Round 1
Question 1
Rolex, Omega, Bregeut, Breitling, Tag Heuer, and Patek Philippe are all watchmakers from which country
1 point
Question 2
Excluding any special commemorative release, what is the largest US coin in both size and weight?
1 point
Question 3
What now largely obsolete onomatopoeic sound is chikchikpokpok in Korean, gatan goton in Japanese, and tac tac in Italian?
*Modern railways are made with restrained steel, meaning the joints between the tracks that resulted in the distinctive train noise are no longer a feature of railway tracks.
1 point
Question 4
In 1939, having already become a reincarnated soul boy, four-year old Lhamo Thundup was given the name Tenzin Gyatso and named to what religious position?
1 point
Question 5
Originally shown on Canadian television, and now on the BBC, Race Against the Tide is a reality television game show in which contestants have to create what?
*Contestants have the amount of time it takes for the tide to come in in which to build their creations.
1 point
Question 6
‘Bunny ears, bunny ears, jumped into the hole, popped out the other side beautiful and bold’ is a rhyme to teach children what?
*The bunny ear method does not teach the ‘adult’ way to tie shoes, but does show how to connect two loops.
1 point
Question 7
In furniture, what two different types of items generally comprise a three-piece suite?
Armchair (x 2)
2 points
Question 8
What are the capital cities of the three European nations that are independent and distinct islands? This does not include the UK and Republic of Ireland, which split territory on the island of Ireland
Nicosia (Cyprus)
Valletta (Malta)
3 points
Question 9
Although many recipes add jam, what are the three core components, or layers, of the French dessert tarte aux fraise?
Crème pâtissière
Strawberries
3 points
Question 10
Make the longest word possible from the following letters: ABDIRSTUY
Up to 9 points
(*length of word equates to points awarded)
Round 1 points
(Maximum: 23)
Round 2
Question 1
What name is given to the study of the Earth’s water cycle?
1 point
Question 2
Which Scottish singer was born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie in 1948?
1 point
Question 3
In 2014, an American scrap metal dealer purchased an item from a market for $13300, hoping to break it apart and sell its components for a profit. What type of object, worth over $30m and with this particular example having not been seen since a 1964 photograph, had the man had bought?
*The buyer has always chosen to remain anonymous, but it is known that he first realised he might have something valuable after doing an internet search on the name of the clock contained within the egg, and then he flew to London to show an expert photographs of his find. The expert has said the man had simply looked upon the item as being worth the price of its components rather than as an artwork. The egg, the Third Imperial Egg, was lost after it was listed at a Soviet auction in 1922, although a photograph of it turned up in a 1964 auction catalogue and it is now in a private collection. Seven Faberge eggs remain unaccounted for, although five of those are believed to have been destroyed.
1 point
Question 4
In German language crosswords, answers tend not to use an umlaut. Instead, what additional letter is added behind an a, o, or u that would otherwise use an umlaut?
*As well as replacing the umlaut, German crosswords tend to use two of the letter s instead of ß.
1 point
Question 5
Also the name of a piece of playground equipment, what name is given to an off-stage member of a theatre group who learns several roles, or ‘tracks’, thereby serving as cover for multiple other members of the cast?
*A swing is different from an understudy and a standby: an understudy is part of the on-stage cast who can step into a lead role, and a standby is an off-stage cast member purely responsible for stepping into a lead role. Conversely, swings need to be highly flexible and are key to keeping long-running shows on stage regardless of cast illness or holidays. Knowledge of not only the lines but actors’ positions (blocking) for multiple characters, without getting the same training as the lead, makes a dependable swing important to the extent that a ‘universal swing’ can cover roles across an entire country. As well as the complexities of learning so many roles, swings also describe difficulties in school never preparing people for such a job, and sometimes having to cover a role they last did years before.
1 point
Question 6
Although a symbolic vote with no legal requirements, the United Nations agreed on September 4 to change what reference item it uses after a resolution brought by Togo said the current item reduced the role of Africa in ‘the global collective imagination’?
*Only the US voted against changing the map, although no country is forced to do so. The UN has generally used the 16th-century Mercator Projection, which was devised for European sailors and extends northern territories so that Europe looks far larger than it actually is. Consequently, the map squashes Africa, the world’s second largest continent, which is actually bigger than the US, China, India, and non-Russia Europe combined, with a length similar to the distance between London and Thailand. Notable inflations on the Mercator Projection are the UK (245000km2, world’s 78th largest nation) looking roughly the size of Sudan (1.8m km2, world’s 15th largest country), and Greenland looking bigger than the entire continent of South America, when it is actually smaller than the Arabian peninsula.
1 point
Question 7
Due to start school in the UK in September, what are the names of the two children – one son and one daughter – of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle?
Lilibet
2 points
Question 8
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is expected to open in late 2026, making it the world’s fourth Guggenheim museum. In what three cities are the current Guggenheim museums?
*Previous Guggenheim museums in Las Vegas and Berlin have closed.
Bilbao
Venice
3 points
Question 9
Outside the wild boar and domestic pig, which can be found all over the world, the other 17 species of the suidae, or old world pig, family are endemic to the continent of Africa and which three other nations, all is Asia?
*Peccaries, otherwise known as javelinas, are the ‘new world pigs’ of South and Central America, but are in the tayassuidae family. The pygmy hog used to be known to live in Bhutan and Nepal, but is now one of the rarest animals in the world, having declined to only 100-250 animals before a breeding programme started in the 1990s managed to get the numbers over 400. As a consequence of its rarity, a parasite, the pygmy hog-sucking louse, is also critically endangered.
Philippines
Indonesia
3 points
Question 10
What eight European football clubs have both spent and received over €100m on the transfer of a single player? Three of the clubs are Spanish, three English, one French, and one Italian.
*The 2026 summer transfer window saw Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham all spend over €100m on a player (Morgan Rogers, Bradley Barcola, Sandro Tonali), with Liverpool having topped the figure for the third time in only 12 months. Enzo Fernández, who moved from Chelsea to Manchester City for over €145m on September 1, has become the first player to be transferred for over €100m twice.
Real Madrid
Athletico Madrid
Chelsea
Liverpool
Tottenham Hotspur
Paris St Germain
Juventus
8 points
Round 2 points
(Maximum: 22)
Total points
(Maximum: 45)
Round 3
Question 1
The source of the common cold, what is the most common infectious virus in humans?
*There are three species of rhinovirus (A, B, and C), of which rhinovirus-c is the most common – although at least 171 genotype variations of rhinovirus exist.
1 point
Question 2
The BBC Proms concerts close on September 12. Which Russian composer’s work has formed a major part of the 2026 programme, with his Symphony No. 2, Third Piano Concerto, and Paganini Variations all being performed as individual concerts, while his Symphonic Dances feature in a special Russian Classics night and his Symphony No. 3 will be part of a concert celebrating the year 1936?
*Only Ludwig van Beethoven’s work headlines more concerts during the season, appearing in six concert titles, while the music and operas of Richard Strauss features heavily – but is not necessarily the headline performance – in six concerts.
1 point
Question 3
On November 17, 1974, Erskine Childers became the first and so far only president of which country to die while holding office?
*Previously the Minister for Health, Childers died of heart failure while visiting Dublin’s Royal College of Physicians. The role of President in Ireland is mostly ceremonial, with executive authority instead lying with the Taoiseach.
1 point
Question 4
Since medical papers published in 2016 and 2018 argued for their reclassification, there has been debate within the medical profession on whether to define the mesentery and interstitium as what type of item, which would take the total number of such items to 79?
1 point
Question 5
What number of crusade saw French king Louis IX attack Egypt in 1248, only to suffer a heavy defeat and capture, thereby greatly diminishing the desire for future crusades – although Louis did try another crusade by attacking Tunisia, only to die of dysentery during its undertaking?
1 point
Question 6
Over the past two months, Williston Lake in British Columbia, Canada has seen a mysterious, 150-metre fully forested island appear, then disappear, then reappear again over 30km away. With it being impossible for the forest to have survived or grown underwater, what is the current belief of where the island was when it ‘disappeared’?
*The mystery seems to have a fairly simple solution: rising water lifted a section of forest which had been growing on unstable, woody ground, which then floated into the middle of the lake. It then seems to have floated to the shore for a while, before becoming dislodged once more. The public has been advised not to try and walk on the new island, as the ground is highly unstable.
1 point
Question 7
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare starts with the line ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’. What two adjectives complete the following line: ‘Thou art more ___ and more ___’?
Temperate
2 points
Question 8
On September 19, 1783, the Montgolfier brothers were invited by the Académie Royale des Sciences to display their new hot air balloon technology in front of Louis XVI at the Palace of Versailles. Introduced by the firing of a cannon, what three types of farmyard animals were put in the balloon basket for the flight, and declared ‘heroes of the air’ after they all survived a 3.5km journey?
*The animals flew roughly 600m into the air, before a rip in the fabric led to the balloon slowly descending into a wood eight minutes later. The three were then given the reward of living in the menagerie at Versailles. The science teacher who checked on the animals, Pilâtre de Rozier, would later become one of the two first men to be taken up in a balloon, and also one of the first two men to die in a balloon crash.
Duck
Cockerel
3 points
Question 9
All in the state of Texas, what are the three most populous cities in the US without a sports team in any of the country’s ‘big four’ leagues – those being the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL?
Austin
El Paso
3 points
Question 10
For what six films – none of which are Titanic – has the actor Leonardo diCaprio been nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award? All the nominations have been since 2005.
*DiCaprio’s one win was for The Revenant. He also received a Best Supporting Actor nomination in 1994 for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
Blood Diamond
The Wolf of Wall Street
The Revenant
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
One Battle after Another
6 points
Round 3 points
(Maximum: 20)
Total points
(Maximum: 65)
Round 4
Question 1
What were unusual about the victories of Tom Byers in the 1500m at the 1981 Bislett Games, Paul Pilkington at the 1994 Los Angeles Marathon, Simon Biwott at the 2000 Berlin Marathon, and Reuban Kipyego at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Marathon – with some saying the victories had broken an unwritten athletics code? In 2026 Dennis Kipkemoi nearly joined the list at the Berlin Half Marathon, but eased up at the finish line to allow Andrea Kiptoo an uncontested win?
*Byers victory caught international attention because the Bislett Games in Oslo had a field of world-leading athletes. However, during the race the favourites were too preoccupied watching each other, leaving the pacemaker 70m ahead with two laps to go. Deciding to try for the win, Byers tired greatly in the final lap, but the gap was too large for the other athletes to catch him. Kipkemoi’s near-victory in 2026 was rare in that he had been dropped by other runners, but rather than stepping aside as pacemakers usually do, he kept going and retook the lead.
1 point
Question 2
What family of plants includes the pineapple, the 15m high Queen of the Andes, and numerous decorative house plants with central flowers and rosette-patterned leaves that form a reservoir?
1 point
Question 3
Built in 2003 on a limited budget, and possibly still the largest plastic building in the world, the Amazing Whale Jaw in Hoofddorp, Netherlands, is built entirely out of polystyrene foam and polyester. Fifty metres long, but only ten metres wide and five metres high, what type of infrastructure building is the Amazing Whale Jaw?
1 point
Question 4
Similar to a genre of plays in which characters have ethical debates, what alliterative name is given to a genre of Victorian painting that depicts ambiguous scenes about which the viewer can form a narrative, with examples being ‘The Camden Town Murder’ by Walter Sickert, ‘The Prodigal Daughter’ by John Collier, and ‘And when did you last see your father?’ by William Yeames?
1 point
Question 5
Western European music from the 12th century to the early 14th century is labelled as ars antiqua, which can be translated as ancient art or old art. By what term is the music which replaced it in the 14th century known?
1 point
Question 6
What is the two-word translation of the Japanese term ukiyo, used to describe the 17th– to 19th– century hedonistic society of Edo Japan, as well as the ukiyo-e art movement known for its stylised depictions of white-faced geisha, kabuki actors, and court scenes? The translation appears in the title of a famous book by Kazuo Ishiguro in which an elderly artist fondly remembers life in the 19th century while his family and country changes in the lead up to World War II.
1 point
Question 7
In computing, dual operation mode means an operating system can switch between what two privilege levels, one being safer and with more access restrictions, and the other allowing unlimited access to hardware set up?
Kernel mode (system mode)
2 points
Question 8
In Catholicism, what are the three Sacraments of Initiation? These sacraments are mostly known for the ceremonies undertaken by children or new members of a church.
Confirmation
Eucharist (communion)
3 points
Question 9
As well as containing over 500 languages, Nigeria has over 370 ethnic groups. Comprising approximately 68 per cent of the nation, what are the largest three?
Yoruba
Igbo
3 points
Question 10
Although there are numerous variations, many of which use nutmeg or mace, what eight spices go into a basic garam masala mix as described by the BBC Good Food magazine?
*The name garam masala means ‘warm spice blend’.
Cumin
Black pepper
Cinnamon
Cardamom
Fennel
Cloves
Bay leaves
8 points
Round 4 points
(Maximum: 22)
Total points
(Maximum: 87)
Round 5
In Round 5, there is only one answer. The fewer 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 name is shared by all of the following people, either as a first name or surname?
Clue 1
Patrick, first Prime Minister of Dominica who in 1981 was arrested for trying to overthrow the government, and who later became head of the Dominica Football Association before he was banned for bribery
10 points
Clue 2
Duns Scotus, 13th century Scottish priest whose ‘univocity of being’ theory stated that the properties of humans had to be comparable to God, otherwise God could not be understood
9 points
Clue 3
Cabot, Italian explorer who was commissioned by English king Henry VII to travel to North America in the 15th century and whose first name at birth was probably Giovanni or Zuan.
8 points
Clue 4
Calvin, French theologian whose theory of predestination was central to Calvinism theology
7 points
Clue 5
Charles, Welsh footballer who excelled as a centre-back and centre-forward for Leeds and Juventus
6 points
Clue 6
Locke, English Enlightenment philosopher whose work includes Two Treatises of Government
5 points
Clue 7
Adams, second President of the US, whose son also became President
4 points
Clue 8
Travolta, American actor whose notable films include Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction
3 points
Clue 9
Elton, English chart-topping piano player who was born Reginald Dwight
2 points
Clue 10
Evangelist who wrote one of the four New Testament gospels, alongside Matthew, Mark, and Luke
1 point