Find the Vowels Trivia Quiz

Answer: Casablanca

"Casablanca" was released in 1942 and stars the dynamic duo of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. One of the most famous misquotes in film is "Play it again, Sam", as the actual line spoken by Rick Blaine (Bogart) was "Play it, Sam". Interestingly, the character Sam (played Dooley Wilson) was once planned to be played by a woman, with Ella Fitzgerald considered for the role.

Answer: The Silence of the Lambs

"The Silence of the Lambs" sees Anthony Hopkins deliver one of the most chilling performances as one of film's most striking and enigmatic characters - Hannibal Lecter. As well as being awarded the Best Picture Oscar, "The Silence of the Lambs" also earned Oscars for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

These make up the "Big Five Academy Awards" and "The Silence of the Lambs" was only the third film to have won all five (the others being "It Happened One Night" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"). My favourite piece of personal trivia is that I was born on the same day "The Silence of the Lambs" was released into US cinemas.

Answer: All About Eve

"All About Eve" was released in 1950 and starred Bette Davis (she of the eyes). This film is a favourite amongst Oscar-enthusiastic statisticians, so who am I to resist? "All About Eve" was nominated for a massive 14 Academy Awards and, as of 2013, this was matched only by "Titanic". Of this 14, six were won.

Answer: Forrest Gump

"Forrest Gump" was released in 1994 and marked one of the (many) peaks in an incredible decade for Tom Hanks, who played the title character. Hanks' portrayal of the rather slow but lovable Forrest Gump, who throughout the film stumbles through some of the most iconic events in American history, earned him a Best Actor Oscar.

Answer: Black and White

Black and white are opposed in various parts of culture, from the yin-yang symbol to a chess board. They are also opposites by scientific definition - black is an absence of light, and white is what results when all colours of the spectrum combine.

Answer: Wet and Dry

Water is essential to life, but too much can be a bad thing. As such, various parts of nature have evolved to adapt to the amount of water in their surroundings. For example, desert plants have thick succulent leaves which can store lots of water. Conversely, ducks do not want to have their feathers saturated with water, and so coat their feathers with a waxy, water-resistant, substance secreted from their preen gland.

Answer: Clean and Dirty

"Clean your room". "Brush your teeth". "Clear up after your mess". These are all things we may have heard as children or said to our own children. However, there is a theory that exposing children to a little dirt and germs at a young age will benefit them in the long run.

While it may be dangerous to take this too seriously, there is some truth in it. Our immune systems develop firstly by absorbing antibodies to various nasty diseases from our mother's breast milk, and later by producing antibodies following direct exposure to these diseases.

Answer: Wide and Narrow

Since I have already touched upon the theory of evolution by natural selection, I may as well continue in a similar vein. Predators and prey in the animal kingdom are in an evolutionary arms race to develop new weapons and defences to give them the best chance at survival. One good example is vision. Predators tend to have eyes facing forward, which gives them narrower vision, but allows them better depth perception, which is useful during a hunt. Prey tend to have eyes on the side of their heads, which gives them a wide visual range meaning that they are more likely to spot oncoming predators.

Answer: Fawlty Towers

"Fawlty Towers" was first broadcast in the 1970s and is fondly remembered by all generations since. Basil Fawlty, the short-tempered and hilarious owner of the Fawlty Towers hotel, was based on a real person who ran the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay. One of the guests at this hotel was John Cleese, who would later co-create "Fawlty Towers" and play Basil Fawlty on screen.

Answer: Only Fools and Horses

"Only Fools and Horses" is, along with "Fawlty Towers", held as one of the greatest British sitcoms of all time. Unlike "Fawlty Towers", which ran for only 12 episodes, "Only Fools and Horses" ran for 10 years over seven series. It is centred around two brothers - Delboy and Rodney Trotter - who live firstly with their grandad and, later, their uncle Albert.

The pair live in Peckham, London, in a council flat located in Nelson Mandela House, where Delboy is constantly coming up with ideas to make himself (and occasionally Rodney) rich.

Answer: Porridge

"Porridge" was a UK sitcom from the 1970s. It was set in a prison ("porridge" is a slang term for prison) and starred Ronnie Barker as the main character, Fletcher. Other characters included Lennie (played by Richard Beckinsale, father of Kate), and a minor character called Blanco (played by David Jason).

Answer: Blackadder

"Blackadder" was created by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson. Atkinson is an Oxford alumnus and played the part of Blackadder in all four series. Each series had a different historical setting, with #1 being set in 1485, #2 in Elizabethan times, #3 during the Regency, and #4 during World War I.

Answer: Squash

Squash is a fast-paced racquet game which sees two players alternately hit a ball against the playable surface. Squash (the sport) is etymologically distinct from squash (the fruit), which derives its name from the Algonquin word "askutasquash", which means "something green which may be eaten raw".

In contrast, the sport is named for the soft ball it uses, which may be squashed. The term "squash" in this instance comes from the French "esquasser", meaning "to crush".

Answer: Handball

Handball is a 7-a-side contact sport where players throw the ball to team mates with the ultimate intention of getting the ball into the opposition's goal.

Answer: Rugby

Rugby gets its name from the English school where the game was supposedly invented. Legend holds that a pupil at the school called William Webb Ellis invented the game when, during a football game, he picked up the ball and ran with it. His name is now immortalised in the name of the trophy awarded to the winners of the Rugby World Cup.

Answer: Basketball

Basketball was invented in a Canadian YMCA by Dr. James Naismith. Play was not as fluid as it is now, as a step ladder would originally have to be brought out to retrieve the ball from the basket before it occurred to anyone to cut a hole in the bottom of the basket.

Answer: Skittles

Skittles are advertised with the slogan "Taste the Rainbow", and their adverts range from the beautiful (who doesn't like rainbows?), to the humorous, to the rather racy.

Answer: Snickers

Ah, my favourite! The Snickers was known in the UK as the Marathon bar until 1990, when it fell into line with the rest of the world and adopted its current name. One advert for this product sees a glamorously dressed Joan Collins becoming argumentative with a group of men in a changing rooms after a football match.

As it turns out, Collins is a representation of one man's diva-ish behaviour when hungry, but this is quickly remedied by eating a Snickers.

Answer: Lollipops

Ah yes, the staple of English seaside resorts and American funfairs. The lollipop's history is ambiguous, but one of the leading candidates for its invention is George Smith, who named this confection after a racehorse called Lolly Pop.

Answer: Lemon Bonbons

Bonbons are sold in the UK as flavoured toffee balls, and can be covered in sharp lemon sherbet. They also come in strawberry, apple, or Vimto flavour, but they are all incredibly moreish. Outside of traditional English sweet shops, the name "bonbon" can be used for several types of confection, often involving chocolate.