Connection Quiz

Return of the Connections quiz this weekend folks. Sorry its been away so long, but just for good measure here is one with 9 clues then a connection. Answers to follow during the week.

1  Topeka is the state capital of which US state?

2 What is the 55th wedding anniversary?

3 Which singer was the first wife of Roger Moore?

4 Sn is the chemical symbol for which element?

5 Which 80s TV series co-starred Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner?

6 How were Michelle Pfeiffer, Cher and Susan Sarandon collectively known in the title of a film?

7 Which Welsh born pirate was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica in 1674?

8 Which Disney film features the song The Circle of Life?

9 Which song contains the lyric, “Back to the howling old owl in the woods”?

10 What connects the previous nine answers?

Good luck!

Sport Relief 2012 Quiz! Results

Thankyou to the people who have taken part in the Sport Relief 2012 quiz. By now you will have received your answer's and scores as well as the final standings. I am happy to announced with 34 entries we raised over £100 for Sport Relief so thankyou to everyone who has taken part!

I hope you enjoyed the quiz and here were the top 5 - 

1. Simon Connors - 79 points

2. Michael Billiers - 76 points

3. Marie Porter - 75 points

4. Ernie Steeples - 67 points

5. Mark Vowers - 65 points

For the top three you have already been issued with the information on prizes, well done and I hope you all return to take part in the next Charity Quiz!

Book of the Week - The Penguin TV Companion Fourth Edition

For some time I knew that I needed to improve my TV knowledge. I am not a massive TV watched and tend to miss out on a lot of questions I should be lapping up. So for Xmas I treat myself to The Penguin TV Companion Fourth Edition which is put together by Jeff Evt has proved invaluable already.

This is a fine reference book and easily one of the best on TV I have seen, in fact it is the best. Its presented in an A-Z way with key shows being given full cast lists, interesting trivia, air dates, number of episodes and so much information quizzers will love it. Other entries include profiles of major actors, producers and influential figures, tv network information and bits of TV history. Its all here. I know its an old cliche but this book is very hard to put down.

I would say no matter what your level of TV knowledge this is an essential book on an quizzers self and anyone setting quizzers will find plenty too!

Here is a link to check out the book on Amazon -

The oldest of old chestnuts......The Top Most Common Pub Quiz Questions.

The title of this post may have mislead just a little bit, but I am referring back to a post I did here some time ago about questions that seem to haunt you. The old chestnuts that come out time and time again and I am on a mission to find the ten most common questions you have heard asked in your local pub quizzes, on tv game shows and in quiz books. Every quizzer must have certain questions that seem to haunt them over and over and if any of the readers of this blog can mention their's  I would be interested on here. You don't have to give me ten just any questions you see time and time again!

Ill start it off...I heard this at 5 pub quizzes in the space of two months, its been on Eggheads, the Chase and Breakaway recently  and in three quiz books I have been using.

What is the name of the scale used to measure the heat of chilli peppers? (or something similar)

Where to start with.....60's-80's music?

I have started attending a quiz where the music round carries a heck of a lot of points and I am finding myself exposed with massive gaps in my knowledge. In fact I have known for some time that 60-80's music is always something I have needed to improve upon and I am looking on advice on good ways to start off building my knowledge. Obviously I know the basic and have started making playlists on Youtube of number ones in each decade but would anyone have any books they could recommend, radio stations/programmes worth hearing (Sounds of the Sixties I like anyway!) or any tips on building my lagging knowledge. The 80's seems to come up a heck of a lot and being born in 1985 I find myself struggling with that decade as many quiz masters love to ask about it!

Site of the Week: Quizzy Heights

http://www.quizzyheights.co.uk/ 

A very quick update today. I have spent a few hours over the last week going through Quizzy Heights, a site that has bags of information on it. Granted, the layout is a bit confusion but trawl your way through it and you will find heaps of quiz questions and questions (free of course), some general some themed, bags of lists (although some are out of date) and other bits and bobs. A nice little reference site!

Mastermind Challenge

I have some spare time this evening before the show to be able do the Mastermind Challenge again this week. what this basically involves is seeing how many points you can score in the specialist round based on around a 15 minute read of the Wikipedia page. I have found it very very interesting in recent episodes to do this and the scores have varied a lot. So lets see what tonight has in store...

Its a double episode again starting at 7.30pm with the subjects
Nirvana
The 30 years War
Roy Grace novels of Peter James
History of Everton FC since 1992


The 8.00pm episode has -

William Yeates Hurlstone
The Olympics in London
The What Katy Did Next novels of Susan Coolidge
The life of Lord Byron

Recommended Reference Book

Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

As well as a mammoth of quiz books at home I have a stack of reference works. Sometime ago I paid around £20 for Brewsters Dictionary of Phrase and Fable only to discover a cheaper version of the book that Wordsworth publish for under £4. Yes, this is an older version but there is not a massive deal missing from this that appears in the newer Brewsters and the core information is all in here. In fact, there is actually facts in this cheaper version not in the full priced, updated editions.

The book really is a wonderful work of reference covering everything from mythology, modern sayings, the roots of words and barrels and barrels of other information. Me describing it really cannot do it justice but its well worth getting and an ideal gift for anyone interested in fascinating facts and information, quizzing knowledge of just food for the brain!

Here is a link to buy the book at a very low price on Amazon. well worth it.

If you are interested in the excellent updated edition as well here is the link to that....

Sport Relief 2012 Quiz! Entry....

EDIT: I have had a fair few entries for this so far so the more the merrier. Remember every penny is going to Sport Relief.

On many occasions over the past few years I have devised quizzes to coincide with various Charity Events, namely Comic Relief, Children in Need etc, and in the past have raised quite a lot of money for charity. 

This year however I have decided to use The Quiz Addict Blog as a platform to raise even more money, this time, with Sport Relief in mind. 

Sport Relief 2012 takes place next month and the advertising push as already begun with various bits and bobs going on.

To raise money for Sport Relief I have spent some time devising a very testing, hopefully very fun and enjoyable quiz for anyone to take part in.

The cost of entering the quiz is a mere £3 made payable via paypal to fully234@hotmail.com. Every single penny donated for the quiz will go to Sport Relief and there will also be some prizes for the winner which I am trying to sort out now. You will be emailed the quiz and given the email address to return it to. There will be a winner and leaderboard posted online. 

The quiz contains all variety of rounds with the main focus being on general knowledge and I have tried to incorporate as many anti-cheat measures as possible.

It is all for charity and I have put some time and effort into making sure the quiz is fun so please if you can spare it enter the quiz and hopefully I can raise a decent amount for Sports Relief 2012!

University Challenge - The Final!

University Challenge - The Final

Congratulations to the University of Manchester for victory last night in the 2012 University Challenge Final. In what has been a very entertaining series with some cracking match ups, quality teams and an all round ratings success, the final was always going to be tight.

Tristan Burke has shown some great knowledge throughout this years series and Manchester have always looked like a side that would be hard to beat. Mukherjee and Ben Pugh on the Pembroke side though were always going to be dangerous but it was the opening ten minutes which proved to be the key as Manchester streaked away with an early lead which Pembroke could never get back. A late onslaught was simply not enough and Pembroke will be kicking themselves that they did not start stronger otherwise would have had a run. 

A nice touch at the end with Camilla presenting the trophies to the winners and runners-up and a great end to the 50th series of this show. Well done Manchester!

The Quiz Addict Quiz Trek 2012 #7

Riley's, Sunderland

Riley's is of course a nationwide chain of snooker/pool clubs and since moving to Sunderland I have found myself in the venue on more than one occasion. Last week whilst in I noticed a poster for a St. Patricks day quiz and decided to head along on Saturday to try it out.

It timed nicely, with the Sunderland FA cup match on. I sat and watched that, in a very busy pub and at full timer I started to notice people completing what looked like quiz sheets. Asking behind the bar I found out the quiz was an "all day" quiz in which you simply collected the free sheets and handed them in. No time details were given, even when we handed in the sheet we were not told when the results were announced. Considering we completed it after the Sunderland game at about 3pm we knew it was going to be a long wait.

The first problem with any hand-out quiz is cheating is easier. The first time we actually noticed people playing the quiz was when we saw a team literally on google on their phones writing in answers. This put me off straight away but I had came for a quiz and I sure as heck was going to do it.

It seemed to be produced by a company called Party House and had a few Irish celebs to identify and 40 Irish themed questions. Some real old chestnuts and painfully obvious ones in their and a few that got me thinking. I did enjoy answering the questions but due to the format as soon as it was handed it and the bar maids did not now how it was being marked etc, we decided it probably was not worth sticking around as if it as an "all day" quiz then we probably would be there a very long time. Besides, I did it honestly and would only be annoyed when the results came back of the teams of cheats winning.

Nevertheless, another entry onto my quiz trek, Saturday Afternoon quizzing which is very rare but not something I would do again in a rush.

Quiz Shows - TV Viewing Figures

Sitting watching Eggheads a few nights ago I thought to myself how board I had become with the show. Don't get me wrong Ill sit and watch the show every night and have done since it started. I enjoy the questions, the fact that the show gives top quality quizzers tv time and it does throw up the odd great contest but at the end of the day I find it tough going now and often drift off during episodes. I thought to myself, I wonder how well this is doing??? Which lead to do a bit of research into TV viewing figures for quiz shows.

I started with Eggheads and as with all these shows I used the week ending 4th March for the figures. In BBC 2's top 30 shows of that week Eggheads appears 5 times with the highest being a 1.92 million being the 11th most watched show on the channel that week. This saw it behind QI, Dad's Army and Top Gear (4.83 million, easily the highest rated show on the channel). This is very impressive stuff for a show that has been going so long and I must say this surprised me a little. Its scheduled well at tea time which is ideal for quiz shows.

The University Challenge show that week though trounced Eggheads gaining 2.91 million. Obviously in a prime time slot you would expect it to get higher ratings and that 2.91 made UC the third most watched show on the channel, higher than anything on Sky or Five, even only 3 shows on Channel 4 gained higher ratings. Outside of the main two channels then (ITV and BBC1) University Challenge is one of the most watched shows on British Television, good stuff indeed!

Mastermind logged 1.74 for the week scraping in at 24th most watch on the channel with Perfection scoring similar figures. Mastermind I have always thought would do much better ratings wise if it was not on Friday nights prime time slot. 1.74 is by no means a bad figure but still, I think this could get closer to the UC figures if it was in the same slot.

Nevermind, no feature of The Chase in the Top 30 I was glancing at though so not too sure on how that has been performing, Ill look into it but the most surprising rating for me was a mere 1.1 for The Bank Job, Channel 4's big budget show. Obviously not hitting a note with audiences at all and if the figures stay this low this could be the last run. 

Other shows of notes....Who Dares Wins? with 5.36 million was clearly ahead of everything else and one of the ten most watched shows of the week, however that has the bonus of being linked to the lottery so is really a false rating in terms of the attraction of the quiz element. Still a good figure though as was the 4.35 million (40% share) that was gained by Celeb Pointless.

Call me boring but I found that rather interesting,

Mastermind Application.....

One of my main ambitions when it comes to quizzing is to appear on Mastermind. For the last few years I have been talking myself out of applying until a time comes when I feel confident that I will give a good account of myself.

But yesterday I thought to myself why wait and placed an online application to the show. The form was fairly standard for TV quizzes other than the specialist subject part which requires 4 subjects to be given as well as reading materials so they know what the subject means to you.

What subjects have I gone for then? Well, there are plenty of history based subjects I could have went with as that is the area which I have a background in but I took some advice from quizzing buddies who have been through the process and went for subjects based on popular culture. I know not ideal and not something I like seeing myself on the show but I want to increase my chances of appearing so have went for -

Eurovision 2000-present. This is my other main interest other than quizzing, sad I know, and I would do any area but I have tried to get away with just Eurovision in the 00's. This is my main hope. I also noticed the trend of TV shows being used as subjects so went for The Office (Uk Version) and the TV Character Alan Partridge. To finish it off I chose the band The Stereophonics.

Should this fail I will try more "academic" subjects next time but rather than wait I thought I would go for it!

Does anyone know much about the audition process and when they audition for the next series?

Breakaway

Breakaway

I finally got around to catching up with the first episode of new BBC 2 tea time quiz show Breakaway. I actually had a phone audition for this but it did not go any further L. Nick Hancock is the host and the game starts with 6 players and a respectable £10,000 up for grabs.

The game involves having to answer 30 questions with the contestants moving towards the end with each correct answer. After each set of three questions the contestants get the chance of breaking away and moving towards the prize on their own breakaway path……..basically they can ditch the team and try to go it alone. Lives can be earned to help the solo run as going alone means you risk getting eliminated. This is done in a buzzer question at the end of every set of three and not only is a live earned but the winner chooses the next category. In this first episode the team seemed keen to stick together from the off.

It did not take long for Damien to Break Away though and he had earned two lives so, not blaming him at all, decided to give it a shot. At this point he got the choice to ask someone to join him on the Break Away track…..this is a choice that can be refused and was on this occasion.  Breaking Away means your team are left lagging behind as you keep progressing towards the goal. Get one wrong, loose a live…..loose all your lives and you’re out. This happened to poor Damien on question 17. Once the Breakaway contestant gets it wrong, the team are brought up to the stage the Breakaway contestant ended on. Getting questions wrong means money is lost.

The end gets quite tense as you wait to see who may or may not breakaway and it makes for good TV viewing. The questions were nicely pitched, Hancock was a good host and the format flowed well. Again though a 45 minute show could easily have been cut down into a 30 minute format if they cut some of the chat but the questions do come thick and fast.  A lot of pop culture based questions as you would expect but still some nice questions in there!

University Challenge Book!

With the current series almost coming to an end I have been meaning to mention for a while that the University Challenge quiz book is something I would recommend to any keen quizzer. I have dipping into it again lately and find it be chocked full of great questions, plenty to learn and all in the style of the TV show. Definitely worth a place on any book shelf. Below is a link to buy the book on Amazon!

The Quiz Addict Quiz Trek 2012 #6

Chaplins, Sunderland

Thursday Nights

Due to the stresses and strains of moving, I have found myself with a severe lack of  quiz action lately but in my first week living in Sunderland I managed to get back on board. A friend of mine has ran this quiz for quite a few years now at the friendly Chaplins bar in Sunderland City Centre and this is about the third time I have been, the first however in 2012.

The quiz is rather popular and usually the pub is heaving but being March time I am told it tends to die off for a few weeks. There were still a decent number of teams on show on Thursday and the usual friendly atmosphere. 

The quiz opens with a picture round and moves onto a music round before going into sets of questions on current affairs, sport, film and tv and pot luck. Add to that a connections round and a wipeout round and you get a pretty diverse quiz. The questions are always well put together, thought provoking and tends to throw a good mix of general knowledge in amongst the pop culture which is always a good thing.

The standard was pretty high with a top score only about 8-9 of maximum and a few teams in and around that total. The wipeout round plays a key part in this however.

There is plenty else going on in the quiz with a prize for team names (based on a theme....i.e. combine a movie with hospitals....Emergency Ward 007 etc), a tempting jackpot which goes sometimes as high as £400. I believe this is getting capped at £100 so in terms of cash prizes its one of the biggest I have been to in the area.

All in all partly due to the fact that my friend runs it, and I have as different team as oppose to me and someone else, this is one of the most enjoyable quizzes I attend and anyone in the local area should try giving it a go. Good pub, good quiz!

Congratulations to Ray Ward!

With all the hustle and bustle of my move last week I did not get time to report on the Brain of Britain final. In what was one of the best episodes of the series, a close and competitive quiz with some excellent questions was won by Ray Ward who becomes the Brain of Britain 2012 champion! An excellent performance!

All Settled In....

Thanks to any readers for the patience in sticking with me throughout this week, obviously posting has been very scant this week as I settle into my new home combined with a busy time at work. Posting will return to normal this week!

Update

Just a quick update. I moved successfully to Sunderland on Friday and am just waiting for my internet to be connected. I am relying on a very dodgy phone connection at present so will hold off the major updates until later in the week!

Brain of Britain 2012 - Grand Final!

The Brain of Britain 2012 Grand Final takes place tomorrow at 3pm on BBC Radio 4. I have followed this series closely over the months, as you may have noticed with the recaps here on The Quiz Addict blog. It certainly has been another enjoyable series and tomorrow night’s line up is as follows –

Ian Clark

Rob Milnes

Robert Merrill

Ray Ward

Hopefully this will be a close final, with every quizzer in the line up having showed potential to win the title so far. Robert Merrill was on fire in his Semi Final and looks to be one of the strongest contests, Ian Clark won a tough semi-final and Rob Milnes and Ray Ward and both shown great quizzing ability so far so it could go either way. I predict Merrill will walk away with the crown of Brain of Britain 2012!

Either way I’m very much looking forward to the final!

Gateshead Thunder Competition

Any fans of Rugby League living in my native North East area may be interested to know that I have been in touch with the Gateshead Thunder Rugby club over the past few days and we are going to be offering some tickets for a home match as part of an upcoming competition. Any fans therefore stay tuned for the competition!

Mastermind Wikipedia Challenge - This Weeks Subjects

You may or may not have seen the Mastermind Wikipedia Challenge posts I have placed on the site recently. If you have then you will know what this is all about. If not, then briefly, these are the subjects for the specialist round of this weeks Mastermind. Take about 15-20 minutes reading Wikipedia pages, and other web pages if you like, on each one and see how many points you can get on each one. The results will be interesting I assure you.

Anyway we have another double helping this week so the eight subjects are...

Porridge (Sitcom)
Queen Victoria's Family
The Golfing Stories of PG Wodehouse
The Life and Times of Eliza Lynch

The Coast to Coast Walk
Pop Music of the 1980's
The Satirical Works of William Hogarth
Life and Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams

Some tough ones coming up tonight that will be hard to Wikipedia. Be interesting to see how much it works especially on subjects as broad as 80's pop music.

"Our Survey Said"....Quiz Giveway

http://www.pubsquiz.co.uk

Jason over at Pubs Quiz has provided a few quizzes in recent weeks free to readers of The Quiz Addict blog. The latest one comes in the style of the new "Our Survey Said" quiz which can be found as a PDF HERE.

As with everything from Pubsquiz you will find it well put together and fun to do. Thanks Jason!