My New E-Book - The Quiz Addict Quiz Book

I have now for some time been thinking about self-publishing a Quiz Book for Kindle. I write tons of questions for various purposes and thought publishing them through a Kindle e-book might be a good idea. Rather than just jump straight in and produce a large quiz book straight away I have decided to put together a smaller book, 20 rounds of 10 questions each (200 questions in all), with some of my favourite questions I have wrote in the past few months.

It is available on amazon. You don't need a kindle to read it as a free app will let you view in on your computer. Apologies for the rubbish cover. Any and all feedback would be much appreciated and I intend to make this into a series of books, perhaps themed etc, if all goes well with this one.


Thanks to anyone who tries it.

Daniel
Click HERE for the link.

Red Tooth

I mentioned Red Tooth quite a few times since starting the blog. I know the company divides a lot of opinion in the quizzing community, so I was just wondering what opinions any readers may have on the company?

In case you might not be aware, Red Tooth pretty much have a grip on the pub quiz market in the UK. they provide their own branded question sets and answer sheets to various pubs around the country and I am sure at some point anyone who attends pub quizzes even semi-regularly has played a Red Tooth Set. 

The "Its Your Round" set is the most common I have come across which involves a nice diverse format with pictures, connections, current affairs Trivia Trail (Last letter in the answer is first letter of the next) and Wipeout rounds. It is this quiz I am referring to when I say Red Tooth here as the other formats are a) less of a "quiz" and b ) less commons I have found.

I will set my stall out straight away. I like Red Tooth. I have played in Red Tooth quizzes regularly for a few years now and everyone I have played with has shared the same opinion. Red Tooth quizzes I go to tend to be well attended (I realise this isn't just the draw of the format of the quiz) showing they format works. Amongst the general pub quiz playing population there is no doubt they are enjoyed and played by thousands every week.

I must also add that when it comes to a quiz you simply cannot beat a quiz crafted by an experienced quiz master who labours all week to produce a set of questions he knows his audience will enjoy. These are the most creative, enjoyable and often best quizzes you can play in in a standard pub quiz. Red Tooth because of its very nature can never match this.

But Red Tooth is far better than having a lazy or reluctant quiz master. I would much rather have a Red Tooth quiz than have one simply printed from the first site a lazy question setter has found or one put together with no thought or effort. At least Red Tooth tries.

I have noticed also that the Red Tooth quizzes I have played in in the last 3 months, especially since the company has expanded into other areas, have improved. Gone are the "nobody cares" or "obscure" current affairs rounds, the trivia trail has much more thought and craft put into it and the Wipeout round has been improved. I have always enjoyed Red Tooth sets but whatever the change has been lately its one for the better,

I also like the diversity in the quiz in terms of the range of rounds. Don't get me wrong, I am not the sort of quizzer who needs a gimmick to enjoy the quiz. Give me a 50-straight up question set anyday. But in Red Tooth particularly the list style rounds test different kinds of knowledge  and you tend not to get many list rounds these days in other quizzes so its good to see!

So what is the opinion of others on Red Tooth and Red Tooth quizzes you have played in?

Wordsworth Book of Pub Quizzes

Again, the Wordsworth Book of Pub Quizzes is one of my favourite quiz books in my collection. I came across it by accident whilst browsing online but it has certainly impressed me. I think I have mentioned it before on the site but suffice to say in terms of breadth of questions, originality and well pitched questions there is plenty here to get stuck into. 

Worth a look!

Mastermind Standings

     

Heading into tonights show we are getting ever close to the semi finals. Here are the current standings for the series so far....

Qualified

Andrew Frazer -35
Roger Canwell - 33
Rachael Neiman - 33
Gregory Spiller - 32
Kathryn Palmer - 31
Christine Plume - 29
Jonathan Gordon - 29
Michael Wright - 29
Sean Howley -29
Mark Grant - 28
Rob White - 27
Richard Tarleton - 27
Nell Whiteway - 27
Mark Skinner - 26
Sian West - 26
Shahab Mossavat - 26
Matthew Bradshaw -26
Alcuin Edwards - 25
Aidan Mccquade - 24
John Chadwick - 23
Mark Roberts - 20

Highest Scoring Runners Up

Colin Daffern - 32
Chris Cann – 29

John Wheeler – 29
Helen Marshall - 28

Paul Whittaker - 27
Chris Quinn - 27
Peter Wharmby - 27

Other
Nathan Joss – 26 

lan Sharp - 26

Mike Foden - 26

Bart Smith - 25
Simon Rundell
Phil Bennion - 25

Andrew Hunt - 25
Graham Barker - 25
Nina Fetherston - 25
Philip Walters - 25
Julie Green - 25
Kirsa Lommerud Olsen - 25
Mark Cooper - 24
Jeff Lloyd - 24
Mark Kirby - 24

David Gow - 24
Andrew Granath - 24

Alan Wharmby - 24

Rosalind Winter - 24

Laurie Handcock – 24

Kevin Baker - 24 
Paul Sharp - 24
Tony Ryan - 23
Thomas Grinyer - 23
Rob Hemming - 23
Colin Wilson - 23
Roland Mcfall – 23

Hazel Humprheys - 22
Sam Goodyear - 22
Chris Kirk - 22
Les Wallace - 22

Graeme Marley -22

 Ian Copping - 22

Alan Haddick - 21 
Tim Parry - 21
Charlie Tinsley - 21
Aileen Lucas - 20
James Jack -20
Phil Saunders -20
Karen Barnes - 19
Kathy Richards - 19
Brian O Donnell - 19
Henry Morris - 19
Nick Mazonowicz - 19
Sarah Le Fevre - 19

Jackie Phillips - 19
Allan Nicholas - 18

Mathhew Clarke - 18
Nathan Scott – 18
Xavier Woodward - 18
Peter Gibbs - 17
Nick Gunatilleke - 17
Charlotte Mason - 17

Brig Rooke - 16
Katie Jamieson  -15

Barbara Bell - 15

Classic Mastermind

I only just realised yesterday but the BBC are repeating episodes of what they are calling "Classic Mastermind" on BBC2 at 2.15pm weekdays. It is starting with the 2003 series. Sadly, its not available on iplayer.

TQA Quiz Trek 2013 #3

 #3

Isis, Sunderland

Monday Nights

This week was my first visit of the year to one of my favourite quiz nights, and indeed favourite pubs, in Sunderland. In fact the Isis is perhaps one of my favourite pubs anywhere and is a charming little place full of character, friendly people and fantastic real ale.

The quiz takes place on a Monday night starting at 9pm and I was glad to see that they have not tinkered with the format. The question master is entertaining, friendly and welcoming to new teams and has a very loyal following which means that there are always a good range of teams in the venue. 

The night starts off with the "Its Your Round" Red Tooth quiz. I know Red tooth is not every bodies cup of tea but, as I will mention in an upcoming post I think they are improving rapidly, besides the point I have always enjoyed them. Pictures, Current Affairs, Top 5's, Connections, Trivia Trail....I am sure you are familiar with the format by now if you have played Redtooth.

Built into the night are rounds of card bingo, a deal or no deal game with the chance to win £250 and the night ends with the Red Tooth Fun Fortunes round which is basically family fortunes. Although I despise when they shove a family fortunes question into the normal quizzing rounds I really enjoy it as a stand alone quiz.

All in all the Isis is a friendly quiz night with Red Tooth quizzes, a great quiz master and a lovely pub. 

Mastermind Wiki Challenge

     

Due to a bust start to the year I have yet to have chance to do the Wiki Challenge on Mastermind but with the series now in its final few first rounds heats I should have time to have a go at the subjects this week. These being...

Red Dwarf
Marie Curie
Jasper Fforde Novel
Field Marshall Haig


Marie Curie and Haig should be the better ones to try this week. Always going to be difficult getting to grips with TV show and novel sets in a short time. Let me if you try it and how you get on!

Brain of Britain - Round 1 - Match 10

Brain of Britain - Round 1 - Match 10

As we get into the final few heats of this years Brain of Britain its shaping up to be a great year!

John Colemans

Bob Delciaro

George Sheldrick

Brian Rolls

The first round saw the contestants being pretty evenly matched as were the opening interchanges and unusually for Brain of Britain there were a heck of a lot of chestnuts amongst the set in this episode. There were some cracking questions as usual and the standard this year is proving to be very high indeed. I know a few people complain that the format is unfair but it always seems to be the contestant who has shown the most rounded knowledge that wins and this proved to be the case in this episode.

The final standings - 

George Sheldrick - 16

John Colemans - 13

Brian Rolls - 7

Bob Delciaro - 4

In context that leaves this years standings at 

Heat Winners

David Stainer - 26
Jill Goodwin  - 24
Rufus Stilgoe - 19
Clive Dunning - 17
Paul Jordan - 16
George Sheldrick - 16
Scott Dawson - 15

Anthony Fish - 14
David Buckle - 14

Rob Cruise - 11

Others

Jenny Dunn - 17 (2nd)
Darren Martin - 14 (2nd)
John Colemans - 13 (2nd)
Rod Riesco - 12 (2nd)
Paddy Hayes - 11 (2nd)
Ramadas Mullath - 11 (2md)

Carol Atkinson -10 (2nd)
Gordon Taylor - 10 (2nd)
Allison Jacobs - 9 (2nd)
George Duda - 5 (Tied 2nd)
Oliver Levy - 5 (Tied 2nd)
Gareth Parkin - 10
Steve O'Gorman - 9
John Newth - 9
Sarah Greenan - 8
Bel Freedman - 7

Philip Issac - 7
Andrew Ward - 7
Dave Tilley - 7

Brian Rolls - 7

Simon Mason  - 6

Chris Gould - 6

Douglas Dickie - 5
Bob Delciaro - 4
Jonathan Perry  - 4

David Hankin - 3
Julian Alrdige - 3

Dhruv Sharma - 2
Clare Green - 0

Bumper Pub League Quiz Book

I have suggested this book as being one of the best on the market on here before but it is well worth pointing any avid quizzers in the direction of The Bumper Pub League Quiz Book again. It does exactly what it says on the tin with a wide range of league standard questions (but in saying this it is accessible to all) and is presented in a league style format. The questions are well written, challenging and varied with plenty of hours fun to be had.

A great quiz book and one of the best on the Market!

TQA Quiz Trek #2

 #2

Hastings Hill, Sunderland

Sunday Night

Last night I decided to head to the Hastings Hill Sunday Night Quiz. When I lived in Peterlee, a small town, there was a lot of choice for quizzing on a Sunday Night but since moving to Sunderland, where I imagined there would be much more choice, Sunday is one of the least active quizzing nights of the week.

Hastings Hill is a nice and friendly pub that hosts two quiz nights a week. They also have a team in the local quiz league in which I play so I am very familiar with the venue. The quiz kicked off at 9pm and was well attended with around about 10 teams, some of which were very large so there was a decent crowd in.

The quiz starts on a picture round, with a twist. A nice refreshing change to see! Basically, I gather, each week there will be a theme (this weeks was Famous Ships) and you use the pictures as clues. For instance, there are 20 pictures and you combine two to get an answer. Last night there was a black square and Babe the Pig leading to....Black Pig. The trick is the pictures are jumbled all over the page so its not as simple as it sounds and it is quite tough. You could in theory ignore the pictures and list 10 ships and try your luck which is one minor flaw, but its pitched in a way to avoid it simply being the "first 10 ships that will come to mind". And also given the winning teams only dropped 2-3 points working it out is much more sensible. A good opener.

It continues with a music quiz and again something fresh here that I am not sure I agree with but it still made an interesting round. You basically select to either identify the 10 old or 10 new tracks. You can make this decision after they have been played, hence scrap paper is handy. In a turn up for the books we found the "old tracks" to be much easier than the newer ones. (Being mid-20's this was something of a surprise).

The questions follow and the one down side is that there are only 20 of them. Don't get me wrong they were good questions, a nice connection round and  all but this part of the night felt "tacked on". It was as if it was the least most important part of the event. This is just me being snobby of course as given the attendance, the mood and the banter with the teams from the excellent quizmistress it is obviously a successful way to operate.

They run a few rounds of Card Bingo in between round which for many seems to be the big draw and its a well rounded night. I would say its more a "social" quiz than anything else that appeals more to perhaps people who don't usually attend quizzes or just enjoy a relaxing easy going quiz for a Sunday. Thats not to discredit the quiz at all. Its superb at what it does and I definitely enjoyed it very much as did my other half. Like I say the one downside being only 20 questions.

I certainly would go back again if I was in the mood for this sort of quiz and if you are looking for a good pub for a Sunday Night with an accessible quiz thrown in. Try it out!

Rory Bremner on "quizzers"

With Face the Clock now well into its run, Rory Bremner gives his opinion on quizzing and quizzers HERE

National Television Awards

It was probably a long shot hoping that The Chase would win the "voted-for-by-the-public" NTA award this week for best Daytime show this week. It was great to see a quiz show nominated for the award but with the Goliath that is This Morning in there and the weeks of self-promoting it has done to get votes, its hardly surprising it won.

It did make me wonder though, considering how many quiz shows are on in any one given week, could a National Television Award for the Best Quiz Show (I suppose you could say Gameshow?) be out of the question? I think not. Producing a quiz show takes great skill, time and effort I would imagine. Inventing a new format that works even more so. Quiz shows have some of the most steady and loyal audiences, The Chase is a ratings smash, University Challenge and Mastermind are always in the Top 10 BBC shows of the week and even Eggheads has its moments where it seems to appear on that list. Throw into the towel all the many shows Channel 4 and ITV have thrown at us and there is plenty to choose from.

Perhaps it would open the cane of worms whereby every genre would be then expecting an award and it maybe my bias but in a publicly voted awards ceremony, why not place in a tv genre that is and always has been fondly loved by the public.

Podcast Recommendation

I may have mentioned on the site before that I am something of a fan of podcasts. Thats underplaying it a little....my iphone is jam packed with all sorts of podcasts from all sorts of sources. Ideal for taking in quiz information, cementing knowledge and above all else a very enjoyable medium. Most podcasts are free meaning the makers often aren't tied to trying to "appeal" to everyone and work under freedoms they may not have had in TV and Radio.

History According to Bob is one such podcast. Bob is a passionate history professor and over the years has covered a range of subjects on a variety of podcasts. Everything is explained well with plenty of facts and its ideal fro a quick brush up on key events in history and an ideal launch pad for further reading.

I have spent many hours listening to these shows and enjoyed them considerably. Try for yourself by typing it into the Apple Store or they can be downloaded as MP3's HERE. All free of course.

Mastermind Current Standings

     

Heading into tonights show we are getting ever close to the semi finals. Here are the current standings for the series so far....

Qualified

Andrew Frazer -35
Roger Canwell - 33
Rachael Neiman - 33
Gregory Spiller - 32
Kathryn Palmer - 31
Christine Plume - 29
Jonathan Gordon - 29
Michael Wright - 29
Sean Howley -29
Mark Grant - 28
Rob White - 27
Richard Tarleton - 27
Nell Whiteway - 27
Sian West - 26
Shahab Mossavat - 26
Matthew Bradshaw -26
Alcuin Edwards - 25
Aidan Mccquade - 24
John Chadwick - 23
Mark Roberts - 20

Highest Scoring Runners Up

Colin Daffern - 32
Chris Cann – 29

John Wheeler – 29
Helen Marshall - 28

Paul Whittaker - 27
Chris Quinn - 27
Peter Wharmby - 27

Other
Nathan Joss – 26 

lan Sharp - 26

Mike Foden - 26

Bart Smith - 25
Phil Bennion - 25

Andrew Hunt - 25
Graham Barker - 25Nina Fetherston - 25
Philip Walters - 25
Julie Green - 25
Kirsa Lommerud Olsen - 25
Mark Cooper - 24
Jeff Lloyd - 24
Mark Kirby - 24

David Gow - 24
Andrew Granath - 24

Alan Wharmby - 24

Rosalind Winter - 24

Laurie Handcock – 24

Kevin Baker - 24 
Paul Sharp - 24
Tony Ryan - 23
Thomas Grinyer - 23
Colin Wilson - 23
Roland Mcfall – 23

Hazel Humprheys - 22
Sam Goodyear - 22
Chris Kirk - 22
Les Wallace - 22

Graeme Marley -22

 Ian Copping - 22

Alan Haddick - 21 
Tim Parry - 21
Charlie Tinsley - 21
Aileen Lucas - 20
James Jack -20
Phil Saunders -20
Karen Barnes - 19
Kathy Richards - 19
Brian O Donnell - 19
Henry Morris - 19
Nick Mazonowicz - 19
Sarah Le Fevre - 19

Jackie Phillips - 19
Allan Nicholas - 18

Mathhew Clarke - 18
Nathan Scott – 18
Xavier Woodward - 18
Peter Gibbs - 17
Nick Gunatilleke - 17
Charlotte Mason - 17

Brig Rooke - 16

Barbara Bell - 15

Eggheads Audition

With snow causing the cancellation of quiz league this week, and the weather hitting any other quizzing plans I had it was turning into an uneventful week until I was informed by a friend that our Eggheads Application has resulted in an audition which we will be having a week on Monday.

Auditions in the past have not went great for me, so any tips for those of you that have auditioned for Eggheads would be much obliged.  

TQA Quiz Trek 2013 - #1

 

#1

Chaplins, Sunderland

Thursday Nights

If you were reading the blog last year you will have perhaps noticed my "Quiz Trek" which I embarked upon. This was basically a review of quizzes in the local area and due to moving home I was not able to get through as many as I would have liked. The series of posts will try and cover as many different quizzes as possible. For instance, even though I attend Chaplins nearly every week it will only feature once in the "trek". I hope to attend a good number of different quizzes in the year and I know from feedback last years was helpful for people finding local quizzes so if you have been to any let me know!

I start off with one of my most regular quiz nights, that being Chaplins quiz on a Thursday Night. It kicks off usually around 8.30pm with the picture sheets before the main quiz beginning around 9pm. The pub is located in the city centre, just near the bus station and metro station and in my experience has always been a welcoming and friendly. 

The quiz is ran by a good friend of mine who has plenty of quiz experience so you know its in safe hands. The range of questions is always good with well balanced rounds. The only slight problem perhaps is that out of a possible 75 points, 20 of those are taken up with 10 pictures and 5 Artist Track music rounds. I often find therefore than the whole quiz rests on which team does better here. A really bad round on either makes it hard to come back. Not ideal as I much prefer a straight-up quiz but a bit of diversity now and then doesn't hurt.

The questions are broken into rounds, sports, TV, Current Affairs etc with a Connections Round (always cracking!) and a Wipeout  Round (one guess in the round goes wrong and the whole round is wiped out) which adds some tactics. 

The night is capped off with a  jackpot of at least £100 pound. If your number is drawn you get one shot at a question on the mic to have a go at winning. Thrown in to the night as well is a booby-prize for the second last time and a prize for best team name (a theme is given every week to keep it fresh).

All in all its a fun night. There is not quite the grasp on cheating that I would like to see but it does not have such a huge bearing on the quiz. Its well attended and I am sure any quizzer would enjoy it!

The Northern Echo Superbrain

I have only recently discovered this little gem myself thanks to a fellow player in the League. Every year the Northern Echo paper seemingly puts together a Superbrain quiz for local players to attempt. There is a decent cash prize, anyone can enter as far as I can see and the closing date is January 26th. Even if you have no intention of entering or trying the mammoth quiz then its still well worth a look at as there are quality questions aplenty in the quiz as a whole.

Click HERE for the quiz in full.

Brain of Britain Update

     

Again I was late in catching up with this weeks Brain of Britain. The luxury of having a Kindle now with iplayer built in is making me very lazy when it comes to listening to this! Anyway, another great episode that was won by Clive Dunning who moves into the next round. Ron Riesco puts himself in with a chance of being a highest scoring runner up with his score of 12.

Clive Dunning - 17
Rod Riesco - 12
Gareth Parkin - 10
Amanda Lindsey - 4

In context that leaves the overall standings at....

Heat Winners

David Stainer - 26
Jill Goodwin  - 24
Rufus Stilgoe - 19
Clive Dunning - 17
Scott Dawson - 15

Anthony Fish - 14
David Buckle - 14

Rob Cruise - 11

Others

Jenny Dunn - 17 (2nd)
Darren Martin - 14 (2nd)
Rod Riesco - 12 (2nd)
Paddy Hayes - 11 (2nd)

Carol Atkinson -10 (2nd)
Gordon Taylor - 10 (2nd)
Allison Jacobs - 9 (2nd)
George Duda - 5 (Tied 2nd)
Oliver Levy - 5 (Tied 2nd)

Gareth Parkin - 10

Steve O'Gorman - 9
Sarah Greenan - 8
Bel Freedman - 7

Philip Issac - 7
Dave Tilley - 7
Simon Mason  - 6

Chris Gould - 6

Douglas Dickie - 5
Jonathan Perry  - 4

David Hankin - 3
Julian Alrdige - 3

Dhruv Sharma - 2
Clare Green - 0

Macmillan Charity Quiz

Be part of Mammoth Quiz in aid of charity

7:00am Thursday 10th January 2013 in News

Macmillian fundraising managers Sally Millington (left) and Crystal Ness

MACMILLAN Cancer Support is looking for local groups and businesses in Malton to host a quiz on February 22 to raise vital funds for the cancer charity.

The Mammoth Quiz is Macmillan’s nationwide quiz, which has raised £68,000 for Macmillan since 2009 and holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest simultaneous quiz.

This year, Macmillan wants the quiz to be their biggest ever and so needs lots of Malton locals to register for the event.

Macmillan fundraising manager for North Yorkshire Sally Millington, said: “We are really excited about our Mammoth Quiz and we are hopeful lots of people will take part to help us make 2013’s quiz the biggest ever for Macmillan.

“The quizzes can be held anywhere, from the local pub or bowling club to a local factory, office or school.

“It’s a really nice way of raising some money while having fun with friends, family or work colleagues.

“And let’s face it – most of us like the chance to show off our general knowledge skills.”

It costs £10 to register with the money going to Macmillan to help fund vital cancer services.

Every person who signs up to host a Mammoth Quiz will be sent a 2013 quiz, fundraising materials, tips for organising a quiz and information about Macmillan.

The Mammoth Quiz takes place on February 22, but Macmillan says organisations can still hold a Mammoth Quiz after the date if they can’t make that time.

They are encouraging as many people as possible to enjoy a great evening at the same time as doing something worthwhile for a fantastic cause.

Sally said: “It would be great to get as many quizzes as possible happening on February 22.

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“However, we know not everyone who wants to take part in a quiz to raise money for us will be able to make that time, so quiz packs are still available to groups which want to hold their event at a later date.

“The main thing is to help make the quiz bigger and better than ever before and to raise funds to help support people living with cancer.”

To register for your 2013 quiz pack or to find out more about the Mammoth Quiz, phone quiz master Anna Webb on 01832 274075 or emailanna@webboundleco.uk

Anyone who feels they need support and advice from Macmillan should visit macmillan.org

NOTE: I have of course copied and pasted this from HERE but anyone can take part and of course I am sure you will agree this is a very good cause indeed!

This weeks league: NUMP, wrong questions that are not wrong questions

This weeks league match on Wednesday was again, as enjoyable as ever. A close run affair between the top two teams in the table at present which we managed to win 34-31. On a personal note I continue to add points to the team. I have mentioned before my initial worry on joining the league was that I would not be able to answer any questions but I have proved my worth I feel in recent weeks. There are no individual questions in the league which is a very positive thing in my view but this week I managed to chip in with answers other team members seemed not to know including the kind of animal Jeffrey from the Toys R Us ads is and something of a chestnut to me, the current England footballer who won his first 5 caps at five different clubs.

And then there was NUMP.....

Going back before I even started this blog and was only quizzing casually I got a question on personal ads wrong. You know, those lonely heart ads where people look for a GSOH and someone with their OHAC. Anyway....NUMP came up and I had no idea. I always try to learn from quizzes I go to and think thats a key way to improve. Whether its a local quiz, a 10 question set from the paper or a 240 set from a GP if I go wrong I read around the subject to drill it in. Personal Ad's had been something I had therefore looked into. And sure enough at the league this week..."What does NUMP stand for in lonely heart ads?".

Without a shadow of a doubt, and to the amusement of my team mates, I gave the answer "No Ugly Men Please" for the points.

Of course the quiz league continues to show up some areas of weakness which I need to work on. There are questions I am still unable to hazard a sensible guess at but my knowledge is certainly improving with every match and the company continues to be great.

Roll on next week!

Face The Clock

I have been watching the new Channel 4 mid-afternoon gameshow Face The Clock for a couple of weeks now. My initial impressions of the show were not that great but over the weeks I have become a little more accustomed to it.

The show is hosted by Rory Bremner and if I were to say it resembles the game of "Pass the Bomb" you might get the idea. Contestants build up money by answering questions, nothing unusual there. They can "question or nominate" to use a popular phrase and should a question be answered wrongly you keep getting asked them until you get one right! If you are stuck facing questions when the timer goes off then you are out. The tactics come in the fact that the contestants know what the timer could possible be (from a given range of times) and it creates a tactical game. The game side of it is quite interesting and the whole show is held at a good fast pacing.

The questions themselves are relatively easy with one or two trickier ones thrown in. Think pre £1,000 standard on WWTBAM and you have the idea.

Its worth watching as its a fun format and although it certainly is not a "must see" there are far worse quiz shows out there to spend your time on.

World Almanac 2013

Sadly a lot of Almanacs have gone by the way side, probably drowned out by the information available online. However, one title has remained and I received the latest version as a Xmas present. Suffice to say with it being featured on the site, its one I would recommend.

The book contains all the reference topics you would expect and rather than just list events from the past year i.e. Booker Prize Winner it lists all such winners since the prizes came into being. It covers all major quizzing subjects with added bits of detail, plenty of trivia to go with the fact and a great overall range of material to work with. It is American though which means the first 50-70 pages which cover the US Election in minute detail might be irrelevant or uninteresting to some but the whole scope of the book make this an essential reference work!

The above link is about the cheapest price around for the title and its available in hardback or paperback.

Quizzing Week...

The first full of the week and after the Xmas break it was back into a range of quizzes to kick things of for 2013.

The return of the Sunderland Echo Quiz League was something I was very much looking forward. After a Xmas break of a couple of weeks the first match for us (Museum Vaults) was at Newbottle. The match turned out to be one of the best of the season so far with a very narrow win. After trailing by over 8 points going into the second half we managed to stage a comeback and win by a mere point.

Again I am really enjoying the league and would urge anyone to seek out a local league. If you are in the North-East area the Sunderland League is very welcoming and friendly. Its improving my knowledge on a weekly basis and is much more fun than a standard pub quiz.

Speaking of a standard pub quiz my first of the year was a profitable one this week. Now, I am never keen on themed quizzes as I have mentioned before but I do love a Review of the Year quiz and my local quizmaster put together a corker this week. Luckily, a lot of my time lately has been spent in reviews of the year, Almanacs and such like as well as the usual round up in the papers so I managed to dig out a lot more answers than usual and got by far the best score I have achieved in a team of 2 at this quiz. We missed the win by one point after not taking a risk on a wipeout round but the overall quiz was great!

I was also drawn out for the 2nd Jackpot of the night in which I faced a question "For what play did James Corden win a Tony Award in 2012?".  Another little earner for me on that front with a cash prize. To be fair, I would not have got the question had I been drawn out first (thats the number I would have picked) which was on 'Homeland" but either way a nice little start to the year.

This week the league involves a top of the table clash at one of the best pubs in Sunderland (Kings Arms) with a GP in Yorkshire only a couple of weeks away.

Chairty Quiz

Brainboxes urged to sign up for charity pub quiz

Teams are being urged to sign up for the fifth annual Thames Valley Pub Quiz Championships.

Brainboxes will go head to head in the competition, organised by the Rotary Club of Maidenhead Thames, which will be hosted by Tim Brooke-Taylor.

Last year's event attracted more than 300 people and raised about £3,000 for charities including the Thames Valley Adventure Playground in Bath Road, Taplow, which will also benefit from the 2013 quiz.

Tickets for the March 15 event cost £15 for teams who sign up before January 31 and include a fish supper at the Holiday Inn in Manor Lane, Maidenhead.

Call 01628 624706 for details.

Note: Just thought I would add this to the site for anyone in the area. A very good cause indeed!

Brain of Britain Update

                                              

With the next episode due to air today, just quick update for the overall Brain of Britain standings for the series so far which incorporates last weeks results which I did not get chance to input. Already shaping up to be a good series. 

Overall standings for the series...

Heat Winners

David Stainer - 26
Jill Goodwin  - 24
Rufus Stilgoe - 19
Scott Dawson - 15

Anthony Fish - 14
David Buckle - 14

Rob Cruise - 11

Others

Jenny Dunn - 17 (2nd)
Darren Martin - 14 (2nd)
Paddy Hayes - 11 (2nd)

Carol Atkinson -10 (2nd)
Gordon Taylor - 10 (2nd)
Allison Jacobs - 9 (2nd)
George Duda - 5 (Tied 2nd)
Oliver Levy - 5 (Tied 2nd)
Steve O'Gorman - 9
Sarah Greenan - 8
Bel Freedman - 7

Philip Issac - 7
Dave Tilley - 7
Simon Mason  - 6

Chris Gould - 6

Douglas Dickie - 5
Jonathan Perry  - 4

David Hankin - 3
Julian Alrdige - 3

Dhruv Sharma - 2
Clare Green - 0

Mastermind Update

                                                     

Its been one of those weekends so I did not quite get chanced to write up on the Mastermind show this week. For a full report see HERE

I have though placed this weeks score, in what I found to be a very fun episode, in the table below to show the series so far. I think we have five weeks of heats left before moving into the Semi Finals.

Qualified

Andrew Frazer -35
Roger Canwell - 33
Rachael Neiman - 33
Gregory Spiller - 32
Kathryn Palmer - 31
Christine Plume - 29
Jonathan Gordon - 29
Michael Wright - 29
Sean Howley -29
Mark Grant - 28
Rob White - 27
Richard Tarleton - 27
Sian West - 26
Shahab Mossavat - 26
Matthew Bradshaw -26
Alcuin Edwards - 25
Aidan Mccquade - 24
John Chadwick - 23
Mark Roberts - 20

Highest Scoring Runners Up

Colin Daffern - 32
Chris Cann – 29

John Wheeler – 29
Helen Marshall - 28

Paul Whittaker - 27
Chris Quinn - 27
Peter Wharmby - 27

Other
Nathan Joss – 26 

lan Sharp - 26

Mike Foden - 26

Bart Smith - 25

Andrew Hunt - 25
Graham Barker - 25Nina Fetherston - 25
Philip Walters - 25
Julie Green - 25
Kirsa Lommerud Olsen - 25
Mark Cooper - 24
Jeff Lloyd - 24
Mark Kirby - 24

David Gow - 24
Andrew Granath - 24

Alan Wharmby - 24

Rosalind Winter - 24

Laurie Handcock – 24

Kevin Baker - 24 
Paul Sharp - 24
Tony Ryan - 23
Thomas Grinyer - 23
Colin Wilson - 23
Roland Mcfall – 23

Hazel Humprheys - 22
Sam Goodyear - 22
Chris Kirk - 22
Les Wallace - 22

Graeme Marley -22

 Ian Copping - 22

Alan Haddick - 21 
Charlie Tinsley - 21
Aileen Lucas - 20
James Jack -20
Phil Saunders -20
Karen Barnes - 19
Kathy Richards - 19
Brian O Donnell - 19
Henry Morris - 19
Nick Mazonowicz - 19
Sarah Le Fevre - 19

Jackie Phillips - 19
Allan Nicholas - 18

Mathhew Clarke - 18
Nathan Scott – 18
Xavier Woodward - 18
Nick Gunatilleke - 17
Charlotte Mason - 17

Brig Rooke - 16

Barbara Bell - 15

BezzerWizer

You may have seen the board game BezzerWizer around in stores such as The Works this year and I was given it as a gift. After a few games I think this has one of the best formats of any Board Game I have played for some time and also some cracking questions. There is however a downside.

The basic format is simple. There are a range of categories in the game. 20 if I remember correctly ran ranging from Sport, TV, Geography, Art....you know what to expect. At the beginning of each round a player draws 4 titles from the bag each with a category on them. You then rank whichever categories you have in order of what you feel best at. For instance, if you are a Sport expert your Sport tile will go on the 4 point space on the board whereas something you are less comfortable with you can place on the one point scale. Once all four categories are ranked by each player play begins.

There is an added twist with each player being given a Z token they can use to "steal" an opponents category and two "b" tokens to use when they think a player will answer wrongly. This adds tactics to the game. As you earn points and move around the board tactics increase more as round by round you have to think on your feet. As the game closes in each move is worth only one point to help even it out and tactics come into play regarding stealing subjects etc.

All in all the format is perfect.

However, little did I know, the game is American and thus the nature of some subjects is American, very American. With knowledge required sometimes of the inner workings of one particular episode of Seinfeld you can feel hard done to some times. I would say 10% of questions are "too-American-based" for UK players. Obviously, this isn't a bad thing if you are American but it can be annoying when you cannot even hazard a guess.

Still the level of questions is great in the other 90% with a good balance and range to test any quizzer. Worth a luck if you accept that its American focused.


Below is the Amazon Link but its much cheaper if you hunt out in a local shop.