Number One (with Chinese characteristics) had the most points in the LPI Pub Quiz

This iteration had some real brain teasers 

The infamously difficult Leeds Policy Institute (LPI) pub quiz returned to the Library this Thursday with one goal: to spare no survivors. Four teams, Lettuce Truss, The Candy Keynes, Number One (第一), and John Pork fought against one another in what could only be seen as one of the only true tests of intelligence one would sit during their tenure as a university student. 

Given the difficulty of the quiz, we did allow each team to have two clues that they may use on any question of their choice. Some clues were more helpful than others, and others were more akin to a riddle. Each time a clue was used by a team, the same clue would be announced to all other teams playing the quiz. 

The teams were subjected to four gruelling rounds that tested each team on several topics from “general” knowledge to movies, faces, and charts. In the first round, Lettuce Truss took the lead by a small margin, but Number One took the lead in round two and secured their lead in the final third round, earning them the win this time while subjugating the throne from the Candy Keynes.

See our fancy chart below for the full breakdown of team performance:

Congratulations to Number One (第一) for their superior knowledge of movies and shows (do you guys just sit and watch TV all day?,) as well as their impressive performance in the final chart round. 

If you think you have done better, or if you want to study the questions for our next pub quiz, see the full question and answer list below:

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Round 1: State of Affairs

1. Which of these countries has the highest interest rate on government borrowing (10-year bond yield)? United Kingdom, United States, Australia.

2. Who (as of today) was the latest Tory defector to the Reform party? 

3. How many external members are there on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee? Express this as a fraction of total MPC members. 

4. Jerome Powell issued a weekend statement to comment on Trump’s war against Fed independence. This is the third time the Fed issued a weekend announcement, what events warranted the other two announcements? 

5. Which country has the oldest central bank in the world?

6. How many troop(s) has the UK sent to Greenland since Trump’s remarks? 

7. What is the most recent country to join the Eurozone? 

8. How much money has Trump threatened to sue the BBC for (in USD)? 

9. Who invented Guinness? 

10. What is the name of the Japanese Prime Minister?

11. Who is the shadow chancellor?

12. Which one of these organisations does Rishi Sunak NOT have a job at? Goldman Sachs, UK Parliament, BlackRock, Microsoft, Anthropic.

13. In 2021, the leader of the far-right ADF party was found guilty for use of Nazi slogans. What was the name of this individual? 

14. What is the traditional name of the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer?

15. On what date did the UK officially leave the European Union?

16. For which London constituency was Margaret Thatcher the Member of Parliament throughout her time as Prime Minister?

17. In the 2024 election, Nigel Farage finally won a seat in Parliament. Which constituency does he represent?

18. Who was the Prime Minister at the start of the Second World War in 1939?

19. The 1978 - 79 period of widespread strikes that eventually led to Margaret Thatcher's election is known by what Shakespearean name?

20. What object must be present in the House of Commons chamber for the House to legally sit or pass laws?

Round 2: Plotted and Mismatch

1. A displaced heir leverages local sentiment to destabilise a monopoly

2. A high-level executive struggles to figure out whether he is committing illegal acts 

3. A high-profile celebrity is sentenced to community service in a small town

4. A man and his friend start an underground hobby group

5. A hit-man pays for an overpriced milkshake and dies only an hour later 

6. Five vertically challenged individuals destroy personal property

7. An interstellar dictator proves his fertility 

8. A disgruntled office worker takes some drugs from a guy he just met 

9. Husband separates from his wife after expressing her love for cocoa powder 

10. Scientist regrets making an exceedingly self-explanatory device

11. A man decorates his military uniform with contradictory attire

12. A polylingual racist frequently enjoys dairy products

13. A young heir to the throne is betrayed by his scheming uncle 

14. A young man is verbally abused after losing a piece of paper 

15. A bin-man saves humanity

Round 3: Charts

Answers:

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Round 1: State of Affairs:

1. Australia

2. Suella Braverman

3. 4/9

4. COVID-19 and GFC (Lehman Collapse/Bear Stearns rescue is accepted)

5. Sweden (Riskbank is accepted)

6. One 

7. Bulgaria

8. $10 billion 

9. Arthur Guinness

10. Sanae Takaichi 

11. Sir Mel Stride 

12. BlackRock

13. Björn Höcke

14. 11 Downing Street

15. January 31st 2020

16. Finchley

17. Clacton

18. Neville Chamberlain

19. The Winter of Discontent

20. The Royal Mace (or the Mace)

Round 2: Plotted and Mismatch:

1. Dune (Part Two/One are accepted)

2. American Psycho

3. Cars

4. Fight Club

5. Pulp Fiction

6. LOTR (Any film from the series also accepted after some questioning from participants)

7. Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back

8. The Matrix 

9. The Truman Show 

10. Oppenheimer

11. Full Metal Jacket

12. Inglorious Basterds 

13. The Lion King

14. Whiplash

15. Wall-E

1. Jerome Powell, Donald Trump, Scott Bessent

2. Rachel Reeves, Keir Starmer, Nigel Farage

3. Ursula von der Leyen, Klaus Schwab, Mark Carney

4. Ed Milliband, Emmanuel Macron, Margaret Thatcher

5. Andrew Bailey, Sadiq Khan, Tony Blair

6. Zia Yusif, Theresa May, Queen Elizabeth II

Round 3: Charts:

1. Iranian Rial 

2. Venezuelan Inflation

3. UK interest rate 

4. 10 Year Bond Yield (Japan)

5. Bitcoin (BTC)

6. Switzerland Interest Rate

7. Russian Unemployment Rate

8. NVIDIA stock 

9. UK Inflation Rate

10. UK Broad Money (will accept M3/M4x; QT/QE was not accepted as an answer)