Hello again everyone. Welcome to another delightful quiz.
Topics this week include a fair dollop of television on top of the usual dusting of history, geography, nature, and soupçon of science. I can but hope this doesn’t reflect badly on my efforts.
Before the fun of the first round, here is the link to the version with the answers:
Now, let us get to the business of the questions, starting with the easier enquiries that make up Round 1.
Round 1
Question 1
In both men’s and women’s athletics competition, which world record is further: discuss or hammer?
Answer:
1 point
Question 2
The Red Vineyard, painted in 1888, is believed to be the only painting sold by which artist during his lifetime?
Answer:
1 point
Question 3
What word completes the titles of these songs: ‘Peggy___’, hit for Buddy Holly in 1957; ‘Runaround___’, hit for Dion in 1961’; and ‘A Boy Named ___’, a hit for Johnny Cash in 1969?
Answer:
1 point
Question 4
A 2017 survey of 2000 adult Americans found 40 per cent of them go to bed with what item? A 2023 UK survey of 1000 adults found 16 per cent of respondents did the same in Britain.
Answer:
1 point
Question 5
What number associated with cultural milestones and gambling, and the product of the two numbers voted the world’s favourite numbers in a 2014 poll, has slightly ironically been the least frequently drawn ball in the UK national lottery since it expanded to 59 balls in October 2015?
Answer:
1 point
Question 6
In July 2015, a video of Miami-Dade judge Mindy Glazer recognising burglary suspect Arthur Booth as her friend from middle school, and him subsequently crying in shame, went viral. After a brief reunion on his release in 2016, during which he promised to live a legal life, where did the two next meet in August 2024?
Answer:
1 point
Question 7
Which two people announced their engagement last week with the message “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married”?
Answer:
2 points
Question 8
What are the three fillings in the ‘PB, B & B’ sandwich, also referred to as the ‘PB3’, ‘PB3’ or ‘Elvis’?
Answer:
3 points
Question 9
A record quantity from a single country, which six English football teams will play in this year’s men’s UEFA Champions League?
Answer:
6 points
Question 10
Make the longest word possible from the following letters: CDEEFILTU
Answer:
Up to 9 points
(*length of word equates to points awarded)
Round 1 points
(Maximum: 26)
Round 2
Question 1
The presence of what chemical element gives the substance ochre its colour?
Answer:
1 point
Question 2
Music producer and manager Nicky Ryan helped create the distinct ‘choir of one’ sound of which Irish singer, born Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin, by layering her vocals on top of each other over 40 times and using heavy reverb effects?
Answer:
1 point
Question 3
The television programme Educating Yorkshire returned to UK television screens on August 31. When the series originally aired in 2013, it hit the headlines for a segment in which Year 11 pupil Musharaf Asghar overcome what condition to receive a C in English thanks to his teacher Mr Burton suggesting a technique portrayed in the film that won the 2011 Best Picture Academy Award?
Answer:
1 point
Question 4
Nuclear engineer Judith Magambo was revealed as the first winner of the UK version of what travel-based reality TV show last week, following professional bird watcher Rick Szabo winning in the inaugural US version in July?
Answer:
1 point
Question 5
The Japanese wineberry is most commonly mistaken for which other fruit within the rubus family due to their similar appearance?
Answer:
1 point
Question 6
Which French city gives its name to a form of hard soap made from vegetable oils that can be used for washing clothes and washing dishes?
Answer:
1 point
Question 7
In the US remake of the sitcom The Office, the characters Pam Beesly and Jim Halpert are based on which two characters from the original UK version?
Answer:
2 points
Question 8
Sands is the most profitable casino resort company in the world. In which three cities - one in North America and two in Asia - does it have resorts?
Answer:
3 point
Question 9
Appearing in the German national anthem, and sometimes referred to as Germany’s unofficial motto, what are the English translations for three qualities ‘Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit’?
Answer:
3 points
Question 10
The Hawaiian alphabet consists of 13 letters: five vowels, and which eight consonants, seven of which appear in the names of Hawaii’s islands, and one of those seven resembling a punctuation mark?
Answer:
8 points
Round 2 points
(Maximum: 22)
Total points
(Maximum: 48)
Round 3
Question 1
Unlike in western culture, in which only five numbers are counted on the fingers of a hand, the Chinese system for counting and indicating numbers on one’s fingers allows the numbers 1 to 10 to be shown on a single hand - and therefore the numbers 1 to 100 on two hands. Using this system, what number is depicted by bringing together the tips of a straight thumb, index finger, and middle finger?
Answer:
1 point
Question 2
Which French king had the longest reign in world history, lasting 72 years and 110 days?
Answer:
1 point
Question 3
By what name is the Royal Opera House is London more commonly known?
Answer:
1 point
Question 4
The plot to what opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is based around a promiscuous nobleman who, according to his servant Leporello, has ‘loved’ 1003 women in Spain, 640 in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, and 91 in Turkey?
Answer:
1 point
Question 5
The mineral hydroxyapatite, with the chemical formula Ca5(PO4)3OH, is a key ingredient in recent ‘natural’ alternatives to what everyday product?
Answer:
1 point
Question 6
What name is given to the breed of goat that, due to a congenital condition, has a delayed relaxation of muscles after they tighten when startled, causing the animal to often fall over and momentarily lie still and stiff when stressed?
Answer:
1 point
Question 7
Which two plays by William Shakespeare, both of which were histories relating to English kings, had multiple parts?
Answer:
2 points
Question 8
According to the Sugar Association in the US, refined sugars can be classified into what three categories defined by crystal size?
Answer:
3 points
Question 9
One of the last two known locations to hold populations of the endangered mountain gorilla, the Virunga Mountains are a chain of eight volcanoes sitting at the junction of which three countries?
Answer:
3 points
Question 10
The Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail are three major north-south walks across the US that comprise The Triple Crown of Hiking. What six states serve as the start and finish points for these walks?
Answer:
6 points
Round 3 points
(Maximum: 20)
Total points
(Maximum: 68)
Round 4
Question 1
The 4.8 million km² Tainui Atea marine conservation area, the largest marine conservation area in the world, was formed in June this year by which territory comprised of 121 islands?
Answer:
1 point
Question 2
What insect was once known in Northamptonshire as a clock a clay and was the subject of a belief that one could tell the time by seeing how many times one could tap a finger next to it before it flew away?
Answer:
1 point
Question 3
The Treaty of Münster and the Treaty of Osnabrück were the two treaties that made up which 1648 peace deal that ended the Thirty Years War and has become seen as crucial in the establishment of the rights of sovereign states, particularly the right of sovereign states to act within their recognised borders without outside interference?
Answer:
1 point
Question 4
‘All is not lost. I've got a 15-year-old kid who's a gibbering idiot. He's got a guitar. He'll run through this thing like a dose of salts.' Film director Robert Altman allegedly said this after struggling to write the lyrics to the theme song of which 1970 film, later adding that the film had only earnt him $70000 while his son had made over $1m as co-writer for the song, which became a UK number one?
Answer:
1 point
Question 5
In the creative arts, Hoffman, Bull’s trench, bottle, Feller, and dragon are all types of what?
Answer:
1 point
Question 6
Italian football team Juventus began playing in black and white striped shirts in 1901 after player Tom Gordon Savage wrote to a letter to a football manufacturer in which English city, in which Savage used to play, asking for an ‘elegant trousseau’ for the team, leading to a parcel arriving a month later containing shirts designed like one of that city’s teams?
Answer:
1 point
Question 7
According to the latest edition of the industry standard ‘Which Winegrape Varieties are Grown Where?’ book, published in 2020, what are the world’s most planted varieties of red grape and white grape respectively - although the white grape is commonly associated with Spanish brandy and sherry more than wine?
Answer:
2 points
Question 8
Released by Valve in 2007, the critically acclaimed computer game package The Orange Box contained five games belonging to which three computer game titles?
Answer:
3 points
Question 9
In 1958, during China’s Great Leap Forward, authorities encouraged the eradication of what four animals through the Four Pest campaign - a disastrous policy that led to ecological imbalance and subsequent mass famine?
Answer:
4 points
Question 10
Which five original songs from the soundtrack to the 1978 film Grease reached the top three of the UK singles chart when released as singles?
Answer:
5 points
Round 4 points
(Maximum: 20)
Total points
(Maximum: 88)
Round 5
In Round 5, there is only one answer. The less clues you need to get it, the more points you receive. If you need only one clue, you receive 10 points; if you require two clues, you will receive 9 points, and so on.
However, you may only answer once. If you answer incorrectly, you receive zero points for the round.
In which TV series did the following cast appear?
Clue 1 (10 points)
Abraham Benrubi as Jerry Markovic
Clue 2 (9 points)
Kirsten Dunst as Charlene Chiemingo
Clue 3 (8 points)
Ewan McGregor as Duncan Stewart
Clue 4 (7 points)
Ming-Na Wen as Jing-Mei Chen
Clue 5 (6 points)
Goran Višnjić as Luka Kovač
Clue 6 (5 points)
Sherry Stringfield as Susan Lewis
Clue 7 (4 points)
Julianna Margulies as Carol Hathaway
Clue 8 (3 points)
Noah Wyle as John Carter
Clue 9 (2 points)
Anthony Edwards as Mark Greene
Clue 10 (1 point)
George Clooney as Doug Ross
Answer:
Round 5 points
(Maximum: 10)
Total points
(Maximum: 98)
And so, with the completion of Round 5, comes the end of this week’s edition. I trust you did well.
Should the desire strike, the big share and subscribe buttons are below, along with the PDF version of the questions.
The only other thing to do is thank you for playing. Until next time, have a great week.
