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

-Coming up, it's Clark... [cheers and applause] ...and Coronado!

[cheers and applause] This is the Silver League Championship Match on Varsity Quiz!

♪♪ -Hello and welcome.

This is the 57th season of Varsity Quiz.

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

It's always an honor to be your host.

I'm Nathan Tannenbaum.

So tonight, the road to the Silver League Championship ends when Clark, who defeated West CTA in one semifinal, faces Coronado, who defeated A-Tech in the other semifinal.

So here we are at the Championship Match.

Let's give these young men and women a round of applause!

[cheers and applause] And let's meet our players.

The starters for Clark, we've got Dhruv.

Hello, Dhruv.

Welcome back.

Michu, good to see you again.

It's Theo.

-Hello.

-And Aaron.

And the coaches for Clark, Amber Thacker and Lonnie Robbins.

Ladies and gentlemen, Clark High School!

[applause] And starting this afternoon for Coronado, it's Cameron.

Welcome back.

Good to see you.

Maryiam, good to see you.

Hello, Drake.

-Hi.

-And Samay.

And the coach for Coronado, Matt Aberman.

It's Coronado!

[applause] So we're doing what we always do, 25 questions in this first round.

Each correct answer worth 5 points.

And remember, there is a 5 point deduction if a question is answered incorrectly before it's been fully read.

Students, are you ready?

Let's play Championship Varsity Quiz.

Verb forms that function as another part of speech, like "swimming," are either-- And let's go with Coronado, Maryiam: gerunds -No.

That is an interrupt.

I'll complete the question.

--are either gerunds, participles, or infinitives.

These all fall into what umbrella term?

Clark, Michu: participles -No.

They are verbals.

No points, and we move to the next question.

What type of weather phenomenon occurs when a layer of cool air becomes trapped under a layer of-- Clark, Michu: thermal inversion -I don't know if we can take that.

Judges, will we take that?

[consults with judges] So that's incorrect.

Coronado, Maryiam: warm front -No.

We're looking for temperature inversion, which is a little different than thermal, and we'll move on.

The great storm of 1703 was one of the worst weather events in British history, causing havoc across Southern England.

More than 400 of these were destroyed.

Many caught fire because their blades were spinning too fast.

Coronado, Samay: windmills -That is correct.

First points of the game to Coronado.

We move on.

It consists of 10 or more pawns on a 30-square playing board.

What board game known as the game of passing was popular in ancient Egypt?

Coronado, Maryiam: chess -No.

[bell chimes, time expires] The game senet.

No points.

We move on.

A calculation question now, students.

Give the values that solve this system: x + 4y = 56 and 2x - y = 10.

I'll repeat.

Give the values that solve this system: x + 4y = 56 and 2x - y = 10.

[bell chimes, time expires] We were looking for 12 and 11.

No points.

We move on.

In September of 2025, a female casque-headed lizard in a zoo in England had eight young hatchlings from eggs that had never been fertilized - all clones of their mother.

By what biological process-- And that's Clark, Michu: parthenogenesis -That is correct.

Clark's on the board.

Let's keep going.

What time-measuring device used flowing water in ancient Greece and China?

Clark, Dhruv: water clock -Yes.

What Portuguese prince is most known for-- Coronado, Maryiam: Sir Henry the Navigator -Yes.

We move on.

Name the membrane that separates the nucleus of a cell from the surrounding protoplasm.

Coronado, Maryiam: the nuclear membrane -Yes.

The landmark Supreme Court case of Regents v. Bakke in 1978 upheld what program with a two-word alliterative name-- Coronado, Drake: Affirmative Action -Yes.

Edgar Allan Poe is accredited with being the inventor of the modern detective story, a title he earned when what short story of detective Auguste Dupin was published in 1841?

Clark, Aaron: "The Purloined Letter" -Incorrect.

Coronado, Maryiam: "The Orangutan" -No.

It's "Murders in the Rue Morgue."

No points.

We move on.

In 1946, Winston Churchill said, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, a [what]--" Coronado, Maryiam: iron curtain -Yes.

As with other Charles Dickens novels, the hardships happen, but the books end with hope.

Great Expectations ends with Pip looking forward to a future with what woman who'd once broken his heart?

Clark, Theo: Estella -Correct.

Pendentives and squinches are architectural elements that support the building of what circular structure at the top of a square room or building?

Coronado, Maryiam: dome -Yes.

The U.S.

smuggled thousands of what kind of terminals into Iran to keep protesters online after a recent brutal crackdown on demonstrators?

Clark, Theo: Starlink -Yes.

Who designed the bronze doors of the Florence Baptistry, often called the "Gates of Paradise"?

Coronado, Samay: Michelangelo -No.

Clark, Theo: Botticelli -No.

We were looking for Lorenzo Ghiberti.

No points.

Next question.

Which 1894 strike against a railroad company was broken by federal troops who killed at least 25 of the workers by firing into the crowd?

Clark, Theo: Pullman Strike -Yes.

Which award-winning 2017 novel by Jason Reynolds tells a story in reverse, all set during an elevator ride?

Coronado, Maryiam: Going Down -No.

Clark, Theo: Stuck -No.

The novel was called Long Way Down.

Next question.

In 1927, Hermann Muller discovered that treating an organism with x-rays permanently changes genes.

Name these genetic changes.

Clark, Dhruv: mutations -Yes.

The first woman in space was from which country?

Coronado, Maryiam: the United States of America -Incorrect.

Clark, Aaron: the Soviet Union -Yes.

The Alborz mountain range stretches from the border of Azerbaijan with Iran along the western and southern coasts of which sea whose name was borrowed by author C.S.

Lewis for a royal character?

Clark, Theo: Caspian Sea -That's correct.

A word that shares a root with toxic, a toxopholite is someone with an interest in what activity?

Coronado, Maryiam: being toxic -Incorrect.

Clark, Michu: poisoning -No.

It's archery.

Next question.

A seamstress by trade, who was carrying a dress when she was arrested in 1955?

Coronado, Maryiam: Rosa Parks -That's right.

Which movie was adapted from the nonfiction book Queen Bees & Wannabes?

Coronado, Maryiam: Mean Girls -That's right.

Chief Lapulapu killed which explorer-- That's Clark, Theo: Magellan -That is correct.

And that's the end of our first round.

Let's give both of these teams a round of applause.

[applause] Think we got a tight match here, but we'll check on the score in a second.

Before we move on, we want to take a minute to chat with the players.

We have learned a little bit about them in the quarter finals, the semifinals.

So today we're going to talk simply about future plans, even if we have 9th graders, even if these students are not sure what their post-high school might look like.

Let's go ahead and get started with Clark.

Dhruv, what are your plans after high school?

-I don't know.

I'm thinking of either going to quantum physics or medical oncology.

-Okay.

Good luck with those, either one.

That's a tough choice.

We're glad to have you back here, Dhruv.

Thank you.

Michu, how about yourself?

-I'm hoping to get to go into cardiology, so hopefully become a doctor one day.

-But have you guys made college choices?

-Right now I'm waiting on a few more decisions for now, but hoping soon I'll get some.

-Well, I think the bottom line for all, you have bright futures.

So, Michu, that's great.

Good luck.

Theo, how about yourself?

-I'm honestly, I'm planning to become a lawyer when I get older.

And I don't know.

I'm just also waiting on decisions as well since they're just leaving it until the end of March.

-You're all welcome to change your minds.

You're not locked into anything.

Good luck with that, Theo.

And Aaron?

-We're looking at colleges right now.

I'm still a junior, so we have a bit of time, but I don't know what I want to do.

I'm hoping to figure it out when I get to college.

-You got time.

Ladies and gentlemen, the students from Clark High School.

[applause] And let's go over to Coronado.

Cameron, do you have post-high school plans?

-Yeah.

I hope maybe to do sort of something in journalism or photojournalism, and I ideally want to live in New York.

And I'm thinking Brooklyn College, which is a part of the City University system.

So hopefully, if I get in.

-Good luck with that.

That's awesome.

Maryiam, I think you've talked a little bit about your hopes for the future.

-Yes.

I want to go into oncologic dermatology.

And my end goal is to become a medicine politician who advocates for the rights of cancer patients in states and even potentially national legislatures.

I'm still waiting on a couple of decisions, but we'll see where it goes.

-I think you're going to be fine whatever you decide, Maryiam.

Thank you.

Drake?

-I-- Not exactly, but I know I'm interested in economics.

I thought about law school, but I-- Something in government.

-Okay.

Good luck with that.

And Samay?

-I've been interested in going into international relations at either USC or Georgetown.

-Excellent.

You all have bright futures.

Ladies and gentlemen, our students from Coronado.

[applause] Bonus round next.

Going into Round 2, close match.

Clark has 40 points to Coronado's 35.

Clark is keeping all of their same players.

We have one new player for Coronado.

We say hello to Kyle.

Hi, Kyle.

-Hello.

-Welcome aboard.

So this is the bonus round.

Each of 10 possible questions still worth 5 points.

Teams with correct answers will get two bonus questions, each of them worth 5 points.

And this is where we have that team conferring permitted on those bonus questions.

We'll give you 10 seconds before we need a response from the team's captain.

The round is timed at six minutes, and that time starts as I read this question: The spinning jenny is a multi-spindle spinning frame and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of what manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution?

Coronado, Maryiam: textiles -Correct.

Bonus questions now about the Industrial Revolution for Coronado only.

First, what author's Hard Times portrayed the industrial community of Coketown?

Second, who adapted the radically improved steam engine to produce rotary motion?

You have 10 seconds.

[students deliberate] -First answer, Charles Dickens.

Second answer, Diesel.

-Dickens is correct.

The second one is James Watt.

So some bonus points plus the original question points.

We move to this question for both teams: Home to Puget Sound, Mount Saint Helens, and Olympic-- Coronado, Kyle: Washington -Yes.

Bonus questions for Coronado only now about counties.

First, it's the smallest U.S.

state at about 48 miles long, 37 miles wide.

In which state can you find Kent, Bristol, and Newport Counties?

Second, home of the cotton gin, Coca-Cola, and Lay's potato chips, this state includes the counties of Gwinnett, Jeff Davis, and Oglethorpe.

You have 10 seconds.

[students deliberate] -First answer, Rhode Island.

Second answer, Georgia.

-Both are correct.

You got bonus points.

Now this question for both teams is a calculation question.

Find the average rate of change in y equals x squared plus two, square bracket, negative two and negative three halves, end bracket.

Let me repeat.

Find the average rate of change in y = x squared + 2; [-2, -3/2].

Coronado, Maryiam: -7/8 -I don't believe that's correct, no.

Clark, Dhruv: 7/8 -No.

The answer, -3.5.

No points.

We move to the next bonus questions-- the toss-up question for both teams.

Located in the southwestern corner of Asia, what type of physical feature covers almost all of the Arabian Peninsula?

That's Coronado, Samay: desert -Yes.

Bonus questions about Arabia now for Coronado only.

First, it's the biggest country in the world without any permanent rivers.

What country occupies three quarters of the Arabian Peninsula?

Second, what color that represents Islam is seen on the flags of five Arabian nations?

[students deliberate] -First answer, Saudi Arabia.

Second answer, green.

-Both are correct.

You got bonus points.

Tossup now for both teams.

Aluminum is known for being lightweight (1/3 the density of steel), highly corrosion resistant, and infinitely recyclable.

What's the typical ionic charge for aluminum?

Coronado, Maryiam: positive 3 -Yes.

Bonus questions now about ionic charges for Coronado only.

First, give the typical ionic charge of zinc.

Second, give the typical ionic charge of silver.

Ten seconds.

[students deliberate] -First answer, plus two; second answer, plus one.

-Both are correct.

You got bonus points.

A toss-up question for both teams now.

Not only was he a skilled warrior and a loyal companion to his king, Dagonet was often portrayed as the court jester or fool of what legendary English king?

Coronado, Maryiam: King Arthur -Correct.

Bonus questions about the legend of King Arthur now for Coronado only.

First, name King Arthur's treacherous nephew, often depicted as his illegitimate son, who brought about the downfall of Camelot.

Second, who was Arthur's purest knight, son of Lancelot and Elaine and famous for achieving the Holy Grail?

You got 10 seconds.

[students deliberate] -First answer, Lancelot; second answer, Gawain.

-Both are incorrect.

We were looking for Mordred and Sir Galahad.

No bonus points, but you get the original points.

We move to this tossup for both teams: At the 2025 Grammys, which artist made history by becoming the first black woman to win Album of the Year and also-- Coronado, Maryiam: Ciza -That is incorrect.

That is an interrupt.

I'll finish the question.

--and also took home Best Country Album?

Clark, Aaron: Beyonce -That is correct.

Now we have bonus questions about music for Clark only.

First, in 2021, which South Korean group set a Guinness World Record for the most-viewed YouTube video in 24 hours with "Butter"?

Second, what unusual instrument, more often used in a doctor's office than music studios, did Billie Eilish and Finneas use to create eerie sounds on their album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

You have 10 seconds.

[students deliberate] -For the first answer, BTS; for the second answer, stethoscope.

-BTS is correct.

The tool was a dental drill.

Some bonus points, but not all.

We move on.

Tossup for both teams: Delegates from 50 countries met in San Francisco in the ashes of World War II to establish an international organization to prevent a repetition of such a conflict and promote global peace.

Name this organization.

Coronado, Maryiam: the United Nations -That is correct.

Bonus social studies questions now for Coronado only.

First, the establishment of military authority over a civilian population in time of war or emergency is called what?

And second, which political party gets its name from the Latin and French words meaning "belonging to all" or "common"?

You have 10 seconds.

[students deliberate] -First answer, martial law; second answer, the Democratic Party.

-Martial law is correct.

The second answer was Communism.

Some bonus points, but not all.

And that's the end of our second round.

Another round of applause, please.

[applause] But also, we do want to take a moment to say thank you to the Kiwanis Club of Las Vegas.

They're amazing.

They provide score keepers for the in-school competitions, because there's a lot of Varsity Quiz before we get to Vegas PBS.

We also want to give a shout-out to the staff and leadership of the Clark County School District's Student Activities department, where, where would we be without them?

They coordinate every step of the program from early in the school year all the way to tonight's championship.

Our Speed Round next.

Quite a turnaround.

The score going into Round 3: Clark has 50 points to Coronado's 100.

But anything can happen in the third round.

Clark's keeping all of their same players.

Coronado we have one new player.

We say hello to Dexter.

Hi, Dexter.

-Hi.

-Welcome aboard.

So here we are in the Speed Round.

We have 30 possible questions.

Correct answers still worth 5 points, also a timed round at six minutes.

So we get to as many questions as we can.

Sometimes we get all 30 of them before the six minutes is up, and that will be the end of the round.

Let's go.

What theorem states that an angle inscribed in a semicircle is a right angle?

Coronado, Dexter: the Pythagorean theorem -Incorrect.

[bell chimes] -I think it was after the buzzer?

[consults with judges] Okay.

Clark, Dhruv: inscribed angle theorem -No.

It's Thales' theorem.

We move to the next question.

What American poet wrote "Leaves of Grass" and is known-- Coronado, Maryiam: Whitman -Correct.

What type of column is the most ornate and luxurious of the three classical Greek orders?

Clark, Theo: Corinthian -Yes.

What 19th century composer used folk dances and national legends in his music to inspire Czech pride?

Clark, Theo: Bartok -Incorrect.

Coronado, Samay: [indistinct] -No.

Antonin Dvorak.

No points.

Next question.

What system allows birds to store and soften food before digestion?

Coronado, Maryiam: the crop and gizzard system -I believe we can accept that, yes.

In 2008, Sue Bird helped the United States win its fourth straight Olympic gold medal in what sport?

Coronado, Samay: archery -Incorrect.

Clark, Theo: basketball -That's right.

Which European capital city is split by the Danube River-- And that's Coronado, Samay: Budapest -Yes.

Next, a calculation question.

Remember, don't repeat here in the third round, so listen up.

What's the greatest common factor of 168 and 210?

Clark, Dhruv: 14 -Incorrect.

Coronado, Samay: 21 -No.

The answer, 42.

No points.

Next question.

The Terracotta Army was built to protect the tomb of which Chinese emperor?

Coronado, Maryiam: Qin Shi Huangdi -I believe that's correct.

Yes.

Who wrote, "Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree"?

Coronado, Maryiam: Joyce Kilmer -That's right.

Thigmotropism is the term for plant movement in response to what?

Coronado, Samay: wind -No.

Clark, Theo: light -No.

It's a response to touch.

No points.

Next question.

What's the French term for visual art created outside on location?

Coronado, Dexter: mural -No.

Clark, Dhruv: on scene -No.

It's called plein air.

Next question.

What's the term for the scientific instrument that measures humidity in the atmosphere?

Coronado, Maryiam: the barometer -No.

That's incorrect.

[bell chimes, time expires] Barometers measure air pressure.

Humidity is measured by a hygrometer.

Next question.

What's the name for a storage device that uses flash memory and has no moving parts?

Clark, Michu: RAM -Incorrect.

Coronado, Dexter: Solid State Drive -Yes.

Next question.

Newborn humans have about 300 bones in their body.

As babies grow, their bones will fuse into this amount of bones that adults have.

Clark, Michu: 207 -No.

Coronado, Maryiam: 206 -Yes.

Next question.

What's the term for the group of mammals that lay eggs?

Coronado, Maryiam: monotremes -Yes.

This volcano last erupted in 1707.

Now around 300,000 people hike to its summit every year on the island country of Japan.

Clark, Theo: Mount Fuji -That's right.

The fake snow used during the production of the movie Wizard of Oz was made from what mineral-- Coronado, Samay: asbestos -Yes.

What's the legal term for the principle that past court decisions should guide future ones?

Coronado, Maryiam: precedence -Yes.

The dome on the U.S.

Capitol Building is of what style of architecture?

Dexter, Coronado: Greco-Roman -Incorrect.

Clark, Theo: Classical -No.

It's Neoclassical.

Next question.

A famous trial in ancient Athens sentenced which philosopher to death for-- Coronado, Maryiam: Socrates -Yes.

Name the agreement between parties that creates mutual obligations that are enforceable by law.

Coronado, Samay: contract -Yes.

The paradoxical frog of South America is often larger in what juvenile form than it is as an adult?

Coronado, Maria: tadpoles -That's right.

Edward Doheny was accused of bribing which U.S President's-- That's Clark, Theo: Harding -Yes.

What's the name of the medical condition commonly called high blood pressure?

Coronado, Maryiam: hypertension -Yes.

Jane Austen published four novels during her lifetime.

Which one was alliterative with the letter S, as in Sam?

Clark, Dhruv: Sense and Sensibility -Yes.

The group of colors given off by an element is referred to by physicists as its what?

Coronado, Maryiam: specter -No.

Clark, Dhruv: hue -No.

We're looking for spectrum.

Next question.

Adrenaline, insulin, and estrogen are examples-- Clark, Dhruv: hormone -Yes.

Spanish is to tilde as German is to what diacritical mark?

Clark, Aaron: umlaut -That's right.

Where in a musical composition do you find a passage called a coda?

Clark, Dhruv: the end -And that's exactly where we are in this match.

Let's find out who won.

And the final score in Season 57 of the Silver League: Clark 90 points.

Coronado 170.

Congratulations to both teams.

[applause] An incredible match, but congratulations to Coronado.

Phil Colosimo is here, the president of the Kiwanis Club of Las Vegas, to make the trophy presentation to the captain of the winning team.

Phil, there she is right there and representing all of the Coronado Cougars, Captain Maryiam.

Phil, thank you to the Kiwanis Club for everything that you guys do to help Varsity Quiz.

We hope you'll tune in next week for the always fun bragging rights Silver League All-Star Match.

Thanks for watching Varsity Quiz on Vegas PBS.

Good night!

Great job, you guys.