The Ballad of Tom Jones Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lynx

Strictly speaking, only the 'big 5' species belonging to the Panthera genus - the lion, the tiger, the jaguar, the leopard and the snow leopard - are considered to be 'big cats'. They are also the only felids that roar, although they do not purr (the cougar is the only large felid that does). The lynx belongs to the genus Lynx.

Answer: stoned in love

The word 'stoned' is inside the word 'love'.

'Stoned in Love' is a dance track released in 2006 by the English producer Nick Bracegirdle aka Chicane, with Tom Jones on vocals. Bracegirdle had sought out various Welsh singers, such as the Manics' James Dean Bradfield, before opting for Jones. Jones stated he had never heard of Chicane, but liked the structure and lyrics of the song and was happy to add his vocals to it.

Answer: Boy George

Boy George actually replaced Jones in the fifth series after Jones' contract was up, but Jones returned for the sixth series. will.iam is a member of the Black Eyed Peas, and also a solo artist and producer; Danny O'Donoghue is the frontman of Irish band the Script; and Jessie J is an English singer who has also appeared on Australian and junior versions of 'The Voice'. Leanne Jones, the first winner of 'The Voice UK', was one of Jones' proteges, though her debut album subsequently flopped.

Answer: Bugsy Siegel

Bugsy Siegel supposedly got the idea for the hotel's name from his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, who he nicknamed 'Flamingo' because of her long legs, though other sources claim it was developer Billy Wilkerson's idea. He took over the Flamingo in 1946 and it opened on Boxing Day of that year.

While it failed the first time around due to being a work in progress, Siegel had it renovated and it reopened in March 1947. Other Jewish gangsters, such as Meyer Lansky, had helped finance the project. Siegel was shot in 1947, but the Flamingo is still going strong, and is now one of the oldest resorts on the Strip.

A memorial was built there for Siegel in 2012. Other musicians who have performed there include Donny and Marie Osmond, Ella Fitzgerald and the Beach Boys.

Answer: Ivor the Engine

'Ivor the Engine' is one of the many children's programmes created by the team of Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin, and was made using stop-motion animation. Set in the fictional Welsh town of Pontypandy, it features the adventures of the little green engine Ivor and his driver, Jones the Steam (in the Welsh tradition of calling a person '[name] the [job]'). Ivor dreams of singing for the Grumbly and District Choral Society, and eventually does get to join when his whistle is replaced with some organ pipes.

He is an engine for the Merioneth and Llantisilly Railway Traction Company Ltd. Several storylines are influenced by the work of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.

Answer: Pearl

Pearl is an unusual kind of gem, as rather than being found in rocks, it is formed organically by molluscs such as pearl oysters or mussels. Although pearls do occur naturally in the wild, the majority of pearls today come from molluscs which are specifically farmed for pearls.

The inner shells of pearl oysters are coated with a shiny substance called nacre, also known as 'mother of pearl', and pearls are built up from layers of nacre. Moonstone and alexandrite are also birthstones for June. (Opal is the birthstone for October, sapphire for September and topaz for November.)

Answer: Rhondda Cynon Taf

Pontypridd is in the area known as the 'Valleys', an area of south Wales where coal mining was once the major source of income. Pontypridd itself was once home to several coal mines; its station was used as a transport hub for coal. Historically, it was part of the old county of Mid Glamorgan, until the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf was formed in 1996, when the Rhondda, Cynon Valley and Taff-Eli districts were merged.

Other notable natives of Pontypridd include the poet Evan James and his son James, who wrote the Welsh national anthem, 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' ('Land of My Fathers'); Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell; and several rugby players, including Richard Parks and Gethin Jenkins.

Answer: Daisy Duck

Daisy Duck made her cinema debut in 'Mr. Duck Steps Out', which was released on 7th June 1940. It is a short film that sees Donald Duck going on a date with Daisy while his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie follow him around. Daisy later joined the cast of the 'Donald Duck' comics, where she became Minnie Mouse's best friend, and featured in several short films.

She was also a regular character on TV shows such as 'Mickey's House of Mouse' and 'Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures'. In the Italian comics, she appeared as a superheroine called 'Paperinika', or 'Super Daisy'.

Answer: An ice cream dessert

OK, admittedly this is a little tenuous! A bombe, also known as bombe glacée, is an ice cream dessert named for its shape - it looks a bit like a cannonball. In more general terms, a bombe can be any moulded dish containing ice cream. Many bombes have different-flavoured fillings; in the 1990s, the restaurant chain Pizza Express had chocolate and vanilla bombes, for instance, while the 'watermelon bombe' has green ice cream on the outside and a red interior with chocolate chips, with a white ice cream layer in between.

Some bombes have fruit coulis fillings instead.

Answer: Well, it's not unusual.

'It's Not Unusual' is one of Tom Jones' signature songs. It was his second single, reached Number One on the UK Singles Chart in 1965 and was also his first hit in the US; it peaked at Number Three on the 'Billboard' Easy Listening Chart. The song was originally intended for Sandie Shaw, and Jones - a relative unknown at the time - sang on the demo, but Shaw was so impressed with his vocal that she suggested he record it instead. Jones performed it multiple times on 'The Ed Sullivan Show', and it was also a pirate radio hit in the UK, as the BBC had reservations about playing it due to Jones' raunchy image. Jones recorded it with his group the Squires as a backing band.

Answer: Henry Fielding

The comic novel 'History of Tom Jones, a Foundling', or 'Tom Jones' for short, is so long that it has been divided into 18 smaller books. It tells the story of a baby found by Squire Allworthy and raised by his sister Bridget, who grows into a young man and befriends the family servants.

He first falls in love with the gamekeeper's daughter Molly, and then another squire's daughter Sophia, and is temporarily banished from the Allworthy estate for drinking and partying. While in London, he has an affair with a woman he believes to be his mother, Jenny Jones, only to find out that Bridget Allworthy is actually his biological mother.

The story was heavily criticised at the time for its sexual content.

Answer: Mars Attacks

'Mars Attacks' is a kitsch tribute to B-movies about alien invasions, and is based on the trading card series of the same name. A group of aliens with huge heads and eyes invade the Earth, leaving a trail of death and destruction; even the President (Jack Nicholson) and his wife (Glenn Close) end up dead, while TV host Nathalie Lake (Sarah Jessica Parker) has her head attached to the body of her chihuahua. Jones is one of the few survivors; he is performing in Las Vegas during the invasion. One man, Richie Norris (Lukas Haas), and his grandma Florence (Sylvia Sidney) discover that Slim Whitman's 'The Indian Love Call' can make the Martians' heads explode, and the army broadcast it everywhere to kill the aliens.

Answer: Space

The Senators, a Pontypridd beat group, needed a singer and invited Jones to join them as they knew he could sing. He took on the stage name of Tommy Scott and fronted the band, who built up a local following. They later became Tommy Scott and the Squires. Thirty years later, Space frontman Tommy Scott performed 'The Ballad of Tom Jones' on TV with then Catatonia singer Cerys Matthews and got a call from the man himself. Scott wrote a couple of songs for Jones, neither of which were used.

However, he later duetted with Jones on a cover of the Kinks' 'Sunny Afternoon', which was featured on 'Reload', an album of duets between Jones and various contemporary musicians.

This had a knock-on effect for Space as Jones was also signed to their record company, Gut Records, and Gut focused on Jones as their big draw to the detriment of Space.

They also came into conflict with Space over their third album, 'Love You More than Football', which ended up being shelved for several years until finally being released as part of a Space box set in 2019.

Answer: Louise Woodward

Louise Woodward was working in the US as an au pair in 1997 when she was tried for the death of Matthew Eappen, an eight-month-old baby in her care. Eappen died from subdural haematoma and a fractured skull, and was also found to have a broken wrist. A doctor at the hospital said that Eappen's retinal injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome. Woodward claimed she 'popped the baby on the bed', although police officers claimed she said 'dropped' and not 'popped'. She was imprisoned for second-degree murder, but her legal team appealed and the sentence was reduced to involuntary manslaughter. After leaving prison, she was interviewed for a 'Panorama' special, and Eappen's parents filed a lawsuit to stop her selling her story.

As for the others, Edward Woodward is an actor who starred in 'The Wicker Man'; Ella Woodward is a food writer and lifestyle blogger; and Andy Woodward is a former footballer who was later revealed to be one of the many victims of former Crewe Alexandra coach and paedophile Barry Bennell.

Answer: Judges

The story of Samson and Delilah appears in the Book of Judges, Chapter 16. Samson is the final judge of Israel and is famous for his superhuman strength. He falls in love with Delilah, a woman from Sorek, which was on the border of the territory of the Philistines and the territory of the Israelites.

The Philistines bribe Delilah to find out why Samson is so strong, and Samson repeatedly fobs her off by asking her to tie him up, but frees himself easily. Delilah complains that Samson does not trust her, and he finally admits that his strength comes from his long hair; as a Nazirite, he is forbidden from cutting it. Delilah has Samson's hair cut while he is sleeping and hands him over to the Philistines, who capture Samson and blind him. While Samson is in prison, his hair grows back.

When he is brought out of his cell to entertain the Philistine crowd, he asks to be placed between two pillars that support the roof of the temple, and asks G-d to give him his strength back one more time. He pushes the two pillars and makes the roof of the temple come down, killing himself and everyone inside.

Answer: Chlorophyll

The word 'chlorophyll' comes from the Greek words for 'pale green' and 'leaf' and, as many of you might remember from science class, it's the pigment that makes grass and leaves green. It is crucial for photosynthesis, the process in which plants absorb energy from light; chlorophyll is contained in reaction centres, a type of plant protein.

These proteins are stored in chloroplasts, organelles that are only found in plant cells. Chlorophyll converts and stores light energy and in turn, oxygen is released from water in the cells.

Answer: Ireland

The Six Nations tournament started out as the Home Nations Championship, with England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It became Five Nations when France joined in 1910 and again in 1940, and Six Nations when Italy joined in 2000. In 2019, the Welsh team not only won the Six Nations Championship, with the score being 25-7, but also had the additional honours of the Triple Crown (by beating the other Home Nations) and the Grand Slam (by beating all other teams in the tournament). Welsh captain Alun Wyn Jones was awarded Player of the Tournament.

Answer: Marge Simpson

The 'Simpsons' episode in which Tom Jones appears as himself is called 'Marge Gets a Job', and involves Marge getting a job at the same nuclear power plant where her husband Homer works. Mr Burns, the evil boss of the plant, falls in love with Marge. When he finds out that Tom Jones is her favourite singer, he has his assistant Smithers kidnap Jones in an attempt to seduce her, but Marge rejects Mr Burns and he sacks her.

However, he changes his mind when Homer stands up for Marge. The episode ends with Tom Jones chained to a stage and singing 'It's Not Unusual' for Homer and Marge.

He also asks her to ring Interpol or get him a hacksaw.

Answer: Resident Evil

The UK is more liberal about video games than other European countries such as Germany, but a few games have either been banned outright or banned until more censored versions could be released. 'Carmageddon' (which I played as a teenager) is similar to 'Grand Theft Auto' and involves running over pedestrians, and had to replace the pedestrians with zombies in order to be released.

Some gamers, however, were not satisfied and used a patch that turned zombies back into humans! 'Manhunt 2', a particularly violent survival horror game, was initially banned until a censored version was released, and even then, it had to be appealed first. 'Omega Labyrinth Z' is a pornographic Japanese dungeon crawler that was banned outside Japan for featuring underage nudity. 'Resident Evil', on the other hand, has always been freely available.

Answer: Cymraeg

'Yr iaith Cymraeg' is Welsh for 'the Welsh language'. Along with English, it is one of the two official languages of Wales; on the Welsh border, in areas such as Chester, signs will often appear in English and Welsh (such as 'araf' and 'slow' being written on roads). Although Welsh children were punished for speaking the language in school in the 19th century, it began to experience a revival in the 20th century, and the Welsh Language Act of 1993 gave Welsh an equal footing with English in the public sector.

'Bhreatnais' is Irish, 'galęs' is Portuguese and 'kembraeg' is Breton, a French language closely related to Welsh.