Our caper in Crucible Cochin

On a wet Sunday in Cochin, while Barrichello was displaying his Brawn to Lewis, we landed in Cochin (Aravindh and I) after confirming in advance from Tatas and Greycaps that we can quiz in Cochin as Aravindh works in Mangalore. Qualification was tricky, it was one of those 'anyone can make it' types, with loads of guessable ones and old chestnuts. Defending champs Malayala Manorama got in on internal tiebreaker qs (according to Giri).
Anyways, we were thru. Qs in the first round were decent (we didn't get any our way). The next round on visuals got us firing, though Subhiksha gave us a stutter. Normal service resumed from then on.
We went into the final round on 55 with a lead of 15, and buzzed the last 2 right on the first clue. Manorama was on 30 before the last round, but National Instruments (on 20) got back into it with one buzz in the last to tie for 2nd, and won the tie
Our points distribution is also below along with the qs (for our lakhs of fans ;o))

elims
1. whose tagline like.no.other
2. If i have a mini that can shuffle, what do i have
3. brand - glass and half of milk in every pound...in what?
4. turkish for holy meeting place. google employee
5. McMillan logo
6. 350 spider, 360 modena all renamed by whom
7. project arrow.. which indian co's restructuring
8. dark temptation. for women.
9. pocket monster - which brand?
10. DC books (not DC comics) founder
11. obul redy + matsushita = what brand?
12. tilak nagar industries most famous alcohol brand
13. what started thus - Jon Stephenson, investor, Telenor....1995 (tech q. Giri led us down the wrong path when he used the words Operating system)
14. Spiderman to obama..u can get on my tshirt cover if u get me on to the _ _. fill the blanks
15. aztec for plump lady with a navel. common food item (last i remember getting this type of q is from a certified 'no brainer')
16. Product on the Internationall space station menu, was created by Edward McIllhyney
17. Indian beverage brand that made the largest glass in delhi, clue: Ek glass aur..
18. Orbit gum. who endorses? a star
19. expand TAN as in taxation term
20. TVC Bank of India
21. TVC HDFC Std life
22. Kerala toursim monsoon package ad
23. Mahindras retail chain


Finals:
Dry
1. First created by Suaing Ching. US Army used this in 1945. Used by corporates as a training tool. What?
2. What did a wealthy grocer named Thomas start selling? sourced from Asia, as this region's produce was seen as superior and profitable.
3. This trade mark phrase is marked DT, not TM (like most trademarks). (strange clue!)
Used by army, airforce etc to stamp documents as marked with this phrase. What phrase?
4. Rolls royce came out with many brands - ghost, phantom. When they came out with MIST, they were told it was german an unmentionable world, so they changed it to what?
5. What started when yet anothet Thomas began it in a coffeehouse in england, 216, Strand, London? 1736 Insurers association took over....
6. Generic business word/brand today. initially trademarked by North american gaslight co. and Downer and co.

Visuals
1. fevicol ad
2. Clio lady (nokia)
3. Subhiksha guy (nokia)
4. Twitter (malayala manorama direct)
5. visual of dodge automobiles india poster, with kalyan, mumbai written at the bottom. q was who was the advertisr? (nokia)
6. Pic of amitabh kants book, q was what BIG campaign was the book talking abt

tata on the buzzer
1. product with magnesium, chlorine etc level of 7.7 or some such (we got a negative on the buzzer for saying tata salt)
2. marg publications q (nokia)
3.tatas sold readers digest india rights to whom (nokia)
4. technology partners - term used for which conmpany by another famous company?

we went into the last round on 55, with manorama on 40, natnl instruments on 30

3qs on buzzer with 3 clues

1. sam pitroda on 2nd clue (national instruments) they went to 30
2. clues for vivek paul (nokia)
3. clues for federal bank founder (nokia)

nokia won on 85. tie breaker resolved in favour of national instruments

tiebreakers
1. FinInvest owned by?
2. Turkish paper., rolling....gives its name to what brand/product?