- Welcome to the studios of WCMU Public Media.

This time, Ionia taking on Traverse City Central.

That game is coming up next.

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

This time, students from Ionia are taking on the team from Traverse City Central, in this, our 16-team single elimination tournament.

(lively music) Plus, top teams from "Quiz Central" will qualify for the NAQT High School National Championship Tournament.

Now let's get to today's game.

The first round is the Maroon and Gold Rush.

Teams will have two minutes to answer as many tossup questions as they can.

If a team answers incorrectly, the opposing school has an opportunity to answer 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 tossup question has been read completely, and you'll know that, that's indicated by an orange light above their name.

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

If our players are all ready, here comes your first question.

"What central text of Rabbinic Judaism contains the Mishnah, which sets down formerly oral laws, and the Gemara, a body of commentary?"

(buzzer rings) - The Talmud?

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

"At what battle was Johann Rall killed while fighting Americans who had crossed the Delaware River in 1776 to attack his army near New Jersey's capital?"

(buzzer rings) - Trenton.

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

"What British Royal Navy officer died while leading the Terranova Expedition, which reached the South Pole in January, 1912?"

(buzzer rings) - Hudson.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

Traverse City with a guess.

(buzzer rings) - Nelson.

(buzzer sounds) - Also incorrect.

Back to both teams, " What city is the least-populous US State Capital, is named after a city in France, and is close to the Green Mountains in central Vermont?

(buzzer rings) - Montpelier.

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

"In what country did Dick Scoff become Prime minister in July, 2024, while his predecessor, Mark Rutte, became Secretary General of NATO?"

(buzzer rings) - Belgium.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

Traverse City, a guess?

(buzzer rings) - The Netherlands.

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

"What author of the structure and distribution of Coral Reefs wrote a book drawing on his time on the HMS Beagle, entitled 'On the Origin of Species?'"

(buzzer rings) - Darwin.

(bell dings) - That's correct.

"What type of stellar remnants are maintained by electron degeneracy of pressure-" (bell dings) End of the round?

Okay.

Close game as we start out, Traverse City Central holds a slight lead, 30 to 20 over Ionia.

Good job so far, players.

Well, before we get to meet our players competing today, let's fill you in with the correct answers to the questions that were missed.

That British Royal Navy officer, we needed an answer of Robert Scott.

The type of stellar remnants we needed were white dwarfs.

Now, let's meet those players competing today.

First up, it's our team from Ionia.

- My name is Joseph, I'm a junior at Ionia High School, and I'm involved in my school's theater program.

- My name is Braxton, I'm a junior at Ionia High School, and I'm also involved in my school's theater program.

- I'm Kassidy, I'm a senior at Ionia High School, and I do golf.

- I'm Carly, I'm a junior at Ionia High School, and I'd like to shout at my parents, who are watching right now.

- Thank you, Ionia.

Thanks for sending your team back today.

Now, let's get a chance to know the team from Traverse City Central.

- I'm Domenic Rierden, I'm a senior at Traverse City Central High School.

I'm in varsity soccer and track.

- I'm Henry, I'm a senior at Traverse City Central, and I play the oboe and the clarinet.

- I'm Arthur Lijewski-Lee, I'm a senior at Traverse City Central High School, and I'm the co-captain of the debate team.

- Hi, I'm Dawson, I'm a senior at Traverse City Central.

I run track and I'm part of our pickleball club.

- Well, best of luck today to both of our teams.

The next round here on "Quiz Central" is the Kickoff Round.

In the Kickoff Round, it's a combination of tossup and bonus questions.

(lively music) The team that correctly answers the tossup gets an opportunity to answer a single bonus question.

A missed tossup can be stolen by the opposing team.

A correct answer on a tossup allows for a single follow-up bonus question.

No stealing on the bonuses.

After a bonus question, we'll go back to a tossup for both teams.

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

All right, hands on those buzzers, let's get 'em ready, and here comes your first question.

"What company, whose profits financed a mystery house in San Jose, used the tagline 'The Gun that Won the West' to sell its namesake repeating rifle (buzzer rings) - Colt.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

(buzzer rings) - Remington.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

Tossup for both teams.

"In 2004, Iraqi born Zaha Hadrid," "Hadid," excuse me, became the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize in what artistic profession?"

(buzzer rings) - Poetry.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

Harbor City.

(buzzer rings) Next question, back to the tossup.

(buzzer rings) "What mythical objects guarded by the dragon Ladon, which Hippomenes used to beat Atalanta in a race, grow on a tree in the Garden of Hesperides?"

(buzzer rings) - [David] Golden apples.

(bell dings) - Correct.

Bonus question for Ionia, "What colorfully named mid-20th-century travel guide detailed safe accommodations for Black people in segregated US areas?"

- Oh, the Green, Green Book or something.

- Yeah.

- Green?

- [David] More specific, please.

- The Green Book.

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

Toss up for both teams.

"What compound, which in the body is metabolized by catalase decomposes under UV light into two hydroxyl radicals, and has the molecular formula H2O2?"

(buzzer rings) - Hydrogen peroxide.

(bell dings) - [David] That is correct, now a bonus for Traverse City Central.

"What protein that catalyzes the carbon fixation step of the Calvin cycle in photosynthesis is believed to be the most abundant enzyme on earth?"

- Kinase?

- Defer to Arthur.

- Kinase.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

Back to a tossup for both.

"What leader who has the party, Fidisz," Fidesz," excuse me, "tried but failed to quash a 2025 Pride Festival in Budapest as the far right prime minister of Hungary?"

(buzzer rings) - Victor Orban.

(bell dings) - [David] That is correct, bonus for Traverse City Central.

"The Nikkei 225 is a stock market index that tracks a stock exchange based in what city?"

- Any idea?

- London, Tokyo.

- London.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Tossup for both.

Incorrect.

"What city named a period of reform under Alexander Dubcek's slogan of socialism 'With a human face' before a 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia?"

(buzzer rings) - Prague.

(buzzer rings) - [David] That is correct.

Bonus question for Ionia, "What European micro state within the Apennine Mountains is sometimes described as the 'Most Serene Republic'?"

- [Joseph] Andora?

- You guys tell me.

Maybe, what?

- That's my best guess.

- What?

- Andora.

- Defer to Joseph.

- Andorra.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

Tossup for both schools, "What author wrote the fictional book 'The 26 Malignant Gates' in a novel about four Chinese families who play Mahjong, the 'Joy Luck Club'?"

Go on to the next, "What eight-word question opens Shakespeare's 18th sonnet, which is addressed to a lovely and temperate person whose eternal nature shall not fade?"

(buzzer rings) - "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

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

- Nice, Braxton.

- [David] Bonus for Ionia, "What force has a residual form, carried by ions, that holds together atomic nuclei, is mediated by gluons, and its more powerful than the weak force?"

- [Joseph] Forces in chemistry.

- I'm thinking like strong force, nuclear force, I dunno.

- Nuclear force.

- [David] More information.

- Strong, like nuclear force.

- Atomic nuclear force.

I dunno if it's a thing.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] That is incorrect.

Toss up for both, "In what country did US troops leave Clark Airbase after the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo?"

(buzzer rings) - The Philippines.

(bell dings) - [David] That is correct, bonus for Traverse City Central.

"What puzzle can be solved using the CFOP method, officially has its blue and green centers on opposing sides, and features six rotatable faces?

- Rubik's Cube?

- Rubik's Cube.

- Rubik's Cube.

(buzzer rings) - Rubik's Cube is correct.

(bell clangs) Time, at the end of that round we stay in a close game, Traverse City Central, currently 70, Ionia, 60, as we head on to the Perfect Ten next here on "Quiz Central."

But before we start the Perfect Ten, let's check out the answers on our missed questions in that round.

The company who used the tagline "The Gun that Won the West," that was Winchester.

Zaha Hadid was the first Iraqi-born woman to win the Pritzker Prize in architecture.

The protein that is believed to be the most abundant enzyme on earth is RuBisCO.

The far-right leader who went on to quash a 2025 Pride Festival in Budapest was Victor Orban.

The Nikkei 225 is based in Tokyo.

And that European microstate within the Apennine Mountains is San Marino.

The author who wrote about the fictional book "The 26 Malignant Gates," that author was Amy Tan.

Finally, the force that has a residual form, we needed an answer of strong nuclear force.

The next round today is the Perfect Ten.

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

The opposing team will 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.

The team that's trailing gets the first choice to pick a clue to a category.

Ionia, you get your choice from these three categories, Alternating As, Epic Authors, or First Ladies.

- First, I dunno, guys.

- Alternating.

- Alternating.

- Alternating As.

- [David] All right.

In the category of alternating As, "Give these answers in which every other letter is A."

- Oh, okay.

- Okay.

- [David] "Give these answers in which every other letter is A."

Starting with this, "Country north of the US."

- Canada.

- Canada.

- Canada.

(bell dings) - [David] World's largest hot desert.

- [Joseph] Sahara.

- Sahara.

(bell dings) - [David] "First name of former US Vice President Harris."

- [Team Ionia] Kamala.

(bell dings) - [David] Capital of Cuba.

- [Braxton] Havana.

- Havana.

(bell dings) - [David] "Central American county," "country," excuse me, "bisected by a canal.

- [Braxton And Carly] Panama.

- Panama.

(buzzer rings) - [David] "Indian epic about the husband of Sita."

- [Carly] Is it like the Ramana?

- The "Ramayana."

- The "Ramayana."

- Defer to Braxton.

- The "Ramayana."

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

- [David] "Latin percussion instrument also called a - [David] "Latin percussion instrument also called a rumba shaker."

- [Joseph] Maracas.

- Maracas.

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

"Buddhist school whose name means 'great vehicle.'"

- Oh, shoot.

- I think skip.

- What.

- Skip, pass.

- Pass (buzzer sounds) - [David] "Long, curved sword carried by Samurai."

- Oh, Katana.

- [Joseph] Katana, yeah.

(bell dings) - [David] "British Pop group whose hits include 'Cruel Summer' and 'Venus.'"

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Time.

Sorry, you didn't get that last one in.

Traverse City Central, we've got two that you can possibly pick up from that round- And we'll start with your time to do that.

"Buddhist school whose name means 'great vehicle.'"

- Mahayana.

- Mahayana.

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

"British Pop Group whose hits include 'Cruel Summer' and 'Venus.'"

- Bananarama.

- Bananarama.

(bell dings) - [David] That is correct also.

Traverse City Central, we come to you for the Perfect Ten.

You have your choice then of the two categories left, Epic Authors or First Ladies.

- Epic Authors, please.

- [David] Epic Authors is the choice.

"The clue, given an epic and its credited author name the modern day country where the author was born."

Again, "Given an epic and its credited author, name the modern day country where the author was born."

We'll begin with this question.

"The Divine Comedy."

- Italy.

- Italy.

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

"Paradise Lost," John Milton.

- England, or United Kingdom.

- United Kingdom.

(bell dings) - [David] "The Song of Hiawatha," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

- United States.

- US.

(bell dings) - [David] "Russian," excuse me, "Ruslan and Lyudmila," Alexander Pushkin.

- Russia.

- Russia.

- Russia.

(bell dings) - [David] "The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel," Nicolas Kazantzakis.

- Oh, Greece.

- Greece.

(bell dings) - [David] The gaucho epic "Martin Fierro."

- Mexico.

- Go for it.

- Mexico, (buzzer sounds) - That would be Argentina.

- Incorrect.

The "Kalevala" by Elias Lonnrot.

- Finland.

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

- "The Lusiads," Luis de- (bell clangs) Time for the end of that round.

Okay.

All right, Ionia, it's your chance to steal, with 30 seconds on the clock.

The gaucho epic "Martin Fierro," Jose Hernandez.

- [Joseph] Argentina.

- Argentina.

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

"The Lusiads," Luis de Camoes.

- Russia?

- Well, that's what I was gonna say.

- Maybe like Sweden, it sounds Swedish.

- Sweden.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

"The Old Norse Saga by Heimskringla," Snorri Sturlason.

- I don't know.

(bell clangs) - [David] Time.

- We're good.

- We were looking for Iceland.

The other question that needed a correct answer was "The Lusiads," Luis de Camoes, needed the answer of Portugal.

Well, we're all tied up at 150 a piece as we march down the home stretch.

(lively music) The home stretch round includes a combination of tossups and bonus questions.

The team that correctly answers the tossup gets the opportunity to answer a single bonus question.

A missed tossup can be stolen by the opposing team.

A correct answer on the tossup allows for a single follow-up bonus question.

No stealing on the bonuses.

And after a bonus question, we'll go back to a tossup for both teams.

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

Buzzers ready, here comes your first question.

"What process developed by a German scientist is used to produce ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen?"

(buzzer rings) Traverse City.

- Vapor process.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Is incorrect.

Guess from Ionia.

(bell clangs) Time, next question.

(bell clangs) "What brass instrument, whose performers often place their hand in the bell while playing it, is highly coiled, and is often called French?"

(buzzer rings) - French horn.

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

Bonus question for Traverse City, "What actress, who both wrote and performed on the shows "Big Mouth" and "Dickinson" won a 2024 Emmy for playing sous-chef Sydney Adamu on "The Bear"?

- Pass.

- [David] What city was the site of Bloody Sunday, a 1905 massacre of peaceful demonstrators outside the Winter Palace?"

(buzzer rings) Traverse City.

- Moscow (buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

(buzzer rings) - St.

Petersburg.

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

- Nice.

Toss up for both.

Sorry, bonus question for Ionia.

"What British author who may have died in a bar fight praised talent of Troy as the face that launched a thousand ships in his play 'Doktor Faustus'?"

- Oh, Doktor Faustus, that was... - Wordsworth.

- What?

- Wordsworth.

- Wordsworth.

- Wordsworth.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] That's incorrect.

Now to the tossup for both.

"Galena is the most important ore for what heavy metal, historically used in household pipes?"

(buzzer rings) - Lead.

(bell dings) - [David] That's correct.

Bonus for Traverse City Central.

"What song, whose second verse opens, 'I'm cliche, who cares?," has a bridge that ends with the scream 'I told you so,' and is a 2024 hit by Chappell Roan?"

- Defer to Arthur.

- "Good Luck, Babe!"

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

(Arthur chuckles) Tossup for both, "What tournament, held at the same time as the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, is a tournament for CONCACAF soccer teams, that Mexico won beating the US two to one?"

(buzzer rings) - Copa America.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

Traverse City?

Next question.

"In 2025, Bedouins clashed with Syria's Suwayda region with what Levantine religious group that broke from Shia Islam around 1015?"

(buzzer rings) - Alawites.

(buzzer sounds) - Shiites.

- [David] Incorrect, sorry.

"In probability theory, the normal distribution is sometimes named after what German mathematician?"

(buzzer rings) Ionia.

- Einstein.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

Traverse City?

(buzzer rings) - Gauss.

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

Traverse City's bonus, "What river, which forms from the Lualaba River at Boyoma Falls separates Brazzaville with Kinshasa, the capitals of two namesake African countries?"

- Congo.

(bell dings) - [David] That's correct.

Toss up for both, "What sandstone formation in Australia's Northern Territory lies east of Kata Tjuta, and is sacred to the Aboriginal people?"

(buzzer rings) - Uluru.

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

Toss up for both.

That's the bonus, sorry, for Traverse City.

"Michael Collins stayed in the command module during what mission featuring the Eagle spacecraft, during which Neil Armstrong landed on the moon?"

- Apollo 11.

(bell dings) - [David] That's correct.

Tossup for both, "What 1990," oh, excuse me, "What 1976 novel, subtitled 'The Saga of an American Family,' depicts an 18th-century slave named Kunta Quinte?

(buzzer rings) - "Roots."

(bell dings) - [David] That's correct.

Traverse City's bonus, "What psychologist wrote the utopian novel 'Walden Two,' and studied reinforcement and operant conditioning as a behaviorist using his namesake box?"

- Oh, Shoyo?

- Yeah.

- No.

- [Dawson] No, wait, that's not conditioning, no.

- Swordman?

Milton, no.

- [David] No answer?

- Seligman.

- Seligman.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

- I think it was physics.

(bell dings) - And that signals the end of the round.

At the end of the round, Traverse City Central leads 230 to 160 over Ionia.

And let's take a look at the missed questions for this past round.

Process used to produce ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen is the Haber process.

The British author who may have died in a bar fight was Christopher Marlowe.

That soccer tournament was the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

In 2025, Bedouins clashed with Druze.

And that psychologist who created a namesake box was B. F. Skinner.

Teams, that brings us to the final round of the day, and it is the Final Countdown.

You'll have two minutes to answer as many tossup questions as you can.

(lively music) If a team answers incorrectly, the opposing team has an opportunity to answer that question.

Teams may not consult during this round.

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

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

All ready, players?

Hands on the buzzers, and here comes your first question.

"In what effect does an electron get ejected from the surface of a metal after the metal is hit by an incident light of sufficient frequency?"

(buzzer rings) - Photoelectric.

(bell dings) - [David] That's correct.

- Yeah, let's go.

- [David] "What country, whose first post-war president was Karl Renner, was governed by the Fatherland Front until Germany annexed it during the Anschluss?"

(buzzer rings) - Austria.

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

"What artist of the Spanish Renaissance painted 'The Burial of the Count of Orgaz'?

(buzzer rings) - Gaudi.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] That is incorrect.

Ionia?

(buzzer rings) - Michelangelo.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Also incorrect.

"What poet described 'one clear call' in 'Crossing the Bar,' and depicted the title group entering the Valley of Death in 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'?

(buzzer rings) - Whitman.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

Traverse City.

(buzzer rings) - Tennyson.

(bell dings) - [David] Tennyson is correct.

"What privateer captained the Golden Hind during a 1577-to-1580 circumnavigation of the globe?"

(buzzer rings) - Drake.

(bell dings) - [David] Correct.

"What self-dual platonic solid, also referred to as a three-simplex, is a pyramid with six edges and four equilateral triangles as its faces?"

(buzzer rings) - Prism.

(buzzer sounds) - [David] Incorrect.

Traverse City?

(buzzer rings) - Icosahedron.

(buzzer sounds) - Incorrect.

"A teenage assassin named Celaena Sardothien appears in 'Throne of Glass,' a novel by what contemporary author of "A Court of Thorns and Roses'?"

(bell clangs) Time, signals the end of that round in our game.

Final score, Traverse City Central, 270, Ionia 160.

Well, before we wrap up our program for today, let's go over the missed questions.

The artist of the Spanish Renaissance who painted "The Burial of the Count of Orgaz" was El Greco.

The poet we were looking for was Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

And finally, the author of "A Court of Thorns and Roses" was Sarah J Maas.

Thanks for joining us, we'll see you right back here next time for another edition of "Quiz Central."

Have a good night, and thanks very much for watching.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music subsides)