This week on "Granite State Challenge," the Blue Devils of Salem High School take on the Cardinals of Stevens High School.

Only one team will advance.

"Granite State Challenge" starts now.

[theme music] Major funding for the production of "Granite State Challenge" is provided by Unitil-- additional funding provided by NEA New Hampshire, Safety Insurance, New Hampshire Lottery, DF Richard Energy, HRCU, Cognia, 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, everybody.

And thank you so much for joining us this week on "Granite State Challenge."

We are in the final match of our opening round.

And we've got two teams here ready to do battle to see who's going to punch that last ticket to the next round.

Let's introduce them to you, shall we?

First up, we have the Blue Devils of Salem High School.

Hi.

I'm Valerie.

And I enjoy studying the Constitution.

Hi.

My name is Donovan Homsey.

And I'm allergic to cherries.

Hi.

My name is John.

And I'm learning how to play the guitar.

Hi.

My name is Bianca Pichardo.

And I believe that Nicki Minaj is the queen of rap.

All right.

Their alternates are Ava and Kendall.

The team is coached by Bernie Campbell.

And they are the Blue Devils of Salem High School.

Facing off against the Blue Devils this week are the Cardinals of Stevens High School.

Hi.

I'm Prescott.

And I was a Senate page in DC my junior year.

Hi.

I'm Gabby.

And I went to Germany on an exchange trip.

Hi.

I'm Libby.

And I play the flute.

Hi.

I'm Julia, I'm a senior, and I'm an athlete.

All right.

Excellent.

The team is coached by Gary Cullison.

And they are the Stevens High School Cardinals.

All right.

Nice to meet you, teams.

We do have one more introduction before we get started, of course.

And that is our judge.

Back with us again is Ann Belanger.

All right, teams.

Introductions are done.

Grab those signaling devices, because we're going to play the game.

Now, "Granite State Challenge," as you know, is played in four rounds.

And in round one, we're playing 10-point toss-up questions.

So Salem, Stephens, good luck.

"In what novel is Big Brother watching you?"

[chimes] John of Salem.

"Nineteen Eighty-Four."

That's it.

"The US President lives in the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Where is the address of the home of the British Prime Minister?"

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens?

10 Downing Street.

That's it.

"At 919,600 square miles, this is the largest country in Africa."

[rings] It's Algeria.

"Hasbro decided in 2021 to drop the Mr. from this line of toys."

Prescott of Stevens.

Potato Head.

Yes.

"In 1973, the racehorse Secretariat became the first horse to claim this coveted title in 25 years."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Triple Crown.

Correct.

"This man has served as the junior senator from Vermont since 2007."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Bernie Sanders.

Yes.

"This could be a cathedral city in Kent, England or the home of the Shaker Village in New Hampshire."

[rings] And you'll find New Hampshire Shaker Village in Canterbury.

"This Irish playwright wrote his works in both French and English.

His best-known work may be the 1953 play, 'Waiting for Godot.'"

[rings] That was written by Samuel Beckett.

"This architect and inventor is perhaps best known for geodesic domes."

[rings] Name we were going for is Buckminster Fuller.

"The cheese stands alone at the end of this childhood song."

[chimes] Valerie of Salem.

"The Farmer and the Dell."

Yes.

"You'll find both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry in this city."

[chimes] Valerie of Salem.

Nashville.

Correct.

"David Souter served as Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court from 1983 to 1990 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

He served from October 1990 to his retirement in June 2009.

He was replaced on the court by this jurist, who is the first Hispanic and Latina member of the Court."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Sotomayor.

Correct.

"Actor Adam West played this caped crusader in a 1960s TV show."

[chimes] John of Salem.

"Batman."

Yes.

"This long, thin country is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Chile.

Yes.

"There are five homes designed by this architect in New England.

Two of them are in Manchester, New Hampshire, the Zimmerman House and the Kalil House."

[rings] Both of those were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

All right, teams.

You have pen and paper there in case you need it.

"What is the area of a right triangle if one leg has length 10 and the other leg has length 24?"

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

120.

Yes.

"This American test pilot broke the sound barrier in 1947."

[chimes] John of Salem.

Yeager.

Chuck Yeager is correct.

"Spike Lee directed the 2020 concert film 'American Utopia,' featuring this former lead singer of the New Wave band The Talking Heads."

[rings] David Byrne is the name there.

All right, teams.

"This actor played Mayberry Sheriff Andy Taylor and criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock on TV and Larry 'Lonesome' Rhodes in the 1957 film "A Face in the Crowd.'"

[rings] That was Andy Griffith.

All right, teams.

"What US city is known as the Mile High City?"

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Denver.

Correct.

"This English pop singer/songwriter has had hits with songs like 'Levitating,' 'Don't Start Now,' and 'Break My Heart."

[chimes] Gabby of Stevens.

Dua Lipa.

Yes.

All right, teams.

Our next question is our Unitil Power Question.

It is worth double the points.

So it is a 20-point toss-up question.

And it's coming to you on your monitors.

Take a look.

"Alfred Hitchcock based two of his movies, 'The Birds' and 'Rebecca,' on works by this author."

[chimes] Donovan of Salem.

Edgar Allan Poe.

Sorry.

No.

[rings] It was Daphne du Maurier was the name we were looking for there.

Teams, "what is the smallest continent by size?"

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Europe.

Sorry.

No.

Valerie of Salem.

Australia.

That's the one.

"This singer, rapper, songwriter, and flautist is known for the songs 'Juice,' 'Tempo,' and 'Truth Hurts.'"

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Yes.

"This country was once known as 'Persia.'"

[chimes] Valerie of Salem.

Iran.

Yes.

"This play title by Edward Albee asks 'Who's Afraid of' this 20th-century modernist English author?"

[chimes] John of Salem.

Virginia Woolf.

That's correct.

"These pink wading birds are often seen standing on one leg, with the other tucked into their body."

[chimes] Donovan of Salem.

Flamingo.

Correct.

All right, teams.

"What is the area of a square with four-inch sides?"

[chimes] John of Salem.

16 inches squared.

Yes.

Correct.

"One of the stories about this fire puts the blame on Mrs. O'Leary's cow for kicking over a lantern."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Great Chicago Fire.

That's the one.

"In 1937, Congress expanded the number of justices on the Supreme Court from seven to this current number."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Nine.

Yes.

"This evergreen plant in the grass family makes up close to 99% of the giant panda's diet."

[chimes] Bianca of Salem.

Bamboo.

Yes.

"This could be a breed of dog or another name for a pugilist."

[chimes] Donovan of Salem.

Pug.

Sorry.

No.

[rings] It's close.

The boxer.

All right, teams.

Go ahead and take a look at the monitors in front of you.

You are looking at the painting "Circus Sideshow" by French artist Georges Seurat.

"Seurat was known for using this painting technique that uses small dots of color to create an image."

[chimes] Valerie of Salem.

Pointillism.

That's correct.

[siren] All right.

And that sound ends round one.

And we've got a tight match here, folks.

By scores of 120 to 120, Salem and Stevens are in a tie.

That's what we like to see, teams.

Keep up the good work.

We're going to move into round two.

In round two, we'll continue with the toss-up questions.

But we're going to double the point value.

So we're playing for 20-point toss-up questions, OK?

Salem and Stevens, keep it up.

Good luck.

"Lyme disease is transmitted by this species of tick."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

[rings] Sorry.

Too much time.

[chimes] Valerie of Salem.

Deer tick.

Deer tick is correct.

"This famous ancient Greek statue of an armless goddess is six feet, eight inches in height."

[rings] It's the "Venus de Milo."

"Guy Fawkes Day, celebrated in the United Kingdom with bonfires and fireworks, marks the anniversary of the discovery of this plot to blow up Parliament."

[rings] That plot was known as the Gunpowder Plot.

"From 2700 to 1420 BC, this Greek island was ruled by the Minoans.

In mythology, it is the setting for 'Theseus and the Minotaur.'"

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Iona.

Sorry.

No.

Salem?

[rings] The island of Crete.

"Who composed the orchestral suite 'The Planets'?"

[chimes] Libby of Stevens.

Gustav Holst.

That is correct.

"Charlotte Bronte wrote this novel that told the story from childhood to adulthood about the trials and tribulations of an orphan struggling to find her place in the world."

[rings] Valerie of Salem.

"Wuthering Heights."

Sorry.

No.

[rings] It is "Jane Eyre."

"This man led his Carthaginian army across the Alps into Italy in the Second Punic War, although he was unable to bring his elephants."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Hannibal.

That's it.

"This composer and conductor is known for his award-winning work on scores for films, including 'Jaws,' 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' and 'Star Wars.'"

[rings] That, of course, is John Williams.

All right, teams.

"This is the last US city to host a Summer Olympics."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Los Angeles.

Sorry.

No.

[rings] It was Atlanta, 1996.

"In May 1915, a German U-boat sunk this British ocean liner just miles off the coast of Ireland, killing over 1,198 people."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

"Lafonza," "Lafiana."

Sorry.

No.

Valerie.

The "Lusitania."

"Lusitania."

Yes.

"The band Aerosmith did not take its name from the novel "Aerosmith" by this author."

[rings] That book was written by Sinclair Lewis.

"This could be a bioluminescent bug or a space Western series that was canceled after one season, but became a cult classic."

[chimes] Donovan of Salem.

"Firefly."

That's it.

"This international communication code is made up of dots and dashes or dits and dahs."

[chimes] Donovan of Salem.

Morse code.

Correct.

"In baseball, a runner stuck between bases in a rundown can be said to be caught in one of these."

[chimes] Julia of Stevens.

A pickle.

A pickle is right.

"The masseter, one of the strongest muscles of the human body, is found here."

[chimes] Bianca of Salem.

The tongue.

Sorry.

No.

[rings] You're close.

It's found in the jaw.

"This man was the emperor when the Great Fire of Rome broke out in the year 54."

[rings] It was Nero.

"The region known as the Golan Heights was captured from this country and occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Jordan.

Sorry.

No.

[rings] It was Syria.

"Israel and the Palestinian Authority both claim this city, considered holy by all three of the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as their capital."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Jerusalem.

That's the one.

"In 1972, Olga Korbut, an athlete from the Soviet Union, charmed the world with her performances"-- [siren] Well, we won't quite get to that clue.

It was gymnastics was the correct response.

And look at that.

After two rounds, still tied by a score of 200 to 200.

All right.

So in this case, we are going to move on to our-- what we are calling our "Three Strikes and You're Out" round.

Each team will be given a category and 10 questions in each category.

And we will go right down the line, player by player, answering each one.

We'll give you 10 points for each correct response and an additional 10 points if you get them all right.

We'll keep going until you either get them all or three strikes.

And Salem, we are going to start with you as the, quote, unquote, "home team," the higher alphabetical team here.

And so Valerie, you get to choose from "It's Only a Game," "Place Setting," and "All the Neils."

"It's Only a Game."

"It's Only a Game."

OK.

So the answers to the following will all include the word "game," OK?

All right.

Valerie, "HBO series based on George RR Martin novels."

"Game of Thrones."

Correct.

Donovan, "company whose stock soared largely based on chatter on Reddit."

[rings] GameStop.

John, "an eight-bit handheld game console."

Game Boy.

Correct.

Bianca, "this branch of applied mathematics that looks at how, in competitive situations, the outcome for an individual depends on the actions of others."

[rings] It is game theory.

[beep] Valerie, "a person who oversees wildlife and hunting."

Fishing and game park ranger.

Sorry.

We were looking for "game warden" on that.

And that is your third strike.

So after three strikes, two correct responses.

Nice job.

All right.

Stevens.

We turn to you.

And Prescott, you get to choose from the remaining two categories, "Place Setting" and "All the Neils."

"Place Setting."

"Place Setting."

OK.

So in this category, identify the state where the primary action in the following novels takes place, OK?

Prescott, "'The Shining' by Stephen King."

Maine.

Sorry.

It's Colorado.

[beep] Gabby, "'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker."

Louisiana.

No.

It's Georgia.

[beep] Libby, "Interview with the Vampire' by Anne Rice."

Tennessee.

Sorry.

Now was the time for Louisiana.

So that's three strikes-- no points earned there, but tough categories all around for both teams.

And this is still a very tight game, folks.

All right.

Salem and Stevens, we're going to go right into round four.

We're going to pick back up with the 20-point toss-up questions.

However, we will be deducting 20 points for any incorrect responses.

So play smart and play strategic.

Good luck, both teams.

Here we go.

"In the 1977 movie 'Star Wars,' who told Luke Skywalker to use the Force?"

[chimes] Donovan of Salem.

Yoda.

Sorry.

No.

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Obi-Wan Kenobi.

It was Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Frances Perkins was the first woman to serve in any US cabinet position.

She served as the Secretary of this Department from 1933 to 1945."

[rings] She was the Secretary of the Labor Department.

"In American English, this piece of clothing is called a 'sweater.'

What is a sweater called in British English?"

[chimes] Valerie of Salem.

Cardigan.

Sorry.

No.

[rings] They call it a "jumper."

"This temple to the goddess Athena is found on the Athenian Acropolis in Greece."

[rings] That temple is the Parthenon.

"The musician Prince played the lead character The Kid in this 1984 movie loosely based on his life."

[rings] Looking for "Purple Rain."

All right, teams.

"This could be a species of fish or a roost for a bird."

[chimes] John of Salem.

Carp.

Sorry.

No.

[rings] Could be a perch.

"This is the only county in New Hampshire named for a river."

[rings] It's the Merrimack-- Merrimack County.

"This mountain range, which is found in northern Greece and southern Albania, is sometimes referred to as the 'Spine of Greece.'"

[rings] Looking for the Pindus Mountains there.

"This room in the White House can seat over 100 people and is used for official meals."

[rings] It's the State Dining Room.

"Although they were rivals during the NBA season, Magic Johnson of the Lakers and this Celtics player served as co-captains on the 1992 Olympic Dream Team."

[chimes] Julia of Stevens.

Larry Bird.

That is correct.

"This prog rock band is perhaps best known for the album 'Dark Side of the Moon.'"

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Pink Floyd.

Yes.

"In 1608, Samuel de Champlain established a trading post in what is now this Canadian city."

[chimes] John of Salem.

Quebec.

Correct.

"This man served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939 and was the first Jewish justice."

[rings] It was Louis Brandeis.

"Canadian actor Michael Cera played this slacker in a movie based on graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley."

[chimes] Donovan of Salem.

"Scott Pilgrim Versus the World."

We'll take that.

"Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system.

Which planet is the smallest?"

[chimes] Valerie of Salem.

Mercury.

Yes.

"In 1772, a group of men led by Abraham Whipple and John Brown attacked and torched the British customs schooner the "HMS Gaspee" in what is now called Gaspee Point in this New England state."

[rings] You'll find Gaspee Point in Rhode Island.

All right, teams.

"This English computer scientist invented the World Wide Web in 1989."

[rings] It was Tim Berners-Lee.

"In his 1896 bid for the presidency, this man who went on to become the 25th president of the United States promised a full dinner pail to promote his promise of prosperity for all.

The promise of a full dinner pail was used again by Republican candidates in the 1900, 1904, and 1908 elections."

[chimes] Valerie of Salem.

Jackson.

Sorry.

No.

[rings] It is McKinley-- McKinley.

"The French phrase 'Répondez, s'il vous plait' is better known by this acronym."

[chimes] Donovan of Salem.

RSVP.

Correct.

"In 1917, due to anti-German sentiment in England during World War I, the British royal house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha changed its name to this."

[chimes] Prescott of Stevens.

Windsor.

Correct.

"Great Britain's Bubble Act of 1720, which banned the creation of joint stock companies without a royal charter, was the result of this economic bubble."

[chimes] Donovan of Salem.

[rings] Oh.

Ran out of time.

[rings] It is the South Sea bubble.

"This New Hampshire county is named for the author of 'History of New Hampshire,' a three-volume history of the state published between 1784 and 1792."

[rings] It's Belknap County.

"This treaty signed on June 28, 1919 ended World War I."

[siren] Well, sorry, Bianca.

Just a little late on that.

It is the Treaty of Versailles.

And after a very close match, Stevens will be moving on to the next round of the tournament.

Congratulations, Stevens.

We'll see you in a few weeks when you take on the Falcons of Bow High School.

And Salem, close match, tough loss, but you guys hung in there real well and should be proud.

And we're so glad that you guys came out to play.

And we're so glad that you joined us for this match.

We do hope that you join us next time.

That'll be it for us for this week.

I learned a lot.

And I hope you did, too.

We'll see you next time.

[theme music] Major funding for the production of "Granite State Challenge" is provided by Unitil-- additional funding provided by NEA New Hampshire, Safety Insurance, New Hampshire Lottery, DF Richard Energy, HRCU, Cognia, and viewers like you.

Thank you.

[theme music]