麻豆社

Going into today's programme, the Round Britain Quiz league table for 2022 stands as follows:
1聽 South of England聽 聽Played 3聽 Won 3聽 Drawn 0聽 Lost 0聽 Total points 67
2聽 Midlands聽 聽P3聽 W1聽 D2聽 L0聽 Pts 61
3聽 Wales聽 聽P3聽 W1聽 D1聽 L1聽 Pts 58
4聽 Scotland聽 聽P2聽 W1聽 D0聽 L1聽 Pts 40
5聽 North of England聽 聽P2聽 W0聽 D1聽 L1聽 Pts 37
6聽 Northern Ireland聽 聽P3聽 W0聽 D0聽 L3聽 Pts 55聽聽

Last week Kirsty asked what kind of person might look after the Hindu creator of the universe, a high quality coffee, a yellow flower from Palermo and a water fairy that takes human form on land?
The answer is a poultry farmer or breeder, because these are all clues to names of chicken breeds. They are, respectively, Brahma, Java, Sicilian Buttercup and Silkie.
Well done if you made that connection. There'll be another puzzle to ponder at the end of today's show.

Q1 (from Terry O'Brien)聽 What might be the preferred tipple of Eric's porcine dictator, Ilya's singular companion, Elvis's explosive alter ago and Arthur's devious villain?
Q2聽 How might a fruit notoriously scarce at Christmas, a Scottish dessert of raspberries and oatmeal, and a town that became a Household Word, have their origins in raw fish?聽
Q3聽 Why might this voice also make you think of a Pirate of the Caribbean, an early circumnavigator and his original mode of transport, a royal physician, a cannibal's confidante and a speedy gardener?聽
Q4 (from Emily Burns)聽 Several hundred years ago you might have taken a walk along the coast and seen a feline, a beer glass, some fluffy ice crystals and a flower. What were they all doing there?
Q5聽 Explain why you might want to let go of a confectionary treat mentioned by Dorothy, a cryptic tool of fake news, and a tadpole-shaped piece of glass?
Q6 Music:聽 Why might you find these three together in Tate Britain beside a tin of evaporated milk?
Q7聽 How is Jenny Hanley's perfect score matched by a resort in Pembrokeshire, the fall of Singapore on 麻豆社1, and the hedgehogs of Madagascar?
Q8 (from James Tween)聽 Why are the wearing of a botanical love token as expressed in a folk song, and a nonsensical voyage to which Beatrix Potter wrote a prequel, linked to a former possible lifeline for a murderer?聽

Why might Countdown's original arithmetician, a breakfast DJ who later dominated Saturday night, an actor who's neither a fool nor a horse, and a canny Shawshank strategist, all have cause to feel their careers had taken off?
Kirsty will unveil the answer next time.