Mastermind Club
Quiz 2020
No 32
Lifestyle
Set by Mel Kinsey
1. Lauren Weisberger’s book The Devil Wears Prada drew upon her experience as the personal assistant to which British-American fashion editor? She has served as the editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1998
Anna Wintour
2. Owing to the tetraphobia prevalent in East Asia, which Chinese smartphone manufacture chose to name its models ‘3T’ and ‘5’ following ‘3’, thus avoiding the number 4?
OnePlus
3. Originally created in 1974 by a Hungarian architecture professor to teach 3D geometry, what eponymous product has gone on to become the best-selling toy of all time?
Rubik's Cube
4. What type of biscuits, made of rolled oats, flour, and desiccated coconut, is named after an Army Corps that was formed in 1914 and served in the Gallipoli campaign in World War I?
Anzac Biscuit
5. What cocktail, made of equal parts crème de menthe, white crème de cacao, and cream shaken with ice, gets its name from an insect whose colour it resembles?
Grasshopper Cocktail
6. Shuck Yee from California invented the machine to produce what food item in 1973, which allowed its prices to drop sufficiently to be served as a courtesy dessert in Chinese restaurants across the US?
Fortune Cookies
7. The ice bucket challenge, which went viral in 2014, was intended to raise awareness about which motor neuron disease which gradually reduces movement in patients?
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
8. There are over 900 moai- some standing, some lying down, and some submerged- on what island, traditionally accessed through a Waka (Maori sailing vessel) Tapu voyage?
Easter Island
9. Guy de Maupassant and Sully Prudhomme protested the construction of what “useless and monstrous column of bolted metal” which would spread over the city “like a dark ink stain”? It has attracted 250 million tourists since opening in 1889.
The Eiffel Tower
10. What alliterative term is used to refer to the tourism phenomenon among fans of The Lord of the Rings fictional universe? Some claim that the 40% increase in tourist influx to New Zealand (where the movies were filmed) in 2000-06 was in large part due to this.
Tolkien Tourism
11. What name is given to a loose-fitting silk shirt, usually adorned in a bright and colourful print, after the Xhosa clan name of Nelson Mandela, whose regular use of it during his presidency elevated it to formal use?
Madiba
12. After the Abbasid Revolution, Abd-al Rahman conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula. To recreate Damascus in his new capital Cordoba, he imported the trees of which fruit, which lends its name to a courtyard within the Grand Mosque?
Orange
13. Which dessert gets its name from the French ‘lightning’ as it was traditionally devoured in a flash?
Eclair au Chocolat
14. In June 2020, in response to the George Floyd riots, the Quaker Oats Company announced that it would retire the racially-stereotypical image of what brand of breakfast foods?
Aunt Jemima
15. If the first two sections of the small intestine are the duodenum and the jejunum, what is the third? Its main function is to absorb vitamin B12, bile salts, and whatever products of digestion that were not absorbed by the jejunum. Ileum
16. Which national park in Tanzania gained worldwide prominence as a safari spot, with populations of 1.5 million wildebeest, 300,000 gazelles, and 250,000 zebra? Contiguous with Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Serengeti
17. Which place in London gets its name not from the fact that it used to hold a company of performers, but instead from Latin to indicate that it is a round open space at a street junction?
Piccadily Circus
18. As it was once known for setting the fashion standards in Europe, what Italian city is related etymologically to another word for the profession of hat-making? Milan
19. What craft originated as the making of decorative fringes to keep flies off of camels and horses before entering Europe with the Moorish Conquest?
Macrame
20. What balanced-arm lamp design (also called an architect’s lamp or a task lamp) was designed by George Carwardine in 1932? Pixar’s first short-film was based on one called ‘Luxo Jr.’ which has since featured on all their title sequences.
Anglepoise Lamp
21. A standard tarot deck in occult usage comprises the ‘Major Arcana’ (22 cards) and the ‘Minor Arcana’ with how many cards?
56 Cards
22. What global homestay company was ideated by Casey Fenton after he hacked into a University of Iceland database and emailed students asking for lodging in 1999 and received over 50 offers?
Couchsurfing
23. Which Chinese ophthalmologist and whistleblower, who attempted to warn fellow health workers about (what is now known to be) COVID-19 and was admonished for the same, was exonerated by authorities after he succumbed to it in February 2020?
Li Wenliang
24. Which New Age author announced her bid for the Democratic Party nomination for US President in 2019 and planned to “fix America with love, tough love”? Known as Oprah’s ‘spiritual advisor’, she withdrew her bid in January 2020.
Marianne Williamson
25.What Japanese name is given to the male counterpart of the Japanese fashion subculture Lolita? Influenced by Victorian boys’ clothing, it includes ‘prince pants’, knee socks, and top hats.
Ouji (Meaning Prince)