Mood Indigo 2013 - Conundrums - Pune Finals

Mood Indigo

Conundrums
The general quiz
Pune Finals
Oct 2013
J. Ramanand + Harish Kumar
conundrums . mood indigo 2013 . pune

This was the Pune Round of
Conundrums 2013(the General
Quiz) as part of Omniscience,
Mood Indigo 2013


3 Rounds
Round 1: Passing
Round 2: What’s The Game of the Name?
Round 3: Passing
Top 2 teams qualify for the Semis

Tie break system
Prelims 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

Suchwritinghasnospacesandotherpu
nctuationsbecauseitwasintendedtob
ereadbypeoplewhoalreadyknewthete
xtandjustneededareminderandnotso
meonereadingitforthefirsttime

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 selfneglect 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


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”


Bill O’Reilly,
Aussie
cricketer

The Nawab
of Bhopal
until 1971

OR

Georges
Clemenceau


One word
nickname
common to all
these people?

Answer
“Tiger”
Tiger O’Reilly
Tiger Pataudi
Tiger Memon
Georges “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/la1
01h


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 ramanand@gmail.com
I 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 Newton
Albert Einstein
Richard Feynman


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