Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Last Saturday's Team GP Thingy

A Taster

As the sterling Rob Hannah wrote much of the rest of the Team Quiz, this was the only round I wrote entirely by myself for Saturday's Molesley GP, so I will be putting this up and this alone, as an indicator of why I've been so bloody busy and stressy at the moment.

In this - the Final Round - the top score was Mark Grant's team with 22, followed by Pat's with 21.

Many thanks to the Clockwork quiz guys for their Super-round inspiration; we ought to do more of them here in Blighty. Writing it was a form of masochism since it is the reason why us Broken Hearts have failed to win the Leuven event two years in a row.

I'll leave a little note below the answers to tell you - of the triple pointers - which ones were team solos and which were not answered by anyone.

FINAL ROUND

Pick one of the three questions – a) b) or c) – to answer. One point for question a), two points for question b) and three for question c) – the increased number of points corresponds to increased difficulty. If you get the question wrong you score ZERO points, so please choose wisely.

1. 1980s American TV shows

a) Running from 1984 through 1987, the titular aircraft was a modified Bell 222 twin-engined light helicopter owned by Jetcopters Inc. Which TV series starred Ernest Borgnine as Dominic Santini and Jan-Michael Vincent as Stringfellow Hawke?

b) Which 1985 ABC TV drama centred on police officer and former amateur dirt-bike racer Jesse Mach (played by Rex Smith), who was secretly chosen to test a top-secret all-terrain attack motorcycle capable of speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour?

c) Which 1983 NBC series centred on “wealthy, young, handsome” Professor Jonathan Chase (played by Simon MacCorkindale) - a shape-shifter who possessed the ability to turn himself into any creature that he chose and used this power to help the police solve crimes?

A B or C?

Answer: ________________________________________________________

2. Late 20th Century Symphonies

a) Composed by the Dutch conductor, trombonist and composer, Johan de Meij, what is the nickname of his Symphony No. 1 (1988)? It consists of five movements, including "I. Gandalf (The Wizard)", "III. Gollum (Sméagol)" and "V. Hobbits"?

b) It is the third symphony by the American classical pianist and composer Richard Kastle, who created the piece on Venice Beach where he lived in the late 1980s. Premiered in 1999, which work is a four movement piece for orchestra that starts out with the eponymous ship leaving the dock on her maiden voyage?

c) Based on the namesake David Bowie albums, Symphony No. 1 “Low” (1992) and Symphony No. 4 “Heroes” (1996) are works by which American composer?

A B or C?

Answer: ________________________________________________________

3. All Black rugby hard men

a) “The granddaddy” of all hard men, one Scotland lock once said that it was important to tell this All Black – who played most frequently in the lock forward position - to bugger off early in a match, as long as you didn’t say it very loudly. Nicknamed “Pinetree”, which New Zealand rugby icon was named the country’s Player of the Century at the NZRFU Awards in 1999?

b) A product of the powerful Auckland provincial side, he made his international debut as one of the “Baby Blacks” in the 1986 Test series in France and was awarded the captaincy of the All Blacks in 1992 – a position he held until his retirement from Test rugby. “Hard nosed as a hooker and a leader”, which “devastating sledger” has since done analyst duties for the BBC and Sky Sports?

c) Credited with the improved performance of the “Ka Mate” haka, this No.8 – nicknamed “Buck” – captained the All Blacks in the late 1980s. Though described as “indestructible and apparently impervious to injury or the opposition”, he suffered mightily in the 1986 “Battle of Nantes” when someone ripped his scrotum and left a testicle hanging free. Which New Zealand player also lost four teeth that day?

A B or C?

Answer: __________________________________________________________

4. Nobel Prize in Physics-winning discoveries

a) Albert Einstein was awarded the 1921 prize “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of” which phenomenon whereby electrons are emitted from matter as a consequence of their absorption from electromagnetic radiation of very short wavelength?

b) The American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson won half of the 1978 prize for which 1964 discovery (Pyotr Kapitsa got the other 50% for his work in low-temperature physics)? Known by the acronym CMBR, it is considered a landmark confirmation of the Big Bang model of the universe.

c) Controversially involved with the Deutsche Physik movement under the Nazi regime, which German physicist had earlier won the 1919 prize for “his discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields”? The latter became known as his eponymous “effect”.

A B or C?

Answer: _________________________________________________________

5. Novels with a shared weather theme in their title

a) Adapted into a film starring Julia Ormond in the title role, the story begins in Copenhagen, where a Greenlander child has fallen to his death from an apartment building’s rooftop. Which 1992 novel by Peter Høeg climaxes in a voyage by the investigating half-Dane/half-Inuit title character via an icebreaker to a remote island off the Greenland coast?

b) Published in its full form in 1947, this novel was the first full-length novel by the Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata. It tells of the love affair between a Tokyo dilettante and a provincial geisha named Komako and takes place in an unnamed remote hot spring town. Which novel's English name is a literal translation of the Japanese title Yukiguni?

c) Given the English subtitle A Theatrical Novel, its 2005 Vintage edition comes with an introduction by Terry Gilliam. Satirising the author's ten-year relationship with Method-pioneer Stanislavski and the Moscow Art Theatre, which novel by Mikhail Bulgakov is about the character Maxudov, who dramatises his own failed suicide and sees the play accepted by the legendary Independent Theatre?

A B or C?

Answer: _________________________________________________________

6. Festivals

a) This year's edition - held in Blaenau Gwent and the Head of the Valleys - finishes today (August 7). Which travelling festival calls itself "the home of literature, music, dance, recitation, theatre, visual arts, science and technology and all types of culture in Wales"?

b) It is also known as the "Little New Year" since it is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar year in the Chinese calendar - officially ending the Chinese New Year celebrations. Also known as Chap Goh Meh ('the fifteenth day') in Malaysia and Singapore, which Chinese festival takes its English name from the objects children traditionally carry to temples?

c) Lasting for three days, this festival of "manly games" or suur-kharbaan, as it is called in Buryatya, is a festival of the three major traditional sports in Mongolia - wrestling, horse racing and archery. Having its origin in annual sacrificial ritual honouring various mountain gods, which Ulaanbaatar-hosted festival is the biggest event in Mongolia's public life?

A B or C?

Answer: _________________________________________________________

7. Comic book teams

Simply, name the team from their members and the comic book writer/creators.

a) Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby: Mister Fantastic (aka Reed Richards), Invisible Woman (Susan Storm), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), The Thing (Ben Grimm)

b) The original incarnation from Volumes 1 & 2 by Alan Moore: Mina Harker, Captain Nemo, Allan Quatermain, Dr. Jekyll, The Invisible Man

c) From the ongoing series written by Garth Ennis: Billy Butcher, "Wee Hughie" Campbell, Mother's Milk, The Frenchman, The Female

A B or C?

Answer: _________________________________________________________

8. Shoes

a) This British retail chain and shoe manufacturer is known for such brands as Bostonian Shoes, K Shoes, Ravel Shoes and Desert Boots. Which company was begun in the Somerset village of Street in 1825 by its eponymous founder, who - at the time - had been working in his brother's tannery?

b) This shoe brand traces its roots to a German who registered it in 1774 as a "subject and shoemaker" in local church archives. The manufacturer that makes it is based in Vettelschloss and its products are noted for their contoured cork and rubber footbeds. Which brand is known for its two-strap sandal, the Arizona and the Boston Clog?

c) Owned by Wolverine Worldwide, it was founded as a company in Waitsfield, Vermont, in 1981 by Clark Matis, Randy _______, and John Schweitzer. Known for its performance outdoor footwear, it started out by creating hiking boots that fit like cowboy boots with a wide toe box and narrow heel to accommodate the North American foot shape. Almost all of its shoes have Vibram-branded rubber outsoles and an unpoppable air cushion in the heel. Which brand’s best-selling shoes include the Jungle Moc and the Moab Ventilator for men, and the Siren Ventilator and Chameleon Arc Mid Waterproof for women?

A B or C?

Answer: ________________________________________________________

9. Whales

a) The only member of the genus Physeter, this species of toothed whale has the largest brain of any animal and is the largest living toothed animal. Historically, which marine mammal was also known as the common cachalot - derived from an archaic French word for 'tooth'?

b) Living entirely in the fertile Arctic and sub-Arctic waters, this species stays so far north that Orcas cannot reach them; they can therefore live for more than a hundred years. Estimated weight of this thick-bodied species is 136 tonnes, making it second only to the blue whale. Also known as the Greenland right whale and Arctic whale, which baleen species is known by the binomial name Balaena mysticetus?

c) Deriving its name from the Norwegian word for the pollock fish, which baleen whale (Balaenoptera borealis) is the third largest rorqual after the Blue Whale and the Fin Whale? Its other names include the Lesser Fin - due to its resemblance to the Fin Whale, as well as Pollack Whale, Coalfish Whale, Sardine Whale, or Japan Finner.

A B or C?

Answer: ________________________________________________________

10. Lake Battles

a) Formerly in East Prussia, which lakes in modern day Poland gave their name to two World War One battles? Taking place a week after Tannenberg, the first began on September 9, 1914 and ended on the 14th, with Paul von Hindenburg leading German forces to victory over the Russian Empire's First Army.

b) One of the largest and most successful ambushes in military history, which battle of June 24, 217 BC is named after the largest lake on the Italian peninsula south of the Po with a surface area of 128 km2 (slightly less than Lake Como)? Hannibal crushed the 40,000-strong army of the Roman consul Gaius Flaminius, leaving only around 25,000 of his imperial foes alive.

c) In 1363, it was the site of what has been called the largest naval battle in history in terms of personnel, which resulted in a decisive Ming victory over the navy of their fellow rebels, the Han. It has also been called "China's Bermuda" due to the disappearance of many ships sailing in it. Which body of water, with a maximum length of 170km and max. width of 17km, is the largest freshwater lake in China?

A B or C?

Answer: ______________________________________________________

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Answers:
1a) Airwolf b) Street Hawk c) Manimal 2a) "The Lord of the Rings" Symphony b) Titanic Symphony c) Philip Glass 3a) Colin Meads b) Sean Fitzpatrick c) Wayne Shelford 4a) Photoelectric effect b) Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation c) Johannes Stark 5a) Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow b) Snow Country c) Black Snow / Театральный роман / A Dead Man’s Memoir 6a) National Eisteddfod of Wales b) Lantern Festival or Yuan Xiao Festival / Shang Yuan Festival c) Nadaam 7a) Fantastic Four b) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen c) The Boys 8a) Clarks b) Birkenstock c) Merrell 9a) Sperm whale b) Bowhead whale c) Sei whale 10a) Masurian Lakes b) Battle of Lake Trasimene / Lake Trasimeno c) Poyang Lake

Solos: Black Snow (Chris Quinn's team? Not sure), Nadaam (Pat's team), Merrell (Mark G's team)

Unanswered: The Boys, Poyang Lake

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

The Howling I: The Beginning

Top Five Ain't So Bad

But I have difficulty putting such things in perspective.

And so it doesn't stop me from picking the scabs of scratchy disappointment.

It is now a hallowed tradition.

Ambition and expectation are dangerous things.

At this very moment, I am taking time out from writing more last minute Only Connect question ideas and notes than I can possibly use; many of which will be rejected anway. Probably (Hi David!). And yet I do it in all quiz-setting arenas. But then I have always chucked a lahar-style mud-flume of overwhelming material and preparation at prospective quiz events and setting jobs ... for the old maxim goes: "When we learn for tourneys, we do not actually absorb stuff for the imminent event; we learn for next month, next November, and the competitions that stretch far into the future and beyond into the greying, fraying years of events to come. Never, truly, for tomorrow."

It is just charmed serendipitous luck that something we were reading the day before the Big Show (Mrs Sakharov!), happened to turn up at the most convenient moment in time so very soon after reading/glancing at the hasty scribbles of a man made desperate for wanton fear of disaster (i.e. failing to make the Top Ten).

My participation in this year's excellent Peterborough-staging of the WQC was somewhat knocked a bit skew-whiff, what with arriving five minutes late in a flustered, sudorific state that prevented myself from getting to the church, I mean, school hall on time. This was on account of my inability to orient myself in the city centre after leaving the Peterborough Central Travelodge at 11am. Having asked a mobile phone-eared cornershop-maitresse in St James' Street (???) and then a bored dead-eyed taxi driver in the city centre for location updates, I eventually huffpuff-stumble-ran* down Park Road, arriving in a sweaty, chesty state that no doubt removed five definite points I would have got (or so I kid myself). Procrastination is the thief of UK/Euro ranking points. *I'm in a hyphen kind of mood

But nah. Truth be told, the mild injection of adrenalin, once it had settled down after the 20 minute mark, probably helped excavate a few answers from a mind that was otherwise dying to defy the "Rauchen kann todlich sein" warnings on my Berliner Marlboros (naughtily, my first tobaccy stick, was smoked inside the schoolgrounds; I fear for the returning students who may sense a faint odour in the air of anti-conformity and transmogrify into Paris '68 barricaders as a result. But maybe that's just me thinking about Eva Green again).

God, I babble, do - the World Cup will soon shut me up thank God.

I was going to write more, in fact, I did, but it turned into a crazed diatribe on what the national press think quizzers to be some weird guild of nerdlingers who do written exams for fun (oooh, I remember what you said, Judith, and yes, it was true, so true, but I like 'em).

So, to be continued...

Coming Soon

Trailer for The Howling II: Rain will Fall
The register of excruciating F*** ME that's some F***** UP mistakage there: Why did I not write Adler? (Because I write far too many questions about Carl Jung). Why did I write Bizet? (Because I wrote a Mind Games Q about Carmen in Seville last week).

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Back from Berlin

I really should write something

I really should

So my knees are buggered from walking for hours and hours around museums, galleries and other places of quizzical interest. Oddly, it turned into a quasi-WQC revision jaunt, spliced with several near fights with my brother caused by nothing more than absolutely diddly squat (on reflection). There were at least four occasions where I stood on the street (mostly on Frankfurter Allee) growling like a rabid, mean dog, ready to let the bony, knuckled and shoed ends of my limbs fly in my bro's mushy face and thoroughly hittable body.

But that's just us. And suddenly I remembered why I gave him a black eye when he was 12 and I was 14 and why he chucked a Henry Hoover at my head in retaliation.

Ah, the sweet, painful joy of fraternal understanding/misunderstanding. As is our custom, in less than a second, we forget all about the aggro because that's just the way it is and always will be. And the funny thing is I have absolutely no bloody idea what propelled me into extreme annoyance. Not an inkling. I never do. It's just us and 29 years, methinks.

So, the German capital was brilliant and fed my unnerving habit of buying 9.95 euro museum guidebooks. I even bought a Nefertiti head bookmark. Oh. Buying. Shoot. I spent way too much money. Before I even got to Berlin, there were the damn "cut price" Oakleys. What compelled me to splurge a sum of money I am too ashamed to type up, I'm not so sure. The basic urge for sunglasses could have been better sated by a visit to Amazon and buying some £15 Vans shades. But noooo... The buying of useless crap and appalling food escalated.

This little holiday was meant to rejuvenate me after the long long haul of work that I have been undertaking all year, and it did the trick ... mental health-wise ... physically, I was a broken wreck, rubbing Voltarol cream into the back of my knees every four hours. My lack of bodily fitness - he says as he chain-smokes the fags he bought back by the tax-paid carton - is a total disgrace. Getting back a few hours ago, I felt like too much of a flimsy, cracked husk to do anything but dribble and gurgle in bed and in front of the computer.

But, incredibly, I didn't write a quiz question for a whole week; thus it truly was a holiday.

Anyway, must look through quiz stuff in these wee early hours. Cos there's that thing coming up very soon, and I have no idea whether I'm match fit. Must look at Olympic champs, must look at foreign hat manufacturers and famous Koreans and Middle Eastern figures. Ciao.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

And lo...

... didst the President's Cup season end on a high

It's one of those phases, you know. I'm just too tired to write like I used to, and even then I can't write about a lot of quizzy stuff anyway. Because. You know.

Spring is icumen in, and so the leagues go pfftttt. The consolation of the old winter routines set aside until ... no, I really am too bloody exhausted to ramble on in shamanistic Beat/Nick Kent-inspired arse-doodles, which hark back to different times. Whenever they were.

So today marked the end of another President's Cup season and Sussex's second title (though that was already in the bag and today was a tres relaxed affair at what Nic called "Castle Johnson". We were repleted with much drink, eats and hospitality from our kind hostess, which makes a change from me being too scared to ask the staff at our usual Castle to please turn off the speakers by the table upstairs, again. Please please please. And don't hate me. I just want us to hear the questions better above the clatter and ring-ring of the kitchen).

Our final match was against last season's champions and, what can I say, the well-balanced (in the view of the winning team) Ormskirk-set set fell nicely in our pop culture strength cubbyholes and we came out 56-28 victors. Though, as Nic said, if he had sat in Robert's* place, he might have scored somewhat less than 15, with five 2-pointers**. Those are the perils of going first when you play away.

But no, I am way to buggerated to explashimtasker ablerd ssmmmeeeee ur. I mean, I want to get myself to bed, before I do a sleeping headbutt on my computer keyboard.

The friendly was 10 rounds - I have a lot of questions to dump, and the friendly was the only place that would take them. Score 53-43 to Sussex, minus me, plus Beth. It was close until the last round when Sussex went 8-1. Ah, the vagaries of the random pick format (see the year's previous post).

However, I have to say that nothing has made me laugh more in the course of a quiz league/cup game that when Brian couldn't quite get Kirst MacColl out, going oww, oooohh, ahh, then punching an inexplicable Kung Fu fist and, in our desperate attempt to cue the memory, he shouted: "SPEEDBOAT!" Oh, how we laughed at what was a very tragic incident and we should all be ashamed of ourselves. And I guess you had to be there. (I almost gave him the points too).

Unanswered Qs bolded up

President's Cup Friendly 21/3/2010

Random Pick format

Round 1
1 A play on the name of a Chinese World Heritage Site, what nickname is given to the security network China's government uses to block internet content?
The Great Firewall of China
2 The daughter of Hyperion and Theia, which Greek goddess drove her chariot across the sky every night, just as her brother Helios did during the day?
Selene
3 The Canadian pianist, Lambert Orkis, is the regular partner of which German violin virtuoso, a former wife of Andre Previn?
Anne-Sophie Mutter
4 Played by Martin Freeman, which painter is the subject of the new Peter Greenaway film Nightwatching?
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
5 Known as the "Pearl of Siberia", what is the oldest lake in the world?
Lake Baikal
6 Born in Côte d'Ivoire, which Toulouse flanker is captain of France's rugby union team?
Thierry Dusautoir
7 On its publication in 1898, which Henry James novella was described by The Times as "the most hopelessly evil story that we have read in any literature, ancient or modern"?
The Turn of the Screw
8 In his 1855 poem 'Andrea del Sarto', who wrote: "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, / Or what's a heaven for?"?
Robert Browning

Round 2
1 What is the fifth and last book of the Torah?
Deuteronomy
2 A member of the Arpad dynasty, Saint Stephen I became the first king of which country in 1000?
Hungary
3 The cricket bat maker Duncan Fearnley made his first-class debut for which county in 1962?
Worcestershire
4 The two-player game Quadrow is better known by what name - a trademark of the company Milton Bradley?
Connect Four
5 Nicknamed "Flash Harry", who was chief conductor of the Proms from 1948 to 1967?
Sir Malcolm Sargent
6 Derived from the Latin word for ‘learned discussion’, which ultimately comes from the Greek for 'to rub away', what term describes an angry speech or a piece of bitter, abusive denunciation?
Diatribe
7 The capital of a country granted independence in 1981, which port served as the HQ of the Royal Navy's Caribbean fleet during the 18th century?
St John's, Antigua / English Dockyard
8 Basil, sage and rosemary belong to which family of plants?
Mint / Lamiaceae / Labiatae

Round 3
1 Derived from the Sanskrit for 'colour' or 'mood', what term describes a sequence of five to seven notes used as a basis for improvised performances in Indian music?
Raga
2 Used in the US, what criminal offence is represented by the acronym DUI?
Driving Under the Influence
3 Which footballer, who joined Manchester United from Nottingham Forest in 1989, was the 1000th player to win an England cap?
Neil Webb
4 Which Oscar-winning actor played "The Dude" in the Coen brothers' film The Big Lebowski?
Jeff Bridges
5 In which country was the brewing company Tuborg founded by Carl Frederik Tietgen in 1873?
Denmark - since 1970, a part of Carlsberg
6 Birthplace of the cricketers Azhar Mahmood and Shoaib Akhtar, which city in Punjab province was the capital of Pakistan from 1959 to 1969?
Rawalpindi
7 Made from solutions of cellulose, what was the first man-made fibre?
Rayon
8 Contrasting with empiricism, which philosophical theory contends that knowledge about the nature of the world can be obtained soley by reason, without recourse to experience? Exponents included Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz.
Rationalism

Round 4
1 Located at the confluence of the Ille and Vilaine rivers, which French city became the seat of the parliament of Brittany in the 16th century?
Rennes
2 The traditional Cornish pasty is made with skirt or chuck steak, seasoning, raw chopped onions, potatoes and which root vegetable?
Swede / Swedish turnip or "turnip" (as it is called in Cornwall) / Rutabaga / Yellow turnip
3 How many miniature cubelets combine to form a Rubik's Cube?
26
4 Variants of the Runic alphabet are also known by what name, derived from its first six letters?
Futhark - f, u, th, a, r, k
5 Derived from a Portuguese word that ultimately comes from the Latin for 'honey', what thick syrup is the byproduct of the processing of sugar cane into sugar?
Molasses
6 Also known for The Tempest and The Allendale Nativity, which Venetian painter's Sleeping Venus was probably completed by Titian in around 1510?
Giorgione / Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco
7 Which upmarket department store began in 1813 as a linen shop on the corner of Knightsbridge and Sloane Street?
Harvey Nichols
8 Sometimes called the ounce, which endangered species of cat is said to be the rarest of all Himalayan animals?
Snow leopard / Uncia uncia

Round 5
1 Which city is the setting for the TV dramas Skins, Being Human and Shoestring?
Bristol
2 What musical one-word title is common to a play by Jean Giraudoux, a Richard Strauss opera, and a 1939 film starring Leslie Howard as a violinist who falls in love with his accompanist, played by Ingrid Bergman?
Intermezzo
3 Glandular fever, aka Infectious Mononucleosis, is caused by which virus? It is known by the acronym EBV.
Epstein-Barr Virus
4 Which female singer-songwriter's cover of the Billy Bragg song 'A New England' reached number seven in the UK charts in 1985?
Kirsty Anna MacColl
5 In physics, what state, in which an abnormally large vibration is produced in response to an external stimulus, occurs when the frequency of the applied force is equal to the vibrational frequency of the system?
Resonance
6 Based on a namesake 1926 play by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, which musical features the songs 'All That Jazz', 'When You're Good to Mama' and 'Hot Honey Rag'?
Chicago
7 Which member of the Ivy League is the only university that is named after the US state it is located in?
University of Pennsylvania / Penn / UPenn
8 What name links a journal founded by Richard Steele in 1709, and the glossy Conde Nast-published magazine which long-time editor Geordie Greig left last year to take charge at the Evening Standard?
Tatler

Round 6
1 Assisted by his valet Kato, the newspaper publisher Britt Reid is also known by the name of which masked crime-fighter?
The Green Hornet
2 Holme Fen, England's lowest land point at nearly three metres below sea level, is in which county?
Cambridgeshire
3 Starring Richard Bradford as former US intelligence agent McGill, which late 1960s TV show's theme tune was later used as the opening theme for the Channel 4 series TFI Friday?
Man in a Suitcase
4 Nicknamed "The Intimidator", which American driver died in a last-lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500?
Dale Earnhardt / Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr
5 The late, great historian, diplomat and British eccentric Alan Davidson, is best known for editing the Oxford Companion to which subject? The first edition was published by OUP in 1999.
Food
6 Hoping to dislodge the Labour MP Margaret Hodge, BNP leader Nick Griffin will contest which seat at this year's election?
Barking
7 Denoting a large-scale abstract sculpture rooted firmly to the ground, what name did Alexander Calder give to such works as Cheval Rouge; Man; and Flamingo?
Stabile - Calder also "invented" mobiles, which are hung from ceilings, allowing them to float freely in space.
8 Established in 1779, which of the English Classic horse races is named after a house in Carlshalton that was leased to the 12th Earl of Derby?
The Oaks Stakes

Round 7
1 Which Lieutenant-General's surrender to the invading Imperial Japanese Army at Singapore in 1942 remains the largest capitulation in British military history?
Arthur Ernest Percival
2 What is the minimum wedding anniversary, or number of years, a couple must celebrate in order to receive a congratulatory message from the Queen?
60th / Diamond - then 65th, 70th, and every year thereafter
3 Recently voted Britain's most picturesque street, The Shambles is in which city?
York
4 In 1994, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty burnt £1 million in cash on the island of Jura. They had earned the money as which chart-topping music duo?
The KLF (Kopyright Liberation Front) / K Foundation / The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu / The Timelords
5 An American comfort food, which deep-fried balls of cornball batter share their name with a US footwear brand known for its brushed-suede shoes and Basset Hound logo?
Hush Puppies / Hushpuppies
6 Premiering in 2007, which BBC One drama is based on a series of novels by Alan Hunter and stars Martin Shaw as the eponymous police inspector?
Inspector George Gently
7 In field hockey's three-tier penalty card system, which colour card represents an official warning, as opposed to the yellow's sin-binning and red's sending off?
Green
8 Which Woking-based vehicle manufacturer will sell its MP4-12C sports car at a price of £150,000 on its release next year?
McLaren Automotive

Round 8
1 Jill and A Girl in Winter are the only two novels to be published by which poet, who declined the post of Poet Laureate after being offered it at John Betjeman's memorial service?
Philip Larkin
2 Who played Detective Sergeant Trotter in the original West End cast of The Mousetrap, opposite his wife Sheila Sim as Mollie Ralston?
Richard Attenborough
3 Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, which company introduced the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, the Broadcaster, in 1949? It soon became known as the Telecaster.
Fender
4 Working from a small studio at 18 Albion Mews, near Hyde Park, the Viennese-born British potter Lucie Marie Gomperz was better known by what married name?
Lucie Rie
5 Who was the father of King Richard II?
Edward, the Black Prince
6 Which branch of medicine is concerned with the study, diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle and lower leg?
Podiatry / Chiropody
7 In 1967, what did UNESCO define as "anti-social beliefs and acts which are based on a fallacy that discriminating inter-group relations are justifiable on biological grounds"?
Racism
8 The 1973 film Don't Look Now is based on a short story by which female writer, who was an active member of the Cornish political party Mebyon Kernow?
Daphne du Maurier

Round 9
1 Born in Truro in 1971, which Grandmaster is the top-rated British chess player in the world?
Michael Adams
2 Also known as a babushka doll, what other Russian name is given to a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed inside the other?
Matryoshka doll (from Russian female first name Matryona)
3 Which intelligence officer, whose address is 9 Bywater Street, Chelsea, was introduced in the 1961 debut novel Call for the Dead?
George Smiley
4 Reading is located at the confluence of the Thames and which tributary? It shares its name with that of a Swedish striker who scored five goals at the 1994 World Cup.
Kennet
5 Mount Elbert is the highest peak in which North American mountain range?
Rocky Mountains / Rockies
6 In which US city are the following sports stadia: Comerica Park, The Palace of Auburn Hills, Ford Field, and the Joe Louis Arena?
Detroit (Detroit Tigers; Detroit Pistons, Detroit Lions; Detroit Red Wings)
7 Originating in a Barcelona yoghurt factory founded by Isaac Carasso, which French multinational owns the mineral water brands Volvic and Evian, and the food brands Actimel and Activia?
Groupe Danone
8 Which group topped the UK album charts in 1978 with Night Flight To Venus and, in 1979, with Oceans of Fantasy?
Boney M

Round 10
1 The retired rugby league footballer Hazem El Masri is the top scorer in the history of Australia’s NRL. He was born in which country in 1976?
Lebanon
2 According to Suetonius, Julius Caesar said "alea iacta est" when he crossed the Rubicon with his army in 49BC. What does the phrase mean?
"the die is cast" / “the die has been cast”
3 Named for the British scientist who performed it in 1797-98, which experiment was the first to yield accurate values for the gravitational constant and the mass of the Earth?
[Henry] Cavendish experiment
4 In gardening, a dibble or dibber is a wooden stick used for purpose?
Making a hole in the ground for seeds etc
5 Which London railway terminus shares its name with the so-called "mother of all It Bags", launched by the French fashion house Chloe in 2002?
Paddington
6 Which German wine region includes vineyards situated on Saar and Ruwer rivers and is known for the varieties Reisling, Muller-Thurgau and Kerner?
Moselle
7 Based in Augusta, Georgia, the company Club Car manufactures which sporting-related vehicles? Models include the Caroche and the Precedent.
Golf buggy / golf cart / golf car
8 Which TV presenter and newspaper columnist is the son-in-law of the late Major Robert Cain, whose courage at the Battle of Arnhem led to his becoming the first and so far only Manx recipient of a Victoria Cross?
Jeremy Clarkson

Spares that I didn't actually ask afterwards because they're all rejects from the main one and there were already far too many sports questions in it already
Which Midlands university is home to the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts?
University of Leicester
Which scrum-half formed Australia’s “holy trinity” with David Campese and Michael Lynagh and captained his country to the 1991 Rugby World Cup?
Nick Farr-Jones
Debuting as a utility forward for Eastern Suburbs in 1908, George Green is reputed to have been the first indigenous Australian to play which sport at first-grade level in Australia?
Rugby league
Coached by Neil Back, which rugby union club have been promoted to the Zurich Premiership having won the National Division One title?
Leeds Carnegie - formerly Leeds Tykes
In 2008, Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe bought which Budapest football club via Esplanade Real Estate, his firm in Hungary?
Ferencvaros
Codenamed Operation Watchtower, it began on August 7, 1942. The campaign on which of the Solomon Islands was the first major offensive launched by Allied Forces against the Empire of Japan?
Guadalcanal
What word for insincere political talk comes from a county in North Carolina, whose representative, Felix Walker, made a long and pointless speech in Congress in 1820, simply to please his constituents?
Bunkum - from Buncombe County
Thought to come from the East Anglian dialect word for a lump or swelling, what term describes a localised painful swelling at the base of the big toe, with enlargement of the joint?
Bunion - from bunny
Taking place every July, the Deutsches Derby is run at Horner Rennbahn in which German city?
Hamburg
The first million dollar Millennium prize has been awarded to the Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman for his proof of which conjecture about the characterisation of the three-dimensional sphere among three-dimensional manifolds?
Poincaré conjecture
What was the two-letter pen-name of George William Russell, the Irish poet and painter, who published the verse collection Midsummer Eve in 1928?
A.E.
Spoken by at least 22 million people, which Asian language derives its name from the words for 'native of' and 'river', thus, it means 'river dweller'?
Tagalog
Which English writer's plays include A Day in the Death of Joe Egg; Privates on Parade and Poppy?
Peter Nichols
Developed by the US chemist FH Spedding in 1942, the Ames process is used to produce the pure metal form of which silvery-white element in the actinide series?
Uranium
Which 1765 Act introduced the first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies by the British government and required a tax to be paid on the transfer of all legal documents, wills, newspapers, and even playing cards?
Stamp Act
Producing 60% of country’s output, six of the Germany’s 13 quality wine regions are located in which federal state? Its capital is Mainz.
Rhineland-Palatinate
The banking dynasty founder, Meyer Amschel Rothschild, made his fortune during the Napoleonic Wars in which German city?
Frankfurt am Main
What sport is played by "The Machine", "The Bull", "The Rocket", and "Jackpot"?
Darts - nicknames of top ten PDC Order of Merit players: James Wade, Terry Jenkins, Ronnie Baxter, Adrian Lewis




*Who says I assume certain degrees of familiarity with QLL/President's Cup players? Oh, I do.

** Or the rules come to think of it.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

New "Hostile" of the Year

Hello: it's the Not So New Year

Just friendly questions from today's Prez Cup match (we beat the Masterminders 42-37 thanks to a fortuitous last round; thank heavens for the creation of the word "genocide" - er, I guess you had to be there).

Tell Me What to Think
Too tired to write otherwise. Busy and confidential. Watching an incomprehensible Japanese movie. Watching it again immediately afterwards in the vain hope that some tiny semblance of understanding may hove into the view of my mind's eye. Me typing. Eyelids flutter up, flutter down. Inhaling atomised chocolate crumbly oat-biscuits. Then thinking about Stilton/blackcurrant jam-topped digestive biscuits. La la la. Probable QLL decider on Tuesday. Also thinking about the two-point average. Or, maybe, I shouldn't be thinking about my two-point average. And the Kevin Ashman Trophy. I have apparently played enough matches to qualify, which gives me nothing but bad and selfish ideas. Baaad ideas. Monomaniacal notions. If that is the apt adjective.

Fwendlee
I wrote a ten-round, 80-question friendly. I did this because they are basically surplus questions that were either a) too long to go somewhere or b) too hard to go somewhere else (and because c) league friendlies and their pairs can get tiresome and unimaginative when you are compelled to set them time and time again). So they went into a friendly, with the ol' pick a number from 1-8 thingummijig. Thus, the number fours get a veritable Hobson's choice ... which doesn't really matter because the subject-distribution is random anyway. Or is it? Duh-duh-darrrr!

Final score was 56-39 to Sussex (Paul S 13 / Ian O 14 / Kathryn J 15 / Will J 14 - Gavin F 12 / Mark G 12 / Ray W 8 / Ken E 7)

Unanswered Qs in bold

Round 1
1 In terms of area, what is the largest county in [historic province of] Ulster?
County Donegal - bit of a trick question really, what with me not doing the specifying about historical Northern Ireland
2 Which 2010 Massive Attack album is named for a German island and former possession of Britain and Denmark?
Heligoland
3 Which British sculptor, who died in 1975, created the nine-piece bronze group Family of Man?
Barbara Hepworth
4 The Spanish Second Division team Real Sociedad is based in which city?
San Sebastian / Donostia
5 Which crime writer novelist created the investigator Sid Halley, who appeared in such novels as Whip Hand and Under Orders?
Dick Francis
6 Established in 1790, the St James's Street establishment D.R. Harris & Co. is said to be the oldest type of which shop in London?
Pharmacy
7 Max Brito was paralysed at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. He was playing for which country?
Ivory Coast
8 Guerillas and A Bend in the River are novels by which British* Nobel Literature Prize winner?
VS Naipaul - * well, he is really, citizen-wise; if I put Trinidadian-born, well, gimme gimme gimme

Round 2
1 Which Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros with the Allies in October 1918?
Ottoman Empire
2 In a list of the Commonwealth countries, which nation comes last alphabetically?
Zambia
3 Whose alternative titles include Earl of Chester, Baron of Renfrew and High Steward of Scotland?
Prince Charles / Prince of Wales
4 The Swing and The Progress of Love are late 18th century works by which French painter?
Jean-Honore Fragonard
5 The American, Shaun White, has become the first snowboarder to win back-to-back Olympic golds in which event?
Halfpipe
6 Derived from a word meaning 'pure', Katharevousa is the literary form of which modern European language?
Greek
7 John Keble's 1833 sermon on national apostasy is generally held to be the beginning of which movement?
Oxford Movement / Tractarians / Newmanites / Puseyites
8 In the song Waltzing Matilda, what is "Matilda"?
A bushman's bundle of belongings

Round 3
1 Derived from the Greek for 'grave law', taphonomy is the study of which natural process?
Fossilization / decaying organisms over time
2 Which chaplain to Egbert, king of Wessex, became bishop of Winchester in October 852?
St Swithin / Swithun
3 Which New York Yankee baseball player, who retired in April 1939, was known as the "Iron Horse"?
Lou Gehrig
4 What middle name links David Beckham, Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Jackson?
Joseph
5 Which body of water in the Northwest Territories is the deepest lake in North America at 614 metres?
Great Slave Lake
6 On his 2004 Champions' League debut for Manchester United, Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick against which Istanbul team?
Fenerbahce SK
7 The physical act of micturition is known by what other name?
Urination / peeing / voiding / emiction
8 Raised in Grimsby, which Tory Chancellor was born in Lerwick on Shetland in 1942?
Norman Lamont

Round 4
1 Which form of asbestos derives its name from the Greek for 'gold fibre'?
Chrysotile
2 What is the married surname of JK Rowling?
Murray
3 The entertainer Lionel Blair was born in which Canadian city?
Montreal
4 Beaujolais Nouveau is officially released on the third Thursday of which month?
November
5 Premiered at Milan’s Teatro Dal Verme in 1884, Le Villi – as in The Willis or The Fairies, was which composer’s debut opera?
Giacomo Puccini
6 Derived from the Scottish Highlands for 'strait' or ‘channel’, what name may be given to a narrow channel between islands or between an island and the mainland?
Kyle
7 First settled in the mid-19th century, the American city of Laramie is in which state?
Wyoming
8 Which pale, very dry fino sherry has a Spanish name that means 'camomile'?
Manzanilla

Round 5
1 Which American actor played Sonny Corleone in The Godfather and "hobbled" novelist Paul Sheldon in the film Misery?
James Caan
2 According to Irish legend, which two cats fought until only their tails remained?
Kilkenny cats
3 The Danish-born sportsman Morten Andersen is the all-time leading points scorer in the history of which sports league?
NFL
4 Charles Reade's 1861 historical romance The Cloister and the Hearth related the adventures of Gerard Eliassoen, the father of which Dutch Renaissance humanist and theologian?
Erasmus
5 Captain James Cook named which bay on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island in honour of the man who became 1st Lord of the Admiralty in 1766?
Hawke Bay
6 Monoecus, meaning 'the lone dweller', is an alternative Latin name for which hero of classical myth?
Heracles / Hercules
7 Which British astrologer wrote The Real Counties of Britain and The Illustrated Dream Dictionary?
Russell Grant
8 Which American singer had her first UK number one with a cover of Without You in 1994?
Mariah Carey

Round 6
1 In 2009, Boggy Peak, the highest point in Antigua and Barbuda, was renamed in honour of which politician?
Barack Obama
2 Invented by Sir John Ambrose Fleming, the thermionic valve or vacuum tube is known by what other name?
Diode - another early name is the kenotron
3 Which British producer, director and writer founded AP Films with the cinematographer Arthur Provis in 1957?
Gerry Anderson - as in Anderson-Provis Films
4 Don DeLillo’s 1988 novel Libra focuses on the life of which presidential assassin?
Lee Harvey Oswald
5 What term describes a real number that cannot be expressed as a fraction or ratio of integers?
Irrational [number]
6 In February 2009, which jockey won his 3,000th National Hunt race when he rode Restless D'Artaix at Plumpton?
Tony McCoy
7 Discovered by Marguerite Perey in 1939, which radioactive metallic element is the heaviest member of the alkali metal group?
Francium
8 Which capital city is home to the HQ of the African Union?
Addis Ababa

Round 7
1 Who was the second son born to Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg?
Prince Albert
2 2010 is the quincentenary of which Florentine painter, who died on May 17, 1510?
Sandro Botticelli / Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi
3 Vidin, Lom and Ruse are inland ports on the Danube. They are in which country?
Bulgaria
4 Owned by the British transport firm FirstGroup, which bus company was founded by the Swedish-born Carl Wickman in Hibbing, Minnesota, in 1914?
Greyhound Lines
5 What name is given to a female Red or Sika deer?
Hind
6 Which battle site forms the Historic Triangle of Virginia with Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg?
Yorktown
7 Set in the year of George VI's coronation, which 1988 sitcom starred Ronnie Barker as a short-sighted removal man?
Clarence
8 CLR James's 1938 book Black Jacobins is a historical study of which revolution?
Haitian Revolution

Round 8
1 Joan of Arc was inspired by the "voices" of two female saints. Name either one.
St Catherine (of Alexandria) or St Margaret
2 Sharing his surname with a character in the sitcom MASH, which German artist is known for his 1902 statue of Beethoven and ten etchings entitled Paraphrases about the Finding of a Glove?
Max Klinger - the character being Maxwell Klinger
3 What role does the Clerk of the Closet perform for the UK sovereign?
Principal chaplain
4 Jacob's twin Esau is regarded as the ancestor of which Semitic-speaking tribal group?
Edomites
5 What name did the French give to their version of the quiz show Going for Gold?
Questions pour un champion
6 What sport is played by the Buffalo Sabres and the New York Islanders?
Ice hockey / hockey
7 Friggers are objects made outside working hours, or at the end of the day, by what type of craftsmen?
Glass blowers
8 What is the first name of Portnoy in Philip Roth's novel Portnoy's Complaint?
Alexander

Round 9
1 Carl Fogarty won all four of his World Superbikes titles riding motorcycles made by which Italian company?
Ducati
2 Made by Martell & Son, which cheese won Britain's first Smelliest Cheese Championship in May 2009 at The Royal Bath & West Show in Somerset?
Stinking Bishop
3 Which 22-year-old Wasps player has just signed for the new Australian Super 15 franchise Melbourne Rebels?
Danny Cipriani
4 Which Irishwoman founded the Vic-Wells ballet company in 1931, as well as the predecessors of today’s Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School?
Ninette de Valois / Edris Stannus
5 In 1904, the Royal Horticultural Society founded a garden in which small Surrey village?
Wisley
6 Paris 1919, Music For A New Society and HoboSapiens are solo albums by which former Velvet Underground member?
John Cale
7 On August 14th 1502, Christopher Columbus first set foot on the American mainland at Trujillo in which Central American country?
Honduras
8 Which Zimbabwean golfer won The Open Championship in 1994?
Nick Price

Round 10
1 There are seven cervical vertebrae and five lumbar vertebrae, while there are 12 of which type of vertebra?
Thoracic
2 The American athlete, Randy Barnes, became (and still is) the world record holder in which field event in 1990?
Shot put
3 Succeeding Herbert Asquith, who became leader of the official Opposition in November 1922?
Ramsay McDonald
4 Which SI unit is defined as 9,192,631,770 radiation cycles of the caesium-133 atom?
Second
5 The musical term "au talon" describes the playing of a string instrument with which part of the bow?
Heel / nut / frog
6 Which rock musical features the numbers Light at the End of the Tunnel, Only He (Has The Power to Move Me) and the love duet Only You?
Starlight Express
7 The formula 4πrsquared gives the surface area of what geometrical object?
Sphere
8 Derived from the Sanskrit for ‘to split’, what name is given to a thick, spicy stew, with pulses, that is a mainstay of Indian cuisine?
Dhal / dal - this question might be badly worded or I may have garbled it - "thickshhuptew". Paul said "mulligatawny".

Half-hearted spares
The first British flight using Frank Whittle's jet engine took place in May 1941. Which company made the aircraft?
Gloster
Noel Coward created the Hay Fever character Judith Bliss for which actress - the "queen of her profession" - who was born Mary Susan Etherington in 1864?
Dame Marie Tempest

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Last of the "Decade"*

Thus ends 2009. Thus continues more waffle

Been working on the Quiz Book. In fact, on a paranoid whim, I decided to reverify the 200 pages I wrote almost two years ago. And verify it HARDER than ever before.

However, it appears my past self is slipshoddy with the facts.

Turns out I had dodgy typing fingers or wibbly transcription skills. I have misspelled many a funny foreign/book/binomial name and got various birthdates/publication dates all squiffy. So corrections are the order of the day. Mindnumbing corrections.

So yeah, that was merely boring administation because I am in a very boring place where it takes a hour to do every single page: rechecking, rewriting, even replacing. This is the very meaning of bogged down.

But 'tis better to get it right than to look at the publishing thing and scream my head off for evermore about missing an "i" from the scientific name of the Bluff oyster (phew ... that was close).

Oh God. More Bloody Lists.
I was going to do some lists (fave 2009 movie: Inglourious Basterds; (predictable yawn) fave LP: Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective, with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Phoenix coming very close behind) and all but the decade ones (2000-2009), as in Top 50 Books, Top 100 Films, Top 100 Albums, Top 100 Songs, Top 50/50 Loves/Hates can come in January - you know when the year 2009 is over. Tsk, all these places doing them a month before the year has ended. It's very very naughty. And presumptuous.

So let's have a sufficient 2010 - don't want to hope for too much ... hoping for losts is bad and mildly delusional - try [still just about] this year's New Statesman quiz without making critical comments liable to make me go suffer from a case of temporary batshit insanity.

*Yes, 2010 is the last year of this decade. I guess. That's what people say. Sometimes I don't believe them.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Full "How To" Article

Got a nice bottle of Andrew Motion's Oloroso, I 'ave

Of course, there was a lot more I wanted to put in the article (I could have added 2000 words in fact) and much ended up being cut to fit the space (my own fault for overwriting), so this is what I actually filed.

Unedited How to be a whoo-weee at quizzzy stuff

It was a moment I had been dreading. We had been lagging behind, but magnificent 100 per cent scores on the fifth and sixth rounds of this year’s PEN Quiz had propelled The Times’ Thunderers into a tie for first place with HarperCollins and The Guardian.

As the paper's elected representative – the one who happens to set the times2 quiz – the heavy burden of taking to the stage, winning the tie-break and bringing home the trophy for only the second time would, gulp, fall to me.

After the first tie-break question about the origin of the word “bombast” elicited only wrong guesses (I swear I thought Philip Hensher - standing to my right - would have got that), another came and, as the words “Francis II” “bought” and “portrait” came out of host David Mitchell’s mouth, my mental reflexes kicked in and I spat out “Mona Lisa!” Correct. It was something I recalled reading in a book about art that came free with The Observer.

Winning this prestigious quiz for the first time since 2004, a fundraising event attended by many of the biggest brains in the literary and media world, was no easy task and, it must be said, involved a lot of luck. Sheer good luck, as in plumping for the right choice in a 50/50, is often the decisive factor when the score margins are so tight.

But, good fortune aside, how do you win any quiz? The answer is so obvious I feel idiotic saying it: you must know the answers. Actually, let me put it another way. A quiz is essentially a general knowledge lottery. The more tickets you buy, i.e. the more facts you collect and store away, the more likely your numbers will come up. And it is all the better if you have an innate talent for remembering stuff allied with a ravenous hunger for the world and all it contains. This curiosity has, in my case, translated into full-on quiz addiction.

If you want to win a standard, humdrum pub quiz, you can bore yourself senseless by rote-learning trivia books of interminable lists filled with FA Cup winners that do nothing for your soul or mental well-being. But to win the kind of quizzes that invoke descriptions of participants weeping at the sheer difficulty takes a lot more skill than simple “What is the capital of Croatia?” recall.

The best and most interesting kind of questions – the ones often asked at PEN – may appear maddeningly obscure at first glance, but because they have been laden with enough clues (e.g. a year, a certain noun), require deduction and a just a touch of lateral thinking to solve them. It also helps to remember that, presuming they are not sadists, they wouldn’t ask it if the answer was so boring as to be pointless. A question about which Eurovision Song Contest winner appears in the lyrics to John Lennon’s 'Imagine' may appear initially absurd, but once you ponder the song’s utopia-inclined content, there is only one feasible answer – Brotherhood of Man.

It also helps to know the tricks of the quiz-writing trade: the little tics and techniques setters employ when constructing questions. The aforementioned addiction has evolved into a question-writing career. Aside from penning quizzes for The Times, my various TV jobs include being one of the University Challenge setters.

Thus, I spend my days filling dozens of notebooks with potential material for starters and bonus sets, gleaned from every possible medium whenever I can. And after a while you develop an eye for the kind of trivia titbits that jump out of a newspaper article and demand to be made into questions, which helps when you are doing other people’s quizzes and you realise that the setters have had the same “Eureka” moment.

There is, however, no substitute for serious participation, and this is where the thorny accusations of “professionalism” truly come to the fore (as if the question-writing wasn’t enough). I am a long-time regular on the Quizzing circuit, a series of monthly national and international events where competition is fierce and the questions are always taxing. Recent performances have ensured my regular selection for the four-man England team, as well as a ranking of fourth in Europe.

Earlier this month, I took part in the European Quizzing Championships in Holland and very nearly did a “Michael Phelps”. Having won gold medals in the National Team, Club and Pairs events, I fell short in the individual competition where I placed a very respectable second behind Kevin Ashman, the man deemed to be the greatest quizzer in the world.

Playing against the very best on the very hardest questions will prepare you for any quiz, and my own regime for competing in them, and all trivia-related contests, boils down to this simple piece of advice: read as widely as possible and remember as much as you can.