Great Brain Quiz 131

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( ) % of correct answers (including tie breakers) when section attempted

  1. John DENVER (100) (Colorado) country style singer/songwriter
  2. HELENA Bonham-Carter (100) (Montana) actress whose great-grandfather was Herbert Asquith
  3. Jack LONDON (90) (England) "Call of the Wild" author who was born John Chaney
  4. Elizabeth MONTGOMERY (100) (Alabama) star of the TV comedy series "Bewitched"
  5. Joel CAIRO (95) (Egypt) played by Peter Lorre (seen here) in the 1941 classic "The Maltese Falcon"
  6. VICTORIA de los Angeles (98) (Hong Kong; Seychelles) great operatic soprano
  7. John Lennon and Yoko Ono (99) on 20 March 1969
  8. Somalia (70) at 6 million + ; Sudan (2.8m) and India come next
  9. Paper clip (95) invented by Johann Vaaler and patented in Germany during 1900
  10. Lord Palmerston (95) aged 80, in 1865
  11. Petruchio (90) in The "Taming of the Shrew"
  12. Acheson (90) famous song "The Acheson, Topeka and Santa Fe"; Edward Acheson; Reader's Digest was co-founded in 1922 by Dewitt Wallace and his Canadian wife Lila Bell Acheson
  13. The Weasleys (99) as seen in the film "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
  14. Mika Waltari (60) Finnish mystery writer and historical novelist in 1937, the play being staged in Helsinki in 1938. Agatha Christie wrote a play of the same name also in 1937 which was not however published until 1973 and not staged until 1979
  15. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (98)
  16. Jim Lovell (98) on 25 December 1968 when re-entering the earth's atmosphere in Apollo 8
  17. Groucho Marx/Chico Marx (99) in the classic "A Night at the Opera" 1935
  18. Shirley Temple (100)
  19. Edmund Gwenn (98) in "Miracle on 34th Street" 1947. He collected a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar for his portrayal of "Kris Kringle"; also seen here are the young Natalie Wood and John Payne
  20. Clarence (Oddbody) (100) Henry Travers with Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life" 1946
  21. Indiana (90) there is also a Santa Claus in Arizona, and Georgia; and a Santa (without the "Claus") in Idaho
  22. Patel (90) at the Morley Leisure Centre, Leeds; to raise money for the British Heart Foundation
  23. Winston Churchill (99) as an 18 year-old he was messing about at Dean Chine (Alum Chine) in Branksome Park near Poole, Dorset, and being chased by his brother and a cousin. He tried to jump from the bridge to a nearby tree, fell 30 feet, and was unconscious for two or three days. A lucky escape for all of us
  24. No Ill Feeling! (70) written by John Cleese for the "Doctor at Large" series in May 1971 well before "Fawlty Towers"
  25. Lady Chatterley's Lover (100)
  26. Accrington Stanley (99) on 2 March 1962, away to Crewe
  27. Foxhunter (98) Helsinki 1952. Team Showjumping. Ridden by Col. Harry Llewellyn
  28. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury (90) c 980, the so called Peg Tankard
  29. All the President's Men (90) with Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford
  30. Calais (99) "When I am dead you will find the words Calais and Philip engraved upon my heart"
  31. Glendower (85) on 28 June 1947 at Chepstow. He unseated Richards at the start leaving Markwell to win at his leisure.
  32. Racing Cars (98) in 1977
  33. Tiny Tim (99) the eventual choice by Dickens for "A Christmas Carol"
  34. None of those first names are their actual first names (95) Ruth Elizabeth Davis; Dorothy Faye Dunaway; Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar; Mary Debra Winger; Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon
  35. Battle of Camlan (99)
  36. Little Buttercup (99) "HMS Pinafore" by Gilbert + Sullivan
  37. 12 (75) 5/6 + 8/3 + 7/2 + 9/1 - 4
  38. Bedales (98) Petersfield. Went coed in 1898, the first public school to do so
  39. Cesta Punta (95) in which the ball can travel at some 300 kph
  40. No Peace for the Wicked (80) no "p"s in Pol Pot, the Cambodian leader of Khmer Rouge responsible for 2 million deaths
  41. Glazunov (95) born in St Petersburg. Volga. Others accepted including Borodin/Ob
  42. Greville Wynne (95) the part time MI6 agent arrested by the Russians. Conon Molody was a KGB spymaster calling himself Gordon Lonsdale when heading up the Portland espionage ring. He had been facing a 25 year sentence
  43. 1015 (55) 489 in 1980; 525 in 1984; and 1 in 1976 when Washington oddly gave 8 votes to Ford and 1 to Reagan
  44. Samuel Johnson (60) who wrote just these last four lines for Oliver Goldsmith's "The Deserted Village"
  45. Harmonic (85)
  46. Deneuve/Dorleac (98) French stars Catherine Deneuve and Francoise Dorleac were sisters.
  47. Cary Grant (99) born there on 18 January 1904 to Elsie Maria Kingdon and Elias Leach. His mother was put in a mental institution when he was quite young. His father never told him the truth and Grant found out only some 20 years later
  48. R L Stevenson (95) of "Treasure Island" fame. "Skerryvore". The Skerryvore lighthouse was built by his uncle Alan
  49. Edward the Martyr (90) died 979. His bones were unearthed in Shaftesbury Abbey in 1931. The Anglican and Roman Catholic Church refused to accept them and the finder, John Claridge, placed them with the Midland Bank in Croydon when he went to live abroad. For reasons which escape me the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile were happy to enshrine the remains at Brookwood Chapel, Woking, but after the ceremony the High Court ruled they should revert to Croydon
  50. They all died on 25 December (99) in 1979, 1938, 1989, 1980, 1995, and 1983 respectively
  51. Jack CARDIFF (100) (Wales) English cinematographer and director
  52. PIERRE Fulke (100) (South Dakota) Swedish golfer and former Ryder Cup player
  53. SOFIA Coppola (90) (Bulgaria) talented daughter of Francis Ford Coppola
  54. Helene MADISON (98) (Wisconsin) best all round woman swimmer in the world in the early 1930's
  55. Thomas "Stonewall" JACKSON (100) (Mississippi) Civil War general who was killed by his own troops in 1863
  56. Harold ROME (75) (Italy) American composer and lyricist of "Call Me Mister", "Fanny", "Scarlett" etc. Not Irving Berlin
  57. The Bitter Tea of GENERAL Yen (96) 1932. Barbara Stanwyck. Directed by Frank Capra (see Q20)
  58. Sylvanus URBAN (100) Edward Cave's "The Gentleman's Magazine"
  59. LA Belle Dame Sans Merci (100) John Keats. "Oh what can ail thee knight-at-arms (wretched wight)/ Alone and palely loitering/ The sedge is wither'd from the lake/ And no birds sing"
  60. Pierre Augustin Caron DE Beaumarchais (100) "The Marriage of Figaro", "The Barber of Seville"
  61. The Dick VAN Dyke Show (98) Carl Reiner
  62. IMMORTAL, invisible, God only wise (100)
  63. Will the REAL Mike Yarwood Stand Up (100)
  64. AMEN Corner (98) holes 11, 12, 13 at Augusta, Georgia. Play by James Baldwin
  65. UN Carnet du Bal (90) great 1937 film directed by Julien Duvivier, starring Marie Bell as "Christine"
  66. ANIMAL crackers in my soup (100) Shirley Temple in "Curly Top"
  67. All words in capital italics can have "ity" added to form new ones (60)
  68. St Helens (98) runners-up in Women's FA Cup Final
  69. Lip read (100) Whalley had been deaf and dumb since early childhood
  70. 1930's (100) W H Auden's "1st September 1939"
  71. D (75) the others are the sole 12 letters of the Hawaiian alphabet
  72. Millwall (96) in Division 2 in the 1973/4 season. P 42 W 14 D 14 L 14 F 51 A 51 P 42
  73. Lee Barnes (98) the 1924 Olympic pole vault champion. In "College" 1927
  74. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (60) John le Carre
  75. Phylactery (100)
  76. Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban, Lord Verulam (65) in October 1613. MP for St Albans, Ipswich, Cambridge Univ
  77. Andrew Marshall (80) hardly well known but hit 791 fairways out of 1100. Needs to improve his short game!
  78. Libby Morris (100) in "Space Patrol". ITV 1963/4. "Maria", "Cassiopea", "Gabblerdictum"
  79. (The Unsinkable) Molly Brown (96) who survived the Titanic. She was born Margaret Tobin and married a James Brown. The horse that beat Triple Crown hero Seattle Slew in the 1977 Swaps Stakes was J O Tobin
  80. Texas, Virginia (96) in which you can visit Ben Hur. American place names!! Others accepted if justified
  81. MORONI Olsen (60) (Comoros) actor born in Utah which presumably explains his first name
  82. Darrell VIENNA (75) (Austria) US racehorse trainer
  83. Alex KINGSTON (97) (Jamaica) actress formerly married to Ralph Fiennes
  84. OLYMPIA Dukakis (94) (Washington) actress cousin of 1988 Democratic presidential candidate, Michael Dukakis
  85. TOKYO Sexwale (90) (Japan) South African politician who did a stretch on Robben Island along with Nelson Mandela
  86. James MALE (88) (Maldive Islands) (OK I know he should have an acute accent! A great rackets player. World champion at singles since 1988 bar 2000 when he injured an ankle in the first leg in the USA and his opponent denied him time to recover for scheduled second leg. Outstanding also at real tennis, and other sports, whilst at Radley
  87. Athame (100)
  88. Aage Thaarup (100)
  89. 3 Threes is the Best Prial in Brag/ 8 Golden Stars on the Alaskan Flag/ 63 Groats in a Guinea (82 all OK)
  90. 54 (Eaton Square) (45) Blue Plaque addresses in London of well known actors and actresses. 4 Berkeley Place, Wimbledon; 8 Meadway; 10 Muswell Hill Road; 15 Percy Street; 36 Forest Hill Road; 44 Mount Street
  91. Wang Liping (94) of China. Women's 20 Kilometre Walk, Sydney 2000. Disqualified for lifting after the statutory two warnings. Competitors are shown two white paddles, then a red one to indicate disqualification. First was Hongyu Liu (15 minutes from winning); then Elisabetta Perrone (50 metres later); then, just 150 metres from the finishing tape, Australia's Jane Saville.
  92. 16 (60) "proof" sent to those with wrong answer! Not 17 I'm afraid
  93. Cloudberry (70) with Baldmoney, Dodder, and Sneezewort they are "The Little Grey Men" of the title in the 1942 novel by Denys Watkins-Pitchford, aka B.B. They are gnomes. The book won the Carnegie Medal
  94. Anne Shirley (94) played the character of that name in "Anne of Green Gables" 1934. Born Dawn Paris she appeared as a child star under the name Dawn O'Day but changed this after her role as the Lucy Montgomery character
  95. Hutchinson-Gilford Syndrome (60 all OK) "The Sigma Protocol"
  96. They have all had hair transplants (97)
  97. Forfochen/ Seditious/ Arrivederci (70 all OK) anag Cher off on, Scots word for exhausted; Sed (latin for "but") + it IOU s; Arrived + (m)erci, "merci" is "thank you" in French, "arrivederci" is "goodbye" in Italian
  98. Lilian Harvey (97) Anglo-German actress. Stars in "The Seven Stars Symphony" by French composer Charles Koechlin
  99. Darbishire (80) in the "Jennings" series on BBC's "Children's Hour" in 1948 prior to the Anthony Buckeridge characters appearing in book form in 1950 with "Jennings Goes to School". I have seen references with Loris being called "Lois" and "Louis" but I prefer to rely on the excellent "The Jennings Companion" by David Bathurst
  100. Nilotenstellung (33) Nile/ Nilotic + "stellung". The last leg of the quiz proved very elusive!

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