As explained in this piece from last week, I have been asked to host a Sunday night quiz at a local pub. Here’s a record of the 50 questions for last weekend’s quiz (Sunday 15 September 2024).

Round 1: General Knowledge

1. What is the capital city of Namibia?
2. Who is the current UK Home Secretary?
3. What is the fifth book of the New Testament?
4. In the Harry Potter series of books, what house are Harry, Ron and Hermione in?
5. What is the chemical symbol for the element Tennessine?

Round 2: Music: Animals at #1

You will hear part of five songs that reached #1 in the UK. Each one contains the name of an animal in its title. Please write the names of the five animals. Here are the years that the songs reached #1:

1. 1966
2. 1969
3. 1982
4. 1983
5. 2019

Round 3: Have a guess

1. What German sweet company makes Fizzy Farm Animals?
2. Which Danish toy company opened a theme park just outside Windsor in 1996?
3. “Merry Muses of Caledonia” was written by which Scottish poet?
4. SP4 7DE is the postcode for which ancient monument?
5. Lexi Viktorova was a Bulgarian character in which radio soap?

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. 1988 & 2012
2. 1984 & 2012
3. 1998 & 2001 [The version you are hearing did not get to #1]
4. 1974 & 1999
5. 1968 & 2007

Round 5: Geography: Capital Cities by Letter

You will hear the names of at least three countries. All of these countries have capital cities that begin with same letter. Simply write down the single LETTER that all of these capitals begin with. For example, if the countries were “UK, Portugal, Malawi”, you would write “L”.

1. Laos, Liechtenstein, Lithuania
2. Burkina Faso, Canada, Norway
3. East Timor, Bangladesh, Senegal
4. Uganda, Nepal, Jamaica
5. Madagascar, Turkey, Netherlands

End of Part One

Round 6: Town or City?

In 2022 a number of new cities were created for Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Which of the following places in the UK are now cities, and which are still towns? Answer “Town” or “City” in each case:

1. Milton Keynes
2. Brechin
3. Wrexham
4. Guildford
5. Doncaster

Round 7: Music: The title in not in the lyrics

You will hear five pieces of music, from songs that all reached #1 in the UK chart. In each case the TITLE of the song does not appear anywhere in the lyrics. Please give the title of each song (not the artist, just the title). The years that each song reached #1 are given here:

1. 1975 & 1991
2. 1974
3. 1975
4. 2008
5. 2024

Round 8: General Knowledge, Part 2

1. A new series of “Strictly Come Dancing” began last night. Who co-hosts the Saturday night show along with Tess Daly?
2. What is the state capital of South Dakota?
3. Sport: Cricket: Which team won the T20 Blast tournament for the first time last night?
4. In the Disney film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, which of the dwarfs has the shortest name?
5. During the English Civil War, there were battles fought in Brentford and Turnham Green in November of which year?

Round 9: Music: What’s Her Name?

Each of the following five songs reached #1 in the UK, and each contains a woman’s name in the title. Please write down the woman’s name, which in two cases is also the title of the song. There is one song from each decade from the 1950s through to the 1990s.

1. 1957
2. 1966
3. 1971
4. 1982
5. 1999

Round 10: 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 both a fizzy orange-flavoured drink and a dance from Argentina?
2. The first name of the character played by Richard Wilson in “One foot in the grave” and a word meaning “winner”?
3. A repeated sound, made when sound waves reflect off a surface back to the listener?
4. The name of a Shakespearean heroine and a 1964 UK #1 by the Four Pennies?
5. The capital of Peru?