Great Brain Quiz 140

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

  1. Jeremy Brett (100) of "Sherlock Holmes" fame
  2. Meryl Streep (100) Oscar-winning American actress
  3. Albert Speer (99) Nazi Minister of Armaments
  4. Bertie Mee (99) Arsenal manager in double year of 1971
  5. Ellis Peters (99) monastic sleuth "Cadfael"
  6. Rich Beem (96) US PGA Championship 2002
  7. Smee (99) one of "Capt. Hook"s motley crew in "Peter Pan"
  8. Honolulu (99) Hawaii
  9. TV advert (90) Gibbs SR. ITV's Channel Nine Variety Show
  10. Lord Snowdon (98) in the early 1960's
  11. Babushka (99)
  12. The Anthem "Hear My Prayer" (90) based on Psalm 55, usually performed by a treble soloist
  13. Robert Leroy (95) Butch Cassidy's real name was Robert Leroy Parker. "Believe It Or Not" was the brainchild of Robert Leroy Ripley, a cartoonist who in 1918 began a series of articles in comic strip form about bizarre true facts
  14. Pat Nye (95) "Mama Doc" in the "Ace of Wands". Francois Duvalier was known as "Papa Doc", his wife "Mama Doc"
  15. Camberwell Beauty (100)
  16. Balance (95) which ends in Lance, a boy's name. Others end with a girl's name, Olivia, Ada, Tina, May, Amy, Cara, etc
  17. Cardinal de Brogni (80) in "La Juive" ("The Jewess"). "Rachel" disappeared as a child in Rome when "de Brogni", then a magistrate, returned to find his house burned by citizens of Naples, and his wife dead. He turned to the church in his grief, became a Cardinal in time, and a persecutor of the Jews. The goldsmith, "Eleazar", adopted "Rachel" and, as "de Brogni" puts him to death, calmly informs him that he has just executed his own daughter
  18. Rodrigo (90) the first names, with their papal numbers (but 6 as opposed to VI etc) of Popes Alexander
  19. Brisket + Frisket (70) the frame used in printing to hold the paper in place. A few alternatives were accepted
  20. Lindsay Davenport (99) 1999
  21. Murder Must Advertise (90) Dorothy Sayers. "Tallboy"
  22. Never performed by dedicatee (97) the so called "Kreutzer Sonata" was written for the virtuoso Rodolphe Kreutzer who never hid his distaste for the work and refused to have anything to do with it
  23. Jimmy Ross (85) who scored 20 goals for Preston North End in the 1887/8 FA Cup in which they reached the final, helped admittedly by shunting 7 past hapless Hyde United whom they beat by a record 26-0 in Round 1
  24. Bjornstjerne Bjornson (85) a 1870 poem is basis of Norway's national anthem. Nobel Prize for literature in 1903
  25. S (90) Fate of Henry VIII's six wives. Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived (Catherine Parr)
  26. Adlestrop (95) "Yes, I remember Adlestrop/ The name, because one afternoon/ Of heat the express train drew up there/ Unwontedly. It was late June"
  27. Carlota Ciganda (60) of Spain. Born 1 June 1990. Finished 51 in the 2005 Women's British Open. Potential world-beater Michelle Wie, also then an amateur, finished 3= but is about seven months older
  28. Kibbutzim (95) plural of "kibbutz"
  29. Titanic (95) Maury Yeston + Peter Stone
  30. Girandole (95) other answers accepted
  31. Chud/ Peipus (99) scene of Alexander Nevsky's 1242 victory over the Teutonic knights. Impressive 1938 film directed by Sergei Eisenstein with majestic Prokofiev score. The battle on the Ice is the highlight
  32. Schtroumpfs (75) in French original. Called Smurfs in the UK and elsewhere. Created by Belgian Pierre Culliford (Peyo)
  33. Woolloomooloo (90) Sydney suburb where actor Russell Crowe has a .penthouse
  34. New Zealand (97) the legendary 1930 Melbourne Cup winner Phar Lap who did virtually all his racing in Australia
  35. Four (99) Berlin 1916; Tokyo, who lost the 1940 Games after Japan attacked China in 1938;. Helsinki, awarded Games in Tokyo's place; London 1944. I accepted alternatives because the "originally" in wording was confusing
  36. James Howard Snook (98) shooting events Antwerp 1920. Electric chaired in 1930 after killing his mistress Thora Hix
  37. Landwind SUV (80)
  38. Gung-ho (85) in WW2 it was the motto of the US Marine Corps Second Raider Battalion. "Work together" in Chinese
  39. Harold Macmillan (70) whose father Maurice taught at St Pauls' between 1877 and 1883
  40. Columbia University, New York (85) in 1754, in reign of George II; founded under royal charter as King's College
  41. Higgs (98) who marries "Arowhena", the daughter of "Senoj Nosnibor", in Samuel Butler's satirical 1870's "Erewhon"
  42. Reckitt Benckiser (80) formerly (Isaac) Reckitt + (Jeremiah) Colman. Taken over by the Dutch group Benckiser in 1999
  43. Mateo Alonso (95)
  44. Peter Rennert (60) who was at college with McEnroe. Not Peter Fleming, his best doubles partner, although McEnroe in "fact did the honours at Fleming's wedding
  45. Beyond the Black Stump (75) Nevil Shute. In "A Town Like Alice", Shute used the word "chunder" but spelt it "chunda"
  46. Mississippi (95) used in "Mississippi Burning" to imply racial bigotry
  47. All Saints' College, Cambridge (90) in the sequel to "The Men in Room 17" called "The Fellows"
  48. Calender (97) calendar. Several alternative spellings
  49. Anthony Hope (98) of "The Prisoner of Zenda" fame, in his "Dolly Dialogues" Chapter XV of 1894. This is what is in all the books of quotations (where I found a quote!) but others accepted, principally Thackeray's "Vanity Fair".
  50. 39 (85) it should be fairly clear from the last two statements in the question that James and John are twins, and from the opening statement (15 years ago) that Mrs Smith's age then must be an even number. After that trial and error is best!
    Mrs SmithEdgarJamesJohnEthelDaisy
    15 years ago2463
    At Ethel's birth (12 years ago)27966
    10 years ago2911882
    At Daisy's birth (9 years ago)3012993
    Now39211818129
  51. Dai Rees (100) British Ryder Cup player
  52. Irina Press (100) Russian athlete who won Gold in the pentathlon at Tokyo in 1964, narrowly beating Mary Rand
  53. Fred Ebb (95) lyricist half of (John) Kander + Ebb. Best known for "Cabaret" and "Chicago"
  54. Leighton Rees (100) first winner (1978) of the World Professional Darts Championship
  55. Lucille Bremer (95) top-class dancer who never quite made it in Hollywood. "Meet Me in St Louis", "Yolanda and the Thief"
  56. Sir Henry Bessemer (100) metallurgist who invented the "Bessemer converter", the first cheap process for making steel
  57. The LEMON DROP Kid (85) Damon Runyon
  58. BAG and Baggage Policy (95) "Let the Turks now carry off their abuses in the only possible manner, namely by carrying off themselves......one and all, bag and baggage, from the province they have desolated and profaned"
  59. The DEVIL at 4 O'CLOCK (98) Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra
  60. Kenny BALL and his Jazzmen (100) hit singles
  61. Keith GLASS (100) played Tony Fawcett
  62. WINGS and the Woman (100) UK title "They Flew Alone" (1942), starring Dame Anna Neagle as Amy Johnson
  63. HAMMER and Smith (100) gave name to Hammer Films founded in the mid 1930's by William Hinds and Enrique Carreras
  64. Decline and FALL (95) Evelyn Waugh
  65. The Bishop of BATH and Wells (90) "Blackadder 2" ("Money") Ronald Lacey, father of Rebecca ("The Darling Buds of May" and "May to December")
  66. Edgar RICE Burroughs (100) "Tarzan"
  67. Words that can be preceded by Water to make new words or two word (sometimes hyphenated) phrases (75)
  68. Playing cards (95) trade names, as manufactured by Russell, Morgan and Co
  69. Custard Pie Championships (100) at Coxheath, in Kent
  70. Ismail Kadare (95) Albanian writer who is the inaugural winner of the Man Booker International Prize for Literature
  71. February 2003 (50) at St Croix in the US Virgin Islands: West Indies "B" versus Guyana
  72. The Moonstone (80) 1868 by Wilkie Collins, quotes from "Robinson Crusoe"
  73. Ionic (85) mostly scientific terms
  74. Cecille Evans (90) silent film star, "The Girl With The $100,000 Legs"
  75. Robert Graves (100) written by John Graves
  76. Hockey Puck (90) Don Rickles
  77. Pitch (85) owned by a Col. Thornton. A white smooth fox terrier depicted in a 1790's painting
  78. The Four Just Men (85) 1905. Edgar Wallace. Tallis Press. It sold 38,000 copies but Wallace had overspent hugely on promoting the book and lost £1,400. Somewhat chastened, he sold the rights to Newnes for a paltry sum. They sold several hundred thousand copies over the years after Wallace became seriously famous
  79. 1st SS Panzer Division (90) "Leibstandarte (Lifeguard) Adolf Hitler"
  80. Mount Parascotopetl (100) H G Wells "The Country of the Blind"
  81. Karolina Sprem (100) of Croatia. Reached last eight at Wimbledon in 2004
  82. Jean-Pierre.Serre (98) French mathematician. Has won the Fields Medal and .the Abel Prize.
  83. Alison Streeter (90) who works (or used to) for a London bank and has swum the Channel some 40 times, a record
  84. Edna Best (100) quite famous English film actress in the 1930's. Married Herbert Marshall
  85. Lloyd Frederick Rees (100) 1895-1988. Australian artist
  86. Dottie Pepper (95) leading US lady golfer. Forced to retire from the top level through injury. Now commentates
  87. Gadsden Purchase (100) James Gadsden
  88. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (100) Russian who was formerly one of the world's top tennis players. He was allowed to enter the Moscow Open (golf tournament) in August but scored 88 + 96 to miss the cut by 40 shots!
  89. Grauman's Chinese Theatre (85) on Hollywood Boulevard where celebrities over the years have left impressions of their feet, hands etc in the "Forecourt of the Stars". Pinza's are in Plot 33, Melchior's in Plot 35
  90. Eugene de Beauharnais (95) elder son of Josephine who was married to the Vicomte de Beauharnais pre Napoleon
  91. 24 Cheyne Row, Home of Thomas Carlyle/31 Syllables in a Tanka/ 48 Songs Without Words by Mendelssohn (75 all OK)
  92. Giancarlo Baghetti (80) French Grand Prix 1961
  93. Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant (85) "Hail Caesar, those about to die salute you". Gladiators in ancient Rome
  94. Rebecca (Becky) Sharp (92) in Thackeray's "Vanity Fair". She was educated for a while at Miss Pinkerton's Academy
  95. Raiding Support Regiment (80) formed in Palestine. Cap badges read "Quit You Like Men". See 1 Corinthians, 16, v 13
  96. Calculus (90) "Tintin" books. Praeneste (now Palestrina) was founded in myth by Caeculus, a son of Vulcan who got his name because he seemed to be blinded (latin "caecus") by his fire. Virgil's Aeneid 7. 678-690, and later
  97. La Nonne Sanglante/Gounod (95) who redeemed himself with Faust
  98. Owl/ Ebro/ Nonante (80 all OK) "Hamlet" Act 4, Sc V; web rotting Spanish river; 90 in Walloon part of Belgium
  99. Nepal (75) state visits by the Queen. Sweden, June 1956 to Holland, March 1958. Nepal was March 1961
  100. Biggles (90) 1994 British postage greetings stamps, "Messages" series

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