- [Announcer] Funding for "High School Quiz Show: Austin" comes from Sally and James Gavin, Bank of America, Krishna Srinivasan and Raka Sandell.

- Coming up, it's McCallum High School... (audience cheering) taking on St.

Michael's Prep.

(audience cheering) That's next on "High School Quiz Show Austin."

(audience cheering) (exciting music) (audience applauding) Hi, everybody, and welcome to "High School Quiz Show: Austin."

I'm your host, Joe Hanson.

Today's match features McCallum and St.

Michael's in our second quarterfinal, and we start with the toss-up round.

All answers are worth 10 points.

There are no point deductions for wrong answers, and players, you may confer.

Okay, teams, if you're ready, good luck, here we go.

The first single from Taylor Swift's "Life of a Showgirl" album refers to the fate of what tragic character from Shakespeare's "Hamlet?"

(bell ringing) Nathan.

- Ophelia.

- Yes.

In 1985, the remains of what ocean liner were found in the North Atlantic where it sank in 1912?

(bell ringing) Mitch.

- Titanic.

- Yes.

A prequel in the "Despicable Me" movie franchise has what title that refers to little yellow characters like Bob and Kevin?

(bell ringing) Alex.

- "Minions."

- "Minions" is right.

What four-letter noun that refers to a rubber covering for a bicycle wheel is also a verb that means to become sleepy?

(bell ringing) Marie.

- Tire.

- Tire is right.

For most of his professional wrestling career, what was Dwayne Johnson's ring name?

(bell ringing) Kovidh.

- The Rock.

- The Rock is right.

On October 15th, 2025, an elite mountaineer named Jim Morrison became the first person to ski down the Hornbein Couloir on the north face of what mountain that is the world's tallest?

(bell ringing) Sutton.

- Everest.

- Mount Everest is right.

What is the name for the process by which a liquid turns into a gas?

(bell ringing) - Kovidh.

- Condensation.

- No, McCallum, you have a chance.

(bell ringing) Mitch.

- Evaporation.

- Evaporation is right.

Next question.

A 16th century map of the world refers to South America by the Latin name Terra Nova, which has what meaning in English?

(bell ringing) Marie.

- New Earth.

- New Earth is right, or "new land."

The country of Chile holds about 20% of the world's reserves of what metal with the chemical symbol Cu?

(bell ringing) Mitch.

- Copper.

- Copper is right.

Tina Fey, Kevin Hart and Conan O'Brien all have received an American Humor Award named for what author of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."

(bell ringing) Alex.

- Mark Twain.

- Mark Twain is right.

The first Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Wilhelm Röntgen for his discovery of what imaging technology?

(bell ringing) Witt.

- X-ray.

- X-ray is right.

In demographic terms, which of these generations is the youngest?

Generation X, Generation Alpha, or Millennials?

(bell ringing) Mitch.

- Alpha.

- Generation Alpha is right.

Here's a math question.

If the two base angles of an isosceles triangle each measure 76 degrees, what is the measure of the vertex angle?

(bell ringing) Kovidh.

- 28 degrees.

- 28 degrees is right.

From 1941 until 1979, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi held what royal title in Iran?

(bell ringing) Kovidh.

- Shah.

- Shah is correct.

In German, it's baum.

In Spanish, it's árbol.

In Korean, it's namu.

What is the English word for this thing found in a forest?

(bell ringing) Witt.

- Tree?

- Tree is correct.

We are off to a great start.

But let's take a moment to thank some of the folks who make this show possible.

- [Announcer] Support for "High School Quiz Show: Austin" comes from Bank of America.

(pleasant piano music) Investing in education and the future of Central Texas youth.

Information at bankofamerica.com.

(lively drumming) - Okay, welcome back.

The score is McCallum with 70 points, St.

Michael's has 80.

Let's get back to the game.

What literary work by Geoffrey Chaucer involves the Miller, the Reeve, the Wife of Bath and other characters on a journey?

(bell ringing) Alex.

- "Canterbury Tales."

- "Canterbury Tales" is correct.

Since the 1990s an image of a rainbow is featured on standard issue automobile license plates of which US state that has the highest annual rainfall of any US state?

(bell ringing) Sutton.

- Hawaii.

- Hawaii is correct.

Quote, "He has made almost everything "from the plebeian peanut except dynamite."

This is a statement made in 1929 about what American research scientist and professor at Tuskegee University?

(bell ringing) Mitch.

- Carver.

- Yes, George Washington Carver.

The Dewey decimal system is used to organize which of these things?

Money in a bank, books in a library, or test tubes in a laboratory?

(bell ringing) Elizabeth.

- Books in a library.

- Correct.

In Chinese mythology, the goddess Guanyin is said to have saved people from starvation by helping them cultivate what grain?

(bell ringing) Kovidh.

- Wheat.

- [Joe] No, McCallum, you have a chance.

- Rice.

- Mitch.

Rice is correct.

In 1876, what leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota saw a vision of soldiers dropping from the sky like grasshoppers shortly before the Lakota victory at Little Bighorn?

(bell ringing) Sutton.

- Crazy Horse?

- No, St.

Michael's, you have a chance.

(bell ringing) Marie.

- Geronimo.

- No.

That leader was Sitting Bull.

Next question.

The 2025 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine was awarded to three scientists for their work on regulatory T cells in the immune system.

The "T" in T cells refers to what body organ in the upper chest where these cells mature?

(bell ringing) Mitch.

- Torso?

- No.

St.

Michael's, you have a chance.

(bell ringing) Witt.

- Thyroid.

- Judges?

No, thyroid is the gland, we're looking for the thymus is the organ.

Next question.

On January 29th, 2025, Lee Zeldin was appointed the administrator of the EPA.

In this context, what do the letters EPA represent?

(bell ringing) Sutton.

- Environmental Protection Agency.

- Correct.

This is a math question.

A bakery charges $15 for a dozen rolls.

What is the price per roll?

We need an answer.

(bell ringing) Witt.

- A dollar and 25 cents?

- A dollar and 25 cents is correct.

Good luck finding something that costs that much these days.

From 1930 to the present, which South American country is the only one to participate in every FIFA soccer World Cup tournament?

(bell ringing) Kovidh.

- Argentina.

- [Joe] No.

McCallum, you have a chance.

Alex.

- Brazil.

- Brazil is right.

The title of a story by Washington Irving is "The Legend of" what place where Ichabod Crane is the schoolmaster?

(bell ringing) Mitch.

- Sleepy Hollow.

- Sleepy Hollow is right.

What ancient Babylonian king who ruled from 1792 to 1750 BCE established a code of laws that specified a minimum wage for workers and included extremely harsh punishments for crimes?

(bell ringing) Kovidh.

- Hammurabi.

- Hammurabi is correct.

What film director known for his non-linear storytelling style, director of the "Dark Knight" trilogy of Batman movies and won an Oscar for the 2024 film "Oppenheimer?"

(bell ringing) Alex.

- Christopher Nolan.

- Yes.

What musical-sounding name is given to a straight line that connects two points on the circumference of a circle?

(bell ringing) Kovidh.

- Chord.

- Chord is right.

The most recent US president with facial hair was which man who served after Theodore Roosevelt and before Woodrow Wilson and later served as Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court?

(bell ringing) Sutton.

- Taft.

- William Howard Taft is correct.

(alarm ringing) And that's the end of the round.

McCallum has 170 points, St.

Michael's has 110 points.

Let's hear it for both teams.

(audience applauding) (lively music) Last week, LASA beat Westlake to advance to the semifinals.

In today's match, McCallum and St.

Michael's both hope to advance.

The head-to-head round is next, but first we're gonna do one of my favorite things and get to know the players a little bit better.

McCallum, start with you.

Alex, I hear we have a shared passion of aircraft.

- Yes.

- [Joe] What's your favorite plane?

- My favorite plane has gotta be the Boeing 747, the queen of the skies.

- What makes that plane the queen of the skies?

- It's just so iconic and it's got the, like the one and a third decks on it and it's just a pretty sight to see in the sky.

- Elizabeth, in addition to being a "High School Quiz Show" athlete, you play another sport I hear.

- Yeah, I played tennis and cross country and softball, but tennis is the one I'm doing right now, so.

- All right.

I have to ask, how do you feel about pickleball?

People who play tennis feel, often have some strong opinions.

- Well, I think it's kind of annoying sometimes because it's loud and it's annoying when they take over the tennis courts.

But I will say I always play pickleball with my family in Kentucky and that's really fun and something special that I've been doing since I was little.

So I do kind of have like a soft spot in my heart for pickleball, I guess.

- Mitch, I hear you can name every NBA champion.

So if I just throw out a year you'll be able to tell me who won that year?

- Yes.

- Okay.

Start with an easy one.

1994.

- That is the Rockets.

- That is right.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

1977.

- 1977, that would be the Blazers.

- [Joe] 2003.

- That'll be Spurs.

- Well, the judges aren't in my ear telling me if those are correct, but we'll assume that they are, Mitch.

Are you a basketball fan, a basketball player?

How'd you like, how'd you get into kind of memorizing things like that?

- I do a lot of research in my spare time on that stuff and it's just kind of cool.

Big fan of Spurs.

- Sutton, you like to fish?

- Oh yes.

- What's your biggest catch?

- Hundred-pound tarpon in Florida, definitely.

- That's a serious fish.

- Oh yeah.

- How long did that take to bring in?

- Probably 25 minutes, if not longer.

- That's pretty good.

And filling out the McCallum team, we have alternates, Sophia and Will, and coaches, Clifford Stanchos and Jennifer Richter.

Okay, St.

Michael's.

Kovidh, you've met some famous folks in your life?

- Yes, I have.

- [Joe] What's your favorite celebrity sighting you've had?

- Definitely Cooper Kupp in 2022.

- What was so special about that for you?

- Just my favorite player on my favorite team at the time, the LA Rams.

It was super surreal to see him.

- Did you get the selfie?

- No, I did not.

- Autograph?

- No.

- Just the memory.

- Yes.

- Nathan, you have a favorite holiday, I hear.

- Yes, sir.

I'm from the New Orleans area originally, so I love Mardi Gras, I get to go back every year, see my family.

It's a big party, I love it.

- So what's your favorite part of Mardi Gras?

- I would say, I- - Remember, you're still under 21 so you- (audience laughing) - I would say just seeing my family.

I have a favorite parade, my favorite parade's Iris, it's an all-girl parade and they like to throw a lot, so I get a lot of nice throws from that parade, so it's nice.

- Marie, you have an interesting passion.

You're gonna have to even help me say this.

You're a Caravaggisti, is that right?

- Caravaggisti.

It's basically a fan of Caravaggio, the painter.

So many people were fans of him that they made a word for it.

- For those who might not be well versed in art history, can you tell us about this artist and why that was your favorite one that you gravitated to?

- Well, the first time I saw one of his paintings, I didn't know who he was and I just saw it in Kansas City and it was "St.

John the Baptist," and I was just so struck by its beauty that I just immediately became a fan of the artist.

- Witt, you like to travel?

- [Witt] I do, yeah.

- [Joe] Okay, any highlights where you visited?

- Yeah, I really liked when I went to Denmark.

That was really cool.

- What'd you love about Denmark?

- I like seeing all the like sustainability and the architecture was really cool there.

How they've like engineered to stay warm in the cold climate.

- They are very good at that.

They had a little history of places that are covered in ice, so pretty well skilled.

Maybe we should take some notes from them down here in Austin.

- Yeah.

- Also in this St.

Michael's team, we have alternates, Anna and Corlan, and coach Deann Trakas.

Let's hear it for both teams.

(audience applauding) Okay, it's time for the head-to-head round.

In this round, correct answers add 10 points to the team total and wrong answers result in a 10 point deduction.

The clock is set at one minute, 30 seconds.

How about a friendly handshake before we get started?

Okay.

Here we go.

A traditional nursery rhyme begins, "A tisket, a tasket, a green and yellow," what?

(bell ringing) - Basket.

- Yes.

- The Followill brothers and their cousin Matthew are members of what band named for their grandfather?

(alarm buzzing) That's the Kings of Leon.

The Arizona National Football League team is named for what bird?

(bell ringing) - Cardinal.

- Yes.

What cartoon dog has a dad named Bandit, a mom named Chilli, and a sister named Bingo?

(alarm buzzing) Bluey.

Granny Smith is the green variety of what fruit?

(bell ringing) - Apple.

- Yes.

In 1983, who became the first American woman to travel into space?

(bell ringing) - Sally Ride.

- Yes.

What city is the capital of Puerto Rico?

(bell ringing) - San Juan.

- Yes.

Cells called rods and cones are found in which organ of the body?

(bell ringing) - Eye.

- Yes.

Igneous rock transformed by heat or pressure becomes what type of rock?

(alarm buzzing) Metamorphic.

What term for a baby cow is also a name for- - Calf.

- Yes.

Nicknamed "King of the Wild Frontier," what man from Tennessee died at the Alamo in 1836?

- Davy Crockett.

- Yes.

A disaster occurred in April, 1986 at what Soviet nuclear power plant?

(bell ringing) - Chernobyl.

- Yes.

Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are spread by the bite of what?

(bell ringing) - Tick.

- Yes.

A circle's diameter equals the length of its radius times what number?

(bell ringing) - Pi?

- Yep, no, two.

(alarm ringing) And that's the end of the round.

Let's take a look at the score.

McCallum has 230 points, St.

Michael's with 140 points.

Still a lot of game to play.

Let's give it up for both teams.

(audience applauding) (lively drumming) All right teams, it's time for the category round.

Today's categories are: "At the Zoo," "Sibling Stories," "She's in Charge," "Tri This," "The Swinging Sixties," and "State Your Position."

All categories have five questions with increasing point value.

Teams will choose two categories each and have the option to toss one question per category to the other team that the other team must answer.

Players, you are able to confer.

All right, McCallum, who's your spokesperson?

- I am.

- Elizabeth.

- St.

Michael's, how about you?

- Me.

- All right, Nathan.

All right, St.

Michael's, you have a little ground to make up, you pick the first category.

- [Nathan] We're gonna go, "Tri This."

- "Tri This."

All answers in this category begin with the letters T-R-I.

For 10 points, in natural sciences, what term refers to a river that flows into a larger river, the way the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi?

- Tributary.

- That's correct.

For 15 points, the capital city of Libya has what name that comes from the Greek for three cities?

- Tripoli.

- Correct.

For 20 points, in "Tri This," named for a son of the Greek sea god Poseidon, and known for its unusual retrograde orbit, what is the largest moon of the planet Neptune?

- Triton?

- No, Triton.

- Triton?

Triton.

- Triton is correct.

- Thank you.

- For 25 points, a poem by John Donne inspired physicist Robert Oppenheimer to choose what name for the first test of the American atomic bomb?

- Trinity, it's Trinity?

Trinity.

- Trinity is right.

And for 30 points, a research team from Texas State University working in Thailand discovered 10 previously unknown species of what Paleozoic arthropods whose name means three-lobed?

- Do you wanna pass, or- (Marie whispering) - We can pass.

Do wanna pass?

- [Joe] I need an answer.

- Pass.

- That is trilobites.

- [Nathan] Oh, yeah.

- McCallum, your category.

- [Elizabeth] We'll take "The Swinging Sixties."

- "The Swinging Sixties."

These are questions about popular culture from the 1960s.

For 10 points, a record 73 million people tuned in to watch what singing group from Liverpool, England make their American TV debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on February 9th, 1964?

- The Beatles.

- The Beatles is right.

For 15 points, originally called the Colt .45s, what Major League Baseball team based in Texas changed its name in 1964 when it moved to a new domed stadium?

- The Houston Astros.

- That is right.

For 20 points, what classic TV quiz show where contestants answer in the form of a question aired its first episode in 1964, 10 years before its current host Ken Jennings was born.

- "Jeopardy."

- That's right.

For 25 points in "The Swinging Sixties," what classic suspense film released in 1960 was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starred Anthony Perkins as a motel owner named Norman Bates?

- "Psycho."

- "Psycho" is right.

And for 30 points, the first season of "Star Trek" aired in 1966 and starred Leonard Nimoy as what character who had a human mother and a Vulcan father?

- Spock.

- Spock.

- Mr.

Spock is correct.

St.

Michael's, next category to you.

- [Nathan] We're gonna go "State Your Position."

"State Your Position."

Questions about US geography.

For 10 points, which US state nicknamed the Cornhusker State is bordered by Kansas to the south and South Dakota to the north?

- Nebraska.

- Nebraska is right.

For 15 points, which US state forms most of the northern border of the boundary drawn by British surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in 1767?

- Montana?

- No.

Maryland?

- Maryland.

- Maryland.

- The Mason-Dixon line.

- Okay.

- [Joe] Need an answer.

- Maryland?

- No, that state is Pennsylvania.

For 20 points in "State Your Position," the most populous city in Missouri is what city whose name refers to a neighboring state?

- Kansas City.

- Kansas City.

- Kansas City.

- That's correct.

For 25 points, Milwaukee, Wisconsin is situated on what lake that shares its name with a US state?

- Lake Michigan.

- Lake Michigan.

- Lake Michigan.

- Yes.

And for 30 points, the shortest land border between a US state and Canada is in which state that shares a 45 mile border with the province of British Columbia?

(contestants indistinctly whispering) - Idaho?

- Idaho is correct.

McCallum, your category.

- [Elizabeth] We'll take "Sibling Stories."

- "Sibling Stories."

These are questions about brothers and sisters in literature.

For 10 points, in the "Harry Potter" universe, what is the last name of the siblings Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny?

- The Weasleys - Correct.

For 15 points, a tale from the Brothers Grimm tells the story of what brother and sister who became lost in the woods and discover an edible house owned by a witch?

- Hansel and Gretel.

- Correct.

For 20 points, Jane and Michael Banks are two of the five siblings who were looked after by what unusual nanny in a series of books by P.L.

Travers?

- "Mary Poppins."

- Yes.

For 25 points, in "Sibling Stories," in the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books by Lemony Snicket, the Baudelaire siblings are Klaus, Sunny, and what older sister whose name is a shade of purple?

- Violet.

- Violet.

- Violet.

- Violet is right.

And for 30 points, Jane Austen wrote about the Bennet sisters in "Pride and Prejudice" and the Dashwood sisters in what other novel whose title refers to the contrast between practicality and romanticism?

- "Sense and Sensibility."

- Correct.

That's the end of the category round.

McCallum has 430 points.

St.

Michael's with 280 points.

Let's hear a little love for both teams.

(audience applauding) (lively music) - Okay, we're heading into the final round of play, the lightning round.

Correct answers add 20 points to the team total and there is a 20 point deduction for incorrect answers.

The clock is set.

Here we go.

What's the name of the title character in Disney's "The Little Mermaid"?

(bell ringing) Kovidh.

- Ariel.

- Yes.

The sum of two complementary angles is how many degrees?

(bell ringing) Kovidh.

- 180.

- No, 90.

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, which is second largest?

(bell ringing) Nathan.

- Saturn?

- Yes.

What is the capital city of Japan?

(bell ringing) Alex.

- Tokyo.

- Yes.

Which human body organ produces bile that is stored in the, Kovidh.

- Gallbladder.

- [Joe] No, liver.

In colonial America, the Chesapeake colonies were Virginia and which neighboring colony?

(bell ringing) Alex.

- North Carolina.

- [Joe] No, Maryland.

Boarding and cross-checking are penalties in what sport?

Alex.

- Hockey.

- [Joe] Yes.

Which web browser shares its name with a land expedition to find animals in Africa?

Mitch.

- Safari.

- [Joe] Yes.

Which mountains lie on the border between France and Spain?

(bell ringing) Kovidh.

- The Pyrenees.

- Yes.

The mythological Greek hero Jason is the captain of... (bell ringing) - Marie.

- Argonauts.

- Again?

- The Argonauts.

- [Joe] Argo is what we're looking for.

How many railroads are there in a standard US game of Monopoly?

(bell ringing) Elizabeth.

- Four.

- Yes.

Operation Desert Storm was launched in 1991 to expel Iraqi troops from what country?

(bell ringing) Sutton.

- Kuwait.

- Yes.

What organs in a fish extract oxygen from water and allow, (bell ringing) Nathan.

- Gills.

- Yes.

The gold rush in the US started in 1848- - California?

- [Joe] No, we were looking, yes, sorry, California.

The flag of the People's Republic of China has yellow stars on a field of what color?

Nathan.

- Red.

- [Joe] Yes.

Who was the captain of the... (alarm ringing) And the winning team this week is McCallum with 510 points.

St.

Michael's finishes with 340 points.

Congratulations to both teams for a great game.

McCallum now moves on to the semifinals.

Join us next week for the quarterfinal match between Del Valle and Marble Falls.

It's gonna be a great one, so be sure to join us right here on "High School Quiz Show: Austin."

(audience cheering) (exciting music) - [Announcer] Funding for "High School Quiz Show: Austin" comes from Sally and James Gavin, Bank of America, Krishna Srinivasan and Raka Sandell.

(pleasant flute music)