grey matter inagural quiz finals- 2 rounds

Round 2

6 questions

+10 No Negatives

Put Funda

What is this logo based on?

Answer

The flourish through the letters was made to resemble England’s most iconic river, The River Thames.

Put Funda, again.

What is peculiar about this ‘first’ issue of Amar Chitra Katha comics? HINT: Look closely!

Answer

• The numbering. Although it was the first official issue, it was numbered 11. Issues 1-10 were translations of famous western fables.

Identify

Born to French parents in Puducherry, she was sent away to study Drama & Theater at Goldsmiths ,University of London. On returning to India she started with portraying one of the most famous literary characters in Indian history which won her a Filmfare Award for her debut movie. Identify the person.

Answer

Kalki Koechlin.

IdentifyThey are life forms present in all living beings. They are isomorphic everywhere life exists. They generally exist as organelles in a symbiotic relationship with the host. In fact, it is believed that they are essential for life to exist. Some say that they have a collective consciousness. A large number of people believe that X was born as a result these life forms causing conception. What are we talking about ?

HINT: mass times acceleration.

Answer

• Midichlorians from the Star Wars series, known to be responsible for the all pervading force.

Funda time!

• In an interview, Wendy Northcutt said that ‘a recent heat wave gave her the idea to air-condition her sweltering home: She pried up an oubliette floor grate in her hallway, intending to install a fan to suck up the basement’s cooler air. But she left to answer the phone, and hours later she strode back down the hall and obliviously stepped into the gaping hole. In the milliseconds as her body swooshed down, she thought “Oh nooooooooooo! I’m gonna win my own ____.”’ Fill up the blank or tell us her claim to fame.

Answer

• The Darwin Awards, Not something you’d want to win!

Identify

• Odobenus, the genus name of this carnivore, comes from the Greek for “one who walks with his teeth”. It has 3 subspecies: O. rosmarus rosmarus which lives in the Atlantic Ocean, O. rosmarus divergens which lives in the Pacific Ocean, and O. rosmarus laptevi, which lives in the Laptev Sea. A member of the species featured as an unpleasant character in a whimsical work of fiction published in 1871. Identify.

Answer

• The Walrus.

Round 3

+15 -5

1.Connect

What’s common to the following: Dal Lake (Kashmir), Gaube Lake (the French Pyrenees), Lake Chad (Chad), Lake Nyassa (Malawi/Mozambique), Lake Tahoe (Nevada/California) and Lake Hayq (Ethiopia)?

Answer

Redundant naming. All of them mean “lake”.

Put Funda

• Because of which character is he acting in this ad?

Answer.

• Doogie Howser from the show Doogie Howser M.D.

• NPH’s, (second?) most iconic role to date.

3.Identify

• Most birds have a ‘furcula’ whose function is to strengthen the thoracic skeleton to withstand the rigors of flight. Its common names derive from a playful tradition involving two people after a Thanksgiving dinner. The term is also prominent in the field of automotive engineering. What are we looking for?

Answer

Wishbone

4.Identify the phenomenon.

• According to an apocryphal story, it owes its existence to a section of tightly packed seats behind the home plate at Fenway Park in Boston. These seats were so close together that whenever a fan had to stand up to get a beer, it caused annoyance to people nearby. It caught worldwide attention in 1986. What phenomenon are we talking about?

Answer

• The Wave or the Mexican wave.

5.Identify

• The Oxford English Dictionary records the use of this term as a suffix attached to anything to indicate ‘scandal involving’ since 1973. What term?Hint: ALWAYS in the news.

Answer

• The suffix –gate. Starting with Watergate.

6.Put Funda

• When Bruce Metzger oversaw the 1989 New Revised Standard Version of the Bible in American English, he was careful about making sure that a certain Biblical punishment was referred to using the ‘–ing’ form rather than the ‘–ed’ form. What did he change so carefully?

Answer

• ‘Stoned’/‘Stoned to death’ was modified to ‘Stoning’.