If you’re at a loose end in Galway…
May 13, 2013 in Quizzes
I’ll just leave this here…
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by John Nolan
by John Nolan
Something to sink your teeth into 2
April 8, 2013 in Quizzes
Before I begin, I’d like to invite anyone around Galway to come along to a quiz I’m hosting in aid of YAP Ireland in Flannery’s Hotel, Renmore, on Thursday evening, at 8pm. It should be a great night and it’s definitely a great cause.
It’s time for me to reveal the answers to the questions I posed in last weekend’s Food Quiz-related article.
In that article, I forgot to mention the contribution a team called ‘The Louisiana Purchase’ made to the night’s entertainment. These were four American students who were always at a disadvantage following Round 3, the Irish food company logos (see below). However, they accepted their handicap with good grace and played on for the rest of the night, even finishing less than 10 points behind their nearest rivals.
As a reward, we threatened them with a glass of the slops of the liquid tasting round but, you’ll be glad to learn, that didn’t come true. In fact, the bar gave them a round on the house. I think they were happy with this outcome. 
by John Nolan
Something to sink your teeth into
April 6, 2013 in Quizzes
Last Monday night, the second annual Galway Food Festival came to a close. Like its first year, the final event of the weekend was a table quiz hosted by The King’s Head, High Street. Also, like last year, I was the quiz masterchef.
It’s rare, even for me, to do the exact same event one year on. This did enable me to put into action some of the advice/feedback I received 12 months ago, following that first food quiz.
In 2012, everyone had loved the taster round (which included the likes of cumin seed, thyme and cardamon) so this year we had two! I added a liquid-based taster round to programme. Thankfully, everyone enjoyed it. There were even calls for a second round of samples! 
That was about the height of it for drink fans though. Last year’s feedback had also included an email telling me that there were too many drink questions! So, I made the quiz almost entirely food-based this year. Well, it is a food festival, to be fair.
The first year’s champions, The Kitchen, were invited up on stage at the start of the night to be presented with a commemorative plate, designed by Judy Greene. Would they be returning to the stage again at the end of the night, I wondered…
Read the rest of this entry →
by John Nolan
US of Answers
December 3, 2012 in Quizzes
Here are the answers to the questions posed in the USA quiz post from the end of last week.
Well done to anyone who got all of them for you had a much tougher assignment than the teams in The King’s Head last week. On the night, each of the photos was shown on the big screen (as opposed to having a one-tenth share of an A4 page) and the year each of the musical tracks won its Grammy was also displayed as the song played.
Indeed, I was very lax in not including some extra information regarding question 5 in the sports picture round. It’s a photo of two NFL officials. What was I looking for, you probably wondered. What I actually asked in that case was: which of these officials is in charge?
Ok, with that out of the way, click on the more… to see the answers.
by John Nolan
The USA quiz
November 29, 2012 in Quizzes
Apologies to all who were waiting on my report from the USA quiz I hosted in The King’s Head, Galway, on Monday night last. I’ve been very busy at work this week, I’m afraid. This work has born fruit with the launch yesterday of the Claremorris Community Radio iPhone app, which you can download for free on the Apple App Store. It’ll come in handy on Thursday nights for After the Fact.
Right, so back to last Monday. Firstly, I was delighted with the large crowd who turned up. The main floor of the bar was full – indeed several late-arriving tables had to move upstairs and look down on the stage from the balcony. As an aside, it’s a bit strange to have quiz-goers looking down on you as you ask the questions…
Most of the crowd were actual American citizens. Indeed the winning team were a family on holiday from Detroit, Michigan. Naturally, it shouldn’t be too surprising that people from the country on which the quiz was based would win but it was a close run thing. I did try to introduce a little randomness to the questions (more on that in a minute) and also added some clues to the questions to aid the Irish people in the room.
I was subject to some light-hearted heckling throughout the night about my pronunciations. I don’t think I was that bad but one table in particular seemed to have appointed themselves the pronunciation police. Such examples of heinous error on my part included called the capital of Montana “Heleena” (as opposed to “Hellena”), calling Holyoke as “holly-yoke” (and not “hole-yoke”) and calling the explosive springs in Yellowstone “geezers” (they said it should have been “guy-zers”). For the last one, I finally decided to test THEM out and asked for a show of hands for the correct form. It finished about 60/40 for their version but that hardly made me such a language criminal, did it!?
The quiz featured two picture rounds (one about cowboys and one about US sport) and two audio rounds (‘Songs involving America’ and Grammy record of the year winners). I’ve included one of each after the jump for you to try.
by John Nolan
Next Monday night at The King’s Head
November 23, 2012 in Quizzes
Yes, I’m donning my quizmaster cape once again for a table quiz all about the good ol’ U. S. of A.
It’s taking place on Monday night next in The King’s Head in Galway. Admission is just €20 for a team of four and all are welcome.
See ya then, y’all!
by John Nolan
Spooky stuff: answers
November 2, 2012 in Quizzes
Here are the answers to various, multimedia questions I posted in my Spooky stuff post earlier in the week.
This will be my last regular post for the next two weeks as I will be focusing on the 2012 European Quizzing Championships, which are taking place in Estonia next weekend.
I’m heading along as part of the Irish team and I will be covering it extensively here on the blog. Reports, photos, podcasts – it’s going to be like the Olympics on the BBC last Summer.
In the meantime, let’s get back to these answers.
by John Nolan
Spooky stuff
October 31, 2012 in Interactive, Quizzes
Happy Hallowe’en everyone! On Monday night, I got in to the spirit of the season a few days early as I hosted a quiz all about this most frightening of festivals.
It was the second of the Autumnal series of quizzes in The King’s Head bar in Galway and a fun crowd turned up. About half of them came in fancy dress which was lovely as it definitely added to the atmosphere. The other tables, I’m reliably informed, “didn’t get the memo”.
There was also a contest for the best team name. There were some strong, Halloween-based contenders for this title such as Hex Factor, The Tell-tale Fart, Brain Dead and, probably my favourite, Stephen King’s Head. However, the winner was none of these. It was also a name that had nothing to do with Halloween. The winners, by acclamation during the half-time score announcement, were “We’re only here because we haven’t got a Saorview box.”
The questions did, however, have a Hallowe’en slant. I’ve included a selection for you to try at the end of the post. There’s also a picture round and an audio one too. I hope you realise how spoiled you are.
