2017 mw semifinal 1 true version

MEGAWHATS 2017
SEMI FINALS 1
Research By
Mitesh Agarwal, Vivek Karthikeyan and Venkatesh Srinivasan

1. Forecasting Couch – Bengaluru
2. Hammer and Tongs – Kolkata
3. Ingit Bergman – Mumbai
4. QED – Chennai
5. Sheikh Yerboutis – Dubai
6. SJC Quizzers – Bengaluru
7. Swami and Friends – Hyderabad
8. We Are Like This (W)only – Bengaluru

▪ 8 questions
▪ +10 on Infinite Bounce
▪ +10/-5 on Infinite Pounce in writing
▪ Blank lengths NOT indicative in any question

MEGAWHATS 2017
Which festival, celebrated on January 30th every year, and
bearing a name meaning ‘The Feast of the First Morning’, is
indelibly associated with a particular flashpoint in a 20th
century confrontation?
1

MEGAWHATS 2017
Tet Offensive
The name of the offensive comes from the Tết holiday, the Vietnamese
New Year, when the first major attacks took place.
It was the largest military campaign of the Vietnam War.

MEGAWHATS 2017
Identify the artist and the
title of the work.
Brad is also mentioned in a
1963 work of the same
artist. In that work, the
elements of water were
inspired by which classic
1830s work?
2

MEGAWHATS 2017
Masterpiece by Roy Lichtenstein
The Great Wave Off Kanagawa
Inspired the waves in Drowning Girl

MEGAWHATS 2017
It is believed that his body—buried in a churchyard near St. James’s
Park—was exhumed by the authorities for confirmation. A known
trickster, it was suspected he might have faked his death to avoid
paying his debts. The height of his audacity was in 1671.
Who is this? His epitaph reads:
Here lies the man who boldly hath run through
More villainies than England ever knew;
And ne'er to any friend he had was true.
Here let him then by all unpitied lie,
And let's rejoice his time was come to die.
3

MEGAWHATS 2017
Col Thomas Blood
who attempted to steal the Crown Jewels

MEGAWHATS 2017
Elie Aghnides, a Greek-born, U.S.-based engineer had an invention
in the 1950s – a four-wheel, five-tonne driving machine that was
designed to work in the vast open spaces of Alaska and Canada,
without succumbing to the region’s varied terrain.
On road it could reach 70 kmph; in the water, its hollow wheels
allowed the bulldozer-like vehicle to float on the water’s surface,
while a rear water jet enabled it to move at six km/hour. However,
the primary customer it was intended for, never bought it.
Given its size, what name from the world of fauna did it have?
What was it intended to replace?
4

MEGAWHATS 2017
Rhino
It was named for its massive bulk and its penchant for mud
An alternative to the tank

MEGAWHATS 2017
Operation Hope Not was conceived in 1953. The detailed plan
was put in place in 1958 by a committee led by the Duke of
Norfolk. However, it was another five years, before it was
actually implemented. It was the first such event for a civilian in
the 20th century. However, several changes, especially in the
personnel involved, had to be made from the original 1958
plan.
What was the Operation all about? What necessitated the
changes?
5

MEGAWHATS 2017
Winston Churchill’s funeral
Churchill outlived many of his designated
pall-bearers

MEGAWHATS 2017
From a PG Wodehouse interview, when he was asked
if he was very fond of ____:
I don’t know why _____ went out! The actual name was _______ - _______, and
you fastened them over your ankles, you see, to prevent the _______ ____ing
you… I’ve written articles… about how I used to go about London. I would borrow
my brother’s frock coat and my uncle’s hat, but my ____ were always new and
impeccable. The butler would open the door and take in my old topcoat and hat
and sniff as if to say, “Hardly the sort of thing we are accustomed to.” And then
he would look down at the _____ and everything would be all right.
What is he talking about, an item that is on
prominent display on occasions like Republic Day?
6

MEGAWHATS 2017
Spatterdashes, shortened to spats

MEGAWHATS 2017
This was Dennis Miller’s debut stand-up comedy CD. He named
the album as a parody and tribute to another great work.
What name did he choose?
7

MEGAWHATS 2017
The Off-White Album
in tribute to TheWhite Album

MEGAWHATS 2017
MS Selandia was “the world’s first large ocean-going
diesel-powered ship”, and also termed a “phantom ship”, since
her presence could not be immediately detected, in the
absence of a key marker. The ship generated tremendous
curiosity in London; seeing it for the first time, people thought
she had suffered damage and was in need of assistance. Britain
was in the midst of coal strike, and the fact that she was not
dependent on coal to run was one more reason why the vessel
gained so much attention, including a visit by Churchill.
What was the unique feature of Selandia
that made it so famous?
8

MEGAWHATS 2017
Nobody had ever seen a large ship without a
smokestack before. Selandia did not have a funnel;
instead exhaust from her engines escaped through
exhaust ports in the aft mast.

▪ Three questions in writing
▪ +8 for a correct answer; +4 for each part
▪ No negative marking
▪ Stake +4/-4 only if you know both parts

MEGAWHATS 2017
In his book, “How We Got to Now”, Steven Johnson writes about how
modern innovations have progressively evolved from innovations
before them; for e.g. how Gutenberg’s printing press sparked a
demand for spectacles, leading to optic technology that helped build
the microscope, further leading us to more scientific discoveries.
In this book, Johnson terms all such complex chains of influences the
“__________ Effect” in which the flower and the ____ both have
very different needs and aptitudes but the pollen in the flower
altered the very physiology and anatomy of the ____, as a result of
which ____ became one of the most efficient in its class.
What effect?
W1

MEGAWHATS 2017
Two cartoons by the delightful Rohan Chakravarty,
from his series on A Courtship Guide by Wild Animals.
ID both the birds for full points.
W2

MEGAWHATS 2017
Marmaduke Tunstall was an English ornithologist who authored
Ornithologica Britannica (1771), probably the first British work
to use binomial nomenclature. He discovered a bird species
that gets its name from the behavior of the birds.
Which species that has been a
symbol of aerial speed and power?
What does the first word in its name mean in Latin?
W3

MEGAWHATS 2017
Sarus Crane
Frigate Bird

MEGAWHATS 2017
Peregrine Falcon
Peregrine / Peregrinus mean
foreigner/traveler/pilgrim/“from another land”

MEGAWHATS 2017
Seen here is a cross-section of a Boeing aircraft. Such a
representation is known by a specific name because it
resembles something that kids play with. What name, a royal
example of which has appeared in quizzes a few times?
9

MEGAWHATS 2017
This is a 1971 Bengali movie, Chhadmabeshi,
directed by Agradoot.
Agradoot made movies between 1947-1975.
What was so special about Agradoot?
Also what was the super-hit 1975 Hindi remake of this movie?
10

MEGAWHATS 2017
Agradoot, is a collective name for a group of
filmmakers led by Bibhuti Laha directing/making
a film together.
Chupke Chupke
starring Amitabh, Dharmendra & Sharmila Tagore with
Om Prakash in perhaps his best ever role

MEGAWHATS 2017
While some say that they were invented by Richard II, others
claim that wealthy Greeks carried them around as early as 500
B.C. They get their common name from a French term for a
head covering. We are however looking for a specific item
associated with men’s fashion, the use of which increased in
the Jazz Age.
What two-word term is used for these items, also called
‘Cooper’, ‘Cagney’, ‘Astaire’ and so on depending on the
look of the elegant folding techniques used?
11

MEGAWHATS 2017
Pocket Square
The term kerchief is from the French ‘ceuverchef’

MEGAWHATS 2017
It is a Low German noun that means swallow; it has been
documented in its High German meaning since before the 18th
century – German spelling requires that the term be capitalized.
The English usage is derived from the German, and can refer to any
strong alcoholic drink, but particularly those containing at least 32%
ABV (64 proof). The American usage refers to liqueurs.
What’s the good word?
12

MEGAWHATS 2017
Schnaps/Schnapps

MEGAWHATS 2017
Social media trolls have re-used the image
shown, to parody the usage of a new piece
of equipment by an Australian in 2016.
It was inspired after John Ward had done
something similar, earlier in the year.
The equipment is made out of hard
translucent fibre-plastic, and the officials
involved had to issue a clarification in cases
where there would be impact.
What are we talking about?
What was the clarification?
13

MEGAWHATS 2017
Bruce Oxenford’s Arm Shield
If the ball deflected off the shield and was then caught
by a fielder, the batsman would be given out.

MEGAWHATS 2017
This is a painting depicting how a real-life 1605 incident was
thwarted, primarily due to the efforts of the man in the
breastplate – Thomas Knyvet.
Name the incident or the antagonist seen here.
Knyvet was a Baron who lived in a large townhouse in the city –
the first known house at a well-known location –
what was the address of this house?
14

MEGAWHATS 2017
Gunpowder Plot / Guy Fawkes
Knyvet occupied as his London townhouse the first house
known on the site of 10 Downing Street

MEGAWHATS 2017
Baseball legend and Hall of Fame pitcher, Randy Johnson has
been working as a professional photographer, re-kindling the
passion that he developed while majoring in photo-journalism
in college. It’s not just his photography that people are talking
about though — his strange logo is bringing him quite a bit of
attention.
While featuring a dead bird in a business logo probably isn’t the
best idea for most photographers, it has been quite successful
in marketing Johnson’s photography talents.
Why did Johnson choose this logo?
15

MEGAWHATS 2017
Most baseball fans pick up on the inside joke right away:
it pays homage to
the bird Johnson whacked with a 99mph fastball back
in 2001

MEGAWHATS 2017
This best-selling German rapper and songwriter seen in the
video, was born to a a Kannadiga banker and a Malayali nurse,
and was twice winner of Germany's national prize for best
female artist. Name her.
She was constantly in the news for a period in the early 2000s,
when she was involved with a famous countryman of hers.
Who?
16

MEGAWHATS 2017
Sabrina Setlur / Schwester S.
Boris Becker

MEGAWHATS 2017
In November 1984, he wrote his last poem, titled,
Ek November 1984.
Perhaps this is the only one he wrote,
which had an English title!
Who? What was the inspiration for the title of the poem?
W1

MEGAWHATS 2017
This Indian is dubbed “first runner-up” by the scientific
community considering he was passed over twice (1979 and
2005) by the Nobel Committee for his pioneering work. The
first snub involved a Pakistani and the 2005 one involved Roy J
Glauber, who won the Nobel for Physics, although he
acknowledged his efforts as a joint one with the Indian!
Name this Indian who must have had “a heart check-up”
both in 1979 and 2005. Also name the Pakistani.
W2

MEGAWHATS 2017
Mehr Chand Mahajan
_________________
Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad
Khwaja Shamsuddin
Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq
These were the Prime Ministers until 1965.
Who was the second and what are we talking about?
W3

MEGAWHATS 2017
Harivansh Rai Bachchan
In November 1984, he wrote his last poem Ek November
1984 on Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

MEGAWHATS 2017
E.C.G Sudarshan
Abdus Salam

MEGAWHATS 2017
Sheikh Abdullah
Prime Ministers of Jammu & Kashmir
before they abolished the designation and moved to CM

MEGAWHATS 2017
What element of pop culture will complete the set, and why?
17

MEGAWHATS 2017
Graffiti
These are the four elements of hip-hop
B-boying/Break dancing
Emceeing/Rapping
Deejaying

MEGAWHATS 2017
Between 1890 and 1892, Jean-Léon Gérôme created painted
and sculpted variations on the theme of Pygmalion and
Galatea, the tale recounted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. All
depict the moment when the sculpture of Galatea was brought
to life by the goddess Venus, in fulfilment of Pygmalion’s wish
for a wife as beautiful as the sculpture he created.
Since the manner in which viewers will take in a sculpture and
a painting is different, what did Gérôme do in his (series of)
paintings to equate the two viewing experiences?
18

MEGAWHATS 2017
In each of the paintings, the sculpture appears
at a different angle, as though it was being
viewed in the round.

MEGAWHATS 2017
The word started being used towards the end of the Middle Ages as
a term specific to astrology—an ethereal fluid given off by the stars,
that was supposed to affect humans.
It was only in the sixteenth century that the modern meaning, a
“power to produce effects”, began to gain favour.
An echo of the astrological sense is the old Cockney and Australian
phrase “to put the ______ on somebody”, meaning to force a
person into compliance by mental powers.
What word that is used more in its
contracted form these days?
19

MEGAWHATS 2017
Influenza (Flu)
from the Latin for Influentia

MEGAWHATS 2017
Rows of trees such as this were used in medieval Europe to mark
the edge of an estate. Historically, these have also served as
windbreaks to improve conditions for adjacent crops. Many in
Europe are estimated to have been around for several centuries.
In a certain European language, the word for this translates to
‘the Count’s Wood’. The third-largest city in that country
also gets its name from the same etymology.
Which city, although the modern name is a shortened version?
20

MEGAWHATS 2017
Den Haag or The Hague
The complete name is 's-gravenhage

MEGAWHATS 2017
One of the people in the painting on the left gave his name to
something related to the character on the right.
Identify and explain.
21

MEGAWHATS 2017
Diogenes the cynic gives his name to the
Diogenes Club that Mycroft Holmes frequents

MEGAWHATS 2017
Ravana did great penance and obtained the Atmalinga – which
would make him invincible – from Lord Shiva, with a stipulation that
he had to carry the Atmalinga from Kailash to Lanka, and not set it
down even once. Tricked by Ganesha, he ended up setting it down
at a location in South India, after which it would not budge.
Overcome by anger, he struck Ganesha.
Ravana had exerted such force while carrying the Atmalinga, that it
had changed shape, and started resembling the anatomical part of
an animal – this gave the place its name.
Which place?
How is the appearance of the Ganesha shrine here different?
22

MEGAWHATS 2017
Gokarna – from cow’s ear
The Ganesha shrine has a dent on its forehead

MEGAWHATS 2017
The apparatus built by geologist John Mitchell:
a six-foot wooden rod suspended by a metal fiber, with two-inch-
diameter lead spheres mounted on each end of the rod. These
were attracted to 350-pound lead spheres brought close to the
enclosure housing the rod. X used this apparatus and published the
result of his experiment in 1798.
His work was done with such care that this value was not improved upon
for over a century. His extraordinary attention to detail led many to
describe this as the first modern physics experiment.
Which experiment by who?
23

MEGAWHATS 2017
The Torsion Bar Experiment by
Henry Cavendish
The experiment was popularly known as weighing the Earth
because it allowed the first measurement of earth’s density,
therefore its mass. The experiment also allowed the first
calculation of the Universal gravitational constant G.

MEGAWHATS 2017
Compton Mackenzie is a Scottish
nationalist and writer, famous for writing
two farce novels set in Scotland.
The first novel was called Whisky Galore.
The second novel (pub. 1941) was set in
the Scottish Highlands and had the same
title as that of an 1851 work, and was also
the basis for a BBC TV series in 2000.
Name the novel.
Who was the creator of the 1851 work?
24

MEGAWHATS 2017
Monarch of the Glen
Edwin Landseer

MEGAWHATS 2017
It is the long tradition in medicine that merely putting a name
to a disorder, for example a set of symptoms, goes a long way
toward controlling the problem, because it gives our minds
power over it. No one wants to be a diagnostic enigma — we
feel better when we have a name to call our malady, even if we
can’t do anything about it.
It is a little like the tale in which the character conceals his
name from another character. She is in his power until she
happens to learn it, after which she is on top of the situation.
What story is this?
W1

MEGAWHATS 2017
This rhyme was published in the 18th century but the
meaning/characters lead back to the 16th c. The king is often
thought to be Henry VII as he gained a reputation as a miser in the
later years of his reign. The culinary practice it sings about was used
for the surprise and entertainment that such a dish provided.
It has also been suggested that the characters are representations
of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. In this
interpretation the dish is explained as the disaffected monks who
had been affected by the dissolution of the monasteries.
Which rhyme?
W2

MEGAWHATS 2017W3
Identify the person talking about the first time he made it big.
Also identify the work(s) that made him famous.

MEGAWHATS 2017
It is the long tradition in medicine that merely putting a name
to a disorder, for example, a set of symptoms, goes a long way
towards controlling the problem, because it gives our minds
power over it. No one wants to be a diagnostic enigma — we
feel better when we have a name to call our malady, even if we
can’t do anything about it.
It is a little like the tale in which the character conceals his
name from another character. She is in his power until she
happens to learn it, after which she is on top of the situation.
What story is this?
W1

MEGAWHATS 2017
Rumpelstiltskin

MEGAWHATS 2017
Sing a song of sixpence a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing,
Oh wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?
The king was in his counting house counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose.

MEGAWHATS 2017
Jeff Kinney
Diary of a Wimpy Kid series

▪ Final 8 questions
▪ +10 on Infinite Bounce
▪ +10/-5 on Infinite Pounce in writing
▪ Blank lengths NOT indicative in any question

MEGAWHATS 2017
False Greatness is a poem by Isaac Watts, and English hymn writer.
In the late 19th century, another person took it, altered a few lines
to suit his sense of self-dignity, and often used to quote from it.
'Tis true my form is something odd / But blaming me is blaming God
Could I create myself anew / I would not fail in pleasing you.
If I could reach from pole to pole / Or grasp the ocean with my span
I would be measured by the soul / The mind's the standard of the man.
Who, brought to screen in 1980?
25

MEGAWHATS 2017
Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man

MEGAWHATS 2017
The largest of the glassy variety,
this creature is named because
of its resemblance with
another creature. That
creature, in turn, gets its name
from the Malay language—
found in Australia, eastern
Indonesia, and neighbouring
islands, it was so named
because it looked like another
domestic bird.
What is it called?
2-word name.
26

MEGAWHATS 2017
The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of
the _________ Miracle, by Eric Lax has a
curious title. It refers to the way in which
Dr. Florey and Dr. Chain, working in Oxford
during WW II, planned in the event of
invasion to destroy all their work to
prevent it from falling into enemy hands,
yet rubbed their jackets with _________
spores to carry the secret with them if
they fled.
What were they trying to protect?
27

MEGAWHATS 2017
Theodosius I, also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman
Emperor from AD 379 to AD 395. He was the last emperor to rule
over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire.
For much of his reign he followed the book—he batted for
Christianity, fought wars, decried paganism and so on.
Since his ‘Code’ does not provide any references that he was against
physical well-being, it is likely that the decline of X was due to the
prohibition of pagan rituals, including use of areas of worship.
What is X?
28

MEGAWHATS 2017
The Olympics
It is said that the fall of paganism led to its decline,
and Theodosius did not ban it as it is otherwise thought.

MEGAWHATS 2017
It was edited by Merriam-Webster based on research conducted by
a committee and the first edition was officially announced in 1998.
It underwent revisions, and the fourth edition went online in 2016.
The biggest change happened in 2006.
Scraping over 1.5 million tournament games covering the years
1973 to 2017 from cross-tables.com, shows that in 2006, the
average score grew by about 10 points per player per game
overnight. (The average score in the data set is about 374.)
What are we talking about?
What was the 2006 change that improved scores?
29

MEGAWHATS 2017
Scrabble
In 2006, QI and ZA, along with FE, KI, OI and an
additional 11,000-odd longer words were added

MEGAWHATS 2017
On April 4, 2005, it was announced in London that a planned
event on April 8, was being pushed out by a day.
This was because all the dignitaries who were planning to
attend had to be in another European country on that date, for
a solemn occasion; this latter event would go on to became the
widest congregation of world leaders at such an occasion.
Identify the two events.
30

MEGAWHATS 2017
Wedding of Charles, Prince ofWales,
and Camilla Parker Bowles
Pope John Paul II’s funeral

MEGAWHATS 2017
"Degrees Lovibond" or "°L" scale is a measure of the color of a
substance. The determination of the degrees Lovibond takes
place by comparing the color of the substance to a series of
amber to brown glass slides, usually by a colorimeter. The scale
was devised by Joseph Williams Lovibond.
What is the most common product that we use °L for?
31

MEGAWHATS 2017
Beer
(Reluctantly accept Whisky)

MEGAWHATS 2017
Richard Norris Williams II was born in Geneva in 1891, to American parents.
When he was 21, following an incident in which Williams witnessed his dad
die, doctors wanted to amputate his legs. Williams declined despite the
potential risk to his life. Instead, he simply did his best to get the blood
flowing again, hobbling around as best he could.
Ultimately as the strength in his legs returned, he ramped up his physical
activities every day and soon went on to big wins, including the US singles
in 1914 and 1916, doubles at Wimbledon in 1920, and an Olympic Gold in
1924 in mixed doubles.
Why was Williams’ backstory significant?
He was part of a list of 706 (exhausted) people.
32

MEGAWHATS 2017
Williams survived the Titanic,
one among 706 who did
Hope you survived this quiz as well☺

2017 mw semifinal 1 true version

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2017 mw semifinal 1 true version