MACCLESFIELD QUIZ LEAGUE CUP FINAL
QUESTIONS COMPILED BY THE OX-FFORD C
VETTED BY THE WATERS GREEN RAMS
1. Q Which bird is sometimes referred to as the halcyon?
A The kingfisher
2. Q The adjective aquiline is derived from the Latin for which bird?
A The eagle
3. Q Whose 1990 album The Rhythm of the Saints featured musicians and rhythms from Latin America?
A Paul Simon
4. Q Who wrote the 2006 novel Shalimar the Clown?
A Salman Rushdie
5. Q Who was the oldest monarch to succeed to the British throne?
A William IV (aged 64)
6. Q In the film Finding Nemo, what was the name of the forgetful fish voiced by Ellen deGeneres?
A Dory
7. Q Against which international cricket team did Sachin Tendulkar recently achieve his hundredth century in international first class cricket?
A Bangladesh
8. Q What is the name of the principal charity in the UK for single parent families?
A Gingerbread
9. Q In which British city are Salisbury Crags?
A Edinburgh
10. Q In which American state is Arlington National Cemetery?
A Virginia
11. Q Barabas is the title character of which play by Christopher Marlowe?
A The Jew of Malta
12. Q What was the name of the island in the Somerset levels on which King Alfred took refuge in AD878?
A Athelney
13. Q Who wrote the music for Showboat?
A Jerome Kern
14. Q Which spin-off from The Muppets was set in a lighthouse?
A Fraggle Rock
15. Q Which regular on the TV show The Comedians, famous for the catchphrase ‘Settle down now, settle down,’ died in February?
A Ken Goodwin
16. Q Prussia’s highest military award Pour le Mérite was known by which informal name during World War I?
A The Blue Max
17. Q Which actress starred with Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?
A Jane Russell
18. Q Which eccentric businessman designed the bra that Jane Russell wore in the film The Outlaw?
A Howard Hughes
19. Q In which city are the headquarters of Greenpeace International?
A Amsterdam
20. Q Which island country has a name that means old in Spanish?
A Antigua
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21. Q Which was the first decimal coin introduced in Britain?
A 50 pence
22. Q Which institution awards the Pulitzer prize?
A Columbia University
23. Q Name either of the jockeys that rode Red Rum to victory in the Grand National.
A Brian Fletcher or Tommy Stack
24. Q Medically speaking, vasovagal syncope (vay-so-vay-gal sing-ka-pee) is the most common type of what?
A Fainting
25. Q Which member of the cabinet is MP for Twickenham?
A Vince Cable
26. Q What was the first name of Field Marshal Montgomery of Desert Rats fame?
A Bernard
27. Q In Stieg Larsson’s novels, what is the name of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?
A Lisbeth Salander
28. Q Which designer collaborated with Adidas in designing the uniforms to be worn by Great Britain’s competitors in the 2012 Olympics?
A Stella McCartney
29. Q In the acronym Radar, what word does the last R represent?
A Ranging (RAdio Detection And Ranging)
30. Q In the acronym Sonar, what word does the N represent?
A Navigation (SOund Navigation And Ranging)
31. Q What material, invented originally as a textured wallpaper by Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding, celebrated 50 years of a quite different and popular use in 2010?
A Bubblewrap
32. Q Which British king was born in Osnabruck Castle?
A George I
33. Q In the Thomas the Tank Engine stories, what colour are the Scottish twins Donald and Douglas?
A Black
34. Q Which heavyweight boxing champion was known as the Fighting Marine?
A Gene Tunny
35. Q Still often referred to as the Place de l’Etoile, what is the current name of the Paris junction where the Arc de Triomphe is located?
A Place Charles de Gaulle
36. Q Who played the title role in the 2004 remake of the film Alfie?
A Jude Law
37. Q What is the name of the ship that left Southampton on Easter Day this year for the Titanic Memorial Cruise?
A MS Balmoral
38. Q Emil Boc resigned as prime minister of which European country in February 2012?
A Romania
39. Q What name is used for the helicopter that the President of the USA travels in?
A Marine One
40. Q Last Saturday, who became the first woman jockey to finish in the first three in the Grand National, riding the joint favourite Seabass?
A Katie Walsh
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41. Q Henry Dunant won the first Nobel Peace Prize for his part in founding what organisation?
A The Red Cross
42. Q Who was the first woman to feature on the reverse of a British banknote?
A Florence Nightingale
43. Q In Coronation Street, for whose murder was Tracy Barlow imprisoned in 2007?
A Charlie Stubbs
44. Q What sort of creature is a hairstreak?
A A butterfly
45. Q Which story by F Scott Fitzgerald was filmed in 2008, with Brad Pitt as the eponymous hero?
A The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
46. Q What chemical element has the symbol V?
A Vanadium
47. Q Originally a palace built by Henry VIII, the name Bridewell became a byword for which type of building?
A A police station or prison
48. Q Which crime writer created the detective Harry Hole?
A Jo (pronounced Yo) Nesbo
49. Q The River Wye that flows through Buxton joins which other river at Rowsley?
A The Derwent
50. Q What is the next number in this sequence: 9, 12, 5, 20?
A 1 (numbers on a dartboard)
51. Q Where would you find a newel post?
A At the end of a staircase
52. Q Name one of the three towns that are to gain city status in celebration of the Queen’s diamond jubilee.
A Chelmsford, Perth or St Asaph
53. Q What has been Britain’s most northerly city since 2001?
A Inverness
(Note: Elgin is approximately 35 miles east-north-east of Inverness, but although it was regarded as a city as recently as 1972, for reasons that are not clear it is no longer officially included amongst the UK’s 66 cities.)
54. Q Who wrote: ‘If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end I wouldn’t be a bit surprised’?
A Dorothy Parker
55. Q What name links Benjamin Pierce in the TV series MASH and a computerised tracking system used in sport?
A Hawkeye
56. Q What is the highest pub in the UK?
A The Tan Hill Inn
57. Q Which pianist and composer became prime minister of Poland in 1919?
A Ignacy Paderewski
58. Q Which shipping forecast area is the only one named after a person?
A Fitzroy (after Captain Fitzroy of the Beagle)
59. Q Compounds of which metal, present as an impurity, make rubies red and emeralds green?
A Chromium
60. Q What is the official external radio and TV broadcasting service of the US government?
A The Voice of America
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61. Q Who had a UK number 1 hit in August 1999 with Mambo Number 5?
A Lou Bega
62. Q Who had a UK number 1 hit in September 1999 with We’re Going to Ibiza?
A Vengaboys
63. Q In Greek mythology, who was the mother of Oedipus?
A Jocasta
64. Q What was the name of the sequel to Frank McCourt’s memoir Angela’s Ashes?
A Tis
65. Q In a letter of 1675, who said: ‘If I have seen further than other men it is by standing on the shoulders of giants’?
A Isaac Newton
66. Q With which article of clothing are cordwainers traditionally associated?
A Shoes
67. Q In the 1960s Dennis Clarke was the first substitute to be used in an FA cup final. For which club was he playing at the time?
A West Bromwich Albion (1968)
68. Q On which London street would you find the Royal Academy of Arts and Fortnum and Mason?
A Piccadilly
69. Q Which Roman emperor was portrayed by Richard Harris in the film Gladiator?
A Marcus Aurelius
70. Q In what country was the actor Anthony Quinn born?
A Mexico
71. Q Which is the largest lake entirely in Canada?
A Great Bear Lake
72. Q What as yet unnamed TV role has recently been awarded to Jenna-Louise Coleman?
A Dr Who’s new companion
73. Q In which film did Jim Carrey play the bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss?
A The Mask
74. Q Which West End musical includes the songs Solidarity and Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher?
A Billy Elliott
75. Q What is the capital of Saxony?
A Dresden
76. Q Which vegetable has a variety called Batavia?
A Lettuce
77. Q What Russian term describes a set of wooden dolls nestling one inside the other?
A Matryoshka
78. Q Which 1979 no 1 single was inspired by the story of Brenda Spencer?
A I don’t like Mondays
79. Q Which country left the Commonwealth in 1949?
A Ireland
80. Q Give a year in the life of Archimedes.
A 287-212 BC
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81. Q Which children’s TV programme began with the words: ‘Here is a box, a musical box, wound up and ready to play’?
A Camberwick Green
82. Q In which city are the headquarters of OPEC?
A Vienna
83. Q Which vegetable is known as berenjena (bear-en-HAY-na) in Spanish and melanzana in Italian?
A Aubergine
84. Q The recent 500th episode of The Simpsons featured as its guest which controversial political activist?
A Julian Assange
85. Q In which city was the actor and writer Alan Bennett born?
A Leeds
86. Q What iconic London building did EMI consider selling in 2010, prompting calls for the National Trust to buy and preserve it?
A Abbey Road Studios
87. Q What does a sphygmomanometer measure?
A Blood pressure
88. Q At which battle in 1403 was Sir Henry Percy (aka Hotspur) killed?
A Shrewsbury
89. Q Who recently gave birth to a baby named Blue Ivy Carter?
A Beyoncé
90. Q Who in 2004 became the first American to receive an FA Cup winner’s medal?
A Tim Howard
91. Q In As You Like It, what name from Greek mythology does Rosalind use when she disguises herself as a man?
A Ganymede
92. Q Which river flows through Philadelphia and Cincinnati?
A The Ohio
93. Q Give a year in the life of William Caxton.
A 1422-1491
94. Q Who composed the Blue Danube Waltz?
A Johann Strauss
95. Q In the human body, which gland has the alternative name hypophysis?
A The pituitary gland
96. Q What is the scientific name of the so-called ‘love hormone’, secreted by the pituitary gland, associated with conception, childbirth and breastfeeding?
A Oxytocin
97. Q Earlier this year, who was quoted as saying, “I write like a two-year-old and I can't spell ... I have never written a letter in my life”?
A Harry Redknapp
98. Q Which actress appeared on a controversial poster for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) in 2010, with her body marked to mimic a butcher’s diagram?
A Pamela Anderson
99. Q In which year did Cardiff become the capital city of Wales?
A 1955 (accept 1953-1957)
100. Q Which town in County Durham was named after a celebrated miners’ leader?
A Peterlee
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101. Q What name is given to the rebellion and massacre of French inhabitants of Palermo in 1282?
A Sicilian Vespers
102. Q In which film did Clint Eastwood play a radio DJ stalked by an ex-fan?
A Play Misty for Me
103. Q Francis II of Austria was the last person to hold what title?
A Holy Roman Emperor
104. Q The modern classic Send in the Clowns was written for which musical?
A A Little Night Music
105. Q What name is given to the young of a ferret?
A Kit or kitten
106. How old is Adrian Mole in his latest book The Prostrate Years, published in 2009?
A 39 and a quarter (accept 39)
107. Q Which was the first single released by The Beatles on the Apple label?
A Hey Jude
108. Q In Greek mythology, what name was given to the place where the virtuous dead lived a life of passive blessedness?
A Elysium (accept Elysian Fields)
109. Q Which golfer scored an Albatross in the final round of the 2012 Masters tournament, but went on to lose the play-off to Bubba Watson?
A Louis Oosthuizen
110. Q Penzance and Newlyn Rugby Union Club are now known by what name?
A Cornish Pirates
111. Q Which US river and state are named after the first governor of Virginia?
A Delaware (after Thomas West, Lord de la Warr)
112. Q In which year did the Festival of Britain take place?
A 1951 (no leeway)
113. Q Who was the first person in the Bible to get drunk?
A Noah (Genesis 9:21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.)
114. Q The town of Inverary lies on the shores of which Scottish loch?
A Loch Fyne
115. Q Gerry and the Pacemakers were the first group whose first three singles all went to number one. Which group, also from Liverpool, was the second?
A Frankie goes to Hollywood
116. Q In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which character (whose surname is the name of a musical instrument) plays Thisbe in the ‘play within the play’?
A Francis Flute
117. Q Which branch of the Scouting movement is for members aged 6 to 8 years?
A Beaver Scouts
118. Q In the Christian church, which festival commemorates the purification of the Virgin Mary?
A Candlemas
119. Q Who composed the opera The Queen of Spades?
A Tchaikovsky
120. Q In the Wacky Races, who drove the Turbo Terrific?
A Peter Perfect
Supplementaries
Q Which US state is known as the Beaver State?
A Oregon
Q Which monarch was removed from the throne by the Glorious Revolution?
A James II
Q In 2010 who won Great Britain’s first female individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics since 1952?
A Amy Williams
Q The Dyak are the native people of which island?
A Borneo
Q The atomic number of uranium is 92 and that of plutonium is 94; which element has the atomic number 93?
A Neptunium (refers to the order of planets)
Q The Andrea Gail is an ill-fated ship in which film, based on a true story?
A The Perfect Storm
Tiebreaker
Q In the recent Bradford West by-election, won by George Galloway, how many votes were counted in total?
A 32,814
(According to the BBC news website)