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IIT Madras Open Quiz 2021 | Finals

The document provides details about an upcoming quiz event hosted by IIT Madras. It includes information about the format of the quiz such as there being 3 special rounds and 10 question rounds with scoring rules. It also provides 6 sample quiz questions in the appetizers round covering topics like the Chinese word for round objects, the etymology of the word 'philately', and instruments used in Carnatic music.

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IIT MADRAS OPEN QUIZ FINALS
Shamanth Rao Anshumani Ruddra Siddhartha Banerjee Karthik Shashidhar Bharathwaj Hosts of the Inaugural IITM Open Quiz (April 18th 2004) THANKS
Meenakshi Govind Sathvik Dhruv pH Pranav Kamesh CF Keshav Pilnath pranavcondur4 SET SHAMANTH
● 3 special rounds. ● 3 rounds of 10 dries. ● +10/-5 on Pounce ● +10/0 on Bounce ● CAMS ON FULL TIME! ● Malpractice B A D 🥀 RULES
APPETIZERS OnlyPounce 6 Qs; +5/0
1. What are the Chinese & Japanese words for ‘a round object’?
Yuan. Yen. (¥)
2. First used in the late 1800s, this term comes from an amalgamation of the French word for “love” and the Greek word for “that which is tax-free”.
Philately.
3. All 3 playing their 100th test match at which venue? Who is the gentleman on the right?
Centurion. Shaun Pollock. SuperSport Park, South Africa.
4. The story goes that this project came about partially due to the creator’s annoyance with one aspect of a printer. More specifically, he was annoyed at not being able to customize the printer to work according to his needs. Who? What did he start?
Richard Stallman. GNU. GNU is a free software, mass collaboration project whose goal is to give computer users freedom and control in their use of their computers and computing devices by collaboratively developing and publishing software that gives everyone the rights to freely run the software, copy and distribute it, study it, and modify it. GNU software grants these rights in its license.
5. An X is something that is irregularly observed because geological and climatic events affect one aspect of the Earth. Usually this is applied in a positive sense, in that it adds to something. However, adding to the list of anomalies of 2020, scientists are now considering a negative X for the first time. This would, naturally, subtract instead of adding up. What is X?
Leap Second.
6. X please? It is believed that Baluswamy Dikshitar is the first known X ‘vidwan’ (scholar) in Carnatic Music, who popularized the use of this instrument in Carnatic Music. One anecdote goes that his brother, Muthuswamy Dikshitar, composed the “nottuswarams” in Sankarabharanam ragam to help him practice Carnatic Music on X.
Violin.
DRIES (B/P)ounce 10 Questions
1. #WGCinfiltrate Gyles Brandreth is a former Conservative MP who wears many hats - he’s the President of both the Oscar Wilde Society and the Association of British Scrabble Players. He founded a teddy bear museum with his wife. He also wrote a biography of Prince Philip, published a few days ago. The title of one of his books on word games is a play of words on the title of a seminal early-1970s guidebook of sorts. Change one letter from the four-word title of the early 1970s work to arrive at the name of this book. If it helps, the word whose letter is changed is 3 letters long and would score 10 points in Scrabble either way.
2. The reason why this very weird interlude in an early 2000s piece of media was included is unclear, in spite of the number of sources consulted for this question by the setter. There is no connection whatsoever between the sci-fi futuristic mid-21st century context of the video, set on a different planet altogether, and the early 20th-century period when the interlude was set. It doesn’t even mention the context of the interlude by name. A certain person who broke a personal streak in 2016 (and, needless to say, is inextricably linked to the context of the interlude) had initially agreed to appear in this scene - however, his schedule did not allow it, and Max Martin lent his voice to this particular bit instead. What early 2000s piece of media? What was the interlude based on?
3. A photographer with the Dallas Times Herald in the mid-20th century, Bob Jackson may have won the Pulitzer Prize for this photograph, but at the time he was more depressed about not capturing the incident that subsequently led to this scene, two days prior. He was one of the few people to see the _____ in the sixth-floor window of the Texas Book Repository, but his camera had no film. On Sunday, two days later, he was sent to the police station to get more photographs and was nearly reassigned to a press conference instead, but he refused to go - leading to the circumstances that were captured in the photograph. What was happening in this photograph?
Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald
4. After the culmination of a project towards the end of the ‘80s, part of its proceeds was used to establish a non-profit NGO to help a group of people involved in the project. These people were employed to increase the project's realism. The NGO has since expanded and now works with thousands of individuals each year, operating in Delhi and Bhubaneswar apart from its initial location in Mumbai. What group of people does this NGO help?
Street children The Salaam Baalak Trust, established with funds from Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay
5. The object in the image is placed between a serving dish or bowl, and a dining table, usually to protect the table from heat damage. The word for these objects is derived from their original structure, although most variants you’ll see these days don’t have the structural features from which they got their name. A different object has the same etymology as the above object, except that it’s name is derived from Hindi/Urdu rather than Latin. Most variants of these objects also do not strictly obey their etymology. What’s the latter object?
Teapoy Meaning three legs
6. In 1834, John Marck patented a self-lighting cigar which he named by combining a Latin prefix meaning “from a place” (though it was often misinterpreted to mean “self”) with a corruption of the Italian word for fire. This word was soon genericized to refer to all self-lighting matches. The word came to be used for a faction within New York’s Democratic Party who opposed the Democratic establishment. They are said to have used these matches to light candles after the party tried to break up their meetings by turning off the gaslights. The Whigs used this word to refer to the entire Democratic Party in derision. They interpreted the prefix as being derived from the Spanish for “mad” and the second part of the word from Latin. In this interpretation, the Democrats were the “focus of folly”. The two parts of this word rhyme. WTGW? Marck used this prefix because it had very recently entered the common lexicon as part of a different word. WTGW?
Locofocos, Locomotive
7. Simeon Stylites was a 4th-century Syrian Christian ascetic who did penance on a small platform atop a pillar near Aleppo for 37 years until his death. He was considered an icon of Christian asceticism and inspired several others to perform similar penances. A 19th-century work of literature likens people who are assigned a certain job to Simeon Stylites. These people, like Simeon, spend many months (though in shorter batches) in an isolated location with no comforts whatsoever. What job are these people doing?
Lookouts on mastheads From Moby Dick
8. In his book "Colonizing the Body", the historian David Arnold writes about an interesting discrepancy between something that happened in Bombay in 1896 and previous instances when similar things had taken place in India. He hypothesizes that this could be because the people's first experience of the 1896 happening came in the form of swift, panicked, draconian actions taken by the colonial government. So, people placed most of the blame for their suffering on the government rather than on a supernatural force. What was this discrepancy?
No new deity for the bubonic plague Unlike Sitala for smallpox and Oladevi/Olabibi for cholera
9. Theriac was an ancient Greek concoction that was believed to be a panacea. An English word derived from theriac was used synonymously with panacea in Middle English. This is why the word is used in the name of a structure in the village of Binsey near Oxford, whose contents supposedly had healing powers. The name of this structure made its way into a work by a resident of Oxford in the mid-19th century. In that work, however, the Modern English meaning of the word (which is very far from its original meaning) is assumed, causing a great deal of confusion. What is this structure called?
Treacle well From the Dormouse’s tale in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
10. On August 18, 1976 a group of North Korean soldiers killed two US army officers who were trimming the branches of a poplar tree in the DMZ. In response, the US sent in a task force consisting of 813 people with guns and chainsaws. Simultaneously, as a show of strength, 27 helicopters and multiple bombers were mobilized and an aircraft carrier was stationed just off-shore. The task force cut down the tree in 42 minutes and left. This operation was given an appropriate name considering its objective and that it was intended to be a display of American strength. What was this name?
Operation Paul Bunyan Named after the giant lumberjack from American folk tales
PHILATELY ROUND WRITTEN 5 Qs; +10/0
1. What were they called? FITB & put Country. The ______ _____ postage stamps were the first stamps issued by a certain country in the mid 1800s, having face values of 30, 60, and 90 réis. It was the second country in the world, after the United Kingdom, to issue postage stamps valid within the entire country (as opposed to a local issue). The unusual name derives from the ornamental value figures inside the oval settings, and the arrangement of the stamps in the sheet shown in this image.
2. In 1993, the US postal service decided to release a commemorative stamp honouring Elvis Presley on what would have been his 58th birthday. While this stamp is otherwise considered normal, certain letters with this stamp are considered collector’s items and are auctioned at fairly high prices. The high price of these letters is due to something unusual that his fans did while mailing them. The fans resorted to this to try and obtain letters that contained both the stamp and a certain 3 word phrase that would honour Presley, albeit in a different way. What did they do? What was the 3 word phrase?
3. The first series of postage stamps in Belgium depicted King Leopold I and were colloquially known as _________. The name is derived from something that the king was known to sport, very regularly, to showcase his high rank in the pecking order. The _________ shark is a longtailed carpet shark that shares its name with the stamp due to a certain reason. FITB and give me the reason for the shared name
4. 3 parts “29 cents is all it costs to ship something to the <->” FITB. It’s named after a Dutch scientist who was a professor at the University of Chicago. Who was arguably his most well known doctoral student? What would you find this stamp stuck to?
5.
5. Why is this sheet so rare? What is the common name of the entity in the stamp? It is derived from slang for its official name. You’d also know the word from the name of the Japanese version of an American “fashion figure”.
1. What were they called? FITB & put Country. The ______ _____ postage stamps were the first stamps issued by a certain country in the mid 1800s, having face values of 30, 60, and 90 réis. It was the second country in the world, after the United Kingdom, to issue postage stamps valid within the entire country (as opposed to a local issue). The unusual name derives from the ornamental value figures inside the oval settings, and the arrangement of the stamps in the sheet shown in this image.
Bull’s Eyes. Brazil. The first official currency of Brazil was the real (pronounced [ʁeˈaw]; pl. réis). Its sign was Rs$. As the currency of the Portuguese empire, it was in use in Brazil from the earliest days of the colonial period, and remained in use until 1942, when it was replaced by the cruzeiro.
2. In 1993, the US postal service decided to release a commemorative stamp honouring Elvis Presley on what would have been his 58th birthday. While this stamp is otherwise considered normal, certain letters with this stamp are considered collector’s items and are auctioned at fairly high prices. The high price of these letters is due to something unusual that his fans did while mailing them. The fans resorted to this to try and obtain letters that contained both the stamp and a certain 3 word phrase that would honour Presley, albeit in a different way. What did they do? What was the 3 word phrase?
RETURN TO SENDER They sent them to fictitious addresses to have ‘RETURN TO SENDER’ stamped on the letter.
3. The first series of postage stamps in Belgium depicted King Leopold I and were colloquially known as _________. The name is derived from something that the king was known to sport, very regularly, to showcase his high rank in the pecking order. The _________ shark is a longtailed carpet shark that shares its name with the stamp due to a certain reason. FITB and give me the reason for the shared name
Epaulettes. Black spots on the shark resemble epaulettes.
4. 3 parts “29 cents is all it costs to ship something to the <->” FITB. It’s named after a Dutch scientist who was a professor at the University of Chicago. Who was arguably his most well known doctoral student? What would you find this stamp stuck to?
Kuiper Belt. Carl Sagan. New Horizons.
5.
5. Why is this sheet so rare? What is the common name of the entity in the stamp? It is derived from slang for its official name. You’d also know the word from the name of the Japanese version of an American “fashion figure”.
Inverted Jenny.
DRIES (B/P)ounce 10 Questions
1. There’s an artform found across South Asia, but has different characteristics in different countries. In Pakistan, it’s more intricate and uses a wider range of colors. In Nepal, it tends to feature more lettering. In India, it often includes patriotic elements due to a belief that these elements make the authorities look more favourably upon the people purchasing these artworks. In 2019, a gallery was set up for this artwork in Mumbai. The image is from this gallery. What is this artform?
Truck art The gallery is housed within a truck
● Often touted to be NYC’s answer to the one from Philadelphia, this item has its origins from the Spanish part of Harlem. ● Sold at places whose etymology is derived from the Latin word ‘apotheca’ which means a storehouse or sometimes a wine cellar ● Was featured in the Late Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown as well, but it’s origins is disputed between Yemeni employees working at the first place to sell this and a Hispanic gentleman named Carlos who was a long time employee at the same place who came up with this on his own. 2.
Chopped Cheese
3. What special type of “communication” is this? ● This term has its origins from the users of Bulletin Board Systems (precursor to modern web, peer-peer) in the 80s and those who used this way of communication were considered “elite” ● Creative misspelling of words were also a way to attempt to indicate one was more knowledgeable about the culture of computer users. ● This “language” system has contributed a lot to the current vocabulary of online communities especially among gamers.
Leetspeak ‘1337’ Leet == eLeet == elite (Pwned - n00b)
4. What hypothesis was this research trying to test? ● This research from the Animal Husbandry Division of Japan used 6 Black Japanese cows to test their hypothesis inspired from another animal ● The results of this research if employed by cattle owners could potentially lead to a lot of savings in terms of chemicals used to ‘treat’ this ● This problem associated with cattle reduce their grazing, feeding, and bedding down time and increase behaviors like head throwing, foot stamping, skin twitching, and tail flicking) and bunching - which increases heat stress and risk of injury as animals jostle for a better position to avoid this ● Some of the other often used explanations to this ‘phenomenon’ were camouflage, confusion of predators, signaling to its own species, thermoregulation Finals
Stripes on a zebra are for preventing fly bites on it’s body
5. Which infamous incident was this? What historic first? According to retired photojournalist Sivaraman of the Indian Express, he lists three unforgettable events from his career. First being covering MGR’s death in 1987, Second covering Rajiv Gandhi’s assasination in 1991 But it was his third event which had the most impact in both TN and Indian politics which took place on March 25th 1989 - the day was supposed to mark a historic first in TN politics but was marred by an infamous incident which Sivaraman captured and went on to make front page news that changed the course of Dravidian Politics.
J Jayalalitha being assaulted in the legislative assembly First woman Leader of Opposition