scoring streaks, goalkeeping heroics and reality TV

1. Terry Griffiths, who has died at the age of 77, enjoyed a successful amateur career before turning pro in 1978. Which of these jobs did the Welsh snooker legend not do?

   1. Bus conductor

   2. Car salesman

   3. Miner

   4. Postman

2. In the Premier League, every team has played seven games at home and seven away. Which club are top of the home table?

   1. Arsenal

   2. Bournemouth

   3. Brentford

   4. Chelsea

3. Olympic rugby sevens star Ilona Maher will play 15s with Bristol Bears from January, having recently made the final of which US reality show?

   1. Big Brother

   2. Dancing with the Stars

   3. House of Villains

   4. Squid Game: The Challenge

4. Who said the following? ‘I’ve been in that meeting room many times in my life, and I’ve never seen someone trying to screw someone over that hard’

   1. Ange Postecoglou

   2. Max Verstappen

   3. Ronnie O’Sullivan

   4. Travis Kelce

5. This week, the former Australia Test opener Joe Burns was named captain of which international cricket team?

   1. Ireland

   2. Italy

   3. Jersey

   4. Papua New Guinea

6. Helmut Duckadam died this week at the age of 65. The former goalkeeper’s penalty saving heroics helped which side win the European Cup?

   1. Hamburg

   2. PSV Eindhoven

   3. Red Star Belgrade

   4. Steaua Bucharest

7. In US college football, Georgia beat local rivals Georgia Tech 44-42 after how many periods of overtime?

   1. Three

   2. Six

   3. Eight

   4. 12

8. 

   Where in the world was this picture taken?

   1. Buffalo

   2. Denver

   3. Munich

   4. Toronto

9. What is the name of Barcelona’s new feline mascot, unveiled for the club’s 125th anniversary game?

   1. Blaugrana

   2. Cat

   3. Léo

   4. Peppi

10. Rugby union’s Champions Cup returns this weekend. Who is the competition’s all-time leading try scorer?

    1. Brian O’Driscoll

    2. Chris Ashton

    3. Juan Imhoff

    4. Vincent Clerc

11. Wales’ women’s team have qualified for their first major finals after beating Ireland in the Euro 2025 playoffs. Which other nation will make their Women’s Euros debut next summer?

    1. Belgium

    2. Italy

    3. Poland

    4. Portugal

12. In the NFL, the New England Patriots are out of playoff contention with a 3-10 record. Who are the only franchise with more all-time playoff wins than the Patriots’ 37?

    1. Dallas Cowboys

    2. Green Bay Packers

    3. Pittsburgh Steelers

    4. San Francisco 49ers

13. Nick Kyrgios is planning a return to top-level tennis at the Australian Open this January. Where did the Australian reach his only grand slam final to date?

    1. Australian Open

    2. French Open

    3. Wimbledon

    4. US Open

14. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has become the third player to record two separate scoring streaks of at least seven straight Premier League games. Who are the other two?

    1. Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres

    2. Sergio Agüero and Erling Haaland

    3. Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney

    4. Jamie Vardy and Ruud van Nistelrooy

15. Happy birthday Andrew Flintoff, who turns 47 today. How many career wickets did the all-rounder take for England across three formats?

    1. 192

    2. 292

    3. 392

    4. 492

Solutions

1:B – Griffiths worked in a mine at the age of 15 and was also employed as a postman, insurance salesman and bus conductor before his professional snooker career., 2:C – Thomas Frank’s side have won six and drawn one at Fortress Gtech – but have picked up just one point from 21 on the road., 3:B – Maher and her dance partner, Alan Bersten, finished second to The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei and his partner Jenna Johnson., 4:B – The F1 world champion was talking about Mercedes rival George Russell, after an incident between the pair in Qatar GP qualifying., 5:B – Burns, who played 23 Tests for Australia, is eligible to play for Italy through his mother’s ancestry and will bid to lead them to a place at the 2026 T20 World Cup., 6:D – Duckadam saved all four Barcelona penalties in Sevilla as Steaua won the 1986 tournament in a shootout. The Romanian FA said the keeper ‘put Romania on the map of world football’., 7:C – Georgia fought back from 27-13 down in the fourth quarter to tie the game, then prevailed after a series of two-point conversion attempts in a derby that lasted more than four hours., 8:A – The Buffalo Bills quarterback, Josh Allen, and head coach Sean McDermott are celebrating victory over San Francisco at a snowbound Highmark Stadium., 9:B – The name is a play on Barça’s region, Catalonia, and … the English word for cat. Cat didn’t enjoy their debut as the hosts lost 2-1 to Las Palmas., 10:B – Ashton scored 41 tries in the competition with five different teams – Northampton, Toulon, Saracens, Sale and Leicester., 11:C – Poland upset Austria 2-0 on aggregate to book their place. Belgium and Portugal have both qualified twice before; Italy have made it a joint-record 13 times, but have never won the tournament., 12:D – The 49ers have won 38 playoff games; Green Bay have 37 while Pittsburgh and Dallas both have 36. The Patriots have the best win percentage, though., 13:C – Kyrgios reached the 2022 final after Rafael Nadal withdrew injured from their semi-final. He won the first set against Novak Djokovic but eventually lost the final in four sets., 14:D – Vardy holds the record streak with 11 games during Leicester’s title-winning 2015-16 campaign, and also scored in eight straight games in 2019. His current manager, Van Nistelrooy, had a 10-game run in 2003 and an eight-game streak in 2001-02 – both for Manchester United., 15:C – Flintoff is seventh on the all-time list, although Adil Rashid (391) and Chris Woakes (382) could overtake him in the near future.

Scores

1. 0 and above.

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