341. Tale of Two Kings?

Legend has it that the name of this famous place was an outcome of the conversation between two kings. According to the legend, Raja Bir Singh Deo, sitting on the roof of his palace at Orchha (in Madhya Pradesh, India) with his friend, the Raja of Jaitpur asked the latter whether he could discern this new fort that he built on Bangara hill, he replied that he could see it ‘_______’ (meaning rather indistinct). The answer in course of time became corrupted to _____.

Which place?

340. Sign of God?

It is Arabic for "sign of god." The name originates from the Quran where human beings can also be regarded as signs of God, the literal translation of the title. 51:20-21 of the Quran states:

On the earth are signs (___) for those of assured Faith,

As also in your own selves: Will ye not then see?

But, the fact that a rock or a tree is just as much a sign of god (_____) is a sobering notion at times lost.

What word?

339. Good deed for the day?

The term probably derives from the name of a 19th century American railroad superintendent, George R. _______ who, in 1886, devised what was then an innovative system of merits and demerits for employees on the Fall Brook Railway in New York state. Accounts of his system were published in railroad journals, and adopted by many leading U.S. railroads.

American railroad employees soon began referring colloquially to ______ _____ and at some point, the term entered the general vocabulary.

What term?

338. Clockwork Symphony?

Which four piece vocal ensemble that fuses Romani, Greek, Slavic, Bolero, Mariachi music with American punk and folk roots take their name from Anthony Burgess' Nadsat word for "young girl” ?

337. The right mixture of the orient and the occident?

Her mother was, at a point of time, married to LSD guru Timothy Leary. Her father was the first western Tibetan monk and is currently the Jey Ksong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies at Columbia University.

She is named after an Indian goddess.

Who?

336. In the beginning there was fire....

In the Rig Veda, this person is mentioned to have been the first mortal to make fire by rubbing together two pieces of sticks.

Who was this person and what in Hindu theology is named after him?

335. Bucklestrapping?

In 1912, Tokuji Hayakawa founded a metal workshop in Tokyo and innovated the first of his many inventions: a snap buckle named 'Tokubijo'.

Couple of years later he came up another invention, a mechanical pencil – which became a best seller – and ended up lending its name to that of the Company.

Which one?

334. Herbacious?

Which herb, whose name literally approximates to “mountain hollyhock”, now mostly available in paste or powdered form and forming a vital component of a particular cuisine, is best ingested post grating it with a grater made of sharkskin?

333. What's Wrong?

Photo: Oravanh Thammasen

What is so odd about the traffic lights at Tipperary Hill, Syracuse, NY? Explain.

332. Sudoku anyone?

Easy one. What is the following format of Sudoku called?

331. The name of the rose

In 1893, a clipping from a rose tree was transplanted from near a grave in Nishapur in Iran to another grave in Boulge, Suffolk.

So what is the name of this rose?

330. Wot, No Coffee?

At Cambridge University, a coffee dispenser used to be kept in a corridor just beside the Trojan Room and people from all over the building used to come and consume coffee at that point. The Trojan room housed the notorious Computer Science Hackers who used to guzzle coffee like there's no tomorrow and so most of the time the other people had to return back disappointed from the dispensing machine after having walked an exhausting floor or two. To put the other guys out of their discomfort, what innovation/first did the Trojan Room inmates come up with in 1991, thereby giving rise to a widespread internet phenomenon today??

329. In memory of Alexis Helmer......

What was written in the form of a French rondeau by John McCrae after he witnessed the death of his friend Alexis Helmer, only 22 years old, the day before in 1915?

328. Alcohol Number One?

No 1 is based on Gin. No 2 on Scotch Whiskey. No 3 on Brandy, No 4 on Rum, No 5 on Rye and No 6 on Vodka.

No 2, No 4 and No 5 are extinct. No 3 is available in a variant form seasonally. No 6 can be sometimes found.

Sales of No 1 peak every year typically in a 2 week period mid-year.

What am I talking about?

327. Guest Question!

Who is the inventor of the US Patent whose abstract is as follows

"A system for allowing a shoe wearer to lean forwardly beyond his center of gravity by virtue of wearing a specially designed pair of shoes which will engage with a hitch member movably projectable through a stage surface. The shoes have a specially designed heel slot which can be detachably engaged with the hitch member by simply sliding the shoe wearer's foot forward, thereby engaging with the hitch member."

Courtesy: Nagesh Subrahmanyam, School chum, author of red books and an extremely inquisitive personality!

326. The Gang of 5?

On the basis of Ownership, what can be categorized neatly into the following 5 groups:

Shubert (17)
Nederlander (9)
Jujamcyn (5)
Roundabout (3)
Others (6)

325. Wealthy fortunate follower of religion?

He was originally called "Namgyal Wangdi", but as a child his name was changed to one meaning "wealthy-fortunate-follower-of-religion".

His exact date of birth is uncertain, but he knew it was late May from the weather and the crops. Later, he decided to treat 29 May as his birthday, as it was on this date that he performed a momentous feat.

Who? And why 29th May?

324. A Jerusalem in Ethiopia?

This town, now a UNESCO world heritage site for its unique rock hewn monolithic churches was named after Saint Gebre Mesqel X, a member of the Zagwe Dynasty, who ruled Ethiopia in the late 12th century and early 13th century. (The saintly king was given this name X due to a swarm of bees said to have surrounded him at his birth, which his mother took as a sign of his future reign as Emperor of Ethiopia)

X is said to have seen Jerusalem and then attempted to build a new Jerusalem as his capital in response to the capture of old Jerusalem by Muslims in 1187. As such, many features of the town have Biblical names - even the town's river is known as the River Jordan.

Identify.

323. Party time?

This style of rhythmic music gets its name from the local creole of French meaning 'party' or 'festival'. It traces its origin from the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Haiti, St. Lucia, and Dominica. In Africa, it is popular in francophone and lusophone countries. In Europe, it is particularly popular in France, and in North America in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Which style of music?

322. Lucky Charm?

X is a term commonly encountered in the African-American folk belief of hoodoo. It is a type of magic charm, often of red flannel cloth and tied with a drawstring, containing botanical, zoological, and/or mineral curios, petition papers, and the like. It is typically worn under clothing. In modern usage X is increasingly being used to refer to possessing a magical touch of creativity or charm.

Which term?

321. The place where the Old Lady lived....

According to a one theory, the name is made up through the combination of a word meaning "place" and the name of an old woman known for her honesty and who once upon a time lived in the region.

Travelers would entrust this woman with any belongings for which they had no use on their return trip to the north. On returning home, if asked where he left his/her belongings behind, he would answer: "I left them at "the place where lived"! The two terms ended up fusing into one word, thus giving this place its name.

Identify.

320. Name the game?

This game was created by Leslie Scott while using children's wooden building blocks which her family purchased from a sawmill in Ghana.Though a British national, Scott was born in East Africa where she was raised speaking English and Swahili, before moving to live in Ghana. This explains the Swahili name of the game meaning to 'to build'.

Identify the game.

319. Unwanted advice?

This is the Yiddish term for a meddler who offers unwanted advice to others

Now mostly encountered to specify a hanger-on/spectator in a game of bridge or chess, offering (often unwanted) advice or commentary.

Which term?

318. Bringing back to life?

This cinematic effect is most commonly used by makers of documentaries on subjects where principally still material (photographs, paintings etc) is available. To bring the still material to life, for example, the camera zooms in on subjects of interest and then pans from one subject to another, finally coming to rest on the element which is the subject of the voice-over narration.

This effect is also present in many professional and home software applications (the iPhoto, iMovie etc from Apple) and is named after the guy who popularized it in some epoch making documentaries.

What is this effect called?

317.Only If he drove a Volkswagen?

Fill in the missing blank. Also, an allusion to which incident?

316. Rules for Spontaneity?

When asked how he wrote 'Spontaneous Prose' he replied back with his thirty 'essentials':
1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for your own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside your own house
4. Be in love with your life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Don't think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better
29. You're a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

Who?

315. Hercules's victim?

According to Greek myth, this geographical entity is named after the daughter of Bebryx, who after being raped and impregnated by Hercules, decided to track down Hercules, was lost in a storm and was finally eaten by wolves.

Hercules not knowing exactly where she was, built a great tomb for her which became this entity. Which one?

314. Fresh Fruits

Created in 1966 by Ron Karenga, X is a week-long holiday celebrated in the United States honoring African heritage and culture. The name of the festival is derived from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya X", meaning "first fruits". Each of the seven days is dedicated to Nguzo Saba or 'The Seven Principles' described as Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith).

The week day celebration is marked by lighting a kinara (candle holder) and pouring of libations, and culminating in a feast and gift giving. The greeting for each day of is "Habari Gani", Swahili for "What's the News?"

The US stamp (pic), created by artist Daniel Minter, shows seven figures in colorful robes symbolizing the seven principles.

Which celebration am I talking about?

313. Banished from Venice....

In 1291, practitioners of this art-form were forced to move from Venice to a neighboring island (name blacked out in the figure) as most of Venice was made up of wooden buildings.

Which art-form? Which neighboring island?

312. In the court of King Neptune?

Those who accomplish the feat are nicknamed Shellbacks and those who have not are nicknamed Pollywogs.

After accomplishing the feat, Pollywogs receive subpoenas to appear before King Neptune and his court (usually including his first assistant Davy Jones and her Highness Amphitrite and other assorted dignitaries), who officiate at the ceremony marking their transition to a Shellback.

What feat are we referring to?

311. The new Pheidippides?

The Athens Classic Marathon, an annual event was established in 1983 and has been run annually since, normally in November.

The marathon is dedicated to the memory of someone (pic above), who amongst other things, held the national Greek record for Long Jump for 23 years and whose death caused a symbolic piece of graffiti to come up all over Athens.

Identify this person.

310. Product-displacement?

In the post production for this movie, in opposition to product placement, the editors had to resort to something called product displacement,and digitally remove several logos from various artifacts in the movie (at a cost of several thousand pounds).

Many companies such as Mercedes refused to allow their products to be used in non-flattering and squalid settings which the movie demanded.

Identify this fairly contemporary movie.

309. The road to enlightenment....

What is the following an example of:

In the days when Sussman was a novice, Minsky once came to him as he sat
hacking at the PDP-6.

"What are you doing?" asked Minsky.

"I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-tac-toe," Sussman
replied.

"Why is the net wired randomly?", asked Minsky.

"I do not want it to have any preconceptions of how to play," Sussman said.

Minsky then shut his eyes.

"Why do you close your eyes?" Sussman asked his teacher.

"So that the room will be empty."

At that moment, Sussman was enlightened.

308. Off with his head (but they couldn't get rid of his shadow)...

The Turkish-Greco school of shadow puppetry gets its name from the name of a labourer (the name translates into Blackeye in English) active during the construction of a mosque in Bursa during the reign of Orhan I. The labourer and his compatriot (who is also an integral part of these plays) used to entertain other labourers during construction time and were executed for the resulting delay of the work. The saving grace was that they became folk heroes!!

The plays themselves are structured into four parts – Mukaddime (the introduction), Muhavere (the dialog), Fasil (the main plot) and Bitiş (the conclusion).

Identify this art form which is especially associated with the holy month of Ramzan.

307. The insights of one Alan Greenspan....

As chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan was known for using quirky, proletariat metrics to judge the temperature of the economy. The most famous of these, as recounted by NPR's Robert Krulwich in January 2008, were the sales of X.

"If you look at sales of X it's just pretty much a flat line, it hardly ever changes," Krulwich recounted after the publishing of Greenspan's book, "The Age Of Turbulence." "But on those few occasions where it dips, it is almost always a prescient, forward impression that here comes trouble.'"

So what did Greenspan identify as the perfect recession indicator?

306. The Palace and the Classic?

The palace is the central plot of a 1964 classic of the same name. Identify the movie/palace.

305. The farewell ride?

So tenderly
Your story is
Nothing more
Than what you see
Or
What you've done
Or will become
Standing strong
Do you belong
In your skin 
Just wondering
Gentle now 
The tender breeze 
Blows
Whispers through 
My ____ ______
Whistling another 
Tired song

From the soundtrack of a movie(possibly the last and the most successful box office grosser in one stupendous career).

Identify the movie.

304. The Morea and the reinstated Morte!

During the Middle Ages, this peninsula forming the southern most part of Greece was known as the Morea, primarily because the Crusaders found the region densely planted with mulberry trees used by the flourishing silk industry.

But it derives its current (as well as antique) name from an ancient hero who was ritually brought back to life after his father fed him to the Gods in a savage banquet.

Identify this geographical entity.

303. The Biscuit and the Mountain?

The US version can be associated with the following elements:

a. A modified Zero Haliburton model
b. An Operation code-named “Dropkick”
c. “Gold codes” carried on “The Biscuit”
d. The "Yankee White"

The Russian version is named after the mountain highlighted in the map below:




What am I referring to?

302. Connect?

Connect the two musical instruments apart from the fact that they are stringed instruments.

301. Stuck in the place?

Identify the guy and the place.

300. Hot Gates?

The place means "hot gates" in Greek. This is derived from the myth that Heracles had jumped into the river in an attempt to wash off the Hydra poison imbibed in the cloak that he could not take off. The river was said to have turned hot and stayed that way ever since. The place is best known for a certain number of people put up a stiff resistance against the Persians.

Which place?

299. Which sport?

This sport was invented by David N. Mullany of Fairfield, Connecticut on August 14th, 1953 when he designed a ball that curved easily for his 12-year old son. It was named when his son and his friends would refer to a strikeout as 'X'.The sport is designed for indoor or outdoor play in confined areas. The game is played using a perforated, light-weight, rubbery plastic ball and a long, plastic bat.

Which sport?

298. French, German, Eqyptian or Moroccan?

There are multiple theories about the origin of this term. The Oxford English Dictionary mentions three probable theories:

• the word is derived from the combination of the French for "yes" and the German for "yes"
• inventor Charles Kennard claimed it to be an Ancient Egyptian word meaning "good luck"
• the word was inspired by the name of a Moroccan city

Which term?

297. Schweitzer + Gauguin = ?

"Described by his contemporaries as a cross between Albert Schweitzer and Paul Gauguin, he was a man of contradictions, at times taking on the role of evangelist, social worker, political activist, poet, government worker, and more. Intensely political, the Oxford-trained scholar tirelessly defended the rights of the indigenous and despite the deep religious influences of St. Francis and Mahatma Gandhi on his early career, staunchly opposed Hindu and Christian puritans in the debate over the future of India's X"

Identify the gentlemen.

296. Where's George?

Where's George? is a unique website established in December 1998 by Hank Eskin, a database consultant in Brookline, Massachusetts. Although the primary focus of the website is something else, the findings of the website has been utilized for research purposes. More recently, data from the website have been used to attempt to predict the rapidity and pattern of projected spread of the 2009 swine flu outbreak.

What does the website do?

Hint: TrackGandhi, the Indian version

295. La Gripe Española?

The last great flu outbreak was the La Gripe Española or the "Spanish" Flu of 1918. It killed some 50 to 100 million people worldwide till 1919 and is thought to be one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.

If the outbreak and impact of this pandemic was fairly global in nature, and considering the fact that neither did it originate in Spain nor create the most number of deaths in Spain, why is it that the outbreak is referred to as "Spanish"?

294. In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo: and vice-versa

The plot draws largely from an English legend, "The Pedlar of Swaffham", which has been also used by Borges in his Tale of Two Dreamers, collected in Universal History of Infamy.

Another possible source is also in the work of the 13th century Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi, who in one of the stories of his Mathanawi tells an almost identical tale. In a modern translation the story (told in verse) is titled "In Baghdad, Dreaming of Cairo: In Cairo, Dreaming of Baghdad". In it, a poor man in Baghdad who inherits a lot of money and land only to squander it quickly and become poor again has a dream, in which a voice tells him to go to Cairo and dig in a certain spot to find his wealth. When he gets there, while wandering the streets and begging for coins he is picked up by a night patrol. When he tells his story to the patrolman, the latter calls him a fool and tells him of a similar dream (which he had dismissed) about a place in Baghdad, describing the very street and house in which the poor man lives.

Identify the work.

293. The tollsters of the Khyber?

Arguably the most powerful and dominant tribe of the Khyber region, they lay claim to an inaccessible upland area, the Tirah, which even today is cut off from the modern world and where everyday life is governed by the ageless precepts of the Pakhtoonwali.

From time immemorial, they have literally been able to force every passing conqueror to pay toll tax for use or passage through the Khyber Pass

Today they are considered to be consummate smugglers and also run numerous gun manufacturing units in the region, supplying them to Jihadis all over the muslim world.

Identify.

292. Stuck Feet?

This sport is a variant of bowling and is reputed to have been invented in 1907 in the village of La Ciotat near Marseilles as a less physically-demanding form of jeu provençal. Physical effort was reduced by shortening the length of the pitch by roughly half and replacing a moving delivery with a stationary one.

The name is derived from a term which in the Provençal language means "stuck feet", because the feet have to remain fixed together within a (small) circle. It is of interest that this also means that handicapped people in wheelchairs can compete without any disadvantage.

Identify.

291. A bird in the belly, is worth two in the bush....

“You catch the ______ with a net spread up in the forest canopy. Take it alive. Take it home. Poke out its eyes and put it in a small cage. Force-feed it oats and millet and figs until it has swollen to four times its normal size. Drown it in brandy. Roast it whole, in an oven at high heat, for six to eight minutes. Bring it to the table. Place a cloth—a napkin will do—over your head to hide your cruelty from the sight of God. Put the whole bird into your mouth, with only the beak protruding from your lips. Bite. Put the beak on your plate and begin chewing, gently. You will taste three things: First, the sweetness of the flesh and fat. This is God. Then, the bitterness of the guts will begin to overwhelm you. This is the suffering of Jesus. Finally, as your teeth break the small, delicate bones and they begin to lacerate your gums, you will taste the salt of your own blood, mingling with the richness of the fat and the bitterness of the organs. This is the Holy Spirit, the mystery of the Trinity—three united as one. It is cruel. And beautiful”

Instructions for eating the bird shown in the picture, considered to be a delicacy in haute cuisine.

Identify!

290. Wonder-woman?

The photograph on top is that of Fort Peck Dam. Using that as a clue, identify who is being described below:

“______ the Indestructible”
The woman who had been torpedoed in the Mediterranean, strafed by the Luftwaffe, stranded on an Arctic island, bombarded in Moscow, and pulled out of the Chesapeake when her chopper crashed.

289. Flower, Flower on the flag....

The Bauhinia Blekeana is named after Sir Henry Blake, Governor of X from 1898 to 1903 who was a keen amateur botanist in his own rights.

It now appears on the flag of the same country. Which one?

288. Acknowledging a Repartee...

This term in fencing is used as an acknowledgment of a hit, called out by the fencer who is hit.

The word is often used in popular culture and general conversation – for example, in an argument or debate. If one person presents an argument and another delivers a clever or appropriate response, the first person may respond with "_______" as a way of acknowledging a good response.

What term/word?

287. What light from yonder window breaks?

Verona's town council is offering couples to tie nuptial knots up in the balcony. Soccer player star Luca Ceccarelli, who plays for local team Verona is the first to do it. But it does not come cheaply. A normal civil wedding licence in Italy costs about 45 euros: for non-European citizens the Verona licence will cost nearly 900 euros, with EU non-Verona couples paying approximately 700 euros.

So what is so special about the balcony?

286. Scroll down...

Historically it refers to a scroll that is a deed delivered to a third person to hold until a future condition is satisfied.

In real estate transactions, it refers to the period during which a third party holds the proceeds from the sale of a home until both the buyer and seller sign their documents.

What be it?

285. El Hor...

They are the oldest known of their kind and dates back to pre-biblical times. The Muslims believe that they were a gift to them by Allah for amusement and benefit and in contrast to the disdain that others of their ilk suffer from, they are referred to as El Hor (the Noble One) or El Baraha (the Blessed One)

Amongst the Arabs they are never sold, and only given as a gift from a friend to a friend, which is the highest form of compliment from one person to another.

If a Knight had been to the holy Land, he would bring a X home as proof of his Crusade and people believe this was how they entered Europe.

What be X?

284. Sorry Mr. Sobieski this is not for you...

Contrary to common legend, it was not created in the shape of a stirrup to commemorate the victory of Poland’s King Jan Sobieski over the Ottoman Turks in 1683. It was actually invented much earlier in Kraków, Poland, as a competitor to the obwarzanek, a lean bread of wheat flour designed for Lent.

There was a tradition among many observant Jewish families to make them on Saturday evenings at the conclusion of the Sabbath. Due to Jewish Sabbath restrictions, they were not permitted to cook during the period of the Sabbath and, compared with other types of bread, it could be baked very quickly as soon as it ended.

The name orginates both from the similarities of the word to an old word meaning 'bow' and because traditionally they are not handmade perfectly circular but rather slightly stirrup-shaped.

What am I talking about?

283. Horny Heave ho!

In old navy ships, high ranking officers would be lifted onto the ships instead of climbing on board. The artifact shown in the top picture would be attached to a block on the davit with a line. The officer would have the chair put under him, and then sideboys would lift him onto the deck of the ship on the command of the instrument shown in the bottom picture.

It is from the instrument that the artifact gets its name. Identify.

PS: Nowadays you might run into one of these when someone is trying to paint or clean a multi-storey building et al....

282. 10 Ideas changing the world right now....

Catherine Mayer writing in a Time Article entitled “10 Ideas changing the World Right now” in March 2009:

You may not have heard of X before—mainly because I’ve just coined the term. It’s about more than just the ripple effect of baby boomers” resisting the onset of age. It is a stranger, stronger alchemy, created by the intersection of that trend with a massive increase in life expectancy and a deep decline in the influence of organized religion—all viewed through the blue haze of Viagra. In their teens and 20s, they may seem preternaturally experienced. In later life, they often look young and dress younger. They have kids early or late—sometimes very late—or not at all. Their emotional lives are as chaotic as their financial planning. Their defining characteristic is to live in the same way, at the same pitch, doing and consuming much the same things, from late teens right up until death.

What is the term X that Ms Mayer coined?

281. Incestuous relationships...

What is this a genealogical chart of?

And yes, you can make out the complicated nature of the relationships if you take some time to observe the details..

280. Pride, Prejudice and then some more...

Just fill in the blanked out portion in the title of this recent "creation"....

279. Bring on the cheergirls?

The title of this movie was made famous by one Al Dvorin, a concert announcer who traveled with a certain performer throughout his career

Later baseball commentators started picking up the same phrase to describe a home run hit into the stands.

What be the phrase?

278. Whatsizname?

Slightly garbled lyrics. Kindly fill in the blanks at the end:

In the name of whiskey
In the name of song
You didn't look back
You didn't belong

In the name of reason
In the name of hope
In the name of religion
In the name of dope

In the name of freedom
You drifted away
To see the sun shining
On someone else's day

In the name of United and the BBC
In the name of Georgie Best and LSD
In the name of justice
In the name of fun

__ ___ ____ __ ___ ______


PS: 7%, from tomorrow, will operate from both sides of the Atlantic.

Mr Rathi will continue to post from the serene environs of Syracuse in up-state NY, whenever he gets time off from submitting dissertations and attending frat parties and other such diversions.

He has also threatened to post Blonde and Big Mama jokes from time to time, if the mood takes him.

277. Dances with shoes?

Identify the lady in this reebok ad!

276. What, no sports?

What was special about these medal winners in the history of the Olympics?

Silver : Jasna Šekarić — Women's 10m Air Pistol

Bronze :
Aranka Binder — Women's 10m Air Rifle
Stevan Pletikosić — Men's 50m Rifle prone

Yeah, we don't do too many sports questions :)

275. Vexillologically vexed?

Flag. Whose?

Hint: Now no longer in use.

274. The noble laureates who flunked....

In 1921, 1528 gifted schoolchildren were selected from a population of about 250,000. These children were chosen by their teachers as having shown signs of giftedness, and were then further filtered by subsequent “tests”.

The progress of these children was tracked throughout their lifetimes and actually continued till 2005, and collectively, between them the gifted ones had published 2000+ scientific and technical papers, ,60 books and monographs, 230 patents, 33 novels, 375 short stories, and 265 articles.

Surprisingly two subsequent Nobel laureates failed to make the grade: William Shockley, the inventor of the transistor, and Luis Alvarez, for the liquid hydrogen bubble chamber.

What was this group popularly referred to as?

273. Meal of Meals?

This plant, also known as the obedience plant, is a large perennial herb of genus Maranta found in rainforest habitats. It is also the name of the edible starch from the rootstocks of the West Indian herb.

It used to be very popular in British cuisine, though Napoleon supposedly said the real reason for the British love of it was to support their colonies

Archaeological studies in the Americas show evidence of its cultivation as early as 7,000 years ago. The name may come from aru-aru meaning meal of meals in the language of the Caribbean Arawak people, for whom the plant is a staple. It has also been suggested that the name comes from it's use in treating poison arrow wounds, as it draws out the poison when applied to the site of the injury.

Which plant?

272. pre-Fedex times in the Dark Continent

What did Chuma and Susi carry from Chitambo's village (in modern day Zambia) to Bagamoyo (on the coast of modern day Tanzania) and transfer to British authorities?

271. Encore! after two centuries...

Europa riconosciutam, an opera in two acts by Antonio Salieri, was first performed on August 3, 1778. The opera was next performed on December 7, 2004. Since the work had not been performed for so long, scores had to be re-printed from scratch, working from the original manuscripts.

For what reason was this opera performed, both times?

270. Ask your mom.....

One of the most widely recognized block patterns frequently encountered in Embroidery and Applique work.

What is it called?

269. The bet and the outcome....

Someone explaining how he got his nickname:

The American press nicknamed me X after a bet that I made with the Captain. He had promised me a certain type of suitcase if I won a important match, which I did. The American public liked this nickname, which highlighted my tenacity, never giving up on my prey! My friend Robert George provided a visual representation which kind of stuck, for perpetuity.

Who and what nickname?

268. Our man in Lahore?

In 1971, he acted as special advisor to the Pakistan Air Force and prior to the start of hostilities of the Bangladesh War he is reported to have said that the Pakistani army would be in New Delhi within a week.

During the war, his twin-engined Beechcraft was destroyed in an Indian air raid on the Chaklala air base - he was reportedly incensed and demanded retaliation. Despite Pakistan's surrender to India, he stayed on in Pakistan until March 1973, and spent most of his time making several expeditions to the K2 mountain, vacationing in Swat, trekking and hunting in the Northern Areas and learning the Urdu language...

Identify.

267. The last cut

What food item gets its name from the Italian term for the last act in its production process ,that of cutting away?

266. I can't do that Dave....

Where would you come across this screen?

265. Fixed?

These were generally considered desirable among British and Commonwealth troops who had found themselves serving in the front lines for any extended period of time during WW I.They were deemed sufficiently serious - but not potentially fatal - to necessitate either temporary or permanent recuperation in Britain. Wounds to the hand and feet were typical examples, and as such were treated with some suspicion by military authorities who suspected deliberate self-inflicted wounds….

What were these wounds called?

264. Sparkling stuff

Invented in Nuremberg, Germany in 1610, they were originally made of shredded silver. Nowadays, typically made of plastic, and are used particularly to decorate Christmas trees. According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, the word is from an Old French word meaning “sparkle”. So what's the good word?

263. My Kingdom for a Dog....

Identify this once upon a time independent region at the conjunction of Poland and Germany which has also lent its name to a breed of dog!

262. Iconic Poses

Same person. Who?

261. The Law is a Doc?

Someone's non-fiction bibliography:

1978 Power and Maneuverability (with Tony Carty)
1983 Law and Medical Ethics (with J Kenyon Mason)
1990 Family Rights: Family Law and Medical Advances (with Elaine Sutherland)
1992 The Criminal Law of X (with Kwame Frimpong)(the actual term has been replaced with X, for certain obvious reasons)
1993 The Duty to Rescue (with Michael Menlowe)
1992 Scots Criminal Law (with David H Sheldon)
1997 Forensic Aspects of Sleep (with Colin Shapiro)
2000 Justice and the Prosecution of Old Crimes (with Daniel W Shuman)
2001 Errors, Medicine and the Law (with Alan Merry)
2003 A Draft Criminal Code for Scotland (with Eric Clive, Pamela Ferguson and Christopher Gane)
2004 Creating Humans: Ethical questions where reproduction and science collide

Whose?

260. Horn Please

Identify the musical instrument!

259. Some say he started the new wave....

Identify the gentleman.

258. Oath Fellows?

O.I.A. Roche writes in his book The Days of the Upright, A History of the X that X is
“a combination of a Flemish and a German word. In the Flemish corner of France, Bible students who gathered in each other's houses to study secretly were called 'house fellows,' while on the Swiss and German borders they were termed 'oath fellows,' that is, persons bound to each other by an oath. Gallicized into X, often used disparingly, the word became, during two and a half centuries of terror and triumph, a badge of enduring honor and courage”.

What be X?

257. All About Snake Charming

This opulent folk dance get its name from the snakecharmers community in the local language.

Name please?

256. By the draw of a straw....

A straw poll is typically a vote with nonbinding results and is often taken on an impromptu basis to see if there is enough support for an idea to devote more meeting time to it, and (when not a secret ballot) for the attendees to see who is on which side of a question.

Since 1996, and influenced by the “Wisnumurti guidelines”, for which role of international importance does a sequence of straw polls play a vital role in determining the winning candidate?

255. Red, Yellow or Green?

Consumer guides for seafood generally divide fish and other sea creatures into three categories:

Red ("say no" or "avoid")

Yellow or orange ("think twice", "good alternatives" or some concerns")

Green ("best seafood choices")

What is the basis of this classification?

254. Born into the house of Born....

Her mother, Irene, was the eldest child of Max Born, the German physicist and Nobel Prize winner. Her father, Brinley was an MI5 officer and took Rudolph Hess into custody during World War II. She hit the limelight with the film adaptation of a Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey broadway musical about the way rock and roll changed American sexuality and culture.

Identify.

253. Rules of the Game?

Pedro Damiano was a Portuguese chess player who lived from 1480 to 1544. A native of Odemira, he was a pharmacist by profession. He wrote Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti, one of the well know treatises on chess. Damiano describes the rules of the game, offers advice on strategy, presents a selection of chess problems, and analyzes a few openings. It is the oldest book that definitely states that the square on the right of the row closest to each player must be white. He also offers advice regarding blindfold chess principally focused on the need to master notation based on numbering the squares 1-64.

In this book Damiano suggested chess was invented by ______ which explains the Portuguese and Spanish words for chess.

As per Damiano who invented chess?

252. Follow my white plume!

This English word carries the connotation of a flamboyant manner and reckless courage.

The literal meaning of the word is a plume, such as is worn on a hat or a helmet, but the reference is to King Henri IV of France. Pleasure-loving and cynical, but a brave military leader, who is the best-loved of the kings of France, he was famed for wearing a striking white plume in his helmet, and for his war-cry "Follow my white plume!" (Fr. "Ralliez-vous à mon _____ blanc").

Edmond Rostand's depiction of Cyrano de Bergerac, in his play of the same name is responsible for its establishment as a virtue. (Prior to Rostand, the word was not necessarily a good thing, and was seen by some as a suspect quality).

Which word?

251. Incognito?

Her father was a political activist, a founding member of a group called EROS and had to spend most of his time underground. Her debut album is named after a pseudonym her father adopted and her second is named after her mother.

Simple. Identify.

250. Celebrating with Fruit Pies

March 14 is the birthday of Albert Einstein and Waclaw Sierpinski. Every year the day is celebrated widely across the world as tribute to something else.

It was first celebrated at the San Francisco Exploratorium in 1988, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, and then consuming fruit pies.

What is the celebration for?

249. The Gaul, the Teuton and the Roman....

In which award-winning browser-based massively multiplayer online game would you come across the above representative tribe-members: The Gaul, The Teuton and The Roman?

248. Charismatic Swordsmen

This term, developed in the 16th century,was used to describe rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen. It is based on a fighting style using a side-sword in one and a _________ in the off-hand, which was filled with the production of a peculiar sound.

A classical X exhibits exceptional courage and swordfighting skill, a strong sense of honor and justice, a chivalric romantic sense, and the capacity for wit, style, and resourcefulness under pressure. Such characters include The Three Musketeers, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Robin Hood, Zorro.

Today the term has changed, and refers to both a type of fictitious character and to a fiction genre. It also refers to a brilliant performance by someone.

What term?

247. In the Middle of Midlothian...

It is a small village in Midlothian, Scotland, situated approximately 12 miles from Edinburgh Airport. Locals say that the name is derived from the conjunction of two Gaelic words describing the village’s primary features: a rocky promontory and a waterfall or pool.

Two reasons why this place has entered popular consciousness:

a. A chapel in the village being featured in a best-selling book and a film based on the book.
b. A research institute of some importance being located here and named after the village

246. Solo Polo?

He was once introduced to a polo player with the words: "You are both leaders in your spheres, though the spheres are very different." “

Not so very different," he replied. "You are a dear soul who plays polo, and I am a poor Pole who plays solo."

Who?

245. Fractally speaking....

An xkcd cartoon inspired by a fractal generated from triples of circles, where any circle is tangent to two others. The fractal is named after a Greek mathematician who did some fairly fundamental work on conic sections and gave the ellipse, the parabola, and the hyperbola the names by which we know them by today.

What is the fractal known as?

244. Monalisa with a Moustache?

Pioneered by Marcel Duchamp, the readymades involve taking mundane, often utilitarian objects not generally considered to be art and transforming them, by adding to them, changing them, or (as in the case of his most famous work Fountain) simply renaming them and placing them in a gallery setting.

In L.H.O.O.Q. the objet trouvé (found object) is a cheap postcard reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa onto which Duchamp drew a mustache and beard in pencil and appended the title.

Why the name L.H.O.O.Q.?

243. How Einstein Could Not Learn To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

During a photo session Albert Einstein spoke to the photographer Philippe Halsman of his despair over how his special theory of relativity and letter to Roosevelt led to the creation of the atomic bomb.

What was the famous result of his despair?

242. The legacy of the tlingits...

A small Tlingit tribe on Admiralty Island, Alaska took their name from hutsnuwu, their local name for a grizzly bear fort.

These people produced X (the process of which they learnt most possibly from American trappers and which took its name after the name of the tribe). X was described in the 1890 'Report on the Population of Alaska' as "nearly all the trouble in this country" was due to X.

What be X?

241. The world's greatest Nuerozine...

It first started out in print format in 1988 with the subtitle “The World's Greatest Neurozine”. For sometime it was a website. Since 2000 it has been a blog with the subtitle “A directory of wonderful things”

What are we referring to?

240. Mexican Breakfast

One day in 1943, the wives of U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Duncan in nearby Eagle Pass,in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, were on a shopping trip, and arrived at the restaurant Victory Club, owned by Rudolfo DeLos Santos, after it had closed for the day. The maître d', Ignacio Anaya invented a new dish for them with what little he had available in the kitchen. He served the dish, calling it ______ especiales, or "special ______".

A modified version of the dish was marketed by a man named Frank Liberto beginning in 1977, during sporting events at Arlington Stadium in Arlington, Texas. During a Monday Night Football game, sportscaster Howard Cosell enjoyed the name "_______", and made a point of mentioning the dish in his broadcasts over the following weeks, further popularizing it and introducing it to a whole new audience.

What did Anaya invent which went on to become his middle name?

239. Ode to Humanity

In 1958, Sahir Ludhianvi in a poem titled Mere ahd ke haseeno (Beauties of my generation), presented the event as a success of humanity over nature. Taking aim at those who saw their futures as astrally determined, Sahir saw in the event another sign that humanity had trumped nature. Which event?

Wo buland-baam taare, wo falak-maqaam taare
Jo nishaan de ke apna, rahe be-nashaan hamesha
Wo haseen, wo noor-zaade, wo qilaa ke shaahzaade
Jo hamaari qismaton par rahe hukmraan hamesha

Mere ahd ke haseeno, wo nazar-nawaaz taare
Mera daur e ishq parwar tumhe nazr de rahaa hai
Wo junoon jo aab o aatish ko aseer kar chuka hai
Wo qilaa ki vus-aton se bhi qiraaj le rahaa hai

Mere paas rehne waalo, mere baad aane waalo
Mere daur ka ye tohfa, tumhe saazgaar aaye
Kabhi tum qala se guzro kisi seem-tan ke qatir
Kabhi tum ko dil mein rakh kar koi gul-o-zaar aaye

238. Twainspeak...

What was inspired by a Mark Twain remark and was anthologized in the volume shown above?

237. Alpine Diet?

Inspired by a “strange dish” that he was served during a hike in the Swiss Alps, what did the physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner introduce to bolster the diet of his patients around 1900?

236. One word to bind them all....

Connect

a. A 1928 recording by Louis Armstrong and his orchestra named after a slang term used in the Jazz world for marihuana

b. A term used by geocachers to refer to those not involved in or aware of the sport of Geocaching

c. A term inducted into the OED in 2003 standing for a person lacking a skill

235. Approximately thereabouts....

Which latin term meaning “in approximately” is widely used in genealogy and historical writing, to denote dates or periods which cannot be determined accurately?

234. Tooth-aches and annunciation...-

Consider a hypothetical situation where X and Y meet each other on the streets in late 19th century Europe and the following conversation ensues:

X: Aaah! I have such an ache!
Y (with a lot of concern): Where?
X (opening his mouth and pointing to the upper set of teeth): My teeth, of course!
Y (oozing more concern): Does it pain?
X: Yes, as much as it did on our day of the Lady of the Annunciation!!

What’s going on?!!!

233. Five Colors - A medley.

These exquisite porcelain jars of Thailand were highly prized and used only in the royal household and upper class Thai families. The name literally means “Five Colors” and each piece is painstakingly crafted with hand-applied, real gold masks laid over the white ceramic, enabling the artist to produce a tactile, detailed Thai pattern around the gold.



What are they called?

232. The flowers of Yamazakura...

One of the most famous poems in Japanese history, a tanka by Edo era scholar Motoori Norinaga starts thus:

If someone asks about the Yamato spirit of Shikishima
it is the flowers of yamazakura that are fragrant in the Asahi


Significance Please?

231. User Generated Content and the Beastie Boys?

A website design where a site's main or most visible pages are professionally written, edited, and laid out, while the rest of the site relies on content supplied by volunteers and site visitors (UGC etc) is called a X strategy.

The term X was apparently popularized by a 1994 Beastie Boys song as well as by personalities like the one shown below.



What be X?

230. The mother of all hyperboles...

This patented invention saw its first commercial use in Chillicothe, Missouri…… and gave rise to a fairly popular hyberbole.

Which one?

229. The concocter of potions....

Felice ______ was an Italian pharmacist, a maker of liquor and freedom fighter under Garibaldi. Born in Gerolanuova near Brescia, he established a chemical laboratory in Milano, developing a successful amaro made as an alcohol infusion of cinchona bark, herbs, and iron salts. The laboratory made the "l'esanofele", a chemical based on quinine, iron and arsenic to combat malaria.

Why is this person very important in an Indian context?

228. Rum Doodle, Talking Fish and other such expeditions...

The Ascent of Rum Doodle is a short 1956 novel by Bill Bowman. It is a parody of the chronicles of mountaineering expeditions (notably Maurice Herzog's book Annapurna chronicling the first ascent of the mountain of the same name) that were popular during the 1950s, as many of the world's highest peaks were climbed for the first time. Though a parody, it has become one of the most famous and celebrated books of mountaineering literature.

Bowman's only other published work is The Cruise of the Talking Fish, again a parody of another expedition. Which one?

227. The Privilege du Blanc...

As of 2008, Queen Sofia of Spain, Queen Paola of Belgium, Queen Fabiola of Belgium, and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, if they so wish to, can exercise a privilege known as “Privilege du Blanc” or “Privilege of the White”.

What is the “Privilege du Blanc”?

226. Complicated Reactions!

In an acidic solution, the “lawsone” molecule can react via a process called Michael addition with keratin to create a permanent stain.

What results?

225. Inspired by the Royal Crescent!

The Royal Crescent in Bath, England. What in India has been inspired by it?

224. Connect?

Connect the three pics.

223. Bas Couture?

In women's fashion, high end clothing made partly incorporating features requested by the client and to her exact measurements is called haute couture. In menswear similar dresses are called bespoke.

What fashion term is used to refer to the antithesis of this concept viz. a dress which is factory made in standardized sizes and available off the shelf?

222. The African Bird's Eye......

The African bird’s eye chili – found quite abundantly in the former Portuguese colonies of Mozambizue and Angola – is also referred to commonly by what other name?