2019–20 Season: Week 6 – 12 November 2019
Specialist Rounds
All questions set by the Queens, vetted by the Waters Green Lemmings and the Park Taverners.
Specialist rounds:
1 Geography
2 History
3 Arts & Entertainment: an anthology
4 Scientific Firsts
5 Sporting Knights & Dames
6 On your marques
7 Doctor Who?
8 All Stations Go
Round 1: Geography
1 |
After Scafell Pike and Scafell, what is England's third highest mountain? |
|
Helvellyn |
2 |
What's the highest mountain in Canada and the second highest in North America? |
|
Mount Logan |
3 |
Bastia is the main commercial and industrial town on which Mediterranean island? |
|
Corsica |
4 |
Which country was known until 1971 as the Trucial States? |
|
United Arab Emirates |
5 |
In which country is the desert valley of Wadi Rum, famous for its association with Lawrence of Arabia? |
|
Jordan |
6 |
In New York, which island is shared by the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens? |
|
Long Island |
7 |
In which English city does the river Cherwell join the Thames? |
|
Oxford |
8 |
Which river flows through the city of Hereford? |
|
The Wye |
Supplementaries:
1 |
What's the second highest mountain in Africa? |
|
Mount Kenya |
2 |
Which country is linked to Pakistan by the Khyber Pass? |
|
Afghanistan |
Round 2: History
1 |
What name has been shared by three Scottish kings and three Russian tsars or emperors? |
|
Alexander |
2 |
Which war was effectively ended by the signing of an armistice on the 27th of July 1953? |
|
The Korean War |
3 |
What was the name of the party led by General Franco during the Spanish Civil War? |
|
Falange (Española de las Jons) |
4 |
Robert Devereux, a favourite of Queen Elizabeth the First, was the Second Earl of where? |
|
Essex |
5 |
Which island in the Solomon Islands gave its name to the naval battle which began on this day in 1942? |
|
Guadalcanal |
6 |
Born on this day in 1866, who became the first president of the Republic of China following the overthrow of the last emperor
in 1912? |
|
Sun Yat-sen |
7 |
Which Guardian of Scotland defeated the English in 1297, lost the return fixture the following year, and was hanged, drawn and
quartered in 1305? |
|
William Wallace |
8 |
Under whose reign were the kingdoms of England and Scotland united? |
|
Queen Anne (in 1707 – before then England and Scotland were separate
states with the same monarch) |
Supplementaries:
1 |
Who was President of the USA when Margaret Thatcher became UK Prime Minister? |
|
Jimmy Carter |
2 |
In which year was the Berlin Wall erected? |
|
1961 |
Round 3: Arts & Entertainment: an anthology
Each answer is, or contains, the name of a flower.
1 |
Which author won the Booker prize in 1978 for her novel The Sea, The Sea? |
|
Iris Murdoch |
2 |
Which flowers are depicted in a series of paintings by Claude Monet, known in French as Nymphéas? |
|
Water lilies |
3 |
According to Rogers & Hammerstein, what is the 'blossom of snow'? |
|
Edelweiss |
4 |
Which novel by Alexandre Dumas is about a gardening competition in the Netherlands? |
|
The Black Tulip |
5 |
Cate Blanchett won her only Best Actress Oscar to date for her role in which 2013 Woody Allen film? |
|
Blue Jasmine |
6 |
Which group's UK hits in the 1970s included Car Wash and Wishing on a Star? |
|
Rose Royce |
7 |
Which character created by Roald Dahl has won trophies for gum–chewing and ends up with skin the colour of a blueberry?
(Full name required) |
|
Violet Beauregarde |
8 |
Which 1988 film starring Winona Ryder gets its title from the fact that three of the principal characters have the same first
name? |
|
Heathers |
Supplementaries:
1 |
Which Oasis album was the best–selling album of the 1990s in the UK? |
|
What's the story (morning glory) |
2 |
What is the name of the street at the centre of the TV series Desperate Housewives? |
|
Wisteria Lane |
Round 4: Science – Scientific Firsts
1 |
In the periodic table, which element comes first alphabetically? |
|
Actinium |
2 |
In 1781, what was the first planet to be discovered with a telescope? |
|
Uranus |
3 |
Who is generally credited with creating the first battery? |
|
Alessandro Volta |
4 |
Which subatomic particle takes its name from the Greek for 'first'? |
|
Proton |
5 |
Who was awarded the first Nobel prize in physics for his discovery of X rays? |
|
Wilhelm Röntgen |
6 |
In First Aid, the mnemonic ABC is often used for basic life–saving assessment. Give any one of the three words represented
by ABC. |
|
Airway, Breathing, Circulation |
7 |
Earlier this year, the Event Horizon Telescope produced the first–ever image of what phenomenon? |
|
Black hole |
8 |
What is the first and softest mineral on the Mohs scale of hardness? |
|
Talc |
Supplementaries:
1 |
From which animal were the first vaccines obtained? |
|
A cow |
10 |
What is the first three–digit prime number? |
|
101 |
Round 5: Sport – Sporting Knights and Dames
You will get some clues to a sporting personality who has received a knighthood or damehood.
1 |
Locally born, and one of the most successful sailors in Olympic history, with four gold medals between 2000 and 2012 plus a
silver in 1996 |
|
Ben Ainslie |
2 |
One of the ten National Heroes of Barbados; the first man to take 100 wickets and 100 catches, and score 1000 runs, in Test
cricket |
|
Garfield (Garry) Sobers |
3 |
The first non–American to finish at the top of the Ladies' PGA money list; winner of the Ladies' European Tour
Order of Merit a record seven times between 1985 and 2006 |
|
Laura Davies |
4 |
Six times British track cycling champion; and the most successful female British Paralympian of all time, with a total of 14
gold medals in cycling and swimming |
|
Sarah Storey |
5 |
Knighted in 2018 for services to football, particularly in recognition of his support to the families and victims of the 1989
Hillsborough disaster |
|
Kenny Dalglish |
6 |
Great Britain's most decorated female Olympian, with five rowing medals, and the current chair of UK Sport |
|
Katherine Grainger |
7 |
Probably the greatest driver never to have won the Formula 1 World Championship; runner–up four times and third three
times, between 1955 and 1961 |
|
Stirling Moss |
8 |
One of the first British pair to climb the North Face of the Eiger, and leader of five major Himalayan expeditions between
1970 and 1982 |
|
Chris Bonington |
Supplementaries:
1 |
Winner of the Heptathlon gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics |
|
Jessica Ennis(–Hill) |
2 |
Any one of the three people that were knighted in 2019 for services to cricket |
|
Alastair Cook, Geoffrey Boycott or Andrew
Strauss |
Round 6: On Your Marques
Each answer contains the name of a classic British car marque.
1 |
Which road bridge crosses the Thames between Chelsea Bridge and Lambeth Bridge? |
|
Vauxhall |
2 |
In Coronation Street, who was Gail's third husband – and not one of her better choices? |
|
Richard Hillman |
3 |
In Rudyard Kipling's poem If, which is the first of the two impostors we are warned about? |
|
Triumph |
4 |
Which American tennis player's career was effectively ended at the age of 26 by a near–fatal motor vehicle accident
on the 3rd of August 1989? |
|
Tracey Austin |
5 |
Which tidal estuary is formed by the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Trent? |
|
The Humber |
6 |
Which professional American Football franchise is based in Jacksonville, Florida? |
|
The (Jacksonville) Jaguars |
7 |
Who was hanged in 1953 for the murder of PC Sidney Miles? |
|
Derek Bentley |
8 |
In the 1860s, who lived at Red House, in Bexleyheath, Kent, which he co–designed himself and which now belongs to the
National Trust? |
|
William Morris |
Supplementaries:
1 |
First published in 1923, what was the last novel completed by Joseph Conrad? |
|
The Rover |
2 |
The Hayward Gallery in London is currently presenting a retrospective of which 88–year old British artist, one of the
most influential exponents of Op Art? |
|
Bridget Riley |
Round 7: Doctor Who?
A round about doctors, both real and fictional.
1 |
Which fictional character was created by A. J. Cronin and played on television by Bill Simpson? |
|
Doctor Finlay |
2 |
What character has been played on film by Rex Harrison and Eddie Murphy? |
|
Doctor Dolittle |
3 |
Having been presumed by many to be dead, who was located in Ujiji, Tanzania in October 1871? |
|
Dr. David Livingstone |
4 |
Which writer and lexicographer was born in Lichfield in 1709? |
|
Dr. Samuel Johnson |
5 |
What was the pen name of the author born Theodore Geisel in 1904? |
|
Dr. Seuss |
6 |
Born in London in 1836, who was the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon? |
|
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson |
7 |
Which doctor was arrested in 1910 aboard the SS Montrose? |
|
Dr. Crippen |
8 |
Who opened his first 'ragged school' in London's East End in 1867, and his Juvenile Mission the following year? |
|
Dr. Barnardo |
Supplementaries:
1 |
Which Stanley Kubrick film satirises Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States? |
|
Dr. Strangelove |
2 |
In which play by Christopher Marlowe does the title character strike a deal with Lucifer? |
|
Doctor Faustus |
Round 8: All stations go
Each answer is, or contains, the name of a railway station in the UK.
1 |
Which is the UK's smallest city, in terms of both area and population? |
|
St Davids |
2 |
Which former bank was founded in Birmingham in 1836 and advertised with the slogan 'The Listening Bank'? |
|
Midland Bank |
3 |
Located on Vancouver Island, what is the capital of the Canadian province of British Columbia? |
|
Victoria |
4 |
At which specific location could you see the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain and statue? |
|
Piccadilly Circus |
5 |
What 7 letter word is defined by Chambers Dictionary as 'a model of perfection or supreme elegance', and also refers
to a perfect diamond? |
|
Paragon |
6 |
Which 1814 novel by Sir Walter Scott is set at the time of the Jacobite uprising and is often regarded as one of the first
historical novels? |
|
Waverley |
7 |
Which 2014 film and its 2017 sequel star Ben Whishaw as the voice of the title character? |
|
Paddington |
8 |
In the vaccine abbreviated to MMR, what does the second M stand for? |
|
Mumps |
Supplementaries:
1 |
What did the Duke of Wellington describe as "the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life"? |
|
The Battle of Waterloo |
2 |
Which Belgian town gives its name to any place whose waters are believed to have health–giving properties? |
|
Spa |
Just in case anyone is wondering about the locations of the stations in the answers:
St Davids: Exeter |
Waverley: Edinburgh |
Midland: Nottingham/Derby |
Paddington: London |
Victoria: Manchester/London |
Mumps: Oldham |
Piccadilly: Manchester |
Waterloo: London |
Paragon: Hull |
Spa: Bath |
| |
General Knowledge
1 |
The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates died after drinking what poison? |
|
Hemlock |
2 |
Who was the first divorcee to become President of the USA? |
|
Ronald Reagan |
3 |
Which diocese was Justin Welby the bishop of, before being appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury? |
|
Durham |
4 |
Which recent TV drama series was based on the real–life story of the industrialist Anne Lister? |
|
Gentleman Jack |
5 |
In the acronym UCAS, what does the A stand for? |
|
Admissions (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service) |
6 |
Which brothers opened a club called the Double R Club in Bow Street, London, in 1957? |
|
Ronnie & Reggie Kray |
7 |
The word 'wiki', as in Wikipedia, means 'quick' – in which language? |
|
Hawaiian |
8 |
From which plant is linseed oil obtained? |
|
Flax |
9 |
Who made the news in 1995 when he kicked Matthew Simmons? |
|
Eric Cantona |
10 |
Give either of the two words from the NATO phonetic alphabet used by US troops in Vietnam to refer to the Viet Cong? |
|
Victor or Charlie |
11 |
Who was US President when Queen Elizabeth the Second acceded to the throne? |
|
Harry S Truman |
12 |
Which Scottish–American businessman and philanthropist, born in 1835, endowed more than 2,500 public libraries around
the world? |
|
Andrew Carnegie |
13 |
The Irishman, starring Robert de Niro and Al Pacino, is the latest film by which director? |
|
Martin Scorsese |
14 |
What's the capital of Azerbaijan? |
|
Baku |
15 |
Who assassinated John Lennon? |
|
Mark Chapman |
16 |
Name any of the three countries that use Farsi as an official language. |
|
Iran, Afghanistan, or Tajikistan |
17 |
Which group's first UK top 10 hit was Girls on Film in 1981? |
|
Duran Duran |
18 |
In computing, what does the D stand for in the abbreviation PDF? |
|
Document (Portable Document Format) |
19 |
In which country were Granny Smith apples first cultivated? |
|
Australia |
20 |
Which parts of the body does a myologist specialise in? |
|
Muscles |
21 |
Which Italian city gives its name to a yellowish–brown or reddish–brown pigment? |
|
Siena |
22 |
In architecture, what sort of structure is a cupola (pronounced cue–puller)? |
|
A dome |
|
23 |
What name links the characters played by Todd Carty in Grange Hill and Peter Capaldi in The Thick Of It? |
|
Tucker ('Tucker' Jenkins and Malcom Tucker) |
24 |
Which brand of lager has a name derived from a Scandinavian word for "cheers" (as in an informal toast)? |
|
Skol |
25 |
Who was the first person to walk in space? He died last month. |
|
Alexei Leonov |
26 |
Alex Turner is the lead singer of which British indie rock group, formed in 2002? |
|
Arctic Monkeys |
27 |
To which parts of the body does the adjective 'brachial' apply? |
|
The arms |
28 |
Which nickname links guitarist Dave Evans and the former WWE wrestler Adam Copeland? |
|
Edge |
29 |
Which building is home to the US Congress? |
|
The Capitol |
30 |
The Australian city of Adelaide was named after the wife of which king? |
|
William IV |
31 |
Which UK supermarket took over Safeway in 2004? |
|
Morrisons |
32 |
Which event of the 20th century was known in the Republic of Ireland as 'the Emergency'? |
|
World War II |
33 |
The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within which state? |
|
New South Wales |
34 |
What is the subtitle of Episode IX of the Star Wars series, due for release in the US next month? |
|
The Rise of Skywalker |
35 |
Which Spanish golfer is nicknamed El Niño? |
|
Sergio Garcia |
36 |
What do Edith Piaf, Frederic Chopin, Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison have in common? |
|
They're all buried in the same cemetery (Père Lachaise, Paris) |
37 |
Name the German–born author of children's books including The Tiger who Came to Tea, who died earlier this
year. |
|
Judith Kerr |
38 |
What name is given to the warm, dry wind that blows across the Mediterranean from North Africa, sometimes causing 'blood
rain' in Italy as it picks up moisture? |
|
Sirocco |
39 |
After the invasion of France during World War II, who led the government in exile known as Free France? |
|
Charles de Gaulle |
40 |
Who refused an Oscar in 1973 (having already won one in 1955)? |
|
Marlon Brando |
41 |
What's the alternative, English name for the delphinium? |
|
Larkspur |
42 |
According to the Bible, which insects formed the eighth plague of Egypt? |
|
Locusts |
43 |
Which anti–Brexit political campaign group takes its three–word name from a phrase referring to soldiers in the
First World War who were sent to their deaths by incompetent and indifferent leaders? |
|
Led by Donkeys |
44 |
Which London theatre opened in 1881 as a showcase for Gilbert & Sullivan's operas? |
|
The Savoy Theatre |
45 |
What is the last event in the Olympic decathlon? |
|
1500 metres |
46 |
Which American newspaper publisher provided the inspiration for Orson Welles's Citizen Kane? |
|
William Randolph Hearst |
47 |
Who won the 1963 Best Actor Oscar for the role of Atticus Finch? |
|
Gregory Peck |
48 |
Name the journalist and broadcaster who was the second presenter of Question Time and died last month. |
|
Peter Sissons |
49 |
What was the original use of the building that now houses the Tate Modern art gallery? |
|
Power station |
50 |
Which writer was born in 1832 in the Cheshire village of Daresbury? |
|
Lewis Carroll (accept Charles Dodgson) |
51 |
In which opera do the characters the Queen of the Night and the bird catcher Papageno appear? |
|
The Magic Flute |
52 |
Which scientist has been chosen to appear on the next edition of the £50 note, due to be issued in 2021? |
|
Alan Turing |
53 |
Frederick Delius, David Hockney and J. B. Priestley were all born in which city? |
|
Bradford |
54 |
Which actress was married to Tony Curtis from 1951 to 1962? |
|
Janet Leigh |
55 |
What two–word term refers to the hot summer weather which was historically the period when Sirius rises with the
Sun? |
|
Dog days |
56 |
In which country is the state of Tabasco? |
|
Mexico |
57 |
Whose first wife, from 1987 to 1990, was Mimi Rogers? |
|
Tom Cruise |
58 |
What word describes a member of the generation defined by Collins English Dictionary as "the young adults of the 2010s,
viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations"? |
|
Snowflake |
59 |
Who was the first Director General of the BBC? |
|
(Lord) John Reith |
60 |
The French designer René Lalique is best known for his work in what medium? |
|
Glass |
61 |
In 9th–century England, what name was given to the tax raised as protection money to pay off the Vikings, or to fund
forces to oppose them? |
|
Danegeld |
62 |
Thomas Hardy took the title of his novel Far from the Madding Crowd from which poem? |
|
Elegy written in a Country Churchyard (accept
Gray's Elegy) |
63 |
Apart from Psalms, what's the only book in the Old Testament whose name begins with P? |
|
Proverbs |
64 |
Whose world record was recently beaten by the Kenyan Brigid Kosgei, having stood for 16 years? |
|
Paula Radcliffe |
65 |
A new usage of what word means to abruptly end a relationship by cutting off communication, especially online? |
|
Ghost(ing) |
66 |
Who has held the men's triple jump world record since 1995? |
|
|
Jonathan Edwards |
67 |
In which fairy tale does a witch cut out the tongue of the title character to get her voice? |
|
The Little Mermaid |
68 |
Who is the king of the gods in Roman mythology, regarded as equivalent to the Greek Zeus? |
|
Jupiter (accept Jove) |
69 |
What word for a rain cloud can also mean a halo that surrounds a person in a work of art? |
|
Nimbus |
70 |
Who is the newly appointed Speaker of the House of Commons? |
|
Sir Lindsay Hoyle |
71 |
The region known as Pomerania is partly in Germany, but mainly in which other country? |
|
Poland |
72 |
On which radio programme could you get advice from Pippa Greenwood and James Wong? |
|
Gardeners' Question Time |
73 |
Which fabric gets its name from a Middle Eastern capital city? |
|
Damask |
74 |
The islands of Java and Sumatra form part of which country? |
|
Indonesia |
75 |
In which play did Shakespeare refer to jealousy as "the green–eyed monster"? |
|
Othello |
76 |
Who wrote the plays Mother Courage and her Children and The Caucasian Chalk Circle? |
|
Bertolt Brecht |
77 |
What is the senior regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Household Cavalry, along with the Blues and Royals? |
|
|
The Life Guards |
78 |
According to legend, the seamstress Betsy Ross was responsible for designing what? |
|
The American flag (Stars & Stripes) |
79 |
Who was recently dubbed Wagatha Christie by the tabloid press following leaks of stories about her to the press? |
|
Coleen Rooney |
80 |
Why is the 31st of July 1970 known in certain quarters as Black Tot Day? |
|
It was the last day that the Royal Navy
issued a rum ration. |
81 |
In which British city was the Encyclopaedia Britannica published, from its inception in 1768 until it moved to America
in 1901? |
|
Edinburgh |
82 |
In UK Imperial measurement, how many pounds make a hundredweight? |
|
112 |
83 |
In which US state is the town of Tombstone, famous for the gunfight at the OK Corral which took place there in 1881? |
|
Arizona |
84 |
Which modern–day country was known to the ancient Romans as Helvetia? |
|
Switzerland |
85 |
Who wrote the poem Funeral Blues, also known as Stop All the Clocks, which featured in the film
Four Weddings and a Funeral? |
|
W H Auden |
86 |
Which UK daily newspaper began life in 1930 as the Daily Worker? |
|
The Morning Star (do not accept The Star!) |
87 |
What type of animal is a percheron? |
|
A horse |
88 |
In the Christian calendar, what feast is celebrated 40 days after Easter? |
|
|
Ascension Day (accept Holy Thursday) |
89 |
At what venue in Cheshire does the RHS hold an annual flower show? |
|
Tatton Park |
90 |
Which martial art has a name that means 'way of the sword'? |
|
Kendo |
91 |
Metaxa is a spirit originating in which country? |
|
Greece |
92 |
What is the name of the cherry brandy traditionally used in a Black Forest gateau? |
|
Kirsch (or Kirschwasser) |
93 |
Who was the first child born to a reigning UK monarch in the 20th century? |
|
|
Prince Andrew |
94 |
Which current West End musical includes the songs Popular and Defying Gravity? |
|
Wicked |
95 |
In which game would you be most likely to 'peg out'? |
|
Cribbage |
|
96 |
Pembroke and Cardigan are varieties of which breed of dog? |
|
Corgi |
Supplementaries:
1 |
Which famous song dates from 1895, when 'Banjo' Paterson put words to the military tune The Craigielee March? |
|
Waltzing Matilda |
2 |
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the address of which famous building? |
|
The White House |
3 |
With an area of 30 acres, which is Britain's second largest castle, after Windsor? |
|
Caerphilly |
4 |
Which company released the original Donkey Kong game in 1981? |
|
Nintendo |
5 |
Which country with a Mediterranean coastline lies between Algeria and Libya? |
|
Tunisia |
© Macclesfield Quiz League 2019