And so we face the final curtain. Thank you, and sorry, to everybody who completed the quiz. If you enjoyed it, and you felt like donating a couple of quid to www.childsifoundation.org that would make my Christmas.

Let's take a look at those final answers;

31. MAD WORLD (anagram)
32. SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND
33. EARTH SONG (anagram)
34. THATS MY GOAL
35. REET PETITE ( can't accept 'Always On My Mind', the clue to that would be 'Carol Kirkwood from BBC Breakfast is'
36. MULL OF KINTYRE (Consideration MULL of OF family KIN sleepiness TYRE)
37. ONLY YOU (only ewe)
38. WHEN A CHILD IS BORN
39. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (very hard-earned anagram)
40. KILLING IN THE NAME (mrs iSLA YINGstrom)

10 of you finished on full marks (I told you no-onevwould, well done me again). The tie break was to create a clue for a city I hadn't used.

My two faves were;

@GJMale ROBIN'S RESTING PLACE
@CLARITYSWAHLEZ ARMSTRONG SHOUTSVABUSE AT OSMAN'S CHRISTMAS QUIZ

So I had to choose, and @CLARITYSWAHLEZ provided another, non-Christmas clue;

WHO WINS THE QUIZ? A COIN IS TOSSED

So congratulations @clarityswahlez who wins £100 for the charity of their choice.

Congratulations too, to @nci1, who was picked at random by my friend Ed texting me a random number. She also wins £100 for a charity of her choice.

I'll be in touch with both of you today.

And finally, a Very Merry Christmas to one and all, and a Wonderful New Year.

Signing off,

Richard xxx

CGWQ2011 FINAL DAY!!!!

Ok, if you've made it this far, congratulations. It's been a genuine pleasure. I didn't have to think of clues for Paramaribo, Ulaan Batur or Windhoek

So 10 questions today, all answers to geekquiz@endemoluk.com by midnight tonight please.

DO NOT POST OR TWEET ANSWERS. A huge round of applause to us all for keeping this up. We're like The Awesome Gang or somesuch.

So the answers to today's clues are all UK Christmas Number 1 singles. Again, a list would be useful. At least there's only about 60. Much easier than capitals.

31. DR. OWL
32. MIND THE GAP
33. ARE THONGS TWISTED?
34. "I'VE WATCHED IT BACK, AND IT'S TAKEN A DEFLECTION OFF THE DEFENDER, BUT IT WAS GOING IN ANYWAY SO IM CLAIMING IT"
35. CHERYL COLE IS
36. CONSIDERATION OF FAMILY SLEEPINESS
37. LONELY SHEEP
38. WHEN DO YOU GO TO THE EARLY LEARNING CENTRE?
39. HYDROPHOBIA MEANS DISASTER
40. MRS ISLA YINGSTROM

Good luck. In case of a tie I also need anyone who thinks they are in with a chance of winning to write their own clue to a capital city that I didn't use in the quiz (include the answer and reasoning too).

I'll reveal the £100 charity winner tomorrow, along witThoreau £100 for one random plucky loser.

Thank you again, this has been hard work but a lot of fun.

Good luck.

Your Pointless friend,

Richard

Ok, yesterday's answers coming up. You'll be delighted, I'm sure, that you can now rip up your list of world capitals and we need never speak of them again.

25. AMMAN(pronounced A MAN)
26. MALE (written 'male')
27. CASTRIES (anagram)
28. PRAGUE (proper cryptic clue; back-up = PU wrapping around paper RAG, with the 'nog' or head of 'egg' E) lots of correct answers, good work.
29. MALABO (so dis MAL A BOxing)
30. BUDAPEST (booed a pest)

Ah, so we wave goodbye to world capitals. Well, not quite, as you'll see. Final 10 questions will be posted soon.

CGWQ2011 DAY 5!!!!

Yesterday's marking still not finished, but we're going to have 30 odd people on full marks, so the pressure is really on now.

Ok that's enough building Masterchef-style jeopardy,. let's get on with the next six questions.

All answers to geekquiz@endemoluk.com by midnight tonight. Please included your Twitter name on your email.

Can I just say also that you have some incredibly cute cats, dogs, lizards, hamsters, neighbours' pets, horses, spiders etc. I might publish a book. 'Richard Osman's Bumper Book Of Quiz Answerers' Pets 2012'. One for Harper Collins to mull over there.

So, the clues are all Christmassy, and the answers are all capital cities. Here goes;

25. SOUNDS LIKE JOSEPH. OR JESUS. OR ME.
26. LOOKS LIKE JOSEPH. OR JESUS. OR ME.
27. SCARIEST CRACKER
28. BACK-UP WRAPPING PAPER AND EGGNOG
29.INVOLVED IN SO DISMAL A BOXING DAY
30. JEERED A GRINCH

See if you can get all six of those at home.

Now, tomorrow will see the final 10 questions, but we'll be changing things around a bit. No more capital cities. Tomorrow the clues will be the usual dreadful geeky wordplay nonsense you have grown to both despise yet secretly love, but the answers will all be titles of Christmas number 1 singles.

It'll be awesome. Depending on your definition of awesome.

Faithfully yours,

Richard

Okay, here are yesterday's answers.

19. PARIS (''Pa' R I S)
20. BOGOTA (chrimBO GOT A)
21..KINGSTON (King's ton)
22. ANKARA (If I anchor ships, what am I)
23. GEORGETOWN (Boy GEORGE town)
24. DUBLIN (my favourite clue)

Proved a bit trickier yesterday. Anyone still whingeing about Addis Ababa, I gave it because the reason behind it was rational, charming, and made my laugh. Which is my discretion. Yes, I have discretion.

New questions up in a bit, and an IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT about Saturday's final 10 questions too.

CORRECTION

QUESTION 19 SHOULD READ

19. FATHER CHRISTMAS'S 3RD, 4TH AND 5TH

Very sorry. The other questions in the previous post remain the same.

CGWQ2011 DAY 4!!!

Here we go Quizmanauts. Thank you all for your entires so far, and your lovely comments and photos. Doing this quiz is genuinely a pleasure (except the marking) and I hope you're enjoying it too.

All answers to today's questions to geekquiz@endemoluk.com by midnight tonight. Please include your twitter name on your email.

DO NOT TWEET OR POST ANSWERS. Also, no running, petting or bombing.

So, the answers are capital cities, here are your clues;

19. FATHER CHRISTMAS'S 1ST, 2ND AND 3RD
20. CHRIMBO GOT A CLUE INSIDE
21. BALTHAZAR'S ONE HUNDRED
22. I STOP THREE SHIPS COME SAILING IN. WHO AM I?
23. BOY, NAZARETH
24. 6 FRENCH HENS, 4 TURTLE DOVES AND 2 PARTRIDGES IN 2 PEAR TREES

Good luck with them all.

Your Pointless friend,

Richard

Okay, here we go with yesterday's answers. Still far too many people on full marks. Although I am impressed by your continued awesomeness.

13. STOCKHOLM (home for stock) or BASSETERRE (baster)
14. BELMOPAN (anagram of 'Lamb? Nope. Islamabad totally not an acceptable answer for 7 or 8 reasons I'm afraid)
15. NEW DELHI (A new deli. Terrible joke but, hey, it's Christmas!)
16. BERN/BERNE (burn)
17. BANGKOK (Ban cock. Got that out of the way without a rude clue)
18. BEIJING (The act of making beige)

Well done if you got all of those at home. New questions up shortly.

Richard xxx

CGWQ2011 DAY THREE!!!

Here we go then. Usual rules apply. Send all answers to geekquiz@endemoluk.com by midnight tonight. Please include your Twitter name in your email.

DO NOT POST OR TWEET ANSWERS. So far you are being awesome at this, I am very proud of you all.

So, today I've been thinking about Christmas dinner. And that has accidentally led me to create six clues, the answers to which are all capital cities. And here they are;

13. PLACE FOR TURKEY JUICES
14. LAMB? NOPE! RIDICULOUS!
15. WE'RE GETTING OUR CHRISTMAS FOOD SOMEWHERE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR
16. OVERCOOK THE ROAST POTATOES
17. OUTLAW CHICKEN
18. NOT WHITING, BUT NOT BROWNING EITHER

The very best of Christmas luck to one and all.

Ok, here come the answers to yesterday's questions. A few people tripping up, particularly on question 8 and question 12. But still over 100 people on 12/12.

7. BUCHAREST (Book a rest)
8. ASTANA ( a Stannah)
9. MONTEVIDEO ('Monty' video)
10. SEOUL (soul)
11. VALETTA (a valleter. That's a real job, right?)
12. BAGDHAD (a bag for Dad. You didn't think I'd forget my Dad surely?)

Well done if you got all of those at home. Today's questions will follow shortly...

Ok, here are your next six questions. All answers to be sent to geekquiz@endemoluk.com by midnight tonight.

DO NOT TWEET OR POST ANSWERS. You can tell that's important, because it's in big letters.

Once again, the answers are all capital cities, and the clues are all Christmassy.

In fact, today's clues happen to be my Christmas present shopping list for this year. Which is a very happy co-incidence.

7. RESERVE A SPA DAY  (MUM)
8. STAIRLIFT (NAN)
9. 2010 RYDER CUP FILM (BROTHER)
10. OTIS REDDING ALBUM (SISTER)
11. PERSONAL CAR CLEANER (UNCLE)
12. SOMETHING ELSE (FOR SOMEONE ELSE)

Don't forget £100 up for grabs for the charity of the winner's choice, and a further £100 to the charity of one plucky loser.

#CGWQ2011 DAY TWO!!!

Ok, here are the answers to yesterday's questions. Good luck...

1. SANTIAGO (anagram of 'I go Santa')
2. BRASILIA (more like a Brazil)
3. LISBON (Liz -bon)
4. SINGAPORE (singer-poor)
5. TRIPOLI (triple-e)
6 CARACAS (crackers, of course)

Very well done if you got all of those at home. Over 100 people scoring 6/6, and hundreds more with 5/6, but there are tougher questions to come. How d'ya like that?

Thank you for all your lovely comments and photos too.

Your Pointless friend,

Richard xxx

Okay folks, here goes.

If you don't like cryptic clues, or appallingly bad puns then please STEP AWAY FROM THE QUIZ. Seriously, do yourself a big favour and enjoy a relaxed week rather than plough through this nonsense. There are a few question examples from the summer quiz in the previous post.

First, a few things you need to know

All the answers will be Capital Cities. I would print out a list, because there are lots of them (even places like Fiji have one. What's with that?)

DON'T TWEET OR POST YOUR ANSWERS.

All answers to today's 6 questions should be emailed to geekquiz@endemoluk.com by midnight tonight. Please include your Twitter name. Don't forget, photos of cute cats/dogs etc were greatly appreciated last time.

The answers, and the next 6 questions will appear here tomorrow morning.

There will be a first prize of £100 to the charity of the winner's choice. NO-ONE is going to get full marks this time. You have a cast-iron Osman guarantee on that. There will be a further charity prize of £100 to one entrant picked at random (you'll have to have attempted all of the questions).

No-one is allowed to murder me if they don't like some of the answers. Seriously, no murdering.

So, the clues are all Christmas themed, and the answers are all capital cities, here are the first 6 questions;

1. I GO SANTA CRAZY!
2. MORE LIKE A CHRISTMAS NUT
3. THE FRENCH LIKE THE QUEEN'S SPEECH
4. CLIFF RICHARD RUBBISH
5. WHAT'S MISSING FROM "SANTA'S RINDR"
6. WHERE I GET THESE TERRIBLE CHRISTMAS PUNS FROM


Good luck all. There will be 40 questions in all. 6 questions a day this week, then 10 more on Saturday. Hope you enjoy it.

Lots of love,

Richard xxx

A FEW EXAMPLE CLUES AND ANSWERS FROM THE SUMMER QUIZ

Here's an idea of how these cryptic/wordplay/very weak pun questions work. I asked 50 questions, the answers to which were all US States. Some example questions...

1. HEAVY LAUNDRY
2. HORSE HAIR
3. BREAKS AN' BREAKS
4. NICOLAS SARKOZY'S SUNBED
5. MORE RUDDY
6. ...AND I'LL FETCH THE GRAVEL
7. BOO! YOUR MANDIBLE IS RUBBISH!
8. HONOUR AMONGST THIEVES
9. AAH! WII BROKEN!
10. BOTTOM OF A TIN

And here are the answers (and reasons why)

1. WASHINGTON (washing ton)
2. MAINE (mane)
3. NEBRASKA (anagaram of 'an breaks)
4. MONTANA ('mon tanner' - classic Osman weak pun)
5. FLORIDA (more florrid)
6. UTAH ("You tar, and I'll etc")
7. GEORGIA (jaw jeer)
8. CONNECTICUT (con etiquette)
9. HAWAII (anagram of aah wii)
10. KANSAS (can's ass)

So, there are some of the basic principles. Some cryptic, some puns, some basic wordplay. And all fairly annoying until you get them.