'S' by Subject Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sofia

The city of Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria and is located in the western part of the country in the central area of the Balkan Peninsula. Sofia's known history dates back around 7,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in Europe. It was captured and destroyed by Philip II of Macedon (the father of Alexander the Great) in 339 BC, conquered by the Romans in the 1st century BC and then ruined again following an invasion by the Huns in 447 AD. It spent most of the medieval period under the rule of the Ottoman Empire before becoming the capital of an officially independent Bulgaria in 1908.

The 2003 film 'Lost in Translation' gained Sofia Coppola three Academy Award nominations - for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay - although she only won in the Best Original Screenplay category. In addition to 2006's 'Marie Antoinette', Coppola has also directed films such as 'The Virgin Suicides' (1999), 'Somewhere' (2010) and 'The Beguiled' (2017). She also appeared in two films from 'The Godfather' trilogy, which were directed by her father, Francis Ford Coppola.

Savannah is a city in Georgia, USA; the River Shannon is the longest river in the Republic of Ireland; and Sierra is the Spanish word for a mountain range that appears in several place names around the world, such as the Sierra Nevada.

Answer: Sombrero function

A sombrero is a distinctive type of hat with a tall, pointed crown and an extremely large, up-turned brim. It is believed to have been developed for use as a sun hat by horse-riding cowboys of central Mexico and is a traditional piece of headwear in that country. Its name simply comes from the Spanish word meaning 'hat', so although it is now commonly associated with the Mexican sombrero, the term can also be applied to other styles of hat.

The sombrero function (or besinc or jinc function) is a mathematical operation used in the processing of digital images and videos. It is based on a Bessel function and gets its name from its graphical representation, which is highly reminiscent of a sombrero hat.

A Santa hat is a red cap topped with a white tassel usually seen on the head of Santa Claus at Christmas. The Stetson originates from the USA and a salakot is a traditional hat from the Philippines.

Answer: Shiloh

Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt is the eldest biological child of film stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. She was born in Namibia in May 2006. The couple's other children include adopted sons Maddox and Pax, adopted daughter Zahara, and twins Knox and Vivienne.

The Battle of Shiloh took place in Tennessee in April 1862 and is also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing. It is named after the encampment position of the Union army divisions led by Major General Ulysses S. Grant - who later went on to become US President - at Pittsburg Landing, which included a small meeting house known as Shiloh Church. The battle between Grant's troops and the Confederate army commanded by Albert S. Johnston lasted for two days at the cost of over 20,000 casualties (including around 1,700 killed on each side as well as Johnston himself) before the Confederates were forced to retreat.

The Battle of Salem Church and the Battle of Stirling's Plantation were both won by the Confederates in 1863. The Battle of Selma was a Union victory that took place in Alabama in April 1865.

Answer: Sapphire

'Sapphire & Steel' originally aired from 1979 to 1982 and starred Joanna Lumley (who had previously appeared in 'The New Avengers') as Sapphire and David McCallum (of 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' fame) as Steel. The titular characters were alien entities whose mysterious role on Earth appeared to involve protecting the flow of time. They also had various superpowers such as Steel's ability to drop his body temperature to absolute zero and Sapphire's ability to manipulate time, as well as super strength, telepathy and a variety of other skills not available to human beings. The duo were supported by a range of similarly named characters such as Silver, Gold, Jet and Lead.

Slate is a shade of grey-blue; Seurat blue is named after the 19th century French Pointillist artist Georges Seurat; and the origins of sky blue should be self-explanatory.

Answer: Stephen

To quote the first line of the famous Christmas carol: "Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen". The day in question, also known as Saint Stephen's Day, varies between different churches and traditions but is most commonly celebrated on December 26th in western Christian churches, December 27th in Eastern Christianity, and January 9th by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Saint Stephen was stoned to death in the 1st century AD and as a result is considered to be the first Christian martyr. His story is told in Acts of the Apostles, a book of the New Testament.

King Stephen reigned from 1135 to 1154, a chaotic period of English history known as 'The Anarchy'.

Stuart was the name of the house of the kings and queens of Scotland from the late 14th century onwards; later members of the family also became monarchs of England following the death of Queen Elizabeth I. Sweyn Forkbeard was an 11th century Danish king who also briefly ruled over England.

Answer: Shrew

'The Taming of the Shrew' is one of Shakespeare's comedies. It tells the story of woman named Katherina who is deemed to be unsuitable as a bride because of her independent and assertive nature and the attempts of a group of rich young lords to identify a suitor for her so that they can court her younger sister. The play does not feature any attempts to domesticate small mammals of the family Soricidae; the titular "shrew" is Katherina (also known as Kate) and the man who attempts to "tame" her - in the sense of turning her into an obedient wife - is a fortune-seeker named Petruchio.

Films based on the story of 'The Taming of the Shrew' include the 1967 film 'Kiss Me Kate' (which starred Elizabeth Taylor as the "shrew") and the 1999 film '10 Things I Hate About You'.

Answer: Senators

The Ottawa Senators joined the Atlantic Division of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Eastern Conference in 1992 and took their name from a previous team that competed in the NHL with great success from 1917 to 1934. They won their first conference title in 2006-07, but lost that year's Stanley Cup Final to the Anaheim Ducks.

Men and women elected to the United States Senate - the upper chamber of Congress - are known as senators. Each state is represented by two senators who serve six-year periods in office and must be at least 30 years of age, have been citizens of the United States for at least nine years and live in the state at the time that they were elected. Washington D.C. - the location of the US Senate - was home to various sports teams called the Washington Senators during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks have all competed in the NHL, but are teams based in the United States rather than Canada.

Answer: Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth formed in New York City in 1981 and originally consisted of five members: Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Anne DeMarinis and Richard Edson (although the latter two had left the band by 1982). Some of the group's better known songs include 1990's 'Kool Thing', 1992's '100%' and 1994's 'Bull in the Heather' and 'Superstar'.

Japanese video game giant Sega released their first game featuring their new mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, in 1991. In the original 'Sonic the Hedgehog' game, players took control of the spiky blue member of the Erinaceinae family in an attempt to collect Chaos Emeralds and disrupt the evil plans of Dr. Robotnik.

Spandau Ballet were an English group, Scissor Sisters were formed in 2001 and Sister Sledge were a family band particularly known for their disco music in the 1970s.

Answer: Sinistra

In comparison to some of the staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' series, Professor Sinistra - the astronomy teacher - appears fairly infrequently. She was one of the teachers who helped transport Justin Finch-Fletchley to the hospital wing after he was petrified in 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', but otherwise had no particularly significant role in the story.

'Sinistra' is the Italian word for 'left' and derives from the Latin term 'sinister'. In English, the word 'sinister' has taken on the additional meaning of something evil or foreboding - however, nothing in the 'Harry Potter' series indicated that Professor Sinistra was a fan of the Dark Arts or a supporter of Lord Voldemort...

'Stânga' is Romanian for 'left', Professor Snape was the Potions teacher for most of the 'Harry Potter' series and 'strega' is the Italian word for 'witch'.

Answer: sunflower

There are various versions of the fairy tale 'Little Red Riding Hood', but all of them involve a young girl (usually dressed in a red hooded cloak) who tells a wolf that wants to eat her that she is on her way to visit her grandmother. The wolf then duly makes his way to the grandmother's house, impersonates her and attacks the girl. In the first version to be published, by Charles Perrault, both the girl and her grandmother end up as the wolf's dinner, but later variations saw them being rescued from this fate by a hunter or woodcutter. Clearly, you would need to start with one of these later versions if you wanted to write your own ending where Little Red Riding Hood ended up in hospital receiving flowers.

The common sunflower, or Helianthus annuus, is a tall plant with a large, showy yellow flower. It is also cultivated for its oil and seeds, which are widely used in cookery.