iQuizLeague

 

(Karthik Narayan)

 

Question for you (not verbatim from the Landmark, so don’t try to play politically correct):

 

In astronomy a habitable zone (HZ) is a region of space where conditions are favorable for life as it may be found on Earth. There are two regions that must be favorable, one within a planetary system and the other within the galaxy. Planets and moons in these regions are the likeliest candidates to be habitable and thus capable of bearing extraterrestrial life similar to our own. The HZ may also be referred to as the Goldilock’s Zone (because it’s neither too hot nor too cold, but “____ ____”). Fill in the blank.

 

While you think about the answer, also read below…

 

 

The Prelims:

 

All those who were there at the Prelims felt the same thing – Landmark Quiz 2008 had done a Midnight’s Children – being dubbed the Landmark of all Landmarks!! By doing a level playing strategy, the guys behind the LQ had made the event all the more memorable and competent. Now this prestigious event could no longer be called “tailor made for the usual suspects”. Now it was anybody’s game, as most of the prelims questions were answerable and we saw some real high scores all over…

 

First timers scored around 15 on an average (out of 40), and the answers were workoutable. Maybe the odd question like who inspired the bob cut hairstyle (ans being Joan of Arc) was aimed at those buggers who always qualified, but overall, this was the perfect quiz for the imperfect non-quizzer.

 

IQL members didn’t do so bad – even though we did commit the standard 5 mistakes of our lives; thinking of one answer and writing down a second, only to find our first answer was right after all. 5 teams from our pool and even though denial was the winner of the day, some of us came “close” to satisfaction. At the end of the day, getting a 22 on your scoresheet still doesn’t get you 3 chairs on a higher surface – but we have the positives to take away, as always.

 

Final showdown:

 

The finals saw the regulars with a twist in the tale – there would be a regional finals and a National Finals for the first time ever!

 

Both quizzes happened with time as a key factor (something which isn’t quite popular in Open quizzes which extend beyond stipulated times). The Regional (Chennai) leg was completed in just over an hour (15 questions or 20 mins whichever earlier is a fantastic concept). Then of course the Landmark Quizzer of the year 2008 was chosen through an individual set of rapid fire questions.

 

The National finals began a little over 7pm and went as smooth as a whistle.

 

Both the quizzes had good funda questions which were not too hard to crack, but at the same time, tantalizing on the minds. All credit to the Quizmasters and the research team for a good set of questions, and Navin, as always had his good time with the witty remarks.

 

Ironically, the National Winner was a Chennai based team (Swami, Sumo and Gopal) had to say they were “From Bangalore” since they had won the Bangalore leg and were supposedly representing that city. Perhaps, that is what is true nationalism??

 

The Chennai champs of JK, Samanth and Ramana were Runners-Up and that  team with the crazy name “Sinngh maybe king but iyers are higher” not only won itself the Best Team name prize but also stunned the others with some brilliant answers. As usual, Vinod Ganesh, Ramkumar and Krishnamurthy showcased their grey cells at the top of the table.

 

Breaking news:

 

While the teams up there were busy creaming themselves with facts and fiction (yeah there’s plenty of that in quizzes these days), Lays spread itself like wildfire all across the Music Academy. It is folklore that Lays packets from all over the country were sent to the venue to enter the World Record of maximum sale in a single location in a space of 2 hours. Yes siree, with only Lays (and a few first come first serve samozas) available at the stands, all I can say is – no one can eat just one (one packet that is!).

 

Evam managed to sell some tickets for their theater show, the odd couple for Aug 16, which we patronized by paying for four.

 

 

To conclude, what do you call a quiz that is not too long nor too easy, not too tough nor too easy and one that provides wholesome entertainment without going overboard?

 

 

The answer to this is the same as that to the first question – JUST RIGHT!

 

For Prelims & finals questions, check out http://iquiz.wordpress.com/quizzes/