NEW SEASON

Proof of my inexorable decline as a writer

'Allo. The year starts again. Like the song in the War Horse trailer that John Tams sings (yes, yes! That's Mr. Know Nothing, Kit Harington as Albert Dodgy Accent Narracott stroking his wicker steed). No wait, that's inexact; the title is The Year Turns Round Again. That tune gets me in the feels. Sorry for using the phrase "gets me in the feels" - but it's all the rage nowadays. Keep up with the lingo of this sadly degraded zeitgeist or become a dead shark (that's a garbled Annie Hall reference RIGHT THERE. Piers Morgan-style BOOM!).

Anyway, I'm already babbling. Which is why I must post and run. Otherwise, I'm just going to keep dropping bafflingly tangential pop culture references riddled with slang-infested bollockese and stop-gap terminology like "Anyhoo" and "I mean".

Anyhoo, I mean, erm, yes! FRIENDLY. Score: 'Twas 39 to a three-man team (the fair sweet land that be Sussex) versus 43 for the quartet (the befouled slum that be the Corbyn kingdom of Islington) that did quiz combat with them. Right. BYE.

N.B. Answers to the unanswered Qs corralled and placed at the bottom 

President's Cup friendly 11/10/2015

R1

1 Which Italian composed the operas L'amico Fritz and Iris? 

Pietro Mascagni

2 Which endocrine gland is found in the neck, below the Adam's apple? 

Thyroid

3 Named after a Balearic Island, which supermini is SEAT's best-selling car? 

SEAT Ibiza

4 Reid Hoffman is the billionaire co-founder of which business-oriented social networking service, launched in 2003? 

LinkedIn

5 Fulbright Scholars, St. Botolph's, A Pink Wool Knitted Dress and The Earthenware Head are poems in which collection by Ted Hughes? 

Birthday Letters

6 Which 1976 song by The Trammps features the refrain "Burn, baby, burn"? 

Disco Inferno

7 Which 19th century prime minister owned Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire? 

U/A

8 In which German city was the Paulaner brewer founded by a group of Minim friars in 1634?

U/A

R2

1 What is the UK's busiest container port? 

Felixstowe

2 The All Blacks rugby stars Joe Rokocoko and Sitiveni Sivivatu were born in which country? 

Fiji

3 Who was the first black leader of a British trade union? 

Bill Morris - general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1992 to 2003

4 Which name for the museum-infested area centred on London's Exhibition Road derives from a 19th century consort? 

Albertopolis

5 Which term for a Japanese martial arts teacher is literally translated as 'first born' or 'one who has gone before'? 

Sensei

6 Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill is a retelling of which trilogy by Aeschylus? 

The Oresteia

7 Which now defunct magazine had a September 1978 test issue with Plastic Bertrand on its cover and a centre spread of Sham 69? 

Smash Hits

8 Ladoga Lacus, a methane lake named after Lake Ladoga in Russia, is on which moon of Saturn? 

Titan

R3

1 In 1993, which Japanese corporation revolutionised the world of hand sanitation with the Jet Towel?

U/A

2 The Boojum tree (Fouquieria columnaris) takes its name from which poem? 

The Hunting of the Snark

3 Which event, held on the Memorial Day weekend, is billed as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing"?  

U/A

4 In which Robert Louis Stevenson novel is Sir Danvers Carew MP beaten to death with a walking stick? 

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

5 The name of which sunken tanker combined the company that was Standard Oil of Indiana and a former capital of Spain? 

Amoco Cadiz

6 Dated January 20, 1964 and selling for 25c, which magazine edition featured Babette March on its cover? 

U/A

7 The world's highest permanent astronomical observatory, at 5460m, the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (TAO) is sited on Cerro Chajnantor in which country? 

Chile

8 Which country's nuclear program is thought to have been sabotaged with the Stuxnet computer worm? 

Iran

R4

1 Agra was the capital of which empire between 1598 and 1648? 

Mughal Empire

2 Which Northampton rugby player is married to The Saturdays singer Una Healy? 

Ben Foden

3 Attracting around 6m people per year, which cathedral is Germany's most visited landmark? 

Cologne Cathedral or High Cathedral of Saints Peter and Mary

4 Which British singer won five gongs at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008?

U/A

5 Known by a three-letter abbreviation, what is the UK's largest and longest-standing private car park operator? 

NCP - National Car Parks

6 Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier in c.212 BC during which city siege? 

Siege of Syracuse

7 What is the actual first name of survivalist Bear Grylls? 

Edward [Michael Grylls]

8 Which culture between the palaeolithic and neolithic derives its name from the Greek for 'middle stone'? 

Mesolithic

R5

1 Filiph Svensson (SWE), Harald Erlbruch (GER) and Gunter Inmann (AUT) are among the world's top ranked players in which form of golf?

U/A

2 Devon and Somerset Wanderers won Great Britain's gold the only time which sport was played at the Olympics? 

Cricket

3 Winner of 24 first division titles, what is the only Cypriot club to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals? 

APOEL FC - nicknamed "Thrylos" (The Legend)

4 Super Hans, Big Suze and Alan Johnson are characters in which Channel 4 comedy? 

Peep Show

5 Which member of Monty Python made a cameo appearance as a surfer in a 1997 episode of Home and Away? 

Michael Palin

6 Discovered and released by Daniel Ellsberg, the Pentagon Papers detailed US involvement in which conflict? 

Vietnam (1945 to 1967)

7 Benito Mussolini was named after which Mexican president (1806-72), the man who overthrew the Second Mexican Empire? 

Benito Juarez

8 Which American beer is abbreviated PBR? 

Pabst Blue Ribbon

R6

1 Located in Russia, what is the second largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga? 

Lake Onega

2 Which defending US Open champion died in an aviation accident less than eight months earlier, in October 1999? 

Payne Stewart

3 Dubbed "The Franchise of WCW", the wrestler Steve Borden, Sr. is known by what one-word ring name, which he shares with a prominent British musician? 

Sting

4 Which music club was opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal at 315 Bowery, Manhattan? 

CBGB (Country, Bluegrass and Blues)

5 In 2012, in which Russian city was a granite statue of Yul Brynner inaugurated in Yul Brynner Park in front of the house he was born in at 15 Aleutskaya St.? 

Vladivostok

6 Which US rock band's 1990 debut album Shake Your Money Maker featured their cover of the Otis Redding song Hard to Handle? 

U/A

7 Who was the last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty? 

Nero

8 Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry are characters in which trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman? 

His Dark Materials

R7 

1 Al Alvarez's book The Biggest Game in Town details which 1981 Las Vegas event? 

U/A

2 Which Korean conglomerate was founded in 1938 by Lee Byung-chul as a trading company? 

Samsung

3 The Kray twins shot George Cornell in which London pub? 

The Blind Beggar

4 Which Romantic poet is the title subject of a 1972 opera by Virgil Thompson, the American composer's third and final such work? 

Lord Byron - it is titled Lord Byron

5 Which German (1882-1935) was described by Einstein as the most important woman in the history of mathematics? 

Emmy Noether

6 Which domesticated fowl is Gallus gallus domesticus? 

Chicken

7 Which boxing and clothing brand was started in London in 1960 by Bernard Hart? 

Lonsdale

8 Grantley Adams International Airport is located in Seawell, Christ Church, on which Caribbean island? 

Barbados

R8

1 Which wife of Henry VIII died shortly after giving birth at Hampton Court Palace? 

Jane Seymour

2 The Nippon Budokan in Tokyo was originally built for which competition? 

Judo at the 1964 Summer Olympics

3 Which Republican defeated the Democrat, Alton B. Parker, in the 1904 US presidential election? 

Theodore Roosevelt

4 Dominic West won a BAFTA for playing which killer in the TV film Appropriate Adult? 

Fred West

5 Invented by Dr. Gregory Pincus and Min Chueh Chang, what is the COCP? 

Combined oral contraceptive pill or first birth control pill

6 150 Edmiston Drive is the address of which Scottish stadium, which suffered notable disasters in 1902 and 1971? 

Ibrox

7 Perugino's fresco The Delivery of the Keys to St. Peter can be seen in which famous location? 

Sistine Chapel

8 DJ Adrian Cronauer was the real-life inspiration for which war movie? 

Good Morning, Vietnam

Spares

Which of the Beatles' fathers was in a band called Jim Mac's Jazz? 

Paul McCartney

Which American won nine Grand Slam singles tennis titles in the 1920s? 

Bill Tilden

Iceberg, Crystal Head, Polar Ice and Schramm Organic are Canadian types of which spirit? 

Vodka

U

N

A

N

S

W

E

R

E

D

The Unanswered

R1 7. William Lamb, Lord Melbourne

R1 8. Munich

R3 1. Mitsubishi

R3 3. Indianapolis 500

R3 6. First Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition

R4 4. Amy Winehouse

R5 1. Minigolf

R6 6. The Black Crowes

R7 1. World Series of Poker