Freshers’ Quiz Finals

Ashoka University

• +10 / -10 on pounce

• +10 / -0 otherwise

• No tiebreakers; if everyone wins, then everyone loses

Round 1Find X.

The 38th episode of the first season of X is infamous for certain repetitive visual effects which induced

photosensitive epileptic seizures in a substantial number of viewers, an incident referred to as the "X

Shock” by the press. 685 viewers were taken to hospitals; two people remained hospitalized for more than two weeks. X then went on a four-month hiatus.

What is X?

1A

X: Pokémon

1A

X was inspired by Bild Lilli, a German cartoon character created by Reinhard Beuthien for a tabloid. Lilli was post-war, sassy and ambitious and had no reservations talking about sex. As she had her own job she earned her own money as a secretary but wasn't above hanging out with rich men. The cartoon always consisted of a picture of

Lilli talking to girlfriends, boyfriends, or her boss.

In 1959, an American businesswoman debuted X at a New York fair. What is X?

1B

X: Barbie

1B

X is one of the most beautiful structures in the world. It looks especially mesmerising at night, when it is lit up with thousands of lights. However, it is illegal to take pictures of

X at night.

What is X?

1C

X: The Eiffel Tower

1C

The search frequency of X has spiked in the last three months. Google instant suggests "3" when X is typed in.

What is X?

1D

X: Oneplus Two

1D

X was produced by Invisible Children, Inc. (authors of Invisible Children) and was released on March 5, 2012. It

was called the most viral video ever by TIME. X also called for an April 20 world wide canvassing campaign, called

"Cover the Night”.

What is X?

1E

X: Kony 2012

1E

Round 2More X. (And Y and Z.)

The existence of X and his strange friends is the result of radiation from nuclear arms testing that was performed on Y in the late 40's and early 50's. Since they possibly live near Y, the town is known as 'Y Z'.

Identify X, Y and Z in this fan theory.

2A

X: Spongebob Squarepants Y Z: Bikini Bottom

2A

Anand Mehta, is a 7-time national champion in bridge. He married an English lady, and his daughter X is a well-known pediatrician. His son-in-law Y is a

famous Member of Parliament.

Identify X and Y.

2B

X: Anjali Mehta Y: Sachin Tendulkar

2B

This is a text X by Y. Here are some clauses from this document:

• ______’s flag is a gold lion rampant on a field of azure and should never fly upside down, unless ______ is in distress.

• The X, like the American flag, cannot touch the ground.

• Y can call for an emergency meeting.

Identify X and Y.

2C

X: Roommate Agreement Y: Sheldon Cooper

2C

Aman (1967) is a movie about a UK trained doctor who volunteers to go to Japan to help deal with the horror of the radiation aftermath of Hiroshima and

Nagasaki. The doctor is granted an audience with a then 95-year old philosopher X, who gives him his blessing and offers a few words of wisdom. As an actor, X has only three degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon. X dabbled in Mathematics too, and

wrote a book on logic.

Who is X?

2D

Bertrand Russell

2D

Ever since the Premier League began from ’92, X has been the top scorer 17 times out of 23. X has

been beaten only 5 times, and Thierry Henry accounts for 3 of these defeats. Since 2005-06, X has always been the top scorer in each season.

Identify X.

2E

Own goal

2E

Round 3Connect

Connect.

3A

They’ve all been on Game of Thrones. • Julian Glover (Grand Maester Pycelle) • Conleth Hill (Lord Varys) • Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon)

3A

Connect.

3B

Country code top-level domains for popular websites.

• Belgium: .be youtu.be • Tuvalu: .tv justin.tv • Libya: .ly bit.ly • Federated States of Micronesia: .fm ask.fm

3B

Connect.

3C

Audrey Hepburn, Robert Lopez, and Whoopi Goldberg have all won the EGOT (Emmy,

Grammy, Oscar, Tony).

3C

Connect.

3D

They’re all cartoon characters named after people. • Hitmonchan: Jackie Chan • Buzz Lightyear: Buzz Aldrin • Scrooge McDuck: Ebenezer Scrooge

3D

Connect.

3E

All of them have scientific units named after them. • Nikola Tesla: tesla (T) • James Watt: watt (W) • Lord Kelvin: Kelvin (K)

3E

Round 4Everything else

Pine trees have four types of leaf:

• Seed leaves (green) • Juvenile leaves (green or blue-green) • Scale leaves (brown) • Needles, the adult leaves (green)

However, the Red Forest in Eastern Europe, formerly called the Wormwood Forest, has pine trees of a ginger-brown colour. Why?

4A

The trees turned red due to radiation from the Chernobyl disaster.

4A

Legend, a movie released in the UK

recently, stars Tom Hardy as the Kray twins, two

gangsters who terrorised London in the 1950’s and 60’s. This poster for the movie has been in the

news lately, and has been described as ‘cunning’, ‘clever’, and ‘deceptive’.

Why?

4B

The poster places the Guardian’s two star review strategically between the twins’ heads.

4B

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) is a biographical movie directed by Martin Scorsese, based on a memoir of the same name by Jordan Belfort. It shows his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government. Jordan is played by Leonardo DiCaprio, his business partner and friend Donnie is played by Jonah Hill, while Margot Robbie plays his second wife Naomi.

A clip from the movie follows, where DiCaprio is introduced as a motivational speaker. Identify the announcer.

4C

Jordan Belfort

4C

Three morphs of lizards cycle from the ultra- dominant polygynous orange-throated males,

which best the more monogamous mate guarding blues; the oranges are in turn bested by

the sneaker strategy of yellow-throated males, and the sneaker strategy of yellows is in turn

bested by the mate guarding strategy of blue- throated males.

What is this phenomenon called among zoologists?

4D

4D

RPS (Rock Paper Scissors) phenomenon

This event is happening in a couple

of hours. What is it?

4E

The Ig Nobel Awards

4E

Thanks for coming!