The document provides details about the Open General Quiz - Pentagram 2023 prelims competition, including number of questions, points system, top 8 teams advancing to finals, and several sample questions asking to identify missing words, proposals, clients, designs, and other details referenced in the clues.

1. The Open General Quiz – Pentagram 2023
Prelims
Lucky Kaul

2.  22 questions, 24 points
 Each part with a question mark carries 1 point
 Ties to be broken by sudden death
 Points will be given exactly for what is asked, the final word on any
ballpark variant(s) rests with the QM
 I will give out verbal clues as and when I feel the need to do so
 Top 8 teams into the final

3.  Brands like Xerox have come to be associated with the product –
for example, photocopying is often referred to as ‘getting a Xerox’.
 Similarly, as per an account, in mid-20th century Kashmir, buttering
someone was known as ______ing, with this word receding from
parlance over the 50’s and 60’s owing to the result of a mass
fightback against exploitation in a part ofWestern India.
 What word fills in the blank?

5.  IonTiriac, the owner of an annual sporting tournament, had made a
proposal in 2012 with the idea that it will be more appealing on
television. Some speculated that the choice was a nod to the
event’s title sponsor.
 However, the proposal was rolled back the very next year owing to
protests from several players citing that it was more slippery to
move on as compared to the usual variant.
 What proposal?

6.  In

7.  While it is no laughing matter, what word, that can be applied to
at least two fluids in an upper part of the human body, comes
from Latin for ‘moisture’?

9.  This is a memorial stone jointly
laid by Denmark and Germany
that commemorates something
that happened during the Battle
of Dybbol in 1864.
 What exactly happened for the
first time during this battle, that
has received worldwide
recognition and appreciation
ever since?

11.  The broader list includesVladimir Remek (Czech), Miroslaw
Hermaszewski (Poland), Sigmund Jahn (East Germany) and a
participant each from Hungary,Vietnam, Cuba, Mongolia,
Romania, Syria, Afghanistan and Japan. Bulgaria sent two
participants. UK, France and Austria participated despite
differences in ideology and sent one person each.
 Who is the missing person in this high-flying list that served their
purpose between 1978 and 1991?

12.  In

13.  These chairs designed by the Eames famously made an
appearance in India earlier last year as well as over the past few
weeks this year, in conformity with those in an ‘aquatic’ import.
 What import?

15.  Pictured is the Rah-Rah Skirt, which
was one of the first successful
attempts to revive the miniskirt and
was a hit among teenage females in
the 1980’s.
 Its origins lay in what is a profession in
several parts of the world, including in
India around this time of the year.
 What profession?

16.  In

17.  The Road Back is a 1931 novel that deals with the fall of the
German Empire and documents the experiences of those who
have returned fromWorldWar I, attempting to integrate
themselves into the commoners’ life.
 It is a sequel to which 1929 novel, that has been adapted to make
an Academy Award winning film as well as giving its name to a
song by Elton John?

18.  In

19.  This is a piece of a small splint that was constructed and applied by
Dr Samuel Mudd to a client who arrived at his place in Southern
Maryland at roughly 4 a.m. on 15 April 1865 as they had injured
their left leg. Some believe this injury was owing to him performing
a jump the previous night; Others believe that this injury happened
while he rode his horse to Mudd’s home, roughly 50 km south of the
client’s origin point.
 Who was the client?

20.  In

21.  Every year around the month of September, the Ministry of
Defence invites proposals for an upcoming purpose, for which it
provides its eventual winners with one tractor and trailer for free.
 The proposals are evaluated on several criteria including visual
appeal, attention to detail and local talent incorporated.
 What does the Ministry invite these proposals for?

22.  In

23.  His first name comes from the Anglo-Saxon for someone who rules
with the almighty.
 The first part of his surname comes from the creature pictured.
 The second part of his surname possibly comes from the French for
made of gold or as a suffix that means gift of.
 Who?

24.  In

25.  This is an aerial view of the Guanabara Bay. A city got its name
thanks to Europeans reaching there in January 1502, except they
mistook this bay for a part of a X (another kind of water body).
 Which city hence got its name?

27.  Which organization awards these tokens of appreciation as a
means of encouragement to its members?

28.  In

29.  In November 2022, Chandrakanta Meghwal, an MLA from
Rajasthan was disappointed with the inaction of the state police
to arrest burglars in the Bundi district.
 As a sign of protest, she performed a real-life act to escalate
public attention on this matter, reminiscent of one reel-life act
from almost five decades ago by a dejected romantic.
 What did Meghwal do?

30.  In

31.  Started in 1964, the design inspiration for these had come when its
engineers observed the behaviours of the owl and the kingfisher.
 The feathers of the owl comprised a comb-like array of serrations
that broke down the air when it passed through it and thus
dampened (reduced) the sound produced by its movement. It was
also observed that when a kingfisher dived down into the water, it
did so by creating very little splash – indicating less disturbance
created even at high speeds.
 What were designed keeping the above in mind, that also became
energy efficient in the process?

33.  Picture from a refectory (dining
room) in Santa Maria delle
Grazie in Milan in 1943, after
the place was hit by an Allied
Bombing.
 What from 1498 was covered
by the protective structure on
the right?

34.  In

35.  In

36.  Established in 1936, the HMPI factory in Pune was the first
handmade paper making factory set-up in the pre-independence era
as part of the Swadeshi movement.
 Around a decade after its setup, the factory supplied a lot of 90-110
gsm bond writing paper that would last for several years. Some
drawing paper would have been useful too, but it was not chosen due
to its limited lifespan, with everything managed on the bond paper.
 For what purpose was the above paper supplied?

38.  When it comes to countries’ flags, this particular list could include
Sri Lanka, Barbados, Kenya, Guatemala, Haiti, etc.
 However, if we narrow this list down to a subset of the one having
the above countries, the only ones in it would be Guatemala, Haiti
and X.
 The members in the second list included the same to highlight
their capability of defending their nations after their struggle for
independence ended.
 What is the narrowed list about?What is X?

40.  Joe Sutter was an American aeronautical engineer who graduated
from the University ofWashington in Seattle in 1943.
 His biggest claim to fame came about roughly two and a half
decades after his graduation thanks to an ambitious project at his
workplace. However, the result of this project did not do well for
itself commercially in the 70’s and really took off only in the early
80’s, as clients settled for smaller options.
 What is Sutter’s claim to fame?What global reason stalled its
potential rise in the 1970’s?

43.  Pictured is Sarah Gilbert, a Professor
at the University of Oxford.
 One of her major claims to fame
came about in December 2020, for
which she also received a standing
ovation atWimbledon 2021 and also
had a Barbie creation paying a
tribute to her.
 What crowning feat was this?

45.  In 2008, The Guardian released an advertisement for the British
Army Fitness Programme. In the ad, it showed five figures (instead
of six) flexing their muscles in various poses, including stretching
their arms, or bending forward and stretching their legs, with all but
one in possession of one particular object.
 What from February 1945 and on the other side of the globe was
used to show the ad?
 Images follow.

49.  Which work from the world of MELA is this music video from Thirty
SecondsTo Mars a tribute to?