This program brought to you in part by the Erika Lewis Endowment Fund.

-Coming up, it's Clark... [cheers and applause] ...taking on The Meadows!

[cheers and applause] This is Varsity Quiz!

♪♪♪ [cheers and applause] (Nate Tannenbaum) Hi, and welcome to the 54th season of Varsity Quiz!

We've got the best and brightest high school students matching wits in this unique academic competition.

After starting with 19 schools in the Silver League in three divisions, we are down to our final four.

This is the first of our two Semifinal matches.

Clark defeated Green Valley in the Quarterfinals after finishing 1st in their division undefeated in the regular season.

So their starters are: Hey, there's Parth.

Hey, Parth.

-Hello.

-Vivian.

Hi.

-Hi.

-Sudipta.

-Hello.

-Nice to see you.

And Theo.

-Hi.

-And the coaches for Clark: Amber Thacker and Lonnie Robbins.

That's the team from Clark High School!

[applause] Now to The Meadows who defeated A-Tech in the Quarterfinals to get here.

Let's meet their starters: There's Sam L., because there's two Sams.

You're Sam L. Very good.

-Hey.

-Hey, Brinley.

-Hi.

-There's Ben.

-Hey there.

-And Kiran.

And the coaches for The Meadows: Gary Handley and Tom Garvey.

That's the team from The Meadows!

[applause] -Students ready?

Let's play Varsity Quiz!

What famous seascape by Winslow Homer was named for an ocean current that flows from the Gulf of Mexico through the straits of Florida-- We'll go with Meadows, Ben: The Gulf Stream -Yes.

Points on the board for The Meadows.

Next, these characters illustrate which literary technique: Remy and Emile in Ratatouille ; the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland ; Bagheera in The Jungle Book ; Boxer in Animal Farm ; Thomas in Thomas the Tank Engine ; Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe ?

Meadows, Brinley: Breaking the Fourth Wall -No.

Clark, Parth: The Workhorse -No.

We were looking for Anthropomorphism.

But you guys knew that.

Next question.

As of January 2023, what position does Marty Walsh hold in the President's cabinet?

Meadows, Ben: Secretary of the VA -No.

Clark, Parth: Secretary of Education -No.

He's the Secretary of Labor.

Next question.

What's the term for nineteenth century horse-drawn family four-wheeled vehicles-- We'll go with Meadows, Brinley: Buggy -No.

That is an interrupt, and I'll finish the question.

...four-wheeled vehicles with at least two long seats and often a fringed canopy top?

Clark, Vivian: Wagons -No.

They called those Surreys.

Remember the old song "Surrey With the Fringe On Top"?

Don't worry about it.

Next question.

These are the only works out of 120 plays to survive in their entirety by which Greek author: Trachinian Women, Philoctetes, Ajax, Antigone-- We'll go with Meadows, Brinley: Sophocles -Yes, sir.

Next question.

What type of scientists might find themselves using the Cyanoacrylate Fuming method, or commonly called "superheated superglue," in order to visualize possible fingerprints on objects at a crime scene?

Clark, Parth: A Forensic Scientist -Yes.

A calculation question next, students.

Find the next number in this sequence: 6, 8, 12, 20, 36.

Repeating.

What's the next-- We'll go with The Meadows, Kiran: 68 -Yes.

This Greek god married Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete.

And although many stories about him related sessions of merrymaking, many Greeks believed-- Meadows, Brinley: Dionysus -Yes.

Raina Telgemeier is one of the authors of this genre.

What genre consists of books in comic book format?

Clark, Parth: Graphic Novels -Yes, sir.

The Alaska Pipeline starts at Prudhoe Bay.

It runs for 800 miles, ending at what community?

Meadows, Sam L.: Anchorage -No.

Clark, Sudipta: Juneau -No.

It's Valdez.

Next question.

Take one artificially aged human skull and an orangutan jaw, and you can make your own version of the 1912 Piltdown Man Hoax which claimed to be the intermediary between man and advanced primates.

So what is the two-word phrase for this?

Clark, Parth: Common Ancestor -No.

Meadows, Ben: Bad Fraud -No.

They called it the Missing Link.

Next question.

The rules for which annual contest, named for an American cartoonist, have required participants to use a minimum of 20 steps to perform such feats as zipping a zipper?

Meadows, Ben: Rube Goldberg Machine -That's correct.

This invertebrate marine coelenterate can cause great harm to humans with the Kingi species in Australia being deadly despite being the size of a thumbnail.

Which sea creature's sting has a name-- Meadows, Brinley: Jellyfish -Yes.

Identify the phrasal verb in this line about aging people: If you want to prevent sagging, just eat till your wrinkles fill out.

Clark, Parth: Tale -Incorrect.

Meadows, Ben: Eat -No.

It was Fill Out.

No points.

Next question.

Article 12 of this nation's constitution has forbidden a standing army since 1949 and the end of a civil war.

Meadows, Brinley: Japan -No.

That is an interrupt, and I'll continue reading the question.

...Instead, the country in the Americas has an organization with limited military capabilities called the Public Force.

Its main role includes law enforcement, internal security and command of the Air Vigilance Service.

Name the nation.

Clark, Sudipta: Nicaragua -No.

It's Costa Rica.

What caused the deaths of these journalists as well as being the reason many movie and TV stars of the '30s to the '90s have died: Harry Reasoner, Edward R. Murrow, and Peter Jennings?

Meadows, Brinley: Their Plane Crash -No.

Clark, Parth: AIDS -No.

It was lung cancer from smoking.

Next question.

What term names the emission of light resulting from chemical reactions?

Meadows, Brinley: Radiation -No.

Clark, Sudipta: Photovoltaic -No.

We were looking for Chemiluminescence.

Write that down.

Next question.

A region called "Sinkhole Alley" can be found in which state?

Meadows, Ben: Florida -Yes.

Here's a calculation question, students.

Maria is four years younger than Abigail.

Twenty years ago, Abigail's age was 13 years more than half the age of Maria.

How old are they now?

Meadows, Kiran: Maria is 9.

Abigail is 13.

-That's incorrect.

[bell chimes, time expires] -Maria is 38.

Abigail is 42.

And I haven't met either one of them.

Next question.

In real estate, what kind of market is said to exist when there are many houses for sale in the neighborhood, forcing the owners to lower their prices in order to sell?

Clark, Parth: A Bear Market -No.

Meadows, Brinley: A Poor Market -No.

They call it a Buyer's Market.

Next question.

What term indicating a state of sluggishness, a lack of vitality, or apathy was derived from the name of the Greek mythical river of forgetfulness?

Clark, Sudipta: Aloofness -No.

A little bit louder next time, too, Sudipta.

Meadows, Sam: Lethargy -Yes, lethargy.

Between the city of Rome-- make that beneath the city of Rome in the 1700s, thousands of bones that were removed from improper burials and mass graves in church cemeteries were relocated in 186 miles of underground tunnels.

Name this subterranean-- Clark, Parth: The Paris Catacombs -No.

That is an interrupt.

...name this subterranean cemetery.

Meadows, Ben: Roman Catacombs -The Catacombs.

I believe that is the correct answer?

Yes.

Next question.

These terms: no-brainer, hot stuff, security blanket, turn-on, heavy lifting, crapshoot, buzz off.

In everyday spoken language, these are called what kind of "-isms"?

Clark, Vivian: Colloquialism -Yes.

The crew of the HMS Bounty spent some five months on what island preparing more than 1,000 breadfruit plants for transportation to the West Indies?

Clark, Sudipta: Cuba -No.

Meadows, Ben: Gran Canary -No.

It was Tahiti.

Next question.

Drought and this process prompted Ethiopia to plant a record number of trees in 20-- Meadows, Kiran: Deforestation -That is incorrect, and that is an interrupt.

...Overgrazing and soil degradation led to what process that is shrinking the amount of arable land in Africa's-- Clark, Vivian: Erosion -No.

We were looking for desertification.

All right.

That's the end of our first round.

But don't go anywhere, because we're gonna take a moment first of all to breathe.

[deep breath] -Give these students a round of applause.

Pretty awesome.

[applause] But we want to get to know our players just a little bit better.

So we're gonna start over here with Clark and say hello to 11th grader Parth.

Hey, Parth.

-Hello.

-You hanging in there?

-Yeah.

-This says that you plan to major in physics in college.

Is that still true?

-Yep.

-Excellent.

Do you have a college picked out?

-Not really.

Not yet.

-Yeah, you got another year to wait.

Good luck with the physics.

Good luck here on Varsity Quiz.

Thanks, Parth.

-Thank you.

-Here's 11th grader Vivian.

Hi, Vivian.

-Hi.

-This says that you are a painter of some kind.

-Yeah.

I do oil paints, and I also enjoy doing landscape painting with watercolors.

-Is this just for fun?

-Yeah, just for fun.

-Awesome.

Well, good luck with that.

Good luck here on Varsity Quiz.

Here's 12th grader Sudipta.

Hi, Sudipta.

-Hi.

-Good to see you.

This says that you speak three languages fluently.

What are they?

-English obviously, Hindi, and Odia.

-What was that last one?

-Odia.

It's a state language from the state of Odisha in India.

-Okay.

But this also says that you're not done learning other languages.

What are you working on?

-I'm working on learning Bengali and Japanese and Chinese as well.

-Wow!

Good luck with all of that, and good luck on Varsity Quiz.

Thanks, Sudipta.

-Thank you.

-Here's 9th grader Theo.

Hi, Theo.

-Hi.

-Good to see you.

This says that you are not originally from the United States.

-Yeah.

I moved to Las Vegas when I was six from Canada.

-Do you remember much of Canada?

-Yeah.

It was-- We had six months of winter all the time.

-I was just gonna say.

-It was very snowy.

-And now you have desert heat.

-Yeah.

-Well, good luck with the combinations here, Theo.

And good luck on Varsity Quiz.

Those are the students from Clark High School!

Thank you, guys.

[applause] -Now we learn a little bit more about our players from The Meadows.

Again there's Sam L., because there's another Sam on the team.

This says that you are a follower of a certain kind of culture.

What is that?

-Yeah.

I've been really interested in the Myan culture, and that's sort of been a thing I've been interested in because of my pursuit of mythology.

So I've been exploring that.

-Is it mostly reading, or do you want to go down there and check that stuff out?

-I'm interested in going down there, but I can't really do that alone right now.

But I wish I could do something.

-Okay.

Well, good luck with that, and good luck on Varsity Quiz.

Thanks, Sam.

-Thank you.

-Here's Brinley.

Hey, Brinley.

-Hello.

-Nice to see you.

This says that your family goes way back in the history of this part of Southern Nevada.

-Yeah.

My great-great-grandmother was one of the first settlers.

She opened the first dairy farm.

Wow!

First dairy farm here in the Las Vegas Valley.

My great-grandmother was the first prom queen of Las Vegas High.

-Wow!

-And so legacy goes back a little.

[laughter] -No pressure on you, Brinley.

-None at all.

-All right.

Well, congratulations on the family history.

Good luck on Varsity Quiz.

Thanks, Brinley.

And we have 11th grader Ben.

Hey, Ben.

-Hey there.

-Nice to see you.

I hope I'm not going to get myself in trouble here, but this says you are amazing at something that I don't know what it is.

Is it RDR2?

-That was a-- That was a poor attempt at humor.

But that's, that's a video game that we don't need to worry about.

-Good.

I appreciate that.

I'm glad you understood that.

So thank you.

[laughter] -And good luck with whatever that is.

Good luck here on Varsity Quiz.

Next up is 10th grader Kiran.

Hey, Kiran.

-Hi.

-Nice to see you.

This says that you have been playing tennis for a while and done very well not only here, but somewhere else too.

-Yeah.

So last year I lived in Utah.

And so I played tennis there, and then I play tennis here.

And I won the state championship both years.

-Well, congratulations.

Good luck with the tennis, and a high-five from Brinley.

Those are the students from The Meadows!

[applause] -And our Bonus Round coming right up.

[crashing sound] Here we go into Round 2.

The score: Meadows has 30 points to Clark's 5.

[crashing sound] -We do have one new player for Clark.

We say hello to Shajee.

Hey, Shajee.

-Hi.

Welcome aboard.

Meadows has two new players.

There's Kyra.

Hey, Kyra.

-Hello.

-And Sam V., as opposed to Sam L. from last round.

Hey, Sam V. Welcome.

-Hello.

-This round is timed at 6 minutes, and time starts as I start this first question.

Since he left no writings of his own, Socrates is mostly known through the works of which of his students?

-Meadows, Kyra: Plato -Yes.

Bonus questions now for The Meadows only about ancient philosophy.

First, Zeno is credited with founding which school of philosophy in the third century BCE that placed virtue as the highest good, holding that the best indication of a person's philosophy is not what they said, but what they did?

And second, ancient physicians treated disease by addressing an absence or overabundance of blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.

And collectively, these were called the four what?

You have 10 seconds.

-All right.

For the first answer, Metaphysics.

And for the second answer, Humors.

-Humors is correct.

The first answer we needed was stoicism.

So you get some bonus points.

And now this question for both teams.

He was part of the ill-fated 1527 Narvaez expedition.

After being shipwrecked, he and the other three survivors traveled through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona for eight years before reconnecting with Spaniards in Mexico.

Name him.

Meadows, Ben: de Soto -No.

Clark, Parth: Cervantes -No.

It was Cabeza de Vaca.

No questions.

No points.

No bonus points.

We move to this question for both teams.

If you were strolling along the Giant's Causeway, you'd be in what part-- Meadows, Ben: Ireland -I don't think we can accept that.

...in what Part of the United Kingdom?

Clark, Sudipta: Northern Ireland -Yes, sir.

Bonus questions now for Clark only about the UK.

First, the worst defeat for a prime minister in modern history occurred in 2019 when which negotiated deal proposed by Theresa May failed by a vote of 432 to 202?

Second, which future kingdom of Great Britain was the site of the fourteenth century feud between Clan Chattan and Clan Kay?

[students delilberate] -Captain?

-For A, Brexit.

For B, Argentina.

-Brexit is correct.

The second answer we needed was Scotland.

So some bonus points.

And now this question for both teams.

Formed beneath the earth's surface, dikes, batholiths, sills, lopoliths, and stocks are massive bodies of igneous rock called what?

Clark, Parth: Intrusions -No.

Meadows, Kiran: Magma -No.

They are called plutons.

Next question is a calculation question.

What's the area of the smallest rectangle that can include all of these points: (10, 21); (37, 40); (60, 25); and (50, 11)?

We'll go with Meadows, Kiran: 1,450 -Yes.

Bonus questions now for Meadows only, these bonus calculation questions.

First, a soccer ball is kicked and travels at a velocity of 12 meters per second.

After 60 seconds, it comes to a stop.

What is its acceleration?

And second, how many ways can you write a three-digit positive integer using 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 if no number may be used twice?

Repeating.

The first question, a soccer ball kicked travels a velocity of 12 meters per second.

After 60 seconds, it comes to a stop.

What is its acceleration?

Second, how many ways can you write a three-digit positive integer using 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 if no number may be used twice?

-For the first answer, Negative 0.2 Meters Per Second Squared.

And for the second answer, 60 Ways -I believe 60 ways is correct, but the first one-- Okay, the first one is correct as well.

So you got bonus points.

And now this question for both teams.

This novel is about Edna Pontellier, a young frustrated mother whose spirit is awakened during a summer family vacation at Grand Isle.

Published in 1899, it's considered one of the first feminist stories.

What is this story by Kate Chopin?

Meadows, Ben: The Yellow Wallpaper -No.

[bell chimes, time expires] -It's called The Awakening .

Next question.

The first domestication of an animal by humans took place before the Late Pleistocene era ended.

Multiple choice: Approximately how long ago was the dog domesticated?

5,000; 8,000; 11,000; or 15,000 years ago?

Clark, Parth: 11,000 Years Ago -Yes.

Bonus questions now for Clark only about dogs.

First, according to the American Kennel Club's registration information, what remains the most popular dog breed in the United States, holding that position since 1991?

Second, what breed of dog is Mickey Mouse's companion, Pluto?

[students deliberate] -For the first answer, Golden Retriever.

For the second answer, Labrador.

-Both are incorrect.

Labrador Retriever and Bloodhound.

It sounds like we're out of time.

[crashing sound] Speed Round coming up.

And the score going into Round 3: Meadows with 50 points to Clark's 20.

We'll find out what happens-- [crashing sound] - --here in the Speed Round.

Clark is keeping the same players.

For The Meadows, we have a returning player, Brinley.

Welcome back, Brinley.

Here we go.

The record for the longest time for a company to be part of the Dow Jones Industrial Stock average, 122 years.

It belongs to which company founded by Thomas-- We'll go with Meadows, Ben: General Electric -Yes.

Your grandparents watch a channel that includes "Noir Alley" on Saturdays, "Silent Sunday Night," and "31 Days of Oscar" the month of the Academy Awards.

What channel is this?

Meadows, Ben: AMC -No.

Clark, Sudipta: PBS -No.

It's Turner Classic Movies.

Next question.

Which Boolean phrase would you use in a search for information about the European members of the Axis powers?

Clark, Parth: And -Incorrect.

Meadows, Ben: Gib -No.

We were looking for Axis Powers.

Next question.

The Alpine Fault runs nearly the entire length of the South Island in which Southern Hemisphere nation?

Meadows, Ben: New Zealand -Yes.

In physics, all vectors have which two properties?

That's going to be Clark, Parth: Direction and Magnitude.

-Yes, sir.

The amount of energy that must be added to a mole of a solid at constant pressure to turn it directly into a gas is called the heat of what?

Clark, Parth: Vaporization -Incorrect.

Meadows, Brinley: Resistance -No.

It's called Sublimation.

Calculation question.

We don't repeat them here in the third round.

On a particular street, 15 families have cats, 12 have dogs, 5 have both cats and dogs, and 8 have no pets at all.

How many families live on that street?

Clark, Parth: 30 -Yes.

Gliders routinely gain altitude after their tow ends by capitalizing on streams of rising warm air called what?

That's Meadows, Kyra: Jet Stream -No.

Clark, Parth: Lifting Currents -No.

They're called thermals.

Next question.

Completed in the year 2012, the world's largest dam spans which river?

Meadows, Ben: Yangtze -Yes.

What Treaty did the then new Russian government sign to take the nation out of World War I?

Meadows, Ben: Brest-Litovsk -Yes.

Name the early embryological stage that consists of a hollow mass of cells.

Meadows, Ben: Shell -No.

[bell chimes, time expires] -We were looking for Blastula.

Next question.

In 2019, NASA scientists showed off a new image of 13,000-foot Ahuna Mons, the largest mountain on any dwarf planet or asteroid.

Name this body.

Clark, Sudipta: Ceres -Yes.

What kind of chemical reaction occurs when two molecules of different substances combine to form a single molecule-- And that's Clark, Parth: Synthesis -Pardon me?

-Synthesis.

-That's incorrect, and that's an interrupt.

...combine to form a single molecule of a new substance when water is removed?

Meadows, Ben: Dehydration Synthesis -No.

We were looking for Condensation Reaction.

Psilocybin comes from what kind of fungi?

Clark, Parth: Mushrooms -Yes.

Which state occupies most of the Delmarva Peninsula?

Meadows, Ben: Delaware -Yes.

Calculation question.

How many tablespoons are there in one pint?

Meadows, Kiran: 24 -No.

Clark, Shajee: 16 -No.

It's 32.

Emerson Hough unfavorably wrote about which President in his historical novel Fifty-Four-Forty or Fight ?

Clark, Parth: Polk -Yes.

Name two of the three religions whose prominent texts are written in Sanskrit.

Clark, Sudipta: Hinduism and Sikhism -Pardon me?

-Sikhism and Hinduism -That's incorrect.

Meadows, Brinley: Hinduism and Jainism -Yes.

We also would have accepted Buddhism.

Next question.

What demon from German folklore is central in the legend of Faust?

Clark, Parth: Maxwell -No.

Meadows, Brinley: Mephistopheles -Yes.

In which city's Public Gardens could you take a ride on a swan boat?

Meadows, Brinley: New York -No.

Clark, Shajee: Venice -No.

It's Boston.

Second only to its ratite relative, the ostrich, the emu is the world's second tallest living bird.

What does ratite mean?

Clark, Parth: Flightless -Yes.

Hercules' bow was especially lethal because it's arrows had been dipped in the blood of what many-- Meadows, Kyra: The Hydra -Yes.

In George Orwell's novel 1984 , what term means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's-- Clark, Parth: Double Think -Yes.

Like in other places, the population of Australian Indigenous People was dramatically reduced, perhaps by half.

By which disease-- Meadows, Ben: Smallpox -Yes.

Name the large intrusions that form between bedding planes of earlier country rock?

Meadows, Brinley: Ridges -No.

They are sills.

Someone who especially loves animals is what kind of "-phile"?

Clark, Parth: Zoophile -Yes.

Which fish has a commensal relationship with sharks?

Meadows, Brinley: Minnow -No.

Clark, Parth: Cuttlefish -No.

We were looking for Remora.

What's the meaning of the stage direction "U"?

Meadows, Ben: Stop -No.

It's upstage, but we are going to stop because that's the end of the third round.

Let's find out who won.

[crashing soud] The final score: Meadows 95, Clark 55.

Thanks to both teams for an excellent match today.

[crashing sound] [applause] And congratulations to The Meadows for the win as you move on to the Championship!

We invite you to tune in next week when Gorman takes on Coronado in our other Semifinal to find out who Meadows will play for the title of VQ Silver League Champion.

Sure to be a good one.

It's Varsity Quiz right here on Vegas PBS!

♪♪♪