Given the theme of this week’s issue, we thought you might need a little cheering. This quiz is about friends and allies.
1 The oldest alliance still in force was signed by England and an European country in 1373. Certain islands leased to Britain by this country during the World War II proved vital to the Allied cause. Name the country.
2 Which friend and mentor advised Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan to shorten his name to RK Narayan? He told Narayan, “In this country, a name which is difficult for the old ladies in libraries to remember materially affects sales.”
3 A couple of years after he nearly lost his life to a Charlie Griffith bouncer, cricketer Nari Contractor started piling up domestic scores, hoping to play for India again. The chief selector, a close friend, refused to pick him, and said he would not be able to face Nari’s wife if he was ever hit again. Identify the friend, who was also India’s manager on that fateful tour in 1962.
4 In 2013, a poster titled ‘The one after the ten year break’ went viral on the internet. Why was it such a sensation and what was it advertising?
5 Duryodhana and Karna were known to be fast friends. But with which other character in the Mahabharata did Karna have a marathon wrestling bout before they became close buddies? He even presented Karna the town of Malini as a token of respect.
6 Which literary masterpiece was dedicated to the author’s friend Nathaniel Hawthorne ‘in token of my admiration for his genius’?
7 What did Carole Lombard nickname the legendary bachelor pad that fast friends Errol Flynn and David Niven had sublet from Marion Davies in Malibu?
8 British anthropologist Robin Dunbar designed the theory of ‘Dunbar Numbers’, which he claims to be around 150 for most human beings. What is the Dunbar number?
9 Which portmanteau word was coined by a sister of well-known author Jessica Mitford and came into its own when Samantha and Charlotte were clashing in an episode of Sex and the City in 2008.
10 In the days before social media, pen pals were the chosen way to make friends across countries and continents. Which famous European queen was a pen pal for over 15 years with the French philosopher Voltaire and exchanged scores of letters?
Answers
1. Portugal; it was originally signed by King Edward III of England and Ferdinand and Eleanor of Portugal. The Azores were a crucial naval and air base for the Allies
2. Graham Greene; he also found publishers for Narayan’s first four books
3. Ghulam Ahmed, the off-spinner who also captained India in the ’50s
4. A possible new series of Friends in 2014. Lisa Kudrow scotched the rumours on Twitter
5. Jarasandha. Years later Bhima did what Karna had chosen not to do, rend him into two
6.Moby Dick , by Herman Melville. The friendship sadly did not last too long
7. Cirrhosis by the Sea
8. The number of stable friends you can have. Seen your Facebook account lately?
9. Frenemy, a portmanteau of friend and enemy
10. Catherine the Great of Russia
Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup
Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj