ROUND 1 - Paired

1.

What is the geographical significance of the stretch of motorway at junction 22 on the M62?

2.

Dent railway station is the highest point above sea level on the English main line railway network. Which significant structure lies seven miles to the south of the station?

3.

Who was headlining the concert at which the kiss-cam ended the career of the CEO of tech company Astronomer?

4.

Coldplay’s debut album Parachutes contained which breakthrough single that went to number four in the UK singles charts?

5.

What is the new address of the disgraced former Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh?

6.

Which police force arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in February?

7.

In the periodic table, what relative property of an element is indicated by its vertical position (top to bottom) within a column?

8.

In the periodic table, what relative property of an element is indicated by its horizontal position (left to right) along a row?

Sp.

Which company has won the principal broadcasting rights to UK coverage of UEFA Champions League football, from 2027 to 2031, unseating current rights-holder TNT in the process?

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - Announced theme

Each answer contains an onomatopoeic word

1.

What was the title of Lionel Bart’s unsuccessful follow up to Oliver! based on the legend of Robin Hood?

2.

What was the title of the 1988 U2 rockumentary film and accompanying album featuring the tracks Desire and Angel of Harlem?

3.

Which entertainer won the best actor Oscar in 1944 for his role as Father Chuck O’Malley in Going My Way and was nominated the following year for playing the same character in The Bells of St Mary’s?

4.

What is the traditional bingo call for the number 4?

5.

What is the term used in boat construction where the hull is formed from overlapping planks of wood joined with metal fastenings?

6.

Which film director was best known for his Academy Award-winning romantic drama film Women in Love (1969), the historical drama horror film The Devils (1971) and the musical fantasy film Tommy (1975)?

7.

Which character in the 1973 Disney animation Robin Hood was voiced by the actor Terry-Thomas?

8.

What is the title of the first novel, which is also the name of the main character, in Mervyn Peake’s fantasy novel series Gormenghast?

Sp1

Which spicy Chinese dish takes its name from the Cantonese word for the wooden stick that is used to tenderise the meat prior to cooking?

Sp2

In French they are called gougounes.  In German they are Schlappen.  What are they called in English?

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - Announced theme - 'War!  What is it good for?'

1.

What is the dynastic family name of Mohammed Reza, the last Shah of Iran, and his son, Reza, the current Crown Prince in exile?

2.

Name the Iran supreme leader killed on day one of the USA and Israel attacks on Iran.

3.

The elite, ideological branch of Iran’s armed forces is commonly known as the IRGC.  What does IRGC stand for?

4.

What operational name has the USA given to its war on Iran?

5.

Iran has a land border with 7 countries. Name 5 of them.

6.

Iran has 6 maritime borders.   Name 5 of them.

7.

The USA has deployed 2 of its 11 aircraft carriers on operations in the war against Iran, both named after former US presidents.  Name both.

8.

What does the military acronym UAV stand for?  Nowadays it is almost totally used in the context of drones.

Sp.

What does the military acronym ATGM stand for?

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 4 - Announced theme - 'Freemen of the City'

Each answer is a person who has been awarded the Freedom of the City of Manchester

You are given a brief résumé of that person and their year of award, along with the initial letter of their surname

Surnames are sufficient in the answers      

1.

Awarded1871; surname starts with an 'S'

Welsh-American who asked a very famous but apocryphal question.  A Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and earned the Belgian Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold.  Latterly seen as very controversial.  Not many African fans.

2.

Awarded1964; surname starts with an 'S'

Politician, feminist, educationalist, writer.  Councillor 1924–1933.  Devoted much of her energy to the planning of Wythenshawe Council Estate.

3.

Awarded 2013; surname starts with a 'G'

Russian born scientist. who alongside Konstantin Noveselov was a pioneer of graphene.

4.

Awarded 1899; surname starts with an 'R'

Born in Havana Cuba.  Her ashes are interred in Southern Cemetery.  Lived at Longford Hall. Philanthropist and major shareholder in the Manchester Ship Canal.  Honorary Doctorate in Literature from Victoria University.

5.

Awarded1967; surname starts with a 'B'.

Played for Man City 1928 – 1936.  Was a winner in an FA Cup Final.  He was a Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great.

6.

Awarded 1958; surname starts with a 'B'

Born in 1899 and regarded himself as a Cockney.  He escaped death in 1943 after changing planes with Lesley Howard the actor.  He has a square and a sculpture named after him in Manchester.

7.

Awarded1930; surname starts with an 'S'

Editor whose adage was ‘comment is free but facts are sacred’.

8.

Awarded 1917; surname starts with an 'S'

Field Marshal and twice PM of South Africa who signed the Treaty of Versailles and championed the League of Nations and later the UN.

Sp1

Awarded 1945; surname starts with an 'M'

Senior officer in the British army.  Shot through the right lung during first Battle of Ypres.  He accepted the surrender in 1945 of the Germans in NW Europe at Lüneburg Heath.

Sp2

Awarded 2007; surname starts with a 'W'

The subject of a 2002 film called 24 Hour Party People.

Sp3

Awarded 1918; surname starts with a 'G'

Born in Chorlton on Medlock.  The author of the People’s Budget.  He helped to establish the modern Welfare state.

Sp4

Awarded 1956; surname starts with an 'R'

Lord Mayor 1941-2 and Alderman who has two educational establishments in the city named after him.

Go to Round 4 questions with answers

ROUND 5 - Paired

1.

What was the name of Kylie Minogue's character in Neighbours?

2.

Name the actress who played the lead role in 1990’s TV series The Manageress and featured as 'The Boss' in a long-running series of adverts for Kenco coffee.

3.

Heaven is a Place on Earth was a hit record for which artist?

4.

Which band had a hit with A Horse with No Name?

5.

Who became known in the early 1980’s as 'The Muswell Hill Murderer'?

6.

What was the name of the heiress abducted and killed by Donald Neilson in 1975?

7.

In the hymn Lord of All Hopefulness, a different abstract noun replaces the word ‘Hopefulness’ in the first line of each of the next 3 verses.  Give one of the ‘Lord of All’s’ that is invoked in the rest of the hymn.

8.

In the same hymn, the last line of each verse invokes the Lord to give us the blessing of 4 states of being, a different one in each verse:

“Your [something] in our hearts, Lord, …..”

Give ONE of these blessings / states of being.

Sp.

In 2025, Thomas Robinson, AKA Tam O’Braan, received a jail sentence for fraudulently selling which product which he falsely claimed was grown in Scotland?

Go to Round 5 questions with answers

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

1.

Whose name is missing from these lists of founding members of 2 English rock bands from 1965 and& 1970 respectively?

1965: Carl Wayne, Trevor Burton, Chris ‘Ace’ Kefford, Bev Bevan

1970: Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan

2.

Which English footballer is next on this list?

Billy Bonds (799),

Frank Lampard Snr. (660),

Bobby Moore (647)

3.

Name the American teen drama TV series about the lives of a close-knit group of high school / college friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, navigating the ups and downs of adolescence.  It was broadcast in the late ‘90’s / early 2000’s, and ran for 6 series and 128 episodes. Actor James Van Der Beek, who played its central character, died last month at the age of 48.

4.

Which 3 words, appearing consecutively in a dictionary, mean:

a bad-tempered person,

a dried fruit of a small, seedless grape,

a medium of exchange

5.

What word connects an industrial heritage museum in Northwich on the site where the company ceased commercial operations in 1986, and a 19th-century philanthropic Yorkshire industrialist who provided houses offering more sanitary living conditions for his mill workers.  The mill too ceased operations in 1986 and the model village developed around it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

6.

This is a copy (with references to the play’s title and playwright removed) of the original poster advertising its West End premiere in 1969, when it famously caused quite a stir in 60’s Britain!  Name the play.

7.

Name the company founded in Germany in 1935 and now the global market-leading manufacturer of cleaning equipment (industrial & domestic), operating in 85 countries and which in 2024 had a turnover of 3.4 billion euros.

8.

What name connects:

the American singer-songwriter who wrote Doctor My Eyes (a US Top 10 hit for him in 1972, and in the UK Top 10 for the Jackson 5 with their cover version in the same year), and co-wrote the Eagles debut hit single Take It Easy

and

the English singer-songwriter who had 1979 UK hits with Is She Really Going Out With Him? and It’s Different For Girls?

Sp.

Ignoring the single and plural use of the word, what is the missing word in these lines from 2 Shakespeare plays?

(spoken by Hamlet himself, in Hamlet, as he kills Polonius):

“How now? A rat? Dead for a [blank], dead!”

(spoken by Solanio, quoting Shylock’s lament of his daughter Jessica, in The Merchant of Venice):

“My daughter!  O my [blank]!  O my daughter!
Fled with a Christian!  O my Christian [blank]!
Justice! the Law!  My [blank] and my daughter! “

Go to Round 6 questions with answers

ROUND 7 - Hidden theme

Theme words may be soundalikes or part of lareger words

1.

Who was director, screenwriter and playwright Mike Leigh’s wife from 1973 until they divorced in 2001?  An actress, she made her name in her husband’s plays before going on to become a celebrated performer on stage, screen, television and radio to this day.  (full name required)

2.

Who is the current Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology? (full name required)

3.

Which musical premiered at the Eugene O’Neill theatre on Broadway in March 2011 and has run continuously, to great acclaim, ever since?  Now the 10th longest running show in Broadway history, it has won 9 Tony Awards and contains the songs, Hello!, I Am Here For You and All-American Prophet.

4.

A member of the RSC, which actress played Moneypenny in four Janes Bond films in the Pierce Brosnan era between 1995 and 2002?  (full name required)

5.

Which comic ballet from 1870, set to music by Delibes, tells the story of a young man’s infatuation with a life-sized dancing doll before he is rescued by his real-life sweetheart, Swanhilda?

6.

What is the traditional British name for a tradesman dealing in textile fabrics especially silks, velvets and other fine materials?

7.

What is the name of the hard rock duo formed in Worthing in 2011, all four of whose albums to date (their eponymous debut album from 2014, How Did We Get So Dark? from 2017, Typhoons from 2021 and Back to the Water Below from 2023 ) have reached No.1 in the UK album charts?  They also won the Brit Award for Best British Group in 2015.

8.

Which British golfer won the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach, his only major victory to date?

Sp.

Which actress played Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street from 2008 to 2014, Georgie Lane in Our Girl from 2016 to 2020 and Kate Thorne in Ten Pound Poms from 2023 to 2025?

Go to Round 7 questions with answers

ROUND 8 - Hidden Theme

Theme words may be soundalikes or part of lareger words

1.

Which 2000 Coen Brothers film features the exploits of Ulysses, Delmar and Pete as they embark on a journey in search of buried treasure?

2.

What was the name of the Canadian singer-songwriter who had hits in the 1960’s and 70’s with such classics as There’s a Ghost in My House, Gotta See Jane and Indiana Wants Me?

3.

What title links symphonies by Beethoven and Vaughan Williams?

4.

Who is, currently, the longest-serving female MP earning the honorary title 'Mother of the House'?

5.

Lying at the western-most point of the Scilly Isles is, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s smallest island with a building on it. That building is a lighthouse.  What is the name of that island/lighthouse?

6.

Who was the artistic director of the RSC from 1968 to 1986 and the National Theatre from 1997 until 2003?

7.

By what name is the oldest team in the NFL currently known?  Named for their red jerseys, they were formed in 1898 in Chicago, later moving to St Louis before relocating again to their present home in 1988.

8.

Which publicly-funded position, first created in 1927, has had 17 incumbents (and soon to be 18), none of whom, so far, have been female?

Sp1

Which surname connects a British-American acting dynasty and the rock band Keane?

Sp2

Which 2-word Latin phrase refers to arguments that are based on presumption rather than examination or analysis?

Sp3

Which phrase meaning partly good but mostly bad became popular after a Punch cartoon that first appeared in 1895?

Go to Round 8 questions with answers

ROUND 1 - Paired

1.

What is the geographical significance of the stretch of motorway at junction 22 on the M62?

It is the highest point above sea level on the English motorway network

2.

Dent railway station is the highest point above sea level on the English main line railway network. Which significant structure lies seven miles to the south of the station?

The Ribblehead viaduct

3.

Who was headlining the concert at which the kiss-cam ended the career of the CEO of tech company Astronomer?

Coldplay

4.

Coldplay’s debut album Parachutes contained which breakthrough single that went to number four in the UK singles charts?

Yellow

5.

What is the new address of the disgraced former Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh?

Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate

(Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is soon to move to Marsh Farm but he hasn’t yet so don’t accept that as an answer)

6.

Which police force arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in February?

Thames Valley Police

7.

In the periodic table, what relative property of an element is indicated by its vertical position (top to bottom) within a column?

Weight

(higher up the table, the lighter; lower down, the heavier)

8.

In the periodic table, what relative property of an element is indicated by its horizontal position (left to right) along a row?

Reactivity, i.e. propensity to combine with other elements to form new substances

(further left, more reactive; further right, less reactive)

Sp.

Which company has won the principal broadcasting rights to UK coverage of UEFA Champions League football, from 2027 to 2031, unseating current rights-holder TNT in the process?

Paramount

ROUND 2 - Announced theme

Each answer contains an onomatopoeic word

1.

What was the title of Lionel Bart’s unsuccessful follow up to Oliver! based on the legend of Robin Hood?

Twang!!

2.

What was the title of the 1988 U2 rockumentary film and accompanying album featuring the tracks Desire and Angel of Harlem?

Rattle and Hum

3.

Which entertainer won the best actor Oscar in 1944 for his role as Father Chuck O’Malley in Going My Way and was nominated the following year for playing the same character in The Bells of St Mary’s?

Bing Crosby

4.

What is the traditional bingo call for the number 4?

Knock at the door

5.

What is the term used in boat construction where the hull is formed from overlapping planks of wood joined with metal fastenings?

Clinker (built)

6.

Which film director was best known for his Academy Award-winning romantic drama film Women in Love (1969), the historical drama horror film The Devils (1971) and the musical fantasy film Tommy (1975)?

Ken Russell

7.

Which character in the 1973 Disney animation Robin Hood was voiced by the actor Terry-Thomas?

Sir Hiss

8.

What is the title of the first novel, which is also the name of the main character, in Mervyn Peake’s fantasy novel series Gormenghast?

Titus Groan

Sp1

Which spicy Chinese dish takes its name from the Cantonese word for the wooden stick that is used to tenderise the meat prior to cooking?

Bang Bang Chicken

Sp2

In French they are called gougounes.  In German they are Schlappen.  What are they called in English?

Flip-flops

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - Announced theme - 'War!  What is it good for?'

1.

What is the dynastic family name of Mohammed Reza, the last Shah of Iran, and his son, Reza, the current Crown Prince in exile?

Pahlavi

2.

Name the Iran supreme leader killed on day one of the USA and Israel attacks on Iran.

(Ali) Khamenei

3.

The elite, ideological branch of Iran’s armed forces is commonly known as the IRGC.  What does IRGC stand for?

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

(all words must be exactly correct)

4.

What operational name has the USA given to its war on Iran?

Operation Epic Fury

5.

Iran has a land border with 7 countries. Name 5 of them.

(5 from)

Iraq / Turkey / Azerbaijan / Armenia / Turkmenistan / Afghanistan / Pakistan

6.

Iran has 6 maritime borders.   Name 5 of them.

(5 from)

Kuwait / Saudi Arabia / Bahrain / Qatar / UAE / Oman

7.

The USA has deployed 2 of its 11 aircraft carriers on operations in the war against Iran, both named after former US presidents.  Name both.

USS Gerald R Ford &

USS Abraham Lincoln

8.

What does the military acronym UAV stand for?  Nowadays it is almost totally used in the context of drones.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Sp.

What does the military acronym ATGM stand for?

Anti-tank Guided Missile

Go back to Round 3 questions without answers

ROUND 4 - Announced theme - 'Freemen of the City'

Each answer is a person who has been awarded the Freedom of the City of Manchester

You are given a brief résumé of that person and their year of award, along with the initial letter of their surname

Surnames are sufficient in the answers        

1.

Awarded1871; surname starts with an 'S'

Welsh-American who asked a very famous but apocryphal question.  A Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath and earned the Belgian Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold.  Latterly seen as very controversial.  Not many African fans.

Henry Morton Stanley

2.

Awarded1964; surname starts with an 'S'

Politician, feminist, educationalist, writer.  Councillor 1924–1933.  Devoted much of her energy to the planning of Wythenshawe Council Estate.

Shena Simon

3.

Awarded 2013; surname starts with a 'G'

Russian born scientist. who alongside Konstantin Noveselov was a pioneer of graphene.

Andre Geim

4.

Awarded 1899; surname starts with an 'R'

Born in Havana Cuba.  Her ashes are interred in Southern Cemetery.  Lived at Longford Hall. Philanthropist and major shareholder in the Manchester Ship Canal.  Honorary Doctorate in Literature from Victoria University.

Enriqueta Augustina Rylands

5.

Awarded1967; surname starts with a 'B'.

Played for Man City 1928 – 1936.  Was a winner in an FA Cup Final.  He was a Knight of the Order of St Gregory the Great.

Matt Busby

6.

Awarded 1958; surname starts with a 'B'

Born in 1899 and regarded himself as a Cockney.  He escaped death in 1943 after changing planes with Lesley Howard the actor.  He has a square and a sculpture named after him in Manchester.

 John Barbirolli

7.

Awarded1930; surname starts with an 'S'

Editor whose adage was ‘comment is free but facts are sacred’.

C P Scott

8.

Awarded 1917; surname starts with an 'S'

Field Marshal and twice PM of South Africa who signed the Treaty of Versailles and championed the League of Nations and later the UN.

Jan Christian Smuts

Sp1

Awarded 1945; surname starts with an 'M'

Senior officer in the British army.  Shot through the right lung during first Battle of Ypres.  He accepted the surrender in 1945 of the Germans in NW Europe at Lüneburg Heath.

Bernard Law Montgomery

Sp2

Awarded 2007; surname starts with a 'W'

The subject of a 2002 film called 24 Hour Party People.

Tony Wilson

Sp3

Awarded 1918; surname starts with a 'G'

Born in Chorlton on Medlock.  The author of the People’s Budget.  He helped to establish the modern Welfare state.

David Lloyd George

Sp4

Awarded 1956; surname starts with an 'R'

Lord Mayor 1941-2 and Alderman who has two educational establishments in the city named after him.

Wright Robinson

Go back to Round 4 questions without answers

ROUND 5 - Paired

1.

What was the name of Kylie Minogue's character in Neighbours?

Charlene

2.

Name the actress who played the lead role in 1990’s TV series The Manageress and featured as 'The Boss' in a long-running series of adverts for Kenco coffee.

Cherie Lunghi

3.

Heaven is a Place on Earth was a hit record for which artist?

Belinda Carlisle

4.

Which band had a hit with A Horse with No Name?

America

5.

Who became known in the early 1980’s as 'The Muswell Hill Murderer'?

Dennis Nilsen

6.

What was the name of the heiress abducted and killed by Donald Neilson in 1975?

Lesley Whittle

7.

In the hymn Lord of All Hopefulness, a different abstract noun replaces the word ‘Hopefulness’ in the first line of each of the next 3 verses.  Give one of the ‘Lord of All’s’ that is invoked in the rest of the hymn.

(one from)

Eagerness / Kindliness / Gentleness

8.

In the same hymn, the last line of each verse invokes the Lord to give us the blessing of 4 states of being, a different one in each verse:

“Your [something] in our hearts, Lord, …..”

Give ONE of these blessings / states of being.

(one from)

Bliss / Strength / Love / Peace

Sp.

In 2025, Thomas Robinson, AKA Tam O’Braan, received a jail sentence for fraudulently selling which product which he falsely claimed was grown in Scotland?

Tea

Go back to Round 5 questions without answers

ROUND 6 - Hidden theme

1.

Whose name is missing from these lists of founding members of 2 English rock bands from 1965 and& 1970 respectively?

1965: Carl Wayne, Trevor Burton, Chris ‘Ace’ Kefford, Bev Bevan

1970: Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan

Roy Wood

(The Move & ELO)

2.

Which English footballer is next on this list?

Billy Bonds (799),

Frank Lampard Snr. (660),

Bobby Moore (647)

Trevor Brooking

(also 647 - top 4 number of appearances for West Ham United)

3.

Name the American teen drama TV series about the lives of a close-knit group of high school / college friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, navigating the ups and downs of adolescence.  It was broadcast in the late ‘90’s / early 2000’s, and ran for 6 series and 128 episodes. Actor James Van Der Beek, who played its central character, died last month at the age of 48.

Dawson’s Creek

4.

Which 3 words, appearing consecutively in a dictionary, mean:

a bad-tempered person,

a dried fruit of a small, seedless grape,

a medium of exchange

curmudgeon,

currant,

currency

5.

What word connects an industrial heritage museum in Northwich on the site where the company ceased commercial operations in 1986, and a 19th-century philanthropic Yorkshire industrialist who provided houses offering more sanitary living conditions for his mill workers.  The mill too ceased operations in 1986 and the model village developed around it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Salt

(The Lion Salt Works, Titus Salt & the Saltaire village he founded - do not accept ‘Saltaire’ as a relevant answer to the question requiring the word linking both locations)

6.

This is a copy (with references to the play’s title and playwright removed) of the original poster advertising its West End premiere in 1969, when it famously caused quite a stir in 60’s Britain!  Name the play.

What The Butler Saw

(by Joe Orton)

7.

Name the company founded in Germany in 1935 and now the global market-leading manufacturer of cleaning equipment (industrial & domestic), operating in 85 countries and which in 2024 had a turnover of 3.4 billion euros.

Kärcher

8.

What name connects:

the American singer-songwriter who wrote Doctor My Eyes (a US Top 10 hit for him in 1972, and in the UK Top 10 for the Jackson 5 with their cover version in the same year), and co-wrote the Eagles debut hit single Take It Easy

and

the English singer-songwriter who had 1979 UK hits with Is She Really Going Out With Him? and It’s Different For Girls?

Jackson

(Jackson Browne & Joe Jackson)

Sp.

Ignoring the single and plural use of the word, what is the missing word in these lines from 2 Shakespeare plays?

(spoken by Hamlet himself, in Hamlet, as he kills Polonius):

“How now? A rat? Dead for a [blank], dead!”

(spoken by Solanio, quoting Shylock’s lament of his daughter Jessica, in The Merchant of Venice):

“My daughter!  O my [blank]!  O my daughter!
Fled with a Christian!  O my Christian [blank]!
Justice! the Law!  My [blank] and my daughter! “

Ducat

Theme: Each answer contains the name of a member of the England T20 squad in the recent T20 World Cup ...;

Go back to Round 6 questions without answers

ROUND 7 - Hidden theme

Theme words may be soundalikes or part of lareger words

1.

Who was director, screenwriter and playwright Mike Leigh’s wife from 1973 until they divorced in 2001?  An actress, she made her name in her husband’s plays before going on to become a celebrated performer on stage, screen, television and radio to this day.  (full name required)

Alison Steadman

2.

Who is the current Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology? (full name required)

Liz Kendall

3.

Which musical premiered at the Eugene O’Neill theatre on Broadway in March 2011 and has run continuously, to great acclaim, ever since?  Now the 10th longest running show in Broadway history, it has won 9 Tony Awards and contains the songs, Hello!, I Am Here For You and All-American Prophet.

The Book of Mormon

4.

A member of the RSC, which actress played Moneypenny in four Janes Bond films in the Pierce Brosnan era between 1995 and 2002?  (full name required)

Samantha Bond

5.

Which comic ballet from 1870, set to music by Delibes, tells the story of a young man’s infatuation with a life-sized dancing doll before he is rescued by his real-life sweetheart, Swanhilda?

Coppelia

6.

What is the traditional British name for a tradesman dealing in textile fabrics especially silks, velvets and other fine materials?

A mercer

7.

What is the name of the hard rock duo formed in Worthing in 2011, all four of whose albums to date (their eponymous debut album from 2014, How Did We Get So Dark? from 2017, Typhoons from 2021 and Back to the Water Below from 2023 ) have reached No.1 in the UK album charts?  They also won the Brit Award for Best British Group in 2015.

Royal Blood

8.

Which British golfer won the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach, his only major victory to date?

Graeme McDowell

Sp.

Which actress played Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street from 2008 to 2014, Georgie Lane in Our Girl from 2016 to 2020 and Kate Thorne in Ten Pound Poms from 2023 to 2025?

Michelle Keegan

Theme: Each answer contains the surname of a Manchester City manager ...

Go back to Round 7 questions without answers

ROUND 8 - Hidden Theme

Theme words may be soundalikes or part of lareger words

1.

Which 2000 Coen Brothers film features the exploits of Ulysses, Delmar and Pete as they embark on a journey in search of buried treasure?

O Brother Where Art Thou?

2.

What was the name of the Canadian singer-songwriter who had hits in the 1960’s and 70’s with such classics as There’s a Ghost in My House, Gotta See Jane and Indiana Wants Me?

R Dean Taylor

3.

What title links symphonies by Beethoven and Vaughan Williams?

Pastoral

4.

Who is, currently, the longest-serving female MP earning the honorary title 'Mother of the House'?

Diane Abbott

5.

Lying at the western-most point of the Scilly Isles is, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s smallest island with a building on it. That building is a lighthouse.  What is the name of that island/lighthouse?

Bishop Rock

6.

Who was the artistic director of the RSC from 1968 to 1986 and the National Theatre from 1997 until 2003?

Trevor Nunn

7.

By what name is the oldest team in the NFL currently known?  Named for their red jerseys, they were formed in 1898 in Chicago, later moving to St Louis before relocating again to their present home in 1988.

Arizona Cardinals

8.

Which publicly-funded position, first created in 1927, has had 17 incumbents (and soon to be 18), none of whom, so far, have been female?

Director General of the BBC

Sp1

Which surname connects a British-American acting dynasty and the rock band Keane?

Chaplin

(Charlie, Geraldine, Oona et al and Tom)
 

Sp2

Which 2-word Latin phrase refers to arguments that are based on presumption rather than examination or analysis?

A priori

Sp3

Which phrase meaning partly good but mostly bad became popular after a Punch cartoon that first appeared in 1895?

A Curate’s egg

Theme: Each answer contains the name of a religious office or designation ...

 Brother, Dean, Pastor, Abbot, Bishop, Nun, Cardinal, Rector, Chaplain, Prior and Curate

Go back to Round 8 questions without answers