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—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.
One: The face paintings photographed below involve a meticulous process. The base coat is white or yellow—and vibrant colours that symbolise different attributes are painted on top of them. For example, red denotes bravery while black signifies fierceness. Each painting also has its own distinctive style and symbolism. Identify the performing artform that is associated with these face paintings.
Two: Established in 2011, Pundole's is a privately owned auction house in Mumbai. One of the team members, Mallika (in the pic below), specialises in Modern and Contemporary Indian Art. Late last year, she broke a 16-year streak and demonstrated her abilities on a completely different platform in Dubai. Name the event.
Three: In terms of protocol, this is the highest honour that is accorded by our country. The process begins six months in advance and all political, military, and economic interests are taken into consideration while making this decision. The first recipient of this honour was the gentleman photographed below in 1950. Name the latest recipient.
About last week’s quiz…
Here are the answers to the third edition of the splainer quiz:
One: This social scientist (pictured below) is known for ground-breaking work in the fields of sociology and social anthropology. In an essay, he coined a term that evolved over time and is now used all the time—especially by politicians and the media—during election season. Identify the term.
Answer: Votebank
Coined by MN Srinivas in his 1955 essay, ‘The Social Structure of a Mysore Village’, the term "vote bank" has evolved into a widespread concept used by scholars, media professionals, and political parties across India. Originally rooted in notions of obligation and reciprocity, it now signifies the exchange of benefits and favours offered to citizens in return for their political support. MN Srinivas was one of the pioneers of the discipline of Sociology in India.
Two: This flag represents four linguistically related ‘nations’—which together form a larger ethnic group. Identify the recent shoutout this group received at a global awards ceremony.
Answer: Lily Gladstone’s Golden Globe Acceptance speech
Lily Gladstone made history as the first indigenous actor to win the Best Actress Globe for her role in Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon'. In her acceptance speech, she appropriately started by speaking in the Blackfeet language. Blackfoot is the Algonquian language spoken by four Blackfoot nations. You can check out Lily’s full speech here.
Three: The statuette shown below is handed to winners of a national award—who also receive Rs 1.5 million (15 lakh) as reward. This award has four categories: land, water, air, and adventure. Name the pioneer this award is named after.
Answer: Tenzing Norgay
The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards, presented annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports aim to acknowledge individuals' accomplishments in the realm of adventure. The awards serve as a means to inspire the qualities of endurance, risk-taking, collaborative teamwork. Tenzing Norgay was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer who in 1953—along with Edmund Hillary of New Zealand—became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
And the winners are…
Here are the top five scorers for the fourth week of January. Congratulations!
