| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| These plant structures produce cytokinins to stimulate shoot growth, and their growth is protected by a gravity-sensing cap. The radicle develops into these structures, the “aerial” type of which support mangroves. These plant structures come in “fibrous” and “tap” varieties which, respectively, lie near the top of the soil or extend straight downwards to anchor a plant. For the point, name this part of a plant that draws nutrients from the ground. | roots |
| This man included The Cop and the Anthem in his short story collection The Four Million. In a play by this author, Bill and Sam pay $250 to Ebenezer Dorset to take back a child they had kidnapped. Jim sells his watch to buy a set of combs for his wife’s hair in one work by this author, only to discover that she has sold her hair to buy him a watch chain. For the point, name this author of The Ransom of Red Chief and The Gift of the Magi, who is known for his twist endings. | O. Henry (accept William Sydney Porter |
| The first king of this country, who was assassinated in Marseilles, was Alexander I. In 1948, this country’s communist government broke relations with the USSR, leading its president to become the first Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement. The early-1990s breakup of this nation saw campaigns of ethnic cleansing and the independence of Macedonia, Croatia, and Serbia and Montenegro. For the point, identify this former Balkan nation that was once led by Josip Tito. | Yugoslavia |
| Using one of these measures as an angle measure involves rotating clockwise from standard position. These numbers are not in the domain of the logarithm function, because they cannot generally be the output of exponentiation. The slope of the line x+y=1 is this type of number, which can never be the output of the absolute value function. Additive inverses are formed by considering, for the point, what type of number, usually found on number lines to the left of zero and the positive numbers? | negative numbers |
| This state was barred from hosting the 1993 Super Bowl after governor Evan Mecham decided not to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Astronaut Mark Kelly is the husband of one former politician from this state who survived a 2011 shooting outside of a grocery store. Gabrielle Giffords represented, For the point, what home state of 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who used to live in its capital of Phoenix? | Arizona |
| In one poem, this author wrote of the “yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes.” That poem by this author describes the evening as “spread out against the sky” and speaks of a room where “the women come and go/talking of Michelangelo.” Another of his poems ends by repeating the Sanskrit word “Shantih” three times, and beings by stating “April is the cruellest month.” For the point, name this British poet who wrote “The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock” and “The Waste Land.” | T (homas) S (tearns) Eliot |
| In this region, resonance with a nearby body causes predictable gaps that are named for Daniel Kirkwood. Vesta and Pallas are the second and third-largest bodies in this region. In 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the largest body in this region, Ceres, which is now considered a dwarf planet. The terrestrial planets are separated from the gas giants by, for the point, what region of the Solar System home to thousands of small rocks? | asteroid belt |
| This country disputes control of its Southern Provinces with the Polisario Front. The port city of Agadir lies on the coast of this northwestern-most country in the Maghreb. Most of its population lives on the Atlantic coast, north of the Atlas Mountains, in cities like Tangier and Casablanca. For the point, name this African country that claims the Western Sahara, has capital at Rabat, and lies across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain. | Kingdom of Morocco |
| This country was home to the Mighty Five, a group including the composer of the notoriously hard-to-play “Flight of the Bumblebee.” Another composer from this country used cannons in the score of his 1812 Overture, which commemorates Napoleon’s retreat from here. For the point, name this home country of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov [RIM-skee KAWR-suh-kahf] and Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky [chai-KOFF-skee]. | Russia (do not accept Soviet Union or USSR) |
| This event cleared room for an extensive villa on the Esquiline Hill called the Domus Aurea. Christians were blamed for this event, whose cause was traced to the Circus Maximus. Contrary to popular myth, the emperor was in Antium and did not play a lyre or fiddle during this event. For the point, name this 64 AD disaster, during the reign of Nero, in which an Italian city burned for a week. | Great Fire of Rome (accept burning of Rome and equivalents; prompt on partial answer) |
| A character in this novel is horrified to learn that her prized encyclopedia has been turned into confetti to celebrate that this novel’s protagonist has earned a free year of pizza by untying Cobble’s Knot. Another character in this novel, who terrorizes the East End, is named for his love of Mars Bars. Amanda Beale ultimately allows Jeffery to live with her in, for the point, what Jerry Spinelli novel? | Maniac Magee |
| This city’s National Museum of Modern Art is located in the Pompidou Center, and it is home to the Sorbonne university in the Latin Quarter. I.M. Pei designed a glass pyramid for the entrance to this city’s largest museum. A triumphal arch lies on the west end of this city’s Champs-E´lys´ees, which also hosts an annual parade on Bastille Day. The Eiffel Tower is found in, for the point, what French capital city? | Paris |
| Inputting a value of x into the derivative of a function calculates this value for the original function at that value of x. If the product of two of these quantities is negative 1, then right angles are formed by their associated lines. The difference quotient, as well as the formula “difference in y values, divided by difference in x values,” can calculate this quantity, which is undefined for vertical lines. For the point, name this mathematical quantity that describes the direction and steepness of a line. | slope (accept gradient; accept rate of change) |
| One ancient ruler who ruled in this modern-day country made peace with the Seleucid Empire for 500 war elephants. Another ruler from this land conquered Kalinga in a conflict so bloody that he renounced violence and converted to Buddhism. For the point, name this modern-day country where the Mauryan empire was led by Chandragupta and Ashoka from Pataliputra, a city near the Ganges River. | India |
| At the end of one of his plays, Happy and Biff’s father Willy Loman kills himself to leave his family the insurance money. In another play by this author, Giles Corey dies while asking for “more weight” as stones are placed on his chest, and John Proctor dies because of the accusations that Abigail Williams makes during the Salem Witch Trials. For the point, name this playwright who wrote Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. | Arthur Asher Miller |
| A competitor in this game, MaRin, is rumored to have accepted a $950,000 a year deal to play for LGD. In 2016, Team Immortals joined this game’s North American league and went on a 12-game win streak starting with a victory over Cloud9. Competitors in this game play positions like Jungler and Mid Lane, using champions like Blitzcrank, Ashe, and Teemo. For the point, name this multiplayer online battle arena game created by Riot Games, often abbreviated “LoL” [lahl]. | League of Legends (accept LoL [”lahl” or L-O-L] before it is read) |
| In this painting’s background, a cash register is seen in a window below some half drawn blinds. Two coffee canisters sit on a triangular bar, in which a man in white bends over as he tends to two men and a woman in a red dress; in a later reference to this work, the woman is replaced with Marilyn Monroe. An advertisement for five-cent Phillies cigars is shown at the top of, for the point, what Edward Hopper painting of a late night diner? | Nighthawks |
| One force described by this adjective confines quarks into hadrons, while another causes radioactive decay. Those two forces described by this adjective are governed by quantum electrodynamics instead of classical mechanics, and are considered, with gravity and electromagnetism, to be “fundamental forces.” There are strong and weak types of, for the point, what kind of force that acts on protons and neutrons in a certain part of the atom? | (strong and weak) nuclear forces (accept strong until “decay” is read; after that, do not accept or prompt on strong alone; do not accept weak alone at any point) |
| This man attacked Republicans during a midterm election in his Swing Around the Circle speech campaign, shortly after his veto of a Civil Rights Act was overturned. He violated the Tenure of Office Act by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, leading to his impeachment trial. For the point, name this 17th U.S. president, a Tennessean who took office after the death of Abraham Lincoln. | Andrew Johnson (prompt on “Johnson”) |
| One of this pair of people discovered a namesake law of describing sounds in Proto-Indo-European and Germanic languages. These people worked together to record stories about a fish that grants a woman’s wishes and about a pair of siblings who are lured into a witch’s gingerbread house, “Hansel and Gretel.” For the point, give the last name of the pair of German brothers who collected fairy tales like “Rapunzel” and “Cinderella.” | Jacob (Ludwig Carl) and Wilhelm (Carl) Grimm (accept Brothers Grimm or Grimm Brothers; accept die Bru¨der Grimm or die Gebru¨der Grimm) |
| Balian negotiated one surrender of this city after Guy de Lusignan’s defeat at the Battle of Hattin. This city was captured from the Fatimid Caliphate in 1099, but was recaptured in 1187 by Saladin. Its First Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians, was legendarily built by Solomon. The Crusades were fought over, for the point, what holiest city of Judaism and Christianity? | Jerusalem |
| In 2007, this man criticized his colleagues’ opinions as “jiggery-pokery” and “pure applesauce.” Sri Srinivasan has been suggested by Democrats as a replacement for this man, though the “Thurmond Rule,” devised for Abe Fortas, was recommended for use by Republicans seeking to delay the process. Senator Mitch McConnell vowed that President Obama would not replace, for the point, what conservative Supreme Court justice who died in February 2016? | Antonin Gregory Scalia |
| Catalytic converters oxidate this compound to create carbon dioxide without forming water. This compound features a triple bond between its two atoms and is formed during incomplete combustion. It binds to hemoglobin within the blood, preventing oxygen from being transported through the bloodstream and causing “poisoning”. For the point, name this deadly, odorless, colorless gas with chemical formula CO, for which houses are often required to have detectors. | carbon monoxide (accept CO before mentioned) |
| In a play named for this character, he raises Helen of Troy from the dead to demonstrate her beauty. This character is followed home by a demon disguised as a poodle, who later gives this man enormous magical powers. This character’s name is used as the title for works by Christopher Marlowe and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [GUR-tuh]. This legendary man seduces Gretchen using powers gained from Mephistopheles. For the point, name this fictional doctor who sells his soul to the devil. | Doctor Faustus |
| In a song with this artist, A$AP Rocky [AY-sap Rocky] sings “you look good, girl, you know you did good, don’t you?” As part of an ensemble with The Scene, this artist sings “you are the thunder and I am the lightning.” In a solo song, this Wizards of Waverly Place star claims “the bed’s getting cold and you’re not here / The future that we hold is so unclear.” For the point, name this artist of “Naturally,” “The Heart Wants What It Wants,” and “Good For You” | Selena Marie Gomez |
| In Orthodoxy, the last rites consist of confession and this sacrament, which is celebrated in the Divine Liturgy. In Catholicism, the parts of this sacrament are blessed in the Sacrifice of the Mass. This sacrament commemorates a biblical event during which Jesus commanded his disciples to eat and drink “in remembrance of me” at the Last Supper. For the point, name this Christian act of symbolically consuming the body and blood of Jesus Christ. | Sacrament of Holy Communion (accept Sacrament of the Eucharist; accept Blessed Sacrament; accept Sacrament of the Altar; accept Sacrament of Thanksgiving; accept Sacrament of the Lord’s Table; accept Lord’s Supper; prompt on “body and blood of Jesus (and/or Christ)” before “body and blood” is read; accept “consuming,” “receiving,” “celebrating,” or logical equivalents before any of the above notes; do not accept or prompt on “sacrament” alone) |
| Chlorine gas irreversibly bleaches this material, making it unsuitable for further use. Hydrangeas exhibit the reversed behavior of this material, since they will produce pink flowers in alkaline soil. This material is extracted from lichens and absorbed into filter paper for its most common use, for which it is effective between pH values of 4.5 and 8.3. For the point, name this common indicator, a paper strip that turns blue when dipped into a base and red when dipped into an acid. | litmus paper |
| This place was discovered by Christopher Newport, the captain of the Susan Constant. The motto “he that will not work shall not eat” was used during its “starving time.” Its settlers established relations with the Powhatan tribe, and in this colony, the tobacco farmer John Rolfe married Pocahontas. For the point, name this first permanent English settlement in the United States, founded in 1607 in Virginia. | Jamestown |
| The drug vinblastine, which is used to treat cancers, was originally extracted from this island’s endemic periwinkle flowers. This island’s spiny thicket ecoregion is home to a species called “maki” in Malagasy, which evolved after this island separated from the Gondwana supercontinent and became geographically isolated. The cat-like fossa is a carnivore on, for the point, what island off the east coast of Africa, the home to a lot of lemurs? | Madagascar |
| One player of this instrument led a nonet that released the singles “Moon Dreams” and “Darn that Dream.” Birth of the Cool was compiled by that player of this instrument, who also collaborated with saxophonist John Coltrane and pianist Bill Evans on Kind of Blue. Miles Davis played, for the point, what three-valved brass instrument, which plays with the trombone in many jazz bands? | trumpet |
| Detection of these phenomena involves looking for hook echoes on Doppler radar in addition to spotters on the ground. Contrary to popular opinion, the low pressure caused by the Venturi effect makes highway overpasses unfit for shelter from these events. The Fujita scale measures the damage caused by, for the point, what violent columns of spinning air which generate winds of up to hundreds of miles per hour during thunderstorms? | tornado (accept twister; prompt on “cyclone”) |
| This adjective describes an Aboriginal serpent responsible for the creation of the world. Iris personifies these objects, which she uses as a path while delivering messages from the gods. In Norse myth, the Bifr¨ost is a bridge made of one of these meteorological phenomena. Leprechauns have a hidden pot of gold at the end of one of these. For the point, name these arcs in the sky composed of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet sections. | rainbows |
| A group of economists who had studied in this country were responsible for Chile’s “Economic Miracle” in the 1980’s. Milton Friedman co-wrote a Monetary History of this country, which blames the Federal Reserve’s mistaken policies for the “Great Contraction” and this country’s 1929 stock market crash. For the point, name this country where 12 Nobel winners in Economics have taught at the University of Chicago. | United States of America (accept either; accept USA) |
| In 1 Corinthians [”first Corinthians”], Paul contrasts Jesus and this man, in whom “all die.” This man’s first wife left him for Samael, and Lucifer was cast out of heaven for refusing to honor this man. Seth was the son of this man, and was born after this man’s son Cain killed Abel. He caused the fall of man by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. For the point, name this religious figure who was the first man and the husband of Eve. | Adam |
| Ambrose Bierce wrote a work of this type that described a lawyer as “one skilled in circumvention of the law,” and is titled The Devil’s one of these books. Samuel Johnson published a book of this type in 1755 that described a lexicographer as “a harmless drudge” and advocated -our [O-U-R] endings for words like “color,” which lexicographer Noah Webster later corrected in his book of this type. For the point, name these books that contain definitions of words. | dictionary (or dictionaries) |
| John Hood led an offensive in this state during the Battle of Peachtree Creek. After losing the Battle of Chattanooga, Braxton Bragg retreated to this state. After a victory in this state, William Sherman wrote Abraham Lincoln stating “I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah,” ending his March to the Sea. For the point, name this Confederate state that was the targeted in the Civil War’s Atlanta Campaign. | Georgia |