This week on Granite State Challenge, the Bulldogs of Bedford High School take on the Hawks of Hopkinton High School.

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 Bangor Savings Bank, Safety Insurance, NEA New Hampshire, Aroma Joe's, 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 making our way through the first round.

In fact, we're at the end of it.

We've got our eighth and final game of round one of Granite State Challenge.

Two teams are here to do battle to see who's going to move on.

Let's introduce them to you.

First up we have the team from Bedford High School.

Hi, I'm Matt and I'm a freshman.

Hi, I'm Alina and I'm a sophomore.

Hi, I'm Sumedh and I'm a freshman.

Hello.

I'm Tabitha, and I'm a sophomore.

The alternates are Tristan and Samantha.

And the coaches are Kelly Chausovsky the Destination Imagination coordinator.

And Sherri Art, a parent volunteer.

And that's the team from Bedford High School.

Their opponents this week are the Hawks of Hopkinton High School.

Hi I'm Flo.

I'm a senior.

Hi, I'm Lucy, I'm a sophomore.

Hi, I'm Tad, I'm a junior.

Hi, I'm Michael.

I'm a senior.

The alternate is Rebecca, and the team is coached by social studies teacher Liam Callahan.

And that's the team from Hopkinton High School.

All right, teams, great to get to know you.

But we do have one more introduction.

Of course, our beloved judge back with us again is Ann Boulanger.

All right.

Teams, introductions are out of the way.

Go ahead and grab those signaling devices.

We're going to play Granite State Challenge.

We play in four rounds, and in round one we do ten point toss up questions.

So Bedford and Hopkinton.

Good luck.

Let's play.

You might be surprised to learn that with an area of 5,500,000mi , this is the largest desert in the world and is not known for its heat Flo of Hopkinton.

Antarctica.

Antarctica is right.

At 6288ft this is the tallest mountain in New England.

Lucy of Hopkinton.

Mount Washington.

That's right.

Teams.

In what year did New Hampshire celebrate the bicentennial of it becoming a state?

Matthew of Bedford, 1976.

Sorry.

No.

Hopkinton.

Lucy.

2015.

Sorry.

No.

It was 1988.

This American labor leader co-founded the National Farm Workers Association and famously organized a boycott of California grapes.

Matthew of Bedford.

Cesar Chavez?

Yes.

Before he became governor of California and President of the United States.

Ronald Reagan was president of the SAG Labor union.

What does SAG stand for?

Matthew of Bedford.

Screen Actor Guild.

Yes.

This actor is known for some of the most famous iconic dancing scenes in film, including Pulp Fiction, Grease and Saturday Night Fever.

Lucy of Hopkinton.

John Travolta.

Yes.

This animated fantasy series tells the story of Aang, and is set in a world where some individuals can manipulate one of the four elements water, earth, fire, or air.

Tad of Hopkinton.

Avatar the Last Airbender.

That is right.

If you are a vermiculturalist, what do you cultivate?

Lucy of Hopkinton.

Worms.

Worms is right.

Bessie Coleman was the first black and first Native American woman to hold a license to do this.

Matthew of Bedford.

Fly Planes.

Yes.

In 1988, at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Canadian skater Kurt Browning became the first person to do this in a competition.

Matthew of Bedford.

Backflip?

Sorry, no.

Lucy of Hopkinton.

Triple axel.

Sorry.

No.

It is a quadruple toe loop jump.

Good gracious.

The start of this war was triggered by an explosion on the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in 1898.

Sumedh of Bedford.

Spanish-American War.

Yes.

All right, teams, our next question is our Unitil power question.

So this is worth double the points.

20 point toss up coming to you on your monitors.

Take a look This US Secretary of State under Richard Nixon said that power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

Matthew of Bedford.

Henry Kissinger.

Yes.

Launched on December 25th, 2021, this space telescope orbits the sun at the second LaGrange point, or L2.

A LaGrange point is where the gravitational forces of the sun and the Earth balance out.

Flo of Hopkinton.

Hubble telescope.

Sorry.

No.

Bedford, Matthew.

The Edwin telescope.

Sorry.

It's the James Webb telescope.

All right.

Teams.

Actor Anthony Hopkins, who was only on screen for 16 minutes, won the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of this cannibal in the movie silence of the lambs.

Matthew of Bedford.

Hannibal Lecter.

Yes.

There are three dogs with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Strong heart, a silent film era German Shepherd.

Rin Tin Tin, another German Shepherd.

And this heroic collie.

It was Lassie who we were looking for.

All right, teams, this singer songwriter who performed with the Runaways and the Blackhearts is perhaps best known for the song I love Rock n roll.

Matthew of Bedford.

Joanne Jett.

All right, we'll give you that.

Teams.

What is the first element on the periodic table?

Lucy of Hopkinton.

Hydrogen.

Correct.

Marie Curie is one of only a few people who has been awarded two Nobel Prizes.

In which two fields of science were her Nobels.

Matthew of Bedford.

Physics and chemistry.

That is right.

This groundbreaking hip hop group had a crossover hit in 1986 with their take on the Aerosmith song Walk This Way.

Matthew of Bedford.

Run DMC.

Correct.

This anti-apartheid activist became president of South Africa in 1994 after spending 27 years in prison.

Tad of Hopkinton.

Nelson Mandela.

Yes.

Scientists estimate that 48.5 tons of material from these hit the Earth every day.

Michael of Hopkinton.

Asteroids.

Sorry.

No.

Bedford.

Sumedh.

Meteors.

Not meteors.

It is meteorites.

Theoretical physicist John Wheeler is known for popularizing this term to describe these parts of space where gravity is so strong that no light can escape.

Tad of Hopkinton.

Black holes.

Yes.

Our next question teams is a picture question.

So go ahead and take a look at your monitors.

This wild cat native to South and Southeast Asia, is usually found near water because most of its diet is made up of fish.

Sumedh of Bedford.

Snow leopard.

Sorry.

Nope.

Hopkinton.

Michael.

Links.

No.

It is known as the fishing cat.

Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus is better known by this acronym.

Lucy of Hopkinton.

Scuba.

Correct.

Cowabunga.

Well, we won't get to that question, but look at what we got here.

We got a tight match.

Bedford with a narrow lead by a score of 100 to 90.

After round one.

Great job teams, in round one.

We'll get to round two in a few minutes.

But first, we'd like to take a minute to get to know our players.

And we're going to start with the team from Bedford High School.

The Bedford Bulldogs located in Bedford.

It's a large school.

Almost 1500 students are enrolled.

And we're going to start down here with Tabitha.

And not only a member of the Granite State Challenge team, but you are also the co-captain of what team at your schoo?

Color guard.

Okay, so for the folks at home, it may not know what color guard it is.

Can you tell us what that's about?

Color guard is basically dancing during halftime performances of football games with the marching band.

So the marching band comes out, they play songs, and you are flashing the flags, throwing them up in the air.

Yeah.

And there's also like other things that we can use as well, but typically, most guards do use flags.

And just like theirs, we also typically use flags.

All right.

Excellent.

And as a role of a co-captain, that's sort of like being, like a drum major?

In our school, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Very good.

Well, keep it up.

All right.

Next we have Sumedh.

And, a traveler, maybe an amateur astronomer.

Tell us about your visit to South Dakota.

So in August, I went to South Dakota and there was a meteor shower happening there.

So, my family and I, we parked in a ditch to see the stars.

But it was worth it because we ended up seeing the meteors and the northern lights.

Oh, and the northern lights.

Fantastic.

And everybody got to see some meteors.

Except my mom, unfortunately, Well, you know what?

I'm not very good at spotting them either, but that's okay.

Good on you.

Next up is Alina.

Also a traveler, but a world traveler.

How many countries you've been to?

12, if you count the United States.

Okay, I count the United States.

So are these trips that you just go on sort of vacation with your family?

Yeah, they've all been with my family.

Okay.

Do you have a favorite or two that you recall?

Usually I say the Czech Republic, but I also really loved Aruba.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, that's, you know, you get a little culture and you get a little sun.

Exactly.

Yeah.

I got you.

All right.

And rounding out the team is team captain Matthew.

And tell us how this Granite State Challenge team came to be.

Well, Bedford High School did have a Granite State Challenge team before.

But it took a bit of a break and, when I came to the school from the middle school, I had already done some quiz competitions, and I wanted to bring it to the high school.

And so I worked with my principal and, our coaches to start a Granite State Challenge team.

To bring this team together.

And you're a young team, all ninth and 10th graders on this team.

So you've got a bright future and glad to see Bedford High School back on the Granite State Challenge stage.

All right.

Their opponents this week is the team from Hopkinton High School located in Hopkinton, a bit of a smaller school, but still a sizable enrollment for such a small town.

We're going to come down.

We'll start with Michael down here on the end.

Granite State Challenge not the only team that you're a part of.

You got to you.

What team were you a part of in the fall this year?

I was part of the boys soccer team.

And how'd the boys soccer team do?

We won the Division three state championship.

Congratulations.

And team captain on that championship soccer team.

And, does Hopkinton have a, tradition of championship soccer teams?

Yes, we usually do, but we've kind of had a break the last, we have a total of nine championships.

Okay, but we haven't won since 2016, so it's been a long time coming back to be on top.

All right.

Excellent.

All right, Michael is joined by Tad, who is an activist of sorts.

Tell us what you are involved in.

Yeah.

So this past summer and throughout this year, I've been working with, 350 New Hampshire, which is a climate activist organization here in New Hampshire.

Okay.

So 350 New Hampshire is the organization doing climate activism.

What sorts of things are they working on, or are you working on right now with them?

This year, the youth team was working on, public health campaigns.

So kind of spreading education on how, like the climate change, affects people's public health.

Excellent.

Well, keep up the good work.

All right.

Next up is Lucy.

Lucy has a collection.

Kind of a unique collection.

I think it's pretty cool.

What do you collect?

Salt and pepper shakers.

Okay, so how did you start collecting salt and pepper shakers?

I saw some in a flea market.

And the collection has grown to more than 40 pairs.

Okay, so we looking for antiques?

We looking for silly ones.

What are we looking for?

All sorts.

Okay.

And you'll.

You'll accept them as gifts?

Of course.

Yeah.

All right, so if you want to send Lucy some salt and pepper shakers, add to that collection.

All right.

And rounding out the team, team captain Flo, a big reader.

Okay, it says here you've kept a list of every book you've read since fourth grade.

Since fourth grade.

Okay, so how many books are we talking are on this list?

Like over 800.

So that's 800.

That's a lot of books.

Do you do anything with this list?

Is this for your own edification?

What do you do with it?

Yeah.

And I like to recommend books to other people and stuff that I've read.

And do people take your recommendations?

I hope so, okay.

Well, they ought to.

I think.

And that's what puts you on Granite State Challenge.

Ladies and gentlemen, the team from Hopkinton High School.

All right, teams, thanks to that break in the action.

But we're going to pick it up where we left off going into round two.

So round two is our three strikes and you're out round.

And the way this works is each team gets ten questions and we go down the line player by player.

Each team has three passes.

So if you don't know the answer you can pass to the person next to you.

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

And just as a reminder, something in the previous question will be the inspiration for the next question.

So Bedford, we do this alphabetically.

So Matthew, we will start with you.

This is your question.

What does the acronym ASAP stand for?

As soon as possible?

Correct.

Alina.

The animated series Kim Possible is about high school student Kim, who fights crime in her spare time.

Her friend and partner Ron has a pet naked mole rat that is voiced by Nancy Cartwright, who also voices this son of Marge and Homer.

Bart.

Yes, Bart Simpson.

Sumedh, the Simpsons is set in Springfield, which, according to the show's creator, is located in his home state, which is this state located between Washington and California.

Oregon?

Yes, Tabitha.

In the game Oregon Trail settlers leave from Oregon from Independence City located in this state.

Pass.

Pass to Matthew.

Missouri.

Missouri is right.

Alina to you.

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 admitted Missouri to the US as a slave state, and this state as a free state.

Pass.

Pass to Sumedh.

Maine.

Maine is correct.

Tabitha, to you.

The rallying cry, Remember the Maine followed the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba and helped launch this war.

Spanish-American War.

That's correct.

Matthew.

The Spanish-American War resulted in the US acquiring this Pacific island, which is now the westernmost territory in the United States.

Guam?

Yes.

Olina.

Guam is near this ocean trench, which is the deepest ocean trench on Earth.

The Mariana Trench.

Yes.

Sumedh.

Maid Marion hangs around with this outlaw leader of a group of merry men.

Too late on that.

It was Robin Hood and Tabitha.

Question ten.

Dick Grayson becomes Robin and this this millionaire becomes Batman when they suit up to fight crime.

Was that a pass?

To you, Matthew Bruce Wayne.

Bruce Wayne is correct.

And how many?

Nine out of ten on your three strikes round.

All right, great job Bedford.

Hopkinton.

We'll see how you do.

Same drill.

We'll start with you Flo.

This is your question.

Actor Selena Gomez, who now stars in Only Murders in the Building, got her start in a children's series featuring this purple dinosaur.

The Wizards of Waverly Place.

No, it was Barney.

Lucy.

Barney Rubble is the best friend of this man whose catchphrase is Yabba dabba doo!

Fred Flintstone.

Correct.

Tad.

Flint, Michigan's water supply was seriously contaminated by lead when the city switched its water supply.

From this second largest great lake by surface area to the Flint River.

I don't know.

It was Lake Huron.

Michael.

Actress Veronica Lake starred in the 1942 film I Married a Witch, where she vows to get revenge on descendants of the man who had her and her father burned at the stake in this town, famous for its witch trials.

Salem.

Yes, Flo.

This Hampton resident was the only person in New Hampshire tried for witchcraft.

I don't know.

It is Eunice Goody Cole.

Lucy, Old King Cole.

Oh, is that three?

That's three strikes.

And that's the end of your three strikes round.

All right, so after two rounds, looks like Bedford extending its lead by just a little bit.

So we're going to roll into round 3 which is our 60 second round.

So alternates I'd like to invite you to come on up and meet with your teams as we get into our 60 second round.

In this round, each team gets ten questions in a category.

You guys can work together and talk as a team.

And we'll start with a team trailing right now.

And that is Hopkinton.

So Flo, you can talk to your team and choose from these three categories.

Yes Sir.

Put a Lid on It and Fiddle Me This.

We have Yes Sir, Put a Lid on It and Fiddle Me This.

We'll do Put A Lid On It.

Put A Lid On It.

All right, so the answers to all of the following will be related to hats.

Okay.

Flo.

So I will take your answer as the team answer.

60 seocnds.

Start the clock.

This character in Wonderland was a bit insane.

Mad Hatter.

Yes.

When a single player scores three goals in hockey.

Hat Trick.

Yes.

What a candidate can be said to do when they enter a race.

Throw their hat in the ring.

That is right.

The second hand purchased worn by a character in a Prince song.

Pass.

Wore a raspberry beret.

The type of figurative or maybe literal headpiece worn by a conspiracy theorist.

Tinfoil hat, tinfoil hat.

Yes, this politician is identified with red baseball caps.

Donald Trump.

Yes, a construction worker might wear one of these to protect the head.

Hard hat.

Yes.

This silent movie era actor was known for wearing a bowler hat and carrying.

Charlie Chaplin.

Yes, he wore a dusty fedora while he was looking for the Ark Indiana Jones.

Yes, this presidential spouse was famous for wearing pillbox hats.

Eleanor Roosevelt.

It was Jackie Kennedy and at the end of your 60 second round, eight out of ten.

Nice job catching up, Hopkinton.

But now, Bedford, it is your turn.

And Matthew, you can choose from you and your team can choose from.

Yes, sir.

And Fiddle Me This.

All right.

Fiddle me This, Fiddle me This.

Okay.

The answers to the following will all be related to violins or fiddles.

So again, Matthew, I'll take your answer as the team answer.

60 seconds.

Start the clock.

This Broadway musical is based on the short story Tevye the Dairyman.

Fiddler on the Roof.

Yes.

This founding father played the violin.

Benjamin Franklin.

It is Thomas Jefferson This violinist contracted polio when he was four.

Bach.

it was Itzhak Perlman.

This violinist and baroque composer wrote the Four Seasons.

Vivaldi.

Yes.

These violins were crafted in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Stradivarius?

Yes.

The, the song by Charlie Daniels, features dueling fiddles.

One played by Satan.

Devil Went Down to Georgia.

Correct.

How many strings does a fiddle have?

Four.

Correct.

What is the difference between a fiddle and a violin?

A fiddle is used in folk music.

Think about that, judge.

The song Baba O'Riley by this British rock band features a violin solo.

The Rolling Stones.

It is The Who.

And this character in Gone With the Wind famously says, We didn't quite get to that last question, so we'll let the judges think for just a second.

And on the Ann cam, five out of ten on your 60 second round.

Thank you alternates.

You can go ahead and take your seats as we get prepared for round four.

Some tightening up here on the scoreboard.

But that's okay.

That's just how we like it.

In round four, teams we're going to pick back up with the 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 playing smart and strategically Bedford and Hopkinton.

Good luck.

Let's go.

This palace complex in Beijing, China, was built in the 15th century and is known by this name.

Matthew of Bedford.

The Forbidden City.

Correct.

Which amendment to the US Constitution states excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Michael of Hopkinton.

Eighth.

That is right.

On the morning of May 3rd, 2003, New Hampshire residents woke up to find that this rock formation in the Franconia Notch was no longer there.

Lucy of Hopkinton.

Old Man of the mountain.

Yes.

All right, teams, pencil and paper if you need it.

If the title of this book was written in Roman numerals, it would be m c m l x x x i v. Lucy of Hopkinton.

1984.

Correct.

All right, teams, our next question is a video question coming to you on your monitors.

Take a look.

Hi, I'm Jade Adams, the 2025 New Hampshire's Kid Governor.

Kids can do amazing things.

This composer was only eight years old when he wrote his first symphony, Symphony number one in E-flat.

He would go on to write 40 more.

Alina of Bedford.

Mozart.

Mozart's right.

This actor played disco dancing Tony Manero in the 1975 movie Saturday Night Fever.

Matthew of Bedford.

John Travolta.

Correct.

This 2001 animated movie featuring the voices of Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy, was based on a 1990 book written and illustrated by William Steig.

Matthew of Bedford.

Shrek.

Correct.

Teams, if two candidates are tied in the Electoral College, and all of the votes are shared between only those two candidates, how many votes would each candidate have?

Matthew of Bedford.

269.

That is correct.

In what novel by Aldous Huxley do citizens take a drug called soma, which is described as an opiate of the masses?

Tad of Hopkinton.

Brave New World.

Yes.

All right, teams, take a look at your monitors again for this question.

This sculpture of a Concord, New Hampshire, New Hampshire Minuteman was created by this Exeter, New Hampshire, native who also created the seated statue of Abraham Lincoln found at the Lincoln Memorial.

Michael of Hopkinton.

Daniel Chester French.

Yes.

In this 1967 novel, Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells the story of several generations of the Buendia family.

Lucy of Hopkinton.

No answer.

Sorry.

Bedford, Alina.

100 Years of Solitude.

That is correct.

Skip the next question, folks.

And the next one.

In this fable by Aesop, a shepherd boy keeps sending out false alarms about attacks on his sheep.

Lucy of Hopkinton.

Boy Who Cried Wolf.

Yes.

This 51 mile waterway connects the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

Sorry, Matthew.

Not quite in time.

And that's the buzzer that ends the game.

A great match, but it looks like Bedford will be moving on by a score of 360 to 290.

Great game, Bedford.

We'll see you in a few weeks when you join your second round game.

And Hopkinton, you know we always love it when we have you here.

And we hope you had fun here.

Tough loss.

But walk away with your hands held high.

All right.

And at home.

We hope you had a good time this week on Granite State Challenge.

We do hope you join us next week for our first second round game that pits the schools of Trinity High School and Plymouth Regional High School.

That'll do it for us this week on Granite State Challenge.

And if you learned something, I hope you did because I did as well.

We'll see you next week.

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

Additional funding provided by Bangor Savings Bank, Safety Insurance, NEA New Hampshire, Aroma Joe's and viewers like you.

Thank you.