10Q (January 27, 2018)

[For most of the images, larger versions can be viewed by clicking on them]

1. The person who owns this film production company (as well as a publishing imprint by the same name) could be ruing or relishing the irony – the meaning of the phrase in Latin could apply to his fortunes, his marriage and even his reputation. Who, and what does Infinitum Nihil mean?

2. This commonly-used English phrase alludes to the nocturnal burrowing mammal Meles meles, and refers to the so-called sport in which they were pitted against dogs and the protagonists tore each other apart. These creatures were chosen for this 'entertainment' as they are extremely tenacious when cornered and have the ability to bite their prey until their teeth meet. As a result, dogs could literally suffer the fate that the phrase states, which in its modern idiomatic sense refers to obstinate and persistent requests or demands placed on one. What's the phrase?

3. If you'd travelled frequently on Air Asia flights a couple of years ago (like I did), you would have heard this song played every time you landed. Just name the band who perform this song, both originally and in this ad (thinking of people like Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner might help).
If you have any problem viewing the YouTube video above, you can access the clip here.

4. In what way could these Test cricket batting performances be considered one-man shows (this is an exhaustive list): Bobby Abel (120) for England v South Africa in Cape Town in 1888-89; Len Hutton (364) for England v Australia at The Oval in 1938; Don Bradman (185) for Australia v India in Brisbane in 1947-48; Inzamam-ul-Haq (329) for Pakistan v New Zealand in Lahore in 2002; and Matthew Hayden (119) for Australia v Pakistan in Sharjah in 2002-03?

5. What is the poetic name of this magnificent structure, modelled after the Sublime Porte (Bab-i-Hümayun) in Istanbul, and therefore sometimes also known as the Turkish Gate? In which city – whose Metro service, launched last year, uses it as a logo symbol – is it located?

6. The insect family Coccinellidae derives its name from the Latin word 'coccineus', meaning 'scarlet'. Its common name refers to the Virgin Mary, who was often depicted wearing a red cloak in early paintings. The insects' prominent markings were said to symbolise her seven joys and seven sorrows. What are coccinellids commonly called?

7. Originating from an Italian word for a strong, heavy paper or pasteboard (also the root of another English word very close in spelling to the one this question refers to), this was originally a full-size drawing made on sturdy paper as a study for a painting, stained glass or tapestry, such as the one on the left by Leonardo da Vinci. It got its current meaning after John Leech used it for the other image that you see, which he titled "[X] no. 1: Substance and Shadow" (1843), satirising such preparatory images for frescoes in the Palace of Westminster. What's the word?

8. The Vayu Vajra service whose bus you see here links up to KIA, named after the man whose statue is shown. Name the fellow, and tell me in which city the buses ply.

9. Mount Kenya (Africa), Mount Tyree (Antarctica), Puncak Mandala (Australia), K2 (Asia), Dykh-Tau (Europe), Mount Logan (North America) and Ojos del Salado (South America) are collectively known by a term that abbreviates to SSS. If the first S stands for 'Seven', and the third S stands for 'Summits', and the whole three-word term sounds like you could climb these mountains in a very short time, what does the middle S stand for?

10. The song lyrics below were written purely to exploit a clause in composer Anthony Courage's contract. As a result, though the lyrics were never actually used, the fact that they existed allowed the writer to claim half of Courage's royalties. Fill in the blanks in the lines below.
Beyond
The rim of the star-light
My love
Is wand'ring in star-flight
I know
He'll find in star-clustered reaches
Love,
Strange love a star woman teaches.
I know
His journey ends never
His ____ ____
Will go on forever.
But tell him
While he wanders his starry sea
Remember, remember me

Answers
1. Johnny Depp; 'Nothing is forever'
2. 'To badger [someone] to death'
3. American Authors
4. They outscored the opposition's match total on their own in one innings.
5. Rumi Darwaza, Lucknow
6. Ladybirds, from Our Lady's birds

7. Cartoon, from 'cartone' (also the root for 'carton')
8. Kempegowda (International Airport) in Bangalore
9. Second – the Seven Second Summits are the second highest mountains on each of the seven continents
10. Star trek – the lyrics were written by the show's creator Gene Roddenberry

10Q (January 12, 2018)

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1. The name that the Persians used for the nomadic tribe that the Greeks called Scythians is associated in India with what is known as the Indian national ________. This may give the official marker, but hardly anyone knows it. You can get to the relevant figure by subtracting 78 from the equivalent figure in the more commonly used global system. What am I talking about? [For full points, you have to give me a two-word answer in which the first word is the Persian name for the Scythians, and the second word is what comes in the blank.]

2. This diamond was seized in 2007 by the U.S. Marshals Service in a federal drug and money laundering investigation, and auctioned in 2011 for $2.84 million. After which James Bond movie has it been named, on account of its unusual colour?

3. With seven appearances at the FIFA World Cup, which country's men's national football team — nicknamed Les Lions Indomptables (The Indomitable Lions or Untameable Lions) in French — has been the most successful African team at the top level?

4. The most common form of what everyday object on European churches, farms and homes traces its origins back to a decree made by Pope Nicholas I in the 9th century, that decree made in reference to the prophecy that Peter would deny Jesus “before the cock crows”?

5. The man on the left, Sunil Narkar, played the man on the right in a popular ad from some eight years ago. For a point apiece, name the company, the product advertised, and the real-life person Narkar played.

6. Its full ceremonial name is: Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. In English, this translates to "The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishwakarma." By what short name is it commonly known?

7. Until the introduction of automatic weapons, infantry troops tended to fight in a certain formation to repel cavalry or superior forces. What word for a small group of soldiers, now applied to sports teams and other such groups, shares its etymology with the word for the shape of the formation, as evidenced in the shared four letters at the beginning of both words?

8. This is a language in the Munda subfamily of Austroasiatic languages, related to Ho and Mundari. It is spoken by around 6.2 million people in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, although most of its speakers live in India, in the states of Jharkhand, Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Tripura, and West Bengal. The language has its own alphabet, known as Ol Chiki, created in 1925 by Raghunath Murmu (it had till then been written using the Latin alphabet). What language?


9. Identify (a) this 1970 movie based on a 1962 book whose title has become a term used in English, and (b) the actor playing the American soldier (it was his debut film).

If you have any problem viewing the YouTube video above, you can access the clip here.

10. China and Russia top this list, with 14. Brazil is next, with 10. The Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo come next, with 9 each. India's tally is officially 7, though the situation on the ground makes it 6 for all practical purposes. What is this a list of?

Answers
1. The Saka calendar
2. Golden Eye

3. Cameroon

4. Weather vanes
Pope Nicholas I decreed that a figure of a rooster should be placed atop every church as a reminder of the incident, and from there it was adopted on other buildings and used for the weather prediction function. 

5. Intel's USB ad, in which Narkar played USB inventor Ajay Bhatt


6. Bangkok
7. Squad, from 'square'
8. Santali
9. (a) Catch-22 (b) Art Garfunkel
10. Countries which share land borders with the largest number of neighbouring nations

10Q (January 6, 2018)

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1. The snark mark is a new-age punctuation mark that indicates that there's another layer of meaning in a sentence, usually a sarcastic or ironic one. What two standard keyboard characters, meant to represent an eye and a raised eyebrow next to it, make up the snark mark? [You can just type the relevant characters for the answer.]

2. Identify the man in this photo, the only American to become a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the only non-Indian to sign the Congress manifesto in 1921, and the only American to become a political prisoner of Great Britain in the Indian freedom struggle (he was jailed for sedition).

3. Some of you will hopefully remember this ad from the early 2000s. What was it an advertisement for?

If you have any problem viewing the YouTube video above, you can access the clip here.

4. Infrastructure projects in Iceland — such as a 2015 highway project building a direct route from the Alftanes peninsula, where the president has a home, to the Reykjavik suburb of Gardabaer — often come up against protests not just by environmental activists but also people protesting on behalf of 'Huldufolk' (Icelandic for 'hidden folk'). Because of the cultural significance of this 'community', these protests do get taken seriously, and can lead to delays or even cancellations. Who are the Huldufolk?

5. Identify this young man who, among other achievements, won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer in 1984 for 'Ankahee' and has sung or composed for films in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali. (It would help to imagine him older.)

6. What connects the stellar Test cricket careers of Andy Sandham (1921-30), Bill Ponsford (1924-34), Seymour Nurse (1960-69), Aravinda de Silva (1984-2002), and Jason Gillespie (1996-2006)? In this context, what distinguishes (a) Andy Sandham and (b) Jason Gillespie [two separate answers required]?

7. The ATS, a treaty system that entered into force in 1961 and which currently has 53 signatory nations, was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, banning military activity where?

8. The Insight Meditation Movement refers to a number of branches of modern Theravâda Buddhism which stress insight into the three marks of existence as the main means to attain awakening and reach Nirvana. It finds its origins in modernist influences on the traditions of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Sri Lanka, and the innovations and popularisations by Theravâda teachers such as Mahasi Sayadaw, Ledi Sayadaw, Anagarika Munindra and Pa Auk Sayadaw. The Indian branch primarily follows the teachings of S.N. Goenka and his co-teacher wife Illaichi Devi. By what name are we familiar with this movement?

9. While you are probably more familiar with his spy novels, this author also has a range of historical novels such as this trilogy of books, published between 2010 and 2014, which follow the fates of five inter-related families through the events of the 20th century. Name him. 

10. These are, respectively, Hon. Joan Barbara Yarde-Buller, the eldest daughter of the 3rd Baron Churston; Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth; and Kendra Spears, an American fashion model. They have all been married, at different points of time, to different persons holding a certain hereditary title. The current holder of the title – the fourth to do so – is Shah Karim Al Hussaini, a French-British business magnate, racehorse owner and breeder, who has some 15 million followers. Spears, now known as Salwa, is married to Karim's son and heir apparent Rahim. What title?

Answers

1. A period and a tilde

2. Satyananda Stokes

3. Visa

4. Elves

5. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

6. They all hit double centuries in their final Tests. 

(a) Sandham's was a triple, the first ever in Test cricket. 

(b) Gillespie's was also his maiden century, and the only one he ever scored in any form of the game!

7. Antarctica

8. Vipassana

9. Ken Follett

You might remember this one

10. The Aga Khan