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 Monday. 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 499 in value—so it’s pretty darn good:)
Rule to note: We will pick winners each month using a lucky draw.
The answers: to the previous week’s quiz are at the bottom—as are the weekly winners.
One: Named after its colour, which accolade acknowledges three weeks of gruelling persistence? Name the sporting event, and what achievement this accolade honours (no need to identify the man in pic)? (5+5)
Two: Think laterally and work out a historic achievement that may become a reality this year. Each image offers a clue to a fictional work that depicts this event. (the list is non-exhaustive).
(a) Careful, don’t let it fall
(b) A character from an ongoing sitcom
(c) Ignore the warning and gaze skywards.
Three: For decades, the item in the top image was associated with an annual presentation. What item disrupted the tradition in 2019? This too was replaced in later years by the digital device at the bottom. Hint: Even though the symbols have changed, the announcements continue evoking the same bitter-sweet emotions—more bitter than sweet.
About last week’s quiz…
Here are the answers to the previous edition of the splainer quiz:
One: In this image, the judge is seen signalling a violation. Identify this athletic event—which demands precise steps. Its revised format debuts at the Paris 2024 edition.
Answer: Racewalking
During the Olympics, the racewalkers and their judges face intense scrutiny. Athletes must keep one foot in contact with the ground at all times as visible to the human eye, which is the critical part. They also must keep their leading leg straight. Judges use paddles to signal violations: (~) for loss of contact and (<) for a bent knee. Three warnings from different judges, including the chief judge, result in disqualification, indicated by a red paddle. At Paris 2024, the event will feature a 20km race for both men and women and a 35km mixed team relay, replacing the men's 50km walk.
Two: What connects the athletes below (non-exhaustive list):
(a) No, that’s not Farhan Akhtar
(b) Best friends with Yelena Produnova
(c) Making her third consecutive appearance at the Olympics in Paris
Answer: Fourth place finishes at Olympics
India’s history of narrowly missing out on top honours at the Olympics dates back to 1956 in Melbourne where the football team finished fourth. In the 400m final, at the 1960 Rome Olympics, the 'Flying Sikh' Milkha Singh missed out by just 1/10th of a second after glancing at his rivals. Gymnast Dipa Karmakar made history as the first Indian woman to compete at the Olympics. In the final of the women's vault event, she missed the bronze medal by just 0.150 points. Golfer Aditi Ashok was in medal contention until the 17th hole at the Tokyo Olympics but slipped to finish fourth. She finished 41st at Rio 2016. You can read about the other near-misses here.
Three: The clip of an Olympic opening ceremony features a version of an evergreen classic from the ‘60s. Specify the Olympic edition (year/place) and identify the supermodel strutting down the ramp—reimagined as the subject of the song. (5+5)
Answer: 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and Gisele Bundchen
Ans. In the 1960s, Brazil introduced bossa nova, a cooler and mellower style of samba. The song ‘The Girl from Ipanema’, inspired by a real girl seen on Rio's beach, was composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes in 1962. So, when the games came to Rio, Jobim’s grandson, Daniel Jobim, performed the song on piano during the Olympic ceremony with the Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen doing the catwalk. This led to the song climbing 654% to 3,000 downloads during that week in August 2016. You can enjoy the full video here.
And the winners are…
Here are the top five scorers for the fourth week of July. Congratulations!
