| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| This country is home to the Splendour in the Grass music festival. The band Midnight Oil in this country made the song “Beds are Burning” about this country’s indigenous people. The soap opera Neighbors helped launch the careers of pop stars Natalie Imbruglia and Kylie Minogue in this country. The phrase “He smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich” comes from a song named after this country by the band Men at Work, and AC/DC comes from here. For the point, name this country where the didgeridoo is played by aborigines. | Australia |
| The Kaveri River flows into this bay after having passed through the Hogenakal Falls. This bay is home to Puri, one of the Char Dham pilgrimage sites. This body of water is bordered by the Coromandel Coast, which is named for the historical Chola Dynasty. The world’s largest mangrove forest lies in the Sundarbans region on a delta leading into this body of water. The world’s largest shipbreaking industry is in the city of Chittagong on this bay. For the point, name this large bay off the east coast of India into which the Brahmaputra and Ganges flow. | Bay of Bengal |
| A hospital building named Torre de Especialidades [TOR-ay day ess-PEH- see-AL-ih-DAH-days] in this country is made up of Prosolve 370E, a material that “eats” smog. The “Hoy no circula” (OY no cir-COO-lah) movement seeks to improve air quality in this Western Hemisphere nation’s capital, which was once the most polluted city in the world. This country’s president Lazaro Cardenas nationalized its PEMEX oil company. For the point, name this country with a severe smog problem in its capital, formerly known as the Distrito Federal. | Mexico [or United Mexican States or Estados Unidos Mexicanos] |
| A popular mode of transportation on this body of water is the Mokoro canoe. Maun is an entry point into this body of water which used to be part of the ancient Lake Makgadikgadi. Visitors to this body of water often also visit the nearby Chobe National Park. The Moremi Reserve is on this body of water’s east, and is a hunting ground for Bushmen. Khwai River Lodge on this body of water is a good place to see animals like lions and elephants, and it is part of the Kalahari Basin. For the point, name this inland delta in Botswana. | Okavango Delta [Or Okavango River] |
| An escarpment that shares this name is home to Brock’s Monument commemorating the Battle of Queenston Heights. In separate events, Theodosia Burr and Jerome Bonaparte honeymooned at this location. Goat Island, named for a herd of dead, frozen goats, is at the head of a waterfall with his name. Charles Blondin traversed that waterfall with Harry Colcord on his back, and in 1901, Annie Taylor became the first to survive a fall over Horseshoe Falls, part of that waterfall, in a barrel. For the point, give this name shared by a waterfall system on the U.S.-Canada border near Buffalo, New York. | Niagara Falls (accept Niagara escarpment or Niagara-on-the-lake) |
| A river with this name flows into the Kentucky after cutting through the Clifty Wilderness. Haiphong is a port located on a river of this name whose delta makes up much of northern Vietnam; that river flows into the Gulf of Tonkin. Another river with this name has the Washita and Wichita as tributaries and flows past Shreveport before entering the Mississippi. A sea with this name borders the Gulf of Aqaba and Sinai Peninsula. For 10 points, name this color that names a sea between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. | Red |
| One form of music in this country requires a marimbula, bongo, tres, guayo, and vocalist and is called changui. This country is home to a technically demanding style of jazz-inspired music called timba. Traveling trovadores were based out of this country’s city of Santiago, and a version of Ruma was born in the solares, or slums, of Matanzas. In the Cabildos, conga music was developed by slaves brought to this country by the Spanish to work sugar plantations. Claves [klah-vays] are prominent in the music of, for the point, what country with capital at Havana? | Cuba |
| This state is home to the Burghausen, the longest castle complex in the world. The Gallery of Beauties can be found in this state’s Nymphenburg Palace Bamberg. The first Nazi concentration camp was at Dachau in this state. One king of this state’s ruling House of Wittelsbach built a castle that helped inspire Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland; that castle is Neuschwanstein Castle. For the point, what is this German state with capital at Munich? | Bavaria [or Freistaat Bayern] |
| During this people’s New Year Festival, unmarried teens play the pov-pob game to find a romantic partner. These people traditionally participated in Zij poj niam, the act of gaining a bride by abducting her. Like the Lao, the closure of the Ban Vinai refugee camp led to a large number of these people fleeing to Wat Tham Krabok. Vang Pao was a leader of these people in America, where they concentrated in Minneapolis and Fresno. For the point, what is this ethnic group from southeast Asia, many of whom fled to the United States from Laos? | Hmong |
| These islands are home to a namesake deer species that is the smallest white-tailed deer species and which is also known as “toy deer;” those deer live from Sugarloaf to Bahia Honda in this island chain. This chain’s island of Marathon may have gotten its name from workers building part of a railroad founded by Henry Flagler; that railway leads all the way north to Jacksonville. The Dry Tortugas are the last islands in this chain that is linked by the Overseas Highway. For the point, name this archipelago off the coast of Florida. | Florida Keys |
| It is not a totem pole, but the first authentic example of this structure in Canada is located in Campbell River, British Columbia. Chinjusha are examples of these structures that are related to the paifang in Chinese culture. Shrines to a deity of worldly success and prosperity are known for having many of these structures which pay tribute to Inari. The Itsukushima Shrine has one of these which is floating in the Hiroshima prefecture. For the point, name these traditional Japanese gates used to mark the entrance to a Shinto shrine. | Torii |
| In March 2016, Governor Charlie Baker of one state that this river flows through announced plans to reduce sewer overflows near this river’s towns of Chicopee and Springfield. Though not the Hudson, the painting Oxbow by Thomas Cole depicts this river. This river’s valley is home to Mount Holyoke College, one of the Seven Sisters, as well as Amherst, home to both a namesake college and university, before ending in Long Island Sound. For 10 points, name this longest river New England, which flows through its namesake state’s capital of Hartford. | Connecticut River |
| This body of water is home to Nalubaale Power Station, which lies on its Owen Falls. This body of water’s Winam Gulf has been hit hard by an infestation of invasive water hyacinth. OSIENALA is a project to help local fisherman on this body of water, mostly of the Luo ethnicity. The work Darwin’s Nightmare is about a species of perch that has invaded this body of water; that species is named for the river that flows from it. Tilapia introduced for farming have helped nearly wipe out this lake’s several hundred cichlid species. For the point, name this second largest freshwater lake in the water, an African lake. that is the source of the Nile River? | Lake Victoria [or Victoria Nyanza] |
| In January 2015, scientists discovered small fossils in pumice formed off the coast of this location’s El Hierro, its westernmost point. Antonio Cubillo started an independence movement for this European Union OMR that was recognized by the Organization for African Unity. San Miguel de La Palma is a member of this group of islands, another of which was the site of a 1977 airplane collision. For the point, name this autonomous region of Spain off the coast of Morocco whose largest island is Tenerife. | Canary Islands |
| On this mountain, a soft cotton-form cap of clouds is a forewarning that the Viento Blanco, or “white wind,” will shortly bring devastating snowstorms. Its largest glacier is the Ventisquero Horcones Inferior, which doesn’t present good climbing; in contrast, many people have died taking the “Normal” Route up this mountain. Its name roughly translates to “Sentinel of Stone” in Quechua. For the point, name this member of the Seven Summits in the Andes, the tallest mountain in South America. | Aconcagua |
| This physical region is pockmarked by crater-like makhteshim, which are actually valleys with steep walls. The ruins of Avdat in this physical region are home to the relics of St. Theodore Stratelates. The southern tip of this region is the resort town of Eilat, and Abraham banished Hagar and Ishmael to the city of Beersheba in this region. This region’s kibbutz of Sde Boker, the residence of David Ben-Gurion, was built due to his wish to “make the desert bloom.” For the point, name this desert in southern Israel. | Negev Desert |
| This trail used the Hildebrand Route, Drane Route, and Deas-Whiteley Routes. Mantle Rock was the site of a bitter wintering on this trail. Fort Cass and Ross’ Landing were two locations for the start of the trail which ended in the area around Tahlequah. The discovery gold in Dahlonega, Georgia prompted the use of this route by the people who signed the Treaty of New Echota. For the point, name this route followed by the Five Civilized Tribes from the southeastern United States to the Indian Territory in modern-day Oklahoma. | Trail of Tears [ or Nunahi-Duna-Dlo-Hilu-I] |
| Tughlugh Timur, a leader of these people who converted to Islam, held a region that stretched from the Irtysh River to Ghazni to Transoxiana. These people’s conversion to Islam began in the tenth century, soon after the conquest of Kashgaria. The Id Kah mosque that serves these people is the largest in China, and this is the second-largest Muslim ethnic group in China after the Hui. Urumqi is the capital of Xinjiang, the autonomous region designated as a homeland for these people. For the point, name this Turkic and largely Islamic ethnic group of western China. | Uyghurs |
| The second highest waterfall in this province’s nation is in this province’s Basacheachic Falls near the town of Creel. Selenite crystals that are some of the world’s largest can be found in this province’s Cave of the Crystals. This province’s Copper Canyon is home to a tribe known for its runners, the Tarahumara. Pancho Villa’s HQ was located in this province. The El Chepe train connects this province and the nearby province of Sinaloa to its southwest. For the point, name this largest Mexican province, which shares its name a small dog breed. | Chihuahua |
| This country saw the damming of the Teays River, which formed Lake Tight. Before it was drained for farming, the Great Black Swamp was once in this country, where it used to be part of the glacial Lake Maumee. A gorge called the Traverse Gap in this country was once home to the River Warren, which drained Lake Agassiz. This country is home to a region called the Scablands formed by the draining of a glacial lake in the Missoula floods. For the point, name this nation whose former Lake Bonneville was a precursor to the Great Salt Lake in Utah. | United States of America [or USA; prompt on “America”] |
| Fusionopolis and Biopolis are part of a research and development center located in this country. Human Rights Watch criticized this country’s banking industry for hosting Burma’s state oil revenue and it is the only Asian country to receive a Triple-A rating from the Big Three credit agencies which largest trading partner is Malaysia. Modernized by its first Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew, it is the smallest of the four Asian Tigers in terms of population and area. For the point, name this island city-state in Southeast Asia. | Singapore |
| In this city’s airports of Stansted and Luton, Harrods Aviation offers fixed base operator services as well as helicopter services. This city’s Luton Airport is home to the budget airline EasyJet. This city’s youngest airport is popular with businesspeople because it is located near the Docklands. The world’s biggest non-military airport is this city’s Gatwick Airport. For the point, name this city served by Heathrow Airport, which is located in England. | London |
| Carthage College was based in this state until it moved to Wisconsin, prompting the coining of the term “Forgottonia” to refer to part of this state. As a result of a corn famine, the southern part of this state became known as Little Egypt, leading to the sports teams of a school in this state being called the Salukis. Two Republican politicians from this state proposed that its Cook County become a state of its own. For the point, name this state that would make up the majority of a proposed Chicagoland state. | Illinois |
| This city is home to a food fair in its Cobal Public Market, which is in the Botafogo neighborhood. This city is home to the Fla-Flu rivalry between teams Flamengo and Fluminense, which is played in Maracana Stadium. Visitors pass the hill of Morro de Urca on the way to visiting this city’s Sugarloaf Mountain. The famous beach Copacabana is located in this city, as is the LGBT area called Farme de Amoeda in the district of Ipanema. For 10 points, name this Brazilian city home to the Christ the Redeemer statue. | Rio de Janeiro [prompt on “Rio”] |
| The Byrsa hill in this city was the location of a Roman forum and a citadel. This city was the second capital of the short-lived African Vandal kingdom, replacing Hippo Regius. The eventual fate of this city inspired the similar treatment of Palestrina by pope Boniface VII. An empire based in this city broke free from the Phoenician city of Tyre and won the Battle of Cannae, but the soil of this city was salted after the Second Punic War, which this city lost to Rome. For the point, name this ancient city, today a suburb of Tunis, whose most famous inhabitant was Hannibal. | Carthage |
| This body of water drains into the Arctic ocean by way of a tributary off the Yenisei River. Waste from the Baykalsk Pulp and Paper Mill was discharged into this lake which upset its native ethnic groups, the Buryats and Yakuts. The largest island in this lake is Olkhon Island. Originally thought to be a huge sea, this largest freshwater lake has undertaken the nickname of “the Pearl of Siberia” due to its tourism activities. For the point, name this large rift lake in Russia, the deepest lake in the world. | Lake Baikal |
| This city’s first paved street was Fremont Street, which became nicknamed Glitter Gulch. Almost all of this city’s land was once owned by this city’s “first lady,” Helen Stewart. This city’s Old Mormon Fort was the first building ever built here. The mobster Bugsy Siegel was murdered after building this city’s Flamingo hotel. Betty Willis constructed a sign titled “Welcome to Fabulous” this city that is shaped like a diamond. Steve Wynn’s Mirage was the first megaresort in this city home to the Strip. For the point, name this city known for its gambling in Nevada. | Las Vegas [prompt on “Vegas”] |
| This country is home to a popular fish and rice dish called Thieboudienne which resembles Savannah Red Rice. The bright pink Lake Retba is found in this country home to Africa’s tallest statue, the African Renaissance Monument. This island’s Goree Island is home to the massive House of Slaves, including the Door of No Return This country is home to the very architecturally European city of Saint-Louis, and it surrounds the Gambia. For 10 points, name this African country with capital at Dakar. | Republic of Senegal |
| Kate Booth founded a Salvation Army in this city, where a set of tapestries called The Lady and the Unicorn are held in a former monastery house, the Cluny museum. St. Denis, the patron saint of this city, was beheaded here but according to legend then had his body carry his severed head away. One church in this city was originally designed to be a national bank or library; that church is La Madeleine. Another church in this city was the setting for Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. For the point, name this capital city of France. | Paris |
| The Isle of Man’s favorite son, William Kennish, surveyed the location of this project. Wang Jing proposed a $50 billion alternative to this project, which has been scuttled by recent Chinese stock market troubles. It includes the Culebra Cut to Gatun Lake; that cut was excavated, but not finished, by Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was unable to finish this project. Dr. William Crawford Gorgas made huge strides in the prevention of yellow fever during the construction of, for the point, what Central American canal? | Panama Canal |
| This river sees the White Nights Festival, which ends with a boat with scarlet sails sailing on a Summer Garden named after it. This river is home to the Art Nouveau style Trinity Bridge. The Peter and Paul Fortress was built on the banks of this river during a construction process intended to replace Arkhangelsk as a major northern port. This river flows from Lake Ladoga, and Peter the Great forbade bridges across it while building his capital. For the point, name this river that flows through St. Petersburg. | Neva River |
| Due to its best known feature, this cape has the area code “321.” This cape is home to Avon-by-the Sea, which was once called Journalista Beach due its founding by rich journalists. The Banana River lies between this cape and Merritt Island. This cape’s most famous facility is supported by a military unit based at Patrick Air Force Base. The Titan IV and Atlas V systems were based in this cape’s best known facility. Giveaway: For 10 points, name this Florida cape whose Kennedy Space Center saw many NASA shuttle launches. | Cape Canaveral [Accept Canaveral after “Cape”] |
| The first cog railway engine to climb a mountain was built for this peak and nicknamed “Old Peppersass,” which plummeted down Jacob’s Ladder in 1929. Tuckerman Ravine Trail is most popular trail for ice climbing on this peak. A failed monetary system was devised in Bretton Woods in the shadow of this mountain. This peak in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains experienced the highest recorded non-cyclonic windspeed. For the point, name this notoriously windy summit in New Hampshire. | Mount Washington [or Agiocochook] |
| Named after a Nepalese location, Lumpini Park is located in this city. This city’s Chatuchak market is a location where the auspicious egg milk and sugar dessert Thong Yip can be found. A notable massage school can be found in this city’s site of Wat Pho, also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Motorized Rickshaws called Tuk Tuk can be used to visit this city’s Rattanakosin Island, which the Chakri Dynasty founded as its capital. This city is on the Chao Praya Delta on the Gulf of Siam. For the point, name this capital of Thailand. | Bangkok |
| This disaster’s site is now monitored by Auke Bay Laboratory. Because of toxicity concerns, Customblen was used over Inipol for bioremediation after this event. Populations of the barnacle Chthamalus Dalli exploded after this event. Common and thick-billed murres were 75% of the 30,000 birds found dead in the four months following this event. Joseph Hazelwood was accused of drinking before this accident in Prince William Sound. For the point, name this disastrous oil spill in Alaska caused by its namesake tanker running aground. | Exxon Valdez oil spill |
| This city is home to statues of the Syrenka, a type of mermaid, in the Old Town’s Market Square. This city is symbolized by the Kotwica emblem made of a P and W, which may have first been used during the Second World War. One statue in this city featuring a man holding a compass and armillary sphere may have originally been intended for that man’s home of Torun. This city has statues of Nicolaus Copernicus and Frederic Chopin, and it lies on the Vistula River. For the point, name this capital of Poland. | Warsaw [or Warszawa] |