British Quizzing Championships

 

There is still time to register for the British Quizzing Championships which are taking place on Saturday 3rd September in Northampton. Open to anyone and you can find full details HERE. Hundreds of people will be taking part and its a great step into the world of competitive quizzing if you have yet to sample a GP style event. The British Quizzing Championships were one of the first events I went to over a decade ago and I would certainly recommend it as a starting point! There will a pairs event on the day as well as well as a buzzer event the following day (sadly now entries and this is the only part of the weekend Ill be doing) and it should be a cracking weekend.

If you are interested in previous winners of the contest, you will recognise many of the names below, most of whom will be competing again for one of the most prestigious titles in quiz.

Year	Venue	Winner - Singles	Winner - Pairs
2004	Old Trafford Manchester	Kevin Ashman	Not held
2005	Altrincham	Kevin Ashman	Not held
2006	Shrewsbury	Kevin Ashman	Ian Bayley & Pat Gibson
2007	Derby	Pat Gibson	Gareth Aubrey & Olav Bjortomt
2008	Staveley	Sean Carey	David Edwards & Nic Paul
2009	Derby	Mark Bytheway	David Lea & Kathryn Johnson
2010	Derby	Pat Gibson	David Edwards & Nic Paul
2011	Lichfield	Kevin Ashman	Pat Gibson & Ian Bayley
2012	Lichfield	Jesse Honey	David Stainer & Olav Bjortomt
2013	Hilton, Edinburgh, Dublin	Kevin Ashman	Kevin Ashman & Pat Gibson
2014	Rothwell, Edinburgh, Dublin	Pat Gibson	David Stainer & Olav Bjortomt
2015	Newark, Edinburgh, Dublin	Pat Gibson	Anne Hegerty & John Wilson
2016	Coventry, Edinburgh	Nic Paul	Brian Chesney & Jeff Evans
2017	Coventry, Edinburgh	Kevin Ashman	Kevin Ashman & Pat Gibson
2018	Coventry, Edinburgh, London	Pat Gibson	Not held
2019	Northampton, Edinburgh	Paul Sinha	Kevin Ashman & Pat Gibson
2020	Various	Pat Gibson	Not held

Podcast Suggestion - Unreal

One of my favourite podcasts of 2022 so far, has to be Unreal: A Critical History of reality TV. Over the course of ten episodes (available on all major platforms and BBC Sounds HERE) the show takes a look at the evolution of reality TV from Big Brother onwards. Each episode is tied in which a particular show, or style of show, and as well as being extremely interesting and informative, there are plenty of useful facts for quizzing that emerge and gentle reminders of shows we perhaps would rather forget!

New Shoots - Quizzing Documentary

 

I got a question on Twitter this week asking for a link to the "CJ and Jenny Ryan" quiz documentary Channel 4 put out a good few years ago. Always worthy of a repost on the blog as well.....Well worth 20 minutes of your time if you haven't seen it!

Online Quiz League

 

The latest season of the Online Quiz League is due to begin on Wednesday 31st August. About to embark on its 8th Season, the league continues to go from strength to strength. Its a 4v4 format and is played every Wednesday at 8pm running for 11 weeks. Whether you have a full team or are an individual seeking to take part in some more competitive quizzing, then check out the website HERE for full information and registration details!

Podcast - New Episodes This Week

The latest episodes of the Quiz Addict Podcast are all now written, recorded and scheduled to go live in the coming days. With over a years worth of episodes to catch up with (see below) there is plenty of content already available. 15 questions in 5 minutes...

University Challenge - Returns on Monday!

 

After the announcement of the return of Only Connect on the 29th August, we all hoped quizzy Mondays would be back in full force with University Challenge alongside....and indeed it is! The first round battle will  be between Bristol and Durham (my home team!).

Speedquizzing Night in Sunderland

 

With a child free night, after eating food at The Stack in Seaburn, Sunderland, we discovered a quiz that I wasn't aware existed. Now, I like to think I'm usually aware of the quiz scene in Sunderland and have a good grasp of the various nights and where.....but all I will say is I had no idea this existed, and it is by far not only the biggest quiz night in Sunderland, but perhaps the largest regular pub quiz I have ever been to!

As you may be able to see from the Picture above, the Stack is a superb venue in Seaburn, Sunderland right on the coast and with this being an especially warm, this partially open air venue was perfect! The host uses Speedquizzing technology which means you do need a device to play (mobile phone, ipad etc). 

The quiz runs from 8pm-10pm (and it is a 8pm sharp start) and runs in three sections. Each round is treated as a separate quiz with 20 questions per quiz and evil mode activated or the final round which has more prizes. Its free to enter and you can drop in and out. Many teams did...and speaking of team, there was an astounding 154 teams in action on Tuesday! The questions were a nice range for a mass audience.

I also posted the below picture of the large screen on my Twitter account (@quizaddictblog) and got informed by the official Speedquizzing account that this may be the largest screen they have seen used for a Speed Quiz.

All in all, a fun night with a wide range of food and drinks available around the stack, and certainly something I would hope to get back to once the summer is over!

Podcast Suggestion - Victoria Groce interview

 

It is always fascinating to hear inside the mind of truly elite quizzers, and the most recent episode of the 'Freakonomics People I Mostly Admire' features Victoria Groce. Now, of course a star of The Chase USA, this episode is an insight into how Victoria got to where she is today in the quizzing world and for those people grinding Anki cards daily like I do, its a superb motivational listen to hear just how far that can get you! It is available on all major podcast apps and the main Freakonomics website HERE

Speedquizzing - Elite Event

 

After the success of the inaugural edition, SpeedQuizzing will run their 2nd "Elite" event in January 2023 in York.  A full days quizzing is in store with the main event hosted and written by Paul Sinha from the Chase. Everything is provided, including the tables, and the fee is £25 including lunch. This will sell out pretty quickly if last time, and the general popularity of SpeedQuizzing, is anything to go by. Full information is available HERE and if you are going...I shall see you there!

Fastest Finger First

 

Coming to ITV later this month, is a new daytime quiz show fronted by Anita Rani under the name "Fastest Finger First". As you can tell from the image and the name of the show, this is indeed a spin off from Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? with the prize on the show being a seat on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?  itself. An interesting concept and for once the UK are slow to the field with Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?  spin offs with Australia and USA amongst many to have tried it. 

Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? : Fastest Finger First begins 29th August on ITV

ZQL Game of the Week

 

Another game of the week from the excellent Zephyr Quiz League in which I have been playing in! If you are interested in taking part head over to Zephyr Quiz League on Facebook and register your interest for Season 3!

Brain of Britain

 

Just in case you missed it, the latest series of Brain of Britain began last Monday on BBC Radio 4 with the show available HERE on iplayer.

British Buzzer Quiz Championships

 

As part of this years British Quizzing Championships  (info HERE) a buzzer tournament is taking place. The British Buzzer Championships is designed for teams of 5 (although solo players can enter with a scratch team) and will take place in Northampton on  Sunday 5th September. The event can be found HERE and Alors on Dunks are already entered so I may well see you there!

Zephyr Quiz League - Game of the Week

 

The Zephyr Quiz League continues to roll on and this was the Game of the Week from Week 4. Another great set of questions and my favourite mixed MIMIR contest at the moment. The best way to get involved is if you go over to Facebook and search for Zephyr Quiz League

Podcast Questions

The questions from a recent episode of the podcast. This one is a Pub Quiz episode and was issued a few weeks ago. If you like the sound of the questions please check out the various podcast links around the blog!

Episode 247 – Pub Quiz

 

1	Which Scottish town was one of 8 towns awarded City Status May 2022 as part of the Jubilee celebrations?	Dunfermline
2	In May 2022, Anthony Albanese became the Prime Minister of which country?	Australia
3	What was the name of the new London underground line opened on 24th May 2022?	Elizabeth Line
4	Who scored the winning goal in the 2022 Champions League Final giving Real Madrid victory over Liverpool?	Vinicius Junior
5	Which image Sharing and social media service was founded by Ben Silbermann and Paul Sciarra and contains a white letter P as its logo?	Pinterest
6	Which comedian won the 2022 Series of Britain’s Got Talent?	Axel Blake
7	Which comedic character is the lead singer of the band Foregone Conclusion?	David Brent
8	In reference to sunscreen products, what do the initials SPF stand for?	Sun Protection Factor
9	Which Children’s TV series based on books by Ted Dewan is cantered on the titular bunny and his carer Flop and friends Sula, Amma and Pando?	Bing
10	Which gin based drink, that can be considered a liquer, was first produced as early as 1823 by a man with the first name James and the No.1 Cup is its most popular variety?	Pimms
11	Which internet discussion forum was created by Justin Roberts in 2000 for discussion between parents? It now has a revenue of £8.6 million and has launched several books including ‘Pregnancy’, ‘Toddlers’ and ‘Babies’.	Mumsnet
12	Princess Eugenie’s son shares his first name with which month of the year?	August
13	What is the name of the hit podcast hosted by Ed Gamble and James Acaster on which they invite special guests to their fictional restaurant to choose dishes?	Off Menu
14	…and speaking of podcasts, which comedian host the Shagged, Married and Annoyed comedy podcast alongside his wife Rosie?	Chris Ramsey
15	Immortal is the subtitle of the latest game in which video game series? It has been designed primarily for mobile devices and is produced by Blizzard Entertainment	Diablo