- Welcome to the studios of WCMU Public Media.

This time, Interlochen Arts Academy and Ludington go head to head.

That match is coming up next.

(dramatic music) Hello, I'm David Nicholas and welcome to Quiz Central.

This time, students from Interlochen Arts Academy are taking on the team from Ludington in this, our 16-team single elimination tournament.

Top teams from Quiz Central (funky beat) will qualify for the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament.

So, now let's get to today's game.

The first round is the Maroon and Gold Rush.

Teams will have two minutes (funky beat) to answer as many toss-up questions as they can.

If a team answers incorrectly, the opposing team has the opportunity to answer the question.

Teams may not consult during this round.

New this year, players will receive a one second penalty if they ring in before a toss-up question has been read completely.

That's indicated by an orange light above their name.

Answers are worth 10 points a piece, and there is no deduction for incorrect answers.

So, if all of our players are ready, here comes your first question.

What type of cell that matures in the seminiferous tubules is initially stored in the epididymis, and during fertilization, fuses with an egg cell?

(buzzer ringing) - Sperm.

- That is correct.

(bell ringing) In what state, where 165 people were saved in 2025 by Scott Ruskan, a rescue swimmer, did the Guadalupe River flood Kerr County near San Antonio?

(buzzer ringing) - Texas.

- Correct.

(bell ringing) (chair creaking) A 1913 assassination brought, excuse me, Constantine I to the throne of what country, which in 1912 regained control over a city sometimes called Salonika?

(buzzer ringing) - The Ottoman Empire?

(buzzer beeping) - That is incorrect.

Okay.

What country whose westernmost province of Aceh is ruled by Sharia Law, controls most of the Greater Sunda Islands and Sulawesi and Sumatra?

(buzzer ringing) - Indonesia?

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

The 1667 Treaty of Breda allowed the Dutch to keep what colony, now an independent republic whose capital is, excuse me, Paramaribo?

(laughs) (buzzer ringing) - Suriname?

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

(chair creaking) What capital of the province of Sindh is the most populous city in Pakistan?

(buzzer ringing) - Lahore?

(buzzer beeping) - Incorrect.

(buzzer ringing) - Islamabad?

(buzzer beeping) - That's also incorrect.

What author described the treachery of Fernand Mondego- (bell ringing) All right, we've come to the end of that round.

- Good job, good job.

- We didn't get into that question, but let's review those that were missed by both teams, and we'll start with the last question that we were starting on there.

What author described the treachery of Fernand Mondego, who weds Mercedes after Edmond Dantes is in prison, in the novel "The Count of Monte Cristo"?

We would've been getting to Alexandre Dumas.

The 1913 assassination that brought Constantine I to the throne, we were looking for the country of Greece.

And the capital of the province of Sindh, the answer for that most populous city is Karachi.

Now, before we start our next round, let's learn a little bit more about our students competing today.

First, we welcome in the students from Interlochen Arts Academy.

- My name is Oliver Chen, and I am a senior at Interlochen Arts Academy and I play guitar.

- I'm Sebastian, and I'm a senior at Interlochen and I'm a creative writer.

- I'm Jimmy, I'm a junior at Interlochen and I study composition.

- I'm Alex, I'm a junior and I study creative writing at Interlochen.

- Thank you, Interlochen, good to have you here.

Now, let's meet the team from Ludington.

- I'm Amelia, I'm a senior at Ludington High School, and I play alto saxophone.

- I'm Joe Klein, I'm a senior at Ludington High School and I play tenor sax.

- My name is Savannah, I'm a senior at Ludington High School and I play trumpet in the marching band.

- I'm Luke, I'm a senior at Ludington High School and I play trombone in the jazz band.

- And a big thanks and welcome to all of our students.

Now, the next round on Quiz Central is the Kickoff Round.

This round includes (funky beat) a combination of toss-up and bonus questions.

The team that correctly answers the toss-up will get the opportunity to answer a single bonus question.

There's no stealing on the bonus question.

After a bonus question, we'll go back to a toss-up for both teams.

Players will receive a one second penalty if they ring in before a toss-up question has been read completely.

Buzzers ready?

Players set?

(laughs) Well, let's go and here comes your first question.

Coexistence curves intersect at triple points on what diagrams that show the pressures and temperatures at which solids, liquids and gases can exist?

(buzzer ringing) - Solubility graphs.

(buzzer beeping) - Incorrect.

Guess for Interlochen?

(microphone scratching) (Sebastian coughing) (buzzer ringing) - States of matter graphs?

(buzzer beeping) - Also incorrect.

Toss-up for both teams.

What city, which is the main setting of the 2015 film "Spotlight" and the TV show "Cheers", is home to the Globe newspaper and is nicknamed Beantown?

(buzzer ringing) - Boston.

- That is correct.

(bell ringing) Okay.

(chair creaking) The bonus question for Ludington.

Astronomer Ulugh Beg was the grandson of what Turco-Mongol conqueror who ruled from Samarkand?

- I'm thinking Kublai?

Kublai Khan?

Final, Kublai Khan.

(buzzer beeping) - Incorrect.

Back to a toss-up for both teams.

What explorer who tried to convert rulers in Cebu to Christianity was killed by Lapulapu in the Philippines during his attempted circumnavigation?

(buzzer ringing) - Magellan?

(bell ringing) - [David] That is correct.

Now, to the bonus for Interlochen.

Zuma Rock is west of what planned city, which in 1991 replaced Lagos as the capital of Nigeria?

- Do you know any Nigerian cities?

- What's the capital of Nigeria?

- Lagos.

(bell ringing) - Do we have an answer?

- No answer.

(Jimmy clearing throat) (buzzer beeping) (Joseph sighing) - Back to a toss-up for both.

What organelle contains the protein cytochrome c and was part of its electron transport chain which drives ATP synthesis during cellular respiration?

(buzzer ringing) - Mitochondria?

(bell ringing) - [David] That is correct.

Bonus question for Interlochen.

In what quantum mechanical process does a particle with classically insufficient energy bypass a barrier by going under or through it?

- [Oliver] Tunneling?

- Tunneling?

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

And back to a toss-up for both.

What figure who vomits up a stone followed by his children in reverse birth order was a titan who was the husband of Rhea and the father of Zeus?

(buzzer ringing) - Kronos.

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

Bonus for Interlochen.

In October, 2024, Bao Li and Qing Bao, two members of what animal species, arrived at the National Zoo?

- Pandas.

- Pandas.

- Pandas.

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

Toss-up for both teams.

What politician, the daughter of Baltimore mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.

represents San Francisco and is a former Democratic Speaker of the House?

(buzzer ringing) - Nancy Pelosi?

(bell ringing) - Correct.

Bonus for Interlochen.

What Finnish architect designed JFK Airport's TWA Terminal and St.

Louis' Gateway Arch?

- Oh, God.

- I have no... - Sibelius.

(laughs) (buzzer beeping) - [David] (laughs) Incorrect.

Toss-up for both teams.

What physical process that is quantified using Fick's first and second laws occurs when particles travel down their concentration gradient?

(buzzer ringing) - Diffusion?

(bell ringing) - [David] Correct, bonus for Interlochen.

What nearly 800-mile-long peninsula in Northwestern Mexico contains two of the country's 31 states?

- Yucatan?

- Baja California?

- Yucatan?

- Well it's Northwestern, so it's gotta be Baja.

- It's gotta be Baja.

Baja California?

(bell ringing) - That is also correct.

Now, to a toss-up for both.

What organization which sued Robert Casey in a 1992 Supreme Court case was co-founded by Margaret Sanger and provides reproductive healthcare?

(buzzer ringing) - Planned Parenthood.

(bell ringing) - That's correct for Ludington, and now the bonus.

What New Deal labor program, created in 1933, hired thousands of young men to work on environmental projects unlike the public works of the WPA?

- Final, CCC?

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

Back to a toss-up for both teams.

What author suggested landlords could eat poor Irish babies in "A Modest Proposal" and described the minuscule empire of Lilliput in "Gulliver's Travels"?

(buzzer ringing) - Swift.

(bell ringing) - Correct, and to the bonus now.

A German astronomer discovered what numbered law of planetary motion which states that planets follow elliptical orbits?

- Oh, Kepler.

- Kepler?

- Kepler?

(bell ringing) - Correct.

(bell ringing) And we have come to the end of that round.

Right now, Interlochen has moved to a lead, 110 over Ludington's 60.

Well, let's take a moment to recap the missed questions in that round.

We go to that, coexistence curves intersect at triple points on what diagrams?

We were looking for phase diagrams for that question.

The astronomer who was the grandson of the Turco-Mongol, that was Tamerlane.

The Zuma Rock is west of what planned city?

We were looking for Abuja.

The Finnish architect is Eero Saarinen.

Our next round today is the Perfect Ten.

Here in the Perfect Ten, you'll have 60 seconds to answer questions from a choice of clues to three categories.

(funky beat) The opposing team will then have 30 seconds to answer any unasked, incorrect or skipped questions.

You can consult throughout the entire round.

We'll take the answers from the captain.

Ludington, you're currently trailing in our game, so you get the first choice of these three categories.

Giddy Up, Are You Kidding Me or Southern Charm?

- So, I'm assuming Are You Kidding Me is just, like, R-U, the letters.

Southern Charm?

- That's what I was thinking.

- What are we thinking about Southern Charm?

- [Amelia] Cool.

- Do you guys wanna do R-U?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Are You Kidding Me.

- [David] Are You Kidding Me is your choice, and the description here, R-U words.

Identify these words that begin with the letters R-U.

We'll start off your Perfect Ten here shortly.

An alleged fact that is spread often in secret.

- Final, rumor.

(bell ringing) - [David] A synonym for trash or garbage.

- Final, rubbish.

(bell ringing) - [David] Vertical structure used to steer a boat.

- Rudder.

- Final, rudder (bell ringing) - [David] Card game in which players assemble sets and runs.

- Rummy?

- Final, Rummy.

(bell ringing) - Correct.

Root vegetable, also called a swede or Swedish turnip.

- Final, rhubarb.

(buzzer beeping) (bell ringing) - [David] Any mammal that chews its cud.

- Pass.

(buzzer beeping) - [David] Expressive, free use of tempo in music.

- Rubato.

- Final, rubato.

(bell ringing) - [David] Commotion or a term for a family room.

- Pass.

- [David] Remains of an ancient building or civilization.

- Ruins.

- Final, ruins.

- [David] That is correct.

Now, we shift over to Interlochen.

You have the second stab at this category, Are You Kidding Me.

Again, we're looking for R-U words.

Identify these words that begin with the letters R-U.

Got a chance to pick up on some of those that were missed first time around.

30 seconds for you to do that.

As we begin.

Red variety of corundum.

- What even is corundum?

- Is it an element or a color?

- Pass.

- Pass.

(buzzer beeping) - [David] Root vegetable called a swede or Swedish turnip?

- Rutabaga?

- [David] Correct.

(bell ringing) Any mammal that chew its cud?

- Oh.

- Oh.

- Pass.

(buzzer beeping) - And a commotion or term for a family room.

- Rumble?

- [David] Incorrect.

- Okay.

(buzzer beeping) - Let's go back over those that were missed by both teams (bell ringing) The red variety of corundum?

The answer we were looking for was ruby or rubies.

The mammal that chews its cud?

We were looking for a ruminant.

The commotion or term for a family room?

That would be a rumpus room.

We're coming now to you, Interlochen, for your choice of the two categories.

And you have a choice now for your Perfect Ten, for 60 seconds, of the categories Giddy Up or Southern Charm.

- Okay, but how southern do they mean?

Like, if it's South America, maybe.

- Well, I'm thinking we're pretty strong for Southern Charm.

- Let's do it.

- Oh, okay.

- Let's do Southern Charm.

- [David] Southern Charm is your choice.

The clue, south.

Give these people, places or things whose English names contain south or southern.

Geographic point at 90 degrees south latitude.

- The South Pole?

- Yeah.

(bell ringing) - [David] Country home to Johannesburg.

- South Africa.

(bell ringing) - [David] Country whose currency is the won.

- South Korea.

- South Korea.

(bell ringing) - [David] U.S.

state home to Fort Sumter.

- South Carolina.

(bell ringing) - [David] Country once ruled by Ngo Dinh Diem, which ceased to exist in 1975.

- [Oliver] South Vietnam?

- South Vietnam?

(bell ringing) - [David] Annual media, music and film festival in Austin, Texas.

- South by Southwest.

(bell ringing) - [David] Australian state governed from Sydney.

- New South Wales?

(bell ringing) - [David] Literary movement of Flannery O'Connor and Carson McCullers.

- Southern Gothic?

(fingers clicking) - Southern Gothic.

(bell ringing) - Dallas university whose sports teams are the Mustangs.

- Southern Texas?

(bell ringing) - That one is incorrect as we get to the end of your time.

We now move to Ludington for a chance at those that were missed.

And we begin with this.

Dallas university whose sports teams are the Mustangs.

- Final, Southern Methodist University.

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

British joint-stock company whose 1720 collapse popped a namesake bubble.

- Pass.

(buzzer beeping) (bell ringing) - And that were the remaining two that we got to in that round.

And so, we come to the end of the Perfect Ten here with a score, Interlochen now at 200, Ludington 130.

We'll go back over the questions that were missed in that round.

The British joint-stock company, the answer was the South Sea Company.

- Oh.

- [David] That was the answer we were looking for there.

Our next round of the game is the Homestretch.

This round includes a combination of toss-up and bonus questions.

The team that correctly answers the toss-up gets the opportunity to answer a single bonus question.

No stealing on those bonus questions.

And after a bonus question, (funky beat) we'll go back to a toss-up for both teams.

Players do receive a one second penalty if they ring in before a toss-up question has been read completely.

Players all set, buzzers ready.

Here comes your first question.

What Russian composer's opera "The Tale of the Tsar Saltan" includes the interlude "Flight of the Bumblebee"?

(buzzer ringing) - Rimsky-Korsakov.

(bell ringing) - And a bonus question for Interlochen.

What dictator who was advised by economists known as The Chicago Boys came to power after a 1973 coup removed Salvador Allende as Chilean president?

- [Sebastian] Pinochet?

- Pinochet.

- Pinochet?

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

Back to a toss-up for both teams.

In what year did William Jennings Bryan deliver the Cross of Gold speech before going on to lose a presidential election to William McKinley?

(buzzer ringing) - 1896?

(bell ringing) Oh, my god.

- Oh, my god!

Holy cow!

- That was clutch.

- Oh, the numbers in my head.

- What circuit device is shown as a triangle meeting a line at one vertex, ideally restricts current to one direction, and has a light emitting form?

- A resistor?

- Resistor?

(buzzer beeping) - That is incorrect.

Back to a toss-up for both teams.

What Norse god was killed by his brother Hodr with a mistletoe-tipped arrow or dart?

(buzzer ringing) - Baldr.

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

- Yes.

- [David] Bonus question now for Ludington.

What city contains the Monumental Axis, was planned by Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer, and replaced Rio de Janeiro as its nation's capital?

- [Luke] Brasilia.

- Final, Brasilia.

(buzzer beeping) - That is incorrect.

- Oh.

- [David] Back to a toss-up for both.

Robert Millikan's oil drop experiment established the elementary charge of what subatomic particle?

(buzzer ringing) - Electron.

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

Bonus now for Ludington.

What present day country, where Dedan Kimathi led the 1950s Mau Mau uprising against the British Empire, is now the largest economy in East Africa?

- Ethiopia, I'm thinking?

Final, Ethiopia.

(buzzer beeping) No.

- [David] Incorrect.

Toss-up now for both.

In economics, what adjective describes a form of competition with many buyers and sellers, free entry and exit, and no externalities?

(buzzer ringing) - Free market.

(buzzer beeping) - That is incorrect.

Guess for Interlochen.

- Free?

(buzzer ringing) - Free?

(buzzer beeping) - That is also incorrect.

Back to a toss-up now for both.

What singer-songwriter who recorded "Love's in Need of Love Today" and "Isn't She Lovely" on his album "Songs in the Key of Life" is a blind keyboardist?

(buzzer ringing) - Stevie Wonder.

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

Now, to your bonus question.

What poet, whose 2016 collection "Then Come Back" features once lost poems, also wrote "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair"?

- Frost, final.

(buzzer beeping) - Incorrect.

Back to a toss-up now for both.

Chaotic behavior is displayed by the double type of what near harmonic oscillators which are used in grandfather clocks and include a swinging bob?

(buzzer ringing) - Pendulums.

(bell ringing) - [David] That is correct.

Bonus now for Interlochen.

(Sebastian coughing) What metal that strengthens the enamel of the incisors of beavers also often turns those teeth orange?

- Iron, right?

Iron.

- Iron, sure.

- Iron?

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

Toss-up question for both teams.

What battle, where General Edward Pakenham was killed, took place after the Treaty of Ghent, ended the War of 1812 and was fought in Louisiana?

(buzzer ringing) - The Battle of New Orleans?

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

- Thank you, Savannah.

- [David] Bonus question.

"Summertime" is the first aria in what opera set in Charleston's Catfish Row?

- Hmm, it's probably a Tennessee one.

Final, "Porgy and Bess".

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

- Yeah, nice.

- Toss-up question for both.

What literary protagonist whom Lady Bertilak tries to seduce in an Arthurian hero agrees to a beheading game with the unsettling Green Knight?

(buzzer ringing) - Gawain?

(bell ringing) - That is correct, and a bonus question for Interlochen.

What British-Japanese novelist depicted the experimental Hailsham school in "Never Let Me Go"?

- Ishiguro.

- Kazuo Ishiguro.

(Oliver laughing) (bell ringing) - [David] That is correct.

- We read that book.

- End of that round, end of the Homestretch.

(bell ringing) - Yikes.

- And as we get set for our final round, we'll check the score.

Interlochen is at 270, Ludington at 180.

As we review the questions that were missed by both teams in that round.

The circuit device shown as a triangle, we were looking for a diode.

The present day country which led the 1950s Mau Mau uprising, we were looking for Kenya, was the name of the country.

Economics, the adjective that describes the form of competition.

Perfect was the answer we were looking for.

The 2016 collection by the poet.

We were looking for the writer Pablo Neruda.

We do have one correction that we want to make from that round, we had an error in our tabulating, but the answer Brasilia that was given by Ludington was a correct answer, so we add 10 points to their score, and we stand at Interlochen, 270.

Ludington, 190.

Okay, it's the Final Countdown and teams will have two minutes to answer as many (funky beat) toss-up questions as they can.

If a team answers incorrectly, the opposing school has the opportunity to answer the question.

Teams may not consult during this round.

New this year, remember, players will receive a one second penalty if they ring in before a toss-up question has been read completely, and that'll be indicated by an orange light above their name.

Answers are worth 10 points a piece with no deduction for incorrect answers.

All ready, players?

Here comes your first question.

What fictional country where Riri Williams builds an upgraded version of her Ironheart suit was the primary setting of the "Black Panther" franchise?

(buzzer ringing) - Wakanda.

(bell ringing) - Correct.

A king with what regal name legendarily said that "Paris is worth a mass" and converted to Catholicism to end the French Wars of Religion?

(buzzer ringing) - Charles?

(buzzer beeping) - That is incorrect.

Next question, a king... As we move on to the next question... - Do they get a chance?

- [David] Ah, sorry.

That was incorrect, we offer that to Ludington for a guess.

(buzzer ringing) - Louis.

(buzzer beeping) - That is incorrect.

Toss-up for both, in what year, on which Chicago police beat protestors near the Democratic National Convention, saw the murders of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King?

(buzzer ringing) - 1972?

(buzzer beeping) - That's incorrect.

Ludington with a guess?

(buzzer ringing) - 1968.

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

- Nice.

- Sorry.

- [David] Next question, what American author won Pulitzer Prizes for fiction for his novels "The Underground Railroad" and "The Nickel Boys"?

(buzzer ringing) - McCarthy.

(buzzer beeping) - Incorrect.

Interlochen with a guess?

(buzzer ringing) - Hughes?

(buzzer beeping) - Incorrect.

For both teams, what religion whose scripture was partly composed in the 16th century by Ramdas uses the Golden Temple and regards the Adi Groth as the last guru?

(buzzer ringing) - Sikhism.

(bell ringing) - That is correct.

What moniker, which was adopted in 1989 by Tim Drake, was previously used by DC Comics character Jason- (bell ringing) And we come to the end of that round.

We did not get all the way through that question.

Let's check the ones that were missed by both teams.

The moniker adopted in 1989, we were looking for then, the character Robin.

The king with the regnal name.

We were looking for Henry, or Henry IV.

What American author won the Pulitzer Prizes?

We were looking for Colson Whitehead.

And with the round ended and our game complete for today, good, close finish there.

Interlochen, 270.

Ludington, 220.

Congratulations to Interlochen on winning today.

Thank you, Ludington, for being great competitors with us here on Quiz Central, and we hope that you will join us next time here for another edition of Quiz Central.

(light music)