Thomas Player presents puzzles for your perusal! This week, test your current affairs knowledge with the News Quiz, train your brain with the Number Workout, and see if you can climb up the Number Ladders. Answers below!
News Quiz
1 The World Economic Forum was held this week in which Swiss town?
2 Who is the voice actor for Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, properietor of the Kwik-E-Mart in The Simpsons, who announced this week he will step down amid a racism controversy after thirty years voicing the character?
3 Which Korean film won the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild awards this week, boosting its hopes for the Oscars in February?
4 Who is the Duchess of Sussex?
5 Liverpool FC currently lead the Premier League, but when was the last time they won the top-flight English football league?
6 Which Keble alumnus announced this week that he will step down as Director General of the BBC after seven years in the role?
7 Andrew Grant will take over from his older brother Lee Child as the author of the series of books following which vigilante hero, played on screen by Tom Cruise?
8 “Two down, four to go” was used by John Cleese to refer to the death of which of his Monty Python co-stars this week?
9 What is the correct spelling of the name of the MP for Salford and Eccles and Labour leadership contender: Rebecca Long-Bailey, or Rebecca Long Bailey?
10 A film adaptation of which Dickens novel, starring Dev Patel, Peter Capaldi, and Tilda Swinton, is released this week?
Number Workout
Start with the leftmost number and perform each operation in order to get the answer.
| Easy | 25 → +10 → ÷7 → ×100 → −250 → ÷10 → √ → +15 → ? |
| Medium | 3 → ×17 → −6 → ÷90 → ×96 → +76 → −3 → √ → ? |
| Hard | 11 → ÷3 → ×48 → +366 → ×13 → −2048 → ÷49 → +6 → ? |
Word Ladders
Can you change the top word into the bottom one, swapping one letter at a time?
| LEAD | HALF | FULL |
| ____ | ____ | ____ |
| ____ | ____ | ____ |
| ____ | ____ | ____ |
| GOLD | PINT | TIME |
Answers
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News Quiz
1 Davos
2 Hank Azaria
3 Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho
4 Meghan Markle
5 1989/90
6 Tony Hall (Baron Hall of Birkenhead)
7 Jack Reacher
8 Terry Jones
9 It depends who you ask as it often appears online and in print both ways. Long-Bailey told Sky News last Sunday that “There actually is a hyphen but I’m not bothered”, so that settles that…
10 David Copperfield
Number Workout
Easy: 20
Medium: 11
Hard: 108