Pub Quiz Help

We have all been there, to a quiz night.  Whether the quiz is held at a pub, church hall or school, we find ourselves asked along to make up the numbers of a quiz team. I find that several questions keep reoccurring and learning just a few basic quiz night fact, it is just possible that having us on a quiz team might be beneficial.

Put simply a mnemonic is a device to aid your memory. Usually mnemonics are verbal but may be visual, kinesthetic or auditory. Everyone knows at least one and they are a great help in remembering facts for a quiz. Take for example : Richard of York gave battle in vain, to remember the colors of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue , indigo and violet. Also, Many Vial Earthlings Munching Jam Sandwiches’ Under Newspapers ; Or Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune: Which gives us the planets in order from the Sun. Now if I had a pound for every time at a quiz they have asked to name the seven wonders of the ancient world, well I’d have 3 pound. However it’s worth seven points and I recently found a mnemonic to help. Seems Like MataHari Picked Her Targets Carefully Which gives us :-

Statue of Zeus

Lighthouse at Alexandria

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Pyramids

Hanging gardens of Babylon

Temple of Diana/Artemis

Colossus of Rhodes

See if you can repeat these you are bound to impress, so here are some more that I have found useful.

The Great Lakes

Sergeant Major Hates Eating ONIONS!"

(Superior - Michigan - Huron - Erie – Ontario

The Royal Houses

No Plan Like Yours
To Study HISTORY Wisely! "

being:
Norman (1066-), Plantaganet (1154-), Lancaster (1399-), York (1461-), Tudor (1485-), Stuart (1603-), Hanover (1714-1901), Windsor(1901/1917-present)

The Seven Deadly Sins

LEG-PAWS

Lust

Envy

Gluttony

Pride

Avarice

Wrath

Sloth

Bones of the Human Body

. For the bones of the upper limb:

Several crooks have underestimated Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

(scapula, clavicle, humorous, ulna, radius, carpals, metacarpals, phalanges).

For the bones of the lower limb:

Help five police to find twelve mad prisoners.

(hip, femur, patella, tibia, fibula, tarsals, metatarsals, phalanges).

How I wish I had found this mnemomic earlier as I made myself look stupid when asked ,’what was a, clavicle?’ I answered , with confidence ‘a musical instrument!’

Mnemonics are fine for short lists or facts needed for a quiz, but some things are much more complicated. Take for example The American Presidents. This is when another trick is needed to remember longer lists and a memory journey is needed. Choose a place you know very well for example your house, garden or route to work. Then use your imagination to place each President in order along your journey, using your imagination to help you remember each name. So to remember the first 10 presidents I start in the house in the bathroom. So number 1 George Washington, in the bathroom having a wash, number 2 is on the toilet, or John, to help me remember John Adams, then at the doorway playing with the light switch is Thomas Jefferson. Out onto the landing 2 pictures on the wall with the word JAMES in gold above them, one a picture of Madison square garden and the other of Marilyn Monroe; Which gives us president 4 and 5 James Madison and James Monroe. I turn around and there Is Quincy from the TV show calling to the man on the toilet, which reminds me that number 6 is John Quincy Adams. Next I see Michael Jackson, standing by a wall striped of paper, so it’s just bare stone. Along the wall in graffiti is the word Andrew. So I have Andrew Jackson, or Stonewall Jackson. Next number 8 Martin from the Simpsons, holding a card saying ‘Van Buren’. Number 9, George Harrison is in the corner playing a guitar along which the word ‘William’ is scratched. Which gives us William Harrison. Then I can hear a banging, so I open the window and see a man on the roof hammering in roof tiles, which reminds me that number 10 is John Tyler. This method can be used for so many things, capital cities, Grand National winners and even books of the bible.

Well there we are, we have a few facts to astound our quiz team and hopefully to beat the opposition. We have learnt some of the Presidents of America the seven wonders of the world and the bones of the body, so what could possibly go wrong? Well quite a lot actually but don’t worry. Have fun and remember if you give a wrong answer at least only the people in the room will hear you. Others have been much less fortunate and made quiz blunders on the TV and Radio. So take heart from some of the answers people gave to the quiz questions below and remember that it could never happen to you, not now that you have read this hub….or could it?

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (BBC2)

Jeremy Paxman: What is another name for "cherrypickers" and "cheesemongers"?

Contestant: Homosexuals.

Paxman: No. They're regiments in the British Army who will be very upset with you.

BBC NORFOLK

Presenter: Who had a worldwide hit with What A Wonderful World?

Contestant: I don't know.

Presenter: I'll give you some clues. What do you call the part between your hand and your elbow?

Contestant: Arm.

Presenter: Correct. And if you're not weak, you're . .?

Contestant: Strong.

Presenter: Correct - and what was Lord Mountbatten's first name?

Contestant: Louis.

Presenter: Well, there we are then. So, who had a worldwide hit with the song ‘What a Wonderful World?’

Contestant: Frank Sinatra?

LATE SHOW (BBC MIDLANDS)

Presenter: What's the capital of Italy?

Contestant: France.

Presenter: France is another country. Try again.

Contestant: Oh, um, Benidorm.

Presenter: Wrong, sorry, let's try another question. In which country is the Parthenon?

Contestant: Sorry, I don't know.

Presenter: Just guess a country then.

Contestant: Paris.

RICHARD AND JUDY (C4))

Q: Which American actor is married to Nicole Kidman?

A: Forrest Gump

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (BBC2)

Bamber Gascoigne: What was Gandhi's first name?

Contestant: Goosey?

BEACON RADIO, Wolverhampton

Presenter: For £10, what is the nationality of the Pope?

Contestant: I think I know that one. Is it Jewish?

My favourite blunder

LINCS FM PHONE-IN

Presenter: Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world?

Contestant: Barcelona.

Presenter: I was really after the name of a country.

Contestant: I'm sorry; I don't know the names of any countries in Spain.