Ben wins the newsquiz Champagne

The Mail's trainee subs outside the Press Association's Howden HQ

The Daily Mail’s trainee sub-editors and designers had their final training at the Press Association's Howden offices with Mike Watson and me this week. Some are now off to placements at the Manchester Evening News, the Liverpool Echo, Metro and the Standard while others are off to work for the Mail in Glasgow. They had a good final week producing some excellent work. The sports subs had a session with production editor Jon Dolan on Tuesday. And on Thursday assistant chief sub Jenny Ryan, aided by former trainee Lauren Davis, put them all through their paces. We all had drinks in the Greyhound in the evening. We finished as always with the newsquiz. They clearly found it tough with Tom Belcher getting the top score of 11.5. He narrowly beat Ben Jackson and Justin Guthrie on 11. It meant Ben won the Champagne for top score over the four weeks, finishing a clear ten points ahead of his nearest rival Nick Martin. Well done to Ben and good luck to them all on the next stage of their training.

Quiz winner Ben Jackson with his Champagne prize

My trip to Howden also meant I met The Daily Telegraph trainees for the first time. They were visited by Telegraph executives, Ben Clissitt, Gordon Rayner and Malcolm Coles and had sessions with Chris Gregory and former Journal deputy editor Graham Pratt (who I hadn’t seen for 20 years). Yesterday the trainees went to court in Newcastle with Garry Willey and took a shorthand exam. The visit by the Telegraph execs clearly galvanised the trainees in their quiz rivalry with the Mail. Cristina Criddle took on the mantle of Leonadis and trounced everyone with a top score of 15. She also collected £8 on her winning scratch card.

Here is this week’s quiz. As usual there are 20 questions with five bonuses ... so 25 points up for grabs. See if you can do better than Cristina’s 15 and let me know how you get on.

1. According to Boris Johnson in his conference speech what has gone up by between 18 and 19 months since his tenure as Mayor of London began?
Bonus: Johnson described anti-austerity protesters as an assorted mob of ………… What? 
Bonus: Michael Gove promised a ‘reforming zeal in the dark corners'. What Cabinet position does Gove hold?
Bonus: Charlotte Church attended a Manchester protest carrying a placard which said: ‘A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth’. Who is the quotation attributed to? 
2. Britain's most senior policeman has been urged to apologise over the Leon Brittan affair. Who is he? 
Bonus: Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has also been asked to apologise. Which constituency does he represent? 
3. How long did it take for all official Glastonbury tickets to sell out?
4. Shops must charge 5p for plastic bags unless they have fewer than how many employees?
Bonus: 4p collected for every plastic bag sold will go to charity. Where does the other 1p go?
5. Why was 77-year-old former mayor Kallash Chander in the headlines?
6. American Airlines Pilot Captain Michael Johnston died on a flight from where to where? (Half point for each place)
7. How many viewers watched the final of the Great British Bake off? 
8. Spencer Stone, who thwarted a terrorist attack on a French train in the summer, was stabbed multiple times. In which city?
9. Why was Peter Ball jailed?
10. More than a 100 protesters demonstrated at the premiere of Suffragette in Leicester Square. Which group did the activists represent?
11. Footballer Mame Biram Diouf's mother died in the Hajj crush. Which team does he play for?
12. Why was Jade Hatt in the headlines?
13. British tourist Zoe Woolmer died while posing for a photograph at which Australian tourist spot? 
14. Who described himself as ‘The Normal One’?
15. What was the name of the hospital where Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was allowed to walk around without handcuffs?
16. Which Yorkshire village has a 10,000-tonne pile of stinking waste? 
17. A car once driven by Stirling Moss was involved in an expensive shunt in a race with a Jaguar XK 120 and an Austin Healey 100. What was the make of car? 
18. He called his memoirs The Time of My Life, referred to his rivals as Silly Billies and was beach master at the World War 2 amphibious landings at Anzio? Who is he?
19. Nineteen people died in floods when a river in the French Riviera burst its banks. Which river? 
20. Pulse nightclub in Letterkenny cancelled a party night after complaints it was racist. What was the evening called?

Answers here