The MIMIR is the MQL's Individual Championship competition. Named for a Norse god of wisdom, it was the brainchild of former MQL Chairman, Allan Urion, who devised its format and indeed composed all the questions for the early competitions. The first winner was Arthur Naylor in 1976. A list of winners can be seen here and is a list of some of the finest quiz players not only on Merseyside but in the whole country, featuring as it does four winners of BBC Radio Four's Brain of Britain.
The format has been borrowed by many other Leagues and online organisations.
Each of the constituent leagues run their own heats, with the best players going forward to the MQL MIMIR heat.
Each match is played using the following format
- Each heat shall consist of up to 4 players answering 5 rounds of 3 questions.
- Each heat requires up to 3 officials; a QP, a Scorer and a Bonus Counter.
- The seating position is drawn at random.
- In each round each player is asked 3 questions consecutively and awarded 1 point for a correct answer.
- Incorrectly or unanswered questions are called bonuses. Players wishing to attempt an answer should be indicating in the usual manner at the time when the QP opens the question out. A correct answer is awarded 1 point.
- Bonuses are offered in turn to the player with the fewest attempts at answering bonus questions. In the event of players having made an equal number of attempts, the question passes to the left.
- If there is a tie at the end of the heat, the tied players are asked the same 3 extra questions in turn. If the heat is still unresolved then each tied player is asked a tie-breaker question with the nearest to the correct answer being the winner.
Each League holds Area Heats to provide qualifiers for the MQL Heats. These consist of 32 players and produce 4 finalists. In 2025 the number of qualifiers from each League will be as follows;
7 from Liverpool 6 from Ormskirk 6 from S&F 6 from Warrington 7 from Wirral
The home League of the holder (currently War) may choose, if they wish, to use one of their allocated places to grant that player an uncontested place in the MQL Heats. This year these are being held at New Brighton CC on Wed 19 March 2025.
In the instance of a player being unable to take up their place then their League can nominate a replacement. An absence on the evening will be filled by a random draw from any willing non-qualifiers who are present.
The Final is played on the MQL Finals and Presentation Evening. In 2025 this will be at Formby CC on 14 May.