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 winners for the month of November.
One: Identify the business honcho making a ceremonial first move below—at the final of a global championship. For bonus points: Which exclusive club of achievers did he join less than two months ago? (5+5)
Two: Connect these former visual identities to name the brand that once soared with wings and later leaped with grace—and is now the talk of the town.
Three: This expanded detail is from a 19th-century French painting, named after the visible gesture. Name the location of these excited spectators—and the name of the gesture—which is also the title of this painting. (5+5)
About last week’s quiz…
Here are the answers to the previous edition of the splainer quiz:
One: The traditional Indian motif below served as the inspiration for the visual identity of a recent global event. Name the event and the motif? Hint: Focus on the colour scheme to answer the first part of the question. (5+5)
Answer: COP29 Baku and Buta or Paisley
The logo for COP29 or the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan (11–22 November) represents the buta motif, symbolizing the harmony between humanity and nature. Narmin Jarchalova, Chair of the COP29 Operating Company and COO described the logo’s layered meaning, stating, “that the he buta, combined with leaves and water droplets, underscores the value of natural resources and highlights both vulnerability and resilience.”
Two: Are you intelligent enough to work out the ‘artificial’ connection among these elements? Hint: think poetry.
a) Syllable(s) is the key
b) The Bard’s go-to verse style
c) Singular noun of this art form; also meaning ‘work’
Answer: Three models of Claude 3
The three elements are Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus.
Earlier this year, Claude LLMs developed by Anthropic released three state-of-the-art models in ascending order of capability: Claude 3 Haiku, Claude 3 Sonnet, and Claude 3 Opus. Listen to Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic talking about the poetic origins of these models.
Three: Look at the winners flexing their championship belts after decimating the opponents with well-aimed swings. What is their ‘safe’ combat weapon?
Answer: Pillows
The Pillow Fight Championship (PFC) is the world’s first professional league for pillow fighting, offering safe, fast-paced, and family-friendly competition. PFC combines unique rules with specially designed combat pillows, making it accessible to everyone. The league features athletes from diverse backgrounds, including MMA fighters, NCAA athletes, and UFC veterans, providing an exciting alternative to traditional combat sports. Check out some of the bouts here before you sign up with your sleeping pillow.
And the super quizzer for November is…
Editor’s note: We didn’t use a lucky draw for the monthly winners this time as the scores had a straightforward winner.
Here is the leaderboard at the end of November. Congratulations to the lucky three for acing the splainer quiz! We will be emailing you soon with details of your prize—a quarterly splainer sub!
Here are the top three scorers for the month of November. Congratulations!
