Thursday 8 July 2010

Quz 5

This one proved pretty tough for my regulars, though generally speaking you guys seem to perform with perfect inverse correlation to my collection of grizzled bar-flies, so you might actually be OK. 31 is the score to beat...

(Edit: I have no idea why the font on this thing is being so annoying, but I don't have the time to fix it. Sorry.)

Round 1: Word

(Every word ends in “ball”)

1. To block, vote against, or socially ostracise. Blackball

2. An American term for anything considered cliché or overly sentimental. Cornball

3. To place in storage or render inactive. Mothball

4. A cocktail popular in the ‘70s made from Advocaat, lemonade, and lime juice. Snowball

5. A mixture of heroin and cocaine. Speedball

Round 2: South Africa

1. South Africa has three capitals. The executive capital is Pretoria
, and the legislative capital is Cape Town. Where is the judicial capital? Bloemfontein

2. Which significant landmark is featured on the flag of Cape Town and various local government insignia? Table Mountain

3. Which 1987 film, directed by Richard Attenbrough and set in '70s South Africa, is a fictionalised account of the friendship between the anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko and the journalist Donald Woods? Cry Freedom

4. The Second Boer War, more commonly referred to as simply The Boer War, lasted for two and a half years, and was fought between the British Empire on one side and an alliance of the Transvaal Republic and which other free state on the other? Orange Free State

5. Which album did Paul Simon record with the help of various South African musicians, leading to a controversy over whether doing so broke the cultural boycott being practised at the time? Graceland

Round 3: Great English Failures

1. Which legendary climber, when asked why he wanted to climb Mt Everest, replied "Because it's there!", but was lost on his 1924 ascent leaving it unclear whether he ever made the summit? George Herbert Leigh Mallory

2. From which UK port did Titanic leave for America? Southampton

3. Which member of Scott's Terra Nova expedition famously dies with the last words, "I am just going outside and may be some time."? Lawrence Oates

4. Which sporting competition took its name in 1882 from a satirical obituary mourning an English defeat at the hands of Australia? The Ashes

5. What was the full name of the British Martian lander which crash-landed and forever lost communication on Christmas Day 2003? Beagle II

Round 4: Other Worlds

1. Before landing on Earth to be found and raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent, from which planet’s violent destruction was an infant Superman saved? Krypton

2. According to Irish mythology, what world could be reached only by either an arduous voyage across the sea far to the West, or by the invitation of one of its faery inhabitants? Tir Nar Nog

3. Which character in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” hailed originally not from Narnia, but from Charn, a world obliterated entirely when they spoke aloud the Deplorable World? The White Witch

4. In “Alice in Wonderland“, written by Charles Lewis Dodgson under the pen name Lewis Carroll, which character is supposedly meant to represent the writer himself? The Dodo

5. Which alien race, created by Gene L Coon in the Sixties and with hundreds of film and television appearances since, hail from the Beta Quadrant world of Qo’nos? Klingons

Round 5: Sporting Trophies

1.
The America’s Cup, the oldest active sporting trophy in the world, takes its name from what? A boat (the first one to win the race)

2. The Jules Rimet trophy, which was awarded to World Cup winners until replaced by the FIFA World Cup in 1974, is made from gold and lapis lazuli and features a depiction of which Goddess? (I'll accept her name, or what she is the Goddess of) Nike/Victoria, Goddess of Victory

3. The Venus Rosewater dish briefly given to each winner of the Wimbledon Women's Singles Tournament is in fact a replica made in 1864. The original, which was made from pewter in the 1500s, is currently kept in which European museum? The Louvre

4. In 1999 Evander Holyfield controversially retain the World Heavyweight Boxing Belt following his fight against whom at Madison Square Garden, which was declared a draw despite many people believing his opponent was the clear victor? Lennox Lewis

5. In which race does one competitor win the "combativity award" after each stage? Tour de France

Round 6: Face-Offs

1. What name did the Norse give to the apocalyptic battle they believed would ultimately consume all nine worlds? Ragnarok

2. At which Swiss waterfall did Professor James Moriarty meet his end, having tried unsuccessfully to kill Sherlock Holmes there? Reichenbach Falls

3. Who was the first and only President of the Confederate States of America, and thus Abraham Lincoln's opposite number during the American Civil War? Jefferson Davis

4. Who wrote the song "Spanish Train" in 1975, in which God and the Devil play first cards and then chess for the souls of the damned? Chris de Burgh

5. In 1942 Winston Churchill famously said "This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." About which large-scale and pivotal battle, fought most famously between Bernard Montgomery and Erwin Rommel, was he referring? El Alamein

General Knowledge

1. What is the name of Joe’s chief Aborigine? Bourneville

2. Third and largest of the Olympic-class ships of the White Star Line, which sister ship to the Titanic sank in 1916 after striking a mine off the Greek island of Kea? Britannic

3. How many syllables are contained in a haiku? 17

4. Which historical residence, about 45 kilometres Northwest of Madrid, was built by Philip II of Spain and is the burial site of most Spanish kings, both Bourbon and Habsburg, since that time? El Escorial

5. General David Petraeus replaced General Stanley McChrystal as Supreme Commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan this week after the former criticised President Obama in an interview with which magazine? Rolling Stone

6. Which Parisian hill bears the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur, and gives its name to the surrounding district famous for its long list of associated artists, which includes Dali, Monet, Picasso, and van Gogh? Montmarte

7. What was Harrison Ford's profession when George Lucas cast him in "American Graffiti"? Carpenter

8. First rediscovered in 1901, from which ancient city-state did the set of legal rules known as the Code of Hammurabi originate? Babylon

9. In the mid-eighteenth century British officers added a net to the traditional game of battledore and shuttlecock and hence created badminton. In which then British colony were they stationed at the time? India

10. What kind of food is the Japanese dish sashimi? Raw fish

11 comments:

Midget_Yoda said...

Right then, time to display my stunning ignorance to al the world once again:

Round 1:
1) Blackball
2) Cornball
3) Mothball
4) Snowball
5) 8-ball

Round 2:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5) Graceland?

Round 3:
1) Edmundson?
2) Southampton
3) Cpt Oates
4) The Ashes
5) The Beagle 2

Round 4:
1) Krypton
2) T'ir Na N'og?
3) The White Witch
4) The perpetually late Rabbit?
5) The Klingons

Round 5:
1) The newspaper which originally sponsored it? (in keeping with the Baseball World Series)
2) Athena
3) The Louvre
4)
5) Tour de France?

Round 6:
1) Ragnarok
2) Richenbach (or some spelling along those lines)
3) General Lee?
4)
5) One in Africa

Round 7:
1)
2) Lucitania
3) 5+ 7+ 5 = 17
4)
5) Newsweek?
6) Mont Martre
7) Carpenter
8)
9)
10) Fish?

SpaceSquid said...

21 for everyone's favourite diminutive Jedi. That alone puts you at joint sixth, out of fourteen (I told you it was hard).

I should also mention the overall theme of the first six rounds was the World Cup, hence a round on English failures, other worlds (which would have made the contest far more interesting) and on other legendary face-offs.

Tomsk said...

Me and Kim:

R1

1. Blackball
2. Lowball
3. Mothball
4. Highball
5. Speedball

R2

1. Johannesberg
2. Table mountain
3.
4. Dutch Free State
5. Graceland

R3

1. Mallory
2. Southampton
3. Captain Oats
4. The Ashes
5. Beagle 2

R4

1. Krypton
2. The USA
3. The White Witch
4. The smoking caterpillar
5. Klingons

R5

1. A newspaper
2. Goddess of Victory
3. Vatican
4. Lennox Lewis
5. Tour de France

R6

1.
2. Reichenbach
3.
4. Bob Dylan
5. North Africa

R7.

1. Er... ?
2. Britannic
3. 17
4.
5. Rolling Stone
6. Montmartre
7. Carpenter
8. Babylon
9. India
10. Cooked fish

SpaceSquid said...

25 for Tomsk and Kim, and 29 if you're combined with M_Y. That puts you third.

Dan Edmunds said...

Round 1

1. Blackball
2. Cheeseball
3. Mothball
4. Screwball
5. Speedball

Jamie said...

Round 1
1. blackball
2. cornball
3. mothball
4.
5.

Round 2
1. Johannesburg
2. Table Mountain
3.
4. The Netherlands?
5. Graceland

Round 3
1.
2.
3.
4. The Ashes
5. Beagle 2

Round 4
1. Krypton
2.
3. The White Witch
4. The White Rabbit
5. The Klingons

Round 5
1. A boat
2. Athene?
3. The Louvre?
4.
5. Tour de France

Round 6
1. Ragnarok
2.
3. Robert E. Lee?
4. Johnny Cash?
5. North Africa?

Round 7
1.
2. The Olympic?
3. 17
4.
5. Newsweek?
6.
7. A carpenter
8. Babylon
9.
10. Squid

Wow. This was a tough one. I'm not very optimistic.

Dan Edmunds said...

Round 2

1. Johanasberg?
2. That big rock thing
3. -
4. -
5. Graceland

Dan Edmunds said...

Round 3

1. -
2. Southampton
3. Oates
4. The Ashes
5. Beagle 2 (haven't you asked this one before)

Dan Edmunds said...

Round 4.

1. Krypton
2. -
3. The White Witch
4. The Mad hatter?
5. Klingons (took a while as didn't realise it was Speke with a Q)

Dan Edmunds said...

Attempt to finish it off.

Round 5

1. First boat to win it
2. Victory
3. Tate?
4. -
5. Tour de France

Round 6

No clue on any

Round 7

1. -
2. The Brittannic
3. 17
4. -
5. Rolling Stone
6. -
7. Carpenter
8. -
9. Singapore?
10. Raw fish

SpaceSquid said...

17 for Jamie, plus one for the pot. 19 for Senior Spielbergo. Just one more right answer needed to get you into joint first...