Season 235

Which game takes place in a surreal world haunted by a divine curse, where each year the Paintress awakens and paints a number on a monolith—starting at 100 and decreasing by one annually—and every person who has reached that age instantly vanishes in a cloud of smoke?
With its chiaroscuro-inspired aesthetic and emotionally charged narrative, the game earned near-universal acclaim from critics and players alike for its inventive turn-based combat and stunning visual design.

Which classic psychological test demonstrates cognitive interference by asking participants to name the ink color of words that spell out conflicting color names—like the word “green” printed in red ink?
It’s named after the American psychologist who first described the effect in a 1935 study on attention and automaticity.

Which Antarctic ice formation, roughly the size of France, acts as a floating extension of the ice sheet and buttresses several major glaciers, helping slow their flow into the sea?
Discovered in 1841, it features towering ice cliffs and plays a key role in global sea level stability.

Which TV series explores an alternate history in which the Axis powers won World War II, leading to a divided United States controlled by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan?
Based on a novel by a renowned science fiction author, it was one of the first major original dramas produced by Amazon Prime Video.

Which painting technique, whose name derives from the Italian word for "smoke," involves the delicate blending of tones and colors to create soft transitions without harsh lines?
Closely associated with Leonardo da Vinci, it was famously used to render lifelike expressions and atmospheric depth in Renaissance portraiture.

What nickname was given by Allied troops during World War II to English-speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda, a label later controversially associated with Iva Toguri D’Aquino, who was convicted—and eventually pardoned—for treason?

Which artist has a song featuring the following lyrics:
Photo album on the counter, your cheeks were turning red / You used to be a little kid with glasses in a twin-sized bed.
Your mother's telling stories 'bout you on the tee-ball team / You tell me 'bout your past thinking your future was me.
But then he watched me watch the front door all night, willing you to come / And he said, 'It's supposed to be fun turning twenty-one'.
And you call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of being honest
You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath.

Which 1957 novel by Jack Kerouac follows the restless travels of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty across the United States, capturing the spirit of postwar disillusionment and rebellion?
A landmark of Beat literature, it is known for its stream-of-consciousness style and celebration of freedom, jazz, and aimless wandering.

Which Italian company, founded in Alba in the 1940s, became one of the world's largest confectionery producers through a mix of hazelnut-based spreads, chocolate-coated wafer bars, and individually wrapped golden pralines?
Still family-owned, it operates in over 170 countries and owns several legacy European sweet brands.

Popularized in mid-20th-century fashion by designers like Christian Dior and famously worn by icons such as Minnie Mouse and Marilyn Monroe, which repeating pattern features regularly spaced circles and has remained a whimsical staple in clothing and textiles?

Operating for just 18 months before the telegraph made it obsolete, which 19th-century U.S. mail service used relays of horseback riders to deliver messages across nearly 2,000 miles between Missouri and California, becoming a legendary symbol of the American frontier?

Which Olympic Games saw Usain Bolt shatter world records in the 100 and 200 metres, Michael Phelps win an unprecedented eight gold medals in swimming, and Yelena Isinbayeva break the pole vault world record?
One of the most ambitious Olympic venues was built for the event, known for its lattice-like design and nickname inspired by an avian structure.

Which Latin phrase, meaning “through my fault,” is traditionally used to express personal responsibility or remorse, often in religious or public contexts of confession?
Originating from Catholic liturgy, it remains a common expression in modern English to admit wrongdoing.

Connecting Moscow to Vladivostok across nearly 9,300 kilometers, which railway line — begun under Tsar Alexander III in 1891 — remains the longest continuous railway in the world, serving as a vital economic and cultural link across the vast Russian landscape?