OQ 2021 Prelims by Quiz Club IITM

1. IIT MADRAS OPEN QUIZ
PRELIMS

2. Shamanth Rao
Anshumani Ruddra
Siddhartha Banerjee
Karthik Shashidhar
Bharathwaj
Hosts of the Inaugural
IITM Open Quiz
(April 18th 2004)
THANKS

3. Meenakshi
Govind
Sathvik
Dhruv
pH
Pranav Kamesh
CF
Keshav
Pilnath
pranavcondur4
SET
SHAMANTH

4. ● 30 Questions.
● 26-30 are 2 pointers.
● 11-20 are starred for ties.
● CAMS ON FULL TIME!
● Malpractice B A D 🥀
RULES

5. The statue is located in Union Square, San Francisco.
The woman is Alma de Bretteville Spreckels.
According to legend, she was modeled for the statue
in her early twenties. She met her much older
to-be-husband Adolph Spreckels when the municipal
authorities were deciding whom to model the statue
after.
The dude in the picture is Adolph Spreckels, founder
of the company whose logo you see below.
Q1. What mythical figure is the statue a
representation of? (bigger picture on next slide)
Q2. Alma de Bretteville Spreckels had a
nickname for her husband that has since
come into the English language as a
phrase. What phrase?

7. 3. Bigger pictures on the next slide
This is a pic of the Marcy
Avenue subway station in
Brooklyn. A certain somebody
grew up in a low-income
housing complex nearby
called Marcy Houses. He took
on a moniker as an homage to
a mentor - and also to the
subway lines. Who?

8. 3.

9. 4.
These are the
chimneys of a
certain building.
Name the
building,
architect and tell
us what these
inspired.

10. 5.
Whose Wikipedia bio?

11. 6. ID Proverb
Pictured on the right, is a map devoid
of geographic boundaries and
containing a network.
This network signifies some historic
infrastructure left behind unto this day.
It also represents a proverb/saying
coined by Alain de Lille, derived from
Medieval Latin in 1175.
What saying/phrase/proverb does this
map indirectly represent?

13. 7. What are these Tiles called?
Covering a flat surface with some pattern of geometric shapes (Tiles), with no
overlaps or gaps, is called a tiling. The most familiar tilings, such as covering a
floor with squares meeting edge-to-edge, are examples of periodic tilings. The
following tilings pictured above are aperiodic, with multiple shapes present.
It is named for a Nobel Prize winning Mathematical Physicist, also known for
creation of “impossible” shapes.

14. 8. Who is the Subject?
No? Saw you not, even now, a blessed troop
Invite me to a banquet; whose bright faces
Cast thousand beams upon me, like the sun?
They promised me eternal happiness;
And brought me garlands, Griffith, which I feel
I am not worthy yet to wear: I shall, assuredly.
These are words from a play, describing a
situation where the subject has just had a
fantastical dream, and is narrating it to
her gentleman usher. The subject
additionally, is on her deathbed, and
believes that the world she describes, is
the one that awaits her.
Who is the subject here?
Picture on next slide.

16. 9. What is the name of the game?
Showcasing more of the brand’s penchant for puns, Paladone’s X is a
fast-paced board game for the whole family. Each team takes it in turns to
describe the word on their leaf – a correct answer is rewarded with a ______,
and the winner is the team with the most number of ______. The kit contains
everything you need, even down to the dry-wipe pen, so you can get straight
to the fun. It is suitable for 4 or more players, despite what the name may
suggest.
Give me the name of the game.

17. 10. FITB.
Gently My Songs Entreat (German:
Leise flehen meine Lieder) is a 1933
Austrian-German film directed by Willi
Forst, based on the life of ________.
A British version of the above film was
also made, going by the title
Unfinished Symphony. The German
version of the title refers to the first
line of a very famous composition
made by the subject of the biopic.

18. 11.
Hamilton Hall was a general in the British Army, who owned several
properties in Madras. One of his properties known as Hall’s Garden made its
way into a popular 2002 Tamil song in which the translated lyric goes, “I am
the king of Hall’s Garden”.
Give me the name of the song, which is a localized version of this particular
garden.

19. 12.
The following slide shows images of a book, which is basically an
album containing a collection of wallpapers by the author, each
page of which is covered in plastic because of something visible,
that had become a fad in the 19th century.
What’s special about these wallpapers?

21. 13.
Termed by an Italian [paraphrased] to be the most helpful disease in
the world due to saving more people than it killed, which ‘disease’ got
its name from the Italian word(s) for ‘very contagious’? It might seem
misleading on first glance, but the discrepancy you might notice is due
to a German pronunciation of the word(s).

22. 14.
Squamous cell carcinomas are skin cancers that are mostly caused by
exposure to UV light. However, one kind of squamous cell carcinoma develops
primarily in the abdomen, thigh, and leg - parts of the body that aren't
typically exposed to much sunlight. This cancer is also found in only one part
of the world.
What is this cancer called? It's named after its cause.

23. 15.
In art, horror vacui, literally the “fear of empty space”, refers to the filling of the
entire available space with with details or patterns. For example, The Fall of
Babylon by Jean Duvet (in the image) is an engraving that exhibits horror vacui.
The art from what series of books is often cited as an example of horror vacui?

25. 16.
Esoteric programming languages, or esolangs, are languages created to test
the boundaries of programming language design, or often just as a joke.
They’re rarely meant to be usable. One such language requires the user to
write code that consists entirely of bitmaps. Compilation involves a “pointer”
moving from one continuous coloured region to the next. A procedure is
carried out when the pointer leaves a region.
What is the four-letter name of this language?

26. 17. Nickname & who?
Mr Blair, accompanied by his wife and
three children was wearing a black tie and
sombre suit. He made his speech outside a
church in his Sedgefield constituency in
the rain, his voice breaking with emotion.
He coined 2 word alliterative nickname
that has an appeal that has endured
through time. What?

27. 18. Answer in the format X’s Y
A Vimana is the structure over the
inner sanctum (sannidhi) in the
temples of South India and Odisha.
This style of vimanam is exclusive
to Chola Lord Shiva temples in the
region that then became Madras.
What are they named after?
Work from shape.

28. 19.
Passport Stamp from
which BOT?
What is its capital city?
Shares its name with a
locality in Chennai.

29. 20.
This sound effect was popularised through the advent of early
samplers - especially the Fairlight CMI, which sampled the sound
effect from a particular 1910 work.
Listen to the audio and name the sound effect and the work it was
sampled from.

30. 21.
More than 2560 of these objects exist currently - the first eight having been
created in 1958. They have 10 equal sides with varying angles, and are made
of coral-pink terrazzo edged with brass, inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo
background.
Only three of these are not shaped in this fashion, instead being round and
grey and surrounded with a pink terrazzo square. Why?

31. 22.
While a number of different visual representations of this entity exist and have
been used in various contexts, the most accepted version is one designed by
American journalist Evan Townsend in 2018, who wished to create a neutral,
non-political symbol to represent it. The Townsend design has been adopted by six
National _________ Programs, and is the first to be widely used internally.
The two colors used not only represent the defining characteristics of the entity,
but also provide strong contrast for visibility in bad weather. The central motif
forms a diamond and symbolises “hope that [the entity] will continue to be a
center of peace, discovery, and cooperation for generations to come.”
What are we talking about? Image will be shown if no one objects.

33. 23.
● As a 20-year-old student at a German University he became embroiled in
a drunken argument with a Danish nobleman that resulted in a ‘duel in
the dark’ that removed most of his nose bridge as a result had to have a
Silver-Gold alloy based nose-job.
● At the peak of his wealth, was owning almost 1% of all money in Denmark
which allowed to fund his eccentricities (and scientific discoveries)
● Had a pet moose that had a liking to Danish Beer which ultimately led to
its death due to inebriation which resulted in a fall from his castle tower.
Who is this much revered medieval scientific figure who also had the above as
his lesser known claims to fame?

34. 24. Name the Facility
This unique facility named after a Madras Presidency Sanitation
Commissioner was opened in 1905 by Governor Ampthill as a
vaccine depot for smallpox.
The microbiological section manufactured both curative and
prophylactic bacterial vaccines to meet the requirements of
hospitals in Madras Presidency.
It was also the first large scale manufacturer of an influenza
vaccine in India as ordered by the British Government. Currently
it is one of the few WHO authorized yellow fever vaccination
centre.

35. 25. ID the institution mentioned in this song
The song is from the Pilot episode of TVF’s Aspirants. Started in
1958, it is named after a posthumous Bharat Ratna awardee.

36. 26. What is A?
Who is B?
FITB [3 parts: 1 for 2,
2 for 3]
During the canonization process(declaring that a person, who has
died, was a saint) of the Roman Catholic Church, an official was
appointed to argue against the canonization of the proposed
candidate. The official was called the (A)
This is done to properly justify the merits of the candidate and notify
the council of shortcomings.
The office of the (A) was established in 1587 during the reign of Pope
Sixtus V. The first formal mention of such an officer is found in the
canonization of St Lawrence Justinian under Pope Leo X (1513–1521).
One of the more notable instances of an officer carrying out the duty
(A), was in 2003 in the case of (B) by British-American journalist
Hitchens, a staunch critic of (B).
“The ___________ ________: (B) in Theory and Practice” is the crass
tongue-in cheek titled seminal work by Hitchens in his staunch
opposition of this person(B)

37. 27. Give X and abnormality/Y
The X Cat, is a domestic cat of any breed that is highly prized. It is named so, as it’s coat
resembles in texture and color to a colorful printed fabric originating in India.
The most obvious feature is a manifestation of a genetic mutation. Interestingly, only 1 in
3000 of such cats are Male and the remaining are female as another consequence of the
same genetic mutation. Bearing this in mind, under what circumstance is a X Cat male?
The same genetic abnormality and circumstance occurs in human males (only), and is
named after an American Endocrinologist (Y).

39. 28.
Spanish chroniclers of arms have long asserted a right to issue
certifications of coats of arms to residents of any territory that was ever
under Spanish dominion. In the late 20th century, someone who claimed
Irish, rather than Spanish, ancestry made use of this provision to register
the coat of arms shown in the image for themselves. Who?
What does the element displayed in the lower half of the
escutcheon/shield refer to?

41. 29.
When trying to cast a person for a recent (~5 years) TV reproduction of a
1970s musical, the people behind it needed to find an actor that filled the
primary role, one that humanized a textbook antagonist and explained why
they committed something everyone thinks was inherently evil. Therefore
they signed up a person who had just come off a successful run in a different
musical, where he had played a role that was very similar to this one in
concept.
A) Which role was this from the 1970s musical?
B) What more recent role was this?

42. 30.
A domain hack is a domain name that suggests a word,
phrase, or name when concatenating two or more
adjacent levels of that domain. For example, "bir.ds" and
"examp.le", using the country-code domains .ds and .le
1) If I were a hyper-local clearing & forwarding company
in India, which Eastern European country’s 2 letter TLD
would I want to use? Also put TLD.
2) Which American marketing automation platform
founded in the early 2000s most popularly uses this
country’s TLD?

48. The statue is located in Union Square, San Francisco.
The woman is Alma de Bretteville Spreckels.
According to legend, she was modeled for the statue
in her early twenties. She met her much older
to-be-husband Adolph Spreckels when the municipal
authorities were deciding whom to model the statue
after.
The dude in the picture is Adolph Spreckels, founder
of the company whose logo you see below.
Q1. What mythical figure is the statue a
representation of? (bigger picture on next slide)
Q2. Alma de Bretteville Spreckels had a
nickname for her husband that has since
come into the English language as a
phrase. What phrase?

50. Nike.
Sugar daddy.
Adolph Spreckels was the founder of the Spreckels Sugar Company
- and as he was way older than his wife, she affectionately referred
to him as ‘sugar daddy’.

51. 3. Bigger pictures on the next slide
This is a pic of the Marcy
Avenue subway station in
Brooklyn. A certain somebody
grew up in a low-income
housing complex nearby
called Marcy Houses. He took
on a moniker as an homage to
a mentor - and also to the
subway lines. Who?

52. 3.

53. Jay Z.
Was simultaneously an homage to Jaz-O, a play on his childhood
nickname of "Jazzy" and a reference to the J/Z subway station near
his Brooklyn home.

54. 4.
These are the
chimneys of a
certain building.
Name the
building,
architect and tell
us what these
inspired.

55. La Pedrera or Casa Mila in Barcelona.
Architect was Antonio Gaudi.
These inspired the stormtroopers in the
Star Wars movies.

56. 5.
Whose Wikipedia bio?

57. Edward A. Murphy Jr.
Best known for his namesake Murphy's law, which is said to state,
"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

58. 6. ID Proverb
Pictured on the right, is a map devoid
of geographic boundaries and
containing a network.
This network signifies some historic
infrastructure left behind unto this day.
It also represents a proverb/saying
coined by Alain de Lille, derived from
Medieval Latin in 1175.
What saying/phrase/proverb does this
map indirectly represent?

60. All roads lead to Rome.

61. 7. What are these Tiles called?
Covering a flat surface with some pattern of geometric shapes (Tiles), with no
overlaps or gaps, is called a tiling. The most familiar tilings, such as covering a
floor with squares meeting edge-to-edge, are examples of periodic tilings. The
following tilings pictured above are aperiodic, with multiple shapes present.
It is named for a Nobel Prize winning Mathematical Physicist, also known for
creation of “impossible” shapes.

62. Penrose Tiles.

63. 8. Who is the Subject?
No? Saw you not, even now, a blessed troop
Invite me to a banquet; whose bright faces
Cast thousand beams upon me, like the sun?
They promised me eternal happiness;
And brought me garlands, Griffith, which I feel
I am not worthy yet to wear: I shall, assuredly.
These are words from a play, describing a
situation where the subject has just had a
fantastical dream, and is narrating it to
her gentleman usher. The subject
additionally, is on her deathbed, and
believes that the world she describes, is
the one that awaits her.
Who is the subject here?
Picture on next slide.

65. Katherine of Aragon
First wife of King Henry VIII.

66. 9. What is the name of the game?
Showcasing more of the brand’s penchant for puns, Paladone’s X is a
fast-paced board game for the whole family. Each team takes it in turns to
describe the word on their leaf – a correct answer is rewarded with a ______,
and the winner is the team with the most number of ______. The kit contains
everything you need, even down to the dry-wipe pen, so you can get straight
to the fun. It is suitable for 4 or more players, despite what the name may
suggest.
Give me the name of the game.

67. Toucan play this game

68. 10. FITB.
Gently My Songs Entreat (German:
Leise flehen meine Lieder) is a 1933
Austrian-German film directed by Willi
Forst, based on the life of ________.
A British version of the above film was
also made, going by the title
Unfinished Symphony. The German
version of the title refers to the first
line of a very famous composition
made by the subject of the biopic.

69. Franz Schubert
Those were the opening lines of “Serenade”.

70. 11.
Hamilton Hall was a general in the British Army, who owned several
properties in Madras. One of his properties known as Hall’s Garden made its
way into a popular 2002 Tamil song in which the translated lyric goes, “I am
the king of Hall’s Garden”.
Give me the name of the song, which is a localized version of this particular
garden.

71. Ans: The song ‘Aal Thotta Bhoopathy’ from the 2002 movie ‘Youth’ :P

72. 12.
The following slide shows images of a book, which is basically an
album containing a collection of wallpapers by the author, each
page of which is covered in plastic because of something visible,
that had become a fad in the 19th century.
What’s special about these wallpapers?

74. Laced with Arsenic
Scheele’s Green

75. 13.
Termed by an Italian [paraphrased] to be the most helpful disease in
the world due to saving more people than it killed, which ‘disease’ got
its name from the Italian word(s) for ‘very contagious’? It might seem
misleading on first glance, but the discrepancy you might notice is due
to a German pronunciation of the word(s).

76. Syndrome K.

77. 14.
Squamous cell carcinomas are skin cancers that are mostly caused by
exposure to UV light. However, one kind of squamous cell carcinoma develops
primarily in the abdomen, thigh, and leg - parts of the body that aren't
typically exposed to much sunlight. This cancer is also found in only one part
of the world.
What is this cancer called? It's named after its cause.

78. Kangri cancer
In Kashmir

79. 15.
In art, horror vacui, literally the “fear of empty space”, refers to the filling of the
entire available space with with details or patterns. For example, The Fall of
Babylon by Jean Duvet (in the image) is an engraving that exhibits horror vacui.
The art from what series of books is often cited as an example of horror vacui?

81. Where’s
Wally?

82. 16.
Esoteric programming languages, or esolangs, are languages created to test
the boundaries of programming language design, or often just as a joke.
They’re rarely meant to be usable. One such language requires the user to
write code that consists entirely of bitmaps. Compilation involves a “pointer”
moving from one continuous coloured region to the next. A procedure is
carried out when the pointer leaves a region.
What is the four-letter name of this language?

83. Piet
After Mondrian. This code prints “Hello world”.

84. 17. Nickname & who?
Mr Blair, accompanied by his wife and
three children was wearing a black tie and
sombre suit. He made his speech outside a
church in his Sedgefield constituency in
the rain, his voice breaking with emotion.
He coined 2 word alliterative nickname
that has an appeal that has endured
through time. What?

85. People’s Princess

86. 18. Answer in the format X’s Y
A Vimana is the structure over the
inner sanctum (sannidhi) in the
temples of South India and Odisha.
This style of vimanam is exclusive
to Chola Lord Shiva temples in the
region that then became Madras.
What are they named after?
Work from shape.

87. Gajaprishta Vimanam.
Elephant’s Backside.

88. 19.
Passport Stamp from
which BOT?
What is its capital city?
Shares its name with a
locality in Chennai.

89. 20.
This sound effect was popularised through the advent of early
samplers - especially the Fairlight CMI, which sampled the sound
effect from a particular 1910 work.
Listen to the audio and name the sound effect and the work it was
sampled from.

90. Orchestral hit
The Firebird

91. 21.
More than 2560 of these objects exist currently - the first eight having been
created in 1958. They have 10 equal sides with varying angles, and are made
of coral-pink terrazzo edged with brass, inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo
background.
Only three of these are not shaped in this fashion, instead being round and
grey and surrounded with a pink terrazzo square. Why?

93. 22.
While a number of different visual representations of this entity exist and have
been used in various contexts, the most accepted version is one designed by
American journalist Evan Townsend in 2018, who wished to create a neutral,
non-political symbol to represent it. The Townsend design has been adopted by six
National _________ Programs, and is the first to be widely used internally.
The two colors used not only represent the defining characteristics of the entity,
but also provide strong contrast for visibility in bad weather. The central motif
forms a diamond and symbolises “hope that [the entity] will continue to be a
center of peace, discovery, and cooperation for generations to come.”
What are we talking about? Image will be shown if no one objects.

95. Flag of Antarctica

96. 23.
● As a 20-year-old student at a German University he became embroiled in
a drunken argument with a Danish nobleman that resulted in a ‘duel in
the dark’ that removed most of his nose bridge as a result had to have a
Silver-Gold alloy based nose-job.
● At the peak of his wealth, was owning almost 1% of all money in Denmark
which allowed to fund his eccentricities (and scientific discoveries)
● Had a pet moose that had a liking to Danish Beer which ultimately led to
its death due to inebriation which resulted in a fall from his castle tower.
Who is this much revered medieval scientific figure who also had the above as
his lesser known claims to fame?

97. Tycho Brahe

98. 24. Name the Facility
This unique facility named after a Madras Presidency Sanitation
Commissioner was opened in 1905 by Governor Ampthill as a
vaccine depot for smallpox.
The microbiological section manufactured both curative and
prophylactic bacterial vaccines to meet the requirements of
hospitals in Madras Presidency.
It was also the first large scale manufacturer of an influenza
vaccine in India as ordered by the British Government. Currently
it is one of the few WHO authorized yellow fever vaccination
centre.

99. King’s Institute of Preventive
Medicine and Research,
Guindy
Lt. Col. Walter Gaven King
was the Sanitary
Commissioner

100. 25. ID the institution mentioned in this song
The song is from the Pilot episode of TVF’s Aspirants. Started in
1958, it is named after a posthumous Bharat Ratna awardee.

101. “LBSNAA”
Or
‘Labasnaa”

102. 26. What is A?
Who is B?
FITB [3 parts: 1 for 2,
2 for 3]
During the canonization process(declaring that a person, who has
died, was a saint) of the Roman Catholic Church, an official was
appointed to argue against the canonization of the proposed
candidate. The official was called the (A)
This is done to properly justify the merits of the candidate and notify
the council of shortcomings.
The office of the (A) was established in 1587 during the reign of Pope
Sixtus V. The first formal mention of such an officer is found in the
canonization of St Lawrence Justinian under Pope Leo X (1513–1521).
One of the more notable instances of an officer carrying out the duty
(A), was in 2003 in the case of (B) by British-American journalist
Christopher Hitchens, a staunch critic of (B).
“The ___________ ________: (B) in Theory and Practice” is the crass
tongue-in cheek titled seminal work by Hitchens in his staunch
opposition of this person(B)

103. A: Devil’s Advocate
B: Mother Teresa
C: Missionary
Position

104. 27. Give X and abnormality/Y
The X Cat, is a domestic cat of any breed that is highly prized. It is named so, as it’s coat
resembles in texture and color to a colorful printed fabric originating in India.
The most obvious feature is a manifestation of a genetic mutation. Interestingly, only 1 in
3000 of such cats are Male and the remaining are female as another consequence of the
same genetic mutation. Bearing this in mind, under what circumstance is a X Cat male?
The same genetic abnormality and circumstance occurs in human males (only), and is
named after an American Endocrinologist (Y).

106. Calico Cat.
Because genetic determination of coat colors in calico cats is linked to the X
chromosome, calicos are nearly always female, with one color linked to the
maternal X chromosome and a second color linked to the paternal X
chromosome. In most cases, males are only one color (for instance, black) as
they have only one X chromosome.
Male calicoes can happen when a male cat has two X chromosomes
(Klinefelter syndrome, with XXY sex chromosomes and generally sterile)

107. 28.
Spanish chroniclers of arms have long asserted a right to issue
certifications of coats of arms to residents of any territory that was ever
under Spanish dominion. In the late 20th century, someone who claimed
Irish, rather than Spanish, ancestry made use of this provision to register
the coat of arms shown in the image for themselves. Who?
What does the element displayed in the lower half of the
escutcheon/shield refer to?

109. Ronald Reagan
The actor’s mask on the horse
is a reference to his former
profession

110. The flag of
California
Reagan was the governor

111. 29.
When trying to cast a person for a recent (~5 years) TV reproduction of a
1970s musical, the people behind it needed to find an actor that filled the
primary role, one that humanized a textbook antagonist and explained why
they committed something everyone thinks was inherently evil. Therefore
they signed up a person who had just come off a successful run in a different
musical, where he had played a role that was very similar to this one in
concept.
A) Which role was this from the 1970s musical?
B) What more recent role was this?

112. Aaron Burr Judas Iscariot
From Hamilton From Jesus Christ Superstar

113. 30.
A domain hack is a domain name that suggests a word,
phrase, or name when concatenating two or more
adjacent levels of that domain. For example, "bir.ds" and
"examp.le", using the country-code domains .ds and .le
1) If I were a hyper-local clearing & forwarding company
in India, which Eastern European country’s 2 letter TLD
would I want to use? Also put TLD.
2) Which American marketing automation platform
founded in the early 2000s most popularly uses this
country’s TLD?

115. Serbia (.rs)
Movers & Packers.
Mailchi(.mp)