This week on Granite State Challenge.

The team from Merrimack High School takes on the team from Trinity 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 DF Richard Energy.

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 Granite State Challenge.

This week, we have our first of two semifinal matchups.

We've got two teams here hoping to make their way to the Granite State Super Challenge.

Let's introduce them to you.

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

I'm Kishan the captain and a senior.

I'm Trey Grant.

I'm a senior.

I'm Erin Murray.

I'm a junior.

I'm Liam.

I'm a senior.

All right.

The alternates for the team are Shelby and Avis, and they're coached by chemistry teacher Sarah Campbell and gifted and talented coordinator Sally Engle.

And that's the team from Merrimack High School.

And their opponents this week is the team from Trinity High School.

Hi, I'm Hayden.

I'm a senior.

I'm Matt.

I'm a senior.

I'm Desmond.

I'm a junior.

Hi, I'm Tyler.

I'm a junior.

The alternates for the team.

Robyn Long.

And the team is coached by social studies teacher Andrew Lavoy and math teacher Louis Sievers.

And that's the team from Trinity High School.

So those are our teams this week.

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

All right.

Team's introductions are out of the way.

Go ahead and grab those buzzers because we're going to play some Granite State challenge as you know, we play in four rounds and in round one we do ten point toss up questions.

So Merrimack and Trinity, good luck.

Let's go.

In what professional sport will you find?

The penguins, the ducks, the coyotes, the sharks and the in Kishan of Merrimack Hockey?

Yes.

In 1903, King Gillette invented a safety one of these.

Kishan Of Merrimack Razor.

That's right.

This could be a peg used in golf or a drink.

Loved by the British.

Liam of Merrimack.

Tea?

Yes.

Frogs, toads, newts and salamanders are members of this class of animals that spend time on land and in the water.

Map of Trinity Amphibian?

Yes.

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, a favorite of President Joe Biden, is better known by this name.

Liam of Merrimack.

Amtrak.

That's right.

The 1995 movie Clueless about the matchmaking teen Cher Horowitz was based on the 1815 novel Emma by this author Kishan of Merrimack.

Jane Austen.

Yes.

This director's first film was the 1971 movie THX 1138, about a dystopian world run by Android police.

He went on to direct several films set in a galaxy far, far away.

Map of Trinity Lucas.

Yes.

George Lucas is right.

Julia Child trained in this prestigious.

Parisian cooking school that lends its name to a chicken dish made with ham and Swiss cheese.

Matt of Trinity.

Cordon Bleu.

Yes.

Le Cordon Blue is right.

For our next question is a video question coming to you on your monitors from New Hampshire's kid, Governor Ellie Lively.

Take a look.

New Hampshire is one of the largest state health memberships in the U.S.

There is about one representative for every 3330 people.

How many state House representatives are there in the New Hampshire House of Representatives?

Trey of Merrimack, 400 400 is right.

The condition.

Conjunctivitis is usually known by this more colorful name.

Hayden of Trinity Pink eye.

Yes, she is the heroine and may be love interest of Robin Hood and was played by actor Amy Yazbeck in the Mel Brooks movie Robin Hood Men in Tights.

Aaron of Merrimack Maid Marian.

Yes, the Washington Monument is an example of this tall structure whose name means little skewer in Greek.

Tyler of Trinity Obelisk.

Yes.

This capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina was the site of the 1984 Winter Olympics.

Matt of Trinity, Sarajevo.

Yes.

Teams.

What is the least common multiple of six and eight?

Hayden of Trinity 32.

Sorry.

Not enough time.

Merrimack.

Kishan 48.

It is 24.

The green version of this semi-aquatic snake found in South America can weigh as much as 170 pounds and be up to 17 feet in length.

Matt of Trinity Anaconda.

Yes.

In the 2000 movie Castaway, Tom Hanks, his character Charles Chuck Noland, named this piece of sporting equipment.

WILSON He named it Wilson after the company that made it.

Kishan of Merrimack Volleyball.

Yes.

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

You are looking at Isabella bomb free.

She was born into slavery in New York but escaped with her infant daughter in 1826.

She would go on to become an activist for abolition and women's rights and took this name in 1843.

Kishan of Merrimack.

Harriet Tubman.

Sorry, No.

Trinity.

Matt.

Weaver.

No.

It is Sojourner Truth.

Sojourner Truth.

Jessica's Law passed in 2000 to buy this by the New Hampshire legislature requires that you do this after a storm.

Trey of Merrimack, clear snow off your car.

That's right.

I don't know if Sheldon Cooper from the sitcom.

The Big Bang Theory was technically a vexillophile, but he certainly had fun with these objects that vexillophile collect .Trey of Merrimack Flag.

That's right.

You might have heard the term APR in reference to financing a car.

What does APR stand for?

Kishan of Merrimack Annual percentage rate.

That's right.

This type of whiskey takes its name from either a French dynasty, a Kentucky county, or a street in New Orleans.

Trey of Merrimack.

URBAN Yes.

All right.

Team's our next question.

Is our Unitil Power Questions worth double the point?

So 20 point toss up question coming on your monitor's take a look.

This group of teenage superheroes wear red, blue, black, green and yellow costumes.

Hayden of Trinity.

Yes.

This fictional island was mentioned in the works of Plato, where it sunk into the sea due to its hubris.

Erin of Merrimack.

Atlantis.

Yes.

Shakespeare is known for writing these 14 line poems that usually have ten syllables in each line.

Kishan of Merrimack sonnets.

Yes.

This jazz singer known for songs like A Triscuit A Tasket.

It is a scat rendition of Flying Home and a commercial of Memorex cassette tapes where a recording of a note she sang broke a glass.

She is often referred to as the queen of Jazz.

Kishan Of Merrimack.

Franklin Sorry, no Trinity.

Matt.

Holder Nope.

Ella Fitzgerald was the person we were looking for.

This planet was discovered by astronomers in 1846 using mathematical computation, not a telescope.

Erin of Merrimack.

Uranus.

Sorry, No Trinity.

Matt Neptune.

Neptune is right.

Hey.

And that sounds ends the round a fast paced, round first round.

But it looks like Merrimack out to a bit of a lead.

All right, Great job in round one, teams.

Keep it up.

We're going to take a pause in the game, play right now and get to know our players a little bit more.

We're going to start with a team from Merrimack.

High School, Merrimack High School, of course, located in the town of Merrimack.

And about a thousand students attend Merrimack High School.

And the team captain is Kishan and Kishan.

We were talking a little bit before the show about various concerts we've been to.

You had a really great concert experience recently.

Yes, I went to a Travis Scott concert in Boston for winter break.

Fantastic.

And good seats.

Yes, they were great seats.

How good we talking?

Yeah, right.

Right up in front of the stage where we can see first concert, front row seats.

Yes.

Okay.

You've ruined all future concerts with that.

All right.

Well, next up is Trey has a very lofty goal that I, as a former geographer, you major appreciate.

What do you want to do?

I want to travel to every country, travel to every country in the world.

And we're talking like, what, Almost 200 countries, right?

Yeah.

All right.

How many you got under your belt so far?

Two, there's the United States and Canada where I went last January.

All right, So, hey, but you're on your way.

On my way.

There you go.

All right.

What's what's going to be first on your list?

What do you think?

Germany?

All right, All right.

Started starting in Europe.

I love it.

All right.

Next up is Erin who's in the marching band at Merrimack High School but has sort of a unique notch in her belt as a member of the band.

What is it?

I am the only one in my school that has worn all three uniforms available to the Marching Band.

So there's three different types of uniforms that the marching band has.

What are they?

The color guard uniform, the marching band uniform and the drum major.

Okay, so you were on the color guard at one point, marched in the band, another point.

But now you're the drum major.

Yes.

And so that's like the fancy, fancy uniform.

Yeah.

Fantastic.

Love it All right.

And Liam rounding out the team, volunteered at a camp over the summer.

What did you do?

Yeah, so I volunteered at camp convention this summer where I led a group of second graders through kind of an introductory course to different STEM things and invention engineering type stuff.

Very cool.

What's one of the cooler things that you built with those second graders?

I think the coolest one was probably they made little robots and they got to kind of commit it where to go and stuff.

All right.

That is amazing and terrifying at the same time.

So.

All right.

So that is the team from Merrimack High School.

All right.

Well, come on over and talk to the team from Trinity.

Trinity High School is in Manchester, and they serve students from all over the state, 300 students, in fact.

And the team is led by Hayden Becker.

And you are in Granite State Challenge Team last year and again this year.

But that was not your first time here on the Granite State Challenge set.

Tell us about it.

Yeah, I got to watch my cousin Liam perform from the studio audience about eight years ago.

All right.

And so he was on.

What team was he on?

He was on Manchester Center.

He was on the Manchester Central team.

So nine year old, you was in our audience here and did you think to yourself at the time in in nine years time or how many years time, eight years time, I'm going to be up here.

I was like, I didn't know any of the questions.

I'm like, That's super hard.

I don't think I'll ever be able to do it.

But you know, you're here.

You are a testament to the process.

Excellent.

Next up is Matt, who I mean, this is a lifetime hobby you wrote on here that you love to do.

Tell us what it is.

Well, I. I do a lot of fishing with my dad, and it's just a nice little pastime we have.

We did catch up on a boat out in the lake fishing for bass.

And it's just.

It's a big highlight of my summers.

And spring's nice.

So usually out on the lake for bass.

In the summers in Springs.

What about the winters?

Well, we haven't tried ice fishing yet.

We're relatively new to New Hampshire, so we haven't had a chance.

But soon, hopefully we'll get to try it.

All right.

I hope so.

Man, It's not always about the fish, is it?

It's about the quality time.

There you go.

All right.

Speaking of quality, Desmond works at a pizza place that I'm actually familiar with.

Tell us about it.

Yes, I work at Week's Pizza in Goffstown.

Weeks pizza in Goffstown.

And so how long you work there?

I've been working there about seven months.

Okay.

So quite a while.

All right.

Did you like it?

You like pizza?

I do.

Like, okay, What's your favorite pizza recommendation?

Well, you can't go wrong with a classic cheese pizza.

Cannot.

You cannot.

All right.

Excellent.

Is that what I should order if I go to week's pizza?

All right.

It's really not that far from me.

I'm going to have to get there.

All right?

And rounding out the team is Tyler has quite a collection.

What do you have a collection of?

Yeah.

So since I was, like, two, three years old, I started getting a collection.

Like, people just give me, like, rubber ducks because, like, you give them to kid stuff, but like, it got to the point where right now I have like over 500 of them.

Okay, So it starts out people are just giving you rubber ducks.

And now before you know it, a collection of 500.

Yeah.

Are these like all over your room?

No, no.

I have, like, specific places where I have them just like bin.

Just a places to put them and just they're.

They're all.

They're like all sorts of ducks, like sports ducks, Different ducks.

All right.

Everything you could think of.

So if you want to send any gifts to the Trinity team, make sure they're rubber ducks earmarked for Tyler.

That's the team from Trinity High School.

All right, teams, that was a nice break in the action, but we're going to get back into it in round two.

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

And so you know how this round works.

But for the folks at home, just a reminder, each team gets ten questions.

We go down the line, player by player.

Each team has three passes they can use if they want to pass it to their teammate next to them and we go until all ten questions are asked or until three strikes and you're out ten points.

A question with a bonus of ten if you get them all right.

And one last thing.

There's always that little clue to your question in the previous question.

So be on the lookout for that.

We're going to start alphabetically with Merrimack and Kishan, this is your question.

This singer songwriter's song running Up that Hill was rediscovered after it was featured on the TV series Stranger Things.

Her debut single, Wuthering Heights, was released in 1978 and was based on Emily Bronte's novel, Wuthering Heights.

Pass, Pass.

Erin your question?

Kate Bush.

Kate Bush is correct.

Liam.

Emily Bronte.

Sisters.

Charlotte wrote this novel about an orphan who became a governess and almost became a bigamist by marrying a man who kept his mad wife in the attic.

Pass.

Kishan, your question?

Jane Eyre That is correct.

Trey the comic strip Little Orphan Annie, first appeared in the New York Daily News in 1924.

It is the source material material for this musical, which opened on Broadway in 1977.

Annie That is correct.

Erin, The original name of this comic strip by Charles.

Schulz was Little Folks.

Garfield It is peanuts.

Liam This black agricultural scientists discovered hundreds of uses for peanuts and was one of the founders of the Tuskegee University in Alabama.

George Washington Carver Correct.

Kishan, George Washington tried to have this slave who escaped from his home in Philadelphia to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, captured and returned.

Crispus Attucks.

It is Ona Judge Trey.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire is home to this outdoor history museum that features homes and buildings from the 17th through 19th century.

Strawberry Bank.

Yes, Erin Strawberry Fields Forever is a song found on this band's 1967 album, Magical Mystery Tour.

The Beatles.

Yes, Liam.

This intrepid teenage sleuth is the protagonist in a large number of books by writers calling themselves Caroline Keene.

Nancy Drew.

That is correct.

Kishan Keene, New Hampshire holds the world's record for the most number of lit ones.

Of these at 30,581.

Candles?

No.

At the Pumpkin Festival in Keene, they lit jack o lantern and seven in your three strikes round.

All right.

Nice job, Merrimack, Trinity, we turn to you.

Same drill.

Hayden, we'll start with you.

This is your question.

This New Hampshire Mountain pass with a colorful name separates the presidential range from the wildcat range.

Pass Matt.

Say it again.

White Mountains.

Know it is Pinkham Notch.

Desmond This 1979 song by the English rock band.

Pink Floyd states that quote, We don't need no education, The Wall.

It is another brick in the wall.

Sorry, we need the song title.

TYLER The Vietnam War Memorial is a stark black wall with the names of those lost in the war etched on it.

The wall was designed by this woman in 1981 while she was an undergraduate student at Yale.

Pass, Pass Hayden, your question?

Johnson Sorry, it is Maya Lin And just like that, your three strikes round is over.

All right.

Tough round Trinity, but no worries.

We're going to go right into our 60 second round.

So, alternates, I'd like you to come on up and join your teams at the podiums in our 60 second round.

Each team works together in a category of ten questions.

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

And Hayden, you can talk to your team.

I will take your answer as the team answer, but you can choose from our three categories this week, which are We welcome our robot overlords Brown Bag and Leading Ladies.

Brown Bag.

What is.

Robot?

Robot, please.

Okay we welcome our robot overlords.

The answers to the following will be related to robots, computers, or androids.

All right.

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

60 seconds.

Start the clock.

This droid hangs out with C-3PO.

R2-D2.

Yes.

He travels through time to kill Sarah Connor.

Terminator.

Terminator?

Yes.

Collection of short stories by Isaac Asimov.

That was the inspiration for a 2004 movie.

IRobot.

Yes.

This was the computer in 2001, A Space Odyssey.

Hal.

Yes.

He was the trash picking robot in the 2008 animated movie Wall-E.

Yes, this is the protagonist to the Transformers up to Optimus Prime.

Yes.

Movie featuring a critically injured Detroit police officer who is turned into a cyborg RoboCop.

Yes.

This Star Wars droid looks a bit like an orange and white soccer ball.

EV8 Yes.

This paranoid android is found in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Robot.

It is Marvin, this robot in the animated series Futurama was designed to bend metal.

Bender.

Yes, that is the end.

Nine out of ten on your 60 second round.

Nice job, Trinity.

You picked up some ground there.

But Merrimack, your turn is here.

So, Kishan you could talk to your team.

You can choose from Brown Bag or leading ladies.

Leading ladies, please.

Okay, Leading ladies.

It will be for this category.

Identify the following women leaders.

Kishan I'll take your answer as the team Answer 60 seconds.

Start the clock.

She was queen of the UK from 1836 until 1901.

Victoria Yes, she is.

Sometimes referred to as the maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc.

Yes.

She was the Prime Minister of India twice.

Indira Gandhi Yes.

This UK Prime Minister was known as the Iron Lady.

Margaret Thatcher.

Yes, she was the 11th and 13th Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Pass is Benazir Bhutto.

This German chancellor has a doctorate in quantum chemistry.

Merkel Yes, she was the first and to date only woman Speaker of the US House, Nancy Pelosi.

Yes, she is the Vice President of the United States.

Kamala Harris.

Yes, she was the Prime Minister of the UK from 2016 to 2019.

Theresa Theresa May.

Yes, she was the Prime.

Minister of New Zealand from 2017 to 2023.

Jacinda Ardern Aldon Justin is not raise.

Jacinda Ardern close, but at the end of your round eight out of ten on your 60 second rounds, fantastic job teams, alternates.

Thank you so much.

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

In round four of Granite State Challenge, we 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 playing smart and strategic Merrimack and Trinity, Good luck.

Let's go.

This Russian mystic who was really hard to kill, is said to have had unusual influence over the Russian family of czar Nicholas, the second Hayden of Trinity Rasputin.

Yes.

In 2022, this Florida governor signed a bill revoking the special status of Reedy Creek, a municipal district that was operated by the Walt Disney Company.

Desmond of Trinity.

DeSantis Yes, this could be something done by a magician with a rabbit.

Or when a player scores three goals in a hockey game.

Trey of Merrimack.

A hat trick?

Yes.

For the next question, go ahead and take a look at your monitors.

You are looking at a picture of the Linnaeus as two toed version of this tree dwelling animal found in Central and South America.

Liam of Merrimack.

Sloth.

That's a sloth.

Yeah.

What is the scientific name for the shinbone?

Hayden of Trinity Tibia is right this Polish astronomer and mathematician placed the sun at the center of the universe and not the Earth.

Kishan of Merrimack.

Copernicus.

Yes.

Marcel Duchamp's 1912 painting of a nude doing this was rejected by the cubists and ridiculed and scorned by the art world and the public, not because of the subject, but because of the style of painting, and the subject was descending a staircase.

All right.

Teams found off the coast of Queensland, Australia.

This is the world's largest coral reef, Hayden of Trinity, Great Barrier Reef.

That's the one.

All right.

You may need pencil and paper for this next question.

The jacket you want has been marked down by 30% from its original price of $50.

How much will you pay for it now?

Erin of Merrimack, 15.

Sorry, no Trinity at 50, Hayden 3535 is right.

On January 15th, 1919 2.3 million gallons of this viscous syrup flooded the streets of the north end of Boston after a tank burst, killing 21 people and injuring 150.

Matt of Trinity Molassas Yes, This 2001 Baz Luhrmann jukebox musical features the songs Lady Marmalade, Material Girl.

Like a Virgin and your song Desmond of Trinity Moulin Rouge.

That's right.

This novel by Charles.

Dickens features an orphan and some pickpockets.

Matt of Trinity.

Oliver Twist.

Yes.

If you visit this New Hampshire city, you will find a manhole cover honoring the Teenage Mutant.

Ninja Turtles, which were created in the city by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.

Kishan of Merrimack.

Dover.

Yes.

The cartoon cat Sylvester is known for saying a phrase that includes a suffering version of this vegetable combo of corn in lima beans, which is taken from the Narragansett Narragansett word for broken kern Cornell's quiche on a Merrimack suffering succotash.

That's right.

The first issue of this Russian newspaper was published in 1912.

It was the official newspaper of the Communist.

Party of the Soviet Union until 1992.

In English, its name means truth.

Liam of Merrimack.

Pravda.

That's right.

Seven members of this group of military nobility in Japan were the subject of a 1954 film directed by Akira Kurosawa, Hayden of Trinity.

Samurai.

Yes, this dance inspired idiom takes states that more than one person is needed to make something work.

Matt of Trinity It takes two to tango.

It does.

This is a national park in southwestern South Dakota, not misbehaving acreage.

Matt of Trinity.

Badlands.

Yes.

This writer's first novel, The Bluest Eye, is number three on the American.

Library Association 2022 List of most challenged books.

Kishan of Toni Morrison Yes.

Skipping the next question, the HMS Bounty was under this man's command when it sailors mutinied in 1789.

Matt of Trinity Cook.

Sorry, no Merrimack.

And with that so close at the very end, Merrimack wins the game by a score of 410 to 390 well, well, well.

Regardless of the outcome, that was an amazing game, Trinity.

Tough, tough loss, but good on you for making it this far and really doing well in this year's tournament.

And Merrimack skin of your teeth, but we will see you in a couple of weeks for the Granite State super challenge.

We hope that you join us as well where the Granite State super challenge.

But first, we got to find out who's going to win our next semifinal match between Hopkinton and Plymouth.

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

We hope you learn something that I did as well.

We'll see you next time.

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

Additional funding provided by NEA.

New Hampshire Safety Insurance, D.F.

Richard Energy, HRCU and viewers like you.

Thank you.