3rd February–THE QUESTIONS

 

Specialist Rounds

Science

Art & Entertainment

History

Sport

Geography

Titfer Tat

Classic Films (picture round)

Eponymous Anonymous

Set by the Dolphin

Vetted by the Plough Horntails and the Lamb

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Science

1. If a leaf is described as “saggitate”, what shape is it?

A. Arrow-shaped.

2. What name is given by geologists to the boundary between two tectonic plates, where one slides under the other?

A. Subduction zone.

3. A practitioners of what profession would use a Snellen chart?

A. An optician.

4. Among primates, what is brachiation?

A. Swinging from tree to tree using only the arms. Gibbons are particularly good at this.

5. The piece of scientific equipment originally known as a Leyden jar is nowadays called what?

A. A capacitor. (But accept also condenser).

6. Which organ of the body could suffer from iritis?

A. The eye. (Specifically, the iris).

7. Which species of bat could be described as haematophagous?

A. Vampire bats. (The word means blood-eating).

8. Occurring twice a year, what name is given to a day consisting of twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of darkness?

A. Equinox.

Supplementaries:

9. What is the formula for calculating the area of a triangle?

A. Half the base times the (perpendicular) height. Base x height over 2.

10. What kind of animal is a muntjac?

A. Deer.

 

Art & Entertainment

1. Which band, with singer Adam Lambert, rocked Big Ben on New Year’s Eve, 2014?

A. Queen.

Q. Trevor Ward-Davies, who died last month, was the bassist in the group which topped the charts in 1968 with “The Legend of Xanadu”. How was he known?

A. Dozy. (Of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich).

Q. Which comedy show had the highest viewing figures on Christmas Day?

A. Mrs. Brown’s Boys.

Q. In which BBC TV sitcom did Melvyn Hayes play the character Gloria Beaumont?

A. It ain’t half hot Mum.

Q. Which French artist, born 1834, was well-known for his paintings of ballet dancers?

A. Edgar Degas.

Q. The painting by W. F. Yeames entitled “And when did you last see your father?” is set in which conflict?

A. The English Civil War.

Q. Which 19^th century author wrote a series of over 50 novels, many of them famous, under the collective title, “Extraordinary Journeys”?

A. Jules Verne.

Q. What series of short stories are written as narratives to a listener always addressed as “Best Beloved”?

A. The Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling.

Supplementaries:

9. What is the name of the anti-slavery novel written in 1852 by the American author Harriet Beecher Stowe?

A. Uncle Tom’s cabin.

10. Who wrote the words and music to the musical “Oliver”?

A. Lionel Bart.

 

History

1. During the reign of which king were the castles of Conway, Caernarvon, Harlech and Beaumaris built?

A. Edward I.

2. Grime’s Graves is a prehistoric site in Norfolk. What was its purpose in Neolithic times?

A. A flint mine.

3. Montezuma II (or Moctezuma) who lived from c1460 – 1520, was the emperor of which people?

A. The Aztecs.

4. Which Royal Navy frigate was trapped in the River Yangtse for three months in 1949 by Communist forces in China’s civil war?

A. HMS Amethyst.

5. The largest prehistoric stone circle in Britain surrounds a village. What is the village called?

A. Avebury.

6. Who was the last monarch of the House of Lancaster?

A. Henry VI.

7. Which US state was created during the American Civil War as a breakaway from the Southern Confederacy?

A. West Virginia.

8. The last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Amsterdam, now New York, gave his name to a brand of cigarettes. Who was he?

A. Peter Stuyvesant.

Supplementaries:

9. From 1350 to 1791 the heir apparent to the French throne had which title?

A. Dauphin.

10. In which war was the Gatling machine-gun first used?

A. The American Civil War.

 

Sport

1. Who won the 2015 Snooker Masters Tournament?

A. Sean Murphy.

2. Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all came to prominence in football with which club?

A. Southampton.

3. Held in September last year at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, what name was given to the paralympic games for injured service personnel?

A. The Invictus games.

4. How many players are there in a handball team?

A. 7.

5. In rowing, when one team wins by a very narrow margin they are said to win by a what?

A. A canvas.

6. Which Rugby Union club’s emblem consists of a red star and crescent on a black background?

A. Saracens.

7. In 2014, which boxer topped the Forbes list of highest paid sportsmen for the second time in three years?

A. Floyd Mayweather.

8. Who is the current British No1 woman tennis player?

A. Heather Watson.

Supplementaries:

9. In cricket, what term do Australians use for the runs that we call extras?

A. Sundries.

10. At last year’s football World Cup finals, what was the final score in the match between hosts Brazil and Germany?

A. 7 – 1 to Germany.

 

Geography

1. On a 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map, what is represented by the symbol of a blue wading bird?

A. A nature reserve.

2. What is the name of the region which forms the “toe” of Italy?

A. Calabria.

3. Before 1973, by what name was Belize known?

A. British Honduras.

4. By population, what is the largest city in Washington State?

A. Seattle.

5. Measured by volume of water, what is the largest lake in South America?

A. Lake Titicaca. (Lake Maracaibo has a larger surface area, but because it is directly linked to the sea is strictly defined as a brackish bay).

6. On a 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map, what area of land is represented by a grid square?

A. One square kilometre.

7. By population, what is the largest city in Louisiana?

A. New Orleans.

8. The largest islands in Shetland and Orkney share the same name. What is it?

A. Mainland.

Supplementaries:

9. What is the highest mountain in Germany?

A. The Zugspitze.

10. Name either of the two countries linked by the Khyber Pass.

A. Afghanistan or Pakistan.

 

Titfer tat – a round about headgear

1. What form of headgear, associated with Scotland, takes its name from the protagonist of a poem by Robbie Burns?

A. Tam o’ Shanter.

2. Which style of hat gets its name from the title of an 1894 novel by George du Maurier?

A. Trilby.

Q. Particularly associated with seafarers and fishermen, what is the name of the waterproof, oilskin hat, long at the back to protect the neck, and having a turned-up gutter at the front, to allow water to run off?

A. Sou’wester.

4. Who would wear a cap and bells?

A. A jester, professional fool.

5. Which hat maker is credited with designing, in 1865, the standard cowboy hat that still bears his name?

A. J. B. Stetson.

6. What style of hat was made fashionable after King Edward VII brought one back from a visit to the German town whose name it bears?

A. Homburg.

7. What name is given to the flat-topped cylindrical peaked cap worn by the French army?

A. Kepi.

8. What form of headgear gets its name from a 13^th century Scottish theologian and philosopher?

A. The dunce’s cap or hat. From John Duns Scotus.

Supplementaries:

9. What do Americans call the hat we know as a bowler?

A. A derby.

10. From which country does the Panama hat originate?

A. Ecuador.

 

Classic Films – Picture Round

Name the film from which the still is taken.

1.

Gone with the Wind.

2.

The Graduate.

3.

In the Heat of the Night.

4.

Planet of the Apes.

5.

From here to Eternity.

6.

North by North-west.

7.

The Seventh Seal.

8.

Dr. Strangelove.

Supplementaries:

9.

Casablanca.

10.

Airplane.

Alternative Qs for quizzers with visual impairment:

1. Which classic Western film has as its theme music the song “Do not forsake me oh my darling”?

A. High Noon.

2. Which composer’s 2^nd piano concerto was used as the theme music for the film “Brief Encounter”?

A. Rachmaninoff.

3. Who wrote the music for the film “Limelight”?

A. Charlie Chaplin.

Eponymous Anonymous

Many books, plays, films and operas have titles which refer to the central character, not by name, but by some other aspect, eg relationship, status, profession, appearance, etc. In this round you will be given the name of a character and you must say how they are described in the title of the work in which they appear. Eg if you were given Oliver Mellors, in a novel by D. H. Lawrence, you would say that he was “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”.

1. Mr. Septimus Harding, in an 1855 novel by Anthony Trollope.

A. The Warden.

2. Sarah Woodruff, in a 1969 novel by John Fowles and a 1981 film by Karel Reisz.

A. The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

3. Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom in a 1968 film by Mel Brooks

A. The Producers.

4. Don Vito Corleone in a 1969 novel by Mario Puzo and a 1972 film by Francis Ford Coppola.

A. The Godfather.

5. Francisco Scaramanga in a 1965 novel by Ian Fleming and a 1974 film by Tom Hamilton.

A. The Man with the Golden Gun.

6. Loretta Lynn in a 1980 film by Michael Apted.

A. Coalminer’s Daughter.

7. Cio Cio San (pronounced Cho Cho San) in a 1904 opera by Puccini.

A. Madame Butterfly.

8. Figaro, in a 1775 play by Beaumarchais and an 1816 opera by Rossini.

A. The Barber of Seville.

9. Michael Henchard in an 1886 novel by Thomas Hardy.

A. The Mayor of Casterbridge.

10. Jake LaMotta in a 1980 film by Martin Scorsese.

A. Raging Bull.

11. Archie Rice in a 1957 play by John Osborne and a 1960 film by Tony Richardson.

A. The Entertainer.

General Knowledge

1. Named after a famous writer, what is the name of the annual award given for political writing?

A. The Orwell Prize.

2. Who had a Billboard number 10 hit in 1967 with “Brown-eyed girl”?

A. Van Morrison.

3. Give the name of the Green Party’s only MP.

A. Caroline Lucas.

4. In Greek mythology, who was the faithful wife of Odysseus?

A. Penelope.

5. In the medieval Mappa Mundi (Map of the World) housed in Hereford Cathedral, which city is placed at the centre?

A. Jerusalem.

6. Before achieving high office in US politics, Jimmy Carter was a farmer; of what crop, mainly?

A. Peanuts.

7. Which Premier League football club’s motto is “Superbia in Proelio” – meaning Pride in Battle?

A. Manchester City.

8. Complete this comment from Woody Allen; “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work....”

A. “I want to achieve immortality through not dying”. (Accept any answer that contains the gist of the joke).

9. What is the name of the Ministry of Defence airbase north-west of Lashkar Gar in Helmand Province, including barracks for the Afghan national army?

A. Camp Bastion.

10. For the production of what commodity is the island of Murano, near Venice, famous?

A. Glass.

11. What is the name of the chart-topping album of 2014 released by the Brighton-based duo of the same name?

A. Royal Blood.

12. In 1993, which football club, nicknamed the Eagles, was relegated from the Premier League with 49 points, the highest for any relegated team in the history of the Premiership?

A. Crystal Palace.

13. The name of the flower tulip comes from which language?

A. Turkish.

14. In the Bible, who was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, after whom King David lusted?

A. Bathsheba.

15. Which comedian has announced his intention to stand for election against Nigel Farage in the South Thanet constituency, for the Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP).

A. Al Murray.

16. By what name are members of the Free Church of Scotland popularly known?

A. Wee Frees.

17. From a Malay word meaning something that rolls up, what is the alternative name for the scaly anteater?

A. Pangolin.

18. What does the leisure activity of zorbing involve?

A. Rolling down a hill in a large transparent sphere.

19. In law, what is the commonly used Latin word meaning “elsewhere”?

A. Alibi.

20. Which actress, who died in 2014, was born Meredith Lee Hughes in Montreal in 1948?

A. Lynda Bellingham.

21. Which German city is served By Manfred Rommel airport, commemorating a distinguished mayor?

A. Stuttgart.

22. In the card game Bridge, what is a Yarborough?

A. A hand with no card higher than a 9.

23. In Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan”, what was the name of the sacred river which ran through Xanadu?

A. Alph.

24. Since January, which multi-national company has sponsored the London Eye, changing the colour of its night time lighting to conform with their corporate image?

A. Coca Cola.

25. Instead of the usual two, how many candles were carried at the Westminster Abbey memorial service for Ronnie Barker?

A. 4. (Fork ‘andles).

26. Give the name of the Respect Party’s only MP.

A. George Galloway.

27. With which Scottish publishing company would you associate the cartoon characters “Oor Wullie” and “The Broons”?

A. D. C. Thomson.

28. FIDE is the world governing body of which game?

A. Chess.

29. The company ERF manufactured trucks in Sandbach until 2002. What does the F stand for in ERF?

A. Foden. (Edwin Richard Foden broke away from the parent company in 1933 because the board refused to move from steam driven trucks to diesel).

30. With the bulk of its population residing in the metropolitan area known as “the Twin Cities”, which is the second most northerly state in the USA, after Alaska?

A. Minnesota.

31. According to the nursery rhyme, how many miles are there to Babylon?

A. Three score and ten.

32. Which is the most common type of bean used in the USA and north-west Mexico for the Mexican dish “refried beans”?

A. Pinto bean.

33. What would you expect to find in an ossuary?

A. Bones.

34. In Longfellow’s poem “The Song of Hiawatha” what is the name of Hiawatha’s lover?

A. Minnehaha.

35. In the tradition of the Freemasons, what term is used to refer to their concept of God?

A. The Great Architect of the Universe. (Or Grand, or Supreme Architect – accept any answer which refers to Architect).

36. What, in Glasgow, is “the Clockwork Orange”?

A. The underground railway.

37. In Greek mythology, after Hera’s 100-eyed servant Argos was slain, where did she put his eyes, to preserve them?

A. In the tail of the peacock.

38. What is the UK’s smallest bird of prey?

A. The merlin.

39. For what spectacular Royal entertainment, to celebrate the end of the War of Austrian Succession, did the composer Handel write a suite of music in 1749?

A. Royal Fireworks.

40. Hollywood star Joan Fontaine, who died in December, 2013, had a lifelong feud with her actress sister. Who was she?

A. Olivia de Havilland.

41. In darts, what name is given to a throw of three darts which land in the single, double and treble of the same number?

A. Shanghai.

42. What is the name of the traditional Russian metal container, used to boil water to make tea?

A. Samovar.

43. With which Italian city is pesto sauce particularly associated?

A. Genoa.

44. Sir Peter Tapsell holds which title in the House of Commons?

A. Father of the House. (The longest continuously serving MP – in his case, since 1966).

45. Which world title is currently held by the Lithuanian, Žydrūnas Savickas?

A. The World’s Strongest Man.

46. In which UK city is the national water sports centre?

A. Nottingham.

47. Which Archbishop of York died in disgrace at Leicester in November, 1530?

A. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.

48. Which famous poem begins with the words (in translation)

“Midway in our life’s journey I went astray from the straight road, and awoke to find myself alone in a dark wood”?

A. The Divine Comedy, by Dante. (Accept Dante’s Inferno).

49. Who was the narrator of the collection of 1001 stories known to us as the Arabian Nights?

A. Scheherazade.

50. A major river of central Europe, the river Labe (pronounced lah-bay) rises in the Czech Republic, eventually flowing into the North Sea. How is it known in Germany?

A. The river Elbe.

51. The skyscraper on New York’s 5^th Avenue originally known as the Fuller Building is now known by what name, from its resemblance to a common household appliance?

A. The Flat Iron building.

52. “Hound Dog”, “Jailhouse Rock” and “Leader of the Pack” are just three of the hits written by Jerry Leiber and who?

A. Mike Stoller.

53. The many moons of Uranus have been given names from two literary sources; name either. (The name of the writer is sufficient).

A. Alexander Pope’s poem, the Rape of the Lock, or the plays of Shakespeare.

54. In music, what term is given to the set of five lines on which musical notation is written?

A. The stave.

55. In the history of whaling, what was a Nantucket sleigh ride?

A. When the whale, on being harpooned, swam off dragging the whalers’ boat behind it.

56. In the nursery rhyme, who “came to visit me, all for the sake of my little nut tree”?

A. The King of Spain’s daughter.

57. What name was given by the Nazis to art, generally modern, which did not fit in with their ideas of what art should be?

A. Degenerate art. (Entartete Kunst, in German).

58. Where does the European eel (Anguilla Anguilla) lay its eggs?

A. The Sargasso Sea.

59. In Coronation Street, who killed Tina MacIntyre?

A. Rob Donovan.

60. What in Southern and Eastern Africa is a knobkerrie?

A. A wooden club, used as a weapon.

61. In the dramatic narrative poem by J. Milton Hayes, the one-eyed yellow idol is located north of which city?

A. Kathmandu.

62. In Orwell’s novel “1984”, what name is given to Britain?

A. Airstrip one.

63. “Trouble in Store”, “The Bulldog Breed” and “On the Beat” were three of the many films to star which comic actor?

A. Norman Wisdom.

64. Wapentake is a traditional name for a division of a county in some parts of England; in others the terms lathe, rape or ward are used. What is it called in Cheshire?

A. A hundred.

65. Which infamous night club and music venue stood at 11-13 Whitworth Street, Manchester, from 1982 to 1997?

A. The Hacienda.

66. What natural product, important in the manufacture of glass, is extracted at Arclid, Sandbach, by the Bathgate Company?

A. Silica sand. (Accept sand).

67. In the children’s card game Happy Families, what is the name of the baker?

A. Mr. Bun.

68. How is the controversial investigative journalist Mazher Mahmood popularly known?

A. The Fake Sheik.

69. What would you do with Staunton pieces?

A. Play chess.

70. The novelist Robert Louis Stevenson came from a family of distinguished engineers who specialised in the building of what structures?

A. Lighthouses.

71. In which US state is the ski resort of Aspen?

A. Colorado.

72. Which Russian city gives its name to a geological period, falling between the Carboniferous and the Triassic?

A. Perm. (The Permian period).

73. What, in connection with food, is a freegan?

A. Someone who reclaims and eats food that has been discarded.

74. Which of Robin Hood’s Merry Men was a minstrel?

A. Alan-a-Dale.

75. With which country does China share its longest land border?

A. Mongolia. (2,906 miles).

76. What is the fundamental assumption of the Ptolemaic model of the Universe?

A. That the earth is at the centre.

77. In the First World War, what were the British Mk. IV and the German a7v examples of?

A. Tanks.

78. “Trouble Brewing”, “It’s in the Air” and “Turned out nice again” were three of the many films to star which comic actor and musician?

A. George Formby.

79. Complete this comment by Groucho Marx; “I never forget a face...”

A. “but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception” (or anything that gives the gist of the joke).

80. Which river forms the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe?

A. The Limpopo.

81. What name is given to the political practice of artificially constructing the boundaries of an electoral district in order to achieve a desired election result?

A. Gerrymandering.

82. In which comedy series would you encounter, among others, Bubbles Devere and Norman Fry, M.P. for Little Fumble, who was always caught in compromising situations?

A. Little Britain.

83. Who wrote the novels “Pillars of the Earth” and “World without End”?

A. Ken Follett.

84. Which leader of a barons’ revolt against King Henry III was defeated and killed at the battle of Evesham in 1265?

A. Simon de Montfort.

85. “Walk on by”, “Anyone who had a Heart” and “Close to you” are just three of the hits written by Burt Bacharach and who?

A. Hal David.

86. What name is given to leather that has been processed to give it a highly polished, glossy finish, nowadays usually plastic-coated?

A. Patent leather.

87. In the Bible, what form of execution did Nebuchadnezzar order for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?

A. Burning in a fiery furnace.

88. In which city did the 1916 Easter Rising take place?

A. Dublin.

89. On which river does the sacred Hindu city of Benares stand?

A. The Ganges.

90. What is the name of the sweet bread loaf originally from Milan, usually prepared and eaten at Christmas and New Year?

A. Panettone.

91. Warfarin and Heparin are types of drugs used specifically for what purpose?

A. Anticoagulants, i.e. thinning the blood.

92. What letter did the novelist Iain Banks add to his name when he started writing science fiction?

A. M. (As in Iain M. Banks).

93. In the title of the new James Bond film SPECTRE, what do any of the last three letters stand for?

A. Terrorism, Revenge, Extortion.

94. Who could boast that he inherited Rome brick and left it marble?

A. The Emperor Augustus.

95. Galen, a Greek living in the 3^rd century, was a specialist in which field, on which he was regarded as the foremost authority until at least the 17^th century?

A. Medicine. (Accept anatomy or physiology).

96. Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture commemorates which battle?

A. Borodino.

Supplementaries:

97. Which river flows through Lake Bala, in Wales?

A. The River Dee.

98. What, on the Isle of Man, is a MHK?

A. Member of the House of Keys.

99. If the title of a piece of classical music is followed by the letter K and a number, what does it signify?

A. It’s by Mozart. (K stands for Köchel’s catalogue of Mozart’s works).

100. What is the heraldic symbol for the Irish province of Ulster?

A. The red hand.

101. What was the number of the RAF bomber squadron which carried out the Dam Busters raids in 1943?

A. 617.

102. In which county is the fictional TV town of Broadchurch?

A. Dorset.

103. What is the currency of Belarus?

A. The (Belarusian) rouble.