50 for fun; Phil Brown's trivia qui.

Byline: Phil Brown

1 What is the name of the very bright comet now visible - unfortunately for northern viewers - in southern hemisphere skies?

2 Which Arsenal striker broke a bone in his foot while celebrating Sunday's equalizer against Manchester United?

3 Which tennis player has just knocked defending champion Amelie Mauresmo out of this year's Australian Open?

4 In which country has a teenager just been arrested for the fatal shooting of prominent writer Hrant Dink, who had been cleared by a court of "insulting" that nation?

5 What is the name of the female symbol of Liberty and Reason who is an unofficial French national emblem?

6 Which country is the world's greatest current producer of silver?

7 Which mass-marketed perry was devised by Francis Showering of Shepton Mallet in 1953?

8 In which prolific 20th century novelist's work would you find the town of Market Blandings?

9 Which 1983 film brought together three of the Monty Python team, Marty Feldman, Peter Cook, Michael Hordern, Susannah York and James Mason - and was still panned by the critics?

10 The Bing Crosby film A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court is from whose story?

11 Complete the title of the 1983 Robin Williams-Glenn Close film The World According To...?

12 In football, Real Madrid won the first five European Cups - but which club won the next two?

13 Which song has been a UK singles hit for Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Guns'n'Roses?

14 Christina Aguilera, Li'l Kim, Mya and Pink combined for a No 1 hit with which Lady?

15 Tishomingo Blues and The Hot Kid are recent novels by which best-selling crime writer?

16 Which nation has a land area of over 100 square miles, none of it more than seven feet above sea level?

17 Pinyin and Wade-Giles are methods of rendering which language in romanised alphabets?

18 In Greek myth Telemachus was the only son of Ulysses and...?

19 In which city would you see the 110- storey skyscraper the Sears Tower?

20 Which city was called Troynovant by early medieval chroniclers?

21 Which BBC TV managing director was born in Prestatyn in 1916?

22 In Hindu myth nagas are half human and half...?

23 In North America, what kind of creatures are thrashers?

24 Nephrite is a less-valuable type of what kind of gemstone?

25 Which country raised international alarmthis week by becoming the third to destroy a satellite in space, using a ground-launched missile?

26 More cheerfully, which other country has just successfully tested a re-entry capsule that will allow it to run manned space missions?

27 What is the name of the ship deliberately grounded off Devon last week which has led to unseemly scenes of looting on nearby beaches?

28 Which film sequel is up for seven Razzies - the spoof version of the Oscars which "honours" what it sees as the year's worst films?

29 In this year's Golden Globes, who thanked "every American who hasn't sued me so far" on accepting best film comedy actor award?

30 Which 1975 Aerosmith track is to be a 2007 Comic Relief single featuring Girls Aloud vs Sugababes?

31 On which soap opera was the mother of TV and radio presenter Jonathan Ross an extra for 21 years?

32 Which British monarch, on learning of their likely future role in childhood, reportedly cried and vowed "I will be good"?

33 Which Grand Duchy of the Russian empire declared independence on December 6, 1917?

34 The useful polymer Teflon is composed of just two chemical elements - which two?

35 Which legendary Victorian cricketer's picture was used to represent God in the film Monty Python And The Holy Grail?

36 Which mountain did Edmund Whymper lead the first ascent of, on his eighth attempt in 1865?

37 What kind of creature is the African klipspringer?

38 In what part of the body would you find the quadriceps femoris muscle?

39 The engraver Martin Droeshout is best remembered for a famous portrait of whom, in a publication of 1623?

40 The burbot or eelpout is one of the very few freshwater members of which fish family?

41 Cape York is the northernmost point of which large country?

42 Which ex-Harvard lecturer was once dubbed "the most dangerous man in America" by president Nixon for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs?

43 Early scientist Georg Stahl gave what name to the "principle of fire", for many years widely believed to explain combustion?

44 Which bird, scientific name Pinguinus impennis, saw the last of its species wiped out on Funk Island off Newfoundland in 1844?

45 The empress Zoe was a ruthless ruler of which 11th-century power?

46 Huascar was the penultimate ruler of which New World empire?

47 Corno di Bassetto was which wellknown playwright's pen-name as a leading musical critic?

48 Ursus horribilis is the vivid scientific name of which large land animal?

49 Historically, Sheffield plate is a layered combination of which two metals?

50 On which river does the Italian city of Firenze (Florence) lie?

ANSWERS

1 Comet McNaught' 2 Robin van Persie' 3 Lucie Safarova' 4 Turkey' 5 Marianne' 6 Mexico' 7 Babycham' 8 PG Wodehouse's' 9 Yellowbeard' 10 Mark Twain's' 11 Garp' 12 Benfica' 13 Knockin' On Heaven's Door' 14 Lady Marmalade' 15 Elmore Leonard' 16 The Maldives' 17 Chinese' 18 Penelope' 19 Chicago' 20 London' 21 Sir Huw Wheldon' 22 Serpent' 23 Birds' 24 Jade' 25 China' 26 India' 27 MSC Napoli' 28 Basic Instinct 2' 29 Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Borat)'30 Walk This Way' 31 EastEnders' 32 Victoria' 33 Finland' 34 Carbon and fluorine' 35 W G Grace' 36 The Matterhorn' 37 An antelope' 38 The thigh' 39 Shakespeare (in the First Folio of his plays)' 40 Cod' 41 Australia' 42 Timothy Leary' 43 Phlogiston' 44 The great auk' 45 The Byzantine Empire' 46 The Inca' 47 George Bernard Shaw's' 48 The grizzly bear' 49 Copper and silver' 50 The Arno.

CAPTION(S):

Which Lady gave Christina Aguilera, among others, a No 1 hit? See question 14