President's Cup: Round 8

I know you're only here for the friendly questions, but first...

So having been so thoroughly ATOMIZED and ANNIHILATED in our previous Prez Cup match against the Masterminders (that 26 point losing margin still smarts like a pop to the nose) victory was vital if any thoughts of cup title retention were to be entertained with anything resembling this collective hunch we call 'reality'.

So we won (here endeth another of my occasional stabs at bad sports journalese). Hurrah. Let's dance. While trying to avoid thinking about that one brilliant moment when my mind conjured up the answer 'Biker Mice from Mars' within the time limit, only for ... well, let's just say that particular bonus point was not meant to be. Sigh. 

So two matches left. It's gonna be a bumpy, thrill-spilling run-in. Seatbelts are in need of fastening. 

So. Back to England whose temperatures are positively tropical when compared to those of Norway in February (at various, numerous points, I felt like my toes had died, my face had died and fallen off and my skin turned into a carapace of icy needles turned inward; then there was the bit where I was on a mountain and I lost the power to make hard consonant sounds. Now I know what 'cold' really is). 

Holidays are a funny thing. Strokie-chin time. Why? A week off from normal question-writing duties gave me ample opportunity to indulge in writing questions for a SUPER-sized friendly - makes sense, non? (It's like I've internalised some sort of quota; hobby-related habits die hard; blah). 

So it's 12 rounds. That's right: TWELVE. Cambridge adopted a rolling subs approach: making changes every four rounds. For this not very Brave and kinda New World, I chose to write 10 rounds of the patented 'Paul's Pick a Number 'format, and 2 rounds of regular paired old-fashioned questions.

So how did it end up? Did the 'PaPaN' method dispense incredible injustice and induce major huffage and tears of rage, as I fear it might every time I pop out one of these friendlies? 

No. It came down to the very last question - number 96 - about Ruby Flipper. Mark held his nerve came through with their predecessors Pan's People* and won the match for the Sussex 65-64. 

Yo! One more thing. Unanswered questions have had their answers removed and placed in a sort of VIP area, so you can test yourself. Am I not considerate?

So. 'Til next time.

*(hmm, should I have used 'Flick Colby' in the question? Such dilemmas doth tax me. Even though I had absolutely no idea who Flick Colby was until I wrote the Q)

President's Cup Friendly 24/2/2013

ROUND 1

1 Kevin Costner's role as the dead character Alex was completely cut out of which 1983 film? Its ensemble cast included Glenn Close, William Hurt, Kevin Kline and Jeff Goldblum. 

THE BIG CHILL

2 Saddam Hussein launched the 1988 Halabja poison gas attack against which people?

KURDS

3 The British publisher Hilary Bradt gave her name to a series of what type of books - the first of which she co-wrote with her husband George in 1974?

TRAVEL GUIDE

4 Which Red Dwarf character is played by Danny John-Jules?

CAT

5 Created by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin, which musical features the songs When I Grow Up, Revolting Children and The Chokey Chant?

MATILDA

6 Who played Miss Flower Belle Lee opposite WC Fields's conman Cuthbert J. Twillie in the 1940 film My Little Chickadee?

MAE WEST

7 Flying a MiG-15, Zhao Baotong became the first ever Chinese pilot to achieve flying ace status, when he gained 9 victories during which major war?

KOREAN WAR

8 Who was the mother of the second Roman Emperor Tiberius?

LIVIA / LIVIA DRUSILLA / JULIA AUGUSTA

ROUND 2

1 Adapted into a 2007 TV film starring Tom Hardy in the title role, which biography by Alexander Masters has the subtitle A Life Backwards?

STUART (as in Stuart Shorter)

2 Launched in 1860, which Royal Navy vessel was the first armour-plated, iron-hulled warship and was built as a response to the first ironclad warship, the French Gloire?

HMS WARRIOR

3 US Vice-President Joe Biden was a Senator for which state on the Atlantic coast?

X

4 Cali, Soledad and Medellin are major cities in which country?

COLOMBIA

5 Formally launched on January 15, 2001, which non-commercial website was co-founded by Larry Sanger?

WIKIPEDIA

6 In fashion, Chukka, Kinky, Go-Go and Platform are types of what? 

BOOT

7 Of the four Shakespeare plays adapted for the 2012 BBC TV series The Hollow Crown, what is the only one not named after a King Henry?

RICHARD II

8 In 1601, which Earl became the last person to be beheaded in the Tower of London when he was executed on Tower Green?

2ND EARL OF ESSEX / ROBERT DEVEREUX

ROUND 3

1 Which name links a Japanese fashion designer with the surname Takada, and the Japanese architect with the surname Tange, who designed the Yoyogi National Gymnasium for the Tokyo Olympics? 

KENZO

2 Which '80s sitcom starred Richard Briers as Martin Bryce?

EVER DECREASING CIRCLES

3 The Hour of Bewilderbeast was the 2000 debut album by which Bolton-raised singer-songwriter?

BADLY DRAWN BOY / DAMON GOUGH

4 Belonging to the actinide series, which element - atomic number 101 - is named after a Russian chemist?

MENDELEVIUM

5 Often described as the world's smallest mammal, the Kitti's hog-nosed bat is also known by the name of which flying insect?

BUMBLEBEE [BAT]

6 Southern bluefin, Bigeye and Blackfin are species of which saltwater fish?

TUNA

7 The White Ferns are New Zealand's women's national team in which sport?

X

8 The first Olympic Games to be staged in a Spanish-speaking country were hosted by which city?

MEXICO CITY (1968)

ROUND 4

1 Which American businessman bought his first hotel, the Mobley Hotel, in 1919 in Cisco, Texas?

CONRAD HILTON / 'CONNIE' HILTON / C.N. HILTON

2 Specialising in sex toys and lingerie, which company was named after the female secretary of its founder Kim Caborn Waterfield?

ANN SUMMERS - as in Annice Summers, who was born Annice Goodwin in 1941

3 Launched in 1992, which monthly magazine features the columns Still With Us and I Once Met, as well as the World's Worst Dumps slot?

THE OLDIE

4 The father of hip-hop DJ Tim Westwood, Bill Westwood was - until 1996 - the Anglican Bishop of which cathedral city?

PETERBOROUGH

5 What was the third of Sacha Baron Cohen's characters to become the title subject of a feature film?

Brüno Gehard

6 Renamed after a late ANC president in 1994, what is Africa's busiest airport? Its former names include Johannesburg International Airport and Jan Smuts International Airport.

O.R. TAMBO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

7 Which Romanian composer, who died in Paris in 1955, composed two Romanian Rhapsodies, the symphonic poem Vox maris and the opera Oedipe? 

GEORGE ENESCU

8 Since 1885, Gigg Lane has been the home of which Greater Manchester football club?

BURY F.C.

ROUND 5

1 Which identical twin brothers own The Spectator magazine via their company Press Holdings?

BARCLAY BROTHERS (David & Frederick) 

2 Which bitter orange has been described as the benchmark citrus fruit for marmalade production in Britain?

[SPANISH] SEVILLE ORANGE

3 Which Stanley Kubrick film and its secret meanings are the subject of the 2012 documentary Room 237?

THE SHINING

4 Condé Montrose Nast began the magazine publishing empire that became Condé Nast with the 1909 purchase of which fashion magazine? The British edition was introduced in 1916.

VOGUE

5 Shopska, Green, Greek, Fruit and Seven-layer are types of which dish?

SALAD

6 Part of the Apollo 17 mission, which geologist-astronaut is the only scientist to have set foot on the Moon?

HARRISON SCHMITT

7 Which British motorcycle racer had his last ever win at the 1981 500cc Swedish Grand Prix, four years after his second and final 500cc championship?

BARRY SHEENE

8 Which sculptor was born the son of Niccolo di Betto Bardi, a Florentine wool carder, in around 1386?

DONATELLO / DONATO DI NICCOLO DI BETTO BARDI

ROUND 6

1 For the first time ever, the credit ratings agency Moody's has downgraded the UK's AAA rating to what? 

AA1

2 The Basel Dove, the Brazilian Bull's Eye and the Benjamin Franklin Z Grill are famous examples of which collectible items?

POSTAGE STAMPS

3 The Girl is Mine was the first single released off which Michael Jackson album?

THRILLER

4 Recognised by 84 UN member states, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is claimed by which North African country?

MOROCCO

5 Which 1972 debut novel features the characters Hazel, Fiver and Bigwig?

WATERSHIP DOWN

6 Set in Roussillon, France, which Shakespeare play features Lavatch the Clown?

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

7 Featured in the film Full Metal Jacket and a current William Hill Bingo TV ad, Surfin' Bird was a '60s hit for which American surf rock/garage rock band?

THE TRASHMEN

8 Which two-word Cantonese term for bite-sized dishes means 'touch the heart'?

DIM SUM

ROUND 7 

1 The Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills is the main setting for which Julia Roberts film?

PRETTY WOMAN

2 Which 1996 book by Marcus Berkmann was given the subtitle Madness of Cricket?

RAIN MEN

3 Produced during the mid-1980s, the Alfa Romeo Arna subcompact car was a joint venture between the said Italian manufacturer and which Japanese automaker?

NISSAN

4 In January 2013, the movie venue at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard was renamed the TCL Chinese Theatre after the Chinese electronics company TCL Corporation. What was its famous previous name(s)?

GRAUMAN'S CHINESE THEATRE / MANN'S CHINESE THEATRE

5 Scrabble is owned by Hasbro in North America, but in the rest of the world the game is owned by which other American toy company?

MATTEL

6 Played by Jeffrey Tambor, Hank Kingsley was the sidekick of which fictional talk show host?

LARRY SANDERS

7 Ron Artest legally changed his name to Metta World Peace in September 2011. He is a star of which American sport?

BASKETBALL

8 Wife of Poland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski, which US journalist wrote the 2012 book Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1945-1956? Her previous works include the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gulag: A History (2003).

X

ROUND 8

1 Inaugurated in 2010, the Guangzhou Opera House was designed by which Iraqi-British architect? 

ZAHA HADID

2 Which name for a type of shoemaker is derived from the leather produced in the Spanish city of Cordoba?

CORDWAINER / CORDOVAN

3 The Lou Marsh Trophy is awarded annually to which country's top sportsperson? Past winners include Phil Esposito, Nancy Greene and Patrick Chan.

CANADA

4 The jazz musician Steve Gregory played the saxophone line on which '80s no.1 single by George Michael?

CARELESS WHISPER

5 In English, which two Commonwealth countries are the only two nations whose official name begins with 'THE'? One is in the Atlantic Ocean; the other in Africa.

THE BAHAMAS & THE GAMBIA

6 Which colour describes the malevolent form of the fungus 'noble rot', capable of destroying crops of wine grapes?

X

7 Danny Wilde and Lord Brett Sinclair, aka the 15th Earl of Marnock, were the title characters in which 1971 TV series?

THE PERSUADERS!

8 Which 1939 film gave a Cairn Terrier named Terry his the most famous movie role?

THE WIZARD OF OZ

ROUND 9

1 Castory is a dye derived from the pelts of which mammal?

BEAVER

2 Designed by the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland, which prize medal features the inscription: "Pro pace et fraternitate gentium"?

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE MEDAL - inscription means: 'For the peace and brotherhood of man'

3 Introduced by South Africa in 1967, a Kruggerand coin consists of around 92% gold and 8% which transition metal?

X

4 Which Kiwi is head coach for the 2013 British and Irish Lions rugby union team's tour of Australia?

WARREN GATLAND

5 Which clothing company was founded in 1853 when its eponymous founder came from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco?

LEVI STRAUSS & CO

6 In April 2012, Joyce Banda assumed office as the first female president of which African country?

MALAWI

7 Featuring the hit singles, What's My Age Again? and All the Small Things, the 1999 album Enema of the State was the breakthrough record for which US pop punk band?

BLINK-182

8 Used to describe a fully bosomed or pleasingly plump woman, the adjective 'zaftig' comes from a word meaning juicy or succulent in which language?

YIDDISH

ROUND 10

1a All of which Asian country's banknotes from the $2 to the $10,000 bill feature its first president, Yusof bin Ishak, who was in office between 1965 and 1970?

SINGAPORE

1b Complete the title of the 2012 Man Booker-longlisted, word-of-mouth hit novel by Rachel Joyce: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold…?

X

2a In chess, Announced, Back-rank, Boden's, Epaulette, and Scholar's are all types of which position? 

CHECKMATE / MATE

2b The Budapest, the Halloween, the Englund and the Blackburne Shilling are examples of which chess opening?

GAMBIT

3a Like.com for $100m, Motorola Mobility for $12.5bn, the restaurant reviewer Zagat for $151m, online advertiser DoubleClick for $3.1bn - all acquisitions made by which corporation?

X

3b Who was British Prime Minister in 1800, the year before he resigned from office?

WILLIAM PITT THE YOUNGER

4a Best known for playing the Bond villain Le Chiffre, who won the 2012 Best Actor prize at Cannes for playing a teacher wrongly accused of child molestation in the Danish film The Hunt?

MADS MIKKELSEN

4b Featured on the Australian $20 note that has been in circulation since 1994, the Presbyterian minister John Flynn founded which service in 1928?

ROYAL FLYING DOCTOR SERVICE OF AUSTRALIA / THE FLYING DOCTORS / A.I.M. AERIAL MEDICAL SERVICE

ROUND 11

1a Also known as the Rodebury Terrier, which dog is named after a Northumberland mining town and is known for its resemblance to lambs, as in another alternate name, Rothbury's Lamb?

BEDLINGTON TERRIER

1b Kim Bodnia played the Copenhagen cop Martin Rohde in which Swedish-Danish TV drama, first broadcast by BBC4 in 2012?

THE BRIDGE / BRON / BROEN

2a How old is the title character Allan Karlsson, who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, in a bestselling novel by the Swedish writer Jonas Jonasson that was first published in the UK in 2012?

X

2b Which dog breed - the largest of the spaniels - is named after a Nottinghamshire country park?

CLUMBER SPANIEL

3a The southernmost state in the Arab League, which country in the Indian Ocean is a confederation of three islands that claims the French overseas department of Mayotte as the fourth?

X

3b Which company owns Audible.com, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), LoveFilm, Box Office Mojo and AbeBooks?

AMAZON

4a Who was US President during the year 1900?

WILLIAM MCKINLEY

4b Japan claims the two southernmost islands - Iturup and Kunashir - as part of its territory of which island group in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region?

KURIL ISLANDS / KURILE ISLANDS

ROUND 12

1 The Scottish biochemist John James Rickard McLeod shared the 1923 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the co-discovery of which hormone, though his more famous Canadian co-winner dismissed his contribution as negligible? 

INSULIN - the Canadian being Frederick Banting

2 Created by the Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely and the French artist Niki de Saint Phalle in 1983, the Stravinsky Fountain is located next to which Paris arts complex?

CENTRE POMPIDOU

3 Put together by Flick Colby, Ruby Flipper was the quickly replaced replacement for which dance troupe?

PAN'S PEOPLE

4 Which Welsh-American explorer, born in Denbigh in 1841, was given the Congolese byname Bula Matari, meaning 'Breaker of Rocks'?

HENRY MORTON STANLEY / JOHN ROWLANDS

5 Directed by Terry Gilliam, which 1977 film starred Michael Palin as a young cooper named Dennis Cooper, and featured a pub called The Queen's Haemorrhoids?

JABBERWOCKY

6 Which county town shares its name with the pub that features heavily in the rom-zom-com Shaun of the Dead?

[THE] WINCHESTER

7 Hammer DeRoburt (being the first), Bernard Dowiyogo, René Harris and Ludwig Scotty have all served as President of which phosphate-reliant Pacific republic of just over 9,000 people?

NAURU - current incumbent (or minor Star Wars character): Sprent Dabwido

8 In around 1609, which Flemish artist painted a celebrated marriage portrait of himself and his teenage bride … Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower?

PETER PAUL RUBENS

Spares ... will be written up as a separate post because they are legion

Unanswered Question Answers

R2 3. Delaware

R3 7. Cricket

R7 8. Anne Applebaum

R8 6. Grey [rot]

R9 3. Copper

R10 1b Fry

R10 3a Google

R11 2a A Hundred-Years-Old - book title: The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of his Window and Disappeared

R11 3a Comoros / Union of the Comoros