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Programme 11, 2019

Tom Sutcliffe is in the chair for the notoriously cryptic quiz, with the teams from the North of England and the Midlands taking part in their final clash of the series

(11/12)
Tom Sutcliffe hosts as Stuart Maconie and Adele Geras of the North of England take on Elizabeth-Jane Burnett and Stephen Maddock of the Midlands. Both teams have so far won 2 and lost 1 this season, and today's winners could stand a real chance of taking the overall series title.

Among Tom's teasers today he will be inviting them to ponder how the far north of Scotland, a pear-shaped Caribbean island and a city in California might be linked, musically, to New Jersey? Tom will also be revealing the solution to the question he left unanswered at the end of last week's quiz.

Producer: Paul Bajoria

28 minutes

Last on

Sat 16 Mar 2019 23:00

Last week's teaser question

Last week Tom asked: Why might you imagine Zoella and Thatcher Joe to have some connection with Graham McPherson?

We're deep in popular culture territory here. Zoella and Thatcher Joe are the online pseudonyms of the sister-and-brother YouTube stars Zoe and Joe Sugg. Collectively they might be described as the Suggs, and this might lead you to think they had some connection to Suggs, the singer in the bandÌýMadness whose real name is Graham McPherson. In fact he got his nickname as a schoolboy, long before Joe and Zoe were born, by randomly choosing the name of an obscure jazz musician. And of course, he isn't related to them in any way.

The 2019 RBQ League Table

The rankings in this year's series,Ìýas we enter today's contest, are as follows:

1 WalesÌýÌý PlayedÌý4Ìý Won 2Ìý Drawn 0Ìý Lost 2Ìý Total points 76

2 South of EnglandÌýÌý Played 3Ìý Won 2Ìý Drawn 0Ìý LostÌý1Ìý Pts 59

3ÌýMidlandsÌýÌý Played 3Ìý Won 2Ìý Drawn 0Ìý Lost 1Ìý Pts 54

4ÌýNorth of EnglandÌýÌý Played 3Ìý Won 2Ìý Drawn 0Ìý Lost 1Ìý Pts 51

5 Northern IrelandÌýÌý Played 3Ìý Won 1Ìý Drawn 0Ìý Lost 2Ìý Pts 54

6ÌýScotlandÌýÌý Played 4Ìý Won 1Ìý Drawn 0Ìý Lost 3Ìý Pts 66

Today's questions

Q1 (from David Walsh)Ìý What links Caroline and Oliver, Matthew and Marilla, and two sisters favoured by a local government officer?

Q2 (from John McEwan)Ìý How might the far north of Scotland, a pear-shaped Caribbean island and a city in California be linked, musically, to New Jersey?

Q3Ìý(Music)Ìý Which of these performers should we trust?

Q4Ìý An eight-time winner of the London Marathon, the Master of the Queen's Music and a Fast comedian: when they're a bit bigger, they might all play for Shrewsbury Town. Why?

Q5Ìý Start with a fish that canÌýbe cut-throat. What have you got to lose to get, in turn, a dodgy trader and a short pharaoh, and end up risking being over-familiar to a French person?

Q6Ìý(Music - from Graham Roberts)Ìý What connects this music with one half of a drunken cockney double act, a musical Lord, a legendarily large-handed Russian, and the KingÌýof Swing?

Q7Ìý The Beatles take a financial route - Bob Dylan a very assured one - the Rolling Stones proceed on their way having been banished - and Dire Straits' route is communicative. What fuel does Rod Stewart provide?Ìý

Q8 (from Norman Foster)Ìý Why could the Oscar-nominated Ms Hawkins provide a beginning for a sequence involving a Birmingham tree, a frivolous sporting position, a noble scientist, and a Hudson hero?

Ìý

This week's teaser question

This week's teaser comes from RBQ listener Robert Means.

In a sequence that consists of J.R.R, Tolkien, The Postman, P.T. Barnum and a German car maker - what kind of gift would come next?

Don't write to us - there are no prizes! - but you can see if your answer matches ours when we reveal the solution next time.

Broadcasts

  • Mon 11 Mar 2019 15:00
  • Sat 16 Mar 2019 23:00

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