Qrossie 5 - What's in a name?

The world trip continues with this week's crossword! Only this time, it's all about how places and people got their names. Rush in your answers to quizarre@gmail.com and win fun prizes!

Our prizes are sponsored by www.lebooks.in (see logo on side panel), which is a great website for books of all kinds. Do check it out whenever you have the time. The first 2 places get vouchers worth Rs.200 and Rs.100 respectively from LeBooks, which they can use while purchasing merchandise worth at least Rs.400 and Rs.200 respectively from LeBooks. In case of a tie, the entries submitted earlier shall be considered.

So here are the clues for Qrossie 5

Across

3. These people speak a language of clicks and clacks. When the Dutch colonialists arrived, they coined this name from the Dutch expression for stuttering and stammering (10)

4. This language meaning "a person who hopes", was developed as a means to promote international understanding and peace (9)

7. This country named after Jesus, means "The saviour" in Spanish (2,8)

10. This country was named so because it was created as a homeland for freed African-American slaves (7)

11. Early explorers discovered this land was rich in silver, which lent it the name (9)

12. The name of this African language is derived from the Arabic word for coast or boundary (7)

Down

1. The name of this river means "the colour red" (8)

2. This state literally means thirty-six forts, though experts believe it gets its name from the one-time rulers of the region (12)

5. In the era of colonialization, this archipelago received its name which means "rich port" (6,4)

6. An Italian explorer observed local dwellings built over water here, due to which he named it "Little Venice". This is popularly believed to be the origin of this country's name (9)

8. This place has a rich political, cultural and religious history, and is named after the word for monastery (5)

9. A former capital of the country, this place gets its name from an incarnation of Goddess Kali (6)





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If you do not have Java installed you can obtain it from java.com. If do have Java you may need to check your security settings to make sure that applets are enabled, especially if you are viewing the puzzle from your hard disk. In Windows XP you may be able to enable the applet by clicking on the yellow bar at the top of the window and selecting "Allow blocked content".

Winners - Qrossie 4

The Hollywood crossword got an overwhelming response! Thanks all, and do check out the quiz while we work on the crossword for this weekend.

The all-correct unscramblers (in the order we received their entries) are:

Ameya Mhatre
Vimal Warrier
Aby Philip
Vivek N
Archana Sastry
Neelam P
Mridul Muralidharan
Malavika Datar
Nishadh Amonkar

Quizarre: Quiz 5

As we finish a month in operation, we thought we would take you around the world for a change. Well, actually it was just Snotty spending too much time over a Hammond atlas and then deciding to make use of the time he wasted. Anyway, this one's based on countries, capitals, currencies and flags.


Also, starting with this quiz, we will be giving out prizes to the top 2 entries in every quiz/crossword/anything else we put up. The prizes have been graciously sponsored by www.lebooks.in (see logo on side panel), which is an awesome site for books of all kinds, so do check it out whenever you have the time. The first 2 places get vouchers worth Rs.200 and Rs.100 respectively from LeBooks, which they can use while purchasing merchandise worth at least Rs.400 and Rs.200 respectively from LeBooks. In case of a tie, the entries submitted earlier shall be considered!!


Anyway, here's the quiz. Do mail in your answers to quizarre[at]gmail[dot]com. And if you like our blog, do tell your friends also about it. Thanks!!


1. Identify the country from its flag.

2. Which country closed down its army and military forces more than a century ago because they were becoming too expensive to maintain?


3. Lemuel described his fictional journeys to these countries in his books. The story of the first journey is actually a satire on the rule of King George I, and the third is a satire on the Royal Society. What am I talking about?


4. Identify the person and the country which issued this commemorative Euro coin.

5. Which city was established as capital of its country in 1628 because of its topography being better suited for a shipping harbour?


6. Which country is named after the person shown, who led it along with other countries, to freedom from colonial rule?

7. This currency derives its name from the Greek word meaning "give". It can also etymologically be linked to an old Roman coin. It is currently officially in use in 9 countries. Name it.


8. The picture shows the famous Cotton Tree where the first inhabitants of this city prayed when they landed here. The city's name stems from the previous status of its settlers. Name it.

9. Which country has English as its official language, the rupee as its currency, and 52% of its population as Hindu?


10. One of the oldest countries in existence, it can be traced back as a nation to the 10th century BC, and has retained its independence save for a brief occupation by Italy. It was also the first Christian state in the world, in the 4th century AD. Name it.

Answers - Quizarre quiz 4

Thanks for the participation. We have 2 all-correct entries this time:

1. Dinesh Iyer
2. Sayuli Pai Raikar

Four people score 9/10 and are worth a mention here:

1. Aby Philip
2. Gaurav Kumar Kalal
3. Sahil Jain
4. Vimal Warrier

And the answers are:

1. John Traicos
2. Sir Frank Worrell
3. The spare helmet had to be kept behind the keeper
4. The 'injury' was not sustained during the course of the match
5. Clive Lloyd (For those who answered Bill Ponsford, well, Ponsford also had a bat called 'Big Bertha', but he was never captain, and his bat weighed 2 pounds 10 ounces, not 3 pounds as asked in the question)
6. John Wisden
7. Run out, timed out, handled the ball, obstructing the field, hit the ball twice
8. Indira Gandhi's assassination
9. Lawrence Rowe
10. Bob Willis (in pic 2) changed his middle name to Dylan as he was a fan of Bob Dylan (in pic 1).

Tomorrow we have an 'Around the World' quiz with countries, capitals, currencies, flags. Also, starting with tomorrow's quiz, we will be giving out prizes to the top 2 entries in each event. More details tomorrow. Watch this space!!

Qrossie 4 - Scrambled!

So this is a slightly different crossword. All clues are in the form of anagrams. To give an example, if the clue is "Hated her leg (5,6)", unscramble the letters to get the answer - Heath Ledger.
To make it more fun, all answers are the names of Hollywood stars. Try it out, and send in as many answers as you can get to quizarre@gmail.com.
Happy solving!






You need Java enabled to view the crossword applet.



If you do not have Java installed you can obtain it from java.com. If do have Java you may need to check your security settings to make sure that applets are enabled, especially if you are viewing the puzzle from your hard disk. In Windows XP you may be able to enable the applet by clicking on the yellow bar at the top of the window and selecting "Allow blocked content".

Winners - Qrossie 3

Thanks for a great response again! Click here for the solution. Here are the winners (in the order we received the answers)

Pratik Patki
Ameya Mhatre
Anirudh Shastry
Kshitij Mathur
Archana Sastry
Abhishek Kapoor
Sayuli Pai Raikar
Puneet Nagi
Naresh Bharadwaj

Congrats all! And watch this space for the next crossie which will be up soon!

Quizarre: Quiz 4

Cricket. The gentleman's game. The game which unites India. Ten questions for you. Please to answer. And then mail the answers to quizarre[at]gmail[dot]com with the subject line "Quizarre Quiz 4 answers".


1. Born in Egypt, played for South Africa, laid low for 22 years, then turned out in the Zimbabwe colors and even took a five-for against India in tests. Who?


2. Identify this West Indian great

3. Mike Brearley and his bowler Phil Edmonds tried something new against Yorkshire to get them to score faster. The ploy doesn't seem to have worked, but Edmonds did take three wickets, and shortly afterwards the regulations were amended so the ploy couldn’t be tried again. What rule was created to stop this incident from recurring?


4. In a women's league match in Denmark, the new batswoman was several months pregnant. She got tired while batting and asked for a runner but the umpire declined. On what grounds was this justified?


5. Which famous cricketer and captain had a 3 pound bat nicknamed "Big Bertha", after the German WWI howitzer of the same name?


6. Name this gentleman who once clean bowled 10 batsmen in an innings but is much more famous for something he did after his retirement.

7. Time for some theory. Name the five ways a batsman can get out, wherein the bowler does not get credit for the dismissal.

8. India were well placed on 210/4 in 40 overs against Pakistan in Sialkot in October 1984, with Dilip Vengsarkar on 94* poised to be the first Indian ODI centurion in Pakistan. But the match was abandoned. Why?

9. Identify this cricketer who started off with a 200 and a 100 on debut, also has a triple to his name but had to retire early because he was allergic to grass.

10. Connect the two people you see in the pictures.