(energetic music) ♪ Go (energetic music) - Welcome to the 18th season of WVIA's "Scholastic Scrimmage."

I'm your host, Paul Lazar.

"Scholastic Scrimmage" is a question and answer competition featuring high school students from across the WVIA viewing area.

In each program, two schools will compete in a single elimination tournament for a chance to win one, three or $5,000.

This is the final "Scholastic Scrimmage" competition between North Pocono and Delaware Valley.

Representing North Pocono are Evangeline Clawson, Minerva Korea, Grace Beckish and Noah Beckish.

Their alternates are Reina Nemetz and Elizabeth Donovan, and their advisor is Christopher Wilbur.

Representing Delaware Valley are Jackson Hancock, Andrea Del Freo, Isabella Hemler and Riley Crick.

Their alternate is Christopher Fleming, and their advisor is Robert Curtis.

"Scholastic Scrimmage" is a game of rapid recall of factual information, so let's take a moment and review the rules.

The first team to buzz in will have an opportunity to answer a toss-up question.

Correct answers to these questions are awarded 10 points, and that team will then receive a five point bonus question.

If that toss-up answer is incorrect, no points will be deducted, but the question will then rebound to the other team.

If the other team answers correctly, they'll be given the toss-up points but will not receive a bonus question.

Well, let's go ahead and begin the game with this toss-up question.

What composer, who aspired to write a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, wrote an opera about a knight named Parsifal, as well as the ring cycle?

Riley, Delaware Valley.

- Wagner?

- Is correct, and your bonus question, what largest managed care organization in the US saw more than 75,000 of its healthcare workers go on strike in October, 2023?

(buzzer beeping) - Kaiser Permanente?

- Is correct for your bonus points, DelVal, and we move on to another toss-up.

What monarch from the Keita Dynasty, who conquered Gao and Timbuktu before completing a 1324 hajj to Mecca.

Jackson, Delaware Valley.

- Mansa Musa.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

What Roman senator organized a conspiracy with Brutus to assassinate Julius Caesar, but was defeated at the battle of Philippi?

(buzzer beeping) - Seneca.

- No, that was Cassius, Cassius.

Here comes our next toss-up.

What mathematical entities are represented by ones in an adjacency matrix, and can be directed or undirected when they connect the vertices of a graph?

(buzzer beeping) Noah, North Pocono.

- Nodes?

- [Paul] Is incorrect.

Rebound to Delaware Valley.

(buzzer beeping) - Lines?

- Edge or edges is what we were looking for.

Here comes our next toss-up.

What character wishes his too too solid flesh would melt shortly after his mother, Noah, North Pocono.

- Hamlet.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

Loki gave birth to what eight legged horse from Norse mythology that belonged to Odin?

- Pass.

- That was Sleipnir, Sleipnir.

Here's our next toss-up.

What Senegalese Italian personality, whose content consists of him silently mocking life hack videos, Noah, North Pocono.

- Khaby Lame.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

Lady Aoi is the wife of what prince, who is the title character of a novel by Lady Murasaki?

(buzzer beeping) - "The Tale of Genji?"

- Is correct for your bonus points, North Pocono.

Great job.

Here comes our next toss-up question.

What birds of prey, whose groups can be called kettles or committees, include the griffin and California condor and scavenge, Noah, North Pocono.

- Decomposers?

- Is incorrect.

I'll finish the question and rebound to Delaware Valley.

And scavenge on animal carrion.

(buzzer beeping) - Vultures.

- Vultures is correct for those rebound points, Delaware Valley, and here's our next toss-up question.

What philosopher included an evil demon who deceives his perceptions in meditations on, Isabella, DelVal?

- Descartes?

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

Tom Bradley spent 20 years as the mayor of what city, where he retired in 1993 in the aftermath of the Rodney King riots?

(buzzer beeping) - LA?

- LA is correct for your bonus points, Delaware Valley.

And here's our next toss-up question.

What poem, whose speaker says that spring is the mischief in me, describes a man who repeats good fences make good neighbors?

Riley, Delaware Valley.

- "Mending Wall?"

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus question.

Painter Paul Morel has an unhealthy relationship with his possessive mother Gertrude in what 1913 novel by DH Lawrence?

(timer beeping) (buzzer beeping) - Pass.

- That was "Sons and Lovers."

Well, that sound that you heard signals the end of the first quarter, and it's now time for the lightning round.

(lightning buzzing) In this segment, each team will have an opportunity to answer as many of the 10 rapid fire questions as they can in one minute.

North Pocono has won the coin toss and will pick first.

Your categories are M in Music or Marvel Actors.

(team whispering) - M in Music.

- M in Music it is, and your time begins after I finish reading the first question.

Give these music-related answers that start with M. Type of performing band, often seen at football games.

- Mariachi?

- [Paul] Marching band.

Component of a score, also known as a bar.

- Measure?

- [Paul] Yes.

Composer of "The Magic Flute" and "The Marriage of Figaro."

- Mozart.

- [Paul] Yes.

Era before the Renaissance in which Gregorian Chant was prominent.

- Medieval age?

- [Paul] Yes.

Composer of "The Scottish Symphony" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

- Mendelsohn?

- Is correct.

Austrian composer of "Symphony of a Thousand."

- Mozart?

- [Paul] Mahler.

Italian term for half, as in a type of soprano.

- Mezzo?

- [Paul] Yes.

Sections of a larger work, of which most symphonies have four.

- Movement?

- [Paul] Yes.

Wooden mallet-played instrument similar to a xylophone.

- Marimba.

- [Paul] Yes.

Composer of "Night on Bald Mountain."

- Mendelsohn.

- Mussorgsky.

Great guess, though, North Pocono.

You did great in the lightning round.

Delaware Valley, we're coming over to you, and your remaining category will be Marvel Actors, and once again, your time begins after I finish reading the first question.

Given a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, identify the actor or actress who portrays them.

Ironman.

(buzzer beeping) - Robert Downey Jr?

- [Paul] Yes.

Nick Fury.

- Samuel L. Jackson.

- [Paul] Yes.

Black Widow.

- Scarlet Johansson.

- [Paul] Yes.

Captain America.

(buzzer beeping) - Pass.

- [Paul] Chris Evans.

Black Panther.

- Chadwick Bozeman.

- Yes, Dr.

Strange.

(buzzer beeping) - Cumberbatch.

- [Paul] Yes.

Thor.

- Chris Hemsworth.

- [Paul] Yes.

Spider-Man.

- Tom Holland.

- [Paul] Yes.

Scarlet Witch.

(buzzer beeping) - Natalie Portman?

- [Paul] Elizabeth Olson.

Sersi in "Eternals."

(buzzer beeping) - Pass.

- That was Gemma Chan, Gemma Chan.

And that's going to do it for the lightning round, and after that, we currently have Delaware Valley in the lead over North Pocono, 95 to 60.

Now we'll go ahead and begin the second quarter with this toss-up question.

What scientist developed the complementarity principle, names a model in which electrons follow quantized orbits.

Noah, North Pocono.

- Bohr.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus now.

What order of mammals, divided into the cat-like suborder of feliformia and the dog-like suborder caniformia, is named for its members' shared diet?

(team whispering) (buzzer beeping) - Carnivoria?

- Is correct for your bonus points, North Pocono, as we move on now to our next toss-up question.

What musician, the lead artist on "Band on the Run" and "Live and Let Die," Riley, DelVal.

- Paul McCartney.

- Is correct, and here's your bonus.

Reginald Pole and Thomas Cranmer both held what ecclesiastical title as head of the Church of England?

- Archbishop of Canterbury.

- Is correct for your bonus points, DelVal, and here's our next toss-up question.

What emperor, who was the son of Germanicus, was the first to be assassinated by the Praetorian Guard and was known by a name meaning Little Boots?

(buzzer beeping) Andrea, Delaware Valley.

- Caligula?

- Is correct, and your bonus question, and two answers are required here.

Paektu Mountain, the source of the Yalu River, is an active strata volcano on the border between what two Asian countries?

(buzzer beeping) - China and Nepal.

- No, you got one of them right.

We were looking for China and North Korea, China and North Korea.

Here's our next toss-up.

What title place, which is reached by swinging on a rope over a creek, is the imaginary kingdom.

Noah, North Pocono.

- Terabithia.

- Terabithia is correct, and here's your bonus.

What SI unit of force is equal to one pascal times one meter squared?

- Newton.

- Newton is correct for your bonus points, very good.

Our next toss toss-up, get your pencils and papers ready.

What is the fourth term of a geometric sequence whose first two terms are, in order, Noah, North Pocono.

- 40.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus question.

What older brother of Richard III took the English throne after defeating Henry VI during the Wars of the Roses?

- James the First?

- No, this was Edward IV, Edward IV.

Here's our next toss-up question.

What state, whose governor is Democrat-turned Republican tycoon Jim Justice, is represented in the Senate by Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin?

Noah, North Pocono.

- West Virginia.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

What alliteratively-named title character works at Dotheboys Hall for abusive one-eyed school master Wackford Squeers in a Charles Dickens novel?

- Nicholas Nickleby.

- Nicholas Nickleby is correct for your bonus points, North Pocono, as we move on to our next toss-up.

What French composer, whose third symphony is known as the Organ Symphony, included movements, Jackson, DelVal.

- Camille Saint-Saens.

- Judges?

Is good enough, we'll take that.

Here's your bonus points, or your bonus question.

A museum containing the remains of the Australopithecus specimen Lucy can be found in what capital of Ethiopia?

(buzzer beeping) - Addis Ababa.

- Is correct for your bonus points, DelVal, and here's our next toss-up question.

What author described a spontaneous sex change in the novel "Orlando" and discussed the needs of women writers in her 1929 essay "A Room of One's Own?"

(timer beeping) That was Virginia Woolf, and after one half of play, we currently have a very good game, Delaware Valley in the lead over North Pocono, 135 to 115.

We're now going to give our contestants a bit of a break and the opportunity for those of you at home to get to know them a little better, and we'll start with the students from North Pocono, and Evangeline, I will come to you first.

Tell us what it would mean to you to win it all today here at "Scholastic Scrimmage."

- It would be really fun.

- [Paul] You've worked really hard, right?

- Yeah.

- [Paul] Okay, thanks, Evangeline.

Minerva.

- I mean, it's like nerd bragging rights.

It's like we know stuff.

- [Paul] Absolutely.

Thanks, Minerva.

Grace?

- It would be good.

- [Paul] Okay, Noah?

- It would open doors for us, as this would be our school's first championship.

- Wow, that's right.

Well, good luck to you guys the rest of the way.

Delaware Valley, we're coming over to you, and Jackson, what would it mean to you to win everything for DelVal today?

- Personally, I'd feel very proud in us as a team.

I feel like we've come a long way bonding together and being able to work in our specialized areas to come together and make this work.

- [Paul] That's a great answer.

- Thank you.

- [Paul] Andrea.

- I mean, I did something with my life.

(group laughing) - Something tells me you have plenty of time left.

Isabella?

- I'd feel pretty happy, and it would make missing school worth it.

(group laughing) - [Paul] Thanks, Isabella, and Riley?

- It would feel pretty great, and the Wendy's would definitely be a bonus.

- [Paul] You're getting Wendy's?

- [Riley] Supposedly.

- Okay, we'll see what happens.

Good luck to you the rest of the way, Delaware Valley, as we move on now to the third quarter and this toss-up question.

What city, overlooked by Table Mountain, is home to Robben Island, Jackson, DelVal.

- Cape Town.

- [Paul] Is correct, and your bonus, the line "I have done it again" opens what poem by Sylvia Plath about a person who eats men like air, and whose title references a biblical character?

- Job?

- That was "Lady Lazarus."

Let's go to our next toss-up question.

What place, converted from a military citadel to a federal prison in 1933, housed "Birdman" Robert Stroud alongside Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone?

Jackson, Delaware Valley.

- Alcatraz?

- Is correct, and here's your bonus.

What name is shared by the most populous city in Michigan's upper peninsula and a Milwaukee University, both of which are named for a French Jesuit?

(buzzer beeping) - Calvin?

- Good guess.

We were looking for Marquette, Marquette.

Here comes our next toss-up.

What sister of Stheno and Euryale, whose blood gave birth to Pegasus, was beheaded by Perseus, Grace, North Pocono.

- Medusa?

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus question.

Bill Richardson, who died in 2023, was a former governor of what Western state also represented by pioneering Hispanic senator Dennis Chavez?

- Nevada?

- That answer was New Mexico, New Mexico.

Here's our next toss-up.

What present day country, which honors its heroes in the sculpture The Motherland Calls contains The Bronze Horseman, a sculpture in St. Petersburg?

Riley, Delaware Valley.

- Russia?

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

Gal Gadot's character claims to have enough champagne to fill the title river in what 2022 movie based on an Agatha Christie novel?

(buzzer beeping) - Nile.

- [Paul] Judges?

Be more specific.

- Murder on the Nile or something.

- Blue Nile.

- No, this was Death on the Nile, Death on the Nile.

Here's our next toss-up question.

What component of smog, whose decomposition is accelerated by the release of CFCs, absorbs all, Noah, North Pocono.

- Ozone.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

What pair of dwarf galaxies contains supernova 1987A and the stars used by Henrietta Leavitt to establish the period luminosity relation for cepheids?

(team whispering) - Messier?

- No, we're looking for the Magellanic Clouds, the Magellanic Clouds.

Here's our next toss-up.

What type of tree, under which Buddha attained enlightenment, had its, Andrea, DelVal.

- Bodhi, Bohi?

- [Paul] Judges?

- [Judge] Uh, no.

- Is incorrect.

I'll finish the question and rebound to North Pocono.

Under which Buddha attained enlightenment had its leaves used by Adam and Eve, originating an expression for covering something.

- Apple tree?

- No, this was fig tree, fig tree.

Here's our next toss-up question.

What Ohioan resigned as Secretary of State at the start of the Spanish-American War and names both the Silver Purchase Act and an 1890 Antitrust act?

(buzzer beeping) Riley, DelVal.

- Sherman.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

What term from the Latin for partner is used for the spouse or concubine of a reigning king or queen, especially one of lower status or rank?

(buzzer beeping) - Regent?

- No, the answer was consort, and before we go any further, we have a quick scoring adjustment to make.

An earlier answer by Andrea from Delaware Valley saying bodhi tree instead of fig tree was deemed to be correct, so therefore, we are adding 10 points to their score, and here comes your bonus.

What political party carried out the White Terror in Taiwan under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek?

- CCP?

- No, that was the Kuomintang, the Kuomintang.

Well, that sound that you heard signals the end of the third quarter and another lightning round.

(lightning buzzing) This time, Delaware Valley will pick first.

Your categories are The Letter M or Shapes.

(buzzer beeping) - The Letter M. - The Letter M it is, and your time begins after I finish reading the first question.

What does the M stand for in the comic book quartet TMNT?

(buzzer beeping) Riley.

- Mutant.

- [Paul] Yes.

The military designation MIA.

- Missing.

- [Paul] Yes.

Professional Sports League MLB.

- Major.

- [Paul] Yes.

The mathematics term LCM.

- Multiple.

- Yes.

The tech company IBM.

- Machine?

- [Paul] Yes, is incorrect, machines plural.

The genetic molecule MRNA.

- Messenger.

- [Paul] Yes.

The government agency DMV.

- Motor.

- [Paul] Yes.

The time zone GMT.

- Mountain?

- [Paul] Mean.

CMBR, which provides evidence of the big bang.

Isabella.

- Pass.

- [Paul] Okay, that was microwave.

The intellectual property law DMCA.

- Mind?

- Millennium.

Okay, Delaware Valley.

That's going to wrap up your portion of the lightning round.

North Pocono, we're coming over to you, and your remaining category will be Shapes, and once again, your time begins after I finish reading the first question.

Give these answers that include the name of a shape.

Headquarters of the Department of Defense.

- Pentagon.

- [Paul] Yes.

Puzzle named for a Hungarian with 43 quintillion combinations.

- Rubik's Cube.

- [Paul] Yes.

Quadrilateral with only one pair of parallel sides.

- Trapezoid.

- [Paul] Yes.

Beijing location that names 1989 Pro-Democracy protests.

- Forbidden Square.

- [Paul] I'm sorry?

- Forbidden Square.

- [Paul] Tiananmen Square.

Wonder of the ancient world near Giza, Egypt.

- Pyramid?

- [Paul] Be more specific.

- Great Pyramid.

- [Paul] Yes.

Shape whose surface area is four pi times the radius squared.

- Sphere?

- [Paul] Yes.

New York factory where 146 garment.

- Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.

- [Paul] Yes.

Retinal cells that are mostly responsible for color vision.

- Cones?

- [Paul] Yes.

Room where the resolute desk is located.

- The Oval Room.

- [Paul] Judges?

Be more specific, or you can pass.

- Pass.

- Oval Office.

Post Malone song with the lyric "Seasons changed and our love went cold."

(timer beeping) That was "Circles," and that's going to do it for the lightning round, and after that, we currently have Delaware Valley in the lead over North Pocono, 215 to 170, so lots of time for something to happen, North Pocono.

Don't give up quite yet, as we now begin the last segment of the game with this toss-up question.

What classification first applied in 2006 because an object didn't clear its neighborhood is currently, Grace, North Pocono.

- Pluto?

- Is incorrect.

I'll finish the question and rebound to Delaware Valley.

Is currently applied to Haumea, Ceres and Pluto?

(buzzer beeping) Andrea.

- Dwarf planet.

- Is correct for your rebound points, DelVal, and here's our next toss-up question.

What country contains the mouth of the Bug River, sees the Vistula River empty into the Baltic Sea near Gdansk, and has its capital at Warsaw?

(buzzer beeping) Jackson, DelVal.

- Poland.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

In a Sophocles play, what king of Thebes orders the execution of Antigone, who defied this king by performing burial rights for the rebel Polynices?

(buzzer beeping) - Oedipus Rex.

- That was Creon, Creon.

Here's our next toss-up question.

What anthropologist wrote about the faux pa of presuming above one's age among the people of Tao in her pioneering 1928, Noah, North Pocono.

- Jane Goodall?

- Is incorrect.

I'll finish and rebound to DelVal.

1928 study "Coming of Age in Samoa."

(timer beeping) That was Margaret Mead, Margaret Mead.

Here's our next toss-up.

What location, which the ship Star of the West tried to resupply, did PGT Beauregard bombard, Jackson, DelVal.

- Fort Sumter.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

In 1822, Augustine de Iturbede secured the independence of what country, where he briefly served as emperor and designed a flag that depicts an eagle?

(buzzer beeping) - Mexico.

- Is correct for your bonus points, Delaware Valley, as we move on to our next toss-up.

What state, where the Marion County Record newspapers offices were controversially raided in August, 2023 is led by Governor Laura Kelly, Noah, North Pocono.

- Georgia.

- Incorrect.

I will finish and rebound to Del Val.

From Topeka.

- [Riley] Kansas.

- Is correct for your rebound points, Delaware Valley, and here comes our next toss-up question.

What 1876 novel, whose title character gets lost in MacDougal's Cave with Becky Thatcher is by Mark Twain and centers on a friend of Huckleberry Finn?

Riley, DelVal.

- "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?"

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

What woman from upstate New York, nicknamed for her old age, was in her 80s when she painted villagers collecting maple syrup?

- Grandma Moses.

- Grandma Moses is correct for your bonus points, DelVal, and here's our next toss-up question.

What monarch, who danced with Kwame Nkrumah while visiting Ghana in 1961, succeeded her father, George VI, in 1952?

Jackson, DelVal.

- Queen Elizabeth II?

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

What part of a neuron, often covered by a myelin sheath, is a long slender projection that transmits electrical impulses away from the cell body?

- Nerve or something.

- Nerve?

- No, the answer is axon, axon.

Here's our next toss-up.

The portal vein carries nutrient-rich but deoxygenated blood to what organ, which is damaged in cirrhosis, Andrea, DelVal.

- Lungs?

- Is incorrect.

I'll finish and rebound to North Pocono.

- Heart.

- Is incorrect.

We were looking for liver, liver.

Here's our next toss-up.

What novel, in which Svidrigailov overhears a confession and learns that a pawn broker was killed by Raskolnikov, was written by Fyodor Dostoevsky?

Jackson, DelVal.

- "Crime and Punishment."

- Is correct, and your bonus now.

The oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the US occurs not in New Orleans, but in what second most populous city in Alabama, which is on a namesake bay?

(buzzer beeping) - Mobile.

- Mobile is correct for your bonus points, and that's the end of the game.

Tonight, Delaware Valley is your "Scholastic Scrimmage" champion.

Congratulations Delaware Valley, you have won it all, $5,000 for your school.

North Pocono, you've picked up $3,000 for your school.

There's no losers here.

We want to thank you for watching "Scholastic Scrimmage," and we hope to see you next year for another exciting season of "Scholastic Scrimmage."

I'm your host, Paul Lazar, and thanks for watching.

(energetic music)