Uncollected Questions by Samanway Banerjee

Uncollected Questions
By: Samanway Banerjee

What is it all about?
51 questions.
All of these have thus far appeared in various online quizzing fora, either as plain
byproduct of research or as teasers to quizzes hosted by me.
Enjoy!

1.
James Augustus Hickey, in his eponymous short lived gazette, wrote about
Christmas celebrations in Calcutta in the 1780s. In one such account, he mentions
"Loll Shrub" being served, in the parties of those days.
So what specifically, was this "Loll Shrub"?

2.
The seed of this big fat book was planted in a bus when the author overheard a
mother telling her daughter: "You’ve got to marry someone chosen by me."
Hence, which apposite work begins thus: ‘“You too will marry a boy I choose,” said
Mrs Rupa Mehra firmly to her younger daughter.’?

3. What neologism connects them? Explain.

Retronyms
Landline phones, hot chocolate, acoustic guitar, Penny Farthing, all these specific
bits came into existence after an evolution in the same product class. Previously
they were just phone, chocolate, guitar and bicycle respectively.
This is called 'retronym', coined by Frank Mankiewicz (son of Hermann
Mankiewicz who co-wrote Citizen Kane and nephew of Joseph Mankiewicz who
directed All About Eve)

4.
When _______ ___ arrived at Cambridge, he was a convicted thief and an addict,
convinced that he would be expelled. Instead, university life offered him love &
the chance to entertain. Many such quite interesting stories was recently shared
in a talk organized by Jaipur Literature Festival this evening, appropriately titled
'A Little Bit of _______ ___'.
Who?

5.
How will you connect Caramel Custard made in bungalows of the Raj (and later
Anglo-Indian homes) to mutton (obtained from sheep) in the Falkland Islands?
If it helps, I’m looking for a numerical connect which hints at the fact that they
were/are staple to the demographic/region respectively.

365
Caramel Custard (or Custel Bran as it was called) was also referred to as 365
because it was prepared in those bungalows almost every day of the year.
Mutton is a staple in the Falkland Islands. Inhabitants often have it three times
daily. Abundance of sheep means procuring it isn't a hassle. Hence it is called '365'
there.

6.
Food deliveries in the days of lockdown due to Covid-19 are having a small paper
attached from the restaurant with a few numbers scribbled on them. Some
examples include '97.5', '97.2' and '97.3'.
What information is being conveyed thus?

Body temperatures of delivery boy, chef and packer.

7.
Which production and distribution company, with more than three decades of
existence now, writes themselves as "India's most successful film software
library"?

8.
The setting of which lit AF work, if converted into the present system we follow,
would make it around 2545 AD?

Brave New World
A.F= After Ford

9.
Recently ushered in her role, Tabitha Jackson is the first woman, first person of
color, and first person born outside of the U.S. to be appointed as the director of
which annual congregation, perhaps one of the most inclusive of its kind, with
46% female representation in the last edition?

10.
The Nigerian U-17 squad, which has the record of winning the most number of
FIFA U-17 World Cup (though they did not participate in the 2017 edition of the
tournament held in India), is nicknamed "The Golden ________".
FITB.

Eaglets
Their senior team is called the Super Eagles.

11.
In 1912, the year after the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the newly empowered
Republic of China established multiple of them. However, time flew swiftly and in
1949, when the Communist Party consolidated control of the country, Chairman
Mao Zedong brought a significant change, which was then seen as an act of
unifying the nation.
What am I talking about, which causes disorienting effects for the unaccustomed
traveler?

Only one official time zone in China.

12.
Drug users in Britain are complaining the new polymer £5 notes, featuring
Churchill, have been leaving them with cut noses after they use them to snort
cocaine.
What one or two word term are they using to describe the phenomenon, which is
a wordplay on the activity itself?

13. Coat of arms of which city?

Pripyat, which served the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

14.
Edward Jenner observed that people from a particular profession were immune
to smallpox, since they used to develop cowpox, a less deadly form of the disease.
Very appropriately, people from which particular profession used to develop
cowpox?

15.
On 24th March 2020, the Emergency Medical Services in New York City received
6406 medical calls in the span of 24 hours.
This became the highest volume ever recorded in the city, surpassing which
previous occasion?

16.
For Elizabethans, food and drink was more than mere sustenance. Eating the
right foods in the proper quantities, 16th-century Britons believed, balanced mind
and soul. So in the playwright's body of work, roasts, ales, and pies are not props,
but clues to characters’ souls, moods, and motivations.
In this regard, which titular activity was achieved by the protagonist simply by
unceremoniously disposing of the hot-headed woman's dinner?

17. A Tale of Two Cities. Id both.
The name of this sister city of Kolkata comes from the Greek word for 'new city',
though the language used in the geography was majorly Latin.
Which city, also known for its sporting connections?
Across the Atlantic, one of the hardest-hit cities of the polar vortex has the ditto
aforementioned Greek root present in its name. The 'city' bit remaining as it is, the
first part of its name actually comes from the Dakota Sioux word for 'water'.
Charles Hoag, the city's first schoolmaster, combined both the parts to give the
city its name.
Which city be this?

Naples and Minneapolis
Naples comes from 'neapolis' which is Greek for 'new city'. The 'neapolis' bit being
present in Minneapolis, one might believe both the cities have similar origin. But
the latter comes from the Dakota Sioux word for 'water' which is 'mni', the 'polis'
bit remaining constant.

18.
In 2015, the Wired published a two-part feature called "The Rise and Fall of ____ ____". It’s an
in-depth look at the investigation into ____ ____, and making things even more interesting,
it happens to profile an investigator who was stealing bitcoin, selling secret information,
and generally deceiving the government throughout the investigation.
In 2016, the Coen Brothers signed on to help script Dark Web, a film based on the
aforementioned feature.
Also referenced in Mr. Robot, who knows whether the Chinese have any hand in it, just like
its ancient namesake.
FITB.

19.
Vivien Leigh was born in Darjeeling.
Which other Oscar winner, who won his only Academy Award till date almost
four and half decades after Leigh won her 2nd, spent his childhood in Darjeeling?

Tom Stoppard
His family ran away from the then Czechoslovakia, fearing persecution by the
Nazis. His mother, in fact, used to work in the local Bata store at Darjeeling, the
brand itself being of Czech origin.
He won the Academy Award for ‘Shakespeare in Love’.

20.
JSwipe is an online dating application, developed under the very imaginatively
named Smooch Labs and launched in 2014.
How is it different from other popular dating apps?

21.
It is said that when Babur captured the city, he witnessed the macabre Rajput rite
of Jauhar. In 1540, it was captured by Sher Shah Suri and added to the
governorship of Shujaat Khan.
A major center of Jain culture, it is more famously known for an associated
GI-tagged product.
Which town of historical importance be this?
Which 2018 Bollywood film has been predominantly set here?

22.
On the day he breathed his last, this iconic Indian was watching the Marilyn
Monroe starrer when he decided to remake it in Bollywood. He got his nephew to
call up Danny Denzongpa who was in the midst of a Indo-Pak match. By the time
Danny reached his place to discuss about his probable role, this maverick had
already passed away.
Who is this evergreen genius?

23.
The particular anomaly as seen in this photograph was first observed by another
photographer Paolo Viglione.
What did this help unfold?
Also, for brownie points, which city be this, which can be worked out from the
vehicle if not the architecture?

Steve McCurry uses Photoshop; Havana
This work of Photoshop in an image capturing a street scene in Cuba was
observed by Paolo Viglione who went to see McCurry's retrospective in Italy
which he posted on his blog. Then PetaPixel came up with an article and many
other photoshopped pics were unearthed, which were hitherto overlooked.

24.
This hyphenated phrase is frequently employed to describe shameless people
insensitive to any sort of criticism. The Greek translation for the same is
sometimes used for a mammal which is the sole surviving family of the order
Proboscidea.
For full points, give both the terms.

25.
Thomas Nataas, one of the leading drag racers in Europe in the first decade of this century, drove a
'Batmobile' - it's painted like Batman's car, complete with bat logo.
Nataas drove to race meetings in a bus, and lived in it on tour around the continent. In the summer of
2004, an object was temporarily stored (along with another) in this bus, for which he became involved
in a case. He was however acquitted later.
A section of the local police believed that this act was carried out so as to move the focus from another
investigation, where a police officer was killed during an armed robbery at the Norwegian Cash Service
(Nokas) offices in the western port of Stavanger. All the country's top detectives were working on the
murder of one of their own.
What act was done to shift the focus of investigation, involving an object referred to as 'Skirk' in its
native country?

'Skirk' is 'Scream' in Norwegian. In 2004, the bus was
used to store 'The Scream' by Munch (along with
another painting, Madonna) and the entire operation
was carried out to shift attention from that bank
robbery case.
P.S.- There are at least four versions of this iconic
artwork (painted by Munch himself). This was one of
them.

26.
Karan Johar, in his autobiography ‘An Unsuitable Boy’, talks about the "series of first
cousins" his mother had who all shared a common profession, which happened to be so
glamorous that "actresses came second to them". It was with his aunts that his
fascination for the arts and glamour started, though he never really acknowledged
the same.
He further reminisces, "They were all very stylish, well dressed and modern....They all
used to smoke and they were extremely glamorous...They often came back from their
travels with the best bottles of wine, and things like cheese."
What was the common profession of his aunts?

27.
In 1997, when the Fidel Castro government signed the Berne Convention for the
Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, an international copyright treaty, this
fellow countryman got a chance to collect the royalties to something to which he
laid his claim for nearly four decades.
The brand value of this particular symbol was 1st used by Castro as a clever
marketing plan.
Which virally popular cultural artifact am I talking about which got an ageless
quality, divorced from the specifics of time and place, in the years to come???

‘Guerillero Heroico’ as captured by Alberto Korda.

28.
Though the earliest-attested native name of the city was the Semitic language
term "Tadmor", which first appeared in the early second millennium BC, the
current name appeared during the early first century AD in the works of Pliny the
Elder.
Linguists suggest that both the ancient name and present name stems from the
fact that specimens of the only member from the botanical family named
Arecaceae surrounded the city.
Which city, that continue bear the brunt of human excesses, even in the last
decade?

29.
Though history buffs must know this as the birthplace of Maharaja Ranjit Singh,
after 209 years, in the same month, it entered popular culture across borders
because of someone's first appearance in the shorter format, albeit without much
hullabaloo.
The Imperial Gazetteer of India tells us that it was renamed Khanpur by the
Sherzai Jats of Iran who settled there; however, its old name has survived.
Which place, that takes its name from the pastoral agricultural ethnic group that
founded it??

30.
The English word which comes from Greek words meaning "all" and "sight" was
coined by painter Robert Barker to describe his paintings of Edinburgh and
London. This word is very much into popular culture courtesy a certain
photographic feature in today's cameras.
What's the good word?

31.
The fact that every phone exchange in the United States was shut down for a
moment of silence when Alexander Graham Bell died is an old chestnut.
On similar lines, on whose death, President Hoover turned off the White House
lights for a minute and encouraged others to do so as well?

32.
The Arabic, Persian and Urdu word for 'oven' has lent its name to a range of
similar culinary delights, over the years.
So, what's the good word?

33.
During its heyday, IG Farben was the largest chemical company in the world and
the fourth largest overall industrial concern, after General Motors, U.S. Steel, and
Standard Oil of New Jersey. It had bought the patent for the pesticide, which had
been invented by the Nobel Prize-winning Jewish German chemist Fritz Haber's
research group at the Institute for Physical Chemistry and Elektrochemistry in
the 1920s, and which was originally used as an insecticide.
What was the trade name given to this product and where did it find extensive
use, in the early 40s?

Zyklon B; Used in gas chambers during Holocaust.

34.
Louis J. Caldor, a New York engineer and art collector, was driving through
Hoosick Falls when he saw some paintings displayed in a drug store. They were
priced from $3 to $5, depending on size. He bought them all, drove to the artist's
home at Eagle Bridge and bought ten others. The artist in question took up
painting because she could no longer embroider owing to arthritis.
Who?

35.
So, Ferdinand de Lesseps was given the responsibility to dig a canal across
Panama on behalf of the French govt.
De Lesseps intended to build the canal at sea level, without locks, like the Suez
Canal, but the excavation process proved far more difficult than anticipated.
Which towering personality was then hired to create locks for the canal?
Later both of them were indicted on fraud and mismanagement charges.

36.
William Hornby started a project named after him called the Hornby Vellard,
vellard being a local corruption of the Portuguese word vallado meaning fence or
embankment.
What was its purpose?

Linking the seven islands of Mumbai.

37.
Temperature: 68 degrees Fahrenheit
Humidity: 55 %
Other specifications: bulletproof box, a built-in air conditioner and nine pounds of
silica gel to ensure no change in the air condition.
By international agreement, the entity that enjoys such luxury will no longer
leave the country in which it currently stays.
Who enjoys such privilege?

38.
Published in 1885, Germinal, the first major work on a strike, was based on whose
painstaking, first-hand research into conditions in the coal mines?
It was attacked by governments and right-wing political groups as a call to
revolution.
Eventually, all of the concerned person’s works were added to the Vatican’s Index
Liborum Prohibitorum, the list of books Catholics were forbidden to read.

39.
Bennelong Point was originally a small tidal island, that largely consisted of
rocks with a small beach on the western side. For a brief period in 1788, this
relatively isolated protrusion into Port Jackson was called Cattle Point as it was
used to confine the few cattle and horses that had been brought from Cape Town
by Governor Phillip with the First Fleet.
All changed in the 20th century when something came up. Hence, tourists flock to
Bennelong Point to see which UNESCO World Heritage Site?

40.
Which 6-letter word in English comes from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the
Hebrew word for "fit"?

41.
Charles Lazarus had gone from high school straight to the US Army, where he
served as a cryptographer during World War II, and as he cast about for a
business venture upon his returns, he identified a market that was largely
unexploited: kids.
The company he founded became the first category killer. In 1985, Goldman Sachs
called it “one of the outstanding companies in all of retailing,” and for much of the
decade, Lazarus was among the highest paid CEOs in the US.
Which business entity was founded by him?

42.
Compiled in the fourth or fifth century AD, Philogelos is the oldest existing
collection of what?

Jokes
Literally ‘love of laughter’.

43.
Which word, meaning a person who is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic
about an activity has a Spanish origin denoting an ardent follower of
bullfighting?

44.
MigrantWatch is a unique citizen science programme started by Suhail Quader, a professor of
behaviour and evolution at the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, in 2007.
The programme had a successful start, but Quader was soon faced with a problem. Migratory
birds start coming to India in August and leave by April. So his huge group of enthusiastic birders
had nothing to do in summer.
He was searching for a solution, when it occurred to him that he could use MigrantWatch to verify
the longstanding but rumoured relationship. As a source material, he initially relied upon a paper
by ornithologist Hugh Whistler in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society in 1928.
So, in the summer months, what “rumored relationship” do birders study and are trying to
establish?

Monsoon in India
It’s the Pied Cuckoo or Jacobin Cuckoo which is believed to be the harbinger of
monsoon in India. Apparently, it’s the only bird which migrates from Africa to
India at this time of the year. It is said that this phenomenon probably inspired
Vasco da Gama and his men to find this country. Before that, Kalidas mentioned
about it in his "Meghdutam" as a symbol of strong yearning.

45.
Dozens of cities and states in the US have over the years joined the cause of “potty
parity,” which include certain legislative efforts, along with changes to plumbing
codes. The problem persists for many reasons: the exigencies of real estate, the
building codes that govern construction, and, of course, sexism.
This somewhat trivializing alliterative nickname is being used to resolve which
grave issue that exists in India in a far bigger way?

Equal number of toilets for men and women.

46.
George was an American physician, farmer, legislator and politician from
Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. In 1798, he went to Paris to negotiate peace
with the French to settle the Quasi-War. On his return, he found he had been
denounced by the anti-Jeffersonian Federalists, who had passed a statute
informally named after him, which made it a crime for an individual citizen to
interfere in a dispute between the United States and a foreign country.
And no, I am not talking about an absurd impossible law which would make one
of the X-Men return from his grave and proclaim whatever he does best isn't very
nice.
Give me the 2-word term for this law.

47.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport was responsible for the
organization of the London Olympics. However, one of their periodic
responsibilities include making a committee involving a panel of experts to make
recommendations for a public-facing position. People who have been ushered in
have had mixed responses. Apparently this harms their day job. The person who
was chosen for 2009-2019 period has been the first woman, the first Scot and the
first openly LGBTQ to hold the post.
What am I talking of?
While at it, name the Scotswoman as well?

Poet laureate; Carol Ann Duffy

48.
Richard Nixon came to India twice. Once as Eisenhower's Vice President in 1953
and as President 16 years later. In his later visit, he got a strange request from a
man from Baroda who wired the American Embassy in New Delhi to grant him a
special plot of land.
What weird request did that man make?

He wanted a plot near the Sea of Tranquility

49.
Jan Wils was one of the founders of the De Stijl movement, which also included
Piet Mondrian. One of his designs entered the Olympic art competition and won a
gold medal, in the 1928 Summer Olympics, held in Amsterdam.
So, what was his winning entry for the Games?

Amsterdam Olympic stadium itself.

50.
What were invented by Charles D. Scanlon, an American who got the idea while
working as a painter for the Street Painting Department of the City of Los
Angeles, for which he was granted a patent in 1943?
Where in the world of technology would we notice a representation of the same,
as collected by École Centrale's Networking Students' Association?

51.
Durgacharan Rakshit, among other things, has a school named after him in
Chandannagar. This otherwise nondescript person is the 1st Indian recipient of
which coveted award, though the ‘level’ was different?
Only once in its history, the President of the country which gives this award,
came down to an Indian city to present this to one of the most illustrated citizens
of that city.
Who was this recipient??

The French Legion of Honour; Satyajit Ray

For bouquets and brickbats:
+91-7998012802
samanway96@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/samanway.banerjee.7
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Uncollected Questions by Samanway Banerjee

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