Quiz #56

Painted by an Italian and kept in a French museum, what painting is known as La Gioconda in Italy and La Joconde in France?

Question 2

According to analysis by the US Department of Agriculture, which has the higher water content: 100g of cucumber or 100g of watermelon?

Question 3

If paid monthly, which costs more in the UK: a TV licence, a subscription to Sky Sports, or a Premium Netflix subscription?

Question 4

Finishing his campaign with 16 goals in 8 games, which player is currently the top scorer in qualifying for the 2026 men’s football World Cup, as well as currently being the top scorer in the on-going English Premier League season, with 14 goals in 11 games?

Question 5

In which UK country was a major incident declared on November 15 after a town was struck by severe flooding during Storm Claudia?

Question 6

As part of a television documentary shown on Channel 4 on Saturday November 15, DNA analysis results of which World War II figure were released that showed his genome was in the top 1 per cent for suffering autism, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, as well as suffering Kallman Syndrome, a disorder that affects puberty and the development of sexual organs?

Question 7

As well as the counties of Nassau and Suffolk, what two boroughs of New York City have areas of land situated on Long Island?

Question 8

What are the two Native American tribes that lived in what is now upstate New York whose names are used to describe a hairstyle comprised of a front-to-back strip of spiked hair atop an otherwise shaved head?

Question 9

Data from the Centre for Retail Research shows that 2025 is already tied for the year with the second-most medium and large business closures in the UK since the organisation started tracking the statistic in 2007, with the 54 closed so far trailing only the 61 that went out of business in 2023. With what three other years is 2025 tied, with two of those being years of international crises, and the third being the year after David Cameron hired Mary Portas to produce a review of Britain’s failing high streets, with the so-called ‘Mary Queen of Shops’ later saying the government had only used her for public relations and ignored her recommendations?

Question 10

Make the longest word possible from the following letters: BDEEORVYY

Round 1 points
(Maximum: 22)

Round 2

Question 1

For what clothing-based reason is the horizontal bar on a women’s bike traditionally lower than a men’s bike?

Question 2

In The Bible, from where do the rivers Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Phrath flow?

Question 3

In 2024, when aged 2 years and 182 days, British child Joseph Harris-Birtill became the youngest ever person to become a member of what organisation after evaluations by education psychologists – a different route to joining than those over the age of 10 who have to pass a test?

Question 4

UK supermarket Waitrose has released its 2025 Christmas advert, titled The Perfect Gift, featuring comedian Joe Wilkinson falling in love with which English actress? The advert includes a scene in which Wilkinson stands on the actress’s doorstep with a turkey pie that reads ‘I Love You’ whilst fearing she is dating a man named Mark – nods to a scene from a 2003 film in which the actress starred.

Question 5

Also related to a Christmas advert, which UK airport has temporarily renamed its Terminal 4 to ‘Terminal Paw’ to mark the return to the screen of its elderly teddy bear couple Doris and Edward for the first time since 2018?

Question 6

During his unsuccessful 2025 New York mayoral election campaign, independent candidate and former mayor Andrew Cuomo made frequent references to – and videos about – his ‘good luck truck’, a white Ford Bronco SUV, drawing mockery and criticism due to the vehicle being the same model and colour as that seen during what infamous event of June 1994?

Question 7

In Gregory Maguire’s novel Wicked, later adapted into a stage show and two-part film, what are the first names of the characters who eventually become the Good Witch of the North and the Wicked Witch of the West? The name of the Good Witch is only a mild deviation from her name in the original Wizard of Oz books – and ultimately she takes that name as well – while the Wicked Witch’s name is based on the name of the author who wrote the original books, L. Frank Baum.

Question 8

What two albums by the rock group Queen are named after films starring the Marx Brothers?

Question 9

Involving the placing of a coloured spot on an animal and subsequently showing the animal its reflection to see whether it cleans the spot, the MSR test is frequently – although arguably unfairly – used to gauge an animal’s intelligence. For what do the letters MSR stand?

Question 10

What has been classified in UK government road data as the ‘fatal 4’ behaviours drivers do that cause the most road fatalities? The US Department of Transportation has also identified three of the four as the ‘three major behavioral factors’ in fatal road traffic accidents, and suggested the fourth as an often under-reported cause.

Round 2 points
(Maximum: 17)

Total points
(Maximum: 39)

Round 3

Question 1

In which 1980s comedy film do Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia dance on a walking piano in a toy shop?

Question 2

For films by which director has Scottish composer Patrick Doyle provided the score 14 times, including adaptations of Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and the Shakespeare plays Henry V, Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, As You Like It, and Much Ado About Nothing?

Question 3

Part of an archipelago of four islands, Rakata is the remnant of what location that made the news across five months in 1883?

Question 4

The only full-scale fight between battleships during World War I before submarine attacks became more prominent, and the cause of over 9000 deaths, the largest naval battle of World War I occurred between the British and German fleets on May 31, 1916 off the west coast of which peninsula?

Question 5

Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro smartphone is available in three colours: white, ‘deep blue’, and which other colour, given the descriptor ‘cosmic’?

Question 6

In which Brazilian city, situated at the mouth of the Amazon river, is the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, currently taking place?

Question 7

Between which two South American nations do the companies Colonia Express and Buquebus offer ferry services?

Question 8

Although it also contains herbs and sometimes bacon and a bread product of some form, what are the three primary ingredients of Belgium’s unofficial national dish, carbonade flamande?

Question 9

Ignoring the use of the words ‘left’ and ‘right’, what are the four different names given to the six positions on an ice hockey team?

Question 10

What are the five types of pigeon or dove generally seen in the UK – one of which is only found in its pure form in Scotland’s Western Isles in the UK but is the same species as the feral pigeons found in cities and towns across the world?

Round 3 points
(Maximum: 20)

Total points
(Maximum: 59)

Round 4

Question 1

What species of animal was controversially declared ‘functionally extinct’ in Scotland in 2018 after genetic research found hybridization between it and a domestic species had created ‘genetic swamping’, or a ‘hybrid swarm’, in which measurements of genetic purity showed a continuous line from 100 per cent to 0 per cent rather than two distinct groups?

Question 2

In which epic poem does the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita appear?

Question 3

Larry the cat, who has the official title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Officer, has lived at 10 Downing Street during the leadership of six UK Prime Ministers. Where does his French counterpart, Nemo the dog, live with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte?

Question 4

What novel by Graham Greene tells the story of jealous writer Maurice Bendrix, who has a relationship with the married Sarah Miles but becomes embittered when firstly she does not leave her husband and then she stops seeing him after he is injured during The Blitz – only later discovering that she had made a promise to God to stop seeing Maurice if God allowed him to recover?

Question 5

Which US university campus includes both the circular Kresge Chapel, which has a circular rooftop window and glittering internal artwork that combined create the effect of a shimmering light beam being cast on the altar, and the Infinite Corridor, a 251-meter third-floor hallway between multiple buildings which twice a year lines up perfectly with the setting sun so light is cast down its entire length, one date of which was November 11?

Question 6

Which Russian ruler went on an undercover incognito trip around Western Europe – specifically the Swedish Empire, Dutch Republic, and England – in his mid-twenties in 1697 and 1698 to learn about shipbuilding?

Question 7

In Judaism, that two holidays are known are as the High Holy Days?

Question 8

According to annual surveys conducted by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, six of the ten most frequent plants in the UK are types of grasses, namely Yorkshire fog (1), cock’s foot (4), creeping bent (5), common bent (8), perennial ryegrass (9), and red fescue (10). What four other species of plants appear in the top ten most frequent plants list for the UK, with two being common hedgerow plants, one often dismissed by gardeners as a weed, and one a meadow flower that also frequently appears in lawns?

Question 9

What five players currently playing for non-English club teams played for the England national side during the current men’s World Cup qualifying campaign?

Question 10

Comparing data from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization to current global populations, and with Ireland, Iceland, and Namibia now no longer on the list, what are the nine UN-recognised countries in the world have more sheep than people? Of the nine, three are in Sahel Africa, two are in Australasia, two are in East-Central Asia, one is in South America, and one is in North Africa.

Round 4 points
(Maximum: 26)

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.

The following people are all renowned names in what field?

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)