Transcript 10/01/10 -- Valerie David

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Valerie David
New York City, NY

Unrandomized topic list
Politicians
Celebrity Skin
France, USA
Literary Character Names
Show You The Door
Siren Song
Name Calling
Olympic Women
TV Debuts
Tiny Treats

Randomized topic list
Show You The Door
Politicians
Olympic Women
TV Debuts
Name Calling
Literary Character Names
Siren Song
Tiny Treats
France, USA
Celebrity Skin

Question 1 * Celebrity Skin
Which of these celebs has never appeared in one of the ubiquitous TV infomercials for the skin care product Proactiv?

A: Christina Aguilera B: P. Diddy
C: Jessica Simpson D: Alicia Keys

Valerie knows that

Spoiler

Jessica Simpson

has. She thinks she might jump the question, but that's tough because she thinks she knows who it might be. When Meredith asks who that is, she says

Spoiler

Christina Aguilera

and then decides to ATA.

ATA

A: 45% B: 30% C: 2% D: 23%

She confirms that she can use a second lifeline if she feels the need, but Meredith reminds her that it's nice to save them if she can.

Answer/value/bank

A: Christina Aguilera
Question value: $3,000
Bank: $3,000

Commercial break

A friend encouraged Valerie to audition for the game.

Question 2 * France, USA
If you know a little French you will understand why a water tower in Papillion, Nebraska features a huge image of what creature?

A: Frog B: Spider
C: Butterfly D: Eagle

Valerie knows some French but she's going to have to jump this question.

Answer/value/bank

C: Butterfly
Question value: $1,000
Bank: $3,000

Question 3 * Tiny Treats
Known for its diminutive size, a variety of carrot has what fairy tale-inspired name?

A: Thumbelina carrot B: Rapunzel carrot
C: Cinderella carrot D: Goldilocks carrot

Valerie rereads the question to herself and reasons it out.

Answer/value/bank

A: Thumbelina carrot
Question value: $ 5,000
Bank: $8,000

Question 4 * Siren Song
What scientific phenomenon explains why a siren sounds higher-pitched when it moves towards you, and lower moving away?

A: Snell's law B: Bergman cyclization
C: Bayes' theorem D: Doppler effect

Valerie is definitely going to skip to the next question. She's thinking Doppler but that's weather.

Question/value/bank

D: Doppler effect
Question value: $2,000
Bank: $8,000

Question 5 * Literary Character Names
J.D. Salinger is said to have named his "Catcher in the Rye" narrator after actress Joan Caulfield and what actor?

A: Burt Lancaster B: James Cagney
C: William Holden D: Gregory Peck

Valerie wishes she'd read this book. She's feeling it might be

Spoiler

William Holden

but she doesn't want to risk walking away with nothing. She's walking away with half of her bank.

Answer/value/bank

C: William Holden
Question value: Not revealed
Bank: $8,000

Commercial break

[geoffil]

How many people would have loved that stack, saying with hand raised high.?

[ulysses5019]

How many people would have loved that stack, saying with hand raised high.?

Well, I'm not crazy about Celebrity Skin.

[MarleysGh0st]

How many people would have loved that stack, saying with hand raised high.?

I'd have needed a lifeline on the first question. It doesn't matter how "ubiquitous" infomercials are, if you stay far, far away from them.

[Kazoo65]

Question 1-use ATA right off the bat. It's pop culture.

Question 2-easy-there's a dog breed called a papillion.

Question 3-easy.

Question 4-pretty sure it's D.

Question 5-read Catcher in the Rye in 11th grade American Lit. This was easy for me.

[andrewjackson]

Question 2-easy-there's a dog breed called a papillion.

.

Well, technically the dog breed is papillon. The French word for

Spoiler

butterfly

is spelled like that. The Nebraskan spelling is close enough.

Hah, just checked. At least they pronounce it like it is spelled in Nebraska. Papillion is pronounced Puh-PILL-yun, not Pah-PEE-yon as in French.

[earendel]

Valerie David
New York City, NY

WE®

A friend encouraged Valerie to audition for the game.

And a reluctant auditioner to boot.

Question 4 * Siren Song
What scientific phenomenon explains why a siren sounds higher-pitched when it moves towards you, and lower moving away?

A: Snell's law B: Bergman cyclization
C: Bayes' theorem D: Doppler effect

Valerie is definitely going to skip to the next question. She's thinking Doppler but that's weather.

Question/value/bank

D: Doppler effect
Question value: $2,000
Bank: $8,000

No, Valerie, it's not just weather.

Nihil obstat®.

[MarleysGh0st]

Question 4 * Siren Song
What scientific phenomenon explains why a siren sounds higher-pitched when it moves towards you, and lower moving away?

A: Snell's law B: Bergman cyclization
C: Bayes' theorem D: Doppler effect

Valerie is definitely going to skip to the next question. She's thinking Doppler but that's weather.

Question/value/bank

D: Doppler effect
Question value: $2,000
Bank: $8,000

In case anyone else is curious about the other choices:

Snell's law has to do with optics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snell%27s_law
Bergman cyclization is from chemistry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergman_cyclization
Bayes' theorem is from probability: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_theorem

[frogman042]

Question 4 * Siren Song
What scientific phenomenon explains why a siren sounds higher-pitched when it moves towards you, and lower moving away?

A: Snell's law B: Bergman cyclization
C: Bayes' theorem D: Doppler effect

Valerie is definitely going to skip to the next question. She's thinking Doppler but that's weather.

Question/value/bank

D: Doppler effect
Question value: $2,000
Bank: $8,000

In case anyone else is curious about the other choices:

Snell's law has to do with optics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snell%27s_law
Bergman cyclization is from chemistry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergman_cyclization
Bayes' theorem is from probability: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayes%27_theorem

I'm not surprised, since for most people, when faced with a Physics question they would

Spoiler

Wave bye-bye with a high degree of Frequency

[peiboy91]

Valerie wishes she'd read this book. She's feeling it might be

Spoiler

William Holden

but she doesn't want to risk walking away with nothing. She's walking away with half of her bank.

It's interesting that she said that she didn't want to risk going away with nothing, even though she was obviously briefed that she would leave with at least $1,000. Maybe it just slipped her mind at the moment, but if she realized that, maybe she would have also figured out that she was really risking only $3,000 between walking away and getting the question wrong. If she got the question right and it was worth $25,000, she would have been $12,500 better off if she walked on the next question. It was a risk worth taking especially since she was already leaning towards an answer. But it's probably just another case of a contestant playing too conservatively as they adjust to the new rules.

[MarleysGh0st]

Valerie wishes she'd read this book. She's feeling it might be

Spoiler

William Holden

but she doesn't want to risk walking away with nothing. She's walking away with half of her bank.

It's interesting that she said that she didn't want to risk going away with nothing, even though she was obviously briefed that she would leave with at least $1,000. Maybe it just slipped her mind at the moment, but if she realized that, maybe she would have also figured out that she was really risking only $3,000 between walking away and getting the question wrong. If she got the question right and it was worth $25,000, she would have been $12,500 better off if she walked on the next question. It was a risk worth taking especially since she was already leaning towards an answer. But it's probably just another case of a contestant playing too conservatively as they adjust to the new rules.

Speaking of adjusting to the new rules, I wonder if Meredith's constant highlighting of the full total of the bank has a psychological effect on the contestants, making them think they're risking all of it instead of half? Even though they get a detailed briefing on the rules before the show began, it could be easy to forget in the pressure of the moment.

[Appa23]

How many people would have loved that stack, saying with hand raised high.?

I certainly liked the 2nd question.

(How did she pronounce the town's name?)

A better question might have been to guess the name of the Papillion-LaVista HS team --

Spoiler

Monarchs

[Appa23]

Question 2-easy-there's a dog breed called a papillion.

Yet, that is not a choice.

[vettech]

Question 2-easy-there's a dog breed called a papillion.

Yet, that is not a choice.

No, but the breed gets its name because its ears resemble butterfly wings.

[MarleysGh0st]

Question 2-easy-there's a dog breed called a papillion.

Yet, that is not a choice.

No, but the breed gets its name because its ears resemble butterfly wings.

If you're going to keep talking about this question, somebody has to mention the movie Papillon, staring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.

So I will.