December 11th

Specialist Questions

11th December 2007

Set by

The Plough Taverners






Rounds Are:
Science
History
Artists
Sport
Geography
Alliteration Agony
Arts and Entertainment
Christmas

Round 1 Science

1 Who first argued that the world was not flat?
Aristotle

2 Which metal is the best conductor of electricity?
Silver

3 Which scientist was born in Germany in 1879, became a Swiss citizen in 1901 and later became a US citizen in 1940?
Albert Einstein

4 Which temperature has the same value in both centigrade and Fahrenheit?
-40

5 Which planet in the Solar System is closest in size to Earth?
Venus

6 What is the sum of the internal angles in a hexagon?
720 degrees

7 In mathematics what word is used to describe numbers which can be expressed as an exact fraction?
Rational numbers

8 What is an Ishihara test used for?
To determine whether or not someone is colour blind


SUPPLEMENTARIES:



S1. What is the most common blood type in humans?
O

S2. Which piece of household equipment works by passing non-ionising radiation at a frequency of 2.45 Giga-herz through substances to cause a dielectric heating effect?
A microwave oven



Round 2 History


1. By what nickname was Sir Henry Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland, who was killed at the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, generally known?
(Harry) Hotspur.

2. Where was Joan of Arc burnt at the stake in 1431?
(In the market square at) Rouen.

3. For what is Wynkyn de Worde (died about 1535) famous?
He was one of the earliest printers who worked in England. He took over Caxton’s business after Caxton died.

4. Who was appointed commander-in-chief of the Parliamentary forces in the English Civil War in 1645?
Sir Thomas Fairfax.

5. The composer Ludwig van Beethoven and the poet William Wordsworth were both born in the same year. Which year was it?
1770. (Allow 1765-1775 )

6. What position did King George I of Great Britain hold before he became king?
Elector of Hanover.

7. Who noted the day before he was killed in 1968: “I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man”?
Martin Luther King

8. What body part was most frequently covered with lard and roasted as a torture during the Spanish Inquisition?
The foot


SUPPLEMENTARIES:

S1. Which legendary organisation did King Louis Philippe of France found?
The French Foreign Legion

S2. Who was dubbed “Lenin’s left leg” during the early stages of Russia’s Marxist movement?
Joseph Stalin


Round 3 Which Artist?


The date and place of birth plus the type of art is given, name the artist.

1. Born 1840 in Giverny, France. Famous for his paintings of water-lilies.
Claude Monet

2. Born 1834 in Paris. Famous for his paintings of ballet dancers.
Edgar Degas

3. Born 1860 in Moravia. Master of Art Nouveau, famous for his Parisian posters for Sarah Bernhardt plays and ‘The Seasons’.
Alfons Mucha

4. Born 1881 in Malaga. Master of cubism and famous for his political painting ‘Guernica’.
Pablo Picasso

5. Born 1904 in Figueras, Spain. Surrealist painter famous for his melting clocks in ‘The Persistence of Memory’.
Salvador Dali

6. Born 1927 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Famous for his pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Campbell’s soup.
Andy Warhol

7. Born 1844 in Laval, France. Famous for his Jungle and Wild Animal paintings.
Henri Rousseau

8. Born 1862 in Baumgarten, Austria. Famous paintings include ‘The Kiss’ and ‘Adele Bloch-Bauer’.
Gustav Klimt



SUPPLEMENTARIES:

S1. Born 1853 in Groot Zundert, Netherlands. Famous for his paintings of sunflowers.
Vincent van Gogh

S2. Born 1937 in Bradford. Famous for his swimming pool pictures and ‘Mr & Mrs Clark and Percy’.
David Hockney


Round 4 Sport


1 Football: Who is the only player to have scored in Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow derbies?
Andrei Kanchelskis

2 Rugby League: Name the former Warrington and Great Britain captain who died of motor neurone disease last month (November 2007) aged just 43?
Mike Gregory

3 Tennis: Andy Murray attended which Primary School (which sadly became famous for another reason in 1996)?
Dunblane Primary School

4 Yachting: Which country surprisingly won the America’s Cup in 2003?
Switzerland

5 Rugby Union: England captain Phil Vickery plays for which domestic club?
Wasps

6 Motor Racing: Who was the last British Winner of the British Grand Prix?
David Coulthard (1999 and 2000).

7 Cricket: Who won the 2007 County Championship?
Sussex

8 Football: Who is the only player to have scored for England in three different World Cup Finals tournaments?
David Beckham



SUPPLEMENTARIES:


S1. Golf: Who did Padraig Harrington beat in a playoff to win this year’s (2007) British Open?
Sergio Garcia

S2. Horse Racing: Which horse won this year’s (2007) Grand National?
Silver Birch


Round 5 Geography


1. Where would you find the Pensacola Mountains?
Antarctica

2. How many states of the United States of America have a Pacific coast?
Five: California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii

3. What is the Capital of San Marino?
San Marino

4. What is the capital of Uzbekistan?
Tashkent

5. Which word describes the flat area of alluvial deposits on the mouth of some rivers?
Delta

6. In geographical terms what is the more common name for the Abyssal Plain?
The ocean floor.

7. The Dominican Republic shares an island with which other country?
Haiti

8. What port is at the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal?
Colon


SUPPLEMENTARIES:



S1. Which mountain chain is deemed as forming the eastern boundary of Europe?
The Urals

S2. In which ocean are The Maldives, Chagos and Cocos Islands situated?
The Indian Ocean


Round 6 Alliteration Agony
In the following questions you will be given a description of a famous person with an alliterative name. All you have to do is name the person (BOTH names required).

Example: US Singer, famous for “I will Survive” - Gloria Gaynor

1. Lead guitarist with the Kinks who suffered a stroke in 2004.
Dave Davies

2. Author and CBE whose books include “The Dogs of War” and “The Fourth Protocol”.
Frederick Forsyth

3. Manager of The Sex Pistols and co-founder of punk fashion with Vivienne Westwood.
Malcolm McLaren

4. Star of controversial 1972 film “Deep Throat” who subsequently became an active anti-porn campaigner.
Linda Lovelace

5. English author whose books include “The Power and The Glory” and “The Quiet American”.
Graham Greene

6. Blue Peter presenter and owner of Blue Peter dog Petra
Peter Purves

7. English actor who starred in the controversial films “Caligula” and “A Clockwork Orange”.
Malcolm McDowell

8. English actor who first came to fame as PC “Fancy” Smith in Z Cars, also an accomplished mountaineer.
Brian Blessed


SUPPLEMENTARIES

S1. 20th Century British journalist and author who surprisingly converted to Christianity in later life.
Malcolm Muggeridge

S2. French composer and performer whose albums include “Oxygene” and “Equinoxe”
Jean-Michel Jarre



Round 7 Arts and Entertainment

1. Who played Al Capone in the 1987 film, The Untouchables?
Robert De Niro

2. Which instrument represents the duck in Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf?
Oboe

3. Which UK TV series was based on Eric Chappell's play The Banana Box?
Rising Damp

4. Jan Morrow and Brad Allen are characters who share a phone line in which 1959 film?
Pillow Talk (starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day)

5. How many contestants' boxes feature in the (UK version) TV show Deal or No Deal?
Twenty-two (eleven 'reds' and eleven 'blues')

6. Who played the Russian mail-order bride in the 2001 film Birthday Girl?
Nicole Kidman


7. Pixel, Stingy and Stephanie appear in which children's TV programme?
Lazy Town


8. What is the name of the title character in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman? Willy Loman



SUPPLEMENTARIES:



S1. In which US state did Buddy Holly's plane crash in 1959?
Iowa

S2. What was Humphrey Bogart's last film?
The Harder They Fall (1956, in which Bogart played jobless sportswriter Eddie Willis)


Round 8 Christmas Crackers


1. Who resigned from their position of power on Christmas Day 1991?
Mikhail Gorbachev

2. In which country was tinsel invented in the 1600s?
Germany

3. Who popularised the Christmas tree in England in the 19th Century?
Prince Albert

4. Who wrote the words for the Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter”?
Christina Rossetti

5. Which well-known author of fantasy fiction also created a book called “The Father Christmas Letters”?
J.R.R. Tolkien

6. Which word, associated with Christmas, comes from a Greek word meaning "we can act anything"?
Pantomime

7. "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents" is the first line from which literary classic by Louisa May Alcott?
Little Women

8. At the start of “A Christmas Carol”, we are told that somebody is dead - who is it?
Jacob Marley



SUPPLEMENTARIES:

S1. In which Shakespeare play do the lines “At Christmas I no more desire a rose / Than wish a snow in May’s new-fangled mirth” appear?
Love’s Labour’s Lost

S2. What is another name for the traditional German Christmas Loaf?
Stollen





General Knowledge Questions

Set by


Chester Road Tavern



General Knowledge Questions – 11/12/07

1. Which car name translates as 'people's car’?
A. Volkswagen
2. What first left Gare de l'Est in Paris on October 4th, 1883?
A. Orient Express
3. What colour is the zero on a roulette wheel?
A. Green
4. Prior to 1664, what was New York called?
A. New Amsterdam
5. What is chromophobia the fear of?
A. Colours
6. Which horse won this years Epsom derby?
A. Authorised
7. Name the British teacher jailed recently in Sudan?
A. Gillian Gibbons
8. Which is the smallest of the 50 states in the US?
A. Rhode Island
9. Which stretch of water separates Alaska from Russia?
A. The Bering Strait
10. Whose wife was turned into a pillar of salt?
A. Lot
11. How many children did Queen Victoria have?
A. 9
12. What is a Garganey?
A. A bird
13. An Archimedes screw is a device for moving what?
A. Water
14. What football team has the nickname ‘The Royals’?
A. Reading
15. How many teams play in the Scottish Premier League?
A. 12
16. Which cartoon lion's catchphrase was 'Heavens to Murgatroyd'?
A. Snagglepuss
17. What was the name of the magazine launched by the BBC in 1929?
A. The Listener
18. What was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair?
A. George Orwell
19. In the Fairy Tale, what dwarf could turn Straw into Gold?
A. Rumpelstiltskin
20. Who won an Oscar for his direction of Lawrence of Arabia?
A. David Lean
21. In which film did the character of Marion Crane die?A. Psycho22. What event does the Rhyme, 'Ring a ring o' roses' commemorate?
A. Great Plague
23. Which team has the only 100% home record in the premier league?
A. Manchester City
24. Les McKeown was the lead singer of which 1970’s pop group?A. Bay City Rollers
25. War, Death, Famine and what are the names of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse?
A. Pestilence.
26. Which metal is obtained from the mineral cinnabar?
A. Mercury
27. What is the name of the fat Little Britain character portrayed by Matt Lucas, who
spends all her time at a heath spa?
A. Bubbles
28. J and which other Scrabble letter has an eight-point value?
A. X
29. The middle name of Robert Scott (the polar explorer) is also the name of which bird?
A. Falcon
30. Clint Eastwood starred in and directed which western film in 1992?
A. The Unforgiven
31. Which children's TV character lives on the island of Sodor?
A. Thomas the Tank engine
32. Who wrote the Midwich Cuckoos?
A. John Wyndham
33. Who, other than Roger Federer, was the last winner of the men’s singles at
Wimbledon?
A. Leyton Hewitt
34. In which Disney film does Angela Lansbury play Eglantine Price, an amateur witch?
A. Bedknobs and Broomsticks
35. Who painted the Merry Drinker?
A. Franz Hals
36. In which battle of 1314 did Robert the Bruce defeat the English?
A. Bannockburn
37. In what year was the Berlin wall built?
A. 1961 (accept 1960 – 62)
38. Who starred in Mr Smith goes to Washington and Destry rides again?
A. James Stewart
39. Who wrote ‘The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’?
A. Robert Louis Stevenson
40. What is the name of the Black Panther in Jungle book?
A. Bagheera
41. Which plant has the latin name Bellis Perennis?
A. Daisy
42. What does palmiped mean?
A. Webbed feet
43. Who replaced Bruce Forsythe on TV’s ‘The generation game’?
A. Larry Greyson
44. Which football club did Kevin Keegan join in 1977?
A. FC Hamburg
45. Name either of the two jockeys who shared the flat jockeys’ title this year?
A. Jamie Spencer / Seb Sanders
46. Which book is based on the real life experiences of Alexander Selkirk?
A. Robinson Crusoe
47. What is the name of Al Pacino's character in the 1983 film Scarface?
A. Tony Montana
48. Who was the lead singer of Frankie Goes To Hollywood?A. Holly Johnson
49. Which Lancashire born engineer invented the Spinning Jenny in the 18th Century?
A. James Hargreaves
50. What do the Dutch call areas of land reclaimed from the sea?
A. Polders
51. At which US University did a mad gunman massacre 33 students in April 2007?
A. Virginia Tech (accept Virginia)
52. Which Australian batsman top-scored in the world cup final against Sri Lanka with a
quick fire 149?
A. Adam Gilchrist
53. Which country is called Suomi in its native language?
A. Finland
54. The St Leger is run at which English racecourse?
A. Doncaster
55. Who was the president of Yugoslavia, 1953-80?
A. Tito
56. Which popular Welsh entertainer wrote the First World War song Keep the Home
Fires Burning?
A. Ivor Novello
57. What is the largest island in the Mediterranean?
A. Sicily
58. Yellowstone National Park is in which US state?
A. Wyoming
59. What is the fourth book of the Bible's Old Testament?
A. Numbers
60. Who played Elliot Ness in the 1987 film The Untouchables?
A. Kevin Costner
61. What did a cordwainer make?
A. Shoes
62. Who was America named after?
A. Amerigo Vespucci
63. Who is the Roman Goddess of War?
A. Minerva
64. A Pearmain is what type of fruit?
A. Apple
65. Which British boxer and past world middleweight champion committed suicide in his
flat in Leamington Spa in 1966?
A. Randolph Turpin
66. Where was the first British Grand Prix motor race held?
A. Brooklands (1926)
67. What is the main ingredient of the dish Borscht?
A. Beetroot
68. What is the US state capital of Virginia?
A. Richmond
69. In which year was the Channel Tunnel (between England and France) opened?
A. 1994
70. What was the name of Napoleon's horse at Waterloo?
A. Marengo
71. If something is bicephalous it has two what?
A. Heads
72. Which famous fashion emporium did Barbara Hulanicki in London start in 1964?
A. Biba
73. Who wrote the ballet The Firebird?
A. Igor Stravinsky (1910)
74. Mrs Danvers is the sinister housekeeper in which novel?
A. Rebecca
75. St Peters Port is the capital of which of the Channel Islands?
A. Guernsey
76. China, Laos and which other country border Vietnam?
A. Cambodia
77. Where in the human body is the lacrimal gland?
A. Eye
78. What does the name of the Russian newspaper Pravda mean?
A. Truth
79. At what sport did Greg Louganis excel?
A. Diving
80. In which English county is Ashdown Forest?
A. Sussex
81. What did Harry Brearley invent in 1913?
A. Stainless Steel
82. Which damsel in distress has vital statistics 19-19-19?
A. Olive Oyl
83. What does a Trichologist study?
A. Hair
84. What are chitterlings?
A. Animal Intestines prepared as food
85. Name the ex- Scotland Football Team manager who is now manager of Birmingham.
A. Alex McLeish
86. Name the property developer at the centre of the illegal donations scandal presently
plaguing the Labour party.
A. David Abrahams
87. Name the British student recently murdered in Perugia Italy.
A. Meredith Kercher
88. Whose album ‘Myths of the Near Future’ won this years Mercury Music prize?
A. Klaxons
89. Who did Phil Taylor beat in the recent inaugural Grand Slam of Darts Final?
A. Andy Hamilton
90. What club does Rugby Union convert Andy Farrell now play for?
A. Saracens
91. Which writer created Tarzan?
A. Edgar Rice Burroughs
92. In which European city is the International Court of Justice based?
A. The Hague
93. Sandra Goodrich was better known as which 1960's singer?
A. Sandy Shaw
94. What type of flower is a ladies slipper?
A. Orchid
95. What (as at August 2006) is the world's longest running current children's TV
programme?
A. Blue Peter
96. In which English county is Belvoir (pronounced 'beaver') Castle?
A. Leicestershire (close to the Lincolnshire border and Grantham)

Supplementaries:

97. Who designed Princess Dianna's wedding dress?
A. David and Elizabeth Emanuel
98. What is the fastest running British bird?
A. Pheasant (up to 21 mph)
99. The Merciless Parliament convicted of treason the entire court of which British
monarch?
A. Richard the Second
100. Ingram Wilcox won a million pounds with the answer Bombardier Billy Wells – what
was the question?
A. Which boxer was famous for striking the gong in the J. Arthur Rank films?

Week 5 December 4th

Macclesfield Quiz League
2007-8 season: Week Five
4 December 2007
This week’s questions were set by the Ox-fford ‘C’.
Thanks to the Cock Inn and the Harrington ‘B’ for their help in vetting them.
The specialist rounds are:
1. Arts and Entertainment
2. Sport
3. ABBAmania
4. Geography
5. Let’s be Creative
6. Science
7. Join the Q
8. History
Our reference source for the vast majority of these questions is Wikipedia: the free encyclopaedia that anyone can edit (but perhaps unwisely, we don’t let that put us off!).
Round One: Arts and Entertainment
1 The Australian painter Sir Sidney Nolan is most famous for a series of portraits of which historical character?
A. Ned Kelly

2 Who replaced Simon Hoggart in the chair of BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz, in September
2006?
A. Sandi Toksvig

3 Which was the only film directed by Alfred Hitchcock to win an Oscar for Best Picture?
A Rebecca (he never won an Oscar himself)

4 In which 1953 film did Marilyn Monroe play the role of Lorelei Lee?
AGentlemen Prefer Blondes

5 Who wrote The Doors of Perception, a short book first published in 1954, from which the rock group The Doors took their name?
A Aldous Huxley

6 Of which classic French novel is Jean Valjean the long-suffering central character?
A Les Miserables (by Victor Hugo)

7 Which musical features the songs Angel of Music, The Music of the Night, and The Point of No Return?
A Phantom of the Opera

8 Which female US singer partners former Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant on a recently released album?
A Alison Krauss


Supplementaries
9 Which actress famously had her legs insured by her studio for a million dollars each?
A Betty Grable

10 Who was the canine companion of Freddie Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkly, and Norville Rogers?
A Scooby-Doo (Norville was better known as Shaggy)

Round Two: Sport

1 Which Indian batsman scored six sixes from an over by England’s Stuart Broad, in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup (in September this year)?
A Yuvraj Singh

2 What’s the only football club that’s won the European Cup more times than its domestic League title?
A Nottingham Fores

3
Q
What is the name of the Banbury-based team (its headquarters clearly visible from the M40!) whose debut in Formula One motor racing was recently postponed from 2008 to 2009?

A
Prodrive
4 In fencing, what word is used for a quick thrust made after parrying an opponent’s lunge?
A Riposte

5 Who scored all but three of South Africa’s 15 points in this year’s Rugby World Cup final?
A Percy Montgomery

6 Still the only jockey ever to have been knighted, who rode Pinza to his only Derby victory in 1953?
A Sir Gordon Richards

7 Who has reached the final of the World Snooker Championships six times, but never won it?
A Jimmy White

8 In which sport are games started, and restarted after a goal, with a “centre pass”?
ANetball


Supplementaries
9 What was the last non-league club to win the FA Cup, and also won the 100th final eighty years later?
A Tottenham Hotspur (1901 and 1981) – accept Spurs!

10 What’s the current name of the rugby club that was formed in 2003 when the Swansea and Neath clubs were forced to merge?
A Ospreys (formerly Neath-Swansea Ospreys)
11 Iftikar Ali Khan and his son Mansoor Ali Khan both captained the Indian cricket team. By what hereditary title were they both better known?
AThe Nawab of Pataudi (na-WAAB of pa-TOR-dee)

Round Three: ABBAmania
In this round, each question has a link to the works of Sweden’s greatest export. You don’t have to know the songs – but if you don’t, shame on you!
1 Which ‘dancing queen’ retired from ballet this summer and is currently touring with Katherine Jenkins in a show called Viva la Diva?
A Darcey Bussell

2 Where precisely was Harold Bride when he said to his colleague Jack Phillips "Send SOS; it's the new call, and this may be your last chance to send it."?
AOn the Titanic

3 Who described the Battle of Waterloo as “The nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life”?
A The Duke of Wellington

4 Martin Luther King delivered his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech from the steps of which monument?
A The Lincoln Memorial

5 Fernando Torres became Liverpool’s record signing this summer. Which club had he previously been with since the age of eleven?
A Atletico Madrid

6 The name of which game was changed around 1873 from “Poona” to that of the stately home of the Dukes of Beaufort?
A Badminton

7 Who was the original host of the popular 1970s quiz show Winner Takes All?
A Jimmy Tarbuck

8 Who starred as Linda La Hughes in the sitcom Gimme, gimme, gimme?
A Kathy Burke

Supplementaries

9 Which song, originally a hit for LaBelle and subtitled Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir, reached number 1 in the UK charts in 2001 after being featured in the film Moulin Rouge?
A Lady Marmalade

10 In the theatre, what is a super trouper?
A A spotlight

11 Who boasted that he occupied “the third best slot on Radio Norwich”?
A Alan Partridge (Knowing me, knowing you, ah-ha …)

Round Four: Geography

1 Name one of the two main towns that, along with Torquay, make up the unitary authority of Torbay.
A Brixham or Paignton

2 Which Irish county includes the most westerly point of the British Isles?
A Kerry

3 What’s the second largest US state, by both area and population?
A Texas (Alaska is the biggest by area, and California by population)

4 Haddington Hill, near Wendover in Buckinghamshire, is the highest point in which range of hills?
A The Chilterns

5 Which European country has a picture of Triglav, its highest mountain, on its flag?
A Slovenia

6 Which country was formed from the former Dutch East Indies?
A Indonesia

7 What name is given to a valley that’s formed when land subsides between two parallel faults?
A Rift valley

8 Which French port stands at the mouth of the River Seine?
A Le Havre

Supplementaries

9 Which Nottinghamshire town gave its name to what’s now the largest city in New Jersey?
A Newark(-on-Trent)

10 Which country does the Sinai (SYE-nay-eye) peninsula form part of?
A Egypt

Round Five: Let’s be creative
Note to question persons: this is a visual round. Before starting, ask if any of the contestants is or are visually impaired; if anyone is, offer them (when it comes to their turn) one of the alternatives below.
You should have two copies of each picture. Hand out one copy to each team simultaneously, one question at a time.
Now please read out the following paragraph to the contestants!
This is a visual round. You will be shown a picture of a “creative” person from the world of the Arts – either a composer, a painter, or a writer. You just have to name the person.

http://senduit.com/50811a (these pictures will be available for 1 week only)
1 Franz Schubert (composer)
2 Leonardo Da Vinci (painter)
3 Jane Austen (writer)
4 Sir Edward Elgar (composer)
5 Vincent Van Gogh (painter)
6 Charles Dickens (writer)
7 Ludwig van Beethoven (composer)
8 Virginia Woolf (writer)
Alternatives (for visually impaired contestants)

1 Who wrote the novels The Mill on the Floss, Middlemarch, and Daniel Deronda?
A George Eliot

2 Who composed the Goldberg Variations, Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, and a collection of solo keyboard pieces entitled The Well-Tempered Clavier?
A Johann Sebastian Bach

Supplementaries
1 Salvador Dali (painter)
2 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (composer)

Round Six: Science

1 In the human body, what links the ear to the throat?
A The Eustachian tube

2 What’s the main constituent of natural gas?
A Methane

3 Name one of the two distinct types of galaxy, according to their shape.
A Spiral or elliptical

4 What’s the common name for sodium hydroxide (formula NaOH)?
A Caustic soda (accept lye)

5 Which inert gas is the third most plentiful gas in the Earth’s atmosphere?
A Argon

6 How many stones are there in a hundredweight?
A Eight (8 x 14 = 112)

7 What’s the more correct (but non-scientific) name for the hedge sparrow?
A The dunnock

8 Elephant, leopard, Weddell and Ross are species belonging to which family of mammals?
A Seals

Supplementaries

9 If you suffered from phlebitis, which part of your body would be inflamed?
A Veins (accept blood vessels)

10 Which native British mammal has the Latin name Lutra lutra?
A The otter

Round Seven: Join the Q
Every answer in this round starts with the letter Q.

1 Which of the world’s capital cities is nearest to the equator?
A Quito (Ecuador)

2 In mathematics, what word is used for the result of a division?
A The quotient

3 Which fruit was originally used to make marmalade?
A Quince

4 Which type of zebra was hunted to extinction in the late 19th century?
A The quagga

5 What was the title of The Who’s second rock opera, released in 1973?
A Quadrophenia

6 What weird name did Nissan give to the “compact crossover sports utility vehicle” which it launched this year?
A Qashqai

7 Which common mineral are agate, jasper, onyx and amethyst varieties of?
A Quartz

8 Which bitter alkaloid is added to water to make tonic water?
A Quinine

Supplementaries

9 Which word is said to have been introduced to the English language in 1780 by a Dublin theatre manager, for a bet?
A Quiz

10 Which member of the pheasant family has a name that means “to shrink with fear”?
A The quail

11 Which Aztec god is often referred to as the Feathered Serpent?
A Quetzlcoatl (quet-zl-co-atl)

12 Which famous fictional character was found on the Sunday after Easter, and given one of the many names for that day in the Christian calendar?
A Quasimodo (the Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Round Eight: History

1 Which European country was formed in the 19th century when Wallachia and Moldavia were united?
A Romania

2 Which Roman Catholic priest was Lord Chancellor from 1515 to 1529, during which period he effectively ruled England?
A Cardinal (Thomas) Wolsey

3 Who was the grandson of Genghis Khan, and founded the Yuan dynasty which ruled China from 1271 AD until 1368?
A Kublai Khan

4 Which family ruled Russia, from 1613 until the 1917 revolution?
A The Romanovs

5 Who punched Home Secretary Reginald Maudling, in protest at not being called to speak in the House of Commons following Bloody Sunday?
A Bernadette Devlin (later McAliskey)

6 Which country became independent of Ethiopia in 1991 following a thirty-year war?
A Eritrea

7 Which African country was led by Dr. Hastings Banda from 1961 to 1994?
A Malawi (accept Nyasaland)

8 Which Prime Minister refused to meet the Jarrow Marchers on their arrival in Downing Street?
A Stanley Baldwin

Supplementaries

9 Which dynasty ruled Portugal from 1640 until 1910?
A The House of Braganza

10 Which South African town did Robert Baden-Powell defend against a siege by Boers in 1889-90?
A Mafeking

General Knowledge questions

1 Name one of the two candidates to replace Sir Menzies (Ming) Campbell as leader of the Liberal Democrats.
A Nick Clegg or Chris Huhne (the result is due to be announced on 17 December)

2 In cooking, what’s the French term for a water bath used to prevent overheating?
A Bain Marie

3 Which French city, famous for its mustard, is the capital of the Burgundy (or Bourgogne) region?
A Dijon

4 Much in the news in May this year, what was originally the nickname of the witch Nannie, in Burns’ poem Tam o’Shanter?
A Cutty-sark

5 Who is the father of Charlotte Church’s daughter Ruby, born in September this year?
A Gavin Henson (Rugby player, Ospreys and Wales)

6 How is the Flavian Amphitheatre better known today?
A The Colosseum

7 Who played Rachel in Cold Feet, and Emily in Friends?
A Helen Baxendale

8 What did Dominic Cork do in 1995 and Matthew Hoggard in 2004 – both against the West Indies – Cork being the first player to do so for England since 1957?
A They each took a hat trick in a Test match

9 England played Russia on a plastic pitch in October this year. Which former England manager co-wrote a novel called They used to play on grass?
A Terry Venables (with Gordon Williams). (Since that Russia game, Venables has also become a former England Assistant Manager.)

10 The novel The Siege of Trencher’s Farm, by Gordon Williams, was controver­sially filmed in 1971 by Sam Peckinpah. What was the title of the film?
A Straw Dogs

11 What name, from a dialect word for “to bounce”, is given in North Eastern England to an oven bottom loaf, traditionally served with fillings such as ham and pease pudding?
A Stottie cake

12 What is the principal thoroughfare in the city of Dublin, named after a nineteenth century Irish nationalist leader?
A O’Connell Street

13 Which best-selling book, first published in 1995, was subtitled The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time?
A Longitude (by Dava Sobel)

14 Who was born in Mobberley in 1886 and disappeared in 1924, his body being found 75 years later?
A George Leigh Mallory

15 Which Mediterranean island was the centre of the Minoan civilisation, the oldest in Europe?
A Crete

16 Who had hits in the 1980s with Straight up and Opposites attract, but is perhaps better known now as a judge on American Idol?
A Paula Abdul

17 Which form of transport is alternatively known as an ACV?
A Hovercraft (it stands for Air Cushion Vehicle)

18 What is or was the claim to fame of Sir Nigel Gresley, who died in 1941 aged 64?
A He designed railway locomotives (most famously the Flying Scotsman and Mallard)

19 Who played Legolas in The Lord of the Rings, and Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy?
A Orlando Bloom

20 What was the subtitle of the third film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, released in May this year?
A At World’s End

21 Which city lies at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile?
A Khartoum

22 Which plant did George Orwell use in the title of a novel, to symbolise dull, bourgeois British taste?
A The aspidistra (in Keep the aspidistra flying)

23 In the First Book of Samuel, Goliath is described as the champion of which tribe or people?
A The Philistines

24 Which famous historical character tamed and rode a horse named Bucephalus (byoo-SEPH-uh-lus)?
A Alexander the Great

25 Which river is spanned by the first iron bridge, built in 1779?
A Severn

26 Which football club, currently lying bottom of the Coca-Cola Championship, claims to have the world’s oldest fans’ song, in On the Ball City?
A Norwich City

27 Which silk-like fabric or yarn is made from the hair of the angora goat?
A Mohair

28 In classical mythology, what name was given to the sea nymphs who lured sailors onto the rocks by their singing?
A Sirens

29 Which mythical beast is described by Homer in The Iliad as “a lion in front, a serpent behind, and a goat in the middle”?
A The chimera

30 The capital of British Columbia is Victoria; but what’s its largest city?
A Vancouver

31 What’s the name of the London restaurant run by the Roux (roo) brothers, originally that of a character from Les Misérables?
A La Gavroche

32 Known technically as a worm drive hose clip, what sort of fastener was patented in 1921 by L. Robinson and Company of Gillingham, Kent?
A The Jubilee clip

33 Who was the last king of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, renowned for his wealth?
A Croesus (CREE-sus)

34 What’s the name of the building in Washington DC where the US Congress meets?
A The Capitol

35 How did Mladen Petrić (PET-rich) make news last month?
A He scored Croatia’s winning goal against England (accept anything that says he played in this game)

36 Also used on Tyneside as a term of endearment, what is the offspring of a female donkey and a male horse called?
A hinny

37 In Disney’s film version of Pinocchio, what sort of creature was J. Worthington Foulfellow?
A He was the sly fox that led Pinocchio astray

38 What did St. Patrick use, according to tradition, to illustrate the doctrine of the Holy Trinity?
A A shamrock

39 In which English county are Cheddar Gorge and Wookey Hole?
A Somerset

40 Since the death of Denny Doherty in January this year, Michelle Phillips is the only surviving member of which 60s pop group?
A The Mamas and the Papas

41 Which popular personal communications technology is named after the grandfather of King Canute?
A Bluetooth (Harald Bluetooth, King of Denmark and Norway, 935-986)

42 Who was General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party from 1964 to 1982?
A Leonid Brezhnev

43 What is the date of the Ides of March?
A 15th March

44 In which English town is the Waterloo Hotel, often described as “the home of Crown GreenBowling”?
A Blackpool

45 The University of Warwick is on the outskirts of which city?
A Coventry

46 Who played Elaine Robinson in The Graduate, and Etta Place in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?
A Katharine Ross

47 Which former Manchester City and England goalkeeper died as a result of the Munich air crash of 1958?
A Frank Swift (he was working as a reporter for the News of the World)

48 Which European country has “Helvetia” on its stamps?
A Switzerland

49 Which deodorant was immortalised in the title of Nirvana’s first and arguably greatest hit?
A Teen Spirit (the song was Smells like Teen Spirit)

50 When and/or where might you see Bailey’s Beads?
A Around the edge of the Sun during an eclipse (accept either)

51 Who was elected President of Israel in July this year, having previously served three terms as Prime Minister?
A Shimon Peres

52 What connects the singer Billie Holliday with the date of March 25th?
A Lady Day – her nickname and the Quarter Day that falls on that date

53 In rugby football, how are the Hooker and the two Props collectively known?
A The front row (of the scrum)

54 What is England’s third oldest university?
A Durham

55 Who played Flash Gordon in three classic film series from 1936 to 1940?
A Buster Crabbe

56 Which famous Arsenal and Ireland footballer of the 1970s was nicknamed “Chippy” and has a name that’s an anagram of “admirably”?
A Liam Brady

57 Which famous Hollywood actor has a name that’s an anagram of “costumier”?
A Tom Cruise

58 Which No. 1 single of 2007 begins with the words, “Let it never be said / That romance is dead / ’cos there’s so little else / occupying my head”?
A Ruby (by the Kaiser Chiefs)

59 Which English scientist discovered the connection between electricity and magnetism, and invented the dynamo?
A Michael Faraday

60 Which famous battle was fought near the village of Branxton in Northumberland, on the 9th of September 1513?
A Flodden Field

61 Which well-known lyric is popularly set to the traditional Irish tune known as the Londonderry Air (or Air from County Derry)?
A Danny Boy

62 Who won the women’s singles championship at Wimbledon, eight times between 1927 and 1938?
A Helen Wills (Moody) – accept either surname

63 Which technique made Edward de Bono famous in the late 1960s?
A Lateral thinking

64 Which 1960 “rat pack caper” was remade in 2001 starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon, and to date has fostered two sequels?
A Ocean’s Eleven

65 Which modern country is roughly equivalent to the ancient region of Mesopotamia?
A Iraq

66 Which is the largest of Italy’s three major “pre-alpine” lakes (the others being Maggiore and Como)?
A Lake Garda

67 What was the title of the single by Rihanna, which earlier this year spent ten weeks at No. 1 in the UK charts – the first single this century to do so?
A Umbrella

68 By what nickname is iron pyrites (py-RITE-ees) better known?
A Fool’s Gold

69 Which unexplained or supernatural phenomenon is named from the German for “noisy ghost”?
A Poltergeist

70 Which fizzy drink is celebrated in a sculpture on Granby Row, Manchester, where it was first created in 1908?
A Vimto

71 What’s the name of the Jamaican sprinter who knocked three hundredths of a second off his own 100 metres world record in September this year?
A Asafa Powell

72 Which German bacteriologist invented, and gave his name to, a shallow glass dish used to grow cells?
A Julius Richard Petri

73 Best known as the illustrator of Roald Dahl’s books, who became the first Children’s Laureate in 1999?
A Quentin Blake

74 Which country does the snooker player James Wattana come from?
A Thailand

75 In which river did the Pied Piper drown the rats of Hamelin?
A The Weser (VAY-zuh)

76 Which cartoon character is or was “the fastest mouse in all Mexico”?
A Speedy Gonzales

77 In which region of the Atlantic Ocean do eel larvae hatch?
A The Sargasso Sea

78 What’s the English translation of the Latin word Ubique (OO-bi-kway), which is the motto of the Royal Artillery?
A Everywhere

79 What sort of material does a lapidary work with?
A Stones (generally precious and/or decorative ones)

80 Who left Bristol in 1497 to sail to America?
A John Cabot

81 The founder of the Samaritans died last month at the age of 95. What was his name?
A The Reverend Chad Varah

82 Whose first novel, published in 1998, was entitled Digital Fortress?
A Dan Brown (of Da Vinci Code fame)

83 Who was born Thomas Henry Sargent and nicknamed “the Cheeky Chappie”?
A Max Miller

84 What’s the commonest type of volcanic rock – the Giant’s Causeway being one famous feature that’s made of it?
A Basalt (BAZ-ult)

85 Who played Father Noel Furlong in three episodes of Father Ted?
A Graham Norton

86 What’s the alternative name for the killer whale, also used in the film Jaws as the name of the boat belonging to the shark hunter Quint?
A The orca

87 Which hairstyle, popular a generation ago but now decidedly unfashionable, has the same name as a fish?
A The mullet

88 Who was sworn in last week as Australia’s first new Prime Minister since 1996?
A Kevin Rudd

89 Who is the Macclesfield-born coach of the England cricket team, having replaced Duncan Fletcher in April this year?
A Peter Moores

90 What adjective describes interest calculated on interest already accrued, as well as on capital?
A Compound

91 Which annual contest takes place just outside the village of Brockworth, near Gloucester, on Spring Bank Holiday Monday (traditionally Whit Monday)?
A Cheese rolling

92 Ronald Reagan’s first wife died in September this year. What was her professional name?
A Jane Wyman

93 Who or what was toasted by Jacobites as “the little gentleman in black velvet” after being held responsible for the death of William III?
A The mole (whose molehill the King’s horse stumbled on)

94 Who played Anthony in The Royle Family, and Jonny in Two Pints of Lager & a Packet of Crisps?
A Ralf Little

95 Which shrub, closely related to broom, is also known as whin or furze?
A Gorse

96 If something ossifies, what does it turn into?
A Bone

Supplementaries
97 In children’s literature, which character’s final words were “Floreat Etona”?
A Captain Hook (in Peter Pan)

98 Which Lancashire town was the birthplace of the singer Kathleen Ferrier and the fellwalking guru Alfred Wainwright?
A Blackburn

99 From which plant are linen and linseed oil obtained?
A Flax

100 Which familiar Latin phrase means “in good faith”?
A Bona fide

101 Who published an autobiographical book, in 1959, entitled Goodness had nothing to do with it?
A Mae West

102 Lack of which element in the diet is the most common cause of goitre?
A Iodine

103 Who or what was referred to in the 19th century as “the sick man of Europe”?
A The Ottoman Empire (accept Turkey)

104 In which sport was the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy awarded for the first time, in February this year?

A Rugby (Union) – it goes to the winners of the annual match between Italy and France. 2007 is the bicentenary of Garibaldi’s birth