Final round of Open Gen Quiz at Pentagram 2023, GNLU, Gandhinagar.

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

2.  4 Rounds
 R1 –Written – 4 questions
 R2 – Dries – 12 questions
 R3 –Written – 4 questions
 R4 – Dries – 12 questions
 I will give out verbal clues as and when I feel the need to do so

3.  Written
 4 questions
 10 points for a correct answer, part points where applicable
 No negatives
 Theme – Alliterations

4.  A critic by the name of Robert Fox while analysing two novels from
the early 19th century, had the following to say regardingY –
 After the success of X, nothing would have seemed more natural than
to bring out another novel using again the formula of antithesis and
alliteration for the title. It should be pointed out that the qualities of
the title are not exclusively assigned to one or the other of the
protagonists.
 Which two novels, which were also used to differentiate between
those who voted leave and stay in the Brexit poll?

5.  The colour CanaryYellow, as pictured, is the trademark for what
best-selling product?Which company owns the trademark?

6.  The design for which fictional establishment having only two full-
time employees (ex-owner) was directly inspired from this item?

7.  In 2022, according to several articles,
this slab present in a museum for 135
years had inscribed on it a list of young
men in Ancient Athens who finished
military training over a period of 12
months. It was therefore described as
an early example of a _________.
 In India, one publication for knowledge
purposes containing the blank in its
title was circulated for the first time in
1959. One that can be found in most
quizzers’ shelves, who was its
publisher?

8. 

10.  A critic by the name of Robert Fox while analysing two novels from
the early 19th century, had the following to say regardingY –
 After the success of X, nothing would have seemed more natural than
to bring out another novel using again the formula of antithesis and
alliteration for the title. It should be pointed out that the qualities of
the title are not exclusively assigned to one or the other of the
protagonists.
 Which two novels, which were also used to differentiate between
those who voted leave and stay in the Brexit poll?

13.  The colour CanaryYellow, as pictured, is the trademark for what
best-selling product?Which company owns the trademark?

15.  The design for which fictional establishment having only two full-
time employees (ex-owner) was directly inspired from this item?

17.  In 2022, according to several articles,
this slab present in a museum for 135
years had inscribed on it a list of young
men in Ancient Athens who finished
military training over a period of 12
months. It was therefore described as
an early example of a _________.
 In India, one publication for knowledge
purposes containing the blank in its
title was circulated for the first time in
1959. One that can be found in most
quizzers’ shelves, who was its
publisher?

19.  Dries, Clockwise
 12 questions
 +10/-5 on Pounce, +10/0 on Bounce
 No partial pounce allowed
 Unanswered question goes to next team

20.  Norman O’Neill was an Australian batsman who played for his nation
from 1958 to 1965. One such series was against India in 1959-60.
 In the Kanpur test, he denied an occurrence from happening a second
time. Its first instance also involved Australia, where they could not
prevent it.The Indian in this story was a 35-year old player from a
place often associated with the city where the first instance occurred.
 Even as India won the match in what would be their first win against
Australia, Neill became etched in Indian memory.
 Who was the Indian? What did Neill deny from happening?

24.  When a personality was interviewed about an incident in her life
from 1966-67, that would go on to become a revolution of sorts, she
said that her project leader did not allow her to go by her personal
choice as he feared that the Censor Board, due to its conservative
nature, would retaliate to the risqué version – thus he suggested a
somewhat milder option as a middle path solution to keep both
parties happy.
 Who was this ‘shy’ personality?
 What was the story all about, with the central item a 1946 creation
initially titled ‘The Atom’ and finally named after a coral reef?

26. Shakti Samanta, the director
of the movie, denied her the
option of wearing a bikini and
instead suggested a one-
piece swimsuit – making
Tagore the first one in
Bollywood to sport the same.

27.  The ChicagoWorld’s Fair was an expo that spanned from May 1933 to
October 1934.
 Among its offerings existed one strange exhibition created and run
by Dr. Martin Couney as he wasn’t allowed to run it in his workplace.
It comprised of 58 specimen kept in glass enclosures, and for which,
Coney charged 25 cents to whoever wanted to view them.The
exhibition left people in awe, and later, most such future specimen
would be thankful to him on its success— such enclosures later
receiving a warm welcome in his workplace and its likes thereafter.
 Who were these specimen?What is Coney credited with introducing
in his profession?

32.  The year 1868 saw the birth of a brand that came about as a result of
one Edmund trying to grow crops in his garden in Louisiana. After
experimenting with one such crop (whose freshness is today checked
by comparing it to a little red stick), he mixed it with vinegar and salt
and packaged it inside the iconic cork-top two-ounce bottles.
 Around a century later, these bottles found much use when they had
small guides (containing a set of instructions) wrapped around them
and sent to lands about 4000 miles west to help a certain group of
citizens on duty survive on limited resources.
 Which brand is this? What was the utility of these booklets?

36.  In 304 BC, Demetrius had besieged a Greek island. However, a relief
army sent by Ptolemy I ensured that Demetrius abandoned the siege
and the island won.
 However, in the process, Demetrius’ army left a lot of siege
equipment behind. A part of these weapons were sold off for money,
while from the remaining, a lot of iron, copper and tin was extracted
and re-deployed for a divine purpose.
 What was the massive long-standing result of the above two actions?

39.  How quickly a liquid flows depends on the pressure at the aperture
which is determined by the height of the liquid above it. But in the
case of granules, it was discovered in 1895 that pressure at the
bottom of a container does not depend on the height of the granules
above. However, if the height of the granules is twice that of the
width of the container, the pressure at the bottom is effectively
constant, and hence, mass flow is constant.
 Paraphrased from an excerpt in the MITTechnology Review, 2010.
 Through the above reasoning, what simple phenomenon is the
article trying to explain?

42.  Laxman Popley was a Mumbai-based jeweller and parent who in 1994
approached a 62-year-old PSU entity with a ‘heavenly’ request.
 Unfazed by the request even with several operational challenges and
permissions involved, a two-hour programme that went full-circle
was organized with dedicated entry points to the venue.There were
only two catches – the venue had 50-odd seats removed from its
usual capacity of around 200, and no fires were lit during the process.
 Which entity?
 What was this request? ORWhy were the seats removed?

45.  One of the members of this band when speaking about its name
origins said that it came from his grandmother’s name combined
with the fact that she used to make a (typically) breakfast item.
 However, this was discarded, with the true story coming out that
another band member came up with a part of the band’s name, with
the other part coming from attending NeilYoung concerts where he
extended his songs as improvisations of a few minutes.
 Which band?

47.  In

48.  One of the origins behind this term is said to have come in the 1950s
when the USWeather Bureau classified one of something as the
highest and most attractive of its kind.
 What, also used by IndiGo to express its mood on 4th August, 2015?

51.  In 1959, a certain entity was decided to be set up near the Niagara
Falls but was rejected as it was realized that it couldn’t be kept open
the year-round thanks to the frigid winters there. It was hence
decided to move Southeast – towards a region having Interstates.
 It helped that the Interstate numbered 4 was the cross point of two
major roads near a city’s airport, ensuring easy access to the location
for its audience. A lot of care was taken while making the necessary
land deals worth ~27000 acres, that was one speculated to being
made by NASA to support the Kennedy Space Center. In addition,
today, the entity places large orders for explosives annually.
 What exactly am I talking about?Why the large orders for explosives?

53.  In

54.  In

55.  Photography sessions in space-related tours are scheduled events
in a rigorous flight plan where every step is designed carefully in
order to make the whole mission a success – thus even the amount
of film is rationed, and cameras are to be used for documentation
purposes only. Astronauts are also told not to look out the window.
 However, back in Dec 1972, five hours into what was the last flight
of its kind, its crew comprising of Ronald Evans, Harrison Schmitt
AND <someone else> violated the above protocol and one of them,
in excitement, took out the only camera that wasn’t stowed.
 Who was the third crew member?What resulted due to the crew
members’ excitement?

59.  In the mid-1950’s, she was a ticketing agent for British Overseas
Airways Corporation who was struggling to balance between her
work and passion. In 1956, she found help in Michael Brown, who
met her through an upcoming celebrity, and on knowing her gave
her a year’s pay in order to express herself through her passion;The
result of this gesture paying off in 1960.
 Which cold-blooded celebrity introduced Brown to the person
above?
 What exactly is this the backstory of?

63.  Written
 4 questions
 10 points for a correct answer, part points where applicable
 No negatives

65.  Vega v.Tekoh was a 2022 judgment decided by the US Supreme Court.
 It pertained to a March 2014 response of CarlosVega, a deputy with
the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to a 911 call. He was told
thatTerenceTekoh, a hospital employee, had sexually assaulted a
patient.Tekoh confessed to his crime shortly after meetingVega,
following which he was tried under these allegations and acquitted.
 Yet,Tekoh suedVega citing a particular error, which was quashed by
the Supreme Court as not always violative of the Constitution.
 What was this procedural lapse?

66.  LeGrande Diller was a US Army officer whose staff was finding it
difficult to find the relevant paper for an important closure.
 However, one enterprising staff member was able to find some rare
parchment paper in the basement of a monastery in Manila.This
paper was then taken to the vessel USS Missouri around 3,000 km to
the North-East (The vessel itself was donated to Hawaii in 1998).
 Lasting for about 20 minutes, what exactly took place on the above
piece of paper?

67.  In March 2017, the Engineering Department of Chandigarh
Administration had issued an order where more than 20 road routes
were downgraded from State Highways to District Roads.
 IndiaToday covered this decision as a reversal of an order issued
nearly 20 years from then by the state administration to improve the
quality of roads and ensure proper maintenance.
 Having a major fiscal impact, why was the March 2017 order issued?

68.  Jolly GeorgeVerghese & Anr vsThe Bank of Cochin was a 1980 Supreme
Court case whose bench comprisedVR Krishna Iyer and RS Pathak.
The case debated whether it was fair to deprive a person of their
personal liberty for not discharging a contractual liability.
 The judges ruled that no one shall be imprisoned merely on being
unable to fulfil a contractual obligation and the law recognizes that
‘mercy is reasonable in the time of affliction’. In addition, at several
points in its statements, the bench alluded to an episode from 1596-
98 involving a request for an item weighing half a kilogram.
 What episode from the late 16th century did the bench allude to?

69. 

71.  Vega v.Tekoh was a 2022 judgment decided by the US Supreme Court.
 It pertained to a March 2014 response of CarlosVega, a deputy with
the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to a 911 call. He was told
thatTerenceTekoh, a hospital employee, had sexually assaulted a
patient.Tekoh confessed to his crime shortly after meetingVega,
following which he was tried under these allegations and acquitted.
 Yet,Tekoh suedVega citing a particular error, which was quashed by
the Supreme Court as not always violative of the Constitution.
 What was this procedural lapse?

73.  LeGrande Diller was a US Army officer whose staff was finding it
difficult to find the relevant paper for an important closure.
 However, one enterprising staff member was able to find some rare
parchment paper in the basement of a monastery in Manila.This
paper was then taken to the vessel USS Missouri around 3,000 km to
the North-East (The vessel itself was donated to Hawaii in 1998).
 Lasting for about 20 minutes, what exactly took place on the above
piece of paper?

76.  In March 2017, the Engineering Department of Chandigarh
Administration had issued an order where more than 20 road routes
were downgraded from State Highways to District Roads.
 IndiaToday covered this decision as a reversal of an order issued
nearly 20 years from then by the state administration to improve the
quality of roads and ensure proper maintenance.
 Having a major fiscal impact, why was the March 2017 order issued?

78.  Jolly GeorgeVerghese & Anr vsThe Bank of Cochin was a 1980 Supreme
Court case whose bench comprisedVR Krishna Iyer and RS Pathak.
The case debated whether it was fair to deprive a person of their
personal liberty for not discharging a contractual liability.
 The judges ruled that no one shall be imprisoned merely on being
unable to fulfil a contractual obligation and the law recognizes that
‘mercy is reasonable in the time of affliction’. In addition, at several
points in its statements, the bench alluded to an episode from 1596-
98 involving a request for an item weighing half a kilogram.
 What episode from the late 16th century did the bench allude to?

80.  Dries, Anticlockwise
 12 questions
 +10/-5 on Pounce, +10/0 on Bounce
 No partial pounce allowed
 Unanswered question goes to next team

81.  UK Senthil Kumar is a cinematographer who primarily works inTamil
and Malayalam cinema. His arguably most notable project,
however, occurred nine years ago from now.
 In this, he used his Cannon C 500 Camera with a 4K resolution and
put in around six hours of work every time to set the best lighting
conditions possible – following which, shooting occurred in early
parts of that year with the subject of his project regularly taking out
time from their busy schedule in order to ensure mass impact and
make the whole project a blooming success.
 What was Senthil Kumar responsible for?

84.  They were first used in 1487 by the Spanish forces during the Siege
of Malaga when they were looking for a quick means of mobility.
 An improved version of the same was introduced by Dominique
Larrey during the NapoleonicWars as he intended to match the
speed with which the French moved their artillery. However, a major
breakthrough for common citizens came only in mid-19th century
London, a period where a famous study proved the origin of
something (that impacted thousands then) to be from water and
not from air particles called miasma.
 What are these items?What was the study about? Images follow.

90.  As per Geoffrey Hosking, an expert in Russian history from UCL, the
locals would turn against people if they stood out from the general
public – the extremely poor were considered a burden, and the rich
were regarded to have made money by exploiting the crowd.
 It is possibly for the above reason why in a particular context that
happens for a few weeks (usually) annually, Russians felt it was
unfair for a set of lucky people to avail one in a set of aids that would
keep them alive in their pursuit from rags to riches – this being later
removed in Russia (unlike in its variants in India, US, UK, etc.)
 Who exactly are these people? What much availed aid otherwise?

93.  It is an elevated landmass that extends deep into a sea or ocean.
 One such extension of a continental landmass discovered in 1488
initially had a tormenting name, however it was renamed to its
present form by John II of Portugal as he was highly optimistic about
the potential trade prospects in the East thanks to the discovery.
 Which geographical feature is this?

96.  In the 12th century, this short word was used as a noun and was the
term used for obstacles. It also meant to stand in the way of.
 It is in this sense that the word today finds use as a sporting oxymoron
with respect to its meaning as we commonly understand it.
 What word?Where in sport does it find use as an oxymoron?

99.  Back in its heyday, Air India was well known for its advertisements
pertaining to destinations it flew to, with apt references. For example,
a poster forTokyo depicted the Maharaja and a lady dressed in
traditional outfits, bowing to each other.
 The poster for another international destination cleverly showed the
Maharaja protecting himself from a stream by holding an umbrella in
one hand and a guide to the city in the other.
 Which city? What was the Maharaja protecting himself from, that is
said to embody the independence of mind of the city’s people?

102.  Pictured are grates that can be found in 52nd and Lexington in New
York City.They sit over the downtown 4,5,6 lines of the NYC subway,
providing ventilation to the platform below.
 In the context of a moment almost seven decades old, the trains that
passed below these grates were not fast enough to naturally produce
the effect, hence stronger alternatives had to be used to create the
same (in order to last a few seconds).
 Which event am I talking about? Image follows.

106.  A certain locational choice was made back in 2006 as a result of
several factors that included a cool climate, the surrounding
sandstone being suitable for building and low in radiation, good
security measures, daily flights to the place, a reliable source of
energy in the form of local coal supplies and a natural freezing
mechanism to combat power failures and temperature increases.
 What am I talking about, that was ranked #6 inTIME’s best
inventions of 2008, and authorized for use once in 2015?

108.  A certain locational choice was made back in 2006 as a result of
several factors that included a cool climate, the surrounding
sandstone being suitable for building and low in radiation, good
security measures, daily flights to the place, a reliable source of
energy in the form of local coal supplies and a natural freezing
mechanism to combat power failures and temperature increases.
 What am I talking about, that was ranked #6 inTIME’s best
inventions of 2008, and authorised for use once in 2015?

109.  Geosmin is an organic compound that gives beetroots its taste.
 It is also accountable for something people would experience most
frequently during the first few weeks of an academic year.
 What else is it accountable for?

112.  Jane Smith is a Scottish primary school teacher who in 2014
explained in an interview to newspapers how she finally got to know
about her father, John Harrison’s contributions toWW2.
 He said he had been drafted into _______ ___ after one of his
university lecturers asked him to quickly complete a tough newspaper
crossword. But we didn’t know for years how valuable his wartime
work was.
 Where was Harrison drafted? How did Jane get to know about her
dad’s contributions? Why did Jane have to wait for so long?

118.  In 2000, the British Armed Forces faced a series of cutbacks, including
navy ships being pulled out of drills due to costly fuel.
 This was followed by a measure that the land-based recruits at HMS
Cambridge were to follow – the same becoming a subject of much
noise and criticism.The Defence Ministry, however, insisted that it was
a standard procedure and the same should be looked at from the point
of view of saving money.The result of the above was the awarding of
the IgNobel Peace Prize to the Royal Navy.
 What measure, seen in action closer home thanks to the actions of a
UP-based police officer during an encounter in 2018?

122.  Zinc Chromate is a chemical compound that finds its use as coating
over iron or aluminium materials.
 However, it also found use in art when a late-19th century French
artist decided to use its yellowish-green look to depict a large portion
of a particular artwork – which saw a lot of other experimentation,
including applying the paintbrush in small strokes in areas close to
each other. Except, over time, the Zinc Chromate degraded and
turned brown and thus found rare use in art since then.
 Which artwork?What exactly did the artist use Zinc Chromate for?