ROUND 1 – “Easy as ABC”

Every answer is a single letter

1.

What is the symbol that represents osculation?

X  (osculation means kissing)

2.

In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, which was the scarlet letter?

A (the adultress heroine was forced to wear the letter A on her clothing)

3.

In Morse Code, which letter is represented by one dash followed by three dots?

B

4.

Which 1980s TV series was about aliens invading Los Angeles?

V

5.

Which letter is described by the Earl of Kent in Shakespeare’s King Lear as: “thou whoreson ….thou unnecessary letter”?

Z

6.

Traditional advice is only to eat oysters when there is which letter in the month?

R

7.

“Lunch isn’t – but luncheon is” according to Nancy Mitford.  To what was she referring?

U (i.e. Upper Class English as defined in her work Noblesse Oblige)

8.

What is the chemical symbol for the element, originally known as brimstone, which is used in making fungicides and matches?

S (Sulphur)

ROUND 2 - Unthemed

1.

Who, in 1972, became the first Scot to win the jockey’s championship?

Willy Carson

2.

Which ex-Prime Minister sued 3 newspapers after they alleged he left London when an air raid was imminent?

David Lloyd George

3.

What was Daniel Day Lewis’ role in Last of the Mohicans?

Natty Bumpo

4.

Which 3 consecutive dictionary entries can be defined as:

·        Biting

·        Anger

·        A card game?

Piquant – Pique - Piquet

5.

What infirmity struck John Milton in his forties?

Blindness

6.

In the 2005 Ashes which English cricketer won the MBE playing in just one Test?

Paul Collingwood

7.

Complete the following well-known clerihew:

              “Sir Humphry Davy/Abominated gravy.

              He lived in the odium/………”

“Of having discovered sodium.” (close approximations of this will suffice)

8.

Chronologically which group came between Norman Greenbaum and Gareth Gates in having a hit single with Spirit in the Sky?

Doctor and the Medics

ROUND 3 – “Auto Suggestion”

Each answer contains the name of a make of car

1.

What animal has the Latin name ‘Panthera Onca’?

Jaguar

2.

Obwandiyag was the war leader of the Ottawa tribe in the 1760s.  By what name is he better known?

Pontiac

3.

Leslie Lynch King Jr. was the only President of the USA never to be elected as either President or Vice-President.  By what name is he better known?

Gerald Ford

4.

Mary Challans (1905-1983) is best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece.  What pen-name did she use?

Mary Renault

5.

The Right Honourable Sir Anthony Clarke holds what legal office?

Master of the Rolls

6.

From the Latin for ‘Let it be done’ what word can mean a formal or solemn command, or judge’s warrant?

Fiat

7.

Called the ‘Mother Tongue’ philosophy in Japan, this method of teaching music is better known in the West by the name of its inventor.  What was his name?

Shin’ichi Suzuki (surname will suffice)

8.

Built between 1929 and 1931, it is still the tallest brick building in the world. What is it called?

The Chrysler Building

 ROUND 4 – Unthemed

1.

Which internet phenomenon is partly named after the Hawaiian word for fast?

Wikipedia – the online encyclopedia

2.

Blackpool is a large seaside resort – but which European capital city’s name also means ‘Blackpool’?

Dublin

3.

Which Conservative MP lost his Bath seat in the 1992 General Election?

Chris Patten

4.

What one word links Audrey Hepburn, Martine McCutcheon and the song I Think We’re Alone Now?

Tiffany (Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Tiffany in Eastenders – Pop singer Tiffany)

5.

Of which literary trio are George and Harris part?

(2 of) The Three Men in a Boat

6.

The name of which chemical element derives from the Greek work meaning to smell?

Osmium

7.

Who won the first Celebrity Big Brother series in 2001?

Jack Dee

8.

Which American dancer caused a sensation when she first performed in La Revue Nègre in Paris in 1925?

Josephine Baker

ROUND 5 – “Number 10”

Each answer contains the name of a British Prime Minister

1.

Which large island in the Firth of Clyde is proud to be the birthplace of Lena Zavaroni?

Bute

2.

This limestone has been used in making all the gravestones for soldiers in the two World Wars, and for the UN Building in New York. What is it called?

Portland stone

3.

Which Steinbeck novel was turned into a film in 1955, starring, among others, James Dean?

East of Eden

4.

Which city lies on the Yarra River?

Melbourne

5.

Who was the narrator in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Kidnapped?

David Balfour

6.

What is the largest city in the US state of Delaware?

Wilmington

7.

With what would you associate Benny The Dip, Galileo and Motivator?

The Epsom Derby (all recent winners)

8.

Which city is 150 miles from Glasgow, 156 miles from Fort William and 207 miles from Wick?

Aberdeen

ROUND 6 - Unthemed

1.

Which Scot twice won the World Darts Championship in the 1980s?

Jocky Wilson

2.

Prime Minister Harold Wilson sued which pop group after they showed him nude on an LP cover?

The Move

3.

In the 1990s film, In The Name of the Father, Daniel Day Lewis played the role of Gerry Conlon.  On which famous group of people is this film based?

The Guildford Four

4.

Which 3 consecutive dictionary entries can be defined as:

·        A means of transport

·        A trick

·        Meagre?

Sleigh – Sleight - Slender

5.

What incurable condition did Sir Walter Scott develop in infancy?

Lameness (through polio in his right leg)

6.

In the 2005 Ashes series which English substitute fielder gained fame by running out Ricky Ponting in the Trent Bridge Test?

Gary Pratt

7.

Complete the following well-known clerihew:

“Carl Gustav Jung/was very well hung.

             A fact which annoyed/……….”

“Sigmund Freud.”

8.

Who won the 2002 TV Pop Idol competition in which Gareth Gates was placed second?

Will Young

ROUND 7 – Pictures

Identify these characters – each has a first and last name starting with the same letter

1.

2.

Sir Edward Elgar

Janis Joplin

3.

4.

Graham Greene

Ruth Rendell

5.

6.

Pablo Picasso (self portrait)

Walter Winterbottom

7.

8.

Fenella Fielding

Michael Moore

ROUND 8 – Unthemed

1.

Which internet company was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994

Amazon.com

2.

White City is an area of London – but which European capital city’s name also means ‘White City’?

Belgrade

3.

Who was the Labour MP who lost his seat at Smethwick in the 1964 General Election?

Patrick Gordon Walker

4.

What one word links works by Alan Parker, Kenny Ball and Dustin Hoffman?

Midnight (film Midnight Express – hit single Midnight in Moscow – film Midnight Cowboy)

5.

In which work of art will you find reference to W M Baker, Caroline Alice, G R Sinclair and Winifred Norbury?

Elgar’s Enigma Variations (they are 4 of the dedicatees)

6.

The name of which chemical element derives from the Greek word meaning hidden?

Krypton

7.

Who won the 2006 Big Brother series on Channel 4?

Pete Bennett

8.

In which Cornish town is the Furry Dance performed each May?

Helston

SPARES

1.

For which film did Tom Hanks win his first Oscar?

Philadelphia

2.

Who wrote the musical Annie Get Your Gun and the song White Christmas?

Irving Berlin

3.

Don Adams starred as Agent 86 in which spoof spy TV series between 1965 and 1970?

Get Smart

4.

For what was the painter Tom Keating particularly famous?

Faking well-known paintings

5.

Who is the mother of the late TV personality, Caron Keating?

Gloria Hunniford

6.

Mali is bordered by Senegal, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Mauritania and which 2 other African countries?

Algeria and Burkina Faso

7.

Laos is bordered by Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and which 2 other SE Asian countries?

Burma (Myanmar) and China

8.

In the world of cryptic crosswords, what is usually the solution to the clue: ‘The capital of Czechoslovakia’?

Oslo