Quiz Night : Who sailed the Gypsy Moth?

As we won the Spitfaire Quiz last week, I had to come up with the questions for the quiz this week. Here they are for your entertainment. If you don't come from around these parts you can miss out the third round. I will try and post the answers as a "comment" to this post tomorrow.

ROUND 1 (1) Who sailed yachts called Gypsy Moth?   (2) What is the maximum number of Friday the 13ths possible in one calendar year, including leap years? (3) Which African city is named from the Greek meaning "three towns"? (4) Hirudo medicinalis is the most common what used by doctors? (5) Latvia has borders with four other countries, name them  (6) Who is the only footballer to have played for Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool & Everton? (7) The best film Oscars of 1990 and 1991 were given to films that contain animals in their title, name them (8) In Greek mythology, which nymph pined away until only her voice remained? (9) What is the name of the flag bearing the arms of the British Sovereign, flown only when he or she is present? : BONUS – on what occasions is it flown at half mast? (10) Which now-deceased Hollywood actor served time on chain gang in Georgia after being arrested for vagrancy? 

ROUND 2 (11) What actor, who starred in 130 Robin Hood adventures on TV, died in June 1982? (12) Who said: "When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad I'm better"? (13) In which city would you find Logan International Airport?  (14) Who wrote "The Old Man and the Sea"?  (15) Who were Benny the Ball, Spook, The Brain, Fancy Fancy, and Choo Choo? (16) Which is the largest land-locked country in the world? (17) Which two countries have been contesting the world’s oldest international cricket match since 1844? (18) Which famous vessel constructed of balsa wood was named after an Inca sun god? (19) Who claimed that “History is bunk”? (20)  What word can go after “kid” and before “kin”?              

ROUND 3 (21)  Which is furthest north, Halifax Yorkshire or Halifax Nova Scotia? (22) What is the name of the canal which passes through Brighouse? BONUS : Within 20 years either way, when was it built? (23) Which famous mill owner who created a village that is now a World Heritage site lived at Crow Nest Mansion near Hipperholme? (24) One of Yorkshire’s most famous writers was James Herriot who wrote the vet books. What was his real name and in which town did he live? (25) Yorkshire used to have a West Riding, North Riding and East Riding. What does “Riding” mean? (26) What was the name of the Brighouse cinema, built in 1899, which was where the Calder Bar now is? (27)  Who is reputed to be buried in the grounds of Kirklees Hall? (28) According to the sixteenth century Beggar’s Litany from where other than Hell and Halifax was the Good Lord asked to deliver us? BONUS : Why? (29) The oldest building in Elland is the Parish Church. The second oldest is a pub – name it. (30) In terms of population size which is the biggest  : Calderdale, Bradford or Kirklees?   

ROUND 4 (31) If you were sailing through the Panama Canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic in which direction would you be travelling? (32) Which national holiday was first celebrated in England in 1974 with the introduction of a Bank Holiday? (33) What was Fletcher’s first name in Porridge?  (34) What is the capital of Venezuela?    (35) In which fictional county is the fictional village of Ambridge?   (36) What was signed and sealed at Runnymeade?   (37) What is the diameter in inches of a basketball hoop? (1 inch either way)  (38) What are the two main ingredients of kedgeree?(39) In the song which river is “wider than a mile”?    (40) What was the name of the sequel to the book “Winnie The Pooh”?       

ROUND 5 (41) Born in Salford, the actress Jane Leeves first appeared on television as a topless angel in an episode of Monty Python. She went on to be nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe awards for her portrayal of which character? (42) With their victory on Wednesday, Barcelona have now won the European Cup three times. But which team has won most European Cup Finals? (43) What colour is Noddy’s hat? (44) What type of rectangle has four equal sides and angles? (45) What title is given to the Chief Executive of the BBC? (46) How many finger holes are there in a tenpin bowling ball? (47) Which fruit has a variety called Ellison’s orange? (48) What type of newspaper is named after a form of condensed pill? (49) What was the name of the computer in the film 2001 A Space Odyssey? (50) Which were the original six countries which established the European Union in 1958? (Point for each) 

Tie Breaker: In which year was the first section of the London Underground Railway opened? 

JACKPOT QUESTIONS

A   Which bandleader married both Lana Turner and Ava Gardner?

B   In which country is the royal family the House of Bernadotte?

C   Who founded Standard Oil in 1870? 

A Little Something For The Weekend

I know that many of my followers enjoy a good quiz (alright, my two followers but when you have as few friends as I do you need a bit of spin). Last night it was my turn to do the questions at the Friday Night New Spitfire Quiz. So for those unfortunate enough to miss the occasion, here are the questions. I will add the answers after the weekend.

ROUND ONE   

1  Edward White was the first American to walk where? 

2  Which car manufacturer introduced models called the Ventura, the Victor and the Viscount?    

3  What type of beer is served in Coronation Street’s Rovers Return pub?     

4  General Pinochet was a former ruler of which country?     

5  Which football team did Jock Stein lead to European Cup success?     

6  What is the name of the fruit which until the 1950s was known as the Chinese Gooseberry?    

7  What type of animal can be a Texel or a Romney Marsh?     

8  On what island were the Bee Gees born?     

9  James is the first name of which Beatle?    

10 What is examined using an otoscope?    

ROUND TWO   

11  In which American State is Death Valley located?     

12  Where did someone “leave a cake out in the rain”?      

13  What word can be used to describe a type of sword frequently used in modern fencing competitions and a extremely thin sheet of metal often found in the kitchen?     

14  Who won the best actor Oscar at the 2009 Academy Awards earlier this week     

15  What do the initials IMF stand for? (3 points available)   

16  Which group had consecutive No 1 hits with Keep On Running and Somebody Help Me?   

17  Which building in France has a famous Hall of Mirrors?      

18  Thailand was formerly known by what name?    

19  What is the second letter of the Greek alphabet?      

20  Blanket, back and buttonhole are all types of what? 

ROUND 3 The answers to the following ten questions are all capital cities. In each case you will get a point for the name of the city and another point for the country it is capital of. For example, the answers to the question “Author of The Call of the Wild” would be London and Great Britain   

21  Means “Good Air” in Spanish? 

22  1981 hit record by the group Ultravox?  

23  Name of the 1957 Treaty establishing the European Community?  

24  Name of a form of wild cabbage which is cultivated for its small, leafy, green buds? 

25  Name of Greek hero whose elopement with Helen led to the Trojan War?  

26  American television detective played by Peter Falk? 

27  Patron saint of Portugal, Bulgaria, Greece … and England?  

28  Victorious General at the Battle of Waterloo? 

29  Hymn based on a poem by William Blake? 

30  Composer of White Christmas? 

ROUND FOUR   

31  Where in England according to the author Bram Stoker, did Dracula first set ashore?  

32  On what object will you see the inscription "standing on the shoulders of giants"?  

33  To the nearest £50 million, how much did the new Wembley cost? 

34  How many books in the Bible refer to eve biting the apple?  

35  In what year was the United Nations Charter signed in San Francisco? 

36  Who rode Nijinsky to win the Derby in 1970? 

37  What is the world’s most sparsely populated country?  

38  Which is larger, a croquet lawn or a tennis court?   

39  In Greek mythology what did Prometheus steal from Olympus?  

40  Three groups of two US Presidents have shared the same surname, name each?  

 

ROUND FIVE   

41  Clive Rice played cricket for which country?  

42  Who wrote the novel “A Clockwork Orange”?  

43  What word can go after “salad” and before “gown”?  

44  In which city does Batman operate?  

45  Which canal links the Mediterranean and the Red Sea?  

46  Which former “Are You Being Served” star died this week?   (Point for real name, point for character)   

47  In ten-pin bowling how many pins are there on the back row? 

48  Who is Colin Dexter’s most famous creation? 

49  In “The Magic Roundabout” what type of animal was Dylan? 

50  Chelsea have had four managers in the last two years, name them?  

Major Questions Of The Day

I have spent much of the day putting together the questions for this evening's Rock Tavern Pub Quiz. One is always tempted to just take the first fifty questions out of the nearest Pub Quiz book, but this can be a dangerous strategy as so many published questions are simply wrong. Thus, to avoid the embarrassing situation where you find yourself trying to defend the wrong answer to a misleading question (hey Gordon, I know how you feel, pal), I always try to double-check each question and answer myself.

All this can be a fairly lengthy and boring task, so to pass the time I have been watching the BBC News Channel as it charts the fall of capitalism. The surprising thing, of course, is not that the international banking system is in meltdown, but that the plague of self-denial that has been such a contributory factor, still persists. The General Manager of what used to be HBOS (which, in turn, used to be the Halifax Building Society) was interviewed on local television last night about the potential consequences for Halifax of the takeover by Lloyds-TSB. He refused to say anything about the employment consequences of the takeover which, in itself, is perhaps understandable. But he went on to deny that the rescue emerged out of a period of panic and desperation and claimed that the business model that HBOS and the other banks had been working to was a sound and secure one. In response to such obtuseness, I decide to add an extra round to tonight's quiz. It will be entitled "Major Questions of the Day" and for those who want to play along at home, here are the questions. Qu 51 : What are the consequences of recklessly extending cheap, unsecured credit to people who clearly cannot afford to repay their debts? (A) Larger year-end bonuses for senior bank officials; (B) Increased sales of very expensive cars; (C) The eventual collapse of the banking system as we know it? (Note : more than one answer will be correct) Qu 52 : A fall of 80% in your share price indicates that: (A) You have been doing something wrong; (B) Your shareholders have been doing something wrong; (C) Nothing is wrong? Qu 53 : Which planet are most major bankers living on?