Latest questions: 15 September 2020

This week's questions have been gleaned from those set for use in the Knockout quarter–finals, and Weeks 19 and 20 of the 2018–19 season in Stockport Quiz League, by the Fiveways (Questions 1 to 12), the Railway (Questions 13 to 26) and the Tiviot (Questions 27 to 41).

What is the most abundant and most potent greenhouse gas in the Earth's atmosphere?		Water vapour
Who provided the voiceover for Carlsberg's "Probably the best lager in the world" TV advert in 1975?		Orson Welles
Which veteran English broadcaster shares his name with the character played by Bill Murray in the 2003 film Lost in Translation?		Bob Harris
Giving its name to the Sound that separates it from the Scottish mainland, what is the southernmost peninsula of the Isle of Skye?		Sleat
As heard on the BBC Shipping Forecast, what are Channel, Greenwich and Sandettie?		Lightvessels
Which classic cocktail shares its name with a hand tool used for drilling small holes?		Gimlet
In the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, a character remarks that Bond looks like which American singer, songwriter and actor?		Hoagy Carmichael
A colony of which type of exotic mammal was established in the English Peak District, after five individuals escaped from a local zoo around 1940?		Wallabies
Which New Zealand city has a unique concentration of 1930s Art Deco architecture, built after much of the city was destroyed in the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake		Napier
Which novel by Charles Dickens consists of three parts, entitled (respectively) Recalled to Life, The Golden Thread, and The Track of a Storm?		A Tale of Two Cities
In Cornwall, what is a 'wheal'?		A mine
Which British double agent – falsely believed by the Nazis to be their top spy in Britain – was known to the British as Agent Zigzag and to the Germans as Fritz? He died in 1997, aged 83, but has been the subject of various books, films and television documentaries.		Eddie Chapman
Who designed the Natural History Museum in London, and is commemorated in the name of a public house in the Wetherspoon chain, which stands on Princess Street, in the shadow of Manchester Town Hall – which he also designed?		Alfred Waterhouse
Who played the male lead, opposite Judy Garland, in the 1948 film Easter Parade?		Fred Astaire
What name did Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge – famously a big fan of Abba – give to his son?		Fernando
Which football club has won the European Cup and Champions League, once each, but has been the runner–up a total of seven times – more than any other club?		Juventus
Which group of islands, between Guadeloupe and Dominica, gave its name to a battle that took place in 1782, when a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse (who was captured), forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned invasion of Jamaica? The battle is known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique (the Battle of Dominica)		The Saintes
Which Swiss–born actor played Adolf Hitler in the internationally–acclaimed German film Der Untergang (2004 – known in English as Downfall)? He died in 2019, aged 77		Bruno Ganz
Bangor is the largest town in which of the six counties of Northern Ireland?		Down
Manrico is the title character in which opera, with music by Verdi?		Il Trovatore
Which American river was named after the English nobleman who was the first colonial governor of Virginia, and gives that name (in turn) to a Native American people, and to the second smallest US state?		The Delaware River
Which American mobile surface–to–air missile gained notoriety when used (with disputed success rates) against Iraqi Scuds in the First Gulf War (of 1991?)		(MIM–104) Patriot
Ahura Mazda (meaning 'Wise Lord') is the supreme deity of which ancient religion, dating at least to the 5th century BC and named after its Iranian founder?		Zoroastrianism
Which African country left the Commonwealth in 2013, but rejoined in 2018?		The Gambia
'Paronomasia' is another word for what figure of speech?		A pun
Which city lies near the south–western extremity of New Zealand's North Island, and its closest point to the South Island?		Wellington
Created at Stellenbosch University in 1925, what is South Africa's signature red wine grape variety?		Pinotage
Which "anti–art" movement may be said to have begun in Zurich during the First World War, with the publication of its Manifesto by the German poet Hugo Ball?		Dada(ism)
Ranked as World No. 1 for four weeks in the summer of 2020, what is the nationality of the golfer Jon Rahm?		Spanish
Conceived as a children's programme and first broadcast on ITV between 1967 and 1969, which show starred Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, David Jason, Denise Coffey and the Bonzo Dog Doo–Dah Band?		Do Not Adjust Your Set
In The Archers, what was the name of Linda Snell's dog – a German Shepherd cross, which died in 2016, and after which Toby Fairbrother named his gin?		Scruff
Which fictional detective was created by Agatha Christie and appeared in a short story collection first published in 1936 – with his name in the title?		Parker Pyne
The supernatural temptation of which 4th–century Greek monk, while living as a hermit in the Egyptian desert, has been the subject of works by Michelangelo, Hieronymus Bosch, Salvador Dali and Max Ernst, amongst others?		St. Anthony
Which Irish revolutionary leader died in mysterious circumstaces, a week after being sentenced to death for his part in the unsuccessful Rebellion of 1798, and is widely believed to have committed suicide while in prison?		(Theobald) Wolfe Tone
Name either of the two consecutive years spanned by the UK's so–called Winter of Discontent (a period of industrial strife, leading to the downfall of a government).		1978 or 1979
What's the Russian name for the world's tenth longest river – which forms most of its border with China, and is known in China as the Heilong Jiang?		The Amur
Which Czech artist, who lived in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, is best known for his distinctly stylized and decorative theatrical posters, particularly of Sarah Bernhardt?		Alfons (Alphonse) Mucha
Who scored a record seven tries in the 2018 Six Nations, as Ireland won the Grand Slam?		Jacob Stockdale
In which English county are the Hangman cliffs (Great and Little Hangman) – Britain's highest sea cliffs?		Devon
Which country is 81% Hindu, and has the world's second largest Hindu population after India – with 21.5 million adherents in 2019?		Nepal
Why was Fiona Onasanya MP in the news in 2018 and 2019?		Imprisoned (see note)

© Haydn Thompson 2020