Mark Brader:
> These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2023-11-27,
> and should be interpreted accordingly... For further information
> please see my 2023-05-24 companion posting on "Questions from the
> Canadian Inquisition (QFTCI*)".
> We wrote the Final entirely in pairs, allowing teams to select what
> order the pairs were used in. There was no Canadiana category,
> but Canadiana pairs were distributed through the different rounds.
> In this set I wrote 8 of the 12 pairs.
In Round 2, I wrote pairs B through F; in Round 3, pairs B, E, and F.
> ** Round 2 - Geography
> * A. South American Cities
> A1. Name the city of about half a million in Peru's part of the
> Amazon basin that is the largest city in the world that
> *is not* on an island, but has *no access* by road.
Iquitos.
Iguacu is a waterfall and related features about 2,000 miles from there.
> A2. In which country would you find El Alto, meaning "the
> heights"? It's the second-largest city in the country,
> larger than the capital of which it was once a part, and
> has the distinction of being the largest mostly-indigenous
> city in all of Latin America.
Bolivia. (Next to La Paz.) 4 for Joshua, Dan Blum, Erland, Stephen,
and Pete.
> * B. A is the Only Vowel
> In these questions the "name" of a country means its usual short
> name in English, like "France" or "Germany".
> B1. In North and South America, including their associated
> islands, there are three countries where the only vowels
> in the name are instances of A. Name *either one* of the
> *other two*.
Bahamas, Panama. 4 for everyone -- Joshua, Dan Blum, Erland, Stephen,
Dan Tilque, and Pete.
> B2. In Africa, including its associated islands, there are four
> countries where the only vowels in the name are instances
> of A. Name *any one*.
Chad, Ghana, Madagascar, Rwanda. 4 for Joshua (the hard way),
Dan Blum, Erland, Stephen (the hard way), Dan Tilque, and Pete.
> * C. Population and Spelling
> Again, in these questions the "name" of a country means its usual
> short name in English.
> C1. What is the world's most populous country with a Z in
> its name?
Brazil. 4 for Dan Blum and Stephen.
According to the CIA World Factbook:
Brazil 218,689,757
Tanzania 65,642,682
Mozambique 32,513,805
Uzbekistan 31,360,836
Venezuela 30,518,260
Zambia 20,216,029
Kazakhstan 19,543,464
Zimbabwe 15,418,674
Czechia 10,706,242
Azerbaijan 10,420,515
Switzerland 8,563,760
Kyrgyzstan 6,122,781
New Zealand 5,109,702
Bosnia and Herzegovina 3,807,764
Gaza Strip 2,098,389
Belize 419,137
Zaire hasn't been the name of a country since 1997. The former
Zaire -- the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- only has 111,859,928
people anyway.
> C2. What is the world's most populous country with an X in >
its name?
Mexico. 4 for everyone.
Mexico 129,875,529
Luxembourg 660,924
> * D. Canadiana: Ontario County Seats
> D1. Owen Sound is the county seat of which county? Hint:
> The name resembles a well-known sports trophy.
Grey. 4 for Stephen. 2 for Joshua.
It's named after the grandfather of the Earl Grey who was known
for both the tea and the Grey Cup.
> D2. Orangeville, Ontario, is the county seat of which county?
> Hint: The name resembles a major street in Toronto.
Dufferin. 4 for Stephen.
> * E. Lakes at Interesting Elevations
> E1. This body of water in Venezuela is sometimes called the
> largest lake in South America, but it's practically at sea
> level and receives ocean water at high tide, so arguably
> it's not a lake at all. In any case, what's its name?
Lake Maracaibo. 4 for Dan Blum and Stephen.
> E2. The other candidate for the largest lake in South America
> is so far above sea level that it's the world's highest
> lake navigable by large ships. What's its name?
Lake Titicaca. 4 for everyone.
It's in Bolivia and Peru, at about 12,500 feet elevation.
> * F. Artificial Lakes
> F1. Lake Mead was created by damming what river?
Colorado. 4 for Joshua, Dan Blum, Stephen, Dan Tilque, and Pete.
> F2. Lake Nasser was created by damming what river?
Nile. 4 for everyone.
> ** Round 3 - Miscellaneous
> * A. Culinary Terms
> A1. What word means to lightly coat uncooked food with a dry
> mixture, typically flour, cornmeal, or bread crumbs?
Dredge. 4 for Dan Blum, Stephen, and Pete.
> A2. What word means a thick creamy soup, with a base of strained
> broth of shellfish or game?
Bisque. 4 for Stephen.
> * B. The Exception to the Pattern
> B1. Sue Grafton wrote 25 novels about Kinsey Millhone. The
> first and last titles were "A is for Alibi" and "Y is for
> Yesterday", and most of the rest followed the same pattern
> in alphabetical order. But the 24th book, in 2015, did
> not fit the pattern. What was its full title?
"X". 4 for Joshua and Stephen.
> B2. Once the term "Super Bowl" became official, it became
> customary to refer to the annual instances of the game using
> Roman numerals in sequence, for example "Super Bowl XIV".
> But again, in 2015 an exception to the pattern was made.
> What did they call the game that year?
Super Bowl 50. 4 for Joshua, Dan Blum, Stephen, Dan Tilque, and Pete.
Apparently I meant to say "in the 2015 season" there. Sorry.
> * C. Crossword Words
> These questions were stolen from a recent "Toronto Star" crossword.
> If you disagree with the clue, please take it up with the "Star".
> In each case, we give you the clue, the number of letters, and
> one letter you're supposed to have already filled in in the grid.
> You give the exact answer that would go into the puzzle solution.
> Example: we say "Add yeast, 6 letters, 2nd letter is E"; you
> say LEAVEN.
> C1. "Ancient port near Carthage or a town in New York State."
> 5 letters, 2nd letter is T.
UTICA. 4 for Joshua, Dan Blum, Stephen, Dan Tilque, and Pete.
Ithaca is an island in Greece, not an ancient port near Carthage,
and is 6 letters long.
> C2. "Put in chains." 7 letters, 3rd letter is S.
ENSLAVE, but I also accepted ENSNARE. So, 4 for Joshua, Dan Blum,
Stephen, and Pete.
> * D. Gaza
> D1. The Gaza Strip has been much in the news in recent weeks.
> What is its area, within 5% of the true number in either
> direction?
Different sources give numbers from 360 to 365 km²: Accepting 342-402
km², 125-155 sq. mi., or 80,060-99,213 acres. 4 for Stephen.
Nobody else came within a factor of 4 of the true answer -- two people
guessed too high, one too low.
> D2. In 2005 Israel withdrew from military occupation of Gaza,
> including the removal of settlers. Which Israeli prime
> minister proposed, and was eventually able to implement,
> the withdrawal?
Ariel Sharon ["AH-ree-el sha-ROHN"]. 4 for Joshua, Erland,
and Stephen. 3 for Pete.
> * E. Prizes Established
> E1. What year, within 5, were the first Pulitzer ["PULL-it-zer"]
> Prizes given out?
1917 (accepting 1912-22). 4 for Joshua and Stephen. 2 for Pete.
> E2. What year, within 5, were the first Nobel Prizes given out?
1901 (accepting 1896-1906). 4 for Joshua, Dan Blum, Erland, Stephen,
and Dan Tilque. 2 for Pete.
> * F. Indian Numbers
> F1. In India they generally do not express large numbers
> in millions. What we call a million, they would call how
> many lakhs?
10. 4 for Dan Blum, Erland, Stephen, and Dan Tilque. 2 for Joshua.
> F2. In India, one crore [rhymes with "bore"] equals how many
> lakhs?
100. 4 for Erland, Stephen, and Dan Tilque. 2 for Joshua.
Fun fact: The title of the Indian edition of "Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire" uses the word "Crorepati": a person with 10 million
rupees -- which they would write numerically not as "10,000,000"
with commas for millions and thousands, but as "1,00,00,000" with
commas for crores, lakhs, and thousands.
Scores, if there are no errors:
FINAL ROUNDS-> 2 3 TOTALS
TOPICS-> Geo Mis
Stephen Perry 44 48 92
Joshua Kreitzer 30 32 62
Dan Blum 36 24 60
Pete Gayde 28 23 51
Dan Tilque 24 20 44
Erland Sommarskog 24 16 40
--
Mark Brader | "If you have to go in, you go in.
Toronto | The choice was made the day you took your oath."
m...@vex.net | --Dan Duddy, New York Fire Department