Episode 17 Mastermind

First in the spotlight tonight is Chris Forse from Stratford-upon-Avon,

his specialist subject - John F Kennedy.

Next, Liz McSheehy, a charity chief executive from Reading.

She'll answer questions on the novels of Peter Carey.

Lawrence Cook, an organic chemist from Lincolnshire, will answer questions on heavyweight boxing.

And Ramdas Mullath, a business development director from Berkshire,

his subject, the physicist James Clerk Maxwell.

APPLAUSE

Hello and welcome to Mastermind with me, John Humphrys.

Four more contenders will tonight take the ultimate test of nerve and memory -

two minutes of questions on their specialist subject and two and a half minutes on general knowledge.

Tonight's winner will go through to the next round

and, therefore, a step closer to becoming the Mastermind champion.

So let's get on with it and ask our first contender to join us, please.

And your name is...?

Who was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

who administered the oath at Kennedy's inauguration in 1961?

He also chaired the Commission that investigated Kennedy's assassination.

-Earl Warren.

-In '61, Kennedy authorised the invasion of Cuba

by a CIA-trained force of Cubans opposed to Fidel Castro's regime.

In which bay did the forces land?

-Bay of Pigs.

-In '61, the Soviets started to build the Berlin Wall.

Kennedy sent Vice-President Johnson and which General, who had organised the Berlin Airlift, to boost morale?

-General Clay.

-On the morning of October 16th, '62, Kennedy was presented with photos

proving the Soviets had put nuclear missiles on Cuba within striking distance of the US.

Which adviser presented Kennedy with the photos?

-Ken O'Donnell.

-No, McGeorge Bundy.

A U-2 pilot was shot down over Cuba on October 27th

and the National Security Council decided to retaliate with a missile strike,

but Kennedy cancelled the order, fearing nuclear war. Name the pilot.

-Rudolf Anderson.

-Khrushchev agreed to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba

in exchange for the US removing its Jupiter missiles from Italy and which country?

-Turkey.

-In '62, James Meredith became the first black student to enrol at his university.

Kennedy authorised the deployment of troops to enforce his enrolment during protests at which university?

-Ole Miss.

-Yes, Mississippi. In 1961, which European leader warned Kennedy

that intervention in south-east Asia would see America in a "bottomless military and political quagmire"?

-De Gaulle.

-In March '62, Kennedy received a memo about one of his girlfriends, Judith Campbell,

and her association with underworld figures. Who delivered the memo?

-Hoover.

-What was the name of Kennedy's aid initiative

to "satisfy the basic needs" of people in Latin America "for homes, work and land, health and schools"?

-Alliance For Progress.

-After Kennedy's election as President,

who filled his Senate seat temporarily until his brother Ted Kennedy won a special election?

-Pass.

-Kennedy was shot in Dallas on November 22nd, '63.

-To which hospital was he rushed where he was pronounced dead at 1pm?

-BEEP

-Parkland.

-Parkland Memorial, yes.

You had just one pass.

It was Benjamin Smith who temporarily filled his Senate seat.

-Chris, you have ten points.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

And our next contender, please.

And your name is...?

Which Peter Carey novel won the Booker Prize in '88, a love story

between the son of a member of the Plymouth Brethren and an heiress from New South Wales?

-Oscar And Lucinda.

-In The Unusual Life Of Tristan Smith,

the title character says he was born in the year 371 of the Efican Calendar

and his mother's waters broke during a rehearsal for which Shakespeare play?

-Pass.

-In The True History Of The Kelly Gang, which act of 1862 named after an Australian politician

allows a man or widow to buy land at £1 an acre and to pay it off over eight years?

-Duffy Land Act.

-In The Chemistry Of Tears, who finds out that her lover Matthew has died of a heart attack?

-Catherine Gehrig.

-In Illywhacker, Herbert Badgery says his age makes him a celebrity,

but also he's been examined by experts and written up in the papers. How old does he claim to be?

-139.

-Name the Voorstand Intelligence Agency officer who became involved

in the Efica elections and whom Tristan Smith believes killed his mother.

-Pass.

-In His Illegal Self, Che is taken away from his Grandma Selkirk by a woman he thinks is his mother.

What nickname is she called by?

-Dial.

-The hairdresser Sarkis Alaverdian loses his job in The Tax Inspector

because he left Mrs Gladd under the hair-dryer and locked up the shop. Who offers him a job as a salesman?

-Frieda McClusky.

-Frieda Catchprice.

Which mesmerist and author shows a great interest in Jack Maggs after he returns to London from Australia?

-Pass.

-Ned Kelly thinks that he has killed Bill Frost

until he and Harry Power meet him again in a tavern in Tambo. What is the name of the tavern?

-Finch's Inn.

-McFarley's Tavern.

Olivier de Garmont is planning to marry an American girl,

but the engagement ends when he refuses to take her to France. What is the girl's name?

-Amelia Godefroy.

-In My Life As A Fake, the tombstone of David Weiss,

former editor of the magazine Personae, is engraved with lines from which Bob McCorkle poem?

-Boult To Marina.

-No, Petit Testament.

When Lucinda appears in Oscar And Lucinda, she is playing with what toy bought with money

-from a jam jar hidden in the Leplastrier household?

-BEEP

-A doll.

-It is indeed a doll. You had three passes.

Tobias Oates was the mesmerist... A strange word, isn't it?

..and author who showed a great interest in Jack Maggs.

Gabe Manzini was the name of that Intelligence Agency officer.

And Macbeth was the play during which her waters somewhat improbably broke. But there we are.

Three passes, Liz. You have seven points.

APPLAUSE

And our next contender, please.

And your name is...?

Who became the first boxer to regain the heavyweight title

when he knocked out Ingemar Johansson in the fifth round on June 20th, 1960, in New York?

-Floyd Patterson.

-Whom did Joe Frazier beat for the vacant WBC title in February 1970

to become the undisputed world champion?

-Buster Mathis.

-Jimmy Ellis.

Which Canadian boxer took both Ernie Terrell in 1965 and Muhammad Ali in '66 to the full 15 rounds

in his only world heavyweight title fights?

-George Chuvalo.

-In which round did Sonny Liston knock out Floyd Patterson

in their '62 and '63 world heavyweight championship bouts?

-First round.

-Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield's ear in a 1997 re-match.

Tyson's camp claimed he was retaliating for what?

-A head-butt by Holyfield.

-Which US boxer did Floyd Patterson knock down more than eight times

in the second defence of his title in December '61 before the fight was stopped in Round Four?

-Pete Rademacher.

-Tom McNeeley. Sonny Liston didn't come out for Round Seven in his first title fight

against Muhammad Ali due to what injury?

-His shoulder.

-In the first round of his February '89 fight against Mike Tyson,

Frank Bruno was penalised one point for what infraction?

-Holding and hitting.

-What rhyming phrase did Muhammad Ali coin for the tactic he used

to tire out Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in October '74?

-Rope-a-dope.

-Michael Moorer fought Axel Schulz for the vacant IBF title

in June '96 in which city's Westfalenstadion?

-Frankfurt.

-Dortmund. Which former heavyweight champion went on to become a referee?

His fights included the '65 Liston-Ali re-match.

-Jersey Joe Walcott.

-Name the judge

who controversially scored Evander Holyfield the winner over Lennox Lewis,

making the overall result a draw in March '99.

-Eugenia Williams.

-In October 1980, Muhammad Ali retired in the tenth round

of his last title fight against which fighter?

-Larry Holmes.

-In March '67, whom did Ali knock out in the seventh round of his world title defence?

-It was his last bout before he was stripped of the title...

-BEEP

for ignoring the American army draft.

-Zora Folley.

-Is correct.

No passes, Lawrence. You have 11 points.

APPLAUSE

And our final contender, please.

And your name is...?

What was the name of the house on his father's estate near Dumfries

where the 19th century physicist James Clerk Maxwell grew up and spent much of his later life?

-Glenlair.

-A major paper of the mid-1850s expressed Maxwell's theories on the relations

between magnetic forces and electric currents.

Its title came from whose theory on lines of force?

-Faraday.

-At the Royal Institution in May 1861, Maxwell gave what is seen as the first public demonstration

of a trichromatic colour photograph. What item featured in the picture?

-A tartan ribbon.

-Name the Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen,

where Maxwell was Professor of Natural Philosophy. Maxwell married his daughter Katherine in 1858.

-Daniel Dewar.

-In 1864, Maxwell presented a paper to the Royal Society on the propagation of light

that he titled A Dynamical Theory Of...?

-Gases.

-The Electromagnetic Field. At Cambridge, Maxwell became friends with which Christian Socialist

who was the founding principal of the Working Men's College where Maxwell later lectured?

-Maurice.

-The law describing the distribution of speeds among the molecules of a gas

is named after Maxwell and which Austrian physicist?

-Boltzmann.

-Maxwell was awarded the Rumford Medal by the Royal Society for his 1860 paper on what subject?

-Colours.

-In 1860, which friend was chosen ahead of Maxwell

for the vacant chair of Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh University?

-Tait.

-What was the title of Maxwell's paper for the British Association in September 1870

that explored the mathematical relationship between summits and low areas in landforms?

-Hills And Dales.

-Yes, On Hills And Dales.

William Thomson gave the name Maxwell's Demon to the theoretical being devised by Maxwell

to make heat flow from a cold body to a hot one. What law of physics did this challenge?

-Second Law Of Thermodynamics.

-Who described Maxwell's 1857 essay on the motion and stability

of Saturn's rings as "one of the most remarkable applications of mathematics to physics ever seen"?

-Airy.

-In 1871, to what new chair in Experimental Physics at Cambridge was Maxwell appointed Professor?

-Cavendish.

-It led to his setting up the laboratory that shares its name.

-BEEP

Cavendish is correct. No passes, Ramdas. You have 12 points.

APPLAUSE

The scores kept creeping up. Let's have a look at all of them.

In fourth place, Liz McSheehy.

In third place, Chris Forse.

In second place, Lawrence Cook.

In the lead, Ramdas Mullath.

APPLAUSE

It is the general knowledge round now. If there's a tie at the end,

the number of passes is taken into account and the person with the fewer passes is the winner.

If they're tied on passes as well, we have to have a tie-break.

The six highest-scoring runners-up will also claim a place in the semi-final, so plenty to play for.

Let's get on with it and ask Liz to join us again, please.

You begin the round with seven points with your knowledge of the Peter Carey novels.

Let's see how you do with general knowledge.

What imaginary creatures did the young girls Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths claim to have photographed

near Cottingley, Yorkshire, in 1917?

-Fairies.

-Which French river valley, famous for vineyards and chateaux,

was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000?

-Garonne.

-The Loire. Purple, white and green were the colours

of which political movement in the early 20th century?

-Pass.

-What Hungarian name is used for the powdered spice made

from the dried and ground flesh of sweet red peppers?

-Paprika.

-Which British guitarist, who died in 2012, wrote the Play In A Day manual in '57

that introduced aspiring musicians to the three chords that underpinned most rock'n'roll hits of the day?

-Bert Weedon.

-Hans Holbein the Younger was the court painter to which English king,

making many portraits of him and his wives?

-Henry VII.

-Henry VIII. Under what pen-name did Dora Saint write novels about rural life,

set in the fictional villages of Thrush Green and Fairacre?

-Miss Read.

-Name the line across the full width of a tennis court at each of its ends.

-Tramlines.

-Baseline. A spring on Deerplay Moor in Lancashire

is the source of which river, a tributary of the Mersey?

-Pass.

-What is the title of the operetta by Sigmund Romberg

in which Prince Karl Franz attends Heidelberg University?

-Pass.

-Who won her first Best Actress Oscar for the title role in the 1982 film Sophie's Choice?

-Meryl Streep.

-The best-known British species of jumping spider,

a familiar sight on sunny walls and fences, shares its colouring and name with which striped mammal?

-A tabby cat.

-The zebra.

Which Christian sect takes its name from the Devon city where its first assembly was established in 1831?

-Plymouth Brethren.

-In Romeo And Juliet, whom does Lord Capulet address as Angelica?

-Pass.

-What is the surname of the brothers Joe, Paul, Stephen and Mark

who appeared together for the first time in the 1995 TV mini-series The Hanging Gale?

-McGann.

-On which Mediterranean island is Calvi where Lord Nelson was blinded in his right eye?

-Sicily.

-Corsica. What is the more common name for nacre

which is obtained from mollusc shells and used in making decorative items?

-Mother-of-pearl.

-Which Parliamentary office, said to date back to 1258, was occupied only by men until 1992?

Speaker of the House of Commons.

What word for a micro-organism, especially a bacterium, comes from the Greek for "little life"?

-Amoeba.

-Microbe. The '60s folk trio Peter, Paul And Mary

was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and which female singer?

Mary... I don't know.

-BEEP

-I can tell you because we're out of time now. Mary Travers.

Anyway, the other passes - Lord Capulet addressed Angelica as Juliet's Nurse.

It was The Student Prince, that Sigmund Romberg operetta.

That spring on the Deerplay Moor in Lancashire is the source of the River Irwell.

And, you will be cross with yourself, purple, white and green are the colours of the Suffragettes.

-Oh, dear.

-I know! Five passes, Liz. You now have a total of 16 points.

APPLAUSE

And now Chris Forse again, please.

And you have ten points in the bag with your knowledge of John F Kennedy's Presidency.

Let's see how you do with your general knowledge. Here we go.

Which Russian goldsmith was famous for his jewelled Easter eggs, first made for Tsar Alexander III in 1884?

-Pass.

-Which long cocktail has a name meaning "strained pineapple"

as the juice is strained into the glass when it is made?

-Screwdriver.

-Pina colada. Name the TV western series about a cattle drive to Kansas

starring Clint Eastwood in his first major role as Rowdy Yates.

-Rawhide.

-Where is Dozmary Pool where Sir Bedivere is said

to have thrown King Arthur's sword after the Battle of Camlann?

-Bodmin Moor.

-In which form of rowing does each rower have two oars?

-Sculls.

-According to legend, what was the name of the female Pope, elected in the 9th century,

-who died after giving birth during a church procession?

-Pass.

In the Jeeves and Wooster stories by PG Wodehouse, what is the name of Bertie Wooster's club?

-Pass.

-The big five animals of the African safari

are the rhinoceros, elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard and...?

-Wildebeest.

-Lion. In a speech in the Commons in 1845,

what exactly did Benjamin Disraeli describe as "an organised hypocrisy"?

-The House of Commons.

-A Conservative government. Which writer, best remembered for his horror stories,

was dishonourably discharged from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1831?

-Benedict Arnold.

-Edgar Allan Poe.

What is the southernmost, largest and most populous of the three Baltic states?

-Lithuania.

-Who was the first female presenter to front the sports programme Grandstand,

an annual award for "outstanding courage and achievement in the face of adversity"

is now presented in her honour?

-Pass.

-Which Basque town was destroyed by German bombers on the 26th of April, 1937,

in a forerunner to the blitzkrieg tactics used in World War Two?

-Guernica.

-In which Midlands city was a fine porcelain factory established in about 1750?

George III allowed the use of "Crown" in the name of its products

and Queen Victoria allowed "Royal" to be added.

-Stoke-on-Trent.

-Derby. Reg Presley, who died in February, was the lead singer with which '60s rock band?

-The Troggs.

-Which Swedish actress co-starred with Humphrey Bogart,

playing Rick Blaine's long-lost love Ilsa in Casablanca?

-Ingrid Bergman.

-Which Roman historian wrote Annals and Histories,

a survey of Roman history during the 1st century AD?

-Plutarch.

-Tacitus. In the UK, what is the highest rank of the peerage?

The title comes from the Latin for "leader".

-Baron.

-Duke. The Torino and Palermo Scales measure the impact hazards of NEOs.

-What do the letters NEO stand for?

-BEEP

-Pass.

-I'll tell you because we're out of time.

Near Earth Object. There we go - logical.

Your other passes - Helen Rollason was the first female presenter of Grandstand.

Bertie Wooster liked going to The Drones club.

Pope Joan apparently, allegedly died after giving birth during a church procession.

And those famous eggs are Faberge eggs.

Chris, you have a total of 17 points.

APPLAUSE

And now Lawrence again, please.

And you start out with 11 points with your knowledge of heavyweight boxing.

17 is the score to beat thus far.

You have two and a half minutes in which to do it.

In the Toy Story films, which character's catchphrase is "to infinity and beyond"?

-Buzz Lightyear.

-Which chapel in the Vatican is the place where the election of a new pontiff is held?

-Sistine Chapel.

-Who was sacked as Chelsea manager in November 2012,

just six months after leading the team to an FA Cup and European Champions League double?

-Roberto Di Matteo.

-Which astronomer, the author of numerous popular science books,

wrote the '85 novel Contact, later made into a film starring Jodie Foster?

-Pass.

-Which member of the weasel family, found mainly in the Scottish Highlands,

takes its name from the conifer forests it inhabits?

-Pine marten.

-The wet summer of 2012 and the cold winter of '13 are said to have been caused

by the displacement southwards of an air current in the upper atmosphere. What is its common name?

-The Atlantic Drift.

-The jet stream.

Which innovative design style, popular in the '20s and '30s,

took its name from an exhibition held in Paris in 1925?

-Art Deco.

-Discovery and Laxton's Superb are varieties of which fruit?

-Pear.

-Apples. What name is shared by a river that flows through Ashford and Canterbury

and a river valley of East Anglia, famous as Constable country?

-Ouse.

-Stour. Which member of The League Of Gentlemen team co-wrote the TV series Sherlock

and appeared in the series as Holmes' brother Mycroft?

-Mark Gatiss.

-What name did the Senate bestow on Gaius Octavianus

when he became the first Roman Emperor in 27 BC?

-Augustus Caesar.

-Vexillology is the technical name for the study of what?

-Nervousness.

-No, flags. Which singer, known for her flamboyant, vintage-inspired costumes,

had a hit in 2012 with a cover of the INXS song Never Tear Us Apart?

-Paloma Faith.

-In which country is the Temple of the Tooth at Kandy

that houses the sacred relic said to be a tooth of the Buddha?

-Sri Lanka.

-In 2005, who became the first woman and first East German to be elected Chancellor of Germany?

-Angela Merkel.

-Which Irish-born playwright and critic wrote musical columns early in his career

under the pseudonym Corno di Bassetto?

-George Bernard Shaw.

-In which sport

did the Black Ferns New Zealand women's team win the World Cup in 2010?

-Rugby union.

-What type of crane is named after a 17th century Tyburn hangman?

-Pass.

-What word, that is now used in computing,

but originally meant the image of a saint or other religious figure, comes from the Greek for "likeness"?

-Haji.

-Icon. Which battle fought in Somerset in July 1685 was the last pitched battle...

-BEEP

-..to be fought on English soil?

Take a guess.

-All right...

-Battle of the Boyne?

-No. Well, it was worth a try. Sedgemoor.

-That's it.

You were in the wrong part of the country. You had two passes.

The crane was named after the 17th century hangman called Derrick.

And the astronomer, the author of all those science books, Carl Sagan.

-Oh, yeah.

-Two passes, Lawrence.

-You now have 23 points.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

And now Ramdas again, please.

And you begin with 12 points with your knowledge of James Clerk Maxwell.

23 is now the score to beat, so let's see if you can do it with your general knowledge.

What was the name of the fascist dictator who was Italy's Prime Minister from 1922 to '43?

-Mussolini.

-In 1999, which football organisation moved its headquarters to Nyon on Lake Geneva?

-FIFA.

-UEFA. The adult male of which large African monkey, closely related to the baboon,

is identified by its hairless, bright blue cheeks and scarlet nose?

-Gorilla.

-Mandrill. In astrology, what name of Greek origin is given to a map of the heavens

at the time of a person's birth that is used to predict their future?

-Orrery.

-Horoscope. Which TV series introduced Leslie Nielsen

as the bumbling detective Lieutenant Frank Drebin who was later in the Naked Gun films?

-Dad's Army.

-Police Squad!

Which Asian city was called Edo until 1868 when it became its country's capital?

-Could you repeat that?

-Which Asian city was called Edo until 1868 when it became its country's capital?

-Manila.

-Tokyo. What style of music, particularly associated with Bob Marley,

was first used in the title of a 1968 hit by Toots and the Maytals?

-Pass.

-The Outsider is the best-known novel by which French-Algerian writer?

-Pass.

-Which was the first state to secede from the Union in the American Civil War,

the site of the first engagement when Fort Sumter was attacked by Confederate troops?

-South Carolina.

-Who played the Bond girl Jinx Johnson in the 2003 film Die Another Day?

-Gemma Arterton.

-Halle Berry. In Greek legend, who was the dearest friend of Achilles?

It is said their ashes were mixed together after their deaths at Troy.

-Ulysses.

-Patroclus. What common name is given to the larvae of several Australian moths,

such as the ghost moth, considered a delicacy by native Australians?

-Pass.

-Which ancient monument is made from Sarsen stones, quarried from the nearby Marlborough Downs,

and Bluestones from the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire?

-Stonehenge.

-Which writer went to live in France and took the alias Sebastian Melmoth

when he was released from prison in 1897?

-Oscar Wilde.

-In which country is the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places in the world?

-Chile.

-What is the name of the nihilist arts movement that was founded in Zurich in 1915

by a group that included the Romanian poet Tristan Tzara and the French artist Jean Arp?

-Dadaism.

-Which brass or copper musical instrument is mainly used as a means of military signalling?

Its name derives from the Latin for "ox".

-Tuba.

-Bugle. Charlemagne and Pepin the Short were members of which dynasty of Frankish kings

who ruled territories in Western Europe from the 8th to the 10th century?

-BEEP Franks.

-The Carolingian Dynasty.

You had three passes. Witchetty grubs is the name of the larvae

that the Australians unaccountably like eating.

Albert Camus wrote The Outsider.

And reggae was that music associated with Bob Marley.

You have, Ramdas, 18 points.

APPLAUSE

So, a clear winner there. Let's have a look at all the scores.

In fourth place, Liz McSheehy.

Third place, Chris Forse.

Second place, Ramdas Mullath.

First place, Lawrence Cook.

APPLAUSE

Which means that Lawrence is tonight's winner and he goes through to the semi-finals.

Congratulations to him.

If you would like to be a contender on the next series,

do go to our website.

And you can follow us on Twitter...

Do join us again next time for more Masterminds.

Thank you for watching. Goodbye.