QuizMusings: October 2014

Not posted that much recently - too much legal reading. :( Still, I've started a spreadsheet database of questions, which I add to when I find something sufficiently interesting / likely to come up (or so I think) in a future quiz.

I found out the other day that the UoL University Challenge trials take place on 17th and 18th November - obviously, I'll be there. All it mentions is "a booklet of sample questions" - hmm, would be a bit embarrassing if I failed to do well after all this blog hoo-ha... all these written questions... all these quizzes attended.

I'm going to extend the deadline for the second 100Quiz until the end of the month. Not got a chance to sort it all out yet but I will do. So, anyone who hasn't had a chance to enter yet, you've still got time to do so if you wish.

Attending the second Quiz in the North on Saturday at Rainhill, which I'm looking forward to. I thought the first one was great, and I'm sure this will be as good. Also one of the few quizzes that's handy for where I am in Liverpool now. Also been asked to play in some MQL cup matches that are coming up, which I hope to do well in (mainly because I don't want to let people who've given me a chance down).

Needless to say, I'm not attending the European Quizzing Championships. Just not feasible at the moment with university, but I plan to attend in the future - hopefully when I have a better chance of doing reasonably well). However, good luck to all those taking part.

Having been back in Lancaster for the weekend (and Monday), I'm playing for The Pub in the LCQL tomorrow night versus Gregson A. Would be nice to get a win, but always a tricky fixture.

Questions
1 In which city was US president William McKinley shot and fatally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in 1901?
2 Who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948, for "his outstanding, pioneer contribution to modern-day poetry"?
3 Lake Arenal, built artificially in 1979 to provide electricity to the country, is the largest lake in which Central American nation?
4 The term "ostrich guitar" was coined by which major rock music figure, who died in 2013?
5 Aurelia Cotta was the mother of which famous historical figure?
6 Boy, released in 1980, was which band's debut album?
7 What was the last pitched battle to be fought between English and Scottish armies?
8 The actresses Cloris Leachman and Maxine Cooper both made their film debuts in which 1955 Robert Aldrich film noir?
9 Who wrote the novel, The Buddha of Suburbia?
10 Which country will host the 2019 Pan American Games?

Answers:
1 Buffalo
2 TS Eliot
3 Costa Rica
4 Lou Reed
5 Julius Caesar
6 U2
7 Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
8 Kiss Me Deadly
9 Hanif Kureishi
10 Peru

It seems like a while since I did the first one of these, but it's actually only been just over a month. I'd like to get a lot more entries for this - I reckon I'll succeed (I hope - please enter!). I've also tried to make the questions a tad more accessible while still putting in a few more challenging ones to suit everybody. As always, I welcome feedback about the quiz questions I write, whether they're any good, etc.

How to enter
Simply answer the 100 questions below - without outside help - and send your answers by email to quizmusings@gmx.com - please also clearly give your full name (if you don't mind) so I can add you to the standings. I'll reply letting you know I've got your email.

Deadline: Saturday, 25th October

Good luck!

The questions:

1 The Dancing House, nicknamed “Fred and Ginger” owing to its resemblance to a pair of dancers, can be found in which European capital city?

2 Calixa Lavallee composed the music for which large country's national anthem in 1880?

3 Ralph Vaughan Williams's musical work, The Lark Ascending, took its name from a poet by which Victorian?

4 Built 1268-1290, what is the largest castle in Wales and the second-largest in Britain?

5 Serving from 1961 until its closure in 1963, who was the fourth and final warden of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary?

6 The 1997 film, Contact, was based on a book of the same name by which US astronomer?

7 Beating MaliVai Washington in the 1996 final, who was the last Dutchman to win the Wimbledon singles title?

8 The museum of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stands on the shore of which of North America's Great Lakes?

9 What name, after the Frenchman who pioneered it, was given to the first photographic process and certainly the first to see widespread use? Many of the famous images of Abraham Lincoln were taken via this method.

10 He succeeded Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in August 2013; who is the current president of Iran?

11 The War Cry is the official news publication of which organisation?

12 In which Venezuelan national park – the sixth-biggest in the world – is the Angel Falls located?

13 Taking their name from the heads of state of both countries, the Torrijos-Carter Treaties were signed by the US and which other nation in 1977?

14 He has been called “the father of the Green Revolution”; which American biologist, humanitarian and Nobel laureate is credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation with his food-production methods?

15 Which MP for Rochester and Strood recently defected to UKIP, triggering a by-election?

16 In ancient Greek mythology, which sea-goddess was the wife of Poseidon?

17 Born with the forenames Jesus Christ, which infamous US punk-rock singer-songwriter became notorious for his live performances, which featured coprophagia, self-mutilation, and attacks against audience members? He has been called “the most spectacular degenerate in rock and roll history”.

18 Notable for his close association with D. W. Griffith, which pioneering cinematographer created early films such as The Painted Lady, Judith of Bethulia, and Drums of Love?

19 Which eminent Swiss portrait artist (1736-1813) painted several famous subjects including Friedrich Schiller, Frederick the Great, Heinrich von Kleist, and Moses Mendelssohn?

20 Which pope declared the First Crusade in 1095?

21 A member of the genus Cuniculus, what type of animal is the paca, native to South America?

22 What was first identified in 1895 by University of California geology professor Andrew Lawson?

23 What is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan?

24 Set in a fictional northern English town, Fludd was an early novel by which Booker Prize-winning author?

25 The San Fermin festival, held for a week every July, is celebrated in which Spanish city?

26 In computing, for what do the letters FTP stand?

27 Owing to their difference in stature, which famous couple were known as “the elephant and the dove”?

28 Barry Levinson's four feature films – Diner, Tin Men, Avalon, Liberty Heights – were all set in which US city, the director's hometown?

29 What two-word name denotes Amsterdam's largest red-light district?

30 After the UK and Ireland, which country has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest the most times?

31 Telling the story of a small group of cancer patients in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the 1967 semi-autobiographical novel, Cancer Ward, was written by whom?

32 This Allan Ramsay portrait shows which king of the United Kingdom?

33 Who was the French signatory of the 1936 Munich Agreement, an event perhaps now famous for the "peace for our time" comment that UK PM Neville Chamberlain made on his return?

34 The house where English writer and man of letters Samuel Johnson was born is maintained to this day as a museum. In which English cathedral city can it be visited?

35 His prodigious talent for war and reputation as a stern disciplinarian earned him the title "the Iron Marshal"; which Marshal of the Empire is ranked alongside Massena and Lannes as one of Napoleon's finest commanders?

36 Which UK retailer has announced the launching of a new Match & More loyalty card in an effort to win back customers?

37 PFC Ludogorets Razgrad are only the second team from which country to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League?

38 Venezuela's Juan Vicente Gomez, Colombia's Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, and Spain's Francisco Franco are all said to have inspired the dictator in which 1975 Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, which describes the disastrous effects of concentrating power in the hands of a single man?

39 In 1985, a virtually complete skeleton was found in deposits on the western side of which major lake of Ethiopia and Kenya?

40 Which style of Belgian beer, of which "Faro" is a sweetened variety, is produced by spontaneous fermentation in open vessels in brewery attics as a result of the yeast in the air?

41 What type of bird features on the flag of Louisiana?

42 Which word of Inuit origin refers to an exposed, rocky element of a glacial ridge that is not covered with ice or snow?

43 Which famous English chemist discovered and first isolated the element potassium in 1807?

44 Which US comedian and TV personality has hosted his own late-night ABC talk show since 2003?

45 The recently published novel, Personal, is the nineteenth to feature which fictional former military policeman, portrayed in a 2012 film by Tom Cruise?

46 Who achieved commercial success in the UK in the 1980s as lead singer with the band Talk Talk?

47 Which Italian paramilitary organisation was responsible for the kidnapping in 1978 of former prime minister of the country, Aldo Moro, who was subsequently killed after 55 days of captivity?

48 A Life of Reinvention is the subtitle of a 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of which prominent twentieth-century US figure?

49 The first Irishman to do so, who captained Europe at the recent 2014 Ryder Cup?

50 This is the flag of which sovereign island country?

51 Which upmarket holiday resort and spa town - visited over the years by Edward VII and George V of the United Kingdom, and Farouk of Egypt, among others - stands in the northern part of France's Haute-Savoie department, on the shores of Lake Geneva?

52 What word, literally meaning "heap", is used to describe a Buddhist burial mound?

53 The 1969 film, Z, centres around the assassination of a politician in which country?

54 What is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea?

55 Which art museum in Florence is the home of Michelangelo's David?

56 The organisers of which tennis Grand Slam introduced an extreme heat policy in 1998, after consultation with a number of players?

57 From the Greek for "under" and "chamber", which portion of the brain - roughly the size of an almond in humans - is responsible for regulating temperature and linking the nervous system to the endocrine system?

58 According to ancient sources, who was the first queen and founder of Carthage?

59 Which term, denoting a choice with only one option, supposedly comes from a Cambridge stable-owner who offered customers the option of taking the horse in the stall nearest the door or taking none at all?

60 Animals described as having a littoral habitat live where?

61 The actress Lauren Bacall was first married to actor Humphrey Bogart. From 1961-69, she was also married to another actor. Whom?

62 Dilute acetic acid is known by what name as a cooking ingredient?

63 What was the title of the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth?

64 In Indian cuisine, what is raita?

65 The first man in space not from the USA or the Soviet Union was what nationality? Both the former and modern-day country name will suffice.

66 Thought to depict the son of a wealthy merchant, The Blue Boy is perhaps the most famous work by which English portraitist and landscape painter?

67 Which Belfast shipyard was responsible for the building of the RMS Titanic?

68 Who was the most famous child of Frances Shand Kydd?

69 In 1996, Frankie Dettori rode how many winners at British Champions' Day at Ascot?

70 Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Seconds (1966), and Ronin (1998) were all among the films of which US director, who died in 2002?

71 Which three letters denote a method of quality control, a group of small islands of Antarctica, and the penultimate letter of the Greek alphabet?

72 What is the capital of Lithuania?

73 Which form of bacterial pneumonia was first identified at a 1976 convention in Philadelphia, and is said to be caused by airborne droplets from air-conditioning systems?

74 Istanbul, Varna, Sevastopol, Odessa, and Kerch are all major cities on the shoreline of which major sea of south-eastern Europe?

75 Stravinsky's Concerto in E-flat is often known by which name, the name of the estate of the couple who commissioned it?

76 Which major US city's annual marathon takes runners from the Dodger Stadium to a scenic finish close to the Santa Monica Pier?

77 "al-Magrib" is the Arabic name for which country?

78 Where have people gathered this week to protest about upcoming electoral changes announced by the ruling government?

79 Which Kenyan long-distance runner this week set a new world record of 2:02:57 at the Berlin Marathon?

80 Found in the grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa, what type of creature is the oribi?

81 Who wrote the 1880 short novel, Washington Square?

82 All three English kings with this name died violently. The first was struck fatally by an arrow; the second was deposed and possibly murdered at Pontefract Castle; the third was the last English king to die in battle. What forename is shared by all three?

83 Which Dutch physicist gives his name to the splitting effect of a spectral line into several components in the presence of a static magnetic field?

84 Located in the Macgillycuddy's Reeks range, what is the highest mountain in Ireland?

85 Who was prime minister of the United Kingdom during the War of 1812?

86 What three-word name was given to this photo, showing earth from a distance of 3.7 billion miles?

87 Tarkus (1971), Trilogy (1972), and Brain Salad Surgery (1973) were all albums by which rock supergroup?

88 The Ealing comedy, A Run for Your Money, the 2009 film, Invictus, and James Joyce's work, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, all feature to varying degrees which popular sport?

89 Now the largest single-issue consumer group in the UK, CAMRA is an organisation campaigning for what?

90 What is the name of Banquo's son in the Shakespeare play, Macbeth?

91 With seven titles, which country's football team has been the most successful in the African Cup of Nations?

92 Name the year. The Finnish Civil War begins; a flu pandemic kills around 500 million people worldwide; Austrian painter Gustav Klimt dies.

93 Which eccentric US comedian portrayed Latka Gravas in the sitcom, Taxi?

94 Opened in 2011, the EdgeWalk is a feature of which skyscraper?

95 Stadion Miejski is the home of which Polish top-league football club?

96 Having the highest median household income, what is the wealthiest state in the USA?

97 Which country traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang?

98 Only one cell thick, what term denotes the smallest of the body's blood vessels?

99 Which MP for Leigh since 2001 is the Shadow Secretary of State for Health?

100 Ahimsa - non-violence - is a fundamental principle of which religion?

Upcoming quiz miscellany

QM Quiz #18

Briefly...

100Quiz #2