browne and the spy Guy Burgess?

An Englishman Abroad

4.

Which Greek king was leader of the expedition to Troy?  He sacrificed his daughter before setting off and was murdered by his wife after returning.

Agamemnon

5.

Bordeaux is the capital of which French administrative region?

Aquitaine

6.

Zaragoza is the capital of which Spanish Autonomous Community)?

Aragon

7.

Which Austrian composer wrote the operas Wozzeck and Lulu?  (both names required)

Alban Berg

8.

The 1981 Best Supporting Actor was won for the portrayal of a character called Hobson in which film?

Arthur

(John Gielgud)

Sp.

Mars was the Roman equivalent of which Greek god?

Ares

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - Pairs

1.

How are Bonnano, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese collectively known?

The Five Families

(the five Italian American Mafia crime families which operate in New York)

2.

His song Here In My Heart was the first number one hit in the UK singles chart published by The New Musical Express in November 1952.  Twenty one years later he had another huge hit with Spanish Eyes.  In between he played a character in The Godfather who was closely modelled on his own life and career.  Who was he?

Al Martino

(the character was the crooner and film star Johnny Fontane)

3.

Who plays the character Henry Hill in the 1990 film Goodfellas?

Ray Liotta

4.

What is the English translation of 'Cosa Nostra'?

'Our thing' or 'This thing of ours' (accept either)

5.

The Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of John F Kennedy, had amongst its members a future President of The United States and the longest serving Director of the CIA who had been sacked by Kennedy in 1962 following The Bay of Pigs fiasco.  Name both.

Gerald Ford and Allen Dulles

6.

An act passed by the United States Congress in 1919 was used to prosecute numerous figures involved in organised crime, including Al Capone who was charged with over 5,000 breaches. The act was nicknamed after the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee who managed the legislation through Congress. How was this act known?

The Volstead Act

7.

A historic meeting between the United States Mafia and the Cosa Nostra (of Sicily) was held at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana in December 1946. Who provided the entertainment at this meeting which became known as the Havana Conference?

Frank Sinatra

8.

In which 1984 film does Robert De Niro play a character called Noodles?

Once Upon a Time in America

Go back to Round 3 questions without answers

ROUND 4 - 'Start the way you mean to finish'

Each answer begins and ends with the same letter - some are one word answers - some are longer - the definite article is required in one answer

1.

This stretch of water is 17 miles long and is situated 12 miles west of Fort William.  At its Northern end is the Glenfinnan monument.  What is its name?

Loch Shiel

2.

Which Cole Porter song contains the following lyric:

“When you’re near there’s such an air of spring about it
I can hear a lark somewhere begin to sing about it”?

Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye

3.

Which poem begins with the lines:

"On either side the river lie, long fields of barley and of rye, that clothe the wold and meet the sky; and thro’ the field the road runs by to many-tower’d Camelot”?

It came second in the BBC’s 1996 poll of The Nation’s Favourite Poems.

The Lady Of Shalott

(by Tennyson)

4.

Which English seaside town has the UK’s longest promenade?

New Brighton

5.

This musical opened on Broadway in 1964 and became the first musical to have over 3000 performances.  The music was by Jerry Bock and the lyrics by Sheldon Harnick.  The 1971 film version was directed by Norman Jewison.  What is it called?

Fiddler On The Roof

6.

Which is the largest city in a UEFA member country never to have staged a Champions League match?

Ankara

(population 5.6 million - neither of its two teams, Ankaragucu or Genclerbirligi) has ever qualified for the Champions League)

7.

What is the SI unit of electrical conductance?

Siemens

8.

This advertising slogan first appeared in 2002.  It has since entered everyday conversation.  It was widely quoted after Dominic Cummings’ infamous trip to Barnard Castle in May 2020.  What is it?

"Should’ve gone to Specsavers"

Sp1

What was the title of Verdi’s final opera?

Falstaff

Sp2

Which English writer’s works include a James Bond novel published in 2008 and a Jeeves novel published in 2013?

Sebastian Faulks

Go back to Round 4 questions without answers

ROUND 5 - Hidden theme

1.

Which product was controversially advertised in the early 2000s with the slogan “It’s Not For Girls”?

The Yorkie Bar

2.

Who in 2002 became the first winner of the reality TV show I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here?

Tony Blackburn

3.

In which make of car was President Kennedy travelling when he was assassinated?

Lincoln Continental

(accept Lincoln)

4.

Which writer stated that his epitaph should be “I told you so you damned fools”?

H G Wells

5.

Which phrase was famously used by Del Boy Trotter in Only Fools and Horses when he was feeling happy?

"Lovely Jubbly"

6.

The former pupils of which educational institution include Sir Christopher Wren, A A Milne, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tony Benn, Shane McGowan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Louis Theroux?

Westminster School

7.

Who was the first presenter of the TV series Top Gear (from 1977 to 1979)?

Angela Rippon

8.

Who became President of the United States in 1881 following the assassination of President Garfield? (both names required)

Chester Arthur

Sp1

Which literary character has been played on film by amongst others Orson Welles, George C Scott, William Hurt and Michael Fassbender?  (only surname required)

Edward Rochester

(in Jane Eyre)

Sp2

Which Football League club was formed in 1883 as Singers FC and adopted its current name in 1896?

Coventry City

Theme: Each answer contains the name of an English cathedral city ...

York, Blackburn, Lincoln, Wells, Ely, Westminster, Ripon, Chester, Rochester and Coventry

Go back to Round 5 questions without answers

ROUND 6 - 'Initially the same'

Each question consists of two separate questions with 2 word answers beginning with the same letters.

For example ...

a) Dad’s Army character played by John Le Mesurier

b) Coronation Street character played by Doris Speed

Ans:   Arthur Wilson and Annie Walker

1.

2.

a) Brother of a famous fictional detective

b) Military historian and former editor of the Daily Telegraph who shares his surname with the sidekick of a famous fictional detective

Mycroft Holmes

Max Hastings

3.

a) British playwright murdered by his lover Kenneth Halliwell - he was the subject of the film Prick Up Your Ears

b) British playwright who created the characters Archie Rice and Jimmy Porter

Joe Orton

John Osborne

4.

a) British opera featuring the characters Ellen Orford and Auntie

b) Play written by Ibsen - music written for it includes the pieces Solveig’s Song and In the Hall of the Mountain King

Peter Grimes

Peer Gynt

5.

a) Actress whose first husband was Desi Arnaz

b) Actress whose first husband was Humphrey Bogart

Lucille Ball

Lauren Bacall

6.

a) La Liga team based in Seville

b) Company which sponsors the reigning Austrian Bundesliga champions

Real Betis

Red Bull

7.

a) City from which Santos FC come

b) Hipster football team from Hamburg who play at the Millerntor-Stadion

Sao Paolo

St Pauli

8.

a) Actress known as the Brazilian Bombshell famous for wearing a fruit-coloured hat

b) Actress famous for being the Lamb’s Navy Rum Girl in the sixties and seventies - she also appeared in several Hammer Horror films

Carmen Miranda

Caroline Munro

Sp.

a) Booker Prize winning author of Bring Up the Bodies

b) Japanese author whose books include The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Norwegian Wood

Hilary Mantel

Haruki Murakami

Go back to Round 6 questions without answers

ROUND 7 - Pairs

1.

Sportsmen such as Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins and Jurgen Klopp have all benefitted from the use of TUEs.  What does TUE stand for?

Therapeutic Use Exemption

2.

On the Saturday closest to October 13th pilgrims walk barefoot to touch whose tomb in Westminster Abbey?

Edward the Confessor

(October 13th is his feast day)

3.

The all-time male leading test run scorer is Sachin Tendulkar and the leading test wicket taker is Muttiah Muralitharan.  Australians are second in each list.  Name both.

Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne

4.

Ten male cricketers have scored more than 3,000 test runs and taken more than 300 test wickets. Two of the ten have been knighted.  Name them.

Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee

5.

A Muslim on Hajj will reach the climax of their pilgrimage by circling a small stone building.  What is the name of this building?

The Kaaba

6.

In planning and development people can be broadly categorised as either 'NIMBY' or 'YIMBY'.  What do both these abbreviations stand for?

'Not In My Back Yard' and 'Yes In My Back Yard'

7.

Deriving its name from the Italian verb 'to talk', what slang language is used by a variety of people such as merchant navy sailors, street performers and most prominently the gay community?

Polari

8.

Mackem is the name for the dialect of Sunderland and Wearside.  What is the name of the dialect of the former mining areas in County Durham and to the north of Newcastle which draws heavily on mining jargon?

Pitmatic

Go back to Round 7 questions without answers

ROUND 8 - Hidden theme

1.

Which Daphne du Maurier novel of 1941 shares its title with an inlet off the Helston estuary in south Cornwall?

Frenchman’s Creek

2.

Which ex-Housemartin had hits with Praise You and Right Here, Right Now?

Fatboy Slim

(accept Norman Cook, but Fatboy Slim needed for theme)

3.

Who made his first speech to the Conservative Party conference in 1977 at the age of 16?

William Hague

4.

What word links a Scotch whisky distilling company, a British/Swazi actor and a monetary award?

Grant

5.

What word links a former Welsh county, a US state capital and an American actor who appeared in From Here to Eternity (1953) and Judgement at Nuremburg (1961)?

Montgomery

6.

Jack Whitehall, Anthony Blunt, John Betjeman, both Middleton sisters and Samantha Cameron were all educated at which Wiltshire ‘public’ school?

Marlborough College

7.

What song was first recorded by Richard Harris in 1968 and became a multi-million selling hit for Donna Summer ten years later?

MacArthur Park

8.

What name is shared by a character in a 1980s TV action series, a fictional killer and a French midfielder who currently wears the number 46 shirt for Manchester United?

Hannibal

Sp1

Zizia aurea, a flowering member of the carrot family, is more commonly known as Golden….?

Alexanders

Sp2

Which comedian grew up in Solihull and is married to fellow comedian Bridget Christie?

Stewart Lee

Theme: Each answer contains the name of a famous general/military leader ...

John French, Bill Slim, Douglas Haig, Ulysses S Grant, Bernard Montgomery, Duke of Marlborough, Douglas MacArthur, Hannibal of Carthage, Alexander the Great, Robert E Lee

Go back to Round 8 questions without answers