India! But Make it Dramatic
This ancient Indian university had 10,000+ students and 100+ subjects long before Oxford existed.
Nalanda University
This US state has the highest number of ghost towns — more abandoned dreams than Tinder dates.
Texas
At the 89th Academy Awards (2017), a dramatic, unprecedented blunder occurred when the wrong film was mistakenly announced as the winner for Best Picture. Name the film that was incorrectly announced first.
La Land was announced first; the actual winner was Moonlight
👂🎨🇫🇷🧑🎨
Vincent Van Gogh
Despite the name, “Rocky Mountain oysters” are actually this type of meat.
bull testicles
This state consumes the most tea per capita in India… yet produces almost none of it.
Maharashtra
What was the name of the chain, founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas, that pioneered the standardized, assembly-line production of the small, square hamburger and is credited as the first fast-food hamburger chain in the U.S.?
White Castle
The song "White Rabbit" by the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane is famous for its slow, escalating crescendo and its direct lyrical references to a famous 19th-century children's novel. Name the author of this novel, which features the characters the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts.
Lewis Carroll (The book is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
🧪👨🏫💰⚗️
Breaking Bad
This Italian dessert’s name literally means “mashed cheese,” though it contains no cheese.
mascarpone
Name the pioneering scientist, the first Indian to win a Science Nobel Prize in 1930, whose groundbreaking work revealed that when light passes through a transparent material, some deflected light changes wavelength—an effect known by his name.
Sir C.V.Raman
Which state is the self-proclaimed "Jell-O Capital of the World" due to its remarkably high per capita consumption of the wiggly gelatin dessert?
It’s known for its dramatic mountain landscapes and Mormon history.
Utah
The title of the 2006 Booker Prize-shortlisted novel, "The Inheritance of Loss," which explores themes of globalization and identity in a remote region of the Himalayas, is a phrase taken from a line in T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets." Name the Indian author of this novel.
Kiran Desi
🚀🌕 🧑🚀👣
NASA's Apollo Program
This Asian noodle dish’s name sounds like a cartoon character, but it’s just long wheat noodles
lo mein
Which treacherous, beautiful, and heavily-contested mountain is the highest peak wholly within India, located in Uttarakhand, whose name translates dramatically to the "Bliss-giving Goddess"?
Nanda Devi Parbhat (~7816 m)
The Bluegrass Barrel Count
In the birthplace of Bourbon whiskey, which state dramatically boasts a population of more aging bourbon barrels than it has human residents?
Kentucky
Name the dramatic modern actor and director who is universally recognized as the pioneer of performance capture (or motion capture) acting, most famously bringing characters like Gollum and Caesar to life.
Andy Serkis
🏛️🗡️👑❌🔪
The assassination of Julius Caesar
This dessert has a name that sounds like a card game, but it’s a custard-filled pastry
Trifle
This traditional folk art, characterized by geometric patterns and vibrant colors, often depicts Hindu deities and scenes from nature. It originated in the Mithila region of Bihar and is often created by women for ceremonial purposes. Name this distinct style.
Madhubani Painting
Forget baseball; what is the official, utterly unique state individual sport of Maryland, involving a horse, a lance, and suspended rings, creating a dramatic medieval spectacle?
Jousting
The climactic battle sequence of this mega-budget Indian epic film required 10,000 junior artists and over 2,000 VFX shots. The sequence, which has been described by the production as "the longest stretch of non-stop, non-dialogue action ever filmed in Asia," alone consumed 40% of the entire film's initial budget and was largely inspired by the historical war tactics described in the Arthashastra. Name the director of this two-part film series.
S.S.Rajamouli (Bahubali)
🎤🚫🏆😡👋👗🎤🎶🧍♀️👑🗣️
Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMAs
Despite its name, “head cheese” contains no actual cheese—it’s made from this
meat from a pig’s head