BizNews brainteaser – Ian’s Trivialus 12 October 2025
Quizmaster Ian Woodrow returns with another Trivialus for the BizNews tribe. Give it a go and see how well you score. Find the answers to this week's quiz here.
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12 October 2025
Pho is a type of soup originating from which country?
Which Greek philosopher, a mentor to Plato, once said, “By all means marry; if you get a good wife you’ll be happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher’”?
Which footballer became the first this week to achieve billionaire status a) Lionel Messi b) Cristiano Ronaldo
c) Neymar? Bonus point for the country which he represents.Where did Cuban rebels, backed by the US, land in 1961, causing one of the more serious flashpoints in the Cold War?
What are the brightest and most powerful objects in the universe?
Why did Japanese stockmarkets (as well as in other Asian markets) soar at the beginning of this week?
Who sang ‘Footloose’ from the film of the same name?
Which British MP, is best known for addressing the problem of overloading on ships – his name is synonymous with the metric used for this measurement?
Which ubiquitous software program turned 40 this week a) Word b) Excel c) Windows? Bonus point for its original name. A second bonus for the market-leading program which it eclipsed in 1992.
What does the word peripatetic mean, a) itinerant or wandering b) excessively random or disorganised c) hesitant or cautious?
Which is the only Canadian city to host the Summer Olympics?
Following the resignation of his last prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, on Monday (after a tenure of 27 days), who did President Macron announce on Friday as the next prime minister?
Which Martin Scorsese film from 2004 was about the life of Howard Hughes?
The journal Lancet is associated with which industry?
On Friday, María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader, was awarded the Nobel Peace prize something that Donald Trump coveted for himself. There are those who feel that Trump had a strong case for this year’s award, but why was it always unlikely that he would get it?
Christopher Marlowe and John Donne each begin a poem with which identical first line?
Who made his last trip on the yacht Lady Ghislaine?
True/False – it is estimated that 90% of all plant and animal species are still unknown.
There are eight US state names that begin with a unique letter (i.e. no other state begins with that letter). Name five of them for a single point, all eight for two points.
The collective term for a group of hippopotamuses is, a) Team b) Pod c) Bloat?
Question 10 - © Jani Verster