Quiz: Our mighty Christmas quiz
Get together with your friends and family to challenge yourself on how many of the 100 questions you can get right!
Art & Literature
1 What pen name did J K Rowling use for her crime novels featuring private detective Cormoran Strike? 2
What is the brown monochrome style of drawing and painting using ink from cuttlefish?
3
What is the annual festival that celebrates Welsh culture and language? 4
Which word – new, old or popular – completes this oscar Wilde quote: ‘everything ___ is wrong’? 5
What would be written about in a hagiography: royal affairs, saints’ lives or tea planting?
6
What device – a pantechnicon or a pantograph – is used to copy a drawing to a different scale? 7
If a literary critic described a piece of writing as godwottery, would they mean it used words that were archaic, concise or elegant?
8
Who was the renowned 16thcentury Venetian painter whose name has become synonymous with red hair?
9
Who wrote the novels Little Women and Little Men? 10
What term describes the european artistic style inspired by chinese and east Asian art and design? 11
Name the science-fiction author who formulated the three laws of robotics.
12
What small animal did wood designer robert thompson regularly carve into his pieces? 13
What is the method of creating dyed designs on fabric using wax to prevent certain areas colouring called? 14
Name the artist famous for her stocky and striking characters as seen in her paintings Dining in Paris, Party Girls and Sailors and
Virgins (below).
Science & Nature
15 Which elephant – the African or the Indian – has the larger ears which help to keep it cool?
The patella bone is 16
more commonly known as what?
Which seasonal 17
substance has been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis – frankincense, gold or myrrh?
What two numbers 18
are missing from this Fibonacci series: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, ___, ___, 13, 21?
What biological term 19
describes animals without backbones?
True or false: 20
sphagnum moss was once used for wound dressings and nappies?
What is the group of 21
organisms comprising a fungus and an alga living together for mutual benefit?
What is the 22
Marabou stork commonly known as because of its morbid looking shape and dark
plumage?
What is the force 23
of attraction pulling everyone to the Earth?
What is the 24
acronym for the international agreement overseeing and regulating trade in endangered wild animals and plants?
The skeleton of which 25
animal – giant sloth or blue whale – replaced the skeleton-cast of Dippy the diplodocus in the entrance hall of the Natural History Museum this year?
What was the 26
name of the ship that Charles Darwin sailed on during his voyages of scientific discovery?
What is the tallest 27
bird on Earth? 28 Which rock formed in volcanoes can float?
Television
& Film
v
Which BBC1 quiz show 29
does Strictly Come Dancing contestant Susan Calman host?
Which film festival – 30
Sundance or Tribeca – did Robert De Niro co-found?
What is the name 31
of Jim Moir’s comedy alter ego?
True or false: Clint 32
Eastwood is an accomplished jazz pianist and has composed music for films?
General Knowledge
According to a popular 43
saying, which animal may look at a king?
Where in the body would 44
you find the gluteus maximus muscles?
What is the
45
longest side of a right-angled triangle called?
33 What in film
production does a foley technician do: build miniature sets or record background sounds?
34 What does the I in the
special effects technique CGI stand for?
35 What is a linked sequence of brief excerpts from a film or TV programme known as?
36 What TV show is the
adult version of one-time children’s classic Jackanory?
37 What name is given
to the most junior member of a film or TV crew responsible for all minor tasks? 38 At which film studios – Longcross, Pinewood or Shepperton – was a stage named in honour of the late Sir Roger
Moore?
True or false:
39
contestants are allowed two hours to search for and buy antiques on Bargain Hunt?
Where – Felsham, 40
Kembleford or Pemberley – does Mark Williams’ eponymous TV character Father Brown carry out his sleuthing activities?
What is the Indian 41
film industry based in Mumbai called?
What song by 42
Smokey Robinson and The Miracles is the theme tune for retiree sitcom Boomers, starring Stephanie Beacham and Russ Abbot?
What term in espionage 46
stories denotes an inactive spy awaiting orders?
What expression, 47
attributed to ancient Greek scientist Archimedes, means a sudden inspiration or realisation?
What spice is
48
an essential ingredient of a traditional Hungarian goulash?
What
49
does the initial S in USB stand for?
What is the name 50
of Perdita’s partner in One Hundred And One Dalmatians?
In maths, 51
what is the square root of 1?
What 52
word can mean simple, see-through and
steep?
History & Geography
Which country 53
was once known as Siam?
What is the 17thcentury 54 white marble monument to love on the Yamuna river in Agra?
What were members 55
of the Women’s Timber Corps familiarly known as during the Second World War?
Who was ‘The 56
Father of English Poetry’ buried at Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey in 1400?
True or false: the 57
extensive grainproducing areas termed the Prairie Province are in the USA?
What is both a 58
South-east Asian fibre used to make rope and also a 5th-century invader and settler of South-east England?
Where on the 59
body would a piece of medieval armour called a vambrace be worn?
Name the large 60
Buckinghamshire town that was founded 50 years ago and built to an
atypical grid pattern.
What relation 61
was Victoria to her predecessor King William IV: daughter, niece or sister?
What was the 62
original capital city of Japan?
What stretch 63
of water, located between Britain and Europe, do the French refer to as La Manche?
True or false: 64
Prince Charles became Prince of Wales at 20 years of age?
Music & Theatre
66 Which cole porter
musical features the songs You’re The Top and It’s De-Lovely and characters hope harcourt and moonface martin?
What is the singing 67
style performed without instrumental accompaniment?
What do you call a brief tune 65
used for radio advertising?
Name the
68
theatrical show that uses everyday objects as percussion instruments in its performance.
What five-note 69
musical scale has the notes A, c, D, e and G?
What phrase 70
describes a dramatic performance of a lurid or vivid nature?
Name the country 71
music concert that is broadcast from Nashville each week…
true or
72
false:
Venus is termed
‘the mystic’ in holst’s
The Planets?
What time-loop 73
film starring Bill murray has been made into a stage musical by comic tim minchin?
What musical 74
instrument would you practise rhythmic exercises on called paradiddles?
What choral and 75
orchestral work by carl orff begins with the popular O Fortuna?
Name the duo that 76
had hit albums last year and this year with Together and Together Again respectively.
What is 77
the musical term that indicates a piece of music should become louder?
Name 78
the 19th-century composer of The Blue Danube waltz.
Sports & Games
In what sport must 79
you stand behind the oche when playing?
What is a speedy 80
return thrust or strike in fencing?
In what board game 81
can you be huffed and crowned?
What 82
bingo numbers are represented by these traditional calls: ‘key of the door’, ‘Jump and jive’ and ‘Anyway up’?
how many 83
points is a try worth in rugby union – four or five?
What 84
is the nickname of the women’s england football team?
What is the 85
machine that throws clays for clay pigeon shooting called?
how many green 86
zero pockets does an American roulette wheel have: none, one or two?
Name the popular 87
computer game based on four-piece tiles called tetrominoes…
What is the 88
equestrian sport where riders hunt the trail of an artificial scent
with hounds? 89 what is the total value of all the balls on a snooker table before the start of play?
Where in 90
switzerland is the cresta run toboggan course?
News Round
91 Who is
believed to have created the painting Salvator Mundi that broke auction records when it sold for over £300 million?
92 true or false: a musician who has set Article 50 to music was awarded a grant from the Department of International trade for a Brexit-themed concert tour of europe?
on what social media 93
platform did judge prue leith inadvertently reveal this year’s Great British Bake Off winner before the show was aired?
Name the Mamma Mia! and
94
Dinnerladies actress who celebrated the news of her award of a DBe by weeding.
Which 95
animal was found to be Australia’s deadliest in a report early this year – the horse, crocodile or kangaroo?
Which two planets gave
96
a once-in-decades display by appearing close together in November: mercury and Venus,
Venus and Jupiter or Jupiter and saturn?
In which city with strong 97
musical connections did the British music experience museum open in march?
this year is the 50th 98
anniversary of what pioneering organ transplant?
A statue of which 99
literary figure – charles Dickens or George orwell – was unveiled outside BBc’s New Broadcasting house?
A recent 100find in Georgia has pushed back the advent of wine making to how many years ago: 3,000, 5,000 or 8,000?