Quiz #30

The Taoiseach is the leader of the government in which country?

Question 2

Central heating systems, sanitation systems, gas safety, and domestic hot and cold water systems are areas of study required to gain the City and Guilds of London Institute NVQ qualification in what subject?

Question 3

Kiti Howaito, or Kitty White, is the real name of what popular fictional character and brand?

Question 4

On Saturday, the 50^th anniversary series of which weekly US comedy show concluded with an episode guest-hosted by Scarlett Johansson, the wife of cast member and writer Colin Jost?

Question 5

How many kilometres is a normal Parkrun, the free running and walking group events that happen each Saturday in over 850 locations in the UK?

Question 6

Described as ‘the greatest starting line up introduction in sports history’, which American basketball team began games in the 1980s and 1990s by killing the entire stadium’s lights bar the team logo, playing the opening bars of ‘Sirius’ by The Alan Parsons Project, and then giving ‘spotlight intros’ to each of its players, culminating in the announcer introducing ‘from North Carolina, at guard, 6’6, Michael Jordan’?

Question 7

What two animals are used to respectively describe stock markets that are trending upwards or downwards?

Question 8

Who were the two husbands of Jacqueline Bouvier, the surnames of which she both took and by which she is better known?

Question 9

What are the first names of the four characters who make up the two married couples in the cartoon The Flintstones? One couple is surnamed Flintstone, and other Rubble.

Question 10

Make the longest word possible from the following letters: AACFINSTT

Round 1 points
(Maximum: 23)

Round 2

Question 1

In 1928, Arkansas coach company Armbruster created the first of its ‘extended-wheelbase multi-door auto-coaches’, which were generally used to transport bands and entertainment groups. By what two-word term is this style of vehicle known today?

Question 2

Lake Victoria, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Mt Kilimanjaro, and Zanzibar all sit within a 750km northern stretch of which African country?

Question 3

In French, they are individually known as Prof, Grincheux, Dormeur, Timide, Joyeaux, Atchoum, and Simplet. What is their collective name in English?

Question 4

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, what English word has the most definitions, with 430 different senses of the word outlined in the 1989 version of the Oxford English Dictionary, including ones relating to mathematical numbers within a group, the solidifying of a liquid, a synonym for being determined to undertake an action, and a scoring unit within a popular sport?

Question 5

Hetty, James, Basil, Charles, George, and Harry are all variants of which popular brand of vacuum cleaner?

Question 6

Arising in the 1960s due to disagreements over efforts at modernisation, sedevacantism is the belief that which globally recognised position has remained unfilled since 1958?

Question 7

To what species does the world’s smallest known extant mammal, if measured by length, belong? And to what species does the world’s smallest extant mammal, if measured by weight, belong?

Question 8

Architecturally, what are the three main parts of the White House building in Washington D.C., connected to each other by colonnades?

Question 9

What five countries – four of which have a Mediterranean coast, and the other often mistakenly said to – have olive oil exports worth over $1bn per year?

Question 10

What colour are the seven characters currently used to advertise the chocolate snack M&Ms – one of which has not been a regular M&M colour since 2003?

Round 2 points
(Maximum: 23)

Total points
(Maximum: 46)

Round 3

Question 1

Last week, in one of the largest pay rises in sports history, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy signed a 5-year contract potentially worth $265m, with $181m guaranteed. Now in his fourth year in the NFL, how many weeks out of an 18-week season will it take Purdy to earn the amount of money he made in the three previous years combined, if he hits his performance bonuses?

Question 2

In weaponry, Minuteman, Sarnat, Agni-V, Jericho, Trident, and Dong Feng – or East Wind – are all examples of what?

Question 3

Duna Federico Kirbus, the tallest sand dune in the world at over 1200m, is situated in which South American country?

Question 4

Attended by members of royal families from around Europe, which country was known for its high quality finishing schools for girls in the late 19th and early 20th century, with examples including Institut Alpin Videmanette, Institut Le Mesnil, and Brillantmont?

Question 5

The original line up of what musical group consisted of Bubba Knight, Brenda Knight, Eleanor Guest, and William Guest, as well as its primary singer whose name would later be given top billing in the group’s name?

Question 6

About what type of cuisine did 11-year Alison Gold sing in a 2013 hit, a song described by Time Magazine as ‘evidence of the downfall of Western civilization’ and the video for which was pulled from YouTube due to its ‘culturally insensitive’ use of geishas and a Mongolian restaurant, neither of which represent the country whose food was being celebrated?

Question 7

What two simple sounding but motor neurologically difficult tasks did actor John Goodman spend months practicing, an hour a day for each, in order to portray Babe Ruth in the film The Babe?

Question 8

What two chemical elements comprise the chemical compound quicklime, frequently used to neutralise acids in processes such as steel production?

Question 9

The creation of the novel Frankenstein was the result of a horror story competition between which four writers while they travelled in Europe?

Question 10

What five child protagonists of children’s novels by Roald Dahl have their names in the book’s title?

Round 3 points
(Maximum: 19)

Total points
(Maximum: 65)

Round 4

Question 1

In mathematics, the Bourbaki Dangerous Bend Symbol, which warns readers that a passage or question contains difficult subtleties that may lead to mistakes, most resembles which letter of the alphabet?

Question 2

In the 15^th-century morality play Everyman, God instructs Death to take Everyman for final judgement. Allowed a companion on his journey into the afterlife, what does Everyman find is the only personified quality brave enough to go to the grave with him – thus illustrating the story’s moral of what defines a good life and justifies Christian salvation?

Question 3

The shipping forecast, which has been aired on British radio since 1924, relays the weather in sea areas around the UK. Since 1956 it was always started with a general summary before beginning the area forecasts with which sea area, near the Norwegian coast, before moving clockwise around the country?

Question 4

A scientific experiment in which a small amount of pressurised liquid poured into a sealed full barrel of water causes the barrel to burst in all directions is named for which French mathematician and scientist, whose law on fluid mechanics says a change in pressure on a confined fluid is transmitted throughout the fluid?

Question 5

The new Sunday Times Rich List, which lists the UK’s richest individuals and was published on May 18, was topped for the fourth consecutive year by which Indian-born British businessman?

Question 6

What everyday items are placed upon or removed from the pendulum mechanism inside London’s ‘Big Ben’ clock in order to adjust the clock’s speed if it is running fast or slow?

Question 7

What are the only two countries in the world which reserves vote-holding spaces in its legislature for unelected clerics from the nation’s primary religion?

Question 8

In the history of aviation, what are – by far – the three most purchased models of aeroplane?

Question 9

Which four countries will the 2025 Giro d’Italia cycling race visit?

Question 10

What nine non-human species of animals have speaking parts in the 1995 film Babe?

Round 4 points
(Maximum: 24)

Total points
(Maximum: 89)

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 are all species of what type of animal?

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: 99)