Mar 22

Given below are the prelims questions/answers  from a general quiz we conducted in amdocs.

“A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is leaning against the headboard smoking a cigarette, with a satisfied smile on its face. The egg looking a bit pissed off grabs the sheet and rolls over”.  This short story supposedly answers which famous question? Which came first: The chicken or the egg

Whose autobiography is “Slum girl Dreaming: My journey to the stars”? Rubina Ali

MTDC website’s homepage at www.maharashtratourism.gov.in has two language options to choose from. One is English. What is the other? For some strange reason, Japanese

Sampooran Singh Kalra and A.S.Dileep Kumar brought fame to India on February 22, 2009. Who are they and what did they achieve? Gulzar is the pen-name of Sampooran & A.S.Dileep Kumar is Rahman..they won Oscars

The European system (which is followed in India too) of labeling what item uses a degree scale from “H” (for hardness) to “B” (for blackness), as well as “F” (for fine point)?  Pencils

Parle Agro’s “Kaccha Mango Bite” candy changed their tagline to “Kacche Aam Ki Copy” It was originally “Kacche Aam Ka ____”. Fill in the blank. Xerox. A case was filed for use of the trademark Xerox, so it was changed to “copy”

Karan Johar is the creative consultant and brand ambassador of which TV channel? NDTV Imagine

The Texas Poker starting hand combination consisting of an Ace and a King is said to ‘look good, but hardly ever wins’. It is named after a sportsperson. Who?  Anna Kournikova

Specifications for what (related to Cricket)? Overall length – 10.95cm, Length of barrel – 5.40cm, Longer spigot – 3.49cm, Shorter spigot – 2.06cm.  Bails

______ _______ is an autism spectrum disorder, and people with it therefore show significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. Fill in the Blanks. Asperger Syndrome (My name is Khan)

If it is ‘pavement’ in British English, what is it in American English? Sidewalk

It’s not a cola. It’s not a soft drink. It’s not an alcoholic drink. It is ____. Fill in the blank.  Cloud 9 Energy Drink

Mallanaga Vatsyayana lived between the 4th and 6th century AD and is believed to be the author of which influential text that is still in print around the world today? Kamasutra

This movie’s website didn’t give any details on the story line of the film. The site refreshes itself every fifteen minutes & irrespective of whichever section of the website you are on, it comes back to the home page after fifteen minutes. Which movie’s website? Gajini

In India, what is calculated on the basis of 82.5°E longitude, which is just west of the town of Mirzapur, near Allahabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh? IST

The medical term for this is ‘veisalgia’. Its original meaning was ‘unfinished work’ but now it means “delayed X induced headache”. So how do we better know veisalgia as? Hangover. X-Alcohol

_____, a subsidiary of Videocon group, renamed as Videocon telecommunication Ltd, has recently launched GSM mobile services in India. Fill in the blank. Datacom

What comes from the concept that “If one has six standard deviations between the process mean and the nearest specification limit practically no items will fail to meet specifications”? Six Sigma 

Which board game did Cuba, USSR and other Soviet bloc countries ban because they thought it would corrupt the public with notions of a free market economy?  Monopoly

This event, which happens once in a blue moon, last happened on New Year’s Eve i.e. Jan 31st 2009. India was one of the few lucky countries to witness this. What event? Blue Moon, second full moon of the month

Through which continent do the Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn and the Equator all pass? Africa

Don Bradman would have turned 100 on August 27th, 2008. However a few of his contemporaries decided to celebrate at a luncheon on the 4th of August 2008 at City Tattersalls Club in Pitt treet, Sydney. Why was this particular date chosen? Mathematically, 4th August was his 99.94th bday (Don’s average was 99.94)

“The most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: Management”. What do we better know this principle as? Dilbert Princicple

In America, there was a general perception growing that everything in this world is sold, even love. Then there was this campaign by McCann Erikson, which kind of proved this wrong. What campaign/punch line? Mastercard. There are few things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s mastercard

Legend has it that sage Manu stopped in _______ to recreate human life after a great flood had deluged the world. This place, also known as the India’s Valley of the Gods, has the only temple for Manu in India. Which place? Manali

A.R.Rahman had rendered the music for an ad in which Lisa Ray captivated the viewers dressed in a X. Identify the product. garden Sarees

Which term in the British language is derived from the fact that low grade novels were once printed on cheap paper? Pulp Fiction

Which Goddess, whose name is repeatedly recited during a Hindu Yajna, is the wife of Agni? Swaha

1. “A

written by Rajaram S

Mar 02

Recently, i conducted the annual quiz for the Orchid School in Baner, Pune. It was for students from standards 5,6 and 7. There was a written prelim (separate papers for each standard) and then the top students from each house in each standard were chosen for the on-stage final. Given below are the questions and answers from the prelims.

For Standard 5:

1.    The _____ family is the largest family of flowering plants. The number of ______ species equals about four times the number of mammal species, or more than twice the number of bird species. Fill in the Blank. Orchid

 

2.    This city, whose name is said to have been derived from Sanskrit for “City of Virtue” (Punya Nagari) is the eight largest in India and is situated around 550 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau. Which city? Pune

 

3.    After the invention of telephones in 1876,     Thomas Alva Edison suggested the word ______ to start a conversation. What word? Hello

 

4.    Watermelons contain 92% ____ by weight. Fill in the blank. Water

 

5.    *Which is the planet closest to the sun in the Solar System? Mercury

 

6.    How many months of the year have 31 days? 7

 

7.    *Today (January 13th) is the birthday of the first Indian to travel in Space. Who? Rakesh Sharma

 

8.    According to the nursery rhyme, where did Mary’s lamb follow her to? School

 

9.    The second line of a very famous song is “Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh”. What is the first line? Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way

 

10.  Sony: Play station :: Microsoft :______? Xbox

 

11.  What is India’s internet country domain code? .in

12.  The Indian version of “Are you smarter than a 5th grader” – Kya Aap Panchvi Pass se tez Hai, was hosted by? Shah Rukh Khan

 

13.  You have to press Ctrl-Alt-___ to lock a computer. Which is third key to press? Del

 

14.  This hill station is around 64 km from Pune and is also called the “Chikki” capital of India, as there are a lot of local outlets there manufacturing this sweet. Which place? Lonavala

 

15.  At which popular religious destination in India can you find Ram Jhula and Lakshman Jhula? Rishikesh

 

16.  *Which Indian state literally means ‘The abode of clouds’? Meghalaya

 

17.  What does the ‘C’ stand for in CBI, the premier intelligence agency of India? Central

 

18.  Which car company makes the model called “Xylo”? Mahindra & Mahindra/Mahindra

 

19.  Which Asian country’s name comes from the Sanskrit for “Lion city”? Singapore

 

20.  In Tennis, what is the name given to a serve in which the opponent doesn’t manage to touch the ball? Ace

For standard 6:

1.    The _____ family is the largest family of flowering plants. The number of ______ species equals about four times the number of mammal species, or more than twice the number of bird species. Fill in the Blank. Orchid

 

2.    This city was once known as Heptanesia i.e. a cluster of seven islands. Six of the seven islands are Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli and Old Woman’s Island. Which city? Mumbai/Bombay

 

3.    What is the internet country domain code of India? .in

 

4.    This flag of our neighbor has a red disc, which represents the sun rise, on top of a green background which represents the greenery of the country, its vitality and youthfulness. Which country? Bangladesh

 

5.    *Today (January 13th) is the birthday of the first Indian to travel in Space. Who? Rakesh Sharma

 

6.    Sony: Play Station :: Microsoft :______? Xbox

 

7.    Expand ISRO. Indian Space Research Organisation

 

8.    What term is used to describe perfect eyesight of people (primarily used in USA)? It is also the name of a version of cricket. 20/20

 

9.    You have to press Ctrl-Alt-___ to lock a computer. Which is third key to press? Del

 

10.  Queuing is the only English word to have five ______ one after the other. Fill in the blank. Vowels

 

11.  What is the Japanese art of ornamental flower arrangement called?  Ikebana

 

12.  Manoj Kumar and Shahbaz Tumbi are two junior cricketers from St Peter’s High School in Andhra Pradesh, who set the world record for the highest partnership in any form of cricket with an unbeaten 721 run partnership. Which famous Mumbai pair’s 664 run record did they break? Sachin – Kambli

 

13.  Which English word is derived from the Greek word scholeio? School

 

14.  Whom/What did Jim Corbett describe as ‘a large hearted gentleman with boundless courage’? Tiger

 

15.  Which country would appear first in the list of alphabetically arranged country names? Afghanistan

 

16.  Around 1830, what British naturalist developed the theory of natural selection by studying animals on the Galapagos Islands? Charles Darwin

 

17.  How many months of the year have 31 days? 7

 

18.  The Hindi word for “a delicacy” or “to lick” is a very popular snack variety in India. What? Chaat

 

19.  *For which animal is the Kaziranga national Park in Assam most famous for? One-horned Rhinocerous/Rhinocerous/Rhino

 

20.  Which is the planet closest to the sun in the Solar System? Mercury

 

21.  How many stars are there in our Solar System? 1 (The SUN)

 

22.  The second line of a very famous song is “Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh”. What is the first line? Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way

 

23.  What is nicknamed as ‘People’s car’? Tata Nano

 

24.  *One of the most famous comets, it returns every 75 to 76 years and will return in 2061. Which one? Halley’s comet

 

25.  Into which sea does the River Jordan in Israel flow? Dead Sea

 

26.  *What does the V stand for in DVD? Versatile

 

27.  This hill station is around 64 km from Pune and is also called the “Chikki” capital of India, as there are a lot of local outlets there manufacturing this sweet. Which place? Lonavala

 

28.  Americans call it a faucet. What do we call it in India? Tap

 

29.  What does the ‘C’ stand for in CBI, the premier intelligence agency of India? Central

 

30.  Which car company makes the model called “Xylo”? Mahindra & Mahindra/Mahindra

 

For Standard 7:

1.    The _____ family is the largest family of flowering plants. The number of ______ species equals about four times the number of mammal species, or more than twice the number of bird species. Fill in the Blank. Orchid

 

2.    *Her name was Agnesë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu. In 1929, she came to India to begin her work among India’s poorest and sick people. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata in 1950 and also won the Nobel peace prize in 1979. How do we better know her as? Mother Teresa

 

3.    This city was once known as Heptanesia i.e. a cluster of seven islands. Six of the seven islands are Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli and Old Woman’s Island. Which city? Mumbai/Bombay

 

4.    This fort is located roughly 30 kms from Pune. It is situated on a hill rising 800 metres above the surrounding countryside. Perched on an isolated cliff of the Bhuleswar range of the Sahyadri Mountains, its height above sea-level is 1350 metres. The fort has two gates – the Kalyan Darwaza in the south-east and the Pune Darwaza in the north-east. Which fort? Sinhagad Fort

 

5.    This flag of our neighbor has a red disc, which represents the sun rise, on top of a green background which represents the greenery of the country, its vitality and youthfulness. Which country? Bangladesh

 

6.    *Today (January 13th) is the birthday of the first Indian to travel in Space. Who? Rakesh Sharma

 

7.    Sony: Play Station :: Microsoft :______? Xbox

 

8.    Expand ISRO. Indian Space Research Organisation

 

9.    What term is used to describe perfect eyesight of people (primarily used in USA)? It is also the name of a version of cricket. 20/20

 

10.  What is the slogan of Doordarshan? Satyam Shivam Sundaram

 

11.  Queuing is the only English word to have five ______ one after the other. Fill in the blank. Vowels

 

12.  What is the Japanese art of ornamental flower arrangement called?  Ikebana

 

13.  Manoj Kumar and Shahbaz Tumbi are two junior cricketers from St Peter’s High School in Andhra Pradesh, who set the world record for the highest partnership in any form of cricket with an unbeaten 721 run partnership. Which famous Mumbai duo’s 664 run record did they break? Sachin – Kambli

 

14.  Which English word is derived from the Greek word scholeio? School

 

15.  Whom/What did Jim Corbett describe as ‘a large hearted gentleman with boundless courage’? Tiger

 

16.  Which country would appear first in the list of alphabetically arranged country names? Afghanistan

 

17.  *Around 1830, which British naturalist developed the theory of natural selection by studying animals on the Galapagos Islands? Charles Darwin

 

18.  The Hindi word for “a delicacy” or “to lick” is a very popular snack variety in India. What? Chaat

 

19.  For which animal is the Kaziranga national Park in Assam most famous for? One-horned Rhinocerous/Rhinocerous/Rhino

 

20.  *Which is the last planet in the Solar System? Neptune

 

21.  Which is the biggest 2 digit prime number? 97

 

22.  What is the common name for Sodium Chloride? Salt

 

23.  The second line of a very famous song is “Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh”. What is the first line? Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way

 

24.  What is nicknamed as ‘People’s car’? Tata Nano

 

25.  The branches of which tree appear on the United Nations Flag? Olive

 

26.  One of the most famous comets, it returns every 75 to 76 years and will return in 2061. Which one? Halley’s comet

 

27.  How is 500 displayed in Roman numerals? DLV

 

28.  Into which sea does the River Jordan in Israel flow? Dead Sea

 

29.  What does the V stand for in DVD? Versatile

 

30.  This hill station is around 64 km from Pune and is also called the “Chikki” capital of India, as there are a lot of local outlets there manufacturing this sweet. Which place? Lonavala

 

 

Choose the correct answer from the choices given

 

31. Which planet has a moon called Titan?

A) Saturn B) Jupiter C) Uranus D) Mars

 

32. *Which is the fastest bird?     

A) Pigeon B) Hummingbird C) Peregrine falcon D) Swift

 

33. Which is the longest river in the world?

A) Nile B) Amazon C) Danube D) Mutha River, Pune

 

34. What is the body’s largest organ?

      A) Heart  B) Skin  C)   Large Intestine  D) Stomach

 

35. *The year 1606 is in which century?

A) 15th century  B) 16th century C) 17th century D) 1600th century

 

 

written by Rajaram S

Nov 26

Around 20-30 of us had been on a day-long picnic to Splendour Country Club near the Khadakvasala dam. We just lazed around in the pool and spent the rest of the time eating lunch and snacks! In the middle of all this, i conducted a tamil/chennai/madras-based quiz. Before some passionate quizzer gets wild, this quiz was for non-quizzing junta and all the questions in this quiz were accumulated over a period of a week by googling and also by searching through my massive quiz archives for keywords like Tamil, Chennai, Madras etc.

  • Gopalan Trophy (Cricket) is played between Tamil Nadu and ? Srilanka
  • The nagarathars are a chettiar community that originated in kaveripoompattinam under the chola kingdom of india. Which present day famous politician is from this community? P Chidambaram
  • Born Arulmozhivarman, he went on to conquer large parts of South India and went on to be called ___, the king of Kings. Raja Raja Chozhan
  • This place gets its name from the tamil for “Place of coconut trees” due to the coconut groves that once existed there. Which area/ locality in chennai? Teynampet – from “tennam-pettai”
  • Why is Mount Road named so? Because it was the road leading to St.Thomas Mount
  • Armoured Vehicles and Ammunition Depot of India –Better known as ? Avadi
  • This place on the outskirts of Chennai is a delta formed from the deposition of sediment carried by river Coovam. Aminjakarai from Amaindha Karai
  • This place in Chennai is named so because fierce battles have been fought here during Pallava times. Porur
  • What did Gandhiji establish in Chennai in 1918 recognising the importance of the whole nation speaking one language? Hindi Prachar Sabha
  • Which Film Maker’s company is called Madras Talkies? Mani Rathnam
  • Which Chennai Resident has reached the semifinals of Wimbledon Tennis Championship? Ramanathan Krishnan
  • This place, surprisingly, has its own pin code. 600036. Which place? IIT Madras
  • Name the erstwhile group of cinema theatres named after precious stones? Blue Diamond, Sapphire and Emerald
  • There was a memorial for Lord Cornwallis situated at the junction of Mount Road and this road. This road is named after the English word for “A monument erected in honourof a dead person whose remains lie elsewhere”. Cenotaph Road
  • In January 2009, Mylapore festival was organised. Many traditional games were played during this festival. Which was the most popular in terms of number of participants? Pallankuzhi
  • He was the founder of the British Empire in India. He got married in a church inside this fort. In fact, his marriage certificate is still kept in the museum inside this fort. Which fort and who? Fort St.Georgeand Robert Clive
  • Auto Shankar, a notorious serial killer claimed that he used the same technique as used in a famous tamilmovie. Which movie? Nooravathu Naal
  • Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, daughter in law of Stalin has started a magazine called Inbox 1305. What is the significance of the number 1305? Latitude of Chennai
  • There was a significant change in the credits of Dasavatharam when it was released in the US. It is related to the producer. What is it? Oscar Films was changed to AascarFilms due to a law suit by Oscars –Academy Awards of USA
  • Over the span of 16 years (1975 to 1991), the actress has played the actor’s wife, sister, mother-in-law and mother. Name the actor, actress and at least one of the movies each of those relationships was portrayed in. The actor is Rajnikanth and the actress is Srividya. The two played husband & wife in Aboorva Raagangal, brother & sister in Manidhan, mother-in-law & son-in-law in Maappillai and mother & son in Thalapathi.
  • There is a unique similarity between a song each from Kaathirukka Neramillai, Rang De Basanti and Varanam Ayiram. What is the ‘relationship’ between the three songs?  The songs are: Yehmachimachi (Kathirukka neramillai), Hey saala (RDB) and Machi machi (Varanamayiram)
  • Which Tamil word, meaning “to avoid doing work” gets its origins from the British Army where retired officials were called so? OB (adikkaradhu)…gets its origin from OB , which stood for “Off Beat” in the British Army
  • Where in Chennai would you have a Hindu shrine, a Buddhist shrine and a church in one place? The Theosophical Society
  • “Steps to the Highest Place” is a rough translation of which famous board game? Snakes and Ladders (Parama Padam)
  • Which restaurant, started by TiruloknathGupta, opened its first outlet in Triplicanein 1948? Rathna Cafe
  • In which pub in Chennai would the British Prime Minister feel at home?  10 Downing Street
  • A Maratha ruler of Tanjore made which dish with tamarind curry and lentils and named it after his cousin? Sambhar. The origins of this dish is uncertain though legends has it that it originated in the kitchen of Thanjavur Marathas ruler Shahuji, during the 18th Century. It is believed that Shahji had a liking for a dish called amti which had kokum as one of its main ingredients. In one particular season, the kokum which was imported from the Maratha homeland ran out of supply and someone suggested him that the locals used tamarind pulp for sourness. Shahji experimented the dish with the tuvar dal, vegetables, spices and the tamarind pulp served his coterie and his cousin, Sambhaji who was visiting him. The court liked the dish and named it sambhar after the guest of the day, Sambhaji.
  • The British called this dish string hoppers. How do we know them? Idiyappam
  • Earlier, servicemen ate meat to increase their stamina. What was the common name for hotels that served non-veg food? Military Hotesl
  • Which popular Chennai dish is rumoured to have got its name from its position in the restaurant’s menu card? Chicken 65. It was the 65th item on Hotel Buhari’s menu
  • What is the tamil version of “Jack of all arts”? Aalinaal Alaguraja
  • If a person is stopped after bowling just 3 balls in an over, he is said to have bowled a ____ over. Baby
  • While batting, it denotes a defensive stroke with a low or zero scoring potential. What word? Dokku
  • Term for playing the last ball in the previous over and taking 1 run so that he can play the the next over’s first ball too. Overgajee
  • Which place started as a joint venture between TIDCO and ELCOT and also got its name from the venture? TIDEL Park
  • How many oil lamps were traditionally lit at the Nawab of  Wallajah’s Assembly Hall during Muharram? A thousand lights!
  • In Tamil, this delicacy literally means ‘pepper water’. It is also a favourite in England. What dish? Mulligawtany Soup
  • Which Chennai institution, established in 1936, literally means ‘a holy place of arts’? kalakshetra
  • Which locality gets its name from the fact that many of the city’s dhobighatsused to be located here? Washermanpet
  • It was an old airfield, belonging to the Indian Air Force—an unused WWII air strip with a T-Shaped layout with long straights. What new use was found for it? Sholavaram Race Track
  • What statue on Marina beach is reminiscent of a famous WWII photograph of the American Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima? The Triumph of Labour
  • The government of the former Soviet Union released a postage stamp to honourwhich actress for her acting and dancing skills? Padmini

I have for 40 more questions. Those will updated tomorrow!

written by Rajaram S

Oct 28

In case you haven’t yet checked out, i had posted 19 puzzles here. Given below are the answers to all the puzzles.

PUZZLE 1:  Head of the Pack.

Let me tell you a thing or two about solving puzzles…

–> “Head of the Pack”, “Capitals”, “Capitalize”, “Capitalism” have been given to hint at capitals. If you look at the first letter (in Capital) of all sentences, they spell out LIMASSOL

PUZZLE 2:  Piled up in Egypt

The boxes are arranged such that the number inside a box is equal to the sum of the numbers of the two boxes supporting it (i.e. the two boxes below it). No number is repeated and all numbers are greater than zero. What is the number in the topmost box?

–> Straight-forward mathematical puzzle. Almost everyone who replied got this one right. The answer is 54.

PUZZLE 3: A puzzle on my table!

After seeing this puzzle kept on the table, even Dr.Watson would have been tempted to say, “It’s elementary, my dear!” 10 POINTS

99, 15, 53, 8, 11, 32

—> Someone even asked, “On whose table should i get the puzzle?” :-)

The words table, elementary have all been added to hint at the periodic table. Once you list the elements whose atomic numbers have been given above, you get EsPIONaGe.

PUZZLE 4: STR-ANG-E OR-GANI-SMS

Given below is an empty crossword. You have to fit the following words into the grid. Then the letters in the colored cells will give you the answer. 10 POINTS

Words: 282, 2253***, 28669, 78779, 5262

–> This one proved to the craziest one of the lot. If you look at the strange title, you should notice SMS at the end. Also, the before the numbers you find “Words:”. This should tell you that the numbers have to be converted to words through the intelligent mode in SMS and then inserted into the grid. The *** doesnt make any sense if you try to insert numbers into the grid.

This works on only phones of Nikoa and some other models. Even some Nokia models give a different word for the second one because of a different dictionary. But, you could have noticed the theme of baby animals in all the words. We have considered many variations as answers based on the explanations given.

the words (after trying them in SMS) are cub, calf, bunny, puppy and lamb. Once you insert them, the higlighted letters spell out CLUB.

PUZZLE 5: Counting the Extras

Corfu  Either  Viefi Nerves Open Sexi Wort

–> All the above words are expansions to numbers i.e. four +’c', three + ‘i’ and so on for numbers 1 to 7. the extra letters you get are c,i,i,r,p,e,r. You can easily anagram them to pricier. But, the logical step intended was to sort the numbers from 1 to 7 and you would have automatically got pricier rather then trying to find the anagram

PUZZLE 6: TOUR OF LIMASSOL

Can you find the password from the collage below? Thanks to Harish Mayavel and Anith Kumar for modeling for this puzzle. Btw, both are right-handed and hence, their right hands take priority over their left. 
–> You knew you had to somehow get a word. So, you should have guessed that it is something to do with the letters appearing in each photo. So, the natural way to proceed is to take the nth letter (n – number shown on the hands) from the letters in the same picture.
But, you would have a problem with the picture in (2.3) where there are no letters. Then, you should guess that the letters are taken from “other” pictures as shown by the direction of the hands.
So, this is what you do for the first picture (1,1). The right hand points in South-east direction, i.e. towards picture (2,2) and the number on the fingers is 3. So, u take the 3rd letter from MOTORS i.e. T. Then for the left hand (as it is given that the right hand takes priority over the left) points down showing 1 finger. So, you take the 1st letter from HOMEELE i.e. H.
The last two pictures have harish and anith pointing towards the camera. For these gestures, you have to take letters from the same picture. So, if you construct the letters, you get THE WORD IS MOOD.
Some people, ignored the left hand and got TEORISMOD, which conincedentally anagrams to a proper word MOTORISED. But, they get only half points as the left hand in the puzzle then doesnt serve any purpose!
Btw, thanks to the few who solved the puzzle. After all the time spent on this puzzle, it would have been disheartening if no one had solved it!

PUZZLE 7: MILITARY TALK

Do you know the NATO phonetic alphabet? If not, search it up on the net. In the passage below, the NATO phonetic code words of all letters of the alphabet (a to z) but one have been encoded. Find the one alphabet which has been omitted. To get you started, I shall give an example: Alpha (for letter A) has been encoded as one of the “Two Greeks”. 20 POINTS

–> Interesting puzzle, but easy. Kilo is the answer. Sierra could have been the problem, but the first result for Sierra on google brings up a s/w company!

PUZZLE 8: PRIME-TIME PUZZLE

All the numbers in the table below can be expressed as a product of some primes. Do the prime factorization for each of them (There are lot of online resources to do this) and then look for some pattern to find the 8-letter answer! 20 POINTS

—> if you do the prime factorization for all the numbers, you will find that all of them are a combination of 2/3/5/7/11/13/17/19 – 8 prime numbers and you need a 8-letters answer.

So, make a 3*5 grid, mark the positions where each prime number occurs and you will see shapes of letters which spell out DISPATCH.

PUZZLE 9: Just another day in Cyprus

This is how u solve this

- List down all combinations which a product of 36.

- then u check for their sums.

If there was a sum which was unique in the list, then guy doesnt need the third clue. So, you should look for duplicate sums.

so you get the sum of 13 for 661 and 922.

Then she says “my eldest” – the rest of the info is crap :-)

since she says eldest, that means that the eldest is unique. So the answer is 922.

PUZZLE 10: BILINGUALLY SPEAKING!

–> The second part of the puzzle can be found in the Alassia Menu Sheet. Thanks to Mr.Zenon from Alassia for this.

The last line of the puzzle text says “Russia – 1, England – 0″. So, if you substitute 1 for russian characters and 0 for english characters, you get numbers which are the ascii values for the alphabets.Converted into alphabets, you get VERY BORING.

PUZZLE 11: STUCK IN JAIL

Samuel is stuck inside a jail in Libya. He is full of remorse and has sent you the secret note below. What does it say?

–> As the text in bold hints, it is morese code i.e. dots and dashes.

So, the flags convert to -, .-, -,-,—,— which stands for TATTOO

PUZZLE 12: WATCH THE CHANGE!

–> Easy puzzle, but you have string ur eyes bit :-)

As it says “Better switch your brain to mode X OR you will never find the answer”

You have to do a XOR between individual frames, considering an on bulb as 1 and an off one as 0.

Answer is ATTUNED

PUZZLE 13: A Visit to Kykkos Monastery

–> Easy one, as you just have to trace on paper the directions which give you the word MUST. Sriram Bhattaru had taken the pain of drawing this and sending it across!

must

PUZZLE 14: The search for Cypriot villages

–> Few suggested that i should not have given the names of the villages to be found! Then, it would have been very tough. How many of us can recognise Cypriot village names ?

Once you get all the villages, the rest of the letters read SORT VILLAGE DESC THIRD FROM LAST.

many got this and in spite of this, got wrong answers. The answer is ASKAS.

PUZZLE 15: GRAFFITTI OR GRAPH?

Plot the points and you will get the shape of letters. Many got HOBBIY which they thought was HOBBY, but if u reshape the last letter, you get a T  which leads to HOBBIT.

PUZZLE 16: A TIGHT FIT

The words you get are TOT,IRE,FADE,ORE,EAR,FOE,TIARA,ORDER,TEE

PUZZLE 17: FORM YOUR OWN QUESTION

If you work from the last set, it will be much easier, as you have the ? after BUM.

So, you get What weapon is was also a beatles album?

The answer i expected as REVOLVER, but i guess many just did a google search for beatles weapon and got beatle’s secret weapon in EMI case or something like that.

PUZZLE 18: READING BETWEEN THE WORDS

–> A straightforward one . Few even found RSA (Republic of South Africa)

The answers are : SPAIN/LATVIA, China, mali, Nepal, Chad, Niger, Lesotho and Ghana

PUZZLE 19: GOING TO THE MOVIES

1) Matchstick men – you match the stickmen!

2) Big trouble in Little china

3) Wizard of Oz, got something about magician in austria, but a rebus never talks about the content of a movie. You are not expected to know about the movie, just derive the name from the rebus

4) boron – fifth element

5) Something about mary

6) In good Company – co. is company

7) 21 grams – converted into ounces!

8) the greek symbol for PSI, so it becomes psycho

9) courageous – brave so, braveheart

10 ) dispute – argument – fight , so Fight Club

11) i do … 4 weddings and a funeral

12) COLT – Top Gun (colt, uzi, winchester – types of guns)

13) Dijons — Indiana jones and the last crusade – jones and the last crew said – the whole thing is in Diana.

14) the toughest one and the controversial one :-) ok, we have rows and columns ..we have jesus ..so it becomes Rows + Mary’s baby – Rosemary’s baby!

Hope you enjoyed the puzzles!

written by Rajaram S

Sep 15

Our team went on a project event to an adventure resort two weeks back. We had some time between the evening activities and dinner, so i organised a mini scavenger hunt with items that can be obtained within the resort (Note: The resort is as remote as a place can be, in the midst of the western Ghats)

Rules:
Do not do anything illegal. Do not hurt yourself doing any of the things below. Do not do anyting which may damage something on HANS premises.
Teams can share items. E.g. If 1 red t-shirt and 1 blue t-shirt are required and 1 team has 2 red t-shirts and another team 2 blue t-shirts, they can strike a deal and xchange them. But, at the time of presentation, no items can be shared between teams.
Plan and work on these items. Some of them can be obtained by only one team, so act fast!
Where ever you have been asked to take photos of the entire team, one team member can be left out to actualy take the photo.
Each entry below is called a task irespective of whether it requires you to get some item, take some photo or do some activity.

10 diffrent types of leaves
Pencil (< 5 cm) (not broken, but sharpened)
a girl (real live human) (There was another group of 4 (2 guys and 2 girls) at the resort. Two teams tracked them down and made deals with them so that they would appear for their teams. To my surprise, the other two teams also managed to find girls, actually old ladies! They went to the manager’s house, explained the event and requested the ladies living/working there to make an appearance!)
Live insect (not an ant)
42 USD or 33 Euro or Rs. 1412.20 (All the teams managed to get the 20 paise coin – from the people working at the resort)

Company ID of all team members
3 mobile phones – 1 Nokia, 1 Samsung and 1 Sony Ericsson
2 mobile fones of the same kind (Brand/Model/Colour)
a chair
a comb
a formal shirt neatly folded
God
Empty toothpaste tube (The next morning, we had a tough time finding enough toothpaste for the entire grp :-) )
Photo of the Entire team under a blanket with only the heads and feet showing outside
An empty PET bottle of Fanta
Get  the resort’s manager’s autograph here. Hurry, he will sign for only one team
a potato
an onion
Photo of the entire team making a fool of themselves
Photo of the entire team attempting to murder a GL/PM (I am invincible!)
Film a MMS Scandal on your mobile phone (This was amazing. Unfortunately, all the teams immediately deleted the videos as soon as they showed it to me, or at least the stars of the videos think so!)
Write my surname (proper spelling)
How many spelling mistakes (gramatical errors not to be included) are there in this document (includes titles, content etc).Highlight them on this sheet
A “Poster used in our team” Poster has been hidden somewhere. Hint: it is located within 10 metres of a water body. Hurry, there is only one!
To make sure no team scores zero!! What is the total number of tasks in this scavenger hunt? (Unfortunately, o one noticed that i had repeated a number in the list)

written by Rajaram S