World Quizzing Championship practice set

OK, with less than two weeks to go until the 2015 World Quizzing Championship, I've written a mini practice set consisting of five questions from each of the usual WQC genres.

Only forty questions, but hopefully it'll provide a bit of revision and learning material for people, and hopefully you enjoy the questions!

Here goes - answers for all the categories are at the end:

Media

1 The title character in Miguel Ángel Asturias' novel, El Señor Presidente, is said to have been inspired by which Guatemalan dictator, in power from 1898 to 1920?

2 Which 2014 film won three Academy Awards, including that of Best Supporting Actor for JK Simmons?

3 The 1978 work A Contract with God is credited with popularising the term “graphic novel”. Which American cartoonist created it?

4 Which Swedish-speaking Finnish novelist was best known for her creation of the Moomin books for children?

5 Paraguay has two official languages. One, quite predictably, is Spanish; sharing its name with the country's currency, what is the other? 

Culture

1 Krzywy Domek, which is Polish for “crooked little house”, is an irregularly shaped building in which seaside town on the coast of the Baltic Sea?

2 Supposedly coming from an Akkadian word meaning “to build on a raised area”, what name was given to the structures built in Mesopotamia that took the form of step-pyramids on successive receding levels? The most famous was that at the city of Ur.

3 French poet Guillaume Apollinaire coined which term in 1912 to describe the offshoot of cubism that involved brighter colours and greater abstraction? Frantisek Kupka, Robert Delaunay, and his wife, Sonia, were the main exponents.

4 The artist Louise Bourgeois was best known for her sculptures of which creatures? Her largest such work, Maman, stands at over thirty feet tall.

5 Arising out of avidya (ignorance) and characterised by dukkha (suffering), which concept in Buddhism refers to the cycle of birth and rebirth?

Entertainment

1 “The Gnome”, “The Old Castle”, “Cattle”, and “The Hut on Fowl's Legs” are movements in which suite of 1874 by Modest Mussorgsky?

2 Which world music record label was established by former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne in 1988?

3 Created by Jenji Kohan and based on a memoir by Piper Kerman, which US comedy-drama series first released on Netflix in 2013 centres around life in a women's prison?

4 The Algerian singer-songwriter Khaled is known as the “king” of which musical genre that originated in his country from the music of Bedouin shepherds?

5 A 1908 novel by Valery Bryusov was the inspiration for a Sergei Prokofiev opera which first premiered in 1955. What title was shared by both the novel and the opera?

History

1 Which city served as the capital of the Inca Empire from 1438 to 1533?

2 Who led the Russian Empire at the 1812 Battle of Borodino?

3 Which US Army general commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972, at a time when US troop strength in South Vietnam fell from 543,000 to around 49,000?

4 Which South American country fought a war from 1864 to 1870 against a so-called Triple Alliance of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay?

5 Commonly referred to as Africa's Che Guevara, which Burkinabé military captain was behind the name change of Burkina Faso from Upper Volta, and served as president of the country from 1983 to 1987 prior to his assassination in a coup d'état?

Lifestyle

1 “Eat fresh” is the slogan of which US fast-food franchise that has over 43,000 outlets in over 100 countries worldwide?

2 Zara is the flagship retailer (others include Bershka, Pull & Bear, and Massimo Dutti) of which Spanish clothing conglomerate, the largest fashion group in the world, that was co-founded by Amancio Ortega – now Spain's richest man – in 1985?

3 Cachupa, a slow-cooked stew of corn, beans, and fish or meat, is regarded as the national dish of which island country?

4 Which fitness program that has achieved worldwide popularity, incorporating elements of dance and aerobics, was founded by Beto Perez in Colombia in 2001?

5 The disorder known as plantar fasciitis affects which general part of the body?

Sciences

1 One of the rarest mammals on earth, it is restricted to north-eastern Madagascar. The silky sifaka is what type of animal?

2 Which chemical element, the second-most abundant in the earth's crust, has atomic number 14 and a name from the Latin for “hard stone”?

3 Which US physicist is the only person to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 for the invention of the transistor, and then again in 1972 for a theory of superconductivity?

4 The alligator family is made up of two sub-families. One, unsurprisingly, is the alligator itself; which group of relatively small crocodilians native to Central and South America and Australia comprises the other?

5 Which Swedish botanist, known as the father of modern taxonomy, gives his name to the system of binomial nomenclature still in use today?

Sport & Games

1 India has won every edition of the World Cup held in this sport to date; what is the national sport of Bangladesh and Nepal?

2 Which Italian mountaineer is known for having been the first person to ascend Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, and for being the first person to ascend all fourteen “eight-thousander” mountain peaks (peaks over 8,000m above sea level)?

3 Who has been Test and ODI captain for the Sri Lanka national cricket team since February 2013?

4 Upon winning the 2010 French Open singles title, she became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title. With a career-high world no. 4 ranking achieved in early 2011, which tennis player is this?

5 Which French swimmer and three-time Olympic medallist tragically died in the 2015 Villa Castelli helicopter collision while filming for a reality TV show?

World

1 Which major US city, the most populous in its state, has been home to the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic since 1998, is home to the headquarters of The Coca-Cola Company, and held a major sporting event in 1996?

2 Divided into 100 sen, what is the currency of Malaysia?

3 The first flyby is predicted to occur in mid-July this year; what is the name of the NASA space probe launched to study the dwarf planet Pluto and its moons?

4 Which strait – on which Balikpapan and Palu are ports - separates the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi?

5 Which Australian serial entrepreneur is regarded as the most prolific inventor in the world, given that he has over 9,000 patents registered worldwide? His main fields of invention include electronics and the internet. 

Answers:

Media

1 Manuel Estrada Cabrera

2 Whiplash

3 Will Eisner

4 Tove Jansson

5 Guarani

Culture

1 Sopot

2 Ziggurat

3 Orphism

4 Spiders

5 Samsara

Entertainment

1 Pictures at an Exhibition

2 Luaka Bop

3 Orange Is the New Black

4 Raï

5 The Fiery Angel

History

1 Cusco

2 Mikhail Kutuzov

3 Creighton Abrams

4 Paraguay

5 Thomas Sankara

Lifestyle

1 Subway

2 Inditex

3 Cape Verde

4 Zumba

5 Foot

Sciences

1 Lemur

2 Silicon

3 John Bardeen

4 Caiman

5 Carl Linnaeus

Sport & Games

1 Kabaddi

2 Reinhold Messner

3 Angelo Mathews

4 Francesca Schiavone

5 Camille Muffat

World

1 Atlanta

2 Ringgit

3 New Horizons

4 Makassar Strait

5 Kia Silverbrook

QM Quiz #22

First of these I've written for a good while. Been busy with a variety of things, so here are some fresh questions for you to have a go at / save to your computer / do with whatever you desire.

It's the final regular-season match of the 2014/15 Lancaster City Quiz League season tonight. I'll be playing in my first match since mid-January, so haven't featured as much as I'd have liked this season but my first year at university is the reason for that. Playing Boot & Shoe B who have won the league and regained the title that eluded them last year.

We've also been drawn in the LCQL Cup quarter-finals against Boot & Shoe B for a home match two weeks today. I imagine that will be a far more hard-fought fixture.

Anyway, the questions...

1 Which French neoclassical architect's best-known works included Saint Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column in Saint Petersburg?
2 The so-called "Sabre Dance" is a movement in the final act of which Aram Khachaturian ballet (1942)?
3 What was the name of the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 that crashed last week, who is strongly suspected of having brought the plane down deliberately?
4 Which country won their fifth Cricket World Cup this week?
5 What did the initials GK stand for in the name of author GK Chesterton?
6 Which philosopher put forward the analysis and theory of deconstruction in his 1967 work, Of Grammatology?
7 China's Lin Dan is regarded as one of the greatest singles players of all time in which sport?
8 Which English king often had the sobriquet Beauclerc applied to his name?
9 Argentite is an ore of which metal?
10 Which Australian painter's most famous work was a series of depictions of outlaw Ned Kelly in the outback?
11 The Eduskunta is which country's national parliament?
12 Which Italian director's best-known films are The Leopard (1963) and Death in Venice (1971)?
13 Nedda and Silvio are lovers in which opera that premiered in Milan in 1892?
14 Ross Macdonald's hardboiled novels set in southern California featured which fictional private detective?
15 Which birds of the grouse family change to white in colour in winter to help them blend into the snowy backgrounds of their habitats?
16 Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundian allegiance in 1430 in which French town, before being handed over to the English?
17 Particularly associated as a religious practice, the lace or silk shawl known as a mantilla is worn predominantly by the women of which country?
18 Which German chess player, regarded as one of the best ever, held the World Chess Champion crown for a record 27 years from 1894 to 1921?
19 The name of which constellation comes from the Latin word for "charioteer"?
20 The rock band Soundgarden named themselves after a public art sculpture in which US city, from which they hailed?




Answers:
1 Auguste de Montferrand
2 Gayane
3 Andreas Lubitz
4 Australia
5 Gilbert Keith
6 Jacques Derrida
7 Badminton
8 Henry I
9 Silver
10 Sidney Nolan
11 Finland
12 Luchino Visconti
13 Pagliacci
14 Lew Archer
15 Ptarmigans
16 Compiegne
17 Spain
18 Emanuel Lasker
19 Auriga
20 Seattle

QM Quiz #21

I have set most of the questions in this quiz from the latest Pears Cyclopaedia - mixture of stuff, as per usual.

1 Which Belgian poet and essayist (1862-1949) - recipient of the 1911 Nobel Prize in Literature - wrote plays including Princess Maleine, Pelleas and Melisande, and The Blue Bird?
2 First excavated in 1965, the archaeological site of Lepenski Vir - said to date to around 8000 BC - lies on the banks of which major European river?
3 Widely identified as the politician who has served in the greatest number of different political offices, Norodom Sihanouk was, from 1953 to 1970, the effective ruler of which Asian country?
4 Given to women during or after the menopause, for what do the letters HRT stand?
5 Opened in Las Vegas in March 2014, the High Roller is the world's tallest what?
6 The first was launched in October 1957; the second was launched in November 1957; the third was launched in May 1958. What name links these three events?
7 Although harshly received by critics, it was a box-office success. Which 1970 David Lean film was a very loose adaptation of Flaubert's Madame Bovary, and featured Robert Mitchum and Trevor Howard in major roles?
8 Which novel chronicles the encounters and appointments of Leopold Bloom in Dublin over the course of the day 16 June 1904?
9 "It was said of Augustus that he found Rome brick and left it marble: the same is true of ___ and spin bowling." Complete this quote from the Australian sports journalist Gideon Haigh, which refers to a cricketer whose record of 708 wickets in his Test career was only surpassed by Muttiah Muralitharan in 2007?
10 Which French Romantic painter's The Raft of the Medusa depicts a moment in the aftermath of the wrecking of the namesake naval frigate, which ran aground off the coast of western Africa in 1816?
11 Which US pop-rock band, whose first album - Days Are Gone - spawned six singles, is comprised of sisters Este, Danielle, and Alana, as well as drummer Dash Hutton?
12 The Lincoln Borglum Museum serves as a visitor centre to which US tourist attraction?
13 69 people have died this week after drinking beer which was originally said to have been contaminated with crocodile bile, although it has been said that a toxic plant was the most likely cause for the deaths. In which African nation did this take place?
14 Other than Hindi and Bengali, which is the only language to be spoken in more than one Indian state?
15 A spin-off from The Muppets, what was the title of Jim Henson's live-action TV series which featured creatures such as the Doozers and the Gorgs?
16 Which German doctor and anthropologist is known as the "father of modern pathology", being the first to coin terms such as leukaemia, thrombosis, and embolism?
17 Perhaps most famous for his role as Tom Haverford in the NBC show Parks and Recreation, which US comedian released his debut album - Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening - in 2010?
18 Which chemical element is also known as wolfram, reflected in its chemical symbol?
19 The Dutchman Cornelis Drebbel was the builder of the first what in 1620?
20 Alberta, Saskatchewan, and which other province whose capital is at Winnipeg comprise the Canadian Prairies?




Answers:
1 Maurice Maeterlinck
2 Danube
3 Cambodia
4 Hormone replacement therapy
5 Ferris wheel
6 Sputnik
7 Ryan's Daughter
8 Ulysses
9 Shane Warne
10 Theodore Gericault
11 Haim
12 Mount Rushmore
13 Mozambique
14 Telugu
15 Fraggle Rock
16 Rudolf Virchow
17 Aziz Ansari
18 Tungsten
19 Submarine
20 Manitoba

QM Quiz #20

As part of my resolution to write more on this blog, here's another QM Quiz - twenty questions for you to ponder, have a go at, download, etc.:

1 The title of a James Ellroy novel, what nickname was given to Elizabeth Short, who was found mutilated in a Los Angeles park in 1947?

2 Declared a World Heritage Site in 1979, the ruins of the ancient city of Persepolis lie in the south-west of which country?

3 His 1970 acid western, El Topo, has become a cult film; which Chilean film-maker also directed The Holy Mountain (1973) and Santa Sangre (1989)?

4 Betty Willis designed which item that can be seen at 5100 Las Vegas Boulevard South?

5 In Morse code, a single dot represents which letter?

6 In the care of the National Trust since 1940, which Norfolk stately home was the birthplace of Anne Boleyn?

7 Who was the first emperor of the Roman Empire's so-called Year of the Four Emperors?

8 Which constellation takes its name from the Latin for "twins"?

9 Piazza del Campo is the main public space of which Italian city?

10 A leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, and the founder of an almost-namesake agrarian movement, which man - to this day an iconic figure in Mexico - was assassinated in 1919, aged 39?

11 Now resting on her port side in approximately 42 m of water, which Swedish ferry capsized in 1980 close to Larnaca on her maiden voyage, and has been named as being among the top wreck-diving sites in the world?

12 Abandoned when the country surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, what was the codename of the Allied plan for the invasion of Japan close to the end of World War II?

13 Which of the Wu-Tang Clan's founding members died in November 2004 of a drug overdose, two days before his 36th birthday?

14 Who is the current president of Indonesia?

15 Including English, how many languages are spoken in the lyrics of the Ian Dury and the Blockheads song, "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick"?
16 What surname links the Indian director of the so-called "Apu Trilogy" and the American director of Rebel Without a Cause?
17 Which US Army general commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968-72, in a time which saw US troop deployment numbers fall from around 540,000 to 50,000?
18 Angelo is the main antagonist of which of Shakespeare's comedies, although the play's mood isn't typical of a comedy?
19 Who was the primary user of the steam-powered rocket known as Skycycle X-2?
20 Which skyscraper was the tallest in the world from 2004 until 2010, when it was overtaken by the Burj Khalifa?




Answers:
1 The Black Dahlia
2 Iran
3 Alejandro Jodorowsky
4 Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign
5 E
6 Blickling Hall
7 Galba
8 Gemini
9 Siena
10 Emiliano Zapata
11 MS Zenobia
12 Operation Downfall
13 Ol' Dirty Buzzard
14 Joko Widodo
15 Three
16 Ray
17 Creighton Abrams
18 Measure for Measure
19 Evel Knievel
20 Taipei 101

QM Quiz #19

Not written one of these for ages, so I'll do so now - hope you enjoy:

1 Which term in Islam describes the collection of teachings, deeds, and sayings of the prophet Muhammad which constitute the primary source of guidance for Muslims aside from the Koran?
2 Starring Norman Beaton, Isabelle Lucas, and a young Lenny Henry, what was the first British sitcom to have an entirely black cast?
3 Which French king ordered the building of the Bastille fortress in 1370?
4 2014's G20 summit concluded last week. In which city was it held?
5 The director David Lean's first four films were adaptations of works by which English playwright?
6 Which former Conservative MP became UKIP's second directly elected MP on the early hours of Friday morning after a victory in the Rochester and Strood by-election?
7 Home to the country's most successful football club of recent years, what is Hungary's second-largest city?
8 The Kuvendi is the parliament of which European country?
9 The organisation Greenpeace was founded after protests against US plans for a nuclear weapon test on which Alaskan island?
10 The chemical element hassium is named after a state in which country?
11 In which country was Elizabeth II when she heard that her father, George VI, had died and that she was queen?
12 The episode "An Unearthly Child" marked the first appearance of which famous TV character?
13 The first official US flag was flown during which 1777 engagement of the American Revolutionary War?
14 The M57 motorway is a ring road around which major UK city?
15 Which passenger steamship became known in 1912 as the ship that came to the aid of Titanic survivors when it sank, and was subsequently sank herself in 1918 off the Isles of Scilly?
16 The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race is run at which French racecourse at the beginning of October each year?
17 Who, alongside Calvert Vaux, designed New York City's Central Park?
18 Butser Hill is the highest point of which English range of chalk hills?
19 Which US journalist (1887-1920) is best remembered for his account of the October Revolution, Ten Days That Shook the World?
20 The Church of the Holy Rude, where James VI of the Scots was crowned in 1567, is in which Scottish city?




Answers:
1 Hadith
2 The Fosters
3 Charles V
4 Brisbane
5 Noel Coward
6 Mark Reckless
7 Debrecen
8 Albania
9 Amchitka
10 Germany
11 Kenya
12 The Doctor (Doctor Who)
13 Siege of Fort Stanwix
14 Liverpool
15 Carpathia
16 Longchamp
17 Frederick Law Olmsted
18 South Downs
19 John Reed
20 Stirling

QM Quiz #18

Seems like ages since I last posted - indeed, it has been ten days. Here are twenty quick questions for you to peruse, store, have a go at.

100Quiz #2 is still open to enter; I'll close it to entries a week today, probably.

1 What is the official name of Manhattan's Sixth Avenue, although this name is rarely used by New Yorkers?
2 How was the German singer Christa Paffgen (1938-1988) better known?
3 The King Baudouin Stadium is in which country?
4 Which Austrian town on the border with Germany is best-known for being the birthplace of Adolf Hitler?
5 Which prominent Dutchman discovered the rings of Saturn in 1655?
6 From the Greek for "acting of one's own will", what word describes a self-operating machine?
7 How many players are there on each team in a Gaelic football match?
8 London Bridge carries five lanes of which major road?
9 In which US state is the popular animated series, South Park, primarily set?
10 Who is the current manager of Celtic FC?
11 In 1986, Time magazine called which man "a laureate of American lowlife"?
12 In The Flintstones, what is the name of Fred and Wilma Flintstone's infant daughter?
13 Which hurricane, currently impacting Bermuda, is the strongest recorded since Igor in 2010?
14 Der Ring des Nibelungen is a four-opera cycle by which famous composer?
15 Which is the oldest professional ice hockey team in the United States?
16 Which desert's name means "black sand" in Turkic languages?
17 One Brewer's Green, London is the headquarters of which UK political party?
18 Giotto's Campanile stands in which Italian city?
19 The Cuban Revolution of 1953 to 1959 was an overthrow of whose government?
20 Jonas Salk developed the first successful vaccine for which disease?




Answers:
1 Avenue of the Americas
2 Nico
3 Belgium
4 Braunau am Inn
5 Christiaan Huygens
6 Automaton
7 Fifteen
8 A3
9 Colorado
10 Ronny Deila
11 Charles Bukowski
12 Pebbles
13 Hurricane Gonzalo
14 Richard Wagner
15 Boston Bruins
16 Karakum
17 Labour
18 Florence
19 Fulgencio Batista
20 Poliomyelitis

100Quiz #2

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?

QM Quiz #17

1 In which national capital was athlete Mo Farah born?

2 Japan's second-highest volcano erupted this week, causing the deaths of at least thirty people. What is its name?

3 Described as the largest electronic monitoring station in the world, in which English county is RAF Menwith Hill?

4 1979's Life in a Day was the debut album of which band?

5 Ghent, Antwerp, and Valenciennes are all among the towns that stand on which major river of northern France, western Belgium, and the south-west of the Netherlands?

6 In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, whose shrine are the story-telling pilgrims visiting?

7 During the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire, fifty new churches were paid for by a tax levied on what item entering the capital?

8 The title of a 2008 thriller starring Tom Cruise and Kenneth Branagh, what was the codeword for the 1944 operation that was an attempt to kill Adolf Hitler?

9 The Victoria Cross was initially introduced to reward acts of courage during which war?

10 What ironic trait was shared by the composers Beethoven, Smetana, and Faure?

11 In mythology, what was the name of the Roman slave who aided and befriended a lion that subsequently saved his life after he was thrown to the aforementioned animals for attempting to escape?

12 Breeding in the south-western US and Mexico, what is the smallest species of owl?

13 The ongoing political comic strip, If..., has appeared in which daily newspaper since 1981?

14 Who remains to date the longest-serving leader of the Labour Party?

15 According to Jewish folklore, who was the first wife of Adam?

16 What is the densest naturally occurring chemical element?

17 What forename and surname links the wife of Shakespeare and a modern-day Hollywood actress?

18 Which monarch instigated the Christmas Day broadcast to the nation in 1932?

19 Aside from becoming a major early figure in the sport of golf, and lending his name to the sport's most prestigious trophy, what was Samuel Ryder's profession?

20 Which traditional sport of Central Asia consists of horse-mounted players dragging a goat carcass towards a goal?

Answers:

1 Mogadishu

2 Mount Ontake

3 North Yorkshire

4 Simple Minds

5 Scheldt

6 Thomas Becket

7 Coal

8 Valkyrie

9 Crimean War

10 Deafness

11 Androcles

12 Elf owl

13 The Guardian
14 Clement Attlee
15 Lilith
16 Osmium
17 Anne Hathaway
18 George V
19 Seed merchant
20 Buzkashi

QM Quiz #15

The Lancaster City Quiz League season began last night. The Pub got a 66-48 victory over Slyne Lodge. Decent enough set written by the Gregson A team. Managed to get a score of 15 which I'm pleased about after thinking about it more thoroughly - only got three of my eight questions right but managed to get six passes. Mistaking Cadiz for Calvi on a question about Nelson's loss of one eye was an absolute shitter, though. Still, not too bad for our first league match. That'll be my last game for a month or so at least - though I'd like to be back temporarily for a couple of matches. Depends on if I'm picked for a start.

Anyway, questions...

QM Quiz #15
1 What is the largest city to stand on Lake Champlain, which is divided between the US states of New York and Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec?

2 Which Colombian cyclist won the 2014 Giro d'Italia?

3 What was actress Diane Keaton's birth surname?

4 Close to the border crossing with Croatia, what is the only coastal town in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

5 The film Schindler's List was based on a 1982 novel by which Australian writer?

6 The 2013 and 2014 winners of the Pritzker Prize for Architecture have both been from which country?

7 Willy Lott's Cottage can be seen in which famous painting of 1821?

8 What name, meaning unauthorised, was given to the castles built in 12th-century England without royal approval, particularly during the Anarchy war of 1135 to 1154?

9 2014 is the Chinese year of which creature?

10 Which 2004 Martin Scorsese film tells the story of a twenty-year period in the life of Howard Hughes?

11 Which short-lived US comedy series, first seen in 1982 and starring Leslie Nielsen, was a spoof of police procedurals and a precursor to the successful Naked Gun film series?

12 "I met a traveller from an antique land..." is the first line of which 1818 poem?

13 What was the official name of the "Dam Busters" raids of 1943 that saw the bombing of the Moehne and Edersee Dams?

14 Which stock character of Russian folk puppetry is also the title of an Igor Stravinsky ballet?

15 The largest city of its namesake governorate, what is the capital of Oman?
16 What newspaper format has pages that are slightly wider and taller than the tabloid format, but narrower and shorter than that of the broadsheet?
17 Which Brazilian city, the country's fifth-largest, is the state capital of Ceara?
18 Possibly his best-known work is the brutalist Royal National Theatre on the South Bank of the Thames; which English architect was also responsible for designing the European Investment Bank building in Luxembourg?
19 Caused by the inhalation of coal dust, which disease affecting the lungs is known as "miner's disease"?
20 Name the year. Da Vinci's Mona Lisa is displayed in the US for the first time; Harold Wilson becomes leader of the UK Labour Party; Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closes.




Answers:
1 Burlington
2 Nairo Quintana
3 Hall
4 Neum
5 Thomas Keneally
6 Japan
7 The Hay Wain
8 Adulterine
9 Horse
10 The Aviator
11 Police Squad!
12 "Ozymandias"
13 Operation Chastise
14 Petrushka
15 Muscat
16 Berliner
17 Fortaleza
18 Denys Lasdun
19 Pneumoconiosis
20 1963

Questions on Syria, serial killers and sitcoms

Seems my last post was over a week ago. Sorry for that. Not sure why I've not updated the blog with anything - indolence and being sidetracked with other things, probably.

Unfortunately I didn't attend this year's BQC. Kettering would have no doubt cost an arm and a leg, and Edinburgh was low on places. There's always next year to make my BQC debut... I'll probably be at the Birmingham GP - always more opportunities for hope and subsequent despair at missed answers and lack of knowledge.

Seeing as I've not updated it for a week, here is a set of fifty questions:

1 Which 1942 film was adapted from the play, Everybody Comes to Rick's?

2 Its population is cited as being among the longest-lived in the world; what is the largest of Japan's Ryukyu Islands?

3 French chemist Anselme Payen discovered the first one, diastase, in 1883; what name is given to a biological catalyst?

4 What is the name of a badger's habitat?

5 Which town played host to a meeting between Chamberlain and Hitler in 1938 over the Sudetenland crisis?

6 Who served for around three years as the first president of Israel?

7 Despite their name, which country is actually the largest exporter of Brazil nuts?

8 The Czech Jan Zelezny holds the world record for which athletics event?

9 "Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)", "Winter", and "Star Star" are tracks off which 1973 Rolling Stones album?

10 The Carnation Revolution, which overthrew the Estado Novo regime, occurred in which European country in 1974?

11 It's mentioned in the Bible as a place where fallen angels descend to earth; what is the highest mountain in Syria?

12 Which architecture firm, one of the largest in the world, was responsible for designs for buildings such as Chicago's Willis Tower, the Burj Khalifa, and the new World Trade Center?
13 The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji were prints by which Japanese artist (1760-1849), generally known by just his surname?
14 A statue of which Roman emperor stands outside York Minster?
15 Which item of clothing was supposedly invented by Andre Courreges and popularised by Mary Quant?
16 Which English playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter wrote the play, A Man For All Seasons, and wrote the screenplay for the film, Doctor Zhivago?
17 The Armenian-British philanthropist Calouste Gulbenkian amassed a large art collection with his wealth, much of which can now be seen in a museum in which European city?
18 Which cocktail, of which the Donald Sutherland is a variation, consists of nine parts Scotch whisky and five parts Drambuie?
19 Riga and which northern Swedish city are 2014's European Capitals of Culture?
20 Who was the first Plantagenet king of England?
21 A verdict was delivered in the high-profile trial of Oscar Pistorius this week. What two-word term denotes the offence Pistorius was found guilty of by judge Thokozile Masipa?
22 Set in February 2014, which Frenchman is the current world-record holder for the pole vault athletics event?
23 In 1985, a fire broke out during a match at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium, resulting in the tragic deaths of 56 supporters. Who were Bradford City's opponents that day?
24 What subject matter links the 1979 film, The China Syndrome, and the 1983 film, Silkwood?
25 Which of tennis's famous "Four Musketeers" was nicknamed the "bounding Basque"?
26 Born Romana Barrack, which TV writer created sitcoms including The Liver Birds and Butterflies?
27 In which year did Leslie Mitchell become the first voice heard on BBC TV?
28 The M1 motorway connects London to which major city of England's north?
29 What is the only US state to share a border with only one other state?
30 An image of him appears on the front of the country's $10 bill; who was the first US Secretary of the Treasury?
31 Its native name is Rakiura; what is New Zealand's largest island after the North and South islands?
32 Which traditional Middle Eastern form of headgear consists of a patterned design on a square scarf? It was perhaps made famous by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
33 Taking its title from the name of a popular electronic toy, what was the title of Depeche Mode's debut album, with tracks such as "New Life" and "Just Can't Get Enough"?
34 Mohamed Boudiaf was assassinated in 1992 while giving a televised speech. He was a political figure of which African country?
35 Ustinov, Trevelyan, and Grey are colleges of which British university?
36 In computing, a nibble consists of how many bits?
37 Which Japanese actor was best known for his 16-film collaboration with director Akira Kurosawa, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo?
38 Running from 21st March to 20th April each year, what is the first astrological sign of the zodiac?
39 Cleopatra's Needle stands closest to which London Underground station?
40 Who was the only crew member aboard Mercury-Redstone 3 in 1961?
41 From the Latin for "shallow dish", what name is given to the greenish discolouration on a statue caused by age and weathering? The Statue of Liberty is a prominent example.
42 The Novotel hotel brand is headquartered in which country?
43 With which Italian city would you associate Francesco Guardi?
44 Due to the location of the majority of his murders, serial killer Andrei Chikatilo was known as the "Butcher of ..." where?
45 Who was runner-up in the recent US Open women's singles tournament, losing 6-3 6-3 to Serena Williams in the final?
46 How does Anna Karenina die in Tolstoy's novel of the same name?
47 Preceded by the Prussian Secret Police, in what year was the Gestapo formed?
48 Dacia - also the name of Europe's fifth-biggest car manufacturer - was the Roman name for which modern-day country?
49 From the Latin for "to chew over again", what word refers to an animal able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in the stomach prior to digestion?
50 On which island of the Bahamas is the capital - Nassau - located?




Answers:
1 Casablanca
2 Okinawa
3 Enzyme
4 Sett
5 Bad Godesberg
6 Chaim Weizmann
7 Bolivia
8 Javelin
9 Goats Head Soup
10 Portugal
11 Mount Hermon
12 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
13 Hokusai
14 Constantine the Great
15 Miniskirt
16 Robert Bolt
17 Lisbon
18 Rusty Nail
19 Umea
20 Henry II
21 Culpable homicide
22 Renaud Lavillenie
23 Lincoln City
24 Nuclear power
25 Jean Borotra
26 Carla Lane
27 1936
28 Leeds
29 Maine
30 Alexander Hamilton
31 Stewart Island
32 Keffiyeh
33 Speak & Spell
34 Algeria
35 University of Durham
36 Four
37 Toshiro Mifune
38 Aries
39 Embankment
40 Alan Shepard
41 Patina
42 France
43 Venice
44 Rostov
45 Caroline Wozniacki
46 She throws herself under a train
47 1933
48 Romania
49 Ruminant
50 New Providence 

QM Quiz #14

1 The hopak is a dance from which country?

2 Which Yugoslav movement of World War II, led by Draza Mihailovic, was dissolved in 1946 as Tito proclaimed an amnesty to all defecting forces?

3 The Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing, is set on which island?

4 Giles Clarke is the current chairman of which sport governing body?

5 Which English theatre critic and writer was supposedly the first person to say the word "fuck" on British television?

6 What is the name of the sea cave, so-called after a British captain, that lies on the south-east face of the Rock of Gibraltar?

7 What was the first James Bond film to star Roger Moore?

8 Automobile engineer Louis Chevrolet, pharmacologist Daniel Bovet, and revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat were all born in which present-day country?

9 What is the main colour of the flag of Macau?

10 Stephen Crane's book, The Red Badge of Courage, is set during which war?

11 Who is the most recent British prime minister to have served non-consecutive terms?

12 The last time a team outside the top flight won the competition, which team won the 1980 FA Cup?

13 The Wasatch Front is home to roughly 80% of the population of which US state?

14 Usain Bolt set both the 100m and 200m world records in which city in 2009?

15 Poly Styrene, Lora Logic, and Jak Airport were members of which English punk band?

16 What do the Libyans call the sirocco wind, the same name as that of a Japanese film studio?

17 Numismatics is the scientific study of what?

18 Which composer created the Symphonie fantastique and the Grande messe des morts requiem? 

19 What is the longest river in the European Union?

20 The highest point of the Dinaric Alps is in which country?

Answers:

1 Ukraine

2 Chetniks

3 Sicily

4 ECB

5 Kenneth Tynan

6 Gorham's Cave

7 Live and Let Die

8 Switzerland

9 Green

10 American Civil War

11 Harold Wilson

12 West Ham

13 Utah

14 Berlin

15 X-Ray Spex

16 Ghibli

17 Currency

18 Hector Berlioz

19 Danube

20 Albania

Questions and stuff

100 #1 update

Received some entries for the first 100 quiz - not as many as I was expecting, though. I'll extend the deadline for a few days to allow anyone who hasn't had a chance to enter yet to do so. Some very good scores so far. 

Click here if you're interested.

Reading
Been reading Simon Jenkins's excellent A Short History of England, which is a book I bought in an even more obsessive quiz phase (yes, I've become rather lax and lazy recently, not bothering to work as hard as I should). Suffice to say, I've learnt a fair few things so far - never knew that the family name Plantagenet comes from the broom plant (planta genista) which was supposedly a symbol of the House of Anjou. And there's a load of other stuff I'd not known or forgotten.

I'd recommend the book highly as an introduction to English history for anyone who's fairly poor on that sort of stuff (like me).

Lancaster City Quiz League
The new season starts in two weeks! Not sure where that time's gone; procrastinating has a lot to answer for. Not that I'll be a regular feature, what with starting university, but I'll be playing the first game for definite for The Pub - if they want me after some of my mediocre performances last season (!). Getting four (4) in the last game of last season was a particular low point. We're away at Slyne Lodge anyway, who I remember playing last year. It's perhaps my least favourite venue of all those used in the quiz league, a Deliverance-style trip into a remote Lancastrian backwater. OK, it's not that bad. Just not a fan of the venue compared to some of the others. No offence to anyone who lives there or plays there who may be reading this!

Questions
Here are some questions. All collected from browsing various websites. Mixture of topics.

1 Replacing Lord Patten in the role, which former head of the Financial Times Group is to become the first woman to chair the BBC Trust?
2 What was the name of the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by the country's dictator Francois Duvalier?
3 The 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera occurred in which country?
4 Dressed to Kill (1980), Blow Out (1981), and Body Double (1984) were all 1980s thriller films directed by whom?
5 The Battle of Tinchebray resulted in a victory for which English monarch?
6 Tennyson's 1849 poem, In Memoriam A.H.H., is a requiem for which friend and fellow poet, who died suddenly in Vienna sixteen years earlier?
7 Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum, author Ernest Hemingway, and Lewis and Clark's native guide Sacagawea were all born in which US state (or territories that now lie within its borders)?
8 A station on which city's metro system has the longest escalator in Europe?
9 Which five words feature prominently (and are occasionally used as part of the title) in the 1954 doo-wop song, "Sh-Boom"?
10 Accounting for only 0.2% of the country's territory, what is the smallest state in Mexico?

QM Quiz #13

1 Pictured on the cover of The Verve's debut album, in which English county is the tourist spot known as Thor's Cave?

2 The tennis player Milos Raonic represents which country?

3 Who was the first husband of actress Lauren Bacall?

4 William Tuthill is best-remembered as the architect of which New York City landmark?

5 Canada's highest mountain, Mount Logan, is located within which of the country's territories?

6 Which horse did Red Rum beat to win his first Grand National - in 1973 - despite being thirty lengths behind with just a few fences to go?
7 What name, in honour of the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, was originally used by Europeans to describe what we now call Tasmania?
8 Which company manufactured the Vulcan bomber, operated by the RAF from 1956 to 1984?
9 What is, at 343m, the tallest bridge in the world?
10 Which constituency did James Callaghan occupy during his time as British prime minister, as well as for thirty years outside of that position?
11 Capital of its namesake canton, what is the largest city in Switzerland?
12 Who directed the 2010 film, The Social Network?
13 What name was given to the rural guerrilla fighters during the French Resistance of World War Two? They took their name from a type of shrubbery.
14 Which German philosopher - the founding father of the Vienna Circle - was assassinated on the steps of the University of Vienna by a former student in 1936?
15 Saladin, Nizami, Mohamed Pasha Jaff, and Ahmet Kaya were all people of which ethnic group?
16 Which British monarch awarded Malta the George Cross?
17 Which convicted US murderer dubbed himself "Son of Sam" in a note to the New York Police Department, a nickname with which he has been associated since?
18 Who was the only Chancellor of the Exchequer not to deliver a Budget?
19 What was the fourth of Buddha's Four Noble Truths, prescribing the way to enlightenment?
20 Give a year in the life of Nicolaus Copernicus.




Answers:
1 Staffordshire
2 Canada
3 Humphrey Bogart
4 Carnegie Hall
5 Yukon
6 Crisp
7 Van Diemen's Land
8 Avro
9 Millau Viaduct
10 Cardiff South East
11 Zurich
12 David Fincher
13 Maquis
14 Moritz Schlick
15 Kurds
16 George VI
17 David Berkowitz
18 Iain MacLeod
19 Eightfold Path
20 1473-1543

100Quiz #1

OK, so here's the first 100-question quiz I mentioned earlier. You don't have to submit your answers, but it's free (!) and makes it a bit more interesting to see where you are in relation to others (I hope). There'll be a mix of difficulties, varied questions, etc. I hope they're decent, interesting questions - let me know if they're not.

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, 30th August (a week from now, basically).

I'll let everyone know their score when I put everyone's up for the week.

Good luck!

The questions:
1 St. Thomas Church in Leipzig is best-known as the final resting place of which famous composer?
2 Andre Agassi's first Grand Slam victory came at Wimbledon in which year?
3 Which wading bird of the genus Numenius is recognisable due to its long, down-curving bill, and can frequently be seen probing for food in sediments?
4 Coming Up for Air is a lesser-known 1939 novel by which writer, born in 1903?
5

The photo to the left shows the Bahla Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in which country?










6 The supercontinent Pangaea eventually rifted to form two separate landmasses. One was Laurasia; what was the other?
7 Which US drama of the 1990s, starring Kyle MacLachlan and Sheryl Lee, took its title from the fictional Washington town in which it was set?
8 Which Argentine urban guerrilla group of the 1970s claimed allegiance to Peronism, and staged terrorist actions against the military regime then in power, before being utterly defeated in 1979 by the same military dictatorship?
9 What was the capital of Kazakhstan prior to Astana replacing it in 1997?
10 Known as El Viejo (The Elder), which Spanish conquistador and rival of Pizarro is credited as the first European discoverer of Chile?
11 Which town in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area has seen civil unrest as a result of the shooting of Michael Brown two weeks ago?
12 Searching for Sugar Man is a 2012 Swedish-British documentary detailing the efforts of two South African music fans to find which American folk musician, said to have been as popular as Elvis Presley in South Africa but with very little acclaim in his native US?
13 The Louvre was built in 1546 - as its current purpose - for which French king?
14 Which term was supposedly invented by Ivan Turgenev to describe the character Bazarov in his novel Fathers and Sons?
15 The 1945 film Brief Encounter substantially features the Piano Concerto No. 2 by which composer?
16 In which English county is the so-called English Riviera, given this name due to its mild climate, sandy beaches, and many tourist attractions?
17 Originally published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly, who wrote the 1875 bildungsroman Roderick Hudson?
18 Located on the east coast of Streymoy, what is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands?
19 Considered one of the four great haiku masters, which Japanese author and poet wrote works including Meiji Nijūkunen no Haikukai and Utayomi ni Atauru Sho?
20 The first king of Persia's Achaemenid Empire, who supposedly met his death in a fierce battle with the Massagetaens, a tribe from the southern deserts of the Khwarezm and Kyzyl Kum?
21 Born in April 1947, which American singer-songwriter released the albums Blue Kentucky Girl (1979), Thirteen (1986), and Hard Bargain (2011)?
22 Heracles' sixth labour involved defeating the birds of which lake in Arcadia?
23 Which tree of the genus Salix is known for its strong and resistant roots that often cause problems when planted in residential areas?
24 The UK's oldest extant daily newspaper, in which city has The News Letter been published since 1737?
25 Early in Bobby Vee's career, a musician named Elston Gunnn toured with his band. How do we now know Elston Gunnn?
26 “The father of us all” was how Matisse and Picasso described which French Post-Impressionist painter, notable for works such as L'Estaque and Château Noir?
27 Literally meaning “spelled-out sounds”, what is the official system for transcribing the Mandarin letters into the Latin alphabet?
28 Who was the father of Cnut the Great?
29 ETA is a group campaigning for independence of which region?
30 Which Finnish architect and designer (1898-1976) was responsible for inventing bent plywood furniture, designed Finlandia Hall, the Essen opera house, and co-designed the KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg?
31 Atomic number 4, which element was discovered by Louis Nicolas Vauquelin in 1797?
32 Mademoiselle Rose, The Barque of Dante, and The Death of Desdemona are among the works of which French painter (1798-1863)?
33 With seven titles, which club is the most successful in the history of the Copa Libertadores?
34 The band Radiohead took their name from a song by which other band, formed in New York in 1975?
35 The name of which constellation comes from the Latin for 'air pump'?
36 Which British pub name comes from Edward IV's heraldic symbol?
37 Organised by UNESCO to celebrate “the virtues of jazz”, on which date does International Jazz Day fall?
38 Ramón Mercader became known in 1940 for assassinating whom?

39 Which revolutionary's dying words were supposedly 'take my baggage on board the frigate'?
40 Which long, hooded coat – often worn by voyageurs of New France - shares its name with a prominent American author of the twentieth century?
41 William Le Baron Jenney was behind the building of the world's first what in 1884?
42 Becoming golf's first number-one player in 1986, which German was one of the world's leading golfers during the 1980s and 1990s and won the Masters Tournament twice?
43 Which soft drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton?
44 Which Central Asian capital was known as Poltoratsk between 1919 and 1927?
45 Who wrote the Arthurian fantasy novel, The Once and Future King?
46 Portrayed by Emily Deschanel in the Fox series Bones, who created the forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan?
47 What was the original name of Operation Torch, the British-American invasion of French North Africa in 1942?
48 Widely credited with rebuilding Beirut after the fifteen-year civil war, who was Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998? He was assassinated in 2005 as his motorcade drove through Beirut.
49 Which abnormality in the tissue of an organism comes from the Latin word for 'injury'?
50 Nicknamed “The Marble Man”, who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War?
51 In which country can you see the waterfalls below, supposedly the most powerful in Europe?

52 Luciano Michelini's Frolic is the theme tune to which US sitcom?
53 Acquired by Condé Nast, which website was founded by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in June 2005?
54 Under what name was illustrator Hablot Knight Browne better known?
55 Pemphigus is a rare autoimmune disease that affects which part of the body?
56 There are two doubly landlocked countries – one is Liechtenstein, what is the other?
57 Since 2007, rugby union's Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy is competed for annually between Italy and which other country?
58 Benjamin Braddock appears in which 1963 Charles Webb novel, and the subsequent Mike Nichols film?
59 Kalamazoo, mentioned in the title of a Glenn Miller song, is in which US state?
60 Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa is the king of which Middle Eastern country?
61 Who became the first black footballer to represent England in a full international match?
62 Michael Herr's 1977 account of the Vietnam War, Dispatches, was adapted for which 1987 film about the same conflict?
63 Released on the Polydor label, The Scream was which post-punk band's debut album?
64 Which company did Giovanni Agnelli found in 1899?
65 Fujie Eguchi, Deng Yaping, and Angelica Rozeanu are names associated with which sport?
66 Who played Mr. Roarke in the TV series Fantasy Island and Zachary Powers in The Colbys, a Dynasty spin-off? 
67 The songs “A Fine Romance”, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, and “The Way You Look Tonight” were all composed by which American writer of popular musical theatre?
68 The M69 motorway connects Leicester with which other Midlands city?
69 Winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which Anne Tyler novel follows Ira and Maggie Moran as they travel from Baltimore and back to attend a funeral?
70 What did the W stand for in the name of the poet W. H. Auden?
71 Who won the 2007 Formula One World Drivers' Championship, his only victory to date?
72 Who won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Carol Connelly in As Good as It Gets?
73 Fiordland National Park is the largest in which country?
74 The Likely Lads, Porridge, and Going Straight were all sitcoms written by which comedy-writing duo?
75 Known for his witty aphorisms, which US writer's third novel, The City and the Pillar, was slammed by critics due to being one of the first major American works to feature unambiguous homosexuality?
76 “Left a good job in the city / Working for the man every night and day” are the opening lyrics to which Creedence Clearwater Revival song?
77 What is the third-largest island in the world?
78 Which Norwegian won the 1994 Winter Olympic gold medal in the Alpine skiing combined event?
79 Who voiced many characters on The Simpsons, including Grampa Simpson, Barney Gumble, and Krusty the Clown?
80 Which fictional detective – created by author Michael Connelly - was named after an early Dutch painter?
81 Who composed the music for the film Zorba the Greek?
82 "Dinner by ... ...". Which famous chef's name fills the blanks to give the name of the London restaurant that was voted the fifth-best in the world in April 2014? Its signature dish is perhaps a chicken liver mousse created to look like a mandarin orange.
83 Best-known for her children's book, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, who was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature?
84 In Norse mythology, which daughter of Loki was assigned by Odin to rule the underworld, with which she shares her name?
85 One of the rarest mammals on earth, to which island is the silky sifaka native?
86 Acquired by Twitter in 2012, which video-sharing app allows users to record seven-second-long video clips, which will then play in a loop?
87 On which river – the longest entirely within the state – does the Texan city of Fort Worth stand?
88 Which Austrian-born violinist and composer created the operetta Apple Blossoms, which became a Broadway success?
89 The Argentinian city of La Plata was, from 1952 to 1955, named after which major figure?
90 Currently under construction, Oyala is planned to replace Malabo as the capital of which African nation?
91 Francesco Gullino was named by The Times newspaper in June 2005 as the main suspect in which case, dating back to the 1970s?
92 With which club did Johan Cruyff begin his football career, staying there for nine years?
93 The Marrakech Agreement of 1995 founded which organisation?
94 Who starred as Ellen Brody in the 1975 film Jaws?
95 Lake Havasu City in Arizona features a replica of which British landmark?
96 The volcano Mount Karthala is the highest point of which island nation?
97 The oldest in Germany, which university's alumni includes prominent Nazi Joseph Goebbels, chemist Fritz Haber, and mathematician Otto Hesse?
98 Which French sculptor has a museum dedicated to him in his hometown Colmar, in which several of his smaller works can be found?
99 Which dishevelled detective made his first TV appearance in the 1992 episode “Care and Protection”?
100 Comprising over 27%, what is the second-most abundant element in the lithosphere?