1. LONE WOLF 13th Aug 2011

2. SEMI-FINAL 13th Aug 2011

3. RULES 30 written questions. Cumulative scores go into the finals. 10 pts for correct answer; 5 pts for part answer. Difficulty bonus of 1 point for every pass; pro rata for for partial answers. 5-pointers will not get bonus. 6 qualify into the finals. In case of tie, semi-final score followed by number of correct answers in SF will be used to break it.

4. 1 Identify this Bollywood royalty. His father RaibahadurChunilal co-founded Bombay Talkies and Filmistan. He married the freedom fighter MadanlalDhingra’s sister. His niece is AnjooMahendroo. His son is a pioneer in the field of promoting film and non-film music in India. Who?

5. Madan Mohan. He is probably the most famous Indian born in Baghdad!

6. 2 Which location derives its name from isolated row of cottages on the north-western edge of the historic highwaymen's lair located at Hounslow Heath? It shot into international prominence from 1946 onwards.

7. Heathrow

8. 3 On whose book is this movie based? The autobiographical story is about a recovering drug addict trying to relaunch her career with the help of her mom, who had been a star of musical comedies in the 50s and 60s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgBzAfhBv8I

9. Carrie Fisher (parents – Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds)

10. 4 What unique distinction among national currencies does the pound sterling currency have?

11. Only note to feature the currency symbol - £.

12. 5 The idea for the genre-twisting Murder of Roger Ackroydwas suggested in 1924 to Agatha Christie through an unsolicited letter from a big fan of hers. After watching a performance of Mousetrap in 1969, he wrote to Christie for a second time reminding her of his letter from the 1920s. Christie replied back, acknowledging the part he had played in the conception of the book. Identify this polymath fan of hers. Among his many achievements is a system for maintaining a warship in a fixed position relative to another.

13. Lord Mountbatten

14. 6 Name this extra large naval equipment which is designed to be used only in cases of an emergency.

15. Sheet Anchor

16. 7 The futurist Ray Kurzweil built a much hyped text-to-speech machine for the blind. It was unveiled in 1976 and featured on various TV shows. Walter Cronkite used the machine to give his customary sign-off, “And that's the way it is, January 13, 1976.” Who became its first customer when it was demo’ed on the Today Show?

18. 8 There are many famous Harvard drop-outs like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Edwin Land who dropped out to start companies which made them bilions of dollars. Why did James Connolly, who was admitted to Harvard in 1895, drop out?

19. To participate in the first Olympic Games where he became the first modern Olympic champion (he won the triple jump).

20. 9 What connects the head of states of the following countries: Libya; Oman; Equatorial Guinea; Burkina Faso; Sudan; Chad; The Gambia; Central African Republic; Fiji; Mauritania; Madagascar; Niger

21. Came to power through coup d'etat.

22. 10 Cricket historians usually date the start of "modern" cricket to 1864. Why?

23. Overarm bowling was legalised that year.

24. 11 Who received the following stinging rejection letter for her manuscript for Three Lives?

25. Gertrude Stein

26. 12 Which place got its name in 1499 when Amerigo Vespucci saw houses of this type on the Laguna Sinamaica at the northern end of the Lake Maracaibo?

28. Venezuela. The stilt houses somehow reminded the homesick explorer of Venice.

29. 13 This is a registered trademark of Tiffen (famous for manufacturing photography filters) but is used generically. It was introduced to the industry in 1976 by inventor and cameraman Garrett Brown. It was first used in the biopic Bound for Glory, but it made its name in Rocky and The Shining. What?

30. Steadicam

31. 14 He was Director of Sports Timing and Relations for Longines S.A. and was involved in the organization of the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. In the early 1970s, he was elected president of the World Society of Friends of Suspenders, an organisation which tried to stop women replacing suspender belts with pantyhose! The ‘logical’ next step! What does he do now for a living?

33. 15 What musical word originates from the semicircular space in front of an ancient Greek theatre stage where the chorus sang and danced?

34. Orchestra

35. 16 This Greek cytologist started by studying the menstrual cycle of guinea pigs and soon extended the technique to humans and used his wife as a guinea pig. His single-mindedness paid off. In 1928, he announced the breakthrough diagnosis technique which came to be named after him. He has (among other honours) featured on a Greek drachma note. Identify the technique named after him.

37. Pap Smear/Test named after George Papanicolaou and used to diagnose cervical cancer.

38. 17 Her first husband was a lieutenant in US navy - E. Spencer. Second husband was an American-born Englishman named Ernest Simpson. Her 3rd husband was the governor of Bahamas from 1940-45. Name her.

39. Wallis Warfield Simpson Her third husband King Edward VIII took up the gubernatorial appointment after his abdication.

40. 18 Controller of Broadcasting Lionel Fielden is a pioneer in the field of radio broadcasting in India. Apart from starting radio transmission, in 1936 he persuaded Viceroy Lord Linlithgow to name it ‘All India Radio.’ He also recommended short wave broadcast as a faster way to cover the country and this was achieved by 1938...

41. ...Another decision taken on March 1, 1940 for which Fielden was responsible came from the recommendations of the western music expert John Foulds. Foulds opined that the tempered scale of X with twelve mechanical divisions was not suited to produce the microtones (shruties) which form the basis of Indian music. Which decision with lasting impact are we talking about? What in a related context is the other claim to fame of Foulds?

42. Banning of harmonium on AIR from 1940 – 1971. Foulds composed the AIR opening tune.

43. 19 This structure gives its name to which capital city?

44. Thiruvananthapuram (named after the SreePadmanabhaswamy Temple).

45. 20 Identify the rock band. Name their music company. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmMhB6zv6bw

46. Kula Shaker and Alvar Music.

47. 21 This is the common name for a group of snails (marine gastropod molluscs) in the family Cypraeidae. Several species in this family have been used as money with the species Monetariamonetaenjoying wide usage across the African and the Indian ocean countries. What is the common name?

48. Cowrie

49. 22 In the Marols dialect of Brussels (a form of Dutch incorporating many French words), the phrase is "Hierbenik, hierblijfik" ("Here I am, here I stay"). In English it was whimsically translated as “If you gather thistles, expect prickles.” What are talking about?

50. Kingdom of Syldavia's motto – “Eihbennek, eihblavek”

51. 23 Identify the bald guy in this GEICO commercial. What is his claim to fame? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFQZuTniKvE

52. Donald LaFontaine. He is famous for recording more than 5,000 film trailers. He became identified with the cliché, “in a world…", used zillions of times in movie trailers.

53. 24 Which is the only river which crosses the equator twice and thus flows both northwards and southwards over the 0o line?

55. 25 He became the first person executed in the United States after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a new series of death penalty statutes in the 1976. He was executed in 1977 by a firing squad at the Utah State Prison. He was taken to an abandoned cannery behind the prison, he was strapped to a chair, with a wall of sandbags placed behind him to absorb the bullets. Five gunmen, local police, stood concealed behind a curtain with five small holes cut for them to place their rifles through. When asked for any last words, he simply replied, “___’_ __ __!” Identify him and his last words.

56. Gary Gilmore; Let’s do it (made famous by Dan Wieden 11 years later)

57. 26 Which part of the anatomy is named from the medieval Latin for 'fasting‘ because it is usually found to be empty after death?

58. Jejunum (part of the small intestine between the duodenum and ileum).o

59. 27 CONNECT

60. Viv Richards (1991) and Craig MacTavish(1997) - last to play their respective games without helmets. Craig was the last helmetless hockey player, having begun his career before helmets became mandatory (then-current players were allowed to remain bare-headed under a grandfather clause).

61. 28 The architect of Modern Ladakh, he is known for his efforts in reviving Buddhism in Mongolia and Russia. A descendant of the Ladakhi royal family, he was recognized by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama as one of the Sixteen Arhats. Later, he served as an MP and became India's Ambassador in Mongolia. Identify him. How has his name been memorialised?

63. KushokBakulaRinpoche In 2005, the Leh airport was renamed after him.

64. 29 Which are the only two countries which were created and destroyed in the 20th century?

65. Yugoslavia and USSR Question withdrawn as there are several other answers like Czechoslovakia, Biafra, East Germany, West Germany, North and South Vietnam, North and South Yemen etc.

66. 30 Who wrote the screenplay, co-wrote the story and is also the commentator on the DVD special feature for this ‘tasteful nudie’? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUpVfkS2wks

67. Roger Ebert with Russ Meyer.

68. Let us find out who the finalists are! 13th Aug 2011