So, we’re all pros on the quiz front, right? The pandemic saw us all knuckling down and dusting off our school brains to compete with our family and friends over Zoom, Houseparty, Facebook Messenger, Teams… You name it, we quizzed on it.

We became experts on celeb couples and breakups, were able to recognise somebody’s face during a picture round with just their left eye, could probably A* a GCSE geography test, (raise your hand if you know almost every capital of the world) and for some unknown reason did quizzes in fancy dress even though we were just sitting and drinking in our living rooms.

And after all our hard work? We're bringing out the big guns. Seeing as we're all pros by now, it's time for our efforts to be put to the test. Big time. We've devised the best hard general knowledge quiz, which aims to disarm even the most confident Craigs and knowledgeable Kellys. Forget basic biology questions or achievable answers: this quiz is all about the challenge. So, are you ready?

Hard general knowledge quiz questions

  1. Without using a calculator, what is 30% of 546? (You can round up to avoid decimal points)
  2. Which fashion house is behind the perfume, 'Light Blue'?
  3. As of May 2024, who has the most Instagram followers?
  4. As of May 2024, what's the highest rated film on iMDB?
  5. Who won the Booker Prize in 2019?
  6. To the closest second, what is the world record for the world's longest fart?
  7. What is Joe Biden's middle name?
  8. How many digits are in Pi?
  9. The numbers on the opposite sides of a six-sided die always add up to what number?
  10. What can't you eat if you have celiac disease?

Hard general knowledge quiz answers

  1. 164 (or 163.8 to be exact)
  2. Dolce & Gabbana
  3. Cristiano Ronaldo
  4. The Shawshank Redemption
  5. For one point: Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo, for The Testaments and Girl, Woman, Other respectively.
  6. 2 minutes and 42 seconds. The record is held by Bernard Clemmens of London.
  7. Robinette. His full name is Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.
  8. 62.8 trillion decimals
  9. Seven
  10. Gluten
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Hard sports quiz questions

  1. For two points, who won the first football World Cup and what year was it?
  2. Which playground game used to be an Olympic sport up until 1920?
  3. Where was the first Olympics held?
  4. Who was Chelsea manager when they won the Champions League in 2012?
  5. Who won Sports Personality of the Year in 2023?
  6. How old was tennis player Roger Federer when he retired in 2022?
  7. What is Usain Bolt's 100m sprint record?
  8. What NBA team has made the most franchise Final appearances without winning a title?
  9. Which two sports made their debut at the 2020 Paralympics?
  10. Which rugby player left the Welsh national team to join the NFL?

Hard sports quiz answers

  1. Uruguay in 1930
  2. Tug of war
  3. In Athens, Greece, in 1896
  4. Roberto Di Matteo
  5. Mary Earps
  6. 40
  7. 9.58 seconds
  8. Phoenix Suns
  9. Badminton and taekwondo
  10. Louis Rees-Zammit

Hard science quiz questions

  1. For two points, what's the average height of males and females in the UK?
  2. Where in the human body would you find the medulla oblongata?
  3. How many bones are in an elephants trunk?
  4. If you have cryophobia, what are you afraid of?
  5. What is the periodic element for Sodium?
  6. What is the rarest blood type?
  7. The first vaccine was for which disease?
  8. What part of the body is the scapula?
  9. What is Alexander Fleming widely known for?
  10. Name the largest planet in our solar system

Hard science quiz answers

  1. The average man in England is 5ft 9in, and the average woman is 5ft 3in tall, according to ONS
  2. The brain
  3. Zero
  4. Ice or cold
  5. Na
  6. AB-
  7. Smallpox
  8. Shoulder bone
  9. Discovering penicillin
  10. Jupiter

Hard geography quiz questions

  1. How many breeds of elephant are there?
  2. How many stars are on the national flag of USA?
  3. In terms of volume, which is the largest fresh lake in the world?
  4. What is the capital of St. Lucia?
  5. Who designed the Eiffel Tower?
  6. Name the longest river in the UK
  7. Which English city was once known as Duroliponte?
  8. What's the capital city of Tanzania?
  9. How many time zones are there in Russia?
  10. What is the smallest city in England?
  11. For one point, name the four capital cities the Danube river flows through?
  12. Luanda is the capital city of which country?
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Hard geography quiz answers

  1. Three species of elephants are recognised; the African bush elephant, the forest elephant, and the Asian elephant.
  2. 50 stars
  3. Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Russia
  4. Castries
  5. Gustave Eiffel
  6. The River Severn, at 354km
  7. Cambridge
  8. Dodoma
  9. 11
  10. The City of London located within Greater London covers just 1.2 square miles
  11. Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade
  12. Angola

Hard food quiz questions

  1. What year was Marmite invented? A) 1902 B) 1929 C) 1899
  2. What is the spiciest chilli in the world?
  3. What ingredients go into the cocktail, a boulevardier?
  4. Which spice if consumed in large enough quantities produces a hallucinogenic effect?
  5. President Zachary Taylor died of an overdose of what food?
  6. How many tablespoons are in a cup?
  7. What is the only fruit with the seeds on the outside?
  8. What is the food related name of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter?
  9. What is aquafaba made from?
  10. What's the national fruit of India?

Hard food quiz answers

  1. A) 1902
  2. The Carolina Reaper
  3. Typically, you can expect whiskey, sweet vermouth, and campari.
  4. Nutmeg
  5. A copious amount of cherries and milk
  6. 16
  7. Strawberries
  8. Apple
  9. Chickpea water
  10. Mango

Hard history quiz questions

  1. What is Shakespeare's shortest play?
  2. What is Prince William's full name?
  3. What month of which year was the first iPhone released?
  4. For two points, what were the most popular boys' and girls' names for 2019?
  5. Who was the youngest British Prime Minister?
  6. What year did Vincent Van Gogh die?
  7. Where would you find the oldest pot plant in the world?
  8. Approximately, how many heads are on Easter Island?
  9. What date did the Berlin Wall fall?
  10. Which country did Britain fight in the War of Jenkin's Ear?

Hard history quiz answers

  1. The Comedy of Errors, with 1,787 lines and 14,369 words
  2. William Arthur Philip Louis Windsor
  3. June 2007, on the 29th
  4. For boys, Oliver. And for girls, Olivia, according to research
  5. William Pitt the Younger
  6. 1890, on 29 July
  7. Kew Gardens, according to their website. Their Eastern Cape giant cycad (Encephalartos altensteinii) arrived in 1775
  8. Almost 1,000
  9. 9th November 1989
  10. Spain

Hard pop culture quiz questions

  1. Which Disney Princess has the least amount of screen time?
  2. In Gavin and Stacey, how many times has Stacey been engaged before Gavin, and can you name them (for one point)?
  3. Who has won the most Academy Awards?
  4. In Harry Potter, where does Vernon Dursley work?
  5. How many letter tiles are there in a game of Scrabble?
  6. What year was Scarface released?
  7. What's the name of the Coco Pops mascot?
  8. What was Ariana Grande's first UK number one single?
  9. In which classic novel is the first line: 'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since'?
  10. At the time of writing, how many members are in the band Tame Impala?
  11. What year did the first episode of Coronation Street air? Second point for guessing the month.
  12. What is Cher's full name?
  13. How many Grammy's did Billie Eilish win in 2020?
  14. In the 2003 Lizzie McGuire movie, where was Miranda?
  15. How many episodes of Keeping up with the Kardashians are there?
  16. In the final scene of The Holiday, what song is everyone dancing to?
  17. As of April 2024 what is the most watched English language Netflix series?
  18. Which actor has a tattoo of a Heinz Ketchup bottle on his leg?
  19. What is the name of the fictional magazine Miranda Priestly edits in The Devil Wears Prada?
  20. In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, how do the Pevensie children end up back in England

Hard pop culture quiz answers

  1. Aurora from Sleeping Beauty only has 18 minutes of screen time
  2. Five. Hywel, Kyle, Leighton, Achmed, Cliff
  3. Katharine Hepburn, having won four Academy Awards across her career and earned a total of 12 nominations
  4. Grunnings – A drill manufacturer
  5. 100
  6. 1983
  7. Coco the monkey
  8. 'Problem', released in 2014
  9. The Great Gatsby
  10. Five: Parker, Dominic Simper, Jay Watson, Cam Avery, and Julien Barbagallo
  11. December 1960.
  12. Cherilyn Sarkisian
  13. 5
  14. On holiday in Mexico
  15. 280
  16. 'You Send Me' - Aretha Franklin
  17. Wednesday
  18. Jackson Rathbone from Twilight
  19. Runway
  20. They go on the hunt of a white stag, and accidentally end up walking back through the wardrobe


Headshot of Dusty Baxter-Wright
Dusty Baxter-Wright
Entertainment and Lifestyle Director

Dusty Baxter-Wright is an award-winning journalist and the Entertainment and Lifestyle Director at Cosmopolitan, having previously worked at Sugarscape. She was named one of PPA’s 30 Under 30 for her work covering pop culture, careers, interiors and travel, and oversees the site’s Entertainment and Lifestyle strategy across print, digital and video. As a journalist for the best part of a decade, she has interviewed everyone from Louis Theroux and Channing Tatum to Margot Robbie and Ncuti Gatwa, while she has also spoken on Times Radio and BBC Radio. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram here.