Q40 · SUNDAY BIG QUIZ
The Sunday Big Quiz — 20 September 2026
Play the Sunday Big Quiz for 20 September 2026: 40 free general-knowledge questions covering Current Affairs, Film & TV, History and Society & Culture, with explanations and crowd results.
About this edition
This 40-question The Quiz Post edition was published for 20 September 2026. Answer all four-option questions to reveal sourced explanations and see how other players answered.
Topics in this edition include Current Affairs, Film & TV, History and Society & Culture.
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)
Science · Medium
1. Which bone is the longest and strongest in the human body?
The femur, or thigh bone, is the longest and strongest bone in the human skeleton.
Geography · Medium
2. Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, stands near which Scottish town?
Fort William lies at the foot of Ben Nevis in the Lochaber area of the Highlands.
Film & TV · Medium
3. Who plays Geraldine Granger in the British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley?
French plays the village vicar Geraldine Granger in The Vicar of Dibley.
Society & Culture · Medium
4. Esperanto was created chiefly for what purpose?
L. L. Zamenhof devised Esperanto as a deliberately simple international auxiliary language intended to help people with different native languages communicate.
Food & Drink · Medium
5. A classic roux, used to thicken sauces, is made by cooking flour with which ingredient?
A roux is a cooked mixture of flour and fat, commonly butter, used as a thickening base for sauces and soups.
Current Affairs · Medium
6. The King's artificial intelligence summit on 17 September 2026 was held at which Scottish estate?
Technology leaders, ministers and civil society representatives met at Dumfries House in East Ayrshire.
Society & Culture · Medium
7. The UK's first official Gay Pride Rally in London took place in which decade?
The first official UK Gay Pride Rally took place in London in 1972.
Literature · Medium
8. Big Brother is the unseen authoritarian figure in which George Orwell novel?
Big Brother is the symbolic leader of the totalitarian state of Oceania in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Business & Economics · Medium
9. In economics, inflation refers to a sustained rise in what?
Inflation is a sustained increase in the general level of prices for goods and services, reducing the purchasing power of money over time.
Film & TV · Medium
10. A film presented as if it were a documentary, but depicting fictional events, is commonly called what?
A mockumentary uses documentary-style techniques to present fictional events or characters, often for comedy or satire.
Nature · Medium
11. Bats primarily use echolocation to determine what about nearby objects?
Echolocating bats emit sounds and interpret returning echoes to judge the location, distance and other features of objects and prey around them.
History · Medium
12. The ancient Silk Road was a network of trade routes linking East Asia most famously with which wider region?
The Silk Road was a shifting network of overland trade routes connecting China and East Asia with Central Asia, the Middle East and ultimately the Mediterranean world.
Arts · Medium
13. The Dada art movement emerged during the First World War in which Swiss city?
Dada emerged in Zürich during the First World War, centred on the Cabaret Voltaire and artists reacting against conventional culture and the war.
Film & TV · Medium
14. The British film Babylon centres on which musical culture?
Franco Rosso's Babylon portrays Black British reggae and sound-system life.
Current Affairs · Medium
15. Google's largest carbon-removal deal announced this week backs a major enhanced rock-weathering project in which country?
Google's new deal backs Terradot's enhanced rock-weathering project across rice-growing areas of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.
Technology · Medium
16. Who created the Linux kernel, first released publicly in 1991?
Finnish programmer Linus Torvalds created the Linux kernel and first announced the project publicly in 1991.
Literature · Medium
17. Paddington is especially fond of sandwiches filled with which preserve?
Marmalade sandwiches are closely associated with Paddington and feature throughout his stories and official character products.
Source: Paddington Marmalade Gifts & Treats — Paddington Store
Sport · Medium
18. In boxing, a fighter described as a 'southpaw' normally leads with which hand and foot?
A southpaw boxer uses a left-handed stance, with the right hand and right foot forward and the stronger left hand typically held to the rear.
Geography · Medium
19. The Dead Sea lies between Jordan and which area to its west?
The Dead Sea is bordered by Jordan on the east and Israel and the West Bank on the west.
History · Medium
20. Before it became a symbol of the French Revolution, the Bastille in Paris primarily served as what?
The Bastille was a medieval fortress that became a state prison; its storming on 14 July 1789 became an enduring symbol of the French Revolution.
Food & Drink · Hard
21. Why is chocolate 'tempered' during professional chocolate-making?
Tempering controls the crystallisation of cocoa butter so finished chocolate sets with a glossy surface, firm snap and stable texture.
Society & Culture · Hard
22. In informal British English, if someone says they 'blagged' entry to an event, what do they usually mean?
To blag something is to obtain it through resourceful persuasion, sometimes with an element of deception.
Current Affairs · Hard
23. Following the 17 September 2026 announcement, Chiltern's main London terminus is which station?
Chiltern connects London Marylebone with places in the Midlands and surrounding counties.
Source: Chiltern Railways brought into public ownership - GOV.UK
Arts · Hard
24. In painting, what does the technique 'sfumato' create?
Sfumato uses extremely subtle gradations of tone and colour to soften outlines and create a smoky transition between forms.
Music · Hard
25. In music, what is an ostinato?
An ostinato is a short musical phrase, chord or melodic pattern that repeats persistently through a section or an entire piece.
Geography · Hard
26. Which Scottish loch holds the greatest volume of water?
Loch Ness has Scotland's greatest water volume; Loch Lomond leads by surface area and Loch Morar by depth.
Nature · Hard
27. When tracking British otters, what are 'spraints'?
Otters leave spraints in prominent places as scented messages.
Society & Culture · Hard
28. In social and linguistic use, what is a 'shibboleth'?
A shibboleth can be a word, phrase, custom or other marker that distinguishes members of a particular group from outsiders.
Literature · Hard
29. Who narrates F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby?
Nick Carraway narrates The Great Gatsby in the first person, recounting his encounters with Jay Gatsby and the Buchanans.
Sport · Hard
30. In tennis, completing a career 'Golden Slam' means winning all four Grand Slam singles titles plus what?
A career Golden Slam combines singles titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments with an Olympic singles gold medal during a player's career.
Technology · Hard
31. What does RAID 1 primarily do to protect data across multiple drives?
RAID 1 uses mirroring: it writes identical data to multiple member disks so a redundant copy remains if a drive fails.
History · Hard
32. Cutty Sark was originally built for which trade?
The fast clipper was built to carry tea from China to Britain.
Music · Hard
33. On a guitar, what is the main effect of placing a capo higher up the fretboard?
A capo shortens the vibrating length of the strings, raising their pitch while allowing a guitarist to keep using familiar chord shapes.
Arts · Hard
34. Which architect's practice designed the British Museum's glass-roofed Great Court?
Foster and Partners designed the Great Court, which opened in 2000 around the central Reading Room.
Current Affairs · Hard
35. NASA said this week that which newly launched space telescope may have fuel for at least 22 years of science operations?
NASA said the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope may have fuel for at least 22 years of potential science operations after a precise launch and efficient early course correction conserved propellant.
Business & Economics · Hard
36. A manufacturer buying one of its component suppliers is an example of which business strategy?
Buying a supplier moves a company upstream in its own supply chain, a form of backward vertical integration.
Science · Hard
37. What optical effect produces the shifting rainbow colours seen on a sunlit soap bubble?
Light reflected from the front and back surfaces of a soap film can reinforce or cancel different wavelengths, producing colours through thin-film interference.
Film & TV · Hard
38. In filmmaking, what is the 180-degree rule mainly intended to preserve between shots?
By keeping the camera on one side of an imaginary axis, the 180-degree rule preserves consistent screen direction and the apparent spatial relationship between characters.
Food & Drink · Hard
39. Which acid is chiefly responsible for vinegar's characteristic sourness?
Vinegar is produced through acetic-acid fermentation, in which bacteria convert alcohol into acetic acid, the acid chiefly responsible for vinegar's sour character.
History · Hard
40. In the Inca Empire, what was a quipu primarily used for?
Quipus were systems of coloured, knotted cords used for record-keeping, including numerical information such as census, taxation and tribute data.