Oct 31, 2014

Q.1492

Image: Wikipedia


This is the crest of the North East United FC club, part of the Indian Super League, launched in 2014. What do the 8 stars at the top represent?

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This day last year: Q1126.

Oct 30, 2014

Q.1491

Based on a guest question by Ashvini Kulkarni | contribute questions

In Oct 2014, during a visit to the Science Museum in London, the British monarch Queen Elizabeth II sent her first ever tweet, posting:

It is a pleasure to open the Information Age exhibition today at the @ScienceMuseum and I hope people will enjoy visiting. Elizabeth R.
Signing off with 'Elizabeth R', what does the "R" stand for?"

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This day last year: Q.1125

Oct 29, 2014

Fun bonus question!

(not our usual fare, but something in lighter vein - click to see a bigger image)

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This day last year: Q.

Q.1490

"Samskara" was a 1970 Kannada film that won the Indian National Award for Best Feature Film.

"Ghatashradda" was a 1977 Kannada film that won the same award in 1977.

"Diksha" is a 1991 Hindi film that won the National Award for Best Hindi Feature Film.


Whose stories, by a person who passed away in 2014, form the basis for all these films?

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This day last year: Q.1124

Oct 28, 2014

Q.1489

"Operation Zarb-e-Azb" is a 2014 Pakistani military operation against Taliban militants in the North Waziristan area of the country. "Azb" in this Urdu phrase (one translation of the phrase is "sharp and cutting") is a reference to a sword used by which person?

[+ Show Answer] This day last year: Q.1123

Oct 27, 2014

Q.1488

This famous luxury & fashion house runs a foundation, which opened a new museum building in Paris in Oct 2014, designed by the architect Frank Gehry. The building is in the shape of a sailboat, which is an apt choice given that there is a famous yachting competition named after this fashion label.


Which fashion powerhouse?

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This day last year: Q.1123

Oct 26, 2014

Q.1487

Several technology websites marked Sept 10, 2014 as "Internet ______ Day". On this day, these sites displayed a "loading" symbol to indicate what would happen if certain proposals by the US FCC (that regulates communication in the US) regarding 'net neutrality' were to come into effect.

What word completes the title of the day?
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This day last year: Q.1122

Oct 25, 2014

Q.1486

Based on a guest question by Mohsin Mustafa | contribute questions

The noted designer Oscar de la Renta died in October 2014. In a tribute, a magazine wrote about how de la Renta overhauled the official uniform of a youth organisation's American chapter. This led to a new 'subdued' khaki colour scheme, fabric made of cotton and polyester, and olive khaki shorts and shirts.

Which organisation?

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This day last year: Q.1121

Oct 24, 2014

Q.1485

Kip Thorne is an American theoretical physicist who was consulted by the writer Carl Sagan for his 1985 book "Contact". Thorne's work, ideas, and writings inspired which Nov 2014 film, on which he is also the executive producer?

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This day last year: Q.1120

Oct 23, 2014

Q.1484

The notorious father, Francois, died in 1971. He was succeeded by his 'baby', Jean-Claude, who was not a medical man like his father. The 'baby' died in 2014. Who are these people?

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This day last year: Q.1119

Oct 22, 2014

Q.1483

The writer Richard Flanagan won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel "The Narrow Road to the Deep North", with an episode during World War II playing a central part in its tale.

Flanagan once collaborated with the film director Baz Luhrmann on a 2008 film. Which film, whose one word title is the name of a country?

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This day last year: Q.1118

Oct 21, 2014

Q.1482

Based on a guest question by 'ACizdnewcool' | contribute questions

While the female version of this name made headlines in December 2012, the male version of this name made news in October 2014, owing to a major contribution of India's DRDO.

Which undaunted name?

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This day last year: Q.1117

Oct 20, 2014

Q.1481

The name of this Middle Eastern fighting force is usually translated as "(those who) face death". The force has been a key participant in the region's tussle against the Islamic State.

Which force?

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This day last year: Q.1116

Oct 19, 2014

Q.1480

In Oct 2014, the State of New York designated this food item as the state's 'official snack'. Preceding this decision, which had apparently been proposed by a 4th grade class in a state school, was a debate over whether that item was even a snack, whether this would go against people who were lactose intolerant, and what the difference between its regular and Greek variety was.

A nod to the business fact that New York produces the largest quantity of this item in the US, what food item is this?

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This day last year: Q.1115

Oct 18, 2014

Q.1479

In Sept 2014, the music director A.R.Rahman launched a non-film album called "Raunaq", which featured lyrics written by the lawyer-politican Kapil Sibal. A famous Indian artist's works has partly inspired the album and is seen in its music videos.

Incidentally, a film based on this artist, though completed in 2008, has finally seen a mainstream theatrical release in 2014. Which artist?

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This day last year: Q.1114

Oct 17, 2014

Q.1478

Based on a guest question by Vaibhav Bajpai | contribute questions

Nick Holonyak Jr. got lucky with Red in 1962, five years later George Craford found out what makes it Green but it took 27 years to figure out how to make a Blue one. The 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics is a recognition to an effort that has given an energy efficient alternative and a soul to all the smart devices and laptops we use nowadays.

What invention has completed to this journey from Red to Blue?

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This day last year: Q.1113

Oct 16, 2014

Q.1477

The Japanese division of Haagen-Dazs, the ice-cream maker, will launch a couple of premium ice-cream flavours in December 2014. One of them has red Bordeaux wine and flecks of edible silver leaf. What famous name, also in a way associated with food, from French history has been given to this luxurious flavour?

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This day last year: Q.1112

Oct 15, 2014

Q.1476

Cyclone Hudhud devastated the coastal city of Vishakapatnam in India in October 2014. The word 'Hudhud' comes from the Koranic name of the Hoopoe bird.

This bird's scientific name is Upupa epops. What is common to the etymology of the order 'upupa' and the bird's name 'hoopoe'?

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This day last year: Q.1111

Oct 14, 2014

Q.1475

Based on a guest question by Vaibhav Bajpai | contribute questions

A group called Creative Trench released an "anti-imperialist" typeface (font) in July 2014 to commemorate the 60th birth anniversary of a former Latin American Head of State. This distinctive font is a digitized form of the Latin American leader’s handwriting in letters that he wrote while in prison on charges of a failed coup attempt in 1992.

So who has this ‘anti-imperialist’ typeface dedicated to him?

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This day last year: Q.1109

Oct 13, 2014

Q.1474

Based on a guest question by Manjil Saikia | contribute questions

"The Imitation Game" is a 2014 British film. This term refers to a test devised to, given an unseen man and woman, to try and identify who was of which gender. A further modification of this test is now better known, and is named after the person who proposed this test.

This person is also the subject of this film - who is the person?

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This day last year: Q.1108

Oct 12, 2014

Q.1473

From a July 2014 exhibition by the artist Claire Phillips (the lady on the right). Who is the person in the painting (also seen standing next to Phillips), who became better known in the eyes of the world later in the year?



Image: Claire Phillips

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This day last year: Q.1107

Oct 11, 2014

Q.1472

Based on a guest question by Avinav Prakash | contribute questions

In India, these signs occupy 40% of the available space. However, as per a new directive issued in Oct 2014 by the Indian Ministry of Health, these could now become as high as 85% in India, making India the largest implementer in terms of space used. Thailand also uses 85% and Australia being 82.5%.

What is this about?

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This day last year: Q.1106

Oct 10, 2014

Q.1471

Based on a guest question by Abhishek Rajan | contribute questions

Which product, that began sales in the US in Oct 2014, has been the subject of such social media hashtags such as "#bendgate" and "#hairgate", the latter supposedly being faced by men with long beards, and most women?

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This day last year: Q.1105

Oct 9, 2014

Q.1470

Based on a guest question by Mohsin Mustafa | contribute questions

In Oct 2014, the British TV series "Top Gear" team were forced to leave this country where they were shooting. Angry crowds had thrown stones at them, and 'certain veterans' held strikes outside their hotel. This fuss was over the number plate of the team's Porsche, which read "H982 FKL".

Which country, and what was the problem?

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This day last year: Q.1104

Oct 8, 2014

Q.1469

If model-actor Milind Soman and singer Alisha Chinai (in the 90s) are associated with the past tense, a lion with cogs is in the present tense, since 2014. What is all this about?

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This day last year: Q.1103

Oct 7, 2014

Q.1468

There have been 15 editions of this, but only three countries feature on this list: Pakistan (8 times), South Korea (4 times), and India (3 times - 1966, 1998, and now in 2014).

What is this list about?

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This day last year: Q.1102

Oct 6, 2014

Q.1467

In Sept 2014, Hong Kong became the scene of intense political protests over the way elections are held in that autonomous region of China. The civil disobedience movement has been called "Occupy Central", partly for the massing of people at the Central Government Complex in the city.

It also acquired another name in the Western media, the "_______ Revolution", because many protestors starting using a piece of household equipment to protect themselves against tear gas used by police. What is the missing word?

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This day last year: Q.1102

Oct 5, 2014

Q.1466



Image: Wikimedia

This is an example of a "yantra", a diagram considered to have special symbolisms and powers in Eastern traditions. This served as the inspiration for a new symbol, an 8-pointed star, along with a brand name in Asia that stands for something without limits.

What from the world of travel is this, which was unveiled in August 2014?

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This day last year: Q.1101

Oct 4, 2014

Q.1465

In Sept 2014, the British actress Emma Watson launched the "HeForShe" campaign by the United Nations in her role as a Goodwill Ambassador for the global organisation. The government of Iceland, in a follow-up, announced a conference on gender equality in January 2015.

What will be unusual about this conference?

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This day last year: Q.1100

Oct 3, 2014

Q.1464

Perhaps the most unusual form of winning a cricket match, Kuwait beat Maldives in a group match of the 2014 Asian Games by this method. Some examples of this form of victory in Indian domestic cricket have been the North vs East Zone clash in the Duleep Trophy of 2013, and a Plate semi-final in 2005 between Services and Himachal Pradesh.

What form of victory?

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This day last year: Q.1099

Oct 2, 2014

Q.1463



Image: Wikipedia

This documentary is based on the life of Aaron Swartz, a programmer and activist, who died in 2013. Swartz committed suicide after a likelihood of spending time in prison for an offence involving the alleged piracy of academic articles.

The film gets its name from a quote by Quinn Norton, a journalist who had dated Swartz, who said: "He was the _____'s own boy... and the old world killed him."

Complete the blank.

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This day last year: Q.1098

Oct 1, 2014

Q.IZ Sept '14 ('Ice' or 'Bucket' edition)- Results


17 entries made up the line-up for the first Q.IZ contest, where we asked participants to send in questions on the theme of either "Ice" or "Bucket". Some interesting, some new, some funny, and some plain unrelated questions came our way.


Here are our top 3, prize-winning entries:

By Anindita Ravikumar


Real Xs are able to conduct heat and are actually one of the best conductors of heat. Even as a X heats up, it is cool to the touch, much like ice. Once this ability was discovered, Xs were quickly identified as "ice" and heat conductivity quickly began to be a way to determine whether or not a X was real. What is X?

comment: we liked this question because this was a nice little fact that we didn't know before. It would have been better if the framing was not taken verbatim from its source, but we'll overlook it this time


By Nauman Ali

In the poem 'Line-Up for Yesterday: An ABC of Baseball Immortals' by Ogden Nash , he (Nash) dedicates each letters of the alphabet to an iconic Major League Baseball player. The poem pays tribute to 24 players, and the final stanza includes tribute to the players collectively.

Who is referred in the poem by the letter G?

comment: this talks about a well-known connection to the ice bucket challenge in a fresh way


By Mohsin Mustafa



Image: Daily Mail

This (photo from a) Ice-Bucket video still shows siblings Lucy, Tim and Robert taking up the challenge. In fact, they had 'volunteered' instead of their father who had earlier said: "Because I had pneumonia last year, it would not be wise for me to have a bucket of cold water poured over me."

What is the surname of the siblings?
comment: this would easily fit into the main IZ stream, a nice little current affairs nugget



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All the winners will receive Flipkart vouchers from Choose To Thinq in a week's time. Congratulations!

Special mentions: entries by Abhishek Veeraraghavan and Sanasi Kelkar.

October's theme is "Mars".


Q.1462

In Sept 2014, the tennis player Roger Federer joined other stars such as Pete Sampras, Sania Mirza, Gael Monfils, Ana Ivanovic, Rohan Bopanna and Fabrice Santoro. In doing so, how are all of them now connected - in a way - to an Indian called Indra Lal Roy who received the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1918 after his death at the young age of 19?

We turned 4 today, by the way. Thanks for all your time and support.

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This day last year: Q.1097