MindSweep 2025

Part I – Arts, Food and Beverages, Movies and TV, Literature

PLEASE OPEN THIS BOOKLET ONLY WHEN YOUR PROCTOR SAYS “START”.

PLEASE FAMILIARISE YOURSELF WITH THESE DETAILS BEFORE THE START.

This BOOKLET contains 100 questions, divided into 4 topics. It comprises Part I of the contest. Your cumulative score across the eight
topics will determine your ranking.

Rules:
• You have 60 minutes to answer as many of these questions as possible.
• Papers will be swapped with another player for marking at the end of 60 minutes.
• Unless stated in the question, last names will suffice. However, if you give the wrong first name, your answer will be incorrect!
• Phonetically correct answers will be accepted.
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to confirm this. Your complete script should then be handed in (it will be returned to you later). Once this has been done, no further discussions
will be entered into about your score. The score signed for will be considered to be correct.
• The overall highest scoring player from all participating venues will be the KQA MindSweep Champion 2025.
• In the event of a tie, your lowest scores will be compared and the person with a higher score there will win.
• In the event of any unprecedented occurrence or unforeseen circumstances arising in the course of the quiz, your proctor’s decision shall be final
and binding. KQA will adjudicate if the proctor refers the matter to us.
• Your commencing to answer the questions indicates your acceptance of these rules.
Thank you.

This Quiz is set by Arul Mani, Nagaratna Patil, Nikhita Thomas, Pranav VS, Urmila Lakshmanan, and Venkataraman Ravindra

Name:
Category:
# Topic Marks
1 Arts
2 Food and Beverages
3 Movies and TV
4 Literature
Sign here:
Total

[Link] @kqaquizzes
 MindSweep 2025 | Arts
A Mad Magazine strip from August 1970 has a character named Prissy Percy being
tortured by a bunch of sporty American boys. He is revealed to be X in the final
1 
panel. Art historian Valerie Hedquist calls this the ____ ___'s first public outing.
Which iconic character/ painting are we referring to?
The sky and the cloak worn by Mary Magdalene in Pieter van der Werff's 1709
2 work The Entombment of Christ have attracted the curiosity of those interested in 
art history for a long time. Why?
Jose Delarra created this memorial to X in the city of Santa Clara, the site of his
most significant military victory. When his body was exhumed in 1997, it was buried
3 
at this memorial, and then a giant statue of X, with an asthma inhaler in his pocket,
while he points to South America was then erected at this site. Name X.
The original ingredients were wet and dry straw but nowadays, to ensure there is
no ambiguity in the display, two distinct combinations are used. One contains
4 
anthracene, sulphur and potassium perchlorate, while the other contains potassium
chlorate, lactose and Greek pitch. What display, seen thrice so far in this century?
5 Which celebrity’s image did Andy Warhol use the most in his artwork? 

6 English artist Constance Fox Talbot is credited as the first woman to do what? 
The designs on the Bayeux Tapestry are ___________ rather than in a tapestry
weave and as such, do not actually meet the specific definitions of a tapestry.
7 Despite this, the piece has always been referred to as a tapestry until recent years 
when another name has gained ground among certain art historians. Either fill in
the blank or give the alternative name.
A painting of __X__, an artist himself, by William Dargie won the Archibald Prize in
1956, the first painting of an Aboriginal person to win the prize. Sixty-four years
8 
later, his great grandson became the first Indigenous artist to win the prize for his
work “Stand strong for who you are”. What is their shared surname?
_______, forever ten-years-old, hedgehog haired, with raggedy cloths and bare
feet, began standing with his back to the readers since 1973, after the Yom Kippur
9 war. Created by the cartoonist Naji al-Ali in 1969, the boy takes his name from a 
bitter plant that grows in the Middle East that has deep roots and grows back even
when weeded out. ID this symbol of Palestinian struggle.
This block-printing technique is practiced in _____-pur of India’s Kutch district as
well as in Sindh, Pakistan. As to its name, one story goes that a king was so fond
10 of his uniquely printed bedspread that he told his maid not to change the sheets - 
“aaj ke din rak.” Some believe the name to be a borrowing of the Arabic word for
blue due to the popular use of indigo in the process. What textile print?
Images used in this diptych was taken from the promotional photographs for the
film Niagara (1953). A silk-screen process was then used to create the painting
11 which consists of 50 images: 25 on the left in colour and 25 on the right in black 
and white. ID the painting, which was completed weeks after its subject’s death in
August 1962.
English painter Vanessa Bell’s home on Gordon Square, London was often the
meeting spot for a radical bunch of intellectuals and writers. While not as famous
12 as her younger sister, you may have spotted her designs on the book jackets of a 
publishing house begun by said sister and her husband. Name the publishing
house.
The artist Cy Gavin was apparently inspired by this spring perennial blooming
outside his New York studio and the myth surrounding its scientific name. “ I
13 became interested in that moment of self-recognition and appreciation when 
________ sees his reflection for the first time in the pool of water.” What was the
result of Gavin’s inspiration?
Karnataka Quiz Association MindSweep 2025 2
 This painting technique comes from the Italian meaning “to evaporate” and
“smoke”, named so because of how it blends one tone into another so it leaves no
14 
sign of any brush strokes. What technique? OR give me its most famous
practitioner.
“At an oil painting Phil Resch halted, gazed intently. The painting showed a
15 hairless, oppressed creature with a head like an inverted pear, its hands clapped in 
horror to its ears, its mouth open” ID the painting OR the sci-fi classic.
During the early 20th century, the French colonisation of Sub-Saharan Africa
exposed artworks from those regions to Europe. In 1907, when he was viewing one
16 
of them at Palais du Trocadéro he apparently experienced a ‘revelation’ which is
argued to have inspired his signature style. Who?
Botanical patterns like 'Rose' and 'Willow' and "Strawberry thief' created by this
British designer are seen everywhere these days- from mobile phone cases to
17 sports shoes to movies and TV shows from the 20th and 21st centuries. Name this 
19th century visionary who championed hand craftsmanship during a time in
British history when industrial mass-production was at its peak.
Starting in the mid-1830s and continuing for more than 20 years, Hiroshige
designed 600 to 1000 uchiwa, far more than any other artist. Since summer
pleasure-seekers took the refreshing evening air in these locations, Hiroshige
18 
particularly featured bodies of gently flowing water in his uchiwa designs. As they
were held close to the heart, Hiroshige's uchiwa prints may have instilled a feeling
of personal connection with him. What is an uchiwa?
In the 1810s, Hokusai produced 'picture manuals', commercially printed drawing
manuals full of pictures to copy. The most famous of these, was Hokusai _____ in
19 15 volumes. The preface to volume one indicates that Hokusai himself suggested 
this title, a still unusual use of the word _____, which can be translated as 'brush
running away with itself'. Fill in both blanks with the same word.
The writing on the Rosetta Stone is a decree about the king Ptolemy V. The decree
is bilingual and is inscribed in three scripts. Ancient Greek and Egyptian
20 
hieroglyphs were two of the scripts used. Name the third script- it was the cursive
Egyptian script used for daily purposes, meaning 'language of the people'.
The town does not exist / except where one black-haired tree slips
up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.
21 
The town is silent... Even the moon bulges in its orange irons...
These lines, from an ekphrastic poem by Anne Sexton, are about which artwork?
Monet’s Charing Cross Bridge, until its cleaning in 2024, captured the smoggy
yellow haze over the Thames with the shadowy Houses of Parliament in the
22 backdrop. However, it turned out that some of that cloudiness was not Claude's 
handiwork—it came, in part, from the lingering smoke of its previous owner's
cigars. Who was the owner, an artist in his own right?
In 2024, the Shanghai Museum hosted a special ten-night series dubbed
“Meowseum Nights,” where visitors were allowed to bring their cats to a particular
23 
exhibit. The exhibit was cat-proofed, ensuring artifacts were behind glass. What
was the theme of the exhibit?
After being blacklisted in a nearly decade-long feud, artist Stuart Semple legally
changed his name in 2024 to that of his rival, in a cheeky protest to get his hands
24 
on a 2014 product developed by Surrey NanoSystems. What name did he adopt?
Full name required.
In which painting does the word parsin, from the Hebrew "Mene, mene, tekel,
parsin," appear misspelled as u-pharsin, due to a scribal error in the Bible edition
25 
the artist got from his friend when he was living in the Jewish Quarter of
Amsterdam?

Karnataka Quiz Association MindSweep 2025 3

 MindSweep 2025 | Food and Beverages
This fish variety takes its name from the Latin for spotted, and in combination with
1 the word holy is used as a minced oath in English that may also refer to the fact that 
it was sold on Sundays to ensure quick consumption before the flesh rotted. ID.
The street origins of this Japanese item are visible in the name--it means branch,
2 and was cooked this way to allow people to pick edible matter off while standing or 
walking. Give us a 7-letter word.
Originally a Greek dessert, this flatbread served with bay leaves and honey is better
3 known to us today because the name has travelled as a sight metaphor into the 
language of maternity and medical sciences. What 8-letter word?
LG scored a win in the 1980s by marketing the GR-063 as a top-loader secondary
kitchen appliance to Korean households. The basic Western design was not
4 conducive for a certain purpose and hence the redesign. This has now developed in 
several ways, with recent models stressing their receptivity to specific kinds of
bacteria. What did LG rejig/what did they create thus?
There are about 115 known nopales species native to Mexico, most of them edible.
5 The pads can be eaten raw or cooked, used in marmalades, soups, stews, salad, 
tacos and more. What is the commonly used name for them in English?
A unique egg preparation found in Japan involves slow cooking the egg within its
6 shell in the water of a hot spring for about 30-40 minutes. It shares its name with the 
Japanese term for ‘hot spring. What is it called?
In the UK, it is used for a baked bar made with rolled oats, butter, golden syrup, and
7 
brown sugar. In the US it is often used to refer to a pancake. What term?
Which alcoholic beverage shares the root of its name with a Sanskrit word for
8 
‘honey’?
Unlike its American counterpart, this red-capped Japanese condiment brand is
made solely of egg-yolks with a blend of vinegar varieties, a pinch of salt, and MSG.
9 
The brand borrows its name and logo from the American cartoonist Rose O’Neil’s
adorable cherub-like creation for Ladies’ Home Journal. Name the Japanese brand.
In 2000, Unilever bought this American ice cream company while allowing them the
autonomoy of championing social causes. This understanding soured in 2021 when
the company announced that it would stop selling products in Israel’s illegal
10 
settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. In March this year, the company CEO
Dave Stever was removd from his position over their political activism. ID the
company, originally meant to be a bagel-making venture.
While X is a type of Y, not every type of Y is X. To be considered as X, the Y must
come specifically from a fish of the Acipenseridae family known as sturgeon and
11 
undergo a process of salt-curing. Y on the other hand is simply ripe and unfertilized
and can be collected from any marine animal. What are X and Y?
________ are named so because of their calabash-like appearance; traditionally
made with fruits of the Chinese hawthorn coated in malt sugar on a Bamboo
12 
skewer. Sometimes the pit and seeds of the hawthorn were pulled out and the fruit
filled with sweet red bean paste before the skewring and dipping. FITB.
A dish known as Suodiu (Suck and discard) has been making rounds in Chinese
Tiktok. This traditional dish dates back hundreds of years when boatmen from
13 
Yangtze River were forced to turn to natural minerals when they ran out of
vegetables and meat. What’s the main ingredient of Suodiu?
This group of Baleen whales got their name from the fact that they were big, slow,
14 floated up when killed, and even swam towards boats out of curiosity. What 
tragically “appropriate” name?
Karnataka Quiz Association MindSweep 2025 4
 This sweet dish was featured in Ms Beeton’s Book of Household Management as
____ ____ jam pudding. The blanks fit a cute rhyme-y name, but it's also known by
15 other, less appetising names like ‘shirt sleeve pudding’ because it was steamed and 
served often in old shirt sleeves, which also led to morbid nicknames like ‘dead
man’s arm’ and ‘dead man’s leg’. FITB.
What derogatory term did American sailors coin to refer to British sailors because
16 
they carried citrus juice on board to avoid scurvy?
The FAO's One Country One Priority Product initiative helps countries identify the
products that have the most market potential and provides support in maximising it.
For Bangladesh, the choice is their national fruit; even though it is the world’s
17 
second-largest producer of the fruit after India, much of its potential remained
untapped. Which 'multiple' fruit that gets its english name from an Indian
language?
As an embroidery stitch it means a series of single, or detached, chain stitches
formed around a center point. It also describes an easy-to-make cake that is
18 
essentially a hot milk sponge cake that is topped with a broiled frosting. What two-
word rhyming term?
Garlic ______ are generally sold by the bunch and make a stellar addition to pesto,
soups, stir-fries, and more. They are stalks that extend from the base of hardneck
19 garlic plants; they are related to but are different from green garlic. Fill in the blank 
with the plural of a noun, which when prefixed with other nouns describes specified
types of scenery.
In 2019, the Russian government claimed this vivid soup was one of their most
famous and beloved dishes. One Ukrainian response read: “You stole the Crimea
and now you try to steal this!” In 2020, Ukraine’s government lobbied the Michelin
20 
restaurant guide to remove a reference to this soup from its first-ever writeup of
Moscow’s restaurant scene. Name this dish that stars a root vegetable- a
consonant soup with just one vowel in it?
The MTR restaurant near Lalbagh botanical garden in Bangalore started serving its
signature dessert "Chandrahara" in the 1950s. Made from a pastry dough, the deep-
fried pillowy sweet that is served with a khoa-based sauce, got its current name
21 
from a 1954 movie. Before that it was called '_____ sweet'. Fill in the blank with the
demonym of a European country, that had a connection with the patron of the
nearby garden in the 18th century.
Which invention that helped liberate many women from spending two-three hours
on a daily chore, came about when Yoshitada Minami tried to recreate the traditional
22 process described in the proverb "hajime choro choro, naka pappa, akago ga 
naitemo futa toruna", meaning "start with a low flame, raise the heat in the middle,
and never lift the lid even if the baby cries"?
Which Arab dessert is referenced as a pun in the name of the viral FIX chocolate
23 bar Can’t Get ______ of It? The chocolate made with filo pastry, pistachio, and 
tahini, is now widely known as "Dubai chocolate".
King Pomare V of Tahiti died a week after Gauguin’s arrival there. Pomare had
drunk himself to death just like his great grandfather, grandfather and father before
24 him had done. His favourite drink had a mix of rum, whiskey, brandy, and 
importantly liqueur. He was buried in a tomb topped with a large replica of a
distinctively shaped bottle of which French brand?
The 2001 book The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan explores how human
desires shape the cultivation of plants. Each of its four parts pairs a plant with a
25 
desire: the _____ with sweetness, the _____ with beauty, ________ with
intoxication, and the ______ with control. Name any of the four.

Karnataka Quiz Association MindSweep 2025 5

 MindSweep 2025 | Movies and TV

This mixed-race actor's first big screen moment was as a dog enthusiast in Guy
Ritchie's Snatch, which eventually led to roles in Gangs of New York and a chance
1 
to play Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire. Identify the actor, most recently seen as
a gutted father in a 2025 TV show.
South Brooklyn is three neighbourhoods: Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island and X,
2 which recently got namechecked in an acceptance speech. Name this location 
or the film which looked at an immigrant community that has made its home here.
The hero of Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest speaks the words 'This damned
3 burg's getting me. If I don't get away soon I'll be going blood-simple like the 
natives. Whose cinematic debut takes its title from these lines?
Whose cinematic swansong takes its at-home title from the question in Genzaburo
4 Yoshino's 1937 novel about a young boy discovering the world? Name either 
director or this title.
Taylor Sheridan originally wrote which series as a film, pitching it as "The 
5
Godfather in Montana"?
Set to be released in November, 2025, Yorgos Lanthimos’ English-language
remake of the 2003 Korean science fiction comedy Save the Green Planet! is
6 
named after an ancient Mediterranean ritual based on the belief that bees were
spontaneously generated from a cow's carcass. What is the name?
One of the writers noted that the 2016 episode of “Who Do You Think You Are?”,
7 where EastEnders actor Danny Dyer discovered he was related to Edward III of 
England, inspired the idea for the protagonist of their show. Which show?
Which fictional Saturday Night Live character lends her name to slang phrase
8 used to describe a pessimistic person who frequently adds bad news and negative 
feelings to a gathering, ultimately dampening the mood?
The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics is a 1965 animated
short-film about a line that tries to woo a dot that he is hopelessly in love with. The
9 
moral presented on screen at the end of the film is a pun on phrase that has its
origins in politics - To the ______ belongs the ______. What punning moral?
The actor is regularly described in media as an “honorary Irishwoman.” It began
with a bit she did in an interview with Letterboxd, where she joked about having
lived in Ireland for four months to prepare for her role as “Jenny the Donkey” in
10 
The Banshees of Inisherin. Which actor, who in her acceptance speech at the
Critics Choice Awards (2024) thanked family in “Boston, Barbados, Nigeria, and
Ireland.”
While the yellow sneakers with black stripes sported by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill
are ________ _____ Taichi, the most popular model is the Mexico 66, released
11 two years before 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Bruce Lee too is credited with 
popularising this shoe brand. The second half of the brand name is because the
stripes on these sneakers resemble those on a large cat. ID the Japanese brand.
Howard Dietz chose the company’s mascot as homage to his alma mater
Columbia University. Slats, Jackie, Bill, Telly, Coffee, Tanner, George, and Leo
12 
are some who have graced the role of the mascot. Unlike the rest, Slats was the
sole inaudible one, only looking around in the logo. What is being described here?
Lars Von Trier wrote a script while hospitalised for clinical depression, the result
was ‘Anti Christ’, which shocked and awed people at its premier at Cannes, 2009.
13 
Two versions then became available at the Cannes film market, one with cuts and
one without, appropriately nicknamed _______ and ________ versions. FITB.

Karnataka Quiz Association MindSweep 2025 6

 In April 2025, this actor’s new YouTube channel posted a BTS video of him
auditioning for a role in a film he produced. The video was met with relief and
14 
gratitude for the actor not taking up the role as he didn’t really come off as a
village cop. Which film are we talking about?
Despite poor reviews by critics, this movie emerged as the highest Tamil grosser
15 of 2025. It is the second movie in this actor’s career to have an English title — this 
one supposedly pays homage to a 1966 Italian classic. ID.
When reading a column in Spy magazine, the title “___ _____ _______” caught
this director’s eye. When his screenwriting partner was asked what his next film
16 
was about, he said, “I guess it’s about a bunch of criminals who meet in a police
line up”. Origin story of which film?
In April 2025 The Economist published a list of six of the best films about financial
turmoil. Of the six, only one was from the 20th century- a 1940 film about a family
17 who head to California to make a better life when they are kicked off their land in 
Oklahoma during the Great Depression. "If the novel is a masterpiece, the film is
better". Name the film starring Henry Ford.
Homer Simpson first chomped down this blush pink frosted confectionary snack in
1989. It became a cultural icon reproduced on T-shirts and other merchandise; at
18 
last, in 2018 Krispy Kreme introduced the edible version. What is the punny
name of the snack- it has six letters, with a punctuation mark after the first.
In August 2024 Timeout published their list of the 100 best Bollywood films. In the
top ten, only two films are from post-liberalisation India. One of these two is
19 
ranked 4th best; name this film that was quoted from/ mentioned by two
consecutive US presidents when they visited India?
Starting in 1993, this TV show that ran for 11 seasons broke the mold in that the
female lead was rooted in science, while the male lead was not. As per a 2018
20 survey by the Geena Davis Institute of Gender in Media, the show’s impact has 
been so big that the rise in women in science is often called ‘The ______ Effect’.
Fill in the blank with the surname of the female lead.
In his book about the making of a movie, author Mark Seal writes, "It was the
essence of everything... the families, and the food, always the food, and the
21 extremes to which men had to go to put that food on the table. It was about the X, 
yes, but it was more about the Y. It was about the statue in the distance..." Which
line from the movie is he referring to, which is also the title of the book?
Which structure, home to "South Asian merchants, African entrepreneurs, Indian
workers, asylum seekers, and penurious travelers from across the globe", is the
22 
subject of Gordon Mathews’ book Ghetto at the Center of the World? It was
featured prominently and was referred to in the title of a 1994 movie.
Anora became the fourth film to win both the Oscar for Best Picture and the Palme
23 d'Or at Cannes. The one before this was when Parasite won. Name any of the 
other two.
Inside No. 9 is a British black comedy anthology TV show written and created by
Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. All the 55 episodes are linked only by a
24 
setting related to the number 9 in some way. Which movie does the title refer to,
in which the main actions take place at Number 9 Thornton Square?
Who was one half of the comic duo Two Beats? The other went on to be known
25 
as Beat Kiyoshi.

Karnataka Quiz Association MindSweep 2025 7

MindSweep 2025 | Literature

In 1975, he wrote an appreciation of Gustave Flaubert's technique titled The

Perpetual Orgy. He had also borrowed Flaubert's idea of the novelist as a god-killer
1 
in a study of Gabriel Garcia Marquez titled The History of a Deicide. Name this
Nobel laureate.
This heavy-set pipesmoking crime-solver who appears in more than 70 books has
2 been played on screen by Pierre Renoir, Charles Laughton, Albert Prejean and 
Gerard Depardieu. Name either the character or the creator.
Sweden gives out a 5 million krona award for children's literature annually that is 
3
named after a celebrated writer from that country. Just name this writer.
He wrote a good part of the epic that made his reputation while serving as a
4 Superintendent for the Dead and Missing at Macau in the 1560s. Name him or the 
work.
This poetic form that relies on strategic repetition has a name that comes from its
5 original rural themes. It is also the nickname given to the fictional character Oxana 
Vorontsova. What is this 10-letter word?
Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has written three novels with Anna
Waterhouse about a secondary character that was created by another author.
Talking about it, he said, “I wanted him to be the opposite of what's implied about
6 
him in the stories, that he's a brilliant but bloated, officious bureaucrat. Remember,
it's X who describes him and X is not always a reliable source.” Which secondary
character?
Suzi Ronson, a 21-year-old hairdresser at a salon in Beckenham, London, was
introduced by her customer – Mrs Jones – to her "artistic" son’s wife, and through
7 her to the “artistic” son in 1971. The iconic haircut she gave him propelled her into 
his world, and her 2024 memoir, Me and Mr Jones, talks about all that happened
after. Who was Mr Jones?
Travels with Charley: In Search of America is a 1962 travelogue written by
American author John Steinbeck. It depicts a 1960 road trip around the United
8 States made by Steinbeck, in the company of his standard poodle Charley, in a 
specially made camper he named after Don Quixote's horse. What was the
horse’s name?
The Five Books of the Lives and Deeds of X and Pantagruel is a pentalogy of
9 novels written by François Rabelais about the adventures of two giants, X and his 
son. What word in English comes from X’s name?
A WWI coinage, this word became popular through a children’s book titled
_______: A Royal Air Force Story by X. A small creature blamed for mechanical
10 issues in an aircraft, its name is a blend of the word “goblin” and the name of a 
popular beer manufacturer that catered to the Royal Air Force. Name the creature
and ID X.
The Kite-Eating Tree is a tree from a fictional universe. According to the creator, it
was one of the 12 devices that gave the narratives a “steadiness, simplicity,
11 universal appeal.” Some other devices include Schoreder’s piano, ____’s 
psychiatry booth, _______’s doghouse, and the unkicked football among others. ID
the creation (no need to fill in the blanks).
The critic Andrea Long Chu recently described this poet-writer as the “caricature of
a diasporic poet” in her review of his latest novel, The Emperor of Gladness. Name
12 the poet, whose mixed-Vietnamese mother renamed him ______ after an incident 
with a customer who corrected her when she pronunced “beach” as “bitch” and
suggested she use another word in its place.
Karnataka Quiz Association MindSweep 2025 8
 Speaking of _____ _______, Fran Lebowitz said, “She was immensely rich. The
main thing that makes her a great writer is talent. But the privileges of her wealth is
13 why we have this book, which is riveting.” Which writer, nicknamed Pussy Jones 
by her family and praised for her critique of New York aristocrats from within, won
the Pulitzer Prize in 1921.
In June, 1953 this Caribbean born literary giant graduated second in class from
Oxford to which he said, “A bloody, damned, second”, his only consolation was that
14 the then professor of English language and literatures had called his Anglo-Saxon 
paper ‘the best in the University’. Who? He went on to win, “that Swedish prize”, as
he put it, about fifty years later.
This Kannada playwright and all-round funny guy started off the literary journey of
15 K V Iyer when he said, “Oh my! You are only into body-building, what about your 
brain?”, after finding out K V had not read Oscar Wilde. Who?
In a 2025 article by Homegrown, Pari Pradhan, looks at the curious phenomenon of
_______ as a cultural motif in diasporic writers from South Asia. Pointing out that
16 
“Sweet juice and sticky fingers in South Asian writing have become as cliched as
roses are red, violets are blue”. FITB.
At age eight, she was enrolled in school on the condition that she learn to read and
17 write in six months. She exceeded expectations by starting to write only after a few 
days of schooling. Which writer who created history by achieving a first in 2025?
Written during the 19th century BCE, with a huge legacy through the ages, The
Tale of Sinuhe is about Egyptian royal official Sinuhe, who while on an expedition
to Libya, hears of the pharaoh's death and flees to Syria. He prospers there, raising
18 
a family, but ultimately wishes to return to Egypt. Name the author of the most
notable version in our time- a 1942 short story, that suggests Sinuhe yearned to
return home because of romantic love.
In Shakespeare's The Tempest, Prospero says this of Caliban: "A devil, a born
devil on whose <WORD1>/ <WORD2> can never stick...". In the right order fill in
19 
WORD1 and WORD2 that are the two sides of a long-standing debate in biology
and society, popularised by Francis Galton.
"It is an unintentionally ludicrous book, full of preposterous melodramatic incidents;
it is also deeply moving and essentially true; it is hard to say which quality
20 
outweighs the other." According to George Orwell, which book published in two
volumes in 1852, "is the supreme example of the 'good bad' book"?
1848- The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain. 1846-The Battle of Life. A Love
Story. 1845- The Cricket on the Hearth. A Fairy Tale of Home. 1844- The Chimes:
21 
A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In. What
is the title for 1843?
Whose upcoming memoir, with its title taken from a line in the Beatles' song Let It
22 Be, reflects the writer's complex and emotionally fraught relationship with her mom, 
whom she "ran from at 18," and whose death in 2022 left her "heart-smashed"?
Which theory with a 19-letter (4-15) hyphenated name links these prominent
people: Henry James, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Galsworthy, Benjamin Disraeli,
23 
Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles,
Sigmund Freud, Daphne du Maurier, and Derek Jacobi among others?
Who gave a lecture in Association Hall Philadelphia on the 15th death anniversary
24 of X, whom he regarded as "the commonest average of life" and "the greatest, 
best, most characteristic, artistic, moral personality" in American life?
The 2018 movie Iruvudellava Bittu, the 2023 two-parter Sapta Saagaradaache Ello,
25 and the yet-to-be-released Yaava Mohana Murali Kareyitu all take their titles from 
the lines of a poem by which poet of the Navya movement?

Karnataka Quiz Association MindSweep 2025 9