These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2023-11-27,
and should be interpreted accordingly.
On each question you may give up to two answers, but if you give
both a right answer and a wrong answer, there is a small penalty.
Please post all your answers in a single followup to the newsgroup,
based only on your own knowledge. (In your answer posting, quote
the questions and place your answer below each one.) I will reveal
the correct answers in about 3 days.
All questions were written by members of the Usual Suspects and
are used here by permission, but have been reformatted and may have
been retyped and/or edited by me. The posting and tabulation of
current-events questions is independent of the concurrent posting
of other rounds. For further information please see my 2023-05-24
companion posting on "Questions from the Canadian Inquisition
(QFTCI*)".
I wrote 6 of the 12 pairs in this set.
** Final, Round 4 - Sports
* A. Lady Byng
A1. The NHL instituted the annual Lady Byng trophy for
sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct in 1925; it was
replaced by the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy when she died in
1949. This was actually the second time it was replaced:
when the same man had won it 7 times from 1928 to 1935,
he was given the original trophy to keep. *Either* name
that man, *or else* name the player who has won it the most
times since then -- 5 wins from 1980 to 1999.
A2. One of the players who won the Lady Byng 4 times spent part
of his career with the Leafs, which overlapped with the
time he was in Parliament. Name him.
* B. Canadiana: The Nickname of the Line
As everyone knows, in hockey a set of three forwards who often
play together is called a "line" -- and if they play well enough
together, they may acquire a collective nickname.
B1. In the 1940s the Montreal Canadiens were led by the "Punch
Line". We'd like to ask you to name any two of the three,
but Mel would be annoyed, so just name *any one*.
B2. In the 1970s the Buffalo Sabres were led by the "French
Connection". All three players were French-Canadian.
Again, name *any one* of them.
* C. The Tour de France
C1. The modern Tour de France consists of 21 legs and covers
around 3,500 km, though the route changes from year to year.
What aspect of the circuit *alternates* from one year to
the next?
C2. The Tour often starts outside France and traditionally
terminates in Paris. But next year, because of preparations
for the Olympics, the race will end in a different French
city. Tell us *either* the French endpoint or the non-French
starting point for 2024.
* D. Board Games on Grids
In each case, name the relevant game.
D1. The board for this game is logically a square grid, but
all the squares are slightly elongated in one direction,
making them rectangles. There are 15 rows and columns,
making 225 of these rectangular spaces where you can play.
D2. This game is played on the intersections of a square grid
of lines. In the standard game, there are 19 lines each way,
making 361 points where you can play.
* E. Baseball Awards
Well, the season's over, and all the postseason hardware has
been handed out. Here are some questions regarding all-time
award winners.
E1. The Rawlings Gold Glove award is given annually to the
best defensive player in each major league in each position
on the field. The record number of wins by a position
player (as opposed to a pitcher) is 16, all earned in
consecutive years. Name the player.
E2. The Manager of the Year award was instituted in 1983 and
is given annually in each major league. Name *any one*
of the three managers who have each received the award
four times.
After completing this pair, please decode the rot13: Vs lbh whfg
fnvq "Ebovafba" sbe nal nafjre, tb onpx naq cebivqr n svefg anzr.
* F. Curling Terms
F1. When you're taking a shot in curling, or "delivering a
stone" as they say, you brace your foot against a doo-hickey
that sticks out of the ice and is called what?
F2. When you're delivering a stone and intending it to reach
the house and stop there in the position you want, *without*
hitting any other stones, what is that type of shot called?
** Final, Round 6 - Science
* A. Old-Timey Photography
A1. Cameras today are typically digital, recording the image
electronically. Before that, they used film, meaning
a rolled strip of plastic covered with photosensitive
chemicals: substances that change chemically when exposed
to light. With film, you had to turn the roll to the next
section after each photo, either by hand or there would be
a motor. But before *that*, i.e. before there was film,
what technology was used to put those photosensitive
chemicals where they needed to be for each photo?
A2. Today if it's too dark to take a photo normally, you would
use an electronic flash, generally built into the camera.
Before that, you would use a flashbulb, a disposable
bulb containing a length of fast-burning magnesium wire.
But before *that*, i.e. before there were flashbulbs,
what technology would you use to take a flash photo?
* B. Linguistics
B1. What is the notation used by linguists, lexicographers,
and other speech and language professionals as a standard
way of representing sounds? We need the full name.
B2. What do linguists call a consonant sound if at some point
in its articulation the flow of air is completely blocked?
* C. Cardiology Slang
C1. What is the gloomy nickname for a heart attack that involves
a complete blockage of the left main coronary artery and/or
the left anterior descending artery, so-named because of
its propensity to cause sudden death?
C2. What vegetable-sounding term is sometimes applied to a
coronary bypass procedure?
* D. Watch Those Element Symbols
D1. Pa is not the symbol for palladium. What element is it
the symbol for?
D2. Ca is not the symbol for cadmium. What element is it the
symbol for?
* E. Clever People
Give the field of intellectual inquiry principally associated with the
following clever people.
E1. See:
http://www.vex.net/~msb/tmp/gfr6/clev-E1.jpg
Kurt Gödel ["Gerd'll" without the R sound], Andrew Wiles,
Paul Erdós ["AIR-dosh"; should be written with a double
acute accent].
E2. See:
http://www.vex.net/~msb/tmp/gfr6/clev-E2.jpg
Donald Knuth ["kuh-NOOTH", rhymes with "tooth"], Brian
Kernighan ["kern-i-HAN"], Grace Hopper.
* F. Canadiana: Ontario Research Institutes
F1. Which Toronto hospital is the principal host of the Krembil
Research Institute, founded to study neurological disease
but also doing work in areas such as ophthalmology and
orthopedics?
F2. Name the center for the study of theoretical physics in
Waterloo, whose initial funding was largely contributed
by Mike Lazaridis ["LAZ-a-REE-deez"] and other Research in
Motion founders.
--
Mark Brader "Those who do not study history
Toronto are condemned to repeat the course"
m...@vex.net (after George Santayana)
My text in this article is in the public domain.