- IISER Bhopal Students

SINGULARITY’15
Treasure Hunt Prelims
Rules: All the questions are worth 3 points. Question number 7 is a tie
breaker question. Teams with concise, logical and scientific answers will be
given more credit.
1. What is in the middle of a Singularity?
2. Mr. Graves was found dead in his garden with a shovel and a running
water hose. The inspector was called in promptly and he started to
interview all the members of the family. The family was immediately
questioned about their whereabouts at the time of the murder. The
Graves family mainly consisted of Mrs. Graves, her daughter, Mr.
Seakes - A historian who was taking a look at the family library and a
young nephew of Mr. Graves from a distant relation. Apart from that
there was a butler and a maid but both of them were very old and
trusted. The butler was first and the least succinct and he kept on
saying that he was keeping a broom at a corner of the room and
neither heard nor saw anything. He was so scared of the police he
had to be propped with brandy and soda just to keep him from
fainting. The next was Mrs. Graves, Mr. Graves had remarried and his
new wife was both very glamorous and beautiful. It was heard she
was on drugs but that was only a rumour but seeing her, the
inspector realized she was on something for sure. In a cold drawn
voice she told the inspector that at the time of murder she was in the
sitting room reading the editorial on the 4th and 5th pages of the
morning newspaper. Her husband had waved at her from the
window of the sitting room but when he bent down to manage the
rose bushes she had lost sight of him and returned her attention to
her newspaper. But she was sure this was a plot of Charlie who was
Mr. Grave’s nephew. Mr. Grave had changed his will once before
bequeathing majority of his property to his nephew because of Mrs.
Graves addictions. Here she did not mention what addiction she had
and the inspector did not pressure her.
The next to come was Alicia Graves daughter of Mr. Graves. She came in
with tears in her eyes. The inspector caught a strange whiff of odour from
her but let it go. She said she was in the library. She had heard her father in
the garden. Before the murder she had heard a bicycle ring and then the
thud of a body. She was the first to reach the body and realize that Mr.
Graves was dead. She herself was at the time reading a letter that had
arrived for her. Her alibi too could not be checked due to lack of witnesses.
Mr. Seakes was the third to come. He was a large man but as the inspector
realized he was quick on his feet as well. Seakes was a historian. He did not
know the family well. He had approached Mr. Graves and he had kindly let
him research the books in the library. They were part of an old collection.
He was walking along the garden at position X when he heard a sound. His
position just 5 minutes earlier was checked by the neighbourhood lad
Garfield going back on his milk van.
Last but not the least Charlie was out of the house. He was out in town
betting on a horse and was on his way back home when the murder
occurred. He met no one on his way back on his bicycle. Moreover he had
high suspicions that Mrs. Graves had killed her husband because recently
he had realized she was a bad woman and would eventually throw her out.
There is one among them whose words are false and was pulled up
immediately by the inspector who was the person??
Please see the attached diagram for the positions of the people. Note;
Figure is an exact copy of the structure of the house.
3. Three beakers are filled with base, acid and neutral solutions. The
labels on each one were misplaced and an erring researcher put all
the labels on the wrong beakers. You can only use one litmus paper
and that too only once. How will you determine which beaker is
which without mixing the solutions?
4. Decode: 222.2.66 7.444.4.7777 777.33.2.555.555.999
333.555.999?
Hint: The answer, we use or used to use nearly every day.
5. I start with an alternative, my middle is likely an article and my end
starts with the beginning of the earth. Who am I?
6. I am the mortal enemy of a superhero. A part of me lies within a table
made by humans. Unlike others of its species it is both unemotional
and unreactive. Who am I?
7. Can you die by drowning in the fountain of life? Please explain with
scientific reason.