Monday 18th January 2016
Set by Ormskirk

Round 1
1a The YOP operated to help young people in this country between 1978 and 1983. For what did the letter O stand?
(YOUTH) OPPORTUNITIES (PROGRAMME)
1b Who is the lexicographer, adjudicator, and longest-serving member of the on-screen team on Countdown?
SUSIE DENT
2a Who composed The Goldberg Variations'?
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
2b Which female tennis player won the Australian Open three times as a Yugoslavian and then as an American citizen in 1996?
MONICA SELES
3a On which river does the Balmoral estate lie?
DEE
3b Which is the largest species of British grouse?
(WESTERN) CAPERCAILLIE
4a What was Margaret Thatcher’s constituency?
FINCHLEY
4b Who wrote the novel The Naked and the Dead?
NORMAN MAILER

Round 2
1a Who partners Neil Tennant in the Pet Shop Boys?
CHRIS LOWE
1b What links the Grand National Winners Corbiere, Royal Athlete, Mon Mome and Auroras Encore? FEMALE TRAINERS
2a If you are gamophobic what are you afraid of?
MARRIAGE
2b In which film does Fat Sam fight it out with Dandy Dan?
BUGSY MALONE
3a Over which country did RAF Bomber Command make food drops, codenamed ‘Operation Manna’, in April 1945?
THE NETHERLANDS
3b Which British Victorian writer lived with George Lewes for 24 years but never married him?
GEORGE ELIOT
4a Fuerteventura and La Gomera are two islands in which archipelago?
CANARY ISLANDS
4b Which Italian renaissance painter (1485-1576) had the surname Vecellio?
TITIAN

Round 3
1a How many counties made up the original province of Ulster?
NINE
1b In which American state is Fort Meade, the HQ of the National Security Agency?
MARYLAND
2a Whose murder took place at Birla House on 30 January 1948?
MAHATMA GANDHI
2b Who is the author of a series of short stories, published in 2014, under the collective title The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher?
HILARY MANTEL
3a (Everything I Do) I Do It for You was a number one hit for Bryan Adams in 1991. In which film of that year did it feature?
ROBIN HOOD, PRINCE OF THIEVES
3b Stephen Fry is a director of which football club?
NORWICH CITY
4a Which car company owns the luxury carmaker Bentley?
VOLKSWAGEN
4b Who played the title role in the TV sitcom Rhoda?
VALERIE HARPER

Round 4
1 a Give a year in the life of Marco Polo.
1254-1324
1b Who is the heroine of Jane Austin’s Persuasion?
ANNE ELLIOT
2a The equator crosses the east coast of Africa in which country?
SOMALIA
2b Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Shirley Williams and who else made up the Gang of Four?
BILL RODGERS
3a What is the principal ingredient of the dish baba ghanoush?
AUBERGINE
3b What is the name of the 15-minute news programme on BBC Radio 1 broadcast at 12 45 and 1745 on weekdays?
NEWSBEAT
4a Which architect designed the 2014 Stirling Prize nominated London Aquatics Centre, where the Olympic indoor water sports were staged?
ZAHA HADID
4b Who is the only South African to win the Formula 1 championship?
JODY SHECKTER

Round 5
1a What is the first name of the successful singer brother of the actor Anthony Head?
MURRAY (HEAD)
1b Who rode Don’t Push It to victory in the 2010 Grand National?
A P MCCOY
2a If you are pogonophobic what are you afraid of?
BEARDS
2b In which film did Gordon McRae play Billy Bigelow after Frank Sinatra dropped out?
CAROUSEL
3a Love is All Around was a number one hit for Wet Wet Wet in 1994. In which film of that year did it feature?
FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL
3b Famous as a presenter on TV-am with Anne Diamond, who is the chairman of Luton Town FC?
NICK OWEN
4a Which Eastern European car maker is a subsidiary of Renault?
DACIA
4b Who played the title role in the TV sitcom Ugly Betty?
AMERICA FERRERA

Round 6
1a Which of the nine counties of Ulster has the shortest name?
DOWN
1b In which American state was Edward Snowden working as a contractor to the National Security Agency when he decided to leak secrets?
HAWAII
2a What was the nickname of the East End murder victim Jack McVitie?
THE HAT
2b Who was the youngest of the Mitford sisters who died in 2014 aged 94?
DEBORAH
3a From what is tahini paste made?
SESAME SEEDS
3b Who has presented Pick of the Pops on BBC Radio 2 since 2010?
TONY BLACKBURN
4a The architects of which Liverpool building won the 2014 Stirling Prize?
EVERYMAN THEATRE
4b Who was the last South African golfer to win the Open Championship?
ERNIE ELS

Round 7
1a Give a year in the life of Alfred the Great.
849-899
1b In Pride and Prejudice, what is the Christian name of Mr Darcy’s sister?
GEORGIANA (NOT GEORGINA)
2a The Tropic of Capricorn crosses the west coast of South America in which country?
CHILE
2b Who did Tim Farron beat for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats this year?
NORMAN LAMB
3a Who was the famous RAF Bomber Command representative who observed the dropping of the atom bomb on Nagasaki?
LEONARD CHESHIRE
3b Actress Talia Shire is the sister of which film director and producer?
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
4a Known as the Valley Isle, which is die second largest of the Hawaiian islands?
MAUI
4b The gifted female artist Marietta Robusti was the daughter of which painter?
TINTORETTO

Round 8
1a In April 2008 PEP accounts automatically became stocks and shares ISAs. For what did the letter E stand?
(PERSONAL) EQUITY (PLAN)
1b Who presented Countdown from 2009 to 2011?
JEFF STELLING
2a Who composed Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini?
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
2b Which England cricket captain had a row with umpire Shakoor Rana at Faisalabad in December 1987?
MIKE GATTING
3a On which river does Stirling lie?
FORTH
3b Which member of the grouse family is colloquially known as the snow chicken in the USA?
PTARMIGAN
4a What was Tony Blair’s constituency?
SEDGEFIELD
4b Who wrote the novel Cold Comfort Farm?
STELLA GIBBONS

Spare Questions
1 In which language were the religious books The Vedas written?
SANSKRIT
2 Which Merseyside band was named after a character in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird?
THE BOO RADLEYS
3 In which children’s television programme did Professor Yaffle appear?
BAGPUSS