Shiva Oswal
Cupertino, CA
Whiz Kid contestant
This time Shiva only gets the standard lifelines; if he answers the $50,000 question correctly he wins a 2-night stay at Caesar's Palace with dinner and a show. Shiva's +1 is his dad.
$500: In the famous nursery rhyme that begins, "Rub-a-dub-dub," which of these is NOT a job title held by one of the three men in a tub?
A - butcher
B - baker
C - candlestick maker
D - personal shopper
Spoiler
Answer: D (personal shopper)
$1000: Movie snack hack! Instead of saying, "Fill it partially, top it with butter, repeat until full," at some movie theaters insiders can simply order what populat treat "layered"?
A - Raisinets
B - popcorn
C - Diet Coke
D - caviar
Spoiler
Answer: B (popcorn)
$2000: In 1983, who was granted a U.S. patent for a "spatial logical toy," whose operation involved "six or nine toy elements" being "simultaneously rotated"?
A - E.Z. Bakeoven
B - Erno Rubik
C - Bean E. Baybee
D - Thaddeus J. Potatohead
Spoiler
Answer: B (Erno Rubik)
$3000: Three of the following can define words or names that begin with "ee". Which one does NOT?
A - Winnie-the-Pooh's donkey pal
B - strange, in a frightening and mysterious way
C - an artist's stand
D - a wormlike fish
Spoiler
Answer: C (an artist's stand)
commercial break
Last time Shiva was on the show he won $250,000. He invested most of it, bought a new computer and some video games. He was nervous then and he's nervous now.
$5000: Even longer than its "giant" relative, what animal is thought to be the largest invertebrate on Earth?
A - mega whale
B - titanic elephant
C - mammoth bear
D - colossal squid
Spoiler
Answer: D (colossal squid)
$7000: According to the NY Times, a 706-carat diamond recently discovered in Sierra Leone is worth as much as $50 million, which would be about how much per carat?
A - $708.21
B - $7,082.15
C - $70,821.53
D - $708,215.30
Shiva says nothing but then blurts out his final answer.
Spoiler
Answer: C ($70,821.53)
$10,000: All carbohydrates are made up of just three chemical elements. Which of the following is NOT one of those three?
A - oxygen
B - hydrogen
C - sodium
D - carbon
Spoiler
Answer: C (sodium)
$20,000: Wellington, New Zealand is the world's southernmost capital city. All of the following are among the next three southernmost, except for which?
A - Canberra
B - Montevideo
C - Buenos Aires
D - La Paz
Shiva knows that
Spoiler
A is in Australia and the other three are in South America. He thinks that Bolivia is further north than the others
Spoiler
Answer: D (La Paz)
commercial break
$30,000: Competing in the Olympic Games in 67 A.D., what Roman emperor was thrown from his carriage in a chariot race, but was declared the winner anyway?
A - Julius Caesar
B - Marcus Aurelius
C - Nero
D - Augustus
Shiva knows a lot about Roman history and knows the dates that each one ruled.
Spoiler
Answer: C (Nero)
$50,000: As many use "Oscillation" instead of pure "Amplification," academics have noted that a certain invention of the 1950s should sometimes be called what?
A - SONOR not SONAR
B - a LOSER not a LASER
C - a RADOR not a RADAR
D - SCUBO not SCUBA
Shiva knows that
Spoiler
both radar and sonar were invented in the 1930s or 1940s and knows the laser was developed in the 1950s, plus he knows what the letters stand for
Spoiler
"50:50 results": A & B
Spoiler
Answer: B (a LOSER not a LASER)
commercial break
MILLIONAIRE "QUESTION OF THE DAY" (John Carpenter's $1M question): Which of these U.S. Presidents appeared on the television series "Laugh-In"?
A - Lyndon Johnson
B - Richard Nixon
C - Jimmy Carter
D - Gerald Ford
Spoiler
Answer: B (Richard Nixon)
commercial break
$100,000: According to ex-Secret Service agent Dan Emmett, the steps of the U.S. president's official helicopter (often visible in photos) are fitted with Plexiglas placards that say what?
A - United States of America
B - Welcome Aboard Marine One
C - In God We Trust
D - Please Watch Your Step
Shiva brings his dad down to help him. Dad says Shiva will probably ignore what he says, but
Spoiler
he knows that the helicopter is Marine One and if he were answering, he would go for B
Spoiler
Answer: B (Welcome Aboard Marine One)
Shiva will come back on Monday to finish his run at the million.