Round 1
Question 1
What piece of household electrical equipment features in all of the following scenes from horror films: the ghost of the dead child Sadako crawls through one into a present day apartment in the Japanese film Ringu; five-year-old Carol Anne declares ‘They’re here’ after having a conversation with one in Poltergeist; an axe goes through one as a woman screams, signalling the original murder in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me; and a hallucinating Max crawls into one after it seduces him in Videodrome?
1 point
Question 2
The films The Poseidon Adventure, Stranger Things, The Hudsucker Proxy, Trading Places, and Ocean’s 11 all have key scenes held during which annual celebration?
1 point
Question 3
In Greek mythology, what horse was said to be born from Poseidon using blood from the decapitated head of Medusa, and was captured by the Greek hero Bellerophon?
*Riding the winged-horse Pegasus made Bellerophon a mighty warrior in battle, but Zeus knocked Bellerophon from his horse with a thunderbolt when the latter tried to reach Mount Olympus, before sending the horse into the skies to serve as a constellation. Springs of water were said to erupt wherever Pegasus’s hooves touched the earth, including the sacred Hippocrene spring on Mount Helicon.
1 point
Question 4
In which current US state is the town of Plymouth, claimed to be the place in which European settlers established their first colony in 1620?
*A rock that is said to be the literal Plymouth Rock on which settlers arrived does exist, but has been badly damaged due to repeated relocation and people chipping off souvenir pieces.
1 point
Question 5
Now a symbol of the country due to their popularity with tourists visiting the Alps, Swiss chalets were originally built as the seasonal homes for herders of what type of animal, the herders moving the animals to high pasture during ‘Alpaufzug’ and back to the valley during ‘Alpabzug’?
*The popularity and number of Swiss chalets has as much to do with tourism as it does Swiss culture: aided by the 19th-century Grand Tour, the Heidi books, and the Swiss mountain exhibit at the 1900 Paris Exhibition, overseas tourists became so keen on the chalet design many built Swiss cottages when they returned home.
1 point
Question 6
Although often deemed incorrect – and therefore potentially fatal – due to multiple exceptions and limited geographical relevance, the mnemonic ‘red on yellow, deadly fellow; red on black, friendly jack’ refers to what type of animal?
*The mnemonic helps people remember the difference between the bands of the highly venomous coral snake and harmless milk snake and scarlet kingsnake in the south of the US: if a snake’s red band is next to its yellow band, it is a coral snake, whereas a red band next to a black band is the pattern of a milk snake or kingsnake. However, the mnemonic may be counterproductive if people do not remember it only applies to the bands (some coral snakes have black spots on red), and does not apply to snakes in other regions.
1 point
Question 7
Both actresses named Jennifer, who have been the two wives of actor Ben Affleck?
Jennifer Lopez
2 points
Question 8
In computing, a KVM switch allows a user to control multiple computers using a single interface. For what three attachable computer devices do the letters K, V, and M stand?
Video (video monitor)
Mouse
3 points
Question 9
What six types of birds appear in the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Ugly Duckling?
*The duckling – who does not realise he is a swan – is initially bullied at the farm by various ducks and a turkey. After he runs away he encounters a hunting dog before wild ducks and geese invite them to join them as they migrate, only for a farmer to shoot them. A cat and a hen at a cottage scoff at the duckling’s want to swim and inability to lay eggs. Having finally run away into the winter, and seen a raven, he decides to let some swans peck him to death, only to then see his reflection.
Turkey
Goose
Hen
Raven
Swan
6 points
Question 10
Make the longest word possible from the following letters: BCHLOORTW
Up to 9 points
(*length of word equates to points awarded)
Round 1 points
(Maximum: 26)
Round 2
Question 1
What organisation was founded by the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992?
1 point
Question 2
Unusual stories involving nakedness, alcohol, alligators, fighting, irresponsible gun ownership, and/or police interactions with stupid crimes or unusual getaway vehicles have led to men from which US state becoming an internet meme, as well as the subject of a regular comedic bit on the Jimmy Kimmel chat show?
*Due to news headlines often starting ‘Florida man…’, the term Florida man has become synonymous with crazy behaviour. Examples of ‘Florida man…’ stories include a man drunkenly putting red and blue lights on his bicycle to pretend to be the FBI so he wouldn’t get beaten up throwing live catfish on the lawns of suspected illegal immigrants; a shirtless man fighting a tree after yelling at children on a school trip that he was going to ‘teach them the right way’; a man playing basketball naked in the park claiming it helped him with his game; a man who collected frozen iguanas thinking he could cook them for dinner, only for them to awake and attack him in his car; and a man who covered his hands with peanut butter and tried to punch his neighbour so as to trigger a peanut allergy. The abundance of Florida man stories is often attributed to the state’s poor mental health services, people spending time outside in public due to the good weather, and access to unusual items and wildlife.
1 point
Question 3
In what way does rap jumping, otherwise known as Australian abseiling, differ from the usual form of rappelling or abseiling?
1 point
Question 4
Separate from the UK’s Royal Mail – although envelopes can be picked up in a UK post office – and delivering to recipients by using a number rather than destination country, to whom does the BFPO postal service cater?
*The British Forces Post Office is used to send letters to military personnel serving overseas. Letters should be addressed with the rank and name of the individual, the regiment/unit/ship, and then a BFPO number which corresponds to where the person is stationed.
1 point
Question 5
What 1980s British-Irish pop group, which reached number one in the US with Venus and had a name that included a type of fruit, was comprised of Sara Dillin, Siobhan Fahey, and Keren Woodward?
*Contrary to the upbeat pop and tongue-in-cheek videos for which the group became known, Bananarama’s members were initially two journalist students and a pensions clerk at the BBC who bonded over an interest in punk music. After Fahey left the group in 1988 to form Shakespears Sister with Marcella Detroit, Jacquie O’Sullivan joined the group.
1 point
Question 6
What hit record for British singer Harry Styles takes its name from a 1968 novel by Richard Brautigan in which people in a hallucinogenic state of mind speak to animals beneath a sun of ever-changing colours, only for a group of drunkards to arrive and prove to residents a point about death?
1 point
Question 7
Completing the closest finals the league has seen, which two teams competed in a WNBA Finals Game 7 decider on Saturday October 31, with the victorious team’s 68-63 win giving it a title in only its second season since joining as an expansion team in 2025?
*The Valkyries’ Gabby Williams – who was an alternate for the US 2012 Olympic team in high jump when aged just 15 – was named Finals MVP, and her 30 points (28 of which came in the second half) helped decide Game 7. The Valkyries are affiliated with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. The Dream, which is not tied to the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, was the last expansion team prior to the Valkyries, having joined the league in 2008.
Atlanta Dream
2 points
Question 8
On Sunday November 1, Sofia Demetriades finished above Kezia Colton and Alma Nunez Debretzeni to win the BBC Young Musician of the Year award. What three musical instruments do the finalists respectively play?
Saxophone
Recorder
3 points
Question 9
Who were the four members of the UK rock band Led Zeppelin?
Jimmy Page
John Bonham
John Paul Jones
4 points
Question 10
From 1957 to 1976, Albert Travel operated a direct bus between London and Calcutta, believed to have been the longest direct bus journey in the world. As well as the UK and India, through which nine countries – two of which no longer exist – did the 50-day trip travel?
*The service was reported stopped because navigating the Middle East had become too difficult. Special buses between London and Sydney, Australia have been run, but not as a regular service.
West Germany
Austria
Yugoslavia
Bulgaria
Turkey
Iran
Afghanistan
Pakistan
9 points
Round 2 points
(Maximum: 24)
Total points
(Maximum: 50)
Round 3
Question 1
According to the Arthur Conan Doyle story His Last Bow, as well as the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King, what hobby was taken up by Sherlock Holmes after he retired?
1 point
Question 2
The ESO Hotel in Chile’s Atacama desert does not take public bookings, but instead caters to people working in what field?
*The hotel is used by astronomers, engineers, and scientists connected to the Paranal Observatory and Extremely Large Telescope projects.
1 point
Question 3
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey announced his budget on October 28. Due to archaic parliamentary rules, what can a chancellor do at the dispatch box during his budget speech that no other MP is allowed to do throughout the year – although an effort to look professional means no chancellor has done so since Ken Clarke in 1996?
*Gordon Brown chose to drink Highland spring water in 1997. It is now tradition for chancellors to follow a budget by having a drink with staff at the Two Chairmen pub in Westminster. For this, Healey had beer brought in from a Rotherham brewery in his Rawmarsh and Conisbrough constituency, and downed his pint in 12 seconds.
1 point
Question 4
What Czech car company began life as the Laurin & Klement bicycle manufacturing company in the city of Mladá Boleslav in Bohemia in 1896 before it moved into automobiles and then merged with an arms manufacturer in 1925, taking that companies name?
*The Škoda Works factory, established in 1859, initially made food and drinks equipment before moving into arms and trains, and finally merged with Laurin & Klement to become the car manufacturer known today.
1 point
Question 5
In American English, what word is used to describe a cat with tortoiseshell and white fur?
1 point
Question 6
What Italian town in the region of Campania completes the name of a famous memoir by Carlo Levi, later adapted into an acclaimed film, that describes grinding poverty and ignorance in the south of Italy during the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini in the 1930s: Christ Stopped at ____?
*Levi’s memoir takes place in Aliano – renamed Gagliano in the text – about 100km south of Eboli. The book’s title is derived from a local phrase which implies that Christianity and morality never made it past Eboli, where the railways veer away from their region.
1 point
Question 7
Mostly eaten in Canada, and named because its twin colours are similar to the animal, the ice cream known as tiger tail is comprised of what two flavours?
Liquorice
2 points
Question 8
Although it would later draw in the surrounding Ethiopian Empire, Congo Free State, and territory run by the Italian Empire, the Mahdist War was primarily a battle between which two African nations – one of which was run by the British Empire, and the other led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself ‘Mahdi’, the Islamic figure that is believed to appear before the end times?
*The Egyptian and British forces won the conflict, extending British rule into Sudan.
Sudan
2 points
Question 9
Who have been the four presidents of France during the 21st century?
Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012)
François Hollande (2012-2017)
Emmanuel Macron (2017-present)
4 points
Question 10
In 2024, Billboard magazine named its 25 top pop stars of the 21st century, which included 15 entrants born in the US and 10 others – including two boy bands – born in which other six nations? Four of the nations are in the Americas, one in Europe, and one in Asia. Note that Puerto Rico, where rapper Bad Bunny was born, is included as the US.
UK (Adele; One Direction; Ed Sheeran)
Barbados (Rihanna)
Trinidad and Tobago (Nicki Minaj)
Colombia (Shakira)
South Korea (BTS)
6 points
Round 3 points
(Maximum: 20)
Total points
(Maximum: 70)
Round 4
Question 1
In what vehicle-related activity can the following moves all be done: reverse popper, pogo, moonwalk, cyclone, and cross threading?
*A reverse popper involves reversing the truck over an obstacle so the truck stands on its back wheels. From here, pogoing is jumping the truck on its back wheels, while moonwalking involves making the truck move while it stands on its back wheels. A cyclone is a fast donut – that is, driving the truck in a circle – and cross threading is deliberately hitting an obstacle so the truck goes out of control, allowing the driver to show skill in then bringing the vehicle back under control as it rolls, flips, or hits other obstacles.
1 point
Question 2
What was the name of the 19th-century English food chemist who invented both baking powder and egg-free custard, the latter of which is commonly associated with the company he formed?
1 point
Question 3
What term in used in the legal system for a ruling in which a judge throws out a court case and says the plaintiff cannot refile or amend the case? An example occurred on Saturday when Judge Darrin P Gayles dismissed US President Donald Trump’s refiled case against the Wall Street Journal for its reporting on his alleged birthday card to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and told Trump’s lawyers they could not refile.
1 point
Question 4
What name was given to the informal Chinese system of using notes to represent physical coins that was introduced around the 8th century, with the name referring to this new system’s ability to move money quickly around the country?
*Seeing how important flying cash was becoming – a single piece of paper could represent multiple kilogrammes of coins – and how difficult it was to trust that people handing over notes actually had the money they claimed, the state authorities of the Song Dynasty took over the role of printing notes, threatening execution to anyone engaged in forgery. However, it duly printed too many notes, destroying the public’s belief that the paper represented the money it claimed it did and causing the currency to nosedive so much that by the 15th century people had reverted to once again wanting to use physical cash. Public belief that notes held value was also tested when dynasties changed, as one could not be certain that institutions holding physical cash would continue to run as they had, but eventually paper money’s convenience brought it back.
1 point
Question 5
Flipper pie is a pie made with seal flippers in which Canadian province?
1 point
Question 6
The alpine skiing season began on October 24-25, and will run until March 25. Of the 13 nations to be hosting an event, what micro European nation is the only one to not have had a men’s or women’s alpine skiing world champion in any discipline?
*The nations to be hosting events are Andorra, Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Slovakia; Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, and the USA. Finland has not had a women’s world champion, while Slovenia and Slovakia have not had a men’s world champion.
1 point
Question 7
What rhyming words are the respective nicknames of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming and the Religious Society of Friends?
The Quakers
2 points
Question 8
Of the 13 conspirators who attempted to blow up London’s House of Lords on November 5, 1605, what three first names belonged to multiple men? One first name belonged to men with the surnames Catesby, Wintour, and Keyes; one first name belonged to men with the surnames Wintour, Percy, and Bates; and one first name belonged to men with the surnames Wright and Grant.
Thomas
John
3 points
Question 9
The European Central Bank, Bank of Africa, Bank of East Asia, and Bank of America are headquartered in Germany, Morocco, China, and the US respectively. In what four cities are they headquartered?
Casablanca
Hong Kong
Charlotte
4 points
Question 10
Drawn up by William Lovett and Francis Place in 1838, based on ideas dating from the 18th century, the People’s Charter sought to create fair parliamentary representation in the UK through what six points covering voting and standing for parliament – five of which have subsequently come into force? Five of the points asked for the creation of a rule, and one of the points asked for the removal of a rule.
*Although chartism was initially ignored, over the next century all but the idea of annual elections were implemented in the UK.
No property qualifications (i.e. candidates do not need to own land to stand for parliament)
Annual parliaments
Constituencies of equal size
Payment for MPs (so not only rich people could afford to serve as an MP)
Election by secret ballot
6 points
Round 4 points
(Maximum: 21)
Total points
(Maximum: 91)
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 surname is shared by all of the following people?
Clue 1
AJ, US actress known for playing Jennifer ‘JJ’ Jareau on the TV show Criminal Minds since 2005
10 points
Clue 2
Murray, member of Australian children’s entertainment group The Wiggles
9 points
Clue 3
Alicia, American musician known by her stage name Alicia Keys
8 points
Clue 4
Robin, British parliamentarian for 31 years who served as Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 2001
7 points
Clue 5
Dalvin and James, NFL running back brothers who are best known for their achievements with the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills respectively
6 points
Clue 6
Peter, English comedian who formed a double act with Dudley Moore and contributed to the Private Eye magazine in its early years
5 points
Clue 7
Dane, US stand up comedian known for his Retaliation album and negative critical reception
4 points
Clue 8
Norman, British musician and DJ who performs under the name Fatboy Slim
3 points
Clue 9
Tim, businessman who served as CEO of Apple Inc. until August 31, 2026
2 points
Clue 10
James, English naval captain who arrived in Australia in 1770 and was killed in Hawaii in 1779
1 point