Quick Quiz

A few questions for today. Perhaps a little harder than some of the usual quiz questions I put up (put then again I am rubbish at deciding what is hard and what isn't). Answers in comment box as usual...

1. Which 100m sprinter will become the first man to compete in the event at 5 separate Olympic Games in London 2012?

2. The last verse in the traditional six verse "God Save the Queen" anthem, refers to which Rebellion?

3. Which two nations competed in the Water Polo match at the 1956 Olympic Games that later became known as the "Blood in the Water" match?

4. What is the only British film to claim the best animated feature Oscar?

5. Which Scientist first discovered capillaries in the human lung?

6. Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard are found in which English British County?

7. "Fork Handles", "O's", "Pumps" and "plugs" feature in a comedy sketch by which double act, voted by the BBC as the funniest comedy sketch of all time?

8. In Shakespeare's "As You Like It", what name does Rosalind use to disguise herself after she has fled the new Duke?

9. Who painted "The View of Toledo"?

10. Which England football player, who played a key role in Euro 2012, won his first four international caps whilst playing for four different clubs?

A Question of Genius

A Question Of Genius is a show, in all honesty, I had never even heard of until I attended the World Quizzing Championships and got talking to a fellow contestant who mentioned he had appeared.

I have since hunted the show down on Youtube where a few episodes from series 2 are on offer. The show ran from 2009-2010, hosted by Kirsty Wark, over two series and based on what I have read on Wikipedia it changed in its format over the two series.

It is well worth a watch and much like Cleverdicks which I have been posting about this week, A Question of Genius focuses on the ability of the players and thus you get top quality questions and notable quizzers. For instance both Rob Hannah and Michael Mcpartland feature in the episode I have linked to below.

I really have been enjoying catching up with this on Youtube and I am not too sure how I managed to miss this first time round!

Does anyone know if there are any other episodes featured elsewhere online?

Interview with Caroline Taggart

You may be wondering where you have seen the name Caroline Taggart before? She is in fact the author of the "I Used to Know That" book, which to date has sold around 230,000 copies I am told. The book looks at those essential treasure troves of information we all feel we should know and probably once did know but have perhaps forgotten or need refreshed on. Ideal for Quizzers! Caroline also has wrote books including The Book of London Place Names and the book we will focus on here, "I Used to Know That Activity Book".

I will be reviewing this title in the coming days as I continue to work my way through it. All I will say on the subject now is that if you put aside the title regarding school, this is a cracking book for quizzers of all abilities testing both the breadth and depth of knowledge in certain areas as well as working an ideal family book. Well worth a look. Links to purchase the book via Amazon are below.

Interview with  Author Caroline Taggart

How would you describe the book in one sentence? A quiz book with a bit of a difference, based on stuff you (probably) learned at school but have (probably) forgotten most of.

What inspired you to write the book? A few years ago I wrote a book called I Used to Know That: stuff you forgot from school. It was really amazingly successful – I thought it was partly nostalgic, partly jokey, but it was published at exam time and people obviously thought that it would be useful for parents wanting to help kids with their revision. That hadn't been my intention at all, but it was a real bonus. So revamping it in an 'activity book' format seemed both fun and potentially useful. I suspect most people keep my books in the loo (I know a number of my friends do), but that’s fine too. 

The questions in the book cover a whole range of topics, how did you decide what to include?  I did a lot of radio interviews for the original book and was surprised to discover that what most people wanted to talk about was maths, because it brought back such horrid memories. The chapters are roughly subjects that most of us are forced to do for GCSE or (if you're as old as me) O level, so part of the point is to recall things we hated, like Pythagoras and apostrophes and (a personal bugbear) Wuthering Heights. Apart from that, it had to be something that interested me (well hey, it's my book). 

Did you purposely set out to create a quiz book that was ‘a little different’ from the usual Question and Answer formats? Yes, absolutely. This has multiple choice/mix and match questions and 'identify places on the map' questions and ‘what's happening in this diagram?’ questions, so it's also more interesting to look at than some conventional quiz books.

Tell us a little bit about any experience you have with quizzing? I set quizzes for a while about a hundred years ago, then didn't do much for years. About ten years ago some friends and friends-of-friends from work got together and started going to a pub quiz in a place I had better not name. The organiser was very sweet but often got things wrong and one particular friend and I would argue with him (waste of time) and then spend a lot of the following morning sending each other angry emails. My friend knows everything there is to know about horse racing and it was amazing how often it came up and how often the quiz master got it wrong. After a while we stopped getting cross and it just became funny; at the risk of sounding immodest we often use to win anyway and we'd pour our winnings back over the bar – which is surely what pub quizzes are all about.   

Has the success of the original reference books surprised you? The nostalgic look was part of it; the timing was part of it. But funnily enough I think the real interest is from people who may be quite young but still have a feeling that the country generally and educational standards in particular are going to the dogs. There’s another book in the series called My Grammar and I (or should that be ‘Me’?), which I co-wrote. I've done a lot of radio about that too and doing a radio phone-in on the subject of grammar and English usage is the easiest way I know to make a living: people ring up and say, ‘What really drives me mad is…’ – and it could be anything from the greengrocer’s apostrophe in banana’s and tomatoes’ to split infinitives to txtspk. Then all I have to do is murmur sympathetically and they do all the talking. And these people aren’t all 93, by any means. 

How is your own general knowledge and did you find writing the book to be a learning process? I come from a family of crossword solvers and trivia lovers: all my life I've been a great one for looking things up, just for the sake of it. I like stuff. I've also edited general non-fiction books for 30 years, so I've read about all sorts of things, from Douglas aircraft to Rupert Bear to dinosaurs, that I wouldn't necessarily have chosen. I remember the tip of the iceberg of all these things, but if I remembered the whole lot I could sink the Titanic. Having said that, I'm ashamed now to say that I was bored rigid by geography at schooland rubbish at science, so writing about either of those subjects always teaches me quite a lot. Which I then promptly forget, of course. 

If you were to appear on Mastermind, what would your specialist subject be? I'd like to say something clever here, but it would probably be the Regency romance novels of Georgette Heyer. My comfort reading in times of stress and I do know several of them almost off by heart. How sad is that?

Further information about Caroline can be found at  carolinetaggart.co.uk/books

Here is a link to buy the book on Amazon...

Quiz of the Weeks News

A few more questions than usual this week. Answers for this Quiz of The Weeks news in the comment box as usual.

1. Frances O'Grady became the first woman appointed to which role this week?

2. Which film star, of "Lawrence of Arabia" fame, announced his retirement this week, ending a career which involved 8 best actor Oscar nominations but no wins?

3. Name the security company involved in the bust-up over staffing levels at London 2012 this week?

4. And on an Olympic theme, the waxwork of which current Olympic star greeted passengers at Heathrow airport this week where it will be on display until it enters Madame Tussauds later in the month?

5. Hans Kristian Rausing has been in the news frequently this week. His fortune comes from which product?

6. Which world leader made the headlines this week after being spotted with a female by his side in photographs, who was later revealed to be an ex-popstar?

7. It was announced this week Chris Moyles be replaced as host of the Radio 1 breakfast show by who?

8. Which mobile phone network, with 23 million customers in the UK, collapsed this week rendering its users unable to make calls or send text messages?

9. Ben Wishaw was announced as the latest actor to play which role in a famous franchise of movies this week?

10. Three British Climbers were killed on a "cursed mountain" this week in the Alps. What is the name of the mountain?

11. Which Royal announced he will abseil down The Shard this week with the wife of William Hague?

12. Nick Park, creator of "Wallace and Gromit" revealed this week that Gromit was originally intended to be what kind of animal?

13. Which South African cricketer announced his retirement this week after a horrific accident which saw him being struck in the eye with a cricket ball?

14. David Haye and Derek Chisora meet in a grudge Boxing  match tomorrow night at which football ground?

15. Which centre for Contemporary Art based in Gateshead, celebrated its 10th anniversary this week?

Cleverdicks (Week 1 Re-Runs) - Thoughts?

As mentioned Challenge TV have been re-running the quiz show CleverDicks, as previously aired on Sky Atlantic. Rumour has it that Sky are looking at the viewing figures closely for this re-run to decide on a second series and for the majority of people, including me, its the first chance to see the show it a full run.

I reviewed the first episode of Cleverdicks when it first aired and repeated the review earlier in the week so you will find that further towards the bottom of this page if interested.

After 5 shows my opinion of Cleverdicks has not changed much at all. I still am really enjoying the show and until Mastermind, Brain of Britain and University Challenge return it is my favourite broadcast quiz by a mile. The questions are well pitched, the idea of the contestants being picked on quizzing ability to right up my street and the general overall show is very entertaining.

This week has seen a whole range of faces known in the quizzing world pop up. Rob Hannah won a fantastic four shows before going out in the fifth, David Stainer set a first round score that I think is still a record on show one, Brian Pendreigh of Mastermind, Eggheads etc has also appeared coming a close second. Add to the mix GP regulars like Stephen Dodding, Michael Mcpartland and Nic Mortimer and you have a selection of the UK quizzing scene.

As a side note, I was pleased to see Nic Mortimer on the show. I do not attend GP's often as of yet but always purchase the questions from the British Quiz Association and Nic Mortimer is always the name in and around the sort of score I am getting so its good to put a face to the name!

Anyway, I have said Cleverdicks is fun, informative and overall very enjoyable with good questions but there are a few things I dislike.

1. The lack of reward from round to round. Resetting scores obviously adds to the tensions and gives everyone more of a chance but the fact that great runs like David Stainer's in the first round of the first show are unrewarded and wiped out after the round seems harsh. Maybe just a bonus for the highest scoring player etc would work on Cleverdicks. I noticed on a few episodes, naming no names, players took the eye off the ball when they knew they had made it into the next round. Giving them something to play for in each round rather than qualifying would work better.

2. Guessing. Obviously Cleverdicks  rewards good guessing which is not a bad thing at all but the way in which the players can buzz and buzz and buzz without penalty seems rather silly. Already in 5 episodes "guess-a-thons" have exploded in which the top quizzing players in the country have shouted after name after name.....heck, I would do it if I were on so no complaints.....but it just takes the edge of sometimes. Locking Cleverdicks players out of the round where an incorrect guess has been made would lead to more thought out answers and careful play.

Of course each episode has been won on skill. I have yet to see a round where pure guessing has resulted in victory but the format I imagine could prove frustrating for some.

But those are two minor gripes in what I am finding to be a great show and I hope Cleverdicks is a success on Challenge and we see another series. 


I would love to hear other peoples views on Cleverdicks.

Podcast App

I have mentioned a few times that I heavily use pod casts in my quiz revision, learning and to in some cases answer testing knowledge through questions. In the next few months I will aim to post more to recommend various pod casts to you which I feel would interest readers. I mentioned Pod Quiz a few months ago which is still going strong and there is a wealth of goodies the BBC have now put out there.

Anyway, I have been diverted. The main reason I am writing this post is to let any iphone users like myself know that a new app has just been released, free of course, which allows you to store, listen to, series link and search for podcasts much easier than before meaning hopefully I can discover a lot more in the next few months.

It is simply called Pod Casts on the app store....

Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - Review

Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - Review

I was really rather intrigued when I found out that Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire would be airing for a three night special this week. With the "trial" run of play-along-at home, a new studio and a new style promised I was hoping this Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire would be something of a trial run for a possible new series..............I was hoping for so much more.

Without sitting on the fence, Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire last night was one of the worst hours of TV I have seen in a long time. Perhaps it was made worse by the fact that I actually was hoping for better. I should have known, after ITV unleashed the painful Tipping Point on us last week, now its the turn of WWTBAM to get the naff treatment.

The show suffered early on from a mixture of factors - 

1) Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire seemed like it wanted to be Surprise Surprise. In typical ITV fashion Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was turned into a mixture between Cilla's famous show and X-Factor sob stories. Not the Millionaire of old and certainly no the Millionaire I want. I can see how someone, somewhere thought this might work (the underdog/hard-done-to person playing for cash to change their life) and maybe it is the quizzer in me that hates this and the general public will love it....time shall see.

2) Dumbing Down. Questions were hideous last night...utterly hideous. Everyone of them was painfully easy and I partly feel this was to do with a) the standard of contestants on show (no disrespect but for a Scotsman not to know the date, or even rough date, of Burns Night is bad) and b) the new play-along-at-home feature. They probably wanted to make the questions easy to encourage people playing at home to stick with it.

3) No fastest finger first means hand picked contestants more than ever. You need a story if you want to be on this show! I applied and now realise the "What would you do with the money?" box was the crucial one. The phone a friend "in the studio" was a nice touch but everything else about the show was terrible.

I also cannot help feel the last contestant was a bit "fixed" in the way it leaves viewers with an interest on a bit of a cliffhanger. 

All in all Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was a terrible show in my eyes and has moved away from being about the questions and large wins in favour of something else. I may watch Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire to see if it improves but I cannot imagine it doing so.

Sadly, I was hoping Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire  would be so much more and as has been said before, the show has changed the way it wants to "draw" in viewers. The big prize and questions are now not enough for the producers...it is the age of the TV sob story. Thanks reality TV! Thanks very much!

Cleverdicks - Re-runs - Review Repeat!

As I mentioned Cleverdicks started its re-run on Challenge last night bringing the show to a much wider possible audience. I already reviewed the first episode when it first aired on Sky Atlantic so, being lazy, I will just repost that review with a not so clever bit of copying and pasting. Reviews of episodes following this will of course be original...

Cleverdicks finally started its run last night on Sky Atlantic. In all I enjoyed the show, there were some negatives but I think Cleverdicks is well worth watching and could grow into being on the best quiz shows on tv if a few of the issues are ironed out!

The first round involves each contestant facing 2 minutes of questions worth up to 5 points each. 5 clues are on offer, the more clues you take the less points. There is no punishment for guessing though which takes the edge of things as it means when you get a round such as “A Tennis Player” it can become a guessing spree on each clue. The questions in this round are well written though and enjoyable to play along with at home.

In terms of this episode, David Stainer, who you may have seen on only connect or know from the UK Quiz circuit, lead the way after the first round, way ahead of his rivals. His score of 44 included 25 points from getting the answers from one clue which was fantastic going, he stated it was “inspired guesswork”.

The second round sees Cleverdicks change into a buzzer quiz, testing a different sort of skill than the first round. The contestant with the lowest score from round one was eliminated, this being Susan, leaving three to compete in the second round.  It’s a simple buzz and bonus format where a successful buzz leads to 3 bonus questions. The one problem I had before this round even started was that there was seemingly no reward for first round performance as the scores were reset. So despite David Stainer clearly ahead after round one, it was now all down to buzzing ability. The questions to buzz in on are similar to the first round with 5 clues, but revert to normal questions for the bonuses. There is no punishment for buzzing in with a wrong answer though meaning if you get it wrong you can buzz again which does seem a bit odd. Again though it does revert to guessing as contestants soon realised if they didn’t buzz in with a guess someone else would. Especially as unlike University Challenge the bonus questions are opened to the others if answered wrong.

The results in this weeks episode were a reversal of the first round and David Stainer was eliminated which I found quite unfair given how much he had dominated round one. He was clearly only a split second behind in most of the buzzes and because he had not been given any reward for such a lead after round one he found himself eliminated leaving Steve vs Rob to play for a place in the final.

The third round is a head to head battle between the final two. It is turn based with no clues. A wrong answer adds a triangle to your stack, the higher the stack the worse it is for you as once a descending white line hits your stack you are out. You can remove the Triangles by getting questions right. I enjoyed this round probably more than the others, just straight up fast paced general knowledge questions.

Rob took a lead and moved towards the final of Cleverdicks. I suppose for viewers one positive aspect here is even a four point lead can be turned out very quickly so it keeps things open but that wasn’t to happen here. The white line collided with Steve’s stack and he was out. A great effort and a round I really enjoyed.

The final involves questions falling onto the board. The questions only drop off the screen when they are right, a wrong answer and the questions start to stack. If the list touches the descending white line you are out, if you survive 2 minutes you win! A nice format but again promotes guesswork which is not necessarily a bad thing but does detract from things a little. Two life lines are given for questions to drop off the board. Rob stuttered on a few and the white line caught up with him with around 30 seconds to go. This is going to be a difficult final game to win! The winner does return next time though for another chance with a rolling £1,000 jackpot.

One thing I did not like was the opening banter between Anne and the contestants. “I’m a Cleverdick because….” Made me cringe a little and all credit to the contestants they did the best they could with the bad line. Also at an hour, 45 minutes discounting breaks, it did seem a bit long and if you cut out the pointless chit chat then you could easily get this show into a more concise 30 minutes.

What about Anne Widdicombe as a host? She seems to have taken a lot of stick online about this first episode but I did not find her too bad. The most annoying parts of the hosting were not her fault at all and she is new to this so give her credit where it is due. I certainly didn’t think her presenting got in the way of my enjoyment of the show but I still do not like the banter between rounds. Apparently she gets better as the series goes on or so I am told by people who have appeared on latter episodes.

All in all I did enjoy Cleverdicks and will continue to watch this show. There are a few issues such as the balancing of points in the second round, the lack of reward  coming from the first round and the reward for guessing. Additionally as mentioned I am not keen on the banter between rounds and it makes the show feel overlong in parts. Despite this though the questions are well written, its great to see top class quizzing on TV and I really hope the show is a success!

Cleverdicks gets a thumbs up from me!

Pub Quiz Machine Guide: Piggy Bank Quiz

I have in the past reviewed a few games you are likely to find on the average pub quiz machine. Based on my traffic reports there seems to be a lot of people googling the term "Pub Quiz Machine".....more than likely looking for answers rather than opinions....but it has reminded me of the series.

I still play the machines regularly. If I go to the local Wetherspoons for Breakfast a few 50p's end up in the machine, at the start of a night out there is quizzing done and generally if there is a quiz machine in a pub I am in, I am too tempted to play!

Piggy Bank Quiz is the latest game to appear on local machines. But before I mention it I have a theory...


I am convinced that games that appear on quiz machines with "new" on them are in some way made easier at first and allow bigger wins than later in their life. I can see why this might be done....you win on a new game, the next time you play the machine which game will you play? You mention it to people in the pub and they play. I may be wrong but several times over this has happened where I have won relatively big on a new game in the first few goes on easy questions and then struggled weeks later.

Piggy Bank Quiz is as simple as they come. You answer multiple choice questions to rack up the total. Each answer in the first round is worth 10p but you must get all ten correct to get the £1 prize. This tends to be an easy £1 to rack up to be fair with very simple questions and only one stopper towards the end of the round but with two Try Agains and a Pass to play with you can navigate this. Round two is worth 20p a questions with 5 questions and so on all the way to £10.

One positive side of this game is that rather than the harder questions all being "stoppers" (questions no one would know and where the answer is so obscure its guesswork all the time) they are just Mastermind Level GK questions. It means you can think about them rather than have to guess at random meaningless answers.

I found the questions refreshing and entertaining on this particular pub quiz machine game and whilst it still has all the complaints and problems of any game on one of these machines, its well worth a look for enthusiasts!

The Week in TV Quizzing...

As mentioned, one of the highlights of the TV this week is going to be the start of the repeats of Cleverdicks on Challenge this week. Shown earlier in the year on Sky, Cleverdicks is a quiz show where top quiz players compete against each other in, as Anne puts it, "proper general knowledge questions". I saw the first episode but was unable to watch the rest due to a house move so will certainly be tuning into Cleverdicks on Challenge TV this week at 7pm.


I mentioned earlier in the year that online applications for a new Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire show were being accepted. I obviously have not been successful in that as the show starts tomorrow at 9pm on ITV.  Live Who Wants to Be a Millionaire will continue for three nights in succession and I for one am glad to see it back on TV!


For those of you enjoying Tipping Point that remains in the 5pm slot on ITV. The less said about this show the better...........


Repeats of Weakest Link, Pointless and Eggheads continue after a short hiatus due to the Tennis and speaking of Tennis Sue Barker hosts new episodes of A Question of Sport from Friday at 7.30pm.


And if you can tolerate Davina The Million Pound Drop (with from what I see vastly dropping viewing figures) airs on Friday!




EDIT: And I have also just realised a new run of "All-New Blockbusters" starts tonight kicking of with a celebrity special.

Quiz Kings

I have possibly posted about Quiz Kings before but did not get much of a reply. Does anyone know anything about this? I have no idea what it was made for, where it was filmed or anything so any bit of information about Quiz Kings would be nice!

Quiz of The Weeks News

Just a quick quiz of this weeks news today.

11.       Who was announced as the captain of the Great Britain football team for the forthcoming Olympic Games tournament?
 
2.       Who seemingly assassinates the Go Compare Tenor in the latest advert for the brand?
 
3.       Why was Oscar Pistorius in the news this week?
 
4.       Who was named as the new Director General of the BBC this week?
 
5.       Where were the Olympic Gold Medals for the upcoming games taken to this week for safe keeping?
 
6.       Which British rider took the Yellow Jersey in the Tour De France this week?
 
7.       The worlds first double-decker, open-top  cable  car system opened in which country this week?
 
8.       A British Prisoner won the right to have what in his cell overnight?
 
9.       What was the cause of a terror attack on the M6 this week?
 
10.   Who is at number 1 in the UK Singles Charts with the song “This is Love”?

Think You Know it All?

I have one word for this book....marvellous!

This is not the "normal" kind of quiz book you will be used to using and I would strongly recommend it to quizzers on any level. The closest thing I can actually compare it to is either the "On the tip of my tongue" book or the website Sporcle (which I am sure you have all used).

It is ideal for quiz revision, learning and testing yourself and others. The questions do not come as standard quiz questions but in all kind of interesting formats from giving you dates of composers with you required to name them, quotes from Shakespeare you link to a play, maps with points you need to identify....my words and descriptions won't do the book justice as there is so much diversity from the simple to the challenging that it will give any level of quizzer a serious workout.

I have found some gaps in my knowledge, realised I know more than I do and above all else when I have had an hour or so with this book I have felt as if I have had a real genuine brain workout! Dan Smith has done a fantastic job on this and even though the "activity book for grown ups" is a bit of an odd choice of title, suffice to say this is a cracking general knowledge test.

If you liked "On the tip your tounge" you will love this!


Below is the link to buy it on Amazon, a snip at £5.49 as it will keep you entertained for hours. Go on treat yourself.....

Tipping Point

Well Tipping Point continues to air on ITV this week and after my initial review slating it my opinion has not changed. This is coming close to being one of the worst game shows I have ever had the misfortune of seeing! I have given up on it now and only caught a fraction of the last episode but I see no reason to watch Tipping Point again.

If interested, check out my review earlier in the week. In a nutshell tipping point is a boring format with abysmal quiz question, an unfair format and is full of tedium!

I cannot remember being so bored of a quiz show quickly....bring back the chase

EDIT: I am also hearing that Tipping Point has started strongly in ratings but dive bombed amid the horrid reviews and viewers becoming bored. Try again ITV!

Film Quiz

A quick few quiz questions for you this afternoon on movies. Answers in the comment box as usual.

1.      What was the first name of the “one-day” wife of James Bond?
 
2.      Lon Chaney, Anthony Quinn, James Cagney and Charles Laughton have all played which character?
 
3.      If his horse is Pancho and his sidekick is Diablo, who is he?
 
4.      He was a swimmer who played both Tarzan and Flash Gordon. Name the actor?
 
5.      What films is missing from the following….The Enforcer, Magnum Force, Sudden impact and The Dead Pool?
 
6.      How is Don Diego de Vega better known?
 
7.      Disney’s Tinkerbell is said to be modelled on which Hollywood star?
 
8.      The Thin Man is based on stories by which author?
 
9.      What is the name of Tarzans Chimpanzee?
 
10.  Keyser Soze appears in which film?
 
11.  Clarence Nash provides the voice of which animated character?
 
12.  Who played Inspector Clouseau in “Inspector Clouseau”?
 
13.  In the Wizard of Oz, what is Dorothy’s surname?
 
14.  Which classic movie tells the tale of the relationships between Laura Jeeson and Alec Harvey?
 
15.  Basil Rathbone played which famous detective during the 1930’s-40’s?