The Saga Magazine June pub quiz - From composers to the World Cup

Put your general knowledge to the test with our 20 brain teasers.

Illustration of a light bulb and question marks

By Marcus Berkmann | Published - 8 Jun 2026

Question 1

In English grammar, what word is used to describe words like ‘and’ and ‘but’ that link parts of a sentence?

Question 2

What one word links songs by Queen, The Osmonds, Fine Young Cannibals, Patsy Cline and Beyoncé?

Question 3

The group consists of 13 main islands, 6 smaller islands and 107 rocks and islets. The youngest islands, Isabela and Fernandina, are still being formed, and it’s one of the few places in the world without an indigenous human population. Where?

Question 4

What language were British passports issued in from 1772 to 1858?

Question 5

How was Tenzing Norgay better known?

Question 6

And how is Tenzin Gyatso better known?

Question 7

Which British cheese is the oldest recorded of all? The best of today’s producers still swaddle their finished orbs in cloth dipped in lard, it’s said to be the only cheese mentioned by name in the Domesday Book, and a number of London pubs are named after it.

Question 8

Which Russian composer’s music played an integral part in the films Brief Encounter (1945) and Shine (1996)? In The Seven Year Itch (1955), Tom Ewell’s character thought that this man’s music was what he needed to seduce Marilyn Monroe.

Question 9

If you travelled due north from Rome in Italy, which country would you come to first (other than Italy)?

Question 10

Which metallic element derived its name from the Greek for Cyprus, where it was once mined?

Question 11

In which city in India can you find the Sikhs’ Golden Temple?

Question 12

Geoff, a swing bowler for Surrey and England Malcolm, a 20th-century composer; Matthew, a 19th-century poet; and Benedict, an American traitor, all shared the same surname. What was that?

Question 13

Which is the only one of Christ’s miracles that is mentioned in all four Gospels?

Question 14

Which is the only US state that allows its residents to vote from space?

Question 15

When John Major was the guest on the 50th anniversary edition of Desert Island Discs, which London sporting venue did he choose as his luxury?

Question 16

In which country is Kirin beer produced?

Question 17

BBC Radio 4 has its Thought for the Day every morning. What is BBC Radio 2’s equivalent called?

Question 18

In which town in Germany is a festival dedicated to the music of Richard Wagner held each year?

Question 19

Who founded the famous hospital at Lambaréné in the African country of Gabon?

Question 20

The night before the 1966 World Cup Final, what did all 22 members of the England squad do? Did they (a) go the pub for a drink, (b) go out for a quiet meal in a restaurant, or (c) go to the cinema to see Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines?

1. Conjunctions, 2. Crazy, 3. The Galápagos Islands, 4. French, 5. Sherpa Tenzing, 6. The 14th Dalai Lama, 7. Cheshire, 8. Rachmaninov, 9. Austria, 10. Copper, 11. Amritsar, 12. Arnold, 13. The feeding of the 5,000, 14. Texas, 15. A full-size replica of the Oval, 16. Japan, 17. Pause for Thought, 18. Bayreuth, 19. Albert Schweitzer, 20. (c).