The Saturday Quiz: Try our weekly brain teaser

1. Thurles, 26 March 1992; Towcester, 7 November 2013. What?

2. The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest invites entrants "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels". Which opening sentence – to an 1830 novel by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton – is the contest inspired by?

3. The Battle of Verdun in 1916 gave rise to which slogan of defiance?

4. The historic European region of Pomerania literally means 'land of the sea'. Which sea does it border?

5. Gabardine was invented in 1879 by the founder of a company which still bears his name and is now one of the biggest fashion houses in the world. Which company?

6. Spain's equivalent of the FA Cup is called what?

7. 85 Albert Embankment, overlooking the Thames, is the headquarters of which organisation?

8. Which is bigger – New Zealand's North island or its South island?

9. 'Cracklin' Rosie'; Syd Barrett; F Scott Fitzgerald. What's the connection?

10. In the context of a share flotation, what does IPO stand for?

@SimonOHagan