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2019–20 Season
Week 6

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Specialist Rounds
General Knowledge

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2019–20 Season: Week 6 – 12 November 2019

Specialist Rounds

All questions set by the Queens, vetted by the Waters Green Lemmings and the Park Taverners.

Specialist rounds:

1    Geography

2    History

3    Arts & Entertainment: an anthology

4    Scientific Firsts

5    Sporting Knights & Dames

6    On your marques

7    Doctor Who?

8    All Stations Go

Round 1: Geography

1 After Scafell Pike and Scafell, what is England's third highest mountain?
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2 What's the highest mountain in Canada and the second highest in North America?
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3 Bastia is the main commercial and industrial town on which Mediterranean island?
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4 Which country was known until 1971 as the Trucial States?
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5 In which country is the desert valley of Wadi Rum, famous for its association with Lawrence of Arabia?
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6 In New York, which island is shared by the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens?
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7 In which English city does the river Cherwell join the Thames?
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8 Which river flows through the city of Hereford?
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Supplementaries:

1 What's the second highest mountain in Africa?
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2 Which country is linked to Pakistan by the Khyber Pass?
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Round 2: History

1 What name has been shared by three Scottish kings and three Russian tsars or emperors?
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2 Which war was effectively ended by the signing of an armistice on the 27th of July 1953?
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3 What was the name of the party led by General Franco during the Spanish Civil War?
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4 Robert Devereux, a favourite of Queen Elizabeth the First, was the Second Earl of where?
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5 Which island in the Solomon Islands gave its name to the naval battle which began on this day in 1942?
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6 Born on this day in 1866, who became the first president of the Republic of China following the overthrow of the last emperor in 1912?
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7 Which Guardian of Scotland defeated the English in 1297, lost the return fixture the following year, and was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1305?
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8 Under whose reign were the kingdoms of England and Scotland united?
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Supplementaries:

1 Who was President of the USA when Margaret Thatcher became UK Prime Minister?
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2 In which year was the Berlin Wall erected?
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Round 3: Arts & Entertainment: an anthology

Each answer is, or contains, the name of a flower.

1 Which author won the Booker prize in 1978 for her novel The Sea, The Sea?
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2 Which flowers are depicted in a series of paintings by Claude Monet, known in French as Nymphéas?
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3 According to Rogers & Hammerstein, what is the 'blossom of snow'?
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4 Which novel by Alexandre Dumas is about a gardening competition in the Netherlands?
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5 Cate Blanchett won her only Best Actress Oscar to date for her role in which 2013 Woody Allen film?
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6 Which group's UK hits in the 1970s included Car Wash and Wishing on a Star?
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7 Which character created by Roald Dahl has won trophies for gum–chewing and ends up with skin the colour of a blueberry? (Full name required)
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8 Which 1988 film starring Winona Ryder gets its title from the fact that three of the principal characters have the same first name?
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Supplementaries:

1 Which Oasis album was the best–selling album of the 1990s in the UK?
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2 What is the name of the street at the centre of the TV series Desperate Housewives?
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Round 4: Science – Scientific Firsts

1 In the periodic table, which element comes first alphabetically?
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2 In 1781, what was the first planet to be discovered with a telescope?
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3 Who is generally credited with creating the first battery?
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4 Which subatomic particle takes its name from the Greek for 'first'?
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5 Who was awarded the first Nobel prize in physics for his discovery of X rays?
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6 In First Aid, the mnemonic ABC is often used for basic life–saving assessment. Give any one of the three words represented by ABC.
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7 Earlier this year, the Event Horizon Telescope produced the first–ever image of what phenomenon?
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8 What is the first and softest mineral on the Mohs scale of hardness?
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Supplementaries:

1 From which animal were the first vaccines obtained?
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10 What is the first three–digit prime number?
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Round 5: Sport – Sporting Knights and Dames

You will get some clues to a sporting personality who has received a knighthood or damehood.

1 Locally born, and one of the most successful sailors in Olympic history, with four gold medals between 2000 and 2012 plus a silver in 1996
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2 One of the ten National Heroes of Barbados; the first man to take 100 wickets and 100 catches, and score 1000 runs, in Test cricket
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3 The first non–American to finish at the top of the Ladies' PGA money list; winner of the Ladies' European Tour Order of Merit a record seven times between 1985 and 2006
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4 Six times British track cycling champion; and the most successful female British Paralympian of all time, with a total of 14 gold medals in cycling and swimming
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5 Knighted in 2018 for services to football, particularly in recognition of his support to the families and victims of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster
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6 Great Britain's most decorated female Olympian, with five rowing medals, and the current chair of UK Sport
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7 Probably the greatest driver never to have won the Formula 1 World Championship; runner–up four times and third three times, between 1955 and 1961
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8 One of the first British pair to climb the North Face of the Eiger, and leader of five major Himalayan expeditions between 1970 and 1982
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Supplementaries:

1 Winner of the Heptathlon gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics
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2 Any one of the three people that were knighted in 2019 for services to cricket
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Round 6: On Your Marques

Each answer contains the name of a classic British car marque.

1 Which road bridge crosses the Thames between Chelsea Bridge and Lambeth Bridge?
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2 In Coronation Street, who was Gail's third husband – and not one of her better choices?
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3 In Rudyard Kipling's poem If, which is the first of the two impostors we are warned about?
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4 Which American tennis player's career was effectively ended at the age of 26 by a near–fatal motor vehicle accident on the 3rd of August 1989?
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5 Which tidal estuary is formed by the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Trent?
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6 Which professional American Football franchise is based in Jacksonville, Florida?
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7 Who was hanged in 1953 for the murder of PC Sidney Miles?
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8 In the 1860s, who lived at Red House, in Bexleyheath, Kent, which he co–designed himself and which now belongs to the National Trust?
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Supplementaries:

1 First published in 1923, what was the last novel completed by Joseph Conrad?
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2 The Hayward Gallery in London is currently presenting a retrospective of which 88–year old British artist, one of the most influential exponents of Op Art?
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Round 7: Doctor Who?

A round about doctors, both real and fictional.

1 Which fictional character was created by A. J. Cronin and played on television by Bill Simpson?
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2 What character has been played on film by Rex Harrison and Eddie Murphy?
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3 Having been presumed by many to be dead, who was located in Ujiji, Tanzania in October 1871?
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4 Which writer and lexicographer was born in Lichfield in 1709?
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5 What was the pen name of the author born Theodore Geisel in 1904?
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6 Born in London in 1836, who was the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon?
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7 Which doctor was arrested in 1910 aboard the SS Montrose?
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8 Who opened his first 'ragged school' in London's East End in 1867, and his Juvenile Mission the following year?
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Supplementaries:

1 Which Stanley Kubrick film satirises Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States?
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2 In which play by Christopher Marlowe does the title character strike a deal with Lucifer?
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Round 8: All stations go

Each answer is, or contains, the name of a railway station in the UK.

1 Which is the UK's smallest city, in terms of both area and population?
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2 Which former bank was founded in Birmingham in 1836 and advertised with the slogan 'The Listening Bank'?
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3 Located on Vancouver Island, what is the capital of the Canadian province of British Columbia?
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4 At which specific location could you see the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain and statue?
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5 What 7 letter word is defined by Chambers Dictionary as 'a model of perfection or supreme elegance', and also refers to a perfect diamond?
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6 Which 1814 novel by Sir Walter Scott is set at the time of the Jacobite uprising and is often regarded as one of the first historical novels?
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7 Which 2014 film and its 2017 sequel star Ben Whishaw as the voice of the title character?
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8 In the vaccine abbreviated to MMR, what does the second M stand for?
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Supplementaries:

1 What did the Duke of Wellington describe as "the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life"?
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2 Which Belgian town gives its name to any place whose waters are believed to have health–giving properties?
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Just in case anyone is wondering about the locations of the stations in the answers:

St Davids: Exeter Waverley: Edinburgh Midland: Nottingham/Derby Paddington: London
Victoria: Manchester/London Mumps: Oldham Piccadilly: Manchester Waterloo: London
Paragon: Hull Spa: Bath

General Knowledge

1 The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates died after drinking what poison?
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2 Who was the first divorcee to become President of the USA?
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3 Which diocese was Justin Welby the bishop of, before being appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury?
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4 Which recent TV drama series was based on the real–life story of the industrialist Anne Lister?
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5 In the acronym UCAS, what does the A stand for?
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6 Which brothers opened a club called the Double R Club in Bow Street, London, in 1957?
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7 The word 'wiki', as in Wikipedia, means 'quick' – in which language?
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8 From which plant is linseed oil obtained?
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9 Who made the news in 1995 when he kicked Matthew Simmons?
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10 Give either of the two words from the NATO phonetic alphabet used by US troops in Vietnam to refer to the Viet Cong?
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11 Who was US President when Queen Elizabeth the Second acceded to the throne?
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12 Which Scottish–American businessman and philanthropist, born in 1835, endowed more than 2,500 public libraries around the world?
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13 The Irishman, starring Robert de Niro and Al Pacino, is the latest film by which director?
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14 What's the capital of Azerbaijan?
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15 Who assassinated John Lennon?
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16 Name any of the three countries that use Farsi as an official language.
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17 Which group's first UK top 10 hit was Girls on Film in 1981?
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18 In computing, what does the D stand for in the abbreviation PDF?
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19 In which country were Granny Smith apples first cultivated?
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20 Which parts of the body does a myologist specialise in?
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21 Which Italian city gives its name to a yellowish–brown or reddish–brown pigment?
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22 In architecture, what sort of structure is a cupola (pronounced cue–puller)?
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23 What name links the characters played by Todd Carty in Grange Hill and Peter Capaldi in The Thick Of It?
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24 Which brand of lager has a name derived from a Scandinavian word for "cheers" (as in an informal toast)?
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25 Who was the first person to walk in space? He died last month.
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26 Alex Turner is the lead singer of which British indie rock group, formed in 2002?
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27 To which parts of the body does the adjective 'brachial' apply?
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28 Which nickname links guitarist Dave Evans and the former WWE wrestler Adam Copeland?
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29 Which building is home to the US Congress?
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30 The Australian city of Adelaide was named after the wife of which king?
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31 Which UK supermarket took over Safeway in 2004?
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32 Which event of the 20th century was known in the Republic of Ireland as 'the Emergency'?
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33 The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within which state?
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34 What is the subtitle of Episode IX of the Star Wars series, due for release in the US next month?
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35 Which Spanish golfer is nicknamed El Niño?
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36 What do Edith Piaf, Frederic Chopin, Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison have in common?
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37 Name the German–born author of children's books including The Tiger who Came to Tea, who died earlier this year.
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38 What name is given to the warm, dry wind that blows across the Mediterranean from North Africa, sometimes causing 'blood rain' in Italy as it picks up moisture?
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39 After the invasion of France during World War II, who led the government in exile known as Free France?
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40 Who refused an Oscar in 1973 (having already won one in 1955)?
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41 What's the alternative, English name for the delphinium?
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42 According to the Bible, which insects formed the eighth plague of Egypt?
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43 Which anti–Brexit political campaign group takes its three–word name from a phrase referring to soldiers in the First World War who were sent to their deaths by incompetent and indifferent leaders?
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44 Which London theatre opened in 1881 as a showcase for Gilbert & Sullivan's operas?
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45 What is the last event in the Olympic decathlon?
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46 Which American newspaper publisher provided the inspiration for Orson Welles's Citizen Kane?
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47 Who won the 1963 Best Actor Oscar for the role of Atticus Finch?
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48 Name the journalist and broadcaster who was the second presenter of Question Time and died last month.
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49 What was the original use of the building that now houses the Tate Modern art gallery?
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50 Which writer was born in 1832 in the Cheshire village of Daresbury?
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51 In which opera do the characters the Queen of the Night and the bird catcher Papageno appear?
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52 Which scientist has been chosen to appear on the next edition of the £50 note, due to be issued in 2021?
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53 Frederick Delius, David Hockney and J. B. Priestley were all born in which city?
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54 Which actress was married to Tony Curtis from 1951 to 1962?
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55 What two–word term refers to the hot summer weather which was historically the period when Sirius rises with the Sun?
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56 In which country is the state of Tabasco?
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57 Whose first wife, from 1987 to 1990, was Mimi Rogers?
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58 What word describes a member of the generation defined by Collins English Dictionary as "the young adults of the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations"?
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59 Who was the first Director General of the BBC?
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60 The French designer René Lalique is best known for his work in what medium?
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61 In 9th–century England, what name was given to the tax raised as protection money to pay off the Vikings, or to fund forces to oppose them?
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62 Thomas Hardy took the title of his novel Far from the Madding Crowd from which poem?
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63 Apart from Psalms, what's the only book in the Old Testament whose name begins with P?
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64 Whose world record was recently beaten by the Kenyan Brigid Kosgei, having stood for 16 years?
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65 A new usage of what word means to abruptly end a relationship by cutting off communication, especially online?
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66 Who has held the men's triple jump world record since 1995? Comments on the question
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67 In which fairy tale does a witch cut out the tongue of the title character to get her voice?
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68 Who is the king of the gods in Roman mythology, regarded as equivalent to the Greek Zeus?
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69 What word for a rain cloud can also mean a halo that surrounds a person in a work of art?
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70 Who is the newly appointed Speaker of the House of Commons?
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71 The region known as Pomerania is partly in Germany, but mainly in which other country?
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72 On which radio programme could you get advice from Pippa Greenwood and James Wong?
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73 Which fabric gets its name from a Middle Eastern capital city?
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74 The islands of Java and Sumatra form part of which country?
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75 In which play did Shakespeare refer to jealousy as "the green–eyed monster"?
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76 Who wrote the plays Mother Courage and her Children and The Caucasian Chalk Circle?
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77 What is the senior regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Household Cavalry, along with the Blues and Royals? Click for more information
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78 According to legend, the seamstress Betsy Ross was responsible for designing what?
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79 Who was recently dubbed Wagatha Christie by the tabloid press following leaks of stories about her to the press?
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80 Why is the 31st of July 1970 known in certain quarters as Black Tot Day?
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81 In which British city was the Encyclopaedia Britannica published, from its inception in 1768 until it moved to America in 1901?
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82 In UK Imperial measurement, how many pounds make a hundredweight?
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83 In which US state is the town of Tombstone, famous for the gunfight at the OK Corral which took place there in 1881?
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84 Which modern–day country was known to the ancient Romans as Helvetia?
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85 Who wrote the poem Funeral Blues, also known as Stop All the Clocks, which featured in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral?
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86 Which UK daily newspaper began life in 1930 as the Daily Worker?
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87 What type of animal is a percheron?
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88 In the Christian calendar, what feast is celebrated 40 days after Easter? Click for more information
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89 At what venue in Cheshire does the RHS hold an annual flower show?
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90 Which martial art has a name that means 'way of the sword'?
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91 Metaxa is a spirit originating in which country?
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92 What is the name of the cherry brandy traditionally used in a Black Forest gateau?
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93 Who was the first child born to a reigning UK monarch in the 20th century? Click for more information
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94 Which current West End musical includes the songs Popular and Defying Gravity?
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95 In which game would you be most likely to 'peg out'?
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96 Pembroke and Cardigan are varieties of which breed of dog?
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Supplementaries:

1 Which famous song dates from 1895, when 'Banjo' Paterson put words to the military tune The Craigielee March?
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2 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the address of which famous building?
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3 With an area of 30 acres, which is Britain's second largest castle, after Windsor?
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4 Which company released the original Donkey Kong game in 1981?
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5 Which country with a Mediterranean coastline lies between Algeria and Libya?
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