Quiz #17

What method of carrying a person, common with adults and their children, stems from the 16^th century phrase ‘pick pack’?

Question 2

Whilst recording the Exodus album at London’s Island Studios in 1976, which famous Jamaican musician and his band relaxed by playing football in the city’s Battersea Park?

Question 3

In which Italian city is the acqua alta a natural phenomenon?

Question 4

Which website, book, and later awards were started by neurobiologist Wendy Northcutt to ‘reward’ people who had removed themselves from the human gene pool through stupid acts?

Question 5

Inspired by the Pressman voice recorder used by journalists, to which a headphone jack was added and the record function removed, what item released by Sony in 1979 was said by PC World to have ‘the invented the concept of personal electronics’ when the magazine named it the greatest inventions of the past fifty years in 2005?

Question 6

If the numbers one to ten are spelt out consecutively and without spaces, thus creating a sequence of 39 letters, what three letter word appears twice in the sequence of letters?

Question 7

By far the most successful species of rats, Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus can be found in nearly every continent. By what names are these species commonly known?

Question 8

What four European countries have names that end in the letter o?

Question 9

What four meats are used as toppings on a Pizza Hut meat feast pizza?

Question 10

Make the longest word possible from the following letters: ADEGNORSU

Round 1 points
(Maximum: 25)

Round 2

Question 1

In changes described by a reigning champion as ‘a profound injustice that disrespects an entire category of players’, what event at tennis’s 2025 US Open will now be played across two days before the singles tournament starts, feature seeding based on singles rankings, only feature 16 entrants instead of the previous 32, and require players to win four games to win a set rather than the usual six?

Question 2

What brand of American beer had a 1999 advertising campaign featuring men on the phone saying ‘Whassap’?

Question 3

Which naval captain and explorer, together with his crew, landed at Botany Bay in April 1770?

Question 4

Skull and Bones, Scroll and Key, and Wolf’s Head are secret societies at which US Ivy League university?

Question 5

Barbie’s boyfriend is Ken. Who is Sindy’s boyfriend?

Question 6

Mr Lockwood is the narrator of which 19^th century English novel?

Question 7

Based on a format first shown in Australia, ‘Go Back to Where You Came From’ on UK’s Channel 4 sees people with strong immigration views follow routes taken by refugees and immigrants to reach Britain. In which two war-torn countries do the participants start their journey?

Question 8

The Kansas City Chiefs have played in five of the last six Super Bowls. Which three teams have they played in those games?

Question 9

Which three countries hold the top seven positions in the list of fastest ever point-to-point commercial railway lines in the world?

Question 10

What five mathematical symbols has Ed Sheeran used for titles of his studio albums?

Round 2 points
(Maximum: 19)

Total points
(Maximum: 44)

Round 3

Question 1

Which American actor is the presenter of the CNN food and travel show In Search of Italy, and the upcoming National Geographic show The Heart of Italy?

Question 2

Which British TV cook was described by the Daily Mail as having ‘done more for race relations in the UK than any posturing politician’ – exactly five days after another of its columnists said the cook’s celebrity was ‘political correctness’ and that a middle class white woman should have ‘made a chocolate mosque’ to win a cooking competition?

Question 3

Alfonso the alligator, Hopper the penguin, Whitney the wolf, and Raymond the cat are all characters in the English-language version of which Nintendo video game series?

Question 4

The official residency of which country’s president translates into English as ‘pink house’?

Question 5

In human anatomy, by what more common name is the hallux rigidus known?

Question 6

The Japanese dishes akashiyaki and takoyaki both involve grilling battered balls of what seafood?  

Question 7

Since the end of WWII, which two football players have been sold for world record transfer fees on two different occasions?

Question 8

What are the three layers that comprise human skin?

Question 9

Australia’s four largest cities – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth – are all situated on the mouths of rivers. What are the main rivers that run through these cities?

Question 10

What five letters are worth ten points in the French version of Scrabble?

Round 3 points
(Maximum: 20)

Total points
(Maximum: 64)

Round 4

Question 1

In which Asian country is the Swat District, containing the Swat Valley and Swat River?

Question 2

Based on the Greek word for eight, what term is used measure cloud cover?

Question 3

How the Whale Became and Other Stories is a children’s book by which British Poet Laureate?

Question 4

Referring to a border that stops chemicals in the circulatory system from entering the central nervous system, for what do the initials BBB stand in human biology?

Question 5

What was the name of the Spanish soft drink from which the French soft drink Orangina evolved?

Question 6

To mark the relaunch of the Shamrock Shake milkshake this month, which MacDonald’s character was reunited with his uncle after forty years apart?

Question 7

What two chemical elements have the same number of letters in their name as their atomic number?

Question 8

Which two forces fought at the 13^th century Siege of Baghdad, in which fighting and subsequent plague may have killed up to 2 million people?

Question 9

In which four American cities are the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame, Blues Hall of Fame, and Hip Hop Hall of Fame respectively?

Question 10

The 1949 British comedy film Kind Hearts and Coronets sees character Louis D’Ascoyne Mazzini murder the eight people ahead of him receiving a dukedom, all of whom are played by Alec Guinness. What are the eight ways Guinness is killed in the film?

Round 4 points
(Maximum: 22)

Total points
(Maximum: 86)

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.

The following people all have the same name, used either as a first name or surname. What is it?

Clue 1

Clue 2

Clue 3

Clue 4

Clue 5

Clue 6

Clue 7

Clue 8

Clue 9

Clue 10

Round 5 points
(Maximum: 10)

Total points
(Maximum: 96)