JOE HANSON: Major funding for "High School Quiz Show" is provided by Safety Insurance.

It's the quarterfinals, with Mansfield High School... (cheers and applause) ...taking on Milton Academy.

(cheers and applause) That's next on "High School Quiz Show"!

(cheers and applause) ♪ ♪ (cheers and applause) Hi, everybody.

Welcome to "High School Quiz Show."

I'm Joe Hanson, your host.

We've had some great qualifying matches, and today, we kick off the quarterfinals.

We start, as always, with the toss-up round.

All answers are worth ten points, there are no point deductions for wrong answers, and players, you may confer.

Okay, teams if you're ready, good luck, here we go.

On June 16, 2025, what Paris art museum suddenly shut down as staff staged an impromptu strike to protest overwhelming crowds?

Shreyas.

- The Louvre.

HANSON: Yes.

In 1963, who became the first U.S.

first lady to hire her own press secretary, Pamela Turnure?

Elly.

- Jackie Kennedy.

HANSON: Yes.

The Curse of the Bambino is said to date from December 26, 1919, when the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth's contract for $100,000 to what team that had never won a World Series?

Soham.

- Yankees.

HANSON: Yes.

What classic children's novel by E.B.

White begins with the line, "Where's Papa going with that ax?"

Soham.

- "Charlotte's Web."

HANSON: That's correct.

For our next question, take a look at your monitors.

This statue in Christchurch, New Zealand, depicts what British Antarctic explorer who reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912, only to find that Norway's Roald Amundsen had beaten him by 34 days?

Elly.

- Cook.

HANSON: No-- Mansfield, you have a chance.

Shreyas.

- Ernest Shackleton.

HANSON: No.

That explorer was Robert Falcon Scott.

A fifth "Toy Story" movie comes out this year.

Tom Hanks was always the first choice for Woody, but Tim Allen was actually the second choice for what now-iconic role turned down by Billy Crystal?

Eli.

- Buzz Lightyear HANSON: Correct.

What large organ in the human body contains tiny sacs called alveoli?

Soham.

- Lungs.

HANSON: Yes.

A lunar eclipse can only occur during which phase of the moon?

Eli.

- Full.

HANSON: Full moon is right.

In 2024, Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki won an Emmy Award for her portrayal of what real-life princess in the Netflix series "The Crown"?

Rhys.

- Diana.

HANSON: Princess Diana is right.

Our next question comes from a special guest.

Take a look at your monitors.

Hi, I'm Pedro Martinez, and I'm excited to join "High School Quiz Show" for the first time as the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Congratulations!

¡Felicidades!

I was the first in my family to graduate from high school and college, and I believe education opens doors to opportunity and success.

It's been shaping futures for centuries.

Here's my question: the Massachusetts Education Act of 1789 mandated free public education, requiring that elementary schools be open to both boys and girls.

This landmark law was championed by what leading figure of the American Revolution, a cousin of the second president of the United States?

HANSON: Josh.

- Samuel Adams.

HANSON: That is right.

In the NATO phonetic alphabet, A is Alfa, B is Bravo, and C is what?

Rhys.

- Charlie.

HANSON: Correct.

Which macromolecule is primarily responsible for catalyzing chemical reactions in the body: lipids, proteins, or carbohydrates?

Shreyas.

- Proteins.

HANSON: Proteins is right.

Known as "the Matterhorn of the Andes," Jirishanca is notoriously difficult to climb, even for elite mountaineers.

It's located in which South American country?

Rhys.

- Peru.

HANSON: Correct.

Modeled on Harper Lee's childhood home of Monroeville, what fictional town in Alabama is the setting for her novel "To Kill a Mockingbird"?

Soham.

- Maycomb.

HANSON: Correct.

For his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine, in 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for what Russian president?

Shreyas.

- Vladimir Putin.

HANSON: That's right.

All right, we're off to a great start, but let's take a moment to thank the folks who make "High School Quiz Show" possible.

Major funding for "High School Quiz Show" is provided by Safety Insurance.

- Welcome to another edition of New England Survivalists, the game we all get to play.

You can ask an independent agent about Safety Insurance and learn more at the resource center at SafetyInsurance.com.

♪ ♪ HANSON: Additional funding is provided by the Museum of Science.

- Curiosity runs wild at the Museum of Science, Boston.

Feel the power of indoor lightning, see robots dance and navigate obstacles, and meet Cliff, a 65-million-year-old Triceratops.

Unleash your curiosity.

Tickets available at mos.org/fun.

(cheers and applause) HANSON: Okay, welcome back.

The score is Mansfield: 80 points.

Milton Academy has 60 points.

Let's get back to the game.

Derived from an Arabic word meaning "season," what seasonal wind brings heavy rains to South Asia?

Josh.

- Monsoon.

HANSON: Yes.

The Senate Democratic whip for two decades and a leading liberal voice on Capitol Hill, what U.S.

senator from Illinois announced in 2025 that he would retire at the end of his current term?

Josh.

- Senator Durbin.

HANSON: Dick Durbin is right.

In his 2005 book "The Singularity Is Near," what computer scientist popularized the concept of the singularity, a hypothetical point in time when machines will surpass human intelligence: Sam Altman, Ray Kurzweil, or Steve Jobs?

Soham.

- Kurzweil.

HANSON: Kurzweil is right.

Formerly known as Siam, what is the only country in Southeast Asia that was never colonized by a European power?

Rhys.

- Thailand.

HANSON: Thailand is right.

Which U.S.

president took an aggressive, hardline stance during the Cold War, referring to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" in a 1983 speech?

Patrick.

- Ronald Reagan.

HANSON: Right.

The 1994 Winter Olympics took place in Lillehammer, in which Scandinavian country?

Alex.

- Norway.

HANSON: Norway is right.

What children's novel by Roald Dahl is the story of a precocious little girl with telekinesis, the power to move things with her mind?

Soham.

- "Matilda."

HANSON: Correct.

"If you get a good wife, you'll be happy.

If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher."

This quote is credited to what Greek scholar who had a famously difficult relationship with his wife, Xanthippe?

Rhys.

- Socrates.

HANSON: Socrates is right.

A relationship that is acrimonious is best described as which of the following: friendly, bitter, or confusing?

Rhys.

- Bitter.

HANSON: Correct.

Ask Socrates.

(laughter) Heard while military helicopters fly over Vietnam in a memorable scene from "Apocalypse Now," "Ride of the Valkyries" is a famous work by what German composer?

Patrick.

- Wagner.

HANSON: Yes, Richard Wagner.

The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 divided the South into how many military districts?

Soham.

- Five.

HANSON: Five is right.

Discovered in 1974 in Ethiopia, AL 288-1 is a three-million-year-old female skeleton of the species Australopithecus afarensis.

She's better known by what nickname, after a Beatles song?

Patrick.

- Lucy.

HANSON: Lucy is right.

A flop when it premiered in St.

Petersburg in 1892, what Tchaikovsky ballet is now a beloved holiday tradition, with an iconic Christmas tree that grows to over 40 feet tall?

Soham.

- "The Nutcracker."

HANSON: "Nutcracker" is right.

What capital city of Syria was once known as "the Pearl of the East"?

Soham.

- Damascus.

HANSON: Yes.

What star of the drama series "Yellowstone" won two Academy Awards-- Best Picture and Best Director-- for his 1990 film "Dances with Wolves"?

Patrick.

- Kevin Costner.

HANSON: That's right.

(bell ringing) And that's the end of the round, and the score is Mansfield: 190 points.

Milton Academy has 100 points.

Let's hear it for both teams.

(cheers and applause) Last week, Weston beat Lexington to claim the final spot in the quarterfinals.

In today's match, Mansfield and Milton Academy are both hoping to make it to the semifinals.

The head-to-head round is next, but first, we're going to take a minute to get to know the players a little bit better.

Mansfield, we'll start with you.

Soham, you host the quiz team practices at your house, right?

- Yeah, that is true, and my mother, who is here in the audience right now, you know, she does, like, a lot to ask us the questions, you know, find questions, and I think most of all, bake good food.

I think they all like it, right?

You guys have to say yes.

- Yes.

HANSON: That's almost honorary coach, assistant coach.

- Yeah, definitely, for sure.

HANSON: All right-- Patrick.

You got stranded at an airport?

- Yeah.

There was a big I.T.

outage in 2024, and I was stuck in Atlanta, which happens to be the busiest airport in the country.

We were stuck there for nearly a whole weekend.

HANSON: Just inside the airport for the entire weekend?

- We were lucky enough to get one of the last hotel rooms in the whole city.

HANSON: So, as airports go, is Atlanta's airport a pretty good place to spend a weekend, or... - It had some good food.

HANSON: So does that kind of throw you off flying, or are you okay?

- I'll take, I'll take a flight to anywhere.

HANSON: Okay-- Shreyas.

You took care of several cats at your house at one point, I hear.

- So, when I was about five years old, one day, we saw a little black kitten on our front porch.

And we go, "We can't just leave it out here."

So we take it in and we take care of it.

And the next day, four more kittens and a mother are sitting on our front porch.

And we go, "All right, let's take these guys in, too."

And the next day, another, like, five or six come over, and soon as you know it, we have 11 kittens playing in our backyard.

For a month, I had, I think I had the most fun I've ever had in my entire life.

(audience chuckling) HANSON: Well, you're very warm and personable, so I imagine, like, I can understand why they'd want to come over.

- Thank you.

HANSON: Maybe they heard that Soham's mom was gonna bring cool snacks over.

(laughter) Josh, you do model U.N.

and mock trial.

- Yeah.

HANSON: Have you had any interesting political or legal experiences?

- Both of those clubs, it's a lot of fun, but sometimes very stressful, especially when you're dealing with other attorneys or other delegates.

HANSON: Do you have a favorite part of a trial?

- Not really part of a trial, but I did a opening statement this year, for my mock trial team, and that was very stressful, but very fun.

HANSON: Do you always start it with, "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," and you do that cool pointing thing?

- Yeah, sometimes.

HANSON: Okay-- learn anything about future career prospects there?

- Hopefully, going to the political scientist- lawyer route.

HANSON: Both of those, all right.

Also on the Mansfield team, we have mascot Sting, alternates Vedder and Jacob, and coach Ken Barrett.

(cheers and applause) Now on over to Milton Academy.

Rhys, you once had to rescue a hamster.

That is so honorable of you.

- I would hope that that would be people's impression from the story, but it's a little bit more complicated.

HANSON: Okay, what actually happened?

- So, I was doing an art project when I was in elementary school, and I had seen a lot of cool videos of people melting crayons to make designs or something to that effect.

But I misidentified oil pastels for crayons, which you're not supposed to heat up to high temperatures, and so they started smoking and we had to all leave the room.

And then my teacher was, like, you know, "My hamster's still in that room."

And so I was of course the one to, to go back and get it.

HANSON: You stood up like a hero and said, "I'll do it.

It was my fault anyway."

(laughter) Eli, you've been in the same rock band since fifth grade?

- That's right, it's a long time.

HANSON: What do you play?

- I sing and I play rhythm guitar.

HANSON: You want to share the name of your band with everybody?

- The name of the band is The Irrelevants.

HANSON: So do you have any, like, favorite, like, rock-and-roll icons?

- Not particularly, but we have done two Taylor Swift songs, as of now, and there are some pretty good, like, Taylor Swift rock songs, so... HANSON: That's beautiful, okay.

Elly, you started school not in English.

- That's true, I started school in French.

HANSON: Now, I've always wondered, when you, when you're young, and, you know, your brain's still kind of forming and everything like that, did that kind of, do you think it, it changed the way that you kind of developed?

- I think it was much easier to learn a language when I was that young.

Um, but it's definitely stuck with me since then.

And I've been lucky enough to travel to France a few times.

HANSON: You didn't go to school in France.

- No.

HANSON: Speaking French.

- No, this was Milton Public Schools, Collicot.

HANSON: All right.

I'm not gonna test you right now.

(laughter) Alex.

You play the euphonium, I hear.

- I do, yeah, it's like a smaller tuba.

Not as, like, gigantic as a normal tuba, it only goes from about, like, like, about this big.

HANSON: So you play in what kind of-- is that in orchestra?

- I play in the Milton Academy Jazz Band.

HANSON: Is there, like, a euphonium icon out there... - There is a jazz euphonium icon out there in the jazz euphonium world.

His name is Rich Matteson, and he has a group of six people, so it's the Rich Matteson Sextet out there.

HANSON: It's always good to have heroes.

- Oh, yes.

HANSON: Rounding out the Milton Academy team are mascot Stan the Stang, alternate Daniyal, and coach Joanna Latham.

Let's hear it for both teams.

(cheers and applause) It's time for the head-to-head round.

In this round, correct answers add ten points to the team total and wrong answers result in a ten-point deduction.

The clock is set at 90 seconds.

Have a friendly handshake?

- Good luck.

HANSON: Okay, good luck, here we go.

Which monarch ruled Great Britain for most of the 19th century?

- Victoria.

HANSON: Yes.

What is the largest artery in the human body?

(buzzer sounds) Aorta.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused flooding in approximately 80%... - New Orleans.

HANSON: Yes.

What is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament played on grass courts?

- Wimbledon.

HANSON: Yes.

Which gas is primarily responsible for the acidification of ocean waters?

- CO2.

HANSON: Yes.

Former First Lady Laura Bush once worked as a school librarian in what capital city of Texas?

- Austin.

HANSON: Yes.

Winner of an Oscar for Best Picture, what 1984 film is titled after one of Mozart's middle names?

- "Amadeus."

HANSON: Yes.

The children's novel "Anne of Green Gables" takes place in what Canadian province abbreviated P.E.I.?

(buzzer sounds) Prince Edward Island.

Located between Israel and Jordan, what sea is roughly ten... - Dead Sea.

HANSON: Yes.

What is the primary pigment involved in photosynthesis?

- Chlorophyll.

HANSON: Yes.

A professional ice hockey game is made up of how many periods?

- Three.

HANSON: Yes.

Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara was a major figure in what country's 1959 re... - Cuba.

HANSON: Yes.

"The Pickwick Papers" was the first published... - Dickens.

HANSON: Yes.

The artist Vincent van Gogh was born in 18... - Netherlands.

HANSON: Yes.

Over 40 million people live in the greater metropolitan area of what capital city of Indonesia?

- Jakarta.

HANSON: Yes.

What river forms most of the border between Vermont and New Hampshire?

- Lake Champlain.

HANSON: No, the Connecticut River.

(bell ringing) That's the end of the round.

Let's take a look at the score.

Mansfield has 260 points.

Milton Academy has 150 points.

Let's give it up for both teams.

(cheers and applause) All right, it's time for the category round.

Today's categories are: Nobody's Fool, Going Medieval, It's Glandular, The Short Version, S&S, and You Complete Me.

All categories have five questions with increasing point value.

Teams will choose two categories each and have the option to toss one question per category that the other team must answer.

Players, you are able to confer.

All right, Mansfield, who's your spokesperson?

Patrick?

All right.

Milton, how about you?

- I will be.

HANSON: All right, Eli.

Okay, Milton you've got a little ground to make up.

First category goes to you.

- We're gonna choose S&S.

HANSON: S&S.

These are questions about people with the initials S.S.

Please give both the first and last names.

For ten points: in the "Harry Potter" series, who is the Half-Blood Prince?

(team whispering) - (aloud): Severus Snape.

HANSON: Correct.

For 15 points: the first Latina to ever serve on the Supreme Court, who co-wrote a 66-page dissent when Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022?

- Sonia Sotomayor.

HANSON: That's right.

For 20 points: a giant in American musical theater, in 1957, who made his first significant mark on Broadway as the lyricist for Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story"?

- (whispers): Right?

- Yeah.

- (aloud): Stephen Sondheim.

HANSON: That's right.

For 25 points in S&S: the Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue" was written by what author of the children's book "The Giving Tree"?

- (whispers): Shel Silverstein.

- Shel Silverstein.

- (aloud): Shel Silverstein.

HANSON: That's right.

For 30 points: best known for playing Shiv Roy in the TV series "Succession," what Australian actress won a Tony Award for her portrayal of all 26 characters in "The Picture of Dorian Gray"?

- Sarah Snook.

HANSON: Yes, Sarah Snook.

Mansfield, your category.

- Going Medieval.

HANSON: Going Medieval.

These are questions about the Middle Ages.

For ten points: the Middle Ages is a period in European history that began in the fifth century, with the fall of which empire?

- The Roman Empire.

HANSON: Yes.

For 15 points: the son of Pepin the Short, what Frankish king is nicknamed the "Father of Europe" as the founder of both the French and German monarchies?

- (whispers): Charlemagne.

- Charlemagne.

- (aloud): Charlemagne.

HANSON: That's right.

For 20 points: in 1215, what unpopular English king was effectively forced to sign the Magna Carta, which sought to end abuses committed by his officials?

- King John.

HANSON: That's right.

For 25 points in Going Medieval: Catherine de' Medici, the queen mother of France, is traditionally blamed for orchestrating the 1572 St.

Bartholomew's Day Massacre, a violent event targeting what French Protestants?

- (whispers): "Hujenos," yeah.

- (aloud): "Hujenos."

HANSON: Yes, Huguenots.

And for 30 points: the last Anglo-Saxon king to rule England, what king was defeated by the Norman forces of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings?

- (whispers): I think so, we can toss.

(aloud): We're gonna toss this.

HANSON: All right.

Tossing it to Milton.

- (softly): Harold of Wessex.

- (aloud): Harold of Wessex.

HANSON: Yes.

Also known as King Harold later on.

Milton, your next category.

- The Short Version.

HANSON: The Short Version.

These are all questions about abbreviations.

For ten points: according to Merriam-Webster, the common internet abbreviation I.M.O.

stands for what?

- In my opinion.

HANSON: That's correct.

For 15 points: some of the first COVID-19 vaccines were based on mRNA technology.

What does the M stand for in mRNA?

- Messenger.

HANSON: Yes, that's right.

For 20 points: England's Queen Elizabeth made history in 2012 by shaking hands with Martin McGuinness, the former leader of what paramilitary organization known as the I.R.A.?

- (softly): The Irish Republican Army.

- (aloud): Irish Republican Army.

HANSON: That's right.

For 25 points in The Short Version: the U.S.

Supreme Court decision Citizens United made it legal for corporations to support a PAC, an acronym that stands for what?

- (softly): Political action committee.

- (aloud): Political action committee.

HANSON: Yes.

For 30 points: the first SWAT teams were formed in the 1960s to handle riot control and violent confrontations with criminals.

The acronym SWAT stands for Special Weapons and...?

- (whispers): Training?

Training.

- You think training?

- Yes.

- (aloud): Training.

HANSON: No, it's tactics.

Mansfield, your category.

- (whispers): Okay, You Complete Me.

- (aloud): We're gonna go You Complete Me.

HANSON: You Complete Me.

These are questions about puzzles.

For ten points: founded in Germany in 1883, Ravensburger is the largest manufacturer of what type of puzzles named after a tool that can cut irregular curves?

- (whispers): Jigsaw?

- Jigsaw.

- (aloud): Jigsaw.

HANSON: Jigsaw puzzles is right.

For 15 points: a popular daily word game, what five-letter brain teaser was created by a Welsh software developer to amuse his girlfriend during the pandemic?

- (whispers): Wordle.

- (aloud): Wordle.

HANSON: Wordle is right.

For 20 points: widely syndicated in newspapers, what logic-based puzzle roughly means "single number" in Japanese?

- "Sudohkoh."

HANSON: Sudoku is right.

For 25 points in You Complete Me: a seven-letter word that starts with C, what devilishly difficult British crossword uses hidden clues in the form of anagrams, double meanings, and other wordplay?

- (whispers): Are you sure?

- Yes.

- (aloud): Cryptic.

HANSON: That's correct.

And for 30 points: invented by a Japanese educator to teach math, what grid-based logic puzzle became popular after "The New York Times" introduced it as a daily puzzle in 2009?

- (whispers): Pass, just pass, pass.

- Say pass?

- Pass, pass.

- (aloud): We're going to pass.

HANSON: That game is KenKen.

(bell ringing) That is the end of the category round.

The score is Mansfield, 400 points.

Milton Academy has 320 points.

How about a round of applause for both teams?

(cheers and applause) Okay, we're heading into the final round of play, the lightning round.

Correct answers add 20 points to the team total and there is a 20-point deduction for incorrect answers.

The clock is set.

Here we go.

What ocean lies between Africa and Aus... Rhys.

- Indian.

HANSON: Yes.

American biochemist Jennifer Doudna is best known... Soham.

- CRISPR.

HANSON: Yes.

From 1892 to 1924, over 12 million immigrants came through what island in New York... Elly.

- Ellis.

HANSON: Yes.

What Vermont native is the founder of the Mormon Church?

Rhys.

- Joseph Smith.

HANSON: Yes.

What Swiss psychologist developed the concept... Soham.

- Jung.

HANSON: Yes.

Known for its green landscapes and iconic cedar forests, what is the only Arab country without a desert?

Rhys.

- Lebanon.

HANSON: Yes.

In George Orwell's novel "1984," prisoners are subjected to their own worst fears in what dreaded... Rhys.

- Room 101.

HANSON: Yes.

Similar to the Tonys, what annual awards started by "The Village Voice" honor Off-Broadway theater productions?

(buzzer sounds) The Obies.

A popular destination for East Coast retirees, which U.S.

state leads... Rhys.

- Florida.

HANSON: Yes.

Obsidian is an example of which of the three major rock types?

Rhys.

- Igneous.

HANSON: Yes.

From 1962 until his retirement in 1992, who was the host of "The Tonight Show"?

Soham.

- Letterman.

HANSON: No, Johnny Carson.

What city in ancient Crete was the capital of the Minoan civilization?

Rhys.

- Heraklion.

HANSON: No, Knossos.

What is the primary and official language of Iran?

Patrick.

- Persian.

HANSON: Yes.

What category above kingdom is the highest rank in taxonomy?

Rhys.

- Uh, species.

HANSON: No, that is domain.

German for "air weapon," what was... (bell ringing) And the winning team this week is Mansfield, with a final score of 440 points.

Milton Academy finishes with 420 points.

Congratulations to both teams for an absolutely fantastic game.

Mansfield now moves on to the semifinals to play the winner of our second quarterfinal match, between Belmont and Buckingham Browne & Nichols.

Join us next week for that match right here on "High School Quiz Show."

(cheers and applause) ♪ ♪ Major funding for "High School Quiz Show" is provided by Safety Insurance.

- It happens every day-- someone falls for a phishing scam.

Cyber risk coverage from Safety Insurance is designed to help protect businesses from data breaches, ransomware, and other cyberattacks.

Safety Insurance.

We'll help you manage life's storms-- even the cyber kind.

HANSON: Additional funding is provided by UMass Amherst.

- The future doesn't need bystanders.

It needs self-starters with limitless ambition eager to look at our challenges and step up.

At UMass, be the future you want to see.

Be revolutionary.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (cheers and applause) ♪ ♪