t2 JacoIz'08infullflow. PicturebyBishwarupDutta

The tough really got going — quite like the tagline said it would — at Jaco Iz ’08, organised last Friday by Quizobean, the quiz club of St James School, in association with t2. Ten rounds of hardcore quizzing, which quizmaster Barry ’Brien described as being “hard if one comes down to the core of it”, saw a battle of wits between eight schools that made it to the finals. These were South Point High School, Ashok Hall, National Gems Higher Secondary School, Modern High School, St James’ School, Don Bosco Park Circus, St Augustine’s Day School and La Martiniere for Boys.

Round One went well with relatively simple questions like, “The government of India is setting up six more of these in Gujarat, Orissa, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. What are these?” (Answer: IITs), “What is a prequel?” and “Who were the parents of Ghatotkach?” (Bhima and Hidimba). One particular question, though, yielded entertaining and inventive answers. When asked about the unique setting of Pakistani band Junoon’s recent concert that raised funds for HIV/AIDS and the Kashmir dispute, the answers ranged from “Kashmir” to “the no man’s land on the LOC between India and Pakistan”. “And where was the audience sitting? On the barbed wire?” asked an incredulous Barry. The question was finally answered by the principal of the host school, T.H. Ireland; the correct answer was the Dal Lake in Srinagar.

Other questions yielded wild guesses, like: “What is elevator talk?” Exaggeration and the talk that goes above your head were some of the answers ventured. The correct answer turned out to be a lot simpler, though answered in much detail. “That’s when you meet someone you don’t like from your building in the elevator and you ask them how are they and how are their kids,” answered a participant from St James. In other words, small talk.

The audio round had the audience dancing to Om Shanti Om and Saawariya numbers and the participants guessing at Hey There Delilah (by Plain White Ts) and Mrs Robinson (by Simon & Garfunkel). The connections round had quizzards guessing at the connection between balaclavas, champagne, denims, fez and limousines. The answer turned out to be toponyms: all had names derived from a place or region. When the 10 rounds came to a close, South Point took home the first prize, while La Martiniere and St James came second and third respectively.

Have a quirky quiz question? Tell t2@abpmail.com