A list of puzzling questions
Editor’s note: Every Tuesday, we feature three questions from our quiz master Shantanu Sharma—who is a researcher-writer and has a side hustle as a professional quiz guru. He’d love to hear from you—so send your feedback/suggestions or just say ‘hi’ over at sharmashantanu312@gmail.com or @shantorasbox on Twitter.
How this works: Every correct answer is worth 10 points. If a question has multiple parts, each is worth 5 points. You have until Friday 12 pm to send in your answers to talktous@splainer.in or via DMs on Insta or Twitter. The correct answers will be published every Tuesday—as will the monthly leaderboard. The grand prize for the winner at the end of the month: a quarterly subscription for anyone of your choice—including the option of adding three months to your sub. That’s Rs 899 in value—so it’s pretty darn good:) Rule to note: this is all about who sends in the correct answers first.
The answers: to the previous week’s quiz are at the bottom.
Important: We will be announcing our December winners in January—as splainer is on its annual break starting this Saturday.
One: The inventor of this sport had a great passion for games and competitions. While target shooting with a popular toy, he had the bright idea to build an entirely new professional sport around it—with dedicated courses and tournaments. Name the sport—which uses the toy but has the basic structure of another popular professional sport. Hint: An element of the game is pictured below.
Two: Connect the four elements shown below. They belong to a popular set of 26—that bring precision and clarity in long-distance communications.
Three: The screengrab below shows Frank Sinatra in the titular role of a detective in a film—based on a 1966 novel. The book’s sequel was also turned into a film in the late 1980s—establishing the lead actor as a legendary action hero. Name the sequel’s screen adaptation. Hint: It’s a fitting question to ask with the holiday season around the corner.
About last week’s quiz…
Here are the answers to the third edition of the splainer quiz:
One: The trophy in the photo below is awarded to the top recipient in the world of entertainment at a popular event—in a city that suffers no shortage of water. Its better-known counterpart is held at a Mediterranean resort. Name the second, counterpart award.
Answer: Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival
The Golden Lion is the highest prize awarded to a film at the Venice International Film Festival, the oldest film festival in the world. The Palme d’or, a timeless symbol of the Festival de Cannes, has been awarded to the best film in the Official Competition for over 60 years. Cannes is a glamorous resort city situated on the French Riviera within the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur region of southeastern France.
Two: The image below was a simple out-of-office message sent by the founders of a company—to mark their absence because they’d be off attending an annual festival. The tradition has since morphed into a daily visual celebration of icons, milestones, historical events, and culture. Each image is picked by a team that receives around 7,000 submissions each year. And most of us cannot but see them every day.
Answer: According to Google, they have created more than 5,000 Doodles over the decades. In 1998, Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, created the first Doodle to announce their absence for Burning Man Festival as visible in the image below. Each August, Jessica Yu and a diverse team of Googlers begin the task of selecting which Google Doodles will grace the homepage in the following year. The image below is of the first-ever Google Doodle.
Three: This man (in the photo below) played a pivotal role in negotiating an end to a war. When named for a prestigious award for his efforts, he declined because he objected to the man who was named as the winner along with him. Who was this objectionable person?
Answer: Henry Kissinger
Le Duc Tho’s ascent in the Communist Party's leadership occurred during Japan’s occupation of Vietnam in World War II. Henry Kissinger ordered bombings in Hanoi during Christmas, leading Le Duc Tho to agree to an armistice. However, when both were awarded the Peace Prize in 1973, Le Duc Tho declined it, stating that Kissinger had broken the truce they had agreed upon.
And the winners are…
Here are the top five scorers for the second week of December. Congratulations!
