Bunkagame — July 17, 2026

Question 1

This French electronic music pioneer set a Guinness world record with about 3.5 million people watching his September 1997 show in Moscow for the city's 850th birthday. He then rang in the year 2000 with a concert at the Giza Plateau in Egypt. Which maker of dreamy synthesizer records is being described?

Accepted Answer

Jean-Michel Jarre invented a style called ambient electronic music with his 1976 album Oxygene. His huge 1997 show in Moscow set a Guinness record with about 3.5 million spectators, and he rang in the year 2000 with a concert at the Giza Plateau in Egypt. His 1990 concert in Paris La Defense also drew 2.5 million people.

Question 2

Which rumba and Afropop singer, born on 14 December 1977 in the capital of Congo, sold out the Sofitel Hôtel Ivoire in Abidjan on 26 December 2020 and later came back to promote his Tokooos II Gold album at the Foire Internationale de Kinshasa?

Accepted Answer

Fally Ipupa, born in Kinshasa on 14 December 1977, first became famous with Quartier Latin International alongside Koffi Olomide before starting his solo career in 2006. He is one of Central Africa's biggest music stars and sold out the Sofitel Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan on 26 December 2020.

Question 3

Which Malaysian Islamic vocal group, invited by Queen Elizabeth II to perform at the 1997 Commonwealth summit in Edinburgh, has toured Muslim communities from Aceh and Surabaya in Indonesia to Kuwait City and Dubai in the Gulf?

Accepted Answer

Raihan (which means 'sweet fragrance' in Malay) formed in Malaysia in 1996. They became one of Southeast Asia's most popular Islamic vocal groups by mixing the old style of nasheed singing (Muslim songs of praise) with modern music, and have toured from Aceh and Surabaya in Indonesia to Kuwait City and Dubai in the Gulf.

Question 4

This 2003 Romanian-language pop hit by O-Zone reached number one in Norway and Denmark, and hit number nine on Austria's Ö3 chart in both the O-Zone original and Haiducii's cover. What catchy song, whose title means 'Love Under the Linden Tree,' became the huge 'Numa Numa' internet meme in 2004?

Accepted Answer

'Dragostea din tei' by the Moldovan group O-Zone became one of the biggest European pop hits of the 2000s, reaching number one in Norway and Denmark and number nine on Austria's Ö3 chart. It became a worldwide phenomenon after a New Jersey teenager named Gary Brolsma uploaded his 'Numa Numa' webcam lip-sync video in December 2004.

Question 5

The Cinema of Equatorial Guinea is one small but growing branch of this bigger continental film tradition, which covers many national film industries from Angola to Rwanda. Which small landlocked Great Lakes country, next to Rwanda in the north and Tanzania in the east, has its own entry on the same list?

Accepted Answer

The Cinema of Africa covers many national film industries and has grown a lot since African countries won their independence in the 1960s. Its biggest hubs are Nigeria's Nollywood, Egypt's Cairo studios and South Africa's Cape Town studios, but smaller national scenes across the continent, including Equatorial Guinea and Burundi, keep growing.

Question 6

The Mexico City Capitanes joined this professional basketball league as a new expansion team on a five-year deal in the 2020-21 season, and the Santa Cruz Warriors have played there since 2012 as the Golden State Warriors' farm team. Which official NBA minor league, which started in 2001, is being described?

Accepted Answer

The NBA G League used to be called the D-League, and before that the NBDL when it launched in 2001. It was renamed after Gatorade signed on as its main sponsor in 2017. The Mexico City Capitanes joined as an expansion team in 2020-21, and the Santa Cruz Warriors have been the Golden State Warriors' farm team since 2012.

Question 7

Washoe Lake near Reno is a popular North American spot for this board-and-sail water sport, thanks to its strong summer winds. Meanwhile, the Bedouin town of Dahab on Egypt's Sinai coast is world-famous for it. Which Olympic sport (since 1984), invented in California by Jim Drake and Hoyle Schweitzer, do they share?

Accepted Answer

Windsurfing was invented in California in the late 1960s by Jim Drake and Hoyle Schweitzer. It became a worldwide sport and made its Olympic debut at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Washoe Lake near Reno, Nevada is a popular North American spot for it, while the Bedouin town of Dahab on Egypt's Sinai coast drew a generation of European windsurfers from the 1990s.

Question 8

The city of Konya in central Turkey, where the poet Rumi settled in the 1200s, is one of many places across Greater Iran where this old writing tradition grew. It stretched from Khorasan through Iraq and the Caucasus and into what is now Turkey. What body of writing is it?

Accepted Answer

Persian literature is one of the world's oldest writing traditions, from Ferdowsi's epic Shahnameh (around 1010) to the Sufi poems of Rumi and Hafez to modern Iranian novels. Its sources stretch across Greater Iran, including present-day Iran and Turkey, where Konya (Rumi's adopted home) is one of many places the tradition took root.

Question 9

Given out in Budapest every year since 1997, this European book prize honours the memory of a 1500s Hungarian Renaissance poet and soldier who died at the Siege of Esztergom in 1594. Which yearly sword-shaped trophy award, given each February 14 at Gellért Hall to one Hungarian poet and one translator, is it?

Accepted Answer

The Balint Balassi Memorial Sword Award has been given in Budapest every year since 1997, honouring a 1500s Hungarian Renaissance poet and soldier who died at the Siege of Esztergom in 1594. It is presented each February 14 at Gellert Hall to one Hungarian poet and one translator, with a trophy shaped like a real 1500s Hungarian cavalry sword.

Question 10

The port city of Chittagong became the main sea gateway of this British Indian province through the Assam Bengal Railway, and the town of Shillong was used as its summer capital. Which short-lived early 1900s region, created in 1905 and shut down in 1912, was it?

Accepted Answer

Eastern Bengal and Assam was created by Lord Curzon's controversial 1905 Partition of Bengal, which split mostly-Hindu western districts from mostly-Muslim eastern districts. Chittagong became the province's main sea gateway through the Assam Bengal Railway, and Shillong served as its summer capital. Big swadeshi protests led to it being cancelled in 1912.