ROUND 1 - 'Connect Four'

The four named entities have something in common. What?

1.

Oddjob, Stan Laurel, John Steed, Charlie Chaplin.

2.

Imam, Victoria Adams, Lady Carina Fitzalan-Howard, Bathsheba.

3.

You’ve got mail, The Ladykillers (in colour), Larry Crowne, Captain Phillips.

4.

Claire Chase, Wissam Boustany, Emmanuel Pahud, James Galway.

5.

Rooster Cogburn, Elle Driver (Kill Bill), Nick Fury (Marvel), Emilio Largo (Bond).

6.

Warren Mitchell (1967), Ranulph Fiennes (1994), Joss Ackland (2000), Stephen Fry (2003).

7.

Room, Belt, Goblin, Party.

8.

Stephen Harper, Paul Marin, Jean Chrétien, Brian Mulroney.

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - 'A rose by any other name'

1.

2.

Which member of The Rolling Stones was born with the surname Perks?

3.

What was the military-sounding alias of Conrad Turner, the villain of a British children’s TV series?

4.

Which much-loved British car was dubbed ‘the Plastic Pig’ when a new model was launched in 1989?

5.

What was the nickname of the silent film star Lon Chaney Senior?  It was based on his use of numerous disguises in his films.

6.

Which Western European city is known as 'The Venice of the North'?

7.

What was the code name of George Smiley’s adversary in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy?

8.

Which British politician was known, amongst other epithets, as 'The Sultan of Spin'?

Sp.

Which durable singing duo started out as Tom and Jerry?

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - Announced theme

Each answer contains three adjacent consecutive letters of the alphabet, in reverse order: for example, Zyxel (a manufacturer of computer equipment

1.

What is the name of the shipping area lying just to the north of Fisher?

2.

In a speech in 1996, a high-ranking US financier spoke of the stock market’s “irrational exuberance”, leading to an immediate sharp fall in share values and thought to have been predictive of the stock market crash in 2000.  What office did he hold?

3.

What is the term in mathematics for the smallest positive integer which is divisible by each of a group of other positive integers?  (in full, please)

4.

Which US mail delivery service operated for about 18 months in 1860 and 1861 between Missouri and California?  'Buffalo Bill' Cody may have been among its employees.  The name is now a trademark of the United States Postal Service.

5.

Which song, originally recorded by the Righteous Brothers in 1964, was a number one hit in the UK and the US in February 1965 and became the most-played song on US radio and TV in the 20th century?  Spell it properly, please.

6.

What name is given to the type of pension plan in which the employee’s and employer’s payments are invested and the returns, good or bad, used to provide the individual’s pension on retirement?  This is in contrast to so-called 'final salary' schemes.

7.

The third Monday of January has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1986.  By which initials is it generally known?

8.

What was the real name of Ernest Wiseman’s comedy partner?

Sp1

What is the three-letter abbreviated name of the company which owns, amongst other chains, InterContinental, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza?

Sp2

What is the Arabic word for struggling, perhaps most commonly used to refer to fighting enemies, real or perceived, of Islam?

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme

Homophones have been used to link answers to the theme

1.

Which 1945 film features a sequence in which Gene Kelly dances with Jerry (the mouse from Tom and Jerry)?

2.

Which pianist’s autobiography is entitled Journey of a Thousand Miles?  He played at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

3.

Which Birmingham band released the album The Raw and The Cooked in 1989?  It included the singles Good Thing and She Drives Me Crazy.

4.

 Which 2013 film tells the story of the rivalry between James Hunt and Nikki Lauda?

5.

What was the title of the British sitcom which ran from 1981 to 1991, featuring Windsor Davies and Donald Sinden as antique dealers whose professional rivalry is complicated when their children marry each other?

6.

Which pub management company, based in Birmingham, has brands including Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One.  It began in 1898 as a brewery and was best known for its Brew XI bittter.  (Note to QM: spoken as “Brew Eleven”)

7.

Who was the manager of Wimbledon when they stunned Liverpool to win the 1988 FA Cup final?

8.

What is the surname of the uncle and nephew who both won world cups playing for England, one in football and one in rugby union?

Sp1

Who did Alan Partridge describe as looking like “a deputy headmaster”?  He also described the chap’s deputy as resembling “a clown without makeup”.

Sp2

Which performer’s only three albums were Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter and Pink Moon?

Go to Round 4 questions with answers

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

Which man, widely celebrated as the most decorated US combat soldier of WW2, later became a film star, appearing most notably in The Red Badge of Courage and To Hell and Back?

2.

Which American swimmer, who won three national breaststroke and freestyle titles and who would have competed at the 1940 Olympics but for the outbreak of war, later became an actress, appearing in 'aquamusicals' such as Million Dollar Mermaid and Dangerous When Wet?

3.

The first UK number 1 single of the 21st century, The Masses Against the Classes by the Manic Street Preachers, derives its title from a quotation from which British Prime Minister?

4.

The title of the 2009 UK Christmas number 1 single, Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine was inspired by which incident of 1992?

5.

What is the name of the scientific conference held in Brussels every three years?  It was first held in 1911, when attendees include Einstein, Rutherford and Marie Curie.

6.

What was the name of the 1957 conference held in its namesake location in Nova Scotia in which notable scientists gathered to discuss the dangers of weapons of mass destruction?  It continues to exist as an organisation dedicated to seeking solutions to global security threats.

7.

What is James Corden's feminine middle name?

8.

What is former goalkeeper and presenter Bob Wilson's feminine middle name?

Sp1

Which international voluntary organisation of the Catholic Church was founded in 1833 to help the poor and named after a 17th Century French priest?

Sp2

Which Catholic society, founded in Spain in 1928 to "help members seek holiness in their everyday occupations" is considered controversial and has been criticised for its cult-like qualities?

Go to Round 5 questions with answers

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

Words which are plural in the theme may be singular in the answers.

1.

What name is given to a fastening, used especially on military uniforms in the 17th and 18th centuries, consisting of a braided cord through which is passed a button made of a knot of the same cord?

2.

Geneticist Thomas Morgan was prevented from undertaking research using rabbits because of the cost.  What is the common name of the insect he used instead?

3.

What was the name of the self-styled colonel who in 1671 almost succeeded in stealing the Crown Jewels?  He was pardoned by King Charles.

4.

What is the generally-accepted translation into English of the first part of the gladiators’ traditional greeting to the Roman emperor?  It continues “Morituri te salutant” ("we who are about to die salute you").

5.

What is the English title of Arthur Koestler’s 1940 highly successful novel which describes the arrest, trial and imprisonment of a Bolshevik, Rubashov, by the regime he helped to create?  In the original German, it was called Sonnenfinsternis.

6.

The law which states that the pressure exerted by a fixed volume of gas at fixed temperature is inversely proportional to its volume is named after which English physicist?

7.

Sometimes called Conquest, how else is the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to appear also known?  He rode a white horse.

8.

Samuel Johnson, when asked to choose between two second-rate poets, is recorded by Boswell as having replied, “Sir, there is no settling the point of precedence between…” what two animals?

Sp.

In which film did Donald Sutherland play Homer Simpson?

Go to Round 6 questions with answers

ROUND 7 - Cities

1.

In which city would you find the longest pleasure pier in the world?

2.

In which city could you visit the 'Trip to Jerusalem'?

3.

Where did Hunter S Thompson stand for election to Mayor?

4.

Of which city was it said that there, “an honest politician is one who when bought, stays bought”?

5.

In which city did Joan of Arc die?

6.

In which City did Charlemagne die?

7.

Which City was designed by Oscar Niemeyer?

8.

Who designed large parts of New Delhi?

Sp1

Of which city is Paul Dennett the mayor?

Sp2

Who built this city on Rock and Roll?

Sp3

Who built the same city on Sausage Rolls?

Go to Round 7 questions with answers

ROUND 8 - Random pairs

1.

In the 1930s, members of the Nazi party in Germany were known as brownshirts, from their uniform. Which country’s Nazis wore silver shirts?

2.

The first name of a British politician, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was identical to the surname of an English 19th century novelist.  Name him.

3.

Which legendary American jazz musician was known as 'The Prince of Darkness' because of his cold, unfriendly manner?  One of his albums is Round about Midnight.

4.

Which European country’s fascists wore green shirts?

5.

Which English football league club plays its home matches at Rodney Parade?

6.

Which legendary jazz musician, whose spiritual approach to music led to his canonisation by the African Orthodox Church, is best known for his album A Love Supreme?

7.

A Chancellor of the Exchequer from the second half of the 20th century shared his name with a group of American outlaws whose careers ended in October 1892 when they attempted to rob two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas at the same time.  Name him.

8.

Which English football league club plays its home matches at the Priestfield Stadium?

Sp.

Which current premier league footballer has appeared in court accused of insulting Greek civilisation?

Go to Round 8 questions with answers

Tiebreakers

1.

How much time since her ennoblement has the Duchess of Sussex spent in her eponymous county?

2.

What, in square miles, is the area of the Principality of Wales?

Go to Tiebreaker questions with answers

ROUND 1 - 'Connect Four'

The four named entities have something in common. What?

1.

Oddjob, Stan Laurel, John Steed, Charlie Chaplin.

They wear bowler hats

2.

Imam, Victoria Adams, Lady Carina Fitzalan-Howard, Bathsheba.

They married someone called David

(Bowie, Beckham, Frost, King)

3.

You’ve got mail, The Ladykillers (in colour), Larry Crowne, Captain Phillips.

They star Tom Hanks

4.

Claire Chase, Wissam Boustany, Emmanuel Pahud, James Galway.

They are flautists

5.

Rooster Cogburn, Elle Driver (Kill Bill), Nick Fury (Marvel), Emilio Largo (Bond).

They wear an eye patch

6.

Warren Mitchell (1967), Ranulph Fiennes (1994), Joss Ackland (2000), Stephen Fry (2003).

They have been named Pipe Smoker of the Year

7.

Room, Belt, Goblin, Party.

They can be preceded by 'Green' and make a phrase

8.

Stephen Harper, Paul Marin, Jean Chrétien, Brian Mulroney.

They have been prime ministers of Canada

ROUND 2 - 'A rose by any other name'

1.

Belfast

2.

Which member of The Rolling Stones was born with the surname Perks?

Bill Wyman

3.

What was the military-sounding alias of Conrad Turner, the villain of a British children’s TV series?

Captain Black

(in Captain Scarlet)

4.

Which much-loved British car was dubbed ‘the Plastic Pig’ when a new model was launched in 1989?

The Robin Reliant

5.

What was the nickname of the silent film star Lon Chaney Senior?  It was based on his use of numerous disguises in his films.

The Man of a Thousand Faces

6.

Which Western European city is known as 'The Venice of the North'?

Bruges

7.

What was the code name of George Smiley’s adversary in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy?

Karla

8.

Which British politician was known, amongst other epithets, as 'The Sultan of Spin'?

Peter Mandelson

Sp.

Which durable singing duo started out as Tom and Jerry?

Simon and Garfunkel

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - Announced theme

Each answer contains three adjacent consecutive letters of the alphabet, in reverse order: for example, Zyxel (a manufacturer of computer equipment

1.

What is the name of the shipping area lying just to the north of Fisher?

South UTSira

('south' is required)

2.

In a speech in 1996, a high-ranking US financier spoke of the stock market’s “irrational exuberance”, leading to an immediate sharp fall in share values and thought to have been predictive of the stock market crash in 2000.  What office did he hold?

Chairman of the FEDeral Reserve

3.

What is the term in mathematics for the smallest positive integer which is divisible by each of a group of other positive integers?  (in full, please)

Lowest CommON Multiple

4.

Which US mail delivery service operated for about 18 months in 1860 and 1861 between Missouri and California?  'Buffalo Bill' Cody may have been among its employees.  The name is now a trademark of the United States Postal Service.

PONy Express

5.

Which song, originally recorded by the Righteous Brothers in 1964, was a number one hit in the UK and the US in February 1965 and became the most-played song on US radio and TV in the 20th century?  Spell it properly, please.

You’ve Lost That LovinG FEeling

6.

What name is given to the type of pension plan in which the employee’s and employer’s payments are invested and the returns, good or bad, used to provide the individual’s pension on retirement?  This is in contrast to so-called 'final salary' schemes.

DefinED Contribution

7.

The third Monday of January has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1986.  By which initials is it generally known?

MLK day

8.

What was the real name of Ernest Wiseman’s comedy partner?

EriC BArtholomew

Sp1

What is the three-letter abbreviated name of the company which owns, amongst other chains, InterContinental, Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza?

IHG

Sp2

What is the Arabic word for struggling, perhaps most commonly used to refer to fighting enemies, real or perceived, of Islam?

JIHad

o back to Round 3 questions without answers

ROUND 4 - Hidden theme

Homophones have been used to link answers to the theme

1.

Which 1945 film features a sequence in which Gene Kelly dances with Jerry (the mouse from Tom and Jerry)?

Anchors Aweigh

2.

Which pianist’s autobiography is entitled Journey of a Thousand Miles?  He played at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Lang Lang

3.

Which Birmingham band released the album The Raw and The Cooked in 1989?  It included the singles Good Thing and She Drives Me Crazy.

Fine Young Cannibals

4.

Which 2013 film tells the story of the rivalry between James Hunt and Nikki Lauda?

Rush

5.

What was the title of the British sitcom which ran from 1981 to 1991, featuring Windsor Davies and Donald Sinden as antique dealers whose professional rivalry is complicated when their children marry each other?

Never the Twain

6.

Which pub management company, based in Birmingham, has brands including Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One.  It began in 1898 as a brewery and was best known for its Brew XI bittter.  (Note to QM: spoken as “Brew Eleven”)

Mitchells and Butler

(accept M&B but give the full name, needed for the theme)

7.

Who was the manager of Wimbledon when they stunned Liverpool to win the 1988 FA Cup final?

(Bobby) Gould

8.

What is the surname of the uncle and nephew who both won world cups playing for England, one in football and one in rugby union?

Cohen

(George and Ben)

Sp1

Who did Alan Partridge describe as looking like “a deputy headmaster”?  He also described the chap’s deputy as resembling “a clown without makeup”.

(Gerry) Adams

Sp2

Which performer’s only three albums were Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter and Pink Moon?

Theme: Each answer contains the name of a Canadian musician or band ...

Paul Anka, k.d.lang, Neil Young, Rush, Joni Mitchell, Shania Twain, Glenn Gould, Leonard Cohen, Brian Adams & Drake

Go back to Round 4 questions without answers

ROUND 5 - Pairs

1.

Which man, widely celebrated as the most decorated US combat soldier of WW2, later became a film star, appearing most notably in The Red Badge of Courage and To Hell and Back?

(Audie) Murphy

2.

Which American swimmer, who won three national breaststroke and freestyle titles and who would have competed at the 1940 Olympics but for the outbreak of war, later became an actress, appearing in 'aquamusicals' such as Million Dollar Mermaid and Dangerous When Wet?

(Esther) Williams

3.

The first UK number 1 single of the 21st century, The Masses Against the Classes by the Manic Street Preachers, derives its title from a quotation from which British Prime Minister?

Gladstone

4.

The title of the 2009 UK Christmas number 1 single, Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine was inspired by which incident of 1992?

The beating of Rodney King

5.

What is the name of the scientific conference held in Brussels every three years?  It was first held in 1911, when attendees include Einstein, Rutherford and Marie Curie.

Solvay conference

6.

What was the name of the 1957 conference held in its namesake location in Nova Scotia in which notable scientists gathered to discuss the dangers of weapons of mass destruction?  It continues to exist as an organisation dedicated to seeking solutions to global security threats.

Pugwash conference

7.

What is James Corden's feminine middle name?

Kimberley

8.

What is former goalkeeper and presenter Bob Wilson's feminine middle name?

Primrose

Sp1

Which international voluntary organisation of the Catholic Church was founded in 1833 to help the poor and named after a 17th Century French priest?

Society of St Vincent de Paul

Sp2

Which Catholic society, founded in Spain in 1928 to "help members seek holiness in their everyday occupations" is considered controversial and has been criticised for its cult-like qualities?

Opus Dei

Go back to Round 5 questions without answers

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

Words which are plural in the theme may be singular in the answers.

1.

What name is given to a fastening, used especially on military uniforms in the 17th and 18th centuries, consisting of a braided cord through which is passed a button made of a knot of the same cord?

Frog fastener

2.

Geneticist Thomas Morgan was prevented from undertaking research using rabbits because of the cost.  What is the common name of the insect he used instead?

Fruit flies

(don’t accept 'Drosophila melanogaster'; it’s not the common name and it doesn’t fit the theme)

3.

What was the name of the self-styled colonel who in 1671 almost succeeded in stealing the Crown Jewels?  He was pardoned by King Charles.

(Thomas) Blood

4.

What is the generally-accepted translation into English of the first part of the gladiators’ traditional greeting to the Roman emperor?  It continues “Morituri te salutant” ("we who are about to die salute you").

"Hail, Caesar"

(or "Hail, Emperor")

5.

What is the English title of Arthur Koestler’s 1940 highly successful novel which describes the arrest, trial and imprisonment of a Bolshevik, Rubashov, by the regime he helped to create?  In the original German, it was called Sonnenfinsternis.

Darkness at Noon

6.

The law which states that the pressure exerted by a fixed volume of gas at fixed temperature is inversely proportional to its volume is named after which English physicist?

Boyle

7.

Sometimes called Conquest, how else is the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to appear also known?  He rode a white horse.

Pestilence

8.

Samuel Johnson, when asked to choose between two second-rate poets, is recorded by Boswell as having replied, “Sir, there is no settling the point of precedence between…” what two animals?

A louse and a flea

Sp.

In which film did Donald Sutherland play Homer Simpson?

Day of the Locust

Theme: Each answer contains the name of one of the plagues of Egypt mentioned in the Bible

Go back to Round 6 questions without answers

ROUND 7 - Cities

1.

In which city would you find the longest pleasure pier in the world?

Southend-on-Sea

2.

In which city could you visit the 'Trip to Jerusalem'?

Nottingham

(one of the oldest pubs in the UK)

3.

Where did Hunter S Thompson stand for election to Mayor?

Aspen

(Colorado)

4.

Of which city was it said that there, “an honest politician is one who when bought, stays bought”?

Chicago

5.

In which city did Joan of Arc die?

Rouen

6.

In which City did Charlemagne die?

Aachen

7.

Which City was designed by Oscar Niemeyer?

Brasilia

8.

Who designed large parts of New Delhi?

Lutyens

Sp1

Of which city is Paul Dennett the mayor?

Sp2

Who built this city on Rock and Roll?

Starship

Sp3

Who built the same city on Sausage Rolls?

Lad Baby

Go back to Round 7 questions without answers

ROUND 8 - Random pairs

1.

In the 1930s, members of the Nazi party in Germany were known as brownshirts, from their uniform. Which country’s Nazis wore silver shirts?

USA

2.

The first name of a British politician, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was identical to the surname of an English 19th century novelist.  Name him.

Austen Chamberlain

3.

Which legendary American jazz musician was known as 'The Prince of Darkness' because of his cold, unfriendly manner?  One of his albums is Round about Midnight.

Miles Davis

4.

Which European country’s fascists wore green shirts?

Romania

5.

Which English football league club plays its home matches at Rodney Parade?

Newport County

6.

Which legendary jazz musician, whose spiritual approach to music led to his canonisation by the African Orthodox Church, is best known for his album A Love Supreme?

John Coltrane

7.

A Chancellor of the Exchequer from the second half of the 20th century shared his name with a group of American outlaws whose careers ended in October 1892 when they attempted to rob two banks in Coffeyville, Kansas at the same time.  Name him.

Hugh Dalton

8.

Which English football league club plays its home matches at the Priestfield Stadium?

Gillingham

Sp.

Which current premier league footballer has appeared in court accused of insulting Greek civilisation?

Harry Maguire

Go back to Round 8 questions without answers

Tiebreakers

1.

How much time since her ennoblement has the Duchess of Sussex spent in her eponymous county?

6 hours

2.

What, in square miles, is the area of the Principality of Wales?

8,024

Go back to Tiebreaker questions without answers