2018 KQA MegaWhats Finals

MEGAWHATS 2018
NATIONAL FINALS
Research By
Mitesh Agarwal, Vivek Karthikeyan and Venkatesh Srinivasan

1. QED
2. Matunga Manram
3. Memory Blank
4. Travelling Pillsburys
5. Remembrance of Things Fast
6. Zulfiqar-e-Ingit
7. Sheikh Yerboutis
8. We Are Like This (W)only

▪ 20 questions each clock-wise and anti-clockwise
▪ 12 questions written
All Clock/Anti-clock questions are for +10 on direct/pass and
+10/-5 on Infinite Pounce
Written questions points will be indicated in the round

2018 has been a sad year with the passing away of eminent quizzers –
we pay a small tribute to them through this round
▪ 6 questions written
▪ +10 for each answer, no negatives
▪ No stakes or maximisers

MegaWhats 2018 Karnataka Quiz Association
This extravagant sarcophagus is covered in sculpted barnacles and is held
up by bronze dolphins. The whole thing is sculpted out of a black and
white marble that makes it look as though it has been weathered by
untold ages beneath the waves, a nod to someone who famously said,
“I have not yet begun to fight”, in response to a request for his surrender.
Following his victories for his home country, he found his employment
opportunities in America running dry and joined up with the Russian
Imperial Navy for a time, until he retired to Paris. He died there in 1792
and was buried in a cemetery belonging to the French royal family.
It wasn’t until 1905 that his remains were rediscovered by America’s
Ambassador to France and returned to the United States.
Who?
1

Harry McNeish was a carpenter whose skills were legendary, but he
was also known as the caretaker of Mrs. Chippy, the cat.
In 1915, under some trying circumstances, Mrs. Chippy had to be
shot; to honor the brave kitty, the New Zealand _________ Society
added a bronze statue of Mrs. Chippy to McNeish’s grave in 2004.
Where was Mrs. Chippy accompanying McNeish?
Why was she shot?
2

Nestled in the quaint Lincolnshire countryside is the village of
Tattershall where, according to legend, the remains of this folk hero
can still be found.
The miniature grave marker says Aged 101, Died 1620.
Which folk hero, who also lent his name to a legendary
performer in Barnum’s circus?
3

He has a history with the city of New Orleans, having purchased both the
infamously haunted LaLaurie Mansion and the historic Our Lady of
Perpetual Help Chapel. Subsequently, he purchased his unnamed tomb in
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1.
The empty grave is a stark, nine-foot-tall stone pyramid with no name on
it, but it is emblazoned with the Latin maxim, “Omni Ab Uno,” which
translates to “Everything From One.” Some speculate it’s a homage to a
movie franchise he was part of. Others think the pyramid is evidence of his
ties to the Illuminati. The more paranormally-minded suggest that the
pyramid is where he will regenerate his immortal self.
Who?
Which movie franchise?
4

The striking design of his tombstone, portraying his immortality, has
become an iconic one. Appropriately, in the first issue of the seminal
science fiction magazine Amazing Stories (first published in 1926),
and for many years thereafter, a drawing of this tombstone appeared
as part of the masthead.
Whose tombstone?
5

One of the reasons why this become a “fad,” was that epidemics were
raging across America: Yellow fever and cholera flourished, children
passed away before turning 10, women died during childbirth.
In America, this also became one of the reasons for the advent of
modern-day public parks.
What fad?
6

John Paul Jones
Father of the American Navy

Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition to Antarctica
Unfortunately Mrs. Chippy was shot along with the sled
dogs once the team became trapped in ice

Tom Thumb

Nicholas Cage
National Treasure

Jules Verne

Since many municipalities still lacked proper recreational
areas, many families had full-blown picnics and women had
their early version of kitty parties in their local cemeteries.

▪ 20 questions
▪ Infinite Bounce-Pounce
▪ +10, no negatives
▪ +10/-5 on Pounce
▪ Length of blanks MAY NOT be indicative of the number of letters in
the answer

The memorable character played by Ramya
Krishnan has a name familiar to certain
aficionados. In this context, the name has certain
properties/attributes.
The character’s name therefore, seems completely
mis-placed, with the director seemingly making a
deliberate counter-point of sorts.
What is the character’s name and how is it
mis-placed? (no part points)
As an additional clue to her name, use this
image.
1

Neelambari
The Neelambari raga is supposed to be soothing,
sleep-inducing, while Ramya’s character is all aggression!

This is a short nonsense poem by an American, penned in 1895. We
remember him for something else that is his handiwork—eleven
years later his persuasive powers caused the replacement of a banal
and flowery passage with the picture of a girl. Although the idea had
been in existence for a long time, he gave it a name.
Who was this, and what was he responsible for?
His 1906 publication presented us a second new term. Talking about
“the sulphitic theory” and “researches into the psychology of
boredom” he introduced a word for a personification.
What else did he coin?
2

I never saw a purple cow. I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow I’d rather see than be one.

Gelett Burgess. He gave the name for the “blurb”
He also gave us “bromide” for a dull, boring person

His calling came in 1937 on the 18th green of the Temple Terrace Golf and
Country Club. Over the next seven decades, he would be part of many impressive
golf foursomes including U.S. presidents, captains of industry, Hollywood stars,
and foreign heads-of-state. He was featured in Golf Digest’s “60 Most Famous
Golfers,” in the magazine’s 60th anniversary edition in 2010.
For his day job, which required him to be quite vocal, he would go into the
swamps to shout at alligators with a voice already resonant from practicing
Tarzan yells as a boy.
His most famous ditty that became a “national anthem”, was originally written in
1835 by Charlotte Elliott, who had convinced herself that her physical disabilities
made her totally useless in the service of the almighty.
The song also became the title of his 1997 autobiography.
Who and what was the ditty?
3

Reverend Billy Graham
Just As I Am

In the sixties, actor Peter Lawford was famed for being the only
Brit in the Rat Pack. He is also said to have been the last person
to have spoken to Marilyn Monroe before her death.
A jealous Frank Sinatra gave him a nickname, thanks to
Lawford’s first marriage to Patricia _________.
What nickname was he given?
Which family was he married into?
4

Brother-in-Lawford
Kennedy family (married to JFK’s sister)
Peter Lawford was also famous for introducing Marilyn Monroe
to JFK

The Notre-Dame de la Paix is a bewildering legacy of this country’s
corrupt past. As tall as St Peter’s in Rome, it even has personal
air-conditioning for every seat. The basilica, completed in 1989 for an
estimated $300m, is said to have doubled the country’s national debt.
As the 1980s drew to a close, Felix Houphouët-Boigny was nearing
the end of three decades in power. Flush with funds from cocoa sales,
he lavished money on such stuff. The building though evokes great
national pride and this love for it came in handy in the 1990s in more
ways than one.
Where is the church located? Why was it useful?
5

Ivory Coast
During the country’s civil war, soldiers never defaced it in any way
because of the pride it invoked in them. Citizens in turn took
refuge within it, knowing it would never be attacked.

Contre-Jour: A Triptych after Pierre Bonnard is a novel in which the
characters are the impressionist painter and his family. The story
revolves around the frustrated existences of his wife and daughter,
and their life with the reclusive painter.
Writing about it in The Guardian, Amy Sackville says her water-
stained copy is almost 20 years old. By saying this she gives us an
idea of where she might have read the book. One can call it “method
reading”, trying to get under the skin of the characters.
Where did she read the book?
Why is her experience appropriate?
6

Sackville read the book in a bath tub
Bonnard made scores of paintings of his wife
in the bath that she spent so much time in.

This 1909 Hungarian play by Ferenc Molnar is set in two
locations – Budapest and Heaven. The story revolves around
an eponymous carnival barker, and how he falls in love with a
maid.
While it was adapted to stage and re-made several times, it is
a 1945 version that made it very popular. In this version, in the
second act, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the protagonist Julie
Jordan, sings a song, now familiar in another context, to
comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow,
commits suicide after a failed robbery attempt.
Name the original play. (5 pts.)
Name the 1945 adaptation and the song. (5 pts.)
7

Liliom
Carousel; You’ll Never Walk Alone

The 76-year-old singer and Nobel laureate Bob Dylan has joined with
liquor entrepreneur Marc Bushala to launch a range of whiskeys. Reporting
on the story The Guardian noted that “for a man whose _______ ______ now
runs to 13 albums, distilling his own Tennessee liquor seems like a logical
next step.”
When it came to a name, the two men “wanted a standalone name for
whiskey that could also be a nod to Dylan”. The name is from a song Dylan
wrote for the 1973 Western film, Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid (It plays
while Sheriff Colin Baker is dying from his gunshot wounds).
Fill in the blanks.
What is the whiskey called?
8

Bootleg Series
Heaven’s Door

The manner of usage of the “question” and “exclamation” marks in
texting and tweeting make grammarians wince. They have however
been widely used for several decades in one type of publication.
Found in various combos, they stand for:
blunder, mistake, dubious, interesting, good, and brilliant.
While the use is subjective, they have come to stay and find
worldwide use, breaking language barriers.
In what type of publication will one find them?
9

Chess Games / Books

The English speaking countries use a Helicopter as
metaphor in this pejorative idiom, while the
Scandinavians use the sport of Curling to refer to the
same expression. The Chinese use The Little Emperor
or a Tiger as metaphor. The Japanese use a more
direct approach – they use Monsters to depict the
term.
What are we talking about?
Put funda on the Scandinavian term.
10

Parenting
In English-speaking countries, overprotective Moms and Dads are called
helicopter parents for the way they hover and meddle in their children’s lives.
Curling forældre, or curling parents, allude to the sport of curling and frantic
efforts to sweep away all obstacles in their offspring’s path.

In 1936, this entertainer X, who was known as, “The Man Who Taught America
How to Sing” had just finished a radio broadcast in New York's Vanderbilt
Theater when Fred Osius approached him with his latest invention. Osius was
looking for someone to finance a new product that would "revolutionize
people's eating habits."
X was intrigued with the concept, and agreed to back the new product, even
when the prototype failed to work the first time. He remained enthusiastic
and with his support, the engineering and production problems were solved
in time to introduce the new "Miracle _____" (as it was then called) at the
National Restaurant Show in Chicago in 1937. The product was later named
after him and became a regular appliance at all hotels, and homes.
Who is X? What is the product?
11

Fred Waring
Blender / Mixer
Bonus written question for all teams follows for +10/0

In 1953, the Waring Blender was part of history when
this person used it along with an aseptic dispersal
container, while coming with a very critical medical
discovery.
Who and what discovery?
11B

Jonas Salk
Polio vaccine

This word “A” has more than one meaning. It has its origins in Middle
Dutch. It derives one meaning—that of a commemorative item—from
the process of beating (metal) into a thin plate. Its other meaning
comes from the sense of sticking up an item thus made, and refers to
something left as a film or deposit.
The same Dutch root gives another word “B”. In the late 15th century,
this word was used in the sense of a warrant that one pasted and
displayed. The current sense of the word is from the 19th century and
has come to be associated with images of protestors of all sorts.
What are the two words A and B?
12

Plaque
Placard
From the Dutch root word plakken

The recent news that the US has decided to rename something has
re-ignited a long pending geographical naming irritant for several Asian
countries, especially Pakistan. The Organization of Islamic Conference
suggested that, because many of the countries in the region were Islamic,
the Muslim ________ was the right term. Pakistan’s irritation with the name
goes back to 1971, when Latif Ahmed Sherwani of the Pakistani Institution
of International Affairs pointed out that a similar entity wasn’t named after
Italy considering they were occupying a prominent position in it. Even
further back though, an objection came not from Pakistan, but Indonesia.
In July 1963, President Sukarno wanted it named after his country.
What was the recent news that triggered this controversy all over
again?
What was the original controversy?
13

US military is renaming the US Pacific Command as the
US Indo-Pacific Command
The long pending issue is the name – Indian Ocean

This is a restatement and a parody written by a poet in the 1975 issue
of the Coevolution Quarterly, which was founded by Stewart Brand.
The You Can’t Win part is perhaps from the Michael Jackson starrer,
The Wiz and was written by Charlie Smalls.
0. There is a game
1. You can't win.
2. You can't break even.
3. You can't even get out of the game.
Who wrote this adage? What does it represent?
14

Allen Ginsberg
Represents the Laws of Thermodynamics

This word, when used for a category of products has a different
meaning compared to the terms used in chemistry, where it
denotes that it is nutritionally required by a living organism.
One of their properties is that they completely evaporate
without leaving any stain, an aspect which is very useful in its
application.
Young Living and doTerra, two
Utah-based companies are the world’s largest in this business.
What are we talking about (specific answer)?
What does the term used in this business context denote?
15

Essential Oils – where it refers to the essence of plants
and not essential as in essential amino or essential fatty
acids

It is the 26th century and humans have become “Numbers”—automatons who prioritize
efficiency over freedom. They are watched by menacing drones, which hover above the
OneState’s streets. The Bureau of Guardians eavesdrops on conversations to ensure
productivity. One of these Numbers, an engineer named D-503, is building the
INTEGRAL, a spaceship designed for galactic imperialism. He develops an antiquated
faculty that has long been thought extinct. Improbably, D-503 acquires a soul.
This plot may sound like something out of Westworld or The Handmaid’s Tale, but it is
much older, from 1921. George Orwell used it as a blueprint for Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World follows a similar arc and writers such as Anthony
Burgess, Nabokov, and Ayn Rand were in his debt, as are more recent novels by Kazuo
Ishiguro and Octavia Butler that take up his inquiry into utopia and its shortcomings.
Which book with a 2 letter-title and who is the Russian sci-fi author?
16

We (English Title) or My (Russian Title) by
Yevgeny Zamiatin or Eugene Zamyatin

The most famous of these is on the extreme right, usually
administered to US citizens. The first one is administered to the state
or local government employees. And the one in the middle to federal
employees.
Give us any two names and connect them.
17

George Kalkines, Edward Garrity & Ernesto Miranda
Rights read out to State/Local govt, Federal Govt employees, and
to US citizens

On Aug 25, 1938, this maestro was asked to conduct a special
orchestra with some of the world’s best musicians. The concert
was held outside a villa in Tribschen in the canton of X.
The maestro appropriately made a particular work the
centrepiece of the concert. The work had been composed in
that very villa back in 1870 as a celebration of the composer’s
son’s birth. This performance was very well-received and
marked the starting of an International Music Festival.
Who was the maestro? What was the composition?
Where did this happen?
18

Arturo Toscanini; Richard Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll
The Lucerne Music Festival

This Azerbaijani had modest hopes for his paper to get accepted, but he
figured that the main reason it had been accepted was because he was a
member of Information and Control’s editorial board. His argument resembled
an idea that Albert Einstein had expressed in the 1920s in his book “Geometry
and Experience.”
“So far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain,” Einstein
wrote. “And as so far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.”
Gradually, though, his innovation found a following, particularly in the East.
In the 1980s, engineers in Sendai, Japan, incorporated it into the design of the
city’s new subway, using it to program the system’s famously smooth starts
and stops. Still, most of his colleagues in the West continued to express
disdain. The electrical engineer Rudolph Kálmán called it “a kind of scientific
permissiveness.” The mathematician William Kahan dismissed it as “the cocaine
of science.”
Which now ubiquitous idea & name the person?
19

Lotfi Zadeh
Fuzzy Logic

This is the 2nd largest of its kind in the US. It lent its
name to a hit sketch comedy series that ended in
March 2018.
Name the sketch or this statue.
Which is the largest of its kind?
What “kind” are we talking about?
20

Portlandia
Statue of Liberty
Largest Hammered Copper Statues in the US

▪ Written round on posters
▪ 6 questions, 9 parts
▪ 40 points in all

The official posters for the 2018 New Orleans Jazz Festival pays
tribute to a legend who died in 2017. Also featured is the first rapper
depicted on a Jazz Fest poster. Big Freedia is known for her energetic
New Orleans genre of hip-hop.
Who is the man, painted by Terrance Osborne? (3)
Freedia is known as the “Queen of ______”: FITB. (5)
1

The official poster for this FIFA World
Cup was the first time a photographer
was commissioned to design posters
for the World Cup. Some of the
photographer’s other work is also
shown.
Who is the photographer? (5)
Which World Cup? (3)
2

You find it at the bottom of movie posters. The content, order and
format of the billing block are governed by two things: personal
service contracts with cast and crew, and industry-wide agreements
with professional guilds.
What are these called? (6)
3

When the promotional team began thinking in 2013 about material
as the show approached its last two years, they wanted to rope in this
designer. Someone took one of this designer’s best-known images—
a 1966 poster inspired by a Duchamp silhouette self-portrait—and
cut out the psychedelic flowing hair. The hair was then pasted upside
down, like a Technicolor eruption, and sent to the designer.
Who was the designer? (4)
Which was the ‘66 work? (4)
4

The official Cannes poster
of 1985 pays tribute to
which pioneer? (5)
5

The official poster for the 1932 Summer
Games in LA shows an Ancient Greek
custom. Tradition dictated that messengers
travel from city to city to announce the
date of the competitions, and call for
something.
What did these messengers ask for? (5)
6

Fats Domino (3 pt)
(there were dominos on his tie)
Queen of Bounce (5 pt)

Annie Leibowitz (5 pt)
Mexico 86 (3 pt)

Billing Blocks (6 pt)

Milton Glaser (4 pt)
The Bob Dylan psychedelic poster (4 pt)

Eadweard Muybridge (5 pt)

A Truce (5 pt)
They demanded an end to conflict
before, during and after the Games.

Answers
1a. Fats Domino (3)
1b. Bounce (5)
2a. Annie Leibowitz (5)
2b. Mexico 1986 (3)
3. Billing Blocks (6)
4a. Milton Glaser (4)
4b. Bob Dylan Psychedelic Poster (4)
5. Eadweard Muybridge (5)
6. Truce (5)

Andrew Bonar Law was Chancellor of the Exchequer during the WW1
years. He later was in a particular post for only 211 days in 1922–23,
the shortest such tenure in the twentieth century. Bonar was not
charismatic, and was too reserved. His tenure was short and his
successes few. His career was also cut short by ill health.
Law had ended the political career of Herbert Asquith, a fact that
does much to explain his ill-mannered quip at Law’s funeral at
Westminster Abbey: It is fitting that we should have buried the _______
_____ ________ by the side of the _______ _______.
Fill in both sets of blanks.
1

Unknown Prime Minister
Unknown Soldier

This is the Acacia pycnantha – it is an “understory” plant,
especially in Eucalyptus forests. It is commercially cultivated
to extract tannin. Also grown as an ornamental plant, it has
become a weed in several countries. It became the official
national floral symbol of a country in the late 1990s.
Name the flower.
What did the look of the flower possibly inspire?
2

Golden Wattle
The green-and-gold (specifically the gold) colours of
many Australian sports team jerseys

The music industry was only still nascent in 1925 when it ran into a crisis.
It was much like the situation today—when at a click, anyone can listen to
music for free, why would they spend money on buying it?
What was the other revolution that took place
that year that caused record sales to plummet?
The story goes that the industry survived because of someone’s bright
spark. This person’s idea was to make records for one particular
demographic, as they were in some sense the only market left. Scouts and
producers then ventured into Louisiana Cajun country, the Hispanic heart
of Texas, the Mississippi delta and so on bringing new music to people,
and this helped shape the world of recorded music.
Who were the target of the renewed push for sales?
3

Network radio brought concert performances live to listeners
The target therefore was people without electricity or radios
Those in rural areas who had windup gramophones

About 18 months ago in November 2016, a project in the Arusha
region was shelved, hopefully for the final time. Activists have been
fighting against it for several years as it would have threatened the
annual wildebeest migration.
Richard Leakey is one of those who has suggested an alternate
plan—one that he says will serve a dual purpose. It will, according to
him, be a grand spectacle in more ways than one. “If I can do
(something) in New Jersey, why not in the Serengeti,” he asks.
What was the project?
What was Leakey’s idea?
4

The plan was to build a road cutting across the Serengeti.
Leakey suggests an elevated highway—animals can pass
unhindered, and tourists can view animals from above

During the years 1901-1902 Erik Lindberg was living in Paris. He was
influenced by modern French masters of that period, such as Roty,
Chaplain, Tasset, and Vernon. In the early part of his stay in Paris he was
entrusted with the task of making three objects. Another person Gustav
Vigeland was asked to make a fourth one.
Lindberg’s work was “reduced” in October 1901 at Janvier’s in Paris. It was
completed only in September 1902 as the approval process took a long
time. In the meanwhile, the people who placed the order had to be
content with a few temporary pieces. Lindberg also had to step in and
complete Vigeland’s work for him. Vigeland only made the basic design.
What were they making?
Why was Vigeland unable to complete his work?
5

The Nobel Medals
Vigeland was not an engraver. He was a sculptor.

The name of this instrument comes from a region in this
country which has beautiful landscapes. Interestingly, the left
overs from the thin wood that is used to make these type of
violins is quite cheap and is used to make fake furniture and
export to neighboring countries. One such furniture inspired
a song as the writer saw such fake furniture in his then
girlfriend’s house.
Which instrument or name the region?
Which song?
6

Hardanger Fiddle or hardingfele from the region of Hardanger in
Norway
The song Norwegian Wood, which was about an extra-marital
relationship Lennon was having at the time. It is a type of wood that was
used to make cheap furniture.

The Russian, Byzantine, or Orthodox cross has
a suppadaneum at the bottom—a horizontal
crossbeam which acts as a footrest. In the
Orthodox tradition, the footrest is slanted, with
the side to Christ’s right being higher.
Why this symbolism?
7

The footrest slants upwards towards the thief Dismas
who was penitent. The chap who was crucified on Jesus’
left, Gestas, was impenitent.

As NASA moved through its missions, the “mission cover” became
one of the most prized for space stamp collectors. The collectible
would have the date of a mission launch “cancelled” on it, or the
dates of the mission’s other achievements, i.e. spacewalks, moon
landing and so on.
A cancellation is the application of a postal marking. The covers could
be cancelled at designated post offices. Some of the most unique of
these postal stamp cancellations, much sought after at auctions
today, came courtesy of the U.S. Navy.
How did these special covers come about?
8

Each US Navy ship has a post-office. These covers were
cancelled by the ships assigned to pick up astronauts
following their re-entry splashdowns
These ship post-offices developed their own special hand stamps to
commemorate their ship’s role in the space mission

George Maciunas, founded the art movement called Fluxus in the 1960s,
heavily inspired by a 1952 work. They produced performance "events,"
which included enactments of scores, "Neo-Dada" noise music, and
time-based works, as well as concrete poetry, visual art, urban planning,
architecture, design, literature, and publishing. Unfortunately, there were
festivals no one attended, performances no one saw, promises of money
that never came, revolutions that never happened.
Perhaps, their biggest worldwide fame came in 1969 at the Amsterdam
Hilton Hotel.
Which 1952 work inspired Maciunas?
Who was involved in the 1969 Fluxus “art work”?
9

John Cage 4’33” inspired Fluxus
John Lennon & Yoko Ono
(Bed-Ins for Peace)

In the Tamil Nadu town where it is common, you can identify the people
involved by looking at their hands and feet—they are the colour of
sandalwood. Meenakshi Kesavan is an expert at it. The 63-year-old was the
first in the country to receive a Sangeet Natak Akademi award for her
trade. Monsoon is a wretched season for practitioners of this craft.
What does she make? What was unique about the award?
Since her family cannot survive on the money they earn from making
these, it is not their mainstay. Their regular income comes from making
something else that looks somewhat the same. This second object is used
for brewing, in a field that gets its name from the Tamil word for
perfection. Critics deride the field as alchemy and dismiss its practitioners
as mystics.
How does her family supplement their income?
10

Ghatams
First to be awarded as an instrument maker
They also make pots used to brew Siddha medicine

When Craig Spencer founded the world’s first such anti-poaching
unit, to save South Africa's endangered rhinos and elephants, he
looked to the _______ to establish a model. “They are unarmed,
courteous, well-dressed, and eloquent. They have a presence, [which
functions as] crime prevention. That’s the idea…
Who or what is the unit modelled on?
The unit is made up entirely of women. Nothing like this has been
attempted before. They are named after Kruger’s most dangerous
resident, a brownish-grey creature whose preferred habitat includes
termite mounds and hollow tree trunks.
What is the name of the unit?
11

British Bobbies
Black Mambas

This is a word familiar to Scrabble players. As a symbol this could
stand for a UK movie rating, a mid-level municipal bond, or a shoe
size. Its noun form became popular again recently due to an event
that continues to unfold several weeks on. The thing that it stands for
is exceedingly rough, covered with a layer of partly loose, very
irregular fragments commonly called clinkers.
What word are we talking about?
Why has it been looked up more in recent times?
12

Aa
It is a type of lava flow
From the recent Kilauea eruption

This famous 1853 short story by an author is almost autobiographical,
where the protagonist is a scrivener. The title character, worked extremely
hard at his job, copying and checking documents. But suddenly one day,
asked to perform a task, he replied: “I would prefer not to.” His manager
pleaded, remonstrated and threatened him. But the scrivener simply
repeated the same five words, with no explanation for his conduct. Later,
he started sleeping in the office, refusing either to leave or to undertake
any work at all. His manager moved office and laid off all the workers.
Almost 150 years later, the title character’s catchphrase inspired something
considering he was the first person to do the same act.
Name the title character/work. What did he inspire?
13

The Occupy Wall Street movement – Bartleby
is the first person to literally occupy wall street and his catchphrase
became the anthem for the Occupy Wall Street movement
Bonus written question for all teams follows for +10/0

Bartleby is also the name for something that started in
May 2018.
Names for other such similar endeavors include a German
emperor, trees, a town in Massachusetts, a 19th century
polymath, a fruit, memoirs of a british soldier, etc.
What did Bartleby inspire in May 2018?
Be specific for full points.
13B

The Economist column on management and work

X and Y have been long associated with falconry. Yeomen were
allowed to carry a X and priests, Y.
X’s name might come from the bird’s plumage as well as its ability to
take large wild fowl. Y’s name is thought to have been coined by
Vikings who encountered falconry in England—this bird is said to
have acquired its name from its habit of preying on another smaller
bird in gardens.
What are X and Y?
14

Goshawk
Sparrowhawk

The reasons why this material is given its name is unclear. It could be that it is
called so because it is different from normal ____: its appearance is recognizable,
or it is obvious. This sense comes from the meaning of the word that prefixed to
____.
An early method to achieve the effect speaks about a foundation coat of
lampblack mixed with linseed oil on the flesh side, many more coats of said
mixture, with the surface to be ground down with pumice-stone after each coat.
A gentleman of the name of Hand in Birmingham, England is said to be the first
to have made a process rendering it impervious to water—It needed only be
wiped with a sponge to restore it to its original lustre. Hand claimed the method
as his own, and his acting thus is claimed to be the second source for the name.
What is the glossy two-word term we are looking for?
15

Patent Leather

The world ski jump distance record progressed slowly from the 1930s
through to the 1970s. It then received a boost in the 1990s with the
adoption of the Graf-Boklov technique, Graf after a Polish jumper who
discovered it in 1969, and Boklov who used it effectively in the 1990s.
Distances increased by many tens of metres. It was the single-biggest
change in the sport and has been widely adopted ever since. Initially, there
was a bit of a paradox though. Jumpers were not winning any medals
although their jumps were getting longer. It took many years for this to
change.
What is the distinct feature of the Graf-Boklov technique?
What was the cause of the paradox?
16

The use of a V-position, instead of keeping the blades horizontal.
Officials deducted points for style because they felt the jumps were not
classical. Later, the method became so widely used that they could no
longer ignore it and then they stopped penalising.

Another show in which Game of Thrones star Kit Harrington
features in puts him very close to Britain's brutal history.
He says about his character: He’s one of those people that really in some
ways was intensely arrogant, was incredibly ambitious but also he was
driven by a real religious fervour. The fact that he was widower meant that
I think he almost had a death wish to go to heaven to be with his wife
again.
About people’s knowledge of history: They know the rhyme ‘remember,
remember the 5th November’ but that’s pretty much all they know.
Which show? Who is he playing?
Why is this casting doubly appropriate?
17

Gunpowder
Robert Catesby
He is a direct descendent
His given name is Christopher Catesby Harrington

What record connects? This was an exhaustive list till recently, when
someone joined it, with a 2x better performance. Who?
18

5 wickets and a century in ODIs
Viv Richards, Paul Collingwood, Rohan Mustafa
Amelia Kerr of New Zealand
She scored 232* and took 5/17 versus Ireland

The UNESCO World Heritage Sites Committee met a few hours ago
(or they may be in the meeting now!) to decide on whether a set of
sites will be inscribed as UNESCO WHS. One of the entries is an
ensemble of two different types of architecture in this city, which
includes its High Court, the University, a clock tower and a cinema.
Name this collective.
One of the other sites under discussion is the Historic City centre of
Shakhrisyabz (earlier called Kesh). A committee is reviewing a “State
Programme” carried out by the local government and the
impact/fallout of the same.
Which ruler was born here, and regarded it as his home-town?
What is the likely outcome of the review?
19

Victorian and Art Deco ensemble of Mumbai
Timur; it’s being considered for deletion
due to rampant construction/ people displacement

Emperor Harshavardhana, who ruled from Kannauj followed this practice.
Rather surprisingly, both from a faith and logistics point of view, even the
later Mughal rulers continued the same, with Akbar being very particular
about it during his travels. Tavernier, in his writings, remarked on how
expensive this exercise was, and concluded that the primary reason was
the belief in the healing properties.
What?
Shah Jahan was one person who actually deviated from this and preferred
an alternate. This was to prove to be his downfall, when Aurangzeb did
something, which made Shah Jahan finally surrender Agra Fort, and
eventually his kingdom to him. Explain.
20

Using Ganga water for drinking, cooking…
Shah Jahan was fond of Yamuna water and could not survive
without it. During the siege, he could have held out longer by
drinking well water, but refused to do so after Aurangzeb
stopped the supply of Yamuna water to the Agra fort.

2018 KQA MegaWhats Finals

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2018 KQA MegaWhats Finals