29 October–The Questions

 

ALL QUESTIONS -SET BY THE KNOT KNOW-ALLS

ENTERTAINMENT

1. Who won Gareth Malone’s ‘Workplace Choir of 2012’? Answer: SEVERN TRENT WATER

2. Name the cult American sitcom starring (amongst others) room-mates Leonard and Sheldon. Answer: THE BIG BANG THEORY

3. Name the silent female scorer in the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game “I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue”. Answer: (the lovely) SAMANTHA

4. Which actress, famous for her portrayal of Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, played the role of Solitaire in the James Bond film Live and Let Die? Answer: JANE SEYMOUR

5. Name the arch-enemy of the British comic book hero, Dan Dare. Answer: THE MEKON (of Mekonta)

6. Name the winner of The Apprentice 2013. Answer: Leah TOTTON

7. Which singer-songwriter, whose debut album topped the UK charts in 2012, was born Jake Edwin Kennedy. Answer: Jake BUGG

8. Identify the film from these actors and the date: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, 2006. Answer: THE DA VINCI CODE

Supplementaries

Which Gibb brother died of heart failure in January 2003? Answer: MAURICE

What colour is Mr Nosey? Answer: GREEN

SCIENCE

1. What is seborrhoeic (pronounced SEB-OR -EE-IC) dermatitis better known as?

Answer: DANDRUFF

2. Apart from the moon, what is the brightest natural object in the night sky?

Answer: VENUS

3. Which planet spins fastest on its axis?

Answer: JUPITER (rotation period of 0.413 Earth days)

4. Why would sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride be used in that order? Answer: LETHAL INJECTION (used to execute prisoners in the US)

5. Which "Founding Father" was knocked unconscious while attempting to electrocute a turkey? Answer: Benjamin FRANKLIN

6. What is the 3D image created by laser beams called? Answer: HOLOGRAM

7. What is the antimatter equivalent of an electron? Answer: POSITRON

8. What word describes the process by which a substance changes from a solid to a gas without passing through a liquid phase? Answer: SUBLIMATION

Supplementaries

How often must you take your medication if your prescription reads "q.i.d."?

Answer: FOUR TIMES A DAY (quater in die)

The name of what mental disorder is derived from the Greek "without appetite"?

Answer: ANOREXIA

 

GEOGRAPHY

1. Unst is the northernmost, inhabited island of which UK group? Answer: SHETLANDS

2. Chisinau is the capital city of which country? Answer: MOLDOVA

3. Which country’s many islands include Hvar, Brac, Vis and Korkula? Answer: CROATIA

4. Which English resort was known as Poulton-le-Sands but later became better known by the name of the bay on which it stands? Answer: MORECAMBE

5. Which EU member state is bounded by the river Prut to the north-east, the river Danube to the south, and the Black Sea to the east? Answer: ROMANIA

6. Which landlocked African country is bordered by South Africa and Mozambique? Answer: SWAZILAND

7. What bridge in the Commonwealth connects Dawes Point with Milson’s Point?

Answer: SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE

8. Which English county comes last alphabetically? Answer: WILTSHIRE

Supplementaries

After Everest and K2, which Asian mountain is the third highest in the world?

Answer: KANGCHENJUNGA

Which Lancashire resort is built on the site of South Hawes, apparently being given its present name in the 1790s? Answer: SOUTHPORT

 

ART AND CULTURE

1. By what title is Tenzin Gyatso better known as? Answer: THE DALAI LAMA

2. In Greek Mythology, who were the dangerous beautiful creatures, who lured sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island? Answer: SIRENS

3. "Going to the Match", a painting by L S Lowry, depicts fans on the way to watch which football team at their home ground? Answer: BOLTON WANDERERS (at Burden Park)

4. "The Card Players," probably the most expensive painting ever sold, is by which artist? Answer: Paul CEZANNE

5. Who wrote the series of six novels known as "The Barchester Chronicles"? Answer: Anthony TROLLOPE

6. "Knitting" and "Still Knitting" are the titles of chapters from which classic novel? Answer: A TALE OF TWO CITIES

7. The fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, which is famous for exhibiting temporary artworks, is currently supporting a sculpture by Katharina Fritsch. What sort of creature does it depict? Answer: [A blue] COCKEREL

8. An oil painting of Jonathon Buttall, the son of a wealthy merchant, by Thomas Gainsborough is more commonly known by what title? Answer: THE BLUE BOY

Supplementaries

In the eleventh labour of Hercules, he is required to fetch what from the Garden of the Hesperides? [Two word answer required] Answer: GOLDEN APPLES [don't accept 'apples']

"I'm Walking Backwards for Christmas", "Indian Boyhood", and "In the Land of the Bumbley Boo" are titles of songs and poems by who? Answer: Spike MILLIGAN

 

THE CABINET

You need to identify the surname of a member of The Cabinet (as of 16 October) from the clue. For example, "Malaysian area of high land. Answer: CAMERON".

N.B. Spellings of Cabinet members' surnames may differ slightly from question answers but sound exactly the same.

1. A brand of American beer. Answer: MILLER (Culture)

2. A freshwater fish of the salmon family. Answer: GRAYLING (Justice)

3. The scientist who discovered sodium and potassium. Answer: DAVEY (Energy)

4. A make of musical organ. Answer: HAMMOND (Defence)

5. A brand of whisky. Answer: HAGUE (Foreign Secretary)

6. A cocktail of gin, crème de cacao and cream. Answer: ALEXANDER (Treasury Secretary)

7. Hawthorn blossom. Answer: MAY (Home Secretary)

8. A unit of nautical measurement. Answer: CABLE (Business)

Supplementaries

Victoria and Albert’s family home. Answer: 0SBORNE (Chancellor)

The dog who found the stolen Jules Rimet trophy in 1966. Answer: PICKLES (Communities)

 

HISTORY

1. Which English king, following rebellions by the Welsh, built the castles of Beaumaris, Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech? Answer: EDWARD I

2. In what year was the People's Republic of China established? Answer: 1949 (accept 1948 - 1950)

3. Which invaders overthrew the Byzantine Empire, which had stood for around 1000 years, in 1453? Answer: OTTOMANS

4. Name the first self-governing country to grant women the right to vote, in 1893. Answer: NEW ZEALAND

5. Who was the Italian inventor and businessman, often credited as the inventor of radio, who shared the Nobel prize for physics in 1909 (with Braun) for "their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy". Answer: Guglielmo MARCONI

6. When Indian soldiers in the East India Company's army were asked to bite off the paper cartridges for their rifles, it became the flashpoint for the Indian Mutiny (Rebellion) of 1857. Why? Answer: They believed the cartridges were greased with animal fat (beef or pork) so it would be against Hindu and Muslim religions

7. Now a museum, what was the name of the estate in Buckinghamshire which was the World War 2 site of the Government's Code and Cypher School and where the German 'Enigma' cipher was broken? Answer: BLETCHLEY PARK

8. Which Greek scholar who lived from approximately 485 to 430 BCE is known as the father of history? Answer: HERODOTUS

Supplementaries

Which prominent figure in the British Agricultural Revolution invented a seed drill (1701) and also wrote "Horse Hoeing Husbandry" (1731)? Answer: Jethro TULL

Which UK city became known as Cottonopolis during the 19th Century? Answer: MANCHESTER

SPORT

1. In the 2010 Winter Olympics, Great Britain won a gold medal in the womens' 'skeleton' competition. Prior to that, in what discipline did Great Britain last win a Winter Olympics gold medal? Answer: Womens' CURLING (Salt Lake City, 2002)

2. Which company currently sponsors English football's Championship, League One and League Two? Answer: SKYBET

3. What team sport was first played at Madame Ostenburg’s College, England in 1895 and was included in the Commonwealth Games in 1998? Answer: NETBALL

4. Who was the overall winner of the 2013 Tour de France? Answer: Chris FROOME

5. Where will the final of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, hosted by England and Wales, be held? Answer: OLD TRAFFORD

6. Which Welshman was the top points scorer in the 2013 Rugby Union 'Six Nations' competition, also won by Wales? Answer: Lee HALFPENNY

7. Gaelic football is one of the two main sports played at the 33,000 capacity Casement Park stadium in Belfast. Name the other. Answer: HURLING

8. Where is the oldest racecourse (for horses) still in use in England? Answer: CHESTER

Supplementaries

Sochi, venue for the Winter Olympics 2014, lies on what body of water? Answer: BLACK SEA

Which book of 1653 described the fishing in the River Wye in Derbyshire? Answer: THE COMPLEAT ANGLER (by Isaac Walton)

The Human Body

The answers to all the following questions contain something found in the human body.

E.g., "Who presents the TV game show Pointless? Answer: ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG".

1. For which film did Daniel Day Lewis win his second Best Actor Oscar? Answer: THERE WILL BE BLOOD

2. In which prison drama film, starring Paul Newman, does his character famously eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in 1 hour? Answer: COOL HAND LUKE

3. Name the 2008 Mercury Prize winning band, which includes band members Guy Garvey and Richard Jupp? Answer: ELBOW

4. Which organ is the title of the debut album by Florence and the Machine, which reached number 1 in 2010? Answer: LUNGS

5. Home to Britain's largest Anglican cathedral and the fifth largest in the world? Answer: LIVERPOOL

6. The highest prize awarded at the Cannes film festival?

Answer: PALME D'OR or GOLDEN PALM

7. Both the name of a musical and a film set in small-town America, where dancing and rock music have been banned by the local minister? Answer: FOOTLOOSE

8. In the 1933 film, what is the legendary home of King Kong? Answer: SKULL ISLAND

Supplementaries

1970's group based in West Germany, with band members Bobby Farrel and Liz Mitchell? Answer: BONEY M

Name the hill and country park, and former quarry, to the east of Macclesfield? Answer: TEGG'S NOSE

 

 

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

1. What is the smallest and most densely populated country in the EU? Answer: MALTA

2. Clare Valley and Hunter Valley are wine regions of which country? Answer: AUSTRALIA

3. In which century did the Battle of Marathon between the Persians and Athenians take place? Answer: 5TH CENTURY BCE [490 BCE]

4. What is the name of the "fight or flight hormone? Answer: ADRENALINE

5. Who created Rip Van Winkle in the short story of the same name? Answer: Washington IRVING

6. What African word for okra is the name of a Creole stew containing okra, tomatoes, onions, shellfish and chicken, etc? Answer: GUMBO

7. Other than eggs, what is the main ingredient of an "omelette Arnold Bennett" created for the writer at The Savoy? Answer: SMOKED HADDOCK

8. What is the name of the ex-Liberian President, guilty of war crimes , who is to serve his 50-year sentence in the UK? Answer: Charles TAYLOR

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9. Which UKIP MEP was suspended in September, for joking that a group of female activists were "sluts"? Answer: Godfrey BLOOM

10. In the sitcom "Yes Minister", what is the name of the character played by Nigel Hawthorne? Answer: Sir Humphrey APPLEBY

11. Who is the mother of Angelo James Konecki? Answer: ADELE

12. What is the cost of an NHS prescription currently? Answer: £7.85

13. Where in Britain is home to the elite "Special Boat Service"? Answer: POOLE HARBOUR

14. Give one of David Cameron's middle names? Answer: WILLIAM or DONALD

15. Give one of Tony Blair's middle names? Answer: CHARLES or LYNTON

16. Early in September, Cheryl Cole revealed she had paid Nikko Hurtado £14,000 for 55 hours of work on what? Answer: Huge TATTOO OF ROSES on her lower back and bottom -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17. What 6-letter word can denote a wheel that automatically aligns itself to the direction from which it is pushed, and an acrid-tasting oil used as a purgative and lubricant? Answer: CASTOR

18. Who is the pie-shop owner and partner in crime of Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, who disposes of his victims by baking them in her pies? Answer: Mrs LOVETT

19. Which adjective containing all the vowels once only, means ‘insecure’ or ‘perilous’. Answer: PRECARIOUS

20. Who in 1800, patented "The High Pressure Steam Engine" and in 1804 created the first working steam locomotive, its first journey being at Penydarren Ironworks , Merthyr Tydfil? Answer: Richard TREVITHICK

21. Which element of the periodic table was the Ancient Greek name for the planet Venus, and has a name which in Greek means "bringing light"? Answer: PHOSPHORUS

22. "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!" is a quote by which Shakespearian character? Answer: LADY MACBETH

23. What South American capital has a name which is shortened from "Our Lady of Peace" in Spanish? Answer: LA PAZ [capital of Bolivia]

24. As used in a website address, in the letters 'http' what does the second "t" stand for? Answer: TRANSFER [hyper text transfer protocol]

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25. What character does Christopher Lee play in the "Star Wars " films? Answer: Count DOOKU (accept DARTH TYRANUS)

26. What was the name of the first fully operational commercial nuclear power station in Britain and the world? Answer: CALDERHALL at WINDSCALE [accept either], 1956

27. "The Sea Cook" was the original title of which classic novel published in 1883? Answer: TREASURE ISLAND

28. The "Antoinette Perry Award for Exellence" is more commonly and informally known as what? Answer: TONY Award (theatre)

29. Mendelssohn's concert overture The Hebrides (Opus 26) is also known as what? Answer: Fingal's Cave

30. James Taylor, Mick Jagger and Warren Beatty have all been suggested as the subject of which song by Carly Simon? Answer: YOU’RE SO VAIN

31. Who in 2009, at the age of 92, became the oldest living artist to top the UK album charts? Answer: Dame Vera LYNN

32. George R.R. Martin's series of books, A Song of Ice and Fire, forms the basis for which TV series? Answer: GAME OF THRONES

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33. Who is the newest presenter on the ‘Today’ programme on Radio 4? Answer: MISHAL HUSAIN

34. In what position does a netball player wearing a bib lettered GA play? Answer: GOAL ATTACK

35. How many hurdles are there in a men’s 400 metres hurdles race? Answer: TEN

36. Which US state has the orange blossom as its official flower? Answer: FLORIDA

37. Who presents the ITV quiz show The Chase? Answer: Bradley WALSH

38. How is a battle site represented on an Ordnance Survey map? Answer: BY CROSSED SWORDS

39. What famous children’s storybook character lives under the name of Sanders? Answer: WINNIE THE POOH

40. What sport is played on a surface 42 inches wide and 60 feet long? Answer: TEN PIN BOWLING

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41. How many letter ‘U’s are there in a game of Scrabble? Answer: FOUR

42. What was the only thing left inside Pandora’s box after all the evils had been let out? Answer: HOPE

43. What is the term used in bread making, which refers to the resting periods during the process of fermentation when the dough is allowed to rise? Answer: PROOFING/PROVING

44. What line is depicted by dark blue on a London underground map? Answer: PICCADILLY

45. How many different letters are used in Roman numerals? Answer: SEVEN (M, D, C, L, X, V and I)

46. What large carnivore derived its name from the Spanish words meaning ’the lizard’? Answer: ALLIGATOR (el lagarto)

47. What denotes a public house on an Ordnance Survey map? Answer: PH

48. What is the childhood disease varicella more commonly called? Answer: CHICKEN POX

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49. Detroit is in which US state? Answer: MICHIGAN

50. How many ‘O’s are there in a game of Scrabble? Answer: EIGHT

51. What is the common name for finches of the genus Loxia (including the Scottish Loxia scotia) that have an unusual beak shape which enables them to extract seeds from pine cones? Answer: CROSSBILLS

52. How many strokes is an eagle on a par five hole? Answer: THREE

53. What is the parent company of Jaguar Landrover? Answer: TATA (Indian)

54. Which US comedy series featured a character called Ernie "Coach" Pantusso? Answer: CHEERS

55. Which television series is filmed in a marquee at Harptree Court Country House in Somerset, near Bristol? Answer: THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE-OFF

56. In BBC's The Great British Bake-Off, contestants have to complete three challenges. One is called the Technical Challenge. Name either of the other two. Answer: SIGNATURE or SHOWSTOPPER

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57. Who famously said "Live life as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever?" Answer: Mahatma GANDHI

58. Who is the reigning British and Commonwealth heavyweight boxing champion? Answer: David PRICE

59. What is the name of the infamous Yorkshire Ripper? Answer: Peter SUTCLIFFE

60. Roy Barraclough and Les Dawson formed a classic comedy double act as northern housewives "Cissie and" who? Answer: ADA

61. Name Alton Towers' newest, record-breaking rollercoaster? Answer: SMILER

62. In what sport would you encounter 'boils' and 'haystacks'? Answer: CANOEING/KAYAKING

63. In heraldry, what colour is sable? Answer: BLACK

64. What is the final book in 'The Chronicles of Narnia'? Answer: THE LAST BATTLE

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65. Who, earlier this year, was the first woman conductor to conduct the Last Night of the Proms? Answer: Marin ALSOP

66. Which of the Mitford sisters became Duchess of Devonshire in 1941? Answer: DEBORAH

67. Toubkal is the highest mountain in which mountain range? Answer: ATLAS

68. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport serves which capital city? Answer: NAIROBI

69. Which adjective, derived from the name of a planet, means active, sprightly, ready-witted, quick and changeable in temperament? Answer: MERCURIAL

70. Which word can mean a woman’s short hairstyle in which the hair tapers to the nape of the neck, a rectangular wooden roof tile, and a mass of small rounded pebbles along a shoreline? Answer: SHINGLE

71. What simple invention was patented in the US in 1948 by Walter Hunt, despite similar examples being around for centuries before? Answer: SAFETY PIN

72.What single-seeded drupe was the first fruit to be eaten on the moon? Answer: PEACH

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73. What was the name of the mission station and British supply garrison successfully defended against the Zulus in 1879? Answer: RORKE'S DRIFT

74. Which King of England reputedly rode towards the rebels during the Peasants' Revolt shouting "You shall have no captain but me"? Answer: RICHARD II

75. Who wrote the lyrics to the musical West Side Story? Answer: Stephen SONDHEIM

76. What event in the decathlon is the last event to take place on the first day? Answer: 400 METRES

77. Who was the architect of the Guggenheim Museum, New York? Answer: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

78. Who was born in 1931, a foremost exponent of 'op art', whose early work consisted mainly of black and white geometric patterns and who produced works which were said to give viewers sensations of sea sickness or skydiving? Answer: Bridget RILEY

79. Who was the first wife of Earl Winfield Spencer Junior? She was portrayed in 'W. E'., the 2011 film directed and co-written by Madonna? Answer: Wallace SIMPSON

80. A 'snakebite' is a drink of lager or beer, together with what? Answer: CIDER

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81. What is the explosive ingredient of dynamite? Answer: NITROGLYCERINE

82. Meaning 'The Youth' in Arabic, what is the name of the terrorist group responsible for the massacre at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi? Answer: AL SHABAAB

83. What colour would a light bulb filled with pure neon produce? Answer: RED

84. "Orecchiette" [pronounced oreckyetty] is a pasta which translates into Italian as Little what? Answer: EARS

85. In which country did ZANU and ZAPU fight for their country's independence during the 1960's and 1970's? Answer: ZIMBABWE [accept Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia]

86. What nocturnal animal has a name which originates from the Afrikaans word for 'earth pig'? Answer: AARDVARK

87. Who preceded Neil Kinnock as Labour leader? Answer: Michael FOOT

88. On October 23rd, Julia Samuel, William van Cutsem and Emilia Jardin-Paterson [and 4 others] took on new roles as what? Answer: GODPARENTS TO PRINCE GEORGE [at his Christening]

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89. What is the name for a young or baby oyster? Answer: SPAT

90. Sundews and pitchers are examples of what types of plants? Answer: CARNIVOROUS

91. What flower is considered sacred in both Buddhist and Hindu religions? Answer: LOTUS

92. Who picked a fine time to leave Kenny Rogers in one of his songs? Answer: LUCILLE

93. What is the fastest living thing in the world, a plant which releases its pollen at over half the speed of sound? Answer: WHITE MULBERRY TREE (accept Mulberry)

94. Name the Joseph Conrad novella set in the Congo, but the inspiration for a 1979 cult war film set in Asia? Answer: HEART OF DARKNESS

95. Which TV quiz programme saw the contestant Clive James make his TV debut? Answer: UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE

96. What recently coined word, first used in the BBC political satire The Thick of It, was formally added to the Oxford English Dictionary in August 2013? Answer: OMNISHAMBLES

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Supplementaries

1. What is the only field ball game in which the players’ feet do not touch the ground? Answer: POLO

2. Also the name of a bird, what was the name of the organisation which The Man from UNCLE fought against? Answer: THRUSH

3. Who was the first person to appear on Channel 4? Answer: Richard WHITELEY[Countdown]

4. Name the habitable moon in James Cameron’s film Avatar where humans are mining a precious mineral called unobtanium. Answer: PANDORA

5. What line follows "Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart" in Simon and Garfunkel’s song? Answer: YOU’RE SHAKING MY CONFIDENCE DAILY (accept if close)

6. What essential biomolecule do plants make which requires them to absorb magnesium from the soil? Answer: CHLOROPHYLL