Test your arts knowledge with these questions from the Observer’s critics
Nicole Kidman suffers from a crippling phobia of what?
Traffic cones
Clowns
Butterflies
Which of the following is not a scene in M Night Shyamalan’s The Happening?
Someone kills themselves by lying down in front of a lawnmower
Someone kills themselves by feeding themselves to lions
Someone kills themselves by drowning themselves face down in wet concrete
In Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, a local news reporter is murdered during a church fete. How does he die?
He is impaled by a falling church spire
He is garrotted by bunting
He is crushed under a tea urn
Which of these paints includes plastic?
Acetone
Acrylic
Acetate
Which kind of painting involves heated wax?
Fresco
Encaustic
Gesso
Which of the following composers did not write a symphony inspired by Antarctica?
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Arnold Bax
Peter Maxwell Davies
By most reckonings how many keyboard sonatas did the Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti write?
455
555
575
Which author is a winner of one of the Crime Writers’ Association’s coveted gold daggers, and yet has not had any novels adapted for a series (ie with a named protagonist) for British television?
Ann Cleeves
Patricia Highsmith
Val McDermid
Private Cheeseman (Talfryn Thomas), who did his best to replace James Beck (Private Walker) in Dad’s Army after the latter’s sudden death in 1973, had which job in Walmington-on-Sea?
He worked for the local newspaper
He ran a garden centre
No job: he had just served time for bigamy
Which disused London tube station has featured in (far) more television series and films (from Rumpole of the Bailey and The Singing Detective to Superman IV: The Quest for Peace), never mind adverts and music videos (the Kinks, Kate Bush), than any other?
Down Street
Aldwych
Brompton Road
Which actor said sexuality is not “a talent, like playing the banjo”?
Alan Cumming
Ian McKellen
Andrew Scott
Which play features a lovelorn dentist?
Teeth’n’ Smiles
You Never Can Tell
Absurd Person Singular
Who sang wistfully about the Girl from the North Country?
Jarvis Cocker
Bob Dylan
Nick Drake
Who recorded There’s No Room to Rhumba in a Sports Car?
Marilyn Monroe
Dean Martin
Elvis Presley
Which pop star, who recently moved to London, has surpassed Mick Jagger, Elton John and Rod Stewart on the 2020 UK music rich list?
Katy Perry
Rihanna
Nicki Minaj
Which ordained musical minister officiated at Cyndi Lauper’s wedding?
Reverend Run of Run DMC
Stevie Nicks
Little Richard
Which has the widest dome?
The Pantheon, Rome
St Peter’s, Rome
The United States Capitol, Washington DC
Which of these was not a husband-and-wife partnership?
Greene and Greene
Venturi Scott Brown
Charles and Ray Eames
18 and above.
Superstar!
17 and above.
Wow!
16 and above.
Wow!
15 and above.
Superb
14 and above.
Superb
13 and above.
Pretty impressive
12 and above.
Pretty impressive
11 and above.
Not bad
10 and above.
Not bad
9 and above.
Average
8 and above.
Average
7 and above.
Could do better
6 and above.
Could do better
5 and above.
Weak
4 and above.
Weak
3 and above.
Poor
2 and above.
Poor
0 and above.
Oh dear
1 and above.
Oh dear
