The word “emirp” was featured in three bonus questions during last week’s episode of “University Challenge”, broadcast on Monday 4 February 2019 here in the UK. It’s available for another 22 days here on the BBC iPlayer. At 22:24 Jeremy Paxman introduces the bonus questions as follows: “‘prime’ spelt backwards is ‘emirp’, a term denoting… Continue reading Word of the week: emirp
This piece from last week listed all the questions and answers from Week 1 of the new series of ITV quiz show “Tenable” (Series 3, Episodes 31-35). Here are the questions and answers from Week 2, Monday 4 February to Friday 8 February 2019 (Series 3, Episodes 36-40). The format here is the same as… Continue reading “Tenable” questions, week ending 8 February 2019
Last month, for the fourth time in my life, I travelled from our corner of West London to Southampton for a family funeral. The service took place in the same cemetery chapel as each of the other three. The four departed members of that side of my family are buried close together, a husband and… Continue reading Southampton: four decades, four funerals, no weddings
There was a brief news story on the radio last week about the sitcom “Friends”. It reported that the show has now become very popular with teenagers, many of whom weren’t even born when the final episode was originally broadcast in May 2004. That was nearly 15 years ago, but “Friends” has never really gone… Continue reading “Friends” and a catchphrase about a sandwich
A new series of the daytime quiz show “Tenable” began on ITV at the start of this week, on Monday 28 January. Last autumn, starting with this piece and ending with this piece, I kept a record of every show broadcast between 3 September and 12 October 2018 (Series 3, Episodes 1-30). Here are the… Continue reading “Tenable” questions, week ending 1 February 2019
Pop Master, the mid-morning quiz that forms part of Ken Bruce’s BBC Radio 2 show, has been mentioned many times on this Blog, including this lengthy piece from last summer (“600 Round of Pop Master”). As you will know if you are one of the 7.5 million people who tune in to that part of… Continue reading More Pop Trivia: 15 acts who had one big hit and at least one less well-known hit
Last summer, during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships here in London, I wrote this piece about the sport, focussing on the Grand Slams, the four major events in the tennis calendar: the Australian Open (January, in Melbourne), French Open (May/June in Paris), Wimbledon (usually June/July) and US Open (September in New York). It included Trivia Challenges,… Continue reading Tennis Grand Slams, an update
Here in the UK there have been five complete decades of chart history, from the 1960s through to the 2000s. The first official singles chart was in 1952, so the 1950s are incomplete. So is the current decade, the 2010s, at least until December. A few months ago I was preoccupied with the concept of… Continue reading Stuck at 2: every complete decade of the UK singles chart (1960-2010)
Like most people who first watched Test Match Cricket in the 1970s I have strong memories of the all-conquering West Indies teams that toured England in 1976, 1980 and 1984. My knowledge of Caribbean islands has its origins in the players who beat England so comprehensively on those tours. The 1980 series was more closely… Continue reading Word of the week: Barbados
As noted in this piece on 1 January I planned to create daily lists of trivia for the first few weeks of 2019, appropriate for each day of the New Year. I have done so for the first 26 days of this month. On 1 January there were lists of things beginning with A or… Continue reading 2019 Trivia Lists Day 27: that’ll do for now
The Compartments 