Round 1
Question 1
In the standard UK and European traffic light sequence, what are the only two lights that are illuminated at the same time?
*The sequence runs red, red and amber, green, amber, red. In the US, amber is not used when moving from red to green, but does get used when moving from green to red as a warning to slow down.
1 point
Question 2
The Great British Bake Off will return to screens on September 22 with which well-known TV cook replacing Prue Leith as a judge?
1 point
Question 3
Roughly translated as master craftsman, shokunin is a lifelong dedication to a single craft in which country’s culture, with its philosophy generally being that achieving a single skill to an extremely high level better serves society and culture, and maintains self-discipline?
1 point
Question 4
Which 19th-century French novelist is known for his Voyages Extraordinaires series, which includes over 50 books and involves characters taking incredible journeys, sometimes with elements of science fiction?
1 point
Question 5
First released in 1965, what Ford model has seen over 13 million units produced and has, either in its standard or custom form, been the top selling van in Europe for the past 11 years – with the two variations taking the top two spots in 2025?
1 point
Question 6
What season completes the name of the Chinese television drama that on September 4 became the first Chinese show to appear in Netflix’s top three most watched shows worldwide: The Early _____?
*C-dramas have seen a sharp rise in international and online popularity in recent years thanks to larger budgets, an ‘idol’ model similar to those used by Japan and Korea, and a move towards more youth-driven and emotional subjects, rather than traditional imperial court and war dramas. The Early Spring (Zǎo Chūn Qíng Lǎng), based on a novel by Gu Niang Bie Ku, tells the story of a young woman who starts an intense relationship with her boss at work.
1 point
Question 7
What two pieces of technology complete the full name of the US telecommunications company AT&T: American _____ and _____ Company?
Telegraph
2 points
Question 8
In the physics equation p=mv, for what do the letters p, m, and v stand?
*The use of p for momentum comes from the Latin pellere, which means push.
Mass
Velocity
3 points
Question 9
Having replaced lime in order to suit local tastes, and never introduced blackcurrant, what are the four flavours of Starburst Original sweets, previously known as Opal Fruits in some countries?
Orange
Cherry
Strawberry
4 points
Question 10
Make the longest word possible from the following letters: ILLLOOPPS
Up to 9 points
(*length of word equates to points awarded)
Round 1 points
(Maximum: 24)
Round 2
Question 1
In astronomy, what constellation is also known as The Hunter?
1 point
Question 2
Directed by Paul Almond, Michael Apted, and finally Asif Kapadia, the …Up television series concludes on September 22, having met the same group of individuals every seven years throughout their lives from the age of 7. What age are the individuals in the final episode?
*The series had planned to finish at 63 Up after Apted passed away, but when one of the participants, Nick, said he would like to do one more interview after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Kapadia took on the final reflective episodes. Initially planned to show how class affected outcomes in Britain, the series has seen the participants go through a variety of jobs and lifestyles, ranging from barrister and taxi driver to serving as a foster family and being homeless.
1 point
Question 3
What American cartoon and toy franchise, which started in the 1990s, is based on the Japanese cartoon and toy franchise Super Sentai, which started in the 1970s?
1 point
Question 4
From 1998 to 2004, and again from 2009 to 2014, music television channel VH1 ran a yearly charity concert featuring headliners such as Cher, Tina Turner, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Aretha Franklin. What single word that can be used to describe talented women or high maintenance female singers was given to the concert series?
1 point
Question 5
In home and building repairs, for what is caulk used?
*Unlike grout, which is a cement-based material which holds tiles in place, caulk is flexible and waterproof, and is often used at edges that are close to water, such as around the base of taps or bathtubs.
1 point
Question 6
What machine-created ‘sweetening’ innovation, devised by Charles Douglass, became a television standard between the 1950s and late 1970s until improvements in technology and a preference for live audiences created more nuanced replacements?
1 point
Question 7
Which two Los Angeles gangs have been engaged in a frequently violent rivalry since the early 1970s when high school students Sylvester Scott and Vincent Owens decided to ‘provide protection’ to locals after they themselves were attacked by a gang run by Tookie Williams?
*Williams claimed he established the Crips to protect black people from police corruption, brutality, and racism, and actually worked as an anti-gang counsellor whilst running a major violent gang. He was convicted of four murders and ultimately executed in 2005. After being attacked by Crips, Scott and Benson initially set up a gang named Pirus, which began to merge with other gangs that had suffered against the Crips and became the Bloods. The gang soon moved into dealing crack cocaine and heightened levels of violence to counter the larger Crips membership. Scott was shot dead in 2006. Owens claimed himself a reformed man and worked for the LA transport authority for 25 years, while his younger brother became a pastor and deputy sheriff in the city.
2 points
Question 8
Both named for the country or geographic area in which it is found, what are the two subspecies of red panda?
Himalayan
2 points
Question 9
In what four historical ages did the four main series of the UK comedy Blackadder respectively take place?
*Blackadder helped cement the reputations of its stars Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny, and Miranda Richardson.
Elizabethan era
Regency (Georgian era)
World War I
4 points
Question 10
In animal welfare, what are the five freedoms? One is a thing animals should be free to do, and four are things animals should be free from.
Freedom from discomfort
Freedom from pain, injury, or disease
Freedom to express normal behaviour
Freedom from fear and distress
5 points
Round 2 points
(Maximum: 19)
Total points
(Maximum: 43)
Round 3
Question 1
One of the stars of acclaimed 2023 romantic comedy Rye Lane, David Jonsson is scheduled to take over the role of which character in the Marvel universe from 2028?
*Jonsson will take over from Letitia Wright, whose character in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had been rewritten to become the titular character after the star of the 2018 Black Panther film, Chadwick Boseman, passed away in 2020.
1 point
Question 2
Concerns about the health and capacity of which 84-year old US senator were raised last week after he returned to the senate on September 14 after three months in hospital, only to vote with the opposition Democrats before an aide and fellow Republican senators intervened by telling him what to say?
*McConnell was voting on an agriculture bill which passed from committee 12-11 thanks to his altered vote, adding further concern about whether an elected official was making his own decisions in key votes. A lengthy and articulate social media post that appeared on McConnell’s accounts after the vote received much scrutiny as many did not believe he knew what he was doing, let alone could write such a post. McConnell’s health was already a concern prior to his hospital stay as he had been seen to freeze mid-sentence on multiple occasions in recent years, and ten days prior to his stay was also seen to vote against his own party before others intervened, with a senate clerk subsequently filmed telling him how to vote as people might expect.
1 point
Question 3
The third edition of what female-only athletics series devised by Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian was held in London on September 18?
*Athlos describes itself as ‘the competition of a track meet with the entertainment of a music festival’, although its use of DJs, in-event commentary, and loud ‘hype’ trackside interviews has received heavy criticism from traditional athletics fans.
1 point
Question 4
Forming part of the border between Washington and Oregon, and with a headwater in the Canadian province whose name also references it, what is the longest river in the US to empty into the Pacific ocean?
*The Columbia River starts in Columbia Lake in British Columbia.
1 point
Question 5
What letter of the alphabet was used for the name of a highly dangerous German World War II mine that was also dubbed the Bouncing Betty because, when triggered, it would propel itself to waist height before detonating, thus firing shrapnel at multiple victims?
1 point
Question 6
An early project in the UK’s controversial Private Finance Initiative, what UK bridge charged cars £4.70 to travel just 500m when it opened in 1995, rising to £5.70 for summer crossings by the time the Scottish Government bought the bridge in 2004, leading to heavy local protests that ‘the most expensive road in Europe’ had replaced a ferry service?
*Many Skye residents refused to pay the toll, leading to court appearances on the mainland, meaning they were asked to pay the toll again to defend a charge about not paying the toll. As well as the high cost for a car, coaches were charged £27.90, rising to £41.20, to travel the 500m. The consortium that financed the bridge is estimated to have paid £24m for construction and £3.5m for operations, then sold the bridge to the government for £27m having generated £33m in income. A car ferry does still run between mainland Scotland and Skye: the six-car heritage Glenelg-Skye ferry runs in the summertime, charging £5 for foot passengers and £20 for a car, and claims to be the last manually operated turntable car ferry in the world.
1 point
Question 7
Both beginning with the letter A, what are the names of the two men with whom Tess Durbeyfield becomes involved in the 1891 Thomas Hardy novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles?
Angel
2 points
Question 8
Named the Totoposte Wars after a type of local snack because the conflicts were deemed to involve more corn consumption than fighting, which three central American nations fought three wars against each other between 1890 and 1906?
El Salvador
Guatemala
3 points
Question 9
What are the four UNESCO World Heritage sites situated in London? Note that three buildings in Westminster are contained within a single entry.
Tower of London
Maritime Greenwich
Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew (Kew Gardens)
4 points
Question 10
What were the English names of the five empires or nations for which Moscow was the capital city during the 20th century?
Russian Republic (1917-1918)
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917-1922)
Soviet Union (1922-1991)
Russian Federation (1991- )
5 points
Round 3 points
(Maximum: 20)
Total points
(Maximum: 63)
Round 4
Question 1
On September 13, the Chicago Bears beat the Carolina Panthers 59-37 in the highest scoring opening game in an NFL season. How many touchdowns were scored in the game?
*The Bears scored eight touchdowns and a field goal, while the Panthers scored five – although missed one extra point – plus a field goal. In the next game the Bears scored only 3 points.
1 point
Question 2
Starting with the letter Q, what is the name of the circular grinding stone used in milling?
1 point
Question 3
Which English author followed up her best known work with the 1820 novel Mathilda, narrated by a young woman whose estranged father returns into her life only to then seek a romantic relationship with her? The book was only published in 1959 because the author’s disgusted father refused to send back the manuscript after she had asked him to help find a publisher.
1 point
Question 4
Since starting the project in 1987, New Zealand botanist Hugh Wilson is primarily known for creating the Hinewai Reserve on the country’s South Island by successfully removing what type of invasive plant species from farmland by not opting to cut or burn it, as instructed by the government, but instead using it as thorny cover for native saplings, which grew above the species and ultimately out-competed it?
*Wilson’s story was made into a documentary named Fools and Dreamers, the title referring to an insult made against him in a letter after he had announced his plan to not cut the gorse back.
1 point
Question 5
What hormone, better known for other roles it plays in human puberty, causes epiphyseal closure, the process during which bones stop growing and human height becomes more set?
1 point
Question 6
In 1938, Britain’s Royal Air Force reportedly numbered several trees near High Wycombe, replanted them elsewhere, and in 1940 moved them back into exactly the same place they had previously stood. What was built in the vacated spot during the two years the trees were elsewhere?
*The bunker was part of a broader development for the headquarters of RAF Bomber Command, with military installations disguised as civilian buildings such as churches and manor houses and the ‘town’ given the codename Southdown and the vague address GPO High Wycombe. A second bunker was built at the site during the Cold War and remains in use, as does the command headquarters, now serving as the headquarters for UK Space Command. The High Wycombe bunker is generally believed to be where the UK’s Prime Minister and cabinet would be moved should the country suffer a nuclear attack.
1 point
Question 7
American actress and singer Barbra Streisand is known for giving many of her early studio albums ironic or semi-serious names, often including her name. After calling her first album The Barbra Streisand Album, what did she call her second album? And what was the name of her third?
*Other titles in Streisand’s early discography include ‘My Name is Barbra’, ‘My Name is Barbra, Two…’, ‘Je m’appelle Barbra’, ‘Barbra Joan Streisand’, and ‘Barbra Streisand…And Other Musical Instruments’.
The Third Album
2 points
Question 8
In mathematics, what are the names of the three polytopes of a polyhedra, also referred to as the facet, ridge, and peak? In simpler terms, this means what are the names of the three components of a three-dimensional shape, namely a flat section, a part where two flat sections meet, and a corner where three flat sections meet
Edge
Vertex
3 points
Question 9
According to the Jewish Midrash interpretation of the Torah, what are the four types of son? Three are described by a single adjective, whereas one is defined by a failure to do an action.
Wicked
Simple
Does not know how to ask
4 points
Question 10
Popular throughout Eastern Europe, and named the national dish of Bulgaria – the flag of which uses the same colours as appear in the dish – shopska salad is made of what five ingredients?
*Sirene is similar, but lighter, than feta cheese.
Roast pepper
Cucumber
Onion (scallion)
Sirene (cheese)
5 points
Round 4 points
(Maximum: 20)
Total points
(Maximum: 83)
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 word can go before or after all of the following to make another word?
Clue 1
Bear
10 points
Clue 2
Cloud
9 points
Clue 3
Salmon
8 points
Clue 4
Wolf
7 points
Clue 5
Wine
6 points
Clue 6
Black
5 points
Clue 7
Goose
4 points
Clue 8
Blue
3 points
Clue 9
Rasp
2 points
Clue 10
Straw
1 point