Open quiz on 8th of February

The next quiz by HQC is on Sunday, the 8th of February.

Here are the details:

Quizmaster: Diwakar Pingle.

To borrow from Dharam paaji in Johnny Gaddaar, "It's not the age, it's the mileage." Like the pater familias he is, Diwakar has provoked feelings of fear, respect, admiration, and dare we say it, affection in the hearts and minds of quizzers across the peninsular and insular subcontinent for the better part of 2 decades. Many a callow lad has embarked on his quizzing career quivering in terror as the Ping's teammate, and having bashed on regardless through fire and brimstone, emerged on the other side as a fine quizzer and leader. Their experience is perhaps best described via General Freiherr Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg letter to Generalsfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel in July, 1944: "The recent battles in a theater of quizzing more exacting than any I had hitherto experienced have, in addition to providing me with my posting...and uniting me in purpose with yourself, wrought an inner change in me. Your quizzerly qualities and experience have transformed the temper of my obediance into something different and finer than the effort of will it had hitherto been. I feel I may ask you, Herr Field Marshal, to accept my thanks for the confidence you placed in me in those brief hard days of quizzing which we went through together..."

He has founded quizzing organizations in more than one city, helped foster and nourish them through a careful combination of carrot and stick (bludgeon, actually) and has set questions for some of the finest quizzes in recent memory. While he claims to specialize in sports, buisness, nature and science, ever so often he will whip out a completely uncharacteristic stunner of an answer involving wildebeest, Evil Kanievel (we don't even know how to spell it) and Raveena Tandon. Quite apart from quizzing, his sports mania now runs to running, and he has many half marathons under his belt (even if it doesn't show over the belt!).

Whew. What we're basically trying to say is that the man is ji heera hai heera. We hear he's doing a westward ho in a few months, and we will sorely miss his organizational skills and his ability to get us off our collective butts into doing something. Here's to you, old man; there's a reason why they say "Ping is King"!


Date: 8 February 2008, Sunday

Time: Please be at the venue by 10:30 a.m. for registration. Seating will be on a first come first served basis. The quiz will begin at 11:00 a.m. sharp.

Venue:
Innobox Systems Pvt Ltd.
#G19, Ground Floor,
Swarnajayanthi Complex,
SR Nagar, Hyderabad -73
(see below for directions)

Format: Team quiz - Teams of 3 (or more) will be chosen from the participants at random.

Entry: A contribution of Rs. 25 per head.

Prizes: Gift vouchers worth Rs 1500/-

Directions: From Punjagutta, take the road that goes towards Ameerpet. Cross the Fantoosh-greenlands road junction. Keep going on the road till you see HUDA Complex- Maitrivanam on the RIGHT. Swarnajayanti Complex is the complex immediately after the HUDA complex on the RIGHT.

Contact: Nitish (98856 79460) and Ravi (94418 86489)

Few questions from the quiz on the 11th of January

Here are some of the questions from yet another blockbuster quiz at HQC on the 14th of October done by Praveen.

1. Chewits,a British confectionary firm,released a list of most scary villains this Christmas.The Joker topped it. Darth Vader and Freddy Keuger came third and fourth.Who was second?

A: George W. Bush

2. ____ and _____ were the largest seafaring provinces in Netherlands and hence these two countries originally discovered by Dutch sailors were named as X and Y.While X later changed to Z the name Y stuck.Id X,Y,Z

A: X = Holland, Y = Zeeland, Z = Australia

3. X was so popular in England that the Germans aimed to make a fatal blow to the public confidence by attributing his death in 1915 to a Zeppelin attack. X?

A: W.G.Grace

4. This set of 30 people received an exclusive gift hamper set consisting of Nokia N-Series cell phones,a gold coin,a custom T-Shirt and personalized letter of thanks.Who and why?

A: The stars in the "all star" song from Om Shanti Om as they refused to charge money for appearance.

5. X died in prison on April 28, 1918 due to tuberculosis. Being too young to receive the death penalty X received the maximum sentence of twenty years in prison. What was he imprisoned for?

A: X was Gavrilo Princip, imprisoned for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, which act precipitated World War I.

6. The first use of this term is attributed to Alfred Thayer Mahan an American naval strategist in an article published in Sept 1902
"The ___________, if I may adopt a term which I have not seen, will some day need its Malta, as well as its Gibraltar; it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf. Naval force has the quality of mobility which carries with it the privilege of temporary absences; but it needs to find on every scene of operation established bases of refit, of supply, and in case of disaster, of security. The British Navy should have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise, about Aden, India, and the Persian Gulf "

A: Middle East

7. The kidnapping & murder Adam Walsh was a landmark case in the US bringing about a number of changes like establishment of National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, The Code Adam program for helping lost children in department stores and also the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.Besides these,the murder also led to something very famous.What it is?

A: America's Most Wanted

8. The recent boxing day test match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka brought back a tradition last seen 13 years ago to facilitate the general elections held in the country.Which tradition?

A: Rest day

9. Mona Simpson is an American novelist and essayist who's written popular books like Anywhere But Here,Lost Father and A Regular Guy.She's the younger sister of X. Because X was placed for adoption as a baby by their then-unmarried parents, she first met her sibling only as an adult.ID X?

A report of the quiz will be up soon...
A: Steve Jobs

10. A particular graveyard in Burlington, Vermont is the only of its kind, with each addition made with huge fanfare.Who/what is buried in this graveyard?

A: Ben & Jerry's flavours

Open Quiz on 11th of January

The next quiz by HQC is on Sunday, the 11th of January.

Here are the details:

Quizmaster: In a parallel universe Praveen is Steven Gerrard who is trying to save the world from evil decepticons from Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal among others. He is also the author of the best selling book 'Everything Red: How Liverpool and not 42 is the answer to life,universe and everything'.
While in this universe he is the next big quizzing superstar (which we believe), who also writes complex God-level codes (so we have been told) for Oracle and code-jam contests and it gives us immense pleasure to introduce Praveen as the quizmaster for the next HQC monthly on Sunday, 11th January.

Date: 11 January 2008, Sunday

Time: Please be at the venue by 10:30 a.m. for registration. Seating will be on a first come first served basis. The quiz will begin at 11:00 a.m. sharp.

Venue:
Innobox Systems Pvt Ltd.
#G19, Ground Floor,
Swarnajayanthi Complex,
SR Nagar, Hyderabad -73
(see below for directions)

Format: Team quiz - Teams of 3. And we stick to our word of allowing you to participate with your own team.

Entry: A contribution of Rs. 25 per head => Rs. 75 per team.

Prizes: Gift vouchers worth Rs 1500/-

Directions: From Punjagutta, take the road that goes towards Ameerpet. Cross the Fantoosh-greenlands road junction. Keep going on the road till you see HUDA Complex- Maitrivanam on the RIGHT. Swarnajayanti Complex is the complex immediately after the HUDA complex on the RIGHT.

Contact: Nitish (98856 79460) and Ravi (94418 86489)

Report on the HQC monthly quiz on 14th December

QM: Navneet Bal

Format: Teams of 2

Report: Navneet delivered a masterpiece of a quiz.

The attendence was low. While there are theories of pressing engagements and exams we blame it on the 'lazy Sunday morning' syndrome. The low attendence was however the perfect setting for a very serious and classic quiz by Navneet. As usual the quiz threw up a few new faces which again proved that as far as quizzing in Hyderabad is concerned, people needn't worry.

The quiz was divided into two infinite bounce rounds split by a breather. It was a fantastic quiz with a lot of questions on history, Geography, War, Sports and India.

Without being disrespectful to others a team consisting of Ravi and Praveen in a history, geography and war quiz was the team to beat. Despite a splendid performnace, Diwakar and Debjit fell short of beating the eventual winners. Team Priyambad and Afzaal finished a close third.

The venue as usual was provided by Innobox. A big thank you for them.

The quiz lasted almost two hours, and left the entire group thoroughly satisfied with having taken the effort to wake up and show up for the fantastic quiz. Thank you very much Navneet for a splendid quiz.

Winners:
1. Ravi, Praveen, Satish
2. Diwakar, Debjit
3. Priyambad, Afzaal

Thumbs Up
1. Great questions
2. Navneet (Finally a question on Ijazat :) )
3. As usual the fantastic venue
4. The Hitchcock question and the Micheal Holding question

Thumbs Down
3. None actually

Team HQC’s Note
Our thanks to everyone who took time off on a lazy Sunday morning to attend.

The next quiz will be by Praveen and is scheduled for 11th January, 2008 (Sunday) at the same time and in the same place. As it is 'Odyssey Quiz' time, people can come with their own 3 member teams for the January Monthly.

HQC monthly on 14th December - Some pics

Have a look at the fantastic venue provided by Innobox to us.

We will soon put a review of the sensational quiz by Navneet. Till then do with some pics.

Navneet the quizmaster getting the applause.



Awe and shock for Sharda ! Debjit can't take it anymore !!


Kiddo unleashing his rendition of Raag Megh Malhaar on the hapless people


Some magic trick?

Open Quiz on 14th of December

The next quiz by HQC is on Sunday, the 14th of December.
Here are the details:

Date: 14 December 2008, Sunday

Time: Please be at the venue by 10:30 a.m. for registration. Seating will be on a first come first served basis. The quiz will begin at 11:00 a.m. sharp.

Venue:
Innobox Systems Pvt Ltd.
#G19, Ground Floor,
Swarnajayanthi Complex,
SR Nagar, Hyderabad -73
(see below for directions and map)

Format: Team quiz, with a little bit for everyone.

Entry: A contribution of Rs. 25 per head.
Teams of 3 (or more) will be chosen from the participants at random.

Prizes: Gift vouchers worth Rs 1500/-

Quizmaster: Navneet Bal

Directions:
From Punjagutta, take the road that goes towards Ameerpet. Cross the Fantoosh-greenlands road junction. Keep going on the road till you see HUDA Complex- Maitrivanam on the RIGHT. Swarnajayanti Complex is the complex immediately after the HUDA complex on the RIGHT.

Map:

Questions from the quiz on Nov 9th

Questions from the delectable quiz that Lathish did:

1. This insect order consists of approximately 2,000 species worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. Their name is often misspelled since they are notoriously predatory, they are in fact named after their typical stance. The name derives from the Greek word for “prophet” or “fortune teller”. In Europe, the name refers to only a single species, _______religiosa. Their closest relatives are the orders Isoptera (termites) and Blattodea (cockroaches). Which insects?

A: Preying/Praying mantis

2. Ancient Greek grammarian Dionysius Thrax is credited with their creation. An anonymous author of the 1733 book The English Accidence called them “the foundation upon which the beautiful fabric of the language stands.” John Stuart Mill felt they represented the universal categories of human thought. There was a lot of shuffling around until Joseph Priestley’s 1761 Rudiments of English Grammar finally estd. the baseball size line up. They have been generally accepted for the last quarter-millennium. What?

A: Parts of Speech

3. The origins of _____ date back at least to Roman times, to a game called paganica and reached Britain by 400AD (although the Chinese claim to have invented it by 2500 BC) It developed towards its modern form in Scotland where the first written reference comes in a decree which was actually released to encourage the royal sport of archery. It ran "futeball and ______ be utterly cryit doune and not usit." Its name is thought to have been derived from Dutch word for "club" or from an Old Scots word meaning "cuff" or "strike hard.“

A: Golf

4. What was the term coined by English romance novelist and screenwriter Elinor Glyn to describe actress Clara Bow as she appeared in a 1927 Hollywood silent film ?

A: The "It" Girl

5. The nickname of Martha _____ Canary (1852-1903) of Deadwood South Dakota. She behaved like a cowboy but was generally unlucky in nefarious activities and brought catastrophe on her associates. Eleven of her twelve husbands died untimely deaths. She dressed, swore and shot like a man eventually went into show business and threatened ‘_______’ to any man who offended her.

A: Calamity Jane

6: X was the elder son of Shantanu and Satyavati. He ascended the throne of Hastinapura, and was very successful which angered a Gandharva king of the same name. They fought an even matched duel before X was slain and Vichitravirya ascended the throne.
In another episode, Arjuna’s wanderings took him to ancient Manipur where he meets princess Y, the daughter of the king of Manipur and falls in love. According to the matrimonial customs of Manipur, the children born of Y were the heirs and were not allowed to be taken away. Arjuna agreed to this stipulation and finally wed the princess. X and Y?

A: X= Y = Chitrangada

7. DVD cover of which movie?

A: Zodiac

8: Who is behind the questions mark?

A: Salman Rushdie

9: Cover of what?



A: Modesty Blaise's first book

10 : Whose signing ?

A: Bruce Springsteen