Bunkagame — September 12, 2026

Question 1

Which 2012 Taylor Swift single from the album 'Red' peaked at number five in Russia and hit number two on the Canadian Hot 100, earned five-times platinum status in Canada, and was later re-recorded as a 'Taylor's Version' when 'Red (Taylor's Version)' arrived in 2021?

Accepted Answer

'I Knew You Were Trouble' was co-written and produced by Max Martin and Shellback, and marked Swift's confident move away from country into synth-pop dubstep territory. It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance in 2014.

Question 2

In Montenegro, North Macedonia and neighbouring Balkan countries like Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia, this small cup of finely ground, unfiltered coffee brewed in a copper pot is called 'turska kafa', 'domestic coffee' or simply 'coffee'. What is the drink?

Accepted Answer

Turkish coffee spread across the Balkans during Ottoman rule and stayed as a daily ritual after independence. In 2013, UNESCO added Turkish coffee culture to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Question 3

Which French electronic music duo, famous for blending sampled indigenous vocals with dance beats, released 'Deep India' with sitar player Rahul Sharma in 2013, and supports the Sana Madagascar Association's efforts to preserve traditional Malagasy music?

Accepted Answer

Deep Forest, founded by Michel Sanchez and Eric Mouquet in the early 1990s, broke through with the pygmy-vocal-sampling hit 'Sweet Lullaby'. The duo won a Grammy in 1996 and sparked ethical debates about crediting and paying the source communities of their samples.

Question 4

Which 2015 romantic drama, based on E. L. James's bestselling novel and starring Dakota Johnson as college graduate Anastasia Steele, earned an NC-21 rating in Lebanon and was outright banned in the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Indonesia and India?

Accepted Answer

'Fifty Shades of Grey' grossed over $571 million worldwide against a $40 million budget, becoming one of the top-earning films of 2015. Its explicit content triggered censorship rows in socially conservative markets, particularly across the Middle East and South Asia.

Question 5

No entry from Kosovo or from what was then Macedonia ever made it onto this Song Contest during the multi-ethnic Yugoslav era, which insiders read as a snub of the country's poorest republics. After 1992, Serbia and other successor states entered the competition on their own. What is this competition?

Accepted Answer

Yugoslavia debuted at Eurovision in 1961 and competed 27 times before dissolving in 1992. Its only win came in 1989 with Riva's 'Rock Me', and internal selection was via the Jugovizija national final rotating between the republics.

Question 6

Which National League baseball team made Hot Springs, Arkansas an early spring-training base alongside the Cubs, Dodgers and Yankees, and played the Phillies in a March 1923 exhibition game at Cooke Field in Leesburg, Florida?

Accepted Answer

The St. Louis Cardinals, founded in 1882, have won 11 World Series titles, second only to the Yankees. Their spring-training base moved from Hot Springs to Florida in the 1920s and now sits at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, shared with the Miami Marlins.

Question 7

The English city of Norwich sustained a long tradition through brands like Morgans, Steward & Patteson and Bullard and Son, while Merrimack, New Hampshire has hosted an Anheuser-Busch facility since 1970, one of the company's smallest US plants. What industry do both towns share?

Accepted Answer

Norwich's brewing history spans centuries and included Morgans, Steward & Patteson, Youngs Crawshay and Youngs, and Bullard and Son. Anheuser-Busch's Merrimack plant, opened in 1970, is the company's easternmost and one of its smallest US facilities.

Question 8

Which Italian fencer, a world-champion foilist, competed at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and after missing a medal in Rio announced she would try to qualify in both foil and sabre for the Tokyo Games?

Accepted Answer

Arianna Errigo, born in Monza in 1988, won Olympic silver at London 2012 and gold with Italy's team foil at both London 2012 and Tokyo 2020 (after a delayed 2021 games). She is also a multi-time individual world champion in foil.

Question 9

Oregon beat Colorado 38-16 in the Fiesta Bowl and Nebraska lost the BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl 37-14 to Miami. Which American college gridiron sport is this?

Accepted Answer

The 2001-02 NCAA bowl games ran late December through early January, with the BCS controversially picking a Nebraska team that had lost its regular-season finale 62-36 to Colorado. Miami's dominant 37-14 win at the Rose Bowl gave the Hurricanes their fifth national title.

Question 10

After the Revolutions of 1989 swept away most such regimes, Communism remained the official ideology of the ruling parties of China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam, with North Korea a partial exception. Vietnam's Constitution enshrines the Communist Party's leading role in Article 4. Which category of country is being described?

Accepted Answer

A communist state is a country governed by a single ruling party that officially espouses Marxism-Leninism, with the party formally recognised as the vanguard of the working class. The five remaining examples today are China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and North Korea.