Round 1
Question 1
The American Cleaning Institute has a five-step guide on how to wash the dishes by hand. What items does it recommend washing last?
Answer: Cookware / pots and pans
1 point
Question 2
What word completes the title of a single by American group Beastie Boys: (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To …!)?
Answer: Party
1 point
Question 3
When written in their standard format, what is the smallest number created using three different Roman numerals?
Answer: 14 (XIV)
*All numbers from 1-8 are used simply with I and V. Numbers 9-13 are made using I and X.
1 point
Question 4
What cake, known for its distinct pink and yellow quadrant pattern, is named for the German royal house that changed its name to Mountbatten after marrying into the British royal family?
Answer: Battenberg
1 point
Question 5
Which German revolutionized printing by creating a new form of movable printing press in the middle of the 15th century?
Answer: Johannes Gutenberg
1 point
Question 6
In the same way humans are right- or left-handed, studies have shown that many cats have a paw preference, with the different sexes slightly favouring different paws. Which paw side is favoured by female cats?
Answer: Right
*Although ‘lateralized behaviour’ is not as biased as in humans – 90 per cent of people are right-handed – female cats have shown a tendency to use their right paws, and male cats their left.
1 point
Question 7
One the corporation’s largest outdoor broadcasts, the BBC’s ‘The Watches’ live nature shows are multi-day looks at seasonal wildlife in the UK. What two seasons of the year do they currently cover?
Answer: Spring; Winter
*Spingwatch and Winterwatch continued after Autumnwatch finished in 2022.
2 points
Question 8
In the long-running animation The Simpsons, what are the names of Marge and Homer’s three children?
Answer: Bart; Lisa; Maggie
3 points
Question 9
Chinese lunar new year begins on January 29. Amongst the 12 Chinese zodiac animals, what are the three non-mammals?
Answer: Snake; dragon; rooster
3 points
Question 10
Make the longest word possible from the following letters: CEIILNSUV
Answer: Inclusive
Up to 9 points
(*length of word equates to points awarded)
Round 1 points
(Maximum: 23)
Round 2
Question 1
Despite its name, the World Freshwater Angling Championships has only ever been held in which continent – with all bar three medallists in the competition’s 71-year history coming from that continent?
Answer: Europe
1 point
Question 2
In bingo, what number is referred to as ‘two little ducks’?
Answer: 22
1 point
Question 3
What did Elon Musk do on January 20 2025 that could have seen him arrested in Germany under Strafgesetzbuch section 86a?
Answer: Nazi salute
*Musk denies his action of hitting his chest before extending his arm straight was a Nazi salute.
1 point
Question 4
How many dominoes are used in a standard set?
Answer: 28
*There are 28 combinations of the numbers 0-6, including the ‘doubles’.
1 point
Question 5
Nimcha, nagamaki, golok, and dusack are all what type of weapon?
Answer: Sword
1 point
Question 6
What name is used by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, whose videos of him giving away large sums of money have helped create a personal brand valued at over $500m and led to accusations of ‘charity porn’?
Answer: MrBeast
1 point
Question 7
What two chemical elements are combined to make brass?
Answer: Copper; zinc
2 points
Question 8
Which three global leaders met at the Yalta Conference in February 1945?
Answer: Winston Churchill; Joseph Stalin; Franklin D. Roosevelt
3 points
Question 9
Which four months of the year are spelt the same in the German language as they are in English?
Answer: April; August; September; November
5 points
Question 10
What are the seven supermarkets in the UK with an annual turnover of over £10 billion?
Answer: Tesco; Sainsbury’s; Asda; Morrisons; Aldi; Co-op; Lidl
6 points
Round 2 points
(Maximum: 22)
Total points
(Maximum: 45)
Round 3
Question 1
Bitter almonds must be treated before consumption because of their high levels of glycoside amygdalin. What highly toxic compound is created in the human stomach when glycoside amygdalin breaks down?
Answer: Cyanide
1 point
Question 2
After killing over 210000 of the animals at a cost of over £58m, and with a study saying data ‘failed to identify a meaningful effect’ on the cull’s goal of reducing bovine tubercolisis, the UK government announced in 2024 it would bring to an end a decade-long cull what species?
Answer: Badger
1 point
Question 3
Thanks to one of them changing their name to ‘Pat Lyn’, what document did Americans Jack Baker and Michael McConnell obtain in August 1971, starting a series of legal battles that lasted until the document was officially recognised in 2019?
Answer: Marriage licence
*Baker and McConnell’s marriage licence may be the first official marriage licence given to a homosexual couple in modern records.
1 point
Question 4
Which French side is the most successful team in European rugby union history, having won their sixth European title in the 2023-2024 season?
Answer: Toulouse
1 point
Question 5
Lobsters with multicoloured pink, purple and blue shells are incredibly rare, estimated to occur at a frequency of only 1 in 100 million. What American term for a particular fairground snack is used to describe them?
Answer: Cotton candy
1 point
Question 6
In 2014 which New York musician said he would play a residency at the city’s Madison Square Gardens for as long as there was demand for tickets – a promise he eventually had to break because he was still playing sold out shows 10 years later?
Answer: Billy Joel
1 point
Question 7
Nominations for the Academy Awards were announced last week. What two musical are nominated for Best Picture?
Answer: Emilia Pérez; Wicked
2 points
Question 8
Which two outlaws were killed by police officers on May 23, 1934, leading to a surge in visitors to the town of Arcadia, Louisiana as people rushed to see the bodies and bullet-riddled car?
Answer: Bonnie Parker; Clyde Barrow
2 points
Question 9
First defined by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, what are the five stages of grief?
Answer: Denial; anger; bargaining; depression; acceptance
5 points
Question 10
What seven countries border Mali?
Answer: Algeria; Burkina Faso; Guinea; Ivory Coast; Mauritania; Niger; Senegal
7 points
Round 3 points
(Maximum: 22)
Total points
(Maximum: 67)
Round 4
Question 1
The Scottish parliament is situated in Holyrood in Edinburgh. What does the word ‘rood’ mean?
Answer: Cross / crucifix
1 point
Question 2
What word completes this quote from Albert Einstein, taken from his essay Science and Religion: “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is …”
Answer: Blind
1 point
Question 3
Which future one-hit wonder was a breakdancer and beatboxer at the City Lights club in Dallas in the late 1980s, where he opened for acts including Public Enemy, NWA, and 2 Live Crew?
Answer: Vanilla Ice
1 point
Question 4
Which British female solo artist had her second ever UK number one in 2022, 37 years after the song was originally released and 44 years after her first number one?
Answer: Kate Bush
1 point
Question 5
Which literary epic concludes its first volume with a character restarting his life as he observes the Great Comet of 1811 – writing that in turn inspired the Broadway musical Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812?
Answer: War and Peace
1 point
Question 6
A pikelet is a thinner form of what toasted food commonly associated with England?
Answer: Crumpet
*In Australia and New Zealand, pikelets are more akin to mini pancakes (drop scones).
1 point
Question 7
Which two foreign cities – both capitals of their own countries – served as the seat of the ‘Free France’ government during the German occupation of France in World War II?
Answer: Brazzaville; Algiers
*Brazzaville in the Democratic Republic of Congo was the seat from 1940-1943, before it was moved to Algiers from 1943-1944.
2 points
Question 8
What were the names of the three ships that sailed Christopher Columbus and his crew to the Americas in 1492?
Answer: La Santa María; La Pinta; La Niña
*These names are all nicknames: the official name of La Pinta is unknown, while the official name of La Niña was Santa Clara. The full name of Santa María was La Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción.
3 points
Question 9
In which six countries are the nine annual tennis Masters 1000 tournaments held?
Answer: US; France; Italy; Spain; China; Canada
*The US holds three (Indian Wells, Miami, Cincinnati), France holds two (Monte Carlo, Paris), and others are held in Rome, Madrid, Shanghai, and Montreal/Toronto.
6 points
Question 10
Mentioned in both the book by Chuck Palahniuk and its 1999 film adaptation, what are the eight rules of Fight Club?
Answer: 1. You do not talk about Fight Club 2. You do not talk about Fight Club 3. If someone yells “stop!”, goes limp, or taps out, the fight is over 4. Only two guys to a fight 5. One fight at a time 6. The fights are bare knuckle. No shirt, no shoes, no weapons 7. Fights will go on as long as they have to 8. If this is your first time at Fight Club, you have to fight
8 points
Round 4 points
(Maximum: 25)
Total points
(Maximum: 92)
Round 5
In Round 5, there is only one answer. The less clues you need to get it, the more points you receive. If you need only one clue, you receive 10 points; if you require two clues, you will receive 9 points, and so on.
However, you may only answer once. If you answer incorrectly, you receive zero points for the round.
What colour are all of the following?
Clue 1
A wavelength of 550 nanometres on the colour spectrum
10 points
Clue 2
The shirt of Bulgarian football team Ludogorets Razgrad
9 points
Clue 3
The primary colour of the Turkmenistan flag
8 points
Clue 4
Luigi’s hat in the Mario computer game series
7 points
Clue 5
Grüner See in Austria
6 points
Clue 6
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
5 points
Clue 7
The Chicago River every March 17
4 points
Clue 8
Absinthe
3 points
Clue 9
Chlorophyll
2 points
Clue 10
National colour of Ireland
1 point
Answer: Green
Round 5 points
(Maximum: 10)
Total points
(Maximum: 102)