Tuesday 29 May 2007

THE 11th TUESDAY QUIZ

Here we are again. Hope you enjoy.

1. In Wagner's opera 'Das Rheingold', what was the name of the dwarf who stole the gold from the Rhine maidens?
2. Lord Derby, Lord Kitchener and Queen of Hearts are all varieties of which fruit?
3. Which Asian capital city, with a name meaning 'muddy river mouth', is situated at the confluence of the rivers Klang and Gombak?
4. Which English buccaneer, sea captain and scientific observer became, in 1701, the first person to circumnavigate the globe twice?
5. According to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, who was compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Jesus as he was taken to his crucifixion?
6. Joseph McCarthy was a senator for which American state from 1947-1957?
7. Which American rock star survived the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran in April 1960?
8. Geologists believe that during the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic eras all the world’s landmass existed as a super continent, only later, during the Jurassic period, breaking into the separate continents we know today. What name is given to this hypothetical super continent?
9. Having won nine Olympic medals which country, with a population of 33,000, has won more Olympic medals per capita than any other?
10. The British sit-com 'Drop the Dead Donkey' was set in the offices of which news organisation?
11. Which Danish philosopher is regarded as the ‘Father of Existentialism’ and wrote the influential book 'Either/Or', in which he explored the phases of existence?
12. Which plant, used as a vegetable or ground in a condiment, is alternatively known as 'Red Cole'?
13. England's shortest county boundary stretches just 19 metres between Lincolnshire and which county?
14. Who was murdered by William Walworth, the Lord Mayor of London, on 15th July 1381?
15. Deriving ultimately from the Arabic for 'easterners', which word was used by the Romans to describe a nomadic Arab tribe from the Sinai Desert, and later, to describe any Muslim?
16. What is the name of the autonomous police force of the Basque Country?
17. Which group of the 1960s was the first group to have its first three singles all reach number one in the UK charts?
18. There are 11 chemical elements that were known in prehistoric times: gold, silver, carbon, copper, iron, mercury, lead, sulphur and tin were nine of those. Name the other two.
19. Since the inauguration of the Open Era in 1968, which tennis player holds the record for appearing in the most men's singles Grand Slam finals?
20. Which enfant terrible of American art directed the 2000 film 'Before Night Falls', starring Javier Bardem and Johnny Depp?
21. In the poems of Edward Lear, which creature wore a hat that was 102ft wide?
22. Which fruit, native to South America, is sometimes called the tree tomato because of its superficial resemblance to the tomato?
23. Which country became landlocked after losing its corridor to the sea after the War of the Pacific in 1884?
24. Which European capital city was known to the Romans as Aquincum?
25. What is the name of the vessel in which Holy Communion bread is carried?
26. Which Central American country adopted the US dollar as its official unit of currency in 2001?
27. Which famous singer featured, although uncredited, with Meat Loaf in the hit duet 'Dead Ringer For Love' in 1981?
28. The giant bird Dinornis robustus, found on New Zealand, was unique in the bird kingdom in having no wings. It stood at up to 10ft tall but was hunted to extinction around 1500 by early Polynesian settlers. By what name is this bird commonly known?
29. The governing body of which sport is called the Federation Internationale d'Escrime?
30. Stephen Fry's 2003 film 'Bright Young Things' was a screen adaptation of which of Evelyn Waugh's novels?


And you like? To the answers:


1. ALBERICH
2. GOOSEBERRY
3. KUALA LUMPUR
4. WILLIAM DAMPIER
5. SIMON OF CYRENE
6. WISCONSIN
7. GENE VINCENT
8. PANGAEA
9. LIECHTENSTEIN
10. GLOBELINK NEWS
11. SØREN KIERKEGAARD
12. HORSERADISH
13. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
14. WAT TYLER
15. SARACEN
16. ERZAINTZA
17. GERRY & THE PACEMAKERS
18. ANTIMONY and ARSENIC
19. IVAN LENDL
20. JULIAN SCHNABEL
21. QUANGLE WANGLE
22. TAMARILLO
23. BOLIVIA
24. BUDAPEST
25. PYX
26. EL SALVADOR
27. CHER
28. MOA
29. FENCING
30. VILE BODIES

Tuesday 22 May 2007

THE 10th TUESDAY QUIZ

Hello again. Let us take another wander down trivia lane. Where will it lead, I wonder?


1. Which American composer wrote 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' and 'The Washington Post'?
2. When it was introduced to Europe from Latin America in the sixteenth century this fruit was thought to be poisonous and prized only for its flowers; which fruit?
3. Hilbre Island is a wildlife sanctuary found at the mouth of the estuary of which river?
4. What was the name of the Bosnian Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914?
5. Deriving from the Ancient Hebrew for 'raw material', what name is given to the animated being created entirely from inanimate matter found in Jewish folklore?
6. Stanislav Shushkevich became the first President of which of the former Soviet States in 1991?
7. In 1983, 'Only You' became the first a capella number 1 hit in the UK; which group recorded it?
8. Bubo virginianus, a large owl native to the Americas, is, as a result of its almost non-existent sense of smell, the only creature to routinely hunt skunks. What is its common name?
9. How many points are needed to win a standard game of cribbage?
10. Which famous actor was left permanently disfigured after he was involved in a serious car accident in 1956 whilst filming the movie 'Raintree County'?
11. In the novel by Anne Brontë, what was the name of the Tenant of Wildfell Hall?
12. Which vegetable is the primary ingredient in the Sicilian vegetable spread called caponata?
13. Inhabitants of which country, refer to their nation as Druk Yul, which translates as 'Land of the Thunder Dragon'?
14. What was the name of the hard-drinking racing driver who was murdered by his lover Ruth Ellis in Hampstead in 1955?
15. In Greek mythology, what was the name of the never-sleeping, hundred headed dragon that guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides?
16. Which is the only member of the Commonwealth never to have been a British colony or dependency at any time in its history?
17. Which American country singer, who toured with her daughters as backing singers, was known as the 'Mother of Country Music'?
18. Which astronomic unit of measurement is equal to 3.26 light years?
19. In which French town was the first Winter Olympic Games held in 1924?
20. Which composer wrote the scores for Sergei Eisenstein's films 'Ivan the Terrible' and 'Alexander Nevsky'?
21. Which talented but massively arrogant German-born portrait painter, who died in 1723 having painted every English monarch from Charles II to George II, stated that the world would have been a better place had God consulted him at the Creation?
22. Which rich sauce made from egg yolks, butter, shallots, tarragon, chervil and wine vinegar is named after a region of South West France?
23. Which island off the westernmost tip of the Isles of Scilly is famous for its lighthouse and is listed in 'The Guinness Book of Records' as the smallest island in the world?
24. In which town at the foot of the Berkshire Downs in Oxfordshire is King Alfred the Great said to have been born?
25. In the Bible, who was the eldest son of Cain?
26. In which city was the Organisation of African Unity founded in 1963?
27. Which pop group, that had hits in the 1990s with 'Glory Box' and 'All Mine', are named after a small town in Somerset?
28. What name is given to the order of mammals, including the platypus and the echidna, that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young like marsupials and placental mammals?
29. The world record for which men's athletics event is the only world record of any event never to have been broken at an Olympic Games?
30. Who wrote the novella upon which the 1991 film 'The Ballad of the Sad Cafe', starring Vanessa Redgrave, was based?


Satisfied? You knew them all, didn't you? Well, some I hope! The answers, then:


1. JOHN PHILIP SOUSA
2. TOMATO
3. DEE
4. GAVRILO PRINCIP
5. GOLEM
6. BELARUS
7. FLYING PICKETS
8. GREAT HORNED OWL
9. 121
10. MONTGOMERY CLIFT
11. HELEN GRAHAM
12. AUBERGINE
13. BHUTAN
14. DAVID BLAKELEY
15. LADON
16. MOZAMBIQUE
17. MAYBELLE CARTER
18. PARSEC
19. CHAMONIX
20. SERGEI PROKOFIEV
21. GODFREY KNELLER
22. BÉARNAISE
23. BISHOP ROCK
24. WANTAGE
25. ENOCH
26. ADDIS ABABA
27. PORTISHEAD
28. MONOTREMES (or MONOTREMATA)
29. DISCUS
30. CARSON McCULLERS

Tuesday 15 May 2007

THE 9th TUESDAY QUIZ

Welcome back. This week there are some real toughies but a fair few 'easy' (relatively speaking, of course) questions too. Hope you enjoy.


1. What was the name of the famous nightclub founded by the artist Hugo Ball in Zurich in 1916 that proved pivotal in the founding of the anarchic art movement known as Dada?
2. What name is given to the supposed hangover-curing cocktail consisting of a raw egg swallowed whole with Worcestershire sauce and, sometimes, sherry?
3. The Bismarck Archipelago, that was annexed by Germany in 1884, is part of which country?
4. Which Roman Emperor, the last pagan Emperor of Rome who rose to power in 361 AD, rejected Christianity and converted to Theurgy?
5. The Sun-goddess Amaterasu is perhaps the most important deity of which religion?
6. Which former President of Uruguay was arrested in 2006 in connection with the assassination of two Uruguayan congressmen in 1976?
7. Ronnie van Zant, who died in a plane crash in 1977, was the lead singer with which American rock group?
8. The mammalian order Lagamorpha contains rabbits, hares and which other mammal, native to Eastern Europe, Asia and North America?
9. What would a hobophilist collect?
10. In the sit-com 'Yes, Minister', what was the name of the newspaper edited by Jim Hacker before he entered parliament?
11. What is the title of the poem by Mrs Felicia Hemans, named after a French commander during the Battle of the Nile, that begins with the line, 'The boy stood on the burning deck'?
12. Which edible wild plant found in coastal Britain is sometimes referred to as 'poor man's asparagus' or 'sea asparagus'?
13. Milwaukee Deep is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean and is located in which oceanic trench?
14. In which town was the Scottish Declaration of Independence signed in 1320?
15. In Norse mythology, what was the name of the rainbow bridge which connects the Earth with Asgard, the realm of the gods?
16. Which Japanese author committed seppuku after failing in an attempted coup in 1970?
17. Which British pop act scored zero points at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest with their song 'Cry Baby'?
18. Although many people believe it to be octopi, what is the only correct plural of octopus, other than octopuses?
19. Who is the only footballer to have scored hat-tricks in the Premiership, Championship, 1st Division, 2nd Division, FA Cup, League Cup and in a full International match?
20. The famous films 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' and 'The Planet of the Apes' were both based on novels by which French author?
21. Which esteemed Polish-French artist, who died in 2001, is best known for his disturbing paintings of adolescent girls in an erotic context?
22. Midori is a Japanese liqueur flavoured with which fruit?
23. What is the name of the stretch of water that separates Tamil Nadu state in India from Sri Lanka?
24. The subject of a famous painting by John Singleton Copley, who led the British forces at the Battle of Jersey in 1781?
25. How many years are there in a coral anniversary?
26. Which was the first of the United States of America to give women the vote?
27. The Rolling Stones took their name from a song, recorded in 1950, by which American blues musician?
28. Named after the Italian astronomer who discovered it, what name is given to the thin black gap between the two most prominent of Saturn's rings?
29. Winning 18 medals, including nine golds, between 1956 and 1964, which Soviet gymnast is the biggest medal winner of all time at the Summer Olympics?
30. Which 1968 film, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, was based on Tennessee Williams' play 'The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More'?


A couple of really meaty ones there. Award yourself bonus points for getting the answers to questions 6 and 24 in particular - stinkers! The answers:


1. CABARET VOLTAIRE
2. PRAIRIE OYSTER
3. PAPUA NEW GUINEA
4. JULIAN THE APOSTATE
5. SHINTOISM
6. JUAN MARÍA BORDABERRY
7. LYNYRD SKYNYRD
8. PIKA
9. GARDEN GNOMES
10. REFORM
11. CASABIANCA
12. SAMPHIRE (or ROCK SAMPHIRE)
13. PUERTO RICO TRENCH
14. ARBROATH
15. BIFROST
16. YUKIO MISHIMA
17. JEMINI
18. OCTOPODES
19. ROBERT EARNSHAW
20. PIERRE BOULLE
21. BALTHUS
22. MELON
23. PALK STRAIT
24. MAJOR FRANCIS PEIRSON
25. 35
26. WYOMING
27. MUDDY WATERS
28. CASSINI DIVISION
29. LARISSA LATYNINA
30. BOOM!

Tuesday 8 May 2007

THE 8th TUESDAY QUIZ

Hi there. There's some good ones this week!

1. King George IV paid which Swiss artist £200 for his painting 'The Nubian Giraffe' in 1827?
2. Which type of pasta translates from the Italian as 'little ears'?
3. In terms of population, Helsinki is the largest city in Finland. Which is the second largest?
4. Choosing Trajan as his heir in 96 AD, which Roman Emperor, who died two years later, was the first Emperor to select his successor by his capabilities rather than paternal relations?
5. Who was the 17th Century Anglican Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland who famously calculated the date of creation as 22nd October, 4004 BC?
6. What was the name of the Tom Taylor play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated in 1865?
7. Which album by U2 took its name from a line in the Mel Brooks film 'The Producers'?
8. Which mammal, found in South and Central America, is the only aquatic marsupial?
9. Rosenborg are the most successful team in Norwegian football league history; in which city do they play their home games?
10. What is the occupation of the title character in the musical 'Hello, Dolly!'?
11. Which Dutch painter, who moved to England in 1870 and was knighted by Queen Victoria, designed the set for Henry Irving's 1901 production of 'Coriolanus' at the Lyceum Theatre in London?
12. Who was the French chef at the Savoy Hotel who created the classic dessert, Peach Melba, in the 1890s?
13. What is the name of the supposedly magical stone that stands on the Hill of Tara in Ireland?
14. What was the name of the Russian submarine that sank in the Barents Sea in 2000, killing 118 people?
15. Which First Century saint, and Doctor of the Church, wrote 'The City of God' and 'Confessions'?
16. Who is the Italian politician, convicted of having Mafia contacts, who served as Italian Prime Minister on three occasions between 1972 and 1992?
17. From 1964 to 1966, which famous singer-songwriter was the lead singer of the group Them?
18. Bruxism is the medical name for which involuntary neuromuscular activity that often occurs during sleep?
19. At which racecourse is the Kentucky Derby run?
20. What was the last of the series of 'Road to…' movies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, released in 1962?
21. Which Latin phrase, that translates literally as 'a god from a machine', refers to the practice in Greek drama of introducing a god or other improbable device to resolve a conflict in the plot?
22. The jujube is a fruit that has been cultivated in China and India for over 4,000 years; by what name is it better known in the UK?
23. Which island nation in the Indian Ocean was known as Ile de France during the 18th Century?
24. What was the name of the horse ridden by Lord Cardigan at the Charge of the Light Brigade?
25. Who is the mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology who is said to have created Giant's Causeway as a series of stepping stones to Scotland?
26. Of which African tribe was Nelson Mandela born a royal?
27. In July 1954, both Frank Sinatra and the Four Aces had top 5 hits with the same song; which song?
28. Named after a prominent Pakistani-born American astrophysicist, what name is given to the maximum possible mass of a stable cold star, above which it must collapse into a black hole?
29. Who won the Formula 1 World Championship in 1970, despite being killed three races before the end of the season?
30. Which 1971 film starring Vincent Price tells the story of a disfigured musical genius seeking to avenge the death of his wife?


How did you do? Let's take a look:


1. JACQUES-LAURENT AGASSE
2. ORECCHIETTE
3. ESPOO
4. NERVA
5. JAMES USSHER
6. OUR AMERICAN COUSIN
7. ACHTUNG BABY
8. YAPOK (or WATER OPOSSUM)
9. TRONDHEIM
10. MATCHMAKER
11. LAWRENCE ALMA-TADEMA
12. AUGUSTE ESCOFFIER
13. LIA FAIL
14. KURSK
15. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
16. GIULIO ANDREOTTI
17. VAN MORRISON
18. TEETH GRINDING
19. CHURCHILL DOWNS
20. ROAD TO HONG KONG
21. DEUS EX MACHINA
22. CHINESE DATE
23. MAURITIUS
24. RONALD
25. FINN McCOOL
26. TEMBU
27. THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN
28. CHANDRASEKHAR LIMIT
29. JOCHEN RINDT
30. THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES

Tuesday 1 May 2007

THE 7th TUESDAY QUIZ

Back once again for another 30 questions. Hope you enjoy these:

1. Which 20th-Century French poet, who fought during the First World War, is best known for his collection of concrete poetry entitled 'Calligrammes'?
2. On which island is the spirit Zivania traditionally produced?
3. Which is the only American state to have a flag that shows different designs on the front and back?
4. What was the name of the horse that was reputedly made a consul by the Roman Emperor Caligula?
5. Which book of the Old Testament tells the story of the destruction of the Wall of Jericho?
6. What name was given to the Republican political activists who supported the Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the US Presidential election of 1884 because they rejected the financial corruption associated with Republican candidate James Blaine?
7. Which 1996 number 1 hit for The Chemical Brothers featured vocals from Noel Gallagher of Oasis?
8. Discovered in 2003, and named after the Greek goddess of strife and discord, which is the largest dwarf planet in our solar system?
9. Who was the American female athlete who despite breaking the world record could only finish second to Britain's Sally Gunnell in the final of the 400m hurdles at the 1992 Olympic Games?
10. In 1927, 'The Jazz Singer' became the first full length movie to include talking. Which actor and singer was the first person to talk in the film, thereby becoming the first person to speak in a full-length talkie?
11. In the Beano, what is the name of Beryl the Peril's dog?
12. Named after the American who invented it, what name is given to the hybrid fruit that is a cross between a blackberry, a raspberry and a loganberry?
13. Which city in New South Wales, the second oldest city in Australia and a former penal colony, is home to the world’s largest coal export harbour?
14. Which battle of August 1810 saw Napoleon's only naval victory over the British?
15. In Greek mythology, what was the name of the sea-monster with twelve legs, a fish's tail and six long necks, each with a grisly head containing three rows of teeth?
16. Excluding independents, how many political parties are currently represented in the House of Commons?
17. The rock group The Eagles began as the backing group for which American singer?
18. Which species of parrot, native to New Zealand, is known as the feathered wolf because of its reputation for attacking and killing sheep?
19. Which sport, incorporating rules from squash and handball, was invented by the American Joe Sobek in 1948?
20. The word paparazzi is taken from the name of a character in which film?
21. Deriving from the Spanish for ‘rogue’, what name is given to a popular subgenre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts in realistic and often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his or her wits in a corrupt society?
22. Chinese Restaurant Syndrome is the name given a collection of symptoms which may include headaches, flushing and sweating and is commonly believed to be caused by which food additive?
23. Which famous French aviator and writer gave his name to the international airport serving Lyon?
24. Whom did the Japanese government present with a guide dog named 'Kenzan-go' in 1939?
25. Which former Soviet state became, in AD 301, the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion?
26. Which British MP became the world's first person to be killed by a train when he was hit by Stephenson's 'Rocket' in 1830?
27. 'In Praise of Lemmings' was the original name of which 80s pop group?
28. What was the pen-name of the 13th Century Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa?
29. The name of which martial art derives from the Japanese for 'gentle combat'?
30. The controversial 1996 film 'Crash', directed by David Cronenberg, was based on a novel by which British author?


I think it may be getting a little easier. Tell me what you think.


1. GUILLAUME APOLLINAIRE
2. CYPRUS
3. OREGON
4. INCITATUS
5. JOSHUA
6. MUGWUMPS
7. SETTING SUN
8. ERIS
9. SANDRA FARMER-PATRICK
10. AL JOLSON
11. PEARL
12. BOYSENBERRY
13. NEWCASTLE
14. BATTLE OF GRAND PORT
15. SCYLLA
16. 11
17. LINDA RONSTADT
18. KEA
19. RACQUETBALL
20. LA DOLCE VITA
21. PICARESQUE
22. MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE
23. ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY
24. HELEN KELLER
25. ARMENIA
26. WILLIAM HUSKISSON
27. CULTURE CLUB
28. FIBONACCI
29. JUJITSU
30. JG BALLARD