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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 20 general entries.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Hobbies Other
| The rules of the World Quizzing Championship require you to give both a forename and a surname when the answer is a person's name? | World Quizzing Championship
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False. Unless specifically mentioned, you should only give the person's surname. Writing the forename is just a waste of ink! So if the answer was Joseph Stalin, Stalin can be accepted as well as Joseph Stalin, or any other equally acceptable variation of his name. If in a moment of madness you write Vladimir Stalin, unfortunately you lose a point that you would otherwise have gained, so remember - surnames only!
| Which quiz player, well known for his prowess on the quiz show "Jeopardy!", became the first American to crack the top ten in the World Quizzing Championship? | World Quizzing Championship
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Jerome Vered. Jerome Vered achieved this feat in 2009, though he could only follow this up with a 27th place finish in 2010 when he finished as the second American behind Steve Perry. With the quality of the contestants on shows like "Jeopardy!", surely American contestants will feature prominently in future tournaments.
| Spelling has to be accurate in order for a question to be marked correctly in the World Quizzing Championship? | World Quizzing Championship
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False. One of the aims of the World Quizzing Championship is to eliminate questions that are too country specific. For example, whilst an English football fan might appreciate a question on Stockport County Football Club, this is probably too obscure for most people taking the quiz. Given the international scope of the quiz, it is deemed unreasonable to expect people to master all international language variations.
The key point is getting the answer correct phonetically.
| Dorjana Sirola has been the leading woman on numerous occasions in the World Quizzing Championship. Which country does she represent? | World Quizzing Championship
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Croatia. Dorjana was the leading woman from 2005 to 2010. She has featured in the top ten overall on several occasions in what has been a male dominated event to date.
She is also unique in being the first person to be a winner on both the British quiz shows "University Challenge" (2002) and "University Challenge: The Professionals" (2006).
| Faced with 240 questions in your quest to become World Quizzing Champion you might want to take your time over the answers. However, it can't go on forever, so how long do you get to answer all of the questions? | World Quizzing Championship
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Two hours. 240 questions in two hours makes 30 seconds per question, so there's not a great deal of time for dawdling. Spend five minutes deciding on whether the capital of Romania is Budapest or Bucharest and you'll have to make up four and a half minutes somewhere else!
The quiz is actually split evenly into two sections of one hour each. The first half will be marked in the interim, so you will have some idea of how you're getting along. This gives you a little break, or might allow you a swift trip to the bar to drown your sorrows.
False. On the contrary, all the questions are fill in the blank questions. Although there is some good guesswork still required, you don't have the answer right in front of your nose. Every mark has to be dredged lovingly from the back of your mind.
England. The first eight winners were Olav Bjortomt (2003), Kevin Ashman (2004-6, 2009), Pat Gibson (2007,2010) and Mark Bytheway (2008). It should be noted that Pat Gibson was born in Ireland, however he was down as representing England when he has been champion.
Belgium have come the closest to breaking the English stranglehold on the event, with Nico Pattyn and Ronny Swiggers both coming close to victory on a couple of occasions. In 2008 Ronny Swiggers actually answered the most questions correct overall but finished second to Mark Bytheway following the dropping of their weakest genre scores.
| The World Quizzing Championship takes the form of a written paper of 240 questions. How many "genres" is the quiz divided into? | World Quizzing Championship
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Eight. The quiz takes the form of eight genres with thirty questions in each. Each player attains a score for each genre and adds up their highest seven genre scores to work out their total score. The genre that the player does the worst in is then dropped from their score, meaning that the player who particularly dislikes sport will not be penalised if they score significantly lower in that genre.
The eight genres are culture, entertainment, history, lifestyle, media, science, sport & games and world.
| The inaugural World Quizzing Championship was held in 2003 at the sole venue of Villa Park in Birmingham, England. Which player of Norwegian and Filipino descent became the first ever winner? | World Quizzing Championship
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Olav Bjortomt. There were only 45 participants at the first ever World Quizzing Championship. The event has since expanded to feature numerous venues around the world. Over one thousand participants competed in 2010 from countries including Armenia and Singapore.
| Hobbies Other: A fun goop called Oobleck was created because of a book called "Bartholomew and the Oobleck". It is a unique substance with only two ingredients; one is water, and the other is a baking ingredient. Which ingredient, mixed with water, creates Oobleck? | A Non-Food Hobbies Quiz
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Cornstarch. Oobleck is made by mixing equal parts cornstarch and water. You can also add color to it (the original Oobleck was green) by adding food coloring to the water before you mix the water and cornstarch together. Oobleck is unique because if you punch it hard, it acts as a solid. However, if you slowly poke it with your finger, it acts as a liquid. Similarly, if you have it in your hands, constantly moving, it will stay in a ball shape, but as soon as you relax and let the ball of Oobleck to stop moving, it will become liquid and ooze through your fingers.
"Bartholomew and the Oobleck" is a book by Dr. Seuss.
It can be very entertaining for young children to play with Oobleck. Try reading "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" to them, and then dress as a scientist and create Oobleck for them to play with (recommended outside if you don't like a mess). I guarantee your young children will have a blast playing with this solid liquid.
| Photography: Some people take pictures of food for a living. To make some of the foods appear more appetizing, however, they do not always use that actual food. What can be used instead of ice cream so it does not melt as fast? | A Non-Food Hobbies Quiz
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Frosting. A very thick frosting can be created using shortening, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Color is also added depending on the ice cream flavor being depicted. This does not melt under the hot studio lamps, so it can be used much longer than the actual ice cream for a photo shoot.
Many interesting techniques are also used for many other food products. For instance, extra water is often added to drinks to make them sparkle and look more appealing. Furthermore, the ice you see in drinks such as Coca-Cola is hardly ever actually ice; but instead is just plastic cubes that resemble ice. Also, water can be sprayed onto a glass to make it look like it is ice cold. Salad can appear fresh by being sprayed with cold water before arranging a few lettuce leaves on an upside-down bowl placed in a larger bowl, and dressing is sometimes just herbs and spices sprinkled on the lettuce. There are many other ways people avoid "food spoiling" to create gorgeous, more appetizing food works of art. The following link describes a few of those techniques:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_photography#Styling_techniques
| Board Games: Gramma Nutt is one of the most famous Candyland characters. On the original Candyland game, what does she make? | A Non-Food Hobbies Quiz
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Peanut Brittle. Gramma Nutt is one of the many characters on the 1949 Milton Bradley board game, Candyland. Gramma Nutt owned the peanut brittle space. There were also peppermint candy canes, chocolate chip cookies, gumdrops, cupcakes, and lollipops.
| Crafts: Sometimes, kids make paper dolls. Others make yarn dolls. Still others choose to make dolls out of what material? | A Non-Food Hobbies Quiz
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Corn husks. Corn husk dolls were once very popular, and still are somewhat common among some cultures. They were first made by Native Americans. The dolls were made by wetting the corn husks, thus making them soft. Then the corn husks would be shaped and tied to form a doll-like shape. Faces could be added, and so could yarn for hair or even clothing. They are very simple dolls, but not too difficult to make.
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