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 #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?

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

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?

QM Quiz #12

1 Which US city is home to a basketball team known as the Nuggets and a football team known as the Broncos?

2 On which island is the Timanfaya National Park?
3 The Battle of Dettingen was the last time a British monarch personally led troops into battle. Who was the British monarch?
4 Which Carson McCullers novel was adapted into a 1968 film starring Alan Arkin and Sondra Locke, for which both earned Academy Award nominations?
5 Which leader of Uganda before and after the dictatorship of Idi Amin fled to Zambia after being deposed in 1985, before dying in South Africa twenty years later?
6 Which Italian region forms the "heel" on the "boot" of Italy?
7 What was the world's tallest building from its completion in 2004 to the opening of the Burj Khalifa in 2010?
8 Who gave the longest Academy Award acceptance speech in history when accepting a Best Actress award for Mrs. Miniver?
9 "There are known knowns" is a line from a now-infamous speech by which US political figure?
10 Which detective was mystery writer Rex Stout's most famous creation?
11 A match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships was the longest tennis match in professional history. After over eleven hours of play, the American John Isner defeated which French player?
12 Located on the state's longest river, what is the capital of Michigan?
13 Supposedly the world's oldest continuously inhabited city, the ancient trading port of Byblos is in which modern-day country?
14 Who has been the president of Germany since March 2012?
15 The US company Shure predominantly manufactures what?
16 The 1996 documentary film, Looking for Richard, was the directorial debut of which major Hollywood actor?
17 In Pakistan, 9th November is a national day dedicated to which major philosopher and poet of the country, whose efforts to establish a separate Muslim state contributed to the formation of the country?
18 On which river does Barnsley stand?
19 Weston Loomis were the middle names of which US poet, best known for The Cantos?
20 Named after a Swedish physicist, what is the SI unit of dose equivalent?




Answers:
1 Denver
2 Lanzarote
3 George II
4 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
5 Milton Obote
6 Apulia
7 Taipei 101
8 Greer Garson
9 Donald Rumsfeld
10 Nero Wolfe
11 Nicolas Mahut
12 Lansing
13 Lebanon
14 Joachim Gauck
15 Microphones
16 Al Pacino
17 Muhammad Iqbal
18 River Dearne
19 Ezra Pound
20 Sievert

QM Quiz #11

1 Which Greek island is home to the Ionian University?
2 The Gokstad ship, a Viking ship found in a burial mound, is on display in which capital city?
3 Who was the first presenter of the British television talent show, New Faces?
4 An image of it appears on the country's flag, the resplendent quetzal is the national bird of which nation?
5 In 2012, LonelyPlanet.com listed which north-eastern Italian city as the world's most underrated travel destination?
6 He died in 1453; who was the last reigning Byzantine emperor?
7 In which country is the most northerly point of South America?
8 Which former US Secretary of State gives his name to the airport of Washington, D.C.?
9 Who is the youngest male to win a Best Actor Oscar?
10 Who did John Howard replace as Prime Minister of Australia in 1996?
11 Who did Yigal Amir assassinate in 1995?
12 Intended to provide a human-like interface to the internet, which company created the intelligent personal assistant known as Mya?
13 A ferry sunk this week in which major, dissecting river of Bangladesh?
14 By what infamous name is Japan's Aokigahara forest known? It lies at the north-western base of Mount Fuji.
15 Which musical instrument connects a song by Perry Como, the nickname of a Vivaldi concerto, and a novel by Louis de Bernieres?
16 Which Argentine composer scored the films Brokeback Mountain and Babel?
17 Which Cistercian monastery stands in the gardens of Studley Royal Park in Yorkshire?
18 What is the largest island of the Philippines?
19 Which eldest daughter of Henry VII of England was also the mother of James V?
20 Which vicious creature of Greek mythology - killed by Heracles - lived at Nemea?




Answers:
1 Corfu
2 Oslo
3 Derek Hobson
4 Guatemala
5 Trieste
6 Constantine XI Palaiologos
7 Colombia
8 John Foster Dulles
9 Adrien Brody
10 Paul Keating
11 Yitzhak Rabin
12 Motorola
13 Padma River
14 Suicide forest
15 Mandolin
16 Gustavo Santaolalla
17 Fountains Abbey
18 Luzon
19 Margaret Tudor
20 Lion

QM Quiz #10

1 Which northern French city gives its name to an 1802 treaty that temporarily ended hostilities between the French First Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars?
2 The Soviet Venera 3 probe is believed to have crash-landed on which planet in 1966?
3 Who is the current leader of the Green Party of England and Wales?
4 Ludwig Guttmann - a German-born neurologist - established what in England?
5 In which US state was the ice cream company, Ben & Jerry's, founded in 1978?
6 The metical, subdivided into 100 centavos, is the currency of which African nation?
7 Owing to the area's reputation as a china and earthenware centre, what name is often applied to the area of Staffordshire comprising the towns Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton?
8 Nicknamed "the Shark of Messina", which Italian won the 2014 Tour de France?
9 Named after the Austrian paediatrician, the Schick test is a measure of someone's susceptibility to which disease?
10 The fifth-largest lake in Europe, Lake Peipus, is bordered by Russia and which other country?
11 Which Australian is the only swimmer to take the same individual title at three consecutive Olympic Games, winning the 100m freestyle in 1956, 1960, and 1964?
12 Who directed the 1967 film, Bonnie and Clyde?
13 What number was Roger Bannister wearing on his shirt when he ran the first four-minute mile in 1954?
14 Eleanor of Aquitaine was the spouse of which English monarch?
15 Which Belgian professional football club won the 1987-88 European Cup Winners' Cup, in a shock victory against AFC Ajax?
16 Kinnie is a soft drink from which European country?
17 What is the southernmost state of New England?
18 Who was US Secretary of Defence from 1961-1968, the longest-serving ever in the role?
19 Who played the title role in the 1950 film, All About Eve?
20 Which chemical element has the symbol Sb?




Answers:
1 Amiens
2 Venus
3 Natalie Bennett
4 Paralympic Games
5 Vermont
6 Mozambique
7 The Potteries
8 Vincenzo Nibali
9 Diphtheria
10 Estonia
11 Dawn Fraser
12 Arthur Penn
13 41
14 Henry II
15 KV Mechelen
16 Malta
17 Connecticut
18 Robert McNamara
19 Anne Baxter
20 Antimony

QM Quiz #8

1 In which city is the J. Edgar Hoover Building, headquarters of the FBI?
2 The chief town of the island, what was the capital of Corsica until 1811?
3 The fifth-largest constellation is named for a hero of Greek myth - with the Roman version of the name being used. Which hero?
4 Which Nigerian writer's first novel, Things Fall Apart, is the most widely read book in African literature?
5 Two people have won the FIFA World Cup as both player and coach. One is Franz Beckenbauer; which Brazilian is the other?
6 Pyelonephritis is an inflammation of which bodily organ?
7 Which Surrey-born economist (1766-1834) argued in his 1798 Essay on the Principle of Population that efforts should be made to reduce the population?
8 What is the name of the family of space vehicles being developed in Russia? They are intended to become the mainstay of the Russian space fleet in the future, and the first flight took place successfully yesterday.
9 Also known as Operation Jubilee, a disastrous August 1942 Allied attack on which German-occupied port of northern France influenced the Normandy landings?
10 Which country was known until 1972 as Ceylon?
11 Which Italian-built deep-diving bathyscaphe reached the deepest point of all the oceans - Challenger Deep - in August 1953? It was the first manned vessel to have reached the bottom of the Challenger Deep.
12 Which British band took their name from the headline of Guy Peellaert's painting featuring Frank Sinatra?
13 Known in the West as Madame Mao, who was the final wife of Mao Zedong?
14 Which of the halogens has a name deriving from the Greek for "strong-smelling"?
15 Who was the first male tennis player to win all four Grand Slams on three different surfaces?
16 The Columbus Channel - or Serpent's Mouth - separates the south-westernmost point of Trinidad and Tobago from which South American country, eleven kilometres away?
17 Bassanio, Portia, and Shylock are characters in which Shakespeare play?
18 What is the common name of birds of the order Strigiformes?
19 Located in Indonesia, what is the highest mountain in the world to be located on an island?
20 Created in 1972, the Templeton Prize is awarded for progress in which field?




Answers:
1 Washington, D.C.
2 Bastia
3 Hercules
4 Chinua Achebe
5 Mario Zagallo
6 Kidney
7 Thomas Malthus
8 Angara
9 Dieppe
10 Sri Lanka
11 Trieste
12 Frankie Goes to Hollywood
13 Jiang Qing
14 Bromine
15 Andre Agassi
16 Venezuela
17 The Merchant of Venice
18 Owls
19 Puncak Jaya
20 Religion