Next 25 Flashcards
Brands from KP Snacks are kit sponsors in the cricket competition The Hundred. Which brand is the 2023 sponsor of Welsh Fire? This potato and corn snack are hollow cylinders and share their name with a toy first popularised in the 1950s.
Hula Hoops
Which former Scottish rugby union player who died in 2022 was awarded the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollason Award in 2019 for raising awareness of motor neurone disease through his charitable foundation? The trophy for the annual match between Scotland and Wales is named after him.
Doddie Weir
Which classic of 1990s hood cinema, directed by Ernest Dickerson, stars Omar Epps as Q, a Harlem teenager whose dreams of being a DJ come into conflict with the escalating criminal ambitions of his best friend Bishop, played by Tupac Shakur?
Juice
Which German multimedia conglomerate, via its UK radio division, owns radio
stations such as Absolute, Jazz FM, KISS, Magic, Planet Rock and Scala Radio?
Bauer Radio
The German word for which type of business is Metzgerei?
Butchers
In cribbage, cards of which rank could cause you to score ‘one for his nob’ or ‘two for his heels’?
Jack
Published in 1956 and 1957, Palace Walk, Palace of Desire and Sugar Street are the three novels in a trilogy considered a masterpiece by which author?
Naguib Mahfouz
Which Jamaican-born British sociologist, cultural theorist and political activist was a co-founder of the New Left Review and developed theencoding and decoding model of communication?
Stuart Hall
Which classic of 1990s hood cinema, directed by the Hughes Brothers, stars Larenz Tate and Chris Tucker as two of a group of former US Marines who return from Vietnam to the Bronx to be faced with social alienation and economic
desperation, which ultimately drives them to rob an armoured bank truck?
Dead Presidents
1993 American teen drama film directed by the Hughes Brothers in their directorial debut. The film is set in Watts and Crenshaw
neighborhoods of Los Angeles, and follows the life of Caine Lawson (Tyrin Turner) and his close friends.
Menace II Society
Dolemite is a 1975 American blaxploitation crime comedy film and is also the name of its principal character, played by which actor?
Rudy Ray Moore
1973 Blaxpoitation film starring Roscoe Orman as the eponymous pimp in New York City, who strives to be number one in the city. As he is trying to do so, a social worker named Cora, is trying to change his ways - as well as those of the women who work for him - for the better.
Willie Dynamite
Which former Labour MP was suspended from the Commons in 2019 after a number of scandals, including one where he was found to have “expressed willingness” to purchase cocaine for male prostitutes?
Keith Vaz
New Street and Moor Street are two train stations in which English city?
Birmingham
Which character gives his name to a work for orchestra and chorus by Hector Berlioz, an overture by Richard Wagner, a symphony by Franz Liszt and an opera by Charles Gounod?
Faust
Which square in central Istanbul, was the centre of 2013 protests, initially against the development of the neighbouring Gezi Park, but widening to include a range of protestors against the authoritarianism of President Erdoğan?
Taksim Square
Widely used in food and drink, the cocoa bean is the fully fermented seed of a plant in which large family with the scientific name Malvaceae [mal-VAY-seeeye], that also includes hollyhock, okra, durian, cotton and hibiscus?
Mallows
Since 2013, Jonathan Anderson has been the creative director of which LVMHowned Spanish luxury fashion house, recently advertised by Maggie Smith? Founded by a German in Madrid in 1846, its iconic handbags include the Puzzle,
the Goya and the Hammock.
Loewe
Another KP Snacks brand that sponsors a team in The Hundred is which prawn cocktail flavoured crisps that fizz on the tongue? It is the kit sponsor for Trent Rockets in 2023.
Skips
The semiotic approach of Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding model built on the work of which French literary theorist, critic and semiotician, known for his 1957 collection Mythologies and the later essay The Death of the Author?
Roland Barthes
Which word, signifying the reaction of a substance with a particular element, precedes ‘state’ in a more general chemical term meaning the number of valence electrons an atom has gained or lost? This ‘state’ can therefore be negative or positive, making it less ambiguous than the related ‘valency’.
Oxidation State
The quadruple axel is considered the most difficult form of quad jump in figure
skating. By contrast, which quad is considered the easiest, and was first performed by Kurt Browning in 1988, a full decade before the quadruple Salchow became the second quad jump achieved?
Toe Loop
In the card game hearts, points are scored for every heart card and also for which
specific card from a different suit?
Queen of Spades
Published between 1969 and 1971, Spring Snow, Runaway Horses, The Temple of Dawn and The Decay of the Angel are the four novels making up a tetralogy with what name by Mishima?
The Sea of Fertility
Which British media company formed in 2007 owns radio stations such as Capital, Heart, Classic FM, LBC and Radio X?
Global
The German word for which type of business is Tankstelle?
Petrol Station
Obtained from plants, especially conifers and pine trees, which sticky, pitch-like substance is used on the bows of stringed instruments to increase their friction and grip?
Rosin
Which type of bonnet or cap that can be worn as part of highland dress, is essentially a more formal version of the Tam o’Shanter, and takes its name from a Scottish castle close to the village of Crathie?
Balmoral
Robert Vilahamn is the head coach of which Women’s Super League team based
in London?
Tottenham
How many cards are there in a Tarot deck?
78
Running since 2007, which open access train operator runs services on the East
Coast Main Line between Kings Cross and Bradford and Sunderland?
Grand Central
Father Ted surname and actor who plays him
Crilly – Dermot Morgan
In physics, what lowercase letter is usually used to denote an object’s momentum?
p (Leibniz used as “progress”)
In which of the six counties of Northern Ireland are the Mountains of Mourne located?
County Down
Finn Russell, co-captain of Scotland in this year’s men’s Six Nations rugby tournament, plays for which Premiership Rugby team based in the south-west of England?
Bath
Which European capital city was most familiarly known to English speakers for
centuries, until the early 20th, as Pressburg?
Bratislava
Who took over from Yul Brynner in the role of Chris, leader of the Magnificent
Seven, for the third film in the western series, 1969’s Guns of the Magnificent
Seven, only a year or so after winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Cool
Hand Luke?
George Kennedy
Who was the third actor to play the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who, first appearing in the 1970 story Spearhead from Space?
Jon Pertwee
Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, Baker, Davison, Baker, McCoy, McGann, Eccleston, Tennant, Smith, Capaldi, Whittaker, Gatwa.
Mnemonic:
How to punish bad Daleks before many million earthlings truly see clearly. Why Go?
Which Briton became the youngest ever world champion in her sport at the age of 16 in 2023, winning the snowboard slopestyle title? She was later named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year.
Mia Brookes
Having the scientific name Taricha torosa, the California Newt is, despite its name, the most poisonous species of which type of amphibian?
Salamander
Running since 2021, which open access train operator runs services on the East
Coast Main Line between Kings Cross and Edinburgh Waverley?
Lumo
Rehanne Skinner, Robert Vilahmn’s predecessor at Spurs, is now the head coach of which Women’s Super League team based in London?
West Ham
Swedish manager who is head coach of Arsenal Ladies, he was pundit at womens world cup a lot
Jonas Eidevall
Welsh manager of Man City Ladies since 2020
Gareth Taylor
English manager of Liverpool Ladies since 2021?
Matt Beard
English manager of the Manchester United womens team? Shares surname with manager of West Ham United Ladies.
Marc Skinner
What was the name of the aircraft in which Bryan Allen became the first person to
pilot a human-powered aircraft across the English Channel in 1979?
Gossamer Albatross
Who, probably most familiar from roles in spaghetti westerns, sometimes as a
villain, took over as the leader Chris in the fourth and final of the original series of Magnificent Seven films, 1972’s The Magnificent Seven Ride?
Lee Van Cleef
Dafydd (“DAV-ith”) Jenkins, captain of Wales in this year’s men’s Six Nations
rugby tournament, plays for which Premiership Rugby team based in the southwest of England?
Exeter Chiefs
In physics, what uppercase letter is usually used to denote an object’s angular momentum?
L
Isata Kanneh Mason, eldest of the seven musical siblings, plays which musical instrument, also played by her younger siblings Jeneba and Konya?
Pinao
Michael Vaughan, playing for England against India in 2001, was the last player to be dismissed by what method in a test match? This way of getting out has now been incorporated into Obstructing the Field.
Handled the Ball
What was the name of the Australian businessman who created the unsanctioned World Series Cricket between 1977-79 which led to several weakened test match series including the 1977 and 1978-79 Ashes series.
Kerry Packer
Which Australian player scored 170 for Australia in their win over England in the
2022 world cup final?
Alyssa Healy
Which South African fast bowler was nicknamed White Lightning? He was
famously involved in a run out which led to South Africa losing to Australia in the
semi-final of the 1999 world cup?
Allan Donald
It is claimed which West Indies test stadium is named after a slave found guilty of murder?
Sabina Park (Kingston Jamaica)
The English folk rock singer Roy Harper released the single When an Old
Cricketer Leaves The Crease. Which English band took their hats off to him on their third album?
Led Zeppelin
Which former Worcester, Surrey and Somerset keeper became in 2011 the first
male international cricketer to come out as gay?
Steven Davies
For which side was Virat Kohli playing when he set the record for most runs in an
IPL season in 2016? This team has never won the competition.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
What effect can be observed when a spinning sphere curves away from the arc it
would follow if it were not spinning, for example when a cricket bowler swings the
ball? It is named for a German physicist who described the effect in 1852.
Magnus Effect
Which pioneer of women’s cricket captained England from 1966 to 1978? The
English women’s 50-over domestic competition is named after her.
Rachael Heyhoe Flint
Give the christian name of either of the two Marsh brothers who have both represented Australia in T20s, ODIs and Test matches. Both play for Western Australia as did their father and 1987 World Cup winner, Geoff.
Mitchell or Shaun
Which well-known cricket equipment manufacturer, founded in Nottinghamshire
in 1885, uses the initials GM on its products?
Gunne and Moore
A member of the British Blank Panthers, which Trinidad born journalist and broadcaster presented the TV show The Cricket Test? His other TV shows include the current affairs programmes Devil’s Advocate, Black on Black and Bandung File.
Darcus Howe
Which Pakistani fast bowler was nicknamed The Rawalpindi Express? He famously bowled the first officially recorded 100mph+ delivery in world cup history versus England in 2003.
Shoaib Akhtar
The cricket themed group The Duckworth Lewis Method is made up of Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh. Hannon is probably better known as the leader of which Northern Irish group?
The Divine Comedy
Which English player scored 148 not out for England in their loss to Australia in
the 2022 world cup final?
Nat Sciver-Brunt
Give both first names of the two Curran brothers who have both represented England in T20s, ODIs and Test matches. Both play for Surrey
though their father represented Gloucestershire, Northants & Zimbabwe.
Tom and Sam
Which well-known cricket equipment manufacturer, later owned by DunlopSlazenger and now SDL, uses the initials SS on its products?
Stuart Sturridge
Which Trinidadian historian wrote the cricket book Beyond a Boundary? He also
wrote The Black Jacobins.
CLR James
Who was the first woman to score a century in all three formats of international
cricket? She has been captain of the England team since 2016.
Heather Knight
Playing for Canada against Brazil in a 20/20 match in 2023, who was the first transgender person to play official international cricket?
Danielle McGahey
Which actor and comedian co-hosts the podcast Middle Please, Umpire with Mark Wood? He is also known for his roles in Rev and Balamory and as the presenter of the Radio 4’s The News Quiz from 2015 to 2019?
Miles Jupp
For which side was Dwayne Bravo playing when he set the record for most wickets in an IPL season in 2013? They have won the competition five times.
Chennai Super Kings
Which side scored 721 runs in a day against Essex in 1948? It remains the
highest score made in a single day in a first-class match. Bill Brown scored 153.
Australia
What name is shared by: one of the largest shoe manufacturers in the world (originally from Czechoslovakia); the largest city in Equatorial Guinea; and the drums seen in this photo?
Bata
This castle, on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, gave its name to which Canadian city?
Calgary
C: persecuted minority who lived in the west of France and northern Spain: the Navarrese Pyrenees, Basque provinces, Béarn, Aragón,Gascony and Brittany. Evidence of the group exists as far back as 1000 AD. Not allowed to market, touch food, loads of bad stuff.
Cagots
We know the country as Brunei, but its official name is Brunei D… What is the second part?
Daressallam
Eight members of parliament of which country asked HM Queen Elizabeth II, in 1994, to allow her youngest son Prince Edward to be crowned as their King? Buckingham Palace turned down the frivolous request, saying that is was “a charming idea but a rather unlikely one”.
Edward
Named after the person who built the first one (in 1836), what do we call this device, used among other things to protect people and objects from lightning or electrical discharge in general?
Faraday Cage
In this photo we see a photo of both Coloeus dauuricus and Coloeus monedula, two members of the crow family who do not breed with one another and hence are different species of the same bird. By what name is this species known in English?
Jackdaw
M: a natural object that has been deliberately taken from its original environment and relocated without further modification. Typically moved by human hand,
Manuport
Easy P: What name is given to a specialised field of dentistry, looking in particular at the structures of teeth and the health of gums?
Periodontics
Talking of sharing a name, what is the name of the oldest football team in Argentina, currently in the country’s second division, supposedly founded in 1887? They are known as “El cervezero” (the Brewers) because of the famous beer that is brewed in the same city, and which shares their name.
Quilmes AC
Easy R: In which city of northern Finland would you find Santa Claus Village, said to be the residence of Father Christmas, as well as a town square dedicated to another lovable bearded fellow, Eurovision winner Mr Lordi?
Rovaniemi
On the left-hand side of this 1918 painting by Boris Kustodiev, The Merchant’s Wife at Tea Time, we see a typical Russian water-boiler. Literally meaning “self-brewer” in the Russian language, what is its name?
Samovar
What is the first name of the American mathemetician whose surname is Dudley? His most famous work, Mathematical Cranks, was about pseudomathematics and the ‘cranks’ who create them, which led to Dudley being sued by William Dilworth, one of the so-called ‘cranks’ lampooned in the book.
Underwood
What is the name of a debate that took part in a Spanish city (which the debate is named after), between Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda? It was to discuss the treatment of natives in the various countries in the Americas that Spain were colonising. Las Casas argued that they should not be mistreated and instead should be introduced to Christianity without any force, since they were ‘fully capable of reason’. Sepúlveda, on the other hand, argued that the Indians should be enslaved or killed because of their barbaric traditions. In the end, the judges could not choose upon a winning argument, though both Las Casas and Sepúlveda claimed victory.
Vallodolid Debate
Here we see one of the two official flags of Bolivia, which represents the native people of the Andes. Other variants (changing the central diagonal colour) exist for the native Andeans of Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Argentina and Colombia. Since it is co-official in Bolivia, is one of only three countries to have a square national flag (the others being Switzerland and the Vatican City). But what is the name for this flag?
Wiphala
Doris Day had two number one hits in the UK, Que Sera, Sera in 1956 and which song from the musical
comedy Calamity Jane in 1954?
Secret Love
Name the army general who was elected three times as President of Argentina and who founded a political
movement that bore his name.
Juan Peron
Which song became Elvis Presley’s first Uk number one in June 1957?
All Shook Up
Which song became The Beatles first number one in may 1963?
From Me to You
Which American soap opera, set in a small New England town, ran from 1964 to 1969 and was a springboard for the careers of Ryan O’Neal and Mia Farrow?
Peyton Place
The New York Jets gridiron team played their home games at which stadium between 1964 and 1983? It famously hosted two sell-out Beatles concerts in 1965 and 1966.
Shea Stadium
Which fearsome ex-convict became heavyweight boxing champion of the World in September 1962 when he defeated the reigning champion, Floyd Patterson, inside one round?
Charles “Sonny” Liston
Featuring the name of an insect in its title, which 1984 novel, whose main character is 16-year-old Frank Cauldhame, was the first published work by Iain Banks?
The Wasp Factory
What is the name of the Starfleet Academy training exercise first depicted in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and in much other Star Trek media since? The exercise is ostensibly a ‘no win’ scenario, but Captain Kirk becomes the first
Academy cadet to defeat it by reprogramming its conditions.
Kobayashi Maru
Which English singer-songwriter has been nominated for the Mercury Prize four times for her albums Alas, I Cannot
Swim, I Speak Because I Can, Once I Was an Eagle and, most recently for her 2020 release, Song for Our Daughter?
Laura Marling
With a name meaning burned liquor, what distilled alcoholic drink is the most popular spirit in Korea? Traditionally coming
from the Andong region, it is typically sold in green glass bottles and has an alcohol content between 12 and 50%.
Soju
Birds in the family Stercorariidae are known as jaegers in North America; by what name are
they known in Britain? These are seabirds known for stealing food from other birds, and species found in Britain include the great, Arctic and Pomarine.
Skuas
Which Belgian-born French philosopher is the author of Speculum of the Other Woman and This Sex Which Is Not One? She is considered one of the founders of post-structural feminism.
Luce Irigaray
Which anthropologist, a colleague and romantic partner of Margaret Mead, expressed the idea that human cultures are ‘personality writ large’ in her work Patterns of Culture?
Ruth Benedict
What four-word pleasantry links the title of a 2005 hit single and album by Bon Jovi and title of a 2001 hit single by the Stereophonics?
Have a Nice Day
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics America’s Athing Mu won gold in the women’s 800 metres. Which British runner took the silver medal? She also has two World Championship silver medals and is the British record holder at that distance.
Keely Hodgkinson
Which Russian oligarch and critic of Vladimir Putin was found mysteriously hanged at his Berkshire home in 2013? This
person helped fund the political party Unity before going into exile in 2003.
Boris Berezovsky
Which fullback who played rugby union for Scotland from 1986 to 1995 captained the British and Irish Lions on their 1993
tour of New Zealand?
Gavin Hastings
Birds in the family Gaviidae are known as divers in Britain; by what name are they known in North America? Ungainly on land, these large fish-eating waterbirds are known for their distinctive yodel-like calls heard around lakes in the breeding season.
Loons
What is the name of the polygraph-style test used to determine whether a test subject is a replicant in the film Blade Runner?
This name is also that of the machine used to administer the test, and it first appears in the film’s source, Philip K. Dick’s Do
Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
Voight-Kampff
Which English singer-songwriter has been nominated for the Mercury Prize three times between 2006 and 2016, for her albums
Fur and Gold, Two Suns, and The Bride?
BAT FOR LASHES (or
Natasha KHAN)
What form of tweed, associated with the British aristocracy, is named after a place in the Outer Hebrides?
Harris Tweed
Which lock forward, who played rugby union for Ireland from 2002 to 2015, captained the British and Irish Lions on their 2009 tour of South Africa?
Paul O’Connell
What two-word name is given to the classification of stars that are plotted in the diagonal band that runs from the top left to the
bottom right of a Hertzsprung–Russell diagram? Most stars belong to this classification, which primarily consists of dwarf stars.
Main Sequence
Which Russian tax advisor died in prison in 2009, around two years after he exposed large-scale corruption by Russian government
officials? He gives his name to legislation in which governments sanction individuals involved in human rights abuses and corruption.
Sergei Magnitsky
Since 2021, which three-time Olympian has set the British records in the women’s 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and half
marathon? She is also a three-time European medallist and a Commonwealth champion.
Eilish MCCOLGAN
Which French philosopher developed the concept of écriture féminine [ECK-ree-ture FEM-in-een] in her essay ‘The Laugh of the Medusa’? She is considered one of the founders of post-structural feminism.
Hélène CIXOUS
Subtitled Patterns of Japanese Culture, what anthropological work was written by Ruth Benedict in 1946, based on her studies of Japan and its culture during the Second World War?
The CHRYSANTHEMUM
AND THE SWORD
Which English vocalist included the single ‘Little Bit of Love’ on his 2021 album Evening Road? He’s also known for appearing on Calvin Harris’s single ‘By Your Side’.
Tom Grennan
Who portrays Carol Willick, Ross Geller’s first wife, in the TV sitcom Friends? This is with the exception of the character’s debut episode, where she was portrayed by Anita Barone.
Jane Sibbett
Some Living American Women Artists is a collage by which American feminist artist? The central portion is an image based on Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
Mary Beth EDELSON
Which archipelago, administered as part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, is claimed by Mauritius and its original inhabitants, who were forcibly expelled from the archipelago between 1968 and 1973 by the UK?
Chagos
Currently ranked No.5 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, which American player has had a career high of No.3, but never progressed beyond a Grand Slam quarter final? She did, however, reach the 2022 French Open women’s doubles final alongside Coco Gauff.
Jessica PEGULA
Nicknamed “The Comeback Kid”, which American football quarterback spent most of his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, winning four Super Bowls with them in the 1980s? He is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
Joe Montana
In the film Good Will Hunting, the second blackboard problem Will solves is to give - and prove - which formula in graph theory, named for a British mathematician? It states that “for every positive integer n, the number of trees on n-labelled vertices is n to the power of n-2.
Cayley’s Formula
Which jazz tenor saxophonist released the hard bop album Saxophone Colossus in 1957, widely considered his breakthrough? It includes one of his most recognisable compositions and jazz standards, “St. Thomas”.
Sonny Rollins
Considered by many as the greatest quarterback never to win a Super Bowl, which American footballer spent 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins? He holds several NFL passing records and was the first quarterback to reach 5,000 passing yards in a season.
Dan Marino
Which jazz trumpeter released the 1964 hard bop album The Sidewinder? The title track is perhaps his bestknown composition.
Lee MORGAN
Which British fashion designer is best known for her slogan T-shirts, and for her extensive lobbying against fast fashion practices such as the use of pesticides in cotton-growing regions and sweatshop operations?
Katharine Hamnett
Which American conceptual artist and collagist is best known for her black-and-white photographs, overlaid with captions in bold white-on-red text? Her work inspired the logo for skateboard and apparel brand, Supreme.
Barbara Kruger
Currently ranked No.9 in the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, which Greek player has had a career high of No.3, reaching the semi-finals of the French and US Opens in 2021? However, she suffered three first-round exits in Grand Slams in 2023.
Maria Sakkari
While Will Hunting doesn’t use this method as proof, which special case of a matrix tree theorem, named after a German physicist, can be used to prove Cayley’s formula?
Gustav Kirchhoff
Lake Sevan is the largest lake in which Eurasian country? Home to a mediaeval monastery, it accounts for 90% of the country’s freshwater fishing catch, and 80% of its crayfish catch.
Armenia
Who portrays Susan Bunch, Carol’s lesbian life partner, in the TV sitcom Friends? She also portrayed Gretchen Schwartz in Breaking Bad.
Jessica Hecht
Who is the Roman goddess of the hearth and home? Her Greek equivalent is Hestia.
Vesta
Two dimensional map projections, such as the Mercator, will always distort as a sphere’s surface cannot be represented on a plane without distortion. An indicatrix named after which French cartographer is the classical way of showing this distortion?
Nicolas Auguste TISSOT
Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and New York Times critic Jon Pareles
all agreed that what artist’s album, SOS deserved the number one spot in their respective Best Albums of 2023 lists?
SZA (Solana Rowe)
Which Chinese poet who lived during the Tang dynasty is known for poems including Waking from Drunkenness on a Spring Day and Quiet Night Thought.
LI Bai
What is the name given to the strip of northern Africa that serves as a sort of buffer zone between the arid Sahara deserts and the more humid Sudanian savannas? This word was seen in many headlines in 2023 as a string of coups d’etat occurred in this region.
Sahel
What surname is shared by the winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926, 1947 and 1974? The 1926 winner, hailing from a prominent Boston family, was awarded her prize posthumously.
LOWELL (Amy and Robert)
On a film production set what single word does the sound recorder say to indicate that they are ready? In the days of analog recording this meant that they were not only rolling tape,
but that the machinery was fully functioning.
SPEEED
Named after a Russian explorer whose first name was Yakov, which phantom island in the Arctic off Siberia was the subject of
many searches in the 19th and early 20th centuries?
SANNIKOV Land
Victor Conte was the founder of which San Francisco business, that is now best known for providing banned performing
enhancing drugs to athletes?
BALCO
Who was the official “evangelist” for Apple Computers in the 1980s and since has become an entrepreneurial and marketing
trainer and author of business advice books like The Art of the Start?
Guy Kawasaki
What six-letter “d” word, also known as a portal tomb, refers to an ancient megalithic burial structure with two or more vertical stones and a flat stone on top called a “table”?
DOLMEN
Located on the island of Svalbard, which Norwegian company town is the northernmost functional civilian settlement in the
world? Home to some of the world’s cleanest air, this place goes through week- and month-long periods of polar night and polar light.
Ny-Ålesund
The Man Who Died Twice was a work by which American poet, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1922, 1925 and 1928?
Edwin Arlington ROBINSON
Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine wrote songs together under what collective name? They are credited with most of Bruno Mars’s biggest hits and also wrote and produced Cee-Lo Green’s smash hit “Forget You.”
The Smeezingtons
What fermented dairy beverage originating in the Caucasus Mountain region has a light fizziness from natural carbonation from which it gets its nickname “the champagne of milk”?
Kefir
In the days of analog film production, what three letters were written on film reels that were
recorded without a synchronous audio track? Film lore says that it’s an abbreviation of a German-English phrase to mean it is soundless.
MOS Mit Ohne Sound
Which Chinese novelist and poet of the Qing Dynasty is best known for his work Dream of the Red Chamber?
Cao Xueqin
What tech founder of Squidoo and Yoyodyne has become a entrepreneurial inspirational speaker and author of books like Tribes: We Need You To See Us and This is Marketing.
Seth Godin
What six-letter “m” word is often used in place of “standing stone” in France, and also refers to upright stones in Ireland.
Menhir
Who won the Academy Award for Best Director for the films A Place in the Sun and Giant? Also nominated for The More the Merrier, Shane and The Diary of Anne Frank, he joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps during the Second World War and led a film unit under the command of General
Eisenhower.
George Stevens
Which Australian swimmer, who won gold medals in the women’s 100m freestyle at three consecutive Summer Olympic Games, was given a 10-year ban from competitive swimming for misbehavior at the 1964 Olympics in
Tokyo, which allegedly included drunkenly swimming across a moat to steal
a flag from the Emperor’s palace?
Dawn Fraser
2023 film Jon Voigt winning Razzie Best Actor A doctor and former military officer finds herself in a deadly battle for survival when the Irish mob takes control of the hospital where she works and her son is taken hostage.
Mercy
2023 film winning Megan Fox a Razzie Best Actress. The film is about a pair of serial killers who assemble a team to rob a casino but become hunted by a demon guarding the cash room.
Johnny & Clyde
figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva. They are architectural grotesques found throughout most of Europe[1][2] on cathedrals, castles, and other buildings.
Sheela na gig
British filmmaker who became known for his 2023 independent horror film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. It was the first theatrical film of his career, as well as the first for his production company, Jagged Edge Productions.
Rhys Frake-Waterfield
In her work Contraband (1969), she removed the use of a canvas altogether and created her work directly on the floor seen in Whitney Museum 2023, American sculptor and visual artist known especially for her wax paintings and poured latex sculptures… Born 1941 Louisiana.
Lynda Benglis
1905-70 He has been critically regarded as one of the major figures of abstract expressionism, and one of the foremost color field painters.. In the first works featuring zips, the color fields are variegated, but later the colors are pure and flat. In the first works featuring zips, the color fields are variegated, but later the colors are pure and flat.
Barnett Newman
American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and sometime-filmmaker known for her focus on natural phenomena like camels or maps of the Moon. When was just 29, she was given a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. At the time she was the youngest artist, and fifth woman to achieve this honor.
Nancy Graves
American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures. Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine). Clown tight rope walker, The Clown as the Center of his World.
Louise Nevelson
African-American artist and teacher who lived and worked in Washington, D.C., and is now recognized as a major American painter of the 20th century. member of the Washington Color School art movement. Earth Sermon - Beauty, Love and Peace (1971), Pansies in Washington (1969), March on Washington (1964).
Alma Thomas
(not N) Although NASA operated and flew the Space Shuttle Orbiters, which company built them? It was founded by the inventor of a new bearing system for truck axles in 1919, rather than the singer of the 1986 hit record Somebody’s Watching Me.
Rockwell International
Which Chinese company with a 3 letter name has overtaken Tesla as the top-selling battery electric vehicle manufacturer in the world?
BYD
Sarah Snook has earned rave reviews for playing 26 characters in what play, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s only novel?
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Ellis Durand, Carol Kaye, Pino Palladino and Suzi Quatro are all associated with which instrument?
Bass Guitar
What fish in the family Serrasalmidae links Reg Hornsbury, Zoot Alors, Bob Grover and Dick Slexia who collectively had a hit with Tom Hark in 1980, and McFly guitarist and vocalist Danny Jones who won the fifth series of The Masked Singer UK?
Piranha
Flying by Io on this day (5th March) in 1979, what space probe is now the furthest man-made object from Earth?
Voyager 1
Developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and released on the 8th of February which 3rd-person shooter has proved so successful that Sony’s servers have struggled to support the number of gamers wanting to play the game? It’s had rave reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay and its references to Starship Troopers. Add an R to get a gritty 1957 British film which had a stellar cast including Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins, Patrick McGoohan, William Hartnell, David McCallum, Sid James and Sean Connery.
Hell Divers 2
Tries for Abbas Miski, Kruise Leeming and Jake Wardle helped which English side beat Penrith Panthers to win the Rugby League World Club Challenge on the 24th of February?
Wigan
What syndrome can occur when a person has elevated levels of cortisol inside the body for a long time? It can be caused by having steroid injections in high doses, a fate that has befallen Amy Schumer. It can also be the surname of an English actor who played Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars and Dr Frankenstein and Professor Van Helsing in loads of Hammer horror movies.
Cushing
Which song, which has occaisionally been sung in Congress in the States, was a hit for the originally ficticious band Steam in 1969? Bananarama covered it in 1983. It’s not Hey Jude but they share a lyric.
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
Vendetta Vixens and Halifax Bruising Banditas are UK leagues in which sport, which is more widespread in the US? Played on an oval track, teams score points when their jammer laps an opposing blocker.
Roller Derby
Dying in February 2024, Wayne Kramer was a member of which seminal American rock band who recorded the song Kick Out The Jams? They took there name from a nickname of the city they were based, a variation of which also named a record label founded by Berry Gordy.
MC5
(not M) Which sportsman failed to win £850 pounds but did win a printer when he recently competed on Belgian TV quiz show Blokken? He should be OK though as he should still have some of the £500,000 left he pocketed when winning the world snooker championship in 2023.
Luca Brecel
(not F) With the rhyme scheme ABABBCBCC, what fixed verse form was invented for the epic poem The Faerie Queene? It was named for its inventor and the poem’s author.
Spencerian Stanza
Which popular lullaby was written by Jane Taylor and was first published in 1806 in ‘Rhymes for the Nursery’? A parody version is recited by the Mad Hatter in ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Written by James Weldon Johnson and set to music by his brother which poem/song has become known as the ‘Black national anthem’ in the United States?
Lift Every Voice and Sing
In addition to his best-selling ‘The Story of Art’ (1950), which Austrian-born art historian also wrote ‘A Little History of the World’ for children (‘Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser’) (1936) and ‘Art and Illusion’ (1960)?
Ernst Gombrich
Which Spanish architect designed the Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh but died before the building-work was completed?
Enric Miralles
Which author and poet wrote ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’ and the ‘Appeal to womanhood
throughout the world’ (aka the ‘Mother’s Day Proclamation’)?
Julia Ward HOWE
Changing their forename from Marjorie to Marlow c1919 and described by Sothebys as a “pioneering queer British Constructivist artist” which member of the Abstraction-Création group was both influenced by and an influencer of Piet Mondrian?
Marlow MOSS
Which artist who died in June 2023 aged 101 had her artistic career disrupted after she became one of the lovers and muses of Pablo Picasso? He tried unsuccessfully to have her 1964 memoir ‘Life with Picasso’ blocked from being published.
Françoise GILOT
In addition to hosting a dance festival every Spring, which Austrian city on the shore of Lake Constance also holds a performing arts festival each year including performances on a stage floating on the lake?
Bregenz
In Norse mythology what was the collective name of a group of female entities, and in particular the three known as Urdr (‘past’), Verdandi (‘present’) and Skuld {‘future’), who create and control the fates of all beings?
Norns
Known as ‘Tête Carrée’, this sculpture by artist Sacha Sosno actually serves as part of the library
in which French city and is believed to be the first inhabited monumental sculpture in the world?
Nice
Which Liverpool museum comprises the rooms which formed the HQ of a Second World War tactical unit, mainly staffed by WRENs, which devised wargames in order to find methods for tackling the UBoat threat in the Atlantic?
WESTERN APPROACHES (HQ) Museum
Jean Racine wrote a play and Handel composed an oratorio based on the life of which queen consort of Jehoram and later the only queen regnant of Judah, with her story told in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles in the Old Testament?
ATHALIAH
Which composer’s works include her ‘New Nation Rising, a 21st Century Symphony’, choral anthem ‘Psalm to Windrush: for the Brave and Ingenious’ and the opera ‘Sacred Mountain: Incidents in the Life of Queen Nanny of the Maroons’?
Shirley Thompson
Which 18th Century French dancer (1707-1756) reformed the female ballet costume and was the first woman to choreograph ballets in which she appeared?
Marie Salle
In her books ‘Philosophy in a New Key’, ‘Feeling and Form: A Theory of Art’ and ‘Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling’ which US philosopher explored the aesthetic experience derived from art and music?
Susanne LANGER
A museum in Cairo is dedicated to the life and performances of which Egyptian singer (1898-1975) who was known as ‘Kawkab al-Sharq’ (‘Star (or Planet) of the East’).
UMM KULTHUM
A performance of which Daniel Auber opera on 25 August 1830 was a catalyst in sparking an uprising in favour of Belgian independence from the Netherlands?
LA MUETTE DE PORTICI / THE MUTE GIRL OF PORTICI / THE DUMB GIRL OF PORTICI / MASANIELLO
Which Australian writer and Aboriginal rights activist’s works included ‘The Dawn is at Hand’ (1966) and ‘Stradbroke Dreamtime’ (1972), the latter a mixed collection of stories of her childhood and traditional Aboriginal folktales?
OODGEROO NOONUCCAL / Kathleen RUSKA / Kath WALKER
During the fallout from the Profumo Affair in 1963, which Welsh-born model and friend of Christine Keeler, said “Well, he would, wouldn’t he?” when Lord Astor denied sleeping with her in court?
Mandy RICE-DAVIES
A corruption of the French for ‘carriage with benches’ which, usually, open top vehicle became popular in England for sight-seeing and for ‘beanos’/works outings to the beach in the early 1900s?
Charabanc
Who was appointed Director of which UK intelligence, cyber and security agency in April
2023?
Anne Keast-Butler
Phyllis Pearsall claimed to have walked 23,000 streets in order to produce which London street atlas and index in 1936?
London A to Z
Which energy company was formed in 1985 by Kenneth Lay by merging Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth and became infamous for being at the centre of an accounting scandal in 2001 when it declare d bankruptcy?
ENRON Corporation
With her ‘scandalous’ behaviour of wearing men’s clothes, swearing and smoking a pipe portrayed in Middleton and Dekker’s 1611 play ‘The Roaring Girl’, what was the nickname of Mary Frith, a notorious London pickpocket?
Moll CUTPURSE
Which pioneer in photography, particularly in motion studies and the inventor of the zoopraxiscope, shot dead his wife’s lover in 1874 but was acquitted on the grounds of justifiable homicide?
Eadweard Muybridge
Which narcissistic arsonist burned down the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, in 356 BCE in a quest for his name to be remembered in perpetuity?
Herostratus
Which maîtresse en titre of Louis XIV bore him seven children? She was implicated in the “Affair of the Poisons”, a major murder scandal and was eventually replaced in the King’s affections by her children’s nanny, Madame de Maintenon.
Madame de MONTESPAN
Jean Monnet, Helmut Kohl and Jacques Delors are, to date, the only people to have been conferred with which honorary title by the European Union?
Citizen of Europe
Who led a French expedition to chart the coast of New Holland (aka Australia) between 1800 and 1803 aboard the ship ‘Le Geographe’ in the course of which he met with Matthew Flinders at
Encounter Bay in April 1802?
Nicolas BAUDIN
At possibly as much as 34,000 years old, this, the oldest anatomically modern human skeleton
found in Britain, was discovered in 1823 in which cave on the Gower Peninsula after which the socalled ‘Red Lady’ (actually a man) is partly named?
Paviland/Goat’s Hole
Published in 1831, whose autobiography is the first known slave narrative by a Black woman and helped galvanise the ongoing anti-slavery movement? She was ranked third in a poll of 100 Great Black Britons in 2003.
Mary Prince
Pulled by Locomotion No.1 on the Stockton & Darlington railway on 27 September 1825, what was the name given to the first passenger rail carriage?
Experiment
Which French traveller, writer and Buddhist scholar (1868-1969) was, in 1924, the first European woman to visit the city of Lhasa in Tibet at a time when it was closed to outsiders?
Alexandra David-Néel
Which German city near the Danish border was the final HQ of the German Government and High Command following Hitler’s death and where Admiral Karl Dönitz capitulated to the Allies?
Flensburg
Despite disapproval from the Catholic heirarchy, which Yorkshire-born nun (1585-1645) set up
schools throughout Europe under the auspices of The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are also known as the Loreto Sisters?
Mary Ward
Which pioneer in forensic science was known as the “Sherlock Holmes of France” and formulated his “exchange principle”, a theory relating to the transfer of trace evidence between objects, stating that “every contact leaves a trace”
Edmond Locard
In 1916 who became the first woman to be elected to the United States Congress? On 8 December 1941 she was the only member of Congress to vote against declaring war on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor
Jeanette Rankin
In 1542, which Spaniard was the first European to navigate the length of the Amazon and then named the river in honour of some female warriors he believed he had encountered en route?
Francisco de ORELLANA
In 1953, which Indian politician and diplomat became the first woman to be elected president of the UN General Assembly?
Vijaya Lakshmi PANDIT
Anneka Rice (1982–88), Annabel Croft (1989) and Suzi Perry (2002–03) were all billed as ‘skyrunners’ on which television game show?
Treasure Hunt
Which musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban ran for a then record 6,137 performances on Broadway from 1975 until 1990?
A Chorus Line
Martin Kemp, Jenny Powell and Simon Mayo are all presenters on which national radio network?
Greatest Hits Radio
Having founded the Religious Films Society in 1933 and later the major British film production and distribution organisation named after him, who might have been disappointed to find his name used rather lewdly in Cockney rhyming slang?
J Arthur RANK
Who was the lead singer with the group 10,000 Maniacs from 1981 to 1994 and released her first solo album ‘Tigerlily’ in 1995?
Natalie Merchant
A spin-off from ‘Star Trek: Discovery’, which series centres on the ‘USS Enterprise’ commanded by Captain Pike in the years prior to the events of the original Star Trek series, with a phrase from the original opening narration providing its (sub)title?
Strange new Worlds
What is the professional name of Cheyenne Davide who is a DJ, model and presenter with her own show on BBC Radio 1Xtra and who was a contestant on ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’ in 2021?
Snoochie Shy
What name is shared by an 1870 novella by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, a song on the 1967 album ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’ and a fictional band in the 1998 film ‘Velvet Goldmine’?
Venus in Furs
Who currently presents ‘The Arts Hour’ on BBC World Service and also co-presents ‘Saturday Live’ on BBC Radio 4?
Nikki Bedi
Based on the novella ‘Foster’ by Claire Keegan and starring Catherine Clinch as 9-year-old Cait, which 2022 Irish language film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film?
The Quiet Girl
Steve Mould, Matt Parker and Helen Arney are which science-comedy trio who have made appearances on ‘QI’?
Festival of the Spoken Nerd
This image of Conrad Veidt in his starring role in which 1928 film is said to have inspired the
appearance given to The Joker in the Batman comics?
The Man Who Laughs
The names of which two months of the year, sometimes used in an expression about a relationship in which one person is much older than the other, appear in the titles of both a 1989-1994 BBC sitcom starring Anton Rodgers and a 2023 Netflix drama film starring Natalie Portman?
May and December
What is the superhero alter-ego of Dinah Drake (and latrr her daughter Dinah Laurel Lance) who can create ultrasonic vibrations whenever she screams? She is one of the leaders of the Birds of Prey.
Black Canary
Which group was formed by Angus Deayton, Michael Fenton Stevens, and Philip Pope from the radio series ‘Radio Active’ and released a Bee Gees parody single ‘Meaningless Songs (in Very High Voices)’ in 1980?
The Hee Bee Gee Bees
Formed by the Kolacny brothers, which Belgian all-female choir specialises in covering rock and pop songs using classical style arrangements?
Scala
Whose songs ‘After Midnight’ and ‘Cocaine’ were both covered by Eric Clapton, with whom he later collaborated on the 2006 album ‘The Road to Escondido’?
JJ Cale
Which 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet tells the story of Madame Souza’s attempts to rescue her grandson, a Tour de France cyclist, who has been kidnapped by mobsters?
The Triplets of Belleville
Which children’s television series stars Don Warrington as the tall-tale telling title character answering questions from his grandchildren such as ‘Who Invented Words?’ and ‘Why is the Sea Salty?’?
The World According to Grandpa
Which graphic novel of three interwoven modern stories by Gene Luen Yang includes characters suchas The Monkey King from ‘The Journey to the West’ and was adapted for television in 2023 featuring Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan?
American Born Chinese
Known as ‘The Queen of Space Opera’, which US sci-fi author was also a screenwriter, known for her work on films such as ‘The Big Sleep’ (1945), ‘Rio Bravo’ (1959), ‘The Long Goodbye’ (1973) and ‘Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back’ (1980)?
Leigh Brackett
“Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around, Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, show your shoe, Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, that will do!” is part of a song sung by children whilst taking part in what playtime activity?
Skipping
Featuring in adverts for comparethemarket.com since 2022 what is the name of meerkat Aleksandr Orlov’s wombat nephew from Australia?
Carl
What ‘investment vehicle’ is a scheme by which the subscribers to a common fund each receive an annuity during their lifetime, which increases as their number is diminished by death, till the last survivor enjoys the whole income?
Tontine
With its name derived from the Greek for ‘inside’ and ‘tooth’, root canal treatment is the most common procedure in what dental speciality that is concerned with the study and treatment surrounding the dental pulp?
Endodontics
Which chocolate manufacturer, bought by Ferrero in 2015, is named after the surname of the father and son who founded the company in Sheffield and uses the slogan ‘Chocolate Heaven Since 1911’?
Thorntons
What is the name of the parade which has been held annually in Coney Island, New York since 1983 on the closest Saturday to the Summer Solstice?
Mermaid Parade
Which New York based pop culture magazine was founded in 1984 by Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovits, and itself hit the headlines in November 2014 with its cover shot of Kim Kardashian on its “break the internet” issue?
Paper
Originally named Coach, which American multinational luxury fashion holding company bought out Capri Holdings in 2023 which itself owned brands such as Versace, Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo?
Tapestry
American shoe designer, philatelist, and founder of the shoe company, owned the British Guiana 1c magenta $9.48m, the inverted Jennies 24 cent and only legal St. Gaudens 1933 double eagle in 2002 for $7.6M.
Stuart Weitzman
As there seems to be little consensus amongst astrologers, either we are currently in the ‘Age of’ what astrological sign or it has ended and we are now living in the ‘Age of Aquarius’?
Pisces
Where in Michigan was the health resort run by John Harvey Kellogg and his brother William Keith which was the subject of T C Boyle’s novel ‘The Road to Wellville’?
Battle Creek
What term is used for these typographical symbols standing in for swearing, appearing in
dialogue balloons in place of actual dialogue in cartoons and comics?
Grawlix/Obscenicon
Which American businesswoman is the founder of the shapewear brand Spanx?
Sara Blakely
Which chef and bartender at Foynes Airbase flying boat terminal is credited with serving the first ever Irish Coffees to disembarking passengers in 1943?
Joe Sheridan
The first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company, who owned and published the ‘Washington Post’
during the period of its investigation of the Watergate scandal? Her 1997 autobiography ‘Personal History’ won the Pulitzer Prize.
Katherine Graham
Which woman is currently ranked #3 in the Major League Eating rankings behind Joey Chestnut and Geoffrey Esper? She has won the women’s Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest every year since 2014 except 2021.
Miki Sudo
Which Belgian astronomer and statistician in 1832 developed an index of the ratio of a person’s weight to their height which became the basis for the BMI (Body Mass Index) in use today?
Adolphe Quetelet
From a French word originally meaning urchin or waif what term has been applied to a slim, often
boyish, wide-eyed young woman with actresses such as Audrey Hepburn often described as being such?
Gamine
From which Finnish sports equipment company did Adidas purchase its ‘three stripes’ logo in 1952 for the equivalent of €1,600 and two bottles of whiskey?
Karhu
In 1882 which Dutch physician (1854-1929) founded the world’s first birth control clinic in Amsterdam and carried out the first systematic work in contraception?
Aletta Jacobs
Which broad-spectrum herbicide (IUPAC name: N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine), made by Monsanto under the trademark Roundup, has been banned in many countries amid fears it might cause cancer?
Glyphosphate
What breed of large cats, known for their blue eyes, gentle temperament, and affectionate nature, gets
its name for its habit of relaxing completely when picked up and cuddled?
Ragdoll
The counterpart to El Nino, what climate pattern describes the cooling of surface-ocean waters along the tropical west coast of South America? These events sometimes follow El Nino events and disrupt normal weather patterns, leading to intense storms in some places and droughts in others?
La Nina
Visible from western Australia in Apr ‘23, what rare type of solar eclipse appears as a total eclipse at some points on the Earth’s surface, while at other points it appears as an annular eclipse? It occurs when the distance between Earth and Moon is on the borderline between these two types of eclipses.
Hybrid
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a family of about 10,000 chemicals valued for their non-stick and detergent properties that don’t break down in the environment, build up in the body and may be toxic, are commonly known by what two-word term?
Forever Chemicals
Belukha Mountain, that rises that rises along the border of Russia and Kazakhstan, close to the border with China, is the highest point in which mountain range, that is the source of the rivers Irtysh and Ob?
Altai Mountains
The Tree of Ténéré in Niger’s Sahara Desert, that was fabled to be the most isolated tree on Earth until it was knocked over in 1973 by a (probably drunk) truck driver, belonged to which genus of trees and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae, that are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly Australia and Africa?
Acacia
Named the world’s ugliest animal in 2013, the skin of which deep sea fish expands when
brought to the surface?
Blobfish
The PETM was a climate event at the boundary of two geological epochs around 55 million years ago, with a global average temperature rise across the event of 5–8 °C. For what does “PETM” stand?
Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
Developed by the European Space Agency, what is the name of the space telescope launched in 2023 that will probe the history of the expansion of the universe by creating a map of the large-scale structure of the universe and measuring the redshift of galaxies?
Euclid
Coined by Julian Huxley, what term in ecology is defined as a measurable gradient in a single
characteristic (or biological trait) of a species across its geographical range?
Cline
Leon Lederman, Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger were awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of which elementary particle? In 2011 scientists conducting the OPERA experiment
observed these particles apparently traveling faster than the speed of light, although a later experiment by the ICARUS experiment contradicted the OPERA result. Two-word answer required.
Muon Neutrino
Born in Germany, who established a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Norway to the Black Sea in the first half of the 19th century? The chain, known as a Geodetic Arc, yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian arc, and was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2005.
Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von STRUVE
Which group 7 transition metal was the last stable element to be discovered? The main use of this element is as a component of high-temperature superalloys which are used in jet engine parts.
Rhenium
Which species of Australian crane (Antigone rubicunda) that is sometimes confused with the sarus crane, is a large grey bird with a featherless red head and grey crown, and is known for its spectacular dance displays by both sexes during breeding season?
Brogla
The first two women elected a Fellow of the Royal Society were Marjory Stephenson and which Irish scientist and peace campaigner, who was a pioneer in the use of X-rays to study crystals and in 1967 became the first woman president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science?
Kathleen Lonsdale
Which asteroid, with a diameter of 370 metres, set the record for highest rating ever on the Torino scale in 2004 when observations indicated a probability up to 2.7% that it would hit Earth in April 2029? It is now known it will pass approximately 32,000 km from Earth.
Apophis
What is the smallest nontrivial taxicab number, also known as Ramanujan–Hardy number, which is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two positive cubes in two different ways?
1729
His career stretching from 1966-1993; who pitched for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers, and has a Major League Baseball (MLB) record 5,714 career strikeouts?
Nolan Ryan
In the sports of badminton and fencing, what colour card is shown by the officials to a player to indicate they have been disqualified? The same colour card is shown in Gaelic football to a player who has been ejected from the field to the sin bin for a period of ten minutes.
Black
In which event was the only world record set at the 2023 World Athletics Championships? Femke Bol fell when approaching the finish line with the Dutch team in the lead, leaving USA to win the gold medal and Great Britain to win the silver medal.
Mixed 4 x 400m Relay
In 2013, Danny “Shiphtur” Le from Canada became the first esports player to receive an American P-1A visa, a category designated for “Internationally Recognized Athletes”. Shiphtur was a professional player in what multiplayer online battle arena game developed and published by Riot Games, that is the most watched video game in the world?
League of Legends
In a dead heat for gold with Penny Oleksiak in the 100m freestyle at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, who became the first African American woman to win an individual Olympic gold in swimming
Simone Manuel
Currently playing in the fourth tier of women’s football in England, which Yorkshire club, that was founded in 1969 and won the FA Women’s Premier League National Division twice and the Women’s FACup six times, was controversially replaced in the top tier by Manchester City in 2014 following a restructure of the Women’s Super League?
Doncaster Rovers Belles
What sport, invented by Mason Gordon in Los Angeles in 1999, is an all-contact form of basketball with four trampolines in front of each basket?
SLAMBALL
Who is this Welsh darts player, the winner of the BDO World Championship in 2008?
Mark Webster
Which Argentinian golfer, who won the 1967 Open Championship, missed out on a playoff for the 1968 Masters by signing an incorrect scorecard?
Roberto de Vincenzo
The name of what tool, used by anglers to kill fish quickly and humanely, comes from the concept of administering the “last rites” to the fish which is about to pass away?
Priest
Which Scottish cyclist won three gold medals at the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Glasgow in the Tandem B events along with sighted pilot Matt Rotherham, taking his total of gold medals at the world championships to 19?
Neil Fachie
The American Professional Football Association, the forerunner of the NFL, was founded in a car
dealership in 1920 in which city in Ohio? The Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in the city in 1963.
Canton
In February 2023, AJ Ginnis finished as runner-up in a slalom at Chamonix to become the first skier in history from which country to gain a podium position in a World Cup alpine ski race? Two weeks later at the World Championships he won the silver medal in the slalom.
Greece
Which British sportswear company that has a winged logo has entered deals with the Red Bull F1 team, England cricket, and London rugby sides Harlequins and Saracens? The company have been Aston Villa’s official kit sponsor from the start of the 2022-2023 season but in October 2023 they were criticised for their ‘wet look’ shirts that retain sweat.
Castore
Born in Bolton in 1948 and nicknamed “Simply the Best”, which wrestler was British Heavyweight Champion four times, including from 1979 to 1988 when he lost the title to Kendo Nagasaki?
Tony St Clair
Which Belgian road and track cyclist, who was a rival of Beryl Burton, won 13 medals including seven gold medals at world championships between 1959 and 1966?
Yvonne Reynders
Chilean poet and physicist. He was considered one of the most influential Chilean poets of the Spanish language in the 20th century, often compared with Pablo Neruda. He described himself as an “anti-poet,” due to his distaste for standard poetic pomp and function; after recitations he would exclaim “Me retracto de todo lo dicho” (“I take back everything I said”).
Nicanor Parra
In Irish mythology, which heroic figure and father of Cú Chulainn uses a slingshot to kill the Fomorian Balor at the second Battle of Magh Tuireadh?
Lugh
Jeanne Loriod was an acclaimed performer of what instrument, which she recorded on many
compositions by Olivier Messiaen? This early electronic instrument, which is played using either a keyboard or a ring on a wire, produces sounds similar to a theremin.
Ondes Martenot
Which widely-cited work by Paulo Freire draws on Marxist class analysis and proposes a “problemposing” approach to education, in contrast to the traditional “banking” model?
Pedagogy of the Oppressed
A staged friendship turns into secret romance between Alex Claremont-Diaz, the son of the US
President, and British Prince Henry in the bestselling 2019 novel by Casey McQuiston, “Red, White and …” what shade of Blue?
Royal Blue
Which South African playwright penned the play ‘Blood Knot’, in which the white-passing Morris and his brother Zachariah live together in Port Elizabeth? An unnamed prison based on Robben Island forms the setting of this author’s play ‘The Island’.
Athol Fugard
Initially barred from music conservatoires due to disabilities caused by thalidomide, which
German bass-baritone became a prominent opera and lieder singer? He later made a successful shift to jazz, releasing the album ‘The Jazz Album: Watch What Happens’ in 2006.
Thomas Quasthoff
Name the early Indian philosopher, a founding figure in the Mādhyamaka (“Middle Way”) tradition, who focused on the concept of śūnyatā (emptiness) in a text often known by the abbreviated title ‘MMK’.
Nagarjuna
‘Annie John’ (1985) and ‘Lucy’ (1990) are novels by what Antiguan-American author, who has taught at Harvard University since 1992?
Jamaica Kincaid
Name the American dancer and choreographer, a leading figure in modern dance, whose numerous collaborations included ‘Rainforest’ (with an installation by Andy Warhol) and ‘Second Hand’ (with the music of his life partner, John Cage).
Merce Cunningham
Which prolific French engraver received widespread recognition for his prints illustrating major works of literature such as the Vulgate Bible and Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ in the 19th century? He also produced detailed illustrations of poverty in London for the book ‘London: A Pilgrimage’.
Gustave Dore
Which fantasy author wrote the ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ series (beginning with ‘Mister Monday’) and the ‘Old Kingdom’ series, including the novels ‘Sabriel’ and ‘Abhorsen’?
Garth Nix
Which 17th-century English poet published the volume ‘Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum’? Beginning with A. L. Rowse, some scholars have attempted to identify her with Shakespeare’s “Dark Lady”.
Aemilia Lanyer
In many Jewish communities, adults wear small boxes with leather straps attached, containing scrolls inscribed with Torah verses during prayers. What is the name of these boxes?
Tefillin
Which Chicago-based philosopher’s books include ‘The Fragility of Goodness’ (1986)? Along with Amartya Sen, she devised the Capabilities Approach to human welfare.
Martha Nussbaum
What 2020s fashion aesthetic comes from french word for “wanton, bird”, lace, victorian, Bridgerton, Barbie?
Coquette Aesthetic
In which Olympic throwing event would competitors use the “glide” technique?
Glide (other is spin)
Which French tennis player was president of the International Tennis Federation between 1977 and 1991?
Philippe Chatrier
Which Graham Greene novel, set in Haiti, was banned by President “Papa Doc” Duvalier?
The Comedians
Which Japanese city is ranked third in the list of cities with the greatest number of Michelin-starred restaurants, after Tokyo and Paris?
Kyoto
The Ray Ellington quartet made regular appearances in the 1950s on which comedy radio programme?
The Goon Show
In which US state is the Grand Teton National Park?
Wyoming
Which European country was Leonid Kuchma president of between 1994 and 2005?
Ukraine
The Maud Island Frog is a small amphibian native to which country?
New Zealand
Which winner of the Paris Prize in architecture went on to design the Chrysler building in New York?
William Van ALen
David Matusa’s sculpture in St Paul’s, Bristol depicts which British playwright and former British Rail employee?
Alfred Fagon
Qurooti, a savoury bread pudding made using condensed yoghurt, is a traditional dish from which country?
Afghanistan
Which novel, published in 1993, is the first in Wilbur Smith’s Egyptian series?
River God
In 2018, which Chinese megacity became the world’s first city to have an all-electric bus fleet?
Shenzhen
Which Australian prime minister is remembered for his “light on the hill” speech that laid out the objectives of the Labor party?
Ben Chifley
Which Ukrainian-born abstract artist pioneered the “drip-painting” technique that influenced the work of Jackson Pollock?
Janet Sobel
What colour completes the title of John Guare’s 1971 play The House of ___ Leaves?
Blue
What was defined by a U.S. law in 1964 as “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain”?
Wilderness
Stapleton International Airport was the primary airport for which U.S. city from 1929 to 1995?
Denver
Which metal band fired its lead singer, Paul Di’Anno, in 1981?
Iron Maiden
Which actress led the SAG-AFTRA actor’s union during the 2023 strike that lasted from July to November?
Fran Drescher
The presidential library of Dwight Eisenhower is located in which city in Kansas that was his childhood home?
Abilene
Which movie would be called Dickinson and Sawyer if first names were replaced by last names in its title?
Thelma and Louise
In what 1980 movie thriller is Angie Dickinson slashed to death with a straight razor in an elevator?
Dressed to Kill
Which Welsh world flyweight boxing champion was nicknamed “The Ghost with the Hammer in His Hand” and “The Tylorston Terror”?
Jimmy Wilde
Measuring eight feet tall and more than 16 feet wide, the 1855 painting The Horse Fair is considered the masterpiece of which female artist?
Rosa Bonheur
Winner of the first Grammy Award for Best Song for Social Change for “Baraye”, which Iranian musician was sentenced to four years imprisonment in March 2024? He was also ordered to write music critical of the United States.
Shervin Hajipour
What is the international treaty adopted in 1973 that regulates the international trade in certain species of wild animals and plants to ensure it does not threaten their survival? (A five-letter acronym answer is acceptable)
CITES
Which Danish scientist was best known for his discovery of electromagnetism, which laid the foundation for the later development of electromagnetic theory and its applications in modern technology?
Hans Christian Orsted
Commonly eaten during Japanese New Year celebrations, what do you call the type of Japanese rice cake made from glutinous rice? This dish is soaked, steamed, and then pounded into a sticky, elastic dough-like consistency.
Mochi
What is the title of the 2024 documentary film directed by Mati Diop that won the Golden Bear at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival? It is a dramatised account of 26 royal treasures that were returned to Benin from France.
Dahomey
The flagship of Commodore Matthew Perry during his first visit to Japan is named after which US state?
Mississippi
What is the song being performed by Justin Timberlake with pop singer Janet Jackson during her performance at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show?
Rock Your Body
PowerShot, IXUS, and EOS are lines of digital cameras produced by which Japanese multinational corporation?
Canon
Which American actor was the first person to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor?
Spencer Tracy
What class of ship is the museum ship HMS Belfast, a name generally given to the largest ships in a naval fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships?
Cruiser
In sweep oar rowing, what name is given to the action of rotating the oar handle 90 degrees as the oar blade is being removed from the water, so that the blade is parallel to the water?
Feathering
What name is generally given to the fourth C key from the left on a standard 88-key piano keyboard?
Middle C
In which sport in the UK do participants wear the following colours: Red, Blue, White, Black, Orange and Black & White Stripes?
Greyhound Racing
The spire of which Wren church on Fleet Street is said, appropriately enough, to have inspired the tiered wedding cake?
St Bride’s
Doop by Doop, which was UK number 1 in 1994 has the equal lowest total number of characters of song title and band amongst UK number 1 singles of 8, together with Desire by which band in 1988?
U2
Who appeared as Maid Marion in Blackadder Back and Forth, played tambourine on the Oasis album Be Here Now, and appeared as herself in Absolutely Fabulous the Movie?
Kate Moss
Which character’s first name is not revealed in 35 short stories or until the penultimate of 11 novels (published in 1971), with his employer saying “It had never occurred to me before that he had a first name”?
Reginald Jeeves
Which author’s narrative history Stalingrad was the first winner in 1999 of the annual British book prize for the best non-fiction writing in the English language, now known as the Baillie Gifford Prize?
Anthony Beevor
Also used for a style of cooking and of music from Louisiana, what name is used in linguistics for a language that has developed from the mixing of two or more parent languages, typically arising as the result of contact between the language of a European colonizer and that of a local population?
Creole
Which term for a self-important or temperamental person comes from the name of the leading female singer in an opera company?
Prima Donna
The name of which fish of the flounder family is derived from old English words for holy and flatfish owing to its popularity with Catholics?
Halibut
What would we call the once familiar domestic phenomenon known as war of the ants in German, ant football in Hungarian, salt and pepper in Italian, sandstorm in Japanese and rain in Argentinian Spanish?
Snow or Static on an analog TV
Which female television presenter qualified for a pilot’s licence in August 2013 and embarked on her first solo flight on live television on an episode of ‘This Morning’ the following year?
Carol Vorderman
Which Scottish actor voices Arthur Claus, the clumsy but well-meaning son of Santa Claus in the 2011 Aardman-animated film “Arthur Christmas”?
James McAvoy
By what informal name is the unflattering medical condition “Subperichondrial Hematoma” more commonly known?
Caulflower Ear
In which West African country did Goodluck Jonathan served as the country’s President between 2010 and 2015?
Nigeria
First recorded in the early 1980s by the Valentine Brothers, in 1985 which song provided Simply Red with their first UK top 20 hit?
Money’s Too Tight to Mention
Which electrical store that was founded by George Hollingbery in Hull in 1933 and latterly was owned by the Kingfisher Group ceased trading in 2012 after falling into administration?
Comet
The M60 motorway is the orbital motorway that serves which major English city?
Manchester
“Lady Bird” was the nickname of the wife of which 20th Century post-war US President?
Lyndon B Johnson
In medicine, what name is given to a surgical appliance, typically a padded belt, that is worn to support a hernia?
Truss
In the 1960s, Who completed a famous trio with Mary and Mungo?
Midge
What were the first four words spoken to confirm the landing of the Lunar Module on the Moon in 1969?
Houston, Tranquillity Base Here
[followed by “The Eagle Has Landed”]
Which Welsh river flows through Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd and goes under the M4?
River Taff
At which stadium do Kilmarnock play their home games?
Rugby Park
Which is the most abundant protein in the human body?
Collagen
Cillian Murphy Peaky Blinders character name
Tommy Shelby
What is the common two-word name of Pinus longaeva, which known to have a lifespan of
over 4000 years?
Bristlecone Pear
Which plant family does the pear belong to?
Rose
Which type of British warship, used in the 20th century as escort ships, had a name derived
from the old Spanish term for a galley?
Frigate
What is the smallest class of vessel to be classed as a rated warship?
Corvette
Who preceded Alex Salmond as First minister of Scotland until 2007?
Jack McConnell
Who is the heroine of the book True Grit by Charles Portis?
Mattie Ross
Which famous building was destroyed when Roman troops set fire to an Egyptian fleet and
the blaze spread ashore?
Library of Alexandria
Which boxer became world heavyweight champion in the early 1990s after knocking out
Mike Tyson in the ring? His first ever loss.
James Buster Douglas
The books ‘Harlequin’, ‘Vagabond’ and ‘Heretic’ comprise a trilogy of books featuring an
English archer fighting in the Hundred Years War, written by which author?
Bernard Cornwell
What word is used to describe fields or land left unseeded in order to rest the ground?
Fallow
Which is the UK’s most northerly motorway?
M90
Which ennobled author wrote three volumes of his prison diary entitled Hell, Purgatory and Heaven?
Jeffrey Archer
Whose fictional comic diary is loosely based on Pride and Prejudice?
Bridget Jones Diary
Which politician’s diaries chronicled life inside (Baroness) Margaret Thatcher’s government?
Alan Clark
Who is the oldest Golfer to win a major tournament?
Phil Mickelson (2021 PGA tournament aged 50)
Who is the oldest player to play for the England men’s football team?
Stanley Matthews
Who is the youngest player to win a tennis grand slam tournament?
Martina Hingis
What’s the name of the main telescope at Jodrell Bank?
Lovell Telescope
Fuggle, Citra and East Kent Golding’s are all types of what?
Hops
Name of Chuck Yeager’s plane breaking sound barrier
Bell X-1 called Glamorous Glennis
The triple point of water, when it can be in all three phases, is what temperature?
0.01 degrees celsius
In UK elections, what is the term used to describe the period between the time an election is announced and the date the election is held?
Purdah
What’s the name of the Republic of Ireland’s lower house of parliamentary representation?
Dáil Éireann (doyl air–en). Accept Dáil
What name is given to a car door hinged at the roof rather than the side, as seen on the De Lorean in the film Back to the Future?
Gullwing door
1976 film about a US coast to coast race, which inspired The Cannonball Run
The Gumball Rally
What’s the profession of someone with the letters RIBA after their name?
Architects
What’s the most northerly point of mainland Great Britain?
Dunnet Head
What’s the name of the human–controlled underground city in the Matrix films?
Zion
Which British airport was originally known as Abbotsinch?
Glasgow
What is the lower house of the Russian Parliament called?
Duma
an American singer and songwriter. He is the son of rapper Lauryn Hill and singer Rohan. He received breakthrough success with his debut single “Praise Jah in the Moonlight”
YG Marley
He was the guitarist for the Stone Roses, a rock band in which he formed a songwriting partnership with lead singer Ian Brown. After leaving the Stone Roses he went on to found The Seahorses and has since released two solo albums. Just hit number 1 album in March 2024 with collab with Liam Gallagher.
John Squire
The 1964 comedy film A Shot in the Dark featured which fictional inspector?
Inspector Clouseau
What type of creature is a gelada?
Monkey
Which Dickens novel is partially set in the Marshalsea prison for debtors?
Little Dorrit
Which Roman road linked London and Wroxeter in the Welsh Borders?
Watling Street
In the Bible, what was the name of Isaac’s wife, the mother of twins Jacob and Esau
Rebecca
Due to overuse and global warming, which lake no longer forms the north–eastern border of Nigeria?
Lake Chad
In which country is the Alqueva Dam?
Portugal
Which Shipping Forecast area off Northern Ireland is east of Rockall?
Malin
What name is given to water that collects in the bottom of a boat?
Bilge
What name is given to the public gallery in the House of Commons?
The Strangers Gallery
Edward Enninful replacement at UK Vogue
Chioma Nnadi
Head of WTO since 2021
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Who played Cleo in Carry On Cleo?
Amanda Barrie
What’s the name of the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police?
New Scotland Yard
With what do you start an ice hockey match?
Face Off
Syncopy Inc. is a film production company founded and operated by which British–American filmmaker?
Christopher Nolan
What’s the only number whose letters are in alphabetical order?
Forty
Who won Best Adapted Screenplay for AMerican Fiction based on book by Percival Everett?
Cord Jefferson
Who wrote the book The Zone of Interest that was Jonathan Glazer oscar nominated film?
Martin Amis
Also known for his collaborations with director Christopher Nolan, having shot Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017), Tenet (2020), and Oppenheimer (2023) who won Best Cinematography for Oppenheimer in 2024 Oscars?
Hoyte van Hoytema
American cinematographer. He is best known for his collaborations with director Darren Aronofsky on the films Pi (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Fountain (2006), Black Swan (2010), Noah (2014), and Mother! (2017). He has received three Academy Award for Best Cinematography nominations for his work on Black Swan (2010), A Star Is Born (2018), and Maestro (2023).
Matthew Libatique
Which actress played Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies and Miss Babs in Acorn
Antiques, and Mrs Quickly, the main villain in Nanny McPhee?
Celia Imrie
Which effect, named after the 19th century German physicist who investigated it,
describes the force that deflects a rotating object moving through a fluid? It
explains the effect of spin in several ball sports.
Magnus Effect
In modern music, which mode, named for an ancient Greek tribe, is the diatonic
scale also known as the major scale?
Ionian
Which sea, an arm of the Mediterranean, separates the coasts of Greece andTurkey?
Aegean
What does the ACE stand for in ACE Inhibitors for high blood pressure?
Angiotensin-converting-enzyme
Which author and journalist served as editor of The Jewish Chronicle between
2008 and 2021? He famously once hid an acrostic criticising owner Richard
Desmond in a piece written for the Express, costing him his next job at the Times.
Stephen Pollard
Along with co-host Andy Dawson, which British comedian hosts the footballrelated sketch podcast Athletico Mince?
Bob Mortimer
In video game slang, the name of which type of food is used as a verb meaning
to beat part of all of a game by using something seen as a cheap trick, or
exploiting a design flaw?
Cheese
The South American trade bloc MERCOSUR, is headquartered in which city, the
southernmost capital of its member countries?
Montevideo
Which 18th century philosopher designed a circular prison where a central guard
could observe all the prisoners at once, who could not tell when they were being
watched?
Jeremy Bentham
What name is given to the handicraft which involves cutting out pictures and
gluing them to an object and coating the pictures and the object with varnish?
The word is derived from the middle French for ‘to cut out’.
Decoupage
The nerve disease Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is one suggested explanation
for why Pennsylvania woman Anna Olsen is seen crawling through a field in
which Andrew Wyeth painting?
Christina’s World
Taking over from Stephen Pollard at the end of 2021, who is the current editor of
The Jewish Chronicle? Author of 2023’s Israelphobia, he was widely criticised for
comments seen as Islamophobic made on Question Time in October 2023.
Jake WALLIS SIMONS
Which word precedes ‘particle’ to get an alliterative term in physics for an idealised object that has zero dimension and so takes up no space? For simplification, elementary particles are often treated as these things.
Point Particle
Which electronic music duo released the album Decksandrumsandrockandroll in
1998, which included a remix of the instrumental theme to On Her Majesty’s
Secret Service and the Shirley Bassey collaboration History Repeating?
Propellerheads
In modern music, which mode, named for an ancient Greek tribe, is the diatonic
scale corresponding to a piano keyboard’s white notes from D to D?
Dorian
Which actress played Mrs Featherstone in Open All Hours, Diana Trent in
Waiting for God and Dr Beatrice Mason in Tenko?
Stephanie Cole
Which brand of lager, brewed in the UK by Coors, has a name formed by
removing the final letter of the major Spanish city it claims association with?
Madri
In video game slang, which word, that is a prefix in many other contexts, is used as a noun meaning the most effective strategy or choice of characters and items possible for a certain game?
Meta
