- And welcome to the studios of WCMU Public Media again, this time Clare and Interlochen Arts Academy competing on this episode of "Quiz Central," we've got that coming up for you next.

(upbeat music) Hello again everyone, I'm David Nicholas, and welcome to "Quiz Central."

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

The top teams from "Quiz Central" will qualify for the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament.

Okay, let's get to our game.

The first round is the Maroon and Gold Rush.

Teams have two minutes to answer as many toss-up questions as they can.

If a team answers incorrectly, the opposing school has an 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.

You'll see that indicated by an orange light above their name.

Answers are worth 10 points apiece, with no deduction for incorrect answers.

All set, players?

Here comes your first question.

What geologic period saw massive oxygenation of Earth's oceans as well as a massive proliferation of multicellular life during its namesake explosion?

(buzzer chimes) - The Cambrian Explosion.

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

In 2006, African American author Tarana Burke founded what movement encouraging survivors of sexual harassment and rape to share their experiences?

- MeToo?

- MeToo?

- You got it.

- That was a toss-up, right?

- Mm-hm.

- Yeah.

- [David] We're gonna keep going, next question then: what novel, which includes legends about the Sun God Frith and the Trickster El-ahrairah, was written by Richard Adams about Hazel and other rabbits?

(buzzer chimes) - "Watership Down"?

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

Next question: what principle in chemistry, with a German name, holds that electrons always fill lower-energy sub-shells before higher-energy ones?

(buzzer chimes) - The Bernoulli principle?

(bell hums) - [David] Incorrect.

Next question for both: what principle, I'm sorry, Clare, we come to you with a guess if you have one?

Next question then: what politician, who took office in 2023 by succeeding Kevin McCarthy, represents the fourth district of Louisiana and is speaker of the House?

(buzzer chimes) - Mike Johnson?

- Mike Johnson is correct.

Next question: in 1590, what eight-letter word was found carved into a tree by John, (bell chimes) and we come to the end of the round, we did not get through that.

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

First of all, we'll start with the question we were almost through, in 1590, the eight-letter word, we were looking for Croatian, the principle in chemistry with a German name is the Aufbau principle.

That brings us to the end of that first round, we are tied at 20 apiece.

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

First, we welcome in the students from Clare.

- Hi, my name is Holly, I'm a senior at Clare High School, and I play the euphonium in marching band.

- Hi, my name's Charlie and I play soccer.

- Hi, my name's David, I'm a junior at Clare High School and I play bari sax in jazz band.

- Hi, my name is Jack and I play tenor saxophone in jazz band.

- Thank you Clare, good to have you here.

Now let's take a moment to meet the team from Interlochen Arts Academy.

- Hello, my name is Oliver, I'm a senior at Interlochen, and I play guitar.

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

- Hello, I'm Sebastian, I'm a senior at Interlochen, and I study creative writing.

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

- A big thank you to all of our students, and our next round today on "Quiz Central" is our Kickoff Round.

This 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.

There's no stealing on that bonus question, and after a bonus question, we 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.

If the buzzers are all set, players, with a deep breath, let's go, here comes your first question: what South American country's authors include one who wrote about radio employees in "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter," Mario Vargas Llosa?

(buzzer chimes) - Mexico?

(bell hums) - [David] That is incorrect, do we have a guess from Clare?

(buzzer chimes) - Venezuela?

- [David] Also incorrect, toss-up for both: what show in which, excuse me, Jonah Vogelbaum tries to denounce Vought International is a Prime Video series portraying corrupt superheroes such as Homelander?

(buzzer chimes) - "The Boys."

(bell chimes) - [David] That is correct, a bonus for Clare: what Swiss-born man outlined Five Points of Architecture and pioneered International Style with a concrete machine for living called the Villa Savoye?

(players hum) - I have no idea.

- [David] Do you have an answer?

All right, back to a toss-up for both teams: what opera, in which "Una poco face" is sung by Bartolo's ward Rosina, is a Gioachino Rossini opera featuring Figaro, who gives Bartolo a shave?

(buzzer chimes) - "The Barber of Seville."

- [David] That is correct, an Interlochen bonus question: in Imperial China, what castrated men were employed in administrative roles in the government?

- Eunuchs.

- [David] That is also correct.

Back to a toss-up now for both teams: what seat of Duval County is the largest city by area in the contiguous US, is the most populous city in Florida, and is home to the NFL's Jaguars?

(buzzer chimes) - Jacksonville.

- [David] Jacksonville is correct, a bonus question for Interlochen: what type of RNA, that has a special cap at one end, is produced by transcription of DNA?

- mRNA.

- mRNA.

- [David] That is also correct.

Back to a toss-up for both teams: what process, which can occur in a specular fashion, at smooth surfaces, is the change in direction of light caused by shiny objects like mirrors?

(buzzer chimes) - Refraction.

- [David] That is correct for Clare, now to the bonus question for you: Lil Wayne's 2025 song "The Days" features what musician, who sang on songs like "With or Without You" as the lead singer of U2?

- Know this?

- I don't.

- Let's go with, go with John.

- [David] Answer?

- John?

- [David] Incorrect, we go back to a toss-up for both teams: what author portrayed the fictional nation of Labassecour in her novel "Villette" and wrote about a governess who works for Mr.

Rochester in "Jane Eyre"?

(buzzer chimes) - Jane Austen?

- [David] Incorrect, do we have a guess from Clare?

(buzzer chimes) - Charlotte Bronte?

- [David] That is correct, we go to the bonus now for Clare: Yaounde is the capital of what Central African country that borders Lake Chad?

- [Player] Chad?

- What was the capital?

What was the capital?

- [David] Do we have an answer for the bonus?

- Chad?

- [David] That is incorrect, back to a toss-up for both: what river, which is crossed by Alexander III Bridge and Pont Neuf empties into the English Channel at Le Havre and flows past Paris?

(buzzer chimes) - The Seine.

- [David] The Seine is correct, a bonus question now for Interlochen: in ancient Rome, what process could have a person in a tunica molesta, take the form of a damnatio ad bestias with lions, or have a person crucified?

- Execution?

- [David] Execution is correct, toss-up now for both teams: in novels and stories by P.G.

Wodehouse, upper-class British dunce Bertie Wooster is reliant upon what brilliant, cool-headed personal servant?

(buzzer chimes) - Jeeves.

- Jeeves is correct.

- Nice.

- [David] Bonus question for Interlochen: what seven-letter adjective for silent mutations with no effort on an organism's functions also describes solutions that are neither acidic nor basic?

- Neutral?

Neutral?

- [David] Neutral is correct.

Toss-up for both teams: what South American country may have lost 2/3 of its population in the disastrous 1860s War of the Triple Alliance?

(buzzer chimes) Clare?

- Brazil?

- [David] Incorrect, a guess from Interlochen?

- Ecuador?

- That is also incorrect, back to a toss-up, (bell chimes) we come to the end of the round without getting into that question.

Let's check the answers for the questions that we did not get in that round.

The South American country's authors, we were looking for the country of Peru, the Swiss-born man that outlined the Five Points of Architecture, the answer we were looking for was Le Corbusier, Lil Wayne's 2025 song, and the guest singer on that was Bono, from U2, the capital of the Central African country, we were looking for Cameroon, and the South American country that lost 2/3 of the population, or may have, that unfortunate country, Paraguay.

Brings us to the end of round two, our Kickoff Round.

Currently, Interlochen is at 100, Clare is at 50, as we get set to head into the Perfect Ten.

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

The opposing team then has 30 seconds to answer any unasked, incorrect, or skipped questions.

You can consult throughout this entire round, and we will take the answers from the captain.

Clare, currently trailing, you get your first choice then of these Perfect Ten categories: home sweet home, the royal C, or Centennial State of mind?

- Okay, centennial's probably something to do with 100?

- Royal C, what's that?

- See, I don't trust that one.

- [Player] I think Centennial State of mind.

- [David] Which category would you like?

- Anything but the royal C one.

- Centennial.

- [David] Centennial State of mind.

Your clue then for this is Colorado.

Answer the following about Colorado.

And Clare, with 60 seconds on the clock, we begin your Perfect Ten with this: its capital, nicknamed the Mile High City?

- Denver.

(bell chimes) - [David] Time zone for all of Colorado?

- Mountain Standard Time?

- Yeah, Mountain Standard.

- Mountain Standard Time.

(bell chimes) - [David] Sports team that won the 2022 Stanley Cup?

- Don't know this.

- Broncos?

Just get it out there.

- Pass.

- Pass.

(bell hums) - [David] Fictional TV town home to Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski?

- South Park.

(bell chimes) - [David] Precious metal found in 1878 at Leadville?

- Lead?

- Do we think lead?

Lead.

(bell hums) - [David] Animal mascot of the University of Colorado Boulder?

- Bulldog?

- Dolphin?

- Is it a Huskies?

Huskies.

(bell hums) - [David] Year Colorado became a state, leading to its nickname, Centennial State?

(bell chimes) - 1800?

- [David] And we come to the close there.

We now come over to you, Interlochen, for 30 seconds on the clock, to pick up the questions not answered in the first part of that Perfect Ten.

Again, our category is Centennial State of mind, and the clue, Colorado.

Answer the following about Colorado.

Sports team that won the 2022 Stanley Cup?

- The Knights?

(bell hums) - [David] Precious metal found in 1878 at Leadville?

- Silver.

(bell chimes) - [David] Animal mascot of the University of Colorado Boulder?

- Badgers?

- Wolves?

(bell hums) - [David] Year that Colorado became a state, leading to its nickname, the Centennial State?

- 1876.

(bell chimes) - [David] City home to the Air Force Academy?

- Colorado Springs.

(bell chimes) - [David] Not in time to get the answer of that.

We end with 120 Interlochen, and Clare currently at 80.

Let's check the missed questions in that round: the sports team that won that Stanley Cup was the Colorado Avalanche, the animal mascot, University of Colorado, the Buffaloes, and the city that is home to the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, but we did not get that in in time.

The national park containing hundreds of cliff dwellings is the Mesa Verde, and that wraps up that particular category.

We now head over to Interlochen, your Perfect Ten, and you get 60 seconds to answer as many as possible from these two, and your choice of these two Perfect Ten categories, home sweet home or the royal C?

- Home sweet home, right?

- [Player] The C is gonna be about C-words, or something like that.

- No, no, no, be quiet.

Home sweet home.

- [David] Home sweet home, your clue is home countries.

Give the country these athletes represent in international competition, which may not be their birthplace.

Again, home countries, give the country these athletes represent in international competition, which may not be their birthplace.

60 seconds for Interlochen as we start your Perfect Ten with this: track and field's Usain Bolt?

- Jamaica.

- Jamaica.

(bell chimes) - [David] Basketball's Diana Taurasi?

- Nigeria?

- Nigeria?

(bell hums) - [David] Hockey's Sidney Crosby?

- Canada?

(bell chimes) - [David] Tennis' Rafa Nadal?

- Spain.

- Spain.

(bell chimes) - [David] Soccer's Lionel Messi?

- Argentina.

- Argentina.

(bell chimes) - [David] Golf's Lydia Ko?

- Australia?

- Japan?

(bell hums) - [David] Soccer's Neymar?

- Brazil.

- Brazil.

(bell chimes) - [David] Tennis' Roger Federer?

- Switzerland.

- Switzerland.

(bell chimes) - [David] Soccer's Erling Haaland?

- Norway?

- Norway?

(bell chimes) - [David] Boxing's Imane Khelif?

- Pass.

(bell hums) (bell chimes) - [David] And we come to the close of that, and we come over now to Clare, you get the 30 seconds to pick up on any that we need to revisit from that round.

Your 30 seconds on the clock begins with this: basketball's Diana Taurasi?

- Do you have any idea?

- Canada?

- US maybe?

Hungary?

- Canada?

(bell hums) - [David] Golf's Lydia Ko?

- US?

- Korea?

- Korea?

(bell hums) - [David] Boxing's Imane Khelif?

- Poland, Poland.

- Poland?

(bell hums) (bell chimes) - [David] And we now check the score; we're gonna get to the score in just a moment, we'll check the answers that were incorrect on both sides: basketball's Diana Taurasi, she plays for the USA, golf's Lydia Ko is from New Zealand, boxing's Imane Khelif, she is Algerian.

And at the end of the Perfect Ten, we have Interlochen standing at 190, Clare is at 80, and next up is the Homestretch, a round that includes 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, no stealing on the bonus questions, and after a bonus question, we 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, here comes your first question: T4, whose tail fibers help it attach to cell walls, is an example of what type of virus that infects bacteria?

(buzzer chimes) Clare?

- Antibiotic?

- [David] That is incorrect, do we have a guess from Interlochen?

- Viroid?

- [David] Also incorrect, back to a toss-up for both: what president, who refused to visit victims of the Great Mississippi Flood, took office in 1923, after Warren Harding died, and was called Silent Cal?

(buzzer chimes) - Calvin Coolidge.

- Good job.

- That is correct, a bonus question for Interlochen: casting on and binding off are terms for starting and stopping what form of textile making, done by hand with a pair of needles?

- Knitting.

- [David] That is also correct, a toss-up now for both again: what organ, whose first transplant was done by Thomas Starzl in 1963, helps detoxify the blood, and is affected by hepatitis and cirrhosis?

(buzzer chimes) - The liver?

- [David] Liver is correct, bonus for Interlochen: what name is shared by a river that runs through Seoul, in South Korea, and by the world's largest ethnic group, which predominates in mainland China?

- Han.

- Han.

(bell chimes) - [David] That is correct, toss-up for both: what island, whose largest settlement is Hanga Roa, is home to the Rapa Nui people and is a Chilean island home to many large stone statues?

(buzzer chimes) - Easter Island.

- [David] Easter Island is correct, a bonus now for Interlochen: what group of silicate minerals includes plagioclase and orthoclase, and is the most abundant group of minerals in the Earth's crust?

- You're all looking at me as if I know the answer.

- Rocks?

- [David] Rocks is incorrect, a toss-up now again for both: what two characters, who face the evil penguin Feathers McGraw in the short "The Wrong Trousers," are a British man and his dog made using claymation?

(buzzer chimes) - Wallace and Gromit.

- Wallace and Gromit is correct, the bonus question: at what 1777 battle did American forces trap and capture John Burgoyne's British army after winning clashes at Freeman's Farm and Bemis Heights?

- Saratoga?

- [David] Saratoga is correct.

Toss-up again for both teams: what African country was controlled by Mengistu Haile's communist junta and the Derg after the 1974 overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie?

(buzzer chimes) - DRC?

- [David] That is incorrect, do we have a guess from Clare?

- Rwanda?

- [David] Rwanda is also incorrect.

Toss-up for both teams: businessman David McCormick defeated incumbent Senator Bob Casey in what state's 2024 US Senate election?

(buzzer chimes) - Tennessee?

- [David] Tennessee is incorrect, does Interlochen have the steal?

- Iowa?

- [David] Iowa is also incorrect, back to a toss-up with both: in 2024, what former mayor of Tlalpan succeeded fellow Morena party member Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to become the first female president of Mexico?

- Oh no!

- [David] Next toss-up for both: the Hamiltonian operator can be written as T plus V, where T is what energy that can be expressed as momentum squared over two times mass?

(buzzer chimes) - Velocity?

- [David] Velocity is incorrect, a guess from Interlochen?

- Kinetic?

- That is correct.

- Nice.

- [David] Now we go to the bonus question here: what large molecules, which can be generated through step growth or chain growth mechanisms, are formed from small units call monomers?

- Polymers?

Polymers.

- Correct.

(bell chimes) And we come to the end of the round, let's check the questions that were missed on both sides: the T4, whose tail fibers, we were looking for the phages, the group of silicate minerals, those are feldspars, the African country controlled in the 1974 overthrow, the country of Ethiopia, the state we were looking for in that US Senate race from 2024 was Pennsylvania, and the former mayor of Tlalpan, we were looking then for the first female president, her name is Claudia Sheinbaum.

That round comes to a close.

As we get set for the Final Countdown, we do so with Clare trailing Interlochen, the score right now is 280 to 80.

And now we get ready for our two minutes of our game, and it is the Final Countdown.

Teams will have two minutes to answer as many toss-up questions as they can, and if a team answers incorrectly, the opposing school has the opportunity to answer, or steal that 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, you'll see that indicated by an orange light above their name.

As always, answers are worth 10 points apiece, with no deduction for incorrect answers.

All set, players?

Here comes your first question: what patriarch, who was almost killed during the Akedah, was the husband of Rebecca and was a miraculous child of Abraham, who nearly sacrificed him?

(buzzer chimes) - Isaac.

- [David] Isaac is correct.

Greek historian Strabo wrote that trousers were invented by what sorceress from Colchis, who married Jason, the leader of the Argonauts?

(buzzer chimes) - Medea.

- [David] Medea is correct.

Next question: what quantity, whose relationship with GDP is described by Okun's Law as cyclical and seasonal forms, and measures the share of labor without a job?

(buzzer chimes) - Unemployment?

- [David] Unemployed is correct.

In what country do citizens register with Aadhaar, the world's largest digital identity system?

(buzzer chimes) - China?

- [David] China is incorrect, do we have a guess?

(buzzer chimes) - United Kingdom?

- [David] United Kingdom also incorrect.

Next question: what company, which in 2025 recalled many cars with VC-Turbo engines, owns the Infiniti brand and makes the Rogue, Pathfinder, and Altima?

(buzzer chimes) - Nissan?

- [David] Nissan is correct.

Next, what government, which was established after the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara, was a shogunate that ruled Japan until the mid 19th century?

(buzzer chimes) - Tokugawa?

- [David] That is correct.

Next, what comic playwright from ancient Greece described the aerial city of Cloud Cuckoo Land in "The Birds"?

(buzzer chimes) - Aristophanes.

- [David] That is correct.

Next question: Richard Hauptmann was convicted of kidnapping the infant son of what man, who, in 1927, flew the Spirit of St.

Louis from New York to Paris?

(buzzer chimes) - Charles Lindbergh.

- That is correct, at the buzzer and the close to that question, and we will review those incorrect answers: Joseph II, excuse me, in what country were the citizens registering with that system, the country was India.

And we close there, and close our game today.

Final score: Interlochen 320, Clare 110.

Thank you Clare, good game today by all of our players, congratulations on that, and congratulations to you, Interlochen, you will be moving on to another edition and another round coming up on "Quiz Central."

We hope to see you back, we will, and we hope to have all of you back with us again here on WCMU for another edition of "Quiz Central."

From all of us here, I'm David Nicholas, thanks and have a good night.

(upbeat music)