Set 1: Quirky questions
Q1. How many hands are there on Big Ben?
A1. None, it’s a bell
Q2. What was Mickey Mouse’s original name?
A2. Mortimer Mouse
Q3. What letter completes this sequence? R, O, Y, G, B, I…
A3. V (colours of the rainbow)
Q4. How can you divide 12 in half and get 7?
A4. Use Roman numerals, XII
XII
VII
Q5. What is coulrophobia a fear of?
A5. Clowns
Q6. Change the word ‘soup’ to ‘bowl’ by altering one letter at a time and using no more than
three intermediate words.
A6. soup
soul
soil
boil
bowl
Q7. Which two London Underground stations have all five vowels in their names?
A7. Mansion House and South Ealing
Q8. What is the French alternative for the QWERTY keyboard?
A8. AZERTY
Q9. Spell the word ‘accommodation’
A9. A-C-C-O-M-M-O-D-A-T-I-O-N
Q10. What do you call a group of crows?
A10. A murder (or a flock)
Registered charity in England and Wales (263710) and in Scotland (SC002327) RH3828
shelter.org.uk
Set 2: Quirky questions
Q1. Homophones are words that sound the same but that have different meanings. What are the
homophones for these words: disallowed and a poet
A1. Barred and bard
Q2. What is the following an example of: ‘Tyne, Dogger. Northeast 3 or 4. Squally showers.
Moderate or good.’
A2. Shipping forecast
Q3. What colour are the five Olympic rings?
A3. Blue, yellow, black, green and red
Q4. Is 247 a prime number?
A4. No, it’s 13 x 19
Q5. Use NATO phonetic alphabet (alpha, bravo etc.) to spell the word ‘mistake’.
A5. Mike – India – Sierra – Tango – Alpha – Kilo – Echo
Q6. What relation to you would your aunt’s grandchild be?
A6. First cousin once removed
Q7. A kangaroo word contains within it one or more words with the same meaning (eg
‘deceased’ holds within it the word ‘dead’). Find two synonyms within the kangaroo word
‘container’.
A7. ‘Can’ and ‘tin’
Q8. Name the seven deadly sins
A8. Envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth (laziness) and wrath (anger)
Q9. What is sesquipedalianism?
A9. The practice of using long, sometimes obscure, words in speech or writing
Q10. Cryptic clue – what sweet is this? ‘Where mum goes for a drink’
A10. Mars Bar
Registered charity in England and Wales (263710) and in Scotland (SC002327) RH3828
shelter.org.uk
Set 3: Quirky questions
Q1. What are the missing words – 8 N in an O?
A1. Eight notes in an octave
Q2. The word ‘apples’ is used as rhyming slang for what?
A2. Stairs (which rhymes with ‘apples and pears’)
Q3. What sort of person uses a dibble in their work?
A3. Gardener (a dibble, or dibber, is used to make holes in the ground in which to plant seeds or
bulbs)
Q4. ‘Ancestral’ is an anagram of which UK town?
A4. Lancaster
Q5. What colour are French postboxes?
A5. Yellow
Q6. What is an aglet?
A6. The plastic or metal sheath found on the end of a shoelace or drawstring
Q7. In 2010, the world’s tallest man, Sultan Kösen, met the world’s shortest man, He Pingping. At
that point, He Pingping was 2ft 5.37in tall. To the nearest foot, how tall was Sultan Kösen?
A7. 8ft (precisely 8ft 1in)
Q8. What is the official name of ‘bow-tie’-style pasta?
A8. Fafalle
Q9. If you were numbering new doors from 1 to 100, how many times would you use the number 9?
A9. 20 times
Q10. In Atlanta, Georgia, what action involving a giraffe is specifically prohibited by law?
A10. Tying it to a telegraph pole or street lamp
Registered charity in England and Wales (263710) and in Scotland (SC002327) RH3828
shelter.org.uk