Nov 30, 2014
Q.1522
Nov 29, 2014
Q.1521
Sports agent J.B.Bernstein, the brain behind this show, launched a new show in 2014, which in some sense is the geographical and sporting opposite of the Million Dollar Arm. So what is his new show a Million Dollar quest for?
Nov 28, 2014
Q.1520
Nov 27, 2014
A Twitter quiz this Sunday
We''ll be doing a twitter quiz this Sunday from 3 to 4 pm, on this famous person.
Prizes: a copy of that person's autobiography for the winner; a gift coupon worth 248 for the runner-up, and a voucher of 100/- each for two lucky winners. Do attend! (and please do tell your friends)
Q.1519
His parents chose a conventional (British) way to announce this actor's upcoming marriage to a theatre director named Sophie Hunter, by publishing an announcement in the classified section of The Times newspaper in Nov 2014. It read:
The engagement is announced between _____, son of Wanda and Timothy _____ of London, and Sophie, daughter of Katharine Hunter of Edinburgh and Charles Hunter of London."Who is this famous actor?
Nov 26, 2014
Q.1518
Which highly acclaimed 2014 film?
Nov 25, 2014
Q.1517
Who is this person?
Nov 24, 2014
Q.1516
Nov 23, 2014
Q.1515
Nov 22, 2014
Q.1514
The brother was a famous film star, who would go on to tell Shah that boys from good families didn't get into films. Incidentally, this film star published his own autobiography in 2014.
Who was this star?
Nov 21, 2014
Q.1513
- Such proposed decisions inevitably cause 'real estate frenzy'
- To avoid such problems, in this case, perhaps this should be located in the middle of nowhere (such as Timbaktu, for there is such a place)
- Or perhaps this should be 'virtual' as there is no real need for this to be located in an actual place.
Nov 20, 2014
Q.1512
16 November also happens to be the birthday of which badminton player who was the first person from his country to beat Super Dan?
Nov 19, 2014
Q.1511
Who is this guest editor?
Nov 18, 2014
Q.1510
The names of the characters are derived from what in the world of entertainment & culture?
Nov 17, 2014
Q.1509
This leads to the new name of the city: a portmanteau of the old name and the capital of the other country. Which two cities form the name?
Nov 16, 2014
Q.1508
Carol Ann Susi passed away in Nov 2014. She was Italian by descent and was an acclaimed actress, known particularly for her TV roles. Where have we famously not seen her?
Nov 15, 2014
Q.1507
This English word was originally a term used in law. It is derived from early Anglo-French and Latin words for - "bind, tie up, fasten, tether; bind by obligation". A Congress candidate in J&K for the 2014 Assembly elections created an uproar in the media when he described his daughter as 'X' in his affidavit when he filed his nomination. What word is this X?
Nov 14, 2014
Q.1506
Nov 13, 2014
Become a Choose To Thinq content contributor
and we'll get in touch via email. Feel free to pass it on to others who may be interested.
Q.1505
Why did Morroco pull out of hosting?
Nov 12, 2014
Q.1504
The 2014 book "What If?" is a collection of interesting questions and answers posted to a popular blog. In this column, the blog's owner tries to provide scientifically valid answers to strange questions, such as "What if everyone actually had just one soul mate - one random person somewhere in the world? Could they ever meet?"
Who is the author and what popular website does he run?
Nov 11, 2014
Q.1503
Nov 10, 2014
Q.1502
Nov 9, 2014
Q.1501
Iranian police forces, among few others will be exempt from punishment. What are we talking about?
Nov 8, 2014
Q.1500
In Nov 2014, Arnold Abbott, a 90-year old man wearing a chef's white coat, was arrested in Florida. He risked being fined $500 and spending time in prison for about 60 days. While arresting him, a police officer said 'Drop that plate right now'.
What was the reason for the arrest?
Nov 7, 2014
Q.1499
Famed rock band Pink Floyd released an album in 2014, their first in twenty years. The album is called "Endless River", and is based on music created by the group during their last album 'The Division Bell'.
Among the studios in which this album's material was made and recorded was 'Astoria', which is owned by group guitarist David Gilmour. What is unusual about 'Astoria' (which is apt given the album's title), and where in London is it located?
Nov 6, 2014
Q.1498
In late 2014, the Pakistani cricketer Misbah-ul-Haq equalled Viv Richards' record for the fastest Test century (in 56 balls). On which ground did Richards score that 100 in 1986 (he said he had extra motivation that day to entertain the crowds) - a ground that has seen two other records being broken?
Nov 5, 2014
'Q.IZ' - a monthly contest - this month's theme
Themes:
* Dec 2014: "Sanskrit".
* Nov 2014: "The Nobel Peace Prize". Results.* Oct 2014: "Mars". Results.
* Sept 2014: either "Ice" or "Buckets". Results.
Guidelines
Here's how you play:
- At the beginning of each month, we will announce a theme - the theme will be open-ended enough for you to write different kinds of questions.
- Unlike our guest contributions and this blog's major focus, your questions DO NOT have to be about current affairs. You are allowed to interpret the theme in anyway you like, but there should ideally be a strong connection to it.
- Our preference is for interesting questions, well-framed, creatively told, and about facts that will surprise even our jaded quizzing brains. Naturally, these are going to be a subjective choices, but we shall try and explain what we liked in a winning question.
- As with our guest contributions: zero tolerance for plagiarism.
- Use this form to submit your questions. If you have images or other media, please send a link or the file via email with the words "Q.IZ" in the subject line.
- Submissions will be open until the 25th of the month. We will announce winners by the end of the month.
And we have prizes! Typically in the form of gift cards to online bookstores, the prizes are sponsored by Choose To Thinq who believe that a question a day keeps your brain cells grey. Prizes will be for between 1 to 3 submissions.
Q.IZ Oct '14 ('Mars' edition)- Results
15 entries entered the second Q.IZ contest, on the theme of "Mars".
Here are our 3 prize-winning entries (in no specific order):
By Tamal Dutta
X is an infamous animated Disney movie that released in 2011. It was a box office catastrophe and holds the second place in Wikipedia's list of 'Biggest Box Office Bombs' with an estimated loss of over $130 million. The title of the movie, X, tells that a certain predominantly red object is in want of a parental figure.
Unwittingly, in 2013-14, India "obliged" the red object by sending such a parental figure to it.
Identify the movie X. And what did India do?"
comment: Interesting linkage between the two facts!
By M.Lionel
Kasthuri Venkateswaran, a microbiologist at NASA in Pasadena, sensationally suggested that the space probes 'Spirit' and 'Opportunity' in 2004 might have infected Mars with a bacterium, Bacillus safensis, that probably now exists in a form there which is highly resistant to gamma and UV radiation. How does the bacterium get its name?
comment: interesting fact that we had not heard of before.
By Ameya Mardolkar
Pictured is a person who keeps shuttling between our neighbouring planets, NOT literally but 'literally'. Neither an Astronomer nor an Astrologer, but his work has been aimed at striking harmony between the two entities. And almost all of his works (some of which appropriately collaborated with his wife) have references to this heavenly bodies. Identify him.
comment: nice use of the theme in a different field, and nice framing as well.
[+ Show Answers]
2. Bacillus safensis is named for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Spacecraft Assembly Facility. See this.
3. John Gray of 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus' fame.
All the winners will receive Flipkart vouchers from Choose To Thinq in a week's time. Congratulations!
Nov 2014's theme is "the Nobel Peace Prize".
Q.1497
After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, a very special team of spies shifted their loyalties to the Russian Navy. Created in the 1970s in the Soviet Union and based in the Crimean State Oceanarium, what is unique about that team of spies?
Nov 4, 2014
Q.1496
The title of the book, "When a Tree Shook Delhi", refers to what infamous quote (and by whom)?
Nov 3, 2014
Q.1495
Image: Forbes Life
For what 2014 event did the watch-maker Hublot create this watch model?
Nov 2, 2014
Q.1494
On Halloween 2014, the author J.K.Rowling published an essay on the origins of a character from the Harry Potter series, also one of the least liked. (The author Stephen King even called this character "the greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter").
Which character?
Nov 1, 2014
Q.1493
The 2014 Hollywood film "The Interview" is about a group of journalists, who are on a secret mission to kill a real life dictator of a country. The film has not gone down well with the locals of the said country, with threats of being ready to go to war if the movie is released.
Name the dictator, whose father was known to be a big Hollywood movie buff.