ROUND 1

1.

Why was Ryan Florence in the news recently?

He made a gun gesture behind David Cameron when he was visiting Wythenshawe

2.

Which band’s first album was entitled Journeys to Glory?

Spandau Ballet

3.

Which two countries make up the island of Hispaniola?

Haiti and the Dominican Republic

4.

Who is Charlotte Church’s current partner?

Gavin Henson

5.

In which constellation is the crab nebula?

Taurus

6.

To which country do the Andaman Islands belong?

India

7.

Which author created the fictional character Robert Langdon?

Dan Brown

8.

For which US State is Barack Obama a senator?

Illinois

ROUND 2 – ‘Food for thought’

1.

David Gates was the front man for which band?

Bread

2.

What are hashi?

Japanese chopsticks

3.

Which nation produces two thirds of the world’s vanilla?

Madagascar

4.

What is orzo?

A small, rice-shaped pasta

5.

Of what is gremolata made?

It’s a garnish made of minced parsley, lemon peel and garlic

6.

What is ostraconophobia

Fear of shellfish

7.

What method of preserving food did the Incas first use (on potatoes)?

Freeze-drying (the Incas stored their potatoes and other food crops on the mountain heights above Machu Picchu - the cold mountain temperatures froze the food and the water inside slowly vaporized under the low air pressure of the high altitudes)

8.

What was the working title for The Beatles hit Yesterday?

Scrambled Eggs (this was derived, allegedly, from a line from the original version of Yesterday which went: “Scrambled eggs, Oh, baby how I love your legs”)

ROUND 3

1.

Which US department store is known for its Big Brown Bag?

Bloomingdales

2.

What would you test with a Snellen Chart?

Eyesight

3.

The month of sextilis was renamed what?

August

4.

How many branches are there on a menorah?

Seven

5.

Hamlet could tell a hawk from a handsaw. What is a handsaw?

A heron

6.

Which three consecutive words in the Concise Oxford Dictionary mean, respectively: a sauna, a field sport and a bed?

Hammam, hammer and hammock

7.

Which three consecutive words in the Concise Oxford Dictionary mean, respectively: a lamentation, a suitor and mournful?

Plaint, plaintiff and plaintive

8.

What does perestroika mean?

Reconstruction

ROUND 4

1.

Who is the editor of The Guardian newspaper?

Alan Rushbridger

2.

For which newspaper does the travel correspondent Simon Calder primarily write?

The Independent

3.

Which famous food critic wrote a book entitled Eating up Italy?

Matthew Fort

4.

Which chef owns The Fat Duck restaurant in Bray?

Heston Blumenthal

5.

Who presents Saturday Kitchen?

James Martin

6.

Of which Italian province was the city of Nice formerly a part?

Sardinia

7.

In which Spanish city is the restaurant El Bulli?

Barcelona

8.

Into which Manchester pub is it rumoured that survivors of the Peterloo massacre stumbled - and still haunt to this day?

Sir Ralph Abercromby

ROUND 5 – ‘More Food for Thought’

1.

Marvin Gaye sang which song about ‘an informal person-to-person means of circulating information or gossip’?

Heard It Through The Grapevine

2.

On what vegetable did an ancient Egyptian place his right hand when taking an oath?

The onion (its round shape symbolised eternity)

3.

What type of egg will yield 11 and one-half average size omelettes?

An ostrich egg

4.

What is the literal meaning of the Italian word linguine?

Little tongues

5.

Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of what? (Sorry Jitka!!)

Peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth

6.

President Reagan’s administration classified what school dinner menu option as a vegetable?

Ketchup

7.

What was the first of H J Heinz’s 57 varieties?

Horseradish (marketed in 1869)

8.

“Someone left the cake out in the rain”, but where?

MacArthur Park (sung by Richard Harris, released in 1968)

ROUND 6 – Themed

(the theme is to be found after the answer to Question 8) 

1.

Which football team won the 1982 European Cup (now the Champions League)?

Aston Villa

2.

Which motor manufacturer produced the Esprit?

Lotus

3.

In which country is Domodedovo airport?

Russia

4.

Which film starring Tom Cruise was set in the world of motor racing?

Days of Thunder

5.

What profession did comedian Harry Hill have before becoming a TV presenter?

Doctor

6.

Which chemical element has the chemical symbol Au?

Gold

7.

Which beer, according to an advertising campaign, “worked wonders”?

Double Diamond

8.

What was the name of the character played by Rula Lenska in the 1970’s drama Rock Follies?

Q

All the answers are connected in part or whole to James Bond films

ROUND 7 – “More for the Distaff Side”

1.

What is the literal translation of haute couture?

High sewing

2.

Who created the New Look in 1947?

Christian Dior

3.

Who designed the costumes for the film the Fifth Element and is famed for his conical bras?

Jean Paul Gaultier

4.

Who starred as the wicked magazine editor Miranda Priestley in The Devil Wears Prada?

Meryl Streep

5.

Who was the character of Miranda Priestley said to be based on?

Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue (accept just editor of Vogue)

6.

Who said: “Every woman should have a little black dress”?

Coco Chanel

7.

Who created the first woman’s trouser suit (based on the tuxedo) in 1966 called Le Smoking?

Yves St Laurent

8.

Which Paris fashion house created the Kelly Handbag and Kelly Green scarves for Grace Kelly in the 1950’s and 1960’s?

Hermes

ROUND 8 – Pure Fiction

1.

Whose latest novel is called Restless?

William Boyd

2.

Sarah Watters and Terry Pratchett have both used which same title for their very different novels?

The Night Watch

3.

Who wrote Never Let Me Go?

Kazuo Ishiguro

4.

In which country is The Kite Runner principally set?

Afghanistan

5.

Robert Harris’s book Imperium follows the career of which Roman consul and orator?

Cicero

6.

In which city does the action in Shadow of the Wind take place?

Barcelona

7.

Who wrote Cloud Atlas?

David Mitchell

8.

In Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America who becomes President in 1940, thus keeping the USA out of the war, and pursuing anti-semitic policies?

Charles Lindbergh

SPARES

1.

Which sitcom is being remade in the USA as The Minister of Divine?

The Vicar of Dibley

2.

The Veyron is the world’s fastest production car.  Who is the manufacturer?

Bugatti

3.

Nicknamed the Robins, which football club play at Ashton Gate?

Bristol City

4.

The rufiyaa is the currency of which country?

The Maldives

5.

Whose official residence is 1 Carlton Gardens, London?

The Foreign Secretary

6.

Who occupies 9 Downing Street?

The Government Chief Whip (Permanent Secretary to the Treasury)

7.

The plant titan arum is better known as what?

Corpse flower

8.

Which railway station takes its name from a novel by Sir Walter Scott?

Edinburgh Waverley