Culture quiz: from Nicole Kidman's phobia to Cyndi Lauper's wedding

Nicole Kidman: what’s she scared of? Photograph: Magnus Sundholm/REX/Shutterstock

1. Nicole Kidman suffers from a crippling phobia of what?      

   1. Traffic cones

   2. Clowns

   3. Butterflies

2. Which of the following is not a scene in M Night Shyamalan’s The Happening?

   1. Someone kills themselves by lying down in front of a lawnmower

   2. Someone kills themselves by feeding themselves to lions

   3. Someone kills themselves by drowning themselves face down in wet concrete

3. 

   In Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, a local news reporter is murdered during a church fete. How does he die?

   1. He is impaled by a falling church spire

   2. He is garrotted by bunting

   3. He is crushed under a tea urn

4. Which of these paints includes plastic?  

   1. Acetone

   2. Acrylic

   3. Acetate

5. Which kind of painting involves heated wax?

   1. Fresco

   2. Encaustic

   3. Gesso

6. 

   Which of the following composers did not write a symphony inspired by Antarctica?

   1. Ralph Vaughan Williams

   2. Arnold Bax

   3. Peter Maxwell Davies

7. By most reckonings how many keyboard sonatas did the Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti write?

   1. 455

   2. 555

   3. 575

8. Which author is a winner of one of the Crime Writers’ Association’s coveted gold daggers, and yet has not had any novels adapted for a series (ie with a named protagonist) for British television?

   1. Ann Cleeves

   2. Patricia Highsmith

   3. Val McDermid

9. Private Cheeseman (Talfryn Thomas), who did his best to replace James Beck (Private Walker) in Dad’s Army after the latter’s sudden death in 1973, had which job in Walmington-on-Sea?

   1. He worked for the local newspaper

   2. He ran a garden centre

   3. No job: he had just served time for bigamy

10. Which disused London tube station has featured in (far) more television series and films (from Rumpole of the Bailey and The Singing Detective to Superman IV: The Quest for Peace), never mind adverts and music videos (the Kinks, Kate Bush), than any other?

    1. Down Street

    2. Aldwych

    3. Brompton Road

11. Which actor said sexuality is not “a talent, like playing the banjo”?

    1. Alan Cumming

    2. Ian McKellen

    3. Andrew Scott

12. Which play features a lovelorn dentist?

    1. Teeth’n’ Smiles

    2. You Never Can Tell

    3. Absurd Person Singular

13. Who sang wistfully about the Girl from the North Country?

    1. Jarvis Cocker

    2. Bob Dylan

    3. Nick Drake

14. Who recorded There’s No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car?

    1. Marilyn Monroe

    2. Dean Martin

    3. Elvis Presley

15. Which pop star, who recently moved to London, has surpassed Mick Jagger, Elton John and Rod Stewart on the 2020 UK music rich list?

    1. Katy Perry

    2. Rihanna

    3. Nicki Minaj

16. 

    Which ordained musical minister officiated at Cyndi Lauper’s wedding?

    1. Reverend Run of Run DMC

    2. Stevie Nicks

    3. Little Richard

17. Which has the widest dome?

    1. The Pantheon, Rome

    2. St Peter’s, Rome

    3. The United States Capitol, Washington DC

18. Which of these was not a husband-and-wife partnership?

    1. Greene and Greene

    2. Venturi Scott Brown

    3. Charles and Ray Eames

Solutions

1:C, 2:C, 3:A, 4:B, 5:B, 6:B, 7:B, 8:B, 9:A, 10:B, 11:C, 12:B, 13:B, 14:C, 15:B, 16:C, 17:A, 18:A

Scores

1. 18 and above.

   Superstar!

2. 17 and above.

   Wow!

3. 16 and above.

   Wow!

4. 15 and above.

   Superb

5. 14 and above.

   Superb

6. 13 and above.

   Pretty impressive

7. 12 and above.

   Pretty impressive

8. 11 and above.

   Not bad

9. 10 and above.

   Not bad

10. 9 and above.

    Average

11. 8 and above.

    Average

12. 7 and above.

    Could do better

13. 6 and above.

    Could do better

14. 5 and above.

    Weak

15. 4 and above.

    Weak

16. 3 and above.

    Poor

17. 2 and above.

    Poor

18. 0 and above.

    Oh dear

19. 1 and above.

    Oh dear