Quiz League Set - Rounds 1-4

 As well as playing in the Wednesday Quiz League as mentioned earlier, as part of Disparate Origins we also compete on a Tuesday Night in the Quarantine Virtual Quiz League. The major difference between the leagues is the Wednesday Quiz League is set by paid setters, the Tuesday league is set by the teams playing. Last week it was our turn to set and I thought I would post the questions up on the blog for you to have a go at!

If you would like a copy of this in a word document to use in friendlies etc please email me at daniel@thequizaddict.com  and Ill send it over. Here are Rounds 1-4 (individual questions) and Ill post the rest of the set later in the week.

I collated and edited the set with the writers being myself, Tom Mead, Mat Williams, Liam McCarthy and David Hogg....

Quarantine Quiz League

Set by Disparate Origins

Round 1

1a	Designed by Frédéric Bartholdi, and with a framework built by Gustave Eiffel, the Statue of Liberty was a gift to the USA from which European country	France
1b	Beaujolais is a French AOC [Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée] wine generally made of the Gamay grape in which Wine Region?	Burgundy
2a	The recipe for which drink is a secret and is kept in two halves in safety deposit boxes located in two different Dallas banks? It has used the advertising slogans “So Misunderstood” and “What’s the worst that can happen”	Dr Pepper
2b	The novels ‘The Dressmaker’ by Beryl Bainbridge and ‘Ruby Flynn’ by Nadine Dorris are both set primarily in which UK city?	Liverpool
3a	Having observed the angle of the sun in two wells, Eratosthenes was able to calculate the size of the Earth.  At the time, he was the chief librarian of which city's iconic library?	Alexandria
3b	The "sieve of Eratosthenes" is an ancient logarithm for finding all of what subset of natural numbers within any given limit?	Prime Numbers
4a	What was the surname of Charles Lewis, who opened a “stationery and fancy goods emporium” in Lower Manhattan in 1837? The company he founded now has more than 400 stores worldwide	Tiffany
4b	Taking its name from the Greek word for Skull, what popular board game, that has had various editions since its first release 22 years ago, advertises itself with the slogan “The game for your whole brain”?	Cranium

 

 

Round 2

1a	Moose, a Jack Russell Terrier who died in 2006, is most famous for playing Eddie on which TV show?	Frasier
1b	The Spruce tree displayed each year in Trafalgar Square over the Christmas period is a gift from which Scandinavian country as a token of appreciation to 'the people of London for their assistance during the years 1940-45'?	Norway
2a	Who was the President of the USA at the time of the Alaska Purchase in 1867? Two years prior to this he had assumed the Presidency after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln	Andrew Johnson (Prompt on Johnson)
2b	In power since 1994, Alexander Lukashenko is one of Europe’s longest ruling non-royal leaders. He is the current President of which country?	Belarus
3a	Berlioz’s opera Beatrice et Benedict is loosely based on the events of which Shakespeare play?	Much Ado About Nothing
3b	Which of the Wombles was named after a town In Scotland? He is the Wombles’ engineer, and was based on the author’s brother	Tobermory
4a	Starting as a crowdfunded project on Kickstarter in 2011, which party game, requires players to complete fill-in-the-blank statements using words or phrases typically deemed as offensive, risqué or politically incorrect ?	Cards Against Humanity
4b	What does the C stand for in the abbreviation UCAS?	(The Universities and) COLLEGES (Admissions Service)

 

 

Round 3

1a	Scottish sculptor Andy Scott is famous for public artworks made of steel and bronze. Several of his most famous works depict horses; in which northern English city was “Equus Altus” unveiled in 2013? This depiction of a packhorse carrying a roll of cloth is located inside the Trinity shopping centre.	Leeds
1b	Flash, a Basset Hound, appeared in several episodes of which American TV show? In the show, his owner was Roscoe Coltrane.	The Dukes of Hazzard
2a	One of Europe’s longest serving leaders, Viktor Orbán has twice served as Prime Minister of which country? He is currently in the 10th year of his second reign of power	Hungary
2b	The recipe for which drink is a secret said to be known to only three people at a time, all of whom are members of the Barr family? Advertising campaigns for this drink include the slogans “Get you through” and another mentioning it being produced “from girders”	Iron Bru
3a	Which of the Wombles was named after a city in Russia? He is the most sporty of the Wombles, and is especially good at golf.	Tomsk
3b	Which former WBO Heavyweight Champion, who passed away aged just 44 in 2013, lost only three times in his professional career, the second of which came against Lennox Lewis in a high profile clash in 1995? He also appeared in a co-starring role in Rocky V	Tommy Morrison
4a	When Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave his first full length Radio interview since the partial easing of lockdown on 29th June 2020, it was for which newly established radio station operated by a major UK Newspaper?	Times Radio
4b	What was the surname of Andrew, who opened a men’s clothing store in Washington DC in 1867. Moving their headquarters to New York in 1902, the company he founded now has stores across the Us and in six other countries worldwide?	Saks

 

 

Round 4

1a	Claret is a traditional term used in Britain to describe red wines from which French wine region?	Bordeaux
1b	Scottish sculptor Andy Scott is famous for public artworks made of steel and bronze. Several of his most famous works depict horses; in which Scottish town/council area was “The Kelpies” unveiled in 2014? This depiction of 2 horse heads stands next to the Forth and Clyde canal.	Falkirk
2a	The novels ‘Zuleika Dobson’ by Max Beerbohm and ‘The Last Bus’ to Woodstock by Colin Dexter are both set in which UK city?	Oxford
2b	Who was the President of the USA at the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803? He was the third President of the United States	Thomas Jefferson
3a	Which British boxer, formerly a World Cruiserweight Champion, twice defeated David Haye in two high profile contests in 2017 and 2018? He also appeared in the 2015 movie “Creed”	Tony Bellew
3b	Verdi’s opera Falstaff is based on the events of three of Shakespeare’s plays. Henry IV parts 1 and 2 are two of them. Which is the other?	The Merry Wives of Windsor
4a	What does the C stand for in the abbreviation ACAS?	(The Advisory,) CONCILIATION (and Arbitration Service)
4b	When broadcaster Simon Mayo left BBC Radio 2 in 2019, he joined which newly established classically focused radio station that in part shares a name with a famous opera house?	Scala Radio

 

Mastermind - 2020/2021 - Episode 1

 

Mastermind 2020/2021

Episode 1 - Heat 1

 

The latest series of Mastermind began on Monday night on BBC Two as part of its extensive Quizzy Mondays line up. Airing for the foreseeable future at 7.30pm the 2020/2021 edition has a few known names from the world of quiz taking part, an interesting selection of subjects and thus far has been recorded in the midst of a Pandemic.  

 

There is of course no audience but all else remains. 96 contestants….one winner. So what will this series throw up? We shall see...It all began on Monday night with these 4 contestants taking the chair...

 

-        Adrian Segens

-        Sally Wilson

-        Emma Haley

-        Tom Lee

 

At the end of the specialist round the standings were as follows

 

Emma Haley	Black Books	11
Sally Wilson	Julie Andrews	11
Adrian Segens	The Levellers	10
Tom Lee	Isabella of Castille	9

 

All very close and the only disappointing observation was that the length of the questions issue that I know plagues so many viewers and quizzers remains. Particularly during Emma Haley’s set, there was a range of question with heaps of unnecessary wording. It takes an extra degree of concentration to remember what is being asked for after such a long question. I do understand the need for Mastermind to be fair, and each player getting roughly the same amount of questions on the Specialist round, but surely overlong questions isn’t the way to do it?

Either way, all 4 players had superb rounds with a nice range of subjects setting up what would be an interesting GK Round! Everyone was still in with a chance…

Tom Lee stepped up first and hit his stride early on. Again it was obvious from the outset that the long-over-worded questions would continue into the GK round! Tom coped well with the as always diverse subject matter Mastermind throws up and hit double figures to take his total to 21. A couple of stoppers in the set (Horse that won the Gold Cup and Grand National in 1934 etc) but it had certainly passed me by that Vera Wang was a failed Olympian! Good performance setting a marker for the rest!

 

Adrian Segens was next up and got off to a strong start. The round was typified by something all quizzers go through….the 50/50 going the wrong way. Barbie/Cindy, the Tetralogy question and the likes of LA Stories/Once Upon Tim in Hollywood may have all been the pressures of the chair. 7 scored bringing a total of 17. Tom Lee was still the man to beat…

 

Sally Wilson came to the chair needing at least 10 to catch Tom and was hit with a sport question early on (Which team won the 2020 Premier League?) and a pair of Science questions which slowed down the scoring. Mid-round a string of solid answers set Sally on the path to reaching the target of 21, and with a ‘just on the buzzer’ question about Kelvin Fletchers soap roots, this secured a score of 21 meaning the game was certainly going to a tiebreak!

 

Emma Haley concluded the first episode of this series of Mastermind with a confident display, looking unshaken throughout as she rattled through her General Knowledge scoring points across the board.  At around the 18 point mark, the questions seemed to ramp up and questions on the likes of The Great British Sewing Bee, Jim Reeves and F Scott Fitzgerald left Emma matching Tom and Sally’s 21 with a triple tiebreak needed. The final question for Emma was a horrible keyboard related question that would be a nightmare to work out under the pressure of the chair!

 

So a triple tiebreak it was (not the first time Mastermind have chosen a tiebreak episode to kick off the series but as John Humphreys said…the first time we had a triple!)

 

The tiebreak set I felt was nicely balanced with 2 tamer questions, 2 middling ones and a tester. Sally, Emma and Tom all coped well with their extended time in the chair. In  a close tiebreaker Emma scored 2, Sally scored 3  but Tom, who had scored highest on the GK in the normal round, repeated the feat and scored 4 to take the victory.

 

Congratulations to Tom Lee on being the first contestant into the Semi Finals. The final standings were as follows

Contestant	Specialist Subject	SS	GK	Total
Tom Lee	Isabella of Castille	9	12	21 (4)
Sally Wilson	Julie Andrews	11	10	21 (3)
Emma Haley	Black Books	11	10	21 (2)
Adrian Segens	The Levellers	10	7	17

 

As the season going ones I will be doing an overall leaderboard for this series and I look forward to the next episode on Monday!

Online Quiz League - Wednesday Report

 As I have mentioned several times on the blog, the Online Quiz League, currently in its second season, has been a huge highlight of the lockdown period. I know a few people have been in touch to ask about the league, the questions etc (all available HERE) and I have decided to do a little more to promote the league and give you a flavour of the games. I will post up some video links later in the week too as the league has a superb Youtube channel.

 

I play for Disparate Origins in Division 2. We were put together as a group of 6 players from across the UK who didn't have a team to enter the league. Last night we were up against Lockdown Latecomers, who were 2nd in the Division going into the night with Disparate Origins sitting in mid-table. (Division 2 has a free guess rule meaning no punishment for having a go and getting it wrong)

 

I was in seat 2a and my questions went like this...

 

Round 1 - Named after a fictional person, which luxury clothing retailer was founded in Glasgow in 1988 by Ray Kelvin?

I have a habit of getting off to a bad start and indeed this was the only question of the round not answered for 2 and it fell to me! I really should have known this as I set a question on this when Ray Kelvin was in the news last year but the "fictional person" element put me off. The team didn't pick it up and it was thrown over to the opposition for 1.

Answer: Ted Baker

 

Round 2 - When it was first performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1907, which play by J. M. Synge caused rioting in the streets because of objections to the portrayal of rural Irish Catholic immorality?

Bit of luck for me here as this was fresh in my mind from reading 'Planet Word' by JP Davdison. I had literally just finished the chapter on Ireland  the night before which mentioned this incident so was able to give a confident answer to score my first points of the night.

Answer: The Playboy of the Western World

 

Round 3 - Succeeded by Simon Rattle, which Italian served as Principal Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra between 1989 and 2002?

Classical Music is a strong area for me, and I think in general if you put some effort into high brow subjects it pays off! I had worked my way through a Classical Music A-z some time ago and of this was pretty much the first entry. Much easier than the pair (which I didn’t get for a bonus) and a nice question to score 2 on.

Answer: Claudio Abbado

 

 

Round 4 - Named after the German bacteriologist who invented it, which cylindrical lidded dish is used by biologists to culture cells?

I am glad this wasn't recorded for the Youtube channel as game of the week, as I had a major moment of self-doubt on this. I think the word German totally threw me here, I did get the 2 points but took longer than I should have on a question I have answered correctly on many occasions!

Answer: Petri Dish

 

 

Round 5 - What sweet nickname was adopted by welterweight and middleweight boxing champions with the surnames Robinson and Leonard?

The easiest question in my seat. I was over the moon at this point as the team was ahead and I had the rare (for me) dear of getting 4 of my own questions in a row. I rarely get a (6)  or more so at this point was hopeful....

Answer: Sugar

 

 

Round 6 - Jengish Chokusu is the highest peak in which mountain range that lies to the north and west of the Taklamakan Desert?

These are the sort of questions where the free guess rule applies a bit more pressure as I always feel I SHOULD have a sensible guess for things like thus but I couldn't even bring a mountain range in that area to mind, passed over, as did everyone else in the game the question went for an X overall. 

Answer: TIAN SHAN or TENGRI TAGH 

 

Round 7 - In which TV sitcom did the actress Liz Smith play the parish council member Letitia Cropley?

The pair for this was asking in which sitcom did Liz Smith play Nanna, so I was quite hopeful at getting the pair as one of my own. But fell short here.....The correct answer didn't even cross my mind and I was saved by Captain Tom Mead who picked up the bonus. 

Answer: The Vicar of Dibley

 

 

Round 8 - Which nickname is commonly applied to the English king John because it was long thought unlikely that he would inherit any substantial territory?

My hopes of a (6) were now dashed but the main thing was the team were ahead! My own seat ended with a nice level 1 history which I picked up to score a (5) on my own seat.

Answer: Lackland

 

I do feel in hindsight, given the news story last year and that I had set a similar question Ted Baker was a bit of a bad personal miss and when the questions are about sitcoms I would have been hopeful of getting it so a (7) wasn't out of the question here but in the end the team won by 9 which is all that matters! Onwards and upwards and with 4 games to go against teams below bus....we are perhaps looking for a promotion push!

 

On the night I did manage to get two bonus questions (due to the high scoring 2 count on our team...very little was available in terms of bonuses)

 

Bonus - “The Burial of the Count of Orgaz” is usually considered amongst the finest paintings of which Mannerist artist?

Again goes back to my theory of high-brow research reaping rewards. I am not sure I can visualise this painting but El Greco rang a bell from the title and as soon as Mannerist was mentioned I was confident enough to put out a fist for this and take the bonus. (Putting out a fist for those not in know, means to show your teammates you are 100% sure of an answer so they can nominate you)

Answer: El Greco

 

Bonus - What is the name of the soldier tasked to lead a last-ditch effort to destroy the Locust Horde and save humanity who serves as the playable protagonist of the first three instalments of the 'Gears of War' video game series?

This is a bonus I didn't want to come over.....Team Captain Tom Mead was on fire and had answered all his own questions going into the final round and needed this for a Full House. I knew I knew it, but was hoping to see Tom score a full house but alas the question game over and all those hours of Uni time spent playing Gears of War 1 online finally paid off

Answer: Marcus Fenix

-----------

 

In the end the team played superbly, and my score of 12 (5) which I was happy with, was the lowest on the team with two of our members making team of the week and everyone in the game scoring in double figures.

 

Roll on next week where we can hopefully build on our good form!

Brain of Britain Website

 I was just looking to catch up on the latest series of Brain of Britain via the website, and came across a series of quizzes on there that were pretty enjoyable. Looks like they have been running them for quite some time as the latest edition is #13! You can find them HERE

Out this Week - Shaun Williamson "A Matter of Facts"

Just a quick reminder that Shaun Williamson's excellent new book "A Matter of Facts", telling the tale of his quest to raise his quiz ranking, is out this week. Its a superb read with plenty of information on the UK Quizzing scene, interviews with a few top quizzers, tales of Shaun's quizzing exploits with a bit of autobiography thrown in there too.

Well worth picking up!

Quiz Week

 

As mentioned yesterday, Gareth Kingston has started a brand new Youtube channel devoted to quiz and one of the regular features seems to be "Quiz Week". I have posted the latest video above, containing info and news from the world of quiz but make sure to follow the youtube account for updates!

New Quiz Youtube Channel

 UK based quizzer Gareth Kingston (who I am sure you will have seen on one of his many TV appearances) has launched a new Youtube Channel "All Things Quiz". Certainly looks very promising and already has some great content on there!

To copy Gareth's post from Facebook - 

"’ve launched a new YouTube channel today about all things quiz called ‘All Things Quiz’. (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1P_cDZQTcwzE7AmYFDyOrQ)

It’s the kind of channel I want to watch, and I hope quizzers will want to watch it too.

Already on the channel are:

- Quiz Week: a weekly review of what’s happened in quiz. This week featuring Quizzing World Cup, QLL, OQL, Mimir’s Well, Only Connect, University Challenge and Brain of Britain. If you have suggestions for what should be included next time, let me know.

- Challenges: we have modern quizzers playing the 1980 Brain of Britain Final, and we have a play-along version of Bill McKaig’s record breaking 433 final round of Fifteen To One. Videos showing quizzers playing the McKaig questions for leaderboard glory are coming soon

- Reactions: reaction videos

Future content includes:

- More challenges are coming soon for quizzers to participate in

- Interviews

- Documentary style short videos

- Quiz lab – where new quiz formats are developed and tested

Subscribe to the YouTube channel (subscribers will receive preferential access to challenges), or follow the facebook or twitter accounts to be kept up to date with chances to participate.

If you feel you have an idea that would fit in with the channel’s ethos then please let me know. Over time it would be great to get more voices and more perspectives on this quizzing life."

Only Connect Returns Tonight

 

Just in case you missed it, Only Connect returns to BBC 2 tonight meaning Quizzy Mondays are well and truly back!

General Knowledge Quiz - Wednesday 7pm

My latest General Knowledge Quiz goes live on Wednesday at 7pm (UK Time) at Wikiquiz. 50 questions to tackle in 30 minutes. Link to register is HERE

Shaun Williamson - 'A Matter of Facts: One Man's Journey into the Nation's Quiz Obsession' - New Book

Whether you have seen him pop up on countless Celebrity Quiz Shows, or indeed noticed his appearances on the UK Quizzing Circuit, it is safe to say that Shaun Williamson (yes...Ill say it....Barry from EastEnders) is a very keen quizzer. In October he launches 'A Matter of Facts: One Man's Journey into the Nation's Quiz Obsession' and I have been lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy which I have spent the last few dew days reading. 

There have been a fair few attempts in recent years to try and capture the British Quiz Obsession and Shaun brings to the table a book chronicling a year-long quest to improve his rankings in the World Quiz Championships. The book recounts Shaun’s attempts at Grand Prix quizzing events as he tries to improve his scores, and he takes us on the journey by going through questions he got wrong, his triumphs and his failings. People who have been the Grand Prix Quiz Events before will relate to the struggle and for those who haven’t it will give you an insight into what happens on the first Saturday of every month between the nation’s most keen quizzers. 

In between the question analysis and tales of quizzing adventures, including a run at the Kent Championships and tales of on-board cruise quizzes, Shaun likes to throw in plentiful facts here and there to keep the reader engaged and I certainly learned a thing or two! Shaun explores the wider world of quizzing too, including interviews with Ian Bayley and David Stainer, two of the biggest names on the Quiz circuit. 

I won’t spoil too much but he also looks at various elements of how he can improve his results in other ways than just practising quiz questions. The interview with the World Memory Champion is a particular highlight. The book serves (probably secondary so) as an autobiography covering Shauns’ various pursuits from Bluecoats to EastEnders and beyond. The autobiographical elements are mixed in with the quizzing aspects making it a diverse and engaging read. 

 Overall, for anyone with even a remote interest in quizzing, then this is one of the finest books of its kind. Similar books about the world of quizzing have been written, but this takes a unique approach and is written by someone who has actively quizzed most of his life, competes in events to this date (evident by his presence at last weekends British Quiz Championships) and has a clear passion for playing quizzes! 

 The book is released on October 1st (see link below). You won’t regret buying it!

 

Pat Gibson - British Quiz Champion

My post yesterday, to my shame, failed to mention one key thing. The winner! So huge congratulations go to Pat Gibson (Eggheads) who took victory with a whopping score of 167 to secure the title of British Quiz Champion.

British Quiz Championships

On something of a whim, I decided to enter the British Quizzing Championships at the weekend. Back when I was doing the Quiz GP circuit on a more regular basis, I had entered the British Quiz Championships in 2013 and secured what I rank as my best ever quizzing performance, landing 28th position. Given that was 7 years ago, and the lack of GP practice etc, I would be foolish to aim that high this time around but had a realistic goal of ending in the Top 50-60. In the age of Covid, this was a British Quiz Championships like no other with several live venue's running and a Zoom room for players not able to make a venue. Given that my decision to enter was very last minute, it was Zoom for me, and after going through the set up rules I was ready to play at 11am on Saturday with around 70 others in the zoom and over 100 at live venues. The BQC, as I now shall refer to it as, involves 6 sets of 40 questions on Sport, Entertainment, Art and Culture, Lifestyle, History and Civilisation and Physical World. Anyone who has played a Grand Prix Quizzing event will also know that only your top 5 scores count, meaning one of your papers is dropped. I do not necessarily agree with this rule, as I think a quiz is a quiz and you shouldn’t be able to just drop a subject. I understand why they do it, but….. ….it does tend to help me. As it means 60% of the quiz is contested on my three favourite subjects. Sport, Entertainment and Lifestyle – meaning I can get away with having a poor Physical World paper (or in fact not even giving it much time as I did this weekend). Hardly seems, fair and my place would drop considerably had all 6 been included. But the rules are the rules. As it happened, I was able to land a solid 60th place out of 167 players which I am happy with including a joint 7th finish in the Sport genre. Again, I was solid throughout the three papers I consider my strongest, so if entering again next year my focus has to be on improving the History/Civ and Art and Culture scores to the same level. It was a fun paper, set by Andrew Frazer of QLL, and I left only about 5-6 points “on the table” but probably balanced that out with some lucky guessing. Lowlights being not being able to name Elvis First US No. 1 (even though we were told it had an alliterative title) and fluffing a gimmie on Passport colours by not being able to grasp the question but all in all it was a fun quiz and it was good to be back competing in a GP event. Roll on next year….

Football Quiz

Following on from the Sports Quiz a couple of months ago, my latest quiz for Clarity Media has now gone live and the subject this time is Football! 20 questions to test your knowledge out...give it a go!

Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Winner incoming...

For the first time in 14 years, it seems that we are going to get a jackpot winner on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?. Link and details https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/tv/itv-who-wants-millionaire-contestant-18802144