Prelims of the Anoop Adithian memorial open quiz 2013 held at GEC Thrissur

1. Greycells and Gyaanartha presents
Anoop Adithian
Memorial Open Quiz 2013

2. PRELIMS

3. • 30 questions
• Questions 11-20 will be starred
• Keep your phones switched off

4. 1. Greek stamp issued on
20th August, 1995. What
does it pay tribute to ?

5. 2. These are the ruins of an Akhara located in
Rajgir, Bihar and is supposed to be the place
where a mythological King used to practice
martial arts. Name this King who hailed from
that area and was also known to be a famous
wrestler.

6. 3. Composer – conductor Sung Jin Hong is composing
an opera based on X, which will be released in 2014.
Here is what he had to say about it:
“Like many traditional operas, X explores crises of
deep human emotion during tremendous pressures or
repression, whether they are social, economical,
political or spiritual. The audience is intensely involved
in the narrative and heavily invested in the
transforming characters and complex plot. The main
characters in Grimes, Elektra and Salomé slowly
transform from protagonist to antagonist…In all these
noir narratives, the seeds are carefully planted in
advance, and when they are strategically harvested,
the fruits go far beyond our expectation.”
Identify X.

7. 4. Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as the
immortal jellyfish, is a species of jellyfish that
can at any stage of its life cycle transform itself
back to the earliest life stage, that of a polyp.
This happens as a result of environmental stress
or physical injury. The polyp will later spawn
clones (genetic copies) of the original animal.
By what common name (inspired by a movie)
is it better known?

8. 5. Whose proposed statue, „Statue of unity‟ will
be the world‟s tallest once it is completed?

9. 6. Albert Goodwill __________ began his
professional baseball career with the Boston
Red Stockings in 1871. Over his career, he
achieved a .323 batting average, an earned
run average of 2.14 and an overall winning
percentage of .796, a record that still stands
today. From 1871 to 1875, he won an
outstanding 241 of 301 games he pitched for
the Boston Red Stockings and the Chicago
White Stockings. In 1939, was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame. However, his name is
now familiar to us through a sports goods
manufacturing company he started in 1876.
Name the company.

10. 7.

11. 8. This is the new uniform of the tourist police
in South Korea. What inspired its design?

12. 9. Clip from the BBC documentary series South
Pacific. Identify the narrator.

13. 10. Description of an
iPhone app called
Bowlologist: “Australian
cricketer ___________
___________ is the
Bowlologist, a lab coatwearing bowling scientist,
whose coaching insights
and training videos will
help you get the most out
of your cricket.” Fill in the
blanks.

14. 11. There are many theories about the origin of
this term. One popular theory suggests that it
came from the code name of Ferdinand
Magellan, the only private railroad car built
for a US President in the twentieth century. It
was 85 feet long, weighed 142 1/2 tons and
the windows were made with three-inch
bulletproof glass. Originally created for
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Ferdinand
Magellan transported Harry S. Truman across
the country for his 1948 Whistle Stop
campaign. What term is this?

15. 12.
Biography
which artist?
of

16. 13. Upon hearing what political statement did
Georges Clemenceau sarcastically remark
“The good Lord only had ten!” (Le bon Dieu
n'avait que dix!)?

17. Gräf and Stift double phaeton
(pictured in the next slide) is said to be
responsible for more than a dozen deaths and
is supposed to be cursed. It changed many
hands after its first and most famous casualty,
and most of its later owners died in accidents.
In the 1940s, a Vienna museum curator
named Karl Brunner accepted this vehicle
and displayed it in his museum. But soon Allied
bombers reduced the museum to rubble.
Nothing was found of Karl Brunner but the
vehicle was restored and is now displayed at
the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna.
Who was the most famous person to have
died
aboard
this
car?
14. This

19. 15. During its course of use, it was given
several nicknames, some of which are the
following. What are we talking about?
• La Monte-à-regret (The Regretful Climb)
• Le Rasoir National (The National Razor)
• Le Vasistas or La Lucarne (The Fanlight)
• La Veuve (The Widow)
• Le Moulin à Silence (The Mill of Silence)
• La Bécane (The Machine)
• La Raccourcisseuse Patriotique (The Patriotic
Shortener)
• La demi-lune (The Half-Moon)
• Les Bois de Justice (Wooden Justice)

20. 16. What name is given to a test to gauge
whether a computer-based synthesized voice
can tell a joke with sufficient skill to cause
people to laugh? It was proposed by ______ at
the 2011 TED conference as a challenge to
software developers to have a computerized
voice master the inflections, delivery, timing,
and intonations of a speaking human.

21. 17. A port-wine stain or nevus flammeus is
caused by a vascular anomaly (a capillary
malformation in the skin) and is almost always
a birthmark. Probably the most famous person
who had this condition was the source of
much attention from critics and cartoonists
due to this. Though some suggested that he
might have the mark surgically removed, he
opted not to, as once he was publicly known
to have the mark, he believed it would be
perceived as his being more concerned with
his appearance than other more important
issues. Who are we talking about?

22. 18. This $5 silver-plated,
mahogany-boxed, threeand-a-half-inch compass
was chosen as one of the
„101 objects that made
America‟ by the
Smithsonian. Who did it
belong to / what famous
purpose was it used for?

23. 19. What infamous list comprised of the names
of 30 Namboothiris, 10 Tamil Brahmins, 12
Ambalavasis and12 Nairs?

24. 20. Brian Battistone turned heads at the 2012 US
Open with a bizarre racket designed by the
inventor Lionel Burt called “The Natural”. Witnesses
compared it to hedge-clippers but Battistone
claims that the benefits of "the Natural" racquet
extend far beyond creating a strategic
advantage on the tennis court and is about
working in harmony with the laws of nature, by
creating a more balanced approach to the
human body and mind. The international
tennis federation (ITF) has ruled that the racket
can be used in professional competition, saying
that “If you can beat Roger Federer with a snow
shovel of that dimension, go ahead and do it”.
What is different about „The Natural‟ racket?

25. 21. "Canto General" ("General Song") is a work by
X that consists of 231 poems. This work attempts
to be a history or encyclopedia of the whole
continent of Hispanic America.
This is X talking about one of the topics in the
work:
“___________ is a trip to the serenity of the soul,
to eternal fusion with the cosmos, there we feel
our own fragility. It is one of the greatest marvels
of South America . A resting place of butterflies
at the epicenter of the great circle of life. One
more miracle.”
Identify X and the fill in the blank.

26. 22. In the mid-60s, he filmed nearly 500 “screen
tests”. He wasn‟t looking to discover unknown
talent or cast an upcoming movie. His interest
seemed to stem more from voyeurism, the
collector‟s impulse, and his fixation with
glamour. Who?

27. 23. Whose drawings?

28. 24. The origins of this company dates back to
1937 when the founder, Joseph-Armand
_______, a mechanic dreamed of building a
vehicle that could "float on snow". In 1937 he
designed and produced his first snowmobile
in his small repair shop in Valcourt, Quebec.
Today the company boasts of being the
„world's only manufacturer of both planes
and trains‟. Identify the company.

29. 25. Excerpts from
whose Graphic
Novel Biography?

31. 26. Music producer Brian Eno once said: “The
first ___________ album only sold 10,000 copies,
but everyone who bought it formed a band.”
Which band was he talking about?

32. 27. Where did this sealed door lead to?

33. 28. Fill in the blanks.
• When Ivo goes back with the ____, the _____;
Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates with the ____, the
_____;
And the rest coming home with the _____.

34. 29. In her 20s she worked for J. Lyons and Co.
as a food scientist, where she developed
additives for ice cream. Her team “discovered
a method of doubling the amount of air” in
ice cream, which eventually found its way into
soft serve products. Who?

35. 30. Google‟s first tweet. What is written in
binary?

36. Answers follow…

37. 1. Greek stamp issued on
20th August, 1995. What
does it pay tribute to ?

38. Pythagoras Theorem

39. 2. These are the ruins of an Akhara located in
Rajgir, Bihar and is supposed to be the place
where a mythological King used to practice
martial arts. Name this King who hailed from
that area and was also known to be a famous
wrestler.

40. Jarasandha

41. 3. Composer – conductor Sung Jin Hong is composing
an opera based on X, which will be released in 2014.
Here is what he had to say about it:
“Like many traditional operas, X explores crises of
deep human emotion during tremendous pressures or
repression, whether they are social, economical,
political or spiritual. The audience is intensely involved
in the narrative and heavily invested in the
transforming characters and complex plot. The main
characters in Grimes, Elektra and Salomé slowly
transform from protagonist to antagonist…In all these
noir narratives, the seeds are carefully planted in
advance, and when they are strategically harvested,
the fruits go far beyond our expectation.”
Identify X.

43. 4. Turritopsis dohrnii, also known as the
immortal jellyfish, is a species of jellyfish that
can at any stage of its life cycle transform itself
back to the earliest life stage, that of a polyp.
This happens as a result of environmental stress
or physical injury. The polyp will later spawn
clones (genetic copies) of the original animal.
By what common name (inspired by a movie)
is it better known?

44. Benjamin Button Jellyfish

45. 5. Whose proposed statue, „Statue of unity‟ will
be the world‟s tallest once it is completed?

46. Sardar Patel

47. 6. Albert Goodwill __________ began his
professional baseball career with the Boston
Red Stockings in 1871. Over his career, he
achieved a .323 batting average, an earned
run average of 2.14 and an overall winning
percentage of .796, a record that still stands
today. From 1871 to 1875, he won an
outstanding 241 of 301 games he pitched for
the Boston Red Stockings and the Chicago
White Stockings. In 1939, was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame. However, his name is
now familiar to us through a sports goods
manufacturing company he started in 1876.
Name the company.

49. 7.

51. 8. This is the new uniform of the tourist police
in South Korea. What inspired its design?

53. 9. Clip from the BBC documentary series South
Pacific. Identify the narrator.

54. Benedict Cumberbatch

55. 10. Description of an
iPhone app called
Bowlologist: “Australian
cricketer ___________
___________ is the
Bowlologist, a lab coatwearing bowling scientist,
whose coaching insights
and training videos will
help you get the most out
of your cricket.” Fill in the
blanks.

56. Damien Fleming

57. 11. There are many theories about the origin of
this term. One popular theory suggests that it
came from the code name of Ferdinand
Magellan, the only private railroad car built
for a US President in the twentieth century. It
was 85 feet long, weighed 142 1/2 tons and
the windows were made with three-inch
bulletproof glass. Originally created for
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Ferdinand
Magellan transported Harry S. Truman across
the country for his 1948 Whistle Stop
campaign. What term is this?

58. POTUS

59. 12. Biography
which artist?
of

60. Norman Rockwell

61. 13. Upon hearing what political statement did
Georges Clemenceau sarcastically remark
“The good Lord only had ten!” (Le bon Dieu
n'avait que dix!)?

62. Woodrow Wilson‟s 14 points

63. Gräf and Stift double phaeton
(pictured in the next slide) is said to be
responsible for more than a dozen deaths and
is supposed to be cursed. It changed many
hands after its first and most famous casualty,
and most of its later owners died in accidents.
In the 1940s, a Vienna museum curator
named Karl Brunner accepted this vehicle
and displayed it in his museum. But soon Allied
bombers reduced the museum to rubble.
Nothing was found of Karl Brunner but the
vehicle was restored and is now displayed at
the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum in Vienna.
Who was the most famous person to have
died
aboard
this
car?
14. This

65. Archduke Franz Ferdinand

66. 15. During its course of use, it was given
several nicknames, some of which are the
following. What are we talking about?
• La Monte-à-regret (The Regretful Climb)
• Le Rasoir National (The National Razor)
• Le Vasistas or La Lucarne (The Fanlight)
• La Veuve (The Widow)
• Le Moulin à Silence (The Mill of Silence)
• La Bécane (The Machine)
• La Raccourcisseuse Patriotique (The Patriotic
Shortener)
• La demi-lune (The Half-Moon)
• Les Bois de Justice (Wooden Justice)

67. The Guillotine

68. 16. What name is given to a test to gauge
whether a computer-based synthesized voice
can tell a joke with sufficient skill to cause
people to laugh? It was proposed by ______ at
the 2011 TED conference as a challenge to
software developers to have a computerized
voice master the inflections, delivery, timing,
and intonations of a speaking human.

69. Roger Ebert

70. 17. A port-wine stain or nevus flammeus is
caused by a vascular anomaly (a capillary
malformation in the skin) and is almost always
a birthmark. Probably the most famous person
who had this condition was the source of
much attention from critics and cartoonists
due to this. Though some suggested that he
might have the mark surgically removed, he
opted not to, as once he was publicly known
to have the mark, he believed it would be
perceived as his being more concerned with
his appearance than other more important
issues. Who are we talking about?

71. Mikhael Gorbachev

72. 18. This $5 silver-plated,
mahogany-boxed, threeand-a-half-inch compass
was chosen as one of the
„101 objects that made
America‟ by the
Smithsonian. Who did it
belong to / what famous
purpose was it used for?

73. Lewis and Clark expedition

74. 19. What infamous list comprised of the names
of 30 Namboothiris, 10 Tamil Brahmins, 12
Ambalavasis and12 Nairs?

75. The people who were mentioned
Kuriyedathu Thathri‟s „Smartha Vicharam‟
in

76. 20. Brian Battistone turned heads at the 2012 US
Open with a bizarre racket designed by the
inventor Lionel Burt called “The Natural”. Witnesses
compared it to hedge-clippers but Battistone
claims that the benefits of "the Natural" racquet
extend far beyond creating a strategic
advantage on the tennis court and is about
working in harmony with the laws of nature, by
creating a more balanced approach to the
human body and mind. The international
tennis federation (ITF) has ruled that the racket
can be used in professional competition, saying
that “If you can beat Roger Federer with a snow
shovel of that dimension, go ahead and do it”.
What is different about „The Natural‟ racket?

77. It is two -handled

78. 21. "Canto General" ("General Song") is a work by
X that consists of 231 poems. This work attempts
to be a history or encyclopedia of the whole
continent of Hispanic America.
This is X talking about one of the topics in the
work, specifically the one Canto II is all about.
“___________ is a trip to the serenity of the soul,
to eternal fusion with the cosmos, there we feel
our own fragility. It is one of the greatest marvels
of South America . A resting place of butterflies
at the epicenter of the great circle of life. One
more miracle.”
Identify X and the fill in the blank.

79. Pablo Neruda, Maachu Picchu

80. 22. In the mid-60s, he filmed nearly 500 “screen
tests”. He wasn‟t looking to discover unknown
talent or cast an upcoming movie. His interest
seemed to stem more from voyeurism, the
collector‟s impulse, and his fixation with
glamour. Who?

81. Andy Warhol

82. 23. Whose drawings?

83. Vladimir Nabokov

84. 24. The origins of this company dates back to
1937 when the founder, Joseph-Armand
_______, a mechanic dreamed of building a
vehicle that could "float on snow". In 1937 he
designed and produced his first snowmobile
in his small repair shop in Valcourt, Quebec.
Today the company boasts of being the
„world's only manufacturer of both planes
and trains‟. Identify the company.

85. Bombardier

86. 25. Excerpts from
whose Graphic
Novel Biography?

89. 26. Music producer Brian Eno once said: “The
first ___________ album only sold 10,000 copies,
but everyone who bought it formed a band.”
Which band was he talking about?

90. Velvet Underground

91. 27. Where did this sealed door lead to?

92. King Tutankhamun‟s tomb

93. 28. Fill in the blanks.
• When Ivo goes back with the ____, the _____;
Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;
The welkin will ring loud,
The great crowd will feel proud,
Seeing Barlow and Bates with the ____, the
_____;
And the rest coming home with the _____.

94. Urn

95. 29. In her 20s she worked for J. Lyons and Co.
as a food scientist, where she developed
additives for ice cream. Her team “discovered
a method of doubling the amount of air” in
ice cream, which eventually found its way into
soft serve products. Who?

96. Margaret Thatcher

97. 30. Google‟s first tweet. What is written in
binary?

98. Feeling lucky (Blanked out words were I‟m)

99. See you in the finals!