Zephyr Quiz League

Round 1

Player 1 Question 1:

The Corner is a 2000 drama television miniseries based on the nonfiction book of the same name written by the authors pictured. Their experience while researching this work informed their next creative venture which they described as "a visual novel." Which creative venture, that got its name from a slang term for a form of surveillance equipment?

Answer: The Wire, created by David Simon and Ed Burns.

Player 1 Question 2:

Which bird (5,5) found in Central and South America is depicted on the coat of arms of Panama? To differentiate the _____ _____ (5,5) from other related species such as the "black", "golden" and "solitary", this raptor was named after the half-human and half-bird personification of storm winds in Greek and Roman mythology.

Answer: Harpy eagle (Accept: Royal Hawk)

Player 2 Question 1:

Just before the discovery of the periodic table, four new elements with “colour names” were discovered using the new flame spectroscope invented by Kirchhoff and Bunsen at Heidelberg. In 1860, which element did they discover from mineral water at the nearby Durkheim spa? This element, identified and named for its distinctive spectroscopic lines, is critical to the maintenance of Universal Coordinated Time.

Answer: Caesium, from Greek for “sky-blue”.

Player 2 Question 2:

This disorienting canted camera angle meant to evoke tension is a film noir favourite. It was pioneered by Robert Wiene in his 1920 horror film “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” and was associated with German Expressionism cinema. Because of a mistranslation its name misleadingly suggests that it originated from which other European country?

Answer: Netherlands (Accept: Holland or Dutch); The camera angle is called the Dutch Angle – a mistranslation of Deutsch Angle.

Player 3 Question 1:

Which Irish architect designed and lived in a villa named E-1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin between 1926-29 with her lover Jean Badovici? This modernist haven, which was later inhabited and "vandalised" by Le Corbusier, was decorated with several pieces of furniture designed by the person in-question.

Answer: Eileen Gray; E-1027, is a code of Eileen Gray and Jean Badovici, 'E' standing for Eileen, '10' Jean, '2' Badovici, '7' Gray.

Player 3 Question 2:

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a neurodegenerative disease. The MRI of the brain in PSP depicts selective atrophy in the midbrain region, resembling the head of ______ _____ (6,5). What is this sign called?

Answer: Mickey Mouse

Player 4 Question 1:

Very long books, understandably, have been popular choices of participants (castaways) in the BBC Radio 4 radio programme, Desert Island Discs, Which mammoth 7-volume novel originally published between 1913-1927 has been chosen the most number of times by a castaway? You can also identify the Shakespearean title of the 1920s translation by C. K. Moncrieff or the literal title of the 1992 translation by D. J. Enright. If none of that jogs your involuntary memory, maybe the image will.

Answer: À la recherche du temps perdu OR Remembrance of Things Past OR In Search of Lost Time; Prompt if they are close but don't accept any other answer.

Player 4 Question 2:

Which constituency was represented in the Lok Sabha by Jawaharlal Nehru during his tenure as Prime Minister of India from 1952 to 1964? One could say it is apt that an anthophile like Nehru was elected from this seat centred around a small town near Allahabad.

Answer: Phulpur or Phoolpur

Round 2

Player 1 Question 1:

What rhythmic gymnastics apparatus is a single strip usually made of satin, attached to a stick made of wood or synthetic material? Gymnasts create patterns with it, including spirals, circles and serpentines. It has to be kept in motion throughout the routine.

Answer: Ribbon

Player 1 Question 2:

Throughout history there have been numerous people who have claimed to The Messiah or Mahdi or Kalki. One such claimant was Mirza Ghulam _____ (5) who proclaimed himself the Mahdi and founded which much-persecuted eponymous religious sect? Their flag depicts a minaret located in an Indian town.

Answer: Ahmaddiya; (Prompt/Accept: Ahmad) The White Minaret or Minaret-ul-Masih of Aqsa Mosque in Qadian features on the flag.

Player 2 Question 1:

Which Buddhist Siamese kingdom that existed from 1351 to 1767 is considered to be the precursor of modern Thailand? It reached its peak under Narai the Great and the restored ruins of his capital city, which literally means "invincible city" and shares its name with the kingdom, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site (visual).

Answer: Ayutthaya

Player 2 Question 2:

The crew of the twin Mars rover missions Spirit and Opportunity, who worked according to Mars-days (sols), were woken-up with songs that mirrored the situation of the mission. Which song, by a band named after a famous 1920s German novel, was played on the morning Spirit departed on its free-spirited mission to explore unchartered territories?

Answer: Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf

Player 3 Question 1:

In The Wire, Senator Clay Davis holds in his hand a play (visual), which he describes as being about "a simple man who was punished by the powers that be for the simple crime of trying to bring light to the mankind". Which play by Aeschylus, whose two-word title describes what happened to the titular character at Mt. Scythia, is this?

Answer: Prometheus Bound

Player 3 Question 2:

Which constituency was represented in the Lok Sabha by Indira Gandhi during her tenure as Prime Minister from 1967 to 1977? This bastion of the Indian National Congress has Sonia Gandhi as its current MP.

Answer: Rae Bareli

Player 4 Question 1:

The World Sport Photography Awards, instituted in 2020 through a partnership between Twelfthman and Iconify, honours the best sports photographs of the year. The overall winner in the inaugural year was this photo by Richard Heathcote from the heavyweight professional boxing bout that resulted in an upset win by Andy Ruiz Jr over which undefeated and unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO champion?

Answer: Anthony Joshua

Player 4 Question 2:

The host cities of Euro 2020 had brand logos featuring iconic bridges to hint at the tournament’s role in connecting people. Which host city’s logo featured a bridge named after the 1969 Nobel Laureate in Literature? The shape of the spar and the cables of this bridge is said to evoke an image of a harp lying on its edge. The city was later removed from the list of hosts.

Answer: Dublin (This is the Samuel Beckett Bridge over the Liffey)

Round 3

Player 1 Question 1:

One of the furniture pieces Eileen Gray designed for the villa E-1027 was the Transat (visual), which consisted of a wooden frame covered with upholstery. What items, found onboard the transatlantic ocean liners Eileen Gray journeyed on, served as inspiration for the Transat's design?

Answer: Deck chairs (Accept: All equivalent variants such as Sunbathing chair, Sun chair, Easy chair)

Player 1 Question 2:

Which constituency was represented in the Lok Sabha by Morarji Desai during his tenure as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1979? It is centred around the second most populous city in its state, also a major world centre for diamonds.

Answer: Surat

Player 2 Question 1:

In 1992, the founder of which religious group published a doctrine (visual) in which he declared himself Christ, his country's only fully enlightened master, and identified with the Lamb of God? In the early 2000s, the group renamed itself to avoid association with the horrific 1995 event that its founder orchestrated. Either name of the group is acceptable.

Answer: Aum Shirinkyo OR Aleph founded by Shoko Asahara.

Player 2 Question 2:

What rhythmic gymnastics apparatus made of hemp or synthetic material for its quality of lightness, is sized in a way that both ends reach the gymnasts' armpits when the middle is held down by the feet? Some of the elements of its routine include swings, throws, circles, rotations and figures of eight.

Answer: Rope

Player 3 Question 1:

______ (6), a pancake popular in Ethiopia and East Africa is traditionally made with 2 ingredients, teff flour and water. It is cooked on a large circular griddle known as mitad, and paired with stews. Name it (6).

Answer: Injera

Player 3 Question 2:

Which song, by a band that is embarking on a worldwide Voyage in 2022, was played on the morning the Spirit mission crew was to handle an emergency crisis - regaining contact with the rover after a loss of communications?

Answer: S.O.S by ABBA;

Player 4 Question 1:

A year after discovering caesium, Kirchhoff and Bunsen discovered which element by flame spectroscopy and named it for the distinctive colour of its spectroscopic lines? Used in atomic clocks, it also finds uses in geological dating of rocks and meteorites. The first pure Bose-Einstein condensate was created using an isotope of this element and earned the 2001 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Answer: Rubidium, from Latin “rubidus” meaning “darkest-red”.

Player 4 Question 2:

These unique shots invented by director Yasujiro Ozu require a fixed camera positioned about 90 cm from the floor. This angle imitates the viewpoint of a spectator kneeling or seated on the floor and thus draws the viewer into the scene. What is this distinctive shot named, owing to what the camera rests on?

Answer: Tatami Shot (Prompt: Mat)

Round 4

Player 1 Question 1:

In which 1778 painting is the depiction of the soon-to-be-amputated, titular figure influenced by the classical pose of the Borghese Gladiator sculpture? In the painting, the pose of the semi-submerged person (as depicted) is rotated 90 degrees clockwise.

Answer: Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley

Player 1 Question 2:

Which host city's logo for Euro 2020 featured a famous bridge named for a castle on the north bank of the city’s river?

Answer: London (Prompt: Tower Bridge; spans the Thames and is named for the Tower of London)

Player 2 Question 1:

Which constituency in Andhra Pradesh was represented in the Lok Sabha by PV Narasimha Rao during his tenure as Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996? It is thought to get its name from the vahana of Lord Shiva.

Answer: Nandyal (Prompt: Nandi)

Player 2 Question 2:

_______ (7), a traditional Venezuelan pancake dish is made of ground corn with the addition of cheese and cooked on a smooth, flat griddle called budare. Name it (7). It is known as corn arepas in Colombia.

Answer: Cachapa

Player 3 Question 1:

In 1844, Alí Muḥammad Shírází declared himself a messenger of God, took the title ___(3), and founded which religion? The title, meaning door or gate, is also part of the name of a narrow waterway that gets its evocative name from the tragedies that befell sailors who navigated it. The Baha'i faith claims that Baháʼu'lláh is the prophet that ___(3) foretold about.

Answer: Babism; Accept Bab. The waterway mentioned is the Bal el Mandeb strait that translates to Gateway (Bab) of anguish, or Gateway of tears.

Player 3 Question 2:

Which bird (8,7) found in the Subantarctic region is depicted on the coat of arms of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands? The ________ _______ (8,7) got its name due to its crest's resemblance to feathered hats donned by men who were part of a highly excessive fashion subculture of the 18th century.

Answer: Macaroni penguin

Player 4 Question 1:

This actor portrays a character named Scott Templeton who commits journalistic malpractice across season 5 of The Wire. More than half a decade after the end of the show he would seemingly redeem this slight by directing which Academy Award-winning film? It emphasised the misdeeds of a religious institution in a US city.

Answer: Spotlight

Player 4 Question 2:

Contrast-enhanced CT scans of Venous Thrombosis depict a thin rim of contrast material (in white) around a central filling defect (dark) due to the thrombus. This is called the ____ (4) sign after its resemblance to something reportedly named after two extreme regions on Earth (to symbolise the cool and fresh feeling it confers). What name?

Answer: Polo Mint (Prompt: Polar or Poles)

Round 5

Player 1 Question 1:

Which song, by a band that traces its name to a television commercial for Olympia Beer, was played in honour of Opportunity's confirmation that liquid precipitate once flowed through the rocks at Meridiani Planum?

Answer: Have You Ever Seen The Rain? by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Player 1 Question 2:

Which primarily-Hindu kingdom that existed from 192 CE to 1832 CE helped shape the identity of modern Vietnam? Deriving its name from a fragrant flower (visual) popular in India, a number of polities ruled this kingdom leading to the establishment of several port cities including Hội An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (visual) that is dubbed "Vietnam's Venice".

Answer: Champa OR Cham OR Chiêm Thành ; Grudgingly accept Champak OR Champakan or minor variants

Player 2 Question 1:

To further decorate the villa E-1027, Eileen Gray designed this minimalist chair with a feminine take on the geometries prevalent at the time. Which stacked humanoid figure was this curvy white chair named after?

Answer: Bibendum (Accept: Michelin Man)

Player 2 Question 2:

Which literary work has been a popular choice on Desert Island Discs, including the time that Salman Rushdie was a castaway on the show? In 2015, he wrote a book (visual) loosely inspired by this literary work. In Rushdie's book, a group of normal people take on supernatural creatures in a battle that lasts for the titular duration.

Answer: One Thousand and One Nights OR Arabian Nights; Two Years, Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights = 1001 Nights

Player 3 Question 1:

A year after the discovery of rubidium, William Crookes of the Royal College of Science in London announced the discovery of which element that he named after the Greek word for a young shoot or twig after its distinctive spectroscopic lines? It is used today in photoresistors, optical lenses, and in nuclear imaging tests for cardiac stress. It is infamous as a “poisoner’s poison” for its use in political assassinations.

Answer: Thallium, from Greek “thallos” for “green shoot".

Player 3 Question 2:

What rhythmic gymnastics apparatus is made of wood or plastic, so that it can retain its shape, has an interior diameter from 70 to 80cm, and weighs a minimum of 300 gm? It is used in a wide variety of manipulations, such as rotations, throwing, rolls and passing through.

Answer: Hoop

Player 4 Question 1:

In 1955, self-proclaimed prophet Benjamin Rodena splintered off a group of followers from an existing church, calling himself the ______ (6) as per this verse from the Bible.

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a ______ (6) shall grow out of his roots."

Which religious movement did he found? It acquired more notoriety following the actions of its final prophet about 4 decades later - events depicted in this miniseries (visual).

Answer: Branch Davidians; The movie was about the standoff between the FBI and David Koresh in Waco, Texas in 1993.

Player 4 Question 2:

_____ (5), a staple of East Europe, is a pancake made from wheat or buckwheat flour and served with butter, caviar and other garnishes. Name it (5). A similar version in Ukraine is called mlyntsi.

Answer: Blini (Accept: Blin)

Round 6

Player 1 Question 1:

The photo titled "The Smile", taken in 2016, by Cameron Spencer was the 2021 silver winner at the World Sports Photography Awards. Who was the primary subject of this photo? He was captured grinning at this gentleman (visual).

Answer: Usain Bolt; The other athlete being Andre De Grasse.

Player 1 Question 2:

The ______ (6) leaf sign is a radiographic appearance seen in extensive subcutaneous emphysema of the chest wall. Gas outlines the fibres of the pectoralis major muscle and creates a pattern that resembles the branched veins of a ______ (6) leaf. What leaf, also the source of the stylised T symbol on the flag of the Tokyo Metropolis?

Answer: Ginkgo

Player 2 Question 1:

The now lost colossal Statue of Zeus (visual) by Phidias is believed to be the inspiration for which other statue unveiled to the public in 1922? The design of the structure in which the statue is located is also inspired by another structure designed by Phidias.

Answer: Abraham Lincoln Statue at the Lincoln Memorial. The Memorial building is inspired by the Parthenon.

Player 2 Question 2:

Which host city's logo for Euro 2020 featured the Ponte Sant'Angelo? It was completed in 134 AD by an emperor, to span the local river from the city centre to his newly constructed mausoleum, now the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Answer: Rome (Constructed by the Roman emperor Hadrian across the Tiber)

Player 3 Question 1:

Whose facial expression in an early 16th century fresco, which is named after the mythological home of Apollo and the muses, is inspired by the throes of agony in Laocoön and His Sons (visual)? The 16th century fresco expresses blindness, traditionally associated with the person, as opposed to the pain depicted in the classical sculpture.

Answer: Homer in Raphael's Parnassus;

Player 3 Question 2:

One of the simplest camera movements in film-making is to turn the camera horizontally so that it sweeps around the entire scene. First popularised by DW Griffith, who used this and other shots to their full narrative potential, the common 3 letter name for this shot is an abbreviation of which word?

Answer: Panorama or Panoramic (Prompt: “Pan”)

Player 4 Question 1:

Which bird (6,6) in the New World vulture family is depicted on the coat of arms of Chile? The ______ ______ (6,6) primarily inhabits the long mountain range (and adjacent Pacific coast) that spans the country.

Answer: Andean condor

Player 4 Question 2:

This illuminating mirror designed by Eileen Gray was first installed at her home E-1027. What is it called? Its name presumably referred to the convex magnifying mirror's ability to orbit around the main mirror, reminiscient of certain natural or artificial entities.

Answer: Satellite

Round 7

Player 1 Question 1:

Which 1860s literary work, another popular choice on Desert Island Discs, did its author describe as "not a novel, even less is it a poem, and still less a historical chronicle?" The image shows the cover of the first English translations from 1889 and one of the 1890s illustrations of the book by Leonid Pasternak.

Answer: War and Peace

Player 1 Question 2:

A year after the discovery of thallium, this element was discovered in the mineral zinc blende by Ferdinand Reich who had to ask his colleague Hieronymous Richter to identify its distinctive coloured lines on spectroscopy because he was colour blind. Which element, that is indirectly named after a country? Today, about 45% of all this element’s availability finds application in solar cells and LCDs.

Answer: Indium, after Latin “indicum” for the indigo plant and its dye that were named after India.

Player 2 Question 1:

The gold winner in the “Focus” category at the 2020 World Sports Photography Awards was this image by Matthew Impey from the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. Which English all-rounder did he capture taking a stunning diving catch to dismiss an in-form Rishabh Pant?

Answer: Chris Woakes

Player 2 Question 2:

A common slang phrase in The Wire is one used by lookouts to announce the arrival of police. The slang is a reference to a police procedural drama. Which TV series, that gets its name because it is set in the 50th state of the US?

Answer: Hawaii Five-O

Player 3 Question 1:

Which Buddhist Burmese empire that existed from 849 CE to 1297 CE was the first to unify the regions that constitute modern-day Myanmar? Its golden age started with the reign of Anawrahta, who stopped the advance of the Khmer Empire. Its namesake capital is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of over 3,500 monuments (visual).

Answer: Pagan or Bagan

Player 3 Question 2:

Which host city’s logo for Euro 2020 featured the Széchenyi Chain Bridge? Completed in 1849, it was the first permanent bridge across the Danube in its country.

Answer: Budapest

Player 4 Question 1:

Which song, by a band that got its name from an autobiographical account of a trip in the early 1950s, was played when crew members at two sites of the Deep Space Station (DSS) antenna network (in touch with Opportunity) were predicted to experience heavy weather?

Answer: Riders On The Storm by The Doors

Player 4 Question 2:

In this section from Asterix and the Laurel Wreath, one of the slaves on display strikes up numerous poses, some of which are shown in the image. Which classical sporting sculpture is the blanked out portion in the bottom panel based on?

Answer: Discobolus OR Discus Thrower (Accept: If Discus is mentioned along with a description.)

Round 8

Player 1 Question 1:

The ______ Shot (6) is a camera angle framed from just below the actor’s waist to right above their head to present them in a heroic manner, thus enabling viewers to register emotion on the actor's face and catch important action around the hips. What is this shot (6) called? It conjures up a genre typically set in the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century in North America.

Answer: Cowboy (Prompt: American Shot); It is called a “cowboy shot” because it was used in old westerns to frame a gunslinger’s gun or holster from the hip up.

Player 1 Question 2:

___________ (11), a traditional Japanese savoury pancake dish, is made from a wheat flour batter, and cooked on a teppan (flat griddle). Name it (11). It gets its name from Japanese for "what you like", and "cooked".

Answer: Okonomiyaki, which became popular after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, when people lacked amenities.

Player 2 Question 1:

Trauma and/or infection to the eye region can result in the conical deformation of the posterior part of the eyeball. The typical appearance on radiology is called the ______ ____ (6,4) sign. What heart-shaped object from the world of musical paraphernalia fills in the blanks?

Answer: Guitar Pick (Accept: Plectrum)

Player 2 Question 2:

Which bird (7,4) found in tropical South America and parts of the Caribbean is depicted on the coat of arms of Trinidad and Tobago? Although other members in its family such as the "African sacred", "glossy" and "American white" look similar in form to each other, the _______ ____ (7,4) is characterised by its brilliant red plumage.

Answer: Scarlet ibis (Accept: Guara)

Player 3 Question 1:

The bronze winning photo by John Sibley in the “Precision” category at the 2020 World Sports Photography Awards featured which English goalkeeper who recently announced his decision to leave the Hornets following its relegation from the Premier League this season?

Answer: Ben Foster

Player 3 Question 2:

Published between 1951-1975, which 12-volume collection of satirical novels traces events in the lives of a number of characters from Britain’s upper classes following them from the 1920s - 1970s? Chosen by 4 participants in Desert Island Discs, the collection is inspired by and named for this painting by Nicholas Poussin.

Answer: A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell

Player 4 Question 1:

Which Javanese Hindu-Buddhist empire that existed from 1293 to 1527 is considered to have set the precedent for Indonesia's modern boundaries? One of the last major Hindu empires of the region, it reached its zenith under Hayam Wuruk, who reigned from modern-day Trowulan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (visual).

Answer: Majapahit (Accept: Wilwatikta)

Player 4 Question 2:

What rhythmic gymnastics apparatus is two items of equal length, typically about 40 to 50 cm long weighing a minimum of 150 gm each? Choreography is made up of rotations, throwing and asymmetrical movements.

Answer: Clubs

Spare

Spare Question 1:

What rhythmic gymnastics apparatus (4) made of either rubber or synthetic material, is 18 to 20 cm in diameter with a minimum weight of 400 gm? Its routine is created in a way that it can contrast between power for throwing and gentleness for catching.

Answer: Ball

Spare Question 2:

Which constituency was represented in the Lok Sabha by Rajiv Gandhi during his tenure as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1991? The seat has also been held by his brother, wife and son as well.

Answer: Amethi