Timely Recognition

Harvard drop-out, Facebook founder and subject of the recent film 'The Social Network'  Mark Zuckerberg was this week named as Time magazine's Person of the Year. The 26 year old creator of the online social media phenomenon joins a cast of mostly heros, with a smattering of villains, who since 1927 have been named as the person; group; place; idea or object that has most influenced the events of the year in question. Today's Highly Questionable? quiz takes a 'who am I?' format in which we supply clues concerning a previously named Time Person of the Year which hopefully enables you to identify who they are in each case.    

Time Person Of The Year Quiz
Who am I?

1 In 1936 I became the first female winner. Perhaps most famous for who I married as my third husband, I was unusual amongst Americans for being a British Duchess?

2 In 1981 I was recognised for my work with the Polish trade union movement and our opposition to Soviet control?

3 In 1982 I became the first non-human winner by being named Machine of the Year?

4 In 1972 I became the first, and so far only, person to win it for the second year in a row, which even for an American President such as I was a tricky thing to do?

5 I was the first winner in 1927 famed for my solo flight across the Atlantic from the US to France, while five years later I returned to the headlines in tragic circumstances due to the notorious kidnap and murder of my infant son?

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz.

Actors Quiz Answers
The answers to yesterday's actors themed quiz were:
1 M.
2 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
3 Teacher.
4 Harry Potter.
5 Workers Revolutionary Pary.

Acting Up

Who is the greatest stage actor of all time? That's the question the British weekly theatrical newspaper 'The Stage' asked it's readers, with the results of the ten week poll being announced yesterday. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's the first time in the 130 year history of the paper that it has conducted such an exercise given the impossibility of arriving at a truly authoritative answer. Clearly people can only vote on who they have seen on stage which rather discriminates against dead actors who plied their trade in different eras and those treading the boards in other countries. Still, the whole thing is not a scientific exercise and is interesting as a bit of fun. Women topped the poll with Judi Dench coming first and Maggie Smith second, joined in the top ten by Vanessa Redgrave at number 9. Inspired by the results, the Highly Questionable? team have taken these three thespians as the focus of today's quiz which has an acting theme.

Actors Quiz

1 Judi Dench has played which character in recent James Bond films?

2 Judi Dench's most recent stage performance was as Titania who is a character in which of Shakespeare's plays?

3 What was the profession of the character Maggie Smith played in her Oscar winning performance in the 1969 film version of 'The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie'?

4 Minerva McGonagall is a character played by Maggie Smith in which series of films?

5 Vanessa Redgrave has been a high profile member of which political party?

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz.

Film Awards Quiz Answers

1 Italy - the Golden Lion being awarded to the best film at the Venice Film Festival.

2 Germany -the Golden Bear being awarded to the best film at the Berlin Film Festival.

3 Turkey - the Golden Tulip being awarded to the best film at the Istanbul Film Festival.

4 Tunisia -the Golden Tanit being awarded for the best film at the Carthage Film Festival held in Tunis.

5 China - the Golden Roosters being a set of awards made by the China Film Association.

All That Glitters

Misshapen Weather Vane

The red carpet fest of frock fuelled tear stained mom thanking that is the Oscars may be a few months off yet, but thanks to yesterday's announcement of the Golden Globe nominees, we are a little closer to being able to predict who and what on glitzy planet film is likely to be honoured by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This is because the Golden Globes, the winners of which will be announced in the middle of January, are generally considered to be reasonably reliant weather vanes as to how the Hollywood wind is blowing. The Golden Globes themselves are in the circumstances strangely un-American in that they are awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a cabal of around a hundred journalists reporting for an array of media outlets outside the USA. 'The King's Speech' is the most nominated film gathering seven nods in all, including one for best actor for Colin Firth. Interestingly, despite turning in a masterful performance in the exquisite 'A Single Man', Firth lost out last year in the Oscar for best actor to Jeff Bridges, while Bridge's much touted performance this time around in 'True Grit' didn't get a Golden Globe nomination. Caught up in all the current movie hype, we at Highly Questionable? have adopted film awards as the theme of today's quiz by inviting readers to identify where in the world five particularly sought after golden gongs are awarded.   

Film Awards Quiz

In which country are each of the following film awards made:-

1 Golden Lion?

2 Golden Bear?

3 Golden Tulip?

4 Golden Tanit?

5 Golden Rooster?

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

Nuclear Quiz Answers

The answers to yesterday's nuclear themed quiz were:-

1 'The China Syndromme'.

2 Three Mile Island.

3 Homer Simpson.

4 Mr Burns.

5 U.

The Last Resort?

Chernobyl is to become available as a tourist destination from next year, the Ukrainian authorities have just announced. Until now, only unofficial tours to the site of the world's greatest civilian nuclear disaster have been available.  According to Ukraine's government however, these are not only illegal but come at some level of risk, as officials point out that the safety of tourists on these trips, organisaed by private firms, cannot be guaranteed. The official tours will take visitors into the thirty mile exclusion zone established after the catastrophic 1986 explosion of reactor 4 at the Chernobyl power plant. Visitors will be able to look around ghost towns evacuated by the 350,000 people who fled the resulting radioactive contamination and perhaps ponder why, unlike themselves, the locals haven't ventured back. In a bemused frame of mind the Highly Questionable? team have opted to take a nuclear theme for today's quiz.       

Nuclear Quiz

1 What was the title of the 1979 US film in which Jane Fonda portrayed a journalist with concerns about the safety of an American nuclear power plant?    

2 What was the name of the real life American nuclear power station which experienced a serious accident less than a fortnight after the release of the film featuring Jane Fonda featured in question 1?

3 Which fictional character is a Nuclear Safety Inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant?

4 Which fictional character owns the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant?
5 What is the chemical symbol for uranium?
Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.
Traditional Games Quiz Answers
The answers to yesterday's quiz which had traditional games as its theme were:-
1 64.
2 Japan.
3 Backgammon.
4 Parchisi.

5 China.

Fair Game

Aficionados of the game Angry Birds, developed by a small Finnish company to play on mobile phones during idle moments, took to the streets in dozens of cities around the world on Saturday. Dressed as characters from the game, they were celebrating the first anniversary of the launch of what has become one of the most unlikely popular cultural crazes of all time. Angry Birds, which features, well, disgruntled avians seeking revenge on evil egg stealing pigs, attracts 200 million minutes of game play each day around the world according to figures issued by it's developers. Having missed out on this element of the digital entertainment zeitgeist, the out of touch team at Highly Questionable have opted to take traditional games as the theme of today's quiz.      

Traditional Games Quiz

1 How many squares are on the board used to play chess?

2 Shogi is a variant of chess played in which country?

3 Which traditional game requires players to combine dice generated luck with strategy to seek to safely move counters around a board consisting of twenty-four spike shaped triangles?  

4 The children's board game Ludo has it's origin's in which ancient Indian game? 

5 The tile game Mahjong originated in which country? 

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

Contemporary Arts Quiz Answers

The answers to our previous quiz which had contemporary art as the theme were:-

1 Ai Weiwei.

2 Ants crawling on a crucifix.

3 Susan Philipsz.

4 Damien Hirst.

5 Graffiti.

Mouthing Off

Million Dollar Smile

Pop artist Tom Wesselmann's 1966 oil painting 'Mouth Number 8'  (pictured) was amongst a group of 125 artworks owned by 'Playboy' magazine sold at a New York auction house this week. The picture of a scarlet lipsticked mouth was bought for $1.9 million (£1.2m), but it's sale scarcely leaves the Playboy Art Collection, which is stored in a warehouse in Chicago, significantly depleted as it contains 5,000 contemporary works of art and 20 million photographs. The activity at Christie's, which included the sale of a Salvador Dali nude previously owned by 'Playboy' founder Hugh Hefner, prompted the Highly Questionable? team to adopt contemporary art as the theme of today's quiz.  

Contemporary Art Quiz

1 Which artist recently had their art installation of ceramic sunflower seeds at the Tate Modern in London closed due to health and saftey fears?

2 What image in the video installation 'Fire In My Belly' by David Wojnarowicz sparked outrage from senior U.S. politicians which led earlier this week to the contemporary art work's removal from the National Portrait Gallery in Washington?

3 Which Glasgow born, Berlin based artist won the Turner Prize this week, so becoming the first recipient of the award to garner such recognition for a sound art installation?   

4 Which contemporary British artist has been a member of Fat Les, the band that has included amongst it's lineup Alex James of Blur fame and actor Keith Allen?

5 In which form of contemporary art does the creator of work identify themselves by means of a 'tag'?
The answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

Snow Quiz Answers

The answers to yesterday's snow themed quiz were:-

1 Greenland.

2 Robert Frost.

3 Advocaat.

4 'Walking In The Air'.

5 Asia.

The White Stuff

Even the Eiffel Tower has succumbed to the blanket of snow that is causing chaos across much of Europe. The operators of the famous Paris landmark have closed the monument following heavy snowfall in the French capital saying they couldn't use salt to treat collecting ice and snow because it would pose a threat to the iron that forms so much of the structure. Highly Questionable celebrates snow by making it the theme of today's quiz. 

Snow Quiz

1 'Miss Smilla's Feeling For Snow', the 1992 novel by Danish author Peter Hoeg, features a central protagonist from which country?

2 Which writer penned the poem 'Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening'?

3 Which variety of alcohol is a component in a snowball drink? 

4 What was the name of the song made famous by being featured in the 1982 animated film version of Raymond Briggs children's picture book 'The Snowman'? 

5 Snow leopards are native to mountains in which continent?

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

Clowns Quiz Answers

The answers to yesterdays clowns themed quiz were:-

1 Orange - they are typically bright orange with a number of white stripes.

2 'A Little Night Music'.

3 Smokey Robinson (& The Miracles).

4 Calvero.

5 Coulrophobia.

PS - We Like ....
Here's a snow related picture that took the Highly Questionable? collective eye.

A Game Of Consequences

No Laughing Matter

Friday's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Norway will take place with a number of conspicuously empty seats. Firstly, there will be that reserved for the Peace Prize laureate himself. Award winner Liu Xiaobo cannot attend because he is detained in a Chinese prison. An infuriated Chinese Government is boycotting the event and urged others to do likewise or face 'consequences', with diplomats from the eighteen countries listed below heading Beijing's warnings by declining their invitations to the ceremony in Oslo. Noting the Chinese authorities' description of the Nobel Committee members as 'clowns' and being supporters of free speech and human rights, we at Highly Questionable? dedicate today's clown themed quiz to Liu Xiaobo.
The countries who have joined China in confirming they will not be attending the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony are Afghanistan; Colombia; Cuba; Egypt; Iran; Iraq; Kazakhstan; Morocco; Pakistan; the Philippines; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Serbia; Sudan; Tunisia; Ukraine; Venezuela & Vietnam. At the time of writing two other countries had neither accepted nor declined their invitation, being Algeria & Sri Lanka.  

Clowns Quiz
1 What colour are clown fish?
2 The well known song 'Send In The Clowns' came from which 1973 musical before being recorded by a host of artists and gaining the status of a jazz standard? 
3 'Tears Of A Clown' was a 1967 Motown hit for which artist?
4 What was the name of the clown that Charlie Chaplin played in the film 'Limelight'?
5 What is the term for a phobic fear of clowns?
Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

Monarchies Quiz Answers
1 Helen Mirren.
2 Carthage.
3 Tsarina.
4 Hans Christian Anderson.
5 Richard III.

The Light Fantastic

Shine A Light

Residents in Thailand's capital Bangkok marked the Thai King's 83rd birthday this weekend by launching lanterns into the sky. King Bhumibol Adulyadej has reigned for over half a century having taken the throne in 1946 at the age of nineteen. Having stuck around for so long he is currently the longest serving Head of State on the planet. Photographs, such as that shown here, have prompted us to take monarchs and monarchies as the theme of today's quiz.

Monarchies Quiz

1 Which English actress played the current British monarch in the 2006 Stephen Frears directed film 'The Queen', which provided a fictional account of the immediate aftermath of the death of Princess Diana?

2 Dido was Queen of which ancient city State located in what is now modern Tunisia?

3 Russian Queens were referred to by which title?

4 Who wrote the nineteenth century fairy tale 'The Snow Queen'?

5 Shakespeare has which King say 'now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer'?

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz.

French Film Quiz Answers

The answers to our previous French Film themed quiz were:-

1 Caesars.

2 Gerard Depardieu.

3 Edith Piaf.

4 'Mannn des Sources'.

5 Krzysztof Kieslowski.

Sacre Bleu

To celebrate the release in the UK of the powerful French drama 'Of Gods And Men', we've selected French film as the theme of today's quiz. Set in 1990s Algeria, 'Of God's And Men' portrays the challenges and dilemas faced by a group of French Cistercian monks when the harmony of their villages existance is threatened by violent Islamic fundamentalists. Confronted by a real test of faith, the monks must decide to stay or go, while the film begs the question if they belong in their surroundings.   

French Film Quiz
1 What is the name of the French film awards that are the equivalent of the Oscars?
2 Which actor played the titular character in the 1990 film 'Cyrano de Bergerac'? 
3 Which French singer was the subject of the Oscar winning biopic 'La Vie En Rose'?
4 What is the name of the sequel film to 'Jean de Florette'? 
5 Who directed the 'Three Colours' trilogy?
Answers will be published along with the questions for tomorrow's quiz.

Answers To Iconic Buildings Quiz.
The answers to our most recent quiz which had the theme of iconic buildings were:-
1 Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia.
2 The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia.
3 Leaning Tower Of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
4 Anka Wat Temple, Cambodia.
5 Chrysler Building, New York, United States.

Well Built



Taj Mahal, Agra, India



A newly published report from an Indian government agency has revealed that the Taj Mahal is being damaged to a potentially irreparable degree by a cocktail of air and water pollution. This has inspired us to take globally iconic buildings as the theme of today's quiz. Significant growth in industry, traffic and population in the city of Agra, where the seventeeth century tomb is located, have lead to levels of noxious emissions beyond those that prompted a large conservation programme between 1998 and 2000 sparked by similar earlier concerns. The current problem is causing the white marble of the edifice to turn yellow and is undermining it's structural fabric. Let's hope for swift and effective action to preserve this architectural jewel.

Iconic Buildings Quiz

Today's quiz takes the form of a picture round showing five of the most iconic buildings on the planet. The task is to identy each of these and their respective locations.    

Picture 1

Picture 2



Picture 3



Picture 4

 

Picture 5

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

Football World Cup Quiz Answers
The answers to yesterday's football world cup themed quiz were:-
1 Brazil.
2 Ronaldo - the Brazillian having netted a total of fifteen times.
3 Eight.
4 Czechoslovakia & West Germany.
5 The Netherlands / Holland.

The Gnomes Of Zurich

Now we know. Russia will host the 2018 World Cup while Qatar have won the right to do likewise four years later when the tournament will take place in an Arab country for the first time. These decisions were announced in Switzerland today after a feverishly anticipated meeting amongst FIFA's Executive Committee members. We at Highly Questionable? love football and so have taken the World Cup as the theme of today's quiz, although sadly there can be no question that FIFA itself is about as lovable as bubonic plague. 

Football World Cup Quiz

1 Which country will host the next World Cup which is scheduled to take place in 2014?

2 Which player has scored more goals than anyone at World Cup finals tournaments?

3 How many countries have won the World Cup?

4 Which countries have appeared in a World Cup Final but cannot repeat the feat because they are now politically defunct entities?

5 Which is the only country to have appeared in three World Cup Finals and lost each time?
Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

Christmas Quiz Answers
The answers to yesterday's Christmas themed quiz were:-
1 Oak.
2 Three.
3 Clarence.
4 Any three of Blitzen; Comet; Cupid; Dancer; Dasher; Donner; Prancer & Vixen.
5 Australia.

Yule Never Believe It

This year Christmas presents will cost you $96,824. That's the tab you'd face at current prices for all the gifts enumerated in the traditional song 'The Twelve Days Of Christmas'. As well as feeling cherished, your true love might be unexpectedly peeved as they'd likely be looking for a larger place to live - what with needing the space for the 364 items you'd generously showered them with. Dizzied by these numbers we decided to get back to some festive basics with the distinctly non commercial approach of today's Christmas themed quiz. By the way, the costings quoted above were issued this week by an online U.S. based banking firm, which took researching the prices used in their calculations very seriously indeed, even getting the Pennsylvania Ballet Company to confirm the costs of hiring dancing ladies these days. Meanwhile, after checking out the questions in today's Christmas themed quiz and reviewing the answers to yesterday's  brain teaser on railways, have a look at the little gallery of images in our new occasional Also Rans section of the blog which illustrate topics we considered using as the basis for today's quiz.

Christmas Quiz
1 Mistletoe, traditionally used at Christmas as a means of securing a festive kiss, grows on what type of tree?  
2 In Charles Dickens's 'A Christmas Carol', how many ghosts was Scrooge visited by?
3 What was the name of the angel who eventually won his wings for helping James Stewart's character in Frank Capra's Christmas feelgood film masterpiece 'It's A Wonderful Life'?
4 Name any three out of the eight of Santa's reindeers named by Clement Clarke Moore in her iconic poem 'The Night Before Christmas'?   
5 Christmas Island is a territory of which country?
Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

Trains & Railways Quiz Answers
The answers to yesterday's trains and railways themed quiz were:
1 Agatha Christie.
2 Japan.
3 London.
4 Vladivostok.
5 Sodor.

The Also Rans


A quiz on the life and work of Pablo Picasso would have been fun in the wake of the emergence of hundreds of previously unknown works by the Spanish painter. Perhaps the most interesting question is why the retired French electrician Pierre Le Guennec, who claims to have held the collection for some forty years, had't previously sought to cash in on the cache? His assertion that Picasso gave him the assorted  paintings, drawings and lithographs is disbelieved by the Picasso family who have now launched legal action that will unquestionably enrich assorted French lawyers.  

An image of a polar bear drawn in red food dye on the Langjokull glacier in Iceland seeks to draw attention to the UN climate change talks being held in Mexico. Any environmentally themed quiz we might set would have to ask why last year's talks in Copenhagen ended without agreement and why expectation of any real progress this time around are so low? 

And surely it would have been wonderful to mark the death of Leslie Nielsen with a quiz celebrating his great deadpan humour so wonderfully displayed in films like 'Airplane' and 'The Naked Gun' but we suppose that that's not important just now .....

The Rail Thing

A fire this weekend at Istambul's Haydarpasa train station, prompted us to adopt a railway theme for today's quiz. The blaze broke out while restoration work was being conducted at the station, which until 1977 had acted as a terminus for the iconic Orient Express.

Trains  & Railways Quiz

1 Who wrote the book 'Murder On The Orient Express'?

2 High speed Bullet trains run in which country?

3 In which city was the first underground train system constructed?

4 The Trans Siberian Railway runs from Moscow to which other Russian city?

5 What is the name of the fictional island on which the Thomas the Tank Engine children's stories are set? 

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

Illustrated Characters Quiz Answers

The answers to yesterday's quiz on illustrated characters were:-

1 Snowy.

2 The Roamns.

3 Peanuts.

4 Neil Diamond.

5 The Saharan desert.

Graphic Truth

To mark the publication in English of a graphic novel version of the classic book 'The Little Prince', today's quiz takes illustrated characters as our theme.  First published in 1943,  the original has gone on to sell over 80 million copies worldwide, making it one of the biggest selling books of all time. The central figure is one of a number of illustrated characters whose adventures provide enduring  psychological and spiritual observations while enchanting generations of readers.  

1 What was the name of Belgian boy detective Tintin's faithful dog? 

2 Asterix and his fellow villagers resisted the rule of which invading army?

3 Charlie Brown appeared in what internationally acclaimed comic strip?

4 Who recorded the soundtrack to the film version of 'Jonathan Llivingston Seagull'?

5 Where does the narrator of 'The Little Prince' meet the book's main character?

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

The answers to yesterday's Scotland quiz were:-

1 John Rebus.

2 Bee Gees.

3 Saltyre.
4 River Clyde.

5 Aberdeen.

Take Your Pict

With Scotland toasting their patron saint on their national day celebrating St Andrew this week (Tuesday November 30th), we've opted to take all things Scottish as the theme of today's quiz.   

1 What is the name of the detective made famous in Ian Rankin's series of crime books set in Edinburgh?
2 Scottish singer Lulu was married to a member of which successful pop group?
3 The St Andrew's cross formed by white diagonal lines on a blue background that appears on the Scottish flag is also known by what other name?
4 Glasgow stands on what Scottish river?  
5 Which of Scotland's main centres of population is known as The Granite City?
Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz questions.

The answers to yesterday's moon themed quiz were:-
1 Ryan & Tatum O'Neal
2 Chinese
3 The Who
4 Twilight
5 Roman

Bright Side Of The Moon

News that oxygen has been found on one of Saturn's moons has inspired us to take a lunar theme for today's Highly Questionable? quiz. The oxygen in question was detected by NASA's Cassini probe while passing Rhea, the second largest of the 62 moons orbiting Saturn. Mind you, given that Rhea is made totally of ice, combined with its distance from earth and the fact that despite the traces of oxygen the atmosphere there isn't breathable by humans, rules the satellite out as a holiday destination.

      

1 Which father and daughter pairing starred in the US film 'Paper Moon'?
2 Moon cakes are a culinary feature at festivals of which culture?
3 Keith Moon was the flamboyant drummer in which British rock band?
4 'New Moon' is the second book in which series loved by many teenagers?
5 Diana was a moon goddess in the mythology of which civilisation?

The answers will be publishied along with tomorrow's quiz.

The answers to yesterday's All American quiz were:-
1 American Football.
2 Bruce Springsteen.
3 Eleven.
4 Sioux.
5 Sam Mendes

Yanks For The Memories

Citizens in the United States celebrated their annual Thanksgiving holiday yesterday, unlike the country's turkey population many of whose number found themselves served up as the centrepiece of the holiday's traditional meal. To mark their passing, we've dedicated today's All American quiz to them.

1 The annual Super Bowl game is the climax of the season in which American sport? 

2 Who recorded the successful 1984 album 'Born In The USA'?

3 How many States formed the Confederate or Southern side in the American civil war?

4 In the nineteenth century Sitting Bull was a leader of which native American people?

5 Who was the director of the 1999 film 'American Beauty' which stared Kevin Spacey?

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz.

The answers to yesterdays quiz on cheeses were::-

1 Wensleydale.

2 Charles de Gaulle

3 Roquefort.

4 Mozzarella.

5 Double Gloucester.

The Big Cheese

2,600 cheeses from 26 countries this week vied to win the top prize at the World Cheese Awards where a fourteen strong panel of judges choose Cornish Blue as the em, Big Cheese. This inspired today's quiz on the theme of fromage.

1 Wallace, the human half of the famous animated duo Wallace & Gromit, has a particular liking for which cheese?
2 Who said of France 'how can you govern a country that produces 246 varieties of cheese'?
3 Which famous French cheese is made from sheep's milk and then traditionally matured in caves?
4 Which Italian cheese was originally made from the milk of water buffalos?
5 Which variety of cheese is used at the annual cheese-rolling event at Cooper's Hill in the English county of Gloucestershire?

The answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz.

The answers to our previous sleep themed quiz were:-
1 Somnambulism.
2 Raymond Chandler.
3 Train or railway.
4 David Beckham.
5 Wee Willie Winkie.

Lewd Nude?



Sleep is the theme of today's quiz to mark an Irish court's judgement in a truly bizarre case involving the sleepwalking 67 year old David Kansella, who, after being adjudged to have been libeled, was this week awarded ten million euros. Having been discovered sleepwalking naked around a hotel in Mozambique during a business trip, his mining company employers had publicly stated they would be seeking his resignation after he had been found outside the room of a female colleague. The court upheld Mr Kinsella's assertion that he had been made a laughing stock as despite the suggestion that was placed in the public domain that something lewd had occurred, it had not.

1 What is the medical term for sleep walking?

2 The film 'The Big Sleep' starring Humphrey Bogart was based on a book by which writer?

3 Sleepers are an essential component of what form of transport?

4 Which English football player was videoed asleep as the centre piece of an unusual art installation?  

5 Which nursery rhyme character lent their name to a type of hat associated with sleeping? 

Answers will be published along with tomorrows quiz questions.

The answers to our last quiz were:-

1 Abbey Road.

2 Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey).

3 Wilfrid Bramble.

4 On top of the Apple building in London's St John's Wood (captured during the shooting of their film 'Let It Be').

5 'Penny Lane' & 'Strawberry Fields Forever'.

Her Majesty's A Pretty Nice Girl

With two British institutions making global headlines, we had to choose whether to select the newly announced upcoming Royal wedding or the Beatles' catalogue finally becomming available to download from iTunes as the inspiration for today's quiz

As you'll see, we opted for the Fabs. 

1 Which Beatles' album includes a song that has the opening line 'her majesty's a pretty nice girl but she doesn't have a lot to say'?
2 Who was the only one of the four Beatles to have achieved fame under an assumed name?
3 Which British actor played Paul McCartney's grandfather in the film 'Hard Days Night'?
4 Where did the Beatles last play together live as a band?   
5 What were the titles of the two songs on the 1967 Beatles' double A side single each of which commemorated real places in the band's native Liverpool?

The answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz.

The answers to yesterday's quiz were:-
1 A Sad Clown.
2 Science.
3 Three.
4 Danny Abse.
5 Count.

Lions' Share

This month marks the centenary of the death of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. To celebrate the life and work of the brilliant author, whose works include 'War And Peace' and 'Anna Karenina', today's quiz takes the theme of people whose first name is or was Leo.

1 English singer Leo Sayer appeared in what persona at the start of his career when singing songs such as 'One Man Band'?

2 Pope Leo XIII, who headed up the Roman Catholic Church for 25 years during a period spanning the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries, became famous for asserting that religion could co-exist with what? 

3 Belgium remains one of the modern European nation states with a monarchy, how many Kings called Leopold has the country had?

4 Welsh social reformer and longserving Labour MP in the UK parliament Leo Abse had a famous poet as his brother, what was he called?   

5 Despite the humanist egalitarian lifestyle Leo Tolstoy adopted later in his life, what Russian aristocratic title was he entitled to adopt?  

The answers to yesterday's quiz on prisons and prisoners were:-
1 A candle & barbed wire.
2 Nelson Mandela.
3 Patrick McGoohan.
4 Elba & St. Helina.
5 Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz.

Cell By Date

Following the release this weekend of both Ang San Sou Kyi from house arrest in Burma and Paul & Rachel Chandler, the British sailors held captive by Somali pirates in primitive conditions for thirteen long months, today's quiz takes the theme of prisons and prisoners. 

1 Which two items combine to form the logo of Amnesty International, the world wide organisation that campaigns on behalf of prisoners of conscience?

2 Prior to becoming president of his country, who was detained as prisoner 19476/62?

3 Which actor played the central character in the UK cult TV series ''The Prisoner'?

4 On which two island was Napoleon held prisoner?

5  Who wrote 'The Gulag Archipelagoo' & 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich', two books which drew attention to the brutal gulag forced labour camps in Soviet Russia?

Answers will be published along with tomorrow's quiz.

The answer to the previous Highly Questionable quiz were:-

1 The UK.

2 80%.

3 1991.

4 Naypyidaw.

5 Any 3 of Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, Thailand and Tibet.