Mood Indigo 2013 - Conundrums - Pune Finals

conundrums . mood indigo 2013 . pune

Mood Indigo

ConundrumsThe general quiz

Pune FinalsOct 2013

J. Ramanand + Harish Kumar


This was the Pune Round of Conundrums 2013(the General Quiz) as part of

Omniscience, Mood Indigo 2013


3 RoundsRound 1: PassingRound 2: What’s The Game of the

Name?Round 3: Passing

Top 2 teams qualify for the Semis

Tie break systemPrelims bonus points


Round 1: Passing

Infinite Rebounds +10

one-finite Pounce+10/0


Cover of the September 2010 issue of Granta.

The issue focused on Pakistani literature.

This cover art was created by the artist Islam Gull from Karachi.

What is his primary medium on which he makes his art?Image: Granta


Answer

Trucks, buses (or public transport vehicles)


Tea tasting is as involved a process as wine tasting.

Tea tasters will swill tea, taste it, spit it etc.

In the dictionary of tea tasters, what word is defined as “the liquid which is left after removing the leaves from the water”?

…whose taste can be characterised with words such as bright, hard, smoky, winey etc.?Image: PhilHopkins.co.uk


Answer

“Liquor”


This poet wrote in both Hindi and Urdu, some under the names "Ram" and "Agyaat". But most of us know by another penname. He was hanged to death at Gorakhpur Jail. Who?


Answer

Ramprasad ‘Bismil’, who participated in the Kakori conspiracy. The song “Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna” is often attributed to him.


This hillock is actually manmade: it is called “The Lion's Mound” and was built by King William I of The Netherlands in the 1820s.

It marks the spot where his son was knocked down by a musket shot on 18th June, 1815.

Where is this located?Image: Wikipedia


Answer

Waterloo

Image: Wikipedia


In 2002*, the Royal Society of Chemistry awarded an "Extraordinary Honorary Fellowship" to him, saying:

“Our particular interest is his love of chemistry, and the way that he wielded such knowledge for the public good, employing it dispassionately and analytically. He also embodied other personal traits that society seeks in today's law officers - personal rectitude and courage.”

Who?


Answer

Sherlock Holmes; (2002 was also the centenary of the Hound of the Baskervilles)


“Scriptura Continua”

One of the earliest styles of writing in Greek and Latin

Particularly used in writing on scrolls which were used as aids to verbal performances (such as recitations etc.).

What is the main difference between this and the writing as we know it today?


Answer

Suchwritinghasnospacesandotherpunctuationsbecauseitwasintendedtobereadbypeoplewhoalreadyknewthetextandjustneededareminderandnotsomeonereadingitforthefirsttime

Image: Wikipedia


On the women's side, Thirush Kamini was the first to achieve this, doing so on January 31, 2013.

The male equivalent was first achieved on 18 June, 1983.

What is this, and name the male equivalent?


Answer

Kapil Dev, 1st Indian ODI World Cup hundred


“The History of English in a 100 words” is a book by David Crystal.

It attempts to tell the story of English via the history of a hundred different words.

Examples are: “And”, “Riddle”, “Street”, “Jail”, etc.

There is only one word of Indian origin. A famous slang term for something related to this word apparently comes from the fact that “it can fit into a suitcase”.

What word?


Answer

“lakh”

(the synonym being “peti” for a lakh of rupees in Bambaiyya/underworld slang)


This syndrome was named after a Greek philosopher.

The syndrome applies to gross self-neglect in old age accompanied by social withdrawal, apathy, hoarding rubbish etc.

Some scientists say that the philosopher was actually happy, was only a minimalist and only advocated self-sufficiency.

Which philosopher?Image: Healthline.com


Answer

Diogenes, who was said to live in a large jar in the open.Image: http://www.beyond-the-pale.co.uk/diogenes.htm

http://www.beyond-the-pale.co.uk/diogenes.htm


This is the poster of the film “Celluloid Man”, directed by Shivendra Dungarpur.

It chronicles the career of P.K.Nair, who was the founder of which institution?

Image: Wikipedia


Answer

National Film Archives of India, Pune


Round 2: What’s the Game of the Name?

5 questions on Sobriquets & Nicknames

Written Round+10/0 +5 Bonus


Sobriquet common to all these authors?


Answer

“Queen of Crime”


One word nickname common to all these people?The Nawab

of Bhopal until 1971

Bill O’Reilly,Aussie

cricketer

OR

Georges Clemenceau


Answer

“Tiger”

Tiger O’ReillyTiger PataudiTiger MemonGeorges “Le Tiger” Clemenceau


What sobriquet is common to these men?

Sri Lanka: Don Senanayake

Tanzania: Julius Nyerere

Guyana: Chedi Jagan

Mauritius : Seewoosagur Ramgoolam


Answer

“Father of the Nation”


The University of Allahabad

The University of Dhaka

___one more city in India (perhaps the best known with this sobriquet)__The original


Answer

“Oxford of the East”, Pune


• Namie Amura/Seiko Matsuda is the Japanese ____

• Anita Mui is the Asian ___• Paulina Rubio/Yuri/Selena/Gloria Trevi is the

Mexican ___• Sa Dingding/Ayi Jihu/ is the Chinese ___• Sandra is the German ___• Gloria Estefan/Shakira is the Latin ___• Missy Elliott is the Hip-Hop ____• Brenda Fassie is the Black ___


Answer

Madonna; each of them has been dubbed/marketed as the local Madonna equivalent.


Round 3: Passing in Reverse

Infinite Rebounds +10

one-finite Pounce+10/0


“No talking to cashier/ No smoking/ No fighting/ No credit/ No outside food/ No sitting long/ No talking loud/ No spitting/ No bargaining/ No water to outsiders/ No change/ No telephone/ No match sticks/ No discussing gambling/ No newspaper/ No combing/ No beef/ No leg on chair/ No hard liquor allowed/ No address enquiry/ — By order.”

About what did Nissim Ezekiel write this poem?"


Answer

Irani Cafes


This method is used by water polo and synchronized swimmers to help free their hands. Its name comes from a domestic appliance. What?

“The swimmer rotates his legs circularly while keeping their feet arched and angled, causing water above their foot to move faster than the water under their foot. Due to Bernoulli's principle, the faster-moving water has a lower pressure than the slower-moving water. This difference in pressure between the moving water and the surrounding water creates a force, propelling the swimmer upwards. The faster the swimmer's feet move, the more upward propulsion he or she receives.” (Wikipedia)

Image:Brian Wi http://www.personal.psu.edu/ybw5000/blogs/la101h

http://www.personal.psu.edu/ybw5000/blogs/la101h

http://www.personal.psu.edu/ybw5000/blogs/la101h


Answer

Eggbeater kick


This Mediterranean dish is called “Baba Ghanouj” or Baba Ghanoush”. Literally translated, it means: “Spoiled Father”

The name’s various interpretations: a father who spoils his children by feeding them such a tasty

starter a dish that will spoil the father

“Ghanouj” or ‘spoiled’ is said to have come from the stone used to mash the main vegetable and the spices used in the recipe. Traditionally, the vegetable is grilled.

What is the closest Indian version in which the same vegetable and method of preparation is used?


Answer

Baingan ka Bharta


“Anonymous” was the name of a 2011 film that is based on a school of thought known as the “Oxfordian theory”, where “Oxford” refers to the 17th Earl of Oxford.

What is this theory?


Answer

That Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, was the true author of works attributed to William Shakespeare.


In computer science, a randomized algorithm selects the input randomly in the hope of getting faster or better outcomes. Such algorithms are classified into two categories, which are named after two famous cities (one in Europe and one in the US).

Which cities, and what is the reason behind the choice?


Answer

Las Vegas and Monte Carlo, for being centres of gambling


Donna Nelson is a professor at the University of Oklahoma.

She read a person’s interview in the American Chemistry Society's magazine who talked about using the Internet and Wikipedia for research.

She got in touch with him and offered her expertise, helping to make things realistic, yet leaving out key details.

What did Nelson help with?


Answer The interviewee was Vince Gilligan, the

creator of “Breaking Bad”. In addition to her advice, Nelson's notes appear as questions on the class room board.


Typically, by what names are the two halves of the service box in a tennis court called?


Answer

Advantage and Deuce courts/sides because of where a player would be when the score would be at Deuce or Advantage.


The producer initially convinced this sportsperson to act in this 2013 movie but he characteristically back-tracked later, citing elders from his tribe didn't approve of it. However, he let them use his name. After the release of the film, he was upset by scenes of the hero hugging and kissing the heroine and demanded the movie be edited.

Name the film.


Answer


The “pula” is the currency of Botswana.

What does the word mean in the local Setswana language, denoting something that is very valuable in that region?


Answer

Rain. Botswana is prone to drought.


Before we end

Feedback at [email protected] blog at Infinite Zounds

Omniscience Quizzes at Mood Indigo in Dec 2013 at Mumbai

Thanks to COEP for the venue


The poet Alexander Pope wrote: “Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night/ God said, 'Let X Be!' and all was light.”

Many years later, John Collings Squire wrote: “It did not last; the Devil howling 'Ho! / Let Y Be!' restored the status quo."

Then, many years since, Jagdish Mehra wrote: “God Rolled his dice, to Y's great dismay/ 'Let Z Be!' and all was clear as day.”

Who are X, Y, Z?


Answer

Isaac NewtonAlbert EinsteinRichard Feynman

Mood Indigo 2013 - Conundrums - Pune Finals

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