Quiz #44

With over 1.3m members of staff – approximately 2 per cent of the country’s entire population – what organisation is the largest employer in the UK?

Question 2

What type of object is used as a home by children’s TV characters Oscar the Grouch and Top Cat?

Question 3

Last week flight attendant Haden Pentecost pleaded guilty to the charge of performing an aviation function while impaired by drugs following an incident in which he was found naked in the onboard toilet by a colleague on a California to London flight. From what airline was Pentecost fired following the incident?

Question 4

Pedagogy is the theory of what?

Question 5

Mercator, Gall-Peters, Eckert, and Collignon are all variations of what?

Question 6

On or around September 25, 1513, Spaniard Vasco Núñez de Balboa and his crew became the first Europeans to see the eastern edge of what ocean?

Question 7

Which two US states are currently at the heart of a nation gerrymandering dispute, with one having controversially voted to change congressional district lines to try ensure five more Republican members of the House of Representatives at the 2026 midterm elections, a move the other is proposing to counter by doing the same for Democrats?

Question 8

The 16^th series of The Great British Bake Off begins on September 2. Since series 5, in 2014, the first three episodes of every series have started with themed weeks dedicated to contestants baking what three common types of food?

Question 9

Excluding Earth, and including atmospheric entries conducted for lack of a solid surface on which to land, onto or into the surface of which five planets of the solar system have humans sent spacecraft or probes?

Question 10

Make the longest word possible from the following letters: ADDGILNSW

Round 1 points
(Maximum: 25)

Round 2

Question 1

The current top four players in the FIDE Women’s World Chess Rankings are all from which country?

Question 2

Rather than sushi’s usual trio of fish, rice, and nori, the dish Minnesota sushi is comprised of a pickle surrounded by cream cheese and then wrapped in what type of meat?

Question 3

The opening ceremony of the 1994 World Cup, held in the Chicago, featured a segment in which which former Motown singer was supposed to kick a ball into a net, with the set of goalposts then pulled apart by crew members to emphasise the ball powerfully striking the net – only for her to send her shot wide?

Question 4

What 1982 comedy musical, which led to a 1986 film adaptation and was itself based on a 1960 film, starts with a Greek chorus comprising of the characters Chiffon, Crystal, and Ronette singing a prologue about the human race suddenly meeting a deadly enemy, with that enemy duly appearing two songs later at Chang’s flower shop during an unexpected solar eclipse?

Question 5

The Royal Horticultural Society’s Plant of the Year 2025 was the first truly pink Philadelphus plant. What citrus fruit completes the nickname of the Philadelphus plants: mock ___?

Question 6

The US states of North Carolina and South Carolina were originally part of the Province of Carolina, named after which English monarch?

Question 7

Released ten years apart, for which two films has Julia Roberts been nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award?

Question 8

Although many guides also include allergens via cross-contamination, what are the three types of food hazards, or contaminations, noted in the Guidance on Food Safety and Kitchen Hygiene published by the UK government?

Question 9

In his 1960 book The Four Loves, writer C.S. Lewis states that a person can experience what four different types of love?

Question 10

What are the five largest internal organs in the human body, if measured by weight?

Round 2 points
(Maximum: 20)

Total points
(Maximum: 45)

Round 3

Question 1

The 2025 US Open mixed doubles competition, played August 19-20, controversially based invitations and seedings on singles rankings, with the only doubles specialists invited being a wildcard to last year’s winners – who duly won the tournament again. From which country were the winners?

Question 2

In which city in India, nicknamed ‘The Pink City’, is the Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds?

Question 3

At his inauguration lunch on January 20, 1961, President John F Kennedy was served a starter of tomato soup topped with crushed pieces of what popular snack food?

Question 4

What is the name of the highest national order of merit that is awarded in France?

Question 5

Once the norm within the league, a match between Aston Villa and Coventry City on February 27, 1999, was the last time what occurred in an English top flight men’s football game?

Question 6

What connects the TV characters Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks, Adena Watson in Homicide: Life on the Street, Lilly Kane in Veronica Mars, and Merritt Monaco in The Perfect Couple?

Question 7

The Australian state of Victoria has two public holidays connected to major sporting events – one event held annually in Melbourne, and one that was traditionally held in Melbourne but now moves around the nation. What are the two sports that give rise to these holidays?

Question 8

What three countries, all in Asia, are by far the largest producers of coconuts in the world, accounting for over 70 per cent of the world’s copra (dried coconut flesh) production?

Question 9

In the Old Testament, who were the three children – two sons and one daughter – of Amram and Jochebed, all three of whom were prophets?

Question 10

According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Royal Horticultural Society, and others, what are considered to be the six main types of soil?

Round 3 points
(Maximum: 20)

Total points
(Maximum: 65)

Round 4

Question 1

Parodying a popular high-caffeine energy drink. what is the name of the Canadian ‘anti-energy’ drinks brand that encourages people to relax?

Question 2

What was the nickname given to members of an English 1950s subculture which was heavily influenced by the dandy fashion of the Edwardian era of the 1900s?

Question 3

The belief that humans lose over 40 per cent of their body heat through their head has been shown to be a myth most likely based on an experiment conducted by the US military in the 1950s in which participants wore Arctic survival suits and were exposed to cold conditions. What one simple variable in the experiment means the data about heat loss was skewed?

Question 4

The English name of what fish comes from the Aboriginal for ‘large-scaled river fish’?

Question 5

In n-dimensional Euclidean space, the mathematical theory that states there can be an infinite number of geometric dimensions, what is the name of a hypercube with four dimensions?

Question 6

Known as Kinkeshi in Japan, the country from which it originated, what was the English name of the popular 1980s collectable line of pink erasers with characters inspired by manga and professional wrestling, with the name hinting at the physique of the figurines?

Question 7

15^th-century nobleman Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, was known as The Kingmaker due to his influence on the line of succession to the English throne. Which two kings did he help depose?

Question 8

Soldier Lauri Törni, later known as Larry Thorne, who died during a covert mission in 1965, fought under three different flags in his career – twice against the Soviet Union and once against North Vietnam. Decorated by all three, for which three nations did Törni fight?

Question 9

What are the four works by Gabriel Garcia Marquez that feature in the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list?

Question 10

In the UK, Elton John has had seven duets go to number one, including 21^st-century collaborations with the likes of boy band Blue, Ed Sheeran, DJ Ashley Beedle, and Tupac Shakur nine years after the rapper died. Who are the five artists he has duetted with to top the US charts – two from the 1970s, one the 1990s, and two the 2020s?

Round 4 points
(Maximum: 20)

Total points
(Maximum: 85)

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 are all of the following?

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: 95)