20190210M

Question 1

Which 1844 opera by Verdi is based on a play by Lord Byron?

Answer 1

I Due Foscari (accept The Two Foscaris)

Question 2

Financed by Roald Amundsen what was the name of the airship which became the first to overfly the North Pole in 1926? Its designer and pilot was Umberto Nobile.

Answer 2

Norge

Question 3

A five letter word beginning with V which is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system in the human body?

Answer 3

Vagus

Question 4

Which US golfer became in 2018 the first golfer to retain one of the Majors for ten years when he retained the US Open? He also won the 2018 US PGA.

Answer 4

Brooks Koepka

Question 5

Which sculptor whose works include House became the first female winner of the Turner Prize in 1993?

Answer 5

Rachel Whiteread

Question 6

Which bakery chain the largest in the UK attracted much comment in January 2019 after their introduction of a vegan sausage roll?

Answer 6

Gregg’s

Question 7

Which British cartoonist (1918-1985) is best remembered for being the creator and artist of the classic Eagle cartoon strip Dan Dare?

Answer 7

Frank Hampson

Question 8

Which landlocked African country shares boundaries with Togo Mali Niger Cote d’Ivoire Benin and Ghana?

Answer 8

Burkina Faso

Question 9

Sharing its name with a highly populated island which general-purpose computer-programming language was designed by James Gosling?

Answer 9

Java

Question 10

Which future world heavyweight champion won the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in the Super Heavyweight division then representing Canada?

Answer 10

Lennox Lewis

Question 11

Which American singer enjoyed his biggest UK hit in 1975 with The Hustle but tragically died of a heart attack in 1979 aged just 39?

Answer 11

Van McCoy

Question 12

Rufus Isaacs later Foreign Secretary served as Viceroy of India from 1921 to 1926. He was succeeded as Viceroy by which man who also served as Foreign Secretary in his case from 1938 to 1940?

Answer 12

Edward Wood (accept Earl of Halifax or Lord Irwin)

Question 13

Which Italian film director was the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for Seven Beauties in 1977?

Answer 13

Lina Wertmuller

Question 14

Peat deposits in which area of moorland in the Scottish islands which shares its name with a nearby loch caused great difficulties for the constructors of the West Highland Line and the A82 road both of which cross that moor?

Answer 14

Rannoch Moor

Question 15

Who wrote the celebrated biographical work of 1568 which begins with a profile of Cimabue [CHIMMER-boo-AY] and ends with a profile of Titian?

Answer 15

Giorgio Vasari

Question 16

The daughter of which actor who stars in EastEnders appeared in the 2018 series of Love Island? Her name sounds exactly like his but is spelt differently.

Answer 16

Danny Dyer

Question 17

What ‘O’ completes the title of this 1586 painting by El Greco: The Burial of the Count of …?

Answer 17

Orgaz

Question 18

Used to add enthusiastic emphasis to the end of a comment what does the internet abbreviation FTW stand for?

Answer 18

For the win

Question 19

Tearaway teenager Vicky Pollard and a fictionalised version of Denis Waterman who is portrayed as being very short appeared in which sketch show created by Matt Lucas and David Walliams?

Answer 19

Little Britain

Question 20

Once one of the big four clearing banks in its own right the Midland Bank was acquired in 1992 by which bank which as the first initial in its name suggests has its origins in Hong Kong?

Answer 20

HSBC Holdings plc

Question 21

Haydn’s symphonies numbers 93 to 104 which include those nicknamed The Surprise and The Clock are collectively commonly given the name of which European capital city?

Answer 21

London

Question 22

The Battle of Neville’s Cross took place in England and the Battle of Crécy occurred in France during which year of the 14th century?

Answer 22

1346

Question 23

Which Austrian-born British scientist shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with John Kendrew for their studies of the structures of haemoglobin and myoglobin?

Answer 23

Max Perutz

Question 24

In curling what verb describes the act of a player accidentally touching a stone with their broom or a body part?

Answer 24

Burning

Question 25

Which 1938 Howard Hawks screwball comedy starring Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant tells the story of a palaeontologist; a scatter-brained heiress; and the titular leopard?

Answer 25

Bringing Up Baby

Question 26

What name is shared by the city with the third highest population in England and the city with the highest population in the US state of New Hampshire?

Answer 26

Manchester

Question 27

Known for non-fiction works such as Real England and Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist which English writer has also written the novels The Wake which was Booker-longlisted and Beast?

Answer 27

Paul Kingsnorth

Question 28

A popular 1980s collector's item which US company produced the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards?

Answer 28

Topps Company

Question 29

The electron was the first to be discovered of the charged type of which class of elementary particle which have half-integer spin and do not undergo strong interactions?

Answer 29

Leptons

Question 30

Who scored 410 runs in total and won Player of the Tournament for England when they won the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup?

Answer 30

Tammy Beaumont

Question 31

Lady Sings the Blues starring Diana Ross was a biopic about which jazz singer nicknamed Lady Day who died in 1959?

Answer 31

Billie Holiday

Question 32

Which Argentinian light cruiser was sunk by the submarine HMS Conqueror in May 1982 leading to the deaths of over 300 Argentine troops?

Answer 32

General Belgrano

Question 33

With Lithuanian-born British scientist won the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of electron crystallography?

Answer 33

Aaron Klug

Question 34

What was the name of the airship designed and piloted by Umberto Nobile which crashed in 1928 leading to a rescue attempt which led to the deaths of 17 people including Roald Amundsen who was lost while flying to take part?

Answer 34

Italia

Question 35

Haydn's symphonies numbers 82 to 87 which include those nicknamed The Hen and The Queen are collectively commonly given the name of which European capital city?

Answer 35

Paris

Question 36

The second most populated city in the Australian state of New South Wales shares its name with which Northern English city (the full name of which also contains a suffix)?

Answer 36

Newcastle

Question 37

Wayne and Waynetta Slob and Kevin the Teenager were characters who appeared on a sketch show created by which comedian?

Answer 37

Harry Enfield

Question 38

Which brewery who make the beer London Pride attracted much comment in January 2019 after selling their brewing operations to the Japanese brewing group Asahi?

Answer 38

Fuller's

Question 39

What ‘O’ completes the title of this 1850 painting by Gustave Courbet: A Burial at ...?

Answer 39

Ornans

Question 40

Who captained the England team when they won the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup?

Answer 40

Heather Knight

Question 41

La Bamba starring Lou Diamond Phillips was a biopic about which Spanish-speaking rock and roll star who died in 1959 in the same crash that killed Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper?

Answer 41

Ritchie Valens

Question 42

Once one of the big four clearing banks in its own right NatWest was acquired in 2000 by which Edinburgh-based bank which since the 2008 financial crisis has been majority-owned by the UK Government?

Answer 42

Royal Bank of Scotland (do not accept or prompt on Bank of Scotland)

Question 43

The second charged lepton to be discovered was found in 1936 by Carl Anderson who had earlier discovered the positron - it was which particle with the same negative charge as the electron but a much larger mass?

Answer 43

Muon (accept Mu meson but do not accept or prompt on meson)

Question 44

Which Foreign Secretary from 1919 to 1924 had earlier served as Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905? This aristocratic statesman with his ancestral home at Kedleston was denied the office of Prime Minister in 1923 with Stanley Baldwin getting the job instead.

Answer 44

George Nathaniel Curzon

Question 45

Known for non-fiction works such as Backroom Boys and The Child That Books Built which English writer has also written the novel Golden Hill which won a Costa Book Award?

Answer 45

Francis Spufford

Question 46

In curling what word refers to the last-rack or last-stone advantage at the end of a game?

Answer 46

Hammer

Question 47

Which 1940 Howard Hawks screwball comedy starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell concerns a hardboiled newspaper editor's attempts to prevent his star reporter from marrying and leaving journalism?

Answer 47

His Girl Friday

Question 48

Bizarrely Danny Dyer was a friend of which late British Nobel Literature Laureate having appeared in works by that playwright including Celebration and No Man's Land?

Answer 48

Harold Pinter

Question 49

Dan Dare was relaunched in a mini-series published by Virgin Comics in 2007 written by which Northern Ireland-born American comic writer who has also created various DC comics franchises such as Preacher and Hitman?

Answer 49

Garth Ennis

Question 50

Used at the start of a comment to frame it or express emotion what does the internet abbreviation TFW stand for?

Answer 50

That feeling when

Question 51

Which sculptor whose works include Another Place and Event Horizon succeeded Rachel Whiteread as Turner Prize winner in 1994?

Answer 51

Anthony Gormley

Question 52

Which British fighter won the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics in the Super Heavyweight division although his professional career was rather less successful?

Answer 52

Audley Harrison

Question 53

A five letter word beginning with V what is the name of the bone which forms the inferior part of the nasal septum?

Answer 53

Vomer

Question 54

The Battle of Flodden took place in England and the Battle of the Spurs occurred in France during which year of the 16th century?

Answer 54

1513

Question 55

Which 1844 opera by Verdi is based on a play by Victor Hugo?

Answer 55

Ernani

Question 56

Featuring in the film Trainspotting which railway station located on Rannoch Moor is at 408 metres above sea level Britain's highest mainline station? It is one of a handful of British stations not accessible by road.

Answer 56

Corrour

Question 57

We wrote the celebrated biographical work of 1918 which begins with a profile of Cardinal Manning and ends with a profile of General Gordon?

Answer 57

Lytton Strachey

Question 58

The last golfer to retain a Major before Brooks Koepka was which Irish golfer who won the Open Championship in 2007 and 2008? He also won the 2008 US PGA.

Answer 58

Padraig Harrington

Question 59

Which American film director was the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for Boys n The Hood in 1991?

Answer 59

John Singleton

Question 60

Topps Company has the license to produce stickers for the Premier League which it does under which brand name?

Answer 60

Merlin

Question 61

Which American singer enjoyed her biggest UK hit in 1975 with Lovin' You but tragically died of cancer in 1979 aged just 31 six days after the death of Van McCoy?

Answer 61

Minnie Riperton

Question 62

Which landlocked African country shares boundaries with Cameron Chad Sudan South Sudan the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo?

Answer 62

Central African Republic

Question 63

Sharing its name with a genus of snakes which general purpose programming language was created by Guido Van Rossum?

Answer 63

Python

Question 64

Named after a northern English city which British destroyer was struck by Exocet missiles in retaliation for the sinking of the General Belgrano killing 20 people? The ship burned for six days before sinking.

Answer 64

HMS Sheffield

Question 65

In April 2013 a plaque was unveiled at Epsom racecourse to mark the centenary of the death of which Suffragette?

Answer 65

Emily Davison

Question 66

Which former presenter of Radio One's official chart show appears as Tahani in the drama series The Good Place?

Answer 66

Jameela Jamil

Question 67

The teachings of which Greek stoic philosopher were recorded by his pupil Arrian in Discourses and Enchiridion?

Answer 67

Epictetus

Question 68

Which singer who died aged 48 in 2012 had a 1988 UK number one hitwith One Moment In Time recorded for the 1988 Summer Olympics?

Answer 68

Whitney Houston