Latest questions: 3 October 2023

These questions were inspired by those set for use in Round 1 and the Final of the Cup competition in the 2022–3 season in Macclesfield Quiz League. The questions for Round 1 were set by the Nags Head 'B' (ably asisted by the Waters Green Weavers); those for the Final were compiled by the by the Nags Head 'B' from those provided by all non–participating teams.

In the Wessex novels of Thomas Hardy – particularly Jude the Obscure – which real–life city is represented by Christminster?		Oxford
Credited to Chef, what was the first new UK No. 1 of 1999?		Chocolate Salty Balls
Which car manufacturer has used the advertising slogan " For Life" since 1999?		Volvo
The name of which rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979, was inspired by the title of a book published in 1977, four years after its author's death?		Marillion
Who read First Voice in the original BBC Radio production of Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood – speaking the opening words, "To begin at the beginning ..."		Richard Burton
Which rhyming phrase, coined in 1992 by the writer Terence Blacker to describe the novels of Joanna Trollope, has come to be used to describe any family–based story dealing with British middle–class country or village life?		Aga saga
Jack Hoggan is the real name of which British artist?		Jack Vettriano
In which crime drama television series did the eponymous private detective drive a Pontiac Firebird, registration 853 OKG?		The Rockford Files
In which English city is the Hepworth art museum – established in 2011 and named after the artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth, who was born and educated there?		Wakefield
Produced by Pixar and released by Disney in 2009, what was the second animated film (after Disney's Beauty and the Beast in 1991) to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination?		Up
Which phrase, meaning 'in a state of nervous anticipation', is derived from the practice of stretching woollen cloth over a frame to prevent shrinkage?		On tenterhooks
Which musical closed in April 2023 after the longest run in Broadway history? It opened in 1988 and was performed 13,981 times.		The Phantom of the Opera
In The Simpsons, what's the nuclear–inspired name of Springfield's baseball team?		Springfield Isotopes
Which species of flightless bird, native to Australia, New Guinea and the Aru islands (Indonesia), is the second heaviest and third tallest living bird species (after the ostrich and, in the latter case, the emu)?		The (southern) Cassowary
Launched in 2018, Cupra Racing is the high–performance subsidiary of which European car manufacturer?		SEAT
Who, in 2022, became the first footballer to score in five World Cup Finals tournaments?		Cristiano Ronaldo
Which Scottish–born writer, active in the 19th century, came to be known as the Sage of Chelsea?		Thomas Carlyle
Which town gives its name to the major inlet on the coast of south–west Wales, into which the rivers Towy (Wales's longest), Taf, Gwendraeth and Loughor flow? Towns on its coastline include Laugharne (famous for Dylan Thomas's boathouse) and Tenby		Carmarthen
Jane Fairfax – a beautiful, bright, and elegant woman, with the best of manners – is the only character whom the title character envies, in which 19th century novel?		Emma (Jane Austen)
In the 2022 FIFA (Men's) World Cup, which country's team was beaten 7–0 by Spain in the Group stage?		Costa Rica
Which Monopoly playing piece was retired from the set in 2017, along with the wheelbarrow and shoe, but brought back in 2022?		The thimble
In sailing, what's the single–word name for the technique of following a zig–zag course, turning the bow of the boat either side of the direction from which the wind is coming, in order to sail into the wind (also known as 'coming about' or 'beating to windward')?		Tacking
What name, borrowed from Shakespeare (reputedly by Larry Lamb, Editor of The Sun), was used to refer to the period between November 1978 and February 1979 in the UK, characterised by widespread strikes by trade unions in the private, and later public, sector?		The Winter of Discontent
Which famous New York thoroughfare is named after a defensive structure built around 1653 on the orders of Peter Stuyvesant, Director General of the Dutch West India Company?		Wall Street
First performed in 1976 and always performed together, Dirty Linen and New–Found–Land are two short plays by which dramatist?		Tom Stoppard
Which word, commonly used in English in the field of finance, comes from the Old French words for 'death' and 'pledge'?		Mortgage

© Haydn Thompson 2023