I have been asked to host a Sunday night quiz at a local pub, just a bit of fun, no entry fee for now. We’re still working out the exact format, and what the prizes will be. I plan to use it to play out many of my “Quiz Greatest Hits”, subjects that I have written about here many times over the years, and to use the “Oven-ready Quiz Rounds” that I started posting back in January.

As noted before, this Blog acts as my “Exobrain”, a place to put things for my benefit even if nobody else uses them, so I’ll make a note here of exactly which questions I used, to avoid duplication in the future.

For the first quiz I had 10 rounds, 5 questions in each, including 4 sets of music questions. For these I recorded brief music clips onto Mini Disc and played them through the PA.

Here’s a record of last Sunday’s 50 questions.

Round 1: The Fab Four

1. Which Beatles release was the UK’s best-selling single of the 1960s?
2. Which Beatle was the first to become a grandfather?
3. What was the title of the Beatles song that reached #1 in the UK in November 2023?
4. On the cover of the album “Abbey Road”, which Beatle is barefoot?
5. According to the Official Chart Company, what is the most streamed Beatles song in the UK?

Round 2: Music: Each act contains a colour

You will hear part of five songs, three of which reached #1 in the UK. The names of the acts who recorded these songs all contain a colour. Name the colour in each act name.

1. “Smoke on the Water”
2. “Good Riddance (Time of your life”)
3. “Ride on Time” (1989, #1, best-selling song of that year)
4. “Your Woman” (a 1997 UK #1)
5. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (a 1996 UK #1)

Round 3: Games

1. In Scrabble, what is the only letter that is worth exactly 5 points?
2. What is the value of the brown ball in snooker?
3. On a dartboard, what number is directly opposite the 20? [If you want to compare a dartboard to a clock, the number 20 is at 12 o’clock; so, what number would be at 6 o’clock?]
4. In chess, which pieces can only move diagonally, and always remain on squares that are the same colour as the ones they start on?
5. On a Monopoly board [the usual, classic, London edition of the game], starting at Go and heading clockwise, what is the first the station that you come to?

Round 4: Music: More Than Once at 1

You will hear the intro’s to five songs that reached #1 in the UK for at least two different artists. In at least one case the version that you hear did NOT make it to #1. We want the name of any artist that reached #1 with the song. As an extra clue here are the years that the songs reached #1:

1. 1955, 1990, 1995 & 2002
2. 1968, 1988 & 2004  [The version you are hearing did not get to #1]
3. 1969 & 1991
4. 2013 & 2014
5. 1963, 1985, 1996 8 & 2020 [The version you are hearing did not get to #1]

Round 5: Have a guess

1. Which online retailer acquired MGM Studios for over 8bn dollars?
2. “If you don’t mask you don’t get” is a 2020 work by which street artist?
3. Peanut butter and cookies is a vegan flavour of ice cream made by which American company?
4. Businessman Fred Flynn made 718 flights on which supersonic jet?
5. “Chicago Freestyle” was a hit for which Canadian rapper?

End of Part One

Round 6: The NATO Phonetic Alphabet

The answers to all of these questions are words in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, which begins Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and so on. What word in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet is …

1. The name of a month?
2. Also used to describe an Academy Award?
3. The Spanish word for a mountain range?
4. The name of a Shakespearean hero and David Beckham’s second child?
5. The French word for “daddy”?

Round 7: Music: Numbers in the title

You will hear five clips from five songs, each of which contains a number in its title. Write down the number, not the title of the song.

1. Janis Ian, 1975
2. The Beatles, 1967
3. The KLF, a 1991 UK #1
4. Zager & Evens, a 1969 UK #1
5. The Clash, the title is also the year it came out

Round 8: The London Underground

1. Which tube station name was also the title of a #1 hit by Abba?
2. What is the only tube station name that contains the letter Z?
3. Mansion House is one of two stations on the Underground that contains all 5 vowels (A E I O U). Which station on the Piccadilly Line is the other one?
4. Which recently opened station (September 2021) is the only one that has the word Station in its name? [A clue, if needed: It’s at one end of the Northern Line.]
5. Which station on the District and Circle Lines is the only one that shares its name with a station on the Paris Metro?

Round 9: Music: More Than Once at 1

You will hear the intro’s to five songs that reached #1 in the UK for at least two different artists. In at least one case the version that you hear did NOT make it to #1. We want the name of any artist that reached #1 with the song. As an extra clue here are the years that the songs reached #1:

1. 1989 & 2001
2. 1957 & 1973
3. 1974 & 1987
4. 1954 & 1981
5. 1967 & 2001

Round 10: Have a guess

1. Aguas Calientes is the nearest town to which Inca city?
2. The Casket letters were said to have been written by which Scottish queen?
3. Gravity Assist is a podcast by what space agency?
4. Which naval hero was made a Viscount in 1801?
5. “Take a Bow” was a UK #1 in 2008 for which Barbados-born singer?