Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Weekend Workout (week starting March 2, 2014)


Games People Play
(remember: larger versions of all visuals can be seen by clicking on them)

1. Re Test cricket, what is this an exhaustive list of: Hansie Cronje (South Africa), Ujesh Ranchod (Zimbabwe), Ruwan Kalpage (Sri Lanka), Mark Ealham (England), Neil Johnson (Zimbabwe), Jacob Oram (New Zealand), Monty Panesar (England), Cameron White (Australia), Peter Siddle (Australia) and Peter George (Australia)? For a bonus point, how is Ujesh Ranchod unique in this list?

2. The documentary whose cover is shown at right follows the exploits of Steve Wiebe, the guy on the left, during his successful quest to become the world record-holder – at what?

3. What was the contribution of the Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal from Amravati in Maharashtra to the 1936 Berlin Olympics?

4. Though the surname of this fictional boxing champion had first appeared as a word in American English in 1924, it started becoming widely used because of the comic by Ham Fisher, which debuted a few years later. The character became a symbol of patriotism in 1942, when he stepped down from the ring to enlist as a private in the United States Army. He was such a hero that when the US limestone industry planned to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1948, it decided to reproduce his likeness (statue at right). The typically American slang word, however, has taken a bit of a beating, and its meaning today in the Merriam-Webster ditionary reads thus:
1 :  an inexperienced or incompetent boxer
2 :  oaf, lout
What's the surname/word?

5. In Greek mythology, Apollo lusted after the nymph Daphne, who turned into a bay tree just as Apollo approached her. Undeterred, Apollo embraced the tree and declared it sacred. One other thing that he did caused the Greeks to adopt a certain tradition in the Pythian Games, which were held at Delphi in honour of Apollo every four years from the 6th century BC. It's a tradition that then became very popular and copied widely. The tradition has also led to at least one famous English idiom related to a lack of performance. (a) What tradition began at the Pythian Games and (b) what is the English idiom I'm talking of? (Half-points for each part).

6.  What is this a partial list of?
Oct 30, 1977: Renato Curi, Perugia vs Juventus
Aug 12, 1989: Samuel Okwaraji, Nigeria vs Angola
Jan 4, 1997: Hedi Berkhissa, Esperance Sportive de Tunis vs Olympique Lyonnais
June 26, 2003: Marc-Vivien Foe, Cameroon vs Colombia
Jan 25, 2004: Miklos Feher, Benfica vs Vitoria
Oct 27, 2004: Serginho, Sao Caetano vs Sao Paulo
Dec 5, 2004: Cristiano Junior, Dempo Sports Club vs Mohun Bagan
Aug 28, 2007: Antonio Puerta, Sevilla vs Getafe
Dec 29, 2007: Phil O' Donnell, Motherwell vs Dundee United
April 14, 2012: Piermario Morosini, Livorno vs Pescara


7. Somewhat appropriately, 4 points to be had for this question. This amazing magic square is believed to be the first seen in European art. The sum 34 can be found in the rows, columns, diagonals, each of the quadrants, the center four squares, and the corner squares (of the 4x4 as well as the four contained 3x3 grids). This sum can also be found in the four outer numbers clockwise from the corners (3+8+14+9) and likewise the four counter-clockwise, the two sets of four symmetrical numbers (2+8+9+15 and 3+5+12+14), the sum of the middle two entries of the two outer columns and rows (5+9+8+12 and 3+2+15+14), and in four kite or cross shaped quartets (3+5+11+15, 2+10+8+14, 3+9+7+15, and 2+6+12+14). Your four questions: (a) Who is the artist? (b) Name the painting. (c) and (d) What two self-referential bits of data are contained in the numbers on the lowest row of the magic square?

8. What sporty pair was named after (a) the village in Shropshire which held an event in 1850 which are said to have inspired the modern Olympic Games; and (b) the hospital in London at which the precursor to the Paralympic Games were held in 1948? For an additional point, give me the two relevant names.

9. What two-word concept, crucial to game theory, is being explained in this video clip (right-click and 'Save as...' for best results)? The concept is named after the central character in the film (the one doing the explaining).

10.  Mentioned in 'Ain-e-Akbari', this city in Haryana was founded by the Rajput King Neem Singh who named it after after his wife Bhani. It came into the limelight in 2008, as four of the five sportspersons who represented India in a particular sport at the Beijing Olympics were from here. That success was largely thanks to Sports Authority of India coach Captain Hawa Singh (who has since passed away), who is credited with making a centre known locally as the "BBC" a powerhouse of the sport. Name the city and the sport (half points for each).

Answers
1. Bowlers whose first wicket in Tests was Sachin Tendulkar (he had an extraordinary knack of getting out to new bowlers). In Ranchod's case, Sachin was his only Test victim.
2. Donkey Kong
3. They demonstrated the sport of kabaddi at the Games.
4. Palooka
5. Apollo cut off a branch to wear as a wreath, so the Greeks presented laurel wreaths to winners in the Games (the bay tree is also known as the laurel). The idiom is 'to rest on one's laurels'.
6. Football on-field deaths
7. (a) Albrecht Dürer's engraving (b) Melencolia I. (c) The two middle digits in the last row, '15' and '14', give the year in which it was painted. (d) Flanking them are '1', which stands for the Roman letter 'A', and '4', standing for 'D', together making up the artist's initials!
8. The two mascots of the 2012 London Olympics – Wenlock and Mandeville, named after the village of Much Wenlock and the Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
9. Nash equilibrium. 
That was Russell Crowe playing mathematician John Forbes Nash in 'A Beautiful Mind'.
10. Bhiwani, boxing
The BBC is the Bhiwani Boxing Club.

8 comments:

  1. No. 8 is Wenlock and Mandeville the mascots for the 2012 London Olympics/Paralympics.

    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. dismissed Sachin
    2. Slot machine
    3.
    4.
    5.
    6.
    7.
    8.
    9. Nash _______ or _____ Nash
    10. Sport is Boxing

    Anil Rodrigues

    ReplyDelete
  3. 6.Died while playing
    8.wenlock mandeville
    10.bhiwani
    3.kabaddi team
    5.olive wreath?

    ReplyDelete
  4. 2. Kong
    3. KD Jadhav
    5. a. Laurel Wreath
    6.Footballers who died whilst playing
    8. Wenlock and Mandeville - London 2012 mascots

    -Kunal

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1. Tendulkar was their first wicket.
    2. Donkey Kong
    3. First Indian delegation to perform kushti as a demonstration event?
    4.
    5. Crown of laurel leaves; Resting on one's laurels?
    6.
    7. (c) (d) The month and year of the painting
    8. Serena and Venus Williams?
    9. Nash Equilibrium
    10.

    Not my day today.

    ReplyDelete
  6. 1. (a) list of people who made 0 in 1st match and 100 in last; (b) he made 0 in 1st two and 100 in last two.
    2. Arcade games.
    3. Dara Singh.
    4. ?
    5. (a) lighting of the inaugural flame/torch; (b) 'fall short of the mark'.
    6. Golden Boot winners.
    7. (a) Leonardo da Vinci; (b) The Mathematics Thinker; (c) & (d) ?
    8. ?
    9. Nash Theory. The film is 'A Beautiful Mind'.
    10. Bawana.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 1.
    2. Donkey Kong
    3. They produced K. D. Jadhav (the chap who won the Olympic bronze etc.)
    4.
    5.
    6. Players who have died on the football field.
    7. a - Albrecht Durer b - dunno c&d - the numbers 1 & 4 stand for his initials A & D (A=1, B=2 etc.)
    8. Damn. This is the London Olympics mascots, but i can't remember their names - Wenlock & Glanville or some such?
    9. Nash Theory?
    10. Bhiwandi, boxing

    ReplyDelete