This week on Granite State Challenge, the Falcons of Bow 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 Imsurance, 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 making our way through the quarterfinal round of this year's tournament.

Two teams have already made their way into the semifinals.

One of these two teams is going to join them.

Let's introduce them to you.

First up, we have the team from Bow High School.

Hi.

I'm Matthew Kropp, and I'm a senior.

I'm Matthew M., and I'm a junior.

Hi.

I’m Ollie.

I'm a freshman.

I'm Max, and I’m a freshman.

The alternates are Anna and Ja(i)(y)den, and the team is coached by Michelle Hlavas.

And they are the Falcons of Bow 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 Aurora.

I'm a freshman.

I'm Ezra.

I'm a junior.

Their alternates are Cam, Olivia, and Leif, and the team is coached by Jay Fogarty and Troy Harris.

And they are the Bobcats of Plymouth Regional High School!

[applause] Those are our teams this week, but we do have one more introduction for you.

That, of course, is our judge on the Ann Cam, Ann Boulanger.

[applause] All right.

Thanks so much, teams.

Go ahead and grab those signaling devices.

We're going to play some Granite State Challenge.

As you know, we play in four rounds, and in round one we're going to do some ten-point toss-up questions.

So, Bow and Plymouth, good luck.

Here we go.

What type of blood do you have if you are a universal donor?

Max of Bow.

O negative.

Correct.

Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a 1,142-ft-high sandstone monolith located in the [Northern] Territory of this country.

Ollie of Bow.

Greece.

Sorry, no.

Plymouth.

Abe.

Australia.

Yes.

While this man is sometimes called the father of American cinema for innovations such as the kinetoscope, much of the actual work on the invention was done by William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, one of his employees at his Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory.

Abe of Plymouth.

Edison.

Yes.

This 2017 animated film follows 12-year-old Miguel, who, after strumming a guitar, becomes invisible to his living family and is transported to the land of the dead, where he can interact with his deceased relatives.

Max of Bow.

Coco.

Yes.

This author wrote the 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, which exposed the horrors of slavery and is widely credited with helping to lay the groundwork for the Civil War.

Matthew M. of Bow.

Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Yes.

This scale, which ranges from 0 to 14, measures how acidic or basic a solution is.

Max of Bow.

The pH scale.

That's right.

This theorem states that the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

Abe of Plymouth.

The Pythagorean theorem.

That's right.

In 1974, Isabel Perón made history as the first female president in South America when she took office in this country.

Matthew M. of Bow.

Argentina.

Yes.

Teams, what sport are you watching if you are in a velodrome?

Abe of Plymouth.

Track cycling.

Yes.

All right, teams, our next question is our Semiquincentennial Moment.

It's a 25-point video question on your monitors.

Take a look.

Hello.

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

Over the course of three winter months, this Boston bookstore owner transported 60 tons of cannon and other armaments taken from Fort Ticonderoga, New York, by boat, horse, and ox-drawn sledges to Boston.

Matthew M. of Bow.

Nathan Hale.

Sorry, no.

Plymouth?

Abe?

Uncle Tom.

Sorry, no.

It is Henry Knox.

All right.

This tasty treat was created in 1974 by the Puritan Backroom in Manchester, New Hampshire, and can be dipped in ranch, barbecue, honey mustard, or their signature duck sauce.

Matthew M. of Bow.

Chicken tenders.

Yes.

Set during the French Revolution, the opening line of this novel by Charles Dickens states that It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

A Tale of Two Cities.

Yes.

This could be a unit that measures electrical resistance or the meditative sound made at the beginning of Tibetan Buddhism mantras.

Abe of Plymouth.

Ohm.

Yes.

In Star Wars, this Jedi master trained Luke Skywalker in the ways of the force in the swamps of the planet of Dagobah.

Yuriy of Plymouth.

Yoda.

Yes.

This author of the novel Beloved won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.

Abe of Plymouth.

Morrison.

Toni Morrison is right.

All right, teams, it's time for our Unitil Power Question.

This is a 20-point toss-up question on your monitors.

Take a look.

Hi.

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

Used in rock, punk, metal, and alternative music, these are notated with the number five, indicating that there is a root and a fifth, but no major or minor third.

Max of Bow.

Power chord.

A power chord is right.

The only border crossing with Canada in New Hampshire is located in this Cös county town.

Matthew M. of Bow.

Pittsburg.

Yes.

On July 20th, 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon.

19 minutes later, this astronaut, who shares a first name with a famous animated space ranger, became the second person to step onto the lunar surface.

Max of Bow.

Buzz Aldrin.

Yes.

Uruguay won the first FIFA World Cup in 1930.

Who won the last men's World Cup in 2022?

Matthew M. of Bow.

Argentina.

Yes.

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

This bird is named for its uniquely-shaped bill, which it sweeps from side to side in the water to catch tiny aquatic prey.

Abe of Plymouth.

Shoebill.

Sorry, no.

Bow.

Matthew M.?

Seagull.

No.

It is a spoonbill.

A spoonbill.

In 2024, this man and his son Bronny became the first father and son duo to play together as teammates in NBA history.

Abe of Plymouth.

LeBron James.

Yes.

This coin, first introduced in 1909 to commemorate Abraham Lincoln's 100th birthday, is no longer minted as of the end of 2025.

Abe of Plymouth.

The Penny.

Yes.

With a purchase price of $400, this is the most expensive property in monopoly.

Matthew M. of Bow.

Boardwalk.

Correct.

The Iliad, a poem by Homer, tells the story of the final weeks of this war.

Abe of Plymouth.

The Trojan War.

That's right.

What is the term for a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction but is not used up in the process?

Matthew M. of Bow.

A catalyst.

Yes.

These two classic comedies directed and co-written by Mel Brooks, one set in the Old West and the other in Transylvania, were both released in 1974.

Matthew M. of Bow.

Addams Family.

Sorry, no.

Plymouth?

Yuriy.

Hotel Transylvania.

Sorry, no.

The two films are Blazing Saddles [alarm blaring] and Young Frankenstein.

And that sound ends round one.

We've got a tight match, folks, with Bow out to a slight lead by a score of 130 to 110.

[applause] All right, teams, great job.

We're gonna take a quick break in the action; get to know our players a little bit before we move on to round two.

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

Bow High School is located in the town of Bow, but it serves the towns of Bow and Dunbar, and about 650 students.

We'll start down here at the end with Max, who is a car guy.

All right.

Knows a lot about cars, but not just any kind of car.

What kind of car?

Supercars.

A supercar.

So what makes a car a supercar?

A supercar is usually an exotic car with a lot of power.

Okay.

Do you have a favorite?

Yeah, my favorite is the Pagani Huayra R. Why do you like that one so much?

It's a very exclusive car, only made of full carbon, and it's very fast.

Is it expensive?

Yeah.

About how much?

They're all made custom, so they can be anywhere... Any price you want?

Yeah.

All right.

Excellent.

All right.

Joining him is Ollie, who is a bit of a prognosticator, a predictor, of football outcomes.

Yes.

In this past NFL season, I have correctly predicted all the Wild Card matchups and what the results would be.

Gotcha.

Did you do that with the scores the actual scores themselves or just the winners?

Just the winners.

Just the winners.

Okay.

Do you predict other sports like March Madness, anything like that?

Not really, but I’m thinking about starting it after how lucky I was this year.

There you go.

I believe there's money to be made in that.

Yeah.

Not endorsing it!

All right, that’s Ollie.

We're moving on to Matthew M., an aficionado of world music.

Tell us how that all started.

Well, once, I just watched a YouTube video about accordion music around the world, and I listened to the Brazil song, and I was like, Oh, this is pretty good.

Pretty jazzy.

So, next thing you know, I'm into Brazilian samba rock and funk music.

And then, there was like one song that mentioned an Algerian rï band, so then I started again to Algerian rï.

And now I'm interested in, like, Egyptian music.

Okay!

So, all over the world.

So a little curiosity leads to a journey of loving world music.

That's great.

Curiosity is the best.

All right.

And we turn to the other Matthew.

Matthew K. was in Europe when something pretty unexpected happened.

What?

Yeah, so I was on our school Spanish trip, and we were in the Alhambra, and we come down and the entire city lost power.

And it turns out it wasn't just that, but Spain, including a couple of other nations, large parts of them had completely lost power.

So, like, all over Europe, the power's out.

What did you guys do?

Well, for food, there was someone who had, like, a gas stove who was making shawarma, so we got some of that.

And then we went back to our hotel and, yeah, in the morning, we woke up, tried the light switch, and the power was back on.

Power's back on by morning.

Excellent.

Well, glad that you made it home safely.

And this is the team from Bow High School!

[applause] All right.

And their opponent in this match is the team from Plymouth Regional High School, located up in Plymouth, New Hampshire, but serving eight additional towns.

About 640 kids, and from them, we'll start down here with Ezra, who’s on the tennis team this year?

When did you start playing tennis?

I started playing tennis in my freshman year.

Your freshman year?

Okay.

So you joined the tennis team.

And how's the team been in that time?

It's been great.

My freshman year, the kids on varsity won state championships.

That's great.

The Division III.

And last year.

we went up to Division II, and it’s been a lot more challenging.

There's been some better teams.

Yeah.

You go up in those divisions.

And so, you think you're going to move up in the rankings this year?

Yeah.

We lost a couple seniors last year, so I'll start a few spots higher than I was.

Nice, and get to contribute.

Excellent.

All right.

Joining Ezra is Aurora, who does a sort of fun kind of community dancing.

Tell us about it.

Yeah, it's contra dancing, and I've been doing it my whole life.

It's a traditional New Hampshire thing.

We actually have the longest-running contra dance in the country, in Nelson.

Oh, no kidding.

Yeah.

That's fantastic.

How did you get into it?

My parents met at a contra dance, so I've been doing it my whole life.

Oh.

It's like your origin story is wrapped up in contra dancing.

Excellent.

Going to keep doing it on into your adulthood?

Definitely.

Absolutely.

Fantastic.

All right.

Joining her is Yuriy, who is a war re-enactor.

What war?

World War II.

So you did some World War II re-enacting.

How did this come about?

My dad does re-enactments of different wars, and World War II happened to be one of them.

So I went, he made a costume for me... You got to go and do it.

Went along with him.

Nice.

And did you win?

Did your side win?

Yes.

Okay.

Excellent.

Fantastic.

And last but not least, Abe.

Also an athlete, but a different sport.

Talk about a winter sport, you do Nordic skiing.

Yes.

When did that start for you?

My freshman year.

All right.

And did you instantly fall in love with it?

You could say that, yeah.

All right.

How has the team been in your time on the team?

We've been doing really good.

Last year, boys were runner- up and girls won states.

And this year, we're feeling really strong about winning our division.

All right.

I always ask this if every Nordic skier, classic or skate?

I’m more of a classic guy.

More of a classic guy.

That’s great!

And this is a classic team, folks the team from Plymouth Regional High School!

[applause] All right.

Thank you so much, teams.

And thank you, watching at home.

We're going to transition now into round two, which is our three strikes and you're out round.

So the way this round works: each team gets ten questions and we go down the line, player by player.

We'll give you ten points for each correct response, and we'll keep going until all ten questions are asked or until three strikes and you're out.

A couple of reminders each team has three passes that you can use to pass to the player next to you, and there's a little bit of a clue in each question to the next question, so be on the lookout for that.

Bow, we'll do this alphabetically, so Matthew K., we're going to start with you.

This is your question.

The gothic short story The Fall of the House of Usher, which appeared in The Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque in 1840, was written by this author.

Hemingway.

Sorry, it's Edgar Allan Poe.

Matthew M. The name for this NFL team was inspired by one of Edgar Allan Poe's poems.

The Baltimore Ravens.

Correct.

Ollie.

Ravenclaw House, founded by Rowena Ravenclaw, first appeared in this novel by J.K.

Rowling.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Correct.

Max.

This rodent appeared as The Sorcerer's Apprentice in the Disney animated film Fantasia.

Pass.

Pass to Matthew K. Mickey Mouse.

Correct.

Matthew M., to you.

After Donald Trump left the show The Apprentice, this actor and former California governor took over hosting duties.

Schwarzenegger.

Correct.

Ollie.

Arnold's was a fictional diner in this series that features Richie, Potsie, and the Fonz.

It is Happy Days.

Max.

Happy Days Are Here Again was the campaign song for this man's 1932 presidential run.

Pass.

pass to Matthew K. Pass.

Pass to Matthew M. FDR.

FDR is correct.

Ollie.

Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed as the first United States ambassador to the to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights by this president in 1947.

Harry Truman.

Correct.

Max.

This actor who played Truman Burbank in the 1998 movie The Truman Show, also played Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber.

Jim Carrey.

That's right.

Matthew K. Famed baseball announcer Harry Caray is credited with this song being sung during the seventh inning stretch at baseball games.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

That is correct.

And that is your 10th question, and the end of your round.

[applause] All right.

Nice job, Bow.

Plymouth, we turn our attention over to you.

Same drill.

Abe, we’ll start with you.

This is your question.

Lady Gaga played Harley Quinn in a 2024 sequel to this 2019 movie.

Joker.

Yes.

Yuriy.

Jack Nicholson, who played the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 movie Batman, also played Jack Torrance in The Shining, a movie based on a novel by this author.

Pass.

Pass.

Pass by Aurora.

Stephen King.

Stephen King is right, Ezra.

Abe, we go back to you.

This king is famous for pulling a sword out of a rock and his round table of knights.

King Arthur.

Correct.

Yuriy.

In the children's series of books by Mark Brown, Arthur is this species of animal.

Anteater.

He is an aardvark.

Aurora.

Aardvark is not the only animal whose name begins with a double-A.

This member of the hyena family, found in east and southern Africa also shares a double-A.

Anteater.

It is the aardwolf.

Ezra.

Michael J. Fox played a basketball- playing werewolf in this 1985 movie.

It's a classic; Teen Wolf.

And that is your third strike, and the end of your round.

[applause] All right, as we get ready for round three, I'd like to invite the alternates to come on up and join their teams up at the podiums.

In round three our 60-second round each team gets ten questions in a category.

They can work together and talk to each other as a team And as the team trailing , Plymouth, I'm going to start with you over here.

Abe, you can talk to your team and choose from these three categories The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Family Feud, and You Bug Me.

You Bug Me ?

It’s gonna be about bugs, probably.

We’ll take You Bug Me.

You Bug Me, okay.

So, the answers to the following will be related to bugs, arachnids, or insects, or include the name of one.

Okay?

So again, Abe, I'll take your answer as a team answer, but you can talk to your team.

60 seconds.

Start the clock.

He traveled back in time in a DeLorean.

Marty McFly.

Correct.

This children's book by Eric Carle features a ravenous pre-butterfly.

Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar.

Think about that, judges.

His uncle tells him [realizes answer] Very that with great power comes great responsibility.

Spider-Man.

Yes.

He is the conscience of Pinocchio.

Jiminy Cricket.

Correct.

This giant insect was called on to save Japan from Godzilla in the [1961] film.

Mothra.

Yes.

Paul Rudd plays this character in the Marvel movies.

Ant-Man.

Yes, Gregor Samsa turns into an insect in this novel by The Metamorphosis.

Yes.

In this book by George Selden, a Connecticut cricket finds himself in a subway station here.

The cricket in New York City.

It is Times Square.

This German car, sometimes called a punch buggy, had an engine in the back.

The Beetle.

Yes.

She befriended Wilbur in a novel by E.B.

White.

Charlotte.

Yes, that is correct.

So we're just going to check on that and add that up.

Eight out of ten on your 60-second round.

[applause] Nice job, Plymouth.

Bow, we turn our attention to you, Matthew K., you can talk to your team and choose from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or Family Feud.

We're going to go with Family Feud.

Family Feud, okay.

The answers to the following will feature famous rivalries or feuds.

Okay?

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

60 seconds.

Start the clock.

Famous feud between two families that lasted from 1863 to 1891.

Hatfields and McCoys.

These two rappers have been feuding since 2013.

Lamar and Drake.

Yes.

These two northeastern baseball teams have had a rivalry for over a century.

Red Sox and Yankees.

Yes.

These two actors began feuding during the filming of The Fate of the Furious.

Vin Diesel and the Rock.

Correct.

This rivalry between two families in fair Verona led to six tragic deaths.

Capulets and Montagues.

Correct.

The fight between these two actors began with a slap at the Oscars.

Will Smith and Chris Rock.

Yes.

The feud between these two led to a deadly duel and a Broadway musical.

Hamilton and Burr.

Yes.

Gotham City feud between a caped crusader and a failed and demented comedian.

Batman Joker.

Yes.

This cat and mouse have been rivals in since Tom and Jerry.

Yes.

This resident of Baker Street and this criminal mastermind have been rivals for years.

Holmes and... [mispronouncing] Moriarty.

We'll think about that one, judges.

No?

Okay.

Eight out of ten on your 60-second round!

[applause] All right.

Thank you so much, alternates.

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

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.

We'll also be deducting [chime] 20 points for incorrect responses.

So... that does not count, Matthew K. We will be deducting 20 points for incorrect responses, so playing smart and strategically, Bow and Plymouth.

Good luck.

Here we go in round four.

This layer of the earth is composed of solid rock and includes the crust and upper mantle.

Matthew K. of Bow.

Core.

Sorry, no.

Plymouth Abe.

Lithosphere.

That is right.

This 1819 poem by John Keats, which reflects on beauty and permanence in art through a piece of pottery, ends with the line, Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Ode on a Grecian Urn.

Yes.

The novel Divergent by Veronica Roth is set in a post-apocalyptic future in this city.

Abe of Plymouth.

Chicago.

That’s right.

The lines, The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, and Beware the ides of March, come from this Shakespearean play.

Yuriy of Plymouth.

Julius Caesar.

That's right.

All right, teams, go ahead and take a look at your monitors.

You are looking at an 1869 sketch by American artist Frederic Edwin Church of this ancient marble temple built on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, in [the 5th century B.C.]

to commemorate a Greek victory over Persia.

Abe of Plymouth.

The Parthenon.

That's right.

This taxonomic rank comes above species and below family, and includes closely-related organisms.

Abe of Plymouth.

Phylum.

Sorry, no.

Bow.

We're looking for genus.

Teams, what is the name for a nine-sided polygon?

Ollie of Bow.

Ummm... Noctagon?

Sorry, no.

Plymouth?

Ezra?

Nonagon.

Nonagon is correct.

Launched on December 25th, 2021, this is the largest telescope in space.

Abe of Plymouth.

James Webb.

That is right.

This 2011 science fiction novel by Ernest Cline focuses on protagonist Wade Watts and his search for an Easter egg in a worldwide virtual reality game.

Ollie of Bow.

Ready Player One.

That's right.

What are you measuring if you are using the Saffir-Simpson Scale?

Matthew M. of Bow.

Ummm... tornado.

Sorry, no.

Plymouth?

Abe?

Hurricane.

Could you be more specific?

Hurricane strength.

We'll take that.

This poet asks, What happens to a dream deferred?

in his 1951 poem Harlem.

Abe of Plymouth Regional.

Hughes.

Yes, Langston Hughes.

Located in California's Sierra Nevada mountains and standing at 14,505 ft, this is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States.

Ollie of Bow.

Is it Washington?

Sorry, no.

Plymouth?

It is Mount Whitney.

The Amazon rainforest stretches across nine South American countries, but 60% of it is located in this nation.

Matthew of Bow.

Brazil.

Yes.

While singer songwriter Kris Kristofferson wrote the song Me and Bobby McGee, it was made famous by this singer's 1970 recording, released just days before her death at age 27.

Matthew M. of Bow.

Ummm... Don McLean.

Sorry, no.

Plymouth?

Abe?

Billie Holiday.

Sorry, no.

It is Janis Joplin.

So we'll factor that into the final score.

But with a very strong round four, Plymouth will be moving on to the Granite State Challenge semifinal.

[applause] Congratulations, Plymouth.

A nice round four.

We'll see you in a few weeks for the semifinals.

Bow, congratulations on your first round win, but a tough loss to a good team this week.

We hope you had fun being here.

We had fun having you here.

And we hope you had fun at home as well.

We hope you join in next week as the teams from Bishop Guertin High School and Nashua North face off in our last quarterfinal match.

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

And I learned something, and I hope you did as well.

We'll see you next time.

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

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

Thank you!

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