This week on Granite State Challenge, the team from Hopkinton High School takes on the team from Merrimack 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 NEA New Hampshire, Safety Insurance, The New Hampshire Lottery, D.F.

Richard Energy, Cognia, HRCU.

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 the first of two semifinal matches on Granite State Challenge.

We've got four teams hoping to make it to the Granite State Challenge Championship.

Two of them are here this week to do battle.

Let's introduce them to you.

First up, we have the team from Hopkinton.

They're led by junior Captain Adam and Adam.

Most of us love this candy.

Sweet treat.

But you are not a fan.

What is it?

Chocolate.

All chocolate in general.

All chocolate in general.

How long has this been, like a whole life thing for you?

Pretty much since I was, like, a toddler.

Yeah.

Okay, so.

So what is Halloween trick or treating like, then?

Yeah, When I was younger, it's kind of a try and figure out where I'm going to be able to get the candy.

I like and where I'm not going to, and then trading it with some of my friends.

Hopefully they were accommodating.

Right, for that trade.

Well, most of us love chocolate.

I'm sure they were.

All right.

Adam is joined by senior Hal, who, according to his own words, is an amazing driver.

Yeah, I'm actually really, really good at it, but the very first time I got my license was a couple of years ago.

I hadn't even been on the road yet.

And I was backing out of my driveway and I just totally take out my mailbox.

All right.

I mean, was it time for a new mailbox anyway?

I think it was.

Okay, fair enough.

Not much damage to the car and a good lesson learned early on.

Yeah, there you go.

Nothing wrong with that.

Hal is joined by Junior Colton, who has a different kind of license than just a car.

What is it?

I have a boating license, which I got over the COVID period where I was stuck in my house and had nothing to do.

And so you you got the boating license.

Where do you boat?

So I boat up at my grandparents camp on Little Averil Pond in Vermont.

It's a nice little lake, very nice community up there.

Really nice people.

And it's a beautiful spot to go out boating.

Nice.

Perfect.

You could do that for the rest of your life.

Maybe get a captain's license.

Absolutely.

Hopefully.

All right.

Colton is joined by Junior Conrad.

And Conrad, you have a middle name.

You share a middle name with my dog.

And that is Rocco.

It is Rocco.

So where's that name come from?

I love that name comes my grandfather and it's Italian.

Classic Italian name.

And your grandfather's from Italy?

Yup.

Nice.

That's fantastic.

All right.

Conrad is joined by the alternates for the team.

They are freshmen Thomas and Finn.

And the coach is Matthew Krogman.

They're the team from Hopkinton High School.

And facing off against them is the team from Merrimack High School.

And they are led by senior Captain Jack, who today is wearing his lucky what?

There's my lucky bow tie.

Okay.

How long have you had this lucky bow tie?

I got this my freshman year when I was a spectator for Merrimack's Granite State Challenge matches.

I've won it ever since.

11 games now, I believe.

And what's the record in those 11 games?

It's brought us some good fortune, a good record.

Okay, so good record.

Well, hopefully it continues with a good record.

Jack is joined by Senor Rainier, who has a collection of sorts.

What is it?

A collection of a whole bunch of pens.

A whole bunch of pens.

Where do you get these pens?

Everywhere I go, Pretty much.

Pretty much.

Okay.

These are just pens that you get from here and there.

Do you sort of seek them out or do you just kind of end up them.

If they have pens out.

I will get pens.

Gotcha.

Do you have a favorite?

Yeah, I've got a little wooden, yellow and blue pen that I got in Bar.

Harbor this year.

Oh, that's fantastic.

All right.

Rainier is joined by Aris, who is a book fan.

And you have a system by which you keep track of these books.

Tell us.

Yeah, I have an Excel file that has all the books I own organized by author's last name, but it also has the publication year and the publisher.

I currently have 220 or pardon me, 327 books.

So you get a new book, You've got to add it to the spreadsheet.

Of course.

Yeah.

Love a good spreadsheet.

All right.

Aris is joined by senior Alli and Alli.

You go by Alli.

How come?

So I went by Alison for a while.

That was kind of I didn't really go by Alli, but in preschool I asked people start calling me Alli because I couldn't write the.

S in Alison.

It's tough for a preschooler to write the letter S Right.

You've been Alli ever since I have it stuck.

It stuck.

Fantastic.

The team alternates are juniors Keyshawn, Liam and Trey, and the team is coached by Sarah Campbell and Sally Eagle, and they're the team from Merrimack High School.

All right, those are our teams this week.

But of course we wouldn't be done if we did not also introduce our judge.

Back with us again is Ann Boulanger.

All right, teams, introductions are out of the way.

Go ahead and grab those signaling devices because we are going to jump right into round one, ten point toss up questions coming your way, Hopkinton and Merrimack.

Good luck.

This sport, known as the Sport of Kings, is divided into two periods called Chuckers Jack of Merrimack, Cricket.

Sorry, no.

It's polo.

Polo.

In 2022, Argentina defeated this country to win the World Cup.

Hal of Hopkinton, France.

Yes.

This man who ruled from 1894 until his abdication in 1917 was the last emperor of Russia.

Rainier of Merrimack.

Nicholas, the second correct.

Angela Lansbury won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Sybil Vane in the 1945 movie The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was based on the 1890 novel of the same name by this author Cal of Hopkinton.

Oscar Wilde.

Correct.

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded this country and engaged in a war that lasted until its withdrawal in 1989.

Hal of Hopkinton, Afghanistan.

Yes, this confrontation between nine British soldiers who shot and killed three colonists in Boston in 1770, known as the incident on King Street in Great.

Britain, is known by this slightly more inflammatory name in the US, Alli, of Merrimack.

The Boston massacre.

Correct.

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

You are looking at an 1891 photograph of the old man of the mountain, a natural rock formation that was once found on this mountain in New Hampshire.

Rainier of Merrimack.

CANNON That's right.

It takes two to do this dance that originated in the Rio de la Plata region between Argentina and Uruguay.

Jack of Merrimack.

Tango It does.

This Shakespearian character encourages her husband to commit regicide so he can become king of Scotland.

Rainier of Merrimack.

Lady Macbeth?

Yes.

This infield hit in baseball is designed to move a runner forward on the bases and is achieved not by swinging the bat, but by pushing it forward.

Conrad of Hopkinton Bunt.

That's right.

After John Hancock put his distinctive signature on the declaration of Independence, this physician and New Hampshire delegate to the second Continental Congress, who lent his surname to a fictional president in the series The West Wing, signed his name Aris of Merrimack.

Josiah Bartlett.

Correct.

The sitcom Third.

Rock from the Sun, aired from 1996 to 2001, It starred John Lithgow as Dick Solomon, the head of a family of aliens that included Joseph Gordon-Levitt as teenager Tommy Solomon trying to pass as humans.

What planet is the third Rock from the Sun, Alli of Merrimack Earth.

That's it.

In 2009, after both of the engines of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 were struck and disabled by a flock of geese.

Pilot Sully Sullenberger landed the plane with 155 people on board safely in this river.

Jack of Merrimack.

The Hudson.

That is right.

This man who fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1938 served as US secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 under Presidents Nixon and Ford.

Hal of Hopkinton, Henry Kissinger.

He's the one.

All right, teams for the next question.

Go ahead and take a look at your monitors for a civics question coming from New Hampshire's kid governor.

Take a look.

Two governors of California were actors before getting into politics.

One was Arnold Schwarzenegger, famous for his roles in movies like The Terminator and Predator.

The other was this man famous for his roles in movies like Newt Rockne all-American and Bedtime for Bonzo.

Jack of Merrimack, Ronald Reagan, he is the one.

Yes.

This British poet and illustrator was known for nonsense poems and limericks like The Owl and the Pussycat.

And there was an old man with a beard.

Jack of Merrimack Cummings.

Sorry, No.

Was Edward Lear.

This inorganic compound of hydrogen and nitrogen has a formula of NH3.

It has a strong, pungent smell and is used in many cleaning products, especially glass cleaners, where it leaves no streaks.

Rainier of Merrimack.

Ammonia.

Yes.

Scientists believe that the loudest sound ever produced on the surface of the earth was 310 decibels and occurred on August 27th, 1883, when this Indonesian volcano erupted.

Conrad of Hopkinton.

Mount Aloa.

Sorry.

No.

Merrimack.

Sorry.

Adam can't ring in Merrimack.

It is Krakatoa was the volcano we were looking for.

And that sound ends the round.

Merrimack out to a bit of a lead at the end, around one.

All right, Hot start teams.

Let's keep it going in round two, which is our three strikes and you're out round at this point, you know, the drill.

We go down the line.

One question per team member until three strikes and you're out or until all ten questions are asked.

As a reminder, each team has three passes and the inspiration for each question can be found in the previous question.

So, Hopkinton, we will start with you.

And Adam.

This is your question.

In an 1845 poem by Edgar Allan Poe, what does The Raven say?

Nevermore.

Yes.

Hal, this actor played Raven Baxter, a teen psychic on the Disney show.

That's so Raven.

From 2003 to 2007, she has reprised the role in a series that launched in 2017.

I don't know.

It is Raven Samoan.

Colton.

The school in this series about a young member of the Addams.

Family is called Nevermore.

Pass Conrad Wednesday That is right.

Adam John Adams died on July 4th, 1826, the same day as this founding Father Thomas Jefferson.

Correct.

Hal, this founding father and fifth president of the United States also died on July 4th, but he died in 1831.

MONROE Yes.

COLTON This president's daughter, Malia, was born on the 4th of July in 1998.

Uh, Eisenhower sorry, it's Barack Obama.

CONRAD Before he became president of the United States, Barack Obama was the junior U.S. senator for this state, Hawaii.

Sorry, it is Illinois.

And that is a third strike and ends your three strikes rounds.

All right, Merrimack, we turn to you.

And same deal, Jack, This is your question.

This state is known as the Sunshine State and is known for its oranges and alligators.

Florida, correct.

Rainier, The comedy drama series Orange is the New Black, is set in this confining location, New York.

It is in a prison.

Aris, This singer famously performed two concerts in Folsom Prison in California in 1968.

Pass.

Alice.

Pass to Jack.

Johnny Cash, Correct.

Rainier.

Johnny Cash was known by this nickname because he dressed in somber colors, beige.

The Man in black.

Aris, the 1997 movie Men in Black starred this performer as Agent J.

Will Smith, correct?

Alli, Will Smith tarnished his reputation as a nice guy when he slapped this host of the 94th Academy Awards in 2020.

Pass.

Jack, your question.

Chris Rock Correct.

Rainier.

Dwayne Johnson, also known as the Rock, voiced the character Demigod Maui in this 2016 film.

Moana.

Correct Aris, this demigod in Greek mythology had very sensitive heels.

Achilles Yes, Alli, the Tar Heels have won six NCAA Division one men's basketball titles.

What university do the Tar Heels play for University for?

University of North Carolina?

Correct, Jack.

This private university in North Carolina, whose mascot is a blue devil, has won five NCAA Division one men's basketball titles.

Duke That is correct.

And that's the 10th question and ends your three strikes rounds.

All right.

Teens at this time, as we roll into round three, I'd like to invite two alternates from each team to go up and join their teams at the podium in round three, our 60 second round.

Each team gets ten questions in a category.

They can work and talk as a team, and I take the captain's answer as the team answer.

Hopkinton as the team trailing.

Right now, you get to select first from our three categories and they are Mind your Ps and Qs, come fly away and keep a lid on it.

Come fly away, come fly away.

All right.

The the answers to the following will be words or phrases that include the letters f I y in that order.

As a reminder, Adam, I take your answer as the team answer 60 seconds.

Start the clock.

Gritty is the mascot for this hockey team.

Flyers.

Yes.

Jeff Goldbloom and Gina Davis starred in this 1986 science fiction horror film, The Fly.

Yes, this architectural feature is found on gothic cathedrals.

Pass.

It is Flying buttresses.

The Wicked Witch of the West is aided by these minions.

Flying Monkeys.

Yes, Bullwinkle companion.

Rocky is one of these aerial rodents.

Flying squirrel.

Yes.

The Karner Blue is this type of insect butterfly.

Yes.

This could be an insect or a space Western TV series.

Pass.

It is Firefly.

The free endpapers of a book are called this.

Fliers.

It is fly leaf.

What you want to be when you want to know what is going on behind closed doors.

Fly on a wall.

Yes.

Steve Miller Band's 1976 song about Fly Like an Eagle.

I don't know if they got that in in time.

I think they did.

And after the around seven out of ten on your 60 second round.

Nice work, Hopkinton, Merrimack, We now turn to you and Jack, you and your team can choose from Mind your P's and Q's and keep a lid on its P's and Q's, please.

Okay, Mind your P's and Q's.

It is.

The answers to the following will be words with both a P and a Q in them.

As a reminder, I'll take your answer as the team answer.

Jack, 60 seconds.

Start the clock.

You might sew these decorative pieces of fabric on a garment pass.

Applique.

This is a four letter word for a witty, sometimes biting remark quip.

Yes, this is what you call a movie or book about an events preceding the original work prequel.

Yes.

This Boston, the Boston Celtics play on this style of floor hardwood lacquer.

Sorry, it's parquet.

This is what you call five babies born at the same time to the same quintuplets.

Yes.

This could be a film on your teeth or something you hang on a wall.

Plaque.

Yes.

This is what you call a course you must take before you take a prerequisite.

Yes.

This is what you do when you increase something four fold.

Quadruple, quadruple.

Yes.

These are the muscles in the front of your thighs.

Quadriceps.

Yes.

This is a fast moving ballroom dance waltz.

It is the quickstep.

And that ends you around.

How many?

Seven out of ten on your rounds.

All right.

Nice job teams.

Alternates, you can go ahead and take your seats.

And we are going to head into round four.

In round four, we continue with our toss up questions, but we're going to be doubling the point value.

So we're playing for 20 point toss up questions.

It's a long round.

There's a lot to play for Hopkinton and Merrimack.

Play smart.

Here we go.

Bill and Ted, meet this Greek philosopher considered to be the founder of Western philosophy.

In the 1989 movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Colton of Hopkinton, Socrates.

Yes.

Ten Downing Street is the residence of the prime minister of the U.K., who became prime minister of the UK in 2022, after Liz Truss.

Jack of Merrimack.

Rishi Sunak.

Yes.

All right, teams, we have a math question.

You have pencil and paper in case you want it.

There are eight Ivy League schools and one of them, Dartmouth, is in New Hampshire.

What percentage of Ivy League schools are in New Hampshire?

Rainier of Merrimack, 12.5.

That is right.

In 1892, James Naismith, the Springfield, Massachusetts, physical education instructor at the YMCA, published the rules for this sport, Alli of Merrimack Basketball.

Right.

Anna Hyatt Huntington created the first sculpture dedicated to historical women in New York City.

Her 1915 sculpture found on Riverside Drive and 93rd Street, depicts this armored French saint and heroine mounted on a horse.

Aris of Merrimack.

Joan of Arc.

Right.

Teams who are the four presidents on Mount Rushmore?

Aris of Merrimack, Teddy Roosevelt, Lincoln, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson.

You got them all.

Well done.

This artist released his first album, Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey, in 1973.

His breakthrough album, Born to Run, was released two years later In 1975.

Jack of Merrimack.

Bruce Springsteen.

Yes.

All right, teams, it is time for our Unitil power question.

We're going to double the points this a 40 point toss up question coming to you on your monitors.

Take a look.

This family of superheroes includes a mom who is super stretchy, a dad who is super strong, a son who is super fast, a daughter who can make herself invisible and create force fields and a baby whose powers are developing.

Hal of Hopkinton, The Incredibles.

Yes.

In this 2019 graphic novel by Kiku Hughes, a teenager travels back in time to join her grandmother, Ernestina, in a Japanese internment camp during World.

War II.

It's called displacement.

Astronomer William Herschel, who discovered the planet.

Uranus in 1781 and named it the Georgian star, became the court astronomer a year later for this English king was George, the third teams who called the attack on Pearl Harbor a date which will live in infamy.

Colton of Hopkinton, FDR.

That's right.

The boiling point of water in Fahrenheit is 212 degrees.

What is the boiling point of water in Celsius?

Conrad of Hopkinton, 100.

That's right.

In 2004, this became the first state to legalize same sex marriage.

Adam of Hopkinton, California, sorry.

No.

Aris of Merrimack, Massachusetts.

That is right.

This Canadian singer's fans were outraged when she was left off.

Rolling Stone's list of the 200 greatest singers of all time in 2023.

Hopefully their hearts will go on.

Adam of Hopkinton.

Celine Dion.

That's right.

In 1953, Ralph Ellison became the first black author to win a National Book Award for this novel about an unnamed black man who narrates his life story and tells of how he feels unseen by Society.

Hal of Hopkinton, The Invisible Man, sorry no, Merrimack, Aris, Invisible Man, Just Invisible Man is the title.

This could be a small insectivore or a unit of measurement in chemistry.

Aris of Merrimack Mole.

That's right.

Over 2.8 million people live in and around Quito, the capital city of this South American country.

Adam of Hopkinton, Ecuador.

Right.

In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act into law, creating the Interstate Highway System.

The first two interstate highways in New Hampshire were formed in 1957.

One runs for 16 miles through New Hampshire, from Massachusetts to Maine, and the other runs for almost 132 miles through New Hampshire from Massachusetts to Vermont.

What are those two interstate highways?

Adam of Hopkinton, 93 and 89.

Sorry, no.

Merrimack, you had 93.

The other is 95.

89, formed in 1967.

This 1993 movie featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy as which sisters Sarah Winifred and Mary Sanderson was followed up with a sequel in 2022.

Aris of Merrimack.

Hocus Pocus?

That's right.

All right, teams, Our next question is a video question from a special guest coming to you on your monitors.

Hello, I'm Rebecca Rule, host of our hometown.

This city in Rockingham County was the capital of the New Hampshire colony from 1689 to 1775.

Rainier of Merrimack.

Exeter.

Sorry, no.

Hopkinton, Adam Dover.

Nope.

Both close.

It was Portsmouth.

Thank you.

Rebecca Rule.

This author is known for the books.

Are you there God, it's me, Margaret.

Tales of a Fourth Grade.

Nothing and Blubber.

Conrad of Hopkinton.

Uh, tip of the tongue was Judy Blume was the author.

In 1941, the US Department of the Interior commissioned this landscape photographer who worked in black and white to create a photo mural of images the net of the national parks for the department.

The project was halted at the beginning of World War II but in 2010, images from the project were installed on the first and second floors of the department.

That photographer was Ansel Adams.

This species of small dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period was featured in Jurassic Park, the name of this small dinosaur translates from Latin to Swift Thief Adam of Hopkinton, Velociraptor.

That's right.

The Falklands War was fought in 1982.

In a ten week conflict between Great Britain and this country over a group of islands in the South Atlantic.

Jack of Merrimack, Argentina.

Yes.

Berry Gordy, JR founded Motown Records in 1959.

Motown takes its name from the nickname of this city, a center of automobile manufacturing.

Jack of Merrimack, Detroit.

That is right.

This planet rotates so fast.

A day is only 9 hours and 56 minutes long.

Aris of Merrimack, Mercury, sorry, no, Hopkinton, Hal.

Pluto.

It is Jupiter.

In 2008, this leader resigned as Cuba's president Jack of Merrimack.

Fidel Castro?

That's right.

This Swiss psychiatrist known for the development of analytical psychology, believed that individuation was at the core of human development.

Aris of Merrimack.

Freudian.

Sorry.

Nope.

Well, that sound ends the game.

The answer to that question was Carl Young.

And with a good round, Merrimack is moving on to the Granite.

State Challenge Championship.

Great win, Merrimack.

We'll see you in a couple of weeks for the championship match and Hopkinton.

Well done getting this far.

Congrats on your two wins.

We hope you had fun.

We had fun having you here.

We hope you had fun as well at home.

We hope you join us next week when the teams from Plymouth Regional High School and Trinity.

High School hope to get that last, final spot.

That's going to do it for us this week.

I learned a lot.

I hope you did as well.

We'll see you next time.

Goodbye.

Major funding for the production of Granite State challenge is provided by UNITIL.

Additional funding provided by NEA New Hampshire, Safety Insurance, The New Hampshire Lottery, D.F.

Richard Energy, Cognia, HRCU.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.