Set 02 Flashcards
For the last 10 years, Brendan, the older brother of which artist, has been head of the Disasters Emergency Committee?
Anthony Gormley
What is the surname of this father and son- son (1944-99) was a DJ sacked by Radio 1 for presenting a show while drunk and father (1917-91) a bandleader who recorded as Manuel and the Music of the Mountains’?
Love
Age Concern and Help the Aged have now combined into which charity?
Age UK
Which term is used in heraldry to mean a beast of the chase or a reptile standing on the left hind foot with the forefeet in the air?
Mounting
Which former BBC Playschool presenter took their seat in the House of Lords in 2010?
Floella Benjamin
Who wrote the Silverado Squatters, a travel narrative of his and his wife Fanny Osbourne’s honeymoon in Napa Valley, California?
R L Stevenson
By which more familiar name is the psychiatric condition furor uterinus referred to?
Nymphomania
Which Les Dawson character’s catchphrase was ‘Nickers, Nackers, Nockers’?
Cosmo Smallpiece
Remembered for his film and TV scores, who won a record 20 Grammys and a lifetime achievement Grammy in 1995?
Henry Mancini
Ben Fogle is the son of which actress who co-starred with Tommy Steele in ‘Half A Sixpence’?
Julia Foster
Which singer-songwriter from Penistone is sometimes called ‘The Barnsley Nightingale’?
Kate Rusby
Which film character is associated with the quote ‘Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering’?
Yoda
With which instrument does one associate American jazz composer and bandleader Chick Corea?
Piano
In which Ridley Scott film do Liam Neeson and Orlando Bloom play father and son?
Kingdom of Heaven
Which literary and film villain’s lesser known nickname is ‘The Chesapeake Ripper’?
Hannibal Lecter
What is the subtitle of ‘Ice Age 3’?
Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Which annual music festival takes place in Ullapool, and its name is an anagram of ‘Ullapool’?
Loopalou
The sequel to which classic of French literature is called ‘Twenty Years After’?
Three Musketeers
Nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize, ‘White Bread, Black Beer’ was the first album by which band for seven years?
Scritti Politti
What is the subtitle of the 2009 sequel to the 2007 Transformers film?
Revenge of the Fallen
Which English pop star was born William Michael Albert Broad in 1955?
Billy Idol
Which legendary Hollywood actress took out an advert in ‘Backstage’ that said Actress, Multiple Academy Awards. Looking for work’?
Bette Davis
The first in 1946 was ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ and the 60th was ‘Casino Royale’ in 2006. What?
Royal Film
What was the surname of the family featured in Channel 4’s soap ‘Family Affairs’?
Hart
In 1968 he left his British group to go to America, where he helped create another group. He was made an OBE in 2010. Which man?
Graham Nash
Alexandra Burke is the daughter of Melissa Bell, who sang with which 1980s band?
Soul II Soul
Which late comedian and actor was Roger Moore’s stunt double in The Saint?
Mike Reid
What was the Troggs’ only UK Number 1 single?
With a Girl Like You
Which singer once had to mumble his way through ‘She’s Leaving Home’ on Top of the Pops as dry ice concealed the lyrics he had taped to the floor?
Billy Bragg
Which female TV personality has, among others, children called Holly and Tilly?
Davina McCall
Which legendary film director and actor died on the same day, in 1985, as Yul Brynner?
Orson Welles
Who first rose to public attention playing Emily Shadwick on Brookside?
Jennifer Ellison
Through three series in the 1970s, who played the title role in the sitcom Beryl’s Lot?
Carmel McSharry
Set in the year 2052, which multi-nationally produced space travel TV drama series featured the crew of the Antares?
Defying Gravity
In 2009, which 37-year old film-maker revealed that he once worked as a sex chat room operator, posing as a woman?
Eli Roth
Who played Gene Hunt in the US version of Life on Mars?
Harvey Keitel
What is the title of Julia Donaldson’s modern classic for children about a wily mouse that gets the better of its natural predators?
The Gruffalo
Whose screen roles include Ace Face in Quadrophenia, Feyd-Rautha in Dune and JD in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels?
Sting
In 2005, the last year it was awarded, who became only the second female stand-up comedian to win the Perrier prize?
Laura Solon
Which former TV reality show contestant, now a successful recording artist, has the surname Obika?
Lemar
In the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, which character makes up the foursome with Monkey,Sandy and Tripitaka?
Piggy
Which children’s writer is best known for her 21 titles continuing the Land of Oz series after the death of L Frank Baum in 1919?
Ruth Plumly Thompson
In a Tale of Two Cities, what is the particular profession of Sydney Carton?
Barrister
Under what name did Paul McCartney’s younger brother take photos?
Mike McGear
A woman bent on vengeance for the death of her father, who starred as Catherine in the 1965 film ‘Cat Ballou’?
Jane Fonda
In which German city is the Friedenssaal, or Peace Room, where the Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648 to end the Thirty Years War?
Munster
During WW2, who was the last Liberal to sit in the UK Cabinet until the Coalition government of 2010?
Sinclair
In 2010, who completed his report into the events of Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972?
Lord Justice Savile
Picasso’s 1962 painting The Rape of the Sabine Women is based on the 1799 painting of the same name by whom?
Jacques-Louis David
In which year did Catholic Europe change to the Gregorian calendar?
1582
Who was France’s Chief Minister under Louis XIV until his death in 1661?
Mazarin
The French Fourth Republic had two presidents- Vincent Auriol and who between 1954 and 1959?
Rene Coty
Although historically two different tribes, the Cheyenne are now united with which other tribe in Oklahoma?
Arapahoe
Which member of the Royal Family has the forenames Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick?
The Duke of Kent
What name is given to the panels at the bottom of an Italian Renaissance painting, often containing a series of narrative scenes complimenting the main picture?
Predelli
The full name of which capital city starts ‘Nuestra Senora de (blank blank)’?
La Paz
Prior to 1911, the Northern Territory was part of which Australian state?
South Australia
Based in Geneva, which Educational Foundation offers a Diploma Programme replacing A levels in some schools?
International Baccalaureate
Who was the twin brother of Lech Kaczynski, who stood for (and failed) President of Poland after his brother’s death?
Jaroslav
Which Egyptian god was the patron God of Memphis and the creator of craftsmen?
Ptah
Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were the first Europeans to see which African lake (though Speke was temporarily blind at the time)?
Tanganyika
Which company developed the Java computer language?
Sun Microsystems
Which former TV newsreader now reads the news on the Chris Evans breakfast show in 2010?
Moira Stuart
Three films have won all five major Academy Awards (Film, Screenplay, Director, Actor, Actress). Name all three
It Happened One Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Silence of the Lambs
Which role on TV has been played by actors with the real names David McDonald, Percy Kent-Smith and Peter Moffatt?
Dr Who
Often known as the Sixth Stone, who was the original pianist with the Rolling Stones, but dropped by Andrew Loog Oldham?
Stewart
Which veteran songwriter discovered Katie Melua and produced her first three albums?
Mike Batt
Which award is given for the best first novel by a Commonwealth writer under 35?
Betty Trask
What was the forename of Captain Frank Furillo’s ex-wife in Hill Street Blues?
Faye
Winner of four Best Director Oscars, whose first and last features were Straight Shooting (1917) and Seven Women (1966)?
John Ford
Which is currently the second-longest running London play after the Mousetrap, running since 1989?
The Woman in Black
Which British actor played Juan Peron in Evita when it first opened in 1978, opposite Elaine Paige and David Essex?
Joss Ackland
Which 1995 film was a collaboration between James Cameron and his then wife Kathryn Bigelow (who directed it)?
Strange Days
What is the name of the public television broadcaster in India?
Dordashan
With the death of Norman Painting, the longest-serving Archers cast member is now June Spencer, who plays which character?
Peggy
Which pastor and theologian, head of the anti-Nazi movement, was the most successful U-boat commander in WW1?
Martin Niemoller
Which branch of philosophy deals with things that exist, not just things that can be known?
Ontology
Which poet and historian was legal advisor to the Supervisory Committee for India between 1834 and 1838?
Thomas Macauley
Which c19 British philosopher called ‘natural rights’ ‘nonsense on stilts’?
Jeremy Bentham
Joe Hill’, who wrote the best-selling Heart Shaped Box, is the pseudonym of the son of which other writer?
Stephen King
Which young people’s magazine was founded in England in 1879 by the Religious Tract Society?
Boy’s Own
Who was in charge of the BEF at the time of the Dunkirk evacuation?
Lord Gort
Which future Chancellor became Ambassador to Moscow in 1940?
Sir Stafford Cripps
About which book did Virginia Woolf write in 1922 ‘Never did I read such tosh’?
Ulysses
Who was chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1931 to 1950?
Sir Adrian Boult
In the c19, fans of which sport were known as ‘The Fancy’?
Boxing
Which comedy radio show of the 1960s had as its theme tune ‘The Angus Prune Tune’?
I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again
During which conflict did British regiments first wear khaki?
The Indian Mutiny
Who wrote the novel ‘Invisible Man’ (not ‘The Invisible Man’)?
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Who wrote The Invisible Man?
G K Chesterton
Which historian who specialised in c19 and c20 European history was born in Birkdale in 1906 and died in 1990?
A J P Taylor
In which fictional suburb of South London was Mrs Dale’s Diary set?
Parkwood Hill
Who was American Chief of Staff in WW2?
George C Marshall
What was the WW2 equivalent of Ultra in Bletchley Park in Honolulu?
Magic
What tune is traditionally played by English military bands when a batallion or regiment is leaving and is also sometimes called Brighton Camp?
The Girl I Left Behind Me
As what was Income Support known between 1965 and 1988?
Supplementary Benefit
What is the name of mythical lions found in or around Burmese temples?
Chindits
In which UK General Election could 18-year olds vote for the first time?
1970
Which club won the first ever Heineken Cup in 1996?
Toulouse
Who was the commander of Octavian’s fleet at the battle of Actium against Cleopatra and Mark Anthony?
Agrippa
Who, in May 2008, replaced Monty Don as the lead presenter of Gardeners World on TV?
Toby Buckland
Where in the world is the Old Man of Storr?
Skye
In the first of his world darts championships in 1990, who did Phil Taylor beat in the final?
Eric Bristow
Which country won the first ever African Cup of Nations in 1957?
Egypt
Which US director’s best known film was ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’?
Robert Mulligan
In WW2, what was the designation and number of the boat skippered by JFK that was sunk by the Japanese?
PT109
Which planet was visited by NASA’s Messenger spacecraft, launched in 2007?
Mercury
Which canal in Kent was dug in 1809 to present an obstacle to an invading army?
Royal Military Canal
Who replaced Michael Aspel as presenter of the Antiques Roadshow in 2008?
Fiona Bruce
For his work in which field did Sir Martin Evans share the Novel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2007?
Stem cell research
Which song from The Gay Divorcee won the first ever Best Song Oscar?
The Continental
What is the name of the cup for which Australia play New Zealand at one-day cricket?
The Chappell-Hadlee Cup
Which band leader is particularly associated with the band ‘The Jazz Messengers’?
Art Blakey
Which chemical element is named from the Latin for Russia?
Ruthenium
Which venue was the first to stage the Winter Olympics twice?
St Moritz
Which Ulsterman won a record number of TT races but was killed on a racing circuit in Estonia in the 2000s?
Joey Dunlop
Who completed the printing of the Gutenberg bible in 1453?
Johann Fust
In which of her palaces did Elizabeth I die?
Richmond
The meerkat is a close relation of which other animal?
Mongoose
The Will Eisner Awards are given annually in San Diego, CA, in what field?
Comic books
Which company’s lawnmowers are advertised with the slogan ‘It’s a lot less bovver than a hover’?
Qualcast
Which PM represented Italy in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Versailles?
Vittorio Orlando
What was the seperate peace between Russia and Germany signed prior to the Treaty of Versailles?
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
What was George Eliot’s first novel?
Adam Bede
What was George Eliot’s last novel?
Daniel Deronda
The Lauberhorn downhill skiing races are held close to which resort?
Wengen
In which decade was the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland first defined?
1290s
In film classification, what did the X certificate replace?
H (for Horror)
Who was the first British composer to win the Oscar for best music?
Sir Malcolm Arnold (Bridge on the River Kwai)
What is the name of the cup for which India play Australia at cricket?
Border-Gavaskar
In which London store did the first demonstration of television take place?
Selfridges
The Hahnenkamm downhill skiing races are held at which resort?
Kitzbuhel
Which bandleader commissioned George Gershwin to write Rhapsody in Blue?
Paul Whiteman
Who is represented in Rodin’s sculpture ‘The Thinker’?
Dante
Invar is an alloy of iron and which metal?
Nickel
Nicholas Jenkins is the narrator of which famous novel?
A Dance to the Music of Time
Which admiral was the senior Allied commander at the Gallipoli landings?
Roebuck
In chemistry, what term is used informally to refer to a metal that oxidises or corrodes relatively easily, and reacts variably with diluted hydrochloric acid to form hydrogen?
Base metal
Which city was the capital of Spain immediately before Madrid?
Toledo
Who directed Sin City and From Dusk Till Dawn?
Robert Rodriguez
What euphemistic name was given to the communal kitchens set up by the Ministry of Food in WW2 to ensure people who had run out of rationing coupons could still eat?
British Restaurants
What term is used in chemistry for metals resistant to corrosion or oxidisation and which also tend to be precious metals due to their rarity in the earth’s crust?
Noble metals
Who wrote the 2007 book ‘More than A Game’, a history of early cricket?
John Major
In Camberwick Green, who was the commander of Pippin Fort?
Captain Flack
Which American actor shares his name with a traditional English ballad and a part of the Eldon Square shopping centre in Newcastle?
Chevy Chase
In Chigley, who owned the private railway and drove the steam engine Bessie?
Lord Belborough
Who won the 1981 Whitbread First Novel award for his book ‘A Good Man in Africa’?
William Boyd
Which famous man was born Doroteo Arangal in 1877?
Pancho Villa
Who wrote the novel ‘Love On the Dole’?
Walter Greenwood
What is the name of the French newspaper formerly controlled by the Communist Party, although it has been sold since?
L’Humanite
What name is given to the interchange of the M6, A14 and M1?
Catthorpe interchange
Which German tabloid has the highest circulation in Europe?
Bild
What name is given to the interchange of the M60, M62 and M66?
Simister Island
How was Fergus Drennan known in the title of a BBC series?
The Roadkill Chef
In 2006, 10 year old Giuseppe Mangano became the youngest person ever to swim which geographical feature?
Straits of Messina
The documentary Freedom’s Fury is about a notoriously tense and aggressive USSR v Hungary match in which sport?
Water Polo
Who scored the controversial last-minute winner for the USSR v USA in the basketball at Munich?
Alexandr Belov
In 1962, Fred Baldesare became the first man to swim the channel how?
Underwater (Scuba)
Which author selected the epitath ‘The Defence Rests’?
John Mortimer
In 2006, Keith Ellison became the first man of which faith to become elected to the US Congress?
Islam
Swallow’s Nest, Death Bivouac and the White Spider are all features on which European mountain?
Eiger
What was notable about Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, when he was elected to the Senate in 2006?
First Socialist to be elected
The US police series ‘The Shield’ is set in which city?
Los Angeles
What name has been given to the fossils of enormous snakes, possibly the largest land predators since the dinosaurs, found in a Colombian coal mine in the 2000s?
Titanoboas
Which sports commentator has described his own voice as sounding like ‘a screaming banshee with piles’?
Sid Waddell
In which sport do Team Northumbria, Loughborough Lightning and Northern Thunder compete?
Netball
In May 2007, Matthew Briggs became the youngest Prem footballer at that time when he made his debut versus Middlesbrough for which team?
Fulham
Which snooker player is nicknamed ‘The Jester from Leicester’?
Mark Selby
Which ex-Great Britain rugby league international scored a try on his international Union debut for Ireland in 2007?
Carney
Which English city gives its name to a show jumping obstacle that takes the form of a vertical jump with a small pool of water at the bottom on the landing side?
Liverpool
Which sport takes its name from the Norman French meaning ‘bent’ and is played with a plastic ball rather than a puck?
Bandy
Which Japanese numbers game, which translates as ‘not equal’, uses the symbols for ‘greater than’ and ‘less than’ to help the players?
Futoshiki
In which board game could your turn be described as a bingo or a phoney?
Scrabble
Who is the only man ever to win BDO and PDC darts world titles at the first attempt?
Dennis Priestley
Which athlete ended the 10 year, 122 victory run of Ed Moses in the 400m hurdles in Madrid in 1987?
Harris
In 1982, there were joint runners-up in the F1 World Championship. One was Nelson Piquet- who was the other?
Peroni
Le Grande is the name of the score needed to win at baccarat. Numerically, what is Le Grande?
Nine
At which beach is the HQ of the British Surfing Association?
Fistral
What is the assumed name of magician Stephen Frayne?
Dynamo
Which Spanish band leader appeared in films such as Gay Madrid, You Were Never Lovelier and Weekend at the Waldorf?
Xavier Cugat
An 11-year old girl called Abbey Kimber read out a poem at the end of which 1980s UK Number 1 single?
The Land of Make Believe
Which US protest singer, a hero in the Soviet Union and Latin America, committed suicide in 1987 and is the subject of the film Red Elvis?
Dean Read
Which TV character lives at Ripley Mill, Briar Hollow, West Sussex?
Jonathan Creek
Which actor is the son of the actors Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham?
Benedict Cumberbatch
What were Bix Beiderbecke’s forenames?
Leon Bismarck
In the TV series Dr Quinn- Medicine Woman, what was Quinn’s forename?
Michaela
By what name was stage and costume designer Lev Rosenberg, who regularly collaborated with Sergey Diaghelev, better known?
Leon Baxt
Which singer-songwriter had the nickname ‘Soul Brother Number Two’ and died in 2006?
Wilson Pickett
Laura Pierce was the first person to win the top prize in which tedious game-show?
Deal or No Deal
Which actor played American playboy Dickie Greenleaf in the Anthony Minghella-directed The Talented Mr Ripley?
Jude Law
In draughts, what name is given to the removal of an opponent’s piece when the possibility of taking has been overlooked?
Huffing
Which Manchester concert hall, now a hotel, was the base of the Halle Orchestra before it moved to the Bridgwater Hall?
Free Trade Hall
The aeolipile, described by Hero of Alexandria, is considered the forerunner of which more recent invention?
Steam engine
Which East German Communist leader ordered the building of the Berlin Wall?
Walter Ulbricht
Above which number does the & sign appear on a keyboard?
7
In Round the Horne, what is the name of the earthy folk singer played by Kenneth Williams?
Rambling Syd Rumpo
Which city is served by Otopeni International Airport?
Bucharest
Who founded Bahai’ism?
Mirza Hussayn-Ali Nuri
How many dominoes in a standard ‘double-six’ set?
Twenty eight
Which classic series of pocket reference books was published from 1937 to 2003 by Frederick Warne and Co, some 100 subjects being covered in this time?
Observers Books
Which city is served by Butmir International Airport?
Sarajevo
Which publication did Mary Whitehouse take to court in 1977 over a blasphemous homosexual poem about the Crucifixion?
Gay News
What name did Penguin give to the range of non-fiction titles they published from 1937, with blue replacing orange in the cover design?
Pelican
Mohammed al Deayea holds the world record for international caps, with 181- for which country?
Saudi Arabia
Which German author wrote the 1939 novel Lotte in Weimar, inspired by Goethe’s Werther, and imagining Goethe meeting the love of his life 40 years on?
Thomas Mann
In the ‘Angus Prune Tune’, the theme for I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again, who sang it?
Bill Oddie
Who succeeded Salazar as dictator of Portugal in 1968?
Marcelo Caetano
Which British singer’s debut album Undiscovered went straight to Number One in 2006?
James Morrison
Sir John Harvey-Jones was for many years Chairman of which major British firm?
ICI
In physics, what is the product of an object’s mass and velocity?
Momentum
Who was guest conductor on the opening night at Carnegie Hall?
Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky
Who won Australia’s first ever Winter Olympic Gold in hilarious circumstances at the 2002 Games in speed skating?
Stephen Bradbury
What is the name of the Test Cricket venue in Bridgetown, Barbados?
Kensington Oval
Who founded the RNLI in 1824?
Sir William Hillary
In Harry Potter, what is the real name of villain Lord Voldemort?
Tom Marvolo Riddle
What was the profession of the evangelist Luke?
Doctor
In Harry Potter, which wizards’ pub is at the entrance to Diagon Alley?
The Leaky Cauldron
Who was the first ever black winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, in 1982?
Daley Thompson
Painter Giovanni da Fiesole is better known by what name?
Fra Angelico
As well as Princess Anne, the phrase ‘Naff off’ was popularised by which TV series?
Porridge
If you told the waiter in Germany ‘Stimmt so’, what would you be telling him to do?
Keep the change
Which British twin-jet bomber in 1951 made the first non-stop Atlantic crossing by a jet aircraft?
English Electric Canberra
Who starred as Jesse James in the 1939 film of the same name?
Tyrone Power
On TV, what was Professor Quatermass’ first name?
Bernard
In football, what is the width of the goalmouth, in feet?
24
Who wrote the music for the TV version of Charles Schultz’s Peanuts?
Vince Govaldi
Which pop singer was born with the forename Sadenia?
Eddi Reader
What was the real name of Jilted John and John Shuttleworth?
Graham Fellowes
Which former newsreader was born in Karachi in 1936?
Gordon Honeycomb
What was Dame Edna Everage’s maiden name?
Beasley
In Arizonan history, how was Donnie Clarke better known? She also was portrayed by Shelly Winters on film.
Ma Barker
Who was the first ever Page 3 girl?
Stephanie Rahn
What is the name of the red food dye produced from beetroot?
Betanin
What specific name is given to fishermen who specialise in fishing under bridges?
Ebbermen
Which well-known social networking site was founded by Tom Anderson?
Myspace
Which Nobel-prize winning mathematician was once arrested for indecent exposure?
John Nash
What was TV presenter ‘Johnny’ Morris’s real first name?
Ernest
What is England’s largest SSSI?
The Wash
The Ring cycle has been described as a cycle of three operas with a prologue. Which is the prologue?
Das Rheingold
Which double Oscar-winning actress is the stepdaughter of Tarzan actor Jock Mahoney?
Sally Field
Which TV show was originally called ‘Peter Sellers Is Dead’?
Goodness Gracious Me
Which actor, who won two Best Supporting Actor Oscars, was the son-in-law of Cecil B DeMille?
Anthony Quinn
What is the name of the longest river in New England, also the name of a state?
Connecticut
Who wrote the 11-novel series ‘Strangers and Brothers’?
C P Snow
Which Northern Hemisphere territory was granted dominion status in 1907?
Newfoundland
Which boxer was the first ever to defeat Frank Bruno in a professional fight?
James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith
Who played Apollo Creed in the Rocky films?
Carl Weathers
Winner of the Best Film Oscar in 1941, which film featured a young Roddy McDowell as Hugh Morgan?
How Green was my Valley
In which letter does St Paul tell us that of the three things that abide, ‘the greatest of these three is love’?
First Epistle to the Corinthians
Which British portrait painter went deaf after a severe cold?
Sir Joshua Reynolds
In finance, what does a P/E ratio measure?
Price to earnings ratio
Which TV character first appeared with magician David Nixon in 1963?
Basil Brush
What was the name of the ship from which British sailors were taken hostage by Iranians in 2007?
HMS Cornwall
In finance, when assessing a share, what does NAV mean?
Net Asset Value
Which legendary Arsenal footballer, born in Exeter, was excused military service after failing the army hearing test?
Cliff Bastin
Which Carl Weathers film also featured two future US State Governors and a third man who stood unsuccessfully for State Governor?
Predator
Which famous Australian racehorse of the 1930s was the subject of a 1983 film?
Phar Lap
Which boxer was the first ever to defeat Mike Tyson in a professional fight?
James ‘Buster’ Douglas
Which is the first book of the Bible named for a woman?
Ruth
What is the name of Bob the Builder’s cat?
Pilchard
What is the name of the cafe owned by Sydney Greenstreet in Casablanca?
The Blue Parrot
Who was King Arthur’s mother?
Ygraine
Which of Schubert’s symphonies was the Unfinished?
Eighth
Living on the Front Line was whose first solo single after leaving the Equals in 1979?
Eddie Grant
How is an animal that eats nuts described?
Nuciverous
Which spin-off from the TV series Budgie starred Ian Cuthbertson in the title role?
Charles Endell Esquire
Which Roman emperor’s last words were ‘I suppose I am now becoming a God’?
Vespasian
Who was the youngest man ever to be appointed Poet Laureate?
Lawrence Eusden
Which Poet Laureate turned down the salary of an annual butt of Canary wine, preferring to be paid in money instead?
Henry James Pye
What was the name of Heracles’ mother?
Alcmene
Who was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter?
Persephone
Who preceded Donald Sinden in the title role of the TV drama series Our Man At St Mark’s?
Leslie Phillips
Which American spider has three species- the Northern, Southern and Western?
Black Widow
Which novel by Salman Rushdie, his third, deals with Pakistan and the people who run it?
Shame
Which cinematic technique, much used by John Woo, uses one shot printed in a single frame several times in order to give the illusion of a still photograph?
Freeze Frame
John Boulter, Tony Mercer and Dai Francis were solo performers with which popular singing group?
The Black and White Minstrels
What was the Christian name of Parker in Thunderbirds?
Aloysius
In which film does Frank Sinatra play the comedian Joe E Lewis?
The Joker Is Wild
Whose political memoir was called The Blair Years?
Alastair Campbell
Which golfer was defeated in a play-off at the 2007 Open, when Padraig Harrington won?
Sergio Garcia
When Padraig Harrington won the Open in 2007, he became the first Irishman to win it since who in 1947?
Fred Daly
Which common girl’s name means ‘The Bright One’?
Helen
Which pope never existed, due to an error in numbering?
John XX
Name all of the original Three Men in a Boat.
Jerome K Jerome, George and Harris
South Crofty was the last of which installations?
Cornish tin mines (closed 1998)
Where could you spend Linden Dollars?
Second Life
In the early days of TV, which part of the body of Georges Aubertin became famous?
Hands (on the potter’s wheel)
Who composed the opera called The Wreckers?
Dame Ethel Smyth
Muscardinus avellanarius is the Latin name of which animal?
Dormouse
Which highly developed civilisation immediately preceded the Aztecs?
Toltecs
In which Shakespeare play does Crab the Dog appear?
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Which singer, who died in 2008, had a stage name that was black slang for ‘nothing at all’?
Bo Diddley
In 1956, Aleksandr Poniatoff designed and built the world’s first what?
Video tape recorder
Kill To Get Crimson is a 2006 album by whom?
Mark Knopfler
Which ice-breaker was the only British presence in the Falklands prior to the invasion of Argentina?
Endurance
Cotumix cotumix is the Latin name for which bird?
Quail
Which submarine sank the Belgrano?
HMS Conqueror
Which royal is married to George Gilman?
Lady Rose Windsor
In AD143, Quintus Lollius Urbicus oversaw the building of what?
Antonine Wall
Who was the mother of Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III?
Catherine de Medici
Who directed Alphaville and Une Femme est Une Femme?
Jean-Luc Godard
Which 1950s singing star was called ‘America’s Most Versatile Singer’?
Jo Stafford
What was the philosophy placed at the heart of De Stijl by Piet Mondrian?
Neoplasticism
Which Nobel laureate patented the integrated circuit in 1964?
Jack St Clair Kilby
The only cat to ever win the Dickin medal was Simon, the ship’s cat on which vessel?
HMS Amethyst
In which sport have Ellen Falkner, Carol Ashby and Norma Shaw all been world champions?
Indoor Bowls
What is the name of a banknote not backed by gold?
Fiduciary note
At which modern Olympics were gold medals awarded for the first time- previously the winner had only got silver?
St Louis, 1904
Which 1948 film won 4 Oscars in 1949?
Hamlet (Olivier)
Who were Wigan’s opponents in the 1929 Challenge Cup final- the first to be staged at Wembley?
Dewsbury
Prior to WW2, Galicia was a province of which country?
Poland
What was the surname of the boy who ‘stood on the burning deck’?
Casabianca
Gold farming is a way of cheating at which pastime?
Video gaming
Which word means the mating territory of the grouse and a unit of European currency?
Lek
Canio is the tragic central character of which opera?
I Pagliacci
The basis of the movie 300, which battle of 480 BC saw an eventual victory for Persia over an outnumbered Greek army?
Thermopylae
Name both countries that fought in the African ‘Sand War’ of 1963.
Algeria and Morocco
Under what pen name has Jim Grant written a series of thrillers featuring former military policeman Jack Reacher?
Lee Child
What was the name of the German plan to avoid combat on two fronts which was almost successful and would have led to German victory in the opening months of WW1?
Schlieffen Plan
What term describes the period 1987-1990 when the Baltic states gained independence from the Soviet Union?
Singing Revolution
All eight sculptures in Carl Andre’s Equivalent series contain how many bricks?
120
Baroness Cathy Ashton is married to which political pundit?
Peter Kellner
His first wife is a food critic- what is the surname of the former head of Jonathan Cape publishing who founded the Booker Prize?
Maschler
Who is best known for his ‘The Twelve Caesars’?
Suetonius
What is the occupation of Jon Arbuckle in Garfield?
Cartoonist
What was the name of the famous snail in ginger beer case that laid the foundations for tort law?
Donohue versus Stevenson
What time is used by the Amundsen Scott base at the South Pole?
GMT
In economics, what is defined as the value of what is foregone in order to have something else?
Opportunity Cost
Who was the last ever man (and the practice is now banned) to recieve the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously?
Dag Hammarskjold
What was distinctive about the launch of the French naval ship La Gloire in 1858?
First ironclad
In Brazil, what is the capital of the Bahia region?
Salvador
In WW2, if the paperclip was worn secretly by Norwegian loyalists, what was worn by Dutch loyalists?
Safety pin
How Not To Cry At Weddings’ was the title of the last-ever episode of which sitcom?
Last of the Summer Wine
Which British Asian was co-writer on Oliver Stone’s ‘South of the Border’?
Tariq Ali
Which actor played 121 year old Jack Crabb in the 1970 movie ‘Little Big Man’?
Dustin Hoffman
Which musician styled himself ‘King of the 12 String Guitar’?
Leadbelly
Which 3-year transatlantic project links the Old Vic, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Neal Street Productions?
The Bridge Project
Which 1996 Boublil and Schonberg musical is based on the case of a c16 French peasant at the centre of a famous case of imposture?
Martin Guerre
Held on the Dorset coast, which event styles itself ‘Britain’s First Classical Music Festival’?
Serenata
Who was the only female composer in Les Six?
Germaine Tailleferre
Lord Charles Cavendish, younger brother of the Duke of Devonshire, and resident of Lismore Castle, Ireland, married who in 1932?
Adele Astaire
With their headquarters in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, what is the nickname of the 101st US Airborne Division?
Screaming Eagles
Who was the author of The Uses of Literacy, the chief defence barrister at the Chatterley trial and the father of a modern-day Guardian columnist?
Richard Hoggart
In which seminal Northern working class film does Alan Bates fall in love with June Ritchie in 1960s Lancashire, much to the disgust of her mother, played by Thora Hird?
A Kind of Loving
Who wrote the original book of A Kind of Loving?
Stan Barstow
Who directed A Kind of Loving? He also directed Billy Liar.
John Schlesinger
Which actress’s character does Tom Courtenay fall in love with in Billy Liar?
Julie Christie
What is the name of Billy Liar’s imagined country in his fantasies where he is Emperor?
Ambrosia
What is the name of the retirement home in Twickenham for actors, and was where Thora Hird, John Hewer (Captain Birdseye) and Alan Freeman all died?
Brinsworth House
What was Hylda Baker’s catchphrase?
She knows, you know
Which play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959 has a title based on a Langston Hughes. The story is based upon a black family’s experiences in Chicago. It was the first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with a black director on Broadway?
A Raisin in the Sun
The Prix Cevennes, created in 2007, is given to the best European what ever year?
Novel
Gwo ka, literally meaning ‘big drum’ is the folk music of which Caribbean island?
Guadeloupe
Paolo Sorrentino’s film Il Divo is about which of Italy’s enigmatic and dominant giants of politics, 7 times prime minister, and still an active politician at 90?
Guilio Andreotti
Whose new memoir The Settler’s Cookbook tells the tale of how her family moved from India to Uganda and then onward to the UK through the recipes they used and the food they ate?
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
Born in Yugoslavia to a Serbian mother and Croatian father, he’s a rocker, a film-score composer, and leader of a 40-strong brass band called The Wedding and Funeral Band. His latest album is called Alkohol. What’s his name?
Goran Bregovic
Hollywoodland was a 2006 film about the mysterious death of which man who played Superman on TV?
George Reeves
Who played his entire career (1981–2001) for the Baltimore Orioles. He earned the nickname “Iron Man” for doggedly remaining in the lineup despite numerous minor injuries and for his reliability to “show up” to work every day. He is perhaps best known for breaking Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played, a record many deemed unbreakable?
Cal Ripkin, Jr
Which former Sudanese child soldier’s life story has been charted in his rap records Ceasefire and Warchild. Following a film documentary about his journey, he is now releasing a book called “warchild” which charts in full detail how his mother was murdered, he was inducted into a children’s army and his ultimate rehabilitation by a British aid worker before he went on to become an internationally successful rapper who performed at Live 8 and Nelson Mandela’s 90th birth celebrations?
Emmanuel Jal
Which man starred in films such as A Kiss before Dying, The Longest Day, The Pink Panther and most recently, the Austin Powers movies. On television he is best known for his role as the suave Jonathan Hart in Hart to Hart?
Robert Wagner
What is the Farsi name for the Iranian New Year?
Nowruz
What is the name of the famous Afghanistan equivalent of the X Factor?
Afghan Star
Oyneg Shabbos was the code name of a group led by Jewish historian Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum in which city, which included historians, writers, rabbis and social workers, and was dedicated to chronicling life in the Ghetto?
Warsaw
The debut album from Staff Benda Bilili is already being called one of the best of 2009. It features a group of paraplegic musicians who live around the zoo in which African capital city?
Kinshasa
Who plays Dr Neela Rasgotra in ER, which has now become the longest-ever running medical drama in US TV history?
Parminder Nagra
Their paintings depict harems and ancient ruins, ornate turbans and carpets. Which school of British painters of the 18th and 19th centuries portryed the eastern Mediterranean in a style that has evoked controversy?
Orientalists
Hiba Al Kawas is a composer and soprano who has been credited with inventing Arabic Opera. Which country is he from?
Lebanon
Films called Lollywood can be from one of two places- either Lahore in Pakistan or from which country in Africa?
Liberia
US crime writer Donna Leon sets her Inspector Brunetti novels in which city?
Venice
The Humana festival in Louisville, Kentucky, is held annually and showcases new examples of what?
Plays
What is the name of the Chilean film about a man obsessed with John Travolta’s character in Saturday Night Fever- its name is the character’s name?
Tony Manero
Which Indian weekly magazine under the editorship of Tarun Tejpal began in 2000 as a news website. In 2001, with an exposé of match-fixing in professional cricket in India, it got public attention, but it was the defense sting, called Operation Westend that got it international attention, which led to the resignation of Indian Defence Minister?
Tehelka
What is the name of the 26-year-old rapper from Caen in northern France, called the French Eminem, in hot water due to misogynistic lyrics?
Orelsan
In the name of Welsh Labour MP Leo Abse, what was the Leo short for?
Leopold
The biggest ever stop motion animation, comprising 50 sets, 40 animators, and 5 miles of gold thread for each tiny puppet wig, it’s an adaptation of a children’s book by Neil Gaiman. What’s its name?
Coraline
He is an award-winning English fantasy fiction writer, and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird. He is also active in left-wing politics as a member of the Socialist Workers Party. He has stood for the House of Commons for the Socialist Alliance. Who?
China Mieville
The Archibald prize is the most important for what genre of painting in Australia?
Portrait
Gurrumul, the blind Aboriginal singer who has never learnt braille and speaks only a few words of English, is from which island off the coast of Australia?
Elcho Island
Which artist is the first to break the 300 million views on YouTube mark?
Justin Bieber
Who did the official World Cup 2010 pop song, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)?
Shakira
One of the most viewed YouTube videos ever was by Judson Laipply, a comedian from Bucyrus, OH. What is the name of his hit series of videos?
Evolution of Dance
With getting on for 40 million views, what is the most watched YouTube video about football?
Ronaldo vs Ronaldinho
What is the name of the Asia-Pacific equivalent of the Eurovision Song Contest, whose inaugural competition will be held in Mumbai in November 2010?
Our Sound
The Foreign Fiction Prize in the UK is sponsored by which national newspaper?
The Independent
Which American journalist, a former Miss North Dakota, was arrested in Iran in January 2009. On April 8, the Iranian government charged her with espionage, which she denied. She was released on May 11, 2009?
Roxana Saberi
Which 2006 novel was written by Irish novelist John Boyne and is a multi-million best-seller. Unlike the months of planning Boyne devoted to his other books, he said that he wrote the entire first draft in two and a half days, barely sleeping until he got to the end?
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Arriving in English via Hindustani, which language was the origin of the word pyjamas?
Persian
The National Museum of Fine Arts has been hanging works of art that are in fact copies of very famous national paintings. The originals were taken down during a war to protect them from being destroyed, and the fakes have remained in place ever since. No-one can be quite sure what has happened to the originals, but some seem to have ended up in other galleries round the world. Which country?
Vietnam
World music’ artist Baaba Maal hails from which country?
Senegal
Confusingly, given its meaning, what is the forename of Ali Farka Toure’s son, also a musician?
Vieux
The XYZ Show, on Kenyan TV, is groundbreaking and controversial. What is its closest equivalent on British TV?
Spitting Image
Roberto Fonseca came to prominence as a member of Buena Vista Social Club but is now a solo artist- what’s his instrument?
Piano
Which Tuscan city plays an important role in the Twilight vampire books by Stephanie Meyer and was the site of Stendhal’s famously disastrous encounter in 1819 with his beloved Countess Mathilde Dembowska?
Volterra
A branch of the Louvre will open in 2010 in which Middle Eastern city?
Abu Dhabi
What’s the name of the fourth Terminator film, which stars Christian Bale?
Terminator: Salvation
Nigerian musician Tony Allen, much loved by Damon Albarn, plays which instrument?
Drums
Who wrote the 2009 novel IQ84, which has yet to be translated into English?
Haruki Murakami
Ceri Levy is the director of Bananaz, a documentary about which band?
Gorillaz
Witi Ihimaera, author of the acclaimed novel The Whale Rider, comes from which country?
New Zealand (Maori)
Who plays the Eric who is not Eric Cantona in the 2009 film Looking for Eric?
Steve Evets
What is the name of the new theatre district being developed in Shanghai, China- its equivalent of the West End or Broadway?
Drama Valley
The Shape of Jazz to Come was whose debut album for Atlantic Records in 1959?
Ornette Coleman
Who created The Wire?
David Simon
Which Noel Coward film about a love triangle between Gilda, Otto and Leo was highly controversial when it was premiered in Broadway, only daring to be presented in London in 1939?
DESIGN FOR LIVING
Which biochemist rose to the heart of the German scientific establishment on the back of a bogus theory of ‘protective enzymes’? The infamous Dr Josef Mengele employed his methods in his experiments at Auschwitz. Despite doubts about his work across the world, he was nominated 51 times for the Nobel Prize.
Emil Abderhalden
The ribosome is the ‘code-reading machine’ found in every cell in the human body. But what is it made of?
RNA
Which radioactive tracers are in danger of vanishing from our doctor’s shelves because the ageing nuclear reactors that they are made in keep breaking down?
Medical isotopes
Which British polar adventurer and author became in 2003 the first person to walk the 478 miles, solo and unsupported, from the northern coast of Canada to the North Pole? During his time at Harrow, he reintroduced the tradition of the Long Ducker, a marathon-length run from Harrow School to Marble Arch and back.
Pen Hadow
In Christianity, what collective name is given to the seven items listed in Isaiah Chapter 11, namely wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord?
The (seven) gifts of the Holy Spirit
The oldest of NASA’s research laboratories, where the Lunar Lander was tested and where research into supersonic aircraft continues, is in Hampton, Virginia. What’s it called?
Langley Research Centre
MEG is an essential tool for scanning the brain. What does it stand for?
MagnetoEncephaloGraphy
In which European country did the world’s first retro-fitted carbon-capturing coal-fired power station start operation in 2009?
France
Which controversial English biochemist and plant physiologist is sceptical of the standard account of the role of DNA and proposes instead a non-standard account of morphogenesis and for his research into parapsychology? He was stabbed in the leg in New Mexico in 2008 by Kazuki Hirano, who believed the scientist was exerting mind control over him.
Rupert Sheldrake
In which US State is NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Research Centre?
Maryland
GRBs are are flashes detected by NASA’s Swift telescope that are associated with extremely energetic explosions in distant galaxies. They are the most luminous electromagnetic events known to occur in the universe. What does GRB stand for?
Gamma Ray Bursts
In an influential 1959 Rede Lecture by British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow, he theorised that the breakdown of communication between the the sciences and the humanities was a major hindrance to solving the world’s problems. As a trained scientist who was also a successful novelist, Snow was well placed to articulate this thesis. What was its name?
Two Cultures
What are the five positions in an orbital configuration where a small object affected only by gravity can theoretically be stationary relative to two larger objects (such as a satellite with respect to the Earth and Moon)?
Lagrangian points
What is the name of the ESA telescope at the L1 point between the Earth and the Sun that is measuring the cosmic microwave background (CMB) of the universe?
Planck Surveyor
Which European space observatory is at L2 of the Earth-Sun system and is measuring infrared wavebands, and includes the largest single mirror ever launched in a space telescope?
Herschel Space Observatory
Which European Space Agency-led robotic spacecraft mission launched in 2004, intended to study the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It is intended to orbit the comet and place the Philae lander upon it, in 2014?
Rosetta
The successor to Hipparcos, which ESA mission will compile a detailed 3-D map of our galaxy from 2012 onwards, when it’s launched?
Gaia
What was the name of the old-style colonial white man who stood trial in Kenya in 2009 accused of shooting one of his black servants?
Thomas Cholmondeley
In 2009, in which African country was the news editor of the largest independent newspaper prosecuted for circulating photos of a woman giving birth without medical help?
Zambia
What is the normal English translation of the Islamic festival Eid al-Adha, also known as ‘Greater Eid’?
Festival of Sacrifice
Sékouba Konaté took power in which African country after an attempt on the life of the former leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, in late 2009?
Guinea
What is the longest river in Kenya, whose name is also shared with one in Norway, and the forename of a celebrity chef?
Tana
The controversial leader of the African National Congress’s youth wing divides opinion, for some he is a symbol of the corruption for which the ANC is becoming notorious. What’s his name?
Julius Malema
Becky Bloomwood is the most famous literary creation of which author?
Sophie Kinsella
In 2007, which famous Scottish book was given away free to residents of Edinburgh?
Kidnapped by R L Stevenson
The annual video game industry trade show in Los Angeles is called E3. What does this stand for?
Electronic Entertainment Expo
Who is the best selling American author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series of books for children, the first of which, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, is also a film starring Uma Thurman?
Rick Riordan
Which London attraction has gone one better than 3D by launching 4D films (whatever they are)?
Madame Tussauds
A tapestry depicting which historic event was reinstated in the House of Lords in June 2010?
The Victory over the Spanish Armada
Belgium-born artist Francis Alys creates drawings, paintings, photography, film and video installations. He moved to which city in the mid 80s, and in one of his works he pushed a block of ice around the same city until it melted?
Mexico City
Longer than a 747 jumbo jet, as tall as Nelson’s Column and containing half a mile of steel cable, Britain’s biggest sculpture was unveiled on Teeside in June 2010. By Anish Kapoor, it is called what, Greek for Holy Ground?
Temenos
Now in its 242nd year in London, what is the world’s largest open submission contemporary art exhibition?
Royal Academy Annual Summer Exhibition
Which current English National Ballet president was the first British dancer to perform with the Bolshoi ballet in Kruschev’s Russia and also went to Mao’s China in 1965 to dance with their national ballet company?
Dame Beryl Grey
Which New Yorker editor published a biography of Barack Obama in 2010?
David Remnick
Which series of Doctor Who episodes, released in 2010, are four interactive adventures?
Doctor Who:The Adventure Games
Which close friend of Martin Amis has published memoirs called Hitch 22?
Christopher Hitchens
What is particularly notable about The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, and is the reason they have been made into a film?
Lesbians in Victorian London
In which vast building in West London do the V & A, British Musem and Science Museum store their vast reserve collections?
Blythe House
Which crime writer is responsible for the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series?
Peter James
The annual Prize for Comic Fiction, first awarded in 2000, is named for which writer?
P G Wodehouse
Which Stones album was famously recorded in the basement of Keith Richards’ villa in the South of France?
Exile on Main Street
What name is given to a typographical design or artform that may be read as one or more words not only in its form as presented, but also from another viewpoint, direction, or orientation. The words readable in the other viewpoint, direction or orientation may be the same or different from the original words?
Ambigram
Which institution had to publish an FAQ on Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, stating that antimatter cannot be used as an energy source because creating it takes more energy than it produces?
CERN
In 2009, what name was given to the government’s 300 million-pound scheme for paying you 2,000 pounds to get rid of your 10-year-old car?
Scrappage
Darwinius is a genus of Adapiformes, a group of basal primates from the Eocene epoch. Its only known species is the lemur-like Darwinius masillae, dated to 47 million years ago. Discovered in 1983, what is the nickname for this fossil, thought at the time to have been a possible ‘missing link’ between primates and other mammals?
Ida
Which bird, according to scientists, turns out to have an innate tool-using ability that it doesn’t generally bother to use. Those who have discovered this hidden talent argue it makes them more intelligent than chimpanzees?
Common Rooks
In 2009, it was announced that a compound designed to attack the DNA of cancer cells failed. Instead, researchers at the University of Warwick tried it out on what, killing them in minutes?
Infectious bacteria
What name is given to the triangle-shaped geological depression near the Horn of Africa, also a part of the Great Rift Valley, overlapping Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti? It contains Africa’s lowest point, Dallol (one of the hottest places on earth), Gona, site of the world’s oldest stone tools; and Hadar, site of Lucy, the fossilized specimen.
Afar Depression (or Afar Triangle)
Sirolimus is an immunosuppressant drug used to prevent rejection in organ transplantation, especially useful in kidney transplants. First discovered in a soil sample from Easter Island, it also prolongs the life of mice and has promising anti-cancer properties. What is its alternative name, derived from its place of discovery?
Rapamycin
The UK Energy Research Centre is based at which university?
Imperial College, London
At which university is Mullard Space Science Laboratory?
UCL
What is moving at 4 centimetres every year away from the Earth?
The Moon
400 years ago, which Englishman, also sometimes credited with the introduction of the potato to Great Britain and Ireland (he worked for Walter Raleigh), was the first to draw a telescopically-enhanced map of the moon’s surface?
Thomas Harriot
The Artemisinin class of drugs, derived from wormwood, are used to treat what disease?
Malaria
DSLAMs are installed at exchanges by telephone companies to speed up customer access to the internet. What does DSLAM stand for?
Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer
The predicted effects of climate change have been thrown into doubt with the revelation that in mediaeval times, the occurances of what meteorological phenomenon was more frequent and stronger?
Hurricanes
In August 2009, unprecedented amounts of which algae washed up on the beaches of Brittany, producing large quantities of toxic hydrogen sulphide as it decomposed?
Sea Lettuce
Which English amateur astronomer’s 1859 astronomical observations first corroborated the existence of solar flares as well as their electrical influence upon the Earth and its aurorae; and took records of sunspot observations demonstrating differential rotation in the Sun?
Richard Carrington
The XREP is the next generation of Taser, and has been dubbed ‘The Taser shotgun’. What does XREP stand for?
Extended range electronic projectile
Scientists have announced that Stone Age residents of Scandinavia were unable to digest what, meaning that today’s Scandinavians must be descended from other, later invaders?
Milk
How does Jakarta, Indonesia, have a connection with Fermilab?
Batavia (former name and Fermilab’s Illinois location)
Which American agronomist, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate has been called “the father of the Green Revolution” and was one of only six people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal?
Norman Borlaug
Also known as magnetoelectronics, which emerging technology exploits the intrinsic spin of the electron for use in electronic circuits and electronic devices?
Spintronics
Cum mula peperit’ is the Latin for ‘Once in a blue moon’. What does it literally mean?
When a mule foals
In cosmology, what has been called the ‘ultimate free lunch’?
The proposition that the Universe was created out of nothing
Where in Sussex is Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank?
Wakehurst Place
Ares rockets are NASA’s replacement for the Shuttle and are one stage in which programme for human space exploration?
Constellation
What nickname has been given to the fossilized skeletal remains A. ramidus, an early human-like species 4.4 million years old found in Ethiopia. It is the most complete early hominid specimen, with most of the skull, teeth, pelvis, hands and feet?
Ardi
NASA’s WISE mission is an infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope launched in December 2009. It surveyed the entire sky over the course of six months. What does WISE stand for?
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer
Which telescope, built by a consortium of UK universities, is located at Paranal in Chile and was handed over to the European Southern Observatory in 2009?
VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy)
Which British amateur astronomer, author, broadcaster and former communications and computer engineer currently holds the record of spotting the most supernovae by one person: 125 supernovae, mostly from his observatory in Coddenham, Suffolk?
Tom Boles
Which English children’s author, primarily known for the Eddie Dickens series of books, has written more than 70 books including adult fiction and children’s non-fiction?
Philip Ardagh
Which TV family operated a sawmill in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the Depression?
The Waltons
In which Shakespeare comedy do the King of Navarre and his men swear to avoid the company of women for three years?
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Which British freshwater fish can have three spines or ten spines?
Stickleback
Argostoli is the capital of which Greek island?
Kefalonia
Which dance craze of the 1950s, popularised by Perez ‘Prez’ Prado, fused Cuban music with Jazz?
Mambo
Which species of sea eagle is the only one native to North America?
Bald eagle
Who was Carole King’s first husband, and song co-writer?
Jerry Goffin
What is the name of the facial expression used by Greek sculptors, especially in the second quarter of the sixth century BCE, possibly to suggest that their subject was alive, and infused with a sense of well-being. To viewers habituated to realism, it is flat and quite unnatural looking?
Archaic smile
Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla are collectively known as what?
The 3 kingdoms of Korea
What was the name of the daughter of Demeter and Zeus?
Persephone
What is the name of the drug dealer in Porgy and Bess?
Sportin’ Life
What song does Sportin’ Life since casting doubt on the literal truth of the Bible?
It Ain’t Necessarily So
What was the first place to host the Winter Olympics twice?
St Moritz
Which musical term, used particularly in hymnology, means a voice removed from others?
Descant
Who played Marty Hopkirk in the original 60s series?
Kenneth Cope
What is the English translation of the French ‘tire-bouchon’?
Corkscrew
What is the name of the world’s largest antelope?
Giant Eland
Which member of the cat family is sometimes called a ‘hunting leopard’?
Leopard
To what did the town of Plymouth Dock change its name in the c19?
Devonport
On which Caribbean island did Nelson marry Frances Nesbitt?
Nevis
Which man in 2008 missed the penalty that would have won Chelsea the Champions League?
John Terry
Jimmy McDonald took over what from Walt Disney?
The voice of Mickey Mouse
What is the modern name for India’s historic lowest class of ‘untouchables’?
Dalits
Which man, who died in 2005, was the first President of India to be a Dalit?
K R Narayanan
