Category: Quizzing

All-purpose 50th birthday quiz

My sister is 50. Scary stuff, of course, and also of course we were asked to write a quiz for her do. So we did. And because it’s a bugger to do, here I’m sharing what we did. And it’s actually dead easy.

You do a picture round of ten famous faces from the same birth year. You do a music round with ten of the biggest hits of the year, asking folk to name the artist. And you do a before or after round – pick ten world events adjacent to the subject’s birth and folk need to determine if they happened before the subject was born or after.

Which leaves you one round to do, and here’s the generic bit of questions relating to the number 50. It’s a rhyme time – two clues, the answers to which rhyme and you need them both for the point. Screw half points. Here we go:

  1. Letter that represents 50 in Roman numerals. Abbreviated name of two Spice Girls
  2. 50th wedding anniversary. Britain’s Got Talent judge
  3. Rap singer Curtis Jackson goes by this name. Superman’s alter ego
  4. Section on a dartboard that scores 50. Meat product, also a type of hat
  5. Cop show set on an island state of the US. First Bond film
  6. Who sang 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover. Rolling Stones bassist
  7. Most Test 50s for England mens team. What you are said to wear when you wear nothing
  8. Element with atomic number 50. Juniper flavoured spirit
  9. Author of the 50 Shades books. Worldwide quadrennial sports event
  10. North By Northwest was the 50th film of this director’s career. 1969 music festival in New York state
Show/hide answers

1. L. Mel
2. Golden. Amada Holden
3. 50 Cent. Clark Kent
4. Bullseye. Pork pie
5. Hawaii 5-0. Dr No
6. Paul Simon. Bill Wyman
7. Joe Root. Birthday suit
8. Tin. Gin
9. EL James. Olympic Games
10. Hitchcock. Woodstock

Help yourself.

Dobbo’s House of Games

Since the start of lockdown 1, a bunch of us – largely from the old, Socrates-era football blogging community – have been doing a weekly football quiz on our slack channel. Open to all. Join in if you fancy. It was my turn last week, so I shamefully nicked all the rounds from Richard Osman’s House of Games. Thought I’d share.

Round 1: Correction centre
One word is wrong in these statements. Which word are you changing to what to make it correct?
1. Billy Wright, the first footballer to make 100 appearances for his country, played his entire club career at Bolton Wanderers.
2. The last champions of the Simod Cup were Genoa.
3. The first champions of England were Glossop North End.
4. Naming rights to Huddersfield’s new ground were first sold to Alfred Hitchcock.
5. Shrewsbury Town provided most of the footballers in Escape To Victory.
6. Playing at Estadio Monumental, River Ouse are the big rivals to Boca Juniors.
7. Vinnie Jones made his acting debut in Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, directed by Andy Ritchie.
8. England’s 1966 World Cup winning captain was Roger Moore.
9. Dave Whelan broke his shoulder in the 1960 FA Cup final.
10. Nottingham Forest’s and Notts County’s grounds lie either side of the River Mersey.

Show/hide answers

1. Bolton -> Wolverhampton
2. Simod -> Anglo-Italian
3. Glossop -> Preston
4. Hitchcock -> McAlpine
5. Shrewsbury -> Ipswich
6. Ouse -> Plate
7. Andy -> Guy
8. Roger -> Bobby
9. Shoulder -> leg
10. Mersey -> Trent

Round 2: Rhyme time
Two clues, the answers rhyme with one another. Yes you need both for a point
1. England winger in the 1990 World Cup. England manager who hates disableds.
2. Scotland manager at the 1998 World Cup. Club known as The Mariners who play in Cleethorpes.
3. Stockport County’s ground lies closest to this river. Graeme Le Saux was born on which Channel Island?
4. Commentator noted for his sheepskin coat. Everton captain when they won the FA Cup in 1995.
5. Long-legged Sheffield Wednesday and England midfielder of the Graham Taylor days. ‘El Pibe’.
6. Dutch defender sold by Alex Ferguson after writing his autobiography. Home city of Feyenoord and Excelsior.
7. Pundit fired by Sky for being a massive creep. 118-cap Irish international defender who played for Man Utd and Sunderland.
8. Scottish-born Ireland international who played for and managed Bolton. Sherlock Holmes creator who played in goal for amateur side Portsmouth.
9. Crystal Palace’s nickname. Brighton’s nickname.
10. Manager of Leeds for 44 days. Scottish goalkeeper at the 1978 and 82 World Cup.

Show/hide answers

1. Chris Waddle, Glenn Hoddle
2. Craig Brown, Grimsby Town
3. Mersey, Jersey
4. John Motson, Dave Watson
5. Carlton Palmer, Carlos Valderrama
6. Jaap Stam, Rotterdam
7. Andy Gray, John O’Shea
8. Owen Coyle, Arthur Conan Doyle
9. Eagles, Seagulls
10. Brian Clough, Alan Rough

Round 3: This round is in code.
I give you the answers here, but they’re all in code where A=1, B=2 etc 
These first five are ‘Pot 4’ countries at the 2018 World Cup
1. 19-15-21-20-8  11-15-18-5-1
2. 16-1-14-1-13-1
3. 10-1-16-1-14
4. 19-5-18-2-9-1
5. 13-15-18-15-3-3-15
And these five clubs are all one-time winners of the English championship
6. 19-8-5-6-6-9-5-12-4  21-14-9-20-5-4
7. 9-16-19-23-9-3-8  20-15-23-14
8. 12-5-9-3-5-19-20-5-18  3-9-20-25
9. 14-15-20-20-9-14-7-8-1-13  6-15-18-5-19-20
10. 23-5-19-20  2-18-15-13-23-9-3-8   1-12-2-9-15-14

Show/hide answers

1. South Korea
2. Panama
3. Japan
4. Serbia
5. Morocco
6. Shffield United
7. Ipswich Town
8. Leicester City
9. Nottingham Forest
10. West Bromwich Albion

Round 4: Games House Of
General trivia, but you must give me the answer in alphabetical order. So if the answer was my name, you put Dobson John
1. Which Dutch striker won the Ballon d’Or in 1988, 89 and 92?
2. Which Scottish side contest the Highland Derby with Ross County?
3. Davide Gualtieri scored a famous goal against England playing for which national side?
4. David Beckham, Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard have all played for which MLS side?
5. Which club were the first to crack 100 points in a season in English football?
6. Which Italian nutjob’s career high/lowlights include flinging a Nazi salute, shoving a referee over and a spectacular flying volley for West Ham?
7. Arsene Wenger joined Arsenal from which J-League side?
8. Which Dutch striker played for Celtic, Hull and Rapid Vienna in between spells at PSV?
9. What was the official mascot of the 1966 World Cup?
10. Bradley Wright-Phillips scored 125 goals in MLS for which team?

Show/hide answers

1. Basten Marco van
2. Caledonian Inverness Thistle
3. Marino San
4. Angeles Galaxy Los
5. City York
6. Canio di Paolo
7. Eight Grampus Nagoya
8. Hesselink Jan of Vennegoor
9. Cup Willie World
10. Bulls New Red York

Final round: ANSWERSMASH
A picture, a clue beneath, smash the answers together
First five are pictures of players, smash them into the clues
1.
34-time champions of Spain
2.
Scottish club known as The Accies
3.
Hampshire club founded in 1992 after the previous club folded and resigned from the Football League
4.
Scottish team from Perth, the only league club in the UK with a J in the name
5.
Only French team to win the European Cup
And vice versa, pictures of club badges, smash them into the clues
6.
Scored Manchester United’s first in the 1999 Champions League final
7.
Arsenal stalwart, wrote the autobiography ‘Addicted’
8.
26 caps for Italy and current Everton manager
9.
Rangers and Blackpool defender, once got injured by a poached egg
10.
Norwegian striker who is ‘at the wheel’

Show/hide answers

1. Nacho Monreal Madrid
2. David Beckhamilton Academical
3. Steve Archibaldershot Town
4. Iain St Johnstone
5. Marc Overmarseille
6. Scunthorpe Uniteddy Sheringham
7. Portony Adams
8. Benficarlo Ancelotti
9. Falkirk Broadfoot
10. Espanyole Gunnar Solskjaer