Wordgames  General  Championship  2011    

Hostel:           Names:  Rules:  

1. 3  hours  2. 3  member  team  3. Cell  phones  are  not  allowed.  Teams  will  be  immediately  disqualified  and  

the  hostel  will  be  penalized  -­‐5  GC  points  4. Talking  to  other  teams  is  not  allowed  5. Return  the  answer  sheet  and  the  artist  square  6.  Please  fill  the  answer  sheet  neatly.  It’s  a  pain  to  correct  otherwise  and  

you  will  probably  lose  points  if  it  is  illegible.      I)  Elementary,  my  dear  Watson!  Elemental  Chemists  are  recently  reviving  old  sciences  such  as  alchemy  after  hidden  material  in  their  notes.  Once  while  studying  the  action  of  acetone  on  carbonates  in  the  lab  or  on-­‐site  (in  technical  parlance),  the  chemists  discovered  a  new  way  of  extracting  elements.    The  method  involves  taking  a  higher  element,  removing  undesired  properties  to  form  a  residue,  which  resulted  in  a  lower  element.    Often,  the  extraction  required  in-­‐between  portions  to  be  removed.  The  chemists  were  quick  to  point  out  that  no  mixing  of  the  residue  in  anyway  was  required.  Also  more  than  one  lower  element  could  be  extracted  from  the  same  higher  element  by  removing  different  undesired  properties.  Can  you  extract  lower  elements  from  these?  (Keeping  in  mind  not  to  mix  the  element  in  any  way):  (5  points  for  each  lower  element)  1.Zirconium  2.Ytterbium  3.Copernicium  4.Protactinium  5.Rutherfordium    Chemists  are  also  giving  a  bonus  (20  points)  for  a  higher  element  that  has  a  lower  element  that  cannot  be  extracted  from  the  list  above.  The  above  passage  also  gives  another  method  to  extract  elements    

II)  Word  pairs  I  Give  a  pair  of  homophones  that  would  aptly  describe  the  phrase  below:  Eg.  Naked  pandas:  bare  bear  (10  points  each,  +10  bonus  for  all  correct)  

1. A  musical  act  that  got  too  lewd  2. A  sterile  nobleman  3. Renovate  the  church  4. Freedom  of  speech  5. Hangover  

     

III)  Naughty  and  Nice  Alphabetical  antonyms  Write  a  pair  of  words  that  are  opposite  of  each  other  and  start  with  the  same  letter.  Do  this  for  all  the  alphabets.  (2  points  each.  Starred  letters  are  worth  5  points  each,  +20  bonus  for  all  correct)  Starred  letters:  G,I,J,K,U,V,W,X,Y,Z    IV)  Of  Pro-­‐verbs  and  Anti-­‐verbs:  As  a  kid,  Aesop’s  fables  left  me  confused.  One  story  would  teach  me  something,  and  then  another  would  come  along  and  preach  the  exact  opposite!  No  wonder  my  moral  compass  is  spinning.  So  anyway,  can  you  give  the  anti-­‐verb  (i.e.  opposite  saying)  to  these  proverbs?  (10  points  each,  +10  bonus  for  all  correct)  

1. Actions  speak  louder  than  words    2. Too  many  cooks  spoil  the  broth  3. The  more,  the  merrier  4. The  bigger,  the  better  5. Opposites  attract  6. Nothing  ventured,  nothing  gained    

V)  Spell-­‐check  yourself  before  you  wreck  yourself!  Inspired  from:  

   In  the  following  passage  point  out  the  corrections  (Indicate  the  line  number.)  No  American  spellings.  Format  should  be  (incorrect  spelling/grammer)  à  correction)  (+5  for  each  correction,  -­‐2  if  you  make  an  incorrect  change)  Grammer  check!  Well,  there  are  alot  of  mistakes  in  this  paragraph.  Some  are  there  because  I  have  put  them  intentionally  but  most  because  I  have  imperfect  English.  So  if  your  able  to  find  ones  I  didn’t  think  of,  your  probably  right.  I’m  not  the  one  with  the  final  judgement  after  all.  I  will  be  following  the  Oxford  English  Dictionary  for  the  corrections,  so  if  OED  accepts  what  you  thought  was  a  mispelling,  hard  luck.  My  authority  is  superseded  by  it’s  higher  power.    Anyway,  let  me  ask  you  a  few:  Is  it  medieval  or  mediaeval?  Sieze  or  Seize?  Decieve  or  deceive?  Manoeuvre  or  manoeuver?  Did  you  

know  that  seperate  and  separate  are  both  acceptable?  So  are  coliseum  and  colloseum.  Anyhow,  I  think  I  made  enough  mistakes,  so  on  with  the  wordgames!    

VI)  Word  Pairs  II  Pros  and  cons  Fill  each  sentence  with  a  pair  of  pro/con  words.  (Need  not  be  opposites  of  each  other)  eg.  Profusion  –  confusion.    (5  points  each,  +10  bonus  for  all  correct)  

1. At  the  __________  ceremony  last  year,  a  fight  broke  out  between  the  B.techs  and  duals  without  any  ____________.  

2. Is  it  written  in  our  _____________,  that  ______________  is  illegal?  3. It  took  a  lot  of  effort  to  __________  the  prince  to  leave  the  ___________.  4. I  took  part  last  year  in    _________  against  child  talent  ________.  5. The  overall  ______________  of  the  cell  is  directly  propotional  to  

____________  of  silver.    

VII)  The  Alchemist  II  The  chemists  have  also  posed  another  problem:  Mendeleev  was  a  closet  wordsmith.  When  he  invented  the  periodic  table,  he  smartly  re-­‐arranged  symbols  of  elements  (some  were  yet  to  be  discovered)  to  form  the  phrase:  “The  Periodic  Table  of  Elements”  Can  you  identify  the  set  of  element  symbols,  which  when  anagrammed  would  give  the  above  phrase?  (10  points  for  each  unique  set.  Maximum  5)    VIII)  Quote  puzzle:  Quotes  have  been  broken  down  into  sets  of  three  letters  and  then  rearranged  alphabetically.  Re-­‐form  the  original  quote  (20  points  each,  +20  bonus  for  all  correct)  Numbers  in  parenthesis  indicate  length  of  words  Star  marked  indicates  the  letter  following  it  is  capital.  1. app ary ceb dis doe dog ear eca ent evi goo *Iob jec len lit man nit ood per por sis sto tem the the tto use vio whe

(1  6  2  8  7  4  2  7  2  2  4,  3  4  2  9;  3  4  2  4  2  9)    2. aba das dha dmo eal eat ed*t ega egi enw ers eve ewa fpe has heb he*u his ide *int lyr mad ngr ngt niv nni opl oto rde rya sbe scr ve yan

(2  3  9  3  8  3  7.  4  3  4  1  3  2  6  4  5  3  3  4  6  8  2  1  3  4)    3.    abo *afr alk caa edi ffe fri fTi ibl ica ion inc ing isa met nat oto pen red rom rsf se sea sho swe tal tha tsu uld ut*a *wes.  (2  5  1  3  2  4  7  5  6,  2  2  6.  6  2  1  6  4  7  4  10  7)    IX)  Very  punny!  (For  the  want  of  a  better  pun)  Cryptic  clues  based  on  puns.  Usually  the  clue  will  have  two  parts,  one  giving  the  actual  definition  and  another  definition  of  it’s  pun.  The  number  in  parenthesis  indicates  letters:  (10  points  for  each,  10  bonus)    

1.  Feel  the  lack  of  autumn  when  it  skips  almost  straight  from  summer  to  winter  (9)  2.  Worried  that  a  gift  won't  be  appreciated  and  so  you  won't  get  one  now  (7-­‐5)  3.  The  Cupid  who  creates  fires  (10)  4.  A  child's  toy  doctor  (7-­‐7)  5.  Clerk  who  doesn't  return  items  back  to  the  library  (10)    X.  Papa  Kehte  Hain…  (Word  Diamonds)  Many  of  you  must  have  heard  of  word  squares,  but  have  you  heard  of  word  diamonds?  It’s  a  secret  my  father  shared  with  me.  Very  Similar,  except  the  final  design  is  shaped  like  a  diamond.    Example:  

   Solve for 50 points (Mixed Bag: Straight and cryptic) 1. One third of a nap 2. Agency’s crazy lie 3. Jungle cat 4. Hissed, like soda 5. Went this way and that 6. Born in Brussels 7. Suitable for a king 8. Mad finish for home 9. Poor grade  XI)  Word  Pairs  III  Complete  these  couplets  with  a  pair  of  words  that  are  anagrams.  The  number  of  x’s  indicate  number  of  letters  (and  nothing  more!)  (5  points  each,  +10  for  getting  all)    eg.The  Gobi  tween  felt  severely  tested.        ”I  just  crossed  the  DESERT.  It’s  time  I  RESTED.”    1.Lovely  ladies,  acquire  some  wittiness.    You  can't  hope  to  get  by  on  xxxxxxxxxx  xxxxxxxxxx.    2.There  are  seven  ancient  wonders.  Right?    Add  an  xxxxxx?  Of  folly  that's  the  xxxxxx.    3.He  had  wine  by  the  case  of  vintage  stellar,    But  I  don't  xxxxxx  much  more  of  his  xxxxxx.    4.Birds  of  a  feather  flock  together,  you  knowest.    The  xxxxxx,  of  course,  flock  with  the  xxxxxx.  

 5.I  always  enjoy  a  good  British  farce,    But  I  cover  my  xxxx  when  they  say  "Up  your  xxxx."    6.Adding  pancake  syrup  to  your  staples?    Be  sure  to  xxxxxx  many  xxxxxx.    7.Try  to  be  solemn  when  reciting  Invictus.    Sucking  a  xxxxxx  will  give  a  nice  xxxxxx.    8.Forget  the  above  when  you're  writing  a  column.    It  seems  sucking  xxxxxx  will  make  you  too  xxxxxx.    9.The  sermon  was  not  exactly  arousing.    Pious  lines  and  xxxxxxxx  induce  Sunday  xxxxxxxx.    10.  Some  sn(e)aky  advice  from  an  Arab:    If  you  must  have  a  xxxxx,  do  not  feed  him  xxxxx.    XII)  DISTINCT  DOZEN  A  distinct  dozen  is  a  12-­‐letter  word  with  no  letters  repeated.  The  vowels  are  filled  in.  Complete  the  words  (10  points  each,  Bonus:  +10  for  getting  7,  +20  for  getting  10,  +30  for  getting  all)  

1. _ou_e_a_  _  i_  _  2. _ue_  _io_a_  _  _  3. a_  _i_e_  _  _  ou_  4. u_  _o_  _i_a_  _e  5. _o_    _i_e_a_  _  _  6. _  _  u  _  _e  _  _  _  a  _  _  7. _  a  _  _  ou_i_  _  e_  8. _  _  o_u_  _i_e_  _  9. _e_o_  _a  _  _  i_  _  10. u_  _  _  o_  i_  a_  _  e  11. _e_o_  _i_a_  _  _  12. _  a  _  _  _  u  _  _  _  ie_  

 XIII)  Word  Sticks  Imagine  if  I  didn’t  give  you  a  pen  to  write  this.  Just  a  set  of  sticks  (of  all  lengths)  Now  try  to  solve  the  questions  below.  (For  sake  of  uniformity,  the  curved  letters  use:  

   

1. Smallest  number  X  that  contains  the  X  number  of  sticks  when  written  in  words  (20  points)  

2. Smallest  word  that  can  be  formed  using    min.  21  sticks  [(7-­‐n)2x  5]    n<7    3. Longest  word  using  none  of  the  curved  letters  (n  x  2.5)  4. Longest  word  that  can  be  formed  using  max.  10  sticks    [(n-­‐4)2  x  5]  n>4  

 

 XIV)  Artistic  Square  This  is  not  a  cryptic  crossword;  it’s  art.  The  rules  are  slightly  difficult  so  read  carefully.    Firstly  there  are  no  across  and  down  clues  because  the  square  is  symmetric  (like  a  symmetric  matrix)  Each  row  (or  corresponding  column)  consists  of  a  string  of  12  letters.    You  will  obtain  these  12  letters  from  6-­‐letter  answers  to  two  cryptic  clues,  called  little  boy  and  FAT  MAN.    A  third  word  called  the  code  is  obtained  from  the  third  cryptic  clue.    The  number  in  parent  thesis  gives  the  number  of  letters  in  the  word.  The  code  gives  the  arrangement  of  the  letters  of  FAT  MAN  and  little  boy.  How  you  ask?  You  have  to  convert  the  code  to  its  morse  equivalent.  Then  put  the  letters  of  little  boy  in  place  of  the  dots  (in  order)  and  the  letters  of  FAT  MAN  in  place  of  the  dashes  thus  obtaining  the  12  letter  string.  Please  write  the  letters  of  FAT  MAN  in  UPPERCASE  and  little  boy  in  lowercase.  (15  points  for  each  string  +20  for  getting  all)    Morse  code:  

   Eg.  1  FAT  MAN:  STABLE                  Little  boy:  apples                  Code:  patted  Morse  for  patted  is:      

.-­‐-­‐..-­‐-­‐-­‐.-­‐..  From  which  we  get  aSTppABLlEes  the  string  of  12  letters    

1. code: Image  about  the  Norse  origins  is  a  mystery  (6) FAT MAN: SAMUEL

little boy: finley

2. code: Authentic ketchup bottles label (6)

FAT MAN: Fantastic verist endeavor

little boy: unrest in France: one art supporter left

out

3. code: One starts off from “Fun City” (5)

FAT MAN: Incorrectly tagged contraption

little boy: Mad sienna

4. code: first rebel in weak cause and it is

destroyed (5)

FAT MAN: Plaque bearing inscription of wild

battle

little boy: Poles placed on either side of privy to

smooth fabrics.

5. code: Mucus coating the end of Rousseau's nose

(5)

FAT MAN: breese

little boy: Reduce oral instruction, so we hear

6. code: Leave off sleeping costume (5)

FAT MAN: Extremely bad art houses showed a

movie

little boy: Engine with terminals made a painful

condition

7. code: Large number of pointless excesses in

ancient Rome (6)

FAT MAN: Note item returned for trade

little boy: Apply oil paint with no beginning and

no inside

8. code: Carried on when Degas turned west

instead of south (5)

FAT MAN: Imagine in the countryside, a

terpsichorean muse

little boy: Inter-net mob running amok in a

grave

9. code: FAT MAN night after 365 days (5)

FAT MAN: Dubious yarn used in knotted rug is

not so pretty

little boy: Men like Goya, Dali, and Rivera:

heartless old fellows

10. code: Crazy lament (6)

FAT MAN: Retreat is reversed after First Lady

made uniform

little boy: Cafeteria food, reportedly?

11. code: Strength is the east end of the stronghold

(5)

FAT MAN: Compounds in three-month periods,

missing the initial cut off

little boy: They agree with enemy's

organization (hyph.) 12. code: code (the names given might help) (5)

FAT MAN: A to Z of the message

little boy: Missing seaman delivered

I)Elementary:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Bonus:

II) Word pairs I 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

III) Naughty and Nice (please write in alphabetical order. One for each letter)

IV) Of proverbs and anti verbs:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

V) Spell check. (please number your corrections)

VI) Word Pairs II: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

VII) Alchemist:

VIII) Quotes:

1

2

3

IX) Very punny 1 2 3 4 5

X) Diamond

XI) Word pairs III

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

XII) 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

XIII) Word Sticks. 1 2 3 4