Hosting a quiz night? Here are 40 mixed-subject pub quiz questions covering geography, sport, film, books, food and science, with a few stingers to sort the champions from the chancers. They're free and printable, every answer is fact-checked, and they're ready to read straight off the page.
40 Pub Quiz Questions and Answers
- Which country did the pop group ABBA come from?Sweden
- In which sport would you perform a slam dunk?Basketball
- What is the main ingredient in hummus?Chickpeas
- Which Italian city is famous for its canals and gondolas?Venice
- How many points is the black ball worth in snooker?SevenThat makes 147 the maximum break: 15 reds each followed by the black, then all six colours.
- Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?Michelangelo
- What is the collective noun for a group of owls?A parliamentLess common alternatives include a 'stare' or a 'wisdom' of owls.
- Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum are suspects in which board game?Cluedo (called Clue in North America)
- The SI unit of force is named after which scientist?Isaac Newton
- In which country is the Taj Mahal?India
- What is the total number of dots on a standard six-sided die?21Opposite faces of a standard die always add up to seven.
- In which city is the Colosseum?Rome
- Which novel begins with the line 'Call me Ishmael'?Moby-DickHerman Melville's novel was published in 1851.
- Which planet has a giant storm called the Great Red Spot?Jupiter
- What is the largest species of fish?The whale sharkDespite its name, the whale shark is a shark, not a whale, and can grow more than 12 metres long.
- In which sport is the Ryder Cup contested?Golf
- Which cartoon family lives at 742 Evergreen Terrace?The Simpsons
- Bruce Wayne is the secret identity of which superhero?Batman
- What is the capital of Iceland?Reykjavik
- Which organ in the human body produces insulin?The pancreas
- In a web address, what does 'www' stand for?World Wide Web
- Who is the headmaster of Hogwarts for most of the Harry Potter books?Albus Dumbledore
- In which country was the martial art judo developed?JapanJigoro Kano founded judo in Tokyo in 1882.
- What is a female fox called?A vixen
- Which of Agatha Christie's detectives is Belgian?Hercule Poirot
- What is the tallest living animal?The giraffe
- In which country is the historic city of Timbuktu?Mali
- Marzipan is made mainly from sugar and which ground nut?Almonds
- How many strings does a standard violin have?Four
- Which country's flag features a red maple leaf?CanadaThe Maple Leaf flag was adopted in 1965.
- What is 50 in Roman numerals?L
- In which year did humans first land on the Moon?1969
- In which Italian city is Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' set?Verona
- What is the name of the cowboy toy in 'Toy Story'?Woody
- Which is the longest river in South America?The Amazon
- What does a philatelist collect?Stamps
- Which sport is played with a shuttlecock?Badminton
- What is the capital of Bhutan?Thimphu
- Which chemical element is named after the Greek word for the Moon?SeleniumIt comes from 'selene', the Greek word for Moon.
- What do you call a word that reads the same forwards and backwards, like 'level'?A palindrome
Sources
- Collective noun for owls (Grammar Monster)
- Founder of Kodokan judo (Judo BC)
- Selenium (Online Etymology Dictionary)
- Whale shark: the world's largest fish (AMNH)
- All About Venus (NASA Space Place)
Fact-checked 31 Oct 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it in public.
