Mindgames ed. 6

(In which I scour Open and other news sources for questions based ONLY on recent events.)

Q1. _________ have about 4,000 ________. ________ have only 629.

Q2. Truman’s was the longest. Washington’s the shortest. What?

Q3. Looks like the Government of India just handed this NRI a huge tip. Who got what that’s caused a bit of a furore?

Q4. “If there’s one thing I love, it’s the ________”. He said (almost). Who said what in which novel?

(In which I scour Open and other news sources for questions based ONLY on recent events.)

Q1. _________ have about 4,000 ________. ________ have only 629.

Q2. Truman’s was the longest. Washington’s the shortest. What?

Q3. Looks like the Government of India just handed this NRI a huge tip. Who got what that’s caused a bit of a furore?

Q4. “If there’s one thing I love, it’s the ________”. He said (almost). Who said what in which novel?

Q5. This man with a hawk’s eye is also known as ‘Goldfinger’. Who?

Q6. I say, Serena Williams just did an MJ! Please explain, I say!

Q7. Name the star shown below

Q8. Perhaps the only place on Earth that’s nobody’s personal property, but for how long, we wonder. Which place?

Q9. Last week, what did Guwahati and Mumbai have in common?

Q10. Research has shown that over 20% of the people don’t care much for this name. Clue: Period.

Your first task in this round is to identify the person shown in the picture. Then, connect a, b and c to another well-known person, your final answer. All three ‘connections’ have to be explained for an entry to qualify as a ‘final answer’.
Note: The picture clue a) is not the final solution.

a)

b) Macbeth

c) Saif Ali Khan

Q: Who is connected to A, B and C?

Solutions to Mindgames 5 and the winner: Aditya Baliga came close, very, very close to snaring himself a six-month subscription to Open magazine. Alas, it was not to be. Congratulations, Aditya. Apologies, Aditya. Better luck next time, everyone! Thanks a bunch for playing. And do keep playing.

A1. The LISA personal computer from Apple was introduced in January 1983.

A2. They’ve all scored 5 hundreds in a row in Tests matches

A3. In Toronto and Ottawa in Canada, they call Vancouver, BC, Canada, ‘Lotus Land’ for its easy-going ways. Origin: The term ‘Lotus-eaters’.

A4. Dr Rajendra Prasad

A5. Roddy Doyle

A6. The New Moon

A7. The unfortunate people of the once beautiful and now battered island of Haiti

A8. The ‘Bravery Awards’ given out on January 26th Republic Day and the Oscar-award winning film, ‘Braveheart’ (1995) from the house of Mel Gibson.

A9. I was referring to the unfortunate cricket players from Pakistan who came to India and went nowhere (except back to Pakistan) during the farcical IPL3 auction.

A10. ‘Willy the Wombat’ is the moniker our affectionate Australians came up with for Prince William of Wales (the eldest son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana of Wales).

a) One of ‘The Blue Meanies’ from the movie ‘Yellow Submarine’, the screenplay for which was by Erich Segal.

b) ‘The Class’, a lovely novel by Erich Segal

c) ‘Ryan and Ali’ is short for Ryan O’Neil and Alice ‘Ali’ MacGraw, both of whom starred in the film ‘Love Story’, which was of course based on the bestselling novel by the same name by Erich Segal

Final answer: Erich Segal (16 June 1937–17 January 2010). RIP.

About The Author

Avinash Subramaniam