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ZQL Duos�Explainer

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League Format

  • This league is for teams of 2 individuals.
  • 6 weeks of quizzing from 22 June 2026.
  • Two tracks: International or India (25% India content)
  • Individual players can also sign up and we will pair you with an appropriate team mate.
  • The questions will be set by Abid Abdulla, Adheesh Ghosh, Ajay Krishna Jayaram, Anshula Mehta, Jyothishraj N, Kushan Patel, Raamanujan, Sania Narulkar, Siddhanth Rao, and Utkarsh Rastogi.

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Game Format

  • Each game will feature 3 teams and 12 directs to each team (36 qns).
  • Each direct will consist of two parts/questions - each member of a team should answer 1 part.
  • The questions will be of the following types: Answer Smash, Connection, Nested, One Letter Change, & Rhyming.
  • Members of each team can only decide who will answer each part - no discussion of answers allowed. The order in which the parts are answered don’t matter.

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Question Types

  • 21-30 questions from each set will be of the following two types:
  • Answer Smash (regular word smash)
  • Connection (answers or parts of answers will be connected)

  • 6-15 questions from each set will be of the following types:

  • Nested (smaller answer nested inside bigger answer)
  • One Letter Change (answers or parts of answers differ by a letter)
  • Rhyming (answers or the last word of answers will be rhyming)

The number of questions from each question type will be the same for every seat. Each question will clearly indicate what type of question it is. There might be ‘triads’ of questions in each set. Please see demo game.

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Game Format

  • For names of individuals, last names will suffice. By default, assume that only the last name is part of the Answer Smash/Connection etc. If a full name is required, the question will explicitly ask for it.
  • Do not put emphasis on parts of the answer. If you’re spelling out the answer, do not put emphasis on the part(s) that are relevant/hints at the other part. Teams who do this will be marked “Wrong” for that question by the reader and the question will pass to the next team.
  • Members of each team can only decide who will answer each part - no discussion of answers allowed. You are allowed to remind your team mate what type of question (One Letter Change/Rhyming etc.) it is.
  • 45 seconds on direct and 20 seconds on pass. Please answer before your time runs out.

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ZQL Duos�Types of Questions

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Answer Smash

The tech giant that started as a research project called "Backrub" in 1996 by Stanford University Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

ANSWER SMASH

This TV series (visual) follows the members of the New Directions, a club competing in the show choir circuit.

Answer on next slide.

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Answer Smash

The tech giant that started as a research project called "Backrub" in 1996 by Stanford University Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

ANSWER SMASH

This TV series (visual) follows the members of the New Directions, a club competing in the show choir circuit.

GOOGLE & GLEE

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Connection (Example 1)

The two-word term for the wave of pro-democracy uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa beginning in late 2010.

CONNECTION

This 2009 romcom (visual) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

Answer on next slide.

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Connection (Example 1)

The two-word term for the wave of pro-democracy uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa beginning in late 2010.

CONNECTION

This 2009 romcom (visual) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

ARAB SPRING & 500 DAYS OF SUMMER

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Connection (Example 2)

In Mexico, they are known as “flower of the dead” and are used to adorn altars during Dia de los Muertos to guide spirits.

CONNECTION

One of the world's largest brands of surfwear, this Australian company’s logo features a stylised, cresting wave over a snow-capped mountain, inspired by Hokusai's "The Great Wave off Kanagawa".

Answer on next slide.

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Connection (Example 2)

In Mexico, they are known as “flower of the dead” and are used to adorn altars during Dia de los Muertos to guide spirits.

CONNECTION

One of the world's largest brands of surfwear, this Australian company’s logo features a stylised, cresting wave over a snow-capped mountain, inspired by Hokusai's "The Great Wave off Kanagawa".

MARIGOLD & QUIKSILVER

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Connection (Example 3) (India Track)

This film’s story follows a small-town, insecure cop who is called to investigate the murder of a wealthy, elderly patriarch in his own home on his wedding night.

CONNECTION

Despite this two-word phrase being heavily associated with Narendra Modi as part of his 2014 election campaign, it was coined and first used by Dr Manmohan Singh during an NRI meet in Delhi.

Answer on next slide.

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Connection (Example 3) (India Track)

This film’s story follows a small-town, insecure cop who is called to investigate the murder of a wealthy, elderly patriarch in his own home on his wedding night.

CONNECTION

Despite this two-word phrase being heavily associated with Narendra Modi as part of his 2014 election campaign, it was coined and first used by Dr Manmohan Singh during an NRI meet in Delhi.

RAAT AKELI HAI & ACCHE DIN

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Nested

This African nation harbours the largest elephant population on Earth, particularly within the Chobe National Park, which includes the wetlands of the Chobe River, a tributary of the Zambezi River.

NESTED

The type of bird that plays a prominent role in two of Wagner’s operas, namely, Lohengrin and Parsifal, and typically depicted as a vahana (vehicle) of the Hindu goddess Saraswati.

Answer on next slide.

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Nested

This African nation harbours the largest elephant population on Earth, particularly within the Chobe National Park, which includes the wetlands of the Chobe River, a tributary of the Zambezi River.

NESTED

The type of bird that plays a prominent role in two of Wagner’s operas, namely, Lohengrin and Parsifal, and typically depicted as a vahana (vehicle) of the Hindu goddess Saraswati.

BOTSWANA & SWAN

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One Letter Change (Example 1)

The largest building in the world by volume is a factory operated by this company in Everett, Washington.

ONE LETTER CHANGE

This is the overall medal tally for which Olympic sport?

Answer on next slide.

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One Letter Change (Example 1)

The largest building in the world by volume is a factory operated by this company in Everett, Washington.

ONE LETTER CHANGE

This is the overall medal tally for which Olympic sport?

BOEING & BOXING

Note: The One Letter Change can also be within a part of multi-word answers. See next example.

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One Letter Change (Example 2)

This two-word term (4,10) refers to young people who came of age around the time of WWI but were left feeling directionless from the trauma of the war. Hemingway popularised the term (believed to be coined by Gertrude Stein) by using it in the epigraph for The Sun Also Rises.

ONE LETTER CHANGE

The poignant use of a single splash of colour in this 1993 film may have been was inspired by Roma Ligocka, who survived the Kraków ghetto.

Answer on next slide.

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One Letter Change (Example 2)

This two-word term (4,10) refers to young people who came of age around the time of WWI but were left feeling directionless from the trauma of the war. Hemingway popularised the term (believed to be coined by Gertrude Stein) by using it in the epigraph for The Sun Also Rises.

ONE LETTER CHANGE

The poignant use of a single splash of colour in this 1993 film may have been was inspired by Roma Ligocka, who survived the Kraków ghetto.

LOST GENERATION & SCHINDLER’S LIST

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Rhyming (Example 1)

The first Disney Princess film that does not revolve around romance or a love interest.

RHYMING

In quantum physics, a [blank] function is a mathematical description of the quantum state of an isolated quantum system.

Answer on next slide.

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Rhyming (Example 1)

The first Disney Princess film that does not revolve around romance or a love interest.

RHYMING

In quantum physics, a [blank] function is a mathematical description of the quantum state of an isolated quantum system.

BRAVE & WAVE

Note: The rhyming words can also be the last word of multi-word answers. See next example.

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Rhyming (Example 2)

In 2022, this now-popular sport created in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, was chosen as the official state sport of Washington.

RHYMING

This appears in the logo of which critically acclaimed TV series, considered to be one of the greatest spin-offs of all time?

Answer on next slide.

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Rhyming (Example 2)

In 2022, this now-popular sport created in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, was chosen as the official state sport of Washington.

RHYMING

This appears in the logo of which critically acclaimed TV series, considered to be one of the greatest spin-offs of all time?

PICKLEBALL &

BETTER CALL SAUL