The document provides details about the finals of the Maffick General Quiz, including rules and questions. It begins with thanking sponsors and outlining rules such as 16 clock-wise questions with no infinite bounce and bonus/negative points for bouncing and pouncing on questions. Sample questions are provided on various topics testing knowledge about history, mythology, sports, and business. Scores will be calculated based on a differential system accounting for full and partial answers.
2. Mahendra Mohan Das 2
But first, let’s thank our beloved sponsors of the event
3. Clockwise, 16 questions. No infinite bounce.
+10 on bounce
+10/-5 on pounce
You can’t pounce on your own question
Many questions have two parts to a question. Need both parts to get marks on
pounce. However, negative marks will be at QM’s discretion
-10 for pissing me by blurting out the answer or otherwise
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Round 1: Pouncing Tiger, Hidden Dragon
4. In 1793, botanist and aristocrat Joseph Dombey set sail from Paris with two
very important objects in his possession. He was going to meet US Secretary of
State Thomas Jefferson – who, Dombey hoped, would help persuade Congress
for accepting the two objects.
Crossing the Atlantic, however, Dombey ran into a giant storm, and pirates
captured him. He died in prison shortly after his capture; and his belongings
were auctioned off to the highest bidders.
France sent a second emissary afterwards, but by the time America had a new
secretary of state, who apparently didn't care much for the two objects.
What thus resulted, the repercussion of which continues even today for USA
and the rest of the world?
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1) A tale of two objects
6. As per Devi Bhagawata Purana, Maya Sita is the illusionary duplicate of the
goddess Sita, who is abducted by Ravana instead of the real Sita. This saves Sita
from falling prey to Ravana's plot of abduction and safeguards her purity.
After Agni Pariksha, she – worried about her uncertain future – she performs
austerities. Shiva is pleased with her penance and promises to grant her desired
boon. An excited Maya Sita anxiously repeats her desire.
What thus resulted?
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2) Anxiety kills the cat?
7. She repeats her desire of getting a husband 5 times
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She was born as Draupadi and married 5 Pandavas
8. This Venus Williams vs Ipek Senoglu show match was part of a promotional
event for the 2005 Istanbul Cup. What was the so special about this match?
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3) Khelein hum jee jaan se
Video Removed
9. On Bosphorus Bridge, Istanbul, connecting Asia with Europe
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Played across two continents
10. “Our culture is shifting,” says Thomas Pastuszak, wine director at NoMad in
New York City. “Wine used to be the fancy thing. You went out and you had a
bottle of wine with dinner, as opposed to having wine with dinner at home.” He
says that as a sommelier, he’s seen a younger audience for wine emerge, one
that is less intimidated by the traditional formality surrounding wine.
“There was never wine for those traditional beer moments,” says Salcito,
director of wine special projects at David Chang’s Momofuku restaurant group. “I
wanted a thing that made sense in beer moments… In my mind I’m going to the
beach with it, I’m going poolside… You can take it camping”
What new-age style of wine is being talked about?
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4) The shifting paradigm
12. Contrary to what the word might sound like, which Indian household furniture
gets its name from the corruption of Hindi words describing the physical feature
of the furniture, and not from the item it is used to serve?
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5) The sound
14. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a first-person shooter game that was
released in October 2017. Game is set in an alternate history in 1961, in which
Germany won World War II.
However, due to anti-Nazi laws in Germany, a few changes had to be made in
the German version. (Since 1945, the Swastika and all other Nazi symbols have
been banned in Germany.)
While the Swastika symbol was replaced by a three-pronged symbol and Hitler
isn't ever acknowledged by name, what is the other major change in visual the
creators made, which has stirred fits of laughter among people?
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6) Which is the funny guy?
16. The present city of Valsad in Gujarat was earlier known as Bulsar. In the 17th
century, Bulsar was one of the five centres of the Zoroastrian religion. On the
birth certificate of X, his parents identified as "Nationality: British Indian" and
"Race: Parsi”, confirming the origin of their family name.
His portrayal in the biographical drama Y by Z earned him Academy, Golden
Globe and BAFTA award, also making him the first actor of Egyptian heritage to
win the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Identify X and Z.
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7) The music lives on
18. In yet another superhero love triangle, Perceiving an imbalance in the universe
and a gradual shift towards life rather than death, X resurrects Thanos. Thanos
wipes half the beings in the universe from existence as proof of his love for X.
Y, on the other hand, becomes infatuated with X (as expected of Y, obviously)
after he has a number of near-death experiences. During the Funeral for a Freak
storyline, X appears to reciprocate the feeling, and a jealous Thanos prevents Y
from dying and joining X by cursing him with immortality.
X and Y?
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8) Would you die for me?
20. Scene from a 1995 friendly
match between Colombia
and England at Wembley
Stadium. What is this kick
known as, due to the
player's resemblance to a
creature while performing
it?
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9) Have you exercised today?
22. In the 2007 film Guru, Abhishek Bachchan’s character Gurukant Desai is loosely
based on Dhirubhai Ambani. Which famous media magnate is Mithun’s
character Manik Dasgupta based on?
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10) (Social) Media influencers
23. Founder & publisher of The Indian Express
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Ramnath Goenka
24. Marc Ewing’s grandfather was part of Cornell University’s lacrosse team.
During Marc’s time in Carnegie Mellon, he still used to wear his grandfather’s
___ ___, part of the lacrosse jersey.
He used to name his software projects ___ __ 1, ___ ___ 2 , just to
differentiate them from his friends'. So, of course, when he started his Linux
project, he just named it ___ ___ Linux for lack of a better term.
In addition, Marc became the go-to guy on campus for fellow students with PC
problems. Friends would say, “You should talk with my friend Marc.” “Who's
Marc?” “He's the guy in the ___ ___.” So, at least among his immediate friends,
___ ___s became synonymous with technical expertise.
What did Marc Ewing found?
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11) A little nostalgia goes a long way
26. In front of Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh gurdwara in Punjab, there are multiple
shops that sell toy models of ___. They are a standard offering in the gurdwara,
where one can find anything between 80 and 100 toy models at a time, in the
hall, offered by people in the hope of something. Due to this tradition, the
gurdwara is known as the X Temple/Gurdwara.
However, this is not the only X temple in India. The Chilkur Balaji Temple in
Hyderabad is also known as the X temple and always draws a huge crowd,
especially software and IT professionals in and around Andhra and Telengana.
What is offered in the Gurdwara? What’s the wish that the devotees are
making in the temples?
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12) Aajkal ke bachche
28. Moovel Lab is a German urban design team that is looking to check the validity
of a certain statement in modern times. They layered a grid of 486,713 cells on
top of an open-source digital road map of Europe. They then developed an
algorithm to calculate a route to X from each one of those cells, and found that
yes, indeed, there was a way from every point.
What were they trying to prove?
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13) Thou hath no chill
30. Just a couple of weeks after end of WWII, riots broke out among the common
American households. The first riot occurred in September 1945 when many
stores were flooded with mobs of women. The riots then grew in severity.
In November, 30,000 women reportedly gathered in New York and 40,000 in
Pittsburgh. A headline in Augusta, Georgia, read "Women Risk Life and Limb in
Bitter Battle for ___" and went on to detail how crowds clamored into the store,
knocking down shelves and displays along the way. Only by March 1946 the
period of riots ended.
What was the riot for? What’s the reason behind the riots?
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14) Cat-fight
31. Mahendra Mohan Das 31
Nylon; all Nylon during WWII was used by military, leaving nothing
for stockings
32. The name of this Greek mythological hero is taken on the same line as Achilles.
In the Iliad, he is notable for his abundant strength and courage, seen
particularly in two fights with Hector. When Achilles dies, killed by Paris (with
help from Apollo), he and Odysseus are the heroes who fight against the Trojans
to get the body and bury it.
Numerous things are named after this great hero, including multiple navy
ships, cars and football clubs. In the logo of the most famous club named after
him, he is drawn with just 11 lines, symbolizing the 11 players of a football team.
Who?
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15) Clash of the Titans
34. This iconic luxury hotel houses some of the best restaurants or chains in the
world, including Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen, Nobu, Bobby Flay’s Messa Grill
and Pronto by Giada. It was established in 1966 by Jay Sarno, who sought to
create an opulent facility that gave guests a sense of life during the Roman
Empire.
i) Which iconic hotel, which once even hosted its own Grand Prix event, part of
the F1 World Championship?
ii) Quite aptly, what is the name of the main entertainment performance
venue/stadium of the hotel, with 4000+ capacity?
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16) Bade logon ka kaam
37. 5 written questions.
Differential scoring
For full questions, 3*no. of teams that didn’t get correct
For questions with part answers, 1.5*no. of teams that didn’t get the part
correct, for each part
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Round 2: Write Bros
38. Starting 1947, what does the following graph represent, which might remind
you of an Iron maiden song and the third studio album of Linkin Park, among
other things?
What’s the reason of the 5 point drop in 1998?
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1) Because, why not!
39. A ___ elevator can work several ways for going up and down – stopping at
every floor, stopping at alternate floors, or rising to the top floor and stopping,
while going down.
A ___ refrigerator has the ability to disable all lights or other electrical activity
(including compressor turning on) from occurring when the refrigerator door is
opened.
A ___ oven is still under dispute – while most of them disables all lights and
displays, and standard six- or twelve-hour automatic shutoff overridden, the
program to remove power from their heating element when the door is opened
is still a problem.
What’s so special about these machines?
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2) All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
40. X’s original version had 8 colours in 1978. However, in a few months, the
demand significantly grew, forcing them to produce it with the readily available
fabrics, dropping the hot-pink colour.
In 1979 it was further modified, removing the Turquoise and Indigo, and
keeping only blue in its place. This is the version used ever since.
What is being talked about?
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3) Economy of supply and demand
41. Y died in 1943 while fighting for Germany in World War II. A final letter he
wrote to his rival/friend X reads, in part, "Someday find my son ... tell him about
how things can be between men on this Earth.“
In 1964, Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan made the movie “X Returns To
Berlin”. In the film, X explains to Y's son, Kai, what happened during the 1936
Olympic event, which went on to become a great story of unity and friendship
between to great sporting rivals.
Identify X and Y.
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4) Honor among athletes
42. During 20 years of X’s tenure as Chairman and CEO of ___, the company's
value rose 4,000%. When he retired from ___ he received a severance payment
of $417 million, the largest such payment in history.
Through the 1980s, X sought to streamline ___. He popularized so-called "rank
and yank" policies used now by other corporate entities. Each year, he would fire
the bottom 10% of his managers, regardless of absolute performance. He was
dubbed “Y X” for eliminating employees while leaving buildings intact; in
reference to the ‘Y bomb’, which was designed to maximize lethal radiation in
the immediate vicinity of the blast while minimizing the physical power of the
blast itself.
X and Y please.
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5) The management style
44. Starting 1947, what does the following graph represent, which might remind
you of an Iron maiden song and the third studio album of Linkin Park, among
other things?
What’s the reason of the 5 point drop in 1998?
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1) Because, why not!
45. Mahendra Mohan Das 45
Doomsday Clock/Minutes to Midnight; Pokhran II & Chagai I
46. A ___ elevator can work several ways for going up and down – stopping at
every floor, stopping at alternate floors, or rising to the top floor and stopping,
while going down.
A ___ refrigerator has the ability to disable all lights or other electrical activity
(including compressor turning on) from occurring when the refrigerator door is
opened.
A ___ oven is still under dispute – while most of them disables all lights and
displays, and standard six- or twelve-hour automatic shutoff overridden, the
program to remove power from their heating element when the door is opened
is still a problem.
What’s so special about these machines?
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2) All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
47. For refraining from doing creative work on the Shabbat; even including making
a fire, preparing food, or even closing a switch or pressing an electronic button.
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Sabbath/ Shabbat mode
48. X’s original version had 8 colours in 1978. However, in a few months, the
demand significantly grew, forcing them to produce it with the readily available
fabrics, dropping the hot-pink colour.
In 1979 it was further modified, removing the Turquoise and Indigo, and
keeping only blue in its place. This is the version used ever since.
What is being talked about?
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3) Economy of supply and demand
50. Y died in 1943 while fighting for Germany in World War II. A final letter he
wrote to his rival/friend X reads, in part, "Someday find my son ... tell him about
how things can be between men on this Earth.“
In 1964, Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan made the movie “X Returns To
Berlin”. In the film, X explains to Y's son, Kai, what happened during the 1936
Olympic event, which went on to become a great story of unity and friendship
between to great sporting rivals.
Identify X and Y.
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4) Honor among athletes
52. During 20 years of X’s tenure as Chairman and CEO of ___, the company's
value rose 4,000%. When he retired from ___ he received a severance payment
of $417 million, the largest such payment in history.
Through the 1980s, X sought to streamline ___. He popularized so-called "rank
and yank" policies used now by other corporate entities. Each year, he would fire
the bottom 10% of his managers, regardless of absolute performance. He was
dubbed “Y X” for eliminating employees while leaving buildings intact; in
reference to the ‘Y bomb’, which was designed to maximize lethal radiation in
the immediate vicinity of the blast while minimizing the physical power of the
blast itself.
X and Y please.
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5) The management style
55. Anticlockwise, 16 questions. No infinite bounce.
+10 on bounce
+10/-5 on pounce
You can’t pounce on your own question
Many questions have two parts to a question. Need both parts to get marks on
pounce. However, negative marks will be at QM’s discretion
-10 for pissing me by blurting out the answer or otherwise
Mahendra Mohan Das 55
Round 3: Pouncing Tiger, Hidden Dragon Dobara
56. X is a 2000 Indian film written and directed by Y and is his ode to womanhood
and his muse of the time. Starring an ensemble cast of Shah Rukh Khan,
Naseeruddin Shah, Madhuri Dixit, Shabana Azmi, Farida Jalal etc., this movie
follows a rather bizzare storyline, with the lead actress being the muse of
characters ranging from Leonardo Da Vinci to Kalidasa to Kamdev himself;
probably portraying Y’s real-life obsession with the lead actress.
As predicted, the high-profile movie with ensemble cast was a box-office
disaster. Identify the movie and the director.
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1) Start-up failure
58. He is currently the only driver to have been F1 champion for both Ferrari and
McLaren. After his retirement in 1985, this successful aviation entrepreneur has
founded and run three Austrian airlines. Currently he acts as non-executive
chairman of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and owns 10% of the team.
i) Which famous player and businessman, who won the F1 World Drivers'
Championship in 1975, 1977 and 1984?
ii) Who won the championship in 1976?
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2) The adrenalines
60. Rene Lacoste, the famous tennis player and businessman, won seven Grand
Slam singles and also the Davis Cup in 1927 and 1928, as a member of the
French team.
What nickname, associated even today with him, did he get because of the
tenacity with which he dealt with his opponents?
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3) The tell-tale or the tail-tale?
62. The telephone area code 321 was supposed to be assigned to suburban
Chicago, but after a successful petition led by local resident Robert Osband, it
was assigned to Brevard County.
The area code 321 was sought after because Brevard houses a structure that
has made significant impact in human history since the late 20th century.
Either name the structure, or give the funda as to why it was assigned area
code 321.
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4) Of the voyages
64. X founded Khudai Khidmatgar in 1929. After independence, he formed
Pakistan's first National opposition party, the Pakistan Azad Party. But suspicions
of his allegiance persisted and he was placed under house arrest without charge
from 1948 till 1964, except a couple of years in between. In 1962, he was named
an "Amnesty International Prisoner of the Year".
46664 is a series of AIDS benefit concerts played in honour of Y by between
2003 and 2008, participated by music legends including Queen, Beyonce, Bono
and The Who. With 27 years, Y easily surpasses X in terms of number of years
under arrest.
With a common Indian connection, identify both X and Y.
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5) How I love my valley
65. Only two non-Indians to win the Bharat Ratna
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Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan; Nelson Mandela
66. Jaconet is a very soft and lightweight cotton fabric. As a surface, Jaconet makes
it difficult for glue, tape and similar substances to stick. The fabric is often used
as a reinforcement in bookbinding because it is strong but not thick or heavy.
The fabric is named after the place X, where the fabric was first manufactured.
Notably, this is not the only word to be named after the place. The more
famous word of the two is a direct corruption of X, etymology of which can be
linked to the fanatic annual religious festival that takes place in X.
Identify X and the other word.
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6) The contrasting world
68. The painting on the right is of Ibadat Khana, a
certain meeting house in Fatehpur Sikri.
i) What is being depicted in the picture?
ii) What was the main purpose of the room, which,
as per historians, only 18 people were privy to?
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7) Inclusion vs Exclusion
69. Mahendra Mohan Das 69
Abu’l Fazl presenting Akbarnama to Akbar; Din-i-Ilahi
70. Extremadura is a western Spanish region bordering Portugal. With an agrarian
economy, this region focuses a lot of tomatoes – growing two types of tomatoes.
The first type are the normal ones used for cooking. The second type is the
cheapest to grow, however, are practically inedible – though thousands of
hectares are dedicated for growing such inferior but cheap tomatoes –
producing more than 100tons of such tomatoes a year.
Why are the second types of tomatoes produced?
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8) Extremities
72. In August 1990, Sachin hit his first century at Old Trafford, Manchester, against
England, and saved India from losing. He was named Man of the Match for the
performance and gifted accordingly.
However, as per reports, the next day Manchester police issued him a warning
for something related to the match, though adding that given the situation they
won't consider it as a serious crime.
Why the warning?
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9) The laws and its intricacies
74. It was developed by Forrest Mars while in England during the 1930s—
supposedly after observing a similar product carried by Spanish Civil War
soldiers. He then went to Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey Company president
William Murrie, and gave him a 20 percent stake in return for backing his new
product. Though they both parted ways in 1949, shortly after the candy first
came out, the world famous candy still bears the mark of the inventor and his
benefactor.
Which candy?
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10) Marking your territory
76. If 100 cents make 1 USD and 100 paise make 1 Rupee, what does 100 million
Satoshi make?
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11) A short question can go a long way
77. Satoshi is a subunit of Bitcoin named after Satoshi Nakamoto
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1 Bitcoin
78. During the trial, while the Parsi community backed the defendant, the Sindhi
community backed the prosecution, transforming this case into a high-profile
community battle. The weekly tabloid Blitz , owned by R. K. Karanjia, a Parsi
himself, publicized the story, published exclusive cover stories and openly
supported the defendant.
After the conviction of X, it was even feared that a pardon for him could elicit
an angry reaction from the Sindhi community. When government received a
pardon application for Bhai Pratap, a Sindhi trader who had been a participant in
the Indian independence movement, this gave the defendant a chance for
pardon. Vijayalakshmi Pandit, then governor of Maharashtra, pardoned Bhai
Pratap and X on the same day.
Identify X.
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12) Rich dad vs rich dad
80. The following song is from 1967 Dev Anand starrer Jewel Thief. It is shot inside
the royal palace of which country?
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13) Thief, robbery or justice?
Video Removed
81. Kingdom of Sikkim was annexed by India in 1975
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Sikkim
82. Dark Horse Records is a record label
founded by former Beatle George
Harrison in 1974.
i) What mythological horse is the
inspiration for this logo?
ii) What is the primary distinction
between the mythological horse and
the logo?
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14) Tall, dark and handsome
84. Legend has it that some of Alexander the Great’s army took shelter in this
isolated village in 326BC after they were wounded in a battle against Porus.
Artefacts from that period have been found in the village, such as a sword that
reportedly rests inside the temple.
The residents consider themselves such pure-blood that tourists and outsiders
are not allowed to touch any wall of the temples in the place. ‘Kanashi’ is the
local language of the place, unlike dialects spoken in its neighboring villages; and
the language is also considered to be one of the secrets of the village that
outsiders from other villages are not allowed to use.
i) Which in-other-news place am I talking about?
ii) What’s the most famous ‘product’ associated with this village?
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15) Pure-bloods vs muggles
86. In Indian Army, a salute is executed by a open palm gesture. It not only
establishes trust among the personnel but also proves that the person saluting
has no bad intentions and no weapons hidden up anywhere.
However, the navy salute is executed with the palm facing the ground.
Historically, what is reason for the difference?
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16) Why so serious?
87. Mahendra Mohan Das 87
To hide the hands of sailors that get dirty due to oil or grease stains
while working on the ship
89. 7 written questions, connected by a common element
Answers will be revealed after every question
+10 for every correct answer, no negatives
-10 for pissing me by blurting out the answer or otherwise
For the connection:
+30/-15 for first 3 questions
+20/-10 for next 2 questions
+10/-5 for 6th question
+5/0 for 7th question
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Round 4: Write Bros with a theme
90. Drawings of various parts (entrance hall, garden and the fountain) of the Saint-
Paul Asylum in France. Who was admitted here from May 1889- May 1890?
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1) Galat nahin ho, bas alag ho
92. X was born with a crippled leg and derisively nicknamed Lungri (The Lame
One) by his mother. Though he considered himself as the ‘don’ of the place (for
the lack of a better word), the only one who looked up to him was Tabaqui.
Which universally hated villain, who is not to be confused with the largest
standalone retail brokerage in India and a fully owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas?
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2) Kisne kisko maara
96. Introduced in Asterix and the Missing Scroll, Confoundtheirpolitix is a
newsmonger. Who is it based on?
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4) Hot scoop everywhere
98. "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" is a seminal paper published in 1950.
It considers the question "Can machines think?" Since the words "think" and
"machine" cannot be defined in a clear way that satisfies everyone, the author
suggests we "replace the question by another, which is closely related to it and is
expressed in relatively unambiguous words."
Who was the author of the paper, which was the first to introduce his concept
in the philosophy of artificial intelligence?
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5) Who created God?
100. The ___ ___ ___ is a literary society founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley. Its
membership is by invitation only, and it has had less than 1000 members since
its inception, some of the most notable of them being Isaac Asimov, Neil
Gaiman, Nicholas Meyer etc. The group takes its name from the fictional group
of ‘intelligence agents’ employed by X in and around his house.
Identify X and FITB.
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6) Is big brother watching?
102. X has spent the past 53 years living in seclusion on a cliff, overlooking the town
of Whoville. He hates the Christmas season, making particular note of how
disturbing the various noises of Christmastime are to him, including the singing
of Christmas carols. Unable to stand the holiday any longer, he once even
decides to destroy it once and for all.
Ironically, he has become an icon of Christmas and the winter holidays, despite
his hatred of the season.
Who?
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7) When hatred becomes love
105. For brickbats and bouquets, please reach out in Facebook, or drop a mail to
mohandas.mahendra@gmail.com
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Thank you all! Mucho Gracias!