ROUND 1

(all the answers share a themed link which is given after the answer to the last question in the round and can be revealed in the same way as the answers)

1.

Who had a No 1 hit in 1972 with Clair?

Gilbert O’Sullivan

2.

Who had a No 1 hit in 1974 with You’re the first, the last, my everything?

Barry White

3.

In morse code, what is the letter E?

A single dot

4.

Born in 1924, he was the 39^th President of the USA.  Who?

Jimmy Carter

5.

She was the mistress of a man whose exploits will be celebrated in October 2005. Who was she?

Lady Emma Hamilton, Nelson’s mistress

6.

Under what pseudonym did Harry Patterson write the novel The Eagle has Landed?

Jack Higgins

7.

On what river does Cork stand?

Lee

8.

Which actor, who has more than one Oscar nomination, made his film debut in 1981 in Popeye and was the voice of the genie in Aladdin in 1991?

Robin Williams

(All the answers contain the surname of a snooker player competing in this year’s World Snooker championships at Sheffield)

ROUND 2

1.

When did The Tines carry an editorial with a black border, which began “There can hardly be a wet eye in the kingdom for this debauched monarch”?

On the death of George IV in June 1830

2.

When Ilex Aquifolium and Hedera Helix reach maturity, which of them (according to a Christmas carol) is entitled to wear a coronet?

The Ilex Aquifolium (Ilex  = Holly – “the holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown, of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown”

3.

A pelican joined in 1812, a badger in 1848, and a beaver in 1859.  Explain.

They represent States joining the USA (Louisiana is the pelican state; Wisconsin is the badger state; Oregon is the beaver state)

4.

Who might have been dogged by a red precious stone, a noisy voluble person, a town near Bournemouth, a campanologist, and a word meaning the opposite of false?

John Peel (in the song, his dogs are Ruby, Ranter, Ringwood, Bellman and True)

5.

In the picture Son of Man (1964) by René Magritte, what hides the subject’s face?

A (green) apple

6.

Two of which kind of animal are depicted in Landseer’s painting Dignity & Impudence?

Dogs (Dignity is a bloodhound; Impudence is a Scots terrier)

7.

Which city was Tamburlaine’s capital?

Samarkhand

8.

Who composed the Toy Sympathy? (forename and surname required)

Leopold Mozart

ROUND 3

1.

Which creature’s name in aborigine means ‘good to eat’?

Budgerigar

2.

Between which two states is the Mason-Dixon line the historical border?

Pennsylvania and Maryland

3.

In which county are the Gog Magog Hills?

Cambridgeshire

4.

Vera, Chuck and Dave appear in which Beatles’ song?

When I’m 64

5.

What was Harold Wilson’s first Cabinet post in the Attlee government?

President of the Board of Trade

6.

What is Maori for ‘good health’?

Kia ora

7.

Who was known as ‘The Butcher of Lyon’?

Klaus Barbie

8.

What name is given to the potato cakes that are a feature of Jewish cuisine?

Latkes

ROUND 4

1.

Name a year in the life of the composer, Robert Schumann.

1810-1856

2.

The shortest recorded war in history listed 38 minutes.  Who were the antagonists?

Britain and Zanzibar

3.

Which are the only two countries to fly square flags?

Switzerland and Vatican City

4.

Which singer released the albums Imperial Bedroom and Trust?

Elvis Costello

5.

In Pennsylvania, USA, the port of Pittsburgh stands on which river?

Ohio

6.

The British painter, Vanessa Bell, was the sister of which author?

Virginia Woolf

7.

Which Earl reputedly told a Tory party canvasser: “Actually, I vote Labour - but my butler’s a Tory”?

Earl Mountbatten of Burma

8.

Who writes the Superintendent Thomas Pitt books?

Anne Perry

ROUND 5

1.

Name a year in the life o£ Henry Purcell.

1659-1695

2.

The shortest recorded battle between England and Scotland lasted 3 minutes. What was the name of the battle?

Killikrankie

3.

With which song did Abba have a No. 1 hit in both the UK and the USA (at the same time)?

A Dancing Queen

4.

A city which became its country’s seat of government in 1868, has a name which translates as ‘eastern capital’.  The former capital’s name translates as ‘western capital’.  Name both cities.

Tokyo and Kyoto

5.

Wilmington is the chief seaport of which US State?

Delaware

6.

Which eminent economist was part of the Bloomsbury Group?

John Maynard Keynes

7.

Who said “When you’re abroad, you’re a statesman; when you’re at home, you’re just a politician”?

Harold Macmillan

8.

Tweed, Paula Grey, and Robert Newman are all characters in whose books?

Colin Forbes

ROUND 6 

1.

Which architect designed The Queen’s House at Greenwich (built 1616-1635) which is now part of the National Maritime Museum?

Inigo Jones (it was built for Anne of Denmark, wife of James VI of Scotland & I of England)

2.

Who designed the Marble Arch in London?

John Nash

3.

The name of which wind instrument comes from the Latin word for a young bull?

Bugle (Latin buculus = young bull)

4.

Who narrated the 1999 BBC TV series Walking with Dinosaurs?

Kenneth Branagh

5.

What name is given to the process in which a solid substance changes into a gas without first becoming a liquid?

Sublimation

6.

What kind of creature, found in North Africa, is an addax?

An antelope

7.

Which Yorkshire cricketer scored his 100th century at Headingley in 1977 in a test match against Australia?

Geoff Boycott

8.

In 1605, which German astronomer discovered that planetary orbits were elliptical, not circular?

Johannes J Kepler

ROUND 7

1.

In Norse myth, what was the name of Odin’s 8-legged horse?

Sleipnir

2.

Which novel, published in 1937, has an alternative title There and Back Again?

The Hobbit

3.

Which British astronomer proposed the ‘steady state’ theory of the universe?

Fred Hoyle

4.

What is the common name for the flower myosotis?

Forget-me-not

5.

What are the two principal ingredients of the dish colcannon?

Potatoes and cabbage (accept kale or spring onions instead of cabbage)

6.

What is meant by the Latin phrase ‘caveat emptor’?

‘Let the buyer beware’

7.

Of which politician did Frank Dobson say “the ego has landed”?

Ken Livingstone (when he announced he would stand as an independent candidate for Lord Mayor of London)

8.

In a speech in 1945, which British politician said: “This island is made mainly of coal and is surrounded by fish.  Only an organising genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time”?

Aneurin Bevan

ROUND 8

(all the answers share a themed link which is given after the answer to the last question in the round and can be revealed in the same way as the answers)

1.

Who wrote the children’s novels Carrots and The Cuckoo Clock?

Mrs Molesworth

2.

What name links an almond-flavoured biscuit and a cordial (that was offered to genteel ladies in Georgian times)?

Ratafia

3.

Which of Shakespeare’s plays inspired the musical Kiss Me Kate?

The Taming of the Shrew

4.

Whose two volumes of autobiography were entitled Present Indicative and Future Indefinite?

Noel Coward

5.

Which 1995 film, directed by Mario van Peebles, stars Marcus Chong as Huey Newton, the gang’s leader?

Panther (not Black Panther)

6.

What is the name of the station on the West Coast Mainline which is the stop for the South Lake District?

Oxenholme

7.

Who was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1961 and 1974?

(Arthur Michael) Ramsey

8.

Whose pen name was Elia?

Charles Lamb

(All the answers contain the name of an animal)

SPARES

1.

Which politician was the first Earl of Bewdley?

Stanley Baldwin

2.

Who founded the Boys’ Brigade?

Sir William Smith

3.

What is the name of the Lord High Executioner in The Mikado ?

Ko-Ko

4.

What was the name of the first top 30 hit single by the Rolling Stones?

Come On

5.

In The Archers, who lives in Nightingale Farm?

Lillian Bellamy (Tony Archer’s and Jennifer Aldridge’s sister)

6.

Whom did William Wordsworth succeed as Poet laureate?

Robert Southey

7.

In which year did Prince Andrew marry Sarah Ferguson?

1986

8.

What was the name of the headmistress (as played by Alistair Sim) in the St Trinian’s films?

Miss Fitton