Thursday, April 12, 2007

Report on the quiz on 8th April

This sunday witnessed an excellent quiz done by Diwakar and Bhargava. Diwakar's questions were easily workoutable, while Bhargava's question bordered around things that had been in the news recently. Diwakar decided to hark back to the days of good ol' directs and pass questions which was different from the usual Infinite Bounce format. JK seemed to be in awesome form and cracked stuff left right and center.The standings were as follows:

1st: JK, Kanna Ramasubramanian and Praneet
2nd:Srinivas Majji, Ravi Mundoli, Rohit and Shikha Kumar
3rd :Uday,Akshat,Lalit and Nitish

The end of the quiz saw a serious reversal of sorts with Nitish, Uday,Akshat and Lalit coming from behind to tie for 3rd place with team comprising of Anil,Sumant and Srinagesh. The tie breaker saw them breaking the deadlock by indentifying a visual of Henry Luce on a Time magazine cover to sneak into 3rd place. Overall a thoroughly enjoyable quiz.
The next quiz has been scheduled for the 13th of May and will be done by Nitish.
Will be posting some questions from this quiz soon.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Quiz on April 8th

The next quiz is on Sunday, the 8th of April. Here are the details:

QMs: Diwakar Pingle and EM Bhargava. Diwakar is a founder member of QFI-Chennai, who has among other things been the quizmaster of Odyssey Open Quiz in 2007.Bhargava has podium finishes in some of the biggest open quizzes in India (Odyssey Open and Landmark Open) to his credit. They also teamed up to finish 3rd in the recent Brand Equity Quiz – Hyderabad

Venue: Orchids International School, Road No 36 Jubilee Hills

Directions to the venue: From Jubilee Hills Checkpost, keep coming down the road that leads to Cyber Towers. This is Road No 36. On the left you will pass by Trinethra, Barista etc and then you will find an IBP Petrol Pump. Orchids International is the first building after the Petrol bunk on the left.

Date and Time: 8th April 2007, 10:00 am

Format: Same as last time. Random teams.

Prizes: Gift vouchers from Odyssey Bookstore.

Entry Fee: Rs 25 per person.

See you all there!

Monday, April 2, 2007

Questions from the first quiz!

Here are some questions from the first quiz:

1. It was first commissioned by The Times (London) newspaper in 1931 and designed by Stanley Morison together with Starling Burgess and Victor Lardent. It was commissioned to address the problems of high-speed printing on low quality newsprint. What am I talking about?

A: The font Times New Roman

2.Which finely woven cotton fabric sometimes associated with femininity derives its name from an Iraqi city, even though it originated in Dhaka in modern-day Bangladesh?

A: Muslin


3. In the midst of the depression, this person opened his first restaurant in the small front room of a gas station in Corbin. He served as station operator, chief cook and cashier and named the dining area "___________ Court & Café." In 1936 Governor Ruby Laffoon of that place made him an honorary Colonel in recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine. Who am I talking about?

A. Col Sanders of KFC fame

4. It originally meant a glass vial of cyanide salts carried by various spies throughout history, and by Nazi leaders in WWII. Spies could take them when discovered, eliminating any possibility that they could be interrogated for the enemy's gain. It has since become a term referring to any strategy, generally in business or politics, to increase the likelihood of negative results over positive ones for anyone who attempts any kind of takeover. What term?

A: Poison pill

5. ________ Van Der Heijden was a Belgian aristocrat turned art thief, who stole 7000000 Swiss Francs in 1954, and is most notable for the theft of seven Pierre-Auguste Renoir paintings from the Louvre in Paris, France in 1961. His theft of the art pieces serves as the inspiration for what?

A: The movie Thomas Crown Affair.

6.It is a delicacy of the central Bihar region, made from grilled gram flour flakes which are sweetened, mixed with almonds, pressed into balls and fried in ghee. Originally from Maner, a small town near Patna, it is now made and enjoyed throughout India. It is a traditional gift at weddings, engagements and births. Which delicacy?

A: Moti Choor ke Laddoo.

7. What is constituted by Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Sandals of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation, and Sword of the Spirit?

A: The Armor of God.

8. King Yayati had two wives, Devayani, the daughter of Shukra of the Bhrigu seers, and Sharmishta, the daughter of Vrisha Parvan, king of the Asuras. He had five sons - Turvasha and Yadu were sons by Devayani; Anu, Druhyu and Puru were sons by Sharmishta. The descendents of these five sons viz. Yadavas from Yadu, Paurav from Purus etc. give the five most ancient Vedic Kshatriya tribes. What was the common name given to these five most ancient Kshatriya tribes?

A: Panchajanya.

9.This company last year tied up with a supplier in Minnesota, made them sign a confidentiality agreement before placing an order for 6,965,000 pieces of reflective Mylar. Which company and what was the purpose?

A: The Time magazine. For their year ending 2006 issue cover, wherein they announced the Time Man of the Year 2006 to be "You", they wanted a material in which the person looking at the cover would see their own reflection and hence they bought all this mylar.

10.This term / phrase means a list of tunes - songs and instrumentals - that are most popular at any given time. The term originated in the late 1930s and has also been used for broadcast programs featuring hit tunes which were broadcast on radio and television in the US for many years. What term?

A: Hit Parade.

11.This fort was built by the Adil Shah of Bijapur on the southern headland of the _________ River. It was also known as "Shahpur" and is now mostly ruined. It has a commanding view of the Vagator beach and is near to Anjunan beach. It was built by the Portuguese in 1617 on the site of an earlier Muslim structure. Deserted in the 19th century, it lies in ruins today, although they still make for superb views. Which fort?

A: This is the fort made immensely popular by the film, Dil Chahta Hai. The fort is called Chapora Fort.