QotD

Winter QoTD #12

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The word X originates from Greek Mythology:

Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete, fell in love with Theseus, a Greek hero who came to Crete to slay the Minotaur who lived in a subterranean Labyrinth. Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of yarn which he unwound as he entered the Labyrinth. This particular instance of Ariadne giving Theseus a ball of yarn marked the use of X in its current meaning. After slaying the Minotaur, Theseus followed the thread back to the entrance of the Labyrinth, rejoined Ariadne, and successfully escaped Crete.

If Hansel and Gretel’s trail of breadcrumbs weren’t eaten by birds, we would have a completely different word for the current meaning of X. Id X.

Send your responses as comments to the post. The answer will be here after 24 hours along with the next QoTD!

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Winter QoTD #11

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People used to say the name of this food item, in an attempt to capture the ideal facial expression while taking a photo. A post even said that this helped keep the mouth “prim”. Belonging to the rose family, they’re used in both desserts and main dishes, can be made into juice or alcohol, eaten raw, or incorporated while baking. 

What is this food item that used to be the go-to word while capturing photographs, before people started saying Jerry’s favourite food?

Send your responses as comments to the post. The answer will be here after 24 hours along with the next QoTD!

Winter QoTD #10

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X derived from an Asiatic tree reached the Mediterranean world in ancient times from China, despite being native to ‘Ceylon’. Mention of X can be found in Chinese writing dating back to 2800 BC, and still known as “kwai” in the present day Cantonese language as it was once used as currency. The Arabic term for X owes to X being fragrant. Ancient Egyptians used X in their embalming process, and in making “Kyphi”, an incense used for medical purposes. 

Herodotus, Aristotle and other authors named Arabia as the source of X; they recounted that giant “X birds” collected X from an unknown land, which was a consequence of  traders’ fiction made up to charge more.

P.S. In the first century, 350 grams of X was worth 5 kilograms in silver.

ID X.

Send your responses as comments to the post. The answer will be here after 24 hours.

The weekends are here! We resume with the Winter League: Don Quizote Winter League, 2022 tomorrow; following the same format as last weekend.

The points gained this weekend will be added to the existing leaderboard with the always standing fact: Nutella at stake (:

Winter QoTD #9

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The creator of the brand X was humoured to have an addiction to flightless birds which led to the logo of X being one.

The name of this mascot/logo, Y, is attributed to the way it looks: like it’s wearing a Y.

The reason the creator chose to have this flightless bird as a logo was because it looked familiar: a slightly chonky being sitting down after a heavenly meal.

ID the brand X and name of the mascot Y.

Send your responses as comments to this post. The answer will be here with the next QoTD after 24 hours!

Winter QoTD #8

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A very famous book, that has sold over 8 million copies worldwide, was written as a part of a bet. The bet took place in the 1960s, for about 50$ between a renowned author and a publisher. It went such: the publisher bet the author couldn’t write an articulate, entertaining book using only 50 different words.

The result was a 62 page volume book. The book went on to be loved by many, is still quite prevalent and brings nostalgia to many. Although he won the bet, the author always “complained” that he never received the 50$.

Send your responses as comments to the post. Answer will be here after 24 hours along with the next QoTD!

Winter QoTD #6

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The symbol ℔ (image below) is an abbreviation of the roman term ‘libra pondo’ which translates to ‘pound weight’. However, this symbol was printed with a horizontal line across, so as to not confuse the lowercase L with a 1 (the number, one).

Another symbol that originated from and is used more commonly than ℔ first surfaced on twitter in August 2007. However this symbol quickly spread beyond twitter, and made its way into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2014.

what is the symbol I’m talking about?

p.s. The QoTDs run separate from the Winter League and are not scored on time so you can take a step back, relax and sip your cup of coffee while the mysterious owl stares at you.

Winter QoTD #5

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Despite having no distinct shape, X made its bottle the most recognizable bottle in the world. Its campaign, which featured print ads showing bottles “in the wild,” was so successful that they didn’t stop running it for 25 years. It’s the longest uninterrupted ad campaign ever and comprises over 1,500 separate ads.

ID the brand X.

Send your responses as comments to the question. The answer will be here after 24 hours.

Soon, we begin with the first mini-league of the season! Keep a lookout for the first question at 12 PM.

Winter QoTD #4

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This satiric animated show’s art style involves a flat paper look for all the elements. Rather than a creative choice in modern animation, this art style was largely attributed to the pilot episode.

The creators of the show spent over three months in a small animation studio in Denver cobbling together various construction paper cutouts to create the pilot. Literally thousands of frames were shot to assemble an entire episode, as pieces were moved and swapped out in stop-motion fashion.

ID the show.

Send your responses as comments to the question. The answer will be here after 24 hours along with the next QoTD!