Mark Mason
Answers to The Spectator Diary 2021 Quiz
- In June 2020, which 85 year-old woman became British Vogue magazine’s oldest-ever cover star? – Dame Judi Dench
- The first world leader Donald Trump spoke to after being elected US President was the President of Egypt. Trump informed Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi of his love of which pop group? – The Bangles. Trump said: 'I love the Bangles - you know that song, "Walk Like An Egyptian"?'
- Which name was given to 118 female babies in England and Wales in 2019, down from 301 the year before? The fall may have been due to technological reasons. – Alexa
- In January 2020, which footballer became the highest overseas (as opposed to British) goalscorer in the history of the English Premier League? – Sergio Aguero
- Early models of Giles Gilbert Scott’s famous red telephone box were known as the K2, K6, etc. What did the K stand for? – Kiosk
- The band Primal Scream took their name from the screams made in primal therapy, as developed by the American psychotherapist Arthur Janov. Which other British band, formed in the early 1980s, also took their name from primal therapy? It’s a three-word name, the first word being a physical element of the therapy, the last an emotional element. – Tears for Fears
- If Jeremy Hunt had won the 2019 Conservative leadership election, he would have shared his first name with the Leader of the Opposition (Jeremy Corbyn). This would have been the third occasion on which such a pairing had occurred. What were the first two pairings? – John Major and John Smith (1992 to 1994), Harold Macmillan and Harold Wilson (February to October 1963)
- Which of the Queen’s four children holds an HGV driving licence, and said in 1978 that had they not been born into the royal family, they would have made a good long-distance lorry driver? – Princess Anne
- Jeffrey Archer and his wife Mary – in the 2016 EU referendum, one of them voted Leave and the other Remain. Which was which? – Jeffrey Remain, Mary Leave
- In 2013, police in the Indian city of Kolkata used a photo taken in 1969 as part of a campaign to discourage jaywalking. The caption read: ‘If they can, why can’t you?’ Who was in the photo? – The Beatles. The photo was the cover of ‘Abbey Road’, showing the band on a zebra crossing
