Philosophy & Social Sciences

Subtitled ‘The Power of Passion and Perseverance’, which 2016 bestselling book by the US psychologist Angela Duckworth contends that IQ, socioeconomic status, physical ability, and other predetermined qualities do not count for as much as the four-letter word in the books title?

An extensive study on the subject of abjection, the 1980 book ‘Powers of Horror’ is the work of which Bulgarian-French philosopher who won the inaugural Holberg Prize in 2004? Her other works include ‘Black Sun : Depression & Melancholia’ and ‘Hatred and Forgiveness’.

Born around 330 BC in Assos, which former boxer and water-carrier became the second head of the Stoic school in Athens when its founder Zeno of Citium died (after supposedly breaking a toe)? Most of his works have not survived (except a hymn to Zeus), but his pupil Chrysippus would go on to become one of the greatest Stoic thinkers in history.

Born near Vienna in 1870, which Austrian psychiatrist and founder of the school of individual psychology introduced the concept of the inferiority complex which he felt played a key role in personality development?

Which nine-letter term can mean in cosmology, the theoretical exponential expansion of space in the very early universe, as well as in economics the sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time?

Born 1922 in Alberta, which sociologist and social psychologist has been considered by some as the most influential American sociologist of the 20th century? Best known for his study of symbolic interaction in the form of dramaturgical analysis, his noted works include ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life’, ‘Asylums’ and ‘Stigma’.

Of his few surviving works, the most important are on botany – ‘Inquiry Into Plants’ and ‘Growth of Plants’. Born on Lesbos in 372 BC and one of the Peripatetics who fully embraced Aristotle’s philosophy in all areas,, which philosopher took over as head of the Lyceum when Aristotle was forced to retire in 323 BC?

Born in Kiev in 1866, which Russian existentialist philosopher was the first to find an audience in Europe? Known for his ‘philosophy of despair’, his noted works include ‘The Good in the Teaching of Tolstoy and Nietzsche’ (1899) and ‘The Philosophy of Tragedy, Dostoevsky and Nietzsche’ (1903).

Declared a heretic by the Council of Ephesus in 431, which monk and theologian gives his name to the heterodox school of thought that stressed the essential goodness of human nature and the freedom of the human will? He was a fierce opponent of St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Jerome of Stridon.

The phrase ‘the _______ of evil’ was introduced by the political theorist Hannah Arendt in her 1963 book ‘Eichmann in Jerusalem – arising from Eichmann’s behavior at his trial during which he displayed neither guilt for his actions nor hatred for those trying him, claiming he was only ‘doing his job’.

The teacher of Plato and Xenophon, which classical Greek philosopher was sentenced to death by drinking the poison hemlock?

Published in 2001, ‘The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy’ is the work of which American philosopher with a particular interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, feminism and ethics? Her other works include ‘Hiding from Humanity’ (2004) and ‘From Disgust to Humanity’ (2010).

Including the tetrahedron, cube and dodecahedron, the group of five geometric solids whose faces are all identical, regular polygons meeting at the same three-dimensional angles is named after which ancient Greek philosopher?

Named after the two Swedish economists who developed it, which general equilibrium mathematical model of international trade essentially says that countries export products that use their abundant and cheap factors of production, and import products that use the countries’ scarce factors?

The mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed and involved – the concept of flow was named by which Hungarian-American psychologist in 1975, whose recent work mostly surrounds the idea of motivation?

‘The Postmodern Condition’ (1979) which characterized the postmodern era as one that has lost faith in all grand, totalizing ‘metanarratives’ and ‘The Differend: Phrases in Dispute’ (1983) where he analyses how injustices take place in the context of language – are important works by which French philosopher who participated in the May 1968 civil uprisings?

Literally translating as ‘’Lording Master’ or ‘Son of the Monarch’, which term referring to a gentleman has been employed by both the Duke of Wen in the ‘I-ching’ and Confucius in his works to describe the ideal man?

‘On the Heights of Despair’ (1934) and ‘The Trouble with Being Born’ (1973) were noted works by which Romanian philosopher and essayist noted for his sense of alienation and pessimism?

Written in 1077-78, the meditation ‘Proslogion’ is a work by which Italian-born theologian and philosopher, known as the father of Scholasticism and recognized in modern times as the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God?

The 1876 book ‘The Criminal Man’ was the work of which Italian criminologist who advanced the theory of anthropological criminology – that criminality was inherited, and that someone ‘born criminal’ could be identified by atavistic physical (congenital) defects? His theories have since been strongly rejected in favour of environmental factors.

First formulated in the 1950s by the Lithuanian-American anthropologist Marija Gimbutas, which hypothesis (named after the Russian for a burial mound) is the most widely accepted proposal to identify the homeland from which the Indo-European languages spread out throughout Europe, Eurasia and parts of Asia?

Born 1938, which British sociologist is best known for his theory of structuration, his holistic view of modern societies, and his political philosophy called the ‘Third Way’ as laid out in his 1994 work ‘Beyond Left and Right’?

McDonald’s and Burger King being an example, the observation in economics that in many markets it is rational for producers to make their products as similar as possible rather than differentiate them is named after which American mathematical statistician and economic theorist?

The ‘forgetting curve’ (the decline of memory retention in time), the ‘learning curve’ (an increase in learning comes from greater experience) and the ‘spacing effect’ (learning is more effective when study sessions are spaced out) were all first discovered or described by which German psychologist (born 1850) who pioneered the experimental study of memory?

Including the social system of the common Eurasian jackdaw and the behavior of the tiny water shrew, which 1949 zoological book by Konrad Lorenz takes its title from a magical artifact that grants the power to speak to animals?

Conducted in 1972, the classic Stanford marshmallow experiment on delayed gratification was led by which Austrian-born American psychologist specializing in personality theory and social psychology?

His Ph.D. thesis concluded that short-term stock price movements are unpredictable and hence approximate a random walk. Which Nobel economics laureate who spent all of his teaching career at the University of Chicago is most associated with the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) which argues that the market cannot be beat in the long run, because the current price of a stock already reflects all available information?

Coined by the mathematical economist Stanley Reiter in 1960, which single-word term (with a mythological reference) is the application of economic theory and statistical analysis to the study of history, developed by Robert W. Fogel and Douglass C. North, who were awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1993?

: Completed shortly before his death from a brain tumor in 1994, ‘Killing Time’ was the autobiography of which Austrian-born professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, noted for critique of ‘rationalist’ attempts to lay down or discover rules of scientific method as espoused in works such as ‘Against Method’ and ‘Farewell to Reason’?

Born around 490 BCE in Abdera, he gave his name to a ‘paradox of the court’ in which he sued his pupil Euathlus for discarding the law profession after mentoring him. Which philosopher, the first and most famous of the Greek Sophists, is credited with the saying, ‘Man is the measure of all things’?

A reference to Aristotle’s work ‘Organon’, which philosopher’s 1620 work ‘Novum Organum’ details a new system of logic he believes to be superior to the old ways of syllogism?

The only book-length philosophical work by Ludwig Wittgenstein that was published during his lifetime, ‘Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus’ was named as homage to the ‘Tractatus Theologico-Politicus’ published in 1677 by which philosopher?

Set in the fictional town of Bouville (‘mud town’) and featuring the protagonist Antoine Roquentin – a dejected historian convinced that his free will is controlled by events and objects, which philosophical novel by Jean-Paul Sartre shares its title with an unpleasant bodily sensation?

WHICH 20TH –CENTURY ECONOMIST gives his name to the graph shown here, which purports to show the relationship between the tax rate and maximum tax revenue that a government collects?

Used to describe the state of the individual in relation to society, which animal gives its name to the metaphor that suggests that despite goodwill, human intimacy cannot occur without substantial mutual harm? The concept originates from a parable in the 1851 work ‘Parerga and Paralipomena’ by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, and was also quoted by Sigmund Freud in the footnotes of his 1921 work ‘Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego’.

‘The Economist’s regular column on business and management is named after WHICH ECONOMIST AND POLTICAL SCIENTIST? Born 1883 in Moravia, he served briefly as Austria’s Finance Minister in 1919 before becoming a professor at Harvard University. He is best-known for popularising the term ‘creative destruction’ in his book ‘Capitalism, Socialism & Democracy’.

Answer

‘Grit’
Julia Kristeva
Cleanthes
Alfred Adler
Inflation
Erving Goffman
Theophrastus
Lev Shestov
Pelagius
Banality
Socrates
Martha Nussbaum
Plato (Platonic solids)
Heckscher–Ohlin model
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Jean-François Lyotard
Junzi
Emil Cioran
St Anselm of Canterbury
Cesare Lombroso
Kurgan hypothesis
Anthony Giddens
Harold Hotelling
Hermann Ebbinghaus
‘King Solomon’s Ring’
Walter Mischel
Eugene Fama
Cliometrics
Paul Feyerabend
Protagoras
Francis Bacon
Baruch Spinoza
‘Nausea’
Arthur Laffer
Hedgehog (The Hedgehog Dilemma)
Joseph Alois Schumpeter

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Fine Art & Architecture

‘Crucifixion’, ‘Escape from Etna’ and ‘Peasants of Sicily’ were works by which Italian painter born in 1911? A fierce anti-Fascist, he joined the banned Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1940 and became a senator in 1976.

Divided into ‘The Coming and Departure of Quetzalcoatl’ and ‘Cortez and the Modern Era’, the 24-fresco mural ‘The Epic of American Civilization’ located at Dartmouth College is the work of which Mexican painter also known for works such as ‘The House of Tears’ and ‘Man of Fire’?

Which American artist painted this work in 1899? It takes its title from a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean current.

Amongst his few works include the Church of Santa Maria in Gradi in Viterbo and a chapel for the Igreja de São Roque Jesuit Church in Lisbon, but which architect born 1697 in Rome is now best remembered for designing the famous Trevi Fountain?

Between 1963 and 1978, which American Pop artist systematically photographed southern California’s built environments – which he made into wordless books, such as ‘Every Building on the Sunset Strip’? His other noted works include ‘The Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Fire’ and ‘Actual Size’(1962), an image of a flying can of Spam.

Derived from the Romanian folktale of a golden bird who heals the blind, which sculpture (left) by Constantin Brancusi (from a series btw 1910-1918) serves as an inspiration for his later and more famous ‘Bird in Space’ series of works (right)?

Completed in July 1890, ‘Wheatfield with Crows’ is usually regarded as the last painting by which artist?

The first painting acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (in 1930) and said to have inspired the creepy Bates Motel in the Hitchcock film ‘Psycho’, ‘House by the Railroad’ is an 1925 painting by which American artist?

Including ‘The Martyrdom of St. John’, ‘St. Michael Fighting the Dragon’ and ‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’, the series of ‘Apocalypse’ woodcuts (1498) are works by which Nuremberg-born artist?

Officially the most expensive photograph ever sold ($4.3 million in 2011), ‘Rhein II’ is the work of which German photographer noted for his large format architecture and landscape colour works?

Which European avant-garde art movement of the early 20th century takes its name from a colloquial French term for a hobby-horse? Noted exponents include Jean Arp and Tristan Tzara. Dada/ Dadaism
Winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture, his noted works include the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Yoyogi National Gymnasium for the 1964 Olympics. Which major 20th-century architect is widely considered a key inspiration and patron of the Metabolist movement?

Born 1967, which Austrian artist is known for his ‘Guardians of Time’ sculpture project, in which stone statues cloaked in hooded robes are situated to seem like they are moving forth in some kind of ritual?

Painted when she was 23 years old, the 1952 painting ‘Mountains and Sea’ is considered the best-known work by which American abstract expressionist painter, whose other works include ‘Eden’ and ‘Swan Lake #2’?

Comprised of vertically aligned nanotube arrays and capable of absorbing up to 99.965% of visible light, the extreme dark substance known as Vantablack has been exclusively and controversially licensed to which contemporary artist for artistic use?

Superstition held that the cardinal who was seated beneath it was likely to be elected during a papal conclave – the fresco ‘Delivery of the Keys’ located in the Sistine Chapel is a work by which Renaissance painter, perhaps better remembered as the teacher of Raphael?

What seven-letter term can mean in architecture, a transverse horizontal crosspiece separating a door from a window above it; in nautical terms, the flat part which forms the stern of a square-ended boat, typically above the waterline and in artillery, a metal piece connecting the sidepieces of the tail or the cheeks of a gun carriage?

First appearing in his collage novels ‘La Femme 100 Têtes’ and ‘Une Semaine de Bonté’, the bird-like character Loplop was created by which artist as his alter-ego and familiar animal?

Sacrifice, Truth, Power, Beauty, Life, Memory and Obedience form each of the seven chapters in WHICH EXTENDED ESSAY first published in May 1849? The author later enlarged upon these principles in his three-volume work ‘The Stones of Venice’.

Born 1890 in Birmingham, which British painter and one of the Whitechapel Boys (group of Anglo-Jewish writers and artists) espoused a complex geometric style combining the influences of cubism and futurism in the years preceding WWI (eg ‘Vision of Ezekiel’, 1912 and ‘The Mud Bath,1914)? His technique subsequently became more expressionist in the later years.

Born 1850 in New Hampshire, which American sculptor’s first important commission was the statue ‘The Minute Man’ (dedicated in 1875), commemorating the Battle of Concord of 100 years earlier? He is perhaps best known for designing the monumental seated statue of Abraham Lincoln (1920) in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

One of the Young British Artists, which Manchester-born painter and winner of the 1998 Turner Prize landed in controversy when his work ‘The Holy Virgin Mary’ was at issue in a lawsuit between the mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art when it was exhibited there in 1999? The painting depicted a Black Madonna surrounded by images from blaxploitation movies and close-ups of female genitalia cut from pornographic magazines, and elephant dung.

Given the moniker ‘takeaway Rembrandt’ as it has been stolen four times since 1966 – the most recorded of any painting, this small 1632 oil on canvas painting is a portrait of which engraver of the Dutch Golden Age?

Among his best known works are the wood-block-print series ‘Fu ninsōgaku jittai’ (‘Ten Physiognomies of Women’), and ‘Seirō jūni-toki’ (‘Twelve Hours at the Gay Quarters’), which 18th-century Japanese printmaker and painter who was one of the greatest artists of the ukiyo-e movement is known especially for his masterfully composed portraits of sensuous female beauties?

The Gate of Pomegranates, the Court of the Myrtles, the Hall of the Abencerrages and the Court of the Lions were prominent structures within which building complex built chiefly between 1238 and 1358?

Painted three times by Vincent Van Gogh in 1890, ‘_____’s Garden’ depicts the enclosed garden of which painter of the Barbizon School whom Van Gogh admired throughout his life? The same title also applies to a graphic novel about this artist’s life, by the Belgian comics writer Bruno de Roover and artist Luc Cromheecke.

Including members such as Fermín Revueltas, Germán List Arzubide and Germán Cueto, which multidisciplinary avant-garde movement founded in Mexico by Manuel Maples Arce at the end of 1921 shares some characteristics with Cubism, Dadaism and Futurism but developed a specific social dimension taken from the Mexican Revolution?

Born 1901, which Swiss sculptor is best known for his attenuated sculptures of solitary figures?

Born 1918, which Danish architect is most noted for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia?

Nicknamed ‘Le Douanier’ (the customs officer) due to his occupation as a tax collector, which French post-impressionist painter is known for works such as ‘The Dream’ (1910)?

According to a humorous Internet post on how to recognize famous painters, ‘If everyone, including the women, looks like Putin, then it’s ________’? The artist in question is perhaps best known for his ‘Arnolfini Portrait’ (1434).

One of his best known works, Pablo Picasso’s 1937 large oil painting ‘Guernica’ depicts the bombing of the namesake Basque town during which military conflict?

Featuring the three mythological daughters of Zeus, the Neoclassical sculpture ‘The Three Graces’ was a work completed in 1817 by which Italian artist?

The two individuals named Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve are the title figures in a 1533 painting by which artist?

Completed in 1874, this painting by Paul Cezanne is a homage to an earlier 1863 oil painting by which French modernist painter?

One of the performances during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics was based on the 1911 painting ‘I and the Village’ by which artist born in the Belarusian town of Liozna in 1887?

This 2017 Google Doodle commemorated which contemporary architect, alongside the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku which she designed and completed in 2012?

Credited with inspiring the name of the Impressionist movement, Claude Monet’s 1872 painting ‘Impression, Sunrise’ was a depiction of the port of which city in the Normandy region which was his hometown?

Credited with inspiring the name of the Impressionist movement, Claude Monet’s 1872 painting ‘Impression, Sunrise’ was a depiction of the port of which city in the Normandy region which was his hometown?

Depicting the three angels who visited Abraham at the Oak of Mamre and currently held in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, ‘The Trinity’ is the only work authenticated as entirely by which great medieval Russian painters of Orthodox Christian icons born in the 1360s?

Now displayed side-by-side at the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut, the painting ‘Figure in a Room’ was at the center of a controversy when it was revealed in the 1980s that it had been replaced by an expert copy more than forty years after the artist’s death. Who is this painter, known for his Realistic portraits, American Impressionist paintings and watercolors such as ‘Summer’ and ‘Eleanor’?

From the Sanskrit word meaning ‘color’, which term refers to the Indian art form in which patterns are created on the ground using materials such as colored rice, dry flour, colored sand or flower petals, usually made during festivals such as Diwali?

One of the more elusive painters of the High Renaissance, only around six surviving paintings are considered certain to be his work. One of them is shown here – ‘The Castelfranco Madonna’, his only known altarpiece. WHO IS THIS PAINTER, born in the late 1470s, whose other known works include ‘The Tempest’ and ‘The Three Philosophers’?

WHICH FRENCH-AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY ARTIST, who died in May 2010, was given the nickname ‘Spiderwoman’ for her large, 30-feet tall spider sculptures?

On December 16, 2014, Google published this doodle to celebrate the 148th birthday of WHICH PAINTER? Early in his life he was actually offered a position as a professor of Roman law at the University of Dorpat, before turning to painting at the age of 30.

Born Michelangelo Merisi, which painter is named after a town in Bergamo to which his family moved in 1576 to escape a plague ravaging Milan?

Its title apparently deriving from a German schoolboys’ rhyme with sexual connotations, ‘The Elephant Celebes’, in the collection of the Tate Gallery since 1975, was painted in 1921 by which surrealist?

WHICH AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER, who died of complications from HIV/AIDS in 1989, was known for the controversial nature of his work, some of them with homoerotic and sadomasochistic themes? Examples include his 1986 published work ‘The Black Book’ and his 1989 solo exhibition tour ‘The Perfect Moment’ at the Corocan Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

Answer

Renato Guttuso
José Clemente Orozco
Winslow Homer (‘The Gulf Stream’)
Nicola Salvi
Ed Ruscha
Maiastra
Vincent van Gogh
Edward Hopper
Albrecht Durer
Andreas Gursky
Dada/ Dadaism
Kenzō Tange
Manfred Kielnhofer
Helen Frankenthaler
Anish Kapoor
Pietro Perugino
Transom
Max Ernst
‘The Seven Lamps of Architecture’ by John Ruskin
David Bomberg
Daniel Chester French
Chris Ofili
Jacob de Gheyn III
Utamaro
The Alhambra
Charles-François Daubigny
Stridentism
Alberto Giacometti
Jorn Utzon
Henri Rousseau
Jan Van Eyck
Spanish Civil War
Antonio Canova
Hans Holbein the Younger (‘The Ambassadors’)
Edouard Manet (Cezanne’s painting is ‘A Modern Olympia’)
Marc Chagall
Zaha Hadid
Le Havre
Nam June Paik
Andrei Rublev
Frank Weston Benson
Rangoli
Giorgione (Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco)
Louise Bourgeois
Wassily Kandinsky
Caravaggio
Max Ernst
Robert Mapplethorpe

Classical Music

Born 1837, which Russian composer was the putative leader of the group known as the Five/ Mighty Handful? For several years, he was the only professional musician of the group and imparted to them his musical beliefs.

An established instrument during the late baroque and early classical eras, the single-reed woodwind instrument known as chalumeau is the precursor to which modern-day instrument?

Featuring J. Robert Oppenheimer, Gen Leslie Groves and Edward Teller as roles, which 2005 opera by the American composer John Adams features the main characters involved in the Manhattan Project leading up to the first nuclear testing (Trinity) in July 1945?

Born 1810, which Polish composer is known for his virtuosity on the piano and works such as the ‘Minute Waltz’ and ‘Funeral March’?

Composed between 1914 and 1922, ‘Wozzeck’ is the first opera by which Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School? It is based on an unfinished drama of the same name by the German playwright Georg Buchner.

The opera ‘Konig Alfred’ and symphonies ‘No.1 : To the Fatherland’ & ‘No.5 : Lenore’ were the works of which 19th-century German-Swiss composer and pianist? Although hugely prolific and widely popular in his time (including close associations with Liszt, Mendelssohn and Schumann, he has since largely been forgotten by the contemporary world.

First staged in Leningrad in 1956, the ballet ‘Spartacus’ (about the leader of the slave revolt during the Third Servile War) is the work of which Soviet composer who also composed the anthem of the Armenian SSR in 1944?

Which Russian composer’s noted works include ‘Swan Lake’, ‘The Nutcracker’ and the ‘1812 Overture’?

About an alternative history in which queen Elizabeth the First is assassinated, the 1968 science-fiction novel by Keith Roberts has which six-letter title that is the name of a majestic processional dance of the 16th- and 17th-century European aristocracy, and is included in the names of famous compositions by Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré.

‘Transfigured Night, Op.4’, ‘The Hand of Fate’ and ‘Piano Suite, Op. 25’ are famous works by which composer born in Vienna in 1874? He is most noted for creating new methods of musical composition involving atonality, namely serialism and the 12-tone row.

Published between 1901 and 1907, Sir Edward Elgar’s ‘Pomp and Circumstance Marches’ takes its title from Act III, Scene 3 of which of Shakespeare’s plays?

Featured in Jean-Jacques Beineix’s 1981 film ‘Diva’, the aria ‘Ebben? Ne andrò lontana’ is taken from the 1892 opera ‘La Wally’ by which Italian composer, whose other works include ‘Loreley’ and ‘Edmea’?

Based on a folktale, the 1936 musical composition ‘Peter and the Wolf’ is one of the best known works by which Russian composer?

First performed at the Adelphi Theatre, London, on 19 March 1944, which secular oratorio by the British composer Michael Tippett was inspired by events surrounding the anti-Jewish pogrom Kristallnacht?

First mentioned Exodus 19 when a blast emanating from the thick cloud on Mount Sinai makes the Israelites tremble in awe, which traditional musical instrument made of a ram’s horn is blown in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and at the very end of Yom Kippur?

Founded by violinist David Harrington in 1973 and since having a rotating membership of musicians and covering a very broad range of musical genres, this American string quartet based in San Francisco (who had over 900 works written for them) shares its name with which mythological figure?

Based on the scandals involving the ‘Dirty Duchess’ – Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, the explicit 1995 opera ‘Powder Her Face’ is the work of which contemporary British composer? Five of his works received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, including ‘The Tempest’ (2004), ‘Tevot’ (2007) and ‘In Seven Days’ (2008).

Hailed as the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner, which friend of Beethoven and Mendelssohn produced popular operas during his time, such as ‘Hans Heiling’ (1833), ‘The Vampire’(1828) and ‘The Templar and the Jewess’ (1829)?

With text by Ernst Schnabel (including passages from Dante’s ‘Divina Comedia’), the oratorio ‘Das Floß der Medusa’ (‘The Raft of the Medusa’) by the German composer Hans Werner Henze was written as a Requiem for which individual who died in 1967?

First performed in 1792 at the Imperial Hofburg Theatre in Vienna in the presence of Emperor Leopold II (who liked it so much he ordered an immediate repeat), ‘The Secret Marriage’ was the best-known opera by which Italian musician who was court composer and conductor for Catherine the Great between 1787 and 1791?

Telling how two men’s (Nadir and Zurga) vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for the same woman, ‘The Pearl Fishers’ – an opera in three acts by Georges Bizet is set in ancient times on which island?

Premiered in September 2009 at the Landestheater in Linz, Philip Glass’s opera that included segments from the story of creation and poems by the writer Andreas Gryphius is named after which German born in 1571? It is the third opera by Glass to be inspired by a scientist, after ‘Einstein on the Beach’ (1976) and ‘Galileo Galilei’ (2002).

Examples of include Bach’s famous organ piece (BWV 582), the fourth movement of Dmitry Shostakovich’s ‘Symphony No. 8, Opus 65’ and the music of Act I, scene 4, of Alban Berg’s opera ‘Wozzeck’, which term meaning ‘street song’ refers to the musical form of continuous variation in 3/4 time derived from a courtly dance that originated in early 17th-century Spain?

The title of the 2009 Mumford & Sons album ‘Sigh No More’, the 2006 American Music Theatre Project ‘The Boys Are Coming Home’ and the operas ‘Montano et Stéphanie’ (1799) by Jean-Élie Bédéno Dejaure & Henri-Montan Berton and ‘Béatrice et Bénédict’ (1862) by Hector Berlioz – are all based on which literary work that first premiered in 1600?

Claudio Monteverdi’s last opera as well as one of the first operas to use historical events and people, ‘The Coronation of Poppaea’ which premiered in Venice in 1643 depicts the rise to fame and power of the title character – a mistress of which historical figure?

Designated a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2001, which form of Chinese drama developed in 16th-century Ming Dynasty derives its name from the city in Jiangsu province from where it originated? Characterized by a mild, sentimental melody that usually focuses on a story of romantic love, it was gradually replaced in popularity by jingxi (Peking opera) in the 18th century.

Featuring movements such as ‘The Elephant’ and ‘The Swan’, the musical suite ‘The Carnival of the Animals’ was composed by which musician born in Paris in 1835?

Cio-Cio San and Lieutenant Pinkerton are the main roles in which opera by Giacomo Puccini that premiered in 1904?

First performed in 1850, which opera by Richard Wagner features a title character who is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden?

From the Italian for ‘clear’ and ‘calm’, which form of musical composition and/or performance delivered in honor of someone or something was considered an evening piece, as opposed to an aubade (performed in the morning)?

The Lupophon, Heckelphone and Cor anglais are musical instruments belonging in the same family as which double-reed woodwind instrument that is traditionally used to tune the orchestra with its distinctive ‘A’?

Featuring an enigmatic figure who seemingly cannot be killed, ‘The Miraculous Mandarin’, an one act pantomime ballet composed between 1918–1924 is the work is which Hungarian composer?

‘Scene in the Fields’, ‘March to the Scaffold’ and ‘Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath’ are the last three movements in which1830 program symphony written by the composer as a way to express his unrequited love for the actress Harriet Smithson?

‘International Stud’, ‘Fugue in a Nursery’ and ‘Widows and Children First!’ are the titles of the three acts from which Harvey Fierstein trilogy of plays that centers on Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish homosexual, drag queen in New York City in the early 1980s?

Premiering at the Savoy Theatre in 1882, which Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera is named after a fairy who had been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal? Her son Strephon is an Arcadian shepherd who wants to marry a young noblewoman.

‘Emerson,’ ‘Hawthorne,’ ‘The Alcotts,’ and ‘Thoreau’ were the four sections comprising the monumental Second Piano Sonata (subtitled ‘Concord, Mass., 1840–60’) by which American composer, also known for works such as ‘The Unanswered Question’, ‘Central Park in the Dark’ and ‘General William Booth Enters into Heaven’?

The first is about a castle, the second a river, the third a legendary female warrior, the fourth to sixth about the countryside, a city and a mountain respectively. WHAT IS THE NATIONALITY of the 19th-century composer of this set of symphonic poems?

Which 20th-century French composer and ornithologist included stylized birdsong into many of his compositions, e.g. his ‘Catalogue d’oiseaux’ (‘Bird catalogue’) for piano, with titles such as ‘Golden oriole’, ‘Tawny owl’ and ‘Blue rock thrush’?

Consisting mainly of percussive instruments especially metallophones played with ballets and hand-drums called the kendhang, WHAT NAME IS GIVEN the traditional ensemble music of Javanese and Balinese origin, and is an integral part of Indonesian culture?

Answer

Mily Balakirev
Clarinet
‘Doctor Atomic’
Frederic Chopin
Alban Berg
Joachim Raff
Aram Khachaturian
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pavane
Arnold Schoenberg
‘Othello’
Alfredo Catalani
Sergei Prokofiev
‘A Child of Our Time’
Shofar
Kronos
Thomas Adès
Heinrich Marschner
Che Guevara
Domenico Cimarosa
Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Johannes Kepler
Passacaglia
‘Much Ado About Nothing’ by William Shakespeare
Emperor Nero
Kunqu/ Kun opera
Camille Saint-Saens
‘Madama Butterfly’
‘Lohengrin’
Serenade
Oboe
Bela Bartok
‘SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE’ by Hector Berlioz
Dmitri Shostakovich
‘Iolanthe’
Charles Ives
CZECH (Bedrich Smetana, ‘Ma vlast’)
Olivier Messiaen
Gamelan 

Mythology & Religion

In Egyptian myth, which brother of Osiris was the god of chaos, violence and trickery? He killed and mutilated Osiris, but Isis managed to reassemble Osiris’s body and resurrect him.

Translated as ‘Peach Boy’, what is the name of the popular hero in Japanese folklore born from a giant peach which was found floating down a river by an old, childless couple who subsequently adopted him?

In Norse myth, the murder of which poet and wise man was told in the ‘Braga Raedur’ (‘Conversations of Bragi’)? Supposedly born when the saliva of the two groups of gods (Aesir and Vanir) were mixed, he was killed by the dwarves Fjalar and Galar, who distilled his blood in the magic cauldron Odhrǫrir, from which mead was produced.

In Greek myth, Charon is the ferryman of Hades who carry the souls of the newly-deceased across which two rivers of the Underworld – Acheron and which other river?

Declared a heretic by the Council of Ephesus in 431, which monk and theologian gives his name to the heterodox school of thought that stressed the essential goodness of human nature and the freedom of the human will? He was a fierce opponent of St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Jerome of Stridon.

Meaning ‘gaping abyss’ or ‘yawning void’, which term in Nordic myth refers to the vast primordial void that separates the intense cold of Niflheim from the searing heat of Muspelheim? The cosmogonic process began when the effulgence of the two met in the middle.

Supposedly compiled by the legendary Vyasa, which short term denotes a large body of religious texts from ancient India that constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism? They are classified into the Atharva____, the Sama____, the Yajur____ and the Rig____.

Discovered in July 2007, this dwarf planet member of the scattered disc takes its name after which ancient Chinese water god described as having a iron head with red hair and the body of a serpent? According to legend, he lost a duel with the fire deity Zhurong and smashed his head against one of the pillars holding up the sky, resulting in the tilting of the heavens and earth.

Usually depicted as a warrior carrying a bow and arrow and clutching Sharur, his magic talking mace and often shown standing on the back of or riding a beast with the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion, the legend of which major ancient Mesopotamian god of farming, hunting and war is told in the epic poem ‘Lugal-e’?

Meaning ‘those who fight alone’ in Old Norse, what term refers to the warriors who have died in battle and are brought to Valhalla by valkyries? There they prepare daily for the events of Ragnarök.

Her name meaning ‘shining in heaven’, the goddess Amaterasu is a major deity in the religion of which island nation?

A gulf in the Aegean Sea that forms the northern part of the Saronic Gulf takes its name from which Theban princess and the first wife of Heracles? She was the eldest daughter of King Creon who gifted her to the hero after Heracles had led the Theban defense against the Minyans.

In the Old Testament, who became the leader of the Israelite tribes upon the death of Moses, and led them to victory over the Canaanites at the Battle of Jericho?

In Slavic myth, which shapeshifting deity of the earth, waters and the Underworld is often depicted as a giant dragon or serpent? An archenemy of the supreme god Perun, he is accused in some accounts of abducting Perun’s wife and children and bringing them to the Underworld.

Which term in Buddhism and Hinduism meaning the extinction of desire, ignorance and ultimately of suffering and rebirth shares its name with an American band formed in 1987 by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic?

Thought to have been inspired by the natural phenomenon surrounding wildfires, which jotunn in Norse mythology has a name that translates as ‘cruel striker’? He is the husband of Laufey and father of the trickster god Loki.

From the Hebrew meaning ‘oil press’, which garden across the Kidron Valley on the Mount of Olives was the site where Jesus prayed on the night of his arrest before his Crucifixion?

Sharing its name with a plant genus in the family Celastraceae, which female deity of the sea in Roman myth was the consort of Neptune? She is identified with the Greek goddess Amphitrite.

The two major collections are the Pi-yen lu (‘Blue Cliff Records’) and the Wu-men kuan, which four-letter term derived from the Chinese for ‘public announcement’ denotes a succinct paradoxical statement or question used as a meditation discipline for novices in Zen Buddhism?

Prominently featured on the logo of the South African restaurant chain Nando’s, which city in the Braga district of northern Portugal gives its name to a rooster that is one of Portugal’s most common symbols? The legend tells of a dead rooster’s miraculous intervention in proving the innocence of a man who had been falsely accused and sentenced to death.

In medicine, a fluid-filled cavity in the nervous system; in biology, the vocal organ of birds that produce sounds by the vibration of its walls and the cartilaginous pessulus – share what six-letter name with a nymph in Greek myth who was transformed into a water reed to escape the pursuit of the god Pan?

Translating as the ‘Shelf of the Slain’, which of Odin’s great halls is roofed with pure silver and in which he could survey the entire universe from his high seat Hliðskjálf?

Vritra (the adversary of Indra in Hinduism), Nehebkau (the Ancient Egyptian funerary deity) and Degei (the supreme creator god of Fijian myth) are all depicted in the form of which animal?

Most famously appearing on the reconstructed Ishtar Gate, what name is given to the creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology that has hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a long neck and tail, a horned head and a snake-like tongue? It is the sacred animal of Marduk and his son Nabu during the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

Apparently figured in the lost history of Sicily by Timaeus of Tauromenium (c. 356–260 BC) and later used by Cicero in his ‘Tusculanae Disputationes’, which likely apocryphal figure was an obsequious courtier in the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse, a 4th-century BC ruler of Sicily?

From the Old Saxon for ‘great pillar’, the destruction of which sacred Germanic pagan pillar-like object by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars is depicted in a drawing by Heinrich Leutemann?

Mentioned in Book VI of the ‘Aeneid’, which object did Aeneas obtain as a gift to Proserpina in order to gain access to the Underworld? It gives its name to the titles of a comparative study of mythology and religion by James George Frazer as well as a 1834 painting by J. M. W. Turner.

Also referred to as Pyrrhus due to his red hair, which son of the hero Achilles in Greek mythology killed the Trojan king Priam on the altar of Zeus?

Its name a distorted version of the Russian word for ‘unicorn’, which mythological beast that lives in the Holy Mountain is described as a gigantic bull with legs of a deer, the head of a horse and an enormous horn in its snout? It supposedly causes earthquakes when it stirs.

Commonly depicted as a monstrous dog, which god associated with both lightning and death in Aztec myth is the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl?

In Nordic myth, who is the wife of Baldr and the mother of Forseti? She dies of grief after Baldr’s death and is placed on Baldr’s ship with his corpse and the two are set aflame and pushed out to sea.

Depicted in a painting by Raphael, which landowner sold his land to donate to the apostles but secretly withheld a portion of the money? According to the ‘Acts of the Apostles’, he and his wife Sapphira were both suddenly struck dead when they lied to the Holy Sprit about this.

In Greek mythology, which deity is also known as Rhamnousia, named for the ancient Greek city on the Attica coast overlooking the Euboean Strait where her sanctuary is located? The 2nd-century poet Mesomedes described her as ‘winged balancer of life, dark-faced goddess’.

Depicted usually with a wrathful expression and bearing a sword in his right hand, and a noose in his left while being seated and engulfed in flames, which pre-eminent amongst the Five Wisdom Kings in Buddhism has a name that translates from the Sanskrit as ‘immovable’?

In mythology, the centaur has the upper body of a man and the lower body & legs of what animal?

Traditionally described with the head of a jackal, which Egyptian deity is the god death, mummification and the underworld?

Which final book of the New Testament features a series of prophetic visions, including of figures such as the Seven-Headed Dragon and the Beast, culminating in the Second Coming of Jesus?

From the Hebrew for ‘sitting’, which term refers to a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of religious texts esp. the Talmud and Torah?

Dwelling in the wetland halls of Fensalir, which goddess in Norse mythology is the wife of Odin and mother of Balder?

The goddess of divine retribution and revenge, the Greek deity Nemesis is the offspring of which goddess and personification of the night?

Giving his name to a 1860 play by Aleksis Kivi, an 1892 symphony by Jean Sibelius and a 1914 story by JRR Tolkien, which tragic figure in the ‘Kalevala’ killed himself after destroying the Untamo tribe who brought him up when he realized that they were the ones who had killed his tribe?

Married to the legendary archer Hou Yi who shot down nine out of the ten suns in the sky, which goddess of the moon in Chinese myth gives her name to the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program and its unmanned lunar-orbiting spacecraft?

Featured in works such as Sophocles’ tragedy ‘Tereus’, a 1705 opera by the French composer Louis Lacoste and the 1988 play ‘The Love of the Nightingale’ by Timberlake Wertenbaker, which daughter of King Pandion of Athens in Greek myth was transformed into a nightingale after her rape and mutilaton by her brother-in-law?

Depicting an open hand indicating a sign of protection against the evil eye, the Hamsa – a palm-shaped amulet popular throughout the Middle East and in the Maghreb is also called the Hand of Mary, the Hand of Miriam or the Hand of ______, after the daughter of the prophet Muhammad?

Based on a historical regent queen of Assyria between 811 and 808 BC, which mythological Lydian-Babylonian queen was placed in the Second Circle of Hell by Dante in his ‘Inferno’, and is also the subject of a Voltaire tragedy later made into an 1823 opera by Rossini?

In traditional Indian society, the lingam (derived from Sanskrit for ‘mark’ or ‘sign’) is chiefly associated with WHICH DEITY, usually depicted with a third-eye on his forehead and the snake Vasuki around his neck?

Plato described it as ‘a stream of fire which coils around earth and flows into the depths of Tartarus’, while it is found on the Seventh Circle of Hell in Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’, where Attila the Hun and Alexander the Great are submerged up to their eyebrows. CAN YOU NAME THIS RIVER, one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld?

According to the ‘Acts of the Apostles’, who was chosen by the other apostles to take the place of Judas Iscariot after the latter had committed suicide? He is the patron saint of tailors, carpenters as well as people struggling with alcoholism.

In Chinese mythology, the goddess known as Chang’e (嫦娥) flew to the moon after drinking an elixir of immortality, hence giving her name to China’s lunar exploration programme. WHAT TYPE OF ANIMAL is her constant companion on the moon, who gives its name to the unmanned lunar rover Yutu, deployed as part of the Chang’e 3 mission in 2013?

In Wu Cheng-en’s classic ‘Journey to the West’, the Buddha recounted the tale of how he was eaten by a creature while meditating. Not bearing to kill it, he broke out of its back (hence accounting for the creature’s present-day appearance) and brought it back to Mount Grdhrakuta, venerating it as he would his own mother. Now worshipped by Buddhists as the Mahamayuri wisdom-king, she is usually depicted as riding on the back of WHICH BIRD, of the genus Pavo?

Hesiod’s ‘Theogony’ described her as ‘half a nymph with glancing eyes and fair cheeks, and half again a huge snake, great and awful’. The daughter of Tartarus and Gaia and wife to Typhon, she was the mother of monster such as the Gorgons, the Hydra and Cerberus. CAN YOU NAME this ‘Mother of All Monsters’, who shares her name with a small solitary mammal of the family Tachyglossidae?

Supposedly forged by Wayland the Smith, the sword known as Durandel is said to contain within its golden hilt one tooth of Saint Peter, blood of Saint Basil, hair of Saint Denis, and a piece of the raiment of the Blessed Virgin Mary. WHICH LEGENDARY WARRIOR used it to hold off an army of 100,000 Muslims, and after his defeat at Roncesvalles tried to destroy the sword but only succeeded in cutting this big gap in the mountains now found in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park?

Her name meaning ‘burner of ships’, which princess of Phaeacia gave aid to the shipwrecked Odysseus and eventually helped him on his way back to Ithaca? She gives her name to a 1984 animated epic fantasy by Hayao Miyazaki featuring the adventures of a young princess from the Valley of the Wind.

Created by the dwarves Brokkr and Eitri, the magical boar known as Gullinbursti could ‘run through air and water better than any horse’, as well as bristles in its mane that glowed in the dark. To which Norse god did they present the boar? He also possesses other fun toys such as the magical ship Skidbladnir which can be folded and kept in a pouch when not used.

The Garuda, a large mythical bird and the vahana (mount) of the Hindu deity Vishnu, was adapted by two Southeast Asian countries as their national symbols and appears on their official emblems. One of them even names its national airlines after it. WHICH TWO NATIONS are they?

Mythology : The ancient mythical beast known as the qilin, thought to be omens of good fortune, became a stylized representation of WHICH MODERN-DAY ANIMAL during the Ming Dynasty, after the voyages of the admiral Zheng He which took him to East Africa? The Japanese and Korean versions of the word ‘qilin’ also refer to this animal as well.

Answer

Set/ Seth
Momotaro
Kvasir
Styx
Pelagius
Ginnungagap
Veda
Gonggong
Ninurta/ Ningursu
Einherja
Japan
Megara
Joshua
Veles/ Volos
Nirvana
Farbauti
Gethsemane
Salacia
Koan
Barcelos
Syrinx
Valaskjálf
Snake/ Serpent
Mušḫuššu
Damocles
Irminsul
Golden Bough
Neoptolemus
Indrik
Xolotl
Nanna
Ananias
Nemesis
Achalanatha/ Achala
Horse
Anubis
Book of Revelation
Yeshiva
Frigg
Nyx
Kullervo
Chang’e
Philomela
Fatima
Semiramis (after Shammuramat)
Shiva
Phlegethon
St. Matthias
RABBIT (Yutu 玉兔 means ‘Jade Rabbit’)
Peacock
Echidna
Roland (Paladin of Charlemagne)
Nausicaa
Freyr/ Frey
Indonesia and Thailand
Giraffe

Games

The game of Chinese chess is known also known as Xiangqi, referencing which animal that is also a playing piece? Corresponding to the ‘minister’ piece on the other side, it is a defensive piece that move and capture two points diagonally and may not cross the river.

Featuring José Mourinho as the official ‘face of the game’ the online sport simulation game ‘Top Eleven Football Manager’ was developed and published by Nordeus – an independent mobile game developer headquartered in which European capital city?

Developed and published by Night School Studio and released in 2016, which supernatural mystery adventure game sees the player assume the role of teenage girl Alex on a weekend trip to a local island where seemingly supernatural events occur?

Developed by Slovenian independent studio Triternion, which 2019 multiplayer medieval hack ‘n slash video game with particular focus on hand-to-hand combat takes its name from the German technique of holding the sword inverted, with both hands gripping the blade and hitting the opponent with the pommel or crossguard like a mace or hammer?
Released in June 1998, which role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) was the first adaptation of TSR’s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) fantasy role-playing game for home computers? Set in and about the city of Phlan in the Forgotten Realms, the party ultimately fights the ancient dragon Tyranthraxus the Flamed One in a climactic final battle.

In a game of scrabble, two tiles score 10 points each. One of them is Q, what is the other?

Coined in 2001 by game designer Lewis Pollak to describe his role-playing game ‘Children of the Sun’, which computer game genre combines the aesthetics of the technology of the interwar period through to the 1950s with retro-futuristic technology? This is in contrast to ‘steampunk’ which features technology of industrial steam power of the earlier Victorian era.

Appearing in video games subtitled ‘Door to Phantomile’, ‘Moonlight Museum’ and ‘Lunatea’s Veil’, which character created by Namco has combined features of a cat, dog and rabbit and is described as a ‘Dream Traveller’ who travels to places where the state of dreams is in peril?

As first coined by the then Essex university student Roy Trubshaw when he designed a pioneering model in 1978, for what does the ‘D’ stand in the acronym ‘MUD’, referring to a multiplayer real-time virtual world (usually text-based) in which players usually interact with each other and the world by typing commands? In later variants the ‘D’ stood for ‘Dimension’ and ‘Domain’, but I want the original and most commonly used term.

Derived from the Hebrew meaning ‘riddle’, which logic puzzle game invented by the Israeli mathematician Gyora Benedek has the aim for players to fill the grid with consecutive numbers that connect horizontally, vertically, or diagonally?

The Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast are consoles produced by which Japanese game publisher best known for their ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ series?

Taking its name from the Swahili for ‘to build’, which Hasbro game invented by Leslie Scott involves opposing players taking turns to remove one block at a time from a tower until it collapses?

Developed by Whoopee Camp for the Sony Playstation, which 1997 platform adventure game follows the exploits of the title character – a pink-haired feral child who attempts to retrieve his grandfather’s bracelet from the evil Koma pigs?

Possessing the Triforce of Power, which fictional character and main antagonist of Nintendo’s ‘The Legend of Zelda’ series alternates between two forms: a massive, demonic boar-like creature and a tall, heavily built Gerudo, a race of desert nomads?

Developed by Mind Candy and launched in 2008, which game aimed at children allows them to customize their pet monsters (e.g. Diavlo, Poppet and Zommer) and navigate them around Monstro City?

Developed by Double Fine Productions in 2005, which platform adventure game is set in the fictional Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, and features the protagonist Razputin “Raz” Aquato, a young boy with special mental powers?

The birthplace of its country’s current President, which city gives its name to the strategy boardgame also known as Permainan in the local language? It features a unique scoring system not seen in other boardgames.

Often abbreviated as ‘KotOR’, the RPG video game series published by LucasArts is set 4000 years before the Star Wars films, in which the universe faces the threat of the Dark Sith Lord Darth Malak. For what do the ‘OR’ stand in the series title?

Named after a mountain fortress located in Qazvin province in Iran and telling the story of Hassan-i Sabbāh – the founder of the Nizari Isma’ili state and its fedayeen military group, the 1938 novel ‘Alamut’ by the Slovene write Vladimir Bartol is often cited as a key inspiration for which video-game series developed by Ubisoft and first released in 2007?

Now in common use, the term ‘4X’ in gaming (referring to strategy games in which players explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) was first coined in a 1993 article in ‘Computer Gaming World’ in reference to which MicroProse game? The player leads one of ten races (eg Psilon, Meklar and Bulrathi) to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest.

Featuring the battle between the kings Suren and Ogereth, which 1983 video game developed by Kōji Sumii and released by ASCII has been described as an early example of an action role-playing game as well as an early prototype real-time strategy game?

Making an appearance during the third season of ‘House of Cards’, which interactive drama and walking simulator released on July 31, 2011 as a free mod for Half-Life 2 begins when the titular protagonist finds his work computer not working, prompting him to explore the building and finding it devoid of people?

‘Arena of Khazan’, ‘Gamesmen of Kasar’ and ‘Sewers of Oblivion’ were titles in which fantasy role-playing game designed by Ken St. Andre and first published in 1975? Abbreviated as ‘T&T’, it came about after St. Andre read a friend’s D&D rule books but found the actual rules confusing.

Written and directed by the French video game designer David Cage, which 2010 interactive drama and action-adventure game developed by Quantic Dream features four protagonists involved with the mystery of the Origami Killer, a serial murderer who uses extended periods of precipitation to drown his victims?

‘Trigger Happy Havoc’, ‘Goodbye Despair’ and ‘Killing Harmony’ are the subtitles of the three installments of which video game franchise created and developed by Spike Chunsoft first released in 2010? Translating as ‘bullet rebuttal’, it is set in the elite high school, Hope’s Peak Academy where students were forced into survival and killing competitions.

Nine Gates, Three Great Scholars, Four Great Blessings and Thirteen Wonders are some of the winning hands in which popular tile-based game?

Sharing her name with an astronomical phenomenon, which ghost agent (with special psionic capabilities) is the protagonist of the ‘StarCraft II: ______ Covert Ops’, a downloadable content (DLC) single-player mission pack released by Blizzard in 2016? She is also a playable character in the crossover MOBA ‘Heroes of the Storm’.

From the Japanese for ‘Eastern’ and set in the fantasy land of Gensokyo,which bullet-hell shoot ’em up video game series created by the one-man Japanese dōjin soft developer Team Shanghai Alice includes titles such as ‘Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom’ and ‘Hidden Star in Four Seasons’?

Created as one of the main antagonists on the video game ‘Star Wars : Knights of the Old Republic II : The Sith Lords’ and later elaborated upon in the comic ‘Unseen, Unheard’, which character was titled the ‘Lord of Hunger’ in a triumvirate which he shared with Darth Traya and Darth Sion? He had survived the activation of the Mass Shadow Generator superweapon during the Mandalorian Wars’ final battle at the planet of Malachor V, but leaving him ravaged.

Billed as a ‘strategic card game about cats and destruction’, which Kickstarter-funded card game designed by Elan Lee & Matthew Inman from the comics site The Oatmeal was followed with the release of two spin-offs – ‘Unstable Unicorns’ and ‘Llamas Unleashed’?

Originally released by Namco in 1985, which scrolling shooter arcade game sees the player play the role of spacewomen (Kissy and Takky) who fight through eight worlds of increasing difficulty defeating the enemy Octy and saving the one-eyed Paccets?

Originally released in Japanese arcades in 1998 and subsequently ported to the Sega Saturn, which shoot ’em up developed by Treasure Co. follows a team of fighter pilots in the year 2050 who are battling waves of enemies summoned by a mysterious crystal dug up from the Earth? A spiritual sequel ‘Ikaruga’ was released in 2001.

Designed by Uwe Rosenberg, the 2007 Euro-style board game with a focus on resource management that sees the players taking the role of farmers, shares its title with which Roman general (father-in-law of the historian Tacitus) who was responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain?

Inspired by watching Italian film director Dario Argento’s horror films, especially ‘Phenomena’ (1985), the first edition of which survival horror adventure video game series created by Hifumi Kono follows Jennifer Simpson, a young girl searching for a way out of a mansion in Norway while evading the sinister Scissorman?

Developed by Alex Cutler and Andy Astrand at the University of Warwick in 1990, which dungeon-crawling roguelike computer game takes its title from the fortress of Morgoth in the writings of JRR Tolkien? In the game, the player has to survive 100 floor levels of the fortress in order to defeat Morgoth himself.

Led previously by archmages such as Antonidas, Rhonin and Jaina Proudmoore, what two-word name refers to the elite organization of the most powerful wizards in the known Warcraft universe? Also known as the Magus Senate of Dalaran, they defend Azeroth against enemies such as the Scourge and the Burning Legion.

Its website claims you can do anything you can imagine, including ‘purchase rare books from an albino ape mayor’ and ‘contract a fungal infection and grow glowing mushrooms on your hands’. Which Early Access roguelike role-playing video game released in 2015 allows the player to assume the role of a true-kin from eco-domes such as the toxic arboreta of Ekuemekiyye or the ice-sheathed arcology of Ibul?

It’s title a reference to a phrase in the poem ‘Kubla Khan’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which 2015 survival/exploration role-playing video game with roguelike elements developed by Failbetter Games takes place in the universe of its browser adventure game ‘Fallen London’, in which Victorian-era London has been moved beneath the earth’s surface to the edge of the Unterzee, a vast underground ocean?

Omaha, Razz and Badugi are variations of which popular game?

Miss Scarlett, Colonel Mustard and Professor Plum are playable characters in which board-game in 1943 by Anthony E. Pratt?

Meaning ‘play well’ in the local language, in which European country was Lego founded in 1934?

Released in 1999, ‘Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri’ is a spiritual successor to which turn-based strategy game series also created by Meier?

The Australian mercenary Kano, the ice-controlling warrior Sub-Zero and shapeshifting warlock Shang Tsung are characters introduced in the original edition of which fighting video game series?

Originally written in 1998 by lead developer Markus Heinsohn, ‘Out of the Park’ (‘OOTP’) is a text-based simulation game featuring which particular sport?

Consisting of two current running game modes: Summoner’s Rift and Howling Abyss, which multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game created by Riot Games is now fully owned by the Chinese company Tencent?

Designed by Antoine Bauza and with players assembling panoramas of its views as they journey toward Edo, this 2012 boardgame shares its name with which most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period in Japan? Translating as ‘Eastern Sea Route’, the artist Hiroshige depicted each of the 53 stations along it.

Giving its name to a verb which the players use to signal an attack on it, which Neutral Creep with the epithet ‘the Immortal’ in the strategy game ‘Defense of the Ancients (DotA)’ is a powerful creature who drops artifacts such as the Aegis of the Immortal and Aghanim’s Blessing when he is killed?

Developed by Tim Sweeney (the founder of Epic Games), which video-game engine with features such as collision detection, colored lighting, and texture filtering, was first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter bearing the same name?

Portrayed by Michał Żebrowski and Henry Cavill in television and film adaptations respectively, which fictional character and the protagonist of ‘The Witcher’ series of role-playing games is a genetically enhanced human with special powers trained to slay monsters?

An example of the ‘Baka-ge’ (‘idiot game’) genre, which Japanese video game first released by NCS Corp in 1984 has a name that translates as ‘Super Big Brother’? It’s gameplay involves the two main characters Idaten (a young man wearing a cape) and Benten (a beautiful blue-haired maiden) battling Bo Emperor Bill.

One of the best Go players in the world, the Korean Lee Sedol was beated 1-4 by a computer program named AlphaGo in a much-publicized contest starting March 9th, 2016. AlphaGo was developed by a company founded as DeepMind Technologies, and subsequently acquired by WHICH MULTINATIONAL TECH GIANT in 2014?

Answer

Elephant
Belgrade
‘Oxenfree’
‘Mordhau’
‘Pool of Radiance’
Z
Dieselpunk
Klonoa
Dungeon (Multi-User Dungeon)
Hidato
Sega
Jenga
‘Tomba!’
Ganon/ Ganondorf
‘Moshi Monsters’
‘Psychonauts’
Surakarta/ Solo
Old Republic (Knights of the Old Republic)
‘Assassin’s Creed’
‘Master of Orion’
‘Bokosuka Wars’
‘The Stanley Parable’
‘Tunnels & Trolls’
‘Heavy Rain’
‘Danganronpa’
Mahjong
Nova
Touhou Project
Darth Nihilus
‘Exploding Kittens’
‘Baraduke’ (‘Alien Sector’)
‘Radiant Silvergun’
Agricola
‘Clock Tower’
‘Angband’
Kirin Tor
‘Caves of Qud’
‘Sunless Sea’
Poker
Cluedo
Denmark
‘Civilization’
‘Mortal Kombat’
Baseball
‘League of Legends’
‘Tokaido’
Roshan
Unreal Engine
Geralt of Riva
‘Cho Aniki’
Google