A post that has come from nowhere...

Well, my last blog post seems to have been almost a month ago, so it's about time - now I've finished my first semester at uni and have returned home for Christmas - I rambled some more and wrote some questions for people to have a go at (or not, depending on their inclination).

On the University Challenge front, we haven't had a full-on practice session yet despite promises that one would be arranged. At this rate, we'll be rusty if we ever do get on the show. Hopefully January will yield some opportunities for practice, ahead of the supposed interviews with the production team.

Anyway, ten questions based on art (seeing that I made a trip to the Walker Art Gallery while in Liverpool and actually found it quite interesting) - hope you enjoy (and do make suggestions for topics you'd like to see particular questions on, if you like):

1 Which English painter, one of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood founders, created works such as The Hireling Shepherd (1851) and The Awakening Conscience (1853)?
2 The Dada art movement was founded in 1916 in which city?
3 The Embarkation for... Complete the name of this Jean-Antoine Watteau painting with the name of the Greek island which features in its title?
4 In the 1620s, Diego Velazquez served as the principal court painter to which king of Spain?
5 On display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, whose most famous painting was the 1851 work, Washington Crossing the Delaware?
6 Which term describes a work in Christian art which shows the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most commonly in sculpture?
7 Green Stripe, painted in 1905, is a depiction by which French artist of his wife, Amelie?
8 With which primary colour was the artist Yves Klein most associated?
9 Which Italian Renaissance painter had the birth surname Filipepi?
10 How many human figures can be seen in Edward Hopper's acclaimed 1942 painting, Nighthawks?




Answers:
1 William Holman Hunt
2 Zurich
3 Cythera / Kythira
4 Philip IV
5 Emanuel Leutze
6 Pieta
7 Henri Matisse
8 Blue
9 Sandro Botticelli
10 Four

QM Quiz #19

Not written one of these for ages, so I'll do so now - hope you enjoy:

1 Which term in Islam describes the collection of teachings, deeds, and sayings of the prophet Muhammad which constitute the primary source of guidance for Muslims aside from the Koran?
2 Starring Norman Beaton, Isabelle Lucas, and a young Lenny Henry, what was the first British sitcom to have an entirely black cast?
3 Which French king ordered the building of the Bastille fortress in 1370?
4 2014's G20 summit concluded last week. In which city was it held?
5 The director David Lean's first four films were adaptations of works by which English playwright?
6 Which former Conservative MP became UKIP's second directly elected MP on the early hours of Friday morning after a victory in the Rochester and Strood by-election?
7 Home to the country's most successful football club of recent years, what is Hungary's second-largest city?
8 The Kuvendi is the parliament of which European country?
9 The organisation Greenpeace was founded after protests against US plans for a nuclear weapon test on which Alaskan island?
10 The chemical element hassium is named after a state in which country?
11 In which country was Elizabeth II when she heard that her father, George VI, had died and that she was queen?
12 The episode "An Unearthly Child" marked the first appearance of which famous TV character?
13 The first official US flag was flown during which 1777 engagement of the American Revolutionary War?
14 The M57 motorway is a ring road around which major UK city?
15 Which passenger steamship became known in 1912 as the ship that came to the aid of Titanic survivors when it sank, and was subsequently sank herself in 1918 off the Isles of Scilly?
16 The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race is run at which French racecourse at the beginning of October each year?
17 Who, alongside Calvert Vaux, designed New York City's Central Park?
18 Butser Hill is the highest point of which English range of chalk hills?
19 Which US journalist (1887-1920) is best remembered for his account of the October Revolution, Ten Days That Shook the World?
20 The Church of the Holy Rude, where James VI of the Scots was crowned in 1567, is in which Scottish city?




Answers:
1 Hadith
2 The Fosters
3 Charles V
4 Brisbane
5 Noel Coward
6 Mark Reckless
7 Debrecen
8 Albania
9 Amchitka
10 Germany
11 Kenya
12 The Doctor (Doctor Who)
13 Siege of Fort Stanwix
14 Liverpool
15 Carpathia
16 Longchamp
17 Frederick Law Olmsted
18 South Downs
19 John Reed
20 Stirling

100Quiz #2 - results

Received a few more entries for this than the first one, but I enjoy writing them so as long as people are finding them useful, I'll continue to write. Hopefully with some better marketing / spreading the word, I'll be able to get a few more entrants as well, of course.

The scores were as follows - some very tight competition:

1 Peter Ediss 72
2 Clive Dunning 69
3 Mark Cooper 62
4 Hugh Bennett 57
5 Alan Gibbs 55
6 Joseph Krol 46
7 = Ian Chilman 45
7 = Ritchie Venner 45
9 Paul Davis 38
10 Nic Mortimer 32

Thanks to all those who entered, and hope you enjoyed it and found it to be a decent enough set. Well done to Peter Ediss, who got a really good score, as well as Clive Dunning who wasn't far behind.

100Quiz #3 will hopefully be up in the next few days; haven't written it yet but got two legal essays due in this week so obviously they'll have to be priorities. Still, it should be up by the weekend, so keep checking if you want to enter.

The last fortnight in my quiz world...

I haven't been updating this blog as much recently - I was previously posting an update every two or three days, but those have since dried up to around once a week in frequency, thanks to a combination of things. Ironically, I've been working harder on my quizzing, as well as having a lot to do at uni in terms of reading and writing essays.

However, apart from that, I've been pretty lucky in quiz endeavours in the last fortnight or so.

Firstly, I was on the winning team at a university pub quiz not long ago - £100 jackpot, though the presence of six of us meant that I only actually came away with £15 or so. Still, not a bad night's work.

I also played for the Rainhill Victoria team in the Merseyside Quiz League Challenge Cup competition. Mark Kerr, one of the team's players, sent out a message on Facebook to anyone who fancied playing for the night as they had a couple of regular players missing. I volunteered, travelled to Southport, and played in the match against Zetland, which we luckily won 47-38. I got eight points, which I was reasonably pleased with for a debut. They've asked me to play in the remaining Challenge Cup fixtures, which I'm happy to do, so I'll be playing in another match a week tomorrow. I'd like to improve my score, as I think nerves played a part in the first match as well, particularly until I settled in and started to get a few right answers.

On Saturday, I travelled to Rainhill - ironically the venue for next week's match - to attend the Quiz in the North 2, a follow-up to the successful Quiz in the North held at Rochdale in August. It was a great day of quizzing, and I'm looking forward to more of these events if they're held. On a personal note, I achieved probably my best result yet in a competitive written quiz - 92/170, which placed me 27th out of the 42 competitors. Not bad, I don't think. There were a few silly errors but not half as many as there normally are from me.

The European Quizzing Championships took place this weekend in Bucharest, Romania. Olav Bjortomt is the new individual champion, with Kevin Ashman and Finland's Tero Kalliolevo finishing in second and third respectively. Well done to those three. Pity I couldn't attend, as I'd have loved to, but I'm determined to be there next year, where the venue will be Rotterdam. Sounds like a great event, and all the feedback I've read from those who attended seems to be overwhelmingly positive.

Anyway, apologies for those - if there are any of you - who've been checking the blog regularly only to find no new updates or questions. I'll try to update it more, and I'll write a quiz to be posted after this.

Upcoming quiz miscellany

Not posted that much recently - too much legal reading. :( Still, I've started a spreadsheet database of questions, which I add to when I find something sufficiently interesting / likely to come up (or so I think) in a future quiz.

I found out the other day that the UoL University Challenge trials take place on 17th and 18th November - obviously, I'll be there. All it mentions is "a booklet of sample questions" - hmm, would be a bit embarrassing if I failed to do well after all this blog hoo-ha... all these written questions... all these quizzes attended.

I'm going to extend the deadline for the second 100Quiz until the end of the month. Not got a chance to sort it all out yet but I will do. So, anyone who hasn't had a chance to enter yet, you've still got time to do so if you wish.

Attending the second Quiz in the North on Saturday at Rainhill, which I'm looking forward to. I thought the first one was great, and I'm sure this will be as good. Also one of the few quizzes that's handy for where I am in Liverpool now. Also been asked to play in some MQL cup matches that are coming up, which I hope to do well in (mainly because I don't want to let people who've given me a chance down).

Needless to say, I'm not attending the European Quizzing Championships. Just not feasible at the moment with university, but I plan to attend in the future - hopefully when I have a better chance of doing reasonably well). However, good luck to all those taking part.

Having been back in Lancaster for the weekend (and Monday), I'm playing for The Pub in the LCQL tomorrow night versus Gregson A. Would be nice to get a win, but always a tricky fixture.

Questions
1 In which city was US president William McKinley shot and fatally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in 1901?
2 Who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948, for "his outstanding, pioneer contribution to modern-day poetry"?
3 Lake Arenal, built artificially in 1979 to provide electricity to the country, is the largest lake in which Central American nation?
4 The term "ostrich guitar" was coined by which major rock music figure, who died in 2013?
5 Aurelia Cotta was the mother of which famous historical figure?
6 Boy, released in 1980, was which band's debut album?
7 What was the last pitched battle to be fought between English and Scottish armies?
8 The actresses Cloris Leachman and Maxine Cooper both made their film debuts in which 1955 Robert Aldrich film noir?
9 Who wrote the novel, The Buddha of Suburbia?
10 Which country will host the 2019 Pan American Games?




Answers:
1 Buffalo
2 TS Eliot
3 Costa Rica
4 Lou Reed
5 Julius Caesar
6 U2
7 Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
8 Kiss Me Deadly
9 Hanif Kureishi
10 Peru

QM Quiz #18

Seems like ages since I last posted - indeed, it has been ten days. Here are twenty quick questions for you to peruse, store, have a go at.

100Quiz #2 is still open to enter; I'll close it to entries a week today, probably.

1 What is the official name of Manhattan's Sixth Avenue, although this name is rarely used by New Yorkers?
2 How was the German singer Christa Paffgen (1938-1988) better known?
3 The King Baudouin Stadium is in which country?
4 Which Austrian town on the border with Germany is best-known for being the birthplace of Adolf Hitler?
5 Which prominent Dutchman discovered the rings of Saturn in 1655?
6 From the Greek for "acting of one's own will", what word describes a self-operating machine?
7 How many players are there on each team in a Gaelic football match?
8 London Bridge carries five lanes of which major road?
9 In which US state is the popular animated series, South Park, primarily set?
10 Who is the current manager of Celtic FC?
11 In 1986, Time magazine called which man "a laureate of American lowlife"?
12 In The Flintstones, what is the name of Fred and Wilma Flintstone's infant daughter?
13 Which hurricane, currently impacting Bermuda, is the strongest recorded since Igor in 2010?
14 Der Ring des Nibelungen is a four-opera cycle by which famous composer?
15 Which is the oldest professional ice hockey team in the United States?
16 Which desert's name means "black sand" in Turkic languages?
17 One Brewer's Green, London is the headquarters of which UK political party?
18 Giotto's Campanile stands in which Italian city?
19 The Cuban Revolution of 1953 to 1959 was an overthrow of whose government?
20 Jonas Salk developed the first successful vaccine for which disease?




Answers:
1 Avenue of the Americas
2 Nico
3 Belgium
4 Braunau am Inn
5 Christiaan Huygens
6 Automaton
7 Fifteen
8 A3
9 Colorado
10 Ronny Deila
11 Charles Bukowski
12 Pebbles
13 Hurricane Gonzalo
14 Richard Wagner
15 Boston Bruins
16 Karakum
17 Labour
18 Florence
19 Fulgencio Batista
20 Poliomyelitis

Briefly...

I'm playing in a Merseyside Quiz League cup match tonight - stepped in for someone who's missing, so travelling to Southport in a couple of hours. Fingers crossed I give a good showing. Certainly wouldn't want to make a tit of myself. You never know, I might even be able to play more regularly if there's space for an extra team member. Anyway...

A few quick questions for today, all taken from my ever-expanding spreadsheet of things I'm trying to learn and remember (with varying amounts of success on most occasions). Answers a few lines below, as always.

1 Which potentially active stratovolcano is the highest peak in Iran and the Middle East?
2 Who is the current UK MP for Welwyn Hatfield?
3 Which king granted the Royal Society its charter?
4 What is the county town of Buckinghamshire?
5 Who received a Best Director Oscar nomination for Crossfire (1947)?




Answers:
1 Mount Damavand
2 Grant Shapps
3 Charles II
4 Aylesbury
5 Edward Dmytryk

100Quiz #2

It seems like a while since I did the first one of these, but it's actually only been just over a month. I'd like to get a lot more entries for this - I reckon I'll succeed (I hope - please enter!). I've also tried to make the questions a tad more accessible while still putting in a few more challenging ones to suit everybody. As always, I welcome feedback about the quiz questions I write, whether they're any good, etc.

How to enter
Simply answer the 100 questions below - without outside help - and send your answers by email to quizmusings@gmx.com - please also clearly give your full name (if you don't mind) so I can add you to the standings. I'll reply letting you know I've got your email.

Deadline: Saturday, 25th October

Good luck!

The questions:
The Dancing House, nicknamed “Fred and Ginger” owing to its resemblance to a pair of dancers, can be found in which European capital city?
2 Calixa Lavallee composed the music for which large country's national anthem in 1880?
3 Ralph Vaughan Williams's musical work, The Lark Ascending, took its name from a poet by which Victorian?
4 Built 1268-1290, what is the largest castle in Wales and the second-largest in Britain?
5 Serving from 1961 until its closure in 1963, who was the fourth and final warden of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary?
6 The 1997 film, Contact, was based on a book of the same name by which US astronomer?
7 Beating MaliVai Washington in the 1996 final, who was the last Dutchman to win the Wimbledon singles title?
8 The museum of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame stands on the shore of which of North America's Great Lakes?
9 What name, after the Frenchman who pioneered it, was given to the first photographic process and certainly the first to see widespread use? Many of the famous images of Abraham Lincoln were taken via this method.
10 He succeeded Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in August 2013; who is the current president of Iran?
11 The War Cry is the official news publication of which organisation?
12 In which Venezuelan national park – the sixth-biggest in the world – is the Angel Falls located?
13 Taking their name from the heads of state of both countries, the Torrijos-Carter Treaties were signed by the US and which other nation in 1977?
14 He has been called “the father of the Green Revolution”; which American biologist, humanitarian and Nobel laureate is credited with saving over a billion people worldwide from starvation with his food-production methods?
15 Which MP for Rochester and Strood recently defected to UKIP, triggering a by-election?
16 In ancient Greek mythology, which sea-goddess was the wife of Poseidon?
17 Born with the forenames Jesus Christ, which infamous US punk-rock singer-songwriter became notorious for his live performances, which featured coprophagia, self-mutilation, and attacks against audience members? He has been called “the most spectacular degenerate in rock and roll history”.
18 Notable for his close association with D. W. Griffith, which pioneering cinematographer created early films such as The Painted Lady, Judith of Bethulia, and Drums of Love?
19 Which eminent Swiss portrait artist (1736-1813) painted several famous subjects including Friedrich Schiller, Frederick the Great, Heinrich von Kleist, and Moses Mendelssohn?
20 Which pope declared the First Crusade in 1095?
21 A member of the genus Cuniculus, what type of animal is the paca, native to South America?
22 What was first identified in 1895 by University of California geology professor Andrew Lawson?
23 What is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan?
24 Set in a fictional northern English town, Fludd was an early novel by which Booker Prize-winning author?
25 The San Fermin festival, held for a week every July, is celebrated in which Spanish city?
26 In computing, for what do the letters FTP stand?
27 Owing to their difference in stature, which famous couple were known as “the elephant and the dove”?
28 Barry Levinson's four feature films – Diner, Tin Men, Avalon, Liberty Heights – were all set in which US city, the director's hometown?
29 What two-word name denotes Amsterdam's largest red-light district?
30 After the UK and Ireland, which country has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest the most times?
31 Telling the story of a small group of cancer patients in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the 1967 semi-autobiographical novel, Cancer Ward, was written by whom?
32 This Allan Ramsay portrait shows which king of the United Kingdom?
 
33 Who was the French signatory of the 1936 Munich Agreement, an event perhaps now famous for the "peace for our time" comment that UK PM Neville Chamberlain made on his return?
34 The house where English writer and man of letters Samuel Johnson was born is maintained to this day as a museum. In which English cathedral city can it be visited?
35 His prodigious talent for war and reputation as a stern disciplinarian earned him the title "the Iron Marshal"; which Marshal of the Empire is ranked alongside Massena and Lannes as one of Napoleon's finest commanders?
36 Which UK retailer has announced the launching of a new Match & More loyalty card in an effort to win back customers?
37 PFC Ludogorets Razgrad are only the second team from which country to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League?
38 Venezuela's Juan Vicente Gomez, Colombia's Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, and Spain's Francisco Franco are all said to have inspired the dictator in which 1975 Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, which describes the disastrous effects of concentrating power in the hands of a single man?
39 In 1985, a virtually complete skeleton was found in deposits on the western side of which major lake of Ethiopia and Kenya?
40 Which style of Belgian beer, of which "Faro" is a sweetened variety, is produced by spontaneous fermentation in open vessels in brewery attics as a result of the yeast in the air?
41 What type of bird features on the flag of Louisiana?
42 Which word of Inuit origin refers to an exposed, rocky element of a glacial ridge that is not covered with ice or snow?
43 Which famous English chemist discovered and first isolated the element potassium in 1807?
44 Which US comedian and TV personality has hosted his own late-night ABC talk show since 2003?
45 The recently published novel, Personal, is the nineteenth to feature which fictional former military policeman, portrayed in a 2012 film by Tom Cruise?
46 Who achieved commercial success in the UK in the 1980s as lead singer with the band Talk Talk?
47 Which Italian paramilitary organisation was responsible for the kidnapping in 1978 of former prime minister of the country, Aldo Moro, who was subsequently killed after 55 days of captivity?
48 A Life of Reinvention is the subtitle of a 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of which prominent twentieth-century US figure?
49 The first Irishman to do so, who captained Europe at the recent 2014 Ryder Cup?
50 This is the flag of which sovereign island country?

51 Which upmarket holiday resort and spa town - visited over the years by Edward VII and George V of the United Kingdom, and Farouk of Egypt, among others - stands in the northern part of France's Haute-Savoie department, on the shores of Lake Geneva?
52 What word, literally meaning "heap", is used to describe a Buddhist burial mound?
53 The 1969 film, Z, centres around the assassination of a politician in which country?
54 What is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea?
55 Which art museum in Florence is the home of Michelangelo's David?
56 The organisers of which tennis Grand Slam introduced an extreme heat policy in 1998, after consultation with a number of players?
57 From the Greek for "under" and "chamber", which portion of the brain - roughly the size of an almond in humans - is responsible for regulating temperature and linking the nervous system to the endocrine system?
58 According to ancient sources, who was the first queen and founder of Carthage?
59 Which term, denoting a choice with only one option, supposedly comes from a Cambridge stable-owner who offered customers the option of taking the horse in the stall nearest the door or taking none at all?
60 Animals described as having a littoral habitat live where?
61 The actress Lauren Bacall was first married to actor Humphrey Bogart. From 1961-69, she was also married to another actor. Whom?
62 Dilute acetic acid is known by what name as a cooking ingredient?
63 What was the title of the play that Abraham Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth?
64 In Indian cuisine, what is raita?
65 The first man in space not from the USA or the Soviet Union was what nationality? Both the former and modern-day country name will suffice.
66 Thought to depict the son of a wealthy merchant, The Blue Boy is perhaps the most famous work by which English portraitist and landscape painter?
67 Which Belfast shipyard was responsible for the building of the RMS Titanic?
68 Who was the most famous child of Frances Shand Kydd?
69 In 1996, Frankie Dettori rode how many winners at British Champions' Day at Ascot?
70 Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Seconds (1966), and Ronin (1998) were all among the films of which US director, who died in 2002?
71 Which three letters denote a method of quality control, a group of small islands of Antarctica, and the penultimate letter of the Greek alphabet?
72 What is the capital of Lithuania?
73 Which form of bacterial pneumonia was first identified at a 1976 convention in Philadelphia, and is said to be caused by airborne droplets from air-conditioning systems?
74 Istanbul, Varna, Sevastopol, Odessa, and Kerch are all major cities on the shoreline of which major sea of south-eastern Europe?
75 Stravinsky's Concerto in E-flat is often known by which name, the name of the estate of the couple who commissioned it?
76 Which major US city's annual marathon takes runners from the Dodger Stadium to a scenic finish close to the Santa Monica Pier?
77 "al-Magrib" is the Arabic name for which country?
78 Where have people gathered this week to protest about upcoming electoral changes announced by the ruling government?
79 Which Kenyan long-distance runner this week set a new world record of 2:02:57 at the Berlin Marathon?
80 Found in the grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa, what type of creature is the oribi?
81 Who wrote the 1880 short novel, Washington Square?
82 All three English kings with this name died violently. The first was struck fatally by an arrow; the second was deposed and possibly murdered at Pontefract Castle; the third was the last English king to die in battle. What forename is shared by all three?
83 Which Dutch physicist gives his name to the splitting effect of a spectral line into several components in the presence of a static magnetic field?
84 Located in the Macgillycuddy's Reeks range, what is the highest mountain in Ireland?
85 Who was prime minister of the United Kingdom during the War of 1812?
86 What three-word name was given to this photo, showing earth from a distance of 3.7 billion miles?
87 Tarkus (1971), Trilogy (1972), and Brain Salad Surgery (1973) were all albums by which rock supergroup?
88 The Ealing comedy, A Run for Your Money, the 2009 film, Invictus, and James Joyce's work, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, all feature to varying degrees which popular sport?
89 Now the largest single-issue consumer group in the UK, CAMRA is an organisation campaigning for what?
90 What is the name of Banquo's son in the Shakespeare play, Macbeth?
91 With seven titles, which country's football team has been the most successful in the African Cup of Nations?
92 Name the year. The Finnish Civil War begins; a flu pandemic kills around 500 million people worldwide; Austrian painter Gustav Klimt dies.
93 Which eccentric US comedian portrayed Latka Gravas in the sitcom, Taxi?
94 Opened in 2011, the EdgeWalk is a feature of which skyscraper?
95 Stadion Miejski is the home of which Polish top-league football club?
96 Having the highest median household income, what is the wealthiest state in the USA?
97 Which country traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang?
98 Only one cell thick, what term denotes the smallest of the body's blood vessels?
99 Which MP for Leigh since 2001 is the Shadow Secretary of State for Health?
100 Ahimsa - non-violence - is a fundamental principle of which religion?

QM Quiz #17

1 In which national capital was athlete Mo Farah born?
2 Japan's second-highest volcano erupted this week, causing the deaths of at least thirty people. What is its name?
3 Described as the largest electronic monitoring station in the world, in which English county is RAF Menwith Hill?
4 1979's Life in a Day was the debut album of which band?
5 Ghent, Antwerp, and Valenciennes are all among the towns that stand on which major river of northern France, western Belgium, and the south-west of the Netherlands?
6 In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, whose shrine are the story-telling pilgrims visiting?
7 During the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire, fifty new churches were paid for by a tax levied on what item entering the capital?
8 The title of a 2008 thriller starring Tom Cruise and Kenneth Branagh, what was the codeword for the 1944 operation that was an attempt to kill Adolf Hitler?
9 The Victoria Cross was initially introduced to reward acts of courage during which war?
10 What ironic trait was shared by the composers Beethoven, Smetana, and Faure?
11 In mythology, what was the name of the Roman slave who aided and befriended a lion that subsequently saved his life after he was thrown to the aforementioned animals for attempting to escape?
12 Breeding in the south-western US and Mexico, what is the smallest species of owl?
13 The ongoing political comic strip, If..., has appeared in which daily newspaper since 1981?
14 Who remains to date the longest-serving leader of the Labour Party?
15 According to Jewish folklore, who was the first wife of Adam?
16 What is the densest naturally occurring chemical element?
17 What forename and surname links the wife of Shakespeare and a modern-day Hollywood actress?
18 Which monarch instigated the Christmas Day broadcast to the nation in 1932?
19 Aside from becoming a major early figure in the sport of golf, and lending his name to the sport's most prestigious trophy, what was Samuel Ryder's profession?
20 Which traditional sport of Central Asia consists of horse-mounted players dragging a goat carcass towards a goal?




Answers:
1 Mogadishu
2 Mount Ontake
3 North Yorkshire
4 Simple Minds
5 Scheldt
6 Thomas Becket
7 Coal
8 Valkyrie
9 Crimean War
10 Deafness
11 Androcles
12 Elf owl
13 The Guardian
14 Clement Attlee
15 Lilith
16 Osmium
17 Anne Hathaway
18 George V
19 Seed merchant
20 Buzkashi

First update from a far-flung land...

Not really, I'm only in Liverpool. But it seems far-flung when it's your first time of living away from home properly. I'll settle in.

Anyway, today's questions:

1 Derived from an Arabic word meaning "horseman", what name in medieval Iberia was given to a high-ranking official in the household of a king?
2 Which country occupies the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola?
3 Supposedly invented by Hero of Alexandria, the aeolipile was the first known device of what type?
4 Used in the selection process for the UK's special forces personnel, what is the highest peak in South Wales?
5 Located on the route of the Pan-American Highway, what is El Salvador's second-largest city?
6 The Scot Lonnie Donegan was the best-known exponent of which type of popular music, originating in 1950s USA?
7 What is the name of Sydney's natural harbour, considered to be one of the world's finest?
8 The infamous nineteenth-century murderers Burke and Hare both had which forename?
9 Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners, and Detroit Tigers are all professional teams in which sport?
10 Best-known for her 1812 affair with Lord Byron, Lady Caroline Lamb was the wife of which British prime minister?
11 Crna Gora is the local name for which small European country?
12 From Greek words for "virgin" and "birth", which biological term refers to the development of an individual from an egg without fertilisation by a male gamete?
13 Now beneath Mexico City, what was the island capital of Lake Texcoco?
14 The Mentha pulegium species of flowering plant is known by which numismatic-sounding name?
15 Alessandro Filipepi was the original name of which Italian painter (1445-1510)?
16 In 1913, who became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature?
17 In 1987, Teddy Seymour became the first black man in history to do what?
18 The Gulf of Venezuela separates its namesake country from which other South American nation, home to the Guajira Peninsula?
19 Frequently listed on unusual place name lists, the town of Snowflake lies in which US state, ironic in that the state itself is one of the warmest?
20 NASA's MAVEN probe is intended to study which planet's atmosphere?
21 Tux, the mascot for the operating system Linux, is what kind of animal?
22 American attorney Bruce Buck is the current chairman of which London football club?
23 Ranked by historians as one of the worst to have ever occupied the role, who was the only US president to have originated from Pennsylvania?
24 Washington Crossing the Delaware was an 1851 oil-on-canvas painting by whom?
25 Although French-born, Jessica Fox competed for Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in which sport?




Answers:
1 Alferez
2 Haiti
3 Steam turbine
4 Pen y Fan
5 Santa Ana
6 Skiffle
7 Port Jackson
8 William
9 Baseball
10 William Lamb / Lord Melbourne
11 Montenegro
12 Parthenogenesis
13 Tenochtitlan
14 Pennyroyal
15 Sandro Botticelli
16 Rabindranath Tagore
17 Sail around the world
18 Colombia
19 Arizona
20 Mars
21 Penguin
22 Chelsea
23 James Buchanan
24 Emanuel Leutze
25 Canoeing

QM Quiz #16

This may be my last post for a few days as I'm off to university on Saturday. Will carry on posting while there - hopefully.

1 From the Latin for "white", what name is given to the reflecting power of a planet or other non-luminous body?
2 Which city, home to the Maria Luisa Park and the birthplace of Diego Velazquez, is said to be the hottest in Europe, with average summer temperatures of 35°C?
3 The Tan Hill Inn is the highest pub in the British Isles. In which English county can it be visited?
4 Who starred as Henry II in the 1968 film, The Lion in Winter?
5 What nationality is Tawakkol Karman, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and senior member of the Al-Islah political party?
6 Robert Thomas Velline was the birth name of which American pop singer?
7 Culp's Hill played a prominent role in which 1863 battle?
8 Leonard Cheshire and Charles Upham are arguably the two most notable Victoria Cross recipients of which war?
9 Which English Poet Laureate is credited with devising the words for the Christmas carol, "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks"?
10 Which Massachusetts boy band had the first number-one UK single of the 1990s, with the song "Hangin' Tough"?
11 How are animals of the family Cervidae more commonly known?
12 Name either of the two automobile companies that businessman Carlos Ghosn is currently CEO of.
13 Which US photographer (1886-1958) produced notable landscapes of the Mojave Desert, and became in 1937 the first photographer to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship?
14 Now represented by Jonathan Djanogly, what was John Major's constituency from 1979 to 2001?
15 Who is the patron saint of Spain?
16 Which chemical element, named after the German city in which it was discovered, has the atomic number 110?
17 Who were the last English team to win football's UEFA Super Cup, beating CSKA Moscow in 2005?
18 What was the name of the holiday camp in the 1980s TV sitcom, Hi-de-Hi!?
19 Which Greek-American was the Democratic Party's candidate for the 1988 US presidential election?
20 Which European country recently held a general election, in which Stefan Lofven led the winning party?




Answers:
1 Albedo
2 Seville
3 North Yorkshire
4 Peter O'Toole
5 Yemeni
6 Bobby Vee
7 Battle of Gettysburg
8 World War II
9 Nahum Tate
10 New Kids on the Block
11 Deer
12 Renault / Nissan
13 Edward Weston
14 Huntingdon
15 James
16 Darmstadtium
17 Liverpool
18 Maplins
19 Michael Dukakis
20 Sweden

QM Quiz #15

The Lancaster City Quiz League season began last night. The Pub got a 66-48 victory over Slyne Lodge. Decent enough set written by the Gregson A team. Managed to get a score of 15 which I'm pleased about after thinking about it more thoroughly - only got three of my eight questions right but managed to get six passes. Mistaking Cadiz for Calvi on a question about Nelson's loss of one eye was an absolute shitter, though. Still, not too bad for our first league match. That'll be my last game for a month or so at least - though I'd like to be back temporarily for a couple of matches. Depends on if I'm picked for a start.

Anyway, questions...

QM Quiz #15
1 What is the largest city to stand on Lake Champlain, which is divided between the US states of New York and Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec?
2 Which Colombian cyclist won the 2014 Giro d'Italia?
3 What was actress Diane Keaton's birth surname?
4 Close to the border crossing with Croatia, what is the only coastal town in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
5 The film Schindler's List was based on a 1982 novel by which Australian writer?
6 The 2013 and 2014 winners of the Pritzker Prize for Architecture have both been from which country?
7 Willy Lott's Cottage can be seen in which famous painting of 1821?
8 What name, meaning unauthorised, was given to the castles built in 12th-century England without royal approval, particularly during the Anarchy war of 1135 to 1154?
9 2014 is the Chinese year of which creature?
10 Which 2004 Martin Scorsese film tells the story of a twenty-year period in the life of Howard Hughes?
11 Which short-lived US comedy series, first seen in 1982 and starring Leslie Nielsen, was a spoof of police procedurals and a precursor to the successful Naked Gun film series?
12 "I met a traveller from an antique land..." is the first line of which 1818 poem?
13 What was the official name of the "Dam Busters" raids of 1943 that saw the bombing of the Moehne and Edersee Dams?
14 Which stock character of Russian folk puppetry is also the title of an Igor Stravinsky ballet?
15 The largest city of its namesake governorate, what is the capital of Oman?
16 What newspaper format has pages that are slightly wider and taller than the tabloid format, but narrower and shorter than that of the broadsheet?
17 Which Brazilian city, the country's fifth-largest, is the state capital of Ceara?
18 Possibly his best-known work is the brutalist Royal National Theatre on the South Bank of the Thames; which English architect was also responsible for designing the European Investment Bank building in Luxembourg?
19 Caused by the inhalation of coal dust, which disease affecting the lungs is known as "miner's disease"?
20 Name the year. Da Vinci's Mona Lisa is displayed in the US for the first time; Harold Wilson becomes leader of the UK Labour Party; Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closes.




Answers:
1 Burlington
2 Nairo Quintana
3 Hall
4 Neum
5 Thomas Keneally
6 Japan
7 The Hay Wain
8 Adulterine
9 Horse
10 The Aviator
11 Police Squad!
12 "Ozymandias"
13 Operation Chastise
14 Petrushka
15 Muscat
16 Berliner
17 Fortaleza
18 Denys Lasdun
19 Pneumoconiosis
20 1963

Questions on Syria, serial killers and sitcoms

Seems my last post was over a week ago. Sorry for that. Not sure why I've not updated the blog with anything - indolence and being sidetracked with other things, probably.

Unfortunately I didn't attend this year's BQC. Kettering would have no doubt cost an arm and a leg, and Edinburgh was low on places. There's always next year to make my BQC debut... I'll probably be at the Birmingham GP - always more opportunities for hope and subsequent despair at missed answers and lack of knowledge.

Seeing as I've not updated it for a week, here is a set of fifty questions:

1 Which 1942 film was adapted from the play, Everybody Comes to Rick's?
2 Its population is cited as being among the longest-lived in the world; what is the largest of Japan's Ryukyu Islands?
3 French chemist Anselme Payen discovered the first one, diastase, in 1883; what name is given to a biological catalyst?
4 What is the name of a badger's habitat?
5 Which town played host to a meeting between Chamberlain and Hitler in 1938 over the Sudetenland crisis?
6 Who served for around three years as the first president of Israel?
7 Despite their name, which country is actually the largest exporter of Brazil nuts?
8 The Czech Jan Zelezny holds the world record for which athletics event?
9 "Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)", "Winter", and "Star Star" are tracks off which 1973 Rolling Stones album?
10 The Carnation Revolution, which overthrew the Estado Novo regime, occurred in which European country in 1974?
11 It's mentioned in the Bible as a place where fallen angels descend to earth; what is the highest mountain in Syria?
12 Which architecture firm, one of the largest in the world, was responsible for designs for buildings such as Chicago's Willis Tower, the Burj Khalifa, and the new World Trade Center?
13 The Great Wave off Kanagawa and Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji were prints by which Japanese artist (1760-1849), generally known by just his surname?
14 A statue of which Roman emperor stands outside York Minster?
15 Which item of clothing was supposedly invented by Andre Courreges and popularised by Mary Quant?
16 Which English playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter wrote the play, A Man For All Seasons, and wrote the screenplay for the film, Doctor Zhivago?
17 The Armenian-British philanthropist Calouste Gulbenkian amassed a large art collection with his wealth, much of which can now be seen in a museum in which European city?
18 Which cocktail, of which the Donald Sutherland is a variation, consists of nine parts Scotch whisky and five parts Drambuie?
19 Riga and which northern Swedish city are 2014's European Capitals of Culture?
20 Who was the first Plantagenet king of England?
21 A verdict was delivered in the high-profile trial of Oscar Pistorius this week. What two-word term denotes the offence Pistorius was found guilty of by judge Thokozile Masipa?
22 Set in February 2014, which Frenchman is the current world-record holder for the pole vault athletics event?
23 In 1985, a fire broke out during a match at Bradford City's Valley Parade stadium, resulting in the tragic deaths of 56 supporters. Who were Bradford City's opponents that day?
24 What subject matter links the 1979 film, The China Syndrome, and the 1983 film, Silkwood?
25 Which of tennis's famous "Four Musketeers" was nicknamed the "bounding Basque"?
26 Born Romana Barrack, which TV writer created sitcoms including The Liver Birds and Butterflies?
27 In which year did Leslie Mitchell become the first voice heard on BBC TV?
28 The M1 motorway connects London to which major city of England's north?
29 What is the only US state to share a border with only one other state?
30 An image of him appears on the front of the country's $10 bill; who was the first US Secretary of the Treasury?
31 Its native name is Rakiura; what is New Zealand's largest island after the North and South islands?
32 Which traditional Middle Eastern form of headgear consists of a patterned design on a square scarf? It was perhaps made famous by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
33 Taking its title from the name of a popular electronic toy, what was the title of Depeche Mode's debut album, with tracks such as "New Life" and "Just Can't Get Enough"?
34 Mohamed Boudiaf was assassinated in 1992 while giving a televised speech. He was a political figure of which African country?
35 Ustinov, Trevelyan, and Grey are colleges of which British university?
36 In computing, a nibble consists of how many bits?
37 Which Japanese actor was best known for his 16-film collaboration with director Akira Kurosawa, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo?
38 Running from 21st March to 20th April each year, what is the first astrological sign of the zodiac?
39 Cleopatra's Needle stands closest to which London Underground station?
40 Who was the only crew member aboard Mercury-Redstone 3 in 1961?
41 From the Latin for "shallow dish", what name is given to the greenish discolouration on a statue caused by age and weathering? The Statue of Liberty is a prominent example.
42 The Novotel hotel brand is headquartered in which country?
43 With which Italian city would you associate Francesco Guardi?
44 Due to the location of the majority of his murders, serial killer Andrei Chikatilo was known as the "Butcher of ..." where?
45 Who was runner-up in the recent US Open women's singles tournament, losing 6-3 6-3 to Serena Williams in the final?
46 How does Anna Karenina die in Tolstoy's novel of the same name?
47 Preceded by the Prussian Secret Police, in what year was the Gestapo formed?
48 Dacia - also the name of Europe's fifth-biggest car manufacturer - was the Roman name for which modern-day country?
49 From the Latin for "to chew over again", what word refers to an animal able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in the stomach prior to digestion?
50 On which island of the Bahamas is the capital - Nassau - located?




Answers:
1 Casablanca
2 Okinawa
3 Enzyme
4 Sett
5 Bad Godesberg
6 Chaim Weizmann
7 Bolivia
8 Javelin
9 Goats Head Soup
10 Portugal
11 Mount Hermon
12 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
13 Hokusai
14 Constantine the Great
15 Miniskirt
16 Robert Bolt
17 Lisbon
18 Rusty Nail
19 Umea
20 Henry II
21 Culpable homicide
22 Renaud Lavillenie
23 Lincoln City
24 Nuclear power
25 Jean Borotra
26 Carla Lane
27 1936
28 Leeds
29 Maine
30 Alexander Hamilton
31 Stewart Island
32 Keffiyeh
33 Speak & Spell
34 Algeria
35 University of Durham
36 Four
37 Toshiro Mifune
38 Aries
39 Embankment
40 Alan Shepard
41 Patina
42 France
43 Venice
44 Rostov
45 Caroline Wozniacki
46 She throws herself under a train
47 1933
48 Romania
49 Ruminant
50 New Providence 

100Quiz #1 - results

Just seen that the blog has reached 5,000 page views since it was started in mid-May. Really pleased with that. Hopefully people are enjoying reading it and will continue to do so.

100Quiz #1 results
OK, so didn't get many entries for this - at least, not as many as I was wanting - maybe my questions were shite! I'll run them in the future but will perhaps look at ways to entice people to do them. The six entries were as follows - thanks and well done to all who entered, with a particular well done to David Hesp, who achieved an incredible score:

1 David Hesp 89
2 Clive Dunning 55
3 Hugh Bennett 52
4 Alan Gibbs 46
5 Ian Chilman 37
6 Ray Hamel 33

If anyone would like a copy of the answers, please let me know.


QM Quiz #14

1 The hopak is a dance from which country?
2 Which Yugoslav movement of World War II, led by Draza Mihailovic, was dissolved in 1946 as Tito proclaimed an amnesty to all defecting forces?
3 The Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing, is set on which island?
4 Giles Clarke is the current chairman of which sport governing body?
5 Which English theatre critic and writer was supposedly the first person to say the word "fuck" on British television?
6 What is the name of the sea cave, so-called after a British captain, that lies on the south-east face of the Rock of Gibraltar?
7 What was the first James Bond film to star Roger Moore?
8 Automobile engineer Louis Chevrolet, pharmacologist Daniel Bovet, and revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat were all born in which present-day country?
9 What is the main colour of the flag of Macau?
10 Stephen Crane's book, The Red Badge of Courage, is set during which war?
11 Who is the most recent British prime minister to have served non-consecutive terms?
12 The last time a team outside the top flight won the competition, which team won the 1980 FA Cup?
13 The Wasatch Front is home to roughly 80% of the population of which US state?
14 Usain Bolt set both the 100m and 200m world records in which city in 2009?
15 Poly Styrene, Lora Logic, and Jak Airport were members of which English punk band?
16 What do the Libyans call the sirocco wind, the same name as that of a Japanese film studio?
17 Numismatics is the scientific study of what?
18 Which composer created the Symphonie fantastique and the Grande messe des morts requiem? 
19 What is the longest river in the European Union?
20 The highest point of the Dinaric Alps is in which country?




Answers:
1 Ukraine
2 Chetniks
3 Sicily
4 ECB
5 Kenneth Tynan
6 Gorham's Cave
7 Live and Let Die
8 Switzerland
9 Green
10 American Civil War
11 Harold Wilson
12 West Ham
13 Utah
14 Berlin
15 X-Ray Spex
16 Ghibli
17 Currency
18 Hector Berlioz
19 Danube
20 Albania

Questions and stuff

100 #1 update
Received some entries for the first 100 quiz - not as many as I was expecting, though. I'll extend the deadline for a few days to allow anyone who hasn't had a chance to enter yet to do so. Some very good scores so far. 

Click here if you're interested.

Reading
Been reading Simon Jenkins's excellent A Short History of England, which is a book I bought in an even more obsessive quiz phase (yes, I've become rather lax and lazy recently, not bothering to work as hard as I should). Suffice to say, I've learnt a fair few things so far - never knew that the family name Plantagenet comes from the broom plant (planta genista) which was supposedly a symbol of the House of Anjou. And there's a load of other stuff I'd not known or forgotten.

I'd recommend the book highly as an introduction to English history for anyone who's fairly poor on that sort of stuff (like me).

Lancaster City Quiz League
The new season starts in two weeks! Not sure where that time's gone; procrastinating has a lot to answer for. Not that I'll be a regular feature, what with starting university, but I'll be playing the first game for definite for The Pub - if they want me after some of my mediocre performances last season (!). Getting four (4) in the last game of last season was a particular low point. We're away at Slyne Lodge anyway, who I remember playing last year. It's perhaps my least favourite venue of all those used in the quiz league, a Deliverance-style trip into a remote Lancastrian backwater. OK, it's not that bad. Just not a fan of the venue compared to some of the others. No offence to anyone who lives there or plays there who may be reading this!

Questions
Here are some questions. All collected from browsing various websites. Mixture of topics.

1 Replacing Lord Patten in the role, which former head of the Financial Times Group is to become the first woman to chair the BBC Trust?
2 What was the name of the Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by the country's dictator Francois Duvalier?
3 The 1886 eruption of Mount Tarawera occurred in which country?
4 Dressed to Kill (1980), Blow Out (1981), and Body Double (1984) were all 1980s thriller films directed by whom?
5 The Battle of Tinchebray resulted in a victory for which English monarch?
6 Tennyson's 1849 poem, In Memoriam A.H.H., is a requiem for which friend and fellow poet, who died suddenly in Vienna sixteen years earlier?
7 Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum, author Ernest Hemingway, and Lewis and Clark's native guide Sacagawea were all born in which US state (or territories that now lie within its borders)?
8 A station on which city's metro system has the longest escalator in Europe?
9 Which five words feature prominently (and are occasionally used as part of the title) in the 1954 doo-wop song, "Sh-Boom"?
10 Accounting for only 0.2% of the country's territory, what is the smallest state in Mexico?

QM Quiz #13

1 Pictured on the cover of The Verve's debut album, in which English county is the tourist spot known as Thor's Cave?
2 The tennis player Milos Raonic represents which country?
3 Who was the first husband of actress Lauren Bacall?
4 William Tuthill is best-remembered as the architect of which New York City landmark?
5 Canada's highest mountain, Mount Logan, is located within which of the country's territories?
6 Which horse did Red Rum beat to win his first Grand National - in 1973 - despite being thirty lengths behind with just a few fences to go?
7 What name, in honour of the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, was originally used by Europeans to describe what we now call Tasmania?
8 Which company manufactured the Vulcan bomber, operated by the RAF from 1956 to 1984?
9 What is, at 343m, the tallest bridge in the world?
10 Which constituency did James Callaghan occupy during his time as British prime minister, as well as for thirty years outside of that position?
11 Capital of its namesake canton, what is the largest city in Switzerland?
12 Who directed the 2010 film, The Social Network?
13 What name was given to the rural guerrilla fighters during the French Resistance of World War Two? They took their name from a type of shrubbery.
14 Which German philosopher - the founding father of the Vienna Circle - was assassinated on the steps of the University of Vienna by a former student in 1936?
15 Saladin, Nizami, Mohamed Pasha Jaff, and Ahmet Kaya were all people of which ethnic group?
16 Which British monarch awarded Malta the George Cross?
17 Which convicted US murderer dubbed himself "Son of Sam" in a note to the New York Police Department, a nickname with which he has been associated since?
18 Who was the only Chancellor of the Exchequer not to deliver a Budget?
19 What was the fourth of Buddha's Four Noble Truths, prescribing the way to enlightenment?
20 Give a year in the life of Nicolaus Copernicus.




Answers:
1 Staffordshire
2 Canada
3 Humphrey Bogart
4 Carnegie Hall
5 Yukon
6 Crisp
7 Van Diemen's Land
8 Avro
9 Millau Viaduct
10 Cardiff South East
11 Zurich
12 David Fincher
13 Maquis
14 Moritz Schlick
15 Kurds
16 George VI
17 David Berkowitz
18 Iain MacLeod
19 Eightfold Path
20 1473-1543

100Quiz #1

OK, so here's the first 100-question quiz I mentioned earlier. You don't have to submit your answers, but it's free (!) and makes it a bit more interesting to see where you are in relation to others (I hope). There'll be a mix of difficulties, varied questions, etc. I hope they're decent, interesting questions - let me know if they're not.

How to enter
Simply answer the 100 questions below - without outside help - and send your answers by email to quizmusings@gmx.com - please also clearly give your full name (if you don't mind) so I can add you to the standings. I'll reply letting you know I've got your email.

Deadline: Saturday, 30th August (a week from now, basically).

I'll let everyone know their score when I put everyone's up for the week.

Good luck!

The questions:
1 St. Thomas Church in Leipzig is best-known as the final resting place of which famous composer?
2 Andre Agassi's first Grand Slam victory came at Wimbledon in which year?
3 Which wading bird of the genus Numenius is recognisable due to its long, down-curving bill, and can frequently be seen probing for food in sediments?
4 Coming Up for Air is a lesser-known 1939 novel by which writer, born in 1903?
5

The photo to the left shows the Bahla Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in which country?










6 The supercontinent Pangaea eventually rifted to form two separate landmasses. One was Laurasia; what was the other?
7 Which US drama of the 1990s, starring Kyle MacLachlan and Sheryl Lee, took its title from the fictional Washington town in which it was set?
8 Which Argentine urban guerrilla group of the 1970s claimed allegiance to Peronism, and staged terrorist actions against the military regime then in power, before being utterly defeated in 1979 by the same military dictatorship?
9 What was the capital of Kazakhstan prior to Astana replacing it in 1997?
10 Known as El Viejo (The Elder), which Spanish conquistador and rival of Pizarro is credited as the first European discoverer of Chile?
11 Which town in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area has seen civil unrest as a result of the shooting of Michael Brown two weeks ago?
12 Searching for Sugar Man is a 2012 Swedish-British documentary detailing the efforts of two South African music fans to find which American folk musician, said to have been as popular as Elvis Presley in South Africa but with very little acclaim in his native US?
13 The Louvre was built in 1546 - as its current purpose - for which French king?
14 Which term was supposedly invented by Ivan Turgenev to describe the character Bazarov in his novel Fathers and Sons?
15 The 1945 film Brief Encounter substantially features the Piano Concerto No. 2 by which composer?
16 In which English county is the so-called English Riviera, given this name due to its mild climate, sandy beaches, and many tourist attractions?
17 Originally published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly, who wrote the 1875 bildungsroman Roderick Hudson?
18 Located on the east coast of Streymoy, what is the capital and largest town of the Faroe Islands?
19 Considered one of the four great haiku masters, which Japanese author and poet wrote works including Meiji Nijūkunen no Haikukai and Utayomi ni Atauru Sho?
20 The first king of Persia's Achaemenid Empire, who supposedly met his death in a fierce battle with the Massagetaens, a tribe from the southern deserts of the Khwarezm and Kyzyl Kum?
21 Born in April 1947, which American singer-songwriter released the albums Blue Kentucky Girl (1979), Thirteen (1986), and Hard Bargain (2011)?
22 Heracles' sixth labour involved defeating the birds of which lake in Arcadia?
23 Which tree of the genus Salix is known for its strong and resistant roots that often cause problems when planted in residential areas?
24 The UK's oldest extant daily newspaper, in which city has The News Letter been published since 1737?
25 Early in Bobby Vee's career, a musician named Elston Gunnn toured with his band. How do we now know Elston Gunnn?
26 “The father of us all” was how Matisse and Picasso described which French Post-Impressionist painter, notable for works such as L'Estaque and Château Noir?
27 Literally meaning “spelled-out sounds”, what is the official system for transcribing the Mandarin letters into the Latin alphabet?
28 Who was the father of Cnut the Great?
29 ETA is a group campaigning for independence of which region?
30 Which Finnish architect and designer (1898-1976) was responsible for inventing bent plywood furniture, designed Finlandia Hall, the Essen opera house, and co-designed the KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg?
31 Atomic number 4, which element was discovered by Louis Nicolas Vauquelin in 1797?
32 Mademoiselle Rose, The Barque of Dante, and The Death of Desdemona are among the works of which French painter (1798-1863)?
33 With seven titles, which club is the most successful in the history of the Copa Libertadores?
34 The band Radiohead took their name from a song by which other band, formed in New York in 1975?
35 The name of which constellation comes from the Latin for 'air pump'?
36 Which British pub name comes from Edward IV's heraldic symbol?
37 Organised by UNESCO to celebrate “the virtues of jazz”, on which date does International Jazz Day fall?
38 Ramón Mercader became known in 1940 for assassinating whom?
39 Which revolutionary's dying words were supposedly 'take my baggage on board the frigate'?
40 Which long, hooded coat – often worn by voyageurs of New France - shares its name with a prominent American author of the twentieth century?
41 William Le Baron Jenney was behind the building of the world's first what in 1884?
42 Becoming golf's first number-one player in 1986, which German was one of the world's leading golfers during the 1980s and 1990s and won the Masters Tournament twice?
43 Which soft drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton?
44 Which Central Asian capital was known as Poltoratsk between 1919 and 1927?
45 Who wrote the Arthurian fantasy novel, The Once and Future King?
46 Portrayed by Emily Deschanel in the Fox series Bones, who created the forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan?
47 What was the original name of Operation Torch, the British-American invasion of French North Africa in 1942?
48 Widely credited with rebuilding Beirut after the fifteen-year civil war, who was Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998? He was assassinated in 2005 as his motorcade drove through Beirut.
49 Which abnormality in the tissue of an organism comes from the Latin word for 'injury'?
50 Nicknamed “The Marble Man”, who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War?
51 In which country can you see the waterfalls below, supposedly the most powerful in Europe?

52 Luciano Michelini's Frolic is the theme tune to which US sitcom?
53 Acquired by Condé Nast, which website was founded by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in June 2005?
54 Under what name was illustrator Hablot Knight Browne better known?
55 Pemphigus is a rare autoimmune disease that affects which part of the body?
56 There are two doubly landlocked countries – one is Liechtenstein, what is the other?
57 Since 2007, rugby union's Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy is competed for annually between Italy and which other country?
58 Benjamin Braddock appears in which 1963 Charles Webb novel, and the subsequent Mike Nichols film?
59 Kalamazoo, mentioned in the title of a Glenn Miller song, is in which US state?
60 Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa is the king of which Middle Eastern country?
61 Who became the first black footballer to represent England in a full international match?
62 Michael Herr's 1977 account of the Vietnam War, Dispatches, was adapted for which 1987 film about the same conflict?
63 Released on the Polydor label, The Scream was which post-punk band's debut album?
64 Which company did Giovanni Agnelli found in 1899?
65 Fujie Eguchi, Deng Yaping, and Angelica Rozeanu are names associated with which sport?
66 Who played Mr. Roarke in the TV series Fantasy Island and Zachary Powers in The Colbys, a Dynasty spin-off? 
67 The songs “A Fine Romance”, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, and “The Way You Look Tonight” were all composed by which American writer of popular musical theatre?
68 The M69 motorway connects Leicester with which other Midlands city?
69 Winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which Anne Tyler novel follows Ira and Maggie Moran as they travel from Baltimore and back to attend a funeral?
70 What did the W stand for in the name of the poet W. H. Auden?
71 Who won the 2007 Formula One World Drivers' Championship, his only victory to date?
72 Who won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Carol Connelly in As Good as It Gets?
73 Fiordland National Park is the largest in which country?
74 The Likely Lads, Porridge, and Going Straight were all sitcoms written by which comedy-writing duo?
75 Known for his witty aphorisms, which US writer's third novel, The City and the Pillar, was slammed by critics due to being one of the first major American works to feature unambiguous homosexuality?
76 “Left a good job in the city / Working for the man every night and day” are the opening lyrics to which Creedence Clearwater Revival song?
77 What is the third-largest island in the world?
78 Which Norwegian won the 1994 Winter Olympic gold medal in the Alpine skiing combined event?
79 Who voiced many characters on The Simpsons, including Grampa Simpson, Barney Gumble, and Krusty the Clown?
80 Which fictional detective – created by author Michael Connelly - was named after an early Dutch painter?
81 Who composed the music for the film Zorba the Greek?
82 "Dinner by ... ...". Which famous chef's name fills the blanks to give the name of the London restaurant that was voted the fifth-best in the world in April 2014? Its signature dish is perhaps a chicken liver mousse created to look like a mandarin orange.
83 Best-known for her children's book, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, who was the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature?
84 In Norse mythology, which daughter of Loki was assigned by Odin to rule the underworld, with which she shares her name?
85 One of the rarest mammals on earth, to which island is the silky sifaka native?
86 Acquired by Twitter in 2012, which video-sharing app allows users to record seven-second-long video clips, which will then play in a loop?
87 On which river – the longest entirely within the state – does the Texan city of Fort Worth stand?
88 Which Austrian-born violinist and composer created the operetta Apple Blossoms, which became a Broadway success?
89 The Argentinian city of La Plata was, from 1952 to 1955, named after which major figure?
90 Currently under construction, Oyala is planned to replace Malabo as the capital of which African nation?
91 Francesco Gullino was named by The Times newspaper in June 2005 as the main suspect in which case, dating back to the 1970s?
92 With which club did Johan Cruyff begin his football career, staying there for nine years?
93 The Marrakech Agreement of 1995 founded which organisation?
94 Who starred as Ellen Brody in the 1975 film Jaws?
95 Lake Havasu City in Arizona features a replica of which British landmark?
96 The volcano Mount Karthala is the highest point of which island nation?
97 The oldest in Germany, which university's alumni includes prominent Nazi Joseph Goebbels, chemist Fritz Haber, and mathematician Otto Hesse?
98 Which French sculptor has a museum dedicated to him in his hometown Colmar, in which several of his smaller works can be found?
99 Which dishevelled detective made his first TV appearance in the 1992 episode “Care and Protection”?
100 Comprising over 27%, what is the second-most abundant element in the lithosphere?

100-question quizzes

Had an idea - not mine, but the excellent EQC revision quizzes here inspired me - to start writing some 100-question quizzes, of varying difficulty, that people can enter by email. I'll then keep a league table of everyone's scores.

There would probably be around a week to complete each one, though I'm happy to go with whatever people want.

Would anyone be interested? Please comment if so with any suggestions, and I'll add some details as to how it'd work. 

QM Quiz #12

1 Which US city is home to a basketball team known as the Nuggets and a football team known as the Broncos?
2 On which island is the Timanfaya National Park?
3 The Battle of Dettingen was the last time a British monarch personally led troops into battle. Who was the British monarch?
4 Which Carson McCullers novel was adapted into a 1968 film starring Alan Arkin and Sondra Locke, for which both earned Academy Award nominations?
5 Which leader of Uganda before and after the dictatorship of Idi Amin fled to Zambia after being deposed in 1985, before dying in South Africa twenty years later?
6 Which Italian region forms the "heel" on the "boot" of Italy?
7 What was the world's tallest building from its completion in 2004 to the opening of the Burj Khalifa in 2010?
8 Who gave the longest Academy Award acceptance speech in history when accepting a Best Actress award for Mrs. Miniver?
9 "There are known knowns" is a line from a now-infamous speech by which US political figure?
10 Which detective was mystery writer Rex Stout's most famous creation?
11 A match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships was the longest tennis match in professional history. After over eleven hours of play, the American John Isner defeated which French player?
12 Located on the state's longest river, what is the capital of Michigan?
13 Supposedly the world's oldest continuously inhabited city, the ancient trading port of Byblos is in which modern-day country?
14 Who has been the president of Germany since March 2012?
15 The US company Shure predominantly manufactures what?
16 The 1996 documentary film, Looking for Richard, was the directorial debut of which major Hollywood actor?
17 In Pakistan, 9th November is a national day dedicated to which major philosopher and poet of the country, whose efforts to establish a separate Muslim state contributed to the formation of the country?
18 On which river does Barnsley stand?
19 Weston Loomis were the middle names of which US poet, best known for The Cantos?
20 Named after a Swedish physicist, what is the SI unit of dose equivalent?




Answers:
1 Denver
2 Lanzarote
3 George II
4 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
5 Milton Obote
6 Apulia
7 Taipei 101
8 Greer Garson
9 Donald Rumsfeld
10 Nero Wolfe
11 Nicolas Mahut
12 Lansing
13 Lebanon
14 Joachim Gauck
15 Microphones
16 Al Pacino
17 Muhammad Iqbal
18 River Dearne
19 Ezra Pound
20 Sievert