A list of puzzling questions
Editor’s note: Every week, 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. 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: We will pick winners each month using a lucky draw—since our judges are being very uncooperative:
The answers to the previous week’s quiz are at the bottom.
One: This image from a past Under-19 Cricket World Cup shows a proud coach standing with two of his prodigies. There’s Sandeep Singh on the right – whose swing bowling you may have seen during the IPL. Identify the bowler on the left, whose recent exploits have captivated cricket fans beyond India.
Two: Think laterally and give a single word that connects all of the following three:
(a) Home of this masterpiece
(b) This psychologist’s theory on motivation
(c) Mid-2010s documentary on an investigation into an “active and lifestyle nutrition brand”
Three: An edtech platform—known for competitive exam prep—has branched out into new territory with a new mascot: Una the cat—who will be taking on a certain green owl. Name the edtech unicorn, and its new offering. (5+5)
About last week’s quiz…
Here are the answers to the third edition of the splainer quiz:
One: Identify the object that has replaced the torch in Lady Liberty's hand in this clever print advertisement placed in a US newspaper recently.
Answer: Cricket bat
This print ad in the New York Times celebrated the arrival of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the USA. The ongoing cricket extravaganza has 20 teams playing 55 games, spread across six host venues in the West Indies and three in the USA, till June 29, 2024. Check out all the venue details here.
Two: Connect the following elements to arrive at an empowering story recently depicted on celluloid.
(a) Man with ‘wings of fire’.
(b) A company working towards creating job opportunities for millions of people with special needs.
(c) One of the top business schools in the world.
Answer: Srikanth Bolla
In 2005, Srikanth Bolla became a Youth Leader in the Lead India Program, where he attracted the attention of the former President of India, Late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. After finishing high school, Bolla enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT)—Sloan School of Management in the US, becoming its first blind foreign student. He later became the Director and CEO of BOLLANT Industries. Primarily employing unskilled and uneducated individuals with disabilities, it makes eco-friendly disposable products and packaging from natural leaves and recycled paper. Director Tushar Hiranandani's biopic ‘Srikanth’ (2024) of the visually-impaired industrialist has Rajkummar Rao playing the leading role.
Three: What one-word suffix links the three images, with the last phrase being the talk of the town this week?
Answer: Poll/Polling
Push polling is a contentious tactic in negative campaigning, where fake opinion polls sway voters' opinions. Push polls use loaded questions to influence the views of the electorate actively, usually through attempting to discredit opposition candidates. A straw poll, or a straw vote or ballot, is an informal way to gauge opinions, based on a single question. It's not limited to politics, and can be used to quickly gather opinions from friends, colleagues, or family on various matters. Exit polls provide estimates of how people voted in an election based on interviews with voters as they leave polling stations, along with other voter data calculations.
And the winners are…
Here are the top five scorers for the first week of June. Congratulations!
