The document contains 20 questions from a general quiz with multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank style answers. It covers topics like the Qibla direction for prayer in Islam, common words in printing presses leading to terms like "cliché", and identifying historical figures from descriptions of their early careers.

1. SPHINX – THE
GENERAL QUIZ
(PRELIMS)

2. Q1.
The Qibla is the direction that Muslims
need to face while praying, towards the
Kabba. Determining the Qibla is one of
the reasons why medieval Islamic
scientists were good at mathematics and
astronomy. However, North American
Muslims have the option of praying
either towards the northeast or towards
the south-west. Why do the Americans
have such a choice?

3. Q2.
In the 1930 novel by the “American
Agatha Christie” Mary Roberts Rinehart,
The Door, the protagonist Elizabeth Bell
is the mistress of a large household with
many servants and of course the
traditional house guests (a niece) when
the family nurse is killed. Which clichéd
murder mystery trope is this novel
famous for popularising?

4. Q3.
The city of ________ has 3 St. Andrew’s
crosses or X’s on its flag and
escutcheon. One of the theories for what
they represent refers to the three chief
historical perils faced by the city: floods,
fire and the Black Death. Id the city.

5. Q4.
What term originated from writer and
social critic Louise Kappe Howe to
describe women working in the personal
service industry (such as waitressing,
teaching, nursing etc.)?

6. Q5.
_______ is a famous comic book villain
who used to be a dacoit and became an
immortal giant upon drinking a magic
potion. Simple binary – who’s being
talked about?

7. Q6.
#kolstyle Why would the Space Shuttle
not be launched if the flight ran from
December to January? This reason was
no longer valid after NASA did some
work in 2007.

8. Q7.
A controversial origin of this offensive
term appears to be the practice by
bounty hunters of ______ bringing back
their victims’ bloodied scalps as proof of
bounty. What much in the news term?
HINT: Think current affairs.

9. Q8.
In a surprise move, Mark Twain entered
the New York Times bestsellers list in
November 2010 with the release of the
first volume of his autobiography
(peaking at no. 2 and spending 20
weeks on the list). However, since Mark
Twain died in 1910, why was his
autobiography suddenly popular a
century later?

10. Q9.
The inventor X patented his famous
invention Y in 1867. He originally
intended that it be called “X’s safety
powder” in order to help re-establish his
name and improve the image of his
business from the earlier controversies
associated with his previous
experiments in the same field, which
had led to numerous lab accidents and
explosions. However, he eventually
settled on Y, based on the Greek word
for power. Id X, Y.

11. Q10.
From 1984-1994, South Africa had a
Tricameral Parliament i.e. it had three
separate chambers. The House of
Assemblies represented the Whites, The
House of Representatives was for the
Coloured (mixed-race) population. The
House of Delegates was intended for
whom?

12. Q11.
Whose response to the 2014 Oscar
results: “When they read the results, my
face was...frozen. But then I thought
about it, and I just decided just to...let it
go.”?

13. Q12. HOMAGE TO WHAT
WORK?

14. Q13.
In moveable type printing press, words
were assembled one letter at a time. As
a result, in order to be more efficient,
printers used to keep common words
ready on a plate. What word did this lead
to?

15. Q14.
The UNIX Millennium Bug is the UNIX
analogue for the Y2K bug, where the
signed 32-bit integer counting epoch
seconds from 1 January 1970 rolls over
to negative values. Which year
represents the maximal date in this
system?

16. Q15.
The organisation X was originally going
to be called Y and its magazine was to
be called Z, which was Latin for mind.
However, in order to avoid people
confusing its magazine with an existing
soft-core pornographic magazine, they
added a trailing ‘a’ to Z to get the name
X, by which it is now known. X? (X does
not mean mind)

17. Q16.
X used to work as a cook’s helper on a
steamer, a chef, a dish washer, a pastry
boy among various other menial jobs.
However, later on in life, he rose to
become a representative of the Socialist
party of France in 1920 and a founding
member of the Parti Communiste
Francais. As his stature increased, he
adopted a name meaning “He who has
been enlightened”. How do we better
know X?

18. Q17.
Scandinavia historically and culturally
refers to three northern European
countries: Norway, Sweden and _______.
FITB.

19. Q18.
Where would you find Ishtar terra,
Cleopatra, Mona Lisa, Isabella, Ruth,
Mariko, Dickinson and Maria Celeste
(non-exhaustive list)?

20. Q19.
Flamingo Air calls itself “Cincinnati's
most outrageous airline” and is best
known for its hour long $425 special
flight on a private curtained aircraft
where the passengers are provided with
chocolates, champagne, and one very
discreet pilot. What is so special about
this flight?

21. Q20.
Id this courageous woman. She
is the youngest recipient of the
Ashok Chakra due to her actions
during the hijacking of Pan Am
Flight 73 in Karachi. When the
terrorists demanded passenger
passports to identify Americans,
she along with the other
attendants under her charge hid
the passports of the 41
Americans on board. Later on
she opened the emergency door
and helped a number of
passengers escape and was shot
while shielding three children
from a hail of bullets

23. Q1.
The Qibla is the direction that Muslims
need to face while praying, towards the
Kabba. Determining the Qibla is one of
the reasons why medieval Islamic
scientists were good at mathematics and
astronomy. However, North American
Muslims have the option of praying
either towards the northeast or towards
the south-west. Why do the Americans
have such a choice?

24. A1.
They can choose the shortest distance
via a Great circle to the north-east or via
a constant bearing rhumb line along a
Mercator projection
Keywords: Great circle. Rhumb line. Line
on Map Projection (prefer Mercator) is
acceptable instead of Rhumb line.

25. Q2.
In the 1930 novel by the “American
Agatha Christie” Mary Roberts Rinehart,
The Door, the protagonist Elizabeth Bell
is the mistress of a large household with
many servants and of course the
traditional house guests (a niece) when
the family nurse is killed. Which clichéd
murder mystery trope is this novel
famous for popularising?

26. A2.
The Butler did it

27. Q3.
The city of ________ has 3 St. Andrew’s
crosses or X’s on its flag and
escutcheon. One of the theories for what
they represent refers to the three chief
historical perils faced by the city: floods,
fire and the Black Death. Id the city.

28. A3.
Amsterdam

29. Q4.
What term originated from writer and
social critic Louise Kappe Howe to
describe women working in the personal
service industry (such as waitressing,
teaching, nursing etc.)?

30. A4.
Pink Collar Worker

31. Q5.
_______ is a famous comic book villain
who used to be a dacoit and became an
immortal giant upon drinking a magic
potion. Simple binary – who’s being
talked about?

32. A5.
Raaka

33. Q6.
#kolstyle Why would the Space Shuttle
not be launched if the flight ran from
December to January? This reason was
no longer valid after NASA did some
work in 2007.

34. A6.
They weren’t sure the computers could
handle the year end roll-over in flight

35. Q7.
A controversial origin of this offensive
term appears to be the practice by
bounty hunters of ______ bringing back
their victims’ bloodied scalps as proof of
bounty. What much in the news term?
HINT: Think current affairs.

36. A7.
Redskins

37. Q8.
In a surprise move, Mark Twain entered
the New York Times bestsellers list in
November 2010 with the release of the
first volume of his autobiography
(peaking at no. 2 and spending 20
weeks on the list). However, since Mark
Twain died in 1910, why was his
autobiography suddenly popular a
century later?

38. A8.
It was released a century late on the
author’s request

39. Q9.
The inventor X patented his famous
invention Y in 1867. He originally
intended that it be called “X’s safety
powder” in order to help re-establish his
name and improve the image of his
business from the earlier controversies
associated with his previous
experiments in the same field, which
had led to numerous lab accidents and
explosions. However, he eventually
settled on Y, based on the Greek word
for power. Id X, Y.

40. A9.
X - Alfred Nobel
Y- Dynamite

41. Q10.
From 1984-1994, South Africa had a
Tricameral Parliament i.e. it had three
separate chambers. The House of
Assemblies represented the Whites, The
House of Representatives was for the
Coloured (mixed-race) population. The
House of Delegates was intended for
whom?

42. A10.
Indians

43. Q11.
Whose response to the 2014 Oscar
results: “When they read the results, my
face was...frozen. But then I thought
about it, and I just decided just to...let it
go.”?

44. A11.
Pharrell Williams

45. Q12. HOMAGE TO WHAT
WORK?

46. A12.
Sound of Music

47. Q13.
In moveable type printing press, words
were assembled one letter at a time. As
a result, in order to be more efficient,
printers used to keep common words
ready on a plate. What word did this lead
to?

48. A13.
Cliché/Stereotype (identical origin story
for both words)

49. Q14.
The UNIX Millennium Bug is the UNIX
analogue for the Y2K bug, where the
signed 32-bit integer counting epoch
seconds from 1 January 1970 rolls over
to negative values. Which year
represents the maximal date in this
system?

50. A14.
2038 (You could have calculated it…)

51. Q15.
The organisation X was originally going
to be called Y and its magazine was to
be called Z, which was Latin for mind.
However, in order to avoid people
confusing its magazine with an existing
soft-core pornographic magazine, they
added a trailing ‘a’ to Z to get the name
X, by which it is now known. X? (X does
not mean mind)

52. A15.
Mensa

53. Q16.
X used to work as a cook’s helper on a
steamer, a chef, a dish washer, a pastry
boy among various other menial jobs.
However, later on in life, he rose to
become a representative of the Socialist
party of France in 1920 and a founding
member of the Parti Communiste
Francais. As his stature increased, he
adopted a name meaning “He who has
been enlightened”. How do we better
know X?

54. A16.
Ho Chi Minh

55. Q17.
Scandinavia historically and culturally
refers to three northern European
countries: Norway, Sweden and _______.
FITB.

56. A17.
Denmark

57. Q18.
Where would you find Ishtar terra,
Cleopatra, Mona Lisa, Isabella, Ruth,
Mariko, Dickinson and Maria Celeste
(non-exhaustive list)?

58. A18.
Venus

59. Q19.
Flamingo Air calls itself “Cincinnati's
most outrageous airline” and is best
known for its hour long $425 special
flight on a private curtained aircraft
where the passengers are provided with
chocolates, champagne, and one very
discreet pilot. What is so special about
this flight?

60. A19.
For Passengers wishing to join the Mile
High Club

61. Q20.
Id this courageous woman. She
is the youngest recipient of the
Ashok Chakra due to her actions
during the hijacking of Pan Am
Flight 73 in Karachi. When the
terrorists demanded passenger
passports to identify Americans,
she along with the other
attendants under her charge hid
the passports of the 41
Americans on board. Later on
she opened the emergency door
and helped a number of
passengers escape and was shot
while shielding three children
from a hail of bullets

62. A20.
Neerja Bhanot

63. Results soon