Question-writing - and some new questions

If anyone ever needs any questions writing, whether it be for pub quizzes or quiz leagues or whatever, feel free to send me an email at jackbennett@gmx.com and I'll reply as soon as I can. Competitive rates.

Questions - mixed stuff

1 The NBA team Golden State Warriors are based in which Californian city?

2 Angel Falls, the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, drop over the edge of which flat-topped mountain in Venezuela's Canaima National Park?

3 The first film of the franchise in thirty years, what is the two-word subtitle of the 2015 Mad Max film, which stars Tom Hardy in the title role?

4 Which strait separates the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra?

5 Florence Owens Thompson was the subject of the 1936 photograph entitled Migrant Mother, an iconic image of the Great Depression. Who was the photographer?

6 The musical Annie Get Your Gun was composed by whom?

7 Phlebitis is the inflammation of which part of the body?

8 Wilanow Palace is located in which European capital city?

9 What is the name of Pope Francis's second encyclical that was officially published this week (18 June 2015) accompanied by a news conference?

10 Ruslan Zakharov competes for Russia in which winter sport?

Answers:

1 Oakland

2 Auyan-tepui

3 Fury Road

4 Sunda Strait

5 Dorothea Lange

6 Irving Berlin

7 Veins

8 Warsaw

9 Laudato si'

10 Speed skating

HEY. I'm still here.

Can't believe my last post on here was over a month ago. Seem to have been busy with all sorts of stuff: uni work (honest), filming UC (there'll be a long post coming on that once it's started airing, about the whole experience and how we've done), doing some quizzes. Unfortunately my quiz-writing rate - certainly for the blog and my own learning - has reduced to very little. So now I aim to write a lot more on here, with at least one new post a week.

Two quizzes today - they are as follows:

First quiz is on Nobel laureates:

1 The element with atomic number 109 is named after which Austrian physicist, the only woman other than Marie Curie to have had a chemical element named after her?

2 Which Russian-American poet and essayist received the 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature for, according to the official citation, "an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity"?

3 In how many different categories are the Nobel prizes awarded?

4 Norwegian Ragnar Frisch and Dutch Jan Tinbergen were the inaugural winners of which of the Nobel prizes?

5 Winning it in 1956 and 1972, who is the first and so far only person to have received the Nobel Prize for Physics twice? 

6 Which Austrian physicist, who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology, was considered one of the founders of ethology, and wrote books including King Solomon's Ring and Man Meets Dog?

7 Max Theiler was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for his development of a vaccine against which disease, subsequently becoming the first African-born Nobel laureate?

8 Swiss businessman Henry Dunant was joint-laureate of the first ever Nobel Peace Prize for his founding of the International Red Cross, which he was inspired to do after witnessing the fighting at which 1859 battle?

9 Bangladeshi entrepreneur Muhammad Yunus received the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his founding of which micro-finance organisation which specialises in giving small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral?

10 Which contemporary Chinese writer was set to win the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature but died before he could be awarded it?

Answers:

1 Lise Meitner

2 Joseph Brodsky

3 Six

4 Economic Sciences

5 John Bardeen

6 Konrad Lorenz

7 Yellow fever

8 Solferino

9 Grameen Bank

10 Shen Congwen

Second quiz is on European geography:

1 Which city of north-western Spain is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia?

2 Which of Europe's major rivers - the longest of Ukraine and Belarus - flows through Kiev and Dnipropetrovsk?

3 The islands of Ischia, Procida, Nisida, and Vivara - and sometimes Capri - all comprise which archipelago of southern Italy?

4 Kopavogur, with a population of around 32,000, is the second-largest settlement in which European country?

5 Forming part of the boundary between Europe and Asia, the Bosphorus is the world's narrowest strait used for international navigation. It connects the Black Sea with which inland sea, known in classical antiquity as the Propontis?

6 Which Greek island, lying in the shadow of its much larger neighbour, Crete, is the country's most southerly, and also marks the southernmost point of Europe?

7 The flag of which partially recognised European state consists of three horizontal bands of white, red, and yellow?

8 The Tatra mountains form a natural border between Slovakia and which other European country?

9 Which is the only European country to be doubly landlocked (that is, not only is it landlocked, but it is also surrounded by landlocked countries)?

10 The Swabian Sea is another name for which lake at the northern foot of the Alps?

Answers:

1 Santiago de Compostela

2 Dnieper

3 Phlegraean islands

4 Iceland

5 Sea of Marmara

6 Gavdos

7 South Ossetia

8 Poland

9 Liechtenstein

10 Lake Constance 

Duston GP (and other stuff)

I attended my first Grand Prix quiz event of 2015 on Saturday, held in Duston in Northamptonshire. It's possibly the best-attended GP event of the calendar, and indeed 103 souls made the trip there to take on the individual 240-question paper and other quizzes. One of those souls, you've probably already guessed, was me.

Pleased to say that I scored 61.4 on what was a very testing individual paper, in which the average score was only 69 (it's usually somewhere in the 80s), which managed to place me 67th. I also came joint-21st in the Civilisation genre (comprising human geography, world cities, travel and transport, politics and all that sort of stuff). The more eagle-eyed of you (or the ones with the most retentive memories) will recall that finishing in the top 30 of a genre before the end of the year was one of my 2015 quizzing resolutions, so I'm glad to have achieved it on Saturday. Hopefully I can get a few more before the end of the year but it'll all depend on various factors, including how hard I'm willing to work.

I did OK on the first three genres of the paper (Art & Culture, Civilisation, and Entertainment) and then mostly crashed and burned on the final three (Lifestyle, Physical World, Sport & Leisure). Still, I'm heartened by how I did and hopefully with a bit more work on those weaker genres I can pull my score up into the 70s, which is where I'd like it to be by the end of the year if possible.

In other news, I'm in the middle of filming University Challenge with the University of Liverpool team. Obviously I can't say too much other than it's an experience and we're just going to give it as good a go as we can. All will be revealed by July anyway.

Quizzers Delight

I've not posted on here for a month - I need to get my priorities right. OK, on request of a mate of mine at uni, I've written a quiz on all things rap and hip hop. It's not a genre of music (or two genres) I've listened to much, but it's as valid a topic for quizzes as any other so here's the quiz.

And that post title is a pun - but not a very good or original one, admittedly - on the Sugarhill Gang song title.

Mixture of stuff, international outlook, etc.

1 Birth name Kevin Donovan, which US DJ from the Bronx influenced the development of hip hop in the 1980s, leading to his nicknames such as "The Godfather" and "Amen Ra of Hip Hop Kulture"?

2 Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins is credited with coining the term hip hop in 1978 while teasing a friend who had recently joined the US Army by scat-singing the words "hip/hop/hip/hop" in a way that mimicked the rhythm of marching soldiers. Which influential hip hop group was Wiggins a member of?

3 The 1981 single "Rapture" is said to be the first major single containing hip-hop elements by a white artist to reach number-one in the USA. Which band, also famous for tracks such as "Sunday Girl" and "Heart of Glass", released the song?

4 "NY State of Mind", "One Love", and "It Ain't Hard to Tell" are all tracks off which 1994 rap album, regarded as a landmark record in the genre?

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

6 Which city south of downtown Los Angeles features in the title of NWA's debut 1988 album?

7 The word hyphy (pronounced HY-fee) refers to the hip hop-style music surrounding which major US city?

8 Which US rapper - a pioneer female of hip hop - had a mid-1990s feud with fellow female rapper Foxy Brown?

9 Which 2002 hip hop biopic film starred Eminem as Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr, a young, white rapper living in inner-city Detroit?

10 AllMusic's John Bush called him "the best rapper / producer in history"; the US rapper Q-Tip found fame as a member of which hip hop group?

11 Which rapper collaborated with Chase & Status on the 2009 UK top-ten single "End Credits"?

12 The rapper with the stage name Sarkodie, who won Best International Act: Africa in the 2012 BET Awards, is regarded as which African country's greatest hip-hop artist?

13 Which US rapper is best-known for his 1994 debut album, The Sun Rises in the East?

14 The rapper Tupac Shakur died after being shot multiple times in a drive-by in Las Vegas - which year?

15 Arguably the rapper Ice Cube's most famous song, which track - the second single from his third solo album, Predator - contains lyrics such as "Lakers beat the Supersonics" and "even saw the lights of the Goodyear blimp"?

Answers:

1 Afrika Bambaataa

2 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

3 Blondie

4 Illmatic

5 Ol' Dirty Bastard

6 Compton

7 San Francisco

8 Queen Latifah

9 8 Mile

10 A Tribe Called Quest

11 Plan B

12 Ghana

13 Jeru the Damaja

14 1996

15 "It Was a Good Day"

A post that has come from nowhere...

Well, my last blog post seems to have been almost a month ago, so it's about time - now I've finished my first semester at uni and have returned home for Christmas - I rambled some more and wrote some questions for people to have a go at (or not, depending on their inclination).

On the University Challenge front, we haven't had a full-on practice session yet despite promises that one would be arranged. At this rate, we'll be rusty if we ever do get on the show. Hopefully January will yield some opportunities for practice, ahead of the supposed interviews with the production team.

Anyway, ten questions based on art (seeing that I made a trip to the Walker Art Gallery while in Liverpool and actually found it quite interesting) - hope you enjoy (and do make suggestions for topics you'd like to see particular questions on, if you like):

1 Which English painter, one of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood founders, created works such as The Hireling Shepherd (1851) and The Awakening Conscience (1853)?
2 The Dada art movement was founded in 1916 in which city?
3 The Embarkation for... Complete the name of this Jean-Antoine Watteau painting with the name of the Greek island which features in its title?
4 In the 1620s, Diego Velazquez served as the principal court painter to which king of Spain?
5 On display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, whose most famous painting was the 1851 work, Washington Crossing the Delaware?
6 Which term describes a work in Christian art which shows the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most commonly in sculpture?
7 Green Stripe, painted in 1905, is a depiction by which French artist of his wife, Amelie?
8 With which primary colour was the artist Yves Klein most associated?
9 Which Italian Renaissance painter had the birth surname Filipepi?
10 How many human figures can be seen in Edward Hopper's acclaimed 1942 painting, Nighthawks?




Answers:
1 William Holman Hunt
2 Zurich
3 Cythera / Kythira
4 Philip IV
5 Emanuel Leutze
6 Pieta
7 Henri Matisse
8 Blue
9 Sandro Botticelli
10 Four

Upcoming quiz miscellany

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

Briefly...

I'm playing in a Merseyside Quiz League cup match tonight - stepped in for someone who's missing, so travelling to Southport in a couple of hours. Fingers crossed I give a good showing. Certainly wouldn't want to make a tit of myself. You never know, I might even be able to play more regularly if there's space for an extra team member. Anyway...

A few quick questions for today, all taken from my ever-expanding spreadsheet of things I'm trying to learn and remember (with varying amounts of success on most occasions). Answers a few lines below, as always.

1 Which potentially active stratovolcano is the highest peak in Iran and the Middle East?

2 Who is the current UK MP for Welwyn Hatfield?

3 Which king granted the Royal Society its charter?

4 What is the county town of Buckinghamshire?

5 Who received a Best Director Oscar nomination for Crossfire (1947)?

Answers:

1 Mount Damavand

2 Grant Shapps

3 Charles II

4 Aylesbury

5 Edward Dmytryk

First update from a far-flung land...

Not really, I'm only in Liverpool. But it seems far-flung when it's your first time of living away from home properly. I'll settle in.

Anyway, today's questions:

1 Derived from an Arabic word meaning "horseman", what name in medieval Iberia was given to a high-ranking official in the household of a king?
2 Which country occupies the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola?
3 Supposedly invented by Hero of Alexandria, the aeolipile was the first known device of what type?
4 Used in the selection process for the UK's special forces personnel, what is the highest peak in South Wales?
5 Located on the route of the Pan-American Highway, what is El Salvador's second-largest city?
6 The Scot Lonnie Donegan was the best-known exponent of which type of popular music, originating in 1950s USA?
7 What is the name of Sydney's natural harbour, considered to be one of the world's finest?
8 The infamous nineteenth-century murderers Burke and Hare both had which forename?
9 Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners, and Detroit Tigers are all professional teams in which sport?
10 Best-known for her 1812 affair with Lord Byron, Lady Caroline Lamb was the wife of which British prime minister?
11 Crna Gora is the local name for which small European country?
12 From Greek words for "virgin" and "birth", which biological term refers to the development of an individual from an egg without fertilisation by a male gamete?
13 Now beneath Mexico City, what was the island capital of Lake Texcoco?
14 The Mentha pulegium species of flowering plant is known by which numismatic-sounding name?
15 Alessandro Filipepi was the original name of which Italian painter (1445-1510)?
16 In 1913, who became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature?
17 In 1987, Teddy Seymour became the first black man in history to do what?
18 The Gulf of Venezuela separates its namesake country from which other South American nation, home to the Guajira Peninsula?
19 Frequently listed on unusual place name lists, the town of Snowflake lies in which US state, ironic in that the state itself is one of the warmest?
20 NASA's MAVEN probe is intended to study which planet's atmosphere?
21 Tux, the mascot for the operating system Linux, is what kind of animal?
22 American attorney Bruce Buck is the current chairman of which London football club?
23 Ranked by historians as one of the worst to have ever occupied the role, who was the only US president to have originated from Pennsylvania?
24 Washington Crossing the Delaware was an 1851 oil-on-canvas painting by whom?
25 Although French-born, Jessica Fox competed for Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in which sport?




Answers:
1 Alferez
2 Haiti
3 Steam turbine
4 Pen y Fan
5 Santa Ana
6 Skiffle
7 Port Jackson
8 William
9 Baseball
10 William Lamb / Lord Melbourne
11 Montenegro
12 Parthenogenesis
13 Tenochtitlan
14 Pennyroyal
15 Sandro Botticelli
16 Rabindranath Tagore
17 Sail around the world
18 Colombia
19 Arizona
20 Mars
21 Penguin
22 Chelsea
23 James Buchanan
24 Emanuel Leutze
25 Canoeing

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 

Well...

I got into Liverpool University to do Law. I'm obviously really pleased. Was shitting myself waiting to check results, though. I'm not going away for another month, and I'll still update the blog as regularly as I can with new stuff while I'm there.

Meanwhile, some questions...

1 Which country held its first direct national presidential election last week? 

2 Who is the current chairman of Aston Villa FC?

3 First awarded in 1903, what is the most prestigious French literary prize?

4 Veisalgia is the medical term for what?

5 The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the venue for which country's F1 Grand Prix, due to be held there next week?

More questions will follow, of course.

Answers:

1 Turkey

2 Randy Lerner

3 Prix Goncourt

4 Hangover

5 Belgium