The March Open Quiz Prelims+Answers

questionable intelligence . BCQC. 2014 . ramanand@gmail.com
Questionable
Intelligence
The March Open Quiz
Prelims+Answers
16th March 2014
J. Ramanand

Prizes by

26 questions
8 teams in the final
(Some questions partly from a General quiz I
did at Antaragni, IIT Kanpur in Oct 2013)
Highest scored: 16
Prelims cutoff: 10

In computer science terminology, if a set
of eight bits is called a ‘byte’, what is a set
of four bits called?
1

Answer
A Nibble

Two special (Indian) National Tourism
Awards were announced in 2013 to the
director of a 2012 film and a writer
associated with it, for promoting
Munnar and Pondicherry as tourist
destinations. Which film?
2

Answer
Life of Pi, to Ang Lee & Yann
Martel

According to Islam, Iblis was a type of
‘jinn’ who was expelled from Paradise
because he refused to obey Allah’s orders
to bow to Adam. What word was
therefore applied to Iblis?
3

Answer
Shaitan

What suffix is applied to monstrously
large 100 x 100 Sudoku puzzles? (i.e. they
are called “Sudoku-___ puzzles” – fill in
the blank).
4

Answer
Sudoku-zilla

In which language is the name of
Switzerland written on coins of the
Swiss Franc?
5

Answer
Latin. Switzerland has four
official languages (German,
Italian, French, and Romansh),
so the coin is language-neutral.

This is the flag of which organization?
6

Answer
OPEC

In the Chota Bheem series, this lady is the mother of
Chutki and her laddoos are the victim of Bheem’s sweet
tooth.
Which yesteryear Hindi film singer-actress shares her
name with this character?
7

Answer
Tun Tun (originally Uma Devi)

Identify this avid quizzer who won the 1985 IIT
Delhi Director's Gold Medal.
Image: IIT Delhi
8

Answer
Raghuram Rajan, present RBI
Governor
Image: FirstPost.com

Who is welcoming
whom, during the
latter’s visit to this
centre?
(June 1970)
Image: Wikipedia
9

Answer
Valentina Tereshkova
Neil Armstrong
(at the Yuri Gagarin Centre in Russia)

This is Malala Yousufzai
addressing a conference
at the United Nations in
July 2013.
She is wearing a shawl
that once belonged to
whom?
10

Answer
Benazir Bhutto

This is a bureaucratic rendition of the
opening lines of a famous literary work.
Which work?
“____, ____ with refulgent conflagration
in the nocturnal afforestation
kindly provide details regarding nature of supernatural identity
responsible for your design and technology”
11

Answer
‘Tyger Tyger Burning Bright’ by
William Blake
Tyger, tyger, burning bright.
In the forests of the night,.
What immortal hand or eye.
Could frame thy fearful
symmetry?

According to the Chicago Manual of Style,
an “orphan” line is the first line of a
paragraph that appears on the bottom of a
page by itself (the rest of the paragraph is on
the next page). What name is given to the
opposite case where the last line of a
paragraph appears alone on the next page?
12

Answer
Widow

Arjuna, from the Mahabharata, was nicknamed
“Savyasachi”. What ability, also seen in sportsmen
such as
Sachin Tendulkar
Kobe Bryant
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Paolo Maldini
Jonny Wilkinson
does this refer to?
13

Answer
Ambidexterity (can use both
hands/feet equally well)

This 2006 Malayalam film is named after its
lead character, a tough cop played by
Mohanlal. The character’s last name is a
tribute to his own mother (this helps the
film indulge in what is known in Tamil
movies as ‘mother sentiment’).
In a strange coincidence, this film’s name is
the same as a Pune-based industrialist.
What name?
14

Answer
Baba Kalyani

This formerly princely state in Satara district
is home to the Shri Bhavani Museum,
boasting of several articles of European and
Indian art, including works by Henry Moore
and Raja Ravi Varma. What is this former
state, which shares its name with a part of
Pune?
15

Answer
Aundh

Because his cameos were much anticipated
and ruined the mood he was trying to create
in his films, Alfred Hitchcock began
appearing earlier than before in his films,
usually within the first 30 minutes. In an
episode of “Koffee with Karan”, Mahesh
Bhatt says a similar strategy was used by his
production house for something (in some of
their films). For what?
16

Answer
Emraan Hashmi’s mandatory kiss in their films
was done with as early as possible so as to get
on with the rest of the story.

The first ever question asked was:
“Who are all of the ____ employees”
It was answered by Adam D’Angelo as:
Adam D'Angelo, Charlie Cheever, Rebekah Cox, and
Kevin Der
Fill in the blank.
17

Answer
Quora, the Q&A site

What does the ‘G’ stand for in this
advertisement featuring Novak Djokovic?
[video removed]
18

Answer
Graphene, used in the
manufacture of racquets by
Head.

Considered by some to be “the most
memorable Bond girl ever”, who is seen here
receiving an honorary BAFTA award in April
2013 from Sir Kenneth Branagh, for services
to film and television?
19

Answer
Queen Elizabeth II

This vegetable is an important symbol in Taiwan, because the
country’s shape is often compared to it.
Which vegetable?
Image: Wikipedia
20

Answer
Sweet Potato
Image: bonappetit.com

Edward Tufte is renowned for his data visualizations. He is also a sculptor. He
held an exhibit called “All Possible Photons: The Conceptual and Cognitive Art
of _____ _____”.
Here are some examples from it. What are the words in the blank?
Image: Edward Tufte
21

…contd. Image: Edward Tufte

Answer
“Feynman Diagrams”.
The physicist Richard Feynman created these diagrams to depict
Quantum Electrodynamic concepts. In one instance, he put them on
a van (Tufte seen below with Feynman’s van)
Image: Edward Tufte

What were Sachin Tendulkar and Roger
Federer backing? 22

Answer
Squash’s bid to be included in
the 2020 Olympics

In 1922, Leonard Jennings, a British sculptor,
created a sculpture of soldiers to mark the
contributions of the princely states of Jodhpur,
Mysore, and Hyderabad to the Empire during
World War I. In 1930, another building came up
near this landmark to house the Commander-
in-Chief of the British military in India. Which
place, and who was the last resident of this
place?
23

Answer
Teen Murti House, the
residence of Jawaharlal Nehru
until his death. It now houses
a museum to his memory.

In Olympic records (Summer and Winter)
from 1956 till 1964, this team (represented
by a flag with Olympic rings in it) is
identified by the code “EUA”. Which region
did this team represent?
24

Answer
The Unified Team of Germany
(Équipe Unifiée d'Allemagne)

This word of interest to quizzers was created by the writer Norman
Mailer and defined as:
“facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or
newspaper”
And anecdotally as:
“something that everyone knows is true, except it ain't!”
What word?
25

Answer
Factoid

“___ ____ syndrome : idiopathic facial paralysis during
pregnancy”
This 2006 paper by Hellebrand et al studies the increased incidence
(“up to 3.3 times”) of Bell’s Palsy during pregnancy.
(Bell’s Palsy: weakness or paralysis of muscles on side of the face)
The missing words are the name of the person and “Bell’s Palsy” is
an explanation of a mystery associated with the person. Which
person?
26

Answer
Mona Lisa
One conjecture is that the
enigmatic Mona Lisa smile is
because the subject was
pregnant and had Bell’s Palsy
Image: Wikipedia

Questionable Intelligence
Prelims End
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J. Ramanand

The March Open Quiz Prelims+Answers

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