This document provides information about the format and questions for the finals of an event called Excelsior. It details two dry rounds consisting of 10 questions each and two written rounds with 8 questions each. The written rounds cover topics related to architecture inspired by artists, music or movies. Example questions are provided for the written rounds. Details are also given about the dry rounds, including that they have 12 questions with infinite bouncing, pouncing, and going clockwise. Overall, the summary provides an overview of the structure and content of the Excelsior finals competition.
3. Format
■ 2 Dry Rounds of 10 questions each
■ 2Written Rounds of 8 questions each
5. Written Uno
■ 8 questions fromARCHI posters
■ Architecture inspired by Artists(ARCHIST), Music(ARCHIMUSIC) or
Movies(ARCHISET)
■ +5 for each right answer and extra +10 for all right
42. 1
■ File sharing websites were blocked in India on 21 July 2011 because Reliance
BIG Pictures got a ”____ ___" order from Delhi High Court allowing them to
serve cease and desist notices on people illegally redistributing the
film Singham.This allegedly brought down copyright infringement of the
film by 30% and gave protection to the intellectual property owner,
Reliance Entertainment, from copyright violation by prospective
anonymous offenders.
■ On 29 August 2011, Reliance Entertainment repeated the same to prevent
the illegal broadcast or streaming of its upcoming film Bodyguard.
■ What is the name of the order ?
45. 2
■ In 1992, Russia was divided into various socialist states. Aero Club, the
award winning export house from Delhi, suffered heavy loss and was left
with heavy inventory of shoes which was made for exports. Mr Avtar Singh,
the Chairman ofAero Club, decided to launch some of the styles lying in
the inventory in the Indian market and thus the first hand-stitched shoe
was launched in a couple of stores in New Delhi.The shoe had a style
number G-0092 as it was the year 1992 and ‘G’ stood for gents and was
very well received by the people.
■ Foreseeing the demand for the shoe, Avtar Singh asked the shoe to be
made in 5 different colors which were khaki, black, olive, camel and a
mixed color including combination of these colors and this combination
still persists today.
■ What was thus started by Aero Club in India ?
48. 3
■ In geography, the antipode of any place on Earth is the point on the Earth's
surface which is diametrically opposite to it.Two points that are antipodal to
each other are connected by a straight line running through the centre of the
Earth. Considering that around 71% of the Earth's surface is covered in
ocean, less than 4% of land is antipodal to land and most of India only
corresponds to water, with one exception.The antipode of Jaisalmer in
Rajasthan happens to be the ______ ______, a relatively tiny land mass
measuring 163 square kilometers. Not only is it India's only antipode which
does not lie on water but also a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site since 1995 and
is dominated by the Rapa Nui National Park.
■ What is India’s only antipode that is served by the Mataveri International
Airport ?
■ Images follow.
52. 4
■ Shown here is the Juan Pelota Café in
Austin,Texas. It is a coffee shop owned by
X.The name is a joking reference to his
testicular cancer, with the name "Juan"
being considered by some
a homophone for "one" and "Pelota" being
the Spanish word for "ball". Out of the same
building, he owns and operates another
shop named "Mellow Johnny's", after
another nickname of his derived from the
term "maillot jaune", which is French for
"yellow jersey”.
■ Identify the owner/X.
55. 5
■ The image showsTommy "The Nightmare" Smith who
is a British musician and disc jockey who hosts the
classic rock radio station K-DST in GTA San Andreas.
Smith is the former frontman of 1970s progressive
rock act Crystal Ship. He is voiced by X whose history
runs somewhat parallel to Smith’s.They are both
musicians whose careers dried up after their bands
split, while their former bandmates went on to greater
success. It is mentioned that all ofTommy's former
bandmates from Crystal Ship are still in the music
business and performing, and X’s former bandmates
formed Velvet Revolver after his band split up.
■ Identify X, who lent his voice toTommy Smith.
59. 6
■ BBK Electronics Corporation is a Chinese multinational specialised in electronics and cell
phones. It markets smartphones under the brands X,Y and Z which are entry level, mid-
range and high-end smartphones respectively. BBK is currently the second largest
smartphone manufacturer in the world.
■ X - Founded in 2009 by Shen Wei, the brand is known to use Hi-FiTechnology, which is
short for High Fidelity audio experience. In June 2017, it reached a sponsorship deal
with FIFA to become the official smartphone brand of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The company also became title sponsor of India's Pro Kabaddi League.X currently has
a sponsorship deal with the NBA in China, with Golden StateWarriors player Stephen
Curry endorsing the brand in China and the Philippines.
■ Y - First brand that came into existence, it was founded in 2004 byTony Chen and it
entered the mobile phone market in the year of 2008 and by 2013 it was the second most
profitable company in China. It has acquired the rights to sponsor the Indian national
cricket team for the period 2017-2022.
■ Z – Founded in 2013 by Pete Lau, it is a wholly owned subsidiary ofY.
■ While X andY are focused in creating and maintain themselves as premium offline
smartphone brands, Z aims to deliver their products via online services.
■ Identify X,Y and Z.
62. 7
■ The new logo and brand identity, ‘Navaswagatham’ suggests the
importance of integrating nature, culture and community, for both the
organization as well as the places.The identity was designed by Idiom
Design and Consulting Ltd. (Idiom) and the logo is derived from the palm
leaf and its utilization, as decoration, is through the thoranam, in a
______-like mode. It reflects the rootedness of the organization, the
celebratory and welcoming nature of its culture and the greenness of its
aspirations. Speaking on the occasion, its MD said the activities of the
organization also laid emphasis on its green initiative, including the
generation of its own renewable energy and its aim to become power
neutral.What is the subject of this article published in Deccan chronicle a
few years back ?
65. 8
■ The following 3 images are elements from a naming system.While these
three lend their names to their corresponding sections based on
geographical references, the system also includes names based on an
editor, a town in Massachusetts and, a fruit.
■ 1)What am I talking about?
■ 2) Name any two of the three images corresponding to what they
represent.
■ Images in next slide.
69. 9
■ Schmidt Index is an index created by Justin O. Schmidt who is an American
entomologist who works as a research director at the Southwestern Biological
Institute where he studies the chemical and behavioral defenses of ants, wasps,
and arachnids. In 2015 Schmidt was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for physiology
and entomology.
■ The Index is shown below :
■ Level 4 : bullet ant, tarantula hawk wasp
■ Level 3 : paper wasp, harvester ant
■ Level 2 : honey bee, yellow jacket wasp, bald-faced hornet
■ Level 1.5 : bullhorn acacia ant
■ Level 1 : fire ant, sweat bee
■ What does the Schmidt Index measure ?
72. 10
■ Show on the next slide is the list of most followed Instagram
users/accounts from their/its country of origin. Out of the top 18, 13 of
them are personalities while 5 are companies/organisations.
■ One of them is Real Madrid at #8 from Spain which is a sporting
organisation.
■ Identify the remaining four which are blanked out.
76. Written Dos
■ 8 Questions
■ 1-5 – Based on Russian Monuments/Sculptures dedicated to literary characters
■ 6-8 – Mixed Bag
■ +5 for each right answer and an extra +10 for all right
77. 1
■ The fictional narrator adorns St
Petersburg’s Universitetskaya
Embankment. He is depicted in the
spirit of the novel: the monument
consists of numerous figures of
________, each one smaller than
the last.
78. 2
■ Russians hold this character in
high regard, so the ceremonial
opening of the sculpture in 2004
gained a lot of attention. Many
people dressed up in 19th-
century clothing to greet the
____, and OlegYankovsky, who
played the role of __________ in
the Soviet movie, gave the
opening speech.
79. 3
■ If you go for a stroll down the
Smolenskaya Embankment you
might come across the legendary
characters standing right next to
the British Embassy.The figures
are based onVasily Livanov and
Vitaly Solomin, who played X andY
in the RussianTV series. Livanov
(Pictured here) even received an
accolade for his acting from Queen
Elizabeth II.
80. 4
■ This slab is a tribute to author’s most
popular character. It was installed
deliberately, but there is another ad-hoc
monument to the _________ ___ in St.
Petersburg with quite a different history.
It used to house a bust of Alexander II,
but this was removed in 1931, leaving a
bare marble pedestal. Locals started
calling it the “_________ ___ slab”, and
the name stuck.
81. 5
■ This modern monument to
the famous knight-errant is
situated in MuzeonArt Park,
Moscow, the largest open-air
park of its kind in Russia.
86. 1
■ The fictional narrator adorns St
Petersburg’s Universitetskaya
Embankment. He is depicted in the
spirit of the novel: the monument
consists of numerous figures of
________, each one smaller than
the last.
89. 2
■ Russians hold this character in
high regard, so the ceremonial
opening of the sculpture in 2004
gained a lot of attention. Many
people dressed up in 19th-
century clothing to greet the
____, and OlegYankovsky, who
played the role of Munchausen
in the Soviet movie, gave the
opening speech.
92. 3
■ If you go for a stroll down the
Smolenskaya Embankment you
might come across the legendary
characters standing right next to
the British Embassy.The figures
are based onVasily Livanov and
Vitaly Solomin, who played X andY
in the RussianTV series. Livanov
(Pictured here) even received an
accolade for his acting from Queen
Elizabeth II.
95. 4
■ This slab is a tribute to author’s most
popular character. It was installed
deliberately, but there is another ad-hoc
monument to the _________ ___ in St.
Petersburg with quite a different history.
It used to house a bust of Alexander II,
but this was removed in 1931, leaving a
bare marble pedestal. Locals started
calling it the “_________ ___ slab”, and
the name stuck.
111. 1
■ In December, 2016, Starbucks announced that around 7,800 stores across
the United States will begin to turn into _________ or _____.To entice
the users involved, the stores will be offering a drink called the _______
__ Frappuccino, a "Vanilla Bean Frappuccino blended beverage and
raspberry syrup blended with freeze dried whole blackberries and topped
with whipped cream". In July, 2016, the company, X, began to work with
major businesses to create sponsored locations, which aimed to draw
foot traffic to certain areas, in the hope that the users would then spend
money in said locations.This isn’t the first big partnership between a
major chain and X .When _______ __ was launched in Japan, the
company partnered with McDonald’s to turn 3,000 McDonald’s
restaurants into _________ and ____.
■ In India, there was a surge in traffic to Reliance stores and outlets like
RelianceTrends and Reliance Digital.
■ What are we talking about ?Why was there a positive hit on Reliance
Stores in India ?
114. 2
■ In 2015, Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo splashed out £12m on a
NewYork apartment which inspired the book X. The five-bedroom
home was previously owned by Italian real-estate tycoonAlessandro
Proto and has sweeping views of Central Park, the Empire State
Building and the Hudson River. The NewYork Post reports that the
plush apartment was used as a model by the author, who met Mr. Proto
in 2010, for the bachelor pad which was home to the book's protagonist
_________ ____. However, the apartment does not include the “Red
Room of Pain” featured in the novel.
■ Identify the Novel/X.
120. 3
■ X is a company founded in 1873 by John Michael X in X,Wisconsin and is
presently headed by David X. In its earlier days, the company dealt with
cast iron and ornamental iron pieces including cemetery crosses.The
breakthrough came about in 1883 when John Michael applied enamel to a
cast-iron horse trough to create the company's first bathtub and the line
of products stuck.
■ The X Bold Design Awards is a design competition for hospitality,
residential and commercial property professionals awarded annually by
the company in different regions of the world.
■ Identify this company which is known for its detailed and eye catching
print ADS.
125. 4
■ The following is a sticker found on public buses in parts of
Europe (the specific one being from Geneva, Switzerland).
■ What is the function of this ‘public service’ sticker?
128. It requests passengers to open any door
further along the middle or the back of the bus
during winters, so that opening the door next
to the driver does not make him/her feel cold.
129. 5
■ The _________ of _____ in the German city of Kassel is the work of
Argentinian artist Marta Minujín, who constructed this using 100,000 once-
banned _____. A symbol of democracy and free speech and a reminder that
censorship still exists today for this item in some parts of the world, the
installation has been built on the site of X of the 1930s. Minujín invited people
to donate once or currently banned _____ and will give them back to the
public when the installation is dismantled.The installation is part of the
renowned Documenta art festival, which started around 60 years ago and
takes place every five years.
■ What is X ?What nickname did it get due to its shape/structure ?
134. X – Site of Nazi book burnings
The Parthenon of Books
135. 6
■ A McDonald’s restaurant in Sedona, Arizona which was opened in 1993 caused
a lot of stir a couple of years ago when people started to notice something
unique.There have been numerous reports that a McDonald’s in Sedona would
have been prevented from opening unless it followed stringent laws that are in
accordance with buildings in the city, which has spectacular views of the
desert.The city still continues to enforce specific regulations for builders to
follow.
■ Thus, Sedona’s McDonald’s remains unique and the only one of its kind in the
world.
■ What is unique about the McDonald’s outlet in Sedona ?Why is it so ?
140. Only McDonald’s with turquoise(Blue/Green)
arches so that it blends into the natural
landscape of desert and red rock
141. 7
■ Ghost towns are uninhabited towns that feature lots of buildings, lots of roads
and no residents which were once bustling with commerce and community, but
for reasons which often differ from place to place, they're now desolate and
abandoned. Mcity, a ghost town in Michigan, fits the definition but is hardly
one. It's bright, clean, airy and the traffic lights are working.
■ The story starts in 2007, when pharmaceutical giant Pfizer moved out of its
research facilities near the University of Michigan. A year or so later, the
university acquired the land intending to use it for various research purposes.
■ However, in 2015, the U-M in partnership with the state department of
_________ decided to open Mcity as the world’s first town/environment for a
very unique and technologically advanced purpose.What is it used for, which
according to the university would make the life students and staff members at
the U-M easier ?
145. Mcity is used solely for the testing
driverless cars
146. 8
■ Straddling the border between mechanical and electrical, it looked from
the outside like an oversize typewriter. Inside the box, the system is built
around three physical rotors. Each takes in an input and outputs it as a
different one.That input passes through all three rotors, bounces off a
“reflector” at the end, and passes back through all three rotors in the other
direction.The board lights up to show the output, and the first of the three
rotors clicks round one position. When the first rotor has turned through all
26 positions, the second rotor clicks round, and when that’s made it round
all the way, the third does the same, leading to more than 17,000 different
combinations before the process repeats itself. Adding to the scrambling
was a plugboard, sitting between the main rotors and the input and
output.
■ What are we talking about ?
149. 9
■ “I'm Crazy" is a short story written for the December 22,1945 issue of Collier's
magazine. Despite the story's underlying melancholy, the magazine described
it as "the heart-warming story of a kid whose only fault lay in understanding
people so well that most of them were baffled by him and only a very few
would believe in him.”
■ Although this is the first recorded appearance of X, the chief character of the
novelY, the character was introduced in “Am I Banging My HeadAgainst the
Wall?” in 1941 but it was held back from publication until after the war.
Later,The NewYorker published it a year after “I'm Crazy” appeared in Collier's
under the title “A Slight Rebellion Off Madison”.
■ Identify the work and character/X , who is considered to be one of the most
important characters of 20th-century American literature.
153. 10
■ The Hainsworth company in the United Kingdom has been manufacturing
baize since 1783, making it one of the oldest manufacturers for the fabric. It
is a coarse woolen/cotton cloth which was traditionally used for clothing but
is often used to cover the slate and cushions and was also found as a writing
surface, particularly on 19th century pedestal desks.The surface finish of
baize is not very fine and thus increases friction which is a factor in its most
famous use. In Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, she refers to this “green”
fabric.
■ Although available in different colours, the most common forms of this
fabric are seen in green or a shade of light blue.What is its most famous use
or where do we come across this fabric ?
■ Image follows.