Saturday Trivia Challenge: Put Your Smarts to the Test
How much of common knowledge are you holding? Dive into the following collection of queries to find out.
The Questions
1 Which icon of country music had a close brush with death from an ostrich attack in 1981?
2 Dame Sarah Mullally has been appointed as the one hundred and sixth what?
3 Which first convened at Thingvellir in Iceland during the year 930?
4 In the power industry, what is EfW?
5 Tears of Christ vino originates from vineyards on what mountain?
6 Which BBC sitcom has been running for 19 years?
7 Whose findings led to the implementation of stadiums with only seats in the United Kingdom?
8 What chess piece was originally known as the vizier?
Common Connections
9 Brick Lane; Chancery Lane; Hangar Lane; Leather Lane; Park; Pudding Lane?
10 Urbión Range; Tordesillas; Zamora; Porto?
11 Offspring of Cush; ninth variation in music; maritime patrol aircraft; Iranian embassy siege?
12 Caldey Island; Denny; Flat Holm Island; Lundy Island; Stert; The Wolves?
13 Pugilism; chariot racing; discus; javelin throw; broad jump; ancient combat sport; wrestling?
14 James Bond; Alec Leamas; Pyle figure; Verloc persona?
15 Blanchett actress; Penélope Cruz; Keaton performer; Mira Sorvino; Wiest thespian?
Feeling stumped by the Tordesillas question?
The Answers
1 Johnny Cash.
2 Canterbury Archbishop.
3 Althing (parliament).
4 Energy from waste.
5 Vesuvius.
6 Not Going Out (UK's second longest-running comedy)
7 Taylor Report (1990).
8 The queen piece.
9 London lanes.
10 Douro River: starts in Spain; flows through in Spain; reaches Atlantic.
11 The name Nimrod: from Genesis; from Elgar’s Enigma Variations; Hawker Siddeley Nimrod; SAS operation codename.
12 Islands in the Bristol Channel.
13 Events in the ancient Olympics.
14 Spy titles in books: Fleming’s The Spy Who Loved Me; John le Carré's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; Greene’s The Quiet American; Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent.
15 Oscar wins in Woody Allen movies: film Blue Jasmine; Vicky Cristina Barcelona; Annie Hall; feature Mighty Aphrodite; Hannah and Her Sisters, Bullets Over Broadway.
