Zephyr Quiz League

Round 2 Player 1 Question 1:

The idea of uchi (clean and safe) and soto (impure or unknown), a clear distinction between the inside and the outside of homes, has shaped Japanese society for centuries. In this context, what are uwabaki - a requisite personal item that one might find at the entrance to homes?

Answer: Indoor shoes/slippers/socks OR any acceptable variant that indicates the footwear or socks for wearing inside the home (Prompt: If they say just shoes or slippers). The outdoor shoes, considered unclean, are left at the doorstep.

Round 3 Player 2 Question 1:

The full title of the Sultan of Brunei is Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia ______ (6) Seri Baginda. The words “Seri ______ (6)” mean “His Majesty” and the blank is a type of footwear associated with ancient Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions. What’s the good word?

Answer: Paduka; It is little more than a sole with a post and knob that is engaged between the big and second toe. It has been historically worn in South Asia and Southeast Asia for millennia.

Round 7 Player 3 Question 1:

“This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!” shouted journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi while throwing a pair of shoes at which dignitary during a news conference? To his credit the intended recipient of this missile ducked successfully and later humourously observed, “All I can report is a size 10.” Who was this agile target?

Answer: George W Bush (Accept: George Bush or Bush)

Round 8 Player 4 Question 2:

When the British Resident in this kingdom refused to remove his footwear in the presence of the king, he was not allowed to meet the royal. Consequently, the British withdrew their delegation in 1879 and in the war that ensued the Konbaung dynasty fell, leading to which kingdom being annexed to a larger British colony?

Answer: Burma (Accept: Myanmar)

Spare Question 2:

In The Ramayana what reigned over the throne of Ayodhya for fourteen years during the period of Rama’s exile? A sole word in English is part of the answer.

Answer: Rama's Slippers (Accept: Slippers)

Round 1 Player 4 Question 1:

There have been a few instances of gender-swaps in portraying Shakespearean characters. While the gender of this character has been ambiguous, Shakespeare uses male pronouns twice, once in stage directions and once in a speech by Prospero. The role was played by women for all of the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1930, Leslie French became the first male in centuries to play which character? Since then, the role has been played by actors of all genders.

Answer: Ariel; from The Tempest

Round 4 Player 3 Question 1:

In 2019, Glenda Jackson returned to the stage after a gap of 25 years, to play which Shakespearean title character, first performed on St. Stephen's Day in 1606? Glenda said: "Seems timely to me. Edmund complains old people die before giving their children money, when they are too old to spend it. If that’s not the millennial trope, I don't know what is."

Answer: King Lear; Lear, King of Britain, in an attempt to avoid future strife, divides his kingdom between his three daughters.

Round 6 Player 2 Question 2:

Sarah Bernhardt was the first woman to play which character on screen, in a two-minute film from 1900 showing the duel to the death against Laertes? She has also portrayed the character in theatre.

Answer: Hamlet

Round 8 Player 1 Question 2:

Mark Rylance first played this Shakespearean character on Feb 2, 2002, the 400th anniversary of the first recorded performance of the play. He won his third Tony in 2014 for playing which character with many suitors? The character appears in a play whose title references the Eve of the Feast of Epiphany.

Answer: Olivia; The Twelfth Night is a reference to the twelfth night after Christmas Day, aka Eve of the Feast of Epiphany.)

Round 3 Player 3 Question 1:

What is the title of this show about an anthropomorphic bobcat? The word is British slang for a slightly drunk person but is now used as a synonym for mad/crazy. It is supposedly derived from a word that means "a blow to the head" which would lead to people acting crazy.

Answer: Bonkers

Round 5 Player 1 Question 1:

_______'s ___ (7,3) is an animated TV show that follows Leonard Helperman, a kid who hates going to school because his mother works there. His dog Spot misses Leonard and comes up with an ingenious idea to dress up as a kid and go to school to spend more time with Leonard. What is the name of the show, a term used by kids to mock Leonard and can also be used to describe Spot?

Answer: Teacher's Pet

Round 6 Player 4 Question 1:

Milo ______'s ___ (6,3) is a show where the titular character Milo has a reputation for extreme misfortune and constant bad luck. According to the show, this misfortune is because Milo is a descendant of American aerospace engineer Edward Alosyius ______ (6). What seemingly pessimistic adage gives the show its name?

Answer: Murphy's Law

Round 8 Player 2 Question 2:

What was the name of this animated TV series set in New York City that involved creatures who would only operate during the night and turn to stone in daylight?

Answer: Gargoyles

Round 5 Player 2 Question 1:

A 1946 Orson Welles Broadway production, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, was one of the most expensive failures in theatre history. It featured elaborate props such as a giant eagle, an authentic Japanese circus troupe and even an elephant. Which 1870s work of literature, featuring a character with a name similar to a document one might need to complete the titular quest, inspired this production?

Answer: Around The World In 80 Days; Passepartout is the character being hinted at.

Round 5 Player 4 Question 2:

High Society is a musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, about a group of pretentious Oyster Bay socialites. A visual depiction of what two-word feline phrase, features on a remastered poster? The phrase is generally used for powerful and rich members of an elitist society.

Answer: Fat Cat(s)

Round 7 Player 1 Question 1:

A 1930 Cole Porter Broadway musical is based on the story of a magazine cartoonist named Peter Arno. Which magazine, that was also paid tribute to in a 2021 film, features in the title of this musical?

Answer: The New Yorker The 2021 film being The French Dispatch.

Round 8 Player 3 Question 2:

___-___ (3,3) is a 1950s Cole Porter Broadway production about the showgirls from the Montmarte Dance Halls during the 1890s. Which dance form fills in the blank?

Answer: Can-Can

Round 2 Player 2 Question 1:

A 1960s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph features 3 people prominently along with a bunch of others. 1. Jim Leavelle, a WW2 veteran and Dallas detective (pictured); and 2. Someone born Jacob Leon Rubenstein. Who is the third?

Answer: Lee Harvey Oswald (Prompt: JFK's Killer or JFK); Jim Leavelle is the police detective seen prominently in the famous photo of Jack Ruby (Jacob Rubenstein) assassinating Lee Harvey Oswald.

Round 4 Player 4 Question 1:

This photograph shows a dignified, veiled widow clutching her youngest child's head to her lap, while the eyes of her daughter, gaze mournfully during what occasion at a church? This made its photographer Moneta Sleet Jr. the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism in 1969.

Answer: Funeral of Martin Luther King Jr; (Accept: Any reference to the funeral / death / assassination of Martin Luther King or related answers.)

Round 5 Player 3 Question 1:

In 2020, the photo on the left was used in anti-socialist propaganda with the miscaption "a priest giving the last rites to a farmer who was being executed because he refused to work for the regime." Although this Pulitzer Prize-winning photo is authentic, it is not of a farmer but of a corporal, formerly of which dictator's army? The dictator was overthrown by the socialist regime in 1959.

Answer: Fulgencio Batista

Round 8 Player 1 Question 1:

He shot ______ (6), he shot the pig, didn't he; He shot the secretary in the head, didn't he; Between the eyes, in the chest, .22's are the best; For your dear, for your honey kill the prez; These are the lyrics from the self-titled song JFA by a band formed in April 1981, inspired by an event that also led to this Pulitzer Prize-winning photo. Who does JF in JFA refer to? (The blanks do not refer to the person we are looking for).

Answer: Jodie Foster; a reference to John Hinckley Jr. who attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan to impress Jodie Foster.

Round 1 Player 4 Question 2:

One of the essays in Indian historian Manu S Pillai’s 2019 collection The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History is about the cultural practices of the Mappila community of Kerala. They have their own version of an ancient Indian text, where someone is portrayed as a sultan. This person is described to be struggling to shave because he has to put in 10 times the normal effort. Who is this sultan?

Answer: Ravana, because of his 10 heads; the text is the Ramayana.

Round 2 Player 3 Question 2:

In his 2021 book False Allies: India’s Maharajahs in the Age of Ravi Varma, Manu S Pillai talks of a 1862 murder in the town of Mavelikkara, Kerala. A member of the royal family was arrested and imprisoned for his role in the killing, which created news internationally for the unusual weapon used to rain blows on the victim. What item, that can weigh over 50 kg and found in abundance all over Kerala was this?

Answer: Jackfruit (accept Chakka)

Round 4 Player 1 Question 2:

In his 2018 tome Rebel Sultans: The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji, Manu S Pillai mentions that Alauddin Shah, the founder of the Bahmani Sultanate, was one of the earliest Muslim kings in India to declare that no _____ (5 or 6) should be levied from non-Muslims in lieu of military service. What was this, best associated with another Indian ruler from much later?

Answer: Jizya, the tax levied on non-Muslims; Accept any similar-sounding variants like JIZIAH or JAZIYA. Jizya was abolished by the third Mughal emperor Akbar, in 1579.

Round 8 Player 2 Question 1:

In his debut work The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore, Manu S Pillai talks about the Halcyon Castle, a royal retreat in Kovalam, near Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. It was converted into a hotel in the 1960s. Manu later added in a tweet that it was in one of the rooms of the hotel that a pioneering Indian, considered the father of a field in the country, was found dead in December 1971. Who?

Answer: Vikram Sarabhai

Round 2 Player 1 Question 2:

What dry anise-flavoured liqueur is consumed widely as an apéritif in Greece? It lends its name to the scientific phenomenon where a milky oil-in-water emulsion is formed when water is added to this or any related transparent liqueurs or spirits.

Answer: Ouzo; This image depicts the Ouzo effect when absinthe is added to water.

Round 4 Player 2 Question 2:

What transparent anise-flavoured liqueur is widely consumed in Italy? It also comes in the black or red variants and is added to coffee in place of sugar to produce a caffè corretto or consumed widely in clubs as a flaming shot.

Answer: Sambuca

Round 6 Player 3 Question 1:

What anise-flavoured spirit is consumed traditionally in France as an apéritif? Created as an alternative following the ban of absinthe, it gets its name supposedly from a French word meaning stylistic imitation.

Answer: Pastis from Pastiche

Round 8 Player 4 Question 1:

Served commonly with mezze, what anise-flavoured spirit is consumed widely in the Levantine countries Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Israel? It is not to be confused with a distilled alcoholic drink popular in South Asia and made from the fermented sap of coconut flowers or sugarcane.

Answer: Arak or Araq; The South Asian drink is the Arrack. DON'T ACCEPT Raki which is a drink from Turkey.

Spare Question 4:

What alcoholic drink made of twice-distilled grapes and anise is widely consumed in Turkey? It is traditionally consumed with chilled water on the side or partly mixed in it.

Answer: Rakı or Raki

Round 1 Player 1 Question 1:

Which internet challenge started in March 2020 after influencer Ava Louise filmed herself licking an aeroplane toilet seat? It evolved into licking various surfaces such as door handles and subway poles leading to platforms like TikTok blanket-banning such videos.

Answer: Coronavirus Challenge (Accept: COVID-19 or variants); The objective of the challenge was to see if one contracts the coronavirus.

Round 2 Player 4 Question 2:

Which internet challenge involved people using a shot glass to cover their lips and using suction force to force blood into their lips, causing them to swell? It is named after a socialite whose puffy lips the people were trying to recreate.

Answer: Kylie Jenner Challenge

Round 5 Player 3 Question 2:

Which internet challenge involved people making designs on their body using a product containing active ingredients like Titanium Dioxide, Avobenzone or Zinc Oxide and then laying outdoors to complete the challenge? The person with the most artistic output was considered the winner.

Answer: Sunburn or Sun Art or Sun Tan Challenge (Prompt: Sunscreen Challenge); The objective is to create "body art" by self-inflicting sunburns.

Round 7 Player 2 Question 2:

Which internet challenge involved people attempting everyday activities like cooking, walking in busy streets, and driving cars while fully blindfolded? It started after Netflix teamed up with Twitch streamers as part of a promotion to challenge them to play video games blindfolded.

Answer: Bird Box Challenge

Round 2 Player 2 Question 2:

Named in honour of a 19th century Englishman whose work frequently appeared in Punch and London Society, the Caldecott Medal is an annual award given to whom or for excellence in what field? It is given by a division of the American Library Association, and considered a companion award to the Newbery Medal.

Answer: Book illustrators or illustrations or Picture books or anything that refer to drawings or illustrations or cartoons for books. The Newbery medal is given to authors for distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

Round 3 Player 1 Question 1:

The 1959 Caldecott Medal was won by Barbara Cooney for “Chanticleer and the Fox”. A retelling of a popular Middle Ages fable from which 1390 work did Cooney use as the basis for her book?

Answer: The Canterbury Tales (Accept: The Nun's Priest's Tale; Prompt: Geoffrey Chaucer)

Round 6 Player 4 Question 2:

The 1963 Caldecott Medal winning book, about a boy named Max who dresses up in a wolf costume, went on to become a timeless classic. Name the book, whose title was inspired by the Yiddish expression "vilde chaya", used to refer to boisterous children.

Answer: Where the Wild Things Are (Prompt: Maurice Sendak, or any variation of the title)

Round 8 Player 3 Question 1:

Chris Van Allsburg won the Caldecott Medal in 1981 for which children's fantasy picture book that was adapted into a film in 1995? The film has spawned two sequels (2017, 2019).

Answer: Jumanji, Its story centers on a supernatural board game that releases jungle-based hazards.

Round 1 Player 1 Question 2:

The Gugghenheim Museum built by Frank Lloyd Wright serves as the setting for a scene in which 1997 movie? In the scene NYPD officer James Darrell Edwards III manages to chase down a cephalapoid that scales the exterior of the Gugghenheim, thereby proving his potential and eventually leading to him being recruited into a special agency.

Answer: Men in Black

Round 4 Player 3 Question 2:

Fallingwater by F. L. Wright served as the inspiration for the design of the fictional Vandamm House in which 1959 movie? Perched precariously almost on top of Mount Rushmore, the Vandamm house features prominently in one of the final sequences of the movie leading to a cliffhanger finish.

Answer: North by Northwest

Round 6 Player 2 Question 1:

The interlocking concrete block architectural pattern of The Ennis House by F. L. Wright served as the inspiration for the futuristic interiors of a key character's house in which 1980s movie? Meant to signify decadence and a postmodern feel as per the director, its resident is a former bounty hunter turned specialist police officer whose job is to retire certain trespassers on Earth.

Answer: Blade Runner; It is the house of Rick Deckard, the character played by Harrison Ford.

Round 7 Player 4 Question 2:

The house of the villainous Mayor Kenji Kobayashi of Megasaki City in which 2018 movie was modelled on the now-demolished Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, designed by F. L. Wright? The movie gets its name from the nickname of Trash Island, the other prominent location in the movie to which all pets have been banished following a zoonotic influenza outbreak.

Answer: Isle of Dogs (Prompt: Island of Dogs)

Round 1 Player 2 Question 1:

When Robert Hooke discovered his law of __________ (10) in 1676, he published it as the anagram: “ceiiinosssttuv.” The solution to this was revealed later as the Latin “ut tensio, sic vis”, meaning “as the extension, so the force.” Fill in the blank.

Answer: Elasticity

Round 3 Player 3 Question 2:

The Guardian called this illustration from Robert Hooke’s Micrographia as the first great work of British art, laying the foundations for Stubbs, Constable, Hirst etc. Which insect did he draw?

Answer: Flea

Round 5 Player 4 Question 1:

While he was at Oxford, Robert Hooke befriended someone. He became this person’s assistant and was responsible for the design and operation of a device associated with him. Who was this? The device in question is the subject of this 1768 painting.

Answer: Robert Boyle(Prompt on Air Pump; The painting is An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby)

Round 7 Player 1 Question 2:

Robert Hooke was of a slight build and suffered from kyphosis, i.e. a hunched back. Some sources have interpreted a famous scientific remark to be a sarcastic nod at this disability. What remark by the person pictured?

Answer: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants(Accept variants that are close enough; the quote is by Isaac Newton)

Round 1 Player 3 Question 2:

In the 1960s this complimentary three-letter slang abbreviation was used to describe “incredibly cool or awesome surfing”. What is this word that physicists defined as “the dose causing 100 ergs of energy to be absorbed by one gram of matter” and which has now been supplanted by the SI derived unit Gray? In the 1980s it became familiar to an entire generation exposed to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon.

Answer: Rad; In slang it was an abbreviation of the word “radical." In physics it is an acronym for Radiation Absorbed Dosage.

Round 3 Player 4 Question 1:

In scientific trials which word refers to the "standard" or "placebo" treatment that can be compared against the investigational treatment to show that an approved treatment in the trial works? In the world of John le Carré the same word is used to refer to the head of The Circus.

Answer: Control

Round 4 Player 2 Question 1:

In legalese, it is a sworn pre-trial questioning by a legal team as part of collecting evidence. In art, it is the representation of the body of Christ being brought down from the cross. In science, the same word refers to an accumulation of minerals in a bodily organ or matter by natural processes. What ten-letter noun is this?

Answer: Deposition (Prompt: deposit)

Round 6 Player 1 Question 1:

Which word is used in science to describe non-native creatures and plant species introduced to an area from which they don’t originate? It derives from the Latin word for “belonging to another” and is also used to refer to someone who is not a naturalised citizen of the country where he or she is living. It's also the name of a sci-fi film from the late 1970s.

Answer: Alien

Round 2 Player 3 Question 1:

This sport/activity was formalised in the early 20th century and is typically associated with the military as a part of boot camp training to test endurance, strength and teamwork. What sport/activity, that features several hurdles such as monkey bars, walls, mud crawls, rings of fire etc., is this?

Answer: Obstacle Course Racing (Accept: OCR or obstacle course or obstacle plus any variant of course or race)

Round 3 Player 4 Question 2:

One of the events at the Tough Mudder OCR event is a half-pipe slicked with oil and grease. What is this obstacle named after - an entity that had its height reassigned by a 2-country panel in 2020?

Answer: Everest (Accept: Mount Everest; Sagarmāthā; Chomolungma; Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng;)

Round 5 Player 1 Question 2:

This obstacle racing company is named after an ancient city-state which prioritised military proficiency and physical excellence in its social structuring. Name the company, whose logo is seen here.

Answer: Spartan Race (Accept: Sparta, Spartan)

Round 7 Player 2 Question 1:

Rugged Maniac is a Mark Cuban-funded OCR that has 25 obstacles in each race. One of the obstacles is to scale an 8-foot-tall wall that is named after a psychological phenomenon which suggests that a relative lack of height will propel people to act more aggressively. Name the obstacle.

Answer: Napoleon Complex; Accept reasonable alternatives that mention Napoleon

Round 1 Player 2 Question 2:

Identify this seven-time world weightlifting champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist who has represented both Bulgaria and Turkey. He was given the nickname “Pocket Hercules” on account of his short stature and lifting prowess.

Answer: Naim Süleymanoğlu

Round 3 Player 1 Question 2:

Identify this gymnast who won gold as a part of the Unified Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Asian Games and World Championship medals representing Uzbekistan, and a silver in vault representing Germany in Beijing 2008. She holds the distinction of being the oldest gymnast to have competed at the Olympics.

Answer: Oksana Chusovitina

Round 6 Player 3 Question 2:

Pakistan's first Test captain also played for India against England in the 1945-46 test series. Who is this cricketer, one of three to have represented both countries in Tests? The other two players are Amir Elahi and Gul Mohammad.

Answer: Abdul Hafeez Kardar

Round 7 Player 4 Question 1:

Who is the only footballer to have played two World Cup finals representing two different countries? In the first of these (1930), he ended up on the losing side against Uruguay, but in the second instance (1934), his team defeated Czechoslovakia.

Answer: Luis Monti; Played for Argentina in 1930 and Italy in 1934.

Round 2 Player 4 Question 1:

In Black Panther, Zuri, played by Forest Whittaker, wears a robed outfit inspired by the "agbada", a flowing wide-sleeved robe worn by which group of people in Western Africa? They constitute around 38 million people who live primarily in Nigeria, Benin and Togo.

Answer: Yoruba

Round 4 Player 1 Question 1:

The members of the elite force Dora Milaje from Black Panther wear beaded red and gold outfits that are inspired by the garments worn by the women of which Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting parts of Kenya and Tanzania? A national game reserve in the region is named in their honour.

Answer: Maasai

Round 5 Player 2 Question 2:

The headgear worn by T’Challa’s mother, Queen Ramonda was inspired by the hat worn traditionally by married women of which ethnic group in southern Africa? The various clans of the group were part of an independent kingdom between 1816–1897.

Answer: Zulu

Round 7 Player 3 Question 2:

W’Kabi, played by Daniel Kaluuya, is wrapped in the Wakandan version of a distinctive woollen blanket worn commonly by what group of people in southern Africa? They lend their name to a small enclaved country in the region.

Answer: Sotho or Basotho or Basuto (Accept: Lesotho, which means "Land of the Sotho")

Spare Question 3:

The outfits worn by members of the River Tribe in Black Panther are made of shells, beads and leaves, and their Elder is depicted adorning a lip plate. Name either of the two ethnic groups whose traditions and customs served as inspiration for the River Tribe. They share similar cultures and inhabit parts of Ethiopia and South Sudan.

Answer: Mursi or Surma (Accept: Suri)

Round 1 Player 3 Question 1:

Which test automation tool and popular python library, named after a chemical element, was created in 2004 to compete with Mercury Interactive? The chemical element, used as an antidote for Mercury poisoning, is named after a sibling of Helios and Eos.

Answer: Selenium. The element is named after Selene.

Round 3 Player 2 Question 2:

Beautiful Soup is a Python library for parsing and retrieving data from HTML & XML files. It gets its name from a poem from Alice in Wonderland that is narrated by a melancholic character who wishes he wasn't just a ____ ______(4,6). Which character, named after a dish that was popular during the Victorian period? The dish was created after the original reptilian protein integral to the dish was nearly hunted to extinction.

Answer: Mock Turtle; The mock turtle soup was an 18th century dish made as an imitation of the popular turtle soup. It used different cuts of more readily available meat such as calf's head and other odds and ends.

Round 4 Player 4 Question 2:

Keras is a python library for implementing neural networks created by the project "Open-ended neuro electronic intelligent robot operating system", the name alluding to the accurate predictions that the library generates. The project's name refers to what dream spirits from Greek mythology?

Answer: ONEIROS; Acronym of Open-ended Neuro-Electronic Intelligent Robot Operating System

Round 6 Player 1 Question 2:

The ______(6) python package provides the capability to convert an in-memory object into a byte stream so that it can be saved as a file and used at a later point. Identify this package whose name reflects this ability to store and preserve items. Unlike the real world item/process it is named after, neither vinegar nor salt is used.

Answer: Pickle (Accept: Pickling, Pickles)

Spare Question 1:

Although it is used for organizing and manipulating all types of data, which python library, gets its name from data collected from panel studies, which are designed to collect data from a subset of respondents at specified intervals over a long period of time, and have no connection whatsoever to animals conversant with martial arts.

Answer: Pandas (Accept Panda); from Panel Data