1. Words
a. What word would an American use for a semi-detached house?
b. Which adjective meaning “absurdly or surrealistically humorous” is derived from the name of a BBC comedy series and now appears in the Oxford English Dictionary?
c. What are spankers, gallants and royals?
2. Silent Laughter
a. Who starred in the silent comedies The Navigator and Sherlock Junior?
b. In which film is the famous scene in which Charlie Chaplin as the tramp eats a boiled boot?
c. Which silent film star’s career was ended when he was accused of the manslaughter of Virginia Rappe, even though he was later acquitted?
3. Drugs
a. Which condition is treated by a carminative drug?
b. What is 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine , sometimes abbreviated MDMA, better know as?
c. The cephalosporins are a group of which kind of drug?
4. Politics
a. Who, in 1995, was the only candidate who stood against John Major for the leadership of the Conservative Party when Major resigned the post and contested the resulting election?
b. Which letters, equivalent to “MP”, do members of the Welsh Assembly have after their names?
c. Who was the only person to be appointed Prime Minister when not a member of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords?
5. Mathematics
a. What is a perfect number?
b. Which familiar mathematical symbol was introduced by the Welsh mathematician William Jones in 1706?
c. What is the name given to the series of numbers in which each member of the series is the sum of the two preceding numbers?
6. Airships
a. With which gas are modern airships filled?
b. Who designed and built the first steerable rigid airship?
c. Which well-know author was a design engineer for both the R-100 and R-101 airships?
7. Sex
a. What was the Christian name of Lady Chatterley’s lover?
b. Whose mistress was Clara Petacci?
c. Whose statue do Dubliners refer to as “the tart with the cart”?
8. Rock ‘n Roll
a. Which rock ‘n roll star was seriously injured in the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran?
b. Which rock ‘n roll star is famous for his “duck walk” dance step, which combines crouching, walking, and playing the guitar?
c. Which rock ‘n roll star is known as The Killer?
This is the last round of the main competition, but was followed by the friendly Beer Round.