5 questions that Singaporean student Max Zeng got correct. How many can you answer?

SINGAPORE: The prestigious British TV quiz show, University Challenge, has a reputation for posing esoteric questions on niche topics. But they have proven no match for Singaporean student Maximilian Zeng, who has cultivated his own reputation for being able to answer them. 

On Monday (Apr 4), the 22-year-old and his team from Imperial College London beat the University of Reading to be champions in the finale's close fight aired on the BBC.  

Throughout the season, Zeng often appears stoic, his facial expressions betraying none of the anxiety and excitement of his teammates. But his coolness is only matched by social media's equal fervour for his specialist expertise in geography.

More specifically, social media commenters have noticed that Zeng – as he's fondly known – seems to have the innate ability to pinpoint any location on a map. He's been given various monikers, from a "human atlas" to "Google Max". 

But his interests extend beyond geography. In CNA's interview with him, he said: “My main interests are in linguistics, anthropology, language distributions; linguistics as in a repertoire of all languages or how they’re related to each other or how to speak them. So I’m more interested in the cultural side of geography."

Here are five questions covering a range of topics that Zeng has answered correctly. How many can you answer? 

1. Chemistry

Competing against St John's, Cambridge, in an earlier round, Zeng, a biochemistry undergraduate, attempts a question on the periodic table.

"Using the atomic number of the periodic table, if argon minus neon equals oxygen, what element is calcium minus fluorine?" asks host Jeremy Paxman. 

The atomic number denotes the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom, which determines the place of a chemical element in the periodic table.

Zeng buzzes in with the correct answer: Sodium. 

2. Sport 

In the round against the University of Exeter, Paxman asks a 10-point question on sports: "First awarded in 1893, what prestigious trophy in North American sport is named after the son of a 19th-century British prime minister?"

Zeng hits the buzzer, albeit with a look of uncertainty. 

"Stanley Cup?" he questions. 

The Stanley Cup is awarded annually to the winner of the National Hockey League playoff, and is the oldest trophy that can be won by professional athletes in North America. The cup is named after Frederick Arthur Stanley, lord of Preston and Canada's sixth governor-general. He was the second son of former British prime minister Edward Smith-Stanley. 

"The Stanley Cup is correct. Well done," replies Paxman, to Zeng's visible relief and pride. 

3. Indian cities 

Before their showdown in the finals, Imperial College first goes up against the University of Reading in a quarter-final round. There, Zeng attempts bonus questions on the "so-called coloured cities" of the Indian state of Rajasthan, where contestants are supposed to identify the city from the description. 

"Firstly, the city nicknamed the Pink City after its ruler ordered buildings to be repainted pink, the colour of hospitality, before a visit by the Prince of Wales in 1876," says Paxman. 

"Is it Jodhpur or Jaipur? Jodhpur is the blue city I think, so Jaipur would be the pink city," says Zeng, thinking aloud. 

His team captain, Michael Mays, repeats the answer. It is correct. 

4. Fortresses

Later in the same round against the University of Reading, the Imperial College team gets a shot at answering bonus questions about fortresses. 

"Meaning fortress or stronghold, caer is the Welsh name of which English city, a former Roman legionary base?" asks Paxman. 

The correct answer (Chester) is first raised by Mays, who turns to his teammates for their opinion. Zeng nods in confirmation.

According to Historic England, a public body that cares for England's historic environment, the word "fortress" is used to denote the bases of the legions.

"A legion had a complement of 5,000 soldiers, all of whom were Roman citizens. Four legions participated in the conquest and early campaigns in Britain, but by the end of the 1st century AD, and thereafter, the British garrison included three legions," states the organisation's online brochure about Roman forts and fortresses.

"By the end of the 1st century, there were three established, permanent legionary bases in Roman Britain, at Chester, York and Caerleon (Wales), which continued in occupation into at least the 4th century."

Subsequently, Paxman then asks: "The legionary fortress of Caerleon is situated on the River Usk, a few miles from which Welsh city?" 

"Newport, I assume," replies Zeng with certainty, looking at his teammates. 

Mays repeats his teammate's answer to Paxman, who awards them points for the correct answer. 

5. Mathematics

In the first semi-final match of the season, Imperial College takes on Emmanuel, Cambridge, for a spot in the finals. Paxman gives the team three questions on the British mathematician John Conway, who died in 2020. 

The first question: "John Conway is perhaps best known for Conway's Game of Life, an example of what general kind of mathematical system known by the abbreviation CA?"  

"Cellular automaton," says Zeng to his teammates. 

A cellular automaton is defined as "each of a set of units in a mathematical model which has simple rules governing their replication and destruction, used to model complex systems composed of simple units such as living things or parallel processors".

The Game of Life uses this system to develop a "zero-player game", which means its evolution is "determined by its initial state, requiring no further input".

Zeng's answer is, once again, correct.