It is Done
The President's Cup season has finished. We have finished a glorious last-th place. Hurrah! We managed to lose our last match 42-38 to a Beds & Herts team that looked remarkably like Chester Army. Actually, they were all CA. Half of Beds & Herts had gone to watch the bowls at the Commonwealth Games.
So they had John Grant, the most modest quizzer in the QLL, Fred, who comes up with (what looks like) countless guesses that turn out correct every time, self-deprecating Larry, and Jeremy, who always comes up with two-pointers that make me hiss a frustrated "dagnabbit".
Here's my nine-point match analysis:
1. Larry got his two-pointers and scored 11. That hurt us bad.
2. John got the same and for some vital bonuses came up with the "Grant savant" answers he always conjures up in that frightened but utterly lethal (to us) voice. (I remember the first Brain of London I did. It was the semi-finals with me, John, Brian Wright and Kevin "The Destructor" Ashman. John was rock solid and I slipped up on some bloody wine valley q's and basically lost it when I couldn't remember the river that flowed through Munich. John carried around a plastic bag and looked about as dangerous as a blind Care Bear. Even so, out I went and through to the final went he.
3. And Fred swept up seven bonuses.
4. I didn't have my hoodoo-breaking BH partners.
5. Pity the Seinfeld pair came up in Nic's friendly.
6. One cast iron law of the quiz-league format (let's call it "quilg" from now on), is that when a question is asked about a certain virtuoso playing which instrument and it is a violin, the other half of the pair will be piano. Never a tuba, cello or guitar. The simplest like for like. And thus, the quiz gods decreed there be a violin question, and lo, Larry guessed piano correctly when it came to B&H's turn, and much weeping and wailing came to pass on the Alumni's side of the table.
7. Same thing goes for Boyle's and Charles's law, although that was in the friendly and I ignored my urge to say Charles, when I knew it couldn't possibly be a foreigner.
8. I was shocked and disappointed by the performance of our player number two. Zero! Zilch! Diddly squat! They might as well have not turned up. Oh, wait a sec. They didn't. We had a good ol' tub of lard there. "Tub of lard" being a Have I Got I News For You coinage that has become one of the most-used words in the quilg lexicon.
9. The 2-pointer count went 14 to B&H and 12 to us. A difference of four points. Which is what we lost by. O! The cruel hand of mathematical logic.
But let's have a look at the questions, written by one "Teflon". Could this be one Mark Kerr?
My general impression was a good mixed bag, the kind of catholic set that will never send me into a heinous, retributory mood. Thank our lucky Aldebarans that no one knew anything about North Sea oilfields. I only wished we had Kathryn for some of the "what kind of item is this" questions. Like what was a cowry? I've already forgotten it. But wasn't Tennyson the longest serving Poet Laureate?
Coming to the ship-bits question about the orlop, it provokes certain thoughts in me. Such as: am I looking in the correct places for requisite knowledge? Never have I looked intently at diagrams explaining parts of a ship or aeroplane. I was also annoyed by my forgetting that St Benedict is the patron saint of Europe. Unfortunately as I was riffling rapidly through the "patron saint" section of my mental archive, I forgot the "6th century monk" part was ever said. I hear only what I want to hear, it seems. Such a prejudice-riven policy will only yield calamity.
What was more surprising unfolded during the latter stages of the game. I seemed to hear familiar combinations of words in questions, and even more familiar answers which rang bells in my head like the clackers: Madison! Merkel! Margarita! Zanzibar! (The M-symmetry would have been nice).
Yes, they came up in the European Championship Individuals. I had noticed how Nic and me were so quick with our signalling fists that it looked like we were doing a co-ordinated demonstration of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. And the question asking for the wife of Professor Joachim Sauer elicited the same blank looks in B&H that I had seen reflected in the face of competitors in Tallinn. I'm tempted to say that Mark would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for us pesky kids.
But it was only 4/64 questions. And give credit where it's due: they were edited and adapted. There were no 300-word mini-biographies with accompanying music. Neither can you copyright facts (that has always been my own defence) and those who live for the making of ironic comments will certainly enjoy the contents of certain newspaper quiz today (see number five).
Truth be told I'm not even sure about the set I submitted. I am sure Merseysiders are shaking their heads in dismay at my errors and insidious crimes against the ancient and noble art of quiz-setting. In that case, let me invoke the words of Sir Bryan of Adams: "Please forgive me for I know not what I do."
(NB. John asked Nic: "Do you like pornography? straight out in front of all of us. Course he was talking about The Cure album, but still, it made me chuckle.)
Looking Back
At the end of a season, or indeed anything that ends and demands a new beginning, I am wont to quote: "What I need I will get. What I hate I will forget". It's from a song from Season to Leave by The Guthries. Only thing is that's a very good idea when it comes to bad memories and failure, but it doesn't help with quizzing matters. I have to learn what I hate. I have to get what I hate because it is what I need. Do ya get me? But it is always a time of reflection, evinced by the strange farewell conversations you have with teammates you are used to seeing every week or fortnight - "See you in, er, three months? June!?!!" And in relfective mood, I am tempted to say, just like General McArthur. that "Yes, I will return!" I've had a fun President's Cup season and it's a pleasant, testing and civilised way to spend Sunday afternoons, that would otherwise be spent watching absolute dross on the TV, whilst nursing a hangover on the sofa. And at least we won two matches, even if that was true at the halfway stage. Who can forget the wonder of two UC-Alumni beating a full Oxford team by seven points? (Why, then my contrary homunculus speaks to me, did you lose by fourteen points to them with a full teams? Hey, I shrug, for that is the magic of quiz). Despite the colourful exchanges that are conducted in some guttural lingua franca between cook and the barman, I also think I will keep The Castle as our venue and bring some WD-40 for the door hinge which always succeeds in making a uniquely squeaky sonic tear.
One good thing from yesterday. I took out £11 from the Trivia for Dummies quiz machine on O'Neill's on Euston Road. It is a quizmac that you win with a combination of broad general knowledge, decent powers of deduction and a key eye for observation (whether you win money or not is determined in a book-cover spot the difference round. Granted, I put £6 in and spent £2.45 on a glass of orange juice, but there is a clear profit there.
Friendly time
As ever, when I bring out a friendly that I have written with certain opposition, the Chester Army feel a compulsion to flee and Larry recites stats along the lines of: "On your questions, I think I have got one out of sixteen right". But it turned out fine, even if my pairs went double on one side due to absent-minded reading. I softened the difficulty I am wont to instill quiz-league format friendlies with, by adopting a policy of setting stuff that is only confusing to myself and perfectly straightforward to everyone else (rugby league home grounds, birds, Roman bleedin' roads). I have always tried to project my voice more and making my accent sillier. However, whenever I say the word "city" it comes out as "shitty". Why's that then? I also skip conjunctions and definite articles. Perhaps my questions are too long. Come to think of it all my questions are too long, even if they are so because I am scared of ambiguity - one of the most maddening qualities that can affect question-setting. It seems I am a Gradgrind setter.
It scored about 41-36, and I was particularly pleased with the trap I set and into which Nic fell into with the answer "Mastermind" on question 4a. Mwah-ha-ha-HA-HA! (Unanswered questions are asterisked)
President's Cup Friendly 19/03/06
Round 1
1a Which Roman road linked Exeter to Lincoln via Bath, Cirencester and Leicester?
FOSSE WAY
1b Where are the next Commonwealth Games due to be held in 2010?
NEW DELHI
2a Which king of England was born in 1207 at Winchester Castle, the son of King John and Isabelle of Angouleme?
HENRY III
2b Now sometimes called the Old North Road, which Anglo-Saxon road ran from London to York?
ERMINE STREET
3a Where in Canada were the newly renamed Commonwealth Games held in 1978?
EDMONTON
3b Which Scottish city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 1991 and is known as the "city of Discovery" in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ship being built there?
DUNDEE
4a Which Scottish city was granted city status in 2002 and is home of the Church of the Holy Rude, the only church in the UK to have held a coronation apart from Westminster Abbey?
STIRLING
4b The son of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders, which king of England was born sometime between May 1068 and May 1069, probably in Selby, Yorkshire?
HENRY I
Round 2
1a Which Irish horse took the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival this week?
WAR OF ATTRITION
1b War of Attrition is owned by Michael O'Leary, more famous as the chief executive of which company that was founded in 1985?
RYANAIR
2a Which European country is home to airports with the codes PRG, OSR and KLV?
CZECH REPUBLIC
2b Who was the original host of the Blankety Blank, staying in the role until 1983?
TERRY WOGAN
3a Which rugby league Super League side plays at The Willows?
SALFORD CITY REDS
3b Which rugby league Super League side plays at Odsal Stadium?
BRADFORD BULLS
4a Who was the host of The Price is Right between from 1984 until 1988?
LESLIE CROWTHER
4b Which European country is home to airports with the codes GOT, ARN and MMX?
SWEDEN
Round 3
1a Which Duke's estate is Badminton House in Gloucestershire?
BEAUFORT
1b Which landlocked country is bordered by Rwanda on the north, Tanzania on the south and east, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west?
BURUNDI
2a Which English batsman finished his Test career with a total of 7624 runs at an average of 44.06?*
COLIN COWDREY
2b Chatsworth House in Derbyshire is the seat of which Dukedom?
DEVONSHIRE
3a Which landlocked country is borderd by Tanzania to the north, Zambia on the north-west and Mozambique on the east, south and west?*
MALAWI
3b Structural, Geotechnical, Hydraulic and Environmental are subdisciplines of which broad field of engineering?
CIVIL
4a Drafting, Structural failure and Thermodynamics are subdisciplines of which very broad field of engineering?
MECHANICAL
4b Which England cricketer finished his Test career with a total of 7249 runs at 58.45 runs?*
WALLY HAMMOND
Round 4
1a In the parlance of relevant Native Americans, which 1876 battle has been called the Battle of Greasy Grass?
LITTLE BIGHORN
1b For which team did Kevin Keegan make 120 appearances before he was transferred to Liverpool in 1971?
SCUNTHORPE UNITED
2a Ian St John played for which hometown club before being transferred to Liverpool in 1961?
MOTHERWELL
2b What links Andrew Francis in 1989, Glen Binnie in 1993 and Ian Potts in 1995?
FIFTEEN-TO-ONE SERIES GRAND FINAL WINNERS
3a Knighted in 1902, which Scottish chemist won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1904 for the discovery of inert gaseous elements in the air and his determination of their place in the periodic table?
WILLIAM RAMSAY
3b Appointed to the Order of Merit in 1965, which British chemist won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1964 for her determinations by x-ray crystallography techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances?
DOROTHY CROWFOOT HODGKIN
4a What links Roger Pritchard in 1974, Sue Marshall in 1983 and Geoffrey Cotton in 1993?
BRAIN OF BRITAIN CHAMPIONS
4b Taking place in Dakota Territory in 1890, which decisive armed conflct between the Lakota Sioux and the United States was later described as a "massacre" by General Miles in a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs?
WOUNDED KNEE
Round 5
1a The American comedians and brothers Harry, Samuel and Larry Howard became famous with what collective name?
THE THREE STOOGES
1b Which book of the Old Testament traditionally comes between Leviticus and Deuteronomy?
NUMBERS
2a Formed in 1971, which British art rock group spent a total of four weeks at the top of the UK album charts with Flesh and Blood in 1980?
ROXY MUSIC
2b Which comedic group made their first appearance in the 1912 film Hoffmeyer's Legacy?
KEYSTONE COPS
3a Formed in 1967, which British rock group spent two weeks at the top of the the UK album charts with Abacab in 1981?
GENESIS
3b Which book of the Old Testament traditionally comes between The Book of Psalms and Ecclesiastes?
PROVERBS
4a Star of the films The Bone Collector and Gone in Sixty Seconds, which American actress was voted the woman most lesbians would like to go to bed with in poll taken by the gay magazine Diva?
ANGELINA JOLIE
4b Star of the films Sphere and The Specialist, which 48-year-old American actress came fourth in the Diva magazine poll?
SHARON STONE
Round 6
1a Types of which bird are described as Mistle, Dusky and the Tickell's?
THRUSH
1b Born Charles Wentworth Watson, which Prime Minister acknowledged the independence of the United States during his brief second term in 1782?
MARQUESS OF ROCKINGHAM
2a Born William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, which Prime Minister began his second term in 1807, but left office two years later due to age and infirmity and was succeeded by Spencer Perceval?
DUKE OF PORTLAND
2b Which British woman won the long jump at the 1964 Olympics?
MARY RAND
3a Also called the hypophysis, which gland of the human body is about the size of a pea and sits in a small bony cavity called the sella turcica at the base of the brain?
PITUITARY
3b Types of which bird are described as Tree, Fanti Rough-winged and Mosque?*
SWALLOW
4a Which British woman won the 800m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics?
ANN PACKER
4b Which ductless gland is located in the upper anterior portion of the chest cavity and is a crucial part of the immune system since its lobules are where lymphocytes turn into T cells?
THYMUS
Round 7
1a Founded by Axel Springer in 1852 and modelled after the Daily Mirror, which German newspaper is the biggest-selling newspaper in Europe with a circulation of almost four million?
BILD-ZEITUNG
1b Which Scottish novelist wrote the plays What Every Woman Knows, Ibsen's Ghost and The Boy David, the last of which he believed to be his finest work?
JM BARRIE
2a The brainchild of video games pioneer Gunpei Yokoi, which handheld console was released in 1989?
GAMEBOY
2b The flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer AG company, which German paper was founded in 1946 in Hamburg by British occupying forces and has an stance that it describes as "liberal cosmopolitan"?*
DIE WELT
3a Which Scotsman wrote biographies of Sir Walter Scott, Caesar Augustus and Oliver Cromwell, as well as adventure novels like Prester John and Mr Standfast?
JOHN BUCHAN
3b Composed in 1786, Mozart's Symphony No. 38 has what city or town nickname?
PRAGUE
4a Composed in 1783, Mozart's Symphony No.36 has what city or town nickname?
LINZ
4b Ken Kutaragi has been called the "father" of which console, first released in Japan in December 1994?
(Sony) PLAYSTATION
Round 8
1a British army infantry regiments was divided into six divisions for administrative purposes in 1994. To which division do the Grenadier Guards and Coldstream Guards belong?
HOUSEHOLD
1b Into which division were the Green Howards and Duke of Wellingtons put?
KING'S
2a Made with milk or cream, which cold jelly dessert originated in the Arabic world and when it reached medieval Europe had a basic recipe that then featured the boiling of shredded capon flesh, almond milk and rosewater?*
BLANCMANGE
2b Baroness Amos became the last cabinet minister to be drawn from the House of Lords when she became the Secretary of State for what in 2003?
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
3a Which English actor and comedian, who died in 2002, married and divorced Suzy Kendall, Tuesday Weld, Brogan Lane and Nicole Rothschild?
DUDLEY MOORE
3b Made with egg whites and caster sugar, which dessert is traditionally believed to have been invented by an Italian chef called Gasparini in the Swiss town from which it is derived?
MERINGUE
4a Lord Young was the last peer to be drawn from the House of Lords to be put in charge of a major department when he became Secretary of State for what in 1985, although the post has since ceased to exist?*
EMPLOYMENT
4b Which English actor, who died in 1990, married his first wife Collette Thomas in 1934, and went on to marry five others, Lilli Palmer, Rachel Roberts and Mercia Tinker being among them?
REX HARRISON
Spares
1 What term describes the control system of ductless glands such as the adrenal and thyroid that secrete hormones that circulate the body via the bloodstream to affect distant organs?
ENDOCRINE
2 Who is the current Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal?
GEOFF HOON
3 The Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth in political union with which country?
USA
4 The UK Census as we know it today was started in which year?
1801
5 The serial killer Albert De Salvo was better known by what nickname?
THE BOSTON STRANGLER
So they had John Grant, the most modest quizzer in the QLL, Fred, who comes up with (what looks like) countless guesses that turn out correct every time, self-deprecating Larry, and Jeremy, who always comes up with two-pointers that make me hiss a frustrated "dagnabbit".
Here's my nine-point match analysis:
1. Larry got his two-pointers and scored 11. That hurt us bad.
2. John got the same and for some vital bonuses came up with the "Grant savant" answers he always conjures up in that frightened but utterly lethal (to us) voice. (I remember the first Brain of London I did. It was the semi-finals with me, John, Brian Wright and Kevin "The Destructor" Ashman. John was rock solid and I slipped up on some bloody wine valley q's and basically lost it when I couldn't remember the river that flowed through Munich. John carried around a plastic bag and looked about as dangerous as a blind Care Bear. Even so, out I went and through to the final went he.
3. And Fred swept up seven bonuses.
4. I didn't have my hoodoo-breaking BH partners.
5. Pity the Seinfeld pair came up in Nic's friendly.
6. One cast iron law of the quiz-league format (let's call it "quilg" from now on), is that when a question is asked about a certain virtuoso playing which instrument and it is a violin, the other half of the pair will be piano. Never a tuba, cello or guitar. The simplest like for like. And thus, the quiz gods decreed there be a violin question, and lo, Larry guessed piano correctly when it came to B&H's turn, and much weeping and wailing came to pass on the Alumni's side of the table.
7. Same thing goes for Boyle's and Charles's law, although that was in the friendly and I ignored my urge to say Charles, when I knew it couldn't possibly be a foreigner.
8. I was shocked and disappointed by the performance of our player number two. Zero! Zilch! Diddly squat! They might as well have not turned up. Oh, wait a sec. They didn't. We had a good ol' tub of lard there. "Tub of lard" being a Have I Got I News For You coinage that has become one of the most-used words in the quilg lexicon.
9. The 2-pointer count went 14 to B&H and 12 to us. A difference of four points. Which is what we lost by. O! The cruel hand of mathematical logic.
But let's have a look at the questions, written by one "Teflon". Could this be one Mark Kerr?
My general impression was a good mixed bag, the kind of catholic set that will never send me into a heinous, retributory mood. Thank our lucky Aldebarans that no one knew anything about North Sea oilfields. I only wished we had Kathryn for some of the "what kind of item is this" questions. Like what was a cowry? I've already forgotten it. But wasn't Tennyson the longest serving Poet Laureate?
Coming to the ship-bits question about the orlop, it provokes certain thoughts in me. Such as: am I looking in the correct places for requisite knowledge? Never have I looked intently at diagrams explaining parts of a ship or aeroplane. I was also annoyed by my forgetting that St Benedict is the patron saint of Europe. Unfortunately as I was riffling rapidly through the "patron saint" section of my mental archive, I forgot the "6th century monk" part was ever said. I hear only what I want to hear, it seems. Such a prejudice-riven policy will only yield calamity.
What was more surprising unfolded during the latter stages of the game. I seemed to hear familiar combinations of words in questions, and even more familiar answers which rang bells in my head like the clackers: Madison! Merkel! Margarita! Zanzibar! (The M-symmetry would have been nice).
Yes, they came up in the European Championship Individuals. I had noticed how Nic and me were so quick with our signalling fists that it looked like we were doing a co-ordinated demonstration of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. And the question asking for the wife of Professor Joachim Sauer elicited the same blank looks in B&H that I had seen reflected in the face of competitors in Tallinn. I'm tempted to say that Mark would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for us pesky kids.
But it was only 4/64 questions. And give credit where it's due: they were edited and adapted. There were no 300-word mini-biographies with accompanying music. Neither can you copyright facts (that has always been my own defence) and those who live for the making of ironic comments will certainly enjoy the contents of certain newspaper quiz today (see number five).
Truth be told I'm not even sure about the set I submitted. I am sure Merseysiders are shaking their heads in dismay at my errors and insidious crimes against the ancient and noble art of quiz-setting. In that case, let me invoke the words of Sir Bryan of Adams: "Please forgive me for I know not what I do."
(NB. John asked Nic: "Do you like pornography? straight out in front of all of us. Course he was talking about The Cure album, but still, it made me chuckle.)
Looking Back
At the end of a season, or indeed anything that ends and demands a new beginning, I am wont to quote: "What I need I will get. What I hate I will forget". It's from a song from Season to Leave by The Guthries. Only thing is that's a very good idea when it comes to bad memories and failure, but it doesn't help with quizzing matters. I have to learn what I hate. I have to get what I hate because it is what I need. Do ya get me? But it is always a time of reflection, evinced by the strange farewell conversations you have with teammates you are used to seeing every week or fortnight - "See you in, er, three months? June!?!!" And in relfective mood, I am tempted to say, just like General McArthur. that "Yes, I will return!" I've had a fun President's Cup season and it's a pleasant, testing and civilised way to spend Sunday afternoons, that would otherwise be spent watching absolute dross on the TV, whilst nursing a hangover on the sofa. And at least we won two matches, even if that was true at the halfway stage. Who can forget the wonder of two UC-Alumni beating a full Oxford team by seven points? (Why, then my contrary homunculus speaks to me, did you lose by fourteen points to them with a full teams? Hey, I shrug, for that is the magic of quiz). Despite the colourful exchanges that are conducted in some guttural lingua franca between cook and the barman, I also think I will keep The Castle as our venue and bring some WD-40 for the door hinge which always succeeds in making a uniquely squeaky sonic tear.
One good thing from yesterday. I took out £11 from the Trivia for Dummies quiz machine on O'Neill's on Euston Road. It is a quizmac that you win with a combination of broad general knowledge, decent powers of deduction and a key eye for observation (whether you win money or not is determined in a book-cover spot the difference round. Granted, I put £6 in and spent £2.45 on a glass of orange juice, but there is a clear profit there.
Friendly time
As ever, when I bring out a friendly that I have written with certain opposition, the Chester Army feel a compulsion to flee and Larry recites stats along the lines of: "On your questions, I think I have got one out of sixteen right". But it turned out fine, even if my pairs went double on one side due to absent-minded reading. I softened the difficulty I am wont to instill quiz-league format friendlies with, by adopting a policy of setting stuff that is only confusing to myself and perfectly straightforward to everyone else (rugby league home grounds, birds, Roman bleedin' roads). I have always tried to project my voice more and making my accent sillier. However, whenever I say the word "city" it comes out as "shitty". Why's that then? I also skip conjunctions and definite articles. Perhaps my questions are too long. Come to think of it all my questions are too long, even if they are so because I am scared of ambiguity - one of the most maddening qualities that can affect question-setting. It seems I am a Gradgrind setter.
It scored about 41-36, and I was particularly pleased with the trap I set and into which Nic fell into with the answer "Mastermind" on question 4a. Mwah-ha-ha-HA-HA! (Unanswered questions are asterisked)
President's Cup Friendly 19/03/06
Round 1
1a Which Roman road linked Exeter to Lincoln via Bath, Cirencester and Leicester?
FOSSE WAY
1b Where are the next Commonwealth Games due to be held in 2010?
NEW DELHI
2a Which king of England was born in 1207 at Winchester Castle, the son of King John and Isabelle of Angouleme?
HENRY III
2b Now sometimes called the Old North Road, which Anglo-Saxon road ran from London to York?
ERMINE STREET
3a Where in Canada were the newly renamed Commonwealth Games held in 1978?
EDMONTON
3b Which Scottish city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 1991 and is known as the "city of Discovery" in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ship being built there?
DUNDEE
4a Which Scottish city was granted city status in 2002 and is home of the Church of the Holy Rude, the only church in the UK to have held a coronation apart from Westminster Abbey?
STIRLING
4b The son of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders, which king of England was born sometime between May 1068 and May 1069, probably in Selby, Yorkshire?
HENRY I
Round 2
1a Which Irish horse took the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival this week?
WAR OF ATTRITION
1b War of Attrition is owned by Michael O'Leary, more famous as the chief executive of which company that was founded in 1985?
RYANAIR
2a Which European country is home to airports with the codes PRG, OSR and KLV?
CZECH REPUBLIC
2b Who was the original host of the Blankety Blank, staying in the role until 1983?
TERRY WOGAN
3a Which rugby league Super League side plays at The Willows?
SALFORD CITY REDS
3b Which rugby league Super League side plays at Odsal Stadium?
BRADFORD BULLS
4a Who was the host of The Price is Right between from 1984 until 1988?
LESLIE CROWTHER
4b Which European country is home to airports with the codes GOT, ARN and MMX?
SWEDEN
Round 3
1a Which Duke's estate is Badminton House in Gloucestershire?
BEAUFORT
1b Which landlocked country is bordered by Rwanda on the north, Tanzania on the south and east, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west?
BURUNDI
2a Which English batsman finished his Test career with a total of 7624 runs at an average of 44.06?*
COLIN COWDREY
2b Chatsworth House in Derbyshire is the seat of which Dukedom?
DEVONSHIRE
3a Which landlocked country is borderd by Tanzania to the north, Zambia on the north-west and Mozambique on the east, south and west?*
MALAWI
3b Structural, Geotechnical, Hydraulic and Environmental are subdisciplines of which broad field of engineering?
CIVIL
4a Drafting, Structural failure and Thermodynamics are subdisciplines of which very broad field of engineering?
MECHANICAL
4b Which England cricketer finished his Test career with a total of 7249 runs at 58.45 runs?*
WALLY HAMMOND
Round 4
1a In the parlance of relevant Native Americans, which 1876 battle has been called the Battle of Greasy Grass?
LITTLE BIGHORN
1b For which team did Kevin Keegan make 120 appearances before he was transferred to Liverpool in 1971?
SCUNTHORPE UNITED
2a Ian St John played for which hometown club before being transferred to Liverpool in 1961?
MOTHERWELL
2b What links Andrew Francis in 1989, Glen Binnie in 1993 and Ian Potts in 1995?
FIFTEEN-TO-ONE SERIES GRAND FINAL WINNERS
3a Knighted in 1902, which Scottish chemist won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1904 for the discovery of inert gaseous elements in the air and his determination of their place in the periodic table?
WILLIAM RAMSAY
3b Appointed to the Order of Merit in 1965, which British chemist won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1964 for her determinations by x-ray crystallography techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances?
DOROTHY CROWFOOT HODGKIN
4a What links Roger Pritchard in 1974, Sue Marshall in 1983 and Geoffrey Cotton in 1993?
BRAIN OF BRITAIN CHAMPIONS
4b Taking place in Dakota Territory in 1890, which decisive armed conflct between the Lakota Sioux and the United States was later described as a "massacre" by General Miles in a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs?
WOUNDED KNEE
Round 5
1a The American comedians and brothers Harry, Samuel and Larry Howard became famous with what collective name?
THE THREE STOOGES
1b Which book of the Old Testament traditionally comes between Leviticus and Deuteronomy?
NUMBERS
2a Formed in 1971, which British art rock group spent a total of four weeks at the top of the UK album charts with Flesh and Blood in 1980?
ROXY MUSIC
2b Which comedic group made their first appearance in the 1912 film Hoffmeyer's Legacy?
KEYSTONE COPS
3a Formed in 1967, which British rock group spent two weeks at the top of the the UK album charts with Abacab in 1981?
GENESIS
3b Which book of the Old Testament traditionally comes between The Book of Psalms and Ecclesiastes?
PROVERBS
4a Star of the films The Bone Collector and Gone in Sixty Seconds, which American actress was voted the woman most lesbians would like to go to bed with in poll taken by the gay magazine Diva?
ANGELINA JOLIE
4b Star of the films Sphere and The Specialist, which 48-year-old American actress came fourth in the Diva magazine poll?
SHARON STONE
Round 6
1a Types of which bird are described as Mistle, Dusky and the Tickell's?
THRUSH
1b Born Charles Wentworth Watson, which Prime Minister acknowledged the independence of the United States during his brief second term in 1782?
MARQUESS OF ROCKINGHAM
2a Born William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, which Prime Minister began his second term in 1807, but left office two years later due to age and infirmity and was succeeded by Spencer Perceval?
DUKE OF PORTLAND
2b Which British woman won the long jump at the 1964 Olympics?
MARY RAND
3a Also called the hypophysis, which gland of the human body is about the size of a pea and sits in a small bony cavity called the sella turcica at the base of the brain?
PITUITARY
3b Types of which bird are described as Tree, Fanti Rough-winged and Mosque?*
SWALLOW
4a Which British woman won the 800m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics?
ANN PACKER
4b Which ductless gland is located in the upper anterior portion of the chest cavity and is a crucial part of the immune system since its lobules are where lymphocytes turn into T cells?
THYMUS
Round 7
1a Founded by Axel Springer in 1852 and modelled after the Daily Mirror, which German newspaper is the biggest-selling newspaper in Europe with a circulation of almost four million?
BILD-ZEITUNG
1b Which Scottish novelist wrote the plays What Every Woman Knows, Ibsen's Ghost and The Boy David, the last of which he believed to be his finest work?
JM BARRIE
2a The brainchild of video games pioneer Gunpei Yokoi, which handheld console was released in 1989?
GAMEBOY
2b The flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer AG company, which German paper was founded in 1946 in Hamburg by British occupying forces and has an stance that it describes as "liberal cosmopolitan"?*
DIE WELT
3a Which Scotsman wrote biographies of Sir Walter Scott, Caesar Augustus and Oliver Cromwell, as well as adventure novels like Prester John and Mr Standfast?
JOHN BUCHAN
3b Composed in 1786, Mozart's Symphony No. 38 has what city or town nickname?
PRAGUE
4a Composed in 1783, Mozart's Symphony No.36 has what city or town nickname?
LINZ
4b Ken Kutaragi has been called the "father" of which console, first released in Japan in December 1994?
(Sony) PLAYSTATION
Round 8
1a British army infantry regiments was divided into six divisions for administrative purposes in 1994. To which division do the Grenadier Guards and Coldstream Guards belong?
HOUSEHOLD
1b Into which division were the Green Howards and Duke of Wellingtons put?
KING'S
2a Made with milk or cream, which cold jelly dessert originated in the Arabic world and when it reached medieval Europe had a basic recipe that then featured the boiling of shredded capon flesh, almond milk and rosewater?*
BLANCMANGE
2b Baroness Amos became the last cabinet minister to be drawn from the House of Lords when she became the Secretary of State for what in 2003?
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
3a Which English actor and comedian, who died in 2002, married and divorced Suzy Kendall, Tuesday Weld, Brogan Lane and Nicole Rothschild?
DUDLEY MOORE
3b Made with egg whites and caster sugar, which dessert is traditionally believed to have been invented by an Italian chef called Gasparini in the Swiss town from which it is derived?
MERINGUE
4a Lord Young was the last peer to be drawn from the House of Lords to be put in charge of a major department when he became Secretary of State for what in 1985, although the post has since ceased to exist?*
EMPLOYMENT
4b Which English actor, who died in 1990, married his first wife Collette Thomas in 1934, and went on to marry five others, Lilli Palmer, Rachel Roberts and Mercia Tinker being among them?
REX HARRISON
Spares
1 What term describes the control system of ductless glands such as the adrenal and thyroid that secrete hormones that circulate the body via the bloodstream to affect distant organs?
ENDOCRINE
2 Who is the current Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal?
GEOFF HOON
3 The Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth in political union with which country?
USA
4 The UK Census as we know it today was started in which year?
1801
5 The serial killer Albert De Salvo was better known by what nickname?
THE BOSTON STRANGLER
posted by That Quiz Guy at 5:35 AM
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