This week on Granite State Challenge, the Cardinals of Bishop Guertin High School... [applause] face off against the Bobcats of Plymouth Regional High School!

[applause] Only one team will advance.

Granite State Challenge starts now.

Major funding for the production of Granite State Challenge is provided by Unitil.

Additional funding provided by Safety Insurance, NEA New Hampshire, and viewers like you.

Thank you!

Get ready.

It's time for New Hampshire high schools to match wits in a high-stakes scholastic showdown.

It's time for Granite State Challenge.

Here's your host, Jon Cannon!

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Granite State Challenge.

We are at the precipice of our second semifinal match.

The team from Nashua South punched their ticket to the Granite State Challenge Championship.

Who will they face?

It will be one of these two teams.

Let's introduce them to you.

First up, we have the team from Bishop Guertin High School.

Hi.

I'm Mohid.

I'm a senior.

I'm Declan.

I'm also a senior.

I'm Teddy.

I’m a senior.

I’m Aidan.

I'm a senior.

They're alternates are Grant, Carter, and Der(r)e(i)(c)k, and the team is coached by Katie Graham and Jeannette Riendeau.

And they are the Cardinals of Bishop Guertin High School!

[applause] And their opponent this week is the team from Plymouth Regional High School.

I'm Abe.

I'm a junior.

I'm Yuriy.

I'm a junior.

I'm Cam.

I'm a freshman.

I'm Ezra.

I'm a junior.

Their alternates are Leif, Aurora, and Olivia, and the team is coached by Jay Fogarty.

And they are the Bobcats of Plymouth Regional High School!

[applause] Those are our teams for this semifinal matchup, but, of course, we have one more introduction for you.

And that is our judge, on the Ann Cam, Ann Boulanger.

[applause] All right, teams, introductions are out of the way.

Go ahead and grab those signaling devices.

You know how to play this game.

But for the folks at home, in Granite State Challenge, in round one, we start with ten-point toss-up questions.

So, BG, Plymouth, good luck.

Here we go.

This river plays a central role in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Mississippi.

That's right.

This social media app limits standard posts to 280 characters.

Abe of Plymouth.

Twitter, or X. That is right.

The chemical symbol for this soft metal is Cu.

It is taken from the Latin word Cuprum.

Yuriy of Plymouth Regional.

Copper.

Right.

The fall of this city in 1453 marked the end of the Byzantine Empire.

Mohammed of Bishop Guertin.

Constantinople.

This 1933 film features an ape on the loose in New York City who is enamored with a beautiful woman, played by Fay Wray.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

King Kong.

Yes.

In this classic 1938 play by Thornton Wilder, the stage manager guides the audience through life in the fictional town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire.

Mohid of BG.

Our Town.

Yes.

This index tracks the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services over time.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Consumer Price Index.

Yes.

This could be a type of angle that measures more than 90 degrees but less than 180 degrees, or a person who is oblivious to the obvious.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Obtuse.

Yes.

This 1930 U.S.

law raised tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods and worsened the Great Depression.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

The Morrill Tariff?

Sorry.

No.

Bishop Guertin?

Mohid.

[misremembering] Hart-Smootley.

Close.

It is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff.

You had it in there somewhere.

All right, teams.

Our next question is our Unitil Power Question, a 20-point toss-up question coming to you on your monitors.

Take a look.

Hi.

I'm Amanda Vicinanzo with Unitil, and here is your Power Question.

This authority allows a president to reject a bill passed by legislature unless it is overridden by a 3/4 vote.

Yuriy of Plymouth Regional.

Veto.

Yes.

The veto power is right.

Teams, you will find midshipmen at this military school founded in 1845, in Annapolis, Maryland.

Mohid of Bishop Guertin.

The Navy Naval Academy.

Yes, that is correct.

The 1913 play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, which tells the story of transforming a Cockney flower girl into a refined lady, inspired this 1956 Broadway musical.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

My Fair Lady.

Yes.

In 1969, this became the first manned mission to land on the moon, and Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon.

Yuriy of Plymouth Regional.

Apollo 11.

Right.

This boundary around a black hole marks the point of no return, where not even light can escape its gravitational pull.

That is known as the event horizon.

All right, teams, a math question for you.

You have pencil and paper, if you like.

What is the volume of a cube with a side length of four?

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

64 units cubed.

Yes.

All right, teams, go ahead and look at your monitors for the next question.

You are looking at a painting by Kenyon Cox of this sculptor whose studio in Cornish, New Hampshire, is now a National Historic Site.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

French.

Sorry, no.

Bishop Guertin.

It is Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

All right, teams.

This 2010 autobiographical graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier follows Raina from middle school through high school as she adjusts to daily life following an accident that leaves her with dental trauma.

Ezra of Plymouth Regional.

Smile.

Yes.

When a puddle disappears on a sunny day without anyone touching it, this process is at work.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Evaporation.

Right.

Teams, what is the process by which a cell divides into two identical cells?

Mohid of Bishop Guertin.

Mitosis.

Right.

This German pries was a key figure in the Protestant [Reformation], and famously wrote Ninety-five Theses, or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, in 1517.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Luther.

Yes, Martin Luther is right.

All right, teams, it's time for our Semiquincentennial Question, a 25-point toss-up question on your monitors.

Take a look.

Hello.

I'm teacher and author John Herman, and I've got a question for you.

This New Hampshire militia leader known for leading raids on British forces is often referred to as the Hero of Bennington.

Mohid of Bishop Guertin.

Arlington?

Sorry, no.

Plymouth Regional?

Abe.

John Stark.

John Stark is right.

The portrait of George Washington you see on the $1 bill is taken from the unfinished painting the Athenaeum, started in 1796 by this artist.

That's by Gilbert Stuart.

This 2016 film features the song How Far I'll Go, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Ezra of Plymouth Regional.

Moana.

Right.

Meteorologists say this type of explosive cyclone has formed when a large storm undergoes rapid strengthening over a 24-hour period.

Mohid of Bishop Guertin.

Hurricane?

Sorry, no.

Plymouth Regional?

Abe?

Typhoon?

Sorry, no.

It is a bomb cyclone, or Bombogenesis.

[alarm blaring] And that sound ends the first round.

It looks like Plymouth out to a big lead by a score of 175 to 40.

[applause] Great job, teams.

Don't worry, BG, it's a long game, but we're going to take a pause in the action right now and get to know our players a little bit more.

We're going to start with the team from Bishop Guertin High School, located in Nashua, serving 800 students.

And down at the end here, we're going to start talking with Aidan.

And so, if you've been watching the show, you know that we've been asking interesting things about... our players this season.

So, this week we're going to ask about your future plans.

So, you have a very specific future plan, Aidan.

That's right.

That's a couple of years down the road.

What is that?

I want to get my Duolingo streak up to 2,000 days.

Okay.

Your Duolingo streak to 2,000 days.

We talked about Duolingo last time you were on the show, or one of the previous times you were on the show.

2,000 days; how far away are you from that?

About 900 days.

900 days.

So, three years from now, -ish, you'll be crossing that.

Do you get anything special for 2,000?

Nope.

Okay.

Just for personal... Yeah, there you go.

Excellent.

Just knowledge, I love it.

All right.

Teddy... is... also going to keep doing something that he's been doing, and that's wearing your lucky shoes.

Yeah.

What are they called?

They’re called Sperrys.

And what's so special about these shoes?

They can do everything.

They could do all of the things.

People think they're like casual dress shoes, but I play basketball in them, and, this summer, I did a 12 x 400 track workout on a dirt road in them, and they held up fine.

All right.

And ,you know, you're a senior, you're going to graduate.

You're going to take them with you?

Yeah, definitely.

On all your journeys, right?

Yeah.

Very good, very good.

All right.

He's joined by Declan.

What do you plan on studying in college?

History and political science.

History and political science.

Okay, but that's not the only thing that you plan on doing while you're in college.

We've talked about this a little bit, too.

What is it?

Yes.

I'm hoping to finally make use of my boater’s license.

Yeah, we talked about your boating license a couple weeks ago, or last time you were on the show.

Any colleges, like, near a lake or a river you can use your boating license?

Not that I'm looking at right now.

[Jon chuckles] All right.

Maybe you need to expand your circle a little bit, see what else you can find.

All right, well, I hope you get on the water regardless.

And Mohid is gonna study some- thing I think is pretty cool in college.

What's that?

Neuroscience.

Neuroscience.

So you're looking at Well, why neuroscience?

You tell me.

Well, I like biology and like human behavior and psychology, so I think it would be a good way to intersect the two.

Of course.

Yeah, there's a lot of overlap there.

Anything in particular in neuroscience that you're really interested in or curious or puzzled about?

Not particularly.

I really don't know where I want to go, but really to a school that has really good desserts.

Yes, because you are the cookie man!

That is Mohid, and that is the team from Bishop Guertin High School!

[applause] All right.

We're going to come on down here, talk to the team from Plymouth Regional High School, of course, in Plymouth, but serves nine towns up in the Plymouth region.

And we're going to start down here at the end with Ezra.

Planning on studying engineering in college.

Any specific form of engineering or kind of engineering?

Yeah.

Right now, I'm leaning toward mechanical engineering.

Okay.

Mechanical engineering.

Why mechanical?

Well, I've always been interested in math and science, and I also I spend a lot of time online looking at different people's creations.

And I always thought that would be really cool to do, and I want to do more of that.

very cool.

Well, good luck.

And we need as many engineers as we can get.

All right.

Cam’s a freshman, so thinking about college is maybe a little bit too far down the road.

But you have a different goal that involves roads.

What is it?

To travel, like a road trip.

So you want to go you thinking about doing a big old road trip this summer or are you thinking about when you graduate?

When I graduate.

When you graduate.

You're going to do this all by yourself or are you to take some friends, family?

Maybe my family, but I'd be okay doing it by myself.

Just going on down there.

Anywhere in particular you want to go or just wherever the road takes you?

Wherever it takes me.

All right.

I love that sense of adventure.

All right.

Yuriy, speaking of adventure, has a planned vacation coming up.

Where are you going?

Japan.

Okay.

And is this something that you're going to do because you're a senior after graduation?

Yes.

Okay.

So this summer you're going to head to Japan.

Anything in particular you're really excited about seeing... or doing?

Just the landmarks, the culture, the history.

How about the cuisine?

I'm not a big food guy, but... All right.

You excited for some Japanese sushi while you're there?

I suppose.

You suppose.

All right, well, good luck.

That's a great trip.

Super jealous.

Have a good time.

Travel safe.

Abe.

All right.

Rounding out the team, captain Abe, in grade 11.

Not 100% sure what it is you want to do once you get out of here.

No.

I'd like to go to college and study something with math.

Okay, so go to college.

Study something with math.

Have you gone to any colleges?

Anything like that yet?

I've toured UChicago.

I really liked that campus, so I'll definitely be applying there.

Excellent.

That's a great school.

Hope you get in.

And it's okay to not know what you want to do when you are only 16 or 17 years old.

You have a long life.

This is Abe, and this is the team from Plymouth Regional High School.

[applause] Thank you, teams.

We're going to get back into the action as we get ready for round two which is our three strikes and you're out round.

You guys know how to play this round, but for the folks at home, we do ten questions, go down the line player by player, and give them ten points for each correct response.

Each team gets three passes.

So if you don't know the answer to the question, you could pass your teammate next to you, and there's a little bit of a clue in each question to the next question.

And we'll keep going until all ten questions are asked or until three strikes and you're out.

So, Mohid, we're going to start with you and BG.

This is your question.

The 2005 film Madagascar features a group of animals in this zoo who escape so they can return to the wild Pass.

New York City.

[Jon hesitates] We need more specifics.

Central Park?

We'll give you that.

Central Park Zoo is correct.

Teddy, this is your question.

Central Perk is a gathering place for Phoebe, Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, and Joey in this famous sitcom.

Pass.

Pass to Aidan.

Friends.

Friends is right.

All right, back to you, Mohid.

William Penn was a member of the Religious Society of Friends, also known by this name.

Quakers.

Correct.

Declan.

This man who served as U.S.

president from 1969 to 1974, was a Quaker.

Ohp, ran out of time.

It is Richard Nixon.

Teddy, to you.

Richard Nixon, who made an historic trip to China in 1972, accepted two of these furry animals as a gift to the United States from China.

Pass.

Pass to Aidan.

Pandas.

Pandas is right.

A giant panda is right.

Mohid.

Jack Black is the voice of Po, the hero of the animated film Kung Fu Panda.

Black also played substitute teacher and frustrated rock musician Dewey Finn in this 2003 film.

Ummm... Mario.

Sorry, no.

It is School of Rock.

Declan, to you.

School of Rock also featured this New Hampshire native and comedian as Patty Di Marco, the girlfriend of Dewey Finn's roommate.

She also was the voice of Vanellope von Schweetz in the 2012 animated film Wreck-It Ralph.

All right, that is Sarah Silverman.

That is your third strike and the end of your round.

[applause] All right, Plymouth, we turn our attention to you.

Same procedure.

So, Abe, we'll start on your end.

And this is your question.

Manchester West graduate Josh Meyers has a recurring role on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

playing this California governor.

Schwarzenegger.

Sorry, no.

It's Gavin Newsom.

Oh... Yuriy.

Gavin Newsom, Ronald Reagan, and this actor and former bodybuilder have all served as governor of California.

Schwarzenegger.

Correct.

Now's the time for that.

Cam, to you.

George Washington gave Benedict Arnold the command of this fort in New York, which is the location of a famous military academy.

Pass.

Pass to Ezra.

Pass.

Pass to Abe.

West Point.

West Point is right.

Yuriy, to you.

The artistic technique of pointillism, which uses small points of color to create an image, can be seen in the painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, by this artist.

Monet?

It is Georges Seurat.

Cam, to you.

The painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte was the inspiration for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical Sunday in the Park with Georges, with music by this composer known for his work on Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, and Company.

It’s Stephen Sondheim.

Ezra.

Oh, is that the third strike?

That's the third strike.

The end of the round.

[applause] All right, teams, that's the end of round two.

We're going to go into round three.

Alternates, I'd like to invite you to come on up and join your teams at the podiums as we get ready for our 60-second round.

In the 60-second round, both teams get ten questions in a category.

They can talk together, work together as a team.

We'll give them ten points for each correct response and a bonus of ten points if they get them all correct.

As the team trailing right now, BG, we're going to start with you.

So, Mohid, you can talk to your team and choose from these categories What are the Odds, American Royalty, and Hello Dolly.

What are the Odds.

Okay.

So the answers to all of the following will include an odd number.

Okay.

Bishop Guertin, Mohid, again, you can talk to your team.

I will take your answer as the team answer.

60 seconds.

Start the clock.

1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas Or a candy bar?

Three Musketeers.

Correct.

Pride, greed, lust, envy Seven deadly sins.

Yes.

What gift comes the day after four calling birds.

Five golden rings.

Correct.

What businesses file for when they are bankrupt.

Pass.

Is Chapter 11.

1954 film by Akira Kurosawa about farmers who need protection from bandits.

Five Warriors.

It is Seven Samurai.

Normal working hours and a film by Dolly Parton.

9 to 5.

Is right.

1962 Ken Kesey novel that was made into a 1975 film starring Jack Nicholson.

1911.

Sorry, it's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

What guitarist Nigel Tufnel's amps go up to in This is Spinal Tap.

8 9!

11.

A very unlucky day or a horror movie.

Friday the 13th.

Correct.

The card count you want to reach in blackjack.

21.

Yes, we got that in under the wire.

[alarm blaring] We’ll add them up here.

Six out of ten on your 60-second round.

[applause] Nice job, BG.

You gained some ground there.

Plymouth Regional, We're going to turn over to you.

Abe, you've talked to your team.

You guys can choose from American Royalty or Hello Dolly.

We’ll take Hello Dolly.

Hello Dolly, okay.

So the answers to all of the following will include the word or the sound doll, okay?

So again, Abe, you can talk to your team.

I'll take your answer as the team answer.

60 seconds.

Start the clock.

Singer-songwriter and actress known for her blonde wigs in songs like Dolly Parton.

Yes.

First lady who helped save White House treasures from being burned by the British.

Dolly Madison.

Yes.

This is the head of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism.

Dalai Lama.

Yes.

Three-act play by Henrik Ibsen about the struggle for A Doll's House.

Yes.

and Black Balloon.

Goo Goo Dolls.

Correct.

Dolly Parton theme park in Tennessee.

[whispering] What?

Dolly Parton theme park.

Pass.

It is Dollywood.

He painted the surrealist work Persistence of Memory.

Salvador Dalí.

Yes.

She was the first cloned mammal from an adult Dolly the sheep.

Yes.

Proto-punk and glam band that formed in New York in 1971.

The Dolls?

It is the New York Dolls.

Four quarters equals this?

1 dollar.

A dollar is right.

That is the sound [of the $ symbol].

Eight out of ten on your 60-second round!

[applause] Thank you, alternates, so much.

You can go ahead and grab your seats as we get ready to roll into round four.

Now, in round four, we're going to pick back up with our toss-up questions, but we're going to be doubling the point value to 20 points and we will be deducting 20 points for incorrect responses, so a lot can shift in round four, teams.

Bishop Guertin and Plymouth, playing smart strategically, here we go.

Teams, what writing system did the Sumerians develop?

Mohid of Bishop Guertin.

Cuneiform.

Yes.

This organ located behind the stomach plays a crucial role in regulating blood sugar by producing insulin.

Mohid of Bishop Guertin Pancreas.

Right.

This actor, who was a tournament director for the United States Chess Federation and the California State Chess Association, played chess as a character in some of his movies, including The African Queen and Casablanca.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Bogart.

Humphrey Bogart is right.

This invisible and so far hypothetical form of matter does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation, and is inferred from gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relativity.

Motion of Bishop Guertin.

Dark matter.

Yes.

This Georges Bizet opera set in Seville follows a woman who seduces a soldier, then leaves him for a bullfighter.

Right.

This Cös County town, with a population of about 800, covers 291.3 mi , making it the largest town by area in New England.

Teddy of Bishop Guertin.

Pittsburg.

Right.

Centuries before modern fields and college teams, indigenous peoples played this fast-moving team sport with sticks and ball.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Lacrosse.

Right.

All right, teams, go ahead and look at your monitors for the next question.

This Cornish, New Hampshire, native served as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was both a governor and senator from Ohio, and served as Secretary of the Treasury and Abraham Lincoln's cabinet.

Mohid of Bishop Guertin.

Salmon Chase.

Yes.

This art movement named after a body of water dominated American art in the early 19th century and emphasized detailed landscapes.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Hudson River School.

That's right.

All right, teams, another math question for you if you want pencil and paper.

What is the sum of the interior angles of a hexagon.

Mohid of Bishop Guertin.

720 degrees.

Right.

On September 9th, 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest- reigning British monarch, surpassing the record of this ancestor who ruled for 63 years in 216 days.

Right.

This Looney Tunes character spends all his time trying to catch the Road Runner.

Mohid of Bishop Guertin.

Coyote.

Right.

Teams, how many lines are in a traditional sonnet?

Mohid of Bishop Guertin.

14.

Right.

Known as the Waltz King, this Austrian composer wrote The Blue Danube waltz and the operetta Die Fledermaus.

That is Johann Strauss II.

This future president became a national hero after defeating the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Jackson.

Right.

This boy band released their first all-English single, Dynamite, in 2020.

Ezra of Plymouth.

BTS.

Right.

This activist, lawyer, and statesman fought against apartheid and served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

Mohid of Bishop Guertin.

Nelson Mandela.

Right.

The Jive in the Lindy Hop are both examples of this fast- paced American dance style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s and is associated with jazz music.

It was swing.

There are two transcontinental countries.

Both are found in Europe and Asia.

One of those countries is Russia.

What is the second country?

As are of Plymouth Regional.

Turkey.

Right.

Fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933, this German scientist known as the father of modern physics became a U.S.

citizen in 1940.

Teddy of BG.

Einstein.

[alarm blaring] Yes.

Skip the next question.

This type of oooh!

Not quite, and so close with a late charge by Bishop Guertin, but Plymouth Regional pulls them off and will move on to the Granite State Challenge Championship!

[applause] Great game.

Congratulations, Plymouth Regional, on a good win.

Bishop Guertin, great fight.

A great game.

We had fun.

We hope you had fun.

I had a lot of fun in that game.

And we hope you had fun as well watching from home.

We hope you tune in next week while this Plymouth Regional team takes on the team from Nashua South in the Granite State Challenge Championship.

That'll do it for us this week, and we hope you learned something, because I did as well.

We'll see you next week.

[applause] Major funding for the production of Granite State Challenge is provided by Unitil.

Additional funding provided by Safety Insurance, NEA New Hampshire, and viewers like you.

Thank you!

♪