Set from Weekend Quiz sessions at IISER Kolkata

1. 1. The picture in the next slide (shoddily edited in
Paint, of course) has been widely claimed as a “first”
of sorts. The four women in it are part of a doo-wop
music band, called the Les Horribles X-ettes ( X is
not X, we’ve left it out of the name ). One of them
actually worked at X, and her husband, who also
worked at X, wrote and composed the first few songs
for the group. At their first few performances, they
dubbed themselves “the one and only High Energy
Rock Band”.
When you replace X with the actual word, the initials
of the name of the band form something that is
inextricably linked to X.
What you need to do, is give us X, and also what
“first” this picture is supposed to have achieved.

3. Ans.
x-CERN;
First picture on the internet

4. 2. This book
has famously
small margins.
Or so
someone
claimed.
Who claimed
this, and
what
anecdote am
I talking
about?

5. Ans.
Pierre de Fermat.
Fermat, he wrote the famous
Fermat’s Last theorem along the
margins of this book without a
proof, because the margins were
too small.

6. 3. The first installment of this series was released in
1993. While subsequent installments had names such as
X-95, X-98, this first installment was not called X-93
but something else.
This product was revolutionary in a sense that it shifted
the paradigm of how such products were designed and
what technology was used. Over the years, minor and
major improvements in quality and appearance have
pushed this product to the very top. There has however
been stiff competition from at least one another
company that makes such a product, and the two rival
products have staunch supporters and detractors. While
both these companies battle rampant piracy, the former
has an advantage over the masses due to its extensive
licensing rights that provides users with an original
experience.
What am I talking about?

7. Ans.
EA Sports’ FIFA series , with the
rival being Konami’s PES.

8. 4. In 1909, Twain was quoted saying:
“I came in with X 1835. It is coming
again next year, and I expect to go
out with it. It will be the greatest
disappointment of my life if I don’t go
out with X. The Almighty has said, no
doubt: Now here are these two
unaccountable freaks; they came in
together, they must go out together.”
His prediction was accurate – Twain
died of heart attack on April 21,
1910.

9. Ans.
Halley’s Comet

10. 5. The technology X was developed in the military
for tank and jet fighting. This was chiefly developed
by a Dr. Nicholas Bion, and a group of companies in
Paris.
It was first used in the historic clash between
England and Australia in 2007. It is supposed to be
better than Y, because Y uses only sound sensors
which add to the error, and are therefore risky to
use in critical situations.
However, X was put in doubt when it wrongly judged
an outgoing strike, and was the reason for
controversy in another set of clashes in 2011.
ID X and Y.

11. Ans.
X – Hotspot
Y- Snickometer

12. 6. Before he died, Milton Wright
made his sons Wilbur and Orville
make him a promise. This promise has
now become standard procedure with
persons of certain importance, for
example Princes William and Harry of
the United Kingdom, and the
President and Vice President of the
USA.
What is this promise?

13. Ans.
The brothers weren’t allowed to
travel on the same place
together; that way, if one died in
a plane crash, the other would
still be around.

14. 7. This image shows homer meeting God in Season 16 from the
Simpsons. God is the only character in the Simpsons drawn
with this characteristic. (Not omniscience, omnipotence etc.)
Something very basic. What?

15. Ans.
5 fingers

16. 8. This is a picturization of a particular phrase, popularized by
Stephen Hawking. Other metaphors describing the circular cause
and consequence of the same problem are the "chicken and egg "
problem and the Munchausen Trilemma.
Some space above the topmost turtle has been blanked out. Give
funda.

17. Ans.
Turtles all the way down

18. 9. Figure out the number from
the quote below.
"May I have a large container of
coffee right now”

19. Ans.
Pi
The mnemonic way to remember the value
of Pi(3.141592653). The word “may” has 3
letters, “I” has 1 letter, “have” has 4 letters,
and so on. The line “May I have a large
container of coffee” has been cited in print
since at least 1959.

20. 10. After this incident, Martin
Johnson(not relevant) wrote
in The Independent, “Had
Martians landed at X they would
have concluded there was no
intelligent life on earth and gone
home.” A very well known and
controversial event. Id.

21. Ans.
SCG – The WC semi played
between South Africa and
England

22. 11. A __________ is a type of photometer used
on reconnaissance satellites that is intended to
detect atmospheric nuclear detonations.
The name of the detector is a playful pun, which
was bestowed upon it by Fred Reines, one of the
scientists working on the project, the joke being
that one would have to be on drugs to believe the
________ detectors would work properly.
This is in contrast to a "bangmeter" one might
associate with detection of nuclear explosions.

23. Ans.
Bhangmeter

24. 12. X was a successful French scribe and manuscript-seller.
According to texts ascribed to X almost two hundred years
after his death, he had learned ________ secrets from a
Jewish converso on the road to Santiago de Compostela. He
has since appeared as a legend in various fictional works. The
historical X lived in Paris in the fourteenth and fifteenth
century, ran two shops as a scribe and married Y in 1368. She
brought the wealth of two previous husbands to the
marriage. The French Catholic couple owned several
properties, and contributed financially to churches,
sometimes by commissioning sculptures. Later in life they
were noted for their wealth and philanthropy. X had achieved
legendary status by the mid 17th Century, with references in
Isaac Newton’s journals as well as in The Hunchback of Notre
Dame. He is also alleged to be a Grandmaster of the Priory of
Sion.

25. Ans.
X-Nicolas Flamel
Y-Perenelle

26. 13. ____________was an American businessman and
attorney
In 1883, a tin mine, the Etta, was opened, which caused
excitement among Eastern investors. In 1885 _________
was in the Black Hills of South Dakota to check the titles to
properties for an eastern mining company owned by James
Wilson. Although an Easterner, __________ quickly made
friends among the miners and prospectors. One day he was
returning to headquarters of the Harney Peak Consolidated
Tin Co., Ltd., located at Pine Camp, which was north of a
great granite peak. With him were a local business man, and
William W. Challis, a prospector and guide. As they neared
the mountain, __________ turned to Challis and asked its
name.
Challis jestingly replied: “Never had any but it has now –
we’ll call the thing _________.“
Fill in the blank with one word.

27. Ans.
Rushmore

28. 14. Connect

29. Ans.
Enigma

30. 15. Connect these pictures to India:

31. Ans.
All the gentlemen are wearing
Nehru Jackets. After Nehru
appeared in the Vogue magazine in
1964, it became quite a fad in the
west.