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
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literature. Show all posts
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
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
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
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.
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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 #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?
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
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?
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
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?
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 #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
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 #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
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
QM Quiz #6
1 Who - name and regnal number - recently ascended to the Spanish throne, replacing his father, Juan Carlos I?
11 In governmental parlance, ochlocracy is rule by whom?
12 Which 1988 film stars Eric Bogosian as Barry Champlain, a caustic Jewish radio personality who becomes the subject of a hate campaign? It was based on the story of Alan Berg, a radio host assassinated by members of a white nationalist group?
13 Which Argentine centre-back, at one point football's highest-scoring defender, was captain of his nation as they lifted the 1978 FIFA World Cup?
14 Which French physicist made major contributions to quantum theory, and won the 1929 Nobel Prize for Physics for "his discovery of the wave nature of electrons"?
15 His second major title, which golfer recently won the sport's 2014 US Open?
16 The Bay of Plenty, named by James Cook after the plentiful food supplies he found there, is a large indentation in which country's northern coastline?
17 The New York Times remarked in 1931 that "Miss Earhart did not promise to "obey" her husband". Which US publisher and promoter (1887-1950) is being referred to in this quotation?
18 Yama is the god of death in which religion?
19 "Stately, plump Buck Mulligan" is mentioned in the opening line of which 1922 novel?
20 Which world music record label was launched by former Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne, and has been responsible for unearthing and popularising several unknown talents?
Answers:
1 Felipe VI
2 Chile
3 "Fool's gold"
4 Lu Xun
5 Mikis Theodorakis
6 Madhya Pradesh
7 Bologna
8 Herat
9 26
10 Rent
11 The mob
12 Talk Radio
13 Daniel Passarella
14 Louis de Broglie
15 Martin Kaymer
16 New Zealand
17 George P. Putnam
18 Hinduism
19 Ulysses
20 Luaka Bop
2 Escondida - the world's largest copper-producing mine - can be found in which country?
3 The iron sulfide, pyrite, is commonly known by which two-word name, also the title of a song by The Stone Roses?
4 Which leading figure of modern Chinese literature wrote A Madman's Diary, regarded as one of the best books of all time?
5 Viewed as Greece's best-known living composer, who scored the films Zorba the Greek (1964), Z (1969), and Serpico (1973)?
6 Attracting international attention in the 1980s after a deadly industrial disaster, Bhopal is the capital of which Indian state?
7 Which Italian city is this? The seventh-largest city in the country, it is home to the world's oldest university, and was declared European Capital of Culture in 2000. It is served by Guglielmo Marconi Airport, perhaps its most famous son.
8 Situated in the valley of the Hari River, what is Afghanistan's third-largest city, with a population of over 430,000?
9 How many US states have their name displayed on the state flag?
10 Which Jonathan Larson rock musical, based on Puccini's opera La bohème, tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive in New York City's Lower East Side?11 In governmental parlance, ochlocracy is rule by whom?
12 Which 1988 film stars Eric Bogosian as Barry Champlain, a caustic Jewish radio personality who becomes the subject of a hate campaign? It was based on the story of Alan Berg, a radio host assassinated by members of a white nationalist group?
13 Which Argentine centre-back, at one point football's highest-scoring defender, was captain of his nation as they lifted the 1978 FIFA World Cup?
14 Which French physicist made major contributions to quantum theory, and won the 1929 Nobel Prize for Physics for "his discovery of the wave nature of electrons"?
15 His second major title, which golfer recently won the sport's 2014 US Open?
16 The Bay of Plenty, named by James Cook after the plentiful food supplies he found there, is a large indentation in which country's northern coastline?
17 The New York Times remarked in 1931 that "Miss Earhart did not promise to "obey" her husband". Which US publisher and promoter (1887-1950) is being referred to in this quotation?
18 Yama is the god of death in which religion?
19 "Stately, plump Buck Mulligan" is mentioned in the opening line of which 1922 novel?
20 Which world music record label was launched by former Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne, and has been responsible for unearthing and popularising several unknown talents?
Answers:
1 Felipe VI
2 Chile
3 "Fool's gold"
4 Lu Xun
5 Mikis Theodorakis
6 Madhya Pradesh
7 Bologna
8 Herat
9 26
10 Rent
11 The mob
12 Talk Radio
13 Daniel Passarella
14 Louis de Broglie
15 Martin Kaymer
16 New Zealand
17 George P. Putnam
18 Hinduism
19 Ulysses
20 Luaka Bop
QM Quiz #4
1 Which five-word phrase was first used by promoter Horace Lee Logan on December 15, 1956 near Shreveport, Louisiana?
2 The first woman to serve in the role, who is the current president of Chile?
3 "Mending Wall" was a 1914 metaphorical poem by which American?
4 Discovered in 1789 by William Herschel, Mimas - the twentieth-largest moon in the Solar System - is a satellite of which planet?
5 Which 1968 film was based on the novel Mute Witness by Robert L. Fish, writing under the pseudonym Robert L. Pike?
6 Which social networking website was founded in January 2005 by Michael and Xochi Birch?
7 Who is the current UK Secretary of State for Defence?
8 Coexist - released in 2012 - is the second album by which English indie band?
9 Meaning "writings", what name is given to the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), after Torah (instruction) and Nevi'im (prophets)?
10 How many current member states are there in the African Union?
11 The Storting is the parliament of which country?
12 What is the two-letter internet domain code for Niger?
13 World War II is generally said to have began on the first of which month in 1939, when Germany invaded Poland?
14 The American football team known as the Steelers is based in which city?
15 Which famous battle was fought on 7th October 1571 in the Gulf of Patras, a branch of the Ionian Sea?
16 Which supermarket was founded on the principle "pile it high, sell it cheap"?
17 Which chemical element has a name that comes from the Latin for "dark red"?
18 Serving from 1850-53, who was the last US president not to be affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties?
19 Give a year in the life of Henry IV of England.
20 Which Greek letter is used as a symbol for standard deviation?
Answers:
1 Elvis has left the building
2 Michelle Bachelet
3 Robert Frost
4 Saturn
5 Bullitt
6 Bebo
7 Philip Hammond
8 The xx
9 Ketuvim
10 54
11 Norway
12 .ne
13 September
14 Pittsburgh
15 Battle of Lepanto
16 Tesco
17 Rubidium
18 Millard Fillmore
19 1367-1413
20 Sigma
4 Discovered in 1789 by William Herschel, Mimas - the twentieth-largest moon in the Solar System - is a satellite of which planet?
5 Which 1968 film was based on the novel Mute Witness by Robert L. Fish, writing under the pseudonym Robert L. Pike?
6 Which social networking website was founded in January 2005 by Michael and Xochi Birch?
7 Who is the current UK Secretary of State for Defence?
8 Coexist - released in 2012 - is the second album by which English indie band?
9 Meaning "writings", what name is given to the third and final section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), after Torah (instruction) and Nevi'im (prophets)?
10 How many current member states are there in the African Union?
11 The Storting is the parliament of which country?
12 What is the two-letter internet domain code for Niger?
13 World War II is generally said to have began on the first of which month in 1939, when Germany invaded Poland?
14 The American football team known as the Steelers is based in which city?
15 Which famous battle was fought on 7th October 1571 in the Gulf of Patras, a branch of the Ionian Sea?
16 Which supermarket was founded on the principle "pile it high, sell it cheap"?
17 Which chemical element has a name that comes from the Latin for "dark red"?
18 Serving from 1850-53, who was the last US president not to be affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties?
19 Give a year in the life of Henry IV of England.
20 Which Greek letter is used as a symbol for standard deviation?
Answers:
1 Elvis has left the building
2 Michelle Bachelet
3 Robert Frost
4 Saturn
5 Bullitt
6 Bebo
7 Philip Hammond
8 The xx
9 Ketuvim
10 54
11 Norway
12 .ne
13 September
14 Pittsburgh
15 Battle of Lepanto
16 Tesco
17 Rubidium
18 Millard Fillmore
19 1367-1413
20 Sigma
QM Quiz #2
The second of these general quizzes. If anyone has ideas for other quizzes they'd like to see (I have some myself as well), please let me know in the comment box.
1
Which 1985 Martin Scorsese film
centres around Paul Hackett, a New York City word processor played by
Griffin Dunne, who experiences a series of misadventures as he tries
to make his way home from SoHo at night?
2
The order Siphonaptera
refers to which insects?
3
Stockholm syndrome refers to
the feelings of sympathy and affection from hostages to their
captors. The inverse of this, in which captors feel sympathy for
their hostages, takes its name from which other world capital?
4
Toncontín
International Airport, ranked as one of the most dangerous in the
world, serves which Central American capital?
5
Who
is notable for being the last UK prime minister to hold office while
being a member of the House of Lords?
6
Which
decade links the First Anglo-Sikh War, the births of future US
president William McKinley and writer Henry James, and the
publication of The
Communist Manifesto?
7
How
many nations participated in 1930's inaugural FIFA World Cup?
8
The
1911 painting, L'Atelier
Rouge,
named as an influential work of modern art, was a creation of which
French artist?
9
Who
co-wrote, with David Bowie, the song China
Girl?
10
In
which country is Issyk Kul, the second-largest saline lake after the
Caspian Sea, and the tenth-largest lake in the world by volume?
11
Which
US vice-president from 1933 to 1941, known as “Cactus Jack” to
his contemporaries, described the position as being “not worth a
bucket of warm piss”?
12
Shortland
Street,
broadcasting since 1992, is which country's longest-running soap
opera?
13
Known as the British Tin Pan
Alley, which London street is associated with British popular music,
and is the title of a 1970 Kinks song?
14
Coming from the Latin for
“little moon”, what name is given to the crescent-shaped white
area at the base of the fingernail?
15
What was the codeword for the
anti-Nazi uprising and planned attempt on Hitler's life by Claus von
Stauffenberg that also forms the name of a 2008 film on the same
topic starring Tom Cruise?
16
According to 2014's Fortune
Global 500 list, what is the world's largest public corporation?
17
Which colourful bird is the
only extant member of the family Upupidae?
18
The Sandinista National
Liberation Front is associated with – and headquartered in - which
country?
19
Which Italian received the 1909
Nobel Prize for Physics, alongside the German Karl Ferdinand Braun,
for “his contribution to the development of wireless telegraphy”?
20
In September 1973, Billie Jean
King beat which male tennis player over three sets in the so-called
Battle of the Sexes match, one of three held over a period of
nineteen years?
Answers:
1
After Hours
2 Fleas
3 Lima
4
Tegucigalpa
5 Alec
Douglas-Home
6 1840s
7 13
8 Henri
Matisse
9 Iggy
Pop
10
Kyrgyzstan
11
John Nance Garner
12 New
Zealand
13
Denmark Street
14 Lunula
15 Valkyrie
16
Walmart
17
Hoopoe
18
Nicaragua
19 Guglielmo
Marconi
20 Bobby
Riggs
QM Quiz #1
This is the first of a series of twenty-question quizzes I'll be writing for the blog. The questions will be fairly general, and hopefully there'll be a range of difficulty levels for people to have a go at. The answers will be a few lines below the last question.
1
Involved in his country's
struggle for independence from the Netherlands, Sukarno was the first
president of which Asian republic, from 1945-1967?
2
At the 2012 Summer Olympics,
which country won the most silver medals in the cycling events, with
four?
3
Perhaps known to Simpsons
fans,
what was Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' maiden name?
4
Starring
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, who directed the 1995 film
Heat?
5
The
Benjamin Franklin Bridge, connecting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with
Camden, New Jersey crosses which US river?
6
By what four-letter pseudonym was Hablot Knight Browne, an artist famous for his Dickens illustrations, better known?
7
Which
fruit-bearing evergreen shrub from Asia, closely resembling citrus,
is part of the family Rutaceae?
8
Subdivided
into 100 bani, what is the currency of Romania?
9
Deriving
from the Sanskrit for “having three forms”, how is the
representation in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation,
maintenance, and destruction are personified by Brahma, Vishnu, and
Shiva known?
10
With
which English county would you associate the author Jane Austen?
11
Which
Chilean received the 1971 Nobel Prize for Literature?
12
Which
Puccini opera was unfinished at the time of his death, and later
completed by Franco Alfano?
13
Angélique
Kidjo is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, and has been named
as “Africa's premier diva” by Time
magazine.
From which country does she hail?
14
Having
replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the role for allegations against
the former of sexual assault, Christine Lagarde is the current
managing director of which organisation?
15
Who
is, to date, the only US president from Pennsylvania, and the only
one to have gone his whole life unmarried?
16
Joining
for a fee of £2.5m, from which French club did Newcastle United sign
David Ginola in 1995?
17
Known
for the novels The
Red and the Black
(1830) and The
Charterhouse of Parma
(1839), what was the one-word pen name of Marie-Henri Beyle?
18
Labour
leader Ed Miliband is the current MP for which Yorkshire
constituency?
19
Leading
Germany from the ruins of World War Two into a prosperous nation,
which statesman was German chancellor from 1949-1963?
20
Who
is the subject of Clint Eastwood's 1988 film Bird?Answers:
1 Indonesia
2 Germany
3 Bouvier
4 Michael Mann
5 Delaware River
6 Phiz
7 Kumquat
8 Leu
9 Trimurti
10 Hampshire
11 Pablo Neruda
12 Turandot
13 Benin
14 International Monetary Fund
15 James Buchanan
16 Paris Saint-Germain
17 Stendhal
18 Doncaster North
19 Konrad Adenauer
20 Charlie Parker
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