UTPT 2018 Lit-Ent Quiz Finals

Contributors
Pranave Nanda
Shankrith Natarajan
Shreyas Srinath
Kavin Kumar
Sriram G
Arun Nair

Breakdown
 Two dries rounds
 Two themed rounds
 One special round
Rules will be given at the start of each round.

Rules
• 10 questions, clockwise.
• Bounce: +10/0
• Pounce: +10/-5
• QM’s decision is final.

Q1.
Eureeka's Castle is a children's television series
which aired on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block.
The program featured various puppet
characters (similar to the ones on Sesame
Street) such as a sorceress, bat, and dragon
among others, who live in a Giant's wind-up
music box.
The characters and episodes for this show
were developed by X, a popular name in the
genre and among the target audience alike. ID
X.

Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, Y,
& Z is a novel by Peter Kreeft about U.S. President JFK, and authors Y and Z
meeting in Purgatory and engaging in a philosophical discussion on faith. We see
from the three points of view: Kennedy's "modern Christian" view, Y's
"conservative Christian” view, and Z's "Orientalized Christian" view. The
book progresses as Y and JFK discuss Jesus' being God incarnate, to Y and Z
discussing whether or not Jesus was a deity or "just a good person."
1) Identify Y and Z.
2) Due to what fact, that can be worked out from the book's title has the author
specifically included JFK with authors Y and Z?
Cover of the book in the slide to follow.
Q2.

ANSWER
Y: CS Lewis
Z: Aldous Huxley
All 3 died on the same day.

Alex Grey is an American visionary artist, author, teacher, and Vajrayana practitioner.
Grey’s paintings can be described as a blend of sacred, visionary art and postmodern
art. He is best known for his paintings of glowing anatomical human bodies that
incorporate symbols like auras, images that “x-ray” the multiple layers of reality that
are spiritual and scientific in equal measure, revealing his psychedelic, spiritual and
supernatural view of the human race.
What 2001 commercially successful work features his paintings? Pictures to follow.
Q3.

GrokNation is a lifestyle website which caters to women and includes wide-ranging
topics such as religion, popular culture, parenting, and Hollywood. The website's title
was in reference to the classic 1961 sci-fi novel Y-derived from the word ‘grok’, which
means “to fully grasp something in the deepest way possible.”
The person behind the website, says it’s “the place where I share my thoughts about
being an unusual woman because I am an actress and a scientist and a vegan mom,
and everything in between…”, she wrote on the Jewish site kveller.com.
Whose website is this? Also, ID the novel.
Q4.

ANSWER
Mayim Bialik
Stranger in a Strange Land

X is a company known for their products Y, and was founded in Constantinople in the
17th century. Being more than 400 years old, it is one of the oldest companies in the
world.
The first product was created in 1618 by Avedis, an Armenian alchemist who was
looking for a way to turn base metal into gold; he created an alloy combining tin,
copper, and silver into a sheet of metal that could make Y without shattering, thereby
creating such noisemakers that frightened the enemies of the Ottoman Empire.
Avedis was given the name of X by the then Sultan, which is a portmanteau of: Turkish
for being a “maker of the product Y” , and a common suffix used in Armenian last
names.
ID X and Y.
Q5.

Y was a rare perfume used medicinally, that was mentioned in the Bible, and
named for the region X where it was produced.
It has come to signify a universal cure in figurative speech, especially in
literature, where X is the name of a regime that originally began as various
religious extremist groups that believed that America needed to be
'saved' from sin and corruption. ID X.
Q6.

ANSWER
Gilead, featured in The Handmaid’s Tale.

Q7.
Carlito’s Way is a 1975 American crime film starring Al Pacino and Sean Penn in
lead roles.
The plot involves Carlito Brigante (Al Pacino), after serving 5 years of a 30-year
prison sentence, freed on a legal technicality exploited by his close friend and
sleazy lawyer, Dave Kleinfeld (Sean Penn). Besides helping Carlito, he was
heavily addicted to cocaine and eventually made Carlito sever ties with him.
Where would we have seen a more popular depiction of him and the plotline
stated above? Picture follows.

Castle Rock Entertainment is an American film and television production
company founded in 1987 and is a subsidiary of Time Warner's Warner
Bros, and is known for producing the famous sitcom, Seinfeld.
Named after Stephen King’s Maine town, the company produced a 1990
drama film adaptation of a book, that went on to gain a cult following.
The film being produced by the house is apt, in a way. Put funda.
Q8.

Kraftwerk is a band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider.
Widely considered to be innovators and pioneers of electronic music, they were among
the first successful acts to popularize the genre.
Kraftwerk's lyrics dealt with post-war European urban life and technology—traveling by
car and train, using home computers, and the like. A fictional German techno-pop
named after one of Kraftwerk’s albums shown is a parody of them and also have a
strikingly similar album cover to another Kraftwerk album.
Name the parody band, and where would you have more likely seen them?
Q9.

ANSWER
The Big Lebowski
Autobahn

Q10.
This 19th century woodcut created by Edmund Sullivan to illustrate a
poem in The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was used by painter Stanley
Miller for an album cover, whose style then became a signature part of
the band’s iconography. ID the band.

“And when like her, oh ______, you shall pass
Among the Guests Star-scatter'd on the Grass,
And in your joyous errand reach the spot
Where I made One – turn down an empty Glass!”
This is an excerpt from the same translation of the Rubaiyyat.
The blank, meaning a cupbearer in Persian is the name taken by
a famous British author known for his wit and satire.

ANSWER
Band: The Grateful Dead
Author: Saki. (H.H. Monro’s
pen name)

Rules
• Figure out the 10 initials.
• +3 for each correct answer.
• Bonus +5 for all correct.

● Bloomsday is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish
writer JJ, during which the events of his novel U are relived.
● U the latinized form of “Odysseus” is arguably the most famous ork
of JJ who is known for pioneering the “stream of consciousness” type
of literature, another pioneer being VW, who drowned herself by
walking into a river with a pocket full of rocks.
● On the topic of unusual suicides, SP ended her life by putting her
head into an oven.
Get the initials: JJ, U, VW, SP, JL, RR, HM, CD, P,
VH

● An oven. A fireplace. A fire that probably started in the dining room
of JL’s aptly named W Hall (maybe his favorite animal) gutted it
before he could move in.
● The house also features in RR’s popular young adult mythological
series. The house’s vestibule could be thought to lend it’s name to
HM’s Booker Prize winning book about Thomas Cromwell often
confused with a later Cromwell.
● Add a twist to his name to get CD’s famous second novel. CD also
wrote a novel of L (from JL) and P. The bell-ringer at “Our Lady of P”
Cathedral suffering from kyphosis was the protagonist of VH’s
famous novel

Answers
JJ: James Joyce
U: Ulysses
VW: Virginia Woolf
SP: Sylvia Plath
JL: Jack London
RR: Rick Riordan
HM: Hilary Mantel
CD: Charles Dickens
P: Paris
VH: Victor Hugo

Rules
• 10 questions, anti-clockwise.
• Bounce: +10/0
• Pounce: +10/-5
• QM’s decision is final.

Q1.
In a January 2013 interview, Sharen Davis said that much of the costume design for this
film was inspired mostly from spaghetti westerns and art. One of the costumes in which
the character X dresses up as a valet, inspired by a 1770 Thomas Gainsborough painting,
stood out for audiences and the characters alike. Quoting the movie,
Bettina: Are you actually a ____ ___?
X: Yeah.
Bettina: You mean you chose to dress like that?
Another reason for this particular costume choice could be that in the 18th century,
wearing this colour predominantly by a particular sect of people meant celebrating their
liberation, which is again an underlying theme of the movie. ID X/Movie.

ANSWER
Django Unchained (The Blue Boy)

Q2.
This 2008 drama television series is hailed as one of the greatest of all time. Many of its
episodes, especially from the last season, were the highest rated episodes of all times.
A particular sequence in the episode “Gliding Over All” of the last season is inspired from
a similar sequence in a 1972 crime film where a similar deed is carried out.
The act is referred to as “harder than the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden” by characters
who carry out the action in the episode.
ID the show and the movie and a brief explanation of what sequence.

ANSWER
Breaking Bad
The Godfather
The sequence where multiple people are killed at the same time under a
span of 5 minutes

Q3.
Sharon and Melina were close friends back in the ‘80s. In 1991, Sharon received a
painting, The Bathers, by Henry Scott Tuke, from Melina just a month after Melina’s
death.
The painting came with a note, “Dear Sharon, thought you might like this, Love Melina”.
Melina died of Kaposi’s Sarcoma Lesions as a result of better known medical condition.
How do we better know Sharon and Melina? (Painting on next slide)

ANSWER
Elton John
Freddie Mercury

Q4.
Behind the Iron Curtain, created these posters for a film series.
ID the series (pictures follow).

Q5.
This a picture of a character nicknamed Puck (by the director) from a certain
movie. In this scene Puck is bidding farewell using some hand signs. After this
movie was shot, the director then thought later, “What if this little guy never
got back onto the ship?” This was then the basis of another movie whose main
character was inspired by Puck.
What are the 2 movies in question?

ANSWER
ET: The Extra Terrestrial
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Q6.
The answer to this question related to a certain type of movies and TV shows has been
widely debated throughout many years. Some say it is done because of its mere ease of
design while others say it is done as it simplifies the part as much as the entire figure is
simplified.
But in Japan, this trope has regularly been ignored for several reasons:
1. Yakuza members generally do this act (which results in this trope) if not able to pay
back debt or as a punishment
2. This is taken as a derogatory reference to the burakumin class which is being
compared to an animal
3. This also means death in Japan.
What trope is being spoken about?

ANSWER
Animated characters having 4 fingers.

Q7.
This act was done generally in the army and when it was done it generally
meant that if a Special Force member was going to die, he would do this as
a warning to his fellow soldiers. What he meant was “Don’t fuck with me,
I’m going over the hill.”
In a 1976 film, a character does this in the middle of the movie and gets a
major change in character development from then on. It makes sense as
he was a veteran of the marines and might have been exposed to this
while fighting in the Vietnam War.
Which film? Also ID what is being spoken about.

ANSWER
Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle’s Mohawk

Q8.
Identify the four famous statues (bigger pic in next slide).

ANSWER
The Thinker
Laocoon
Discobolus
Apollon of Olympia

Q9.
This is a painting called X by Paul Gauguin. The dinner held in honour of Gauguin
before his departure for Tahiti in 1891 included the recitation of a certain piece of
literature also called Y in which the word X is very prominent. Although Gaugin
denied the fact that anything in the painting references the ominous creation in
piece of literature, the reference seems very obvious.
ID the name of painting.
(bigger pic in next slide)

Q10.
A British-Liberian artist Lina Iris Viktor is suing a certain artist and others
involved in the video’s production, alleging that the gold print patterns that
appear in roughly 20 seconds of the music video infringe on her artworks,
which are painted in a similar style, using materials including 24-karat gold.
This was also the soundtrack of a very recent movie. Lina wanted to sue the
producers but was rejected only on this front by a federal court judge.
Where would you have seen these paintings ? (pics to follow)

ANSWER
All the Stars, Kendrick Lamar, Black Panther

WrittenRound
Rick and Morty references

Rules
• Written round, 6 questions.
• +10 for each correct.

Q1.
ID the work being referenced to in this video.

Q2.
ID the reference from the world of television.

Q3.
ID the reference to a famous movie. (Name of a character should be a part of
your answer)

Q4.
ID the movie being parodied here.

Q6.
ID:
1) The author, whose work is referenced here
2) The artist

ANSWER
Animal Farm by George
Orwell. Snowball is the
sapient pig.
1..

ANSWER
Community, Dan Harmon
was a part of creating the
show.
2..

ANSWER
Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight.
The settlers decide to remember
him for who the Jelly Bean King
was, just like Batman and
Commissioner Gordon did for
Harvey Dent after his actions as
Two-Face.
3..

ANSWER
“The Legend of Solenya” is a parody of the “Legend of Baba Yaga”
referring to the titular character in the movie John Wick.
4..

ANSWER
Kevin Bacon’s dancing scene in
Footloose
5..

ANSWER
Sandman Comics by Neil Gaiman
MC Escher
6..

Rules
• 10 Topics to choose from.
• Teams pick in ascending order of scores.
• Each question is played at a strategy (to be decided by the team):
+10/0
+20/-10
+30/-15
Parts are applicable.
Other teams can only pounce at +10/-5.

Topics:
MUSIC TECH BUSINESS PARODY
GAMING ART LITERATURE SPORT
BOLLYWOOD SCI-FI FINISH

Gaming:
Spending most of his time in the Curragh Camp, the main training base for the Irish Army, Brendan
Greene developed an interest for cyberpunk RPGs including the likes of Metal Gear Solid in his
formative years.
When he was stuck in Brazil following an ugly divorce, he stumbled upon a survival shooter game
Arma 2 , falling in love with a specific mod DayZ. He got his friend in Canada to rent a server for him,
started running his own script and modding the game on his own. He took inspiration from a
famous 2000 Japanese dystopian film (adapted from the novel a year previous to that), combining
exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game with last man standing gameplay. Although
the mod became widespread, he adopted an alias, presumably to keep himself anonymous.
How has Greene’s alias seen a surge in popularity in the past year?
What film did Greene use as inspiration, which inspired its own genre?

ANSWER
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. (PUBG)
Battle Royale
BACK

Business:
Started by Rice University alumni Tim and Karrie League at 409 Colorado St, in an
Austin, Texas warehouse district building ,the company began as a second-run
movie theater, and distinguished itself by the food and drink service offered
inside the theater, including cold beers.
The seating is arranged with rows of cabaret style tables in front of each row of
seats, with an aisle between each row to accommodate waiter service. Identify
this movie chain, famous for its strict policy of requiring its audiences to
maintain proper cinemagoing etiquette.

Also ID their subsidiary, renowned for its vintage
poster and t-shirt designs.

ANSWER
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
Mondo
BACK

ID the two movies, whose scenes have been inspired by the two
artworks:
The Tower of Babel was a series of 3 paintings by
Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The paintings depict the
construction of the Tower of Babel, which, according
to the Book of Genesis in the Bible, was built by a
unified, monolingual humanity as a mark of their
achievement and to prevent them from scattering.
Which work did it inspire, which follows the
attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city's
ruler, and Maria, a poor worker, to overcome the
vast gulf separating the classes of their city?
Art:

Art:
Architecture au clair de lune , a 1956 work
by René Magritte doesn’t have much
literature associated with it but its
representation in 1998 satirical science
fiction film is well remembered.
Known for dealing with themes of meta
philosophy and existentialism, the scene
which takes its inspiration has the
protagonist seemingly approach the
“Real life”, and finally leave his simulated
reality.

ANSWER
Metropolis
The Truman Show
BACK

BLIND LTD is a creative agency based out of London, primarily focusing on
design and moving image solutions for major feature films.
Founded in 1995, they’ve gained considerable acclaim for their work in a
specific domain, with directors including Zack Snyder, Matthew Vaughn, Sam
Mendes and Christopher Nolan among others employing their services.
Take a look at their work in the next slide; What does BLIND specialize in?
Which work are the following designs taken from?
Tech:

ANSWER
http://www.blindltd.com
Futuristic Interfaces
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
BACK

The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire written by the purported
author "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred. The work contains an account of a
certain “Old Ones”, their history, and the means for summoning them.
Many authors such as as August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith also
cited it in their works.
Many booksellers and librarians have received requests for the book yet
no one has been able to get their hands on it.
What is unique about this work, and ID the actual author.
Literature:

ANSWER
The work is fictional. Although its quoted as inspiration by many authors, it
doesn’t exist in reality.
H.P Lovecraft
BACK

Bollywood:
The picture shown here is a still from the hit
Bollywood movie, Once Upon a Time in
Mumbaai. Praachi Desai, shown here plays
Shoaib Khan’s (Emraan Hashmi) wife
Mumtaz.
In the movie, which is set in the 70’s, Shoaib
Khan is shown to be fascinated by another
classic film.
Using the picture as a clue, ID the film (and
in it the actress), which is being paid a
tribute to in this scene.

ANSWER
Bobby
Dimple Kapadia
BACK

Sport:
Gabe Carimi is a former American football guard and tackle. Known for his
excellent athleticism and offensive playing style, he was given a nickname in
the 2011 NFL Draft's first round, due to his prototypical size and height, and
also because of the team that picked him, the Chicago ____.
By the time of his Bar Mitzvah, he was already so tall that while blessing him,
and even with Carimi bending down, the synagogue’s education director had
to put his hands on Carimi’s shoulders rather than atop his head.
The nickname is a direct reference to another character from a 2009 war
film. ID the film. What nickname? Pictures follow.

ANSWER
Inglourious Basterds
The Bear Jew
BACK

Music:
Easington Colliery was a coal mining town in County Durham, England. The
town is known for a mining accident disaster which occurred on 29 May
1951, when an explosion in the mine resulted in the deaths of 83 people.
Like most coal and ore mines, accumulated slag heaps and concrete
piles(shown here) were abundant. These are now flattened and grassed over,
as shown in the pictures that follow.
1.
How has this place gained an iconic status in the
world of music art?
The art that featured this makes a reference to
which iconic movie?

ANSWER
The artwork of
Who’s Next, by
The Who
The monolith in
2001: A Space
Odyssey. BACK

Pattern Recognition is a sci-fi novel released in 2003. Set in August and
September 2002 in the aftermath of 9/11, the story follows Cayce Pollard, a
32-year-old marketing consultant who has a psychological sensitivity to
corporate symbols.
In the novel, the protagonist prefers pronouncing her name as Case. Though
it’s suggested that she is named after the famous Christian Mystic Edgar
Cayce, many speculate it as a nod to the author’s earliest and most famous
work.
ID the author. What is the pronunciation of Cayce a nod to?
SciFi:

ANSWER
William Gibson
Neuromancer
BACK

Parody:
See the video below, commonly used in a lot of parodies:
Which film is it taken from (English title)?
Which classic film, based on a novel by Lothar-Günther Buchheim does
it parody?

ANSWER
Downfall (Der untergang)
Das Boot
BACK

UTPT 2018 Lit-Ent Quiz Finals

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UTPT 2018 Lit-Ent Quiz Finals