Weekly Roundup W/E 27/10/2017

Until tonight's quiz, completing this roundup will make me fully up to date with them, and I fully intend both getting this week's roundup done this weekend and then moving towards a more regular schedule for such posts. Then I can actually start considering other, non-roundup posts again. At least I'm doing it at all, which is far more than I expected, especially after building up such a backlog as I did. So, in the interests of completing my recovery, here we go!

Quiz # 186 - Sunday 22nd October, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 20/10/2017

Two more weekly roundups to do and I'll finally be up to date! Last week was exciting, as not only did I appear on TV, but I finally moved house! Very awesome, though not massively conducive to productivity either. Still, I'm getting there, and by the end of the day, these should hopefully be finished. So let's get on with it, shall we?

Quiz #182 - Sunday 15th October, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 13/10/17

Finally, I've gotten round to saving a template for these posts so I don't have to keep constantly redoing the headers! I've still got 3 more roundups to do, so I'll spare you the introductory waffle and just get to it. 4 quizzes this week, all at the front end of the week as I once again decided against the trip to Kirkcudbright, and there wasn't one on Friday.

I will say that this was a very special week for me, as I was on a TV quiz show for the first time on Tuesday! It was a BBC1 show called "The Boss" and there's still a few days left to see it on iPlayer if you're in the UK and haven't already. I'll make an actual proper post about that in the future, but I'm mentioning it now as it is relevant to what happened over the course of this week. So much for skipping the intro!

Quiz #178 -  Sunday 8th October, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 06/10/2017

So to week 3 of my 5 week backlog, and this one started unusually because I was away in Llandudno for my first "Quiz in the North" experience. That's a true competitive quiz, and I'd like to do a proper review of the experience from a newbie's perspective, but in another post. So for now I'll skip over that and return to the normal reviews. The Sunday quiz didn't happen because the host was away, but this was still a 4 quiz week, so I'd best get to it...

Quiz #172 - Monday 2nd October, Kings Arms, Dalbeattie (P)

Weekly Roundup, W/E 29/09/2017

After a much longer roundup in my last post, this one will be a lot shorter. 5 quizzes in an epic week down to 2, in part because I was hosting my own quiz on the Monday. That does funny things to my performance, and my desperate hastiness to get that written meant I was much more rushed than is healthy for the Sunday quiz. I had it finished and with me, though, which is better than has been the case in the past. With 3 more roundups to do after this one, let's try and clear this pretty quickly.

Quiz #172 - Sunday 24th September, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 22/09/2017

Hello everyone! I'm back, at last! Part of the reason I really try to keep my reviews up to date is because when I'm trying to recall what happened on a given night, I use the blog. The notes I keep in my notebook aren't really enough, especially because I'm generally trying to be social and secretively writing stuff down in that way is pretty much the opposite. My memory can't easily stretch back far enough to cover more than a week or so of quizzes, but hey, that's what I've got to go on for the last few weeks.

With this one, I actually started writing it but didn't complete it. It was a 5-quiz week, and that's a big time commitment in itself, plus I managed to lose a couple of the quiz sheets so I found myself writing it out of order. The longer I delay completing this though, the worse my problem gets, so let's start from the top and see what I can get through! 

By way of an overview, it looks like I was targeting at least one win from the 5 quizzes I was doing, so let's start there.

Quiz #167 - Sunday 17th September, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Situation Update

This is a very quick post to apologise to my loyal readers, for I know you are out there, for my total lack of posting. Looking at my last post, it mentioned imminent chaos, which is exactly what happened.  

The same night I posted that update, I was indeed asked to host the quiz a week later. I pulled it off, but it unfortunately proved too hard and I don't think it went down very well. That hit me quite hard, as I honestly believed it was a good quiz with a fair difficulty. The lowest scores were some way below my previous quiz, but the high scores were higher and it was a very very close contest. The poor reception took me a while to get over, I must admit.

I've also now completed the house move, though more remains to be done. I'm typing this from my new couch, but still my couch as my laptop will go on living here - I have space for an office allocated but have yet to buy the PC for it. It's on my list...

Speaking of "my list", my 5 - yes, 5 - weekly roundups are on there. I still intend completing every single one by the end of this week. Which will mean I have 6 to do by then, and as Friday is my birthday and I'm not quizzing then this year, the last of those will go up early next week as I am quizzing on Thursday.

Normal service will resume, I promise you that, but a flood of posts is potentially incoming and a regular schedule is not yet in place. Please bear with me, please continue to read the blog if you enjoy it. 

If you would like to speak to me in any way, please let me know and I can provide you with contact details. A comment here is just fine if you only know me through the blog!

All the best everyone, hope you're doing great!

Where Have I Been, Again?

There's always things I could be talking about, in this blog, but only this post is actually what I could call "time sensitive". I'm aware that I kinda disappeared for a couple of weeks at the start of September, though the weekly roundups are now up to date, so I just want to provide a general update as to what my current situation is.

Weekly Roundup, W/E 15/09/2017

Lest I fall even further still behind with this blog, I'm going to power on with my latest roundup. This one ought to be a bit shorter, as it's 4 quizzes rather than 6. Have to say, I'm glad to have finally finished the last one as it was kinda hanging over me, due to the inevitable length. Enough chitchat, let's find out what happened this week.

Quiz #163 - Sunday 10th September, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 08/09/2017

So, with the fun and games of gigs and such like now a memory, it's time for me to knuckle down and get some serious work done. I started writing this earlier in the week but I've still a decent way to go as it stands. It was a busy week , this one, and one which really called for good results, after the way things had been going. Let's find out!

Quiz #157 - Sunday 3rd September, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

An Introspective on Last Night

Hi folks!

First things first, I'm well aware that I've got an increasingly large backlog of blog posts to try and work my way through. This includes two weekly roundups, a general life and times update, and a couple of promotional posts for things I really like, such as the podcast I guest-starred on, Trivial Warfare. But this is a bit different. I was at a gig last night, and it got me to thinking, about things I'd like to share here. Naturally, it's ultimately a post about me and quizzing, but it's not as quizzing-based as this blog usually is.

Weekly Roundup, W/E 01/09/2017

It's amazing what can happen in a week! I know I didn't post anything last weekend, but I'll explain all that in a "general life stuff" type blog at some point over the weekend. At least, that's what I wrote on Friday, before not writing much else. I'll try and catchup at some point over the course of this week, focussing for now on the week before last's weekly roundup. There's only two quizzes, though I'm going to take this chance to introduce a new section, the "strategic overview". This is basically something I do now anyway, only now I'm formalising it, "it" being the introductory paragraph I generally write about my own team situation, the opposition, host, expected subjects, etc. Similarly, I'll separate the outcome section too, as there's no reason not to. It makes sense to do this, though I won't be retroactively amending any previous posts. So let's get on with it.

Quiz # 155 - Sunday 27th August, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 25/08/2017

It's still too early to say if I'll keep on writing general posts about my quizzing life, as I have done the last few weeks, but I'd like to think that I will. That means I can perhaps keep these posts, long enough already as they are, somewhat focussed on what they're meant to be about. Of course, there will inevitably be overlap, as my life and quizzing are one and the same. Still, day-to-day pub quizzes are but one aspect, albeit the primary one, of my quizzing activities, and it's nice for these to have their own place in the blog.

Where was I at the end of last week, again? Just checking last week's roundup...oh that's right, my 150th quiz and a damp squib of an evening. So that's my starting point. Here goes with this week's reviews...

Quiz #151 - Sunday 20th August, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Happenings This Week

I'm writing two blog posts tonight, this being the first that I'll post but the 2nd that I'm writing. I prioritised the weekly roundup, and have just finished writing it after 4 hours of work. 3 certainly, even when you discount things like getting dinner and screwing around online. Anyway, I do like the idea of posting a regular, non-structured update about things generally every now and then. I won't commit to a regular schedule with these as I have done with my roundups, but I'll try and post them frequently all the same.

Status Update

Okay, I feel like I owe you guys an update as to how the weekend has gone, so here it goes.

Weekly Roundup W/E 18/08/2017

It's weird that I've already done basically a large post that covers the sort of random nonsense that serves as the preambles I write for these roundups, as it leaves me with basically nothing to say in these opening lines.

Quiz #148 - Sunday 13th August, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

When Is A Day Off a True Day Off?

The above is a simple enough question with an obvious answer - when you're taking a break from something that you will actually go back to. It's the "going back to" part that I tend to struggle with, as part of my life-long battle with inertia.

See, I took 2 days off this week. One was planned, the other spontaneous, but I agreed with myself at the outset that I wouldn't do anything related to quizzing on Tuesday or Thursday night. That is, I wouldn't watch, write, listen to, blog about or participate in any quizzes at all.

The reason I did this is that I needed the break. Badly. Normally I have the opposite problem, with much of my 20s being spent seemingly procrastinating from life itself, trapped by a combination of anxiety, laziness and lots of other things as life passed by and my peers moved generally forwards. Don't worry, this post isn't a rehash of the mammoth one from a week ago, and won't be nearly so long. It's just something I need to discuss, and it saves me the hassle of doing it in pieces in this week's roundup.

Weekly Roundup, W/E 11/08/2017

It's all very well talking a good game about hope and optimism for the future, what I want to achieve, etc. Until I actually do anything it's all just words on a page. Last week I backed up those words with a very successful holiday trip. But that's nothing I can make a comparison against, because those were new quizzes. Consistency, that's the key to accurately judging performance over an extended period.

So last week was perhaps a better test of the "new me" as it were. I wasn't expecting miracles, but I was hoping for a strong performance, and a better attitude regardless. Let's find out how I got on with those quizzes.

Quiz #145 - Monday 7th August, Kings Arms, Dalbeattie (K)

Weekly Roundup, W/E 04/08/2017

In my last post I wrote...a lot. A lot changed for me in the hours and days after the epic QuizFest. Obviously enough, by the time I started my next week's quizzing, I hadn't processed all that. I left the quiz on Sunday, but as expected, I was hungry and eager to get to one on the Monday. Just to be clear, I did a quiz every day this week; 3 in the New Forest area, one in Stafford on my way back home...and one back at home, at the Laurie Arms on Friday.

This could be another long review, especially as my holiday means I'll need to explain the format of the quizzes I went to, but fortunately I have a lot of good things to say about my week. So let's get to it!

Quiz #140 - Monday 31st July, Fox & Hounds, Lyndhurst

QuizFest and a Change in Perspective

Last Sunday, during my holiday to the New Forest I left a quiz half way through. I've only ever done that once before in almost exactly 3 years of serious quizzing. Thus begins perhaps the most important post I've ever written in this blog. It's largely stream of consciousness; I don't know exactly what I'm going to say here, it will be long but is worth reading if you follow this blog and/or my quizzing activities.

I shocked myself by leaving that quiz. The only previous time was on my first visit to Nottingham, when I accidentally went to a student music quiz that I left just after it started. The quiz itself isn't very relevant, but I'll get to that later anyway. 

That it happened was immediate evidence that QuizFest the day before had shaken me to my core, opened my eyes to a new reality. In some ways, it was meant a genuine change to the way things will now always be. In others, it meant snapping out of of some unfortunate denial and complacency that had taken hold of me. That's what this post is about, and it's important because things won't be the same anymore. To be clear, it's a good thing; ultimately it's only net future positives I'm discussing here.

First though, what was QuizFest, exactly?

QuizFest

QuizFest was amazing. It was a one-day quizzing extragavanza, a chance to meet and greet celebrity quizzers such as Chasers and Eggheads. For non-Brits, The Chase and The Eggheads are two of the most popular gameshows here. The Chase also has an American version, but there's 5 Chasers here (one of whom is the guy who does the American version, Mark Labbett), 3 of whom were present. Eggheads gives teams of amateurs the chance to face some of the very best quizzers in the country, including 6-time world champion Kevin Ashman.

Weekly Roundup, W/E 28/07/2017

Usually, I have something to say before I get into the meat of a weekly roundup.  Today, I have nothing. Which isn’t strictly true, I have a huge amount to say, but none of it is strictly relevant to this, the week before last. I was at QuizFest last Saturday, see, and my perspective has been significantly changed by that. Before I can review the week’s quizzes that followed that, I’ll need to put up a separate post explaining what I mean. For now, I’d prefer to reflect on things as they actually were, before all this.

I suppose I do have something to say in that regard. The week before this one was utterly chaotic, and that didn’t really change as this one started, since Monday was to be my 3^rd quiz and I was woefully underprepared. The quiz itself was ultimately written, but as Sunday’s first quiz of the week loomed, it still wasn’t fully printed. An inauspicious beginning, but I shall reveal what happened beyond those busy hours…

Quiz #137 – Sunday 23^rd July, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup W/E 21/07/2017

It's very strange to be sitting in a hotel room on a Friday night typing up this blog, especially since it pretty much counts as work for me, part of the administration that goes with this second, unpaid, job of mine that is full-time amateur pub quizzing. I'm on holiday from the office job and yet the point of this holiday is, as has been the case for my last several holidays, quizzing.

This time, the holiday is to the New Forest, for an amazing event called QuizFest. I'll be writing more about that later, but I'm at an inconvenience due to being short on time, stuck using a poor hotel wifi connection (which I'm abusing by watching Mastermind as I type this) and without a mouse since I managed to forget to bring mine. I've got 2 weeks of these roundups to write though and I don't want to be delaying any further.

As to the first of these weeks, it was a very strange one. I only did 2 quizzes as a Little Mix gig meant that even though I drove all the way to Carlisle, I wasn't able to find anywhere remotely close to park, so had to drive all the way back without doing it! I then missed the Wednesday quiz due to a family member unexpectedly visiting, which turned out to be for the best since I'd have struggled on 25 questions on the rivers flowing through capital cities. I got a lift there with the host this week which is how I learned that one.

So, to the quizzes I actually did...

Quiz #135 - Monday 17th July, Kings Arms, Dalbeattie (P)

Weekly Roundup, W/E 14/07/2017

I'm writing this third roundup of the day in unfortunate circumstances, because there was no parking to be found anywhere close to my usual Sunday quiz, forcing me to turn back straight away without stopping. An unfortunately wasted evening, but it does at least afford me time to do this, so let's get to it.

Quiz #131 - Sunday 9th July, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 07/07/2017

In my last post, I said what I needed to say. It's done, I'm moving on! A new half year awaits, and many more quizzes! In the case of this week it was less than usual, due to missing the Monday quiz for reasons I can't explain in this space. Still, I was able to attend the Laurie Arms quiz on Friday, so I had 4 to go to. I want to make the tone of this review more positive than the last one, but would the results reflect that desire?

I honestly can't remember off the top of my head if they do or not because I haven't checked my scores. I should do that before I start writing...

Quiz #127 - Sunday 2nd July, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 30/06/2017

I must admit that my delay in posting my latest weekly roundups was somewhat deliberate, this time. At the end of Friday's quiz, a bombshell was dropped: the lease on the pub was in the process of being sold, and there was no guarantee that there would even be another quiz. I was devastated, I can't pretend otherwise. 2 years 11 months ago was when I started my quizzing, and it was at The Grapes.

I found out this Friday that the pub changed hands at the start of the week, and the last of the quizzes was the one just past. The good news is that the new owners intend to begin the quizzes again, though they didn't appear to know how when I spoke to them on the phone, as no instructions had been left. Obviously it won't be the same man doing it so I've no idea what to expect, but I'll definitely be going along all the same, when it starts up again.

In the meantime, I'd have missed the next one anyways due to going on holiday, and there's the monthly Laurie Arms quizzes to give me at least some kind of a Friday fix until the new ones start. There may also be something in Castle Douglas, I'll need to try and find out more about that. If possible, I'll write a post specifically about the Grapes quiz, though I may struggle for the time for that. The show must go on, however, and I've got 3 weeks worth of reviews to write. 

This week was the last week of the first half of the year, and I've drawn up some statistics about that which I'll post separately.The first priority was making sure that I ended the first 6 months on a high.

Quiz #122 - Sunday 25th June, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

A Random Quick Quiz

Hi all! It's been quite a while since I posted any quizzes on here, as a result of my working on quizzes for live hosting, so here's 10 questions on the origin of words. The source for all 10 is the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins (2010) by Julia Cresswell.

1. The word “nausea” originally referred to one specific kind of sickness. Which kind?

2. The word “jail” shares its origin with that of a natural land feature, as a result of one of its letters softening over time. What is the land feature?

3. The word “daisy” is a contraction of what two words, which refer to the physical look of the flower?

4. The word “chivalry” ultimately comes from the Latin “caballus”. To which animal does this word refer?

5. What famous ruler of antiquity gives their name to the origin of the much more recent Russian term, Tsar?

6. This one is a bit of a quiz classic: what 4 word phrase is today usually contracted to the single word, “goodbye”?

7. The word “tooth” derives from an Old English word with a shared Latin root, a word that has ultimately given its name to a kind of weapon, as well as a relevant profession. What is the weapon?

8. The words “clothes horse” and “easel” both use the analogy of an object being as though a beast of burden for a human’s task. The latter comes from a Dutch word for which animal?

9. The word “nickname” is a case of a word being incorrectly spelled, and both the spelling and meaning changing over time. The original meaning was “additional name”. The original word was hyphenated – what was it?

10. The word “ranch” come from a Spanish word referring to a group of people sharing in what activity?

Weekly Roundup, W/E 23/06/2017

This week was a truncated week, dominated by my having hosted my own quiz on Monday. I'm honestly very happy with how that quiz went, though it was clearly easier than I expected as the winning score was a mammoth 79/85. Which at least justifies my having made my first quiz so difficult! I need to try being more organised with my quizzes, but then I could say that about my life in general. All my thoughts were devoted to it, and I was left emotionally drained by the experience, which I'm hoping will stop happening once I build up my experience as a host. I've already started writing my next one, and I'll try and complete at least a round a week for it. I've got a job to do here though and I can't excuse a bad performance with distraction based on other aspects of said job. With that in mind, let's get on with the post-mortem for this week.

Quiz #119 – Sunday 18^th June, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 16/06/2017

I’m beginning my typing of this sitting at home while waiting for a gas company to arrive. Oh the joys of home ownership, and the regret of not taking a full day off since my time is running short. Good thing I have so much alternative work to keep me occupied, then! Last week was another busy week of quizzing, though most of my thoughts were devoted to my own next event, which is tonight as of writing this intro. I effectively took 3 days off after last week, which I really cannot afford to do in future. Lesson learned, I suppose (and hope)! Or not, as it turns out, as I finish this nearly a full week later on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately my next roundup is only 3 quizzes long, so will be up in short order.

Quiz #114 – Sunday 11^th June, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 09/06/2017

Predictably, after spending several hours writing my epic review of my holiday, I’ve fallen a couple of weeks behind with the roundups again. 2 as of starting to write this, almost 3 as of actually posting it. I really need to start managing my time better! I’ve no preamble for this post, except to say that it was always going to be interesting to see how I would respond to being back at my usual quizzes after a refreshing and relaxing holiday. I’d already started back the same night I returned with a win at The Grapes, but would that continue?

Quiz #110 – Sunday 4^th June, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup - Holiday Edition - W/E 02/06/2017

Hello and welcome to a special edition of my weekly roundups in which I'll be covering my holiday to the gorgeous and amazing city of Nottingham! For non-Brits, it's a city of a bit over 300,000 that lies somewhere in the middle of England, and which is most famous for its association with Robin Hood. Living in a town carried by its own obsession with a national hero (Robert Burns), the omnipresence of the legendary outlaw in the town isn't weird to me.

I visited for the first time last September, and it's interesting to consider how things have changed in that time. It was the first time I'd ever done 6 quizzes in one week, and the first time I'd ever travelled specifically for the purpose of quizzing. I'd never been, and didn't know what I was doing. But I loved it, so I had to come back!

I actually did return to a few of the quizzes I did last time, but a few were new, as this time I didn't travel beyond the city itself. As I wasn't writing this blog last time, I'll need to explain the format of each quiz as I go (with one exception - Wednesday). So this blog might be a bit longer than usual, though it should also be quite informative, I hope!

Quiz #104 - Sunday 24th May, Trent Navigation, Nottingham

Weekly Roundup, W/E 26/05/2017

After the drama of last week, it was nice have something of a more normal week this week. My status as a regular host of the Dalbeattie quiz was confirmed, with the previous 2 being upped now to 5. There were 4 quizzes this week, which made it seem pretty truncated, but that should be the way it is every second week until October now, except for the holidays I have planned.

Speaking of which, next week I'll be in Nottingham, attempting to relax and sampling the local quizzes. I did this last year, so I'll be going to a few of the same ones, and actually reviewing them this time since I wasn't blogging at the time. I'm not sure what kind of a balance I'll find between working on my quiz stuff and enjoying doing non-quiz things, but enjoyment full stop is the primary goal. I'll certainly be keeping the scores and planning for the reviews one way or the other, and I'll try and get it posted in decent time, next weekend. For now, here's me finally getting up to date with these roundups!

Quiz #100 - Sunday 21st May, Turf Tavern, Carlisle - MILESTONE MOMENT!

Weekly Roundup, W/E 19/05/2017

Now that I'm finally...almost...up to date with my weekly roundups again, as of posting this one at least (which took me a full week, thus leaving me behind again), I'm going to finally try and get back to writing meaningful introductions. The roundups are really important to me because they're a backup for my stats and an interesting prose reflection of my experiences at the same time. I don't know who reads them, but hello to anyone who is, and feel free to get in touch with me to let me know any thoughts you may have! Also, if you run a quiz and would be interested in having me as a team member, because I'm always up for that. Have quiz knowledge, will travel!

Quiz #95 - Sunday 14th May, Turf Tavern, Carlisle

Weekly Roundup, W/E 12/05/2017

After such a memorable week to begin May, it was always going to be hard to top that. But that's the kind of challenge I see as as a great opportunity, so read on to see if I was good for it. I'll try and spend less time wrting this update, however, as I still have another to come this weekend.

Weekly Roundup, W/E 05/05/2017

So far behind, and an ever increasing workload! Fortunately, this is a week that will stick in the memory for quite a long time; if last week was a standard week with no real notable events, this week was the exact opposite. So if I'm ever going to delay in putting a post up, this wasn't the worst week to do it on. Read on to see what happened!

Weekly Roundup, W/E 28/04/2017

One more weekly roundup to catch up on, though I've another week ending soon so will want to try and get that roundup finished more...on time. We shall see! On with the show for now.

Weekly Roundup, W/E 21/04/2017

Okay, I'm a couple of weeks behind with my weekly roundups, and frankly time seems to be flying forward at a ridiculous speed. Yet I need to do these to ensure my records are up to date, as they're critical to my stats. I might unfortunately be missing some of the detail here due to having forgotten things over time, but let's see how it goes, starting with the last 6-quiz week I'll be doing in this area until the autumn.

Quiz Questions - Set #9

Quiz Set 9 - Questions

Round 1: General Knowledge

1.    Charlemagne: The Omens of Death is a heavy metal album, the fourth and final by which esteemed British actor?

2.    While in reality it was developed over time by many scientists and mathematicians, Hero of Alexandria is often credited with the invention of which measuring device?

3.    The Southern Alps are a mountain range located in which country?

4.    Which actor won 3 swimming gold medals at the 1924 Olympic Games, another 2 at the 1928 Games, then went on to play Tarzan in a series of films in the 1930s and 40s?

5.    Which sport is added to the swimming, running and cycling of a triathlon to make it a quadrathlon?

6.    Scott Lang is the real name of which Marvel Comics superhero? He is played by Paul Rudd in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

7.    Camulus was the god of war in the mythology of which people?

8.    What kind of insect is a velvet ant?

9.    What is unique about the McDonalds restaurant in Lindvallen, Sweden?

10.  Which football club is ironically known as “The Old Lady” of Turin?

Round 2: Arts & Literature

1.    Name any completed novel authored by Charlotte Bronte, other than Jane Eyre?

2.    In The Simpsons, Principal Skinner’s prisoner number during the Vietnam War was 24601. Which famous literary character is this a reference to?

3.    What is the last book of the Old Testament of the Bible?

4.    Hasa Diga Eebowai, Turn It Off and Tomorrow is a Latter Day are songs from which musical?

5.    D-503, O-90 and I-330 are the main characters in which 1921 novel, considered one of the grandfathers of the dystopian genre?

6.    Who is the most famous resident of the fictional Island of Sodor, created for a series of books by Reverend W Awdry?

7.    Which is the only Shakespeare play that has the name of an animal in the title, as a distinct word?

8.    Which notoriously violent artist murdered a man named Ranuccio Tomassoni in 1606, in circumstances that have never been fully explained?

9.    Which playwright, a contemporary of Shakespeare, is said to have been killed in a bar brawl in 1593?

10.  The writings of the Bab and of Shoghi Effendi are among the canonical writings of which faith, founded in what is now Iran in 1844?

Round 3: Connections

1.    Which fictional supervillain, created by Sax Rohmer for a series of novels, later filmed, was an archetype of the “Yellow Peril” metaphor?

2.    “The Courtyard of the Old Residency in Munich” is a painting that will never be shown to the public. Who was the artist?

3.    Which flippered marine mammal, common to Arctic regions, has the scientific name odobenus rosmarus?

4.    Which writing implement originated with the Roman stylus, but owes its modern existence to the discovery of a key mineral in Cumbria in 1565?

5.    Which actor starred as Dr Mark Sloan in Diagnosis: Murder between 1993 and 2001?

6.    Which American Civil War general and Senator for Rhode Island became the first president of the National Rifle Association in 1871?

7.    Which experimental American musician described the overall concept of his work as “Project/Object”, which involved lyrics, characters and musical themes recurring throughout different projects?

8.    Which Mexican Revolutionary general, leader of the army known as “Division of the North” and styled “Centaur of the North”, has become known as the Mexican Robin Hood?

9.    Which surrealist painter’s works include The Persistence of Memory and attempted a literary career with the novel Hidden Faces?

10.  Finally, what connects all of the above answers?