Mega-Whats 2014 The 5th National Open Quizzing Championships Conducted by The Karnataka Quiz Association Est. 1983 Set by Arun Hiregange and Kiran Vijayakumar

The Rules 1. +10/-5 on the pounce; +10 on the bounce 2. Part points available on the pounce 3. If you give one part correct and one part wrong, you get -5 4. If you just attempt one part and if youre wrong, you get -5 5. If you just attempt one part and if youre right, you get +5 (or as the case maybe)

The Design Three rounds: I. Written 5 II. Clockwise 24 III. Written 5 IV. Anti-clockwise 24

Written

1 This dark-blue colour, that also gives its name to this butterfly, gets its name from a person famous for his collection of diamonds that he willed to the French crown. You might also be familiar with his name in a literary context relating to purloined gems. Identify him.

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1 Cardinal Mazarin.

2 Identify the person. [Audio removed]

2 Yahya Khan.

3 Identify this location. [Video removed]

3 Hazrat Nizamuddins dargah.

4 It all started in 1965 with a gift of one item from the Hungarian ambassador to India. Later contributions came from people like Madame Tito, Queen Fredrika of Greece, the Queen of Thailand, the sister of the Shah of Iran, the wives of the Presidents of Mexico and Indonesia and so on. What?

4 Shankars Doll Museum.

5 What is blanked out on this first- day cover? The lady is a clue.

5 Param Vir Chakra.

Clockwise

1 Connect.

1

1 Different species of sharks (bull, leopard, tiger, nurse, hammer head, whale, milk, seal, epaulette).

2 Coober Predy golf course in Australia has absolutely no grass, so golfers carry around their own small patch of grass to tee off from. It also holds the distinction of being the only one in the world to have reciprocal rights with The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, Scotland. This sounds strange for a tiny club, but in exchange the town of Coober Predy had to give the rights to something to the Royal Ancient, something for which the town is called the ____ capital of the world. Fill the blank with a word of Sanskrit origin.

2

2 Opal.

3 This person was elected to the 4th (1967) and 5th (1971) Lok Sabha for Barmer constituency in Rajasthan, representing the Indian National Congress. In the 6th (1977) Lok Sabha he was elected from Pali consituency, representing the Janata Party. His Lok Sabha profile indicates that he translated the works of Gorky, Stalin, Lenin and Mao. However, what is he most famous for?

3

3 Amrit Nahata, director of Kissa Kursi Ka.

4 Calaf is an unknown prince who falls in love at first sight with a beautiful but cold princess. Any man who wants to marry her has to answer her 3 riddles. If he fails, he will be beheaded. Calaf has already answered the 3 riddles correctly. But she still recoils at the thought of marriage, so he offers her a chance to avoid it by challenging her to guess his name by dawn. If she does so, she can execute him - but if she does not, she must marry him. The cruel princess then orders her subjects to not rest until his name is discovered. If they fail, all will be killed. Calaf, while sitting alone in the moonlit palace gardens, hears the palace officials proclaiming her orders. What does he do at this point?

4 He sings Nessun Dorma (None shall sleep).

5 Quadruple song connect. [Audios removed]

5 All picturized at UNESCO World Heritage sites (Fatehpur Sikri, Chittorgarh Fort, Ellora Caves, Qutub Minar).

6 What instruction accompanies this xkcd cartoon?

6

6

6 To be sung to the tune of Modern Major-General Song.

7 Which 1913 book, written by an English economist, humourist and artist who was Deputy Lieutenant of the City of London and governor of the Bank of England, opens with these lines about the title character, a monster? Far! Far away, the ____ lives, in a land which only children can go to. It is a wonderful land of funny flowers, and birds, and hills of pure white heather. The ____ has a beautiful garden which is guarded night and day. All through the day he sleeps in a pool of water in the center of the garden; but when the night comes, he slowly crawls out of the pool and silently prowls around for food. All the birds try to avoid the ____, because they dont like him and he frightens them; but some of them he can never catch, especially those with the red beaks.

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7 The Google Book.

8 The British seventh armoured division saw service in North Africa during the Second World War and were famously known by this nickname, coming from their insignia. This animal is now a popular pet (left) whose name comes from the diminutive form of an unrelated desert rodent (right). Name both animals.

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8 Gerbil. Jerboa.

9 The individual gets the help of a monitor displaying a traffic light. For the first 75 seconds, the traffic light shows a green light, which then changes to yellow/orange. Also at this point a timer is shown to count down the remaining time. At the 30 second mark, the traffic light switches to red. The countdown continues and during this phase no communication is allowed. What are we talking about?

9 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

10 Listen carefully and figure out from whose viewpoint is this sung or what it is about. [Audio removed] Also fill the blanks in this extract from its lyrics: The law don't mean shit if you've got the right friends That's how the country's run ____ are the best friend I've ever had I fought the law And I won I fought the law and I won

10 Dan White who killed Harvey Milk. The lyrics go: Twinkies are the best friend I've ever had.

11 Some say it is the only mountain in the world with more than 900 temples. Most of them are administered by the Anandji Kalyanji Trust. Which place and who/what does the trust get its name from?

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11 Palitana. Anandji Kalyanji Trust joy and welfare of all.

12 On human odour, malaria mosquitoes, and ____, The Lancet, Volume 348, Issue 9037, Page 1322, by Bart G.J. Knols. The food item blanked out in the title of this interesting medical paper often makes it to lists of the worlds stinkiest food items. Unlike most other items on such lists it is not related to fermented or putrefied seafood. So what food item is this?

12 Limburger cheese.

13 In what way did this German-Austrian paediatrician lend his name to each of these Nobel prize winning works? 1958: Bacterial sex, and other ways bacteria can share genes with one another 1959: DNA replication, how life copies its genetic code 1965: Gene regulation, how genes are turned on or off 1968: The genetic code, the language in which our DNA is written 1969: Virus replication, how viruses reproduce inside cells 1978: Restriction enzymes, cellular "scissors" that allow scientists to cut DNA

13 1980: Recombinant DNA, the creation of the first genetically engineered DNA 1989: RNA as an enzyme, additional roles for RNA discovered 1997: ATP generation, how cells make ATP, the energy molecule that powers life 1999: Signal sequences on proteins, one way that cells organize themselves 2008: Green fluorescent protein, a tag scientists use to track cell components

13

13 All these Nobel prize winning studies were done using E. coli which are named after Theodor Escherich.

14 We know about the countries which depict their map on their national flags. There is another national flag which uses an asymmetric yellow triangle in the approximate shape of the country. Apart from this, the three points of the triangle are understood to stand for the three constituent people of the country. The stars are meant to be run infinitely and so they drop off the top and bottom edges. Which country?

14 BosniaHerzegovina.

15 There are other species of this animal e.g. Bairds, Brazilian and Mountain that are typically brown / grey / black. The one found in this habitat has different colouring from the others, having a distinctive white saddle-shaped marking on its back which is said to help it pass off as a large rock in its forest habitat. Which animal?

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15 Malay Tapir.

16 Connect the two visuals.

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16 Both come from scaph meaning ship (bathyscaphe, scaphoid bone).

17 This test is used to detect a specific DNA sequence in DNA samples. Other subsequent methods employ similar principles but use RNA or protein and have all been named as take-offs on the original test, which meant that they all ended up with geographical names. Few probably know that the original test was named after a British biologist Edwin _____ and has no geographical origins at all. What was the original test or just name a few of these tests?

17 Southern Blot Test after Edwin Southern. Others are called Northern Blot, Western Blot etc.

18 For the fiftieth anniversary of the Dagger Awards, a one-time award was given to this Golden Dagger winner regarded as the stand-out among all fifty winners over the history of the Crime Writers' Association. Identify the book, about which The Guardian observed: The paradox at the end of this superb, tough, highly sophisticated novel is that the protagonist, in refusing to [title], does in fact [title] as a person. His destruction is coincidental with his attainment. In his deliberate orchestration of his death he shows that he is a human being.

18 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carr.

19 Connect.

19 Normal job sail

19 Jenny (Spinning Jenny, Inverted Jenny, Jenny sail).

20 Which surname originates from Marathi words for family and writer, because the ____ was a village official under the headman who kept the public records for the village? The post used to be hereditary and often included keeping village accounts and agricultural tax records. Clue: the only Indian to record a certain feat in Test cricket.

20 Kulkarni, from kula (family) karna/karni (writer).

21 The original design included a revolving support that would allow both sides to be viewed. This explains why the hollow inside is more complex than one would expect: there is a depiction of electrons orbiting an atom around one eye and a symbol of a screen around another. This modern reverse side and the classical front taken from tragicomedy are intended to show the two faces of this industry. What are we talking about?

21 BAFTA award.

22 What does the letter x denote when prefixed to the species in a binomial scientific name? e.g. Citrus sinensis, Drosera anglica

22 Hybrid (x = cross).

23 Emily Dickinson wrote a poem deriding the clichs that the education system used to teach children. The opening verses went like this: Sic transit gloria mundi ___________________, Dum vivimus vivamus, I stay my enemy! Oh veni vidi vici! Oh caput cap-a-pie! And oh "memento mori" When I am far from thee.

23 The blanked-out line is taken from the title of a poem which parodied in a 19th century work, where its subject was changed from an insect to a reptile. What is the blanked-out line?

23 How doth the (little) busy bee. Lewis Carroll changed it to "How Doth the Little Crocodile" in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

24 Ice9 is described by Kurt Vonnegut in Cats Cradle as a fictional material with a freezing point well above ambient under normal atmospheric pressure. It was reportedly cooked up by a Nobel prize winner, famous for his work on surface chemistry and molecular structures, to entertain H. G. Wells when he visited General Electric's research laboratories in Schenectady in the 1930s. Vonnegut heard about this when he himself briefly worked in GE later. "I thought to myself: 'Finders, keepers,'" Vonnegut later recalled"'the idea is mine.'" Who was the surface chemist?

24 Irving Langmuir.

24 Irving Langmuir.

Written

1 In her 1977 autobiography, Agatha Christie revealed that the basic idea of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was first given to her by her brother-in-law, James Watts of Abney Hall, who suggested a novel in which the criminal would be a Dr. Watson character. In March 1924, she received an unsolicited letter with an idea that mirrored the Watts suggestion. She wrote the book but kept firmly to a plotline of her invention. In December 1969, the sender of the earlier letter wrote for a second time after having seen a performance of The Mousetrap. He mentioned his earlier letter and Christie replied acknowledging the part he played in the conception of the book. Who was the sender of the letters spaced 45 years apart?

1 Lord Mountbatten.

2 Quoting Wikipedia: The ____ of Belgium and France is a group of 56 historical buildings designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site, in recognition of an architectural manifestation of emerging civic independence in historic Flanders and neighbouring regions from feudal and religious influences, leading to a degree of local democracy of great significance in the history of humankind. What single word fills up the blank? Examples of buildings follow.

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2

2 Belfries.

3 This simple microscope was his first commercially successful product. His collaboration with physicist Ernst Abbe and chemist Otto Schott helped him make compound microscopes and then into other optical instruments. A company named after him exists to this date. Who?

3

3 Carl Zeiss.

4 A ____ lens is an ultra wide-angle lens that produces strong visual distortion intended to create a wide panoramic or hemispherical image. It works based on a phenomenon known as Snell's window. What term, inspired by a view from beneath the water, coined in 1906 by American physicist and inventor Robert W. Wood are we looking for?

4

4 Fisheye.

5 In 1869, how/where did Norman Lockyer use the missing word from this 1823 William Wordsworth poem? A volant Tribe of Bards on earth are found, Who, while the flattering Zephyrs round them play, On "coignes of vantage" hang their nests of clay; How quickly from that aery hold unbound, Dust for oblivion! To the solid ground Of ____ trusts the Mind that builds for aye; Convinced that there, there only, she can lay Secure foundations. As the year runs round, Apart she toils within the chosen ring; While the stars shine, or while day's purple eye Is gently closing with the flowers of spring; Where even the motion of an Angel's wing Would interrupt the intense tranquillity Of silent hills, and more than silent sky.

5 For the title of Nature journal.

Anti-clockwise

1 Tirumalamba, a poet of the Vijayanagara Empire wrote Varadambica Parinayam, the story of marriage of King Achyuta Deva Raya. In this Sanskrit work, one will come across a section which can be translated as shown here. What is the significance or claim to fame of this section?

1 In it, the distress, caused by thirst, to travellers, was alleviated by clusters of rays of the bright eyes of the girls; the rays that were shaming the currents of light, sweet and cold water charged with the strong fragrance of cardamom, clove, saffron, camphor and musk and flowing out of the pitchers (held in) the lotus-like hands of maidens (seated in) the beautiful water-sheds, made of the thick roots of vetiver mixed with marjoram, (and built near) the foot, covered with heaps of couch-like soft sand, of the clusters of newly sprouting mango trees, which constantly darkened the intermediate space of the quarters, and which looked all the more charming on account of the trickling drops of the floral juice, which thus caused the delusion of a row of thick rainy clouds, densely filled with abundant nectar."

1 The longest word ever to appear in worldwide literature. "nirantarndhakrit-digantara-kandaladamanda- sudhrasa-bindu-sndratara-ghanghana-vrnda- sandehakara-syandamna-makaranda-bindu- bandhuratara-mkanda-taru-kula-talpa-kalpa-mrdula- sikat-jla-jaila-mla-tala-maruvaka-miladalaghu- laghu-laya-kalita-ramaya-pnya-lik-blik- karra-vinda-galantik-galadel-lavaga-pala- ghanasra-kastriktisaurabha-medura-laghutara- madhura-talatara-saliladhr-nirkariu-tadya- vimala-vilocana-maykha-rekhpasrita-pipsysa- pathika-lokn is a single word made up of 431 letters.

2 What is the Flemish name for Tintin (in the Belgian version of the comic)? Why is it considered as one of the most apt translations of his name?

2 Kuifje. It is the diminutive form of kuif" meaning a tuft of hair styled straight up at the forehead (i.e., a quiff in English).

3 Who drew these illustrations for the first edition (July 1888) of A Study in Scarlet? How did Conan Doyle pay tribute to him in His Last Bow?

3

3 Charles Altamont Doyle, Conan Doyles father. The spy alias Sherlock Holmes assumes in the story is Altamont.

4 How would you connect an annual celebration for the person in Visual 1 to the model in Visual 2?

4

4 Fforde Ffiesta, the annual celebration for Jasper FForde.

5 This colour was introduced by Crayola in 1958 and got named after place where the basic pigment originated from. Over the years, teachers began to worry that children would see the crayon as a reference to skin colour of Native Americans due to the name association. In 1999, the name was changedbut came with a warning to children that, despite the famous song, these should never be roasted over an open fire. Identify the old name, and also the new name that would be familiar to seasoned quizzers.

5

5 Indian Red. Chestnut.

6 Joop ter Heul was a fictional character in a series of five books written for teenage girls by Dutch novelist Setske de Haan (1889-1948), under the pen name Cissy van Marxveldt. Joop was high-spirited, headstrong and stubborn. Names of its characters such as Pop, Phien, Emmy, Marianne, Jetty, Loutje, Conny and Jackie were originally used for a series of entries from September 25, 1942 until November 13, 1942. Later, all these were replaced by possibly another character ____ Francken. What replacement are we talking about? Who was inspired by this series of books to make the entries?

6

6 Anne Franks diary. All published versions start the entries with Dear Kitty.

7 The Battle of Chapultepec, in September 1847, was a United States victory over Mexican forces holding Chapultepec Castle west of Mexico City during the Mexican-American War. The Battle of Derne in 1805 was a United States victory against the forces of Tripoli during the First Barbary War. It was the first recorded land battle of the United States fought overseas. Where can you find these two engagements commemorated together?

7 The Marines' Hymn or the hymn of the United States Marine Corps. From the Halls of Montezuma To the shores of Tripoli; We fight our country's battles In the air, on land, and sea; First to fight for right and freedom And to keep our honor clean; We are proud to claim the title Of United States Marine.

8 According to a legend (some sources suggest the specific occasion was the Battle of Largs of 1263), an invading Norse army was attempting to sneak up at night upon a Scottish army's encampment. During this operation one barefoot Norseman had the misfortune to step upon a ____, causing him to cry out in pain, thus alerting Scots to the presence of the Norse invaders. What thus became the national emblem of Scotland? Where would quizzers have come across a form of this symbolism?

8 Thistle. The logo of Encyclopdia Britannica.

9 Edward Byles Cowell was the first professor of Sanskrit at Cambridge University. From 1856-1867 he lived in Calcutta as professor of English history at Presidency College. In March 1857, he discovered a manuscript of in the Asiatic Society's library and sent a copy to London for his friend and student who then translated it. A part of it was first published in the Calcutta Review (1858). In January 1859, the complete translation was published as a pamphlet anonymously. It attracted no attention till 1861, when Dante Gabriel Rossetti discovered it. Later day writers like Nevil Shute, James Michener, Agatha Christie and Eugene ONeill borrowed titles of their works from it. Who and what work?

9 Edward FitzGerald. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

10 The palace gets its common name from the 122 horses that are carved into the wooden wall brackets that support its southern roof. What event is conducted here from 6 to 12 January every year?

10

10

10 Swathi Sangeethotsavam (Swathi Thirunal Music Festival) at the Kuthira Malika Palace, Thiruvananthapuram.

11 What connects the following phrases: caught red- handed, cold shoulder, blood is thicker than water, flotsam and jetsam, go berserk, infra dig, lock, stock and barrel, savoir faire, strain at the leash, the apple of my eye, the back of beyond, tongue in cheek and wide berth?

11 All were coined/popularized by Sir Walter Scott.

12 It was once assumed that oysters were only safe to eat in the summer months of the year. This myth is based in truth, in that in the Northern Hemisphere, oysters are much more likely to spoil in May, June, July, and August when there is no refrigeration. Another reason has to do with red tides, vast blooms of algae that collect along coastlines, usually in warm weather. They can spread toxins that are soaked up by oysters, clams and mussels. What mnemonic was devised for people to remember the safe months?

12 Oysters were only safe to eat in months with the letter r in their English and French names.

13 From the tracks of the Mars Curiosity Rover. What are these curiously shaped patterns? What purpose do they serve (other than help in maintaining traction)?

13

13 Morse code for JPL. The pattern is used by on- board cameras to judge the distance traveled.

14 Two words, both meaning country bumpkin, owe their origins to typical names used by awkward provincial people. The English one was used as early as the mid-sixteenth century. The German one was used much later, probably in the nineteenth century. But we know it for a completely different connotation it took in the twentieth century. Identify both words and the respective names from which they originated.

14 Hick from Richard. Nazi from Ignatius/Ignatz.

15 Each of the five known manuscript copies of it is named for the person who received it from the main person associated with it. A copy was given to each of his private secretaries, John Nicolay and John Hay. The other three copies, the Everett, Bancroft, and Bliss copies, were written by for charitable purposes later. In part because he provided a title and signed and dated the Bliss copy, it has become the standard text. What are we talking about? It also fills the blank in this program list.

15 Music, by Birgfeld's Band Prayer, by Reverend T.H. Stockton, D.D. Music, by the Marine Band Oration, by Hon. Edward Everett Music, Hymn composed by B.B. French, Esq. ____________________ Dirge, sung by Choir selected for the occasion Benediction, by Reverend H.L. Baugher, D.D.

15 The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.

16 Patriots' Day is celebrated in the USA annually on the third Monday of April to commemorate the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Since 1903, the Boston Red Sox play a home game on this day at Fenway Park, starting at 11:05 am. Why is this match held at this particular time?

16 When the game ends, the match crowd empties into Kenmore Square to cheer as the Boston Marathon runners as they enter the final mile.

17 Zubin Mehta conducted a historic production of Tosca in 1992. This production starred Catherine Malfitano in the title role, Plcido Domingo as Cavaradossi and Ruggero Raimondi as Baron Scarpia. Act I was telecast live from Rome's basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle on Saturday, 11 July, at noon; act II was telecast later that evening from the Palazzo Farnese at 9:40 p.m.; act III was telecast live on Sunday, 12 July, at 7:00 am from the Castel Sant'Angelo, also known as Hadrian's Tomb. What was so special about this production?

17 Each act took place in the actual setting and at the actual time specified in the score.

18 These birds in the genus Cephalopterus are found in rainforests of Central and South America. What common name is given to them on account of their colour and appearance, especially the conspicuous crest on the top of their head and the long wattle?

18

18 Umbrella bird.

19 In USA, there are only 5 natural features with this peculiarity: Martha's Vineyard (after an extensive local campaign); Ike's Point in New Jersey (because it would be unrecognizable otherwise); John E's Pond in Rhode Island (because otherwise it would be confused as John S Pond); and Carlos Elmer's Joshua View (at the specific request of the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names because otherwise three apparently given names in succession would dilute the meaning) and Clarks Mountain in Oregon (at the request of the Oregon Board to correspond with the personal references of Lewis and Clark). What are we talking about?

19 The use of possessive apostrophes in names.

20 In December 2013, the Equality (Titles) Bill was introduced in the House of Lords by The Lord Lucas and Dingwall. It was a bill that would end a measure of gender discrimination and allow for equal succession of female heirs to hereditary titles and peerages. (As of now, these can only be passed to male heirs.) It has had two readings; the Queen consented to the bill's procession. The UK press and media saw a parallel in this and gave an affectionate name to this bill. What?

20 Downton law / Downton Abbey law. In Downton Abbey, the character of Lady Mary, the eldest daughter of the drama's fictional earl, was unable to inherit the family seat because it had to pass to a male heir.

21 What contest is this person talking about? [Video removed]

21 Memory contest.

22 What does this set of nine memorials in Birmingham commemorate? Alternatively, what connects Josiah Wedgwood, Erasmus Darwin, Samuel Galton, William Murdock, Matthew Boulton, James Watt, Joseph Priestley, James Keir and William Withering?

22

22 The Lunar Society.

23 He signed a two-page-spread ad in the July 31, 1979, Wall Street Journal with the headline "I was the only victim of Three-Mile Island". It opened with: On May 7, a few weeks after the accident at Three-Mile Island, I was in Washington. I was there to refute some of that propaganda that Ralph Nader, ____ and their kind are spewing to the news media in their attempt to frighten people away from nuclear power. I am 71 years old, and I was working 20 hours a day. The strain was too much. The next day, I suffered a heart attack. You might say that I was the only one whose health was affected by that reactor near Harrisburg. No, that would be wrong. It was not the reactor. It was ____. Reactors are not dangerous. Who? Whom did he blame?

23

23 Dr. Edward Teller. Jane Fonda.

24 In 1949, he wrote a set of humorous verses to accompany a Columbia Masterworks recording of this musical work conducted by Andre Kostelanetz. Recited on the original album by Nol Coward, they are now often included when the work is performed. Identify him, the musical work and the composer with the help of this introduction.

24 _________________ Was wracked with pains, When people addressed him, As ____ ____. He held the human race to blame, Because it could not pronounce his name. So, he turned with metronome and fife, To glorify other kinds of life. Be quiet please - for here begins His salute to feathers, fur, and fins.

24 Ogden Nash. Carnival of the Animals. Camille Saint-Sans.

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