Quiz: Could you qualify for University Challenge? Give these past show questions a try

Often described as one of the toughest quiz shows on television, University Challenge is known for making its viewers scratch their heads at its difficult questions.

First broadcast in 1962, the show puts two competing universities against each other in a general knowledge quiz, with questions covering everything from world history and Greek mythology, to classical and popular music and art.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It's a quiz so difficult that even getting one question correct in an episode can feel like a big achievement. You may end up feeling like a genius if you get three or four.

If you think you're more than an armchair expert, and have got what it takes to go up against Jeremy Paxman, test yourself with 10 questions from previous programmes.

Answers at the bottom

Questions

Question 1

Which village near Vienna is the site of the hunting lodge where the Habsburg crown prince Rudolf and his paramour Mary Vetsera commited suicide in mysterious circumstances in 1889?

Question 2

“In the darkening twilight I saw a lone star hover gem-like above the bay.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

This was the last diary entry of which explorer, written on 5 January 1922 at Grytviken in South Georgia?

Question 3

The Light Programme was the forerunner of which BBC radio channel, to which it changed its name on 30 September 1967?

Question 4

The national flag of which Central American country is unusual, in that it depicts human beings? In this case, two woodcutters. It gained independence from the UK in 1981.

Question 5

Often featuring in photographic illusions caused by forced perspective, which structure was begun in 1173, as the third and final structure of its city's cathedral complex? Designed to be 56 metres high, improvements to the foundations since 1990 have diminished its distinctive aberration.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Question 6

When playing golf, I hook my first shot, which lands 200 yards due north of the tee and 210 yards due west of the hole. How far is it from hole to tee?

Question 7

Which Alfred Hitchcock film of 1951 features Farley Granger as tennis star, Guy Haines, who finds himself involved in a murder plot?

Question 8

Which of the following US states has a total area closest in size to that of the United Kingdom?

Alaska, Rhode Island, Michigan or Arizona

Question 9

On display in the National Gallery, Whistlejacket (a life-size portrait of the Marquess of Rockingham's racehorse) is the work of which English artist?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Question 10

Taking its name from the daughter of Tantalus in Greek mythology, which element is a widely used low temperature superconductor and has atomic number 41?

Answers

1 - MAYERLING

2 - ERNEST SHACKLETON

3 - RADIO 2

4 - BELIZE

5 - THE LEANING TOWER OF PISA

6 - 290 YARDS

7 - STRANGERS ON A TRAIN

8 - MICHIGAN

9 - GEORGE STUBBS

10 - NIOBIUM

News you can trust since 1858
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice