(transition whooshes) (bright music) - Welcome to Season 9 of "High School Quiz Show Maine," where we're continuing to whittle 16 teams down to eight for the quarterfinals.

Which of today's teams will have their chance?

Will it be the Mustangs of Mountain View High School (triumphant music) or the Red Riots of Orono High School?

(triumphant music) Find out next on "High School Quiz Show Maine."

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- Welcome to Season 9 of "High School Quiz Show Maine."

I'm your host, Todd Gutner.

The Season 9 qualifying matches roll on as we work our way towards the championship and the $1,000 grand prize.

In our six match, we have a newcomer taking on a former champion.

The Mustangs of Mount View High School and Thorndyke are making their very first appearance on the show, and they're going up against Orono High School, a three-seasoned veteran that has one championship under their belt.

Will we have an upset today?

Let's see.

We'll get things going by meeting the teams.

For Mount View, we have Aden, Ruben, Julia, and Emily with alternates Annabelle and Clement, and coached by Kim Widmer, and for Orono we have Noah, Liam, Anthea, and Peter with alternate Dom and coached by Shana Goodall.

The competition has four rounds, Toss Up round, the Head-to-Head round, the Category round, and the Lightning round.

We'll start with the Toss Up round.

All answers are worth 10 points, and this is the only round with no point deductions for wrong answers.

Players must wait for me to complete the question and if one team answers incorrectly, the other team will be given a chance to answer.

Is everybody ready?

All right, here we go, good luck.

Havana is the capital city of what Caribbean island country?

(bell dings) - Cuba?

- Reuben, yes.

- Cuba.

- Cuba, correct.

Next question.

The initials SBA stand for what woman who was a pioneer in the fight for women's suffrage in the 19th century?

(bell dings) Anthea.

- Susan B. Anthony?

- That's correct.

What verb that means crush or squeeze is also a noun that can refer to a vegetable, such as pumpkin or zucchini?

(bell dings) Reuben.

- Squash?

- That's correct.

- The top pick in the 2025 NBA draft, Cooper Flagg, who grew up in rural Maine, what team drafted Cooper Flagg?

(bell dings) Anthea.

- The Mavericks?

- The Mavericks, nice job.

Up next, we have a picture question.

Take a look at the monitor right over here.

What secretive political organization was founded in 1765 to fight taxation by the British government and advance the rights of the colonists?

(bell dings) Ah, Noah.

- The Sons of Liberty?

- That is correct.

In India, October 2nd is a national holiday celebrating the birthday of what social and political leader of the 20th century?

(bell dings) Ruben.

- Gandhi?

- Gandhi, yes.

Quinta Brunson stars as a second\grade teacher in what Emmy winning TV sitcom?

(bell dings) Anthea.

- "Abbott Elementary?"

- You nailed it.

Because they come from the decomposition of prehistoric organisms, coal, petroleum, and natural gas are typically referred to as what type of fuels?

(bell dings) Liam.

- Fossil fuels?

- Fossil, nice.

In 1930, what Republican US president approved the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which curtailed global trade and worsened the economic effects of the Great Depression?

(bell dings) Anthea.

- Herbert Hoover?

- Yes, nice job.

Up next, we have a video question, so again, over to the monitor.

- Hi, I'm Aislinn Sarnacki, the Host of "Borealis" on Maine Public Television, and here's my question for you.

In April of 2025, the Maine state legislature voted the Seppala Siberian Sleddog to be Maine state what?

(buzzer beeps) - It's a little late there, Julia.

The official dog of Maine.

The father of modern genetics is what 19th century Augustinian monk known for his experiments with pea plants?

(bell dings) Liam.

- Gregor Mendel?

- Yes.

A company planning to hire a website developer requires that the candidate be proficient at SEO.

In this context, what does SEO stand for?

(bell dings) Ah, Julia.

- Software Engineering Operations?

- That's incorrect.

Orono, want to give it a try?

(buzzer beeps) Search engine optimization.

All right, next question.

"The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns," novels by Khaled Hosseini, takes place mainly in what country that borders Iran?

(bell dings) Ah, Noah.

- Afghanistan.

- That is right.

- The Manhattan Project was a top secret US research and development program working on which of these things, atomic weapons, genetically modified food crops, or public transportation systems?

(bell dings) Julia.

- Atomic weapons.

- That's right.

- Math question.

Get that pencil and paper ready.

What is the value of x in the following equation?

Four x minus two equals 10.

(bell dings) Noah.

- Two?

- That's incorrect.

Mount View?

(bell dings) Go ahead, Aden.

- Three.

- Three is the right answer.

Here's our next question.

The 2025 "Hunger Games" prequel novel, "Sunrise on the Reaping," focuses on the teenage years of what character who later coached Katniss and Peeta for the Hunger Games?

(bell dings) Aden.

- Haymitch Abernathy.

- That is the right answer.

A catalyst for the US entering World War I was the sinking of what passenger ship on May 7th 1915?

(bell dings) Julia.

- Lusitania?

- Lusitania is right.

from the Chinese words for wind and water, what term refers to the Chinese practice of designing a home's interior to promote spiritual balance and positive energy flow?

(bell dings) Go ahead, Noah.

- Feng shui.

- That's correct.

What almond-shaped structure connected to the limbic system governs the way the brain processes emotions?

(bell dings) Go ahead, Noah again.

- The medulla?

- Ah, that's incorrect, Mount View?

(bell dings) - Hippocampus?

- The answer is amygdala, amygdala.

All right, which of these things could be considered an edifice, a sledgehammer, a collection of documents, or an old building?

(bell dings) Anthea.

- It's a collection of documents?

- Ah, that's incorrect, Mount View.

(bell dings) - An old building.

- That's right, Julia, an old building.

Sodium, potassium, and the other elements in group 1 on the periodic table are classified as what type of metals because of the way they react with water?

(bell dings) Aden.

- Alkaline metals?

- That's correct.

In what... (buzzer beeps) Ooh, that's the end of our first round.

Ooh, this one's great.

Mountain View, 90, Orono, 90.

We've got a tie.

So don't go anywhere, we'll chat with the players when we get back.

(upbeat music) Before we go to the Head-to-Head round, we like to pause and get to know our players with a slightly silly question, which is if you could interview a historical figure, who would it be and what would you ask?

Aden from Mount View, you go first.

- I'd probably interview Napoleon, and I'd probably ask if he had a fair shot.

- If he had a fair shot.

At?

- Ruling France, yeah.

- Okay, yeah, all right.

Ruben, your turn.

- I think Don Pedro II, and I would ask how he learned so many languages.

- How many did he know?

- He was said to know, said to have known 14.

- Wow.

- I dunno how well he knew them, but... - What was his primary?

- Portuguese.

- Portuguese.

- Brazilian Emperor.

- Oh, okay, cool.

Julia, your turn.

- I would interview Amelia Earhart.

- Oh, fun.

- And I would ask her like what got her into aviation and what she loves about it the most.

- Yeah, that would be really cool to interview her.

Emily, why don't you wrap it up for Mount View?

- I would wanna interview Cleopatra, and I would ask her what her career motivations are.

- Okay.

What, I mean back then?

Like what was her career like... - Well, I know that she's seen as more of like a seducer, but I think she played more behind the scenes with like her mind and what she wanted to do.

- Yeah, yeah, okay.

- That'd be interesting, too.

All right, let's head over to Orono.

Noah, you're up.

- I'd interview someone who I think is historical to this program, my friend Teddy Dixon-Smith.

I haven't talked to him in quite a while, but he truly, you know, is the backbone of everything we do here at Orono Quiz Bowl.

- Okay.

- And I think I'd ask him how he's doing, 'cause I haven't talked to him in a while.

- Do you know where he is?

- He's in Barbados doing some research.

- Wow.

- On cliff faces, if I remember correctly.

- Wow, okay, that would be a cool place to do some research in.

- Absolutely.

- Hang out for a little while.

Liam, your turn.

- You know, Todd, I think that I would also have to pay homage to another historical Orono Quiz Bowl figure, that being Alan Dixon-Smith, and if I could have one question for Alan, I think I would probably ask him about the condition of the North Atlantic hog pit.

- North Atlantic hog pit, where in the North Atlantic is it located?

- That's classified.

(Todd laughs) - All right, I won't dig any further then, Anthea.

- I think like Liam, I'm also going to, you know, have to interview- - Sure, why not?

- Alan Dixon-Smith, and I'm gonna ask him to teach me to be better at Mario Kart, 'cause he is really good at Mario Kart.

- Oh, he is a video gamer, huh?

(chuckles) Okay.

(Anthea chuckles) Peter, you don't happen to know this guy, do you?

- I would have to agree with Noah in the sense that I would want to interview Teddy Dixon-Smith, and I wanna know if he has a camera with a 4x zoom lens.

- Why would he need a camera with a 4x zoom lens?

- You never know.

- That's a good point.

You don't ever know.

All right, folks, the Head-to-Head round is next, but let's see how well you do with our viewer question of the week.

(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Casey Turner from Bangor Savings Bank, and here is your America at 250 Viewer Question of the Week.

York, Maine is home to the state's oldest known commercial structure, which is named for what man that became governor of Massachusetts in 1780?

(upbeat music continues) The answer is John Hancock.

Hancock had a large merchant empire with warehouses up and down the Maine coast.

The county and town of Hancock are named for him.

(upbeat music continues) - It's time for the Head-to-Head round.

Players alternate facing off one-on-one right here at the desk.

Correct answers are worth 10 points.

Incorrect answers will cost you 10 points.

We have 90 seconds on our game clock.

Here we go.

KG is an abbreviation for what metric unit- (bell dings) - Kilogram.

- Correct.

What star of the "Terminator" movies was governor of California?

(bell dings) - Arnold Schwarzenegger.

- That is also right.

What river is the longest river in South America?

(bell dings) - The Amazon?

- Yes, in trigonometry, what function is the reciprocal of secant?

(buzzer beeps) So cosign, Warsaw is the capital of which- - Poland.

- Poland.

Vinegar is a solution of water mixed with what type of acid?

(buzzer beeps) Acetic.

On "Star Trek," what is the name of Mr.

Spock's home planet?

(buzzer beeps) Vulcan.

A pacemaker regulates the rhythm of which organ of the- - Heart.

- Heart.

- Heart is correct over here.

"The First Shadow" is a Tony winning play based on what Netflix TV series?

(buzzer beeps) "Stranger Things."

British troops set fire to the White House during what 19th century war?

(bell dings) - Of 1812?

- Yes.

Nevermore is the last word of what 1845 poem by Edgar Allen Poe?

(bell dings) - Raven?

- Yeah.

What is the official language of Liberia?

- English.

- English is right.

Which ancient Greek city state was the primary rival of Athens?

(bell dings) - Sparta.

- Yes, Espanola is an island shared by the Dominican Republic and- - Haiti.

- Haiti is correct.

What Confederate General led a famously unsuccessful charge at Gettysburg in 1863?

(bell dings) - Lee?

- Pickett.

(buzzer beeps) Ooh, and that's the end of our Head-to-Head round.

This one's still super close.

Mount View 120, Orono 150.

The category round is next.

Don't go anywhere.

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We get the fields ready to go.

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It takes everybody's collective voice to make a change.

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Thank you.

(upbeat music) - Next up is the Category round with the following choices, Feels Like Physics, G is for Government, Pete and Repeat, The Giving Tree, Graphic Depictions, and Let's Go to Europe.

Each team will alternate control of two categories.

Questions have increasing point values.

With each question, they can choose to answer and either gain or lose points, they can skip and neither gain nor lose points, or once per category, they can toss it and force the other team to answer.

Players will have five seconds to confer and decide what to do.

Mount View, you're barely trailing.

Julia, you have control of the board.

What's your first category?

- [Julia] Let's Go to Europe.

- Let's Go to Europe.

So these will be questions about places you might visit on a trip to Europe.

Here's the first one.

Las Meninas, a famous painting by Diego Velazquez is on display at the Prado Museum in which city that is the most populous in Spain?

- Madrid.

- Madrid is right.

Let's Go to Europe for 15.

Seeing Saint Mark's Basilica and sailing on a gondola along the grand canal are things that visitors enjoy in which Italian city that's famous for its canals?

- Venice.

- Venice, yes.

Let's Go to Europe for 20.

Many visitors to France take a tour of the Palace of Versailles, which was home to King Louis XVI and what Austrian archduchess who was his wife?

- Marie Antoinette.

- Yeah, great job.

Let's Go to Europe for 25.

Which country in Europe offers visitors a chance to ski in Zermatt, cruise on Lake Geneva and explore the Lindt Chocolate Museum?

- Switzerland.

- Switzerland.

- Switzerland is also right, and Let's Go to Europe for 30, the final one in the category.

Visiting the city of Munich and the castles of King Ludwig II would take you to what region that is the largest by area of the 16 federal states of Germany?

- Bavaria.

- Wow, you guys were good in that.

It sounds like a lot of you have gone to Europe before.

All right, let's head over to Orono.

Noah, you now have control of the board.

What's your first category going to be?

- [Noah] We're gonna take Graphic Depictions.

- All right, Graphic Depictions.

These are... This category is all about graphic novels.

Here's the first one for 10.

Artist Art Spiegelman received a Pulitzer Prize for what two-part survivor's tale recounting his father's experience during the Holocaust?

- "Mouse."

- "Mouse."

- "Mouse" is right.

Graphic Depictions, 15.

Izuku Midoriya is given a superpower and enters a high school where he learns to use it in what Japanese graphic novel series?

- Skip.

- You wanna skip?

It is "My Hero Academia" is the answer.

Graphic Depictions for 20 now.

The graphic novel "March" is based on the real life experiences of what Former congressman from Georgia, who was the Head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and helped organize the 1963 civil rights march on Washington?

- Is it John Brown or John Lewis?

- John Brown.

- No, no, it's... (mic shuffles) - John Lewis.

- John Lewis is right.

Graphic Depictions for 25.

Raina Telgemeier depicts her long difficult experience with orthodontia as a teen in what appropriately titled graphic novel published in 2010?

- "Smile."

- "Smile," nice job.

Here's Graphic Depictions for 30, the last one.

The graphic novel "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi is based on her life growing up during the Islamic Revolution in what country?

- Iran?

- Iran is correct.

All right, we're moving back to Mount View for your second category.

Julia, what are you gonna have?

- [Julia] We're gonna have G for Government, - G for Government.

All of your answers will be political terms beginning with the letter G. Here's the first.

Taking its name from a Massachusetts politician from the 19th century, what term beginning with G refers to reorganizing electoral districts to favor one party over another?

- Gerrymandering.

- Yes.

G is for Government for 15.

Although it originally referred to conditions that prevent road traffic from moving, what G word has been applied to political situations where parties work against each other to prevent legislation from being passed?

(players whisper) (buzzer beeps) Julia, what do you want to do?

- We're gonna skip.

- You wanna skip?

It's gridlock, gridlock.

G is for Government for 20 now.

Registration programs to encourage people to participate in the electoral process are often referred to as GOTV campaigns.

In this context, what do the letters GOTV stand for?

(players whisper) - Skip.

- Wanna skip it?

Get out the vote is the answer.

G is for Government 25.

What two word term did Lyndon Johnson use for his legislative agenda, which included passing the Medicare and Medicaid acts and the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

(buzzer beeps) - Skip.

- Skip that one, great society, and the last one, G is for Government for 30.

What Russian word meaning openness did Mikhail Gorbachev use for the period in the 1980s when the Soviet Union began a more open communication of news and information and a friendlier relationship with the United States?

- Glasnost?

- You got it, nice job.

Was that a complete guess?

- No, I just... - Oh.

- Remembered it for some reason.

- Okay, okay.

- I don't know.

- You surprised yourself.

it's all good.

Orono, we head back to you for your second category.

Noah, what'll it be?

- [Noah] The Giving Tree?

- The Giving Tree.

These are questions about things that grow on trees.

The first one.

Coconuts, dates, and acai berries grow on different species of what type of tree?

- Palm?

- Palm, yes.

The Giving Tree, 15.

Although some people call them oak nuts, what is the more commonly used name for the nuts of the oak tree, recognizable by their hard outer shell and distinctive nubby cap?

- Acorn?

- Yes.

The Giving Tree, 20.

What variety of bright green apple that originated in Australia is named for the woman who propagated the first tree of its kind in the 1860s?

- Granny Smith?

- Yes.

The Giving Tree for 25.

The official state pie of Florida is what Tart creamy pie made with the juice of a small citrus fruit that grows on trees in South Florida, Mexico, and Central America?

- A key lime pie?

- That is it.

The Giving Tree for 30, the last one.

Known for its strong unpleasant smell, what large tree fruit from Southeast Asia takes its name from a melee word meaning thorn because of its thorny outer covering?

- Durian.

- Wow, yes, you got it, and you swept that category, nice job, Orono.

That is the end of our Category round.

We have a score of Mount View 260, Orono 335.

Everything can change though in the Lightning round.

So sit tight, we'll be right back.

(upbeat music) Okay, we're heading into the final 90 seconds of gameplay, the Lightning round.

Players, you do not have to wait for me to finish the question.

You can buzz in at any time, but do not answer until I call your name.

You get 20 points for each correct answer.

Incorrect answers will cost you 20, and the other team does not get the chance to answer.

Our clock is set.

Good luck, here we go.

Meredith Gray and Gregory House are TV characters with what profession?

(bell dings) Noah.

- Doctor.

- [Todd] Yes, in degrees Celsius, what is the boiling point of water?

(bell dings) Noah.

- 100.

- Right.

Which US state is the birthplace of George Washington and Woodrow- (bell dings) Ah, Ruben.

- Virginia.

- Right.

Mexico's national flag shows an eagle perched on what- Go ahead, Peter.

- Cactus.

Cactus.

- Correct.

In 2001, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger launched what free online... (bell dings) Go ahead, Peter.

- Wikipedia?

- That is also right.

The most scale measures what... (bell dings) Go ahead, Noah.

- Hardness?

- Hardness, right.

What Egyptian goddess of marriage is the wife of Osiris?

(buzzer beeps) You got it in there, Noah.

- Isis?

- [Todd] Right.

What is the last name of scientist Marie and Pierre- (bell dings) - Curie?

- [Todd] Yeah, Curie is right.

The Medici family is most closely linked to... Ruben.

- Florence?

- [Todd] Right, Miss Hannigan is the villain in what Broadway musical?

(bell dings) - Aden.

- "Annie?"

- Yes.

The four primary forces are electromagnetic, strong nuclear, weak nuclear, and what?

(bell dings) Gravity.

The Wars of the Roses were fought between the English royal houses of Lancaster and what?

(bell dings) Noah.

- The French?

- Incorrect, York.

Who is the only US president to also serve as a Supreme Court Justice?

(bell dings) - Ruben.

- William Howard Taft.

- [Todd] That is correct.

Abu Simbel is an ancient temple complex in which North African country?

(bell dings) Ruben.

- Mali?

(buzzer beeps) - That's incorrect.

The correct answer is Egypt, and our winning team this week is Orono with 455 points.

They'll be moving on to the quarterfinals in a few weeks.

Mount View, you had 320 points, lot of points there, great job.

Congratulations to both teams.

Be sure to tune in next time as Hebron Academy takes on Oak Hill.

Thank you for watching, and we'll see you next time on "High School Quiz Show Maine."

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Production support for "High School Quiz Show Maine" is provided by.

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It fuels dreams, ideas, and growth.

Unitil champions the critical thinkers and team players of tomorrow and is proud to support "High School Quiz Show Maine," where learning to center stage.

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Prepare to win.

You can ask an independent agent about safety insurance and learn more at the resource center at safetyinsurance.com.

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- [Narrator] And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat music)