Monday Round-Up

What I might have done with my weekend

I've been frolicking in the Pine Wood (you see, I'm talking in code). I'm not going to moan and kvetch about a certain National Lottery quiz programme because, quite frankly, you have to play the game and work the system to get the ultimate reward. I don't care much for people who seem to be comparing the whole rigmarole to a crime against humanity. We made the choice to go on the show. Nobody has forced us. And, as if, they owe us anything (comparing it to other quiz show experiences is pointless; this is just starting out; it's in its embryonic form; actually watch it first before you put the knife in). They are trying their best.

Yes, I'll say all this now, but when I get knocked out geysers of rank bitterness will no doubt come forth to engulf everyone who wants to read them.

All Sorts of Bother
We went down into some Westminster catacombs and lost to the Allsorts. Thus, our 100 per cent record is gone with the wind. I have to say there were some terrible errors compounded by a lack of confidence on my part to impart the correct answer (Titian, NBA All Star Game and so on and so forth and on to the end of eternity). I just let it go on several occasions. Let it go. Stayed schtum to my detriment. At half time we took an uncustomary break in order to worry ourselves even more (though I believe we did win the second half; not that makes much difference when we were thrashed to within an inch of our lives during the first).

I can only say that it was disconcerting to be leaked on by the rainwater. Uh-huh, that is exactly why we lost. H20 dripping and splashing and disturbing my mental equilibrium. Not because Gavin put in an utterly brilliant performance of 26 points.

So we have to win our last two games to make sure of the QLL Division 1 title. Victory won't taste quite as sweet without the perfect record. It will taste like supermarket Coca-Cola with a slice of lime sunk in it, I believe, which will be nice enough.

The Cleverness Game in Technicolor
Thanks for the forward Stainer.

A YouTube video of Ray Ward EXPLODING on Balls of Steel.

"I don't think so, I know so. GOT IT?"

Awww. Ray so funny. He make me giggle. AND BE VERY AFRAID.

Starter for 10 for Americans
Look at the trailer for Starter for 10! See how it has been framed for the Americans. It is a campus comedy love triangle thing. No mention of trivia or University Challenge. No quiz questions. Only awkward situations and lurve. And one "wanker" (acceptable over there because hardly anybody knows what a wanker is). Our Transatlantic cousins will be surprised when they first get a sight of Mark Gatiss as Bamber: "I didn't expect no nerdlinger game show I ain't never heard of!" (Spoken in classic James Cagney gangster accent)

A More Active BH108 Than Usual

Back to the Realm of Hard Bastards

Here is that sports quiz I promised many moons ago. Back when I was young, or as is more accurate, when I was 27-years-old.

This may be part of my drive to improve and tighten up an obvious relative weakness, and I must say delving into sport is always a lot more enjoyable than I think it will be, but - here's the "more so" part - really I just looked at the Trevor Montague's A-Z of Sport perched atop my bulging box of quiz-related literature (this particular plastic receptacle is severely cracked and ready to spill its entirely trivial contents all over my bomb site of a bedroom, thus turning it into another even more heinous assault course) and thought I really must write me (and you) a set from it because it is a tremendously useful book for the sports ignoramus and fan respectively. So I did. One hundred and one questions.

Going back to the weakness, I think my main trouble when I am confronted with a sports and games genre paper is that my guesses are complete tripe and my near-misses are agonising to behold. I just don't pay enough attention to the important bits. Thus, I lose far too many points to carelessness. And carelessness does foul things to my psyche.

Therefore a bit of spit and polish is needed. A bit of discipline and serious application. Some more sturdy reinforcement.

My problem is that the majority of work I've been doing over the years and fading of my youth has been coralled from reference books and sources geared towards hard general knowledge that will, in all honesty, only be asked once during my entire life span if I'm lucky. Such sources which are scant when it comes to 1904 Olympic gold-winning swimmers or even 50kg right-armed arm wrestling world champs. Sport is far too superfluous a subject to cover in encyclopedias beyond "Muhammad Ali was a boxer. He won many fights. He is arguably the finest pugilist in history. More platitudes here". If such books could speak, they would say: "But we need all the room we can get for every Nobel Prize for Literature winner". And that is fair enough. Learning beats out people running around a field any day of the week, at least in the eyes of library reading room-bound academics.

Suffice to say, I consider this stuff quite hard, though it will probably appear somewhat straightforward to the stereotypical sports nutter. You may now chow down. Yum yum: get that athletic goodness down your gullet. If you care.

1 TB Bumsted of London's Scullers Club became the first winner of which event at the Henley Royal Regatta in 1844?
2 Which Swansea Town and New York Cosmos forward was known as "Little George"?
3 Born in the Hague in 1946, which cyclist is to date the only winner of an Olympic gold medal (in the 100km team trial at the 1968 Games) and the Tour de France, doing so 12 years later when Bernard Hinault was forced out with knee problems?
4 Who did Rocky Marciano beat in 1952 to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion?
5 Which Dane won the All-England Badminton Championship men's singles during the years 1960 to 1963, having done so in 1958 and again in 1965 and '67?
6 Waldi was the first official mascot of the Summer Olympic Games in 1972. What sort of animal was he?
7 Nikolaos Kaklamanakis was the final torchbearer at the 2004 Olympics. In what sport was he a champion?
8 Founded in 1916, the Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol or CONMEBOL organises the Copa America, Copa Libertadores and Copa Pan-Americana. In which capital city is it headquartered?
9 Zinedine Zidane joined Juventus in 1996 from which French team?
10 A World Cup winner in 1958 and 1962, which Brazilian midfielder's real name was Jose Eli de Miranda?
11 In which sport is the goal 2.13m (7 ft) high and 3.66m (4 yds) wide?
12 In which sport are there four divisions: Full Contact (FC), Freestyle Rules (FR), Oriental Rules (OR) and Muay Thai (MT)?
13 What three-lettter name is given to the bow which competitors in Kendo exchange at the start of each match?
14 What is the name of Japan's Formula One Grand Prix circuit?
15 The Welshman Phil Miller was which World Rally Championship-winning co-driver in 2003?
16 In motor racing what colour flag signals the premature end of a race?
17 In curling, what name is given to the line behind which the stone must be delivered?
18 Joe Hogan, John Walters , Reg Bamford and Chris Clarke are all world champions in which sport?
19 Which boxer became the first man to win a world title by disqualification in November 25 1895 against Billy Plimmer in London?
20 The 1956 film The Harder They Fall was based on a novel by which writer?
21 What sport is played by the Stevenage Rebels, Hull Stingers and Bath Romans?
22 Which field event was won by Bob Seagren at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics?
23 Common, Mirror, Leather, Linear, Wild and Grass are variations of which freshwater fish?
24 Which freshwater fish has the Latin name Leuciscus cephalus?
25 Dick Lane, known as "Night Train", invented which type of tackle in American football, which involved thundering into his man high and hard instead of aiming at the knees?
26 Which New Zealander won the Badminto Horse Trials on Horton Point (1994) and Bertie Blunt (1996)?
27 Mr HWF Hoskyns and Gillian Sheen were notable British exponents of which sport?
28 To which team was Frank Lampard loaned from West Ham United in 1995?
29 Spain's international manager from 1969 to 1980, which Hungarian-born footballer is the only man apart from Alfredo di Stefano to have played for three countries?
30 At which football ground did Jock Stein die on September 10, 1985?
31 Where are the following British greyhound tracks located a) Belle Vue b) Brough Park c) Hall Green
32 Which American won the Formula One driver's title in 1961, driving for Ferrari?
33 Ayrton Senna made his debut in Formula One with which team in 1984?
34 Which Widnes-born loose forward with St Helens and Widnes from 1952 to 1966 was called "The Wild Bull of the Pampas" by the Australians?
35 Who stopped Stephen Hendry's run of five wins at the then Benson and Hedges Masters in 1994 with a 9-8 victory in the final?
36 Who was the only non-Japanese male swimmer to win a gold medal at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, winning the 400m freestyle?
37 Which British no. 1 table tennis player of the early 1960s later became assistant to racehorse trainer Martin Pipe?
38 Famous for his hard-bat defence, which Vienna-born table tennis player won the world title in 1937 and then left Austria due to the German invasion, settled in Britain and won further world championships in 1939, 1948 and 1950 representing GB?
39 The first game of which sport was played at Springfield College on July 7, 1896?
40 In skiing, what name is given to the starting gate or housing?
41 Which boxing manager famously said "We wuz robbed!" after Max Schmeling beat his charge Jack Sharkey in 1932?
42 Which baseball commentator, born in 1926, is credited with the saying: "The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings"?
43 The Brazilian midfielder Didi is credited with perfecting the "folha seca" kick, which bent around defensive walls. What does "folha seca" mean?
44 Which English league football club, nicknamed the Pirates, were originally named the Purdown Poachers?
45 The first known club devoted to which sport came into existence in 1776 at Swaffham, Norfolk, thanks to the enterprise of Lord Orford?
46 Which undisputed heavyweight boxing champion was nicknamed "The Boston Strong Boy"?
47 Ingemar Johansson won the Olympic heavyweight silver medal in 1952 when he lost to which man? He did so in such disgraceful fashion that he was disqualified after two rounds for not trying and only received his medal 32 years later.
48 What name is given to the most notorious bend on the Cresta Run?
49 What famous sporting side have their origins in a team of players from Wendell Phillips High School in Chicago, who played in the Negro American Legion League as Giles Post?
50 Which Czech decathlete won Olympic gold in 1992 with a points total of 8611?
51 Which American won the first ever 100m and 400m Olympic golds in 1896?
52 What surname is shared by the first-ever father and daughter Olympic gold medallists - the former Jamaican and the latter American (who won a 4x100 relay gold in 1996)?
53 How much does a woman's shot put weigh in kilograms?
54 Domestic competition in which sport has rounds called Albion, York, St George's and Hereford?
55 Nicknamed "The Diesel", which running back became the first Jet to rush for over 1000 yards in 1975 and had his most famous game at Super Bowl XVII where - playing for the Redskins - scored the winning touchdown from 43 yards and was named MVP?
56 What does the Olympic flame actually commemorate?
57 The Russian athlete Yuriy Borzakovskiy is the current (2004) Olympic champion in which event?
58 Where would you find a racecourse at Prestbury Park?
59 Jay Berwanger became the first winner of which award in 1935?
60 What is football manager Alex Ferguson's middle name?
61 Known as "Don Elias", which footballer with Penarol (1967-72) and Internacional Porto Alegre (1972-77) was voted Chilean Player of the (20th) Century?
62 Yugoslavia were the first winners of which Olympic team sport in 1972, defeating Czechoslovakia in the final?
63 On which horse did Alex Greaves become the first female jockey to ride in the Derby in 1996?
64 Which trainer is married to former champion National Hunt jockey Terry Biddlecombe?
65 Who owned Sun Chariot, the fillies' Triple Crown winner of 1942?
66 In which sport are the Americans Scott Hamilton, Dick Button and Hayes Alan Jenkins multiple world champions?
67 Pete Sampras won his first Grand Slam, the US Open, in which year?
68 Whose only men's Grand Slam singles titles were the US Open in 1972 and French Open in 1973?
69 Which tennis player married investment banker and ex-professional footballer Jon Leach, brother of tennis player Rick, in 2003?
70 The Englishwoman Constance MK Applebee is said to have introduced which sport to American women in 1901?
71 The Australian Lionel van Praag became the first individual world champion in which sport in 1936?
72 Where will you find corners called Druids Hill and Dingle Dell and straights named Clearways and Minter?
73 A major accident at Assen in Holland nearly ended the career of which motorcyclist, who later became 500cc champion on Honda from 1994-98?
74 What company was founded by Siegfried Bettmann and Mauritz Schulte, both, originally from Nurnberg, in 1888 in Coventry to make pedal cycles?
75 Red Rum was foaled by which horse out of which horse in 1965?
76 Who became the first man to speed past the 100mph mark in 1904?
77 In which sport's world championships, first held in 1966, are there different disciplines called Classic Distance, Short Distance and Sprint?
78 Which British competition is the oldest powerboat race still in existence?
79 What was the original route of the University Boat Race?
80 Run over 2 3/4 miles at Ascot, what is the longest flat race in the UK?
81 What race was founded in 1926 by Steve Fairbairn?
82 In which year did Great Britain last win the rugby league World Cup?
83 Which Wakefield player was the first winner of the Lance Todd Trophy in 1946?
84 Often considered the father of British sailing, which King raced the Duke of York over a course from Greenwich to Gravesend and back for the sum of £100 (he won)?
85 Swallow, Tempest and Dragon are discontinued events in which Olympic sport?
86 Which Bolton-born snooker played made news headlines in 1982 when he beat defending champion Steve Davis 10-1 in the first round of the world championship in 1982?
87 Which English amateur billiards champion (1931-34) and world champion (1933) was the referee for Pot Black?
88 What sport is also known as 3-cushion billiards?
89 How many active players are there in a water polo team?
90 Which Canadian footballer won World Superstars in 1978, 1979 and 1980?
91 Which Canadian athlete gave her name to the equivalent to the Fosbury Flop in high jumping?
92 What is the hooked and netted stick used for carrying the ball in lacrosse called?
93 In which sport would you use a "cradle grip"?
94 In sailing, what name is given to the large triangular sail carried forward of or opposite the mainsail?
95 A runner-up in the previous year, which woman athlete won the 1963 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award?
96 IFNA is the world governing body of which sport?
97 What is the meaning of "judo"?
98 The 1936 film One in a Million made which sportswoman a huge movie star?
99 Dhyan Chand, nicknamed "The Wizard", is considered one of the greatest ever players in which sport?
100 Taking his first name from a legendary US golfer he greatly admired, which South African winner of four Open Championships was nicknamed "Old Muffin Face" by the Americans?
101 Which Bexhill-born golfer is the only player to date to have won the Open Championship outside England and Scotland, doing so at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland in 1951?

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Answers to BH108
1 Diamond Sculls 2 Giorgio Chinaglia 3 Joop Zoetemeik 4 Jersey Joe Walcott 5 Erland Kops 6 Dachshund 7 Boardsailing 8 Asuncion 9 Bordeaux 10 Zito 11 Field hockey 12 Kickboxing 13 Rei 14 Suzuka 15 Petter Solberg 16 Red 17 Hog line 18 Croquet 19 Pedlar Palmer 20 Bud Schulberg 21 Basketball 22 Pole Vault 23 Carp 24 Chub 25 Neck-tie tackle 26 Mark Todd 27 Fencing 28 Swansea City 29 Ladislav Kubala 30 Ninian Park 31 a) Manchester b) Newcastle c) Birmingham 32 Phil Hill 33 Toleman 34 Vince Karalius 35 Alan McManus 36 Clarence Lindon "Buster" Crabbe 37 Chester Barnes 38 Richard Bergmann 39 Volleyball 40 Schuss 41 Joe Jacobs 42 Dan Cook 43 "Dry leaf" 44 Bristol Rovers 45 Coursing 46 John L Sullivan 47 Ed Sanders 48 The Horse Shoe 49 Harlem Globetrotters 50 Robert Zmelik 51 Thomas Burke 52 (Lennox and Inger) Miller 53 4kg 54 Archery 55 John Riggins 56 Prometheus's theft of fire from Zeus 57 800m 58 Cheltenham 59 Heisman Memorial Trophy (for Chicago University) 60 Chapman 61 Elias Figueroa 62 Handball 63 Portuguese Lil 64 Henrietta Knight 65 King George VI 66 Figure skating 67 1990 68 Ilie Nastase 69 Lindsay Davenport 70 Hockey 71 Speedway 72 Brand's Hatch 73 Michael Doohan 74 Triumph 75 Quorum out of Mared 76 Louis Rigolly 77 Orienteering 78 Harmsworth Trophy 79 Hambledon Lock to Henley Bridge 80 Queen Alexandra Stakes 81 Head of the River Race 82 1972 83 Billy Stott 84 Charles II 85 Sailing 86 Tony Knowles 87 Sydney Lee 88 Carom 89 Seven (and 4 substitutes) 90 Brian Budd 91 Debbie Brill, as in the Brill Bend 92 Crosse 93 Bowls 94 Spinnaker 95 Dorothy Hyman 96 Netball (International Federation of Netball Associations) 97 "Gentle way" 98 Sonja Henie 99 Hockey 100 Bobby Locke 101 Max Faulkner

We Did It For Charidee

QLL's annual charity quiz night again at The Counting House and dagnabbit! Second place! Lost by one point. A single point (62-61) behind Atletico. I knew our going for "Lennox" on the last question concerning a quote from The Long Goodbye was a fatal mistake. Common sense did not prevail upon us to say that it was Philip Marlowe because knowing it was a Marlowe novel was enough. Instead, we over-complicated things. We used superior knowledge - reading the book, watching the Altman film - to shoot ourselves in the foot. The team's collective foot!!!!

And did I speak up when I thought we should put down the town that sees itself as the capital of the Five Towns/Potteries as Burslem? No chance. I shut up shop. I may have whimpered something indecipherable. I hate it when they say the right answer is the answer you've been dreading they would say. It sours my mood no end.

Several other questions did for us in the same fashion (Port of Spain's Test cricket ground is the Queen's Park Oval ... dagnabbit ... didn't take too much notice of all those hometown Brian Lara innings I've wasted many minutes watching on YouTube), however, I don't think we would have done half as well without Kathryn. Without her very useful traditional trivial know-how, we would have been floundering in the lower reaches.

Some rounds went way over my head; the questions being set by Peter Deakin of the MQL. Good (this year's modern music group member question was on the Dixie Chicks; last year's was on the Kaiser Chiefs), though I still have a particular distaste for Lake District geography, St Leger-winning horses and card games like Bezique. The old reliable quiz subjects, the same old moans from me. Though I should know by now that these questions will be asked, it doesn't make their appearance any less galling. It is perhaps a reflection on myself. When I am king ...

But though I want to be a deserving holder of a shiny shield and be photographed for newsletters, deserved congrats to Atletico and to Rising Sons who outscored us without the handicap. We are broken hearted for a reason. Victory always remains just beyond our grasps. Then again, there's always next year. Which is what I'll be saying until my dying day.

President's Cup v. London
Another draw. Another lead blown. Was it 37-37? I got 18. How we conspired to lose a four-point advantage without making any egredious errors, I will never know, or possibly want to remember.

Nothing much else to add. Nothing else to say. We are left stuck to the bottom of the table with three points. Stuck, I say. With the glue of incompetence, or as Nic said, the equivalent of "intellectual brewer's droop" (during the latter rounds).

Here is the friendly what I wrote. London won something like 46-28. Unanswered questions are marked * so.

Also thanks to Phil, who wrote a rather good Euro-style set. London handed our sorry asses back to us on that one - 71-53. We chose the wrong subjects. That's all I've got to say. Excuses, excuses, excuses: I have a list as long as my arm and just as boring.

President's Cup 4/2/2007

Round 1
1a Headquartered in Lausanne, the FiVB is the international governing body for which sport?
VOLLEYBALL
1b Later created Duchess of Munster and Kendal, Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg was the mistress of which British king?
GEORGE I
2a Who was the queen consort of George I?
SOPHIA Dorothea of Celle
2b Passer domesticus is the scientific name of which common bird?
HOUSE SPARROW
3a The German Hans-Gert Pottering was recently elected the new President of which international body?*
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
3b Based in Plant City, Florida, the ISF is the international governing body for which sport?*
SOFTBALL
4a Which small passerine bird has the scientific name Fringilla coelebs?
CHAFFINCH
4b The Dutchman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is the Secretary General of which international organisation?
NATO

Round 2
1a In his political treatise The Prince, Machiavelli explained the qualities the ideal prince should possess, modelling him after which notorious figure?
CESARE BORGIA
1b Which King of Prussia wrote the 18th century essay, Anti-Machiavel, which rebutted The Prince?
FREDERICK THE GREAT
2a Which former BDO world champion darts player is nicknamed The Count?
TED HANKEY
2b Jordan, Ray, Abbas Abad and Gisha are all districts in which Middle Eastern capital, also home to an internationa trade and convention centre called The Milad Complex?*
TEHRAN
3a What was the first musical act or artist to enter at number one with a hat-trick of consecutive releases, doing so from July 1993 to April 1994?
TAKE THAT
3b Which reigning BDO world champion darts player is nicknamed Wolfie?
MARTIN ADAMS
4a Midan, Sarouja, Imara and Salihiyye are districts in which Middle Eastern capital, also home to the shrine of Sheikh Muhi al-Din ibn Arabi?
DAMASCUS
4b Which musical act or artist have had the most entries at number one, doing so on 14 occasions from May 1999 to November 2006?
WESTLIFE

Round 3
1a In Japanese sushi, what are the wrappers known as "nori" made of?
SEAWEED
1b What word for a hobby or pastime comes from the Greek for "friend" and "exempt from charge" or "franked"?
PHILATELY
2a As given to one of the Christian Apostles, which first name is ultimately derived from the ancient Hebrew for "God is merciful"?*
JOHN
2b From the Gaelic word for any kind of assembly, what three-letter name is given to a festival of Scottish Gaelic song, arts and culture?
MOD
3a In which year was the first stamp, the Penny Black, issued?
1840
3b As given to one of the Christian Apostles, which first name is derived from the Greek for "manly" or "brave"?
ANDREW
4a Begun in 1892, the Royal National Mod was first held in which resort town in Argyll and Bute where it was also held for its 100th anniversary event in 2003?*
OBAN
4b The most valued sushi ingredient is said to be "toro". It is the fatty cut of which fish?
TUNA

Round 4
1a Written by Alan Bennett, which 1983 BBC drama was based on the true story of chance meeting of the actress Coral Browne and the spy Guy Burgess, and had Browne play herself and Alan Bates play the latter?
AN ENGLISHMAN ABROAD
1b Designed by the Hungarian mechanical engineer Gyorgy Jendrassik, the Jendrassik Cs-1 was the first example of which type of engine?*
TURBOPROP
2a Which 1938 Rodgers and Hart musical features the songs Falling in Love with Love and This Can't Be Love?*
THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE
2b Which 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical features the songs I Could Write a Book and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered?
PAL JOEY
3a Which US state gives its name to the tick that is said to cause the acute viral infection known as or Mountain tick fever or American mountain fever?*
COLORADO
3b Featuring such adult actors as Robin Ellis and Helen Mirren playing children, which 1979 Dennis Potter television play appeared in the BBC's Play for Today series and took its name from the poem XL in AE Housman's A Shropshire Lad?
BLUE REMEMBERED HILLS
4a The Dart and RB.50 Trent were types of turboprop engines produced by which British company?
ROLLS ROYCE
4b Which lethal viral infectious disease is named after a river in the African nation-state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the site of its first outbreaks?
EBOLA

Round 5
1a In a famous sporting comeback, which cricket team was bowled out for 15 and made to follow on, then went on to beat Yorkshire by 155 runs in a county championship match in June 1922?*
HAMPSHIRE
1b Eric Hill is best known for creating which animal in a series of children's books that he started in 1980?
SPOT THE DOG
2a The children's author and illustrator Eric Carle is best known for creating which eponymous creature in a 1969 book?
THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR
2b Author of the revised autobiography Ma Vie Heureuse or My Happy Life, which member of Les Six composed the dance suite Saudades do Brazil, the ballet Le Boeuf sur le Toit and Scaramouche for Saxophone and Orchestra?
DARIUS MILHAUD
3a On this day in 362 (Feb 4), which Roman emperor promulgated an edict that recognizes equal rights to all the religions in the Roman Empire?*
JULIAN the Apostate
3b On this day in 211, which Roman emperor died, leaving the Roman empire in the hands of his quarrelsome sons Caracalla and Geta?
SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS
4a Which member of Les Six composed the hit record The Song from Moulin Rouge, as featured in the 1952 movie, and also scored Passport to Pimlico, The Lavender Hill Mob and Roman Holiday?
GEORGES AURIC
4b In a great sporting comeback, which football team were down 5-1 against Huddersfield Town with half an hour to go, having played most of the match with ten men, but won 7-6 in a Second Division match in December 1957?
CHARLTON ATHLETIC

Round 6
1a The Common or European variety of which tree has the Latin name Taxus baccata?
YEW
1b Which well-known British rock band released the ambitious two-record concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in 1974?
GENESIS
2a Which world famous electronics manufacturing firm was founded in 1939 by the merging of Tanaka Engineering Works and Shibaura Engineering Works?
TOSHIBA
2b The Common variety of which tree has the Latin name Fagus sylvatica?
BEECH
3a Set during the American Civil War, which TV miniseries of the mid-1980s focussed on the life and times of the Main and Hazard families?
NORTH AND SOUTH
3b Which computer hardware company was founded as PC's Limited by the man it is now named after, when he was a student at the University of Texas in Austin in 1984?
DELL (as in Michael Dell)
4a Which well-known British band released the rock opera concept album Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) in 1969?
THE KINKS
4b Which TV mini-series from 1983 focussed primarily on the fictional sheep station of Drogheda in the Australian outback and the life and times of the Cleary family?
THE THORN BIRDS

Round 7
1a Which supermarket produces the Taste the Difference premium food range?
SAINSBURY'S
1b The Best is the name given to which supermarket's premium food brand?
MORRISON'S*
2a Nominated for a 2007 Best Picture Oscar and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson, which Martin Scorsese film is a remake of the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs?
THE DEPARTED
2b Where are the headquarters of the Met Office, the country's national weather service?
EXETER
3a Which German doctor decided to search for a new healing technique in 1930 and created a system of "flower remedies"?
EDWARD BACH
3b Which technique, designed to help people learn to free their habitual reactions of moving by improving one's kinesthetic judgement, is named after an Australian actor?
ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
4a Where are the headquarters of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency?
SWANSEA
4b Nominated for a 2007 Best Picture Oscar and starring Helen Mirren, which Stephen Frears film is set in 1997 at the time of Labour's return to power and Princess Diana's death?
THE QUEEN

Round 8
1a Named from the Chukchi for "island", which islands were known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago and comprise five groups: the Fox, Islands of Four Mountains, Andreanof, Rat and Near?
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
1b Which rum producer was founded as a small distillery in Santiago de Cuba in Cuba in February 1862?
BACARDI
2a Which so-called "alternative royal family" was founded in 1875 by a boy named Henry Croft?*
PEARLY KINGS AND QUEENS
2b Often sung by Pearl Kings and Queens, which traditional Cockney song includes the lines: "Everything free and easy,/ Do as you darn well pleasy,/ Why don't you make your way there/ Go there, stay there"?
DOING THE LAMBETH WALK
3a Which man gives his name to a brand of bourbon whiskey that has been distilled in Clermont, Kentucky since 1795?
JIM BEAM
3b Said to derive its name from the ancient Scandinavian for "waterland", which island group includes the municipalities Geta, Lemland, Sund, Saltvik and its capital Mariehamn?*
ALAND ISLANDS
4a What is the minimum age at which you can purchase a pet?*
12
4b What is the minimum age you must be if you can join the French Foreign Legion?*
17

Spares
1 John Rees is the National Secretary and leader of which left-wing political party?
RESPECT - The Unity Coalition
2 Which infectious disease is named from a Spanish attempt at a Swahili phrase meaning "cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit"?
DENGUE FEVER
3 Which variety of willow has the scientific name Salix discolor?
PUSSY WILLOW
4 Who presents the new BBC2 quiz show Perfect Strangers?
ADRIAN CHILES
5 Which international rugby teams compete for the Garibaldi trophy?
ITALY and FRANCE

Something for President's Cup Day

Should have posted back in 2006, but I didn't. Blame the sloth.

It was played against the Mastermind club. We didn't lose. We drew! Er, after blowing a substantial 7-point lead. I won't speak any more about or rue this complete shambles ... concentration and Sunday afternoon issues etc.

Also, I made the dreadful booboo of claiming that Audi is a French and not German car company. I have always laboured under this misconception since Audi is a very French sounding word. Despite all those sodding "vorsprung durch technik" ads, which I thought were another car company. You see, adverts just make my brain go haywire. When I was a kid I used to be scared silly by those Maxell tape adverts. Everything looked so big and ominous in those days. Everything.

Back to Prez Cup progress: we have since blown a lead against Beds and Herts, losing by two points. We just love conspiring to capitulate at the very last moment. It makes us stronger and more generous people.

Today, we will do the same against London. It is inevitable. It is our destiny.

President's Cup Friendly 10/12/06

Round 1
1a Members of the Cypriot national guard overthrew which cleric and president of Cyprus on July 15, 1974?
Archbishop MAKARIOS III
1b Which comic strip detective first appeared in the Chicago Tribune on October 4, 1931?
DICK TRACY
2a Which Briton became the first woman to fly round the world solo in 1971 and was also the first woman to pilot a plane over the North Pole?
SHEILA SCOTT
2b Author of such non-fiction works as Come Hell or High Water, which Briton became the first woman to sail solo across the Atlantic in 1973?
CLARE FRANCIS
3a Charles Strite invented which common kitchen device in 1927?
POP UP TOASTER
3b Which Saudi Arabian king was assassinated on March 15, 1975?
FAISAL ibn Abd-al-Aziz
4a Which famous sidekick first appeared in issue 38 of Detective Comics in April 1940?
ROBIN
4b Often found in kitchens, what device was invented by Alva J Fisher in 1906?
ELECTRIC WASHING MACHINE

Round 2
1a With 12 medals including nine golds won between 1920-1928, which man is the top medal winner of all time at the Summer Olympics in athletics events?
PAAVO NURMI
1b Matt Willis, winner of the last series of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, is a former member of which chart-topping three-piece guitar boy band?
BUSTED
2a What number is a fresh breeze on the Beaufort Scale?
FIVE (29-38km/h)
2b With a haul of 18 medals including nine golds won between 1956 and 1964, which Soviet gymnast is the biggest medal winner of all time at the Summer Olympics?
LARISSA LATYNINA
3a Which planet in our solar system has a diameter of 51,118 km?
URANUS
3b Which planet in our solar system has a diameter of 12,103.6 km?
VENUS
4a Which American I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here contestant claimed to have a maid called Vaginica Seaman?
DAVID GEST
4b What number is a gale on the Beaufort Scale?
EIGHT (62-74 km/h)

Round 3
1a What programme is broadcast weekdays on Radio 4 at 5.43 am?
PRAYER FOR THE DAY
1b What programme is broadcast weekdays on Radio 4 at 5.45 am?
FARMING TODAY
2a Commonly called fat tissue, what type of connective tissue in verterbrates serves as an energy reserve and acts as padding for some organs?
ADIPOSE tissue
2b Concerning a young man and is love for a dying courtesan, which opera sees the eponymous heroine sing the aria "Sempre libra"?
LA TRAVIATA
3a Sharing his name with the chief baddy in High Noon, which American comic book writer is known for his dark reinterpretations of Batman and Daredevil and also for creating the Sin City series?
FRANK MILLER
3b A film adaptation of Miller's book about the 480BC Battle of Thermopylae is due out next spring. Referring to the number of Spartans who defended the titular mountain pass, what is it called?
300
4a Which opera features Leporello's Catalogue Aria, also known as Madamina and which features the refrain "Ma, in Ispagna, son gia mille a tre!"?
DON GIOVANNI
4b Found in all but the very simplest animals, what is the fluid-filled cavity that separates the body wall from the gut and associated organs?
COELUM

Round 4
1a Which Renaissance artist's key works include the Madonna of the Goldfinch in the Uffizi, the portrait of Leo X in the Pitti Palace and the murals in Rome's Stanza della Segnatura?
RAPHAEL
1b Which German car company is due to bring out the £75,000 R8 this summer?
AUDI
2a Derived from the French "to cut", what word describes a thicket of small trees or shrubs?
COPSE
2b Living from 1711 to 1776, which Scottish philosopher's best known works are his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and its simplified version An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and A Treatise of Human Nature?
DAVID HUME
3a Living from 1646 to 1716, which German philosopher's best known works are Monadology, Principles of Nature and of Grace and Theodicy?
GOTTFRIED LEIBNIZ
3b Derived from a word that originally meant "bright", what word describes a clearing in a forest where the sunlight shines down between tall trees?
GLADE
4a Called "the Japanese Mercedes" by Alan Partridge, which car company has produced the LS600 model?
LEXUS
4b Which Renaissance artist's key works include The Holy Trinity with the Virgin, St John and Donors in Florence's Santa Maria Novella and The Expulsion from Paradise and The Tribute Money in the Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine, also in Florence?
MASACCIO

Round 5
1a Weighing up to 1.5 kg each, by what Italian name is the mushroom ceps also known?
PORCINI
1b For which rugby union side do England internationals do Andy Goode and Julian White play?
LEICESTER
2a 55-year-old Nadia Eweida recently got into trouble with her employers for wearing what?
A CRUCIFIX
2b And for which company was she working?
BRITISH AIRWAYS
3a For which rugby union club do the England internationals Mark Cueto and Chris Jones play?
SALE SHARKS
3b Sharing its name with a variety of cultivated tomato, which bloody looking speciality mushroom was popularised by Antony Worrall Thompson and grows on oak trees?
BEEFSTEAK
4a In which year did the Battle of the Little Big Horn take place?
1876
4b Which regiment did General Custer lead at the Battle of the Little Big Horn?
7TH CAVALRY

Round 6
1a At which London venue did the first international football match, played between England and Scotland, take place in 1870?
KENNINGTON OVAL
1b At 106m high, the world's tallest example of which structure is found in Yamashita Park in Yokohama?
LIGHTHOUSE
2a One of the five pillars of Islam, sawm is concerned with which ritual?
FASTING BETWEEN DAWN AND DUSK DURING RAMADAN
2b Taking place in 1904, name either of the teams that played in the first international football match to take place outside Britain.
FRANCE or BELGIUM
3a Completed in 1858, which 49m tall lighthouse off the Scilly Isles is located on what the Guinness Book of Records has listed as the smallest island in the world?
BISHOP ROCK
3b The pillar of Islam known as zakat is concerned with what act?
GIVING ALMS TO THE POOR
4a Based on a JG Ballard novel, which controversial David Cronenberg film of 1996 was banned from sale or theatrical exhibition within the city of Westminster?
CRASH
4b Based on an Aldous Huxley book, which controversial film of 1971 was described by its director Ken Russell as a depiction of blasphemy and not blasphemy itself?
THE DEVILS

Round 7
1a In which country can you go boating on Lake Bled, go white water rafting on the rapids of the Soca River and visit Predjama Castle?
SLOVENIA
1b Which fictional detective's first appearance was as a supporting character in 1929 novel The Crime at Black Dudley?
ALBERT CAMPION
2a The Clio is a statuette awarded annually in America for outstanding achievement in which field?
ADVERTISING or COMMERCIALS
2b The Donald E. Knuth Prize is an award for outstanding contributions to the foundation of which field of study?
COMPUTER SCIENCE
3a Which fictional detective made his first appearance in the 1977 novel A Morbid Taste for Bones?
CADFAEL
3b Which Italian scholar succeeded Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093?
ST ANSELM
4a Which Saxon Archbishop of York crowned William the Conqueror King of England?
ALDRED
4b In which country can you find Europe's only virgin beech forest at the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, see mummified monks at the Caves Monastery and marvel at the domes of St Sophia Cathedral?
UKRAINE

Round 8
1a Slide Mountain is the highest point in which American mountain range?
CATSKILLS
1b Abba had three number ones in 1976, including Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen. What was the other?
FERNANDO
2a Which elementary particle was discovered by Clyde Cowan and Fred Reines in 1956?
NEUTRINO
2b Mount Marcy is the highest peak in which US mountain range?
ADIRONDACKS
3a Slade had three number ones in 1973. They included Cum On Feel the Noize and Merry Xmas Everybody. What was the other?
SKWEEZE ME PLEEZE ME
3b Finty Williams is the daughter of which British actress Dame?
JUDI DENCH
4a Sharman Macdonald is the mother of which young British actress?
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY
4b Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig discovered which elementary particle in 1964?
QUARK

Spares
1 Belvedere and Grey Goose are upmarket brands of which drink?
VODKA
2 In the Vedas, who is the Hindu thunder god of battle?
INDRA
3 In which 1969 British film does a civil servant called Graham Merrill, who is played by Bill Travers, take his pet otter Mij to the Scottish Highlands?
RING OF BRIGHT WATER
4 Which spouse linked Peter Sellers and Sir David Frost?
LYNNE FREDERICK
5 What are the real first two names of new West Ham United manager Alan Curbishley?
LLEWELLYN CHARLES
6 Which well known British sports company takes its name from an Earl named Hugh Cecil Crowther?
LONSDALE
7 Who was the first woman to be chosen as Time magazine's Person of the Year?
WALLIS SIMPSON in 1936
8 Which bearded 36-year-old boxer is nicknamed the Battersea Bomber?
HOWARD EASTMAN
9 Which fashion designer and member of the Italian Olympic ski team in 1934, opened a couture house on the Isle of Capri in 1950 and became an Italian MP in 1965?
EMILIO PUCCI
10 Francis Pettit Smith, a Kent farmer, invented which ship engine part in 1835?
SCREW PROPELLER