This week on Granite State Challenge, The Purple Panthers of Nashua High School South... [applause] take on the Patriots of Profile 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 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.

Hopefully you've been following along this season.

We've had a fantastic season started with 16 teams.

We've whittled it down to the last four, two of which are hoping to do battle today to make it to the Granite State Challenge Championship.

Let's introduce them to you.

First up, we have the team from Nashua High School South.

I'm Henry.

I'm a senior.

I'm Eric, and I'm also a senior.

I'm Thanasi.

I'm also a senior.

I'm Charlie, and I'm a sophomore Their alternates are Jerry and Lexie, and the coaches are Lex Duval and Kelli Thornhill-Telerski.

And they are the Purple Panthers of Nashua High School South!

And facing off against them this week is the team from Profile High School.

Hi.

I'm Maddie.

I'm a senior.

Hi.

I'm Moses.

I'm a senior.

Hi.

I’m Wyatt.

I'm a senior.

Hi.

I’m Raiden, and I'm a senior.

Their alternates are Henry and Andy, and the team coaches are Jill Brewer and Paul Savard.

And they are the Patriots of Profile High School!

So those are our teams for this semifinal matchup, but we do have one more introduction.

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

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

Go ahead and grab those signaling devices.

You know how we play this game.

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

So, Nashua South and Profile, Good luck.

Here we go.

Michelangelo began work on the ceiling of this Vatican chapel in 1508 and finished it in 1512.

Moses of Profile.

Sistine Chapel.

That's right.

This type of chemical bond involves the transfer of electrons between atoms.

Henry of Nashua South.

Ionic.

Yes.

With an area of 23,146 mi , this body of water, named for a queen, lies in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.

It is the largest lake in Africa and the second-largest freshwater lake in the world.

Henry of Nashua South.

Lake Victoria.

Correct.

In sheet music, this Italian word tells the musician to play loudly.

Eric of Nashua South.

Forte.

Yes.

Abraham Lincoln was the first U.S.

president to wear a beard while in office.

The last bearded president served from 1909 to 1913 and also had a very impressive handlebar mustache.

Eric of Nashua South.

William Howard Taft.

Yes.

This is the number of chambers in the human heart that pump blood throughout the body.

Moses of Profile.

Four.

That's right.

On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr.

delivered his I Have a Dream speech on the steps of this building.

Eric of Nashua South.

The Lincoln Memorial.

Right.

Teams, who composed the piano piece Clair de Lune.

Eric of Nashua South.

Claude Debussy.

Yes.

In this Newbery Award- winning novel by Louis Sachar, a young boy is sent to Camp Green Lake for a crime he didn't commit, where he and the other boys must dig holes every day as part of a character-building exercise.

Wyatt of Profile.

Holes.

That’s right.

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

This is 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.

Daisies and other flora were the inspiration for this 1960s counterculture phrase that promoted peace, love, and nonviolent protest.

Charlie of Nashua South.

Flower power.

Flower power is right.

You may have seen a BP gas station before.

BP is a multinational oil and gas company based in London, England.

What does BP stand for?

Moses of Profile.

British Petroleum.

Correct.

In 2025, Ousmane Dembélé won the Ballon d'Or award, awarded annually by France Football.

But he still trails this player, who holds the record with seven Ballon d'Or wins.

Maddie of Profile.

Messi.

Lionel Messi is right.

Dracula, Frankenstein, The Color Purple, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are all examples of this type of novel that uses letters, diaries, or emails to tell a story.

It’s an epistolary novel.

All right, teams, Justin Timberlake voiced the serious grey character Branch and performed Can't Stop the Feeling!

for this 2016 animated movie.

Henry of Nashua South.

Trolls.

Yes.

This scientist proposed the heliocentric model of the Solar System in his 1543 publication On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres.

Charlie of Nashua South.

Copernicus.

Yes.

All right, teams, it's time for our Semiquincentennial Moment, a 25-point toss-up to celebrate America's 250th anniversary, coming on your monitors.

Take a look.

Hello.

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

This Colonial-era British fortress in New Castle, New Hampshire, was captured in 1775 by American forces led by John Langdon.

Eric of Nashua South.

Fort William and Mary.

That is right.

This British Prime Minister famously said, ... we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, to the House of Commons On June 4th, 1940, during World War II, Raiden of Profile.

On tip of the tongue there Raiden, sorry.

Nashua South.

Eric.

Winston Churchill.

Winston Churchill is right.

All right, teams, what is the decimal equivalent of 4/5?

Henry of Nashua South.

0.8.

That's right.

Quarterback Tom Brady won seven Super Bowls, six with the New England Patriots and one in 2021 with this team.

Wyatt of Profile.

The Buccaneers.

Yes.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party, which was also known by this mammal-inspired nickname.

Maddie of Profile.

The Bull Moose Party.

That's right.

This man was the leader of the People's Republic of China from its founding in 1949 until his death in 1976.

Wyatt of Profile?

Mao Zedong.

Yes.

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

You are looking at The Tempest by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, who is also known for this work, depicting a contemplative, seated man.

Maddie of Profile.

The Thinker.

That's right.

Ernest Thayer, author of the 1888 poem Casey at the Bat, was editor of this undergraduate humor publication whose alumni include Conan O'Brien, Colin Jost, John Updike, Kurt Andersen, and Michael Schur.

It was the Harvard Lampoon.

All right, teams, this could be a place where you store things, a group that advises the president.

or a milkshake in Rhode Island.

Charlie of Nashua South.

Cabinet.

Cabinet is right.

This Swedish chemist who invented dynamite also left money in his 1895 will to honor those who, in his words, have conferred the greatest benefits to humankind.

Raiden of Profile.

Nobel.

Alfred Nobel is right.

[alarm blaring] All right, teams, that sound ends the round, and it looks like Nashua South out to a bit of a lead by a score of 155 to 100.

[applause] All right, great job, teams.

But before I get to round two, we're going to take a pause in the action and have a little chat about what your future plans are.

And we'll start with a team from Nashua High School South.

All right.

Nashua South, of course, is in the city of Nashua.

1,635 kids.

And if you've been watching the show this season, usually we talk to each contestant about sort of what they do or something interesting about them.

But today we thought we would ask about future plans.

So, Charlie, what are you thinking about doing after high school?

I'm really interested in zoology.

Okay, so, going to college to learn about zoology and maybe a career?

Hopefully, yes.

Any specific career in mind?

Not really.

I mean, I'm still a sophomore, so I’ve got time.

You’ve got a long time to wait.

Let me ask, is there any type of animal that you are particularly interested in studying?

I really like reptiles herpetology.

Okay, well, you can do that, and I will let you do that without me.

We're going to move on to Thanasi, a senior, so really thinking about what's next for you.

What is next for you?

I want to go to law school eventually.

Okay, so, go somewhere maybe do undergraduate in... what are you thinking?

I'm thinking political science.

Okay, political science, then going on to law school.

Any sort of area of law you’re particularly interested in?

I would probably do something private initially, like corporate law work, at a firm.

And then after that, work for the government, either for prosecution or defense.

Okay.

So, yeah.

So, earn some money and then do some good in the world.

I love it.

All right, Eric, thinking about after high school, going to college for something near and dear to my heart, which is what?

Secondary education.

Specifically in what subject?

Social studies.

Specifically a social studies high school teacher.

All right.

Excellent.

Anything in particular you love?

The history, geography, psychology?

I love both history and geography.

So either of those would be good.

Maybe a dual major.

Yeah, sure.

Yes.

All right.

We could do that.

All right.

Excellent.

Well, I will see you as a colleague one of these days.

And then, Henry, also thinking about something in science.

What about for you?

Environmental science.

All right.

Where do you think the sort of interest in environmental science sort of came from?

Well, my family spends a lot of time outside, so it probably started there.

But I really liked my AP environmental science class last year, and I took an ecology course in Concord over the summer, and that kind of solidified it.

Excellent.

So a lot of love in the background, something you could do for a career also to help the world.

Yes.

It's fantastic.

Thank you Henry.

And that is the team from Nashua High School South!

[applause] All right.

Moving on down.

We’re going to talk to the team from Profile High School.

It’s located up in Bethlehem, but it serves the towns of Bethlehem, Easton, Franconia, and Sugar Hill.

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

Thinking about taking a gap year next year.

What is a gap year?

You essentially just take a year between when you graduate high school and the following fall when you attend college, usually just to, like, get working, save money, travel.

Do some of that stuff to maybe launch you into your college career.

Exactly.

So thinking about a college career after that in what field?

Chemical engineering.

Okay.

Chemical engineering.

How come that?

I've always loved chemistry and I've always loved engineering, so, sort of like a perfect meld of the things I really enjoy doing in an academic sense.

Excellent.

I think we need a lot of good engineers.

So, excellent to see that.

Wyatt, thinking about studying in the great state of Massachusetts.

Heading south of the border.

Yes.

All right.

Where are you what are you thinking about Studying down in Massachusetts?

History.

History.

Okay.

Any particular... professional field you're hoping to do with that history or...?

No idea yet.

Do the wait-and-see sort of game.

Well, there's a lot you can do with a history degree, believe it or not, because, you know, historians are some of the best readers and writers and thinkers, so... excellent.

Well, we'll be sad to lose you here in the Shire, but wish you the best.

All right, Moses.

All right, thinking about studying physics where?

Dartmouth College.

So you got accepted to Dartmouth College earlier this year.

Congratulations on that.

It's a great achievement.

And why physics?

It's a very open field.

It's always been fascinating to me.

And I've been getting more into it the past couple of months, and I think I could make a career out of it.

I think you probably can; probably earn some good money with a physics degree from Dartmouth.

Right?

Maybe.

Let’s hope.

Hopefully.

And last but not least here, team captain Maddie loves the ancients.

Oh, yeah.

Tell us about that.

Yeah, so I want to go into art history and classical archaeology.

The hope is to be like in the dig sites of Pompeii.

Okay.

Gotcha.

So you're not so much interested in putting these things on display in museums.

You want to pull them out of the ground?

Oh, yeah.

Identify them, figure out what they are and where they're from?

All right.

Excellent.

Have you had the chance to travel to Pompeii or any of those types of sites?

Yeah, I went on April break two years ago.

Gotcha.

So it sparked a love that's persisted ever since.

Oh yeah.

Excellent.

Very, very good.

Love to hear about those future plans.

This is your team from Profile High School.

[applause] All right, teams, thanks so much for that.

We're going to roll right into round two.

And in round two, you know as our three strikes and you're out round.

And so the way this works is that we go down the line player by player for each team.

We give each team ten questions.

We’ll award them 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.

Just as a reminder, each team, you have three passes you can pass to the teammate next to you, and there's a bit of a clue in each question to the next question.

So be paying attention.

All right, Nashua South, we'll start with you.

And Henry, this is your question.

The beluga whale is a member of the Monodontidae family.

The only other extant species in this family is this species, known for its long, protruding tooth that looks like a unicorn horn.

Narwhal.

Correct.

Eric.

The narwhal is found in the Arctic waters of Russia, Norway, Canada, and this autonomous territory of Denmark.

Greenland.

Greenland is right.

Thanasi.

Greenland was left in unoccupied territory after the fall of this country to Germany in 1940.

It was Denmark.

Charlie, this is your question.

This Danish author wrote plays, travelogs, novels, and poems, but is best known for his fairytales.

Pass.

Pass to Henry.

Pass.

Henry passes to Eric.

Hans Christian Andersen.

Is correct.

Back to you, Thanasi.

This tale by Hans Christian Andersen is about a leader who, due to his vanity, parades through the streets of his kingdom completely naked.

It is the Emperor's New Clothes.

Charlie.

The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest extant penguin species.

The smallest penguin species is this species found off the coast of Australia and New Zealand.

Pass.

Pass to Henry.

Rockhopper.

Sorry.

No, we're looking for the fairy penguin.

And I believe that is your three strikes and the end of your round.

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

Same procedure.

Maddie, we'll start with you.

Here's your question.

Appointed by Governor Craig Benson in 2004, this woman became the first female attorney general of New Hampshire.

Jeanne Shaheen.

It was Kelly Ayotte.

Moses.

Following his career as a naval officer and a NASA astronaut, Mark Kelly became a senator from this state in 2020.

Pass.

Pass to Wyatt.

I’mma say Texas.

It is Arizona.

All right, Raiden, to you.

Arizona was the 48th state admitted to the Union, making it the last of the contiguous states.

This was the first contiguous state admitted to the Union.

Delaware.

Correct.

Maddie.

Although Joe Biden was a senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009, he was born in this state.

Pass.

Pass to Moses.

Pass.

Pass to Wyatt.

Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania is right.

Raiden.

James Buchanan was the only other U.S.

president to hail from Pennsylvania.

He was an advocate for states’ rights, and served from 1857 to 1861.

He was followed in office by this man.

It was Abraham Lincoln, and that is your third strike and the end of your round.

[applause] All right.

Things staying about even after round two.

I'd like to invite the alternates to come on up and join their teams for round three.

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

You can work together and talk together as a team.

And Profile, as the team currently trailing, you get to choose first from this week's categories.

They are Heartfelt, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and Peace Out.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Okay.

So, in this category, the answers to all the following will include the words good or bad or ugly.

Okay?

So, again, Maddie, you can talk to your team, but I will take your answer as the team answer.

60 seconds.

Start the clock.

He was selected to perform at Super Bowl [LX / 60].

Bad Bunny.

Correct.

This song by the Beach Boys will give you the excitations, Good Vibrations.

Correct.

You might give up meat and eat fish on this day before Easter Sunday.

Good Friday.

Yes.

You might carry a rabbit's foot hoping it will bring you this.

Good luck.

Yes.

This term for farewell is the first part of the song Time of your Life by Green Day.

Goodbye.

It's Good Riddance.

You might wear one of these at Christmas.

Ugly sweater.

Correct.

According to a song by The Osmonds, one of these don't ruin the whole bunch.

One Bad Egg.

It's a bad apple.

Anastasia and Drizella are these in the Disney movie Cinderella.

Ugly stepsisters.

Yes.

This song by Lady Gaga was released in 2009.

Bad Romance.

Correct.

He grew into a beautiful swan.

Ugly Duckling.

Correct.

That is your 10th question, and we'll add them all up.

Eight out of ten on your 60-second round!

[applause] Great job, Profile.

Nashua South, we turn our attention to you.

Henry.

You can talk to your team and choose from Heartfelt or Peace Out.

We’re going to go with Heartfelt.

Heartfelt, okay.

The answers to all the following will be related to the word heart or include the word heart.

Okay?

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

I will take your answer as the team answer.

60 seconds.

Start the clock.

Band led by Ann and Nancy Wilson.

Heart.

Correct.

She would threaten to chop off your head if you Queen of Hearts.

Yes.

This Roman god of desire and love will shoot an arrow through your heart.

Cupid.

Correct.

Short story by Edgar Allen Poe about a murderer who [The] Tell-Tale Heart.

Yes.

Novella by Joseph Conrad about the dark Heart of Darkness.

Correct.

This.

This Nirvana song had a Heart-Shaped Box.

Correct.

Mel Gibson played Scottish warrior William Wallace in this 1990 Braveheart.

Yes.

Hoagy Carmichael song played on a giant piano at FAO Schwarz in the movie Big.

Heart and Soul.

Correct.

Achy Breaky Heart was a hit song by Billy Ray Cyrus who is this singer's dad.

Miley Cyrus.

Correct.

Neil Young claims he is a miner for one of these hearts.

Heart of Gold.

Correct.

And if my math is correct, that is a ten out of ten [applause] on your 60-second round!

Great job, both teams.

Alternates, thank you so much.

You can go ahead and resume your seats as we get prepared to go 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, Nashua South and Profile, still a pretty tight game.

Good luck.

Here we go.

Indeed, our first question in this round is a video question from a former Granite State Challenge contestant.

Take a look.

Hi.

I'm Greg Jolin, former Granite State Challenge competitor for Manchester Central and recent Jeopardy!

champion.

Which U.S.

president called the relationship between the U.S.

military and the defense industry the military-industrial complex in his 1961 farewell address.

Wyatt of Profile.

Eisenhower.

Eisenhower’s right.

What is the term for the mathematical constant representing the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter?

Charlie of Nashua South.

Pi.

That's right.

Brian Jacques wrote a trilogy about Nebuchadnezzar and his dog Denmark, who are castaways aboard this legendary ghost ship.

Eric of Nashua South.

Flying Dutchman.

Yes.

The earliest known depiction of Halley's Comet appears in the Bayeux Tapestry, which portrays the Norman conquest of England.

What year does the tapestry depict?

Moses of Profile.

1066.

Right.

Teams, who [roughly] said, Imagination is more important than knowledge.

For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress and giving birth to evolution.

Moses of Profile.

Albert Einstein.

Correct.

This political party active from 1848 to 1854 was opposed to the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

Martin Van Buren won 10% of the popular vote, running as the party's presidential candidate in 1848.

Thanasi of Nashua South.

The Whig Party.

Sorry, no.

Profile.

Gotta ring in, Wyatt.

Oh.

Go ahead.

The Know Nothing Party.

It is not the Know Nothing Party; It is the Free Soil Party.

All right.

This author of A Light in the Attic, The Giving Tree, and Where the Sidewalk Ends, also penned Johnny Cash’s hit A Boy Named Sue and Dr.

Hook’s The Cover of the Rolling Stone.

Henry of Nashua South.

Silverstein.

Shel Silverstein is right.

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

You are looking at a species of two-toed sloth found in South America and the largest extant sloth species.

It is named for this Swedish biologist and physician who formalized the binomial naming system for animals.

Moses of Profile.

Linnaeus.

Yes, Carl Linnaeus.

This comedy duo was the subject of the 2018 biographical film Stan and Ollie, starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly.

That comedy duo was Laurel and Hardy.

This American swimmer holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals in swimming, with a total of 23, spanning four Olympic Games from 2000 to 2016.

Moses of Profile.

Phelps.

Michael Phelps is right.

A day on this planet is longer than a year.

A day on the planet is equivalent to 243 Earth days, while a year is the equivalent of only 225 Earth days.

Charlie of Nashua South.

Venus.

Is right.

This Harlem Renaissance author wrote, Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Eric of Nashua South.

Zora Neale Hurston.

Correct.

This [2023] film directed by Greta Gerwig stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as famous dolls.

Moses of Profile.

Barbie.

Yes.

While La Paz is Bolivia's administrative capital, this city is its constitutional capital, and its name is also the French word for sugar.

Eric of Nashua South.

Sucre.

Yes.

This 1853 short story by Herman Melville, subtitled A Story of Wall Street, centers on a quiet legal clerk who refuses to work with the repeated phrase, I prefer not to.

That is Bartleby, the Scrivener.

In the 1997 movie Good Will hunting, Stellan Skarsård plays Professor Gerald Lambeau, a reluctant mentor to Will Hunting and winner of this prestigious math award given by the International Mathematical Union to two to four mathematicians under the age of 40.

Moses of Profile.

Fields Medal.

Yes.

This tiny European principality found in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain has a population of under 80,000 people and has co-princes the Bishop of Urgell and Emmanuel Macron, the president of France.

Eric of Nashua South.

Andorra.

Correct.

This modern dance pioneer created a technique that emphasizes contraction and release of the torso.

Her works include Appalachian Spring and Lamentation.

[alarm blaring] That is Martha Graham, and that sound ends the game!

And holding off a charge by Profile, Nashua South will be moving on to the Granite State Challenge Championship.

[applause] Congratulations, Nashua South.

We'll see you in two weeks when you take on the winners of our next semifinal match.

And Profile, tough loss, but great run for you.

It's been a lot of fun having you on the show the past couple of seasons.

We wish you the best.

We hope you had fun.

We hope you had fun as well.

We do hope you join us next week when the team from Bishop Guertin High School takes on the team from Plymouth Regional High School.

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

And you know what?

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

We'll see you next time.

[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!

♪