Search your questions that power our play engine.
Search your questions that power our play engine.
Comicstaan is an Indian stand-up comedy competition television series that has launched many of India's top stand-up comics. Which BITS Pilani graduate was the winner of the first ever season finishing above Rahul Dua? The duo then went on an India wide tour with a show called the Dua-[BLANK] Show.
In Jewish culture, what coming of age ritual held at the age of 12 (girls) and 13 (boys) marks the point from when they begin to be held accountable for their own actions? The term for this ceremony differs by one letter for boys and girls. Either name accepted.
A more recent epic battle taunt happened in February 2022, when the Russian missile cruiser Moskva approached Snake Island, a tiny Ukranian Island in the Black Sea, manned by a contingent of just 13 border guards and sent this communication: "Snake Island, I, [REDACTED], repeat the offer: put down your arms and surrender, or you will be bombed. Have you understood me?" How did the Ukranian border guard, Roman Hrybov, respond? Recordings of the exchange have gone viral and the phrase is now widely used as a rallying cry by both the Ukrainian military and civilians protesting the invasion.
Several body parts are named after people, both real and fictional. While one of the two parts of the cerebral cortex that are linked to speech is called Wernicke's area, which is the other, named after a French anatomist who worked on this body part?
Letterboxd is an app for film buffs to rate, review, and log the films they watch. For certain films, they have included Easter eggs.
For which film was the Letterboxd logo modified to play out a Morse code message - an element that plays a crucial role in the film's climax? The message blinks "[redacted] Best Picture".
What is the name of Egypt Air's in-flight magazine? It is named after an Egyptian god who is often depicted in the form of a falcon and whose eye is part of a symbol (the wedjat), which is associated with well-being and protection.
Get [BLANK]! (4) is a graphic novel by our friend Anthony Bourdain where people literally kill for seats at the best restaurants. Fill in the blank with the name of the protagonist, inspired by sushi chef Ono who runs the famous Sukiyabashi [BLANK] and was the subject of the documentary shown here.
The last scene of House of Cards S2 ends with Frank Underwood slamming his fist twice onto the desk, denoting his triumph and determination to stay on as President. What signature sound is this considered to be the origin of?
This is the mission patch from which 2014 film? Aside from the crew, the Endurance travels along with two robots, TARS and CASE, to help navigate the exploration of the possibly habitable Miller's planet.
Din-i Ilahi adopted the precept of ______ (6), a key virtue in the Dharmic religions: Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It encouraged followers to practise vegetarianism and prohibited the slaughter of animals for any reason at all. What is this principle (6) of nonviolence?
The map nova et accuratissima terrarum orbis tabula by Joan Blaeu was the first to reference the 1642-43 expedition of which explorer, who led the ships Zeehaen and Heemskerck? Blaeu created this to honour his countryman and this map was the most accurate depiction of a particular region until the 1770s.
Which lake, the second largest Ramsar site in India and the largest lake in Kerala, was a shooting location for the chartbuster Jiya Jale from the 1998 film Dil Se..? It also plays host to the prestigious Nehru Trophy boat race.
Which brand owned by Reckitt primarily contains thioglycolic acid and potassium hydroxide, which react to generate the depilatory chemical potassium thioglycolate? They have a range of creams, lotions, and wax strips catering to normal, dry, or sensitive skin.
Shown here is a bridge of the Burma Railway crossing which river at the town of Kanchanaburi in Thailand? Although the river's real name was Mae Klong, its incorrect reference in a 1950s book and film brought a windfall of tourists that led the Thailand government to change its name permanently.
The 2011 Jay-Z/Kanye West song 'Ni as in Paris' contains the following lines in Kanye's verse: "What's Gucci, my fella? What's Louis, my killer?; What's drugs, my dealer? What's that jacket, [BLANK]?" Fill in the blank with the name of a Belgian fashion designer, a brand that would be considered pretty chic even for fashion insiders.
What objects, typically in blue, white, red, green, or yellow and found along trails in the Himalayas, typically features a drawing of Lung ta (powerful horse) surrounded by mantras dedicated to various deities?
While he was at Oxford, Robert Hooke befriended someone. He became this person’s assistant and was responsible for the design and operation of a device associated with him. Who was this? The device in question is the subject of this 1768 painting.
WHICH ROMANTIC COMEDY PLAY by Shakespeare is the only one that bore a subtitle, specifically "What You Will"? Some scholars suggest he was mocking the subtitle craze of the era by giving a completely useless subtitle that added absolutely no extra information. Or perhaps the play is such an audacious mix of settings, plots and passions that the dramatist has to give his own baffled shrug in the subtitle, especially as it has nothing to do with the Christmas season.
Danny Lloyd is now a biology Professor in a Kentucky college. As a child actor, he was most famous for playing the role of Dan Torrence in which 1980 adaptation of a Stephen King novel?
One of the popular masks among women at the Carnival of Venice, the moretta is a small black velvet mask with wide eyeholes and no lips or mouth. Originally worn by aristocratic women, it is nicknamed as the moretta ____ (4), because the mask was held in place by the wearer by biting on a button or bit, thus rendering them unable to speak. Fill in the blank (4).
What idiom names a dish featuring a charred lamb chop cooked in squid ink sauce? This dish was a seemingly odd one out among the other lamb-based dishes.
What two-word term is used for cocktails stored in such containers to build a more complex flavour over time? This technique comes from the world of distillery, where they typically use oak casks kept at precise temperatures and levels of humidity to develop flavour, colour and tone.
To create Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, Giacomo Balla was inspired by which Victorian era visual technique that captured a number of phases of movement? The method involved creating a sequence of images to cover a motion made by the subject over a short interval of time. This technique was initially used to study the motion of humans and animals, and even to judge timed events.
Which American automobile brand, owned by Stellantis following the merger of Fiat [blank] Automobiles (FCA) and Groupe PSA, features metallic wings with the brand name in a sans-serif font? This brand, famous for its PT Cruiser and 300 series, now only manufactures the Pacifica van.
Which 2007 movie was legendary director Sidney Lumet's last movie? The title of this heist-gone-wrong movie is a reference to an Irish proverb which says that the best time for your corpse to be buried is [BLANK] [BLANK] [BLANK] [BLANK] [BLANK] [BLANK] (6 words).
This photograph by Edward Burtynsky shows a quarry site from which town in the Lunigiana region, known for its reserves of a particular statuario grade raw material? It is believed the location was personally visited by Michelangelo in 1497 and 1503.
The Statue of Ahimsa near Nashik is the tallest Jain statue in the world. It depicts which tirthankara, the first of twenty-four teachers in the present half-cycle of time? He is identified in Jain texts to be the legendary king of Kosala who established the Suryavamsha ("Solar dynasty").
This comedian from the Tamil movie industry has the unique distinction of having shared screen space with lead actors from three generations - MGR & Sivaji Ganesan (1960s), Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth (1980s/90s), Vijay and Ajith (1990s/ 2000s). Who is this "Jerry Lewis of India", who won the National Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1994's Nammavar, with his final appearance before death coming in the 2008 magnum-opus Dasavatharam?
Franny Choi uses which punctuation mark to force a strong break between ideas in a single line? Often appearing in web addresses, in her poem Turing Test, Choi cleverly uses this punctuation twice consecutively to denote the human, because it represents a human comment in JavaScript.
This sculpture is entertainer Tommy Steele's gift to the city of Liverpool. The statue is of a girl from an eponymous 1966 song looking at all that loneliness as she lives in a dream. Which song inspired this sculpture? The earliest version of the song is believed to be about a character named Ola Na Tungee.
Which communicable disease that affects the skin and lymph nodes was called German measles in the early 19th century as German physicians were the first to identify and describe it as a separate disease? In order to remove stigma associated with Germany and to differentiate it from measles, it was assigned a newer name from Latin referring to the characteristic red spots that appear throughout the body of an infected person.
Identify this type of jewellery clasp (6), composed of two threaded, tube-shaped halves that screw together to form a seamless loop. It resembles a type of wooden storage container that is also used as a unit of measurement.
In 2009, the European Space Agency launched the then-largest infrared space observatory. Which German-born British astronomer is it named after? He discovered the infrared spectrum in 1800.
In 293 AD, Roman Emperor Diocletian instituted a new system of imperial rule to avoid internal conflicts: dividing rule of the empire between 2 senior emperiors and 2 juniors one. In this Tetrarchy system, the two senior emperors was termed the the Augusti, a title meaning "majestic" or "great". What was the term used for the junior sub-Emperors? The same term had been used to designate all heirs-apparent through the third century.
What is the alias assumed by a millennia-old humanoid alien called a Time Lord who travels through space and time in a spacecraft shaped like an old telephone kiosk? This character has an enduring popularity leading The Daily Telegraph to dub the character "Britain's favourite alien", while abroad the character has come to be seen as a British cultural icon.
Ebert heartily recommended this satire to fellow cynics, commending it for unabashedly telling a story about greed and pettiness. The movie concerns an attempt by a small town in Iowa to qualify for a $25 million award by signing all its citizens to a 30-day no smoking pledge, beginning abruptly, forcing them to quit ____ ______ (4,6). FITB with the name of the movie (4,6), awarded four stars by Ebert.
Crosswordese refers to the group of words frequently found in US crossword puzzles. Solve this clue: 1 Across: Sister of the sleuth from 221B Baker Street
For which 1990s film did this Israeli-American virtuoso (left in visual) play the central piece - 10th on Classic FM's 2022 Hall of Fame list? As per a popular story, when its director showed John Williams the uncut version of the film, John said "You need a better composer than I am to do this film.", to which the director replied "I know, but they're all dead."
In 1806, a treaty signed in Paris would lead to the formal end of the Holy Roman Empire, and Napoleon would assume the title of Protector of the Confederation of the _____ (5). The Confederation grouped 16 German states together, and was named after a strategically important water body that had been central to military campaigns in the preceding decade. FITB.
This fried kebab, that originated in Peshawar, gets its unique look from the addition of bone marrow which pops out as white nuggets inside the kebab. Name this kebab variety, which takes its name from a Pashto word meaning "flattened'. Its etymology lies in Persian, with its root word also naming a type of footwear and a bread.
Identify this 2024 song covered by OLN as a pop punk song.
This section depicts a scene from which choreographic symphony by a French composer about a romance between the two titular characters - a goatherd and a shepherdess? Based on a story by Greek writer Longus, it was choreographed by Michel Fokine after a commission from impresario Sergei Diaghilev.
Pictured here is Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Child With Cat. The model for this painting was the daughter of two artists who were good friends with Renoir. Name either parent.
The 2022 Netflix documentary Our Father covers the story of former fertility doctor Donald Cline, who used his own sperm to impregnate unsuspecting patients and produce 94 (known) children. He is said to have beliefs aligned with which Christian religious movement? The adjectival name comes from the combination of the two blanks from a Psalm 127 quote that compares sons with arrows, saying "Blessed is the man whose ______(6) is ____(4) of them."
Which architect popularised the term "Usonian" to describe the New World character of the American landscape as distinct and free of previous architectural conventions? He exemplified it with the project Jacobs I (1937), one of over 400 homes designed by this icon.
This breathtakingly beautiful music video was produced by which comedy rock duo in 2023, to accompany their cover of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game? The video is simply slow motion footage of the band members frolicking on a beach, but try not to smile and see how long you last.
Which statesman had the following canting arms following his succession to chancellorship? Depicting North African figures in heraldry was a common practice in Europe but was especially appropriate for this philosopher known for creating an ideal world.
Identify this seven-time world weightlifting champion and three-time Olympic gold medalist who has represented both Bulgaria and Turkey. He was given the nickname “Pocket Hercules” on account of his short stature and lifting prowess.
From [BLANK1] to [BLANK2] : A Direct Route in 97 hours, 20 minutes is an 1865 science fiction novel by Jules Verne that tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club's attempts to build a projectile. Which journey is this, the calculations for which Verne almost got correct (off by about 24 hours) without any empirical data?
WHICH regional political party of India was one of several parties that emerged when the Janata Dal fragmented into several regional parties? Founded in 1992 by Mulayam Singh Yadav, Janeshwar Mishra ,and Beni Prasad Verma, it has seen most of its success in Uttar Pradesh. The current leader of this party is Mulayam's son, Akhilesh Yadav. [FULL NAME REQUIRED/ NOT ACRONYM]
Beethoven's 3rd Symphony in E-flat major is considered a landmark in the transition between the Classical and the Romantic era. It was initially dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, but this was undone by Beethoven when Napolean declared himself emperor. By what popular name is this symphony called, a name which has valorous connotations owing to the triumphal feeling that the E-flat major key evokes?
The April 1953 issue of the journal Nature contained three seminal articles that dealt with the structure of an organic molecule. One of them was titled "Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate" and described its X-ray diffraction patterns. The authors of Paper 2 and 3 based their Nobel Prize winning discovery on this previously unpublished photograph (that they had access to). Who was the unrecognised first (or main) author of this paper?
The capsule that carried Yuri Gagarin to space malfunctioned when it unexpectedly remained attached to the re-entry module for 10 minutes longer than it was supposed to, leading to wild gyrations that put the first man in space in danger. Which mission, that translates to “east” in Russian, was this part of?
Identify this late 19th century revival style characterised by steep, multi-gabled roofs, decorative half-timbering, and large, ornate chimneys. It is inspired by the early 16th century cottage and manor house designs and named for the English dynasty that reigned during that period.
Boule/ Bocce are ball games, played across Europe, that involves striking a target ball with other items (typically also balls). A French variant, often played on dirt or gravel, as shown in the image here, is known by what name? The game not only involves striking the target yourself, but also getting opponent balls away from yours. It gets its name from Provencal dialect for 'foot-planted' as that is the primary rule.
The clarinet is used most often to simulate the distinctive two-note call of which bird (6) and plays a role in pieces such as Beethoven’s “Pastorale Symphony”, Saint-Saëns’ “The Carnival of the Animals” and Delius’ “On Hearing the First ______ (6) in Spring”?
Like much of Greene’s best work, A Burnt-Out Case is set far from his English home. In this case, that means a leper colony in Yonda, along a tributary of a major river in which Central African country? Lepers in hopeless condition are called “burned-out cases”, a term applied metaphorically to the novel's protagonist, an architect who has fled fame in Europe for life in the heart of darkness.
Which language in the Eastern Iranian language branch is spoken predominantly by a namesake nomadic, pastoral ethnic group in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan? With over 40 million speakers, it has its own alphabet developed from the Perso-Arabic script.
Which company recently issued this full-page tribute to veteran ad man Piyush Pandey in major publications? This multinational agency also wrote "You were our North Star, the giant on whose shoulders we stood. Farewell, our friend, our mentor. Forever inspired."
In an opera, what 5-letter term describes a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone or tone apart? Such an alternation leads to a warbling, quavering sound.
What is the name of this gorge formed when Riley uses 'irony to mock' a boyband she likes in order to appear cool? This pun is formed by adding one letter to a 7-letter word to hint at this form of deep abyss.
Super Bowl Half Time shows have traditionally had a theme for the year. The theme for Super Bowl Halftime in 1995 was a newly opened ride in Disneyland, part of a major entertainment franchise. As a promotional gig, which fictional character made an appearance in character at half time? He landed by parachute in typical adventurous style, whipped the villains into submission, and saved his lady love from them.
Which sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum was known by various "national" names such as the French disease in Italy and the Polish disease in Russia? These names primarily came about as each nation was keen on attributing breakouts of this deadly bacterial infection to their rival. The current name was adopted from a 1530 poem by Girolamo Fracastoro to do away with any propaganda.
Which musical, with songs like "Let me introduce you to my gay dad..." and "Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue", is the first Broadway work to feature an openly lesbian protagonist? It is based on a 2006 graphic memoir of the same name by someone who gave us a genre-defining "test".