ROUND 1 - Trees

The answer to each of these general knowledge questions contains the name of a tree (often hidden in, or between, words of the answer).

2 points per answer.

1.

This is the inside of which well-known West Oxfordshire house?

2.

A song written in 1963 by Flanders and Swann references Chorlton-cum-Hardy.  What national change of the early 1960s occasioned this reference?

3.

In April 1961 an inlet in the Gulf of Cazones gained worldwide fame.  How was this inlet better known?

4.

At the top of Malham Cove in North Yorkshire the Pennine Way crosses a flat area of rock which is a classic example of which geological formation?

5.

From its inception in 2013 until she died in 2016 Caroline Aherne was the narrator of which hit Channel 4 TV reality series?

6.

Who is this singer-songwriter from the 1980s who starred in the film Breaking Glass?

7.

Which 1940s American Baptist missionary to China lent his name to an ultra-conservative US political group?

8.

Mindanao is the 19th largest island in the world and the second largest in which country?

9.

Conservative politician Baron Deben was once the MP for the constituency of Suffolk Coastal.  What was he known as before his ennoblement?

10.

The French Empire once included territory on the south-east coast of the sub-continent of India.  What was this colonial settlement known as in English?

11.

In which administrative district of Yorkshire would you find this landmark?

12.

Which band’s original line-up consisted of lead guitarist Joe, vocalist Mick, bassist Paul, and drummer Nicky?

13.

Which TV presenter, the longest serving on the programme concerned, appeared in a series of television advertisements for Spillers ‘Choice Cuts’ dog food?  The dog featured was called Skip.

14.

Michael Caine appeared as which character in the film Billion Dollar Brain?

15.

What is the name of the fell lying immediately to the north of the head of Wast Water in the Lake District and having the appearance of a very large burial mound (from which part of its name is derived)?

16.

What was the original purpose of this magnificent City Centre Manchester building?

17.

Which media franchise has been based on a 1963 book by Pierre Boulle?  The latest film in the series stars Andy Serkis as Caesar, alongside Woody Harrelson and Steve Zahn.

18.

The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe is a well-known ‘play within a play’.  Which character, a carpenter by trade, wrote it?

19.

What is the legal term to describe the crime of trying to influence jurors to deliver a prejudiced verdict?

20.

Daniel Handler wrote books in a franchise called A Series of Unfortunate Events.  What pen name did he use?

Go to Round 1 questions with answers

ROUND 2 - Top Four

For each of the 4 questions you need to name the Top Four items in the category in the correct order.   You score one point for getting the top item, 2 points for the second placed item, 3 points for the third placed item and four points for the fourth placed item.  Note: An eligible item in the wrong position scores no points.

1.

Name the tennis players to have won most Grand Slam singles events – Men or Women – up to May 2022.

2.

Name the world’s largest (by area) landlocked countries.

3.

Name the Metrolink tram stops with the most aggregate boarders/alighters per day (2019 survey).

4.

Name the metallic elements with the highest density.

Go to Round 2 questions with answers

ROUND 3 - WithQuiz Variations

There are 5 consecutive groups, each of 4 questions - each group includes questions from one of WithQuiz’s favourite question types.

Two points per answer.

1.

Between 1999 and 2004 Neil Kinnock served as Vice President of the European Commission. Who was the President during this period?

&
Which European city lies on the River Corrib and, with a population of 80,000, is the fourth largest city in its country?

2.

Meaning ‘iron-axe’ in Norman what was the first name of the man pictured here?

&
Which Spanish city is home to Spain’s oldest University founded in 1218?

3.

According to Beatrix Potter who was Benjamin’s wife?

&
Winning the Best Actor Oscar in the 2014 Academy Awards who portrayed Ron Woodroof, a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in a 2013 biopic?

4.

Pierre de Fermat and which other 17th century mathematician were pioneers in the field of probability theory?

&

After Eamon de Valera who is the second longest serving Irish Taoiseach?

5.

3, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, and ?

6.

City of Birmingham, City of Coventry, City of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and ?

7.

Jessica Chastain, Frances McDormand, Renee Zellweger, Olivia Colman, Frances McDormand, Emma Stone and ? (answer pictured here)

8.

Cheltenham Town, Lincoln City, Macclesfield Town, Leyton Orient, Barrow, Sutton United and ?

Blockbuster

Each answer contains words that start with the initial letters in the sequence given

9.

TGTWTW

The Winchester Repeating Arms Company very successfully marketed their Model 1873 rifle using what six-word slogan?

10.

FSS

The B(altimore) & O(hio) Railroad in the USA has what UK equivalent?

11.

WSJ

Pictured here what is the name of the unfairly treated personal assistant of C Montgomery Burns in The Simpsons?

12.

CAPD

Used by the US Supreme Court as the risk under which limits can be placed on First Amendment freedoms, which four-word phrase is also the title of a 1989 Jack Ryan novel by Tom Clancy and its 1994 film adaptation?

13.

Who took this famous photograph of Pablo and Paloma Picasso?

14.

Which famous American jazz trombonist (1905-1964) belonged at different times to Paul Whiteman’s and Louis Armstrong’s bands?  He was widely regarded as the best jazz trombonist prior to the bee-bop era. 

15.

Which TV programme is said to have been inspired by the Lewis chessmen?

16.

Which is the only Italian football club to have been in Serie A since the club was founded?

Hidden Theme

Each answer contains the same short word – on its own or as part of a longer word

17.

Where, locally, would you find the numbers:

4, 20, 1, 16, 6, 17, 8, 12, 9, 14, 5, 19, 2, 15, 3, 18, 7, 11, 10 and 13

in sequence?

18.

Which 1985 number one hit reportedly inspired by Eliot’s The Wasteland included the lyrics:

“You've got a heart of glass or a heart of stone,
Just you wait 'til I get you home,
We've got no future, we've got no past,
Here today, built to last,
In every city, in every nation,
From Lake Geneva to the Finland station,
(How far have you been?)”?

19.

Which English town was the site of the Roman fort Segedunum?  Its Roman museum is pictured here.

20.

Julian Barnes had 3 books short-listed for the Booker prize before he eventually won it with which novel?

Go to Round 3 questions with answers

ROUND 1 - Trees

The answer to each of these general knowledge questions contains the name of a tree (often hidden in, or between, words of the answer).

2 points per answer.

1.

This is the inside of which well-known West Oxfordshire house?

Kelmscott Manor

(home of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement)

2.

A song written in 1963 by Flanders and Swann references Chorlton-cum-Hardy.  What national change of the early 1960s occasioned this reference?

Beeching cuts

(C-c-H was mentioned in lyrics of Slow Train)

3.

In April 1961 an inlet in the Gulf of Cazones gained worldwide fame.  How was this inlet better known?

Bay of Pigs

(in Cuba)

4.

At the top of Malham Cove in North Yorkshire the Pennine Way crosses a flat area of rock which is a classic example of which geological formation?

Limestone pavement

5.

From its inception in 2013 until she died in 2016 Caroline Aherne was the narrator of which hit Channel 4 TV reality series?

Gogglebox

6.

Who is this singer-songwriter from the 1980s who starred in the film Breaking Glass?

Hazel O’Connor

7.

Which 1940s American Baptist missionary to China lent his name to an ultra-conservative US political group?

John Birch

8.

Mindanao is the 19th largest island in the world and the second largest in which country?

Philippines

9.

Conservative politician Baron Deben was once the MP for the constituency of Suffolk Coastal.  What was he known as before his ennoblement?

John Selwyn Gummer

10.

The French Empire once included territory on the south-east coast of the sub-continent of India.  What was this colonial settlement known as in English?

Pondicherry

(or, nowadays, Puducherry)

11.

In which administrative district of Yorkshire would you find this landmark?

Calderdale

(it’s Stoodley Pike)

12.

Which band’s original line-up consisted of lead guitarist Joe, vocalist Mick, bassist Paul, and drummer Nicky?

The Clash

13.

Which TV presenter, the longest serving on the programme concerned, appeared in a series of television advertisements for Spillers ‘Choice Cuts’ dog food?  The dog featured was called Skip.

John Noakes

(of Blue Peter and Shep fame)

14.

Michael Caine appeared as which character in the film Billion Dollar Brain?

Harry Palmer

(as in the earlier film The Ipcress File)

15.

What is the name of the fell lying immediately to the north of the head of Wast Water in the Lake District and having the appearance of a very large burial mound (from which part of its name is derived)?

Yewbarrow

16.

What was the original purpose of this magnificent City Centre Manchester building?

Fire Station

(London Road Fire Station – opposite Piccadilly Station)

17.

Which media franchise has been based on a 1963 book by Pierre Boulle?  The latest film in the series stars Andy Serkis as Caesar, alongside Woody Harrelson and Steve Zahn.

Planet of the Apes

18.

The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe is a well-known ‘play within a play’.  Which character, a carpenter by trade, wrote it?

Peter Quince

(in Midsummer Night’s Dream)

19.

What is the legal term to describe the crime of trying to influence jurors to deliver a prejudiced verdict?

Embracery

20.

Daniel Handler wrote books in a franchise called A Series of Unfortunate Events.  What pen name did he use?

Lemony Snicket

ROUND 2 - Top Four

For each of the 4 questions you need to name the Top Four items in the category in the correct order.   You score one point for getting the top item, 2 points for the second placed item, 3 points for the third placed item and four points for the fourth placed item.  Note: An eligible item in the wrong position scores no points.

1.

Name the tennis players to have won most Grand Slam singles events – Men or Women – up to May 2022.

2.

Name the world’s largest (by area) landlocked countries.

3.

Name the Metrolink tram stops with the most aggregate boarders/alighters per day (2019 survey).

4.

Name the metallic elements with the highest density.

Go back to Round 2 questions without answers

ROUND 3 - WithQuiz Variations

There are 5 consecutive groups, each of 4 questions - each group includes questions from one of WithQuiz’s favourite question types.

Two points per answer.

.

Between 1999 and 2004 Neil Kinnock served as Vice President of the European Commission. Who was the President during this period?

&
Which European city lies on the River Corrib and, with a population of 80,000, is the fourth largest city in its country?

Romano Prodi

& Galway

(Prodigal)

2.

Meaning ‘iron-axe’ in Norman what was the first name of the man pictured here?

&
Which Spanish city is home to Spain’s oldest University founded in 1218?

Isambard

& Salamanca

(Bards)

3.

According to Beatrix Potter who was Benjamin’s wife?

&
Winning the Best Actor Oscar in the 2014 Academy Awards who portrayed Ron Woodroof, a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in a 2013 biopic?

Flopsy (Bunny)

(in The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies)

& Matthew McConaughey

(in Dallas Buyers Club)

(Opsimath)

4.

Pierre de Fermat and which other 17th century mathematician were pioneers in the field of probability theory?

&

After Eamon de Valera who is the second longest serving Irish Taoiseach?

Blaise Pascal

& Bertie Aherne

(Albert)

Next in Sequence

Simply name the next in the sequence shown

5.

3, 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, and ?

5

(number of letters in the names of 1 – 7 in ascending order)

6.

City of Birmingham, City of Coventry, City of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and ?

 

Walsall

(Districts in Metropolitan Borough of the West Midlands in alphabetic sequence)

7.

Jessica Chastain, Frances McDormand, Renee Zellweger, Olivia Colman, Frances McDormand, Emma Stone and ? (answer pictured here)

Brie Larson

(for Room - Best Actress Oscar going back from 2022)

8.

Cheltenham Town, Lincoln City, Macclesfield Town, Leyton Orient, Barrow, Sutton United and ?

Stockport County

(Football Clubs that have won the National League from 2015/16 and gained automatic promotion to League 2)

9.

TGTWTW

The Winchester Repeating Arms Company very successfully marketed their Model 1873 rifle using what six-word slogan?

“The Gun that won the West”

10.

FSS

The B(altimore) & O(hio) Railroad in the USA has what UK equivalent?

Fenchurch Street Station

(on a Monopoly Board)

11.

WSJ

Pictured here what is the name of the unfairly treated personal assistant of C Montgomery Burns in The Simpsons?

Waylon Smithers Junior

12.

CAPD

Used by the US Supreme Court as the risk under which limits can be placed on First Amendment freedoms, which four-word phrase is also the title of a 1989 Jack Ryan novel by Tom Clancy and its 1994 film adaptation?

Clear and Present Danger

13.

Who took this famous photograph of Pablo and Paloma Picasso?

Robert Capa

14.

Which famous American jazz trombonist (1905-1964) belonged at different times to Paul Whiteman’s and Louis Armstrong’s bands?  He was widely regarded as the best jazz trombonist prior to the bee-bop era. 

Jack Teagarden

15.

Which TV programme is said to have been inspired by the Lewis chessmen?

The Saga of Noggin the Nog

16.

Which is the only Italian football club to have been in Serie A since the club was founded?

Inter Milan

17.

Where, locally, would you find the numbers:

4, 20, 1, 16, 6, 17, 8, 12, 9, 14, 5, 19, 2, 15, 3, 18, 7, 11, 10 and 13

in sequence?

Manchester Log-End dart board

18.

Which 1985 number one hit reportedly inspired by Eliot’s The Wasteland included the lyrics:

“You've got a heart of glass or a heart of stone,
Just you wait 'til I get you home,
We've got no future, we've got no past,
Here today, built to last,
In every city, in every nation,
From Lake Geneva to the Finland station,
(How far have you been?)”?

West End Girls

(by The Pet Shop Boys)

19.

Which English town was the site of the Roman fort Segedunum?  Its Roman museum is pictured here.

Wallsend

(eastern end of Hadrian’s Wall)

20.

Julian Barnes had 3 books short-listed for the Booker prize before he eventually won it with which novel?

The Sense of an Ending

Go back to Round 3 questions without answers