Quizzing Ideas from a Total Rookie at Quizzes…
Posted by Prashanth | Filed under Education, General, Headshot, It's My Life, Quizzing, Readable Enough, School Life, Technology
Right, I just don’t think I am the kind of person who should be referred to for any kind of advice on quizzing, but then since blogs are meant for free speech, I won’t hesitate to blurt things out from my totally arrogant, blatant and erratic opinion!
I basically thought of writing this post when I saw a Great Quizzard coming up with a post on quizzing which didn’t quite digest completely in my tummy. Although I wouldn’t entirely disagree to it, but then I have something different below. I want people to read what really matters in quality quizzing, and not how to ‘prepare’.
Another incident was an inspiration too. On my way to Access, while I hitchhiked the DPS RKPee’s Exunclan’s bus, I mingled along with cute-little kids ranging from class 6th-8th ‘preparing’ for the cadet/sub-junior quizzes. Their method of preparation was what that shocked me the most. These kids were literally cramming up databases ripped off from Wikipedia amongst other places! If just looking at it in kids wasn’t enough, even the seniors in class 11th were mugging in the identical printouts. If this is how Exun trains its future quizzers who are more crammy than passionate about tech quizzing, I am sorry at the clan’s very future (which shows no traits of the kind of people who got Exun to the stage where it is now), really looks dull! Anyway, can’t blame them too, our tech quizzes are becoming more or less tests of grunt mechanical knowledge like acronyms, directly referring to the names of CEOs of corporations, etc… I would just start off this post with one big statement - A quizzer cannot be prepared/trained for any quality quiz in a limited time span.
Quizzing, according to me is something very few people can excel at. The knack for doing well in quizzes is something people just get naturally. It isn’t something that can be developed. People with interest, time and patience but not this so-called God-gifted aptitude can never do well in quizzing even if they have read the entire wikipedia article archive! Quizzers can never be self-made, they can only be self-enhanced. If you have never given your shot at quizzing, or you plan to, just try looking at the following aspects about a good quizzer, his thinking and his so-called ‘gifted abilities’… If you seem to have them, chances are that you would do well in in the current trend in quizzing. 
Thinking…
A quizzer’s observational abilities are a part of his second instinct. A quizzer involuntarily looks at everything around him differently. Like if he visits a shopping mall, he tends to find shops that he wants without reading text on sign boards. That’s because he remembers the logos of international franchises and can locate their flashy logos from anywhere. He does this because he has previously been to a (similar) mall before, not necessarily the same one!
A quizzer has exceptional co-relation abilities. I might refer to it with a little exaggeration metaphorically as the Sherlock Holmes’s thought. A quizzer need not know too much about stuff around him, but ability to co-relate knowledge from multiple sources to come up with a concrete answer is what can make good quizzer. Guessing correctly is one the quizzer’s biggest assets. Hunches just don’t come up, they are a result of very complex efforts to retrieve data from co-relative database.
Like for example, one of my personal experiences,
“Which musician started up a venture called Elevation-Partners?”
Now, I have zilch information about the affairs in the music industry. But then one thing I know is that “Elevation” is a hit track by the (un)popular band, U2. I couldn’t really come up with a better relation the somewhat connects a musical group with the title Elevation, expecting it to be a result of achievements in the band’s career. I also knew the name of just one member of the band U2, Bono. I gave that as the answer, and expectedly, turned out to be right!
Take another one as an example, this one doesn’t give good result with the Jugaad!
“The churchbells at Maranello are rung on what special occasions?”
The only place where I remember reading the word Maranello is on a Formula-1 speedster decal belonging to Ferrari. Assuming the place to be of special importance to the car company, Ferrari, I pick up the following hunches…
- Whenever Ferrari pushes out a new car… Nah, too often!
- On Enzo Ferrari’s (founder of Ferrari) B’Day… Maybe…
- Whenever it wins a Formula-1 championship… Maybe…
And now, after neglecting a few more good guesses, I give out my answer as Enzo’s B’Day! That’s actually the wrong answer and the correct answer is what I had thought, they ring the bells on a victory in a Grand Prix.
As you can see, not knowing things won’t put you in trouble, but clever observation and good co-relation accompanied with intelligent guesswork can save you in a fix. Good quizzes usually test this ability rather than grunt knowledge like “What’s the height of the Qutab Minar?”…
Good English and Lingual Ability…
Watching movies and speaking more than two languages can be a great asset to all quizzers. More than that, being aware of a few terms common between languages especially English can be neat tool in hand. Quite a few questions in quizzes can be solved by the use of grammar and language-syllable co-relation. Like for example,
“ Example - In France, archers were trained with the help of of target boards having concentric circles. The smallest one was in the centre and was coloured in white. The archers used to aim at that and eventually learn the tricks of the bow and arrow. Which term, now in frequent use was adapted by such a process?”
Most would give the answer as Bullseye, but then a bull’s eye is neither white, nor it fits well into this situation. The correct answer is Point Blank. Blanc is the french word the refers to the colour white. I feel that this was a workoutable question!
This very skill applies even more to solving crosswords. Like one of the clues that I came across was -
“ Example - Matt works like a menial worker and writes reports…”
the answer is Drudge Report, a popular site founded by a guy name Matt ‘Drudge’. And drudging means menial labour. This could have been figured in multiple ways, of which the grandest in my opinion would be using English language and filling up the grid! Plus, when you solve questions using such methods on stage while loud thinking, you win loads of respect from the audience as well as the quizmaster. Trust me on this one! Personal experience… 
There are quite a few questions where you are asked to deduce something about a thing/place/person, (especially historical or mythological) named in some regional language. Such questions can be deduced from pronunciation, vernaculars in derivative languages or just by plain awareness.
Example - “In the Mughal Court, a jester /minister once came up with a very innovative idea. He was appreciated so much that his name is now used in everyday language to signify something brilliant. What could have been his name?”
The answer is ‘Shabhaash“, a term frequently used in Hindi to appreciate someone. As you can see, more than knowing etymology, its presence of mind that matters in cut-throat quizzes like the Columban Open.
Many at times, being aware of common catch-phrases in use can be very helpful in quizzes. Reading more things for the sake of the reading pleasure and not forcefully to find/locate/learn catch-phrases is what can help here.
Being Passionate about everything you do…
The problem I see in most people coming to tech quizzes is that they are never passionate about quizzing. Just cramming up stuff doesn’t help. You should ‘feel’ technology more than anything else. there should be a desire from within to know more on things. Desire, interest and ability to grasp can be referred to in one catch-phrase as Aptitude with Attitude (AWA) is something that cannot be generated in everyone. In people compatible, one of the ways to do that is just show them new things that give them that ‘Wow’ feel. Watching documentaries on diverse topics can lead to production of interest. Whenever I read about some award winning documentary/dramatization somewhere on something that I am not aware of, I still look forward to it coming on television. Example: Motorcycle Dairies, courtesy Uma! I just watch the documentary for the sake of interest generation. Even after watching the documentary halfway and finding out that it is not on something in my cup of tea, I continue to watch it observing things in the background, or the way it was shot, or the shoot locations or anything. Most often or not, this generates interest in thinkers like me! More than being passionate about quizzing, you should be that for everything that you experience in life.
The Wiki way to Quizzing applies for those who would be executed in case they don’t win some quiz in the next 5 months. Not for those who would like to have the quizzer’s own distinct personality. General browsing through varied sites out of personal interest, work, or any other reason and observation in a long term gives a person that unique aura that good quizzers possess!
Moral of the story…
A quizzer cannot be created by mugging up different databases like Manorama or in a recent case, Wikipedia articles. Good quizzes never ask you the capital of Albania, which I am quite sure many good quizzers reading this post aren’t aware of!
To be a good quizzer, you should have the mindset compatible with the skills mentioned above. Above all, he should be involved in everything. Knowledge just doesn’t come from newspapers and Wikipedia, but from inconspicuous sources like Movies, Music, or even stuff that we relax with, say TV Shows or Novels. Its just the way you look at things and keep things in mind. Also, a quizzer never does all this willingly or by force, its his second instinct. A good quizzer is never a crammer!
Example - “The seven forms of which martial art are Shii-Cho, Makashi, Soresu, Ataru, Shien and Niman Juyo?”
In the real quiz we heard the name of every famous martial art from Ju-Jitsu to Kung-Fu, but then the answer is Lightsabre Combat in the Star Wars series. Top-notch quizzes can test our capacity to recollect from the most unprobable of sources. Basically, they test the efficiency of your keyword input and search engine skills. Being Google is what can make you say “Yahoo!” in quizzes.
Reading newspapers, magazines, online journals and stuff can take you a step further in increasing your knowledge database. But intelligent thinking and calculated hunches play a greater role IMHO in quality quizzes I had been exposed to in the past year. Usually, the answers to many questions is something you have heard about in the past, or something very common about worldly stuff. So the first step in Jugaad thinking should be trying to co-relate answers within your database, or in other words, a keyword search across your index!
Keep in mind that quizzes are not a test of how many databases you must have gone through in the past month, year or whatever, but a test showcasing all the activities you have been exposed to in you ENTIRE LIFETIME. Being called a quizzer doesn’t refer to his domain of ’skill’ as say an Engineer. What it refers to is, his very personality that makes him compatible enough to be involved in activities quite diverse in nature. You can generally observe this trait in almost all Great Quizzards! 
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19 Responses to “Quizzing Ideas from a Total Rookie at Quizzes…”
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Ankur Banerjee Says:
January 6th, 2008 at 1:53 amThat was an amazing post, and I totally agree with you on almost all aspects of the mentality behind a quizzer.
However, I would like to debate your interpretation of my blog article. It is most certainly NOT going to help you win quizzes. What it WILL do is that any person, who has the above said capabilities, it will help him start off with quizzing. Most of it was general advice, as to where you should get that organically growing knowledge from. I totally agree you should have a passion for tech and randomly read stuff. What I don’t agree with is your philosophy that the majority of it should come from user-contributed sites like Slashdot and Digg. That’s because they’re inherently biased in nature, and a good story (not necessarily referring to something which will come in a quiz) may get hidden. I believe outlets like Yahoo! News which aggregate stuff from PROFESSIONAL sources - people who are PAID to browse the whole day - can do a better job of ferreting out stories. So do Yahoo! News first, and THEN catch up on the quirky stuff on Digg (that’s what it’s good at).
Secondly, about this getting started thing, that’s what it’s for, not for winning. The Wiki Way will give you starting point of knowledge, from where you can grow organically. Take this from a quizzer who’s been around longer and won more than you.
See, you didn’t even know that Jerry Yang is the founder of Yahoo!. Now of course, such a direct question will never come, and if you do ONLY the Wiki article, like those Exun guys did - you’ll be screwed, like they were at Exun. However, the crucial basic info about every company, PLUS the organically growing body of knowledge, with a healthy bit of jugaad is what makes an unbeatable combination.Until you get that basic body of knowledge dude, you’ll get PWNT in EVERY quiz you go to, trust me. You may well have exceptional analytical abilities, and the database of organic knowledge - but until you read Wiki you’ll have ábšø-fûçkìng-lûtëlÿ NO idea what sumo wrestlers have to do with the company Yahoo!. In fact, even the Wiki article on Yahoo! won’t tell you what’s the connection between Yahoo! and sumo wrestlers is; but that basic knowledge PLUS the stuff you glean from experience is what counts.
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Ankur Banerjee Says:
January 6th, 2008 at 1:55 amAnd the biggest thing of all? Love info. Any bit of info. The fact that you find out that Oral-B was the first brand of toothbrush in space should make you ultra-happy if you come across it anywhere.
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Ankur Banerjee Says:
January 6th, 2008 at 1:57 amAnd do something about your template. Grey on black is NOT very easy to read. What’s the prob with white on black? :p I actually had to copy the text to OOo then read it.
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Prashanth Says:
January 6th, 2008 at 5:02 am@GQ: Yeah, I agree with you on this part that without a respectably large organic database, you cannot really do well with just analysis. But its the way you develope that database is what matters. If developing an organic database is like mugging up the periodic table, then it is not the right starting point. Building that up should start off from learning with aptitude and general observation. Wiki method could be that last resort where just analysis doesn’t work, which is actually a frequent happening even in quality quizzes. At times knowing a little thing about a corporation can help you starting off the analysis which would ultimately get you the answer. More than watching shows like Click for the very purpose of increasing knowledge is far worse than just watching it for general T.V pleasure! The way you look at your material is what tha matters…
And coming to the template, alrighty, I would just dig up the CSS a bit and change that bit. Although it is a bit hard on eyes, but that doesn’t make it unreadable enough for someone to copy it into OOo and then read it…
Thanks for the comment though… -
kshitij Says:
January 6th, 2008 at 10:04 amhey prashanth i have been reading your posts since quite a while now..and i fell that that this is possibly your best one!
and i agree with dear ‘GQ’ on this i mean.. yeah you need to have ‘passion’ for quizzing…… that realllly does make half the winning difference..but the fact is without some serious bit of crammming no one can expect to seize the centre stage at the end of some serious quiizzing..
nice work though~ -
Prateek Says:
January 7th, 2008 at 5:11 amI quite agree with Prashant and Ankur 2.
A combination of both wud be lethal.Prateek
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The Zeitgeist Says:
January 7th, 2008 at 6:59 amA bullet is affective only when a person looks out of a bullet-proof vehicle and the same applies to determine how lethal a Prashant-AnkurB combination could be… Anyway think of the future…who rules? If you are a constant competition monger you’d know…MSSS, the Ensei Tankado in the LuminaR-AnkurB NSA Faculty. Ha! Ha! Ha!
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Prashanth Says:
January 7th, 2008 at 10:41 am@Kshitij: Thanks for the nice words about the post! Just tell me one thing, do I know you? If I am not wrong, do you live somewhere in NOIDA or Gurgaon? Please introduce yourself… are you a quizzer too..??
@Prateek: Hows your bored prep coming up? Haven’t seen too many posts on your new blog yet. How come you chose Blogger?
@The Zeitgeist: I guess Prateek referred to the combination of analytical abilities and organic knowledge database…
And I didn’t get your equation relating LuminaR, GQ’s Blog, Tankado/NSA/Digital Fortress… Please clear that up, I hope its a good joke. -
Uma Says:
January 7th, 2008 at 1:07 pmWoah…its raining posts on the blog…and how!Great work with the post really.Although the comment of a non-quizzer like me would be of no consequence here, I have always felt that whatever General knowledge quizzes I have ever witnessed are quite paradoxical in nature testing general “information” and not “knowledge”(Those people who think these two things are one and the same are most welcome NOT to visit this blog).As Albert Einstein aptly said in one of his deadly-boring-when-read-in-school-textbooks speech “Knowledge is what remains after everything else is forgotten”.In case of computer symposiums which is supposed to be an insight of the industry, I really don’t see what might be the practical use of knowing the full form of ARCHIE and NURBS if you stay clueless about WHAT they are.
Great post once again. -
Prashanth Says:
January 8th, 2008 at 3:42 am@Uma: Ahh, I just want a torrential rain to instantly finish off everything pending to be written… by you!
Its time tech quizzes elevate their standards to the level of the biggies held in the country. Indians ought to be proud of its quizzing community which is like no other in the world! Citation: Wikipedia )
Thanks for the comment mate..!! -
Prashanth Says:
January 8th, 2008 at 3:48 am@Uma again:
And then, what makes you think that you are a non-quizzer..?? As you read from my post, when i call you a quizzer, I don’t refer to your trophies and chievements in quizzes, but your mindset in general. IMHO, you would do wonderfully in all general quizzes that I attended to last year…
At times I feel really bad that people like you never really went out and explored themselves…
Anyway, you aren’t missing a single quiz once you get into college… the college quizzing circle is even bigger and more challenging! Please post stuff now! -
Ankur Banerjee Says:
January 9th, 2008 at 1:56 amThat’s what i said. You do need to read up from say, wiki, for getting the full picture, but that should be because you love info. Not solely for winning. Observation can only take you so far, and then, you WILL need data to back up. I spoke of ways for both, the base data AND the organic data. Analytical ability is intrinsic, so i didn’t dwell on it.
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Prateek Vijayavargia Says:
January 10th, 2008 at 12:06 amPrashanth - I am bored of my bored preps. They r going n fine. But I need to buck up and perform even better because I have been hanging around 80 percent. Also, my new blog wud not be full of posts as yet wud start posting only in April now
I am quite a rookie at blogging. I chose Blogspot because maybe i find it better than wordpress and others. Which one shud I use?
Yes, A Combination wud be quite great.
I wud really like to quiz with u as a team
Anyways, whats up? -
kshitij Says:
January 12th, 2008 at 11:55 amactually no!..i live in west delhi and im in st. mark’s yup im a bit into quizzing too and we’ve started taking part in major events since this year only…so im a bit unexperienced u can say!~ and morever 11 grade science has taken it’s toll on quizzing too!![:p]
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Ramit Singal Says:
January 16th, 2008 at 2:22 amAgreed. And this strategy will probably help you in the REAL quizzes, TCS for example. But you still need a little bit of basic wiki/crammed up knowledge to get those extra points on the board.
And experience. That’s probably the most important of all the things required to be a good quizzer.
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Prashanth Says:
January 18th, 2008 at 11:46 pm@GQ: Thanks for putting in some of your expertise here… You really added the ‘expert advice/opinions’ part of any piece of writing! I just couldn’t help but agree on almost every part of it. (Didn’t YET agree on the Slashdot part that is…)
@Kshitij: Keep watching theluminar.net… And do you blog too? Also, tell me about your quizzing life? I have an intention to make an all-India based quizzing community inviting every dámn quizzer around. And how did you find this blog?
@Ramit: I would totally agree on the experience part. That would train your intuition to determine whether the question needs Jugaad or grunt knowledge… Also, looking at varied types of questions really broadens the thinking level…
But then TCS would have been wonderful if the prelims were of a better level, like our symposiums. Come on, Modern School BK qualified! -
The Zeitgeist Says:
January 19th, 2008 at 3:09 amI hope you are not offended. I gave that Digital Fortress comment just at the clck of the moment (although I didn’t like the book). Ramit Singhal was true in saying that you should go on and try winning TCS. Bad luck for Ankur B…doesn’t have a chance… But anyway you are correct in saying it is the mindset and not the trophies and laurels in front of your name, for even people like Adonis, the Syrian poet is waiting for the Nobel Prize…
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kshitij Says:
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:45 amwell as i said im an amateur…. r skol missed by 1 mark in d inquizitive… finished 2 in litfest held in lucknow…reached the semis in d india today quiz at kolkatta(boy!oh boy ..dat was a real treat as a quiz) …..and had some podium finishes in d events of the schools nearby…however we werent able to attend the fundamental this year as r exams came by dat time..!!..
n yeah i do have a small blog ..i guess u can still call it a blog with 2-3 posts n it..hehe!
i came by ur blog googling while some school event. .. -
kshitij Says:
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:49 am*for
