Q40 · SUNDAY BIG QUIZ
The Sunday Big Quiz — 6 September 2026
Play the Sunday Big Quiz for 6 September 2026: 40 free general-knowledge questions covering Current Affairs, Geography, Literature and Arts, with explanations and crowd results.
About this edition
This 40-question The Quiz Post edition was published for 6 September 2026. Answer all four-option questions to reveal sourced explanations and see how other players answered.
Topics in this edition include Current Affairs, Geography, Literature and Arts.
Questions and sourced explanations
This archive edition remains playable. The notes below contain spoilers and provide the question text, explanatory context and source used for each item.
Read this edition’s question notes (spoilers)
Nature · Medium
1. Which species is the largest living turtle?
The leatherback is the largest living turtle species and the largest sea turtle.
Food & Drink · Medium
2. Which dessert combines broken meringue, cream and strawberries?
Eton mess mixes meringue with cream and strawberries.
Geography · Medium
3. The Vltava River runs through which European capital?
The Vltava flows through Prague, where it passes landmarks including Charles Bridge and the city's river islands.
History · Medium
4. The first circumnavigation of the globe was completed by an expedition originally led by which explorer?
Ferdinand Magellan led the expedition that began the first circumnavigation; Juan Sebastián Elcano completed the voyage after Magellan's death.
Film & TV · Medium
5. What business do Albert and Harold run in Steptoe and Son?
The sitcom follows a father and son making a living from discarded goods.
Current Affairs · Medium
6. Which actor received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement as the Venice Film Festival opened this week?
George Clooney received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the opening of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
Technology · Medium
7. Who created the Python programming language?
Python's official documentation credits Guido van Rossum as the language's creator.
Music · Medium
8. Rumours is a landmark 1977 album by which band?
Fleetwood Mac released Rumours in 1977; it became one of the band's defining albums.
Sport · Medium
9. In golf, what is a score of two under par on a hole called?
In golf terminology, an eagle is a score of two strokes under par on a hole.
Food & Drink · Medium
10. Which dish traditionally features raw fish marinated in citrus juice?
Ceviche is a Peruvian culinary tradition in which raw fish is prepared with citrus and other seasonings.
Geography · Medium
11. Which national park includes the Seven Sisters cliffs?
The Seven Sisters are among the South Downs' best-known coastal landscapes.
Literature · Medium
12. Who wrote The Wind in the Willows?
Kenneth Grahame wrote The Wind in the Willows, first published in 1908.
Arts · Medium
13. Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans is most closely associated with which art movement?
Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans became an emblematic work of Pop Art, which drew imagery from mass culture and consumer goods.
Society & Culture · Medium
14. Which creature appears on the national flag of Wales?
The red dragon, Y Ddraig Goch, is the central symbol on the Welsh flag.
Current Affairs · Medium
15. According to the Met Office's 1 September 2026 update, which UK nation did not break its own summer mean-temperature record?
England, Wales and Northern Ireland set records; Scotland recorded its joint-sixth warmest summer.
Source: Summer 2026 provisionally hottest on record for the UK - Met Office
Business & Economics · Medium
16. In company finance, what is a share buy-back?
A share buy-back occurs when a company repurchases shares that it previously issued.
Music · Medium
17. Which British singer recorded the 1968 hit Son of a Preacher Man?
Springfield's recording entered the UK singles chart in December 1968.
Literature · Medium
18. Which poet wrote the words that later became the hymn Jerusalem?
The words of Jerusalem come from a poem by William Blake, later set to music as a hymn.
Nature · Medium
19. Salamanders belong to which class of vertebrates?
Salamanders are amphibians, a vertebrate group that also includes frogs and caecilians.
Geography · Medium
20. The Mozambique Channel separates Mozambique from which large island country?
The Mozambique Channel is the part of the Indian Ocean lying between Mozambique and Madagascar.
History · Hard
21. Who was Britain's prime minister when the NHS began in 1948?
The NHS was established under Attlee's Labour government.
Source: 78th anniversary of the creation of the National Health Service - Early Day Moti
Food & Drink · Hard
22. Bulgur is made by par-cooking, drying and cracking kernels of which grain?
Bulgur is made from wheat kernels that are par-cooked, dried and cracked into different grades.
Sport · Hard
23. The Millennium Trophy in rugby union is contested by England and which other nation?
England and Ireland compete for the Millennium Trophy in the Six Nations.
Science · Hard
24. Why do people on Earth always see roughly the same face of the Moon?
The Moon rotates once on its axis in about the same time it takes to orbit Earth, a state called synchronous rotation.
Film & TV · Hard
25. Who directed the Oscar-winning film Parasite?
South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon Ho directed Parasite, which won Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards.
Current Affairs · Hard
26. A US judge this week rejected a government bid to force Google to sell which advertising exchange?
The judge declined to order Google to sell AdX, its advertising exchange, and instead imposed behavioural remedies.
Arts · Hard
27. Sculptor Henry Moore was born in which Yorkshire mining town?
Moore was born in Castleford in 1898, the son of a coal miner.
Literature · Hard
28. Josef K. is suddenly arrested for an unspecified crime in which Franz Kafka novel?
Josef K. is the protagonist of Kafka's The Trial, in which he is arrested and prosecuted without being told the nature of his alleged offence.
Technology · Hard
29. What is the fundamental job of a compiler in software development?
A compiler translates source code written in one language into target code that a computer or another system can execute or process.
Business & Economics · Hard
30. The initials HSBC came from the name of a bank established in which two cities?
The original name was the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
History · Hard
31. Marco Polo's accounts describe the court of Kublai Khan, founder of which Chinese dynasty?
Kublai Khan founded China's Yuan dynasty and ruled as its first emperor.
Film & TV · Hard
32. Which British director made the horror film Peeping Tom?
Michael Powell directed Peeping Tom, released in 1960.
Sport · Hard
33. In judo, which score ends a contest immediately?
An ippon is the highest score in judo and ends the contest immediately.
Geography · Hard
34. Apart from its Atlantic coast, The Gambia is almost entirely surrounded by which country?
The Gambia is a narrow West African country bordered on three sides by Senegal, with a short Atlantic coastline to the west.
Current Affairs · Hard
35. After the Leipzig airport attack, which Russian diplomatic representative did the UK summon on 3 September 2026?
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires to condemn the attack.
Source: UK summons Russian Chargé d'Affaires after reckless attack on Leipzig airport -
Music · Hard
36. The founding members of New Order had previously played in which band?
New Order emerged from Joy Division after singer Ian Curtis's death, with surviving members continuing together.
Society & Culture · Hard
37. The English word algebra ultimately comes from al-jabr in which language?
The word algebra comes through Medieval Latin from the Arabic al-jabr, a term used in the title of al-Khwarizmi's mathematical work.
Literature · Hard
38. Which author created Inspector Morse?
Colin Dexter created Inspector Morse, the Oxford detective who appears in his novels and later television adaptations.
Science · Hard
39. Which law of thermodynamics says the entropy of an isolated system cannot spontaneously decrease?
The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy of an isolated system does not spontaneously decrease.
Arts · Hard
40. Who painted the 1942 diner scene Nighthawks?
Edward Hopper painted Nighthawks in 1942; it became one of the best-known works in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection.