These questions were inspired by those set for use in Weeks 7 and 8 of the 2023–4 season in Macclesfield Quiz League,
by the Nags Head (questions 1 to 18) and the Waters Green Nags (19 to 44).
Which BBC television sitcom, first broadcast from 2019 to 2023, is set in Button House – a vast but crumbling
mansion that's been inherited by Alison Cooper (played by Charlotte Ritchie)? |
|
Ghosts |
According to Wikipedia, where Madonna is the Queen of Pop, who is "often referred to in the media" as the
Goddess of Pop? |
|
Cher |
Who presents the British version of the BBC reality television game show The Traitors? |
|
Claudia Winkleman |
What type of bird appears in the logo of Germany's 'flag carrier' airline, Lufthansa? |
|
A crane |
In a national poll carried out in 2015, which bird was chosen as Britain's National Bird? |
|
The robin |
What was the name of Bruce Hornsby's backing band (on his first three albums and related singles, including
That's Just the Way It Is – his greatest hit)? |
|
The Range |
Which Sri Lankan batter became the first to be timed out in international cricket, during a group stage match against
Bangladesh at the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India? |
|
Angelo Mathews |
Who became the first female referee in a men's Premier League game, at a match between Fulham and Burnley in
December 2023? |
|
Rebecca Welch |
'Zion' is a metonym for which Middle Eastern city? |
|
Jerusalem |
In association football: following a rule change that took effect in 1998, for how long is a goalkeeper allowed to
hold on to the ball? |
|
Six seconds |
On board a ship or boat, what is a painter? |
|
A rope |
Which river rises in the Trossachs, and gives its name to the estuary on whose banks Leith, the port of Edinburgh,
and the former naval dockyard of Rosyth stand? |
|
The Forth |
Who passed Jonny Wilkinson's total to become England's leading points scorer in rugby union, during the 2023
World Cup? |
|
Owen Farrell |
In baseball, what's the ironic name for a pitch that the batter misses, or fails to hit into the field of play? |
|
A strike |
In the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army, what four words appeared at the start of the closing credits? |
|
You have been watching |
Who played Jean Valjean in the 2012 film version of the musical Les Misérables? |
|
Hugh Jackman |
In musical theory, what term is used to refer to a note that's neither a sharp nor a flat? |
|
A natural |
Which hotel was built on Park Avenue, New York, in 1931 – to replace two hotels, built side by side on Fifth Avenue
in 1893 by feuding relatives, which were razed in 1929 to make way for the Empire State Building? |
|
The Waldorf Astoria |
What was designated in 1947 as Scotland's first New Town, and is now its sixth largest town or city by population? |
|
East Kilbride |
Which Cardiff–born Rugby League legend, of part African heritage, is Wigan RLFC's record try scorer, and won
31 caps for Great Britain between 1952 and 1964? |
|
Billy Boston |
Which high–energy dance, originating in French music hall in the early 19th century, was made famous in the 1890s
by professional dancers such as La Goulue (Louise Weber) and Jane Avril – both regular performers at the Moulin Rouge in Paris? |
|
The can–can |
Which style of dance originated as a folk dance in Austria and Bavaria in the 17th century, and became fashionable in
Britain during the Regency period, when (for the first time) couples danced in "closed position" (with actual body contact)? |
|
The waltz |
Which American Nobel prize winner wrote a book entitled The Double Helix (subtitled A Personal Account of
the Discovery of the Structure of DNA, and first published in 1968)? |
|
James D. Watson |
In Alice in Wonderland, which character sings about "Soup of the evening, beautiful soup"? |
|
The Mock Turtle |
Who was the last king to be crowned in Scotland? |
|
Charles II (in 1651) |
The Beqaa or Bekaa Valley produces 90% of the wines of which Mediterranean country? |
|
Lebanon |
How many lines were there to the picture, in the original BBC television service (the first fully electronic television
system to be used in regular broadcasting)? |
|
405 |
How old was Yuri Gagarin when he became the first human being in space? |
|
27 years, 34 days |
Which American entertainer went missing in action on 15 December 1944, over the English Channel, while on a flight to
Paris from the RAF Training Unit at RAF Twinwood Farm, near Bedford (while serving with the US Army Air Forces)? |
|
Glenn Miller |
Stratfield Saye House, near Basingstoke in Hampshire, has been home to which Dukes since 1817? |
|
The Dukes of Wellington |
Who wrote the poem entitled Man was Made to Mourn, which includes the lines "Man's inhumanity to man
/ Makes countless thousands mourn"? |
|
Robert Burns |
Which city hosted the 2022 Commonwealth Games? |
|
Birmingham |
In information technology, what does the abbreviation VPN stand for? |
|
Virtual Private Network |
Who came out of retirement in 2022, to succeed Cressida Dick as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police? |
|
Mark Rowley |
An extract from The Schickel Shamble (written by Ron Goodwin for the 1969 film Monte Carlo or Bust)
is the theme tune to which long–running BBC Radio 4 comedy programme? |
|
I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue |
Which football club was the first to win the FA Cup in successive years, in the 20th century? |
|
Newcastle United (1951–2) |
Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio – first performed in 1839 – was the first opera by which composer? |
|
Giuseppe Verdi |
Koplik's spots – forming in the mouth – are an early sign of which highly infectious disease, once
common in childhood? |
|
Measles |
Who became director of football operations at Manchester United FC, after Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS Group purchased
25 per cent of the club? |
|
Dave Brailsford |
Britain's first commemorative postage stamps were issued in 1924, to commemorate which event? |
|
The British Empire Exhibition |
Sir Brian Langstaff chaired the inquiry into which medical scandal? The inquiry lasted from 2018 to 2024. |
|
Infected blood |
Blyth is the largest settlement in which English county? |
|
Northumberland |
Which Australian media tycoon founded World Series Cricket in 1977? |
|
Kerry Packer |
Which French word is used in English for a type of clear soup made from richly flavoured stock or broth that has been
clarified, using egg whites to remove fat and sediment? (Its English translation is a synonym to 'eaten' or 'drunk'.) |
|
Consommé |