Pascoe’s PenWriting · Editing · Learning materials
Back to bespoke quizzesSample quiz · 10 questions · 20 points

Ten Questions Worth a Discussion

A taste of the questions, connections and surprises I can put together for your group. Try the questions first, then reveal the answers below.

No phones, no shouting out answers, and no appointing yourself team captain simply because you own the pen.

Allow about 15 to 20 minutes for a small group, including answers. For question 10, a host should read the clues one at a time.

Go to answers and host notes

The questions

  1. The final hurdle

    After nine events, a decathlete still has one race to complete. Over what distance?

  2. A sporting fruit

    Which fruit sits on top of the Wimbledon gentlemen’s singles trophy?

  3. Fully booked

    Despite decades of repeats, how many episodes of the original Fawlty Towers television series were made?

  4. Taking its time

    Which planet takes longer to turn once on its axis than it takes to travel once around the Sun?

  5. Getting the message

    The Rosetta Stone helped scholars decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs because its inscription also appeared in other scripts. One was demotic. Which European language provided the crucial readable version?

  6. Plenty of heart

    An octopus has eight arms. How many hearts does it have?

  7. Going their own ways

    What connects these four singles? For an extra point each, name the recording artist or group associated with each original hit: Photograph; My Sweet Lord; Band on the Run; Imagine.

  8. Two worlds

    Miranda, Ariel, Titania and Oberon are names found in the works of which playwright? They are also moons of which planet?

  9. Before and after

    Arrange these events from earliest to latest: A, the first modern Olympic Games take place in Athens; B, the Eiffel Tower opens; C, London’s first underground railway opens to the public.

  10. A second string to my bow

    Who am I? Submit one answer when you are ready. An early correct answer earns more points, but once submitted it cannot be changed.

    First clue · four points

    During the Second World War, I worked with composer George Antheil on a frequency-hopping communication system intended to help guide torpedoes.

    Second clue · two points

    I was born in Vienna in 1914 and became a Hollywood film star.

    Final clue · one point

    I played Delilah opposite Victor Mature’s Samson in the 1949 film Samson and Delilah.

Answers and host notes

Six single-point questions, five points for the music connection, two for the literary connection, three for the chronology and up to four for the mystery person. Maximum: 20 points.

Reveal the answers and scoring

  1. 1,500 metres. One point. After all that, three and three-quarter laps of the track probably feels a little unnecessary.

  2. A pineapple. One point. Accept pineapple, regardless of whether the team believes it belongs there.

  3. Twelve. One point. Two series of six episodes. Basil managed to cause a remarkable amount of trouble in a relatively short stay.

  4. Venus. One point. One rotation takes about 243 Earth days; one orbit takes about 225. A solar day is a different measurement, which is why the question specifies one turn on its axis.

  5. Greek. One point. Accept Ancient Greek. The stone contains three scripts, not three different languages.

  6. Three. One point. Two pump blood through the gills; the third circulates it around the body.

  7. Releases associated with the four former Beatles after the band split. One point for the connection, plus one point each: Photograph, Ringo Starr; My Sweet Lord, George Harrison; Band on the Run, Paul McCartney and Wings; Imagine, John Lennon. Accept Paul McCartney or Wings. This concerns the recordings, not the songwriting credits.

  8. William Shakespeare; Uranus. One point each. Miranda and Ariel appear in The Tempest; Titania and Oberon appear in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

  9. C, B, A. One point for each correct position: Metropolitan Railway, 1863; Eiffel Tower, 1889; Athens Olympics, 1896. No extra points for dates.

  10. Hedy Lamarr. Award four, two or one point according to the clue at which the team submits its answer. One submission per team; no changes. Wrong answers score zero. Pause after each clue and keep submissions hidden until the reveal.

A quiz for your occasion

I can vary the subjects, difficulty and format to suit the people taking part. Text quizzes start at £90 for 20 questions or £175 for 40.

Audio rounds can be discussed and quoted individually, subject to music permissions.

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