QUIZ

[yathish]

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All play and no work makes him a ..........". Fill in the blank.
2 Which is the only city (today), split in two by a wall (a la erstwhile Berlin)?
3 The Malayalam word meaning "nuisance" comes from a character in the Mahabharata. Who is he and why?
4 How was Ptolemy XIV related to Cleopatra VII?
5 The name of this city literally means "City of Smoke" and is the capital of a country. Name it.
6. Who flew close to the sun with wings of wax and as a result fell into the sea? If possible, name his father who made him the wings of wax?
7. What is the origin of the saying " a Cat has nine lives"?
8. Why was the clockwise direction chosen for the clock? Why not the other direction?
9. "Jefferson Airplane" was a famous band. What exactly, is a Jefferson Airplane ?
10.What was invented when Nitroglycerin was accidentally spilled on a volcanic mud called Keiselguhr ?
Answers to quiz #1
1 Mere Toy
2 Nicosia, Cyprus
3. Shalya, He was related to the Pandavas but circumstances forced him to fight for the Kauravas. He, therfore, chose to drive Karna's chariot. On his job, he constantly ridiculed Karna and tried to break his confidence.
4. Brother and later, husband.
5. Reykjavik, Iceland.
6. Icarus
7. Cats were considered sacred in Egypt and to kill them was unpardonable. This led to long lives for cats and hence, the saying.
8. Sundials ran clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clocks were modeled after them.
9. A forked stick used to hold a Marijuana cigarette.
10.Dynamite
Quiz #2
R.Suresh
(1) What is the 1873 Colt Model P Single Action Army Revolver better known as ?
(2) Name the curious girl in Greek mythology who let all the evils come into Earth by opening a locked box.
(3) "Enquire" was a program written by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, Geneva. What has it grown into ?
(4) Since medieval times, English children have been playing a variant of Cricket called "Rounders". What is this game better known as in the USA ?
(5) The actor Nicholas Cage is the nephew of which famous movie director ?
(6) Which famous inventor was called "The Wizard of Menlo Park" ? His lab was in Menlo Park, NJ.
(7) Name the only movie which Alfred Hitch**** made twice.
(8) What term was coined by Don Hoeffler in 1971, writing in "Electronic News", describing the area around Sunnyvale and San Jose in California ?
(9) This novelist's first names were John Huffam Charles. His last, unfinished novel was "The Mystery of Edwin Drood". Name him.
(10)What was triggered off by a young student called Gavrilio Prinzep in Sarajevo in 1914 ?
(11) Which yesteryears actor was commonly called "The King of Hollywood" ?
(12) How does James Bond like his favorite Vodka Martinis ?
(13) Kit Fielding is one of novelist **** Francis' most popular characters. What does the Kit in his name stand for?
(14) Who was shot in the back of the head by Jack McCall while playing poker in the Number 10 saloon in Deadwood, SD ? This took place in 1873.
(15) Hitler explained his barbaric genocide of the Jews by saying that the "pure blooded" Aryans needed "Lebensraum". What does it mean ?
(16) Which pioneering filmmaker first used the "Close Up" ?
(17) This French humorist and philosopher's real name was François Marie Arouet. Name him.
(18) Which famous scientist contemptuously said "God does not play dice" ? What was he talking about ?
(19) In World War II, what was "Operation Market Garden" ? The story of this was made into a famous movie.
(20) This two word phrase was popular among British soldiers during WWII, it was used as a euphemism for "to die". It was also popular in South Africa in the early 1900s. It has assumed a completely different meaning today, especially for Desis. What phrase is this ?
(21) Which geographical region is named after the Greek word for Bear, as the Great Bear constellation is always overhead ?
(22) What is Vexillology the study of ?
(23) On the Net, what has been founded by David Filo and Jerry Yang ?
(24) In takeover jargon, what is a Poison Pill ?
(25) What is Iosif Vissarionovich Dzugashvili better known as ?
(26) This 1930s novelist, who pioneered the Jazz Age novels, was a copywriter for ads on trams before he became famous. Who is he ?
(27)In movies and fiction, what is the Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion better known as ?
(28) In Chinese cooking, what is the significance of wolf's hearts and dog's lungs?
(29) What is unique about the frescoes at the Palazzo della Signorina at Florence in Italy ?
(30) A book called "The Whole Woman" was purchased in February 1998 by Doubleday for 500000 Pounds. Who wrote it ? Also, name the seminal book of which this is the sequel.
(31) This was a sharp pointed staff used in ancient Rome to drive Cattle. What word in English comes from this stick's name ?
(32) Abdul Al Haq "Majaaz" was a famous Urdu Shaayar of the 1930s and 40s. His nephew is also a famous Shaayar. Name him.
(33) Connect - Velcro and the Jules Rimet Trophy.
(34) In business jargon, what are "Baby Flots" ? Hint - This came into vogue in the early 1990s.
(35) Name the Buddhist monk who is said to have imported Zen meditation and Karate (our own Kalaripayattu) from India to China.
Answers to Quiz #2
(1) The Colt Peacemaker
(2) Pandora.
(3) The World Wide Web. Tim Berners-Lee is also the creator of HTML.
(4) Baseball.
(5) Francis Ford Coppola.
(6) Thomas Alva Edison
(7) The Man Who Knew Too Much
(8) Silicon Valley
(9) Charles ****ens
(10)World War I. Prinzep shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
(11) Clark Gable
(12) Shaken, but not stirred.
(13) Christmas
(14) James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok
(15) Living room.
(16) David Wark (D.W) Griffith. (famous movie : Birth of a Nation).
(17) Voltaire.
(18) Einstein, talking about the Quantum Theory.
(19) The battle for Arnhem. ("A Bridge Too Far")
(20) Gone West.
(21) The Arctic (Gk. Arctos, meaning Bear).
(22) Flags.
(23) Yahoo.
(24) Liabilities or losses deliberately assumed by a company, to make it a less attractive candidate for takeovers.
(25) Stalin. This name means "Man of Steel" in Russian.
(26) F.Scott Fitzgerald
(27) SPECTRE (James Bond villains)
(28) Only items never used in Chinese cuisine
(29) Only frescoes designed by Michaelangelo and Da Vinci together
(30) Author - Germaine Greer. Sequel to "The Female Eunuch"
(31) Stimulus
(32) Javed Akhtar
(33) Dogs. Velcro's inventor George d'Mestral noticed thorns clinging to his dog's fur and developed Velcro. The Jules Rimet Trophy was once stolen and then discovered by a dog called Pickles
(34) Small airlines formed when Aeroflot broke up and it's fleet shared between the breakaway ex Soviet republics. (cf. "Baby Bells" formed when Bell split).
(35) Bodhidhamma. Also said to have developed Tea, when he cut his eyelids off to stop himself from going to sleep. These eyelids fell on the ground and the first Tea plant took root.
Quiz #3, dated September 3rd 96
Chanderraju Varma
1. Put together Ken Kesey, Jack Nicholson, Milos Forman & Louise Fletcher and what do you get?
2. He was the Greek god of fire and metal work. Son of Zeus and Hera. Lame and awkward, he was married to Aphrodite. His work shop was believed to be under Mt. Etna. Who?
3. This band has the most number of live shows to date but despite its tremendous populartiy, just one top ten single, "Touch of Gray". Name the band
4. Eskimos have about 16 different words for this word. What word?
5. Who was the only US president to be a University professor?
Answers to quiz #3
1. "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", 5 Oscars
2. Hephaestus
3. Grateful Dead
4. Ice
5. Woodrow Wilson
Quiz #4
Dated October 11 1996
JK
(1) Where would you find "Patience" and "Fortitude" standing guard to a building? What are they?
(2) The name of this mountain literally means "Stone Sentinel". Name it.
(3) Where would you find the Four Corners National Monument? What flags would you find there?
(4) In Secret Service jargon, who are POTUS and FLOTUS ?
(5) The U.S Secret Service was founded before the Civil War by a man who later went on to found a famous detective agency. Name him.
Answers to Quiz #4
(1) New York Public Library. They are Lions (statues)
(2) Mount Aconcogua
(3) The point of intersection of the states New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. The flags of these states, along with the American flag, are placed on the monument.
(4) POTUS = President of the United States. FLOTUS = First Lady of the United States.
(5) Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.

These are part of the archives of quiz@cs.purdue.edu
courtesy Roopesh Mathur
at the University of Delaware
The full archives (over 90 kb of text) may be downloaded from his website at http://www.me.udel.edu/~mathurr
1. Back down in these parts poor white farmers tolling in their fields were found to be prone to a disease called pellagra which produced certain characteristic symptoms. What was the most prominent of these symptoms??
2. The story of Leda and the swan(with zeus as the swan) is pretty well known. Read Yeats for a tempered version. Anyway at that point of time, Leda was already in the family way by her legal husband and with the Zeus encounter, she began to carry some more... So the gist of all this is,
(i)who were the 4 children she bore??
(ii) Who were the legit ones and the bastards??
3.Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queeene" was an allegory that praised Elizabeth I.(He however wrote it while in prison!!!). It also has some fundas on being the first poem that has some kind of poetic sequence (someone elighten). Anyway, without digressing any more, Elizabeth was naturally happy and ordered her treasurer,Lord Burghley to reward our poet with 500 pounds. Our treasurer, however didnt like the poet and did something which gave rise to a phrase. Which one? (No clues on this one cause it would be a dead giveaway then)
Everyone please guess. All answers are most guessable. nothing hard core from some obscure corner of an even obscure book. kid
Hi guys,
Well, here are 2 more from the dreaded one:
1. Which book is dedicated to "the faceless Indian voter who is not aware of the enormity of the fraud committed in his name- for him, allegedly."? (Topical)
2. Who is Sterculius?
No more clues at present. Good luck!
With clues
1. On low sunday, the introit begins "_____ ______ geniti infantes..." (approx meaning - as newborn babes..). So what are the first two words.
QUASI MODO (There is some funda that he was born on that day. I'm not too sure about that, but he was named for this prayer)
2. Which movies title comes from a William Burroughs story about people who supply medical instruments to outlawed doctors who can't obtain them legally. The movie had nothing to do with this but the director liked the name and obtained permission to use it.
BLADE RUNNER (It was based on Phillip K ****s' "Do Androids dream of electric sheep" but Ridley Scott felt that this title would not do and searched around for another title.
The Arnie. movie was "Total Recall" based on PKDs' "We can dream it for you wholesale"
Quiz #6
Dated December 25, 1996
A.P.Alagar Samy
(1) Which famous group was originally known as Tom and Jerry ?
(2) Name the style of music whose name is derived from the Kannada word meaning "Black Land".
(3) In Hollywood, who are known as Atmosphere people?
(4) In ancient Rome, one out of every ten Roman soldiers who were convicted of mutiny were executed. What English word, meaning "Destroy" comes from this practice ?
(5) Which Indian musical instrument's name, translated into English, means "Royal Flute" ?
Answers to Quiz #6
(1) Simon and Garfunkel.
(2) Carnatic (from Kannada Kari (black) and Nadu (Land)
(3) Extras.
(4) Decimate.
(5) Shehnai (Sheh means Royal and Nai is a wind instrument).

Quiz #7
Dated August 16, 1998
R.Suresh
Wild West Special
(1) This chief of the Chiricahua Apaches was actually called Goyahkla or "One Who Yawns". He once attacked some Mexicans who called out in Spanish to their patron saint for aid. Goyahkla liked the good saint's name so much that he started calling himself after the saint. After surrendering to Gen.Nelson A.Miles of the U.S. Cavalry, he went on to appear in Buffalo Bill's wild west shows. He died aged 80 when he fell off his horse, literally "dead drunk". What is he better known as ?
(2) In the 1870s, this eccentric judge was "the only law west of the Pecos". He ran his courtroom at his saloon in Langtry, TX (named after Lilly Langtry, of whom he was a great fan). He used a pistol instead of the conventional gavel. He is known for weird judgements. For example, when he found a corpse with $40 and a pistol in it's pockets, he confiscated the gun for the court's use and fined the dead man $40 for "carrying a concealed weapon". Name him.
(3) Louis L'Amour has built an authentic wild west township at the Four Corners (where the borders of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado intersect). This town has been named after an eponymous novel he wrote. This novel was adapted into Sean Connery's only western (co-starring Brigitte Bardot), a film which sank without a trace and was a travesty of the original novel (one of L'Amour's best). Name the town.
(4) A common gunfighter's trick to fire single action revolvers like the Colt Peacemaker at a faster rate was to remove the trigger and modify the firing mechanism so that just pulling back and releasing the hammer would fire the bullet. What was this called ?
(5) This legendary service ran from St.Joseph, MO to Sacramento. CA for only eighteen months. A venture of a stagecoach company called Russell, Majors and Waddell, it's employees included expert horsemen of the calibre of Buffalo Bill Cody. What was this ?
Answers to Quiz #7
(1) Geronimo (from the Spanish name for St.Jerome)
(2) Judge Roy L.Bean - still a byword for his weird and whimsical judgements
(3) Shalako
(4) Slip Gun / Gun Thumbing
(5) The Pony Express

Quiz #8
Dated August 22, 1998
Ravikant Josyula
(1) It was executed in colored worsteds on linen. It measures 70m x 51cm. Now housed in France, it is attributed to Matilda and also to Odo. What is it?
(2) What word has the Bethlehem Royal Hospital lent to the English language? (Clue: It was a mental hospital)
(3) What is the official name for the game "pool"?
(4) The 5 styles of this art are :
Formal Upright (Chokan)
Informal Upright (Moyogi)
Slanting (Shakan)
Semi Cascade (Han Kengai)
Cascade (Kengai)
His father Junius made his London debut in 1813 and played Richard III in 1817. His brother Edwin became the finest American tragedian of the 19th century. His famous words were Sic semper tyrannis! - "Thus Perishes Tyranny". Who was he?
Answers to Quiz #8
(1) The Bayeux Tapestry
(2) Bedlam
(3) Pocket Billiards
(4)Bonsai
(5) John Wilkes Booth

Quiz #9
Dated August 28, 1998
Nitin Bajaj <Nitin_Bajaj@bigfoot.com>
1. In music, what is the Mel Tillis Syndrome?
2. Connect- Larry O'Brien, W.H. Stanley, J.W. Winston and Vince Lombardi.
3. Which Science Fiction author, according to an account, bet a friend that he could do as well as Freud, invent a religion and make money out of it and so over night created the cult of Scientology?
4. Which piece of music is considered by pianists to be one of the most difficult to play and was the centre piece of the movie Shine where David Helfgott went crazy trying to play it? It was deliberately composed so that only its composer, who was 6 feet 6 inches tall could play it.
5. This 19th century German Naturalist revolutionised the concepts of zoo-keeping and is called the father of modern Zoos. Who is he?
6. What is the sub-genre of ancient British Ballad where a human helps a ghost to find peace, called?
7. The 1961 Mercedes 300SX has two firsts to its credit. What?
8. Bernard Philip Grosslier is considered to be the father of modern archaelogy. His most famous work was when he had a network of canals and dams constructed over 30 square k.m area to save a site from inundation. Which archaeological marvel did he thus rescue ?
9. During his recent illness, from whom did the Pope receive the following message: "Dearest Karol Wojtyla, I am spiritually close to you. I am praying for you."?
10. What is the most common manifestation or symptom of Gilles de la Tourette's Disease, a mental illness?
Answers to Quiz #9
1. When a person stutters whilst talking but not while singing.
2. The persons after whom some of the most coveted trophies in professional sport are named. O'Brien for the NBA champs, Stanley for the NHL champs, Lombardi for the NFL champs and Winston for the NASCAR champ.
3. L. Ron Hubbard
4. Sergei Rachmaninoff's 3rd Concerto
5. Karl Hagenbeck
6. Grateful Dead
7. It was the first car to have Gullwing Doors and also the first with fuel injection.
8. Angkor Wat
9. Mehmet Ali Agca, who tried to assassinate the Pope in 1981.
10.A compulsion to utter, in whichever language the patient is most fluent, a continuing stream of profanities and obscenities.

Quiz #7
Dated August 28, 1998
R.Suresh
1. Officialy the 18th Amendment to the U.S Constitution, also known as the Volstead Act as it was sponsored by Rep. Andrew Volstead, this started the rapid spread of the Mafia in the USA. What was this amendment against ?
2. This term is derived from the name and title of the last Emperor of Ethiopia . It is also the name of a sect prevalent among negroes in Jamaica. What is it?
3. Lester Piggott is one of the world's most famous jockeys. Which famous novelist has written his authorised biography?
4. What significance do these people or phrases have :
Chester Carlson
Otto Kornei
Paul Selenyi
10-22-38 ASTORIA
5. What connects the following :
Bill Haley and the Comets
The Wynona Ryders (1956 punk group)
Green Day
John Lennon
Answers to Quiz #10
1. Prohibition
2. Ras Tafari (Rastafarians). Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was originally called Ras (or Prince) Tafari Makkonnen.
3. **** Francis
4. Xerox (Gk. xerography - dry writing). Carlson and Kornei found a paper by a Hungarian physicist called Paul Selenyi, on which they based their invention. 10-22-38 ASTORIA was the first phrase reproduced (on a glass slide coated with lycopodium powder) on October 22, 1938 in Astoria, NY. Carlson and Kornei just used the date and the place for testing this invention.
5. J.D.Salinger's Catcher in the Rye
Bill Haley and the Comets' song - Rockin' through the Rye
The Wynona Ryders' song - J.D.Salinger
Green Day's song - Who wrote Holden Caulfeld ?
John Lennon - Shot by Mark Chapman, who, of course, was inspired by Salinger's book.

[faraz]

too long..but thanks

[vjsreevs]

interesting lengthy 1 yathish .....

[WISDOM]

hey yathish, try to post their answers also if u can get them from anywhere. also it won't be a bad idea to divide thos post into several smaller parts each containing not more than 10-15 questions. anyways, thx for posting it here.