10 Secrets of the Tom Cobley Pub Quiz

1There are clues in the clues

Sometimes I'll sneak a hint into the wording: "Question 4 — 100 in binary equals what in decimal?" or "Who wrote a rock opera called Tommy?". So if you're stuck… think sneaky.

2Question 10 is Juno's question

My daughter is totally involved in each quiz — partly as the voice of the music round, partly as my ideas editor. She always gets question 10 (because that's her age). Hence there've been questions recently on Swallows and Amazons, otters and Robinson Crusoe.

3The music round is a multi-step process

Creating the three-minute montage is probably the most fun to do, and what I do first. First comes the theme — say, songs about the 90s or Hollywood musicals. Then I rip clips from YouTube or Spotify, slice and stitch them together in GarageBand, and export the finished product into Overcast (the podcast app) so it can be played over Bluetooth to the speaker.

It's about 90 minutes of work to get there, but worth it when you can see people mouthing "Ooh — I know it, I know it!".

4Misleading round titles

A while ago people asked for the round names in advance so they could play their Jokers more tactically. So I gave them what they wanted — sort of. "The General Knowledge Round", for instance, turned out to be questions about generals, and "currant affairs" was… questions about the dried fruit.

5The quiz raises a fair amount

Entry is £2 per person, plus the raffle (thanks Jenny). That might not sound much, but it adds up — about £170 a month to the Village Trust. After thirty quizzes we've probably now raised about £5,000 for various projects, so thank you to everyone who takes part.

6The ideas arrive all month long

People often ask where the questions come from. The truth is they're lurking everywhere: in the book I'm reading, a podcast I've half-heard, a joke I hear or something I spot in the paper. I keep a running note of interesting stuff on my phone (it's the Drafts app, for the geeks out there), and when quiz-writing week comes round, I piece it together.

By the way, a good question should make you say either "I knew that!" or "Ooh, I didn't know that." Funny or interesting is the measure.

7It takes about a day to write

Add it all up — five hours of general-knowledge writing, an hour and a half on the music round, and endless tinkering with picture rounds — and it's roughly a day's work. The picture round is always the trickiest. Finding the idea — chocolate bars, famous bridges, TV pets — is half the battle.

8Beware the secret two-part question

A personal favourite is the old one-two, when I can sneak it in: "Name four of Santa's eight reindeer"… followed by "Now name the other four." I enjoy the groan when people spot this coming.

9The right kind of difficulty

A quiz should be competitive but not boringly difficult. Too easy and it's dull; too hard and it's time to go to the bar. The best questions are the ones that feel just out of reach until you get there by talking it through — like "What are the three main ingredients of Branston Pickle?". Nobody knows, but everyone's got a theory and you can kinda get there. Disagreement and blame are also part of the entertainment.

10It's not about the money

Some quizzes are deadly serious: big cash prizes, library-like silences and "phones must be switched off". Sounds boring to me. Here, the prize is a deliberately modest £20 (plus the eternal glory of your name on the invaluable trophy), and the spirit is friendly rivalry (well, mostly) rather than mortal combat.

We even get loyal regulars from beyond Spreyton's M25 — South Zeal, North Tawton, Yeoford, Bondleigh — and the occasional visiting tourist. A few months back two Austrian guests joined in and did surprisingly well. Although to be fair, it was the schnitzel round.