Quiz #37

The name of which knighted British actor, who starred in films such as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, and Lawrence of Arabia, is an anagram of Genuine Class?

Question 2

What American fastfood chain is known by the acronym DQ?

Question 3

Which chemical element has the shortest name, comprising of only three letters?

Question 4

What foodstuff popular with humans is toxic to dogs due to its levels of theobromine and caffeine?

Question 5

The most expensive pen ever sold was the one-of-a-kind jewel encrusted Fulgor Nocturnus purchased for $8m at a Shanghai auction in 2020. From what country is company Tibaldi, which made the pen?

Question 6

‘Proletarier aller Länder, vereinigt euch!’ is the last line of what text?

Question 7

Seen from Earth, the three brightest objects in the sky are the sun, the moon, and Venus. Which two planets switch between being the fourth brightest object, depending on the distance one of them is from Earth?

Question 8

The 1896 book Cassell’s Dictionary of Cooking says what two French cheeses are ‘the best of foreign cheeses’ – although admits parmesan ‘is thought by many an improvement to soups’?

Question 9

Cassell’s dictionary also contains a 6-and-a-half page entry on gravy, in which it states ‘good gravy should be perfect in all the four following particulars’, before listing what four qualities a cook should consider?

Question 10

Make the longest word possible from the following letters: ACMNOORRT

Round 1 points
(Maximum: 23)

Round 2

Question 1

In which Italian city is the football stadium Stadio Diego Armando Maradona?

Question 2

What is the most common surname in Scotland that starts with ‘Mc’ or ‘Mac’?

Question 3

Held annually in June, what in China is the gaokao – undertaken by approximately 13 million people across two days, and frequently described as one of the most stressful events in a Chinese person’s life?

Question 4

In the Marvel comic book universe, who married Mary-Jane Watson in 1987 – both in a comic and a live publicity stunt officiated by creator Stan Lee at Shea Stadium before a New York Mets game?

Question 5

What atomic reaction, in this case turning hydrogen into helium, occurs within the sun, as well as other stars?

Question 6

‘Big fish, little fish, cardboard box’ is a phrase used to disparagingly describe dance moves done to what style of music, popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s?

Question 7

Who were the principal leaders of the two military forces at the Battle of Waterloo, fought in June 1815?

Question 8

Which three companies sold the highest numbers of smartphones in 2024, with their combined market share making up over 60 per cent of devices sold during the year?

Question 9

The pharmaceutical company now known as GSK was formed by a merger in 2000. For what three words do the letters GSK stand – those words being the company’s name before it was rebranded?

Question 10

According to preliminary estimates by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, which five European nations were in the top ten countries for wine production in 2024?

Round 2 points
(Maximum: 19)

Total points
(Maximum: 42)

Round 3

Question 1

As well as the farmhand Hunk, which of Dorothy’s companions in the Wizard of Oz was played by Ray Bolger?

Question 2

Which singer adjusted her will two days before her death in 1970, aged 27, to include $2500 ‘to cause a gathering of my friends and acquaintances at a suitable location as a final gesture of appreciation and farewell to such friends and acquaintance’ – leading to a party for over 200 people at the Lion’s Share club in San Anselmo, California?

Question 3

Which British comedian of the 1950s to 1980s was famous for his innuendo and the inclusion of scantily-clad women in his TV sketch show, which often finished with him being chased by numerous people to the music ‘Yakety Sax’?

Question 4

Completed in 2017, in which country is Umlung La, which at 5799m is the highest pass and highest paved road in the world?

Question 5

Most often discussed in terms of a point at which light is theoretically unable to escape the gravitational pull of a black hole, what is the two-word term for the furthest point that light can ever reach if emitted now, with all beyond that point unable to see or be influenced by it?

Question 6

In 1858, 14-year old Bernadette Soubirous claimed to see 18 apparitions of a woman – later declared to be the Virgin Mary – across five months, as well as the surfacing of a curative spring, in a grotto outside which French town?

Question 7

Situated next to each other, what are the only two states in the contiguous United States – the so-called ‘Lower 48’ – that do not have an Amtrak passenger service?

Question 8

Where are the four ball-and-socket joints in the human body located – two of which are well-known, but two of which less so?

Question 9

In the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service recognises a hate crime as a crime that ‘demonstrated hostility’ or was ‘motivated by hostility’ towards any of which five characteristics?

Question 10

In geometry, what are the names for the six types of angles as defined by their degrees – those being 0°-90°, 90°, 90°-180°, 180°, 180°-360°, and 360° and over?

Round 3 points
(Maximum: 23)

Total points
(Maximum: 65)

Round 4

Question 1

Mostly known for the character Mog and her book The Tiger Who Came to Tea, children’s author Judith Kerr also wrote a semi-biographical series of novels called Out of the Hitler Time. In the first of these books, what colour is the soft toy rabbit that symbolises loss, left behind in Nazi Germany when nine-year-old Anna must choose only one toy to take with her and opts for a toy dog?

Question 2

Which country uses the Wabun code, also called the Kana code, as a necessary variant of Morse code due to the romanized version of its character-based writing system using letter combinations rather than single letters?

Question 3

On Sunday, NBA basketball player Kevin Durant was officially traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Houston Rockets. In a record-setting move in which numerous players and draft picks were shifted around to make it possible, how many teams were involved in the trade – the most teams ever involved in an NBA trade?

Question 4

For over 30 years, BBC audio engineers would test equipment by using a 1932 recording by Henry Hall and His Orchestra of what children’s song due to its wide range of frequencies and acoustics? The song features singing that slowly goes up and down the musical scale, sung over plodding bass instruments?

Question 5

The use of mascara dates back to at least the 4^th century BC, when the Egyptians and Nubians used what product, beginning with the letter k and comprised of ground galena mixed with a binding agent?

Question 6

The name of what province in Argentina is also the former name of its antipode, Taiwan?

Question 7

In Celtic legend, what were the names of the two giants whose argument led to rocks being thrown into the sea in order to build a bridge between Ireland and Scotland so they could fight – the rocks now being The Giant’s Causeway off Northern Ireland’s Antrim coast and the Isle of Mann?

Question 8

Who are the only three unseeded players in the open era to have won a Wimbledon singles title, they having won the 1985 Gentlemen’s Singles, the 2001 Gentlemen’s Singles, and the 2023 Ladies’ Singles?

Question 9

In New York City, which four famous avenues are the first four roads you would cross if exiting east out of Central Park?

Question 10

Kept in the Wing Wing of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and consisting of three documents and one object made of silver, what are the four primary items of the ‘Great Essentials’ exhibit, each relating to American independence?

Round 4 points
(Maximum: 19)

Total points
(Maximum: 84)

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.

In which book are the following all characters?

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: 94)