| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| A poem by this author opens, "By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea" and states, "Ship me somewheres east of Suez." Another poem by this author notes, "If you can dream—and not make dreams your master" and ends with the line "You’ll be a Man, my son!" Nag and Nagaina are killed by the mongoose Rikki-Tikki-Tavi in a collection by this author in which a boy raised by wolves confronts Shere Khan. For the point, name this author of "Mandalay," "If—" and The Jungle Book. | Rudyard Kipling |
| White Snow, Red Blood recounts a colonel’s time in this man’s army, telling of the atrocities committed in Changchun and its mass opium ring. Following the Great Encirclement campaign, this man orchestrated a strategic retreat to Shanxi [[SHAHN- SHEE]] known as the “Long March.” Zhou Enlai [[ZHOH EN-LAI]] served as a deputy under this leader, who later undertook a period of agrarian reform known as the Great Leap Forward. For the point, name this Chinese Communist who wrote the Little Red Book. | Mao Zedong (accept Chairman Mao; accept Mao Tse-Tung; prompt on "Zedong"; prompt on "Tse-Tung") |
| Folds in one portion of this organelle are called cristae. Because sperm lack these organelles, they are inherited matrilineally. Along with chloroplasts, these organelles originated through endosymbiosis and possess their own genome [[JEE-nohm]]. These double membrane-bound organelles generate the majority of the ATP consumed by a cell. For the point, name these organelles, commonly called the "powerhouse of the cell." | Mitochondria (accept Mitochondrion) |
| This artist made his sculpture of Saint John the Baptist Preaching larger than life to counter claims he had made casts from live models. This artist depicted six French noblemen during the Hundred Years' War in The Burghers of Calais. This artist sculpted Dante Aligheri in a pensive posture in a piece originally intended for this artist's Gates of Hell. For the point, name this French sculptor who created The Thinker. | Auguste Rodin [[ro-DAHN]] |
| This man destroys the "stone things" that allowed Urshanabi the Ferryman to cross the “Water of Death.” This hero encounters his ancient ancestor, Utnapishtim [[OOT-nah- PEESH-tim]], who survived the flood on his boat The Preserver of Life with the help of Enki. The spurning of the love goddess Ishtar results in the Bull of Heaven killing this man’s companion, Enkidu. For the point, name this hero of a namesake Mesopotamian epic, a king of Uruk. | Gilgamesh |
| The Bakolori Dam creates a major reservoir in a tributary of this river named for the Sokoto state. The seasonal flooding of this river enlarges Lake Debo, which is the last known habitat of the African manatee. This river flows through the historical capital of the Songhai Empire, Gao, and empties into the Gulf of Guinea. For the point, name this West African river, which lends its name to a nation with capital at Niamey [[NYAH-may]]. | Niger River (pronounced as either [[nee-ZHER]] or [[NAI-jer]], be lenient) |
| With Georgy Malenkov, this politician successfully convinced the deputies to manufacture treason charges against former NKVD head Lavrentiy Beria. This leader’s namesake “Thaw” led to the mass release of non-political prisoners from the gulags as well as Soviet censorship. This man threatened to place missiles in Cuba in retaliation for the U.S. placing warheads in Turkey. For the point, name this Soviet premier who denounced his predecessor, Josef Stalin, in the Secret Speech. | Nikita Khrushchev |
| In a novel by this author, the protagonist is saved by John Thornton from three fools who cross a partially-frozen river. This author drew upon his time in the Klondike Gold Rush for a story in which a man freezes to death titled "To Build a Fire." This author, who included Wolf Larson in The Sea-Wolf, wrote about a pet stolen from Judge Miller who joins a pack of wolves. For the point, name this author, who included the sled dog Buck in The Call of the Wild. | John "Jack" London |
| This number is the most common oxidation state of lanthanides, and inside a recycling symbol this number represents PVC plastic. This is the highest bond order found in alkynes, and elements in this numbered group on the periodic table include yttrium [[IT- ree-um]] and scandium. The size of the charge of both phosphate and aluminum ions is this number, which is also the rounded atomic mass of the isotope tritium [[TRIT-ee-um]]. For the point, give this atomic number of lithium. | Three |
| The Slutsky Equation relates changes in two types of this quantity named for economists Alfred Marshall and Léon Walras. Thorstein Veblen names a luxury good which violates basic microeconomics, because as the price of the good increases, so does this quantity. This quantity describes the consumer’s willingness to pay for a certain good. For the point, name this economic concept, which typically decreases as supply increases. | Demand (accept Marshallian demand; accept Walrasian demand) |
| A bird, which is represented by this instrument, argues with a duck over whether avians are better off flying or swimming in Peter and the Wolf. Claude Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun begins with a solo by this instrument. A piccolo is a half-sized variety of this woodwind instrument. A Mozart opera is titled for a Magic one of, for the point, what woodwind instrument? | Flutes |
| In the myth system of these people, a bird demon masquerading as the Sun and Moon named Seven Macaw is dropped by a blow-gun. The lightning axe-wielding rain deity of this people named Chaac resurrected a maize god. The creation myth of these people was collected in the Popol Vuh, which recounts the descent of the Hero Twins into the underworld known as Xibalba [[she-BAHL-bah]]. For the point, name this Mesoamerican people, whose calendar reached an end in December 2012. | Mayas (accept K’iche; accept Mayans in place of Mayas) |
| During one scene in this novel, a street urchin named Gavroche [[gav-ROSH]] is shot while collecting ammunition. The protagonist of this novel saves another character by carrying him through the sewers, which is later revealed by the villainous Thenardiers [[teh-nar-DYAYS]]. Javert [[jah-VEHR]] throws himself into the River Seine [[SEHN]] in this novel, in which Marius Pontmercy falls in love with Cosette, the daughter of Fantine. For the point, name this novel about the ex-convict Jean Valjean [[zhahn val-ZHAHN]] by Victor Hugo. | Les Miserables |
| This man likely wrote the Journal of Occurrences, a series of propaganda essays that exaggerated the misdeeds of occupying British forces. General Gage wrote a letter ordering Lord Dartmouth to arrest John Hancock and this man, prompting Paul Revere’s ride. This governor of Massachusetts earlier founded the Sons of Liberty to oppose the Stamp Act. For the point, name this founding father, the cousin of the second U.S. president, who organized the Boston Tea Party. | Samuel Adams |
| When relaxed, these animals make a sound described as "mmwonk." Indricotheres [[in-DRIK-oh-theers]], among the largest terrestrial mammals of all time, were close relatives of these animals. The Sumatran species of these animals has a long coat of reddish hair, and conservationists have begun infusing this animal's most notable feature with pink dye to prevent its use in traditional Asian medicine. Africa has black and white species of, for the point, what critically endangered animals with one or two nose horns? | Rhinoceros (es) (accept Rhinoceri) |
| The wife of one of this work's protagonists refuses to have children with him. One person in this work decides to become an aide-de-camp to Mikhail Kutuzov to escape a life he cannot bear. That person, Prince Andrei, is part of this work's Bolkonsky family. One part in this work chronicles the life of Pierre Bezhukov [[BEH-zhoo-koff]] who wants to assassinate Napoleon. For the point, name this work about Russian aristocratic life, set during Napoleon's invasion of Russia and written by Leo Tolstoy. | War and Peace (or Voyna i mir) |
| The battle to pass a bill with this name included Strom Thurmond delivering the longest filibuster in congressional history. An act with this name, which acted as an omnibus legislation, included the Fair Housing Act and the Anti-Riot Act. A 1964 act with this name guaranteed all citizens equal protection, including fair access to public facilities and voting. For the point, give this name of nine separate acts passed in the U.S. to bar various forms of discrimination. | Civil Rights Acts (accept Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1964, or 1968) |
| Waves named for this force were first detected by the LIGO [[LIE-goh]] experiments. In special relativity, this force is conceptualized as the curvature of the universe. On Earth, the acceleration due to this force equals 9.8 meters per second squared. The speed needed to break free of this force is known as the escape velocity. For the point, name this attractive force which pulls objects toward the center of the Earth. | Gravity (or Gravitation) |
| In this state, viscous chemicals from an open-pit copper mine created the Berkeley Pit, a mass of acidic water in which new bacterial species have evolved. The Blackfoot Reservation is in the northern region of this state, and this state's Virginia City is the beginning of the Bozeman Trail. The Great Northern Railroad crosses this state’s Glacier National Park and its city of Butte [[BYOOT]]. For the point, name this state known as “Big Sky Country” with the cities of Helena and Billings. | Montana |
| After a picnic at McDougal's Cave with some classmates, this character realizes to his horror that the murderer of Dr. Robinson starved himself to death inside it. This character and his companion stumble upon a trio of body snatchers at a graveyard and witness Injun Joe murdering one of his accomplices. As punishment for skipping school, this character had to whitewash his Aunt Polly's fence. For the point, name this character created by Mark Twain, the best friend of Huckleberry Finn. | Tom Sawyer (prompt on "Tom") |
| Men of this ethnicity exclusively made up the most decorated unit of World War Two, the 442nd Infantry Regiment. People of this ethnicity were allowed to immigrate in small numbers by the “Gentlemen’s Agreement." Korematsu v. United States directly challenged the internment of this ethnic group during World War Two. For the point, name this East Asian ethnic group who were unjustly targeted after the government of their ancestral country attacked Pearl Harbor. | Japanese-Americans |
| In 2010, Uganda began to extract methane from one of these places to prevent their namesake "overturn." Degassing of these places sometimes takes place along fault lines to prevent the release of mazuku clouds of carbon dioxide. The oxbow type of these places is made when a portion of a river becomes separated from the flow. For the point, name these standing bodies of water which include a set of "Great" ones along the U.S.-Canada border. | Lakes (accept Lake Kivu) |
| While this nation was under Dutch rule, fleeing Sephardic Jews built the first synagogue in the Americas. Oludumaré serves as the creator deity of a syncretic faith from this nation named Candomblé. Prior to Ash Wednesday, cities in this nation like Belo Horizonte and Recife [[reh-SEE-fee]] organize large festivals known as Carnival. For the point, name this South American nation, home of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. | Federative Republic of Brazil (accept República Federativa do Brasil) |
| An artist from this nation named Damien Hirst created an art installation containing a 14-foot long Tiger Shark suspended in formaldehyde. An artist from this nation satirized Velazquez’s Portrait of Innocent X, depicting the pope screaming. Satirical street art such as Dismaland and other works in graffiti were made by an anonymous artist named Banksy who is believed to be from this nation. For the point, name this home of the Tate Modern, which is found in London. | United Kingdom (accept England) |
| The Analytical Engine of Charles Babbage was an early one of these machines. Grace Hopper, a pioneer in the study of these machines, originated the terms “bug” and “debug" after finding a moth in one of these machines called Harvard Mark II. Languages that are run on these devices include COBOL, Java, and Python. For the point, name these machines which can be programmed with algorithms to carry out logical operations. | Computers (accept Programs or Programming before mentioned) |
| After the election in this year, Ken Paxton and a score of other Attorney Generals filed Texas v. Pennsylvania. The Neo-Fascist Proud Boys were told to "stand back and stand by" during a debate at Case Western during this election year. In this election year, the grassroots activism of Stacey Abrams was partially credited for flipping Georgia to the Democratic party. For the point, name this year in which an electoral victory was scored for Joe Biden over the incumbent, Donald Trump. | |
| A moon of this planet is the most reflective body in the solar system. This planet's pole contains a hexagon-shaped jet stream. This planet is orbited by shepherd moons including Daphnis and Prometheus. This planet's largest moon contains a dense atmosphere and is named Titan. This is the second-largest planet in the solar system, following Jupiter. For the point, name this sixth planet from the sun, known for its iconic rings. | Saturn |
| A play set in what is today this country begins with a trader opining, “In sooth, I know not why I am so sad.” In a play set in this country, Bianca cannot marry until her elder sister finds a husband, prompting a tempestuous match between Petruchio [[peh-TROO- kee-oh]] and Katarina. A play set in this modern country is about a man who offers a pound of flesh as a guarantee for a loan from a Jewish moneylender. For the point, name this country, the setting of William Shakespeare’s plays The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice. | Italy (accept Italian Republic; accept Italia) |
| This president wrote a scathing retort in retaliation to Washington Post music critic Paul Hume’s negative review of his daughter Margaret’s singing performance. This president vetoed legislation like the McCarran Internal Security Act and the Taft-Hartley Act. This man desegregated the army through Executive Order 9981 during the ongoing Korean War. For the point, name this president who defeated George Dewey in a 1948 election, the successor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. | Harry S. Truman |
| Higher dimensional forms of these 2D shapes are called simplexes, and the first isogonic center of these shapes is called the Fermat–Torricelli point. The nine-point circle passes through points related to these shapes. The altitudes of these shapes intersect at the orthocenter, while the angle bisectors intersect at their incenters. The “right” type of these shapes has a hypotenuse. Acute, obtuse, and isosceles are types of, for the point, what types of shapes with three sides? | Triangles |
| In Nepal, these events begin with the Purbanga, a ritual sacrifice done in a domestic kitchen for the Seven Mother Goddesses. The Stefana crown is worn by Orthodox women participating in these events. The Ketubah is signed at a Jewish example of these events, which end with the man breaking glass with his right foot followed by a shout of Mazel Tov. For the point, name these ceremonies which create conjugal bonds between a couple. | Weddings (accept Marriages; accept word forms such as Married or Marry) |