50 foe run; Phil Brown's trivia quiz.

Byline: Phil Brown

1 Which is the biggest town in England or Wales (its population is almost 200,000) never to have had a Football League club?

2 What eyebrow-raising gift was given this week to Peggy Whitson, the first woman to command the International Space Station?

3 England and France will contest one rugby union world cup semi-final on Saturday - which two nations will contest the other?

4 ...and in rugby league, which two teams will play for the Super League title on Saturday?

5 To what or where do internet addresses ending in .aq refer?

6 Back To Black has just won best albumat the Q Awards for whom?

7 In horseracing, favourite Pipedreamer won which big race at Newmarket on Saturday?

8 Islamic alchemist Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan discovered the chemical historically called muriatic acid and now usually known by what name?

9 Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere and Heath Ledger all play the same character in a film released last month - which character?

10 Which two seas are linked by the Kiel Canal?

11 Moe, Larry and Shemp teamed up as the first line-up of long-running slapstick act The Three...?

12 Which high-profile athlete has just handed back five medals from the Sydney Olympics after a doping confession?

13 The hadal zone is a termused for the lowest part of what?

14 Which French tennis player caused a major upset by beating Venus Williams in the Japan Open final at the weekend?

15 The Native American Church has an estimated 250,000 adherents for a religion based around use of the cactus Lophophora williamsii - containing which powerful hallucinogen?

16 Which country has just successfully put a probe into lunar orbit - nicknamed Kaguya after a Moon-visiting folk-tale princess?

17 In which much-loved 1970s children's TV programme could you see the woodpecker Professor Yaffle?

18 Which golf tournament starts in the UK today without the world's top four players despite a pounds 1m first prize?

19 Which word for a speaking platform is taken from the word for the captured ship beaks that decorated the original in ancient Rome?

20 Which country's Grand Prix will settle the Formula One title on October 21?

21 Which French author set down the first known written version of the tale Little Red Riding Hood in 1697?

22 French police have arrested five people for (apparently drunken) vandalism of which Monet painting?

23 Who played ZOWIE agent Derek Flint in 1966 Bond parody Our Man Flint?

24 Against which boxer did Amir Khan defend his Commonwealth lightweight title at the weekend?

25 Summer and winter Olympic Games are now held two years apart from each other - which was the last country to host both in the same year?

26 Of which country is King Mswati III the current ruler?

27 "Cricket is not illegal, for it is a manly game" - which British queen?

28 Which British prime minister held that office for three entirely separate terms - totalling fewer than four years?

29 Which author wrote The Martian Chronicles and Something Wicked This Way Comes?

30 What title was held by heirs apparent to the independent Scottish throne - and is still used officially by Prince Charles when in Scotland?

31 Scientists believe they have found a very rare footprint of what creature in rocks at Hell Creek, Montana?

32 What connects Dutch film star Rutger Hauer to the New York borough of Brooklyn?

33 In classical myth, the creature Chrysomallos yielded the Golden Fleece - and became which constellation?

34 Which country became independent of Spain in 1821 and of Colombia in 1903?

35 Roman forces won a major first century AD battle at Mons Graupius over 30,000 tribesmen led by Calgacus - in which modern country is the (neverpinpointed) battle site?

36 The biologically important Lake Ohrid, one of the world's oldest lakes, is on the border between which two European countries?

37 The Seekers were the first band from which country to top the UK singles charts?

38 With which desert are the Tuareg people most associated?

39 Comedy troupe Monty Python released several albums but only ever had one charting UK single - what was it?

40 Which more-famous Liverpudlian suggested the J in the pop star stage name Billy J Kramer?

41 Which actress appeared in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Little Women and voice-starred in Rugrats In Paris: The Movie?

42 Who wrote the book on which Clint Eastwood film The Bridges Of Madison County was based?

43 From which island is the dessert wine Commandaria, said to be the oldest named wine still made?

44 Which popular computer game series is designed by Will Wright?

45 Ancient Egyptians used papyrus not just for paper but - rather less durably - for the sails of their ships. True or false?

46 Elvis Presley's version of Leiber-Stoller classic Hound Dog is now the bestknown recording - but which female blues singer had a big hit with the original a few years before him?

47 The Pribilof Islands in the Pacific Ocean are part of which country?

48 Who wrote the (in)famous tract Against The Murderous, Thieving Hordes Of Peasants in 1525?

49 In which country did the condiment of chutney originate?

50 Supermodel Cindy Crawford (pictured) was married to which Hollywood star from 1991 to 1995?

ANSWERS

1 Dudley; 2 A Kazakh whip ("to keep the men in order"); 3 South Africa and Argentina; 4 St Helens and Leeds; 5 Antarctica; 6 Amy Winehouse; 7 The Cambridgeshire (Heritage Handicap); 8 Hydrochloric acid; 9 Bob Dylan (in I'm Not There); 10 The North and Baltic; 11 Stooges; 12 Marion Jones; 13 The oceans; 14 Virginie Razzano; 15 Mescaline; 16 Japan; 17 Bagpuss; 18 The World Matchplay championship; 19 Rostrum; 20 Brazil's; 21 Charles Perrault; 22 Le Pont d'Argenteuil; 23 James Coburn; 24 Scott Lawton; 25 Germany (in 1936); 26 Swaziland; 27 Queen Anne; 28 The Earl of Derby; 29 Ray Bradbury; 30 Duke of Rothesay; 31 Tyrannosaurus rex; 32 He was born in Breukelen, the town Brooklyn was named for; 33 (The ram) Aries; 34 Panama; 35 Scotland; 36 Macedonia and Albania; 37 Australia; 38 The Sahara; 39 Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life; 40 John Lennon; 41 Susan Sarandon; 42 Robert James Waller; 43 Cyprus; 44 Sim City; 45 True; 46 Big Mama Thornton; 47 The USA (part of Alaska); 48 Martin Luther; 49 India; 50 Richard Gere.

CAPTION(S):

Which Hollywood star was supermodel Cindy Crawford married to in the early 1990s? See question 50