The Sunday Family Quiz
Have a go around the lunch table, or share with friends and relatives
Like a conversation around the table, the Family Quiz follows a thread and everyone can join in. We start with a question about this weekend, and then each question – sort of – leads to the next until we finish up (this week) in the Spice Islands. Some questions suit younger quizzers, but really it’s a free-for-all. Don’t all shout at once!
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This weekend, scholars generally agree, is the one on which Chaucer’s pilgrims set out for Canterbury, telling tales as they rode along. What prize was to be earned by the best of the tales?
(a) A fine ram
(b) A hogshead of wine
(c) A pub supper
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Boss Hogg was a villainous central character in which 1980s television series?
(a) The Dukes of Hazzard
(b) The Duchess of Duke Street
(c) Robin of Sherwood
Which actor had a brief and uncredited role as Richard the Lionheart in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), starring Kevin Costner?
(a) Sir Patrick Stewart
(b) Sir Sean Connery
(c) Sir John Gielgud
What is the name of the famous, and rather big-headed, lion in the cartoon Madagascar?
(a) Leo
(b) Simba
(c) Alex 7 8
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At 226,756 square miles, Madagascar is the second largest island country in the world. Australia (a continent) doesn’t count: which is the largest?
(a) Cuba
(b) Iceland
(c) Greenland
It has been widely reported that one in ten Icelanders does what in their lifetime?
(a) Publishes a book
(b) Emigrates
(c) Loses their driving licence
Venus and Adonis was the first published book by which writer?
(a) Dan Brown
(b) Lord Byron
(c) William Shakespeare
What was the gnome-based sequel to the unusual animated film Gnomeo & Juliet, featuring many of the distinguished voice actors from that first, mystifyingly successful project?
(a) Gnome on the Range
(b) Sherlock Gnomes
(c) Gnome Alone
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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, was a fervent believer in what?
(a) Fairies
(b) Champagne for breakfast
(c) Yoga
What was the name of Peter Pan’s fairy companion?
(a) Sugar Plum
(b) Peaseblossom
(c) Tinkerbell
PG “Plum” Wodehouse created Jeeves and Wooster, among many other
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What was unusual about the US presidency of Gerald Ford (1974-77)?
(a) He refused, for religious reasons, to swear the Oath of Office
(b) He was the only president not to have been elected, either as president or vice-president, by public vote
(c) He continued part-time work for Ford Motor Company while president
The US president occupies the White House. The Pink House is the official residence of the president of which nation?
(a) Argentina
(b) France
(c) Honduras
The singer Pink was the second most played female artist in the UK during the first decade of this century, behind only whom?
(a) The Spice Girls
(b) Madonna
(c) Beyoncé
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The nutmeg tree, native to the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, of Indonesia, actually produces two spices – nutmeg itself and which other?
(a) Mace
(b) Cardamom
(c) Cloves