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3. Northern Ireland v England

Kirsty Lang referees a contest between Northern Ireland and England in the notoriously cryptic quiz.

Teams from all over the UK will face Kirsty Lang's cryptic questions across the series, with Kirsty offering support and the odd hint where it might be needed.

The third match in the series is between Northern Ireland and England.

As always, they'll drop points every time they need a clue from the chair to steer them towards the right solution.

You can follow the questions for this episode which will appear below on the day of the match.

Teams:
Northern Ireland - Paddy Duffy and Freya McClements
England - Jenny Ryan and Stuart Maconie

Host: Kirsty Lang
Recorded by: Phil Booth
Sound Design: Chris Maclean
Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow
Producer: Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios Production

Questions set by Lucy Porter, Martin Mor, Justin Edwards, and by you, the listeners!

Questions in today's edition:

Q1 (From Alan Hay) I have a sentence here that is way too wordy and in desperate need of a prune. How might you improve the following piece of prose?
I place a Hawaiian garland in a grassy meadow while reading a novel about a Finch, then I tell a fib about some caustic soda; when a cow moos and makes me think of Captain Mainwaring, so I go to the bathroom in a Cornish coastal town.

Q2 (From Charles Gilman) What connects:
4 in the Highlands, 50 in Merseyside, 105 in the West Midlands, 550 in County Durham, 900 in Essex, 1000 in Greater Manchester, and 1050 in Lanarkshire?
See if you can crack the code

Q3 Music: These songs celebrate famous people, but what other meaning could they carry with them? And which is the odd one out?
(4 clips)

Q4 (From Pete Armstrong) Why might all these people fit comfortably into a 1995 Britpop anthem…
Michael Palin's co-star in The Missionary;
Sweden's first lady prime minister;
Der Bomber, who scored 68 goals in 62 appearances for West Germany;
Vasco, who sang about Sally;
and the third Spaniard to win the US Masters golf championship?

Q5 (Trevor Hawkes) Starting from absolute basics…
What do Haydn’s clock, a pack of dogs, the number 5 and a fictional room have in common? And how might it help in a minor emergency?

Q6 Why might these clips be united by Bristol, of a fashion? (5 clips)

Q7 Why might a Northumbrian Detective and a Scarlet Witch be digging up potatoes and watching The Rivals in search of a missing person?

Q8 We’re going to finish with a report of some unsettling events that have been sweeping the region. Here’s what we know:
Today’s conditions bring gusts that test the bravest sailor’s grip,
A low, uneasy tremor has unsettled the region,
Farmers warn of unprecedented burn levels in this year’s crop
The strength of nature’s toughest materials is put to the test,
And health officials report concerning variations across the nation’s, shall we say… seven natural categories.
So you’re looking at five measures here. Four tell us how bad things are and the final one is different. It’s up to you to work out why.

Available now

28 minutes

On radio

Saturday23:30

RBQ League Table 2026

RBQ League Table 2026
As we go into this week’s match, here’s how the scores look

Last Week's Teaser Question

Kirsty’s question was:
How does a group of actors contribute towards percussion instruments, a religious stratification, a Spanish kingdom, a Caribbean capital, and Carlo Broschi AKA Farinelli

ANSWER
The group of actors is a “Cast” the four letters of which begin all the other answers.
CASTanets - small concave pieces of wood, ivory, or plastic, joined in pairs by a cord and clicked together by the fingers as a rhythmic accompaniment to Spanish dancing.
CASTe - one of the hereditary social classes in Hinduism that restrict the occupation of their members and their association with the members of other castes.
CASTile - The Kingdom of Castile was a kingdom of Spain in the 11th Century.
CASTries (St Lucia) - Castries is the capital of St Lucia, the island nation in the Eastern Caribbean.
CASTrato - Carlo Broschi was the birth name of Farinelli, celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th Century

This week’s teaser question

Kirsty's question this week is:
If you sang a song of joy in 1973 Were ready for the time of your life in 1986 And had no worries in 1988 What were you missing out on?


Broadcasts

  • Yesterday16:30
  • Saturday23:30

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