Jesse - Set 1

In monopoly, how much do you get from each player if it's your birthday?

10

All eight sculptures in Carl Andre's Equivalent series contain how many bricks?

120

Usually shorter than a chemise, which sleeveless women's undergarment covers the top half of the body, usually to the waist but sometimes to the midriff?

Camisole

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission started touring which country in 2009 to heal the scars of the 'residential schools system'?

Canada

Which famous Danish director directed The Passion of Joan of Arc?

Carl Theodor Dreyer

Who played Apollo Creed in the Rocky films?

Carl Weathers

Who won the Tour De France in 2008?

Carlos Sastre

Which composer, born in 1810, compared his personality to a poisonous mushroom?

Chopin

Since 1960 who has the unfortunate record of losing in the women's singles final the most times (a total of seven)

Chris Evert

Which woman became the first female chef in Britain to run a 3-star restaurant when she took over from Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road?

Clare Smyth

Which disease is also called regional enteritis?

Crohn's Disease

Well-known players of which game include Richard Rodgers, Harpo Marx, Sam Goldwyn, Howard Hawks and Darryl Zanuck- all of whom are commemorated in its Hall of Fame?

Croquet

Which DJ and writer was Chris Evans and Billie Piper's best man?

Danny Baker

Who is represented in Rodin's sculpture 'The Thinker'?

Dante

Played on film by Ben Affleck, which comic book superhero is the alter ego of lawyer Matt Murdock?

Daredevil

The Ring cycle has been described as a cycle of three operas with a prologue. Which is the prologue?

Das Rheingold

Which British architect led the ten-year reconstruction of the Neues Museum in Berlin, destroyed by bombs during the Second World War and subjected to decades of neglect?

David Chipperfield

Who created The Wire?

David Simon

Which British writer is director of the charity Kids in Museums?

Dea Birkett

Which US protest singer, a hero in the Soviet Union and Latin America, committed suicide in 1987 and is the subject of the film Red Elvis?

Dean Read

What was the profession of the evangelist Luke?

Doctor

Which series of Doctor Who episodes, released in 2010, are four interactive adventures?

Doctor Who:The Adventure Games

When Stephen Fry fled the production of Cell Mates in a 'fit of pique' in 1995, which real-life man had he been playing in the film?

George Blake

Who was American Chief of Staff in WW2?

George C Marshall

Martin Shaw played on TV in the 2000s Judge John Deed and which Inspector?

George Gently

Which English furnituremaker published the Cabinetmaker and Upholsterer's Guide, and had his workshop in St Giles Cripplegate?

George Hepplewhite

The Egoist and Diana of the Crossways are novels by which c19 author?

George Meredith

The Kristo Asafo, or Christ Reformed Church, founded by Apostle Asafo in 1971, is renowned for its investment in agriculture, manufacturing and industry in which African country?

Ghana

What is the name of the world's largest antelope?

Giant Eland

In 1978, who was the last British player to win a singles title at the All-England Badminton Championships, the second of her two wins?

Gillian Gilks

Which other drink can be mixed with beer to make shandy as well as lemonade?

Ginger beer

Which was the only cyclist to have won the Tour de France before and after WW2, with the longest ever gap between victories, and did the same thing in the Giro D'Italia?

Gino Bartali

Marlon Brando was born on this day in 1924 - he was nominated for 8 acting Oscars during his lifetime - for which film did he receive his first nomination in 1952?

A Streetcar Named Desire

In Len Deighton's novel the Ipcress File, who or what was Ipcress?

A brain-washing technique

What kind of food is a gugelhupf?

A cake

The eulachon fish becomes so fat during spawning that its body can be dried and used as what?

A candle

In pool, which shot is the equivalent of a 'plant' in snooker?

A combination

The panga or tapanga in Southern Africa is what?

A machete

According to the King James bible, what maketh a cheerful countenance?

A merry heart

In the film Moonraker, Moonraker is a space shuttle. What is Moonraker in the book?

A nuclear missile

From the Choctaw language, what does the word 'bobbasheely' mean in the southern US?

A very close friend

Which TV adventurer had a sidekick called Georgina Jones and had the names Cornelius Chance, Dick Daring and Darius Crud rejected before settling on his eventual name?

Adam Adamant

What was George Eliot's first novel?

Adam Bede

What kind of fog forms when air cools to dew point by travelling across a colder surface such as sea or snow?

Advection fog

In Australian English, what is an 'esky'?

An ice box

Which adjective, from the Greek for 'to hide away' describes a story about somebody that may be of doubtful authenticity?

Apocryphal

Who in 1897 were the first ever winners of the Rugby League Challenge Cup?

Batley

Which major battle between Muslim Arab forces and the armies of the East Roman-Byzantine Empire in 636, near what is today the border between Syria and Jordan was a complete Muslim victory which permanently ended Byzantine rule south of Anatolia?

Battle of Yarmuk

What is the name of the Oldham RL team?

Bears

What was Dame Edna Everage's maiden name?

Beasley

Michael and Xochi Birch founded which social networking site?

Bebo

The H bone is a British cut of which meat?

Beef

Who won the US Masters in 1984 and 1995 and captained the victorious Ryder Cup team of 1999?

Ben Crenshaw

Which BBC TV presenter is the son of actress Julia Foster?

Ben Fogle

Which actor is the son of the actors Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham?

Benedict Cumberbatch

Haakonshallen Castle, the oldest in Norway, is in which city?

Bergen

Player William A Spinks was the co-inventor of which innovation in carom billards?

Billiard chalk

Who wrote the autobiography 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl?

Grayson Perry

Which predator is sometimes called a White Pointer?

Great White Shark

What is the largest bat in Europe, that can sometimes take small birds?

Greater Noctule

What was being described? 'Thou still unravished bride of quietness, thou foster-child of silence and slow time?'

Grecian Urn

Which European language uses a semi-colon to represent a question mark?

Greek

Kuupik Kleist is the PM of which self-governing territory?

Greenland

Which Pope launched the Inquisition with the words 'It is the duty of every Catholic to persecute heretics'?

Gregory IX

Which Pope, who reigned from 1073 to 1085, claimed infallibility was ceded to the Catholic Church by God and that it had never erred, 'nor can it err until the end of time'?

Gregory VII

What is the colour of a 5 Euro banknote?

Grey

Which ecclesiastical term decribes an appointed form of public prayer consisting of a series of supplications, deprecations, or intercessions in which the clergy lead and the people respond?

Litany

The Seimas is the parliament of which EU member state?

Lithuania

Sir Norman Fumble is a scandal-prone MP in which comedy series?

Little Britain

Which English city gives its name to a show jumping obstacle that takes the form of a vertical jump with a small pool of water at the bottom on the landing side?

Liverpool

Which team won the 1986 FA Cup final without an Englishman in the side?

Liverpool

Of which American president was it said by General Edward Bragg in nominating him as Democratic Party candidate in 1884 'They love him most for the enemies he has made'?

Grover Cleveland

Which US President opted to have dangerous surgery for cancer of the jaw performed on board his yacht at sea because he wanted to cover up how ill he was?

Grover Cleveland

Gwo ka, literally meaning 'big drum' is the folk music of which Caribbean island?

Guadeloupe

At 2001 feet (610 metres) what is the world's second tallest concrete tower after the Burj Khalifa?

Guangzhou TV and Sightseeing Tower

Born in 1870, who rediscovered Transcendental Meditation, popularised in the 1960s by his disciple Maharishi Mahesh Yogi?

Guru Dev

Shenzhen, Pyongyang and Burma Chronicles are graphic novels inspired by the time which Canadian comic boook author spent in Asia?

Guy Delisle

The notorious Boston art robbery that led to Rembrandt's only seascape vanishing also meant the disappearance of works by which other two artists?

Manet and Vermeer

Which band shared their name with a 1925 novel of New York city in the Jazz Age as told through a series of overlapping stories?

Manhattan Transfer

Which Latin word, meaning 'handful', what was the main tactical unit in Roman Legions until the cohort replaced it?

Maniple

Which style of art, from the Italian for 'style' is given to the Italian school of painting from 1520 to about 1590, notable for its elongated figures?

Mannerism

What was the surname of the man who invented italic type at his Aldine press?

Manutius

Her work depicted the everyday life of urban African Americans. In 1985 she became Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Who had earlier been the first African American poet to win a Pulitzer Prize, for her 1949 collection 'Annie Allen'?

Gwendolyn BROOKS

Which British Prime Minister maintained a secret correspondence with Venetia Stanley?

H H Asquith

Who was Prime Minister of Gt. Britain, under whose premiership the Life Peerages Act was introduced?

HAROLD MACMILLAN

Which new submarine, launched in 2010, had her keel laid on 31 January 2001, 100 years to the day since the keel was laid on the first submarine, Holland One?

HMS Astute

Which submarine sank the Belgrano?

HMS Conqueror

What was the name of the ship from which British sailors were taken hostage by Iranians in 2007?

HMS Cornwall

Which model railway gauge equates to 1:87 scale?

HO Gauge

Which Yorkshire town is home to the Stinking Spaw?

Harrogate

In which town was the Northern Rugby Football Union formed in 1895?

Huddersfield

In draughts, what name is given to the removal of an opponent's piece when the possibility of taking has been overlooked?

Huffing

In 2007, the Vatican City became the world's first carbon neutral state by planting a forest in which country?

Hungary

Jobbik is a far-right anti-gypsy party in which EU member state?

Hungary

Which country won gold at waterpolo in Beijing for the third time in a row?

Hungary

In which sport do teams compete for the McCarthy Cup?

Hurling

Werner Herzog's film Bad Lieutenant is set in the aftermath of which real-life event?

Hurricane Katrina

Which singer-songwriter from Penistone is sometimes called 'The Barnsley Nightingale'?

Kate Rusby

The fifth lowest place in the world, at 132m below sea level, the Mangyshlak Peninsula is in which country?

Kazakhstan

What is the name of the Test Cricket venue in Bridgetown, Barbados?

Kensington Oval

Which soprano has a stage name meaning 'The Bell' in the native language of her country?

Kiri Te Kanawa

Under what pen name has Jim Grant written a series of thrillers featuring former military policeman Jack Reacher?

Lee Child

Which word means the mating territory of the grouse and a unit of European currency?

Lek

Films called Lollywood can be from one of two places- either Lahore in Pakistan or from which country in Africa?

Liberia

Johnny Mad Dog, based on the novel by Emmanuel Dongola, and directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, is about child soldiers in which African country?

Liberia

H L Mencken was the original source of an entirely fabricated story, quoted as fact for many years, that which otherwise ineffective US President installed the first ever bathtub in the White House?

Millard Fillmore

Which Coen Brothers film features a famous scene where crooked bookmaker Bernie takes a walk in the woods and has to plead for his life with a reluctant gunman called Tom?

Millers Crossing

Which former President of Serbia (1998-2002) was unexpectedly cleared of war crimes at the Hague in 2009?

Milutinovic

What is the name of the famous Fiat factory in the centre of Turin?

Mirafiori

Which Boublil and Schonberg musical features the songs Why God Why?, If You Want To Die in Bed, and The Sacred Bird?

Miss Saigon

Billie Jean King won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. What was her maiden surname?

Moffitt

Which former TV newsreader now reads the news on the Chris Evans breakfast show in 2010?

Moira Stuart

In physics, what is the product of an object's mass and velocity?

Momentum

How is the trilogy of plays Homecoming, The Hunted and the Haunted known?

Mourning Becomes Electra

Which Greek letter represents chemical potential and also of the co-efficient of friction?

Mu

In which state is Appalachian highest point Mount Mitchell?

North Carolina

Which US TV series of the 1990s is about a New York doctor stuck in Alaska?

Northern Exposure

Jan Garbarek is a famous jazz saxophonist from which country?

Norway

What is the name of the comedic oratorio that Eric Idle has written based on Life of Brian?

Not The Messiah

From what poem is the phrase Tender is the Night taken?

Ode to A Nightingale (Keats)

Which ITV Saturday night programme was presented by Jack Good and ran from 1958 to 1959, being the first ever show dedicated to rock and roll?

Oh Boy!

Doyenne de Commis is a variety of which fruit?

Pear

Who was guest conductor on the opening night at Carnegie Hall?

Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky

What is the name of the ESA telescope at the L1 point between the Earth and the Sun that is measuring the cosmic microwave background (CMB) of the universe?

Planck Surveyor

Which ancient rhetorician recorded a number of brilliant escapes in his Strategems of War (c2 AD)?

Polyaenus

Condensation, or step-growth, and addition, or chain-growth, are two basic types of what reaction?

Polymerisation

In 1998 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sent to jail for doing what in public?

Reciting an Islamic poem

Which five-letter term describes chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation number changed, e.g when oxygen is added to carbon to make carbon dioxide?

Redox

Which English amateur astronomer's 1859 astronomical observations first corroborated the existence of solar flares as well as their electrical influence upon the Earth and its aurorae; and took records of sunspot observations demonstrating differential rotation in the Sun?

Richard Carrington

Which scientist's autobiography was called 'What Do You Care What Other People Think?'

Richard Feynman

About which of his own works did Verdi claim it 'lacked melody and has hardly any chance of being kept in the repertoire?'

Rigoletto

Whose name is missing from this quintet? Olav Olavson Bjaaland, Helmer Julius Hanssen, Sverre Helge Hassel and Oscar Wisting.

Roald Amundsen

Which jockey, nicknamed Choc, was the top English jockey at Cheltenham in 2007 and won the 2008 Champion Hurdle on Katchit?

Robert Thornton

Which is the largest island of the Juan Fernandez archipelago?

Robinson Crusoe

Known as the Butcher of Riga, which Nazi was implicated in the deaths of 40,000 Latvian Jews and died in Paraguay in 1977?

Rochman

Michael Boyd took over as director of what in 2003 from Adrian Noble?

Royal Shakespeare Company

Which man, called 'the Disney of computer games', created Super Mario?

Shigeru Miyamoto

Which international movement, with the logo of a snail, was founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986?

Slow food

What does the musical term Ritardando mean?

Slowing down

As well as sphalerite, which is the other main ore of zinc?

Smithsonite

Chris Norman, Alan Silson, Terry Uttley and Ron Kelly was the original line-up of which 1970s band?

Smokie

Bourgogne and Petit Gris are versions of which foodstuff?

Snails

Traditionally, Cerberus had what for a tail?

Snake

Qanik and aput are two Inuit words meaning respectively what?

Snow in the air and snow on the ground (there are no other words for snow)

When the world's first deep tube railway opened in 1890, its northern terminus was King William Street in the City. Where was its southern terminus?

Stockwell

Which strait seperates the Gulf of Aqaba from the Red Sea and is Israel's only outlet to that sea, meaning it was blockaded by Nasser ?

Straits of Tiran

Which 1995 film was a collaboration between James Cameron and his then wife Kathryn Bigelow (who directed it)?

Strange Days

On which route was the ferry Princess Victoria on in 1953 when she sank with the loss of 100 lives?

Stranraer to Larne

Generations of Scottish schoolchildren learned to fear the Lochgelly. What is it?

Strap

The acclaimed 2009 vampire film Let The Right One In is filmed and set in which country?

Sweden

Drottningam Castle is the permanent residence of which family?

Swedish Royal Family

In which country is Europe's highest railway station?

Switzerland

What is known as the Disease of Naples by the French?

Syphillis

Who was the director of the 2005 Gothic fantasy film The Brothers Grimm?

Terry Gilliam

Which British boxer was once implicated in the attempted murder of Frank Warren?

Terry Marsh

A 2009 study by Oxford University showed that playing which computer game was effective in the treatment of PTSD?

Tetris

As well as Portuguese, which is the other official language of East Timor?

Tetum

Sometimes called the Japanese Walt Disney or the Father of Anime, who interpreted the life of Buddha between 1974 and 1984 in a series of manga books?

Tezuka

Which British actress has a Christian name meaning Beloved and also took the title role in the film Beloved?

Thandie Newton

Which Nintendo game has versions including Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass?

The Legend of Zelda

What were the name of the Olympic-style games that Nero started?

The Neronia

Which TV family operated a sawmill in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the Depression?

The Waltons

Whose new memoir The Settler's Cookbook tells the tale of how her family moved from India to Uganda and then onward to the UK through the recipes they used and the food they ate?

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Who played Lily Munster in the Munsters?

Yvonne de Carlo

At 106, Alice Herz-Sommer still practises the piano for two and a half hours every day. Earlier in her life, she gave 100 performances in which unusual venue?

Theresienstadt concentration camp

The basis of the movie 300, which battle of 480 BC saw an eventual victory for Persia over an outnumbered Greek army?

Thermopylae

Why were the times achieved by runners unusually slow at the Olympic 3000 metre steeplechase in 1932?

They ran one lap too many

In botany, how is the composite family of plants better known?

Thistle family

Who is the subject of Whistler's 'Arrangement in Grey and Black, Number 2'?

Thomas Carlyle

What was the name of the old-style colonial white man who stood trial in Kenya in 2009 accused of shooting one of his black servants?

Thomas Cholmondeley

In 1877, he constructed the phonograph, which he called 'the ideal amanuensis'. Who?

Thomas Edison

Which fisherman recorded country and western songs for his close friends on the Shetland Isles - and to critical acclaim in Nashville?

Thomas Fraser

Where do Munster play their home RU games?

Thomond Park, Limerick

The sequel to which classic of French literature is called 'Twenty Years After'?

Three Musketeers

In the standard ranking for hands of poker, which hand of five cards comes immediately above two pairs?

Three of a kind

What is the best-selling album ever?

Thriller

What was Steve Waugh's nickname?

Tugga

In which city is/was the annual Weltklasse athletics meeting held?

Zurich

Which bandleader commissioned George Gershwin to write Rhapsody in Blue?

Paul Whiteman

When the 1956 Olympics were held in Melbourne, what was the longest individual track race for women?

200m

Which Les Dawson character's catchphrase was 'Nickers, Nackers, Nockers'?

Cosmo Smallpiece

Who was the last ever man (and the practice is now banned) to recieve the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously?

Dag Hammarskjold

What is the English name for the Jewish festival of Purim?

Feast of Lots

What is the English name for the Jewish festival of Sukkot?

Feast of Tabernacles

In pop music, how is Michael Peter Balzary better known?

Flea

What is the craft of making arrows called ?

Fletching

What is removed in a cholecystetomy?

Gall Bladder and stones

Which famous song was originally just the B-side to the single 'Reason to Believe'?

Maggie Mae by Rod Stewart

The soundtrack score from which 2010 film originates entirely from Je Ne Regrette Rien by Edith Piaf?

Inception

Pithecanthropus erectus is better known as what?

Java man

What was Enoch Powell's real first name?

John

Who wrote the biography of Joe Orton, Prick Up Your Ears?

John Lahr

What was the WW2 equivalent of Ultra in Bletchley Park in Honolulu?

Magic

MEG is an essential tool for scanning the brain. What does it stand for?

MagnetoEncephaloGraphy

The Artemisinin class of drugs, derived from wormwood, are used to treat what disease?

Malaria

Who won an Oscar for the Colonel Bogey March?

Malcolm Arnold

Which mammal is known in North America as the rock rabbit?

Pika

Cotumix cotumix is the Latin name for which bird?

Quail

Which company's lawnmowers are advertised with the slogan 'It's a lot less bovver than a hover'?

Qualcast

Which famous piece of classical music was described by its composer as a 17-minute crescendo?

Ravel's Bolero

Elvis Costello performs which Charles Aznavour song on the soundtrack of Notting Hill?

She

Which British freshwater fish can have three spines or ten spines?

Stickleback

With which feminist writer did Annie Leibowitz live for many years?

Susan Sontag

Which 2009 Steven Soderburgh film stars Matt Damon as a whistleblower in an agri-industrial company?

The Informant!

In which film does Frank Sinatra play the comedian Joe E Lewis?

The Joker Is Wild

Hoyt Hawkins, Neal Matthews and Gordon Stoker were better known as which backing band?

The Jordannaires

What is the name of the self-built refugee camp at Calais that Afghans have created to replace Sangatte?

The Jungle

What is the common name for the garden flower echinacea?

(PURPLE) CONEFLOWER

What is the internet domain name for Guernsey?

.gg

In which year did Crick, Watson and Wilkins win the DNA Nobel Prize?

1962

In which UK General Election could 18-year olds vote for the first time?

1970

In what year did Helsinki stage the inaugural World Athletics Championships?

1983

In which year was the Euro introduced on January 1st?

2002

In football, what is the width of the goalmouth, in feet?

24

Above which number does the & sign appear on a keyboard?

7

Which historian who specialised in c19 and c20 European history was born in Birkdale in 1906 and died in 1990?

A J P Taylor

Nicholas Jenkins is the narrator of which famous novel?

A Dance to the Music of Time

What item of furniture is a credenza?

A sideboard

According to the King James bible, what turneth away wrath?

A soft answer

Franco Baresi played more than 450 times for which Italian FC?

AC Milan

Name either of the European countries that joined NATO on 1 April 2009

ALBANIA or CROATIA

What is the name of the famous Afghanistan equivalent of the X Factor?

Afghan Star

What nickname was given to the Roman general Scipio after he defeated Hannibal at Zama?

Africanus

How is Laura Hollins better known?

Agyness Deyn

Which hunting lodge of the Earl of Shrewsbury now attracts thousands of visitors every year?

Alton Towers

In 2005, soldiers opened fire on demonstrators in which Uzbek city, killing hundreds?

Andijan

He established his business in Alessandria, Italy in 1859 making felt from Belgian rabbit fur. Which famous hat maker shares his name with a classic French gangster movie?

Borsalino

Which structuralist anthropologist wrote The Raw and the Cooked and The Elementary Structures of Kinship?

Claude Levi-Strauss

In the Highway Code, what does a red circle, red x and blue background mean?

Clearway

In a song, who had size nine feet and had shoes made from 'herring boxes without topses'?

Clementine

Which is the heaviest of the three modern fencing weapons?

Epee

Where on your body would you have LASIK or LASEK surgery?

Eye

One of the greatest Safavid rulers was Shah Abbas, responsible for which stunning blue mosque in Isfahan?

Imam Mosque

Who wrote the play of Enron?

Lucy Prebble

Under which PM did women get the vote on the same terms as men?

Stanley Baldwin

What is the nickname of the MARRIAGE OF FIGARO overture?

The egg-timer

James Van Allen contributed what to tennis?

The tie-break

Jimmy McDonald took over what from Walt Disney?

The voice of Mickey Mouse

Statius composed an epic about the tragic events in which Greek city?

Thebes

Alec Dickson founded which international development charity in 1958?

VSO

What was Titian's surname?

Vecelli

The Lauberhorn downhill skiing races are held close to which resort?

Wengen

Which was the other London football venue in the World Cup 1966 as well as Wembley?

White City

Which cocktail shares its name with an opponent of the Red Army?

White Russian

What was the nickname of Ruslan Chagaev, the Uzbek boxer who held the WBA heavyweight title in the late 2000s?

White Tyson

In Mah Jongg, which tile has a completely blank face?

White dragon

Which religion was largely founded by Gerald Gardner?

Wicca

NASA's WISE mission is an infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope launched in December 2009. It surveyed the entire sky over the course of six months. What does WISE stand for?

Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

What was Martin Offiah's first Rugby League side?

Widnes

What some of money is called a Commodore (because it's 'three times a Lady')?

£15

Under UK company law, when an investor's shareholding reaches a certain threshold they are obliged to offer to buy up all the other shares in it. What is this threshold?

0.3

Which street in Manhattan famous for its theatres has a film and a Broadway stage show named after it?

42nd Street

What kind of animal, in the USA, is a 'stone toter'?

A fish

The Carsten Holler installation called Test Site at Tate Modern in 2006/7 took what form?

A slide

What is the US equivalent of the British car boot sale?

A yard sale

In a set of 28 dominoes how many have a total of exactly 6 dots?

A. Four

Who was the jockey who won the Grand National in 1967 on Foinavon?

A. John Buckingham

During World War I, what was notable about the French government's award of the Croix de Guerre to the US 369th Infantry Regiment?

ALL-BLACK (also first allied unit to reach the Rhine)

Umkhonto we Sizwe was the military wing of which organisation?

ANC

Between AD 195, when Septimius Severus sacked and re-built the city, and AD 330 when Constantine selected it as the capital of New Rome, by what name was Byzantium /Constantinople/Istanbul known?

ANTONINIA

In which month of the year is Walpurgis Night celebrated in Europe and Scandinavia?

APRIL (Eve of May Day)

In the summer of 2010, which was the first Latin American country to legalise same-sex marriages nationwide?

ARGENTINA

Who plays the role of the musician Wladyslaw Szpilman in an award winning film of 2002?

Adrien Brody

Which group of Muslims in Pakistan follow the teachings of their c19 leader and are discriminated against and attacked by mainstream Sunnis, with the Pakistani constitution writing them out of citizenship?

Ahmadis

In 2009, Les Johnson's new statue for the Fourth Plinth was unveiled. It depicts which Battle of Britain hero?

Air Chief Marshall Sir Keith Park

He directed a 3D re-make of the movie Piranha. Which French Jew with a palindromic surname found fame in 2006 with a remake of Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes?

Aja

The name of which Islamic insurgency group in Somalia means literally 'The Lads' or 'The Youths'?

Al-Shabab

Which writer claimed that 'if you live to be 90 in England and can still eat a boiled egg, then they think you deserve a major honour'?

Alan Bennett

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell, V for Vendetta and Watchmen are all the works of which graphic novelist?

Alan Moore

Which Apollo astronaut played golf on the moon?

Alan Shepherd

Whose political memoir was called The Blair Years?

Alastair Campbell

A Matter Of Life And Death is abook about going for a year without football by which comedic duo and real life husband and (ex)-wife?

Alastair MacGowan and Ronni Ancona

Where in England is the National Memorial Arboretum?

Alrewas

What name is given to a typographical design or artform that may be read as one or more words not only in its form as presented, but also from another viewpoint, direction, or orientation. The words readable in the other viewpoint, direction or orientation may be the same or different from the original words?

Ambigram

What is the name of Billy Liar's imagined country in his fantasies where he is Emperor?

Ambrosia

In the Discworld novels, Mustrum Ridcully holds which title, as Discworld's most senior wizard at the Unseen University?

Arch-Chancellor

What word means the method of seperating a mixture of gases due to their different rates of passage through a porous septum?

Atmolysis

Tennis player Jelena Dokic played for Serbia and which other, adopted country?

Australia

Which noun and adjective is given to materials, including paper, that have a negative Poisson's ratio. When stretched, they become thicker. This occurs due to their hinge-like structures?

Auxetic

How is Persian polymath Ibn Seena better known?

Avicenna

Deryck Wibley is/was married to which Canadian singer?

Avril Lavigne

The Aliyev dynasty controls which country?

Azerbaijan

If 594 x 841 is A1 in paper sizes, what is 707 x 1000?

B1

Which 1987 Danish film directed by Gabriel Axel was based on a story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), and was the first Danish cinema film of a Blixen story?

Babette's Feast

In pool, which shot is the equivalent of a 'double' in snooker?

Bank

Which British stamp issued in 1870 was the country's smallest ever and shares its name with a farmyard animal?

Bantam

Which trophy is awarded to the winner of rugby league test series between Great Britain and New Zealand?

Baskerville Shield

How does Jakarta, Indonesia, have a connection with Fermilab?

Batavia (former name and Fermilab's Illinois location)

What Greek word was first used by Alexander Pope and means a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous or an anticlimax?

Bathos

Born in Stepney in 1939 one of his first jobs was as a bouncer at Ilford Palais which was managed by Jimmy Savile at the time. He also worked as a Billingsgate porter (2pts) His brother George was his manager and invested his earnings in a string of London nightclubs. (1pt) His nickname was "Golden Boy". His professional record was 21 wins (16 by knockout), 8 losses and 2 draws. During 1967, he fought for both the British and European titles, losing to Henry Cooper (Great Britain) and Karl Mildenberger (West Germany) respectively. Who was he?

Billy Walker

Which American, who died in 2002, won both the Olympic 100m title and the Superbowl?

Bob Hayes

What do almost all cars have that the De Lorean cars did not?

Body paint

He has the shaved head, thick neck and massive shoulders of a wrestler, which is what he was, long ago. He was also a fireman, karate coach, bodyguard and top policeman. What is the name of the Bulgariam PM elected in 2009 on a promise to clean up corruption?

Boiko Borisov

Who is the famous aunt of Brookside and Sound of Music actress Summer Strallen?

Bonnie Langford

As well as Tommy Stack, who else rode Red Rum to victory in the Grand National?

Brian Fletcher

Which captain of Somerset declared after one over in the 1979 B and H cup, leading to disqualification and a change in the rules so that it would never happen again?

Brian Rose

Which football team suffered successive relegations from the first to the fourth divisions from 1979 to 1982?

Bristol City

Which name was used from 1945 to 1993 for what then became British Forces, Germany?

British Army of the Rhine

What euphemistic name was given to the communal kitchens set up by the Ministry of Food in WW2 to ensure people who had run out of rationing coupons could still eat?

British Restaurants

In which British overseas territory is the famous Carribean Island of Necker?

British Virgin Islands

imdb.com is for films- so what does the B of ibdb.com stand for?

Broadway

Which school did Mr Chips teach at?

Brookfield

Which form of exercise consists of dropping to a squat position, kicking the feet backwards and doing a push-up before jumping as high as possible with hands over the head?

Burpee

Who wrote the 11-novel series 'Strangers and Brothers'?

C P Snow

Which institution had to publish an FAQ on Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, stating that antimatter cannot be used as an energy source because creating it takes more energy than it produces?

CERN

In the troubled times of the 15th century, Yolande D'Aragon used her position to secure the French monarchy by marriage, diplomacy and force. She was the mother-in-law of which French king?

CHARLES VII

Which motor manufacturor produced models called the Calais, Seville and Cimarron?

Cadillac

Escholtzia is the plant with which common name?

California poppy

Who resigned as Chancellor following the 1967 devaluation?

Callaghan

Which butterfly is known as a Mourning Cloak in America?

Camberwell Beauty

Norodom Sihamoni is king of which country?

Cambodia

The Matchless Six competed in the Amsterdam Olympics, 1928. From which country were they?

Canada

Which country's most presigious film prizes are the Genie awards?

Canada

What would you be making if you were using micro-soft, micro-hard and stearin?

Candles

Which 216BC battle was the Roman Empire's greatest ever defeat, with 16 legions crushed by Hannibal's Carthiginian forces?

Cannae

Thriller writer Deon Meyer specialises in fast-paced novels of revenge and redemption that also manage to give a revealing portrait of a country in transition. Including the famous Adderley Street flower market, places in which city influence his best-selling books?

Cape Town

Anders Sparrman was a Swedish naturalist who accompanied which more famous man on his voyages of discovery?

Captain Cook

In Camberwick Green, who was the commander of Pippin Fort?

Captain Flack

Double Falsehood the early eighteenth century play by Lewis Theobald is believed to be a re-writing of which lost play by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher?

Cardenio

Which clu is associated with the notorious hooligans called the Soul Crew?

Cardiff City

Justine Levy's 2004 French bestselling novel Rien de Grave told how a model-turned-singer called Paula stole the author's boyfriend and was a thinly-disguised account of whose behaviour?

Carla Bruni

Which golf course has holes called Jockie's Burn, South America, Spectacles and Barry Burn?

Carnoustie

Which poet was awarded the OBE ten years after her collection Standing Female Nude?

Carol Ann Duffy

What is the occupation of Jon Arbuckle in Garfield?

Cartoonist

Whose last film was the 1966 'Walk, don't run'?

Cary Grant

What was the surname of the boy who 'stood on the burning deck'?

Casabianca

Which Australian from Kurri Kurri, NSW, won the MotoGP in 2007?

Casey Stoner

Which tuber is native to Brazil and was widely planted in the W Indies to feed slaves? It's highly toxic until cooked.

Cassava or manioc

What name is given to the spice from the Chinese cinnamon tree?

Cassia

Of which Shakespeare character is it remarked 'He thinks too much- such men are dangerous'?

Cassius

Blue John mine in Derbyshire is near which village?

Castleton

Who was the mother of Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III?

Catherine de Medici

What name is given to the interchange of the M6, A14 and M1?

Catthorpe interchange

What is the name of Tuscan kale, which is also known as black cabbage?

Cavolo nero

Who wrote the book Half of A Yellow Sun, about the Biafra conflict?

Chimimanda NGOZI ADICHIE

BYD is a car-makers from which country?

China

He is an award-winning English fantasy fiction writer, and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird. He is also active in left-wing politics as a member of the Socialist Workers Party. He has stood for the House of Commons for the Socialist Alliance. Who?

China Mieville

What is the name of mythical lions found in or around Burmese temples?

Chindits

What is the most famous work of artist Vladimir Tretchikoff, sometimes called the King of Kitsch?

Chinese Girl

What is the English translation of the French 'tire-bouchon'?

Corkscrew

Which creature's name derives from the Latin for Sea Crow?

Cormorant

In which event did Steve Redgrave win the first of his five Olympic Gold medals?

Coxed Four

By what other name is the prairie wolf more commonly known?

Coyote

In the USA, what name is given to a mixture of popcorn and peanut coated in toffee which is the baseball fan's snack of choice?

Cracker Jack

On which East Belfast estate did George Best grow up?

Cregagh

Which US trademarked name for a cooker that has an integral heating element is often used generically to mean 'slow cooker'?

Crock Pot

In which game are the handicaps called bisques and run from 26 to -2 for world-class players?

Croquet

This theoretical contract, based on Islamic doctrine, grants special residence status to Jewish, Christian, and other non-Muslim subjects in return for taxes. While such persons have fewer 10 legal and social rights than Muslims, they are treated better than other non-Muslims. Derived from the Arabic for "people of the contract", which Islamic term describes these non-Muslim subjects in states governed under Sharia law?

DHIMMI

The first British comic strip, Charles Folkard's Adventures of Teddy Tail, appeared in which newspaper in 1915?

Daily Mail

The title of which children's TV series of the 1960s means Doctor in Swahili?

Daktari

Who was the first ever black winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, in 1982?

Daley Thompson

What is the modern name for India's historic lowest class of 'untouchables'?

Dalits

Who wrote 'Stumbling on Happiness'?

Daniel Gilbert

Mr Creakle and Tom Traddles are in which Dickens book?

David Copperfield

Who became leader of the Liberal party from 1926 to 1931, having formerly been PM?

David Lloyd George

Which English actor's 2010 feature film directorial debut Don't Worry About Me, is set in his home town of Liverpool?

David Morrissey

Which New Yorker editor published a biography of Barack Obama in 2010?

David Remnick

Which female TV personality has, among others, children called Holly and Tilly?

Davina McCall

In the Pirates of the Caribbean, who is the ship's captain played by Bill Nighy?

Davy Jones

Which two word French phrase means 'not wanted' or 'in the way'?

De trop

Laura Pierce was the first person to win the top prize in which tedious game-show?

Deal or No Deal

Set in the year 2052, which multi-nationally produced space travel TV drama series featured the crew of the Antares?

Defying Gravity

Which princess from Caledonia married Heracles?

Deianira

Her alternative names include Elissa (Greek) and Elishat (Phoenician). The Phoenician for 'wanderer', how was she known to Arab writers?

Dido

Which was the first James Bond film in which John Cleese played Q?

Die Another Day

DSLAMs are installed at exchanges by telephone companies to speed up customer access to the internet. What does DSLAM stand for?

Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer

Which Mexican man won the London Marathon in 1994, 5 and 6?

Dionicio Ceron

In bingo, how is 30 known?

Dirty Gertie

Frederick Lanchester patented which type of brake for cars?

Disc brake

Which video game character created by Shigeru Miyamoto wears only a necktie?

Donkey Kong

What was the name of the famous snail in ginger beer case that laid the foundations for tort law?

Donohue versus Stevenson

What nickname was originally given to a cheap car in the 1930s but later became the nickname of a deadly German weapon?

Doodlebug

Which female painter, an associate of the Bloomsbury set, was portrayed by Emma Thompson in a 1995 film?

Dora Carrington

What is the name of the public television broadcaster in India?

Dordashan

Muscardinus avellanarius is the Latin name of which animal?

Dormouse

In cricket scoring, what symbol is used to represent a no ball, with no additional runs scored?

Dot in a circle

Which member of the violin family is usually played pizzicato in a jazz context?

Double bass

In the phases of a golf shot, what is the second after backswing and before impact?

Downswing

Who was the first man to call Britain 'Great Britain'?

Dr John Dee

R Griggs and co began to produce what boots under license in Britain in 1960?

Dr Martens

Which role on TV has been played by actors with the real names David McDonald, Percy Kent-Smith and Peter Moffatt?

Dr Who

Who was the Prime Minister of France at the outbreak of WWII?

EDOUARD DALADIER

In which African country is the Danikil Desert?

ETHIOPIA

In 2004 Rocco Buttiglioni had to resign which position due to his religious views?

EU Commissioner

Described as the most influential environmental photograph ever taken, what name is given to the image taken by Anders from Apollo 8 on Christmas Eve 1968?

Earthrise

Mystery writer Walter Mosley created which black detective from Watts in Los Angeles, real first name 'Ezekiel'?

Easy Rawlins

The notorious verse Leviticus 20:13 is taken as justification for an anti-homosexual stance by some Christians. In that case, if they also follow Leviticus 11:12, they should not do what?

Eat shellfish

What specific name is given to fishermen who specialise in fishing under bridges?

Ebbermen

What is the highest point in Warwickshire?

Ebrington Hill

Living on the Front Line was whose first solo single after leaving the Equals in 1979?

Eddie Grant

Which cyclist spent a record 111 days wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France?

Eddy Mercx

The emblem of German, Polish and Austrian troops, which flower do the heroes go in search of in Asterix in Switzerland?

Edelweiss

Who is known as the Father of Anglo-American Conservatism and coined the term 'The Fourth Estate'?

Edmund Burke

Which King of the West Saxons from 802 had by 829 united England for the first time under one king?

Egbert

Which dish consisting of egg yolks on a sweet base made of sugar and rosewater was popular in the 16th and 17th centuries?

Eggs in Moonshine

Swallow's Nest, Death Bivouac and the White Spider are all features on which European mountain?

Eiger

Brownian motion was successfully explained by which physicist of the c20?

Einstein

Which US President approved the cover-up of the Gary Powers incident?

Eisenhower

Which US president was born in Denison, Texas and was baptised a Presbyterian while in office?

Eisenhower

The Devil's Garden, so called by the Desert Rats, is still littered with unexploded ordnance that makes daily life a hazard for inhabitants. From which battle is this ordnance left over?

El Alamein

Gurrumul, the blind Aboriginal singer who has never learnt braille and speaks only a few words of English, is from which island off the coast of Australia?

Elcho Island

Cary Grant Expects Unanimous Votes in Movie Reviews Tonight is a mnemonic for remembering what?

Electro-magnetic spectrum (Cosmic, Gamma, X-Rays, Ultraviolet, Visible, etc)

The annual video game industry trade show in Los Angeles is called E3. What does this stand for?

Electronic Entertainment Expo

Which poem, which tends to be a serious reflection on something, has a name from the Greek for 'lament'?

Elegy

Which dictator's wife was particularly fond of claiming (incorrectly) that she was an eminent scientist in her own country, a deception in which her husband connived?

Elena Ceausescu

In 2009, which 37-year old film-maker revealed that he once worked as a sex chat room operator, posing as a woman?

Eli Roth

Which prophet found God in a 'still, small voice'?

Elijah

Which South African man co-founded PayPal and designed Falcon 1, the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to reach orbit?

Elon Musk

Which man won more chess championships (seven) than any other man?

Emanuel Lasker

Which F1 motor racer broke his neck in a race in Michigan in 1996?

Emerson Fittipaldi

Which biochemist rose to the heart of the German scientific establishment on the back of a bogus theory of 'protective enzymes'? The infamous Dr Josef Mengele employed his methods in his experiments at Auschwitz. Despite doubts about his work across the world, he was nominated 51 times for the Nobel Prize.

Emil Abderhalden

Which former Sudanese child soldier's life story has been charted in his rap records Ceasefire and Warchild. Following a film documentary about his journey, he is now releasing a book called "warchild" which charts in full detail how his mother was murdered, he was inducted into a children's army and his ultimate rehabilitation by a British aid worker before he went on to become an internationally successful rapper who performed at Live 8 and Nelson Mandela's 90th birth celebrations?

Emmanuel Jal

Which is the French equivalent of the English Regency style?

Empire

Powerful grid computers have revived a musical instrument that was last heard in Ancient Greece. It's a 48 stringed instrument named after its inventor. Whilst no complete example survives, the instrument, somewhat similar to a harp, had a soundboard and was plucked like a guitar, What's it called?

Epigonion

Francisco Macias Nguema was the first president of which African country?

Equatorial Guinea

In the first of his world darts championships in 1990, who did Phil Taylor beat in the final?

Eric Bristow

On whose novel was the film The Wooden Horse based?

Eric Williams

What was TV presenter 'Johnny' Morris's real first name?

Ernest

In 2002, a cult called Clonaid announced (it was a hoax) that they had cloned a daughter from cells taken from a mother. What was the name of the 'daughter'?

Eve

Men At Arms, Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender make up the Sword of Honour trilogy by whom?

Evelyn Waugh

The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy is a short satirical novel by whom about the funeral business in LA?

Evelyn Waugh

How often are the World Showjumping Championships held, with the 2006 event in Aachen, Germany?

Every four years

One of the most viewed YouTube videos ever was by Judson Laipply, a comedian from Bucyrus, OH. What is the name of his hit series of videos?

Evolution of Dance

Which Stones album was famously recorded in the basement of Keith Richards' villa in the South of France?

Exile on Main Street

The XREP is the next generation of Taser, and has been dubbed 'The Taser shotgun'. What does XREP stand for?

Extended range electronic projectile

In music, the bass clef is known by the name of which note, which it indicates on the stave?

F

The body known as Fannie Mae was instituted by which US president?

F D Roosevelt

Created by Marvel comics, what first is claimed by Northstar, a French-Canadian mutant who revealed himself in 1992?

FIRST OPENLY GAY SUPERHERO

The third mode melody from Archbishop Parker's Psalter appears in which orchestral work of 1910?

Fantasia on a Theme by Tallis (RVW)

Sharing his name with an England footballing family, who was the 'flower smelling bull' in a 1936 children's book by Munro Leaf?

Ferdinand

Which former pop star is, as of 2009, the CEO of UK Music?

Fergal Sharkey

What is the normal English translation of the Islamic festival Eid al-Adha, also known as 'Greater Eid'?

Festival of Sacrifice

What is the name of a banknote not backed by gold?

Fiduciary note

In 1906, what was the first European country to give women the vote?

Finland

Who replaced Michael Aspel as presenter of the Antiques Roadshow in 2008?

Fiona Bruce

The Maitisong festival of music, dance and theatre takes over which African capital city annually?

Gabarone

Born in 1950, which Irish actor married and divorced the American actress Ellen Barkin, with whom he had two children?

Gabriel Byrne

Complete the Mexican guitar duo- Rodrigo y?

Gabriela

The successor to Hipparcos, which ESA mission will compile a detailed 3-D map of our galaxy from 2012 onwards, when it's launched?

Gaia

Before assuming power, Dmitri Medvedev was CEO of which huge company?

Gazprom

Which city is known as the 'city of a thousand fires'?

Gelsenkirchen

Which doddery, old, and gullible Austrian general surrendered the bridge at Austerlitz after the French tricked him into believing that an armistice had been signed? He was court-marshalled for his error.

General Auersperg

In 2009, which company became the biggest industrial bankruptcy in the history of the US?

General Motors

Also called a Maltese Cross, which gear mechanism translates a continuous rotation into an intermittent rotary motion?

Geneva Drive

In the Verdi opera Simone Boccanegra becomes the first Doge of which city?

Genoa

In Wes Anderson's stop-motion animated Fantastic Mr Fox, who voices Mr Fox?

George Clooney

Who was the first female candidate for US Vice president?

Geraldine Ferrero

How is the Renaissance painter Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi better known?

Ghirlandaio

In early 2010, L'Homme Qui Marche broke all records for a sculpute price when it was sold at auction for over £65m. Who did it?

Giacometti

Which TV show was originally called 'Peter Sellers Is Dead'?

Goodness Gracious Me

Born in Yugoslavia to a Serbian mother and Croatian father, he's a rocker, a film-score composer, and leader of a 40-strong brass band called The Wedding and Funeral Band. His latest album is called Alkohol. What's his name?

Goran Bregovic

Ceri Levy is the director of Bananaz, a documentary about which band?

Gorillaz

How was Nizhny Novgorod known in the Communist era?

Gorky

Which world music band based in Paris has a vesre name referencing its roots in Argentinian dance?

Gotan Project

What motto appeared on the belt buckles of Kaiser Wilhelm's troops in WW1?

Gott Mit Uns

What was the real name of Jilted John and John Shuttleworth?

Graham Fellowes

In 1968 he left his British group to go to America, where he helped create another group. He was made an OBE in 2010. Which man?

Graham Nash

The several versions of which bestselling Playstation game include 5-Prologue?

Gran Turismo

What was the name of the bio-chemist who accompanied Che Guevara on his Norton around South America?

Granado

Essential equipment for a boxer comprises gloves, hand tape, protector below the waist, boots and what else ?

Gumshield

Which variant of the alloy bronze is made up of copper, tin and zinc?

Gun metal

In film classification, what did the X certificate replace?

H (for Horror)

The only cat to ever win the Dickin medal was Simon, the ship's cat on which vessel?

HMS Amethyst

On which ship was Kitchener drowned?

HMS Hampshire

Which Royal Navy submarine carries the unopened 'last instructions' of the current British PM that are to be used posthumously in the event of a national catastrophe or nuclear strike?

HMS Vengeance

To travel from Manhattan to new Jersey, one may ride the PATH train. For what does the H in PATH stand?

HUDSON

The 1920 Treaty of Trianon formally ended WW1. It was signed by the Allied powers on the one hand and representatives of which (now EU member) country on the other'?

HUNGARY

What is the name of the state-run cigar supplier in Cuba?

Habanos

Which sort of horse, with a high-stepping action, was bred to draw light carriages for hire?

Hackney

What was Tennyson's last word, although other sources say it was 'Oh that press will have me now'?

Hallam'

Douglas Bunn created the Derby Bank at Hickstead in the image of a similar obstacle at which course in Germany?

Hamburg

Which 1948 film won 4 Oscars in 1949?

Hamlet (Olivier)

In 1971, Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton started which chain of restaurants, their first being in Mayfair?

Hard Rock Cafes

Which German philosopher, who held that thought and being are one, died of cholera while Rector of Berlin University?

Hegel

Which common girl's name means 'The Bright One'?

Helen

Who, in 1856, became the first PM of New Zealand?

Henry Sewell

Which brother of Apollo sneaked into his pasture when only a day old and stole all his cows?

Hermes

Which king began to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple during the reign of Augustus?

Herod the Great

Which European space observatory is at L2 of the Earth-Sun system and is measuring infrared wavebands, and includes the largest single mirror ever launched in a space telescope?

Herschel Space Observatory

Which American poet, author of Oread, was known by her initials HD?

Hilda Doolittle

Why was Vivaldi called the Red Priest?

His hair colour

What precise name is given to the deposition of ice crystals directly out of the air when the dew point is at or below freezing point?

Hoar frost or rime

Which book by Chris Stringer tells the epic story of the human colonisation of Britain?

Homo Britannicus

What is the common name for the garden plant Lunaria, also sometimes called the Money Plant for its shiny silvery paper-like discs?

Honesty

In which city did Walter Swinburne suffer severe head injuries in 1996?

Hong Kong

On which river does Kolkata stand?

Hooghly

Why is Coromoto's in Merida, Venezuela, in the Guinness Book of Records?

Ice-cream parlour selling 860 flavours

Darwinius is a genus of Adapiformes, a group of basal primates from the Eocene epoch. Its only known species is the lemur-like Darwinius masillae, dated to 47 million years ago. Discovered in 1983, what is the nickname for this fossil, thought at the time to have been a possible 'missing link' between primates and other mammals?

Ida

Which ancient city in southwestern Nigeria, centre of an important kingdom from 700AD, is regarded as the world capital of the Yoruba people?

Ife

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim co-wrote 'Here Lies Love', a 2010 song cycle based around the life of which controversial real-life figure?

Imelda Marcos

In which 2007 film did Will Smith star alongside real-life son Jaden?

In Pursuit of Happyness

Where would you find a swingletree?

In the traces of a horse-drawn vehicle or plough

A triumphal arch, what is the name of the Indian war memorial in Delhi?

India Gate

Based in Geneva, which Educational Foundation offers a Diploma Programme replacing A levels in some schools?

International Baccalaureate

If you superimpose a ! on a ? then how is the resulting rarely used punctuation mark known?

Interrobang

Which city is known as the 'city of a hundred names'?

Istanbul

What song does Sportin' Life sing casting doubt on the literal truth of the Bible?

It Ain't Necessarily So

Three films have won all five major Academy Awards (Film, Screenplay, Director, Actor, Actress). Name all three

It Happened One Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Silence of the Lambs

Why do American footballers paint black marks across their cheeks ?

It helps to protect against the suns glare

Which Anglo-Saxon knight has been played on television by Roger Moore, Eric Flynn and Stephen Waddington?

Ivanhoe

By what name is the actor, playwright and composer born David Igor Davies in Cardiff better know?

Ivor Novello

Who wrote Franny and Zooey and For Esme With Love and Squalor?

J D Salinger

Sally Rhubarb and German Sausage are among the names given to which plant?

Japanese Knotweed

Who was the twin brother of Lech Kaczynski, who stood for (and failed) President of Poland after his brother's death?

Jaroslav

During 2006, which Australian scored a double century against Bangladesh after coming on as a night-watchman?

Jason Gillespie

Corrine Bailey Rae's album The Sea was recorded in memory of her late husband, but what was his name?

Jason Rae

Which is the world's most populous island?

Java

In 1996, which Sri Lankan managed to score a century off only 48 balls?

Jayasuriya

The Miracle of the Flowers and the Lady of the Rose are novels by which writer, born 1910?

Jean Genet

Which 1933-born French actor of Sicilian descent had his breakthrough role in Godard's 'A Bout de Souffle'?

Jean Paul Belmondo

Who directed Alphaville and Une Femme est Une Femme?

Jean-Luc Godard

Born in 1952, whih fashion designer worked which Pierre Cardin for 2 years before joining Patou, then going freelance in 1976?

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Director of the Earth Institute at Colombia University, who is known for his work The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time?

Jeffrey Sachs

Which Austrian playwright and novelist wrote the filmed The Piano Player and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004?

Jenelik

Who first rose to public attention playing Emily Shadwick on Brookside?

Jennifer Ellison

Which driver won his first ever F1 Grand Prix at the 113th attempt in Hungary 2006?

Jensen Button

Which c19 British philosopher called 'natural rights' 'nonsense on stilts'?

Jeremy Bentham

Name all of the original Three Men in a Boat.

Jerome K Jerome, George and Harris

Who was Carole King's first husband, and song co-writer?

Jerry Goffin

Selected for 13 Pro Bowls and playing mainly for the San Francasico 49ers, who holds the NFL records of 1549 receptions, 33,895 recieving yards, and 197 touchdown catches?

Jerry Rice

Which 1950s singing star was called 'America's Most Versatile Singer'?

Jo Stafford

Which historical figure was played by Maria Falconetti in a film of 1928 that was formerly banned in Britain for its depiction of English soldiers?

Joan of Arc

Before Michael Schumacher in 2000, who was the last Ferrari F1 champion, over two decades earlier?

Jody Scheckter

Which of the Davies brothers won the World Snooker Championship on the first 15 occasions it was held?

Joe

On 4 June 1979, a day before his 40th birthday, which leader of the Progressive Conservative Party became Canada's youngest prime minister and the only person to ever defeat Pierre Trudeau in a federal election?

Joe CLARK

Which Ulsterman won a record number of TT races but was killed on a racing circuit in Estonia in the 2000s?

Joey Dunlop

Which other non-Catalan preceded Bobby Robson as Barcelona manager?

Johann Cruyff

Who completed the printing of the Gutenberg bible in 1453?

Johann Fust

Which Hungarian-born mathematician and scientist oversaw the creation of the early computer MANIAC-1 at Princeton from 1940-52?

Johann von Neumann

Which US entrepreneur made his fortune through the American Fur Company, which he founded in 1808?

John Jacob Astor

Originally a Catholic priest, which Protestant reformer was chaplain to Edward VI?

John Knox

Who was the first ever player to throw a nine-dart finish on TV?

John Lowe

Who wrote the 2007 book 'More than A Game', a history of early cricket?

John Major

In 2004, Wendy Craig revealed that her son Ross was in fact fathered by which writer during a 1960s affair?

John Mortimer

Which author selected the epitath 'The Defence Rests'?

John Mortimer

Which Nobel-prize winning mathematician was once arrested for indecent exposure?

John Nash

In 2006, Scotland Yard investigated whether which politician had breached the Prevention of Corruption Acts by accepting a £600 cowboy outfit from Philip Anschutz?

John Prescott

Which former US President in 1848 suffered a fatal stroke in the Chamber of the House of Representatives, to which he had been re-elected after serving as president from 1825 to 1829?

John Quincy Adams

Which man, born in Black Notley, Essex, in 1627, is called the Father of English Natural History?

John Ray

Which Hardy novel was greeted with such outrage that Hardy said it put him off novel-writing, and from then on wrote poetry instead?

Jude the Obscure

Probably the most famous contestant to take part in the BBC series Superstars, Brian Jacks was also successful in which sport?

Judo

Who appeared on British television on December 15, 2009, and said that rumours that she would be singing at an O2 concert in 2010 were not true. Instead, she said she will be doing a form of "speak singing". Her subsequent performance was panned by critics?

Julie Andrews

Which actress's character does Tom Courtenay fall in love with in Billy Liar?

Julie Christie

The controversial leader of the African National Congress's youth wing divides opinion, for some he is a symbol of the corruption for which the ANC is becoming notorious. What's his name?

Julius Malema

This Belgian lady was born in Liege in 1982. She has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, being four French Open titles (three being in a row), one Australian Open title, two US Open titles and gold in the singles at Athens 2004. In May 2008 she announced her retirement only to return in 2010 at the Australian Open on a wildcard entry. Who is she?

Justine Henin

He directed Bandit Queen. Then he changed his focus to Western history and directed Elizabeth (1998) and the Four Feathers (2002). Which man?

Kapoor

Which lake is formed by the damming of the Zambezi?

Kariba

Who directed Cathy Come Home?

Ken Loach

Who played Marty Hopkirk in the original 60s series?

Kenneth Cope

Who created the classical ballet, Mayerling - a tale of death, sex, debauchery and drugs. He was a man who broke the bounds of classical ballet by insisting that no subject was too dark or too brutal to tackle?

Kenneth MacMillan

Plans for a museum in Mumbai to which late Nobel Prize-winning Briton were shelved in 2010 as he has detractors in India as well as fans?

Kipling

Which city, 150 miles north of Baghdad, is the centre of the Iraqi petroleum industry?

Kirkuk

What is the name of the black brocade cloth covering the Ka'aba in Islam?

Kiswah

The Hahnenkamm downhill skiing races are held at which resort?

Kitzbuhel

Which musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe consists largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations? It developed in the United States among Jewish immigrants.

Klezmer

Monsignor James Horan is most associated with which Catholic location?

Knock (he built the airport and basilica)

What is the administrative capital of Sri Lanki, in the suburbs of the commercial capital Colombo?

Kotte

What was the real surname of the mapmaker Mercator?

Kremer

Vouvray and Sancerre wines come from which wine region of France?

LOIRE VALLEY

In 2010, it hosted a major sporting spectacle: in which city is the '11 de Novembro' stadium?

LUANDA (Africa Cup of Nations Final)

Marvel was the first comic company to give a black superhero his own comic book - which character made his first appearance in 1972?

LUKE CAGE

Which royal is married to George Gilman?

Lady Rose Windsor

Which is the largest lake by surface area entirely within one country?

Lake Michigan

Which award has been won twice by Martin Offiah, Andy Gregory and Gerry Helme and three times by Sean Long?

Lance Todd trophy

The oldest of NASA's research laboratories, where the Lunar Lander was tested and where research into supersonic aircraft continues, is in Hampton, Virginia. What's it called?

Langley Research Centre

Which co-founder of Wikipedia fed out with Jimmy Wales and launched a rival, Citizendium, with experts contributing?

Larry Sanger

American stand-up comic and actor Daniel Lawrence Whitney is better known by which four-word moniker?

Larry The Cable Guy

How Not To Cry At Weddings' was the title of the last-ever episode of which sitcom?

Last of the Summer Wine

In the series Kingdom, what was the profession of Stephen Fry's title character?

Lawyer

Which move in ice-skating was invented by Cecilia Colledge of Great Britain, who also invented the camel spin?

Layback spin

In 1999, which Italian club were the last ever winners of the European Cup-Winner's Cup?

Lazio

Which satirical newspaper appeared during revolutionary periods of the nineteenth century in France? It borrowed its title from the original work of the same name published by Jacques Hébert during the French Revolution.

Le Père Duchene

Which musician styled himself 'King of the 12 String Guitar'?

Leadbelly

According to myth, which King founded Leicester and is buried in a chamber underneath the Soar?

Lear

Hiba Al Kawas is a composer and soprano who has been credited with inventing Arabic Opera. Which country is he from?

Lebanon

What is the after edge of a sail called?

Leech

Who won three RL Grand finals in a row 2007-9?

Leeds Rhinos

Munster had an unbeaten run at home in the Heineken Cup for 12 years until 2007, when which team beat them there?

Leicester Tigers

Who was the first ever World Darts Champion?

Leighton Rees

Which former TV reality show contestant, now a successful recording artist, has the surname Obika?

Lemar

Which two men, sentenced in Chicago in 1924 and defended by Clarence Darrow, attempted to commit the 'perfect murder' and their story is told in Patrick Hamilton's 'Rope', also made into a Hitchcock film?

Leopold and Loeb

What is particularly notable about The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, and is the reason they have been made into a film?

Lesbians in Victorian London

Who preceded Donald Sinden in the title role of the TV drama series Our Man At St Mark's?

Leslie Phillips

Thin Lizzie, Inspiral Carpets and Simply Red have all had albums with which single-word title?

Life

Which annual music festival takes place in Ullapool, and its name is an anagram of 'Ullapool'?

Loopalou

In Chigley, who owned the private railway and drove the steam engine Bessie?

Lord Belborough

Under what name did Sir Alec Douglas-Home play first-class cricket?

Lord Dunglass

Who was in charge of the BEF at the time of the Dunkirk evacuation?

Lord Gort

In 2010, who completed his report into the events of Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972?

Lord Justice Savile

Which man escaped from the Tower of London thanks to his wife helping to disguise him as a woman after being sentenced to death for his part in attempting to restore the Old Pretender to the throne?

Lord Nithsdale (5th Earl of)

Which man, known as 'The Magnificent', was the ruler of Florence during the renaissance?

Lorenzo de Medici

The US police series 'The Shield' is set in which city?

Los Angeles

With which king is the phrase 'Apres moi, la deluge' associated?

Louis XV

The Prussian Karl Wilhelm Naundorff was the most successful and tenacious of the men claiming to be who?

Louis XVII of France

In which Shakespeare comedy do the King of Navarre and his men swear to avoid the company of women for three years?

Love's Labour's Lost

Of whom did Churchill say 'He Came, He Saw, He Capitulated', blaming him for the Gallipoli fiasco?

Lt Gen Charles Monro

Which German born artist and woodcarver has a winged snake as his emblem and did many portraits of Martin Luther?

Lucas Cranach

Who became the second Chancellor of West Germany in 1963?

Ludwig Erhard

Which bony freshwater fish with fleshy paired fins and an elongated body breathes air?

Lungfish

Which town is Monty Panesar from?

Luton

Which city in Egypt is on the site of Thebes?

Luxor

Born Jozef De Veuster he is better known as Father Damian. In 2009 the Pope declared him a Saint for his charitable work with the lepers on which Hawaiian island, where he lived and eventually died himself of leprosy in 1889?

MOLOKAI

It carries 2 million passengers a year and each single trip lasts less than 90 seconds; which highly distinctive (and frankly unusual) part of the Paris Metro requires a separate ticket?

MONTMARTRE FUNICULAR

What was the middle name of Senator Edward M Kennedy, who died in August 2009?

MOORE

Which of Marlborough's victories in the War of the Spanish Succession was the heaviest in terms of casualties and was fought to prevent the French from relieving the siege of Mons?

Malplaquet

Which dance craze of the 1950s, popularised by Perez 'Prez' Prado, fused Cuban music with Jazz?

Mambo

What is the name of the national hero of Kyrgyzstan?

Manas

Kill To Get Crimson is a 2006 album by whom?

Mark Knopfler

Which batsman averaged over 100 runs in first class cricket in 2006?

Mark Ramprakash

Which snooker player is nicknamed 'The Jester from Leicester'?

Mark Selby

Which cricketer was nicknamed Junior due to his relationship to his brother?

Mark Waugh

The only left-handed player to win the World Championship (Ronnie O'Sullivan is ambidexturous) which he did in 2000 and 2003 he is known as the The Welsh Potting Machine. Who is he?

Mark Williams

Who, in 2000, became the first ever left-handed world snooker champion?

Mark Williams

The Darian calendar has been proposed for putative human settlers of what planet?

Mars

Which pastor and theologian, head of the anti-Nazi movement, was the most successful U-boat commander in WW1?

Martin Niemoller

Native to South East Europe and Asia, what is the common name of the russet-coloured fruit Mespilus Germanica?

Medlar

Which part of the brain regulates respiration, heartbeat and blood pressure?

Medulla Oblongata

What's the name of the most successful rugby league club in Melbourne, who traditionally recruit players from the Brisbane area as Melbourne is all AFL?

Melbourne Storm

Of Italian descent and birth, what nationality was Cesare Cardini, inventor of the salad that bears his name?

Mexican

Which unusual breed of dog sheds tears when upset, has a diet including fruit and veg and the highest body temperature of any dog?

Mexican Hairless

Plane Crazy was a short film marking whose first (silent) appearance?

Mickey Mouse

Which was the first town in England to owe its existence to the railway- it was built to ship coal from the Stockton and Darlington line?

Middlesbrough

The MAC in Birmingham is a new visitor atraction. It is an acronym. What does MAC stand for?

Midlands Arts Centre

Which England cricket captain was twice dismissed for 99 runs?

Mike Atherton

Which veteran songwriter discovered Katie Melua and produced her first three albums?

Mike Batt

In which city is the Corrierra Della Sera published?

Milan

The Latin for 'a thousand paces' is the derivation of which English word?

Mile

Joe McElderry was given 'The Climb' to sing at Christmas 2009, famously only getting to number two. Whose song was it originally?

Miley Cyrus

Scientists have announced that Stone Age residents of Scandinavia were unable to digest what, meaning that today's Scandinavians must be descended from other, later invaders?

Milk

Caught off Iceland in 2007, what nickname has been given to a clam thought to be the world's oldest animal, at 405-410 years old?

Ming (after the Chinese dynasty it was born during)

Who founded Bahai'ism?

Mirza Hussayn-Ali Nuri

In Cole Porter's 1934 song, what is the name of the lady whose butler conveyed the message that she was unable to attend a lunch as she had been hanged?

Miss Otis

The meerkat is a close relation of which other animal?

Mongoose

Which BBC Sunday night programme, edited and sometimes presented by Huw Wheldon, ran from 1958 to 1965 and was Britain's first arts magazine programme?

Monitor

Which board game did Parker Bros say had 52 fundamental errors on first inspection?

Monopoly

Which was the first ever tunnel to be bored through the Alps?

Mont Cenis

What is the highest point of Corsica?

Monte Cinto

In which city are the HQ of the ICAO?

Montreal

Which was the last Bond film for which Shirley Bassey sang the theme tune?

Moonraker

In which African country is the drinking of green tea (Atai) as important culturally as in Japan?

Morocco

The Marathon de Sables is a 6 day / 151 mile endurance race across the Sahara Desert normally taking place at the end of March / beginning of April. In which country does it take place?

Morocco

What is the largest and oldest film studio in Europe, which is Russian?

Mosfilm

Never one to shy away from potentially controversial subjects, God Resigns at the Summit Meeting is a play by which Egyptian feminist? She was charged with "insulting Islam" and all original Arabic copies of the play being destroyed?

Nawal El Saadawi

Which comic met his Iranian-born wife Shari Eftekhari at a football roadshow in Staines?

Nick Hancock

Invar is an alloy of iron and which metal?

Nickel

Tungsten and which other metal are alloyed in the best quality darts?

Nickel

Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss is the aunt of which actor?

Nigel Havers

Who now plays in a Polish quintet and transformed the South Bank into a 'mini-Poland' for his Polish weekend in May 2010?

Nigel Kennedy

Which British driver ended with the most ever F1 victories, with 31?

Nigel Mansell

Whose record of winning the first five GPs of a season did Michael Schumacher equal when he won the Spanish GP in 2004?

Nigel Mansell

Which ballet star who worked with Diaghalev retired from the stage after being diagnosed with schizophrenia?

Nijinsky

Le Grande is the name of the score needed to win at baccarat. Numerically, what is Le Grande?

Nine

In chemistry, what is the brown ring test used to detect?

Nitrates

The American Horace Wells first used which anaesthetic in 1844?

Nitrous Oxide

Three elements have two-letter abbreviations where the letters are consecutive in the alphabet. Cd (cadmium) and Mn (manganese) are two. Which is the third?

No (Nobellium)

A Yorkshire dartboard differs from a standard one in two ways. Name both.

No treble ring and no outer (green) bullseye ring

On a darts board, what number is directly opposite No. 1 ?

No. 19

What term is used in chemistry for metals resistant to corrosion or oxidisation and which also tend to be precious metals due to their rarity in the earth's crust?

Noble metals

Nuticulus atque Auriculus is the Latin translation of which children's book?

Noddy and Big Ears

A Talent to Amuse was whose autobiography?

Noel Coward

Billy Bingham managed which international side through the 1980s?

Northern Ireland

Boreas and Zephyrus are two of the four Greek winds. What are the others?

Notus and Eurus

The Prix Cevennes, created in 2007, is given to the best European what ever year?

Novel

What is the Farsi name for the Iranian New Year?

Nowruz

How is an animal that eats nuts described?

Nuciverous

In horse racing, what name is given to a handicap race for 2 year olds?

Nursery

By which more familiar name is the psychiatric condition furor uterinus referred to?

Nymphomania

Skirlie is a Scottish dish of onions fried with what?

Oatmeal

What was Homer's 'sequel' to the Iliad?

Odyssey

Which human hormone has a name deriving from the Greek for 'frenzy'?

Oestrogen

Green in colour, one of the Earth's most common minerals and known as peridot when gem quality. Which mineral?

Olivine

In which city was Marlon Brando born?

Omaha

What was the name given to the large-scale operation of deception in 1944, designed to fool the Nazis into thinking the Allies could invade mainland Europe anywhere from Norway to the Mediterranean?

Operation Bodyguard

What was the name of the operation at the start of WW2 to evacuate children?

Operation Pied Piper

What name was given to the part of Bodyguard that made the Nazis believe a huge American force was gathering in SE England and preparing to invade via Calais?

Operation Quicksilver

In economics, what is defined as the value of what is foregone in order to have something else?

Opportunity Cost

The mnemonic 'Did Margaret ever visit Blackpool Beach' helps you remember what?

Orders of nobility

What is the name of the 26-year-old rapper from Caen in northern France, called the French Eminem, in hot water due to misogynistic lyrics?

Orelsan

Their paintings depict harems and ancient ruins, ornate turbans and carpets. Which school of British painters of the 18th and 19th centuries portryed the eastern Mediterranean in a style that has evoked controversy?

Orientalists

Which six-letter word, meaning 'difficult to get on with' or 'stubborn', is a contraction of a very common word used every day?

Ornery (from Ordinary)

Which legendary film director and actor died on the same day, in 1985, as Yul Brynner?

Orson Welles

Which Italian pasta is often found in soups and has a name literally meaning 'barley'?

Orzo

Who won the 2006 Tour de France after Floyd Landis was disqualified?

Oscar Pereiro

Who directed the film of Leon Uris' Exodus?

Otto Preminger

This system has been used to describe the method of governance employed by kings of the Saxon dynasty, distinguishing it from the feudalism of the French type. Broadly speaking, it is where the king rules the country through clergy appointed by himself. It is named for the first Holy Roman Emperor. What is it?

Ottonian

Which Northants public school is maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers?

Oundle

Almost 300 years after their foundation, who or what did Constantine the Great replace in 310AD with the Scholae?

PRAETORIAN GUARD

In WW2, what was the designation and number of the boat skippered by JFK that was sunk by the Japanese?

PT109

In Ice-Hockey what are puck-stoppers ?

Pads protecting knees and shins

Which famous violinist was born in Genoa and was said by some during his lifetime to be in league with the Devil?

Paganini

Paralympics is a contraction of which two words?

Parallel Olympics

Which ghost horror film, shot in seven days, Blair Witch-style, on a hand-held camera, in director Oren Peli's own home, was a hit in 2009, with a 2010 sequel?

Paranormal Activity

In which fictional suburb of South London was Mrs Dale's Diary set?

Parkwood Hill

In the event of a major terrorist attack, Operation Delta is the plan to move what to Bramshill House, Hampshire?

Parliament

Who plays Dr Neela Rasgotra in ER, which has now become the longest-ever running medical drama in US TV history?

Parminder Nagra

Which footballer retired aged 41 in 1986, with his final appearance coming in the World Cup against Brazil?

Pat Jennings

In Discworld, what title is held by Lord Vetinari, the dictator of Ankh-Morpork?

Patrician

Whose autobiography, co-written with Penny Junor, is called Wonderful Today?

Patti Boyd

At which battle in Northern Italy in 1525 was Francis I of France captured and held as a prisoner of war?

Pavia

Which famous website started life as X.com?

PayPal

In 1961, Kennedy signed the order to set up which civilian organisation sponsored by the US Govt to help civilians in developing countries?

Peace Corps

With the death of Norman Painting, the longest-serving Archers cast member is now June Spencer, who plays which character?

Peggy

Which free will doctrine was named for a monk excommunicated by Innocent I?

Pelagianism

Who was marrying Thetis at the wedding where Eris sent the Apples of Discord?

Peleus

What name did Penguin give to the range of non-fiction titles they published from 1937, with blue replacing orange in the cover design?

Pelican

Which British polar adventurer and author became in 2003 the first person to walk the 478 miles, solo and unsupported, from the northern coast of Canada to the North Pole? During his time at Harrow, he reintroduced the tradition of the Long Ducker, a marathon-length run from Harrow School to Marble Arch and back.

Pen Hadow

In 1982, there were joint runners-up in the F1 World Championship. One was Nelson Piquet- who was the other?

Peroni

Who was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter?

Persephone

Arriving in English via Hindustani, which language was the origin of the word pyjamas?

Persian

What is the more familiar trade name of lucite, or polymethyl methacrylate?

Perspex

The Hopman cup is a mixed tennis tournament for international teams which is held every year in which city?

Perth, WA

Clausio Llosa's The Milk of Sorrow, which won the Golden Bear at the 2009 Berlin Film festival, was the first film from which country to get international recognition?

Peru

Who were the last two men executed in 1964 prior to the abolition of the death penalty?

Peter Allen and John Walby

Which crime writer is responsible for the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series?

Peter James

Baroness Cathy Ashton is married to which political pundit?

Peter Kellner

Which British actor's autobiography was called Fading Into the Limelight?

Peter Sallis

Who was the last rider not born in Northern Ireland to hold the title of champion National Hunt jockey, way back in 1992?

Peter Scudamore

Who got an Oscar nomination for his role as Lentulus Batatius in Spartacus?

Peter Ustinov

Who was killed by Hector while wearing the armour of Achilles?

Petroclus

Which famous Australian racehorse of the 1930s was the subject of a 1983 film?

Phar Lap

Which English children's author, primarily known for the Eddie Dickens series of books, has written more than 70 books including adult fiction and children's non-fiction?

Philip Ardagh

Which Frenchman was the first ever Rugby Union international to win 100 caps?

Phillippe Sella

Brutus and Cassius were defeated at which battle?

Phillippi

Roberto Fonseca came to prominence as a member of Buena Vista Social Club but is now a solo artist- what's his instrument?

Piano

With which instrument does one associate American jazz composer and bandleader Chick Corea?

Piano

Kemble and Co of Milton Keynes were the UK's last leading manufacturer of which items?

Pianos

Which French scientist, born in the c18, postulated the existence of black holes and gives his name to a differential equation in physics?

Pierre Laplace

Which city was capital of Natal province from 1856 to 1994?

Pietermaritzburg

A bit like mosaic, which decorative art form is the technique of using cut and fitted polished coloured stones to create images?

Pietra Dura

What is the name of Bob the Builder's cat?

Pilchard

Traditionally light can only be controlled on length scales down to a little below the wavelength of light, a few hundred nanometres, hence the usual resolution limit of optical microscopes and telescopes. However, a new paradigmis emerging, to control light below its wavelength limit. What's the name of this new branch of physics?

Plasmonics

Powdered calcium sulphate hemi-hydrate is commonly known by what three-word name?

Plaster of Paris

Which strip of land designed to give access to the Baltic cut off East Prussia from the rest of Germany from 1919 to 1945?

Polish Corridor

In 1849, what innovative method did Henry Box Brown apply to escape from slavery? He eventually made it to Britain.

Posted himself to the North in a crate

What name is given to show villages in Communist countries?

Potemkin villages

According to Disraeli, 'there was only one firm that could do it- and that was Rothschilds'. What?

Purchase the Suez Canal

Usually eaten at breakfast, what is the name of the puffy unleavened flat bread in India that is fried in ghee?

Puri

In American planes like the P51 Mustang, what does the P stand for?

Pursuit

Which Irving Berlin number of 1929 has been performed on screen by Clark Gable, Fred Astaire and Gene Wilder with Frankenstein's monster?

Puttin' On The Ritz

Who were the first British club to install an artificial pitch?

QPR

Najaf and which other city are the world's most important for Shia Islam?

Qom

Which city south west of Tehran is sacred to Shias as it is the site of Fatima's shrine and is the largest centre for Shia scholarship in the world?

Qom

King Kong, Citizen Kane and the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films were all by which film studios, bought by Howard Hughes in 1948?

RKO

The ribosome is the 'code-reading machine' found in every cell in the human body. But what is it made of?

RNA

In April 2009, ex lawn tennis player Mirka Vavrinec, married which famous sportsman?

ROGER FEDERER

FC Unirea Urziceni is a football team playing in which UEFA country, having won Liga 1 in season 2008/09?

ROMANIA

Which animal was introduced to Britain for food by the Normans, first in Wales?

Rabbit

In c18 England, Mary Tofts claimed to have given birth to which animals?

Rabbits

What is the name of Boris Johnson's sister who won the 2008 Bad Sex in Literature award?

Rachel

Which film directed by Woody Allen starts with two thieves answering the telephone while robbing a house?

Radio Days

Which English composer wrote the opera of Pilgrim's Progress?

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Who wrote the novel 'Invisible Man' (not 'The Invisible Man')?

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Which artist had the middle name Francois-Ghislain and is famous for works including On The Threshold of Liberty?

Rene Magritte

Who collaborated with Richard Rogers on the Pompidou Centre design?

Renzo Piano

Which single word describes an organisation set up by Clive Stafford Smith to campaign against the death penalty?

Reprieve

To what was Jimmy Carter referring when he used the famous euphamism 'an incomplete success'?

Rescue of the Iranian hostages

In the Bible, which was the brother of Joseph that convinced the others not to kill him but to leave him in a pit for wild beasts to eat?

Reuben

The preserved steam railway at Cadeby, Warks was the inspiration for which man's books?

Rev W Awdry

Who directed the cult hit Donnie Darko?

Richard Kelly

Who took the photo of Patti Smith on the cover of Horses?

Richard Mapplethorpe

Which English equestrian won the individual Gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics?

Richard Meade

The British managed to capture Beersheeba during WW1 from the Ottoman empire by an elaborate ruse gulling the Turks into thinking they would attack Gaza instead. Which man, who never rose above the rank of Colonel, was responsible for the deception?

Richard Meinertzhagen

Ron Ziegler was the long-suffering press secretary for which US president?

Richard Nixon

Which 1970 John Wayne film was Howard Hawks' last and carries strong echoes of the classic Rio Bravo?

Rio Lobo

Who wrote the story on which Psycho was based?

Robert Bloch

Who played Freddy Krueger?

Robert Englund

Which US director's best known film was 'To Kill A Mockingbird'?

Robert Mulligan

Which man starred in films such as A Kiss before Dying, The Longest Day, The Pink Panther and most recently, the Austin Powers movies. On television he is best known for his role as the suave Jonathan Hart in Hart to Hart?

Robert Wagner

The new Ahmadi mosque in Morden, Baitul Futuh, is the second largest in Europe. Where is the largest?

Rome

Which controversial Scottish MP damaged the Mace in 1988?

Ron Brown

With getting on for 40 million views, what is the most watched YouTube video about football?

Ronaldo vs Ronaldinho

Which daughter of Johnny Cash released an album called The List based on cover versions her dad recommended?

Rosanne

Which European Space Agency-led robotic spacecraft mission launched in 2004, intended to study the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It is intended to orbit the comet and place the Philae lander upon it, in 2014?

Rosetta

Which online project is organising a global collaboration of language specialists and native speakers working to build a publicly accessible digital library of human languages?

Rosetta

Which French painter was known as Le Douanier or the Tax Collector?

Rousseau

Which sporting action comprises four phases called catch, drive, finish and recovery?

Rowing

Which American journalist, a former Miss North Dakota, was arrested in Iran in January 2009. On April 8, the Iranian government charged her with espionage, which she denied. She was released on May 11, 2009?

Roxana Saberi

Now in its 242nd year in London, what is the world's largest open submission contemporary art exhibition?

Royal Academy Annual Summer Exhibition

The first in 1946 was 'A Matter of Life and Death' and the 60th was 'Casino Royale' in 2006. What?

Royal Film

Which canal in Kent was dug in 1809 to present an obstacle to an invading army?

Royal Military Canal

Soccer boots have interchangeable studs. The studs for wet and slippery surfaces are made from aluminium. What studs are used for playing on hard ground ?

Rubber Studs

Which dynasty ruled Iran from 1501 to 1722 and played a key role in making Shia Islam the state religion?

Safavid

In WW2, if the paperclip was worn secretly by Norwegian loyalists, what was worn by Dutch loyalists?

Safety pin

Indian director Mira Nair came to prominence in 1988 with which famous film?

Salaam Bombay

What is the name of the salt flats in Bolivia, the world's largest, which hold vast supplies of lithium below their surface?

Salar de Uyuni

Which double Oscar-winning actress is the stepdaughter of Tarzan actor Jock Mahoney?

Sally Field

Which root vegetable is known as the vegetable oyster or the oyster plant?

Salsify

In Brazil, what is the capital of the Bahia region?

Salvador

Which man starred in Avatar?

Sam Worthington

In the Bible, Ahab was king of which kingdom?

Samaria

When then GB RL captain Andy Farrell switched codes in 2005, which club did he sign for?

Saracens

Which city is served by Butmir International Airport?

Sarajevo

Where in the world would you find the Court of Chief Pleas?

Sark

Which empire, which ruled Persia from from 224 to 651, succeeded the Parthian empire and was the last pre-Islamic empire of the country?

Sassanid

Which fabric is produced by using a weave in which the warp threads are interwoven only with ever third or fourth weft thread, producing a glossy finish?

Satin

Which Roman God came to be known as Old Father Time?

Saturn

Most Fado songs express it in some way. What Portuguese and Galician word for a feeling of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return?

Saudade

Mohammed al Deayea holds the world record for international caps, with 181- for which country?

Saudi Arabia

Nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize, 'White Bread, Black Beer' was the first album by which band for seven years?

Scritti Politti

In August 2009, unprecedented amounts of which algae washed up on the beaches of Brittany, producing large quantities of toxic hydrogen sulphide as it decomposed?

Sea Lettuce

Micheline Roquebrune (b 1929) is a French artist. She is the second wife of which Oscar winner who celebrated his 80th birthday in August 2010?

Sean CONNERY

Which Italian word means the women's quarters in a Muslim palace?

Seraglio

Saborna Cathedral is the equivalent of St Peter's Basilica for which branch of Christianity?

Serbian Orthodox Church

Held on the Dorset coast, which event styles itself 'Britain's First Classical Music Festival'?

Serenata

Which is the best-selling album ever in British history?

Sergeant Pepper's

Which golfer was defeated in a play-off at the 2007 Open, when Padraig Harrington won?

Sergio Garcia

In the Catholic church, what is the first of the four stages to sainthood?

Servant of God

Also called Typhon, who in Egyptian mythology is the brother of Osiris who is the embodiment of all elements hostile to mankind?

Seth

How many feet in diameter is the circle used to throw a hammer?

Seven

n Tibetan Buddhist tradition, a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia is mentioned in various ancient texts. What is its name?

Shambhala

Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's controversial play Behzti was dropped by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre following riots. What does Behzti mean?

Shame

Which novel by Salman Rushdie, his third, deals with Pakistan and the people who run it?

Shame

Which swimmer won five medals, including 3 golds, at the Munich Olympics and is the only swimmer of either sex to hold all freestyle records simultaneously? She retired aged 16.

Shane Gould

Which Chinese breed of dog, once very rare but now more common, is known for its distinctive features of deep wrinkles and a blue-black tongue?

Shar Pei

Which Jewish festival is also called the Feast of Weeks?

Shavuot

What was Hylda Baker's catchphrase?

She knows, you know

Who was chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1931 to 1950?

Sir Adrian Boult

The absence of which Labour Party MP led to James Callaghan losing his vote of no confidence in 1979? The man in question was on his deathbed and died five days later.

Sir Alfred Broughton

Which veteran actor was often seen on Spitting Image in pursuit of a knighthood?

Sir Donald Sinden

Oscar Hartzell, in the early c20 conned thousands in America by leading them to believe that they could have a share of the legacy of which deceased Englishman?

Sir Francis Drake

Which chief choreographer of the Royal Ballet from the 1930s created the ballets A Month in the Country and The Tales of Beatrix Potter?

Sir Frederick Ashton

Who was the captain of the Mary Rose when it sank?

Sir George Carew

Mary Hayley Bell was married to which actor?

Sir John Mills

Which British portrait painter went deaf after a severe cold?

Sir Joshua Reynolds

Which car company manufactures the Roomster?

Skoda

Where in the world is the Old Man of Storr?

Skye

Which band took their name from William S Burroughs' 1961 follow-up to The Naked Lunch?

Soft Machine

The tinamou is a flightless chicken-like bird found on which continent?

South America

Prior to 1911, the Northern Territory was part of which Australian state?

South Australia

Which queen in a normal pack of cards faces to the right of the card rather than the left?

Spades

At which modern Olympics were gold medals awarded for the first time- previously the winner had only got silver?

St Louis, 1904

What was the first place to host the Winter Olympics twice?

St Moritz

Which venue was the first to stage the Winter Olympics twice?

St Moritz

In which sovereign state is the famous Caribbean island of Mustique?

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Who wrote the original book of A Kind of Loving?

Stan Barstow

Who was the first National Hunt jockey to ride 1000 winners?

Stan Mellor

What is the name of Peter Biskind's notorious biography of Warren Beatty?

Star

What three word phrase is an Internet meme involving a video of a high school student from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, wielding a golf ball retriever like a lightsaber?

Star Wars Kid

The aeolipile, described by Hero of Alexandria, is considered the forerunner of which more recent invention?

Steam engine

In 2006, 10 year old Giuseppe Mangano became the youngest person ever to swim which geographical feature?

Straits of Messina

Russians began queueing for tickets a whole year before the performance. Author Olga Grushin has written a novel, The Concert Ticket, inspired by this event, and she describes the complex social system that evolved in the queue, with people working together to hold their places overnight. Whose 'Back in the USSR' concert in Leningrad in 1962?

Stravinsky

What comes next in this sequence- six bagger, five bagger, four bagger, turkey, double......?

Strike (10 pin bowling)

What word does a stamp collector use to describe a group of three or more stamps joined together either vertically or horizontally?

Strip

Which bronze-clawed birds of Arcadia had to be killed as one of Heracles' Labours?

Stymphalian

Amateur New York psychologist James Vicary is most associated with which technique, which has since been proven not to work (although banned anyway)

Subliminal messages

In the Royal Navy, what kind of vessel is the current HMS Victorious?

Submarine

Which country's name comes from the Arabic for Land of the Blacks and was originally applied to all of sub-Saharan Africa?

Sudan

Who is best known for his 'The Twelve Caesars'?

Suetonius

Iron pyrites or 'fool's gold' is a compound of iron and which non-metal?

Sulphur

Which holiday resort in the Isle of Man burnt down in 1973, killing 50 people?

Summerland

Which company developed the Java computer language?

Sun Microsystems

In which newspaper is the column Crossbencher?

Sunday Express

Which Shigeru Miyamoto character first appeared in Donkey Kong as a carpenter named Jumpman?

Super Mario

Which city in present-day Iran was the capital of the Elamite Empire before its fall to the Assyrians?

Susa

Founded in 1903, which car company was financed by the Earl of Shrewsbury?

Talbot

Mandarin, English, Malay and which fourth are all official languages of Singapore?

Tamil

Robert Peel was MP for which town from 1830 until his death in 1850?

Tamworth

What is the longest river in Kenya, whose name is also shared with one in Norway, and the forename of a celebrity chef?

Tana

Which friend of Handel, born in Magdeburg in 1681, wrote the Water Music, or Hamburg Ebb and Flow?

Telemann

Longer than a 747 jumbo jet, as tall as Nelson's Column and containing half a mile of steel cable, Britain's biggest sculpture was unveiled on Teeside in June 2010. By Anish Kapoor, it is called what, Greek for Holy Ground?

Temenos

What's the name of the fourth Terminator film, which stars Christian Bale?

Terminator: Salvation

Which famous sporting event took place at the Tata Raphael Stadium, then called the 20th May Stadium?

The 'Rumble in the Jungle'

Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla are collectively known as what?

The 3 kingdoms of Korea

Which 2006 novel was written by Irish novelist John Boyne and is a multi-million best-seller. Unlike the months of planning Boyne devoted to his other books, he said that he wrote the entire first draft in two and a half days, barely sleeping until he got to the end?

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Which 3-year transatlantic project links the Old Vic, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Neal Street Productions?

The Bridge Project

George Hull, who rivalled Barnum as a hoaxer, buried and then claimed to have discovered a huge carved gypsum figure on a farm in upstate New York. What was this figure known as by the gullible masses?

The Cardiff Giant

What is the name of the cup for which Australia play New Zealand at one-day cricket?

The Chappell-Hadlee Cup

Which British anti-war group, founded by Bertrand Russell, advocated non-violent civil disobedience?

The Committee of 100

Which song from The Gay Divorcee won the first ever Best Song Oscar?

The Continental

Jerry Allison, Joe Mauldin and Sonny Curtis were in which famous backing band?

The Crickets

Anthony Beevor's 2009 book, like Stalingrad about the Second World War, was about which event?

The D-Day Landings

In Ken Follett's spy thriller The Key to Rebecca, who or what is Rebecca?

The Daphne Du Maurier novel

In which 1871 book did Darwin posit the evolution of men from apes?

The Descent of Man

Which forged document, which was used by the Popes in the Dark Ages to buttress and justify their authority, was proven as a fake by Lorenzo Valla in 1440?

The Donation of Constantine

What is the name of the abandoned urban elevated rail line in NYC that has been converted to a new park?

The High Line

2009's ...And Another Thing, by Eoin Colfer, is the sixth book in which series that was originally started by someone else?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

What was Hollywood's first daily entertainment industry trade paper. It began as a daily film publication, then added television coverage in the 1950s. Its founder William Wilkerson was famous for his outspoken, outrageous views?

The Hollywood Reporter

What was Ricky Gervais's Hollywood directorial debut?

The Invention of Lying

An 11-year old girl called Abbey Kimber read out a poem at the end of which 1980s UK Number 1 single?

The Land of Make Believe

Which once great British institution was founded on 6th June 1859 at the Willis's Rooms on St James Street London and dissolved itself in 1988?

The Liberal Party

Which society has the motto 'Indocilis privata loqui' (not apt to disclose secrets)?

The Magic Circle

The old man was right. Only the farmers won. We lost. We always lose. These are the last lines of which famous film?

The Magnificent Seven

The trilogy of plays Table Manners, Living Together and Round and Round the Garden is called what?

The Norman Conquests

Richard Matheson's post-apocalyptic novel I Am Legend was made into a 1971 Charlton Heston film called what?

The Omega Man

If the Prestige is the third part of a magic trick, what are the first two?

The Pledge and the Turn

Which 1973 novel by William Goldman tells of a farm hand named Westley's relationship with a beautiful woman called Buttercup?

The Princess Bride

The fan club Six of One is interested in what?

The Prisoner

What is the name of the Indian presidential palace?

The Rashtra-Pati Bhavan

Because of the ginger-brown colour of the pines after they died following the absorption of high levels of radiation from the Chernobyl accident, what name was given to the most polluted area of trees in the immediate vicinity?

The Red Forest

Which London hotel celebrated its centenary in 2006?

The Ritz

How was Fergus Drennan known in the title of a BBC series?

The Roadkill Chef

On TV, how is/was Arthur Boyt better known?

The Roadkill Chef

Which tourist route links Wurzberg and Fuessen?

The Romantic Road

Which country shares its name with the band of Savannah that stretches across Africa from Mali in the west to the Ethiopian Highlands in the East?

The SUDAN

Which series of children's books by Tony Di Terlizzi and Holly Black chronicle the adventures of the Grace children?

The Spiderwick Chronicles

Tchiakovsky produced three major works based on Shakespeare. One was Romeo and Juliet- name the two others.

The Tempest and Hamlet

Which of the Seven Wonders of the World was destroyed by Herostratus in 356 BC?

The Temple of Artemis

With which song did Bob Dylan first enter the UK singles chart in 1965?

The Times They Are A Changin

Which psychedelic folk rock band, best known for their song Happy Together, were arguably the first to perform at the White House for Nixon's daughter Tricia?

The Turtles

In which Shakespeare play does Crab the Dog appear?

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Dunlap Broadside and the Goddard Broadside were early versions of which document?

The US Declaration of Independence

What is England's largest SSSI?

The Wash

Jimmy's World' was a faked 'exclusive' story about young drug addicts in 1980 that ruined the reputation of which otherwise well-respected US newspaper?

The Washington Post

From which poem is the phrase 'A Handful of Dust'?

The Waste Land

How are the Burial of the Dead, A Game of Chess, The Fire Sermon, Death by Water, and What the Thunder Said known collectively?

The Waste Land

What was the name of the giant sun placed by Olafur Eliasson in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern?

The Weather Project

The cover for which Beatles album was designed by Richard Hamilton?

The White Album

Which is currently the second-longest running London play after the Mousetrap, running since 1989?

The Woman in Black

Originally serialised in the periodical All The Year Round, it triggered a craze for cloaks and bonnets, waltzes and quadrilles and it was even parodied in Punch magazine. Which classic novel?

The Woman in White

Every Bible Gets Dusty After Easter is a mnemonic for remembering what?

The order of guitar strings

In cosmology, what has been called the 'ultimate free lunch'?

The proposition that the Universe was created out of nothing

Starting blocks are used on athletic tracks. Runners push their feet against them to get the fastest possible start. What else can they be used for ?

To detect false starts

What is the name of the Chilean film about a man obsessed with John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever- its name is the character's name?

Tony Manero

Belonging to the suborder Cyprinodontidae, which fish lives only eight months in the wild, and therefore is the shortest lived of all fish species?

Tooth Carp

In which 1966 Hitchcock political thriller did Paul Newman star opposite Julie Andrews?

Torn Curtain

What is the capital of Ontario?

Toronto

Which club won the first ever Heineken Cup in 1996?

Toulouse

The company founded by William Britain in 1860, thanks to the pioneering process he invented, became pre-eminent in the manufacture of which collectible objects?

Toy soldiers

Chris Evert won six US Open titles between 1975 and 1982. Who won in 1979 and 1981, the only years she did not win?

Tracy Austin

In which Gilbert and Sullivan work does Angelina sue Edwin for breach of promise?

Trial By Jury

Brian Lara was born on which island?

Trinidad

US university students Alexander Aciman and Emmett Rensin wrote a book retelling 75 classics of literature through what medium?

Twitter

In an influential 1959 Rede Lecture by British scientist and novelist C. P. Snow, he theorised that the breakdown of communication between the the sciences and the humanities was a major hindrance to solving the world's problems. As a trained scientist who was also a successful novelist, Snow was well placed to articulate this thesis. What was its name?

Two Cultures

Who starred as Jesse James in the 1939 film of the same name?

Tyrone Power

At which university is Mullard Space Science Laboratory?

UCL

The body of which US President, who died in 1885, lies in Riverside Park in Manhattan, in the largest mausoleum in North America?

ULYSSES S GRANT

What is the name of Sarkozy's center-right party?

UMP

He won three British opens and three of what else?

US Masters

Which country is the world's largest consumer of illegal drugs?

USA

A civil war in the north of which African country during the 2000s saw the Acoli people driven off their land?

Uganda

Russia and which other country both claim writer Nikolai Gogol, holding rival festivals in his honour?

Ukraine

Which group's albums include Quartet, Rage in Eden and Systems of Romance?

Ultravox

About which book did Virginia Woolf write in 1922 'Never did I read such tosh'?

Ulysses

After declaring independence from Ottoman rule, the major European powers formally recognized Albania as an independent principality in July 1913. Independence had been asserted by an assembly convened in the place which is now the country's second largest port city, and which was Albania's capital until 1914. Where was this?

VLORË or VLORA

As of 2010, name the last three clubs Rafa Benitez has managed.

Valencia, Liverpool, Inter Milan

Which nickname used to be shared by Charlton Athletic and Port Vale, although Charlton no longer use it?

Valiants

What is on the opposite bank of the Nile from Luxor/Thebes?

Valley of the Kings

HMS Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance make up with which other submarine the RN's eponymous class of such vessels?

Vanguard

In which far-right community was Eugene Terreblanche killed in 2010?

Ventersdorp

Formerly a senior fashion editor with Vogue, which Chinese-American has designed wedding gowns for Mariah Carey, Uma Thurman and Chelsea Clinton, among others?

Vera Wang

Dubonnet is a pink version of which kind of drink?

Vermouth

Which c17 French mathematician invented an auxiliary scale which improved the accuracy of linear and angular measurements and was named after him?

Vernier

In which Italian city do Chievo play home games?

Verona

Which Roman emperor's last words were 'I suppose I am now becoming a God'?

Vespasian

What is the Rioplatense equivalent of the French 'verlan', i.e a slang reversing the order syllables in words?

Vesre

What Latin word means a forecourt but now means an internal space between the outside door and the inside of a building?

Vestibule

Who was the last English monarch to marry a first cousin?

Victoria

Confusingly, given its meaning, what is the forename of Ali Farka Toure's son, also a musician?

Vieux

Who wrote Q and A- the basis for Slumdog Millionaire?

Vikas Swarup

His verse 'But where are the snows of yesteryear' is famous. Which Frenchman is famous for his Ballad of the Hanged, written while in prison?

Villon

Who wrote the music for the TV version of Charles Schultz's Peanuts?

Vince Govaldi

Which devious mafia boss feigned insanity for many years depite still running a large chunk of the New York mafia in the 1970s, 80s and 90s?

Vincent 'The Chin' Gigante

Who was the first man to go into space twice?

Virgil Grissom

Which US cigarette was advertised under the slogan 'You've come a long way, baby'?

Virginia Slims

Which British novelist and a group of friends once convinced the British navy to show them around the Dreadnought as they had disguised themselves as the Ethiopian royal family?

Virginia Woolf

Which PM represented Italy in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Versailles?

Vittorio Orlando

The Original of Laura was which writer's posthumous last work, which he asked to be burned but was published anyway in 2009?

Vladimir Nabokov

What was the real first name of the character Corporal 'Radar' O'Reilly in 'M*A*S*H'?

WALTER

In classical mythology, of what was Plutus, (not to be confused with Pluto), the God?

WEALTH

Which RL team play/played at the Atlantic Solutions Stadium?

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

Where in Sussex is Kew's Millennium Seed Bank?

Wakehurst Place

Jock Stein died of a heart attack while Scotland were playing which team?

Wales

Who wrote Love on the Dole in 1933?

Walter Greenwood

Who wrote the novel 'Love On the Dole'?

Walter Greenwood

Which East German Communist leader ordered the building of the Berlin Wall?

Walter Ulbricht

The highest railway summit in the South of England lies on which preserved steam line?

Watercress line

Mize Hazelwood, Andy Mapple and Liz Hobbs have all been British champions at which sport?

Waterskiing

What were the real first names of rugby player 'Dusty' Hare?

William Henry

Which Spanish band leader appeared in films such as Gay Madrid, You Were Never Lovelier and Weekend at the Waldorf?

Xavier Cugat

A deficiency of Vitamin A (thiamin) leads to which eye disease in children?

Xerophthalmia

Which Japanese artist, whose work shows an obsession with repetition, is most famous for her polka-dot motifs, lives in a mental hospital in Tokyo, and currently holds the record for most expensive work by a living female artist?

Yayoi Kusama

In which country is there a village with the unfortunate name of Al-Qaeda, because it is at the base of a mountain?

Yemen

Who was King Arthur's mother?

Ygraine

Which film character is associated with the quote 'Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering'?

Yoda

S-Block elements belong to which two groups in the periodic table?

1 and 2

How many degrees is each interior angle of a hexagon?

120 degrees

In which decade was the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland first defined?

1290s

In the Ryder Cup, the winner is the first side to reach how many points?

14.5

Not 147. What is the *real* highest possible break in the game of snooker?

155

In which year did Catholic Europe change to the Gregorian calendar?

1582

Berlioz's Requiem commemorates which historical event?

1830 revolution

How many centimetres in an inch to the nearest 100th of a centimetre?

2.54

The first two perfect numbers are 6 and 28. What is the next?

496

In a similar vein, which Egyptian musical channel showcases hip-hop with an Islamic message and has been called the 'MTV of the Middle East'?

4Shbab

Gunter Demnig lays 'Stolpersteine', or 'stumbling blocks' in Berlin- small gold-coloured plaques. What do they each commemorate?

A Jew at the address murdered by Nazis

In which seminal Northern working class film does Alan Bates fall in love with June Ritchie in 1960s Lancashire, much to the disgust of her mother, played by Thora Hird?

A Kind of Loving

Which play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959 has a title based on a Langston Hughes. The story is based upon a black family's experiences in Chicago. It was the first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with a black director on Broadway?

A Raisin in the Sun

As of 2010, who is the president of Algeria?

Abdelaziz Bouteflika

In 1984, Hosni Mubarak approved the faking of an execution in Egypt of which of Gaddafi's former Prime Ministers, who Gaddafi had tried to hire a real hit squad to kill?

Abdul Hamid Bakkush

Which of her cousins increasingly supplanted Sarah Churchill in the affections of Queen Anne from 1704?

Abigail Masham

A branch of the Louvre will open in 2010 in which Middle Eastern city?

Abu Dhabi

The Million's poet is a Middle Eastern, poetry version of the X Factor. It is broadcast weekly to the Arab world from which city?

Abu Dhabi

In 2009, the Elgin Marbles debate reignited with the opening of which new museum?

Acropolis Museum, Athens

Lord Charles Cavendish, younger brother of the Duke of Devonshire, and resident of Lismore Castle, Ireland, married who in 1932?

Adele Astaire

Which Greek poet wrote Prometheus Bound?

Aeschylus

What name is given to the triangle-shaped geological depression near the Horn of Africa, also a part of the Great Rift Valley, overlapping Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti? It contains Africa's lowest point, Dallol (one of the hottest places on earth), Gona, site of the world's oldest stone tools; and Hadar, site of Lucy, the fossilized specimen.

Afar Depression (or Afar Triangle)

Age Concern and Help the Aged have now combined into which charity?

Age UK

Which 2010 film was set in 4th Century Alexandria - and tells the story of the brilliant astronomer, Hypatia (Rachel Weisz) resisting the religious extremists who want to destroy the city's famous library?

Agora

Who was the commander of Octavian's fleet at the battle of Actium against Cleopatra and Mark Anthony?

Agrippa

By which of his wives was Claudius poisoned so that his son Nero would succeed?

Agrippina

Which sheikh, the head of Hamas, was assassinated in an Israeli air strike in 2003?

Ahmed Yassin

Which ITV soap opera of the mid 1980s was axed after exactly 100 episodes?

Albion Market

What was the name of Heracles' mother?

Alcmene

Who scored the controversial last-minute winner for the USSR v USA in the basketball at Munich?

Alexandr Belov

Who sculpted the Venus de Milo?

Alexandros of Antioch

Who was the influential President of GM in the 1920s?

Alfred P Sloan

Which famous British poet's wife was called Emily Sellwood?

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Name both countries that fought in the African 'Sand War' of 1963.

Algeria and Morocco

Collectively, Group 2 of the Periodic Table (Beryllium, Magnesium, Calcium, Strontium, Barium and Radium) are known as what?

Alkaline Earth Metals

Written in 1887, what was the sequel to King Solomon's Mines?

Allen Quartermain

Which Viennese-born lady married Gropius and Mahler and had an affair with Kokoschka?

Alma Schindler

What was the Christian name of Parker in Thunderbirds?

Aloysius

Oleg Deripaska, the notorious owner of the Queen K yacht, made his fortune from the trade in which element of the Periodic Table?

Aluminium

Accurate to one second in about 3.7 billion years and developed by researchers at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), what is the world's most accurate clock?

Aluminium Ion Clock

Starting in Brookside, who is now more famous as Sam Ryan and Police Commander Claire Blake?

Amanda Burton

Which American man is the subject of the book The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes?

Ambrose Bierce

Which son of King David lusted after his half-sister Tamar and tricked her into 'lying with him'?

Amnon

Which Indian city was founded by Ram Das and has a name meaning 'pool of immortality'?

Amritsar

Named for a city, which 1996 treaty pledged the European nations to 'work towards ever closer union'?

Amsterdam

In cricket scoring, what symbol is used to represent a wide, with no additional runs scored?

An 'X'

In April 2003 86 year old Alexander Muat was the oldest ever person to get what?

An ASBO

How is Thomas Stockmann described in the title of an Ibsen play?

An Enemy of the People

In the RAF in WW2, who or what was a goldfish?

An airman rescued at sea

Who paid for Pancho Gonzales' funeral in 1995, when he died almost friendless?

Andre Agassi (his brother-in-law)

Which Dutchman has played to millions with his 'Johann Strauss Orchestra'?

Andre Rieu

Which Italian artist, known as the 'faultless painter', has his Sculptor in the National Gallery?

Andrea del Sarto

Who partnered Steve Redgrave to gold in the Coxless Pairs at Seoul, 1988?

Andrew Holmes

Which was Racine's first successful play in 1667?

Andromache

A goniometer is an instrument for measuring what?

Angles of crystals

Chinese investment in which country is bringing back to life the Benguela railway, one of Africa's great rail routes?

Angola

Polish peasant Franziska Schanzkowska took what name in her attempt to claim that she was a famous figure from history? (She wasn't)

Anna Anderson

Who was the world's first female space tourist, first female Muslim and first Iranian in space, in 2006?

Anousheh Ansari

Which Foreign Secretary died of a heart attack in February 1977?

Anthony Crosland

For the last 10 years, Brendan, the older brother of which artist, has been head of the Disasters Emergency Committee?

Anthony Gormley

Who scripted Foyle's War on TV and wrote the children's book The Falcon's Malteser?

Anthony Horowitz

Which actor, who won two Best Supporting Actor Oscars, was the son-in-law of Cecil B DeMille?

Anthony Quinn

On which island were Curtly Ambrose, Viv Richards and Andy Roberts all born?

Antigua

In AD143, Quintus Lollius Urbicus oversaw the building of what?

Antonine Wall

What device did Hera wear to appear more attractive to Zeus to seduce him, with the (successful) aim of ensuring that while he had sex and slept, the Greeks won the Trojan war (Zeus had favoured the Trojans)?

Aphrodite's girdle

Although historically two different tribes, the Cheyenne are now united with which other tribe in Oklahoma?

Arapahoe

What is the name of the facial expression used by Greek sculptors, especially in the second quarter of the sixth century BCE, possibly to suggest that their subject was alive, and infused with a sense of well-being. To viewers habituated to realism, it is flat and quite unnatural looking?

Archaic smile

The recurve is a competition in which Olympic sport?

Archery

In Ancient Greece, what name was given to the chief magistrate in ancient city-states?

Archon

Which animal often follows polar bears around, feeding on the carcasses of their kills, although they also eat lemmings?

Arctic foxes

What nickname has been given to the fossilized skeletal remains A. ramidus, an early human-like species 4.4 million years old found in Ethiopia. It is the most complete early hominid specimen, with most of the skull, teeth, pelvis, hands and feet?

Ardi

Which c4 Alexandrian priest taught that Christ was not consubstantial with God, a doctrine declared a heresy by the Council of Nicaea?

Arian

Which famous woman's birth surname was Stassinopoulou?

Arianna Huffington

Which Greek philosopher created logic, the science of reasoning?

Aristotle

Which Greek philosopher wrote the Nicomachean Epics?

Aristotle

Which plant with a bright yellow flower is also called 'mountain tobacco' and is used in homeopathy?

Arnica

What name has been given to the 33ft tall four-armed 'metal mermaid' sculpture visible from the A80 near Cumbernauld?

Arria

Vostanik Manoog Adoyan (1904-1948) was an Armenian-born American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He is better known by his pseudonyum. What is it?

Arshile Gorky

Which band leader is particularly associated with the band 'The Jazz Messengers'?

Art Blakey

What name did Amy Williams give to her sledge?

Arthur

In 2009, which UK band promoted their A-Z singles collection with 26 gigs in cities in alphabetical sequence from Aldershot to Zennor?

Ash

Established by Canaanites and mentioned 13 times in the Bible, which coastal city is today the fifth largest in Israel?

Ashdod

In early 2010, it was announced that massive extinct volcanoes had been found on the Pacific floor off Santa Barbara, CA. What are they made of?

Asphalt

In Chile, ALMA is made up of 80 high-precision antennas that will transform our understanding of the physics of the 'cold universe'. The cold universe is made up of regions that are optically dark to us but shine brightly in the millimetre portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. What does ALMA stand for?

Atacama Large Millimetre Array

Which European football team is named after a fleet-footed huntress?

Atalanta

Which sport has provided the most BBC Sports personalities of the year?

Athletics

What name did Terence Rattigan coin as the epitome of the matinee audience he had to please?

Aunt Edna

From the Latin 'to listen', what word means medical diagnosis based on listening to the sounds of the body, usually through a stethoscope?

Auscultation

In 2002, Great Britain suffered their worst ever Rugby League defeat, 64-10 to which country?

Australia

Which indigenous women in South America wear bowler hats as part of their traditional dress because, it is said, that a quick-witted salesman from Manchester sold them to them in the c19?

Aymara

Colonel Nicholson is one of the main characters in which famous 1957 war film?

BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

In which town is the Devonshire Royal Hospital, now the Devonshire campus of the University of Derby?

BUXTON

Which species of sea eagle is the only one native to North America?

Bald eagle

One of the most beautiful sights in Asia are the green and silver contours of the Jati Luwih rice terraces on which island?

Bali

What is the name of the largest lake in Kazakhstan?

Balkhash

Which word, meaning commonplace or trivial comes from the Middle French for 'common to all'?

Banal

What word for a brightly coloured hankerchief worn around the head or neck comes from a Hindi word meaning tye-dying?

Bandanna

Which sport takes its name from the Norman French meaning 'bent' and is played with a plastic ball rather than a puck?

Bandy

Which Test cricket side are called the Tigers?

Bangladesh

Gornik & Drucker are a long-established Beverley Hills company providing what service to the Hollywood stars?

Barbers

In a Tale of Two Cities, what is the particular profession of Sydney Carton?

Barrister

Pieter-Dirk Uys, well-known for his character Evita Bezuidenhout (also known as Tannie Evita) is a South African comedian and that country's version of which Australian?

Barry Humphries/Dame Edna Everage

Gareth Edwards' most successful partnerships for Cardiff and Wales in the 1970s were with which other player?

Barry John

In chemistry, what term is used informally to refer to a metal that oxidises or corrodes relatively easily, and reacts variably with diluted hydrochloric acid to form hydrogen?

Base metal

Which TV character first appeared with magician David Nixon in 1963?

Basil Brush

On TV, what was Professor Quatermass' first name?

Bernard

Aquamarine, emerald, heliodor and morganite are all examples of which mineral?

Beryl

What is the name of the red food dye produced from beetroot?

Betanin

Which legendary Hollywood actress took out an advert in 'Backstage' that said Actress, Multiple Academy Awards. Looking for work'?

Bette Davis

Which award is given for the best first novel by a Commonwealth writer under 35?

Betty Trask

Where on his body does David Beckham have the name Romeo tattooed?

Between his shoulders

During the Albigensian Crusades, Papal commander Arnaud Amalric uttered the famous words 'Kill them all- God will recognise his own' during an attack on Cathars in which French city?

Beziers

Which terrible TV sitcom in 2009 about a travelling circus starred Amanda Holden and Tony Robinson?

Big Top

Which German tabloid has the highest circulation in Europe?

Bild

In the 'Angus Prune Tune', the theme for I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, who sang it?

Bill Oddie

Who was the first ever American winner of Wimbledon?

Bill Tilden

Who was Wimbledon women's champion in 1972?

Billie Jean King

Which singer once had to mumble his way through 'She's Leaving Home' on Top of the Pops as dry ice concealed the lyrics he had taped to the floor?

Billy Bragg

Which English pop star was born William Michael Albert Broad in 1955?

Billy Idol

Where on the Leeds-Liverpool canal is the five-rise lock staircase?

Bingley

A three-mile high column of cloud - visible from up to 100km away - will be projected from where in 2012 for 18 months. It's one of twelve Arts Council commissions across the UK as part of the Cultural Olympiad?

Birkenhead

Which city is known as the 'city of a thousand trades'?

Birmingham

In chess, in theory, which side can achieve check-mate fastest?

Black

In 1995, which NZ yacht with a sweet-sounding name became only the second non-USA boat to win the America's Cup?

Black Magic

Also the name of a spider, what is the nickname of competitive eating champion Sonya Thomas?

Black Widow

Which American spider has three species- the Northern, Southern and Western?

Black Widow

What's the name of the female protagonist of A Streetcar Named Desire?

Blanche Dubois

In the Catholic church, what is the third of the four stages to sainthood?

Blessed

What do the letters BEBO stand for?

Blog Early, Blog Often

In judo, what colour belt comes between green and brown?

Blue

Sulfhemoglobinaemia is a rare condition in which there is excess sulfhemoglobin in the blood, causing the skin to take on what colour hue?

Blue

Mount Mitchell, the highest point in the Appalachians, is in which specific chain?

Blue Ridge Mountains

By what other name is the blowfly more commonly known?

Bluebottle

What's the nickname of someone from Nova Scotia?

Bluenosers

In which vast building in West London do the V & A, British Musem and Science Museum store their vast reserve collections?

Blythe House

Which singer, who died in 2008, had a stage name that was black slang for 'nothing at all'?

Bo Diddley

In To Kill a Mockingbird, which drunken bigot, who shares his surname with a small town in Surrey, accuses a black man falsely of raping his daughter Mayella?

Bob Ewell

The American Chet Snouffer took the title in the first ever World Championships of which throwing sport in 1979?

Boomerang throwing

The World Championships of which sport includes events called Team Relay, Team Endurance Relay, Team Supercatch, Team Australia Round and Team Terror?

Boomerang throwing

What is the name of the cup for which India play Australia at cricket?

Border-Gavaskar

In the c19, fans of which sport were known as 'The Fancy'?

Boxing

Which young people's magazine was founded in England in 1879 by the Religious Tract Society?

Boy's Own

According to Samuel Johnson, claret is for boys, port for men, but what for heroes?

Brandy

Who wrote a play called Turandot in 1953?

Brecht

If Bavaria is the largest Land, which is the smallest?

Bremen

Which B is a document enabling a commissioned officer in the armed forces to hold a higher rank on a temporary basis?

Brevet

Who was both the youngest and the oldest post-war Test cricketer for England?

Brian Close

The woody root of which plant native to Corsica and the South of France was traditionally used to make tobacco pipes ?

Briar

In July 1933, England, captained by Lt Col Beasley, played the USA, captained by E Culbertonson in Selfridges in which game?

Bridge

In the early 1970s, which album spent a record 278 consecutive weeks in the British top 40?

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Which flat race was originally called the Coronation Stakes but was renamed in 1973 after the horse that won the previous year?

Brigadier Gerard Stakes

What's the name of the Jane Campion film about Keats and Fanny Brawn?

Bright Star

What is the name of the retirement home in Twickenham for actors, and was where Thora Hird, John Hewer (Captain Birdseye) and Alan Freeman all died?

Brinsworth House

What is the meaning of the Bantu word 'ubuntu'?

Brotherhood

Blinded by the Light by Manfred Mann's Earth Band originally appeared on an album by whom?

Bruce Springsteen

What vegetable has cultivars including Bedford Fillbasket, Cambridge Number Five and Peer Gynt?

Brussels sprout

Which Canadian singer-songwriter is also known as a photographer?

Bryan Adams

Which centre near Bala in Wales was accused in 1994 of sending young offenders on luxury holidays or 'Crooks Tours' as portrayed in the media?

Bryn Melyn

Which city is served by Otopeni International Airport?

Bucharest

Which city was the first in mainland Europe to open an underground railway system?

Budapest

Mutri, or 'thick-necks' are the local mafia in which EU Member State?

Bulgaria

The first and second Battles of Manassas are also known by the name of which stream?

Bull Run

Albus Dumbledore is in Harry Potter. A dumbledore is an old dialect word for which creature?

Bumblebee

In horse racing, what term is used for a Flat race run under National Hunt rules?

Bumper

Where does Lord Snooty live?

Bunkerton Castle

The Ancient Greeks called it Pyrgis and the Romans Deultum. Which Black Sea port?

Burgas

Near which town is the Peel tower that commemorates a local PM?

Bury

Veronese's real surname is also another Italian city- what?

Cagliari

Which city is known as the 'city of a thousand minarets'?

Cairo

Who played his entire career (1981-2001) for the Baltimore Orioles. He earned the nickname "Iron Man" for doggedly remaining in the lineup despite numerous minor injuries and for his reliability to "show up" to work every day. He is perhaps best known for breaking Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played, a record many deemed unbreakable?

Cal Ripkin, Jr

Ordoney de Montaldo used it to describe his land of plenty in the 1510 book Las Sergas Esplandian. What name?

California

The title character of which Rafael Sabatini adventure novel is a doctor who turns pirate after being wrongfully convicted of treason and transported to the West Indies, played on film by Errol Flynn?

Captain Blood

Through three series in the 1970s, who played the title role in the sitcom Beryl's Lot?

Carmel McSharry

Which ex-Great Britain rugby league international scored a try on his international Union debut for Ireland in 2007?

Carney

Which word derived from either the colour of a robe worn by a shepherd of the same name in d'Urfe's pastoral romance L'Astree or from a c12 sultan? It is now used to mean either a colour or a glaze.

Celadon

Which organic compound is a structural polysaccharide derived from beta glucose and was discovered and isolated by Ansleme Payen?

Cellulose

In which geological era are we now living?

Cenozoic

In January 1975, Elisabeth Domitien became the first female prime minister of an African country. Which one?

Central African Empire

Which part of the brain helps maintain balance?

Cerebellum

In Norse mythology, how did Tyr get his hand bitten off?

Chaining up the wolf Fenrir

At which 1643 Civil War Battle was Parliamentary leader John Hampden fatally wounded?

Chalgrove

Which perfume was the world's first artificially produced aldehyde?

Chanel Number Five

Which course hosts the French Derby?

Chantilly

Who claimed to have discovered Piltdown Man?

Charles Dawson

Which spin-off from the TV series Budgie starred Ian Cuthbertson in the title role?

Charles Endell Esquire

A cameo in the children's TV series of Supergran was the last ever appearance of which comic actor?

Charles Hawtrey

The Royal Mail was founded during the reign of which King?

Charles I (1635)

The war of the Austrian Succession was faught over the right of Maria Theresa to succeed her father- who?

Charles VI

Which British flyweight world boxing champion was born in Tunisia in 1956?

Charlie Magri

Ramzan Kadyrov is a 32-year old warlord appointed by Moscow to control which territory?

Chechnya

Robert the Bruce was born in/near which English county town in 1274?

Chelmsford

John Major is a fan of which FC?

Chelsea

Which American actor shares his name with a traditional English ballad and a part of the Eldon Square shopping centre in Newcastle?

Chevy Chase

The 6th Lord Somers was the second ever what in Great Britain, the third being the 2nd Baron Rowallan?

Chief Scout

Which familiar warbler, Phylloscopus collybita, gets its name from its simple, repetitive cheerful song, rather than anything it eats?

Chiffchaff

The Era of the Warring States lasted from c425 BC to c221 BC in the history of which country?

China

What is an alternative name for the musical genre '8 bit'?

Chiptune

Which element consists of more than half of all the dissolved material in sea water?

Chlorine

Which gas was, in 1823, the first to be liquefied, when Michael Faraday was experimentally putting it under pressure?

Chlorine

Which player made £10,000 for his father in bet winnings when he made his England debut in 2006?

Chris Kirkland

Which close friend of Martin Amis has published memoirs called Hitch 22?

Christopher Hitchens

American painter Don Bachardy lived for many years with which British writer?

Christopher Isherwood

Which series of children's books by Michelle Paver, set in the Stone Age, feature the central character Torak?

Chronicles of Ancient Darkness

Which Belfast-born actor has appeared in such films as Veronica Guerin, There Will Be Blood, and Munich, and will play Dumbledore's brother Aberforth in the last Harry Potter film?

Ciaran Hinds

What is the name of the villainous sergeant at arms in Billy Budd, who falsely accuses Billy of sedition?

Claggart

In which legal procedure do one or more claimants in a court case represent a larger group of people all making the same kind of claim against the same defendent?

Class Action

Which legendary Arsenal footballer, born in Exeter, was excused military service after failing the army hearing test?

Cliff Bastin

Which Hollywood actor founded Malpaso, his own production company?

Clint Eastwood

The Blaze of Obscurity: The TV Years is an installment of whose memoirs?

Clive James

In Britain, in recognition of what is called The Code, whose image is painted onto an eggshell, and no two are allowed to be alike?

Clowns

Which British party, founded in 1917, is allied permanently to the Labour Party and sponsors Labour MPs, who run as joint candidates of both parties?

Co-Operative Party

UTC is more or less equivalent to GMT. It's a French acronym and translates to CUT in English. What does CUT stand for?

Co-ordinated Universal Time

Which factory in Cuba produces the world's most expensive and refined brand of cigar?

Cohiba

Which building, important in WW2, stands on a high rocky outcrop over the River Mulde in central Germany?

Colditz Castle

Who was the first England player to play in 100 Test matches?

Colin Cowdray

Who is the piano player on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue?

Colin Sell

What is the surname of the Beautiful South guitarist, shared with a famous footballer?

Collymore

A mercenary leader known as 'Mad Mike', in July 1982, who was found guilty of hijacking a plane to escape from a failed coup in the Seychelles?

Colonel Mike HOARE

The Will Eisner Awards are given annually in San Diego, CA, in what field?

Comic books

In the DC3 aircraft, the D stood for Douglas. What did the C stand for?

Commercial

Which bird, according to scientists, turns out to have an innate tool-using ability that it doesn't generally bother to use. Those who have discovered this hidden talent argue it makes them more intelligent than chimpanzees?

Common Rooks

In 2010, Solo by Rana Dasgupta won which prize?

Commonwealth Writers Prize

What name is given to the response discovered by Pavlov where a novel stimulus can set off the same reaction as the original stimulus?

Conditioned reflex

What is the name of the longest river in New England, also the name of a state?

Connecticut

Which word, meaning to think carefully before coming to a decision, is etymologically related to 'consulting the stars'?

Consider

Ares rockets are NASA's replacement for the Shuttle and are one stage in which programme for human space exploration?

Constellation

Which word for a minor dispute comes from a fencing term for a thrust at the wrong moment?

Contretemps

In evolutionary biology, name the process whereby organisms not closely related independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches?

Convergence

Controversy has been stirred in the South Pacific. From 2009 Aitutaki got flights on a Sunday for the first time, to the disgust of fundamentalist Christian residents. In which group of islands?

Cook Islands

The biggest ever stop motion animation, comprising 50 sets, 40 animators, and 5 miles of gold thread for each tiny puppet wig, it's an adaptation of a children's book by Neil Gaiman. What's its name?

Coraline

The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Festival and its related awards are most associated with which city?

Cork

Which American entrepreneur opened the first rail link between NYC and Chicago and built the original Grand Central Station?

Cornelius Vanderbilt

South Crofty was the last of which installations?

Cornish tin mines (closed 1998)

Which otherwise very useful plant would also be edible if it were not for the antibacterial compound gossypol, which genetic engineers are trying to remove in order to convert it to a food source?

Cotton

Pelagianism was declared heresy by which body?

Council of Ephesus

In angling, what name is given to any freshwater fish that are not members of the salmon family?

Course fish

What was the name of the boat in which John Cobb lost is life on Loch Ness?

Crusader

Which piece of armour consisted of a breastplate and backplate joined together and whose popularity among heavy cavalry resulting in many regiments being named after it?

Cuirass (Cuirassiers)

A famous quote from Nazi playwright Hanns Johst's 'Schlageter' is 'Whenever I hear of _____________... I release the safety catch of my Browning'?

Culture

Which is the largest European wading bird, Numenius Arquata?

Curlew

Which sport is based on the Duddingston Rules?

Curling

What name is given to a particular blend of wines used by a champagne maker to produce a consistent style?

Cuvee

Which rap group is made up of DJ Muggs, B-Real, Sen Dogg and Eric Bobo?

Cypress Hill

Which star of the TV series, "Casualty", played an IRA assassin in the TV mini series, "Harry's Game"?

DEREK THOMPSON

Which Noel Coward film about a love triangle between Gilda, Otto and Leo was highly controversial when it was premiered in Broadway, only daring to be presented in London in 1939?

DESIGN FOR LIVING

Which word - from the Greek meaning "woman servant" - is a name give to a female "supporter" who assists a women through childbirth and charges for her services, these can include antenatal and postnatal visits and being on call?

DOULA

The designer dog breed 'Chiweenie' is a cross between a Chihuahua and what?

Dachshund

Which current English National Ballet president was the first British dancer to perform with the Bolshoi ballet in Kruschev's Russia and also went to Mao's China in 1965 to dance with their national ballet company?

Dame Beryl Grey

Who composed the opera called The Wreckers?

Dame Ethel Smyth

Which actor is the title subject of the 1957 poem The Newborn?

Daniel Day-Lewis

What was George Eliot's last novel?

Daniel Deronda

When Graham Gooch became England's highest ever scoring Test player, which man did he overtake?

David Gower

Which Scottish king was taken prisoner by the English after the battle of Neville's Cross?

David II

On whose grave in Westminster Abbey is the slave trade described as 'This Open Sore of the World'?

David Livingstone

What is the subtitle of 'Ice Age 3'?

Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Which Chancellor coined the advice 'When in a hole, stop digging'?

Denis Healey

Who is the only man ever to win BDO and PDC darts world titles at the first attempt?

Dennis Priestley

Which great England spin bowler, who took 297 test wickets, was nicknamed Deadly?

Derek Underwood

Which musical term, used particularly in hymnology, means a voice removed from others?

Descant

In hot air ballooning, how is the manoeuvring or cooling valve used ?

Descending (releases hot air)

In the Royal Navy, what kind of ship is the HMS Exeter?

Destroyer

To what did the town of Plymouth Dock change its name in the c19?

Devonport

Dorothy, the unfaithful wife of Macmillan, was the daughter of which Duke?

Devonshire

Who were Wigan's opponents in the 1929 Challenge Cup final- the first to be staged at Wembley?

Dewsbury

Which playing card king has only one eye?

Diamonds

Both 'bobbasheely' and 'stone toter' are found in the book called DARE. What is DARE, finally published in 2009 after decades of research, an acronym for?

Dictionary of American Regional English

Which Nicholas Roeg film features an infamous scene of cunnilingus, highly risque in 1973?

Don't Look Now

Who is the love scene between?

Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie

In an old song written by William Hargreaves, which animal was ridden by 'his jockey, little John McGee, who got so awfully disgusted he went to have his tea?

Donkey

Which insect adopts an 'obelisk position' on hot, sunny days?

Dragonfly

What is the name of the new theatre district being developed in Shanghai, China- its equivalent of the West End or Broadway?

Drama Valley

The former home of Robert Peel is now the site of which theme park?

Drayton Manor

The Priest and the Angel of the Agony feature in which Elgar work, which he himself called 'the best of me'?

Dream of Gerontius

Nigerian musician Tony Allen, much loved by Damon Albarn, plays which instrument?

Drums

In bingo, how is 25 known?

Duck and Dive

Which actor played 121 year old Jack Crabb in the 1970 movie 'Little Big Man'?

Dustin Hoffman

Who was the first non-Briton to score 100 Premier League goals?

Dwight Yorke

What is the assumed name of magician Stephen Frayne?

Dynamo

Claimed by some to be a homegrown US language, others have dismissed it as mere slang. Which term appeared in the mid 1970s to describe a version of English, incorporating the grammar of African languages, which also includes many words invented on the streets?

EBONICS

Three times PM in the c19, which man, 22 years leader, was the longest-ever serving Tory leader?

Earl of Derby

What is the longest river entirely in Spain?

Ebro

Which pop singer was born with the forename Sadenia?

Eddi Reader

Which country won the first ever African Cup of Nations in 1957?

Egypt

Which scientist synthesised the artificial drug that effectively killed syphillis?

Ehrlich

Chaand Raat is a Hindi term meaning 'Night of the Moon' and is the rough equivalent to Christmas Eve in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is the eve of which festival?

Eid al-Fitr

Which of Schubert's symphonies was the Unfinished?

Eighth

In poetry, what term is used for the omission of a letter (e.g. O'er)?

Elision

Florence Nightingale Graham became famous in the world of cosmetics under what name?

Elizabeth Arden

Which poetess had her work The Battle of Marathon privately printed?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Which anti-corruption campaigner had to resign as Governor of New York State in 2008 after a call-girl scandal?

Elliot Spitzer

Out of Sight was based on a book by which US writer?

Elmore Leonard

Which ice-breaker was the only British presence in the Falklands prior to the invasion of Argentina?

Endurance

Which British twin-jet bomber in 1951 made the first non-stop Atlantic crossing by a jet aircraft?

English Electric Canberra

When Thorneycroft resigned, so did his Financial Secretary to the Treasury. Who?

Enoch Powell

What name is given to a seaport like Rotterdam or Singapore that acts as centre for transhipment or the ongoing distribution of goods?

Entrepot

Who created Lassie?

Eric Knight

Which of the alcohols is sometimes known as grain alcohol?

Ethanol

He issued the first known written code of laws in England. Which King of Kent was defeated by the West Saxons in 568 but later became ruler of England south of the River Humber?

Ethelbert

The American Crawford Long discovered which anaesthetic in 1842?

Ether

Until exposed as frauds in the 1960s, New York's Museum of Metropolitan Art displayed huge statues from which European civilisation as the genuine article?

Etruscan

At which London station was the first ever WH Smith opened in 1848?

Euston

Which was the first inter-city mainline railway station to be built in London?

Euston

Which supermodel was briefly married to Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres?

Eva Herzigova

Which well known 1987 film, featured a character named Private Pyle, played by Vincent D'Onofrio?

FULL METAL JACKET

Which Spanish dance performed by a man and a woman shares its name with a 1975 ZZ Top album and a 1985 film starring Kevin Costner?

Fandango

Which leading women's rights group challenged the 2010 budget for not having carried out an Equality Impact Assessment?

Fawcett Society

What was the forename of Captain Frank Furillo's ex-wife in Hill Street Blues?

Faye

In the BBC TV series in the 1980s, The Mistress, who played the title character, Maxine?

Felicity Kendal

The Men Who Stare At Goats was a film adaptation of Jon Ronson's book about which part of the US Army that deals with the paranormal?

First Earth Battalion

In which letter does St Paul tell us that of the three things that abide, 'the greatest of these three is love'?

First Epistle to the Corinthians

What was notable about Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, when he was elected to the Senate in 2006?

First Socialist to be elected

What was distinctive about the launch of the French naval ship La Gloire in 1858?

First ironclad

At which beach is the HQ of the British Surfing Association?

Fistral

Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald was played by Klaus Kinski, who was directed by Werner Herzog in which film about an Irishman who wanted to build an opera-house in Iquitos?

Fitzcarraldo

In Cheshire and Lancashire, what name is given to a lagoon formed when a depression formed by mining subsidence becomes permanently flooded?

Flash

What name is given to baby birds that have wing feathers only just long enough for flight?

Fledgling

Which former BBC Playschool presenter took their seat in the House of Lords in 2010?

Floella Benjamin

Which type of fishing can be coldwater, coolwater or warmwater?

Flyfishing

Puff Daddy, the Spice Girls and Bobby Brown have all had albums with which one-word name?

Forever

In centimetres, how far does the moon recede from the Earth every year?

Four

Painter Giovanni da Fiesole is better known by what name?

Fra Angelico

In which European country did the world's first retro-fitted carbon-capturing coal-fired power station start operation in 2009?

France

Which Tory represents Horsham?

Francis Maude

What were Daley Thompson's real forenames?

Francis Morgan

Pancho is a shortened form of which forename in Latin America?

Francisco

Ebbelwei is a drink served in the Sachsenhausen district of which city?

Frankfurt

Which US President was characterised by his opponents as 'the hero of many a well-fought bottle', due to his heavy drinking?

Franklin Pearce

Which famous footballer is credited with inventing the 'sweeper' system?

Franz Beckenbauer

Whose ghost is said to haunt Newmarket racecourse?

Fred Archer

When Padraig Harrington won the Open in 2007, he became the first Irishman to win it since who in 1947?

Fred Daly

Which rather corrupt ex-leader of Zambia was cleared of all corruption charges against him in 2009?

Frederick Chiluba

Which Manchester concert hall, now a hotel, was the base of the Halle Orchestra before it moved to the Bridgwater Hall?

Free Trade Hall

The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene starts at the Bedford hotel, a thinly disguised version of The City hotel in which African capital?

Freetown

Which cinematic technique, much used by John Woo, uses one shot printed in a single frame several times in order to give the illusion of a still photograph?

Freeze Frame

The name of which man completes the title of this Tristram Hunt book: 'The Frock-Coated Communist: The Revolutionary Life of ________?

Friedrich Engels

The name of which butterfly comes from the Latin for 'dice box' because of their spotted markings?

Fritillary

Which virtuoso performed at the premiere of Elgar's Violin Concerto?

Fritz Kreisler

The silent 1922 film Dr Mabuse the Gambler, followed by The Testament of Dr Mabuse in 1933 and ending with The 1,000 Eyes of Dr Mabuse, which was his final film. Which director?

Fritz Lang

In May 2007, Matthew Briggs became the youngest Prem footballer at that time when he made his debut versus Middlesbrough for which team?

Fulham

Which was the only London club George Best played for?

Fulham

Which Japanese numbers game, which translates as 'not equal', uses the symbols for 'greater than' and 'less than' to help the players?

Futoshiki

In music, the treble clef is alternatively known by the name of which note, which it indicates on the stave?

G

Who wrote The Invisible Man?

G K Chesterton

What time is used by the Amundsen Scott base at the South Pole?

GMT

Which grape is most commonly used in red wines from Beaujolais?

Gamay

In which African country is the Karamtoba Obelisk marking the point where Mungo Park started his journey to the source of the Niger?

Gambia

GRBs are are flashes detected by NASA's Swift telescope that are associated with extremely energetic explosions in distant galaxies. They are the most luminous electromagnetic events known to occur in the universe. What does GRB stand for?

Gamma Ray Bursts

What is the capital of Sikkim?

Gangtok

Which artist is noted for life-size sculptures of himself as Che Guevara and Sid Vicious?

Gavin Turk

Which publication did Mary Whitehouse take to court in 1977 over a blasphemous homosexual poem about the Crucifixion?

Gay News

Camels Often Sit Down Carefully, Perhaps Their Joints Creak. Early Oiling Might Prevent Premature Hurting is a mnemonic for what?

Geological eras (Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian etc)

What part did Gordon Jackson play in the Professionals?

George Cowley

Which man conned c18 London into thinking he was from 'Formosa', even inventing a non-existent language and tricking the Bishop of London into giving him a lectureship at Oxford in Formosan history?

George Psalmanazar

Hollywoodland was a 2006 film about the mysterious death of which man who played Superman on TV?

George Reeves

Which horse, which Kieran Fallon won the 2006 2000 Guineas on, has the name of a US President?

George Washington

Who was the only female composer in Les Six?

Germaine Tailleferre

The Fourcault process is used in the manufacture of which everyday commodity?

Glass

Who was Plato's older brother and was one of Socrates' inner circle. He was also the conversant with Socrates in The Republic?

Glaukon

In which county is Stinking Bishop cheese made, as featured in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit?

Gloucestershire

What is the name of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius' pet dog?

Goddard

In the TV series Where the Heart is, what is the name of the paper products company central to the stories?

Goddards

Which so far unproven (unprovable?) hypothesis postulates that every even number is the sum of two primes?

Goldbach's conjecture

Which 1939 film gave William Holden his breakthrough role as Joe Bonaparte, whose dreams of becoming a violinist are funded by boxing?

Golden Boy

Which former newsreader was born in Karachi in 1936?

Gordon Honeycomb

Paolo Sorrentino's film Il Divo is about which of Italy's enigmatic and dominant giants of politics, 7 times prime minister, and still an active politician at 90?

Guilio Andreotti

Sékouba Konaté took power in which African country after an attempt on the life of the former leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, in late 2009?

Guinea

The Vietnam war really started in 1964, when the US claimed that its destroyers anchored in which body of water off North Vietnam had been fired upon?

Gulf of Tonkin

Which English composer wrote the comic opera The Perfect Fool from 1918-22?

Gustav Holst

Which are the only two South American countries that drive on the left?

Guyana and Surinam

Which strain of influenza was responsible for the 2009 pandemic?

H1N1

Which composer, born in Grenoble in 1803 wrote "Benvenuto Cellini", the first of his three operas?

HECTOR BERLIOZ

In which country do 100 centimes make a gourd?

Haiti

What is the largest of the flatfishes?

Halibut

Name the home ground of Warrington Wolves?

Halliwell Jones Stadium

The IHF is the governing body of which sport?

Handball

In the early days of TV, which part of the body of Georges Aubertin became famous?

Hands (on the potter's wheel)

Which one-time slave became a major-general in the Russian army and governor of Reval (now Tallinn) and forms the main character in his great-grandson Pushkin's 'The Blackamoor of Peter the Great'?

Hannibal

Which literary and film villain's lesser known nickname is 'The Chesapeake Ripper'?

Hannibal Lecter

Which major German city stands on the River Leine?

Hannover

Which Jewish festival is also called the Feast of Dedication?

Hannukah

Which German-born American artist 1880-1966 painted Yellow Predominance in the abstract Expressionist style in 1949?

Hans Hoffman

Which German composer is known for his political convictions. He left Germany for Italy in 1953 because of a perceived intolerance towards his leftist politics and homosexuality and has produced compositions honoring Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara?

Hans Werner Henze

Which Arabic word means those parts of Mecca and Medina not able to be entered by non-believers?

Haram

Which Canadian company is their equivalent of Mills and Boon but is the largest in the sector of romantic fiction in the world?

Harlequin (Enterprises)

Which man borrowed a first edition of Beckett's work from Bermondsey library in 1950, and it was only returned, with a fine of £2000, after his death in 2009?

Harold Pinter

When Aneurin Bevan resigned as Health Secretary in 1951, which President of the Board of Trade also resigned?

Harold Wilson

Which athlete ended the 10 year, 122 victory run of Ed Moses in the 400m hurdles in Madrid in 1987?

Harris

In Porridge, what was the name of Slade Prison's Mr Big?

Harry Grout

Which music hall comedian gave his name to a reconnaissance plane widely used on the Western Front in WW1?

Harry Tate

What was the surname of the family featured in Channel 4's soap 'Family Affairs'?

Hart

Who wrote the 2009 novel IQ84, which has yet to be translated into English?

Haruki Murakami

Which educational institute in Cambridge, MA, was George Marshall speaking at when he proposed the Marshall Plan?

Harvard

Who played Gene Hunt in the US version of Life on Mars?

Harvey Keitel

Established in 1919 by Alice Warrender, it is one of the UK's oldest- which £10K literary prize is awarded for the year's best work of imaginary literature?

Hawthornden

Which American-born journalist, writer, and freedom of information activist is best known as one of the leading figures exposing the House of Commons resistance to disclosing MP's expenses?

Heather Brooke

Which female Australian squash player was so dominant, no-one could beat her between 1962 and 1980?

Heather McKay

This German developed a dialectical scheme that emphasised the progress of history and of ideas from thesis to antithesis and thence to a synthesis. Who was this?

Hegel

Lange Anna is a guano-clad pillar of rock that is the main geographical feature of which European island?

Heligoland

Which British Charity was founded by Cecil Jackson Cole in 1961?

Help the Aged

Diane de Poitiers was a mistress of which French king, almost 20 years her junior?

Henri II

Who was the first ever double BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner?

Henry Cooper

When Nick Faldo won his third British Open in 1992, he was the first man to do so since whom?

Henry Cotton (1948)

Which English king was born in Lincolnshire and betrothed at a young age to Mary de Bohun?

Henry IV

Which Poet Laureate turned down the salary of an annual butt of Canary wine, preferring to be paid in money instead?

Henry James Pye

Remembered for his film and TV scores, who won a record 20 Grammys and a lifetime achievement Grammy in 1995?

Henry Mancini

Which composer won the first Best Album Grammy in 1958 with Peter Gunn?

Henry Mancini

As well as burlap and sackcloth, which other main fibre is made from jute?

Hessian

Which word means a word with the same spelling as another, but a different pronunciation and meaning (e.g. Reading)?

Heteronym

The poor-will of North America is the only bird that does what?

Hibernate

Which was the only Scottish club George Best played for?

Hibernian

It has been used to prevent horses from bleeding through the nose during races and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned lit due to its use as a masking agent for other drugs. First used c.1960, your GP would prescribe you Frusemide to treat what?

High blood pressure

Which are the four sports that you can win by moving backwards?

High jump, Backstroke, Rowing, Tug of war

Which edible plant has the Latin name Armorica Rusticana?

Horseradish

Originally a Scandinavian term, what was the name of the elite infantry who formed the King's personal bodyguard in late Anglo-Saxon England and who fought to the death alongside Harold at Hastings?

Housecarls

Winner of the Best Film Oscar in 1941, which film featured a young Roddy McDowell as Hugh Morgan?

How Green was my Valley

The predicted effects of climate change have been thrown into doubt with the revelation that in mediaeval times, the occurances of what meteorological phenomenon was more frequent and stronger?

Hurricanes

What is the chemical name for Epsom salts?

Hydrated magnesium sulphate

Which organ links the endocrine system with the nervous system?

Hypothalamus

Beppe (who plays a harlequin), Silvio, Neddo and Canio are all characters in which opera?

I Pagliacci

Canio is the tragic central character of which opera?

I Pagliacci

In which opera does Canio sing Vesti La Giubba (put on the costume)?

I Pagliaci

Which comedy radio show of the 1960s had as its theme tune 'The Angus Prune Tune'?

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again

Sir John Harvey-Jones was for many years Chairman of which major British firm?

ICI

What was the name of the UN peachkeeping force sent to Bosnia after Dayton?

IFOR

Which former college of the University of London became independent in July 2007?

IMPERIAL COLLEGE

With 180, which country has the most products with protected origin status in the EU?

ITALY

Which rapper's real name is O'Shea Jackson?

Ice Cube

The UK Energy Research Centre is based at which university?

Imperial College, London

Tash Aw's second novel 'Map of the Invisible World' is about which country in the midst of the purges of 1964? Supposed communists were the target of army crackdowns.

Indonesia

In which sport have Ellen Falkner, Carol Ashby and Norma Shaw all been world champions?

Indoor Bowls

In 2009, it was announced that a compound designed to attack the DNA of cancer cells failed. Instead, researchers at the University of Warwick tried it out on what, killing them in minutes?

Infectious bacteria

Velasquez's most famous Papal portraits were of which pope?

Innocent X

What was the sequel to the Churchill drama The Gathering Storm?

Into the Storm

Which Scottish isle features a wide, west-facing bay known as the Bay at the Back of the Ocean?

Iona

What is the main metal in the earth's core?

Iron

Which Japanese cookery show has been described as 'Masterchef meets Gladiators'?

Iron Chef

Which Spanish nationalist composer and pianist whose works include the orchestral suites Espanola and Catalonia and the piano suite Iberia?

Isaac Albeniz

Who is called the father of English hymns?

Isaac Watts

In 2006, Keith Ellison became the first man of which faith to become elected to the US Congress?

Islam

What is the name for a line joining places of equal winter temperature?

Isocheim

Some prisoners have been waiting on death row there for 40 years. Which Asian country's courts show a 99% conviction rate in criminal cases?

JAPAN

Which Cream bassist is/was famous for his legendary fall-outs with Ginger Baker?

Jack Bruce

Which Nobel laureate patented the integrated circuit in 1964?

Jack St Clair Kilby

Which American actor, first names John Leslie, began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family. In the interim, he sued his mother and stepfather over his squandered film earnings and provoked California to enact the first known legal protection for the earnings of child performers?

Jackie Coogan

Which European discovered Easter Island?

Jacob Roggeveen

In 1847, a young Bavarian immigrant called Johann Gramp planted the Barossa Valley's first commercial vineyard- he did so on the banks of which watercourse?

Jacob's Creek

Earlier films include 'Read My Lips' and the 'Beat that My Heart Skipped; which French director's movies include prison thriller A Prophet' (2009)?

Jacques AUDIARD

Picasso's 1962 painting The Rape of the Sabine Women is based on the 1799 painting of the same name by whom?

Jacques-Louis David

Which boxer was the first ever to defeat Frank Bruno in a professional fight?

James 'Bonecrusher' Smith

Which boxer was the first ever to defeat Mike Tyson in a professional fight?

James 'Buster' Douglas

Who played the Reverend Cleofus James in the Blues Brothers?

James Brown

In the Great Gatsby, what is Gatsby's real original name?

James Gatz

What is the name of the Commissioner of Gotham City?

James Gordon

Which British singer's debut album Undiscovered went straight to Number One in 2006?

James Morrison

Which TV chef owns the TV production company 'Fresh One Productions'?

Jamie Oliver

What's the name of Sarah Ferguson's ex-dresser who absconded from her open prison, where she was serving a life sentence for murder, in 2009?

Jane Andrews

A woman bent on vengeance for the death of her father, who starred as Catherine in the 1965 film 'Cat Ballou'?

Jane Fonda

Marli Renfro was whose body double in a particularly famous film scene?

Janet Leigh

Whose temple in ancient Rome was always left open in times of war so he could assist against the Sabines?

Janus

Muslims believe Muhammad ascended into heaven from which city?

Jerusalem

To which Oscar-winning actress was Jack Hawkins married?

Jessica Tandy

Who played Blanche Dubois opposite Brando in the stage version of A Streetcar Named Desire?

Jessica Tandy

Which Indian-American's debut short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies (1999), won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and her first novel, The Namesake (2003), was adapted into the popular film of the same name?

Jhumpa Lahiri

Who was the most prolific goal scorer in Portsmouth's history, later managing them?

Jimmy Dickinson

After whose death was Bob Crow elected head of the RMT?

Jimmy Knapp

Which sportsmen are banned from having beards?

Jockeys

Who was the first man of 'Hispanic' background ever to hold a version of the World Heavyweight Boxing title?

John "The Quietman" RUIZ (WBA)

Which man, born in Rochester, NY, in 1927, is often described as 'America's greatest living poet'?

John Ashbery

What was the name of the actor, gangster and friend of Princess Margaret who was the subject of a 2005 biography by Wensley Clarkson?

John Bindon

Who managed Chesterfield to the FA Cup semis in 1997?

John Duncan

Winner of four Best Director Oscars, whose first and last features were Straight Shooting (1917) and Seven Women (1966)?

John Ford

Penned by critic-turned-playwright Nicholas de Jongh, the play Plague over England revolves around the sexuality of which famous Englishman?

John Gielgud

Which French king, 'Le Bon' was taken prisoner by the English after the Battle of Poitiers?

John II

Which famous American author was born John Wallace Blunt, Jr?

John Irving

Who directed A Kind of Loving? He also directed Billy Liar.

John Schlesinger

Which man in 2008 missed the penalty that would have won Chelsea the Champions League?

John Terry

Which pope never existed, due to an error in numbering?

John XX

Which Biblical name is given to a character whose mere presence brings misfortune upon those accompanying him?

Jonah

Which TV character lives at Ripley Mill, Briar Hollow, West Sussex?

Jonathan Creek

What was the name of Superman's father who Brando played in 1975?

Jor-El

Which now 87-year old director caused controversy with his adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses in 1967 and his version of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer was banned in the UK. In 1971 he won an Oscar for Best Short Documentary for Interviews with My Lai Veterans?

Joseph Strick

Which British actor played Juan Peron in Evita when it first opened in 1978, opposite Elaine Paige and David Essex?

Joss Ackland

Which actor played American playboy Dickie Greenleaf in the Anthony Minghella-directed The Talented Mr Ripley?

Jude Law

Ben Fogle is the son of which actress who co-starred with Tommy Steele in 'Half A Sixpence'?

Julia Foster

Which artist is the first to break the 300 million views on YouTube mark?

Justin Bieber

In July 2006, which reigning World and Olympic 100m champion failed a drugs test?

Justin Gatlin

Which man, who died in 2005, was the first President of India to be a Dalit?

K R Narayanan

Who became Secretary General of the Commonwealth in 2008?

Kamalesh Sharma

In sport, how is the man born Ferdinand Louis Alcindor better known?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Which German socialist and co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany is best known for his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919?

Karl Liebknecht

Notable people of this ancestry include Gunter Grass and Donald Tusk. Sometimes called Wends, which ethnic group are descendents of the Pomeranian tribes that settled between the Oder and Vistula?

Kashubians

Who was editor of Puffin Books between 1961 and 1979, and in 1967 founded the Puffin Club, which she ran until 1981? She was married three times, including to Ronald Searle.

Kaye Webb

If you told the waiter in Germany 'Stimmt so', what would you be telling him to do?

Keep the change

Argostoli is the capital of which Greek island?

Kefalonia

When Ruud Gullit became Newcastle United manager, who did he take over from?

Kenny Dalglish

Which choreographer was working with Michael Jackson at the time of his death, arranged his memorial service, and also did the choreography for High School Musical?

Kenny Ortega

Which Yorkshire village is noted for its Scarecrow Festival and represented Knapely in the film of 'Calendar Girls'?

Kettlewell

The Sackler Crossing is a feature of which London tourist attraction?

Kew Gardens

Of which English club was Jan Molby the manager when they were promoted to the League for the first time in 2000?

Kidderminster Harriers

Captain Hoseason of the ship The Covenant features in which novel, made into a Michael Caine film?

Kidnapped

In 2007, which famous Scottish book was given away free to residents of Edinburgh?

Kidnapped by R L Stevenson

Which is the only SI unit that is still defined by an artifact rather than a fundamental physical property that can be reproduced in different laboratories?

Kilogram (based on the one in Sevres)

The Kurosawa film Ran is based on which Shakespeare tragedy?

King Lear

In which Ridley Scott film do Liam Neeson and Orlando Bloom play father and son?

Kingdom of Heaven

The debut album from Staff Benda Bilili is already being called one of the best of 2009. It features a group of paraplegic musicians who live around the zoo in which African capital city?

Kinshasa

Which food company makes Toblerone?

Kraft

Which was the first UK TV quiz format to be sold to the USA?

Krypton Factor

Which Danish man drew the controversial cartoons of Muhammad?

Kurt Westergaard

What is the capital of the Russian province of Tuva, reknowned for its throat-singers?

Kyzyl

What is the name of the French newspaper formerly controlled by the Communist Party, although it has been sold since?

L'Humanite

Give the surname of the classical music piano soloist sisters, Katia and Marielle?

LABEQUE

The full name of which capital city starts 'Nuestra Senora de (blank blank)'?

La Paz

In a pun on the French-speaking part of Switzerland, what name is given to the hilly country east of Le Havre?

La Suisse Normande

Which restaurant in Paris was founded in 1582, and said to have been frequented by Henri IV? Duck, especially the pressed duck, is the specialty. Diners who order it receive a postcard with the bird's serial number. Its wine cellar, guarded around the clock, contains more than 450,000 bottles?

La Tour D'Argent

What are the five positions in an orbital configuration where a small object affected only by gravity can theoretically be stationary relative to two larger objects (such as a satellite with respect to the Earth and Moon)?

Lagrangian points

What name is given to a fish's pressure detecting organ?

Lateral line

In which modern day country was Sir Isaiah Berlin born?

Latvia

In 2005, the last year it was awarded, who became only the second female stand-up comedian to win the Perrier prize?

Laura Solon

Who was the youngest man ever to be appointed Poet Laureate?

Lawrence Eusden

Who was the first artistic director of the National Theatre?

Lawrence Olivier

In 1934, Diego Rivera's mural for the Rockefeller Centre was destroyed as he refused to remove which figure from it?

Lenin

Who wrote a story called the Kreutzer Sonata after hearing the eponymous Beethoven piece? However, the story is so violent that it was banned for many years.

Leo Tolstoy

By what name was stage and costume designer Lev Rosenberg, who regularly collaborated with Sergey Diaghelev, better known?

Leon Baxt

What were Bix Beiderbecke's forenames?

Leon Bismarck

Which mathematician is most associated with the topographical problem of the seven bridges of Konigsberg?

Leonhard Euler

Which member of the cat family is sometimes called a 'hunting leopard'?

Leopard

In the name of Welsh Labour MP Leo Abse, what was the Leo short for?

Leopold

Muons and electrons are both what kind of particle?

Leptons

Which Canadian supermodel was briefly the girlfriend of Fabien Barthez?

Linda Evangelista

According to tradition, Jason slayed a dragon on its site and then founded a city there. This is which capital city?

Ljubljana

Often sung to the tune of Onward Christian Soldiers and the title of a play by William Douglas Home, which phrase has been facetiously referred to as 'every Welshman's claim to fame'?

Lloyd George knew my father

Which man, whose name was a palindrome, led Cambodia in the 1970s?

Lon Nol

Which is London's oldest railway station, first opened in 1836?

London Bridge

Which 2007 book by Henry Nicholls concerns a 90kg tortoise aged between 60 and 200 who could be the last survivor of his sub-species?

Lonesome George

In the fishing industry, what function was carried out by the man known as a 'huer'?

Lookout/watch

What is the surname of this father and son- son (1944-99) was a DJ sacked by Radio 1 for presenting a show while drunk and father (1917-91) a bandleader who recorded as Manuel and the Music of the Mountains'?

Love

Who eventually broke Bob Beamon's 23 year-old long jump record, in 1991?

MIKE POWELL

With which antique dealer did Paddington Bear have his elevenses each day?

MR GRUBER

In Arizonan history, how was Donnie Clarke better known? She also was portrayed by Shelly Winters on film.

Ma Barker

Rome's domination of the Mediterranean basin became complete in the period 171BC to 146BC with the defeat and annexation of which rival power?

Macedonians

His name is synonymous with Funky Music. He's backed every major 'funk' figure, from George Clinton to Prince. What is the surname of the saxophonist introduced by James Brown on the 1974 track 'Soul Of A Black Man' with the words: "Maceo! Come here quick, and bring that funky licking stick!"?

Maceo PARKER

With three spells in office totalling 21 years, who was Canada's longest serving PM?

Mackenzie King

Baby-faced 35-year-old Andry Rajoelina became leader of which country in 2010?

Madagascar

Maromokotro is the highest point of which island nation?

Madagascar

Riddling and disgorgement, both intended to remove dead yeast cells from champagne, were both invented in the c19 by which champagne maker?

Madame Clicquot

Which London attraction has gone one better than 3D by launching 4D films (whatever they are)?

Madame Tussauds

What is the capital of Ingushetia?

Magas

Parian is a fine-textured pure white variety of what stone?

Marble

In what game might you use an alley or an aggie?

Marbles

Who succeeded Salazar as dictator of Portugal in 1968?

Marcelo Caetano

Who is this former Finnish rally driver. Driving for Peugeot, he won the World Rally Championship in 2000 and 2002. After leaving Peugeot in 2005 he drove for Ford in 2006 and 2007 before retiring. Who is he?

Marcus Gronholm

Turner Contemporary is an arts centre in which seaside town due to open in 2011?

Margate

In 1742, which head of state made peace with Prussian king Frederick II by ceding Silesia to him in the Treaty of Breslau?

Maria Theresa

Running in Heels was a US reality show in 2009 follwing three interns working at which magazine?

Marie Claire

What's the name of the Singapore street circuit in F1?

Marina Bay

In cookery, which term comes from the Latin for seawater?

Marinade

Born in 1979 and with a Spanish grandfather. Who is the England and Sale Wing/Full back who is best remembered for his disallowed try in the 2007 World Cup final against South Africa?

Mark Cueto

Which man, who became manager of non-league Bromley in 2006, famously bankrupted himself and Crystal Palace in 1999?

Mark Goldberg

Who starred as Rembrandt in Peter Greenaway's film about The Night Watch?

Martin Freeman

Which 1996 Boublil and Schonberg musical is based on the case of a c16 French peasant at the centre of a famous case of imposture?

Martin Guerre

Which writer wrote Men In Shadow, The Uninvited Guest and Whistle Down The Wind?

Mary Hayley Bell

In which US State is NASA's Goddard Space Flight Research Centre?

Maryland

Who (also) composed the operas Zanetto, L'Amico Ritz and Guglieme Ratcliff?

Mascagni

His first wife is a food critic- what is the surname of the former head of Jonathan Cape publishing who founded the Booker Prize?

Maschler

What is the Arabic name of the Great Mosque at Mecca?

Masjid al-Haram

In 2004, where became the first US state to sanction gay marriages?

Massachussetts

The 1969 Formula One Grand Prix championship was won by Jackie Stewart driving a car powered by a Ford engine, run by Ken Tyrrell. What was the name of the French company who built the car near Paris?

Matra

Which composer was born in Ciboure, near the Spanish border?

Maurice Ravel

Whose name is given to the series of equations which are the mathematical expressions of the laws of Gauss, Faraday and Ampere?

Maxwell

Who was France's Chief Minister under Louis XIV until his death in 1661?

Mazarin

Which ancient peoples from the NW of present-day Iran, together with the Chaldeans, defeated the Neo-Assyrian empire?

Medes

Which radioactive tracers are in danger of vanishing from our doctor's shelves because the ageing nuclear reactors that they are made in keep breaking down?

Medical isotopes

On a scale of 1-12, what scale measures the intensity of earthquakes?

Mercalli

The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System, at 5.5 times the density of water. Which planet is second, at 5.4 times?

Mercury

Which planet was visited by NASA's Messenger spacecraft, launched in 2007?

Mercury

Born in California in 1937, whose best-known song is 'Okie from Muskogee'?

Merle Haggard

Which US national park is home to c6-c12 Indian cave dwellings, is in the SW of Colorado and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site?

Mesa Verde

In 1949, Hideki Yukawa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for predicting the existence of which subatomic particle?

Meson

Pions and kaons are members of which group of sub-atomic particles?

Mesons

Inspector William Henderson is the police commissioner in which comic-book city?

Metropolis

Belgium-born artist Francis Alys creates drawings, paintings, photography, film and video installations. He moved to which city in the mid 80s, and in one of his works he pushed a block of ice around the same city until it melted?

Mexico City

Which American won the French Open in 1989 at the age of 17?

Michael Chang

Which Serbian prince's assassination in Belgrade in 1868 derailed the Balkan League's plans for a co-ordinated rebellion against the Ottomans?

Michael III

In the TV series Dr Quinn- Medicine Woman, what was Quinn's forename?

Michaela

In 2009, who became the first woman to referee snooker's World Championship final?

Michaela TABB

Prior to Michael Vaughan, who was the last England captain to win an Ashes series?

Mike Gatting

Under what name did Paul McCartney's younger brother take photos?

Mike McGear

Who beat Bob Beamon's long jump record at last in 1991?

Mike Powell

Which late comedian and actor was Roger Moore's stunt double in The Saint?

Mike Reid

In which Italian city is the Pinacoteca di Brera?

Milan

Similar to the use of thread count for cotton fabrics, what unit of weight is traditionally used to measure the density of fabric made of what?

Momme

Which two-world phrase summarises Planet Earth in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

Mostly Armless

One woman's attempt to make a living doing business during the Thirty Years' War is the subject of which Brecht play?

Mother Courage

Which sacred mountain in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmology is considered to be the center of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. It is also the abode of Lord Brahma and the Demi-Gods (Devas)?

Mount Meru

Which term is used in heraldry to mean a beast of the chase or a reptile standing on the left hind foot with the forefeet in the air?

Mounting

In David Copperfield, Uriah Heep, while claiming to be 'umble', is maliciously plotting against his boss, called what?

Mr Wickfield

Falkland Road is the infamous red-light district in which Asian City?

Mumbai

In which German city is the Friedenssaal, or Peace Room, where the Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648 to end the Thirty Years War?

Munster

What is the second longer river system in Australia?

Murrumbidgee

Which well-known social networking site was founded by Tom Anderson?

Myspace

Which model railway gauge equates to 1:160 scale?

N Gauge

Which city? It is the capital and largest city in the country. A port on the Chari River, near the confluence with the Logone River, it directly faces the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, to which it is connected by a bridge.

N'Djamena

In Gustav Holst's work "The Planets Suite" which planet is termed "The Mystic"?

NEPTUNE

What is the name of the high school choir that is central to the US TV show 'Glee'?

NEW DIRECTIONS

Which actress played the title role of Sylvia Broome in the 2005 motion picture 'The Interpreter'?

NICOLE KIDMAN

In Avatar, what is the name of the native species of Pandora?

Na'vi

Ahab coveted the vineyard of which Jezreelite?

Naboth

Which French-Israeli singer-songwriter rose to fame when her hit single New Soul was used in an ad campaign by Apple and become the first Israeli soloist to have a top ten hit in the USA?

Naim

In which city is Cosi Fan Tutti set?

Naples

Which character in Animal Farm represents Stalin?

Napoleon

Nicholas Hytner was appointed director of which arts organisation in 2003?

National Theatre

Which Babylonian king helped to negotiate a truce between Media and Lydia, fixing their boundary at the river Helis?

Nebuchadnezzar II

By which three letter name is Thomas A Anderson better known in a famous trilogy of sci-fi films?

Neo

What was the philosophy placed at the heart of De Stijl by Piet Mondrian?

Neoplasticism

In finance, when assessing a share, what does NAV mean?

Net Asset Value

In which sport do Team Northumbria, Loughborough Lightning and Northern Thunder compete?

Netball

The Comstock Lode silver rush was in which US state?

Nevada

On which Caribbean island did Nelson marry Frances Nesbitt?

Nevis

Edwin Reardon, a novelist struggling to make a living, appears in which George Gissing novel?

New Grub Street

Witi Ihimaera, author of the acclaimed novel The Whale Rider, comes from which country?

New Zealand (Maori)

At which course is the Hennessy Gold Cup run, without exception?

Newbury

Which Northern Hemisphere territory was granted dominion status in 1907?

Newfoundland

Which newspaper sponsored a darts tournament from 1948 to 1990?

News of the World

Anna Maria Smart became the first British woman in 1762 to take up what kind of post?

Newspaper editor

Which historian recently wrote The Ascent of Money?

Niall Ferguson

Which singer/songwriter is the father of a child called Donovan Rory McDonald?

Noel Gallagher

Which American agronomist, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate has been called "the father of the Green Revolution" and was one of only six people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal?

Norman Borlaug

Which country in 1984 was the last to win the Home International Championship?

Northern Ireland

Formed in 1862, which is the oldest still extant Football League club?

Notts County

In the nursery rhyme, "There was a Jolly Miller", where did the jolly miller live?

ON THE RIVER DEE

In the poem, "The Owl and the Pussycat", by Edward Lear, how much was paid to the pig for the ring at the end of its nose?

ONE SHILLING

In 1882, Britain issued a £5 postage stamp, which, up to then, was the largest British postage stamp ever printed. What colour was it?

ORANGE

Which classic series of pocket reference books was published from 1937 to 2003 by Frederick Warne and Co, some 100 subjects being covered in this time?

Observers Books

Which American General of WW2, portrayed on screen by Karl Malden, was nicknamed The Soldier's General and the GI General?

Omar Bradley

In Cycle Racing, what is a sag wagon ?

One of the last vehicles following road events and picking up riders who have dropped out

Lella Lombardi has two unique records in F1 history. Name both

Only woman to score points and only person to finish a season with 0.5 points

Which branch of philosophy deals with things that exist, not just things that can be known?

Ontology

Elizabeth Fretwell, who died in 2006, was well known for what?

Opera soprano

What was the name of the UK-USA operation that ousted Mossadegh in Iran in 1953?

Operation Ajax

What was the name of the operation ordered by Indira Gandhi to remove Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple at Amritsar, which itself triggered Gandhi's own death at the hands of Sikh bodyguards?

Operation Blue Star

The Shape of Jazz to Come was whose debut album for Atlantic Records in 1959?

Ornette Coleman

John Rokesmith appears in which Dickens novel?

Our Mutual Friend

What is the name of the Asia-Pacific equivalent of the Eurovision Song Contest, whose inaugural competition will be held in Mumbai in November 2010?

Our Sound

In the Bible, which two animals are named in the tenth 'non-coveting' commandment?

Ox and ass

Justus von Liebig invented Extractum Carnis, which was the forerunner of today's what?

Oxo cube

Which gas was first liquefied in 1877 by Louis-Paul Cailletet of France and Raoul Pictet of Switzerland?

Oxygen

Which HBO prison drama was mostly set in the experimental prison unit Emerald City?

Oz

The annual Prize for Comic Fiction, first awarded in 2000, is named for which writer?

P G Wodehouse

Which British writer was nicknamed 'Plum'?

P G Wodehouse

What is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed, a term which may reference Plainfield, New Jersey?

P-Funk

Which word derives from an ancient Persian one meaning a closing-off from the outside world (to keep out wild animals) to make a protected, horticultural space?

PARADISE ('pairida?za')

In 2009, scare stories held that criminal gangs were killing peasant farmers and the fat from their bodies was being sold to European cosmetics manufacturers at £10,000 a litre. In which country were these (subsequently discredited) wild stories circulating?

PERU

Which Dutch Renaissance artist painted "The Hunters in the Snow", in 1565?

PETER BRUEGEL (The Elder)

Sometimes combined with silk or polyester to create a textile fabric which is lightweight and looks like linen; piña is a fibre made from the leaves of which plant?

PINEAPPLE

Which famous man was born Doroteo Arangal in 1877?

Pancho Villa

Which garden plant, a variety of Viola, is also called Heartsease?

Pansy

Which sentimental poet, born Winifred Emma May, wrote in the Daily Mirror and the Sunday Mirror for more than 40 years under the title The Quiet Corner?

Patience Strong

Which England batsman became the first for over 70 years to score a double hundred in a test match in Australia, in the 2006-7 Ashes series?

Paul Collingwood

Geoffrey Anthony Quinn became (in)famous under what name in London?

Paul Raymond

Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth is a world-renowned brand name of superior quality items of which kind?

Pencils

What was the name of the daughter of Demeter and Zeus?

Persephone

In the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, which character makes up the foursome with Monkey,Sandy and Tripitaka?

Piggy

Indigenous to the seas around Britain, which creature has the alternative name 'Blackfish'?

Pilot whale

Satellite measurements have shown that which geographical feature of Antarctica, nicknamed PIG, has a greater net contribution of ice to the sea than any other ice drainage basin in the world and its rate of melt is accelerating unusually fast?

Pine Island Glacier

Filister, Trying and Jack are all types of which tool?

Plane

What name is usually given to a cocktail consisting of rum, lime, sugar and angostura bitters?

Planter's Punch

In the famous RL 'State of Origin' competition between Queensland and New South Wales, how does the competition get its name?

Players are selected to represent the state in which they played their first senior rugby league

The Humana festival in Louisville, Kentucky, is held annually and showcases new examples of what?

Plays

What was Tom Finney's previous occupation, taken up in his nickname- 'The Preston _______'?

Plumber

Prior to WW2, Galicia was a province of which country?

Poland

Which event, held since the c13, has taken place every 20 years in Corby, Northamptonshire?

Pole Fair

Which journalist replaced the late Linda Smith as chairperson of the British Humanist Association?

Polly Toynbee

Principle Voices is a campaign among residents of a certain US state for the Federal government to change the law and allow what?

Polygamy

As well as Princess Anne, the phrase 'Naff off' was popularised by which TV series?

Porridge

What is the capital of Benin?

Portonovo

The Archibald prize is the most important for what genre of painting in Australia?

Portrait

In 2001, the government of which EU member state decriminalised recreational drugs including heroin and cocaine in an attempt to reduce the number of hard drug users in the country?

Portugal

What nationality was Lavrador, after whom Labrador is named?

Portuguese

What is the name of the arts prize awarded by the imperial family of Japan that is also known as the World Culture Prize in Memory of His Imperial Highness Prince Takamatsu?

Praemium Imperiale

At one time it had the largest capacity in the world (250,000). In which city is the Strahov Stadium?

Prague

Which city is known as the 'city of a hundred (or a thousand) spires'?

Prague

Who is the current president of India, the first woman to hold the post?

Pratiba Patil

Which Athenian sculptor is alleged to have had a homosexual relationship with his beautiful model, the courtesan Phryne?

Praxiteles

Which Carl Weathers film also featured two future US State Governors and a third man who stood unsuccessfully for State Governor?

Predator

What name is given to the panels at the bottom of an Italian Renaissance painting, often containing a series of narrative scenes complimenting the main picture?

Predelli

Whose principle, derived from the study of Cebus monekeys, states that more probable behaviours will reinforce less probable behaviours?

Premack's Principle

What is the best-selling debut by legal thriller writer Scott Turow?

Presumed Innocent

In finance, what does a P/E ratio measure?

Price to earnings ratio

Author Seth Grahame-Smith is best known for which Jane Austen parody?

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Which Borodin opera was completed after his death by Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov?

Prince Igor

The Design Council's Designer's Prize is awarded in the name of which member of the Roayl Family?

Prince Phillip

What is the name of the French equivalent of the Mercury Music Prize?

Prix Constantine

What is the French name for the French Derby?

Prix du Jockey Club

Many of the September 11 terrorists, Timothy McVeigh, Hitler and Henry Ford all studied which (fake) document that claimed to be a 'confession' that Jews wanted to run the world?

Protocol of the Elders of Zion

Which Egyptian god was the patron God of Memphis and the creator of craftsmen?

Ptah

Although its use goes back to Roman times, what term was coined by canal builder James Brindley for clay, sand and gravel with water added mixed in such a way as to become watertight for use in dams?

Puddled clay

The Boricua People's Army is a guerilla organisation fighting with machetes for the independence of which territory?

Puerto Rico

Two islands in the Caribbean became independent from Spain in 1898. Cuba was one, which was the other?

Puerto Rico

Baby echidnas and duck-billed platypuses are called what cute name?

Puggles

Who wrote the Silverado Squatters, a travel narrative of his and his wife Fanny Osbourne's honeymoon in Napa Valley, California?

R L Stevenson

Live at the Olympia, recorded in Dublin in 2007, was a live album by which band?

R.E.M.

Tavel and Hermitage wines are produced in which French wine growing area?

RHONE VALLEY

This dog has been seen at nearly every demonstration in Athens since 2008 and turned up again during the May 2010 protests against the government's big spending cuts. How is he popularly known?

RIOT DOG' or 'PROTEST DOG' real name, KANELLOS

In Round the Horne, what is the name of the earthy folk singer played by Kenneth Williams?

Rambling Syd Rumpo

Who coined the phrase 'Ulster will fight- Ulster will be right'?

Randolph Churchill

Sirolimus is an immunosuppressant drug used to prevent rejection in organ transplantation, especially useful in kidney transplants. First discovered in a soil sample from Easter Island, it also prolongs the life of mice and has promising anti-cancer properties. What is its alternative name, derived from its place of discovery?

Rapamycin

Who wrote the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand for Wittgenstein's brother Paul?

Ravel

The actinopterygii comprise an amazing 95% of all fish and are therefore the most common class of vertebrates in the world. What does actinopterygii literally mean?

Ray-finned

All the hoops in croquet are painted white, except the last one, called the rover, which has a different colour on the crown. Which colour is it ?

Red

As well as the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which is the third, neutral one?

Red Crystal

In astronomy, which word means an increase in the wavelength of light from a galaxy recieved by a detector, compared with others?

Red shift

Sports equipment distributor Paul Fireman obtained the US license to manufacture which British training shoes in 1979?

Reebok

Reducing sail by rolling, folding or tying up part of it is called what?

Reefing

In boxing, what does RSF stand for?

Referee Stopped Fight

Loved by right-wing Americans, and worn on a t-shirt by Timothy McVeigh, what is the end of Thomas Jefferson's famous quote: 'From time to time the tree of liberty must be....'?

Refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants

The French Fourth Republic had two presidents- Vincent Auriol and who between 1954 and 1959?

Rene Coty

What is the subtitle of the 2009 sequel to the 2007 Transformers film?

Revenge of the Fallen

In bridge, what word means mistakenly discarding or trumping when you hold a card of the suit led?

Revoking

Who played Caesar in the 1963 film Cleopatra?

Rex Harrison

In Greek mythology, which wise king, the son of Zeus and Europa, gives his name to an adjective meaning 'strictly and uncompromisingly just'?

Rhadamanthus (rhadamanthine)

What was the name of Cronus' wife in Greek mythology?

Rhea

Which goddess is the mother of Zeus?

Rhea

Common and Darwin's are the two species of which New World birds?

Rheas

Which 2007 X-Factor runner up has released two classical crossover albums, under Simon Cowell's tutelage?

Rhydian Roberts

Give either forename of Benson and Hedges who founded the cigarette company in 1873?

Richard Benson and William Hedges

Who was the author of The Uses of Literacy, the chief defence barrister at the Chatterley trial and the father of a modern-day Guardian columnist?

Richard Hoggart

In which of her palaces did Elizabeth I die?

Richmond

Who is the best selling American author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series of books for children, the first of which, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, is also a film starring Uma Thurman?

Rick Riordan

Which Australian has the second highest number of Test centuries ever, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, and plays intermittently for the Tasmanian Tigers?

Ricky Ponting

What name is given to the dialect or form of non-Standard Spanish spoken around the River Plate, i.e in northern Argentina and Uruguay?

Rioplatense

At which trial was Mandela and others tried for sabotage?

Rivonia trial

Which author, whose books include The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse and Nostradamus Ate My Hamster has a fan club called Sproutlore?

Robert Rankin

Which Hollywood actor founded Wildwood, his own production company, and won an Oscar for his first venture into direction?

Robert Redford

Who directed Sin City and From Dusk Till Dawn?

Robert Rodriguez

To what does the Rock in 30 Rock refer?

Rockefeller Plaza

Which is the sixth and final film in the Rocky series?

Rocky Balboa

Which admiral was the senior Allied commander at the Gallipoli landings?

Roebuck

Which US athlete won the 110m hurdles gold medal in both 1984 and 1988?

Roger Kingdom

Which controversial English biochemist and plant physiologist is sceptical of the standard account of the role of DNA and proposes instead a non-standard account of morphogenesis and for his research into parapsychology? He was stabbed in the leg in New Mexico in 2008 by Kazuki Hirano, who believed the scientist was exerting mind control over him.

Rupert Sheldrake

Which is the first book of the Bible named for a woman?

Ruth

Who joined the Cabinet in 2004 as SoS for Education and left in 2008 as SoS for Transport?

Ruth Kelly

Which children's writer is best known for her 21 titles continuing the Land of Oz series after the death of L Frank Baum in 1919?

Ruth Plumly Thompson

Which chemical element is named from the Latin for Russia?

Ruthenium

Joseph Bologne (1739-99) was among the most important figures in the Paris musical scene of his day. He was also famed as a swordsman and equestrian. Known as the "Black Mozart", he was the Chevalier de... what?

SAINT-GEORGE(S)

Which two-word term that first gained currency in the 1950s commonly refers to a person with a non-speaking or supernumerary role in an opera or stage play?

SPEAR CARRIER

The Rad-Waniyah palace complex was the principle resident of which c20 statesman?

Saddam Hussein

The hip joint is ball and socket, the knee and elbow hinge. What type of joint is to be found between the thumb and hand?

Saddle

Which South Pacific nation switched to driving on the left in September 2009?

Samoa

Which country switched reluctantly from driving on the right (a legacy of 15 years as a German colony before World War I) to the left, like most of its Pacific neighbours, in 2009?

Samoa

What is the Russian word for 'self-boiling'?

Samovar

What is the name of the island on which Venice's cemetery lies?

San Michele

Which Arab capital city vies with Damascus for the title of the world's oldest and claims to have been founded by Shem?

San'aa

Seral communities are stages in ecological progressions. A hydrosere is a seral community in water and a lithosere on rock. Where would you find a psammosere?

Sand

What is both a Portuguese and Galician form of the biblical name Jacob?

Santiago

Ruby is the red form of corundum. What is the blue form?

Sapphire

What is the real first name of Trinny Woodall?

Sarah Jane

Based on a James Michener novel set at the time of the Korean war, for which 1957 film did Miyoshi Umeki win Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first actress of East Asian descent to win an Oscar?

Sayonara

What honourific title, similar to 'Sir', is given by Shia Muslims to the descendents of Mohammed through Fatima?

Sayyid

Which Rafael Sabatini swashbuckling novel takes its name from the theatre character used as a disguise by its protagonist and starred Stewart Grainger when it was filmed?

Scaramouche

Which father and son composers were innovators in Neopolitan opera and keyboard techniques respectively?

Scarlatti

What was the name of the German plan to avoid combat on two fronts which was almost successful and would have led to German victory in the opening months of WW1?

Schlieffen Plan

In which board game could your turn be described as a bingo or a phoney?

Scrabble

In 2009, what name was given to the government's 300 million-pound scheme for paying you 2,000 pounds to get rid of your 10-year-old car?

Scrappage

With their headquarters in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, what is the nickname of the 101st US Airborne Division?

Screaming Eagles

Known in the USA as a Bonus Issue, what name is given in the UK for the issue of free shares to subscribers in lieu of a dividend?

Scrip issue

What is the name of Vaughan Williams' first symphony?

Sea Symphony

As a young man in WW2 his ship was torpedoed. One of a handful to survive he escaped from being a German POW by jumping from a train and eventually got to Spain. In London in the 1950's he married a lady of Indian descent and they had a son who became a famous sportsman. Who is the son?

Sebastian Coe

Where could you spend Linden Dollars?

Second Life

Which law states that it is impossible to make a engine that will continually take heat from a heat source and, by itself, turn it into an equivalent amount of mechanical work?

Second law of thermodynamics

Adding sugar and yeast to the cuvee immediately before bottling is a process known by what two-word name?

Secondary fermentation

In which London store did the first demonstration of television take place?

Selfridges

World music' artist Baaba Maal hails from which country?

Senegal

In a medical context, what does SCID stand for?

Severe Combined Immune Deficiency

Who did the official World Cup 2010 pop song, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)?

Shakira

Which sports commentator has described his own voice as sounding like 'a screaming banshee with piles'?

Sid Waddell

Baron Passfield, who helped to found the LSE, was better known how?

Sidney Webb

Bo is the second city of which African country?

Sierra Leone

Scientists are trying to reduce the cost of photovoltaic cells by researching ones made of plastic, instead of which relatively expensive material that they have hitherto been made from?

Silicon

Which Christmas song did Terry Wogan and Aled Jones release for Children in Need?

Silver Bells

What was the venue for the world's first F1 GP in 1950?

Silverstone

What name is given to the interchange of the M60, M62 and M66?

Simister Island

Hailing from Gitta and nicknamed The Sorcerer, who did ecclesiastical writers of the early church call the Father of Heresies?

Simon Magus

During WW2, who was the last Liberal to sit in the UK Cabinet until the Coalition government of 2010?

Sinclair

Which country's national symbol is an imaginary half-lion, half-fish?

Singapore

What term describes the period 1987-1990 when the Baltic states gained independence from the Soviet Union?

Singing Revolution

In bridge, what name is given to the holding of just one card in a suit?

Singleton

Which former director of the Royal Ballet died of a heart attack in 1992 while backstage at Covent Garden during a production of Mayerling?

Sir Kenneth MacMillan

Who was the first British composer to win the Oscar for best music?

Sir Malcolm Arnold (Bridge on the River Kwai)

Which future Chancellor became Ambassador to Moscow in 1940?

Sir Stafford Cripps

Who founded the RNLI in 1824?

Sir William Hillary

In Hinduism, which princess was kidnapped, but her husband Rama used Hanuman, the monkey god, to find her and return her to him?

Sita

How many Majors did Nick Faldo win?

Six

How many Olympics did Tessa Sanderson compete in?

Six (1976-1996)

How many pounds is the steel ball in the hammer event?

Sixteen

The word siesta is derived from the Latin word meaning what?

Sixth

In England and Wales, what is the oldest age at which one can be called up for jury service?

Sixty-nine

Penhaligon's Bluebell, Creed Fleurissimo, Gianna Rose Atelier Pretty Little Hen and Roger and Gallet Blue Lotus are all expensive varieties of what?

Soap

Which body awards the annual Laurence Olivier award for best new play?

Society of London Theatres

What is the chemical name for Glauber's salts?

Sodium sulphate

Dubbed The Queen of Science, she became one of the first female members of the Royal Astronomical Society and an Oxford college is named for her?

Somerville

Which popular collection of songs includes 'Cradle Song', 'Anthony', 'By Mirabel Bridge', 'Down There in Limousin' and 'Shepherd Lass'?

Songs of Auvergne

Which Japanese multinational sponsors the annual World Photography Awards?

Sony

At the age of 71 in 2006, who became the oldest ever actress to model for the Pirelli calendar?

Sophia Loren

Becky Bloomwood is the most famous literary creation of which author?

Sophie Kinsella

In which 2006 BBC drama series are characters employed as Manchester postal workers?

Sorted

Alexandra Burke is the daughter of Melissa Bell, who sang with which 1980s band?

Soul II Soul

Against which team did England play the last 'Timeless Test Match' in 1939, which was abandoned because England had to get a boat back home?

South Africa

Arniston Bay wine comes from where?

South Africa

What is the name of the hired assassin in Rigoletto?

Sparafucile

What is the name of the torpedoes that these RN vessels use?

Spearfish

Wolverhampton Wolves, who play at the Ladbroke Stadium in Monmore Green, play which sport?

Speedway

Also known as magnetoelectronics, which emerging technology exploits the intrinsic spin of the electron for use in electronic circuits and electronic devices?

Spintronics

The XYZ Show, on Kenyan TV, is groundbreaking and controversial. What is its closest equivalent on British TV?

Spitting Image

What is the name of the drug dealer in Porgy and Bess?

Sportin' Life

Which character created by Peter Cook was friends with E L Wisty and was the other half of the World Domination League?

Spotty Muldoon

Which country won the Cricket World Cup in 1996?

Sri Lanka

The Rozabal shrine, where locals bizarrely believe Jesus to be buried, is in the back streets of which provicial capital in South Asia?

Srinagar

Upon which chair are new Archbishops of Canterbury crowned?

St Augustine's

Prince Charles's second urban village is in which town in Cornwall?

St Austell

Ascalon was which mythical hero's sword?

St George

Probably the most successful domestic club in Australia, especially since the merger in 1998, which club used to be two clubs, explaining their two home grounds in both Wollongong and the Sydney suburb of Kogarah?

St George Illawara Dragons

Which RL club are distinguished by the 'red vee' on their shirts?

St Helens

For his work in which field did Sir Martin Evans share the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2007?

Stem cell research

Who was the first ever Page 3 girl?

Stephanie Rahn

Who won Australia's first ever Winter Olympic Gold in hilarious circumstances at the 2002 Games in speed skating?

Stephen Bradbury

Joe Hill', who wrote the best-selling Heart Shaped Box, is the pseudonym of the son of which other writer?

Stephen King

Which Irishman won the Tour De France in 1987?

Stephen Roche

Who directed the 1998 George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez film Out of Sight?

Stephen Soderbergh

Who broke the world records for the 1500m, 2000m and the mile in 1985?

Steve Cram

Who plays the Eric who is not Eric Cantona in the 2009 film Looking for Eric?

Steve Evets

Whose first starring role was in 1958's The Blob?

Steve McQueen

Often known as the Sixth Stone, who was the original pianist with the Rolling Stones, but dropped by Andrew Loog Oldham?

Stewart

Whose screen roles include Ace Face in Quadrophenia, Feyd-Rautha in Dune and JD in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels?

Sting

What nickname is sometimes given to the last Sunday before Advent because it was the day Christmas puddings were traditionally prepared?

Stir-Up Sunday

In which newspaper is the column Atticus?

Sunday Times

What term was coined by Gerry Anderson to describe his puppeteering technique?

Supermarionation

As what was Income Support known between 1965 and 1988?

Supplementary Benefit

The American Kelly Slater is a world champion in which sport?

Surfing

In 1667, the Dutch swapped New York with the British for this country. Its population is made up of Maroons?

Suriname

Which county won the first ever County Championship, in 1890?

Surrey

Which language's name is the Arabic for coast?

Swahili

Five of the six terrestrial biomes are Desert, Tundra, Tropical Rainforest, Temperate Rainforest and Grassland. Which is the sixth, also known as Boreal Forest?

Taiga

The world's largest building in the Chinese classical style is the Grand Hotel, a 16-story hotel looking like a classical Asian temple in which city?

Taipei

The Bashi channel, Luzon Strait, Balintang Channel and Babuyan Channel area all areas of water separating Luzon from which island?

Taiwan

Belgian fencer Victor Boin was the first man to do what, at the 1920 Olympics?

Take the Olympic Oath

Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were the first Europeans to see which African lake (though Speke was temporarily blind at the time)?

Tanganyika

Which British Asian was co-writer on Oliver Stone's 'South of the Border'?

Tariq Ali

Which 1972-born singer is sometimes known as the Turkish Elvis and is the best-selling non-Russian act in the Russian charts?

Tarkan

The 2002 sci-fi film Solaris, starring George Clooney, was a remake of a 1972 movie of the same name by which Russian film-maker?

Tarkovsky

Which ritual of Islamic pilgrimage consists of circling the Ka'aba seven times?

Tawaf

King Phillip Came Over From Great Spain is a mnemonic to remember what?

Taxonomy (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order etc)

Which hardwood tree has the Latin name Tectona Grandis?

Teak

Later sold to Man U, which man once scored 9 goals for Bournemouth against Margate in the FA Cup in 1971?

Ted McDougall

Which Indian weekly magazine under the editorship of Tarun Tejpal began in 2000 as a news website. In 2001, with an exposé of match-fixing in professional cricket in India, it got public attention, but it was the defense sting, called Operation Westend that got it international attention, which led to the resignation of Indian Defence Minister?

Tehelka

In November each year, the Leonids meteor shower takes place as the Earth passes through debris left by the tail of which comet?

Temple-Tuttle

What is the name of the measure that a backbench MP may introduce before public business on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and takes its name from the time its sponsor can speak for?

Ten Minute Rule Bill

In Christianity, what collective name is given to the seven items listed in Isaiah Chapter 11, namely wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord?

The (seven) gifts of the Holy Spirit

How is 9 Rue Git-le-Couer, immortalised in Harold Chapman's photos, known?

The Beat Hotel

John Boulter, Tony Mercer and Dai Francis were solo performers with which popular singing group?

The Black and White Minstrels

What is the name of the cafe owned by Sydney Greenstreet in Casablanca?

The Blue Parrot

What collective name was given to Bessie Mundy, Margaret Lofty and Alice Burnham, the three wives of George Joseph Smith?

The Brides in the Bath

Which European Space Agency unmanned space mission to study the Earth's magnetosphere using four identical spacecraft flying in a tetrahedral formation survived the loss of the first four in the Ariane 5 flight failure in1996, leading to the construction of four new spacecraft and their successful launching in 2000 on Soyuz-Fregat rockets?

The Cluster Mission

Founded in 1951, which alliance to aid socio-economic development in Asia-Pacific is named for the city it was based in?

The Columbo Plan

Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths are most associated with which hoax?

The Cottingley Fairies

Which member of the Royal Family has the forenames Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick?

The Duke of Kent

The Mystery Writers of America give what annual award for Best Novel?

The Edgar

In education, how was the Transfer Test better known?

The Eleven Plus

Which forged document was used to justify Bismarck's invasion of France in 1870?

The Ems Telegram

Which Act was passed by Hitler after he was elected as Chancellor that gave him all the powers of the Reichstag for the next four years?

The Enabling Act

What was the name of Thom Yorke's debut solo album?

The Eraser

4 billion years ago, the Sun was far dimmer than it is now, but all the geological evidence is that the world was no colder then than now. What is the name of this paradox, first posed by Carl Sagan?

The Faint Young Sun Paradox

In Russian history, how is the former monk Grigori Otrepyev better known?

The False Dmitri

P T Barnum once exhibited the head and torso of a dead monkey attached to the tail of a dried-out fish under what name?

The Feejee Mermaid

Until its closure in 1970, which was London's only horse-racing venue?

The Frying Pan in Alexandra Park

What tune is traditionally played by English military bands when a batallion or regiment is leaving and is also sometimes called Brighton Camp?

The Girl I Left Behind Me

Frederick-William of Brandenburg, under whom the Prussian army made its debut in the c17, was nicknamed what?

The Great Elector

What is the title of Julia Donaldson's modern classic for children about a wily mouse that gets the better of its natural predators?

The Gruffalo

Both Claggart and Budd are on board which ship?

The HMS Bellipotent

What is the name of the Alan Bennett play about the relationship between Benjamin Britten and W H Auden?

The Habit of Art

Who were the first father and son to have seperate UK hit singles, in 1981 and 2002?

The Iglesias

The Foreign Fiction Prize in the UK is sponsored by which national newspaper?

The Independent

During which conflict did British regiments first wear khaki?

The Indian Mutiny

In Harry Potter, which wizards' pub is at the entrance to Diagon Alley?

The Leaky Cauldron

What was the name of the trading company chartered by James I in 1606 to colonise the eastern US coast?

The London Company

Edgar Pearce, jailed for 21 years at the Old Bailey in 1999 for bomb-making and blackmailing threats to Barclays and Sainsburys, was given what nickname?

The Mardi Gra Bomber

Which was the only one of the seven wonders of the world built by a woman?

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (built by Artemisia)

Which character in the Canterbury Tales is associated with bagpipes?

The Miller

Which Agatha Christie novel takes its name from a line in The Lady of Shallott by Tennyson?

The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side

What is moving at 4 centimetres every year away from the Earth?

The Moon

Which Czech band played a crucial role in ending Communism there in 1989 and are the subject of Tom Stoppard's 'Rock 'n' Roll'?

The Plastic People of The Universe

Which classical musical group is made up of three Catholic pastors, all from Northern Ireland. Fr Eugene and his brother Fr Martin O'Hagan. and Fr David Delargy have been singing together since they boarded as students?

The Priests

What was the Velvet Underground's debut album called?

The Velvet Underground and Nico

A tapestry depicting which historic event was reinstated in the House of Lords in June 2010?

The Victory over the Spanish Armada

400 years ago, which Englishman, also sometimes credited with the introduction of the potato to Great Britain and Ireland (he worked for Walter Raleigh), was the first to draw a telescopically-enhanced map of the moon's surface?

Thomas Harriot

Following 18 years of research which artist unveiled in 2009 his latest design, a chair made from extruded polished aluminium which will eventually be 100 metres long?

Thomas Heatherwick

Which poet and historian was legal advisor to the Supervisory Committee for India between 1834 and 1838?

Thomas Macauley

Which German author wrote the 1939 novel Lotte in Weimar, inspired by Goethe's Werther, and imagining Goethe meeting the love of his life 40 years on?

Thomas Mann

Which US vice-president, to Woodrow Wilson, was called 'a small-calibre man' by Wilson himself and therefore it was Wilson's wife who took over many presidential duties after Wilson suffered a stroke?

Thomas Marshall

Which English designer published the Cabinetmaker's and Upholsterer's Drawing Book in 1791 and The Cabinet Directory in 1803?

Thomas Sheraton

In a stage of the 2009 Tour De France, all of Mark Cavendish's points were deducted after a protest by which Norwegian cyclist?

Thor Hushovd

Which Chancellor resigned in 1958?

Thorneycroft

How many people in the Thompson Twins?

Three

In which Olympic event is there a minimum age requirement of seven years?

Three Day Eventing

In which German Land is Weimar?

Thuringia

Which is the largest city square in the world?

Tiananmen

Which Swiss town was the location of the BBC's infamous spaghetti harvest hoax?

Ticino

Prior to Padraig Harrington in 2007-8, who was the last golfer to win the Open in two consecutive years?

Tiger Woods (2005-6)

In Peter Pan, which character gets her name because she mends pots and pans?

Tinkerbell

What name has been given to the fossils of enormous snakes, possibly the largest land predators since the dinosaurs, found in a Colombian coal mine in the 2000s?

Titanoboas

What is the function of staddle-stones?

To support a haystack or rick

Who, in May 2008, replaced Monty Don as the lead presenter of Gardeners World on TV?

Toby Buckland

Which city was the capital of Spain immediately before Madrid?

Toledo

Which highly developed civilisation immediately preceded the Aztecs?

Toltecs

Which British amateur astronomer, author, broadcaster and former communications and computer engineer currently holds the record of spotting the most supernovae by one person: 125 supernovae, mostly from his observatory in Coddenham, Suffolk?

Tom Boles

In Harry Potter, what is the real name of villain Lord Voldemort?

Tom Marvolo Riddle

What is the forename and surname of that black man, both shared with a Six Music DJ and pop star?

Tom Robinson

Who wrote Riotous Assembly and its sequel Indecent Exposure, both set in South Africa?

Tom Sharpe

Which US general commanded the 2003 Iraq invasion?

Tommy Franks

Which famous actor's screen debut was in Criss Cross, in 1949?

Tony Curtis

Which England captain helped Kerry Packer set up his World Series Cricket?

Tony Grieg

Which comedian starred in the films The Rebel and the Wrong Box in the 1960s?

Tony Hancock

Which children's TV presenter of the 1980s served with the 1st Gurkha Rifles in WW2?

Tony Hart

Who captained Europe to Ryder Cup success in 1985, 1987 and 1989?

Tony Jacklin

What T is the proper name for a chef's hat?

Toque

What was the seperate peace between Russia and Germany signed prior to the Treaty of Versailles?

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The national fine art museum of Russia in Moscow is named for which merchant, who collected the art?

Tretyakov

Which famous record producer was responsible for the sound of Frankie Goes to Hollywood?

Trevor Horn

Discovered by a British brewer and amateur astronomer, which is the only known large moon in our solar system that revolves around its planet in the opposite direction to that planet's rotation?

Triton

Which Greek god was the son of Poseidon and is the subject of a Bernini fountain in Rome?

Triton

Which golf course has holes called, among others, Black Rock, the Monk and Burmah?

Troon

Hugh Masekela is a singer from South Africa famous also for playing which other instrument?

Trumpet

The Tifinagh alphabet, its name possibly meaning 'Phoenician letters' is now used in private notes by the women of which nomadic people?

Tuareg

On what day of the week is the Melbourne Cup always run?

Tuesday

Fought over in WW2, the Mareth Line was a series of fortifications in which country?

Tunisia

In 183 BC, Hannibal committed suicide in which modern-day country?

Turkey

What is the highest ordinal number to appear in a Shakespeare play title?

Twelfth

What is the name of the largest faction of Shia muslims, taken from the number of Imams they believe to have existed?

Twelvers

How many milk teeth does a child have?

Twenty

How many dominoes in a standard 'double-six' set?

Twenty eight

In Yoruba culture, what people, called ibeji, are particularly revered, which is good news, as the people have the world's highest rate of them?

Twins

There'll be Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover was a double A side that got to Number 1 in the 1990s- what was the other song?

Unchained Melody

In 1962, Fred Baldesare became the first man to swim the channel how?

Underwater (Scuba)

Which church was founded in Britain in the c17 by John Biddle, having grown from the work of Erasmus?

Unitarian

Which animated film from Pixar was the first to feature an Asian American boy hero?

Up

In the USA, what is Strunk and White?

Usage/style guide for American English

Who chaired the convention, which was established by the European Council in December 2001, to produce a draft Constitution for the European Union?

VALERY GISCARD D'ESTAING

Which telescope, built by a consortium of UK universities, is located at Paranal in Chile and was handed over to the European Southern Observatory in 2009?

VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy)

In equestrianism, which disciple involves gymnastic and dance elements performed to music on a cantering horse?

Vaulting

The apparatus used by male gymnasts consists of vaulting horse, pommel horse, horizontal bars, rings and floor. Which of these pices of apparatus do women use ?

Vaulting Horse and Floor

Which 4th century Roman historian coined the phrase Let He who Desires Peace Prepare for War?

Vegetius

Running between September and October, which was the first month in the French Revolutionary Calendar?

Vendemiaire

In the Catholic church, what is the second of the four stages to sainthood?

Venerable

Of the 42 cheeses mentioned in Monty Python's Cheese Shop Sketch, which is the only fictional one?

Venezuelan Beaver Cheese

In which city is Don't Look Now set in?

Venice

US crime writer Donna Leon sets her Inspector Brunetti novels in which city?

Venice

What kind of websites are Guba, Daily Motion and Veoh?

Video clips

Gold farming is a way of cheating at which pastime?

Video gaming

In 1956, Aleksandr Poniatoff designed and built the world's first what?

Video tape recorder

A campaign was launched in March 2010 to get which song to Number 1, as it only got to Number 2 in 1981?

Vienna by Ultravox

The National Museum of Fine Arts has been hanging works of art that are in fact copies of very famous national paintings. The originals were taken down during a war to protect them from being destroyed, and the fakes have remained in place ever since. No-one can be quite sure what has happened to the originals, but some seem to have ended up in other galleries round the world. Which country?

Vietnam

Which light woven fabric, usually made of cotton or a cotton/synthetic mix, is often used for net curtains?

Voile

Which Tuscan city plays an important role in the Twilight vampire books by Stephanie Meyer and was the site of Stendhal's famously disastrous encounter in 1819 with his beloved Countess Mathilde Dembowska?

Volterra

What was the name of the 'lost' Shakespeare play that William Ireland claimed to have found in the c18- in fact he had written it and it was rubbish?

Vortigern and Rowena

In the TV comedy 'Last of the Summer Wine', what is the name of Nora Batty's husband?

WALLY

Raymond Scott wrote the music for many cartoons produced by which studio?

Warner Brothers

Oyneg Shabbos was the code name of a group led by Jewish historian Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum in which city, which included historians, writers, rabbis and social workers, and was dedicated to chronicling life in the Ghetto?

Warsaw

When Einstein learnt that his work had been used to create the atom bomb, he said that if he'd known that, he would have become a.....what?

Watch-maker

The documentary Freedom's Fury is about a notoriously tense and aggressive USSR v Hungary match in which sport?

Water Polo

Which plant related to the nasturtium has a similar peppery taste and grows in water?

Watercress

What is the name of the Slavic minority group, long settled between the Oder and the Elbe in Eastern Germany?

Wents or Sorbs

The first ever tied test match occurred in Brisbane in 1960 between Australia and which country?

West Indies

What was the family name of Prince Albert?

Wettin

Kettlewell and Grassington are scenic villages in which of the Yorkshire Dales?

Wharfedale

Cum mula peperit' is the Latin for 'Once in a blue moon'. What does it literally mean?

When a mule foals

Dave Eggars adapted and Spike Jonze directed in 2009 an adaptation of which classic children's story?

Where the Wild Things Are

Which English town, now represented in the Premiership, had teams from 1890 named County, Town, United, Borough and Athletic?

Wigan

Who won the 1981 Whitbread First Novel award for his book 'A Good Man in Africa'?

William Boyd

Which American Admiral of WW2, portrayed on screen by Jimmy Cagney and Robert Mitchum, was nicknamed Bull, though not to his face?

William Halsey

What was the name of the fictional Major in Operation Mincemeat?

William Martin

Which singer-songwriter had the nickname 'Soul Brother Number Two' and died in 2006?

Wilson Pickett

In second-hand book catalogues, what does WAF stand for?

With All Faults

What was the Troggs' only UK Number 1 single?

With a Girl Like You

Which Russian born geographer, meteorologist, climatologist and botanist of German descent gives his name to the system of climate characterisation and helped develop one of the world's first cloud atlases?

Wladimir Köppen

Which German footballer's last gasp equaliser took the 1966 World Cup Final into extra time?

Wolfgang WEBER

What section does a military band have that a brass band usually does not?

Woodwind

Which jazz clarinettist, who also played the saxophone, had his first great success with his 1939 recording of 'Woodchopper's Ball'?

Woody Herman

As well as Somerset and Durham, Botham played for which other county?

Worcestershire

In English one day cricket, which county is called the Royals?

Worcestershire

Which poet is being quoted: 'Milton, thou shouldst be alive at this hour'?

Wordsworth

Which multi-sport event takes place every four years for non-Olympic sports, including Field Archery, Orienteering, Powerlifting and Karate?

World Games

The Tangulla Pass in Tibet holds which geographical extreme record?

World's highest railway track

Why did Hailie Gebresalassie not run the marathon in Beijing?

Worried about his asthma and the air pollution

What is the common name of the fish of the family Labridae, of which the ballan and cuckoo are found in British waters?

Wrasse

The largest tributary of the Ganges in Northern India, it joins that river at Allahabad. Which river?

Yamuna

In which Canadian province or territory is Mount Logan, the country's highest point?

Yukon Territory

Which war hero was nicknamed Old Rough and Ready and later became US President?

Zachary Taylor

In 2009, in which African country was the news editor of the largest independent newspaper prosecuted for circulating photos of a woman giving birth without medical help?

Zambia

What animal nickname is given to officials in NFL games?

Zebras

Petina Gappah is an internationally acclaimed short story writer and novellist whose work deals mainly with life in which country?

Zimbabwe

Volta's original electric battery consisted of cloths impregnated with salt interleaved between alternate plates of silver and which other metal?

Zinc

Which loyal Persian tricked the Babylonians into surrendering their city to King Darius by mutilating himself, and then claiming to the Babylonians that he was a tortured refugee from Darius' regime, eventually rising to military commander of the city, at which point he opened the gates?

Zopyrus

Myspace has acquired which online service that allows users to download and share music, founded by Ali and Hadi Partovi?

iLike

Combining traditional folk music with Eastern European and Asian influences and driving beats, Chalga, or pop folk, is a phenomenon in which EU country?

BULGARIA

Established circa 7,000 years ago, which Lebanese city, founded as Gebal by the Phoenicians, got its current name from the ancient Greeks, who imported its papyrus?

BYBLOS

"What word means a hardened deposit of calcium carbonate cementing together other materials, including gravel, sand, clay, and silt. Found in the High Plains of the western USA, and in the Sonoran Desert. The term is Spanish and is originally from the Latin calx, meaning lime?

Caliche

How many contestants are there in Channel 4's TV game show, "Deal or No Deal"?

22

These names are shared by an Englishman and an Australian both famous sportsmen (2pts) The Englishman was named after a Battleship on which his Father served and played and coached the Tampa Bay Rowdies. (1pt) The Australian was a wicketkeeper who in 96 Tests, set a world record of 355 wicketkeeping dismissals. Who are they?

Rodney Marsh

When the referee Tony Bates was injured in a match between Coventry and Nottingham Forest in February 2010 the fourth official had to take over. Thus for the first time a woman took charge of a football league match. What was her name?

Amy Fearn

In a railway carriage near which city in Northern France did the allies and the Germans sign the Armistice which ended WWI?

COMPIEGNE

Similar in origin and meaning to 'Baksheesh', which term derives from a word once uttered by beggars in the dialect of Xiamen (a port in South East China) and now also refers to something obtained unofficially, whether deviously or by ingenuity?

CUMSHAW

He represented the West Indies from 1984 to 2001, captaining the West Indies in 22 Test matches. He is best known for a remarkable opening bowling partnership along with fellow West Indian Curtly Ambrose for several years and held the record of most Test wickets. He spent 14 years with Gloucestershire from 1984. Who is he?

Courtney Walsh

Which city, perhaps inhabited since 10000 BC but certainly in continuous habitation for 6,000 years, became an important settlement after the Aramaeans arrived and established a network of canals that still forms the basis of its modern water networks?

DAMASCUS

He won the English singles bowls title in 1960 (2pts) Born in North Somerset in 1931the son of an international bowler he won his first commonwealth games gold medal in 1962. (1pt) He won every Commonwealth Games singles bowls gold medal from 1962 to 1978 and was three times world singles champion. Who is this pipe smoking bowler who was still winning world championships in 1992?

David Bryant

A Swedish soprano, her perfect singing and vivid acting made her a great heroine in operas by Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss and Janacek. She made her debut in 1947, aged just 20, and was still performing in the 1990s. In 1997 a Eurostar train was named in her honour. Which much loved singer died aged 82 in November 2009?

Elisabeth SÖDERSTRÖM

Inhabited since 3650BC and with links to the Akkadians and Hittites, this city in southern Turkey is the country's sixth largest. Its sights include the Ravanda citadel, restored by the Byzantines in the 6th century. Which city?

GAZIANTEP or ANTEP

Welsh Rugby star Andy Powell (nicknamed "Brain Dead") was charged with drunken driving in February after he was stopped driving along the hard shoulder of the M4 in the early hours of the morning. What was his chosen mode of transport?

Golf buggy

Under the recent vehicle registration plate nomenclature, cars beginning with the letter H, come from which area of the UK?

HAMPSHIRE

Under the Gonzaga family it became one of the main cultural hubs of Northern Italy, and the country as a whole. Which city is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes created during the 12th century - Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo, and Lago Inferiore ("Superior", "Middle", and "Inferior") - a fourth lake, Lake Pajolo, which once completed a defensive water ring of the city, dried up at the end of the 18th century?

MANTOVA or MANTUA

Who was the Northern Irish F1 driver who in 1979 moved to McLaren where he gave them their first victory in over three years by winning the 1981 British Grand Prix?

John Watson

59 He has two elder sisters whose ex-husbands were Ricky Nelson and John DeLorean. He has been married to Pam Dawber since 1987. Who is this former UCLA star quarterback (his father was also a Heisman Trophy winner) and leading star of US TV?

Mark HARMON

It is so popular in Canada that versions of it are sold in the country's Burger King, KFC and McDonald's outlets; the classic version of which dish consists of French fries topped with fresh cheese curd, and covered with brown gravy?

POUTINE

Which city, with a population of 4 million, is only the seventh largest in India and the second largest in Maharashtra after Mumbai?

Pune

Whose body was exhumed on the orders of Colombian president Hugo Chavez in July 2010 to facilitate investigation of suspicions of foul play having been involved in his death?