Quiz #25

What is the only member of the Panthera family of big cats that is native to the Americas?

Question 2

Although it would later become an animation franchise featuring a literal pink panther, what was the Pink Panther in the original 1963 film of that name?

Question 3

The malodorous Chinese food 皮蛋
(pidan), or century egg, known colloquially as ‘horse urine egg’ in Thailand, is created by preserving an egg in salt, calcium hydroxide, and sodium carbonate until the white turns into a brown gel and the yolk goes green. Is the final egg acidic or alkaline?

Question 4

The Poang armchair, the Billy bookcase, and the Lack table are historically the three highest selling items sold by which company?

Question 5

Which African country has seen conflict displace 11 million people since 2023, making it the largest internal displacement crisis in the world at present, per the EU Agency for Asylum? The conflict has also claimed around 150000 lives and left 25-30 million people facing food insecurity.

Question 6

In the nursery rhyme There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly, the woman ultimately dies after swallowing what animal?

Question 7

What were the first names of the Wright Brothers, famous for the first steered powered aeroplane?

Question 8

Which three US states are covered by the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system?

Question 9

In which four cities are the ‘big four’ fashion weeks? 

Question 10

Make the longest word possible from the following letters: EEHIKNPSS

Round 1 points
(Maximum: 24)

Round 2

Question 1

The annus mirabilis papers – or miracle year papers – were four scientific papers published in 1905 by which scientist, in which he discussed the subjects of the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, a special theory of relativity, and mass-energy equivalence?

Question 2

In which US city are the 72 steps known as the ‘Rocky Steps’, famous for their appearance in the 1976 film Rocky?

Question 3

Which German city has 41 boroughs, including the historic Altstadt-Lehel, the culture and university area of Maxvorstadt, and the fashionable food and arts borough of Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt?

Question 4

What is the only colour to have featured in the title of an Academy Award for Best Picture winning film, having appeared in the names of both the 1941 and 2018 winners?

Question 5

Featuring a burning crucifix and the singer kissing a black man widely believed to be Jesus, the video to Madonna’s 1989 hit Like a Prayer led which soft drinks company to pull an advert featuring her before it was ever aired?

Question 6

The area of what shape is found using the Pythagorean Theorum a² + b² = c²?

Question 7

In 2000, Disney launched its Disney princess line by naming ten characters as official Disney princesses. Although the line has now expanded to 13 princesses, which two princesses have been removed – one to start the Disney fairy line, and one because her film was not marketing well?

Question 8

According to a Q1 2025 YouGov survey, what are currently the three most popular dog breeds in the UK – those being breeds that people have heard of and like, as opposed to breeds people own?

Question 9

What are the four great offices of state in the UK?

Question 10

Who are considered ‘the big six’ Romantic poets?

Round 2 points
(Maximum: 21)

Total points
(Maximum: 45)

Round 3

Question 1

In architecture and construction, what name is given to the horizontal beam that sits on two vertical supports in order to span the top of an opening, such as across the top of a door?

Question 2

About which ABBA song did its writer Björn Ulvaeus say: “That was kind of cleansing. I had written the words, she sang them. It was somehow the right thing to do, and then to release it and let the world know.”

Question 3

Who was the first British woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joining in 1998 as part of Fleetwood Mac?

Question 4

At nearly 9000km, what is the world’s longest continental mountain range – that being on a land continent, and not underwater?

Question 5

In 800, in an effort to move regional influence away from Constantinople and towards the west, Pope Leo III crowned which Frankish king as the Roman emperor?

Question 6

Until changes were implemented by the Licensing Act 2003, it was illegal in the UK to sell alcohol to members of which emergency service while they were in uniform – although fine to sell to members of the other services?

Question 7

What two chemical elements are combined to make the heating element used in electrical cooking appliances such as toasters and air fryers?

Question 8

What are the names of the three similar European desserts – two French, and one Spanish – that involve cooking custard in small bowls? One involves turning the bowl upside down in order to let liquid sauce run over it, while the other two involve browning sugar on the top.

Question 9

In athletics, what are the only three current women’s Olympic track events covering distances under 1500m that don’t have a world record set during the 1980s?

Question 10

What four animals – one bird, one marine mammal, and two land mammals, once of which does not live on the islands – feature on the flag of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands?

Round 3 points
(Maximum: 18)

Total points
(Maximum: 63)

Round 4

Question 1

Both dated at over four billion years – although one with some controversy – the oldest known rocks in the Earth’s crust sit within either the Acasta Gneiss Complex or Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, both of which are in which country?

Question 2

Which New York comedian invited a largely unknown Jim Carrey to tour with him after seeing him perform at the LA Comedy Store club, leading to a lifelong friendship? Carrey jokes that his parting words as this comedian was on his deathbed were ‘don’t worry, I’ll let everybody know you were gay.”

Question 3

In the 1987 film The Princess Bride, what single word does the character Vizzini repeat whenever Dread Pirate Roberts defeats his schemes, leading Vizzini’s colleague Inigo Montoya to remark: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Question 4

In 1996, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) sent letters to 8000 children’s organisation saying they had to pay for using songs such as ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ and ‘Edelweiss’ during what activities popular in the US, with the ASCAP CEO saying it would ‘sue them if necessary’ and ‘they buy paper, twine and glue for their crafts – they can pay for the music, too’?

Question 5

The director of which US governmental agency caused controversy this week by saying it should be ‘like (Amazon) Prime, but with human beings’?

Question 6

Which brand of Cadbury chocolate has, since 1968, been advertised by a fictional James Bond-style figure engaging in daring missions to deliver chocolates to his amour?

Question 7

Which two characters sing ‘The Flower Duet’ in an opera by Léo Delibes, one of whom gives her name to the opera and the other being her servant? The piece is widely known in the UK for its use in advertising for British Airways.

Question 8

What are the three boxes of liberty referred to by various speakers in US history, with the implication being that if using the first box doesn’t work, try the next, and if that doesn’t work then the final box is the last resort?

Question 9

In the Texas Hold ‘em variant of poker, what three terms are used for the respective stages in which the dealer places community cards in the centre of the table – first three cards, then a fourth, then a fifth?

Question 10

What were the names of the four children and their dog who comprised The Famous Five in the series of children’s books written by Enid Blyton?

Round 4 points
(Maximum: 19)

Total points
(Maximum: 82)

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.

Which author wrote all of the following books?

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: 92)