Set 10 Flashcards
Jill Paton Walsh has completed unfinished works by which crime writer?
Dorothy L Sayers
Loose Change is a series of films directed by Dylan Avery released between 2005 and 2009 claiming what?
That September 11 was a conspiracy
James Marsh’d film Man on Wire chronicled whose tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Centre?
Philippe Petit
Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe was a film made after Herzog claimed he would eat his shoe if which man ever completed his documentary film ‘Gates of Heaven’?
Errol Morris
Who directed The Family, about the working-class Wilkins family of Reading in the 1970s, a pioneer of the reality genre? He also created Sylvania Waters in Australia.
Paul Watson
John le Carre’s son Nicholas Cornwell writes under which name?
Nicholas Harkaway
Which Japanese- American artist, landscape architect and furniture designer (1904-1988) also worked with Martha Graham on designing stage sets for her productions?
Isamu Noguchi
Which American singer, songwriter and composer created the scores for Awakenings, The Natural, Meet The Parents, Toy Story, A Bug’s Life and Monsters Inc., among many others?
Randy Newman
In which English city is there an arts centre called Quad?
Derby
One of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Chicago (2002)?
John C Reilly
Bizarro and The Siege of Malta were completed at the end of his life after the author had suffered three strokes. Which author?
Walter Scott
Which South African Jewish born screenwriter won an Oscar for the Pianist and was nominated for another for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly?
Ronald Harwood
Which originally Catholic award is given in the USA for film and TV writing that is ‘intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom’?
Humanitas Prize
James Frey was vilified for making up bits of which supposed autobiography?
A Million Little Pieces
With lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager and music by Marvin Hamlisch, which musical consists of a story based on the real-life relationship of Hamlisch and Sager; a wisecracking composer finds a new, offbeat lyricist, but initially the match is not one made in heaven?
They’re Playing Our Song
Carole Bayer Sager co-wrote which song that was a hit in 1965 and 1988?
A Groovy Kind of Love
Which Gilbert and Sullivan opera gives us the phrase ‘short sharp shock’?
The Mikado
The only outdoor sculpture in London of which king can be found at the north gate of St Bartholomew’s hospital?
Henry VIII
Who directed Tootsie?
Sydney Pollack
Born in Denison, IA, and for a time replacing Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie in Dallas, which woman won an Oscar, alongside Frank Sinatra, for her role in From Here To Eternity?
Donna Reed
Famous for works including Cloudstreet, The Riders and Dirt Music, which Perth-based author, born 1960, sets most of his books in Western Australia?
Tim Winton
Which French composer created the soundtrack for films including the Thomas Crown Affair, thereby writing Windmills of Your Mind?
Michel Legrand
In May 2008, Radio 3 broadcast every note of which composer’s music?
Chopin
Doris Lessing spent much of her childhood in which African country?
Rhodesia
Which British author had a hand in writing some of the lyrics for Showboat?
P G Wodehouse
Which European country installed Jonas Furrer as its first President in 1848, the incumbent changing on an annual basis since then?
Switzerland
Which American director was responsible for Nurse Betty, the filming of A.S.Byatt’s Possession (with Gwyneth Paltrow) and the awful 2006 remake of the Wicker Man?
Neil LaBute
Which city is most associated with the Indian Mutiny of 1857?
Meerut
Where in the City of London would you find a pony, a top bit, a saddle and a crop?
Smithfield Market (they’re cuts of meat)
How much does a Smithfield stone weight?
Eight pounds
Whose best-known work is the long poem V. (1985), written during the miners’ strike of 1984-85, and describing a trip to see his parents’ grave in a Leeds cemetery “now littered with beer cans and vandalised by obscene graffiti”?
Tony Harrison
The Subjection of Women was an early feminist work, but by which male philosopher?
John Stuart Mill
Which English woman is the author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House which won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction 2008, and the bestselling The Queen of Whale Cay, about Joe Carstairs, ‘fastest woman on water’, which won a Somerset Maugham Award in 1998?
Kate Summerscale
Who was the ex-Nazi villain of Moonraker?
Hugo Drax
Who completed Turandot?
Francesco Alfano
Born 1942, he is an Austrian filmmaker and writer best known for his bleak and disturbing style. His films often document problems and failures in modern society. At the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, his film The White Ribbon won the Palme d’Or for best film, and at the 67th Golden Globe Awards the film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. What’s his name?
Michael Haneke
Which British astronomer’s works of fiction include the Black Cloud? He was also famous for his remark about space being only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight up.
Fred Hoyle
Christmas disease is a subset of which other disorder?
Haemophilia
Which two countries contested the Battle of Kentish Knock in 1652?
England and the Netherlands
Which rank comes between captain and rear-admiral in the RN?
Commodore
Harriet Said was the first completed novel by which contemporary British author, who died in 2010?
Beryl Bainbridge
Ain’t Got No- I Got Life by Nina Simone was from which musical?
Hair
Which director was known as the King of the B-Movie?
Roger Corman
Which French-born playwright wrote the play Art?
Yasmina Reza
Who wrote The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao?
Junot Diaz
Who write the official song for Liverpool as it became City of Culture 2008?
Ringo Starr
When Zia ul-Haq, the President of Pakistan, was asked how a group of peasants (the Mujahadeen) had been able to repel a superpower (Russia), what was his three-word reply?
Charlie did it
Which French playwright was the original author of La Cage Aux Folles?
Jean Poiret
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days tells the tragic story of two female university students who try to arrange an illegal abortion during the late 1980s. It won a Cannes Palme d’Or and was set in which country?
Romania
Who directed Brokeback Mountain and Lust, Caution?
Ang Lee
The third largest buiilding in the world, and a hangar originally intended to house the construction of a giant airship, this building near Berlin now houses an indoor, artificial tropical resort. What was its original name?
Aerium
Which is the largest building in the world by floor area?
Terminal 3, Dubai airport
Which building displaced the Pentagon as the largest building in the USA in the late 2000s?
The Palazzo hotel, Las Vegas
Which Oscar-winning songwriter wrote the songs for films including Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Winnie the Pooh, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The AristoCats and The Slipper and the Rose?
Richard Sherman
Jerry Seinfeld co-wrote and voiced Which animated film in 2007?
Bee Movie
Who directed The Incredibles and Ratatouille?
Brad Bird
In the 1960s he and Breyten Breytenbach were key figures in the Afrikaans literary movement known as Die Sestigers (“The Sixtyers”). These writers sought to use Afrikaans as a language to speak against the apartheid government, and also to bring into Afrikaans literature the influence of contemporary English and French trends. Which writer?
Andre Brink
He started writing at the age of seven when after the death of two of his three pet hamsters, he wrote a poem about the loneliness of the remaining pet. Famous for novels including Death and the Penguin, and Penguin lost, what is the name of this Ukrainian literary giant, born 1961?
Andrey Kurkov
Which director was responsible for Flight 93 and the Bourne Ultimatum?
Paul Greengrass
Which English comedian’s debut novel was Murder Most Fab?
Julian Clary
Which leading figure in American abstract expressionism (1904-1980) will have a museum dedicated to his work open in Denver in 2011?
Clyfford Still
Which man, 1915-1991, was one of the youngest abstract expressionists in the New York School, a phrase which he coined himself? He married female artist Helen Frankenthaler.
Robert Motherwell
The world’s largest indoor theme park is at Yas, Abu Dhabi, with which specific motorsport theme?
Ferrari (World)
What is the forename of Nigel Kneale’s son, who was shortlisted for the Booker and won the Whitbread in 2000 with his novel English Passengers?
Matthew
British virtuoso Steven Isserlis is most associated with which musical instrument?
Cello
Which Somerset Maughan story is set in China and has been filmed three times- in 1934, 1957 (as The Seventh Sin) and 2006?
The Painted Veil
Which famous Britain lived at Hoglands, Hertfordshire, now a museum dedicated to his life and work?
Henry Moore
Koanga is an African prince and voodoo priest in the eponymous opera by whom?
Frederick Delius
Which Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer first came to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, played with Maynard Ferguson and was one of the instigators of jazz fusion?
Joe Zawinul
In the 2006 film Fur, Nicole kidman starred as which real-life photographer?
Diane Arbus
Daniel Palmer invented which alternative medical practice in Iowa Magnetic Studio in 1895?
Chiropracty
Name all of Yorkshire’s ‘Five Towns’.
Castleford, Normanton, Featherstone, Pontefract, Knottingley
Dimitri Szarzewski plays rugby for which country?
France
In a phrase coined by the poet Edward Young, what do you do if you join the great majority?
You die
Name both of the German dams breached by the Dambusters raid.
Mohne and Edersee
Which German dam was a target of the Dambusters raid but held?
Sorpe
A New Zealander, who is the only surviving member of the Dambusters raid as of 2010?
Les Munro
Which Lancashire carpenter produced the now standard numbering arrangement for dartboards?
Brian Gamlin
How far is the oche from the dartboard?
7 foot 9 and 3/4 inches
In which version of darts is the oche nine feet from the board?
London fives
Which anatomical name is sometimes given to the outer bull in darts?
Iris
Which feature on a dartboard appeared briefly in the 1990s and enabled a score of 240 to be achieved?
Quad ring
In darts, you ‘go bust’ if your score is below zero. Which is the only positive score at which you ‘go bust’?
One
The PDC’s World Grand Prix darts format is different from standard- you have to start on a double. What is this called?
Doubling-in
There are many ways of achieving a nine-dart finish, but purists regard which combination as the ‘best’ way?
Three 167s (T20, T19, bull)
What is the name of the version of darts where each number has to be hit in sequence?
Round the Clock
What number score do you start on in London Fives darts?
505
Which darts game is played on a diamond-shaped board, as it has similarities with the scoring system in baseball?
Dartball
In darts, what is a Shanghai?
A single, double and a treble of the same number
In darts, the World Matchplay championships are sponsored by which betting firm?
Stan James
In the 2000s, the International Darts League and the World Darts Trophy attempted to bring BDO and PDC players together in the same competition, but both were pulled. In which country were they held?
Netherlands
In the list of multiple Darts world champions, Phil Taylor easily leads with 15. Who is in second place, with eight?
Trina Gulliver
Which darts player is nicknamed The Limestone Cowboy?
Bob Anderson
Which darts player is nicknamed The Prince of Wales?
Richie Burnett
Which darts player is nicknamed The Deadly Boomerang?
Tony David
Which darts player is nicknamed The Milky Bar Kid?
Keith Deller
Which darts player is nicknamed McDanger?
Les Wallace
What is Jelle Klaasen’s nickname in darts?
The Matador
How many players on a baseball team?
Nine
In baseball, teams switch between fielding and batting every time what event happens?
Three batsmen are out
The Major League Baseball is divided into which two parts?
National League and American League
What is the name of the rower closest to the stern?
Stroke
At which Olympics did the women’s rowing events start?
Montreal 1976
Which c19 rower from Cornwall achieved national celebrity by beating men’s crews with her all female boats?
Ann Glanville
Where are the Remenham Challenge Cup and the Princess Grace Challenge Cup contested?
Henley regatta
Which rowing club did not admit women until 1997?
Leander
What is the name of the rowing held at the Paralympics?
Adaptive rowing
In paralympic rowing, what does LTA stand for?
Legs, Trunk, Arms
In rowing notation, what shows the presence or absence of a cox?
A plus or minus sign (e.g. M8+ is a men’s coxed eight)
What’s the name of the kicking style required in butterfly stroke?
Dolphin kick
Before metrication, how long in yards was what is now the 1500m swimming race?
1650 yards
What determines the order of strokes in a medley race?
Alphabetical (Backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle)
Competitive swimming swarms with officials. As well as timekeepers and referees, there are judges of which two aspects of technique?
(Inspector of) turns and (judges of) stroke
Which swim meet officials make sure the swimmers finish with both hands on the side?
Finish judges
Which swim meet official gathers swimmers for the start of the race?
Clerk of the Course
In which body of water was the swimming at the 1896 and 1906 (intercalated) Olympics?
Mediterranean Sea
In which body of water was the swimming at the 1900 Olympics?
River Seine
At a three-day swim meet, which events take place on the first day?
Distance events
Which suits are worn by swimmers while training to deliberately slow them down, so they go faster in competitions?
Drag suits
What name is given to swimming out of a pool, such as in a lake or ocean?
Open water swimming
What was unusual about the swimming events at the 1904 Olympics?
Only one in which distances were measured in yards
Which swimming innovation was introduced at the 1924 Olympics?
50 metre pool
Which swimming innovation was introduced at the 1936 Olympics?
Diving blocks
Which swimming innovation was introduced at the 1976 Olympics?
Goggles
What turn is used in swimming to go from backstroke to breaststoke?
Bucket turn
What name is given to races and records set in a 25m rather than a 50m pool in swimming?
Short course
The earliest dartboards were made of which type of wood, soaked overnight so that the holes healed?
Elm
Which company was the first to manufacture a dartboard out of sisal fibre?
Nodor
What is the diameter of a regulation dartboard?
17 and 3/4 inches
Perrigo Manchester and London Fives are variants of what?
Dartboards
How many segments does a London Fives dartboard have?
Twelve
Which country’s baseball is split into the Central League and the Pacific League?
Japan
What is the name of the tenth man added to the traditional nine in a baseball team who bats for the pitcher?
Designated hitter
Mediaeval French games including La Soule, Theque, La Balle au Baton and La Balle Empoisonee are thought to be the ancestors of which modern sport?
Baseball
A Little Pretty Pocket Book by John Newbury was the first to mention which sport by name?
Baseball
What rules, developed by Alexander Cartwright, are the basis of baseball?
Knickerbocker rules
Which ‘gentleman’s agreement’ kept blacks out of Major League Baseball from the early 1890s?
The colour bar
The last major change to the modern rules of baseball, in 1901, was to count foul balls as what?
Strikes
The National League in US baseball is the oldest one, so is sometimes referred to as what?
The senior circuit
Fred Merkle committed a famous gaffe in a crucial 1908 game for the New York Giants that became known by what two-word name?
Merkle’s boner
The American League evolved from which earlier league?
Western league
The World Series got off to a shaky start as which team refused to play the winners of the American League, not recognising it as a major league?
New York Giants
In baseball, which legal device was used to bind players to their team even after their contract had ended?
Reserve Clause
Which three-word phrase is used to describe the events of 1919, when the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series?
Black Sox Scandal
As a result of the Black Sox Scandal, what post was created to oversee probity in baseball?
Commissioner of Baseball
Which was the first significant ‘coloured’ league, founded in 1920?
Negro National League
Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson were famous in what position in 1920s baseball?
Pitcher
What was the name of the period in baseball up to the early 1920s where pitchers dominated, throwing blindingly fast balls, with hitters unable to score many runs?
Dead ball era
Which team invented the farm system in baseball, when general manager Branch Rickey invested in several minor league clubs?
St Louis Cardinals
What name is given to children’s baseball leagues in the USA?
Little League Baseball
Which Chicago Cubs owner created the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during WW2?
Philip Wrigley
Jackie Robinson debuted for which team, thereby breaking the colour bar, in 1947?
Brooklyn Dodgers
Which black player debuted for the Cleveland Indians the same year as Jackie Robinson?
Larry Doby
In 1958, where did the Brooklyn Dodgers relocate?
Los Angeles
In the same year, where did the New York Giants relocate?
San Francisco
Which was the last Major League team to add a black player to its roster, in 1959?
Boston Red Sox
Which baseball team play in Anaheim?
Los Angeles Angels
With an increase in the number of games played per season, which player was able to beat Babe Ruth’s single season home run record in the early 1960s?
Roger Maris
After the 1968 baseball season, why was the strike zone reduced and the pitcher’s mound lowered?
To counter the dominance of the pitcher
In 1969, which St Louis Cardinals player made the first legal challenge to the reserve clause?
Curt Flood
In 1975, the reserve clause was finally struck down by a court decision. What was the name of that ruling?
The Seitz decision
In what year was the World Series cancelled for the first time ever due to a players strike?
1994
In October 2010, having pitched a perfect game that May, which Phillies pitcher pitched only the second no-hitter in MLB postseason history?
Roy Halliday
As well as Mark McGwire, which other man beat Roger Maris’ single-season home run record in 1998?
Sammy Sosa
In 2001, who established the current record of 73 home runs in a single season?
Barry Bonds
In 2007, Barry Bonds beat whose record to become the all-time baseball home runs record holder?
Hank Aaron
In baseball, the balance between bat and ball swung so rapidly in 2010 after a period of hitter dominance, the year was nicknamed what?
The year of the pitcher
Which was the first Canadian club to join the American MLB in 1969?
Montreal Expos
In which year did the Toronto Blue Jays become the first, and still the only, club from outside the USA to win the World Series?
1992
In 2004 the Montreal Expos became which new team after relocating to the USA?
Washington Nationals
Sadaharu Oh set the global record for professional home runs while playing for which Japanese team from 1959 to 1980?
Yomiuri Giants
In which country was the first formal baseball league outside the USA or Canada founded in 1878?
Cuba
Which country boasts the most successful and longest established baseball league in Europe?
The Netherlands
Which were the first Olympics to feature baseball, although it has now been dropped from the Olympic programme?
1992 Barcelona
By custom , in baseball, which team bats at the top (i.e in the first half) of each inning?
Visitors
In baseball, what is the infield made of?
Dirt
In baseball, which chalk line runs along two sides of the diamond and behind the home plate?
Foul line
In baseball, what line divides the infield from the outfield?
Grass line
If the area outside the foul line is called foul territory, what is the rest of a baseball field called?
Fair territory
What name is given to the plate at the top of a pitcher’s mound in baseball due to the material it is made from?
The rubber
What is the baseball equivalent of the wicket-keeper in cricket?
Catcher
In baseball, which fielding position, as well as second baseman, is typically close to second base?
Short stop
What are the three basic outfield positions in baseball?
Left/centre/right fielder
In baseball, a batter who reachs first base without any fielding errors is credited with what?
A hit
In baseball, what name is given to a fielder advancing to the next base while a ball is being pitched?
Stolen base
In baseball, if the batter has ‘flied out’, what has happened?
The ball he hit has been caught
In baseball, what name is given to two outs in the same play?
Double play
In baseball, what name is given to the off-field area where pitchers warm up?
Bullpen
What are the two positions that a team’s coaches overlook from coaching boxes in baseball?
First base and third base
In MLB, how many umpires are used per game?
Four
In the playoffs, how many umpires are used per game?
Six
In baseball, what is the alternative name for the changeup, a type of pitched ball?
An off-speed pitch
In baseball pitches, the curveball is one of the two breaking balls. Which is the other?
The slider
In baseball, what name is given to a batsman hitting a ball that he knows is likely to get him out so that a team-mate can at least advance bases while it happens and score?
Sacrifice
A sacrifice bunt employed with a runner on third base, aimed at bringing that runner home, is known as what?
A squeeze play
Minute Maid Park is the home of which MLB team?
Houston Astros
Which stadium, home to the Colorado Rockies, is famed as a hitter’s park due to its high altitude?
Coors Field
Which team plays at Wrigley Field?
Chicago Cubs
Which player, active in the 1980s, is MLB’s all time leader in runs and stolen bases?
Rickey Henderson
In baseball statistics, what does RBIs stand for?
Runs Batted In
