Tuesday, May 16, 2006

KQA Mahaquizzer - Pune

This is about the KQA's annual quiz Mahaquizzer that is scheduled for the 21st May (Sunday). The Pune round will be held at

Rooms 21 and 22,
The Institution of Engineers,
JM Road, Shivajinagar,
Pune.

Reporting time at the venue: 9. 30am.

You may register for the quiz by sending an email to arul(dot)mani at gmail or to shamanth at gmail, indicating Mahaquizzer - in the subject line (this is for those who havent registered at the May Open in Pune) You are urged to register in advance to avoid alast minute hassles at the venue. Do also pass on the word to other quiz enthusiasts.

Details about the quiz (as provided by KQA):
The Karnataka Quiz Association will hold the second edition of Mahaquizzer, the annual solo quiz contest, in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and New Delhi on Sunday, 21 May 2006

Mahaquizzer is a written quiz; 150 general questions to be answered in 90 minutes.

Prizes will be awarded to the person with the top score in each city – in addition, prizes will be awarded to the best woman entrant and the best school entrant in each city.

The person with the top score across the cities will hold the title of Mahaquizzer for this year. The winner will also receive the Wing Commander Mulky Memorial Trophy for Quizzing Excellence from Wingco's family in June at the time of the KQA anniversary.

Date of contest: Sunday, 21 May 2006
Time: 1000hrs-1130hrs at all venues
No entry fee
Open to all (above the age of 12)

:: Shamanth

Amnesia 2006 - May Open Quiz - Report and Results

Amnesia 2006 - May Open Quiz

Date: 14 May, 2006
Set and Conducted: Niranjan Pedanekar

Quiz Final Results - 55 questions

1st: Shamanth Rao and Kunal Sawardekar (22)
2nd: B.V.Harishkumar & J. Ramanand (19)
3rd: Samrat Sengupta & Sudarshan Purohit (18)
4th: Anand Sivashankar & Vibhendu Tiwari (12)
Jt. 5th: Gaurav Sabnis & Sarika Chuni (7)
Jt. 5th: Rishi Iyengar & Rohan Morarka(7)

Quiz Elim Results

Cutoff: 18/35
1st: B.V.Harishkumar & J. Ramanand (23)
2nd: Samrat & Sudarshan (20.5)
3rd: Gaurav & Sarika(19)
4th: Kunal and Shamanth, Rishi & Rohan, Anand Sivashankar & Vibhendu Tiwari (all 18)

Report

* Amnesia 2006 was Niranjan's 1st quiz in 5 years after the now-defunct series of Mensa quizzes which were part of local folklore. The usual Niranjan constructs of lateral connects, 10 feet deep entertainment and sci-tech questions, the long questions et al were back :-)
* There were a few questions that participants and audience found vague that the quiz creator later agreed with. But there were several compensating questions that were brilliantly set, IMO. A lot of new topics or refreshing takes on old topics were seen. The level of acceptance or dislike on some of the offbeat questions will be a subjective emotion - overall, I was very entranced by the questions (as usual :-))
* Also felt that the participants and even audience members responded well to the questions - some very good attempts, many successful, were heard. Personal favourites among questions were: (being careful about not giving them away for those who will read them later) the grey-blue boxes with red lines and a tree, the 4 geographical locations, mutation-self-selection-veracity, ali-gogh-reagan connect, 4 military guys connect etc.
* There were a few questions that were too easy, some that were good but repeated without the knowledge of the setter or were simply a little to "iffy" (pun intended ;-)). Most common criticism was the length of questions, though, I personally didn't have a problem except for about 10% of the questions.
* Response was a little disappointing, I thought. Though the good old Mensa flavour was revived by the presence of Niranjan's wife who however didn't pick up her traditional duties as a scorer this time.
* The competition was fierce, with the winners being decided only on the 2nd last question, until which team any of the top 3 could have picked up the top spot. Kunal and Shamanth have added another feather in their caps-which-now-looks-like-a-strange-bird. Since these series of quizzes are the only ones that (even) I allow myself to be a little immodest about, on behalf of the likes of George, Harish, Sujay and me, I'd like to welcome you to the club ;-)
* Finals Questions are unlikely to be available soon because the ppt is very large and some alternate form of dissemination will be required.

I think those who don't have a history of being Niranjan-quiz-philes should comment :-) (please point out omissions and errors in this post)

Monday, May 08, 2006

The May Open Quiz

What: The May Open Quiz
By: Niranjan Pedanekar
Date: 14th May, 2006 (Sunday)
Venue: Dewang Mehta Auditorium, Bhageerath, Persistent Systems Pvt.
Ltd, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune
Flavour: General
Time to report: 11:45 am
Elims begin: 12 pm
Team size: Members of two
Please try and make it on time - really, there is very little excuse for local quizzers to be late. The earlier we begin in the afternoon, the more convenient it will be for people from out of town.

Additionally, we will also conduct the now-regular midstream unseeded quiz for some of our inexperienced participants.