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Mega-Whats 2014 The 5th National Open Quizzing Championships
Conducted by
The Karnataka Quiz Association Est. 1983
Set by
Arun Hiregange and Kiran Vijayakumar
Be Careful !
These are the answer slides!
In association with Quiz Foundation of India, Chennai Bombay Quiz Club, Mumbai Boat Club Quiz Club, Pune Kutub Quizzers, New Delhi Sunday Evening Quiz Club, Goa Hyderabad Quiz Club and K-Circle, Hyderabad Grey Cells, Kerala Coimbatore Quiz Circle Odisha Quiz Association And the quizzing communities in Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Kolkata and Guwahati
The Rules
1. No negatives
2. No part points
3. Last names will suffice
4. Write legibly, preferably in UPPER CASE
5. Use of electronic devices will lead to immediate disqualification
6. Top 10 city winners + remaining top 6 from all India will qualify for the Face-off
The Design
Three sections leading to 100 points:
I. Section 1 45 x 1 = 45
II. Section 2 3 x (1 + 1 + 1) = 9
III. Section 3 1 x (1 + 1 + 1 + 1) +
21 x (1 + 1) = 46 indicates that the question continues on the next slide.
Underlined part of answers is the operative part
Section 1
45 questions – 1 point for each
1
Garnish the following literary joke by filling the missing blanks.
Charles Dickens walks into a bar.
Dickens: “Please, sir, I’d like a martini.”
Bartender: “Sure thing. ____ ____ ____?”
1
“Olive or twist?”
(Give points for Oliver Twist.)
2
What does this map depict?
2
Time zones.
3
Shown here is the interior of the Dibble House in Eldon, Iowa. Tell us its more popular name or the reason it attracts thousands of visitors every year. Visitors are not allowed inside the building and most visitors are happy with just the outside view. The building feature you see here should help you find the answer.
3
3
American Gothic House. It was the backdrop of the 1930 painting by Grant Wood and gets its name from the distinctive upper window.
4
This term came into common use in the 19th century after the publication of Anne of Geierstein by Sir Walter Scott. Scott based the name on a scene in William Shakespeare’s play Henry VI Part 1, set in the gardens of the Temple Church, where a number of noblemen assembled and did something to show their allegiances. Identify the term.
4
4
War of the Roses.
The men picked red or white roses to show their loyalty to the Lancastrian or Yorkist faction respectively.
5
This practice is considered as a poor food etiquette in some of the Asian countries because it resembles the ritual of incense-burning that symbolizes “feeding” the dead and death in general. What bad table manner are we talking about? People often use pieces like these on the table to avoid this practice.
5
5
Keeping chopsticks vertically stuck into a bowl of rice or other food.
6
This word comes from Old English for the godparents of one's child or the parents of one's godchild, generally very close friends. Its verb form first appears in A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare: "And sometime lurk I in a ____'s bowl / In very likeness of a roasted crab / And when she drinks, against her lips I bob / And on her withered dewlap pout the ale." According to the Oxford English Dictionary, his usage was very specific: "a woman's female friends invited to be present at a birth." Giving birth used to be a social (ladies only) event, in which a pregnant woman's relatives and neighbours would gather. As with any such gathering, a particular practice was bound to happen and thus it acquired the current meaning. What?
6
Gossip.
7
This country’s national flag was inspired by the three-pronged design in the chasubles (outer vestments) worn by priests in both the Catholic and Anglican church. According to the designer Fred Brownell, a significant change was based on his daughter’s suggestion: “Dad, use your brain! People will stand that on its head and turn it into the nuclear peace sign. The middle leg must go.” Which country are we talking about?
7
7
South Africa.
8
This word roughly means “atoning for educability through delicate beauty”. It was coined in the 1960s by brothers Richard and Robert Sherman, who indicated that the origins of the word were in their memories of creating double-talk words in their childhood. Identify this word which entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986. (It's extraordinary! It *does* make you feel better!)
8
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from the 1964 film Mary Poppins, in the song was written by the Sherman Brothers.
9
October 25 is a day on which many famous battles were fought. In 1147, Seljuk Turks defeated German crusaders under Conrad III at the Battle of Dorylaeum. In 1415, the army of Henry V of England defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt. In 1747, British fleet under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke defeated the French at the second battle of Cape Finisterre. 1854 had the Battle of Balaklava (Charge of the Light Brigade) during the Crimean War. The day is famous under the name of the twin Christian saints martyred in 286. Identify the day.
9
Saint Crispin’s Day, the feast day of Crispin and Crispinian.
10
Which 19th century work has now occupied a continuous 21 weeks (as of May 18, 2014) in the New York Times Non-fiction (combined print and e-book) bestsellers list? Its peak position of #1 was during the weeks ending March 23 to April 6.
10
Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup.
11
It is believed that this tradition started from a victory of the Serenissima Repubblica against the Patriarch of Aquileia, Ulrico di Treven in the year 1162. It now involves Bauta, Columbina, Medico della peste, Moretta, Volto (Larva), Pantalone, Arlecchino and Zanni. From the mid-1500s, the ‘flight of the Turk (Angel)’ marked its start. An accident involving the Turk changed the event to the ‘flight of the Dove’ in 1759. From 2001, it became the ‘flight of the Angel’ again. What are we talking about?
11
11
Carnival of Venice.
(Bauta, Columbina etc. are the types of masks.)
12
The world’s tallest Ferris wheel opened to the public on March 31, 2014. It is located at the Linq in Las Vegas. What appropriate name (a two-word term), from the world of gambling, has been given to it?
12
12
High Roller.
13
The earliest recorded use of this scheme comes from 1725 when the name of the biblical founder of Israel, who ruled from 931-910 BC, was used. This usage was probably because he is referred to as "a man of great worth". Many sources mention a Champenois poet of the middle ages, Eugene Destuche, whose poems were popular and inspired his townfolk to use this scheme. What are we talking about?
13
The naming of wine bottles.
14
With length ranging from 10 to 26 inches, these are usually made of a lightweight wood, fiberglass or carbon fiber which is tapered to a grip called a “bulb" that is usually made of cork or hard wood. The usual way of holding it is between the thumb and the first two fingers with the grip in against the palm of the right hand. It is not considered as a essential instrument of the trade – there are occasions where a tooth brush and a fly swatter have been used as alternatives. A famous user is believed to have commented that it “must be a living thing, charged with a kind of electricity, which makes it an instrument of meaning in its tiniest movement”. What are we talking about?
14
Batons used by music conductors.
15
Erwin Perzy I, a surgical instruments mechanic, accidentally created it in 1900 as a result of an experiment to try to improve the brightness of the newly invented (and then not very bright) electric light bulb. He was inspired by the shoemakers of the time, who to get more light from a candle mounted a glass globe filled with water in front of the flame. He used semolina, a common baby food, and found an interesting behaviour when it was soaked by the water. What did he thus create using these materials?
15
Snow globe.
16
What prompted one Anna Bertha Ludwig to exclaim to her husband “I have seen my death!” in 1895?
16
Seeing her hand’s X-ray taken by her husband Wilhelm Röntgen.
17
The scientific name of this plant is Dionaea muscipula. The genus name Dionaea means “daughter of Dione”. What does the species name (in Latin) muscipula mean?
17
Mousetrap. (The plant is Venus flytrap.)
18
Paint Hall Studios in Belfast has been the main studio for the Game of Thrones series since 2010. In the early part of the 20th century, this area witnessed another large-scale development project, one whose launch required 22 tons of soap and tallow and was cheered by 100,000 people including J. Pierpont Morgan. What ‘project’ are we talking about?
18
RMS Titanic.
19
On 25 May, 1955, when Joe Brown and George Band successfully completed a quest for the first time ever, they honoured a promise given to the Maharaja of Sikkim. That promise has never been broken since. What promise are we talking about?
19
They would stop short of the summit of Kangchenjunga.
20
Petra tou Romiou (Rock of the Greek) is a sea stack in Pafos, Cyprus. The combination of the beauty of the area and its status as the birthplace of ____ makes it a popular tourist location. A local myth is that any person who swims around the will be blessed with eternal beauty. But since the sea here is generally rough, tourists are advised not to swim there. Take a close look at the picture and fill in the blank.
20
20
Aphrodite.
21
Boris Spassky probably described the peculiar dynamics of these chess pieces best when he explained away one of his multiple divorces as “My wife and I had already become like ____”. Which two pieces that cannot ever interact with each other did he refer to?
21
Bishops of opposite colours.
22
This practice originates from horse-racing in the United Kingdom, where an entrant in a one-horse race run under Jockey Club rules had to do this before being awarded victory. Such an outcome was quite common at the time when there was no guaranteed prize money for horses finishing second or third: there was no incentive to run a horse in a race it could not win. What term originates from this practice?
22
Walkover. The horse had to "walk over" the course at least once.
23
What did the then Prime Minister of New Zealand, Robert Muldoon, describe as "the most disgusting incident I can recall in the history of ____", going on to say that "it was an act of true cowardice and I consider it appropriate that the ____ were wearing yellow". The giveaway words have been blanked out, but what was the PM talking about?
23
The Underarm Incident.
24
Who is depicted here delivering a lecture, in an 1850 caricature from Punch?
24
Sir Richard Owen, who came up with the term Dinosauria.
25
• Bal Secret Agent 555 Ranga, Ganga & Shirazi in India
• Teen Nanhay Suraghrasaan (known as Umber, Naseem & Aaqib) in Pakistan
• Tin Goyenda (known as Kishor Pasha, Musa Aman & Robin Milford) in Bangladesh
How do we know them better?
25
Three Investigators.
26
These stamps (printed from 1905 to 1938) were used for parcels sent from which place?
26
Greenland.
27
Pliers, nutcrackers and tongs: these implements are each built using different classes of what?
27
Levers.
28
This distinctively coloured fruit (a variety of Citrus sinensis) comes in the Taracco, Moro and Sanguinello varieties. Work out what this fruit is commonly called.
28
28
Blood Orange.
29
What connects the following?
29
29
All converted to Buddhism.
30
The Stegodon (“roofed tooth”) was thought to be one of the early ancestors of the elephant and mammoth. There were many species of this animal. The one found the Indian subcontinent, depicted here in a 1951 stamp, got its name from mythology. What was it called?
30
30
Ganesa.
31
____ pagarus or the Edible Crab is one of the most commercially important crabs. Fill the blank with the genus in which this species belongs. Incidentally, most crabs once belonged to this well-known genus but they now have been reclassified over six genera.
31
31
Cancer.
32
This classic French dessert piles sweet chestnut puree on top of meringues and is finished with whipped cream on top. It is named after its supposed resemblance to a mountain. Name the dessert / mountain.
32
Mont Blanc.
33
Ibn ____ (or Averroes in Latin), was a philosopher born in Cordoba, Spain and known for integrating Islamic traditions with Greek thought. He produced summaries and commentaries on Aristotle’s and Plato’s works. The above blanked part of his name was adopted as the family surname by a famous author’s father. Give the blank or the surname.
33
Rushdie.
34
He is sometimes known by the nickname “The Rat", "Super Rat" or "King Rat" because of his prominent bucked teeth. He has been associated with both Parmalat and Viessmann, sponsoring the ever present cap he has worn since 1976 for a specific reason. In a 2009 interview he revealed that an advertiser pays as much as Euro 1.2 million for the space on his famous red cap. Who, depicted in a cartoon on the next slide?
34
34
Niki Lauda.
35
A short poem by Herman Melville about what creatures of the sea (usually found as shown in the visual)? “They have nothing of harm to dread, But liquidly glide on his ghastly flank Or before his Gorgonian head; Or lurk in the port of serrated teeth In white triple tiers of glittering gates, And there find a haven when peril's abroad, An asylum in jaws of the Fates!”
35
35
Pilot Fish.
36
Which bone in the human body got its name possibly because of one of these reasons:
• It is usually the last bone of a buried body to rot and therefore had religious importance;
• It was used as a vessel in ancient religious ceremonies?
36
Sacrum.
37
It is a two-word phrase which kept popping up in all the news articles about Michael Schumacher’s accident. It refers to skiing in the backcountry on snow that has not been compacted into tracks. It is therefore considered more dangerous than skiing on known tracks. The second word in this phrase, that refers to ski strips or tracks, also refers to the narrow rectangular playing area or strip of an entirely different Olympic sport. Give us the two-word phrase.
37
Off-Piste.
38
The rather haggard looking person on the right is Judy Garland a couple of years before her drug induced death. Who is the writer on the left?
38
Jacqueline Susann.
39
Senile squalor syndrome is a complex spectrum of behaviours found in persons who are living reclusively. It is characterized by an extreme self-neglect of environment, health, and hygiene, combined with a compulsive hoarding of refuse and the patient’s complete denial of his or her surroundings or symptoms. What is the alternate name of this syndrome, from the name of a Greek philosopher who lived his life with simplicity and autonomy?
39
Diogenes syndrome.
40
These 21 elements have a specific connection. What is it? (Ignore the colouring.)
40
The Periodic Table by Primo Levi.
41
Connect the state of Oklahoma in the USA, the Handley Page Hampden bomber and the blank in the cartoon. One word.
41
41
41
Panhandle(r).
42
Which of the 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India has the word “living” in its official name on the UNESCO list?
42
Great Living Chola Temples.
43
The state bird of Manipur is named after Mary Anne Grindall (1823-1890), though it doesn’t refer to her directly. Just name the bird (shown here).
43
Mrs. Hume’s Pheasant.
44
Which Indian entity (honoured in the stamp) would you associate with such gems?
• On the bend, go slow friend
• Drive like hell and you’ll be there
• Let your insurance policy mature before you
• If married, divorce speed
• Better be Mister Late than Late Mister
• Safety on the road is safe tea at home
44
44
Border Roads Organization.
45
South of a temple, on the wall at the sea shore, you will find this pillar. On the top, a couple of pointers indicate that between the temple and the South Pole there is no land, only the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Name the temple.
45
Somnath.
Section 2
3 questions with 3 parts each – 1 point
for each part
Order of answers a) b) c) matters
?
Drop letters off one of the ends of an answer to get the next answer. For example, answers could be:
a) Pinky
b) Pink
c) Ink
1
a) In which country would you find Lake Volta, which is the world’s largest artificial water reservoir by area? Lake Volta itself is located along the Volta region of the country.
1a
Ghana.
1
b) What has been blanked out here?
1b
Ghan.
1
c) Ethnic Chinese even nowadays refer to themselves by the name of this dynasty that lasted for about four centuries. Which dynasty?
1c
Han.
2
a) These chocolatey marshmallow Graham cracker sandwiches are staples of scout campfires in the USA and are said to be named because you will never be happy with just one of them. Name them (plural).
2
a)
2a
S’mores.
2
b) Fill the blank in this quote attributed to Cicero who was railing against corruption of that age. The quote translates to “Oh the times! Oh the customs!”.
2
b)
2b
Mores.
2
c) Who was this cricketer retaliating against in this famous incident? Surname will do.
2c
Kiran More.
3
a) Mandrake the magician was trained at the Collegium Magikos in a hidden valley in Tibet by a grandmaster who was later revealed to be his father. Name this (at least) 333 year old.
3a
Theron.
3
b) These water birds differ from cranes in that they have longer necks and tend to hold them retracted rather than straight while flying. Generic name?
3b
Heron.
3
c) This is perhaps the first steam engine invented by man. This was in about 150 BC and was probably only used for effect in temples. Who was the inventor?
3c
Hero.
Section 3
1 question with 4 parts and 21 questions with 2 parts each – 1 point for each part
Order of answers a) b) does not matter
1
Using a ‘royal’ connection, identify the animal, the city, the type of building and the vein shown here.
1
1
1
or
1
1
Basilisk lizard.
Basel.
Basilica.
Basilic vein.
2
What 2 terms come from their placement in a typical income statement? The first term refers to a company’s gross sales or revenues while the second term refers to the net earning or profits. A sample income statement shown here should help you in figuring out the terms.
2
2
Top line.
Bottom line.
3
He was introduced to astrology by the English writer Clifford Bax, when the two were holidaying in Majorca in the spring of 1913. He became quite a devotee of the subject, and liked to cast his friends' horoscopes for fun. He used Alan Leo's book What is a Horoscope? as a springboard for his own ideas, as well as for the subtitles in his work soon after. The famous ‘exclusion’ in this work can be explained by the fact that the concept of the work is astrological rather than astronomical. Who? What ‘exclusion’?
3
Gustav Holst.
Earth not being a part of The Planets.
4
The inspiration is said to have came from something his daughter did while he was convalescing from a duodenal ulcer. He was at a private nursing home called St Cuby in the coastal town of Broadstairs, Kent. There was a wooden staircase leading down to the beach. His 6-year old daughter, who had just learnt to count properly, went down them and gleefully announced: “There are ____." Who? What did he come up with?
4
John Buchan.
The Thirty-Nine Steps.
5
According to popular mythology (read ‘the PR machinery of the country’), the four pockets represent the virtues cited in the classic Guanzi: propriety, justice, honesty and shame. The five centre-front buttons represent the branches of government: legislation, supervision, examination, administration and jurisdiction. The three cuff-buttons symbolize the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood. Unlike Western counterparts, it has a single layer symbolizing the country's unity and peace. Who was instrumental in popularising it and gave its traditional name? Whose name got associated with it later because of his affinity for wearing it in public?
5
Sun Yat-sen.
Mao Zedong.
The item of clothing is the Mao suit or the Zhongshan suit.
6
The Throne Chair of Denmark, located in the Castle of Rosenborg in Copenhagen, is the physical representation of the Throne of the Kingdom of Denmark. According to legend, it is made of the ____. In reality, it is made from ____. The former is the body part of a mythical creature, while the latter is the body part of a real-life creature. The scientific name of the latter creatures is based on the Greek name of the former creature. Identify both creatures.
6
6
Unicorn horns.
Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) tusks.
7
Granita is a 1959 parody of a famous work. It is said to be a manuscript was given to publisher by the warden of the local jail in a small town in Piedmont. This excerpt should help one identify the work: “Granita. Flower of my adolescence, torment of my nights. Will I ever see you again? Granita. Granita. Gran-i-ta. Three syllables, the second and third forming a diminutive, as if contradicting the first. Granita, may I remember you until your image has become a shadow and your abode the grave.” Identify its fictional narrator, the name being a direct Italian translation from the original. And, then identify the author of the parody.
7
Umberto Umberto.
Umberto Eco.
(Granita is a parody of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. Umberto is Italian for Humbert.)
8
Originally intended as a one-shot “cheap" satire of a feature in glossy magazines such as Playboy, National Geographic and Life, it first appeared in 1964 and looked at Elizabeth Taylor dumping Eddie Fisher and carrying on with Richard Burton. Soon the creator was asked to do another and it still continues. He once commented, “The thing that I got a kick out of was... Jeopardy! showed a ____ and the contestants all came up with the word they were looking for, which was ‘____’. So I realized, I created an English language word.” Give us snappy answers to these stupid questions: Who? What (both blanks are same)?
8
Al Jaffee. Mad Fold-In.
9
Among capital cities, Paris, Stockholm and Copenhagen are the only ones to be honoured in this manner. Among countries, France, Germany and Poland are the only ones. (Some might argue to add France again and Russia too.) What honour are we talking about? Which is the only river to be honoured thus?
9
Naming of chemical elements.
Rhine (for Rhenium).
The elements referred to in the question are Lutetium, Holmium and Hafnium (capital cities) and Francium, Germanium and Polonium (countries). Gallium may be named after France (or Lecoq) and Ruthenium is named after Rus.
10
Who is the subject of this 1964 series of photographs by John Deakin? The most famous use of these was in the news recently. What use are we talking about?
10
10
Lucian Freud. Francis Bacon used these as a reference for Three Studies of Lucian Freud.
11
Identify this instrument. The same name is used by the French to refer to another similar-shaped metallic object almost 100 times smaller in size. What?
11
Trombone.
Paperclip.
12
The Jim Pattison Group is Canada’s largest privately held company. Two of their properties have been perennial favourites of trivia lovers. Both started out in the print medium, expanded to television and have museums for promotion as well. Identify both.
12
Ripley Entertainment (of Ripley's Believe it or Not! fame).
Guinness World Records.
13
A November 19, 1955 article in The Economist begins thus: “It is a commonplace observation that ____. Thus, an elderly lady of leisure can spend an entire day in writing and dispatching a postcard to her niece at Bognor Regis. An hour will be spent in finding the postcard, another in hunting for spectacles, half-an-hour in a search for the address, an hour and a quarter in composition, and twenty minutes in deciding whether or not to take an umbrella when going to the pillar-box in the next street. The total effort which would occupy a busy man for three minutes all told may in this fashion leave another person prostrate after a day of doubt, anxiety and toil.” Identify the missing phrase and the author.
13
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
Cyril Northcote Parkinson.
14
This is the foyer area of a hotel which has been intimately associated with a famous tournament: its owner started it, initial editions were held here and players typically stayed here even when it started to be held elsewhere in the town. Name the town/tournament. The hotel itself gets its name from a general who married a local princess not far from this town the day before going into battle against the Roman empire. Name the general/hotel.
14
14
Linares.
Hannibal / Anibal.
15
After a brief spell at Supermarine, where he did not get along with RJ Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire, he joined Vickers-Armstrong. There he hit upon an idea: rather than building an aircraft structure on the principle of a beam which supports an external aerodynamic skin, he developed a new type of structure which had the structural members formed within the aerodynamic shape itself. These members followed ____ curves in the surface, the shortest distance between two points in the curved surface. Who was the designer? What curves?
15
15
Geodesic / Geodetic curves.
Barnes Wallis.
16
One of the Nobel prize winning co-inventors of a device explained its concept to a student in this way: “If you take a bale of hay and tie it to the tail of a mule and then strike a match and set the bale of hay on fire, and if you then compare the energy expended shortly thereafter by the mule with the energy expended by yourself in the striking of the match, you will understand the concept of ____.” What was the device? What fills the blanked out concept, i.e. aim of the device?
16
Transistor.
Amplification.
The quote is by Shockley.
17
Infancy, whining schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, old age, second childishness: these put together are known by a phrase. This concept (phrase) is the subject of a monologue in a 17th century play. The first line of the monologue is very famous. The sculpture on the next slide depicts this same concept. Identify the concept. Identify the first line.
17
17
“All the World’s a Stage”.
Seven Ages of Man.
18
A certain method of cooking was first described in 1799 by an American-born British scientist who was made a Count by the Holy Roman Empire, knighted by King George III and who for a brief while was married to the widow of Antoine Lavoisier. Name the scientist. Name the method of cooking that translates to “under vacuum” and involves heating the food gently in airtight bags for a long time.
18
18
Count Rumford / Benjamin Thompson.
Sous vide.
19
Only sixteen players in the history of test cricket have managed this feat. Of these, three are Indians. The first two were Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Ajit Agarkar, so that should tell you what kind of achievement this was. What feat? Who was the third Indian?
19
King Pair / Golden Pair in Test cricket.
Virender Sehwag.
20
The coat of arms of Spain contains different heraldic devices to denote various regions of the country. Take a look at the visual and identify the fruit / plant shown at the bottom. Also identify the region this plant represents.
20
20
Pomegranate.
Grenada.
21
Two plays by Vijay Tendulkar have two-word titles with the second word being an occupation. Name them.
• A Brahmin from Aurangabad who moves to Pune to secure the favour of Nana Phadnavis.
• A central male character who doesn’t believe in marriage and who offers abandoned women food and shelter but with no good intentions.
21
Ghashiram Kotwal.
Sakharam Binder.
22
This building used to serve as the palace of the rulers of Awadh. Now it houses the Central Drug Research Institute. In which city would you find it? Identify the building that is named for the shape of its domes, said to represent a household implement. [BTW, the funky Nemo-esque contraption in the foreground was the royal boat.]
22
22
Lucknow.
Chattar Manzil / Umbrella Palace.
The End
Quickly go back over the questions. Swap answer sheets for corrections.
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