ROUND 1 - Pot Pourri

1.

Discounting Pluto, which planet is missing from Gustav Holst’s Planet Suite?

Earth

2.

In which country are the world’s highest sand dunes?

Algeria

3.

Who is the Hindu God of Fire?

Agni

4.

What word follows Echo and precedes Golf?

Foxtrot

5.

Which school occupies White Lodge in Richmond Park?

The Royal Ballet

6.

Which university is at Ithaca in New York State?

Cornell

7.

According to a popular story after his death, how did the Greek dramatist Aeschylus die?

Killed by a tortoise hitting him on his bald head when dropped by an eagle!

8.

In Greek mythology, what piece of furniture is associated with Procrustes?

A bed (which his victims were made to fit by pruning or stretching!)

ROUND 2 - Sport Pot Pourri

1.

Which football team won the FA Cup in 1958?

Bolton Wanderers

2.

In which city was the tennis player, Monica Seles, stabbed in 1993?

Hamburg

3.

Who was the first cricketer to take 100 catches in test matches?

Wally Hammond

4.

At which racecourse is the Welsh Grand National held?

Chepstow

5.

What is the colour of the outer ring of an archery target?

White

6.

Name the British cyclist who died during the Tour de France in 1967.

Tommy Simpson

7.

Soling, Star, Finn and Tornado are all types of what?

Sailing boats (accept Racing Dinghies, but not yachts - yachts have engines, these don’t)

8.

Which snooker player has made six televised maximum breaks?

Stephen Hendry

ROUND 3 – Who’s Who?

1.

By what name is the author David Cornwell better known?

John le Carre

2.

What was the famous vet, James Heriot’s, real name (forename and surname)?

Alf White

3.

What was Charlotte Bronte’s pseudonym?

Currer Bell

4.

Ellis Peters wrote the Brother Cadfael stories. Under what name did she write her other books?

Edith Pargeter

5.

What was Harry Houdini’s real name?

Erik Weiss

6.

Which singer, known as Lady Day, was born Eleanor Gough McKay?

Billie Holliday

7.

Margerette Gertrude MacLeod (née Zelle) was better known as whom?

Mata Hari

8.

What was Dusty Springfield’s real name?

Mary O'Brien

ROUND 4  - Dukes (all the answers contain a Duke’s title)

1.

Who bore Horatio Nelson’s child in 1801?

Emma Hamilton

2.

Which shipping area lies between Wight and Plymouth?

Portland

3.

Which British city did the Roman’s call Glevum?

Gloucester

4.

When Ascot is closed for renovation, at which racecourse will Royal Ascot take place?

York

5.

Which member of the Royal Family converted to Catholicism in the 1990s?

Duchess of Kent

6.

Which football club plays it home games at Links Park?

Montrose

7.

What is described in a dictionary as ‘A sweetmeat in the form of brittle pastel-coloured sticks’?

Edinburgh Rock

8.

Of which Diocese was Dr Runcie bishop, directly before becoming the Archbishop of Canterbury?

St Albans

ROUND 5 - Music to Our Ears?

1.

Which opera takes place on Catfish Row?

Porgy and Bess

2.

Which Wagner opera features the Pilgrim’s Chorus?

Tannhauser

3.

Who was the lead singer with The Animals?

Eric Burdon

4.

Who was the lead singer with Nirvana?

Kurt Cobain

5.

With which musical instrument would you associate Sidonie Goossens?

Harp

6.

With which musical instrument would you associate Sarah Chang?

Violin

7.

Who wrote the English lyrics to the song My Way?

Paul Anka

8.

Which Lennon & McCartney song did Bill Clinton call ‘the most powerful song I have ever heard’?

Eleanor Rigby

ROUND 6 - Food and Drink

1.

From which Tennyson poem do these lines come: ‘Out flew the web and floated wide, the mirror cracked from side to side’?

The Lady of Shallott

2.

For what wholesale trade is Mincing Lane, London, famous?

Tea

3.

Tequila, white curacao and a dash of lime or lemon juice make which cocktail?

Margarita

4.

What, in culinary, terms is a Gigot?

A Leg of Lamb

5.

What type of fruit is a Minneola?

Orange

6.

What type of leaves are depicted on the coronets of Earls, Marquises and Dukes?

Strawberry

7.

By what name are Okra also known?

Ladies’ Fingers/Gumbo (accept either)

8.

What is the common name for the Solanum Tuberosum?

Potato

ROUND 7 - Animal Crackers

1.

What was the name of Don Quixote’s horse?

Rosinante

2.

Who or what was Mrs Tiggywinkle?

A Hedgehog (The Tale of Mrs Tiggywinkle by Beatrix Potter)

3.

What types of creature are a Turkish Van and Persian?

Breeds of Cat

4.

What type of creature is a Crested Macaque?

Monkey

5.

What is the collective noun for Goldfinches?

Charm

6.

What is the collective noun for Ravens?

Unkindness

7.

Smooth, Palmate and Great Crested are all British species of what type of creature?

Newt

8.

What is a Rock-Hopper?

A Penguin

ROUND 8 - It's a Numbers Round!

1.

Which motorway links Telford to the M6?

M54

2.

How many Troy ounces are there in one pound?

12

3.

Assuming it runs its full length, how long does a fifteen-round boxing match take to complete?

59 minutes

4.

How many semiquavers are there in a semibreve?

16

5.

How many semiquavers are there in a dotted crotchet?

6

6.

Which motorway links Ross-on-Wye to the M5?

M50

7.

How many inches are there in a Span?

9

8.

What is the maximum length of a cricket bat?

38 inches

SPARES

1.

Who was the first Earl of Chatham?

William Pitt the Elder

2.

Which sacred river in Coleridge’s Kubla Khan ‘ran down to a sunless sea’?

Alph

3.

Which Home Secretary signed Dr Crippen’s death warrant?

Winston Churchill

4.

Manchester is the largest city in which US State?

New Hampshire

5.

Which motorcycle company made the Daytona model?

Triumph

6.

Who was the famous pupil of Anne Mansfield Sullivan?

Helen Keller

7.

What is the modern name for the island once called Serendip?

Sri Lanka

8.

How many times (within two either way) did Bobby Charlton play for England?

106 (accept 104 - 108)