Quizzing Cog Night

I love a good quiz. I love a silly quiz. I pretty much like any kind of logical challenge or test of recall.

So I was delighted when Lily suggested that we host our own Cog Night, centred around a quiz that she would compile.

It was lovely to get to spend social time with some of our remote team, who we usually only see within the context of a client catch-up or a team meeting. It feels so odd to be reminiscing about the pandemic. But the evening had that kind of feel. Lots of us laughing and joking, failing to un-mute, pushing cats aside and talking over each other.

Inexplicably, Round 1 was announced as ‘Sports’.

I’ve not worked in many different places but I am willing to bet that Cog is one of the least sports-focused companies in the country. So I was worried that this was going to be a low scoring quiz. I shouldn’t have been concerned; this was sport with a Cog twist. And so was the rest of the quiz.

I won’t list every question, but here’s a sample from each round…

Sports

But which famous sportsman drunkenly turned up to the scene, claiming to be Moat’s friend and offering to talk him down with the promise of fried chicken and larger? 

Film

It’s surprising quite how often cogs feature in feature films. Can you name this, perhaps the most famous example? One point if you can name the film, and an extra two points if you can name the director. So there are 3 points available for each slide. 

Geography

We know that the Cog team like to get about but won’t fly to meetings. In this photo we see Alex, ascending steps into an Italianate room, filled with an illuminated globe. Where in the world can he be? Clue, it’s one of our clients and it’s actually pretty nearby.

Music

Our studio is always filled with music. Sometimes old, often new, sometimes sampled, sometimes blues. But do people still recognise album covers since we moved to Spotify playlists? One point for the artist, an extra two points if you can name the album.

Mythology

We have many clients with unusual names, often with origins that are steeped in historic context – I’m looking at you Belgrade Theatre. But which of our clients takes their name from three ancient sisters in Greek mythology, who share a single eyeball?

Art

This scantily-clad bronze maiden has recently been described as “Victorian soft porn” in the local papers. She is apparently the Muse of Poetry. She now faces towards the entrance to which of our clients? Clue, she is known locally at ‘Kitty’.

History

Many of our clients’ venues are used as filmic locations. But which of our clients was used as the location for the 2019 Downton Abbey film, the plot of which is based on a visit by King George V to Wentworth Woodhouse, 60 miles away? 

Who won the quiz? I’m not sure it matters who the eventual winner* was – we all had a had a wonderful couple of hours, with Lily as our host – thank you Lily.

Answers

• Sport: Paul Gascoigne
• Film: Modern Times, directed by Charlie Chaplin
• Geography: Painted Hall at Old Royal Naval College
• Music: ‘Tom’ from Tom Jones
• Mythology: Graeae Theatre
• Art: Marlowe Theatre (Edward Onslow Ford’s The Muse of Poetry)
• History: Harewood House

* embarrassingly, I won. But I think that was more down to the amount of knowledge I’ve acquired by being so old, compared to the fresh-faced youth of the rest of the Cog team.