Test your knowledge of news, sport and pop culture in Brainwaves, the SA Weekend quiz

Spanish model-actor Elsa Pataky is the wife of which Australian actor? What does a psephologist study? Take our Brainwaves quiz – 50 pop culture and general knowledge questions.

Spanish-born model-actor Elsa Pataky, pictured, is the wife of which Australian actor? Picture: Justin Lloyd

Welcome to this week’s Brainwaves Quiz! Due to technical issues, our interactive quiz template is not available this week. But you can still put your skills to the test with the 50 brain teasers Marty Smith has curated this week. When you’re finished, scroll to the end to see the answers. And no cheating! Good luck.

1. How old was songwriter Burt Bacharach when he died on February 8?

2. In which city did the US half of the 1985 Live Aid concert take place?

3. In alphabetical order, name the five Great Lakes of North America.

4. After the Severn and Thames, what is Britain’s third-longest river?

5. Which zodiac sign is represented by a ram?

6. Using the chemical symbols, which building material can be made from
cobalt, nitrogen, carbon, rhenium and tellurium?

7. Unscramble these letters to name an Adelaide suburb: EKYS.

8. What is the closest prime number to 700?

9. What is the name of the yellow Teletubby?

The yellow Teletubby with their green, red and purple buddies.

10. What does a coriaceous substance resemble?

11. Released in 1987, Appetite for Destruction was the debut studio album by which US rock band?

12. Who played lawyer Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird?

13. Which famous physicist was born in Ulm, Germany, on March 14, 1879?

14. “Master” is an anagram of what kind of small, narrow river?

15. How many consonants are between the first two vowels in the English alphabet?

16. What was the surname of the first father and son to become US presidents?

17. Which Canadian province begins with Q?

18. Name the only Australian prime minister born in South Australia.

19. Which country’s internet suffix is .to?

20. A quintet has how many members?

21. What are the Roman numerals for 17?

22. A spectroheliograph is used to photograph which celestial body?

23. Managua is the capital of which Central American country?

24. What is the Italian word for Thursday?

25. Who won Super Bowl LVII on
February 12?

26. Spanish-born model-actor Elsa Pataky is the wife of which Australian actor?

Elsa Pataky arrives for Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love And Thunder world premiere at the El Capitan theatre in Los Angeles, June 23, 2022. Picture: Valerie Macon / AFP

27. Who composed the song Blowin’ in the Wind?

28. What is the name of the octopus who appears with The Wiggles?

29. First staged in 1966, who wrote the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead?

30. What type of nut is used in the traditional Italian biscuits ricciarelli?

31. To which sense does olfactory refer?

32. What were the given names of English artist J.M.W. Turner?

33. What nationality is actor Franka
Potente?

34. In which African country is the city of Entebbe?

35. Elisabeth Borne is which country’s Prime Minister?

36. Who is South Australia’s Treasurer?

37. What does a psephologist study?

38. In which American state is Cornell University?

39. What colour is the cross on the national flag of Finland?

40. What colour is the shirt worn by the Enid Blyton character Noddy?

41. Which species of bird is a harpy?

42. In which country was actor Omar Sharif born in 1932?

43. Who will captain AFL club Port Adelaide for a fifth season in 2023?

44. Before international fame, which British rock band was called Starfish?

45. What is 15 per cent of 400?

46. What is Quaoar?

47. What is thanatology?

48. The flightless kakapo parrot is native to which country?

49. Name the US inventor who said: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up.”

50. Who played bus driver Stan Butler in the British television situation comedy series On the Buses?