The closest quiz ever?

27 March 2025

Packed Elm Tree last night. Over 80 quizzers and 17 teams. Lots of new and returning faces too. And a return for the damp dogs in the beer round.

Plus possibly the closest scoring quiz I have ever set. Top scores 32, 32, 32, 31, 31, 30, 29, 29 with even a three way tie-break for second last on 22 points.

Looking forward to next week already…

Cheers

Frank

And last week’s beer round answers:

1. Hammerhead – both an aeronautical manoeuvre and a shark
2. James Mad(d)ison – 4th President of the USA and current Tottenham Hotspur midfielder
3. Danny Blanchflower – member of Bank of England Monetary Committee and former Tottenham Hotspur captain
4. Malik – surnames of One Direction members and famous Ter(r)ences
5. Mombassa – award winning board game and East African port city

Another close finish

20 March 2025

Another good night in the Elm Tree with the Quizmaster congratulating Newcastle fans on their weekend cup win.

And another close finish: 32, 31, 30, 29, 28 and with a high second last score of 22.

But a challenging beer round – see below. Answers next week.

BEER ROUND – OVERLAPPING CATEGORIES

What entry can be part of each set?

For example, ALOYSIUS, RUPERT, TEDDY… [     ?     ]…WATERLOO, VICTORIA, CHARING CROSS
Answer: PADDINGTON (being both a fictional bear and a London Railway Station)

1. LOOP, ROLL, SPIN …[…]… LONG-NOSE PYGMY, COOKIECUTTER, THRESHER
2. GEORGE WASHINGTON, JOHN ADAMS, THOMAS JEFFERSON…[…]…BRENNAN JOHNSON, SON HEUNG-MIN, DOMINIC SOLANKE
3. MERVYN KING, RACHEL LOMAX, JONATHAN HASKEL…[…]…GLENN HODDLE, JIMMY GREAVES, GARY LINEKER
4. PAYNE, STYLES, TOMLINSON…[……]…STAMP, TRENT D’ARBY, RATTIGAN
5. PUERTO RICO, ST PETERSBURG, CARCASSONNE …[…]…DAR-ES-SALAAM, BEIRA, DURBAN

Cheers

Frank

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red

13 March 2025

Great to see Debs and David From Rochester, New York, who were quiz regulars during their recent stay in Durham, back in the pub last night on a flying visit. And with a very commendable performance, with top scores on round 6 (we would expect nothing less).

And another very tight finish: three way tie for first with 33, 33, 33 followed by 31, 30, 29.

Tie break: How many ceramic poppies comprised  the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, the public art installation in the moat of the Tower Of London?  Answer  888,246 poppies

Eve’s team (890,000) pipped Alastair’s (850,500) with Caroline’s holding an internal inquiry after their answer (22,000).

Cheers

Frank

Ex-rated

6 March 2025

Warning: this week’s quiz is not so much X-rated as Ex-rated, with an “ex” theme running through it.

Hopefully it does not contain any questions that may be considered offensive or disturbing. At least not too much.

Top scores 32, 32, 31, 30.

Tie breaker: When did St Kitts and Nevis become independent? (1983)

Cheers

Frank

A quiz from John

20 February 2025

Many thanks to John for quiz-mastering this week. A wide range of topics and a splendidly cheesy start which I thoroughly enjoyed when taking part in the quiz for a change. Nice to see another penguin question sneaking in as well. Albeit I’m not wholly certain that penguins are capable of “sneaking”.

I’ll be back next week. Insert cheers or groans here as appropriate.

All the best

Frank