Transcript 01/17/11 Cheryl Van Gieson (carryover)

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Cheryl Van Gieson
Independence, NJ
Voice artist

Cheryl has $20,600 in the bank and all her lifelines.

Topic Tree:

Vegetable Defense
Island Home
Pet Names
Real Character
Genius Ads
'80s Anthems
The Formula
L'Enfant Terrible
Feeling Hot
Holiday Songs

Topic Tree: (randomized)

L'Enfant Terrible
Genius Ads
Island Home
'80s Anthems
Pet Names
(Feeling Hot)
(The Formula)
(Holiday Songs)
(Real Character)
(Vegetable Defense)

Question 6 – Pet Names
Because she idolizes the domestic diva, which of these Hollywood moms named her Labrador retriever “Martha Stewart”?
A. Angelina Jolie
B. Gwyneth Paltrow
C. Jennifer Garner
D. Katie Holmes

ATA

ATA results

2% A. Angelina Jolie
23% B. Gwyneth Paltrow
60% C. Jennifer Garner
15% D. Katie Holmes

Spoiler

C. Jennifer Garner
$15K
Bank – $35,600

Question 7 – ‘80s Anthems
According to their ‘80s heavy metal anthem, the Scorpions wanted to “Rock You Like a” what?
A. Hurricane
B. Landslide
C. Meteor
D. Tornado

Spoiler

A. Hurricane
$2K
Bank - $37,600

Question 8 – Island Home
Residents of what island nation refer to themselves as “Bajans”?
A. The Bahamas
B. Trinidad and Tobago
C. Aruba
D. Barbados

JTQ 1

Spoiler

D. Barbados
$25K
Bank - $37,600

Question 9 – Genius Ads
In a popular tongue-in-cheek radio ads, what brand celebrates “Real Men of Genius,” such as “Mr. Jean Shorts Inventor”?
A. Bud Light
B. KFC
C. Doritos
D. Gatorade

Spoiler

A. Bud Light
$1K
Bank - $38,600

commercial break

Question 10 – L’Enfant Terrible
Stewie Griffin, the terrible tot on TV’s “Family Guy,” has a head shaped like which of these objects?
A. Football
B. Wine bottle
C. Stop sign
D. Funnel

Spoiler

A. Football
$5K
Bank – $43,600

$100K
What campy '80s cult film features a main character coincidentally named Harry Potter?
A. Legend
B. Willow
C. Troll
D. Labyrinth

JTQ 2

Spoiler

C. Troll

$250K
Several years after dropping out of Harvard, Bill Gates published a well-known mathematical paper on what mundane-sounding topic?
A. Sharpening pencils
B. Jumping rope
C. Raking leaves
D. Flipping pancakes

Cheryl makes

Spoiler

A. Sharpening pencils

her final answer.

Cheryl leaves with

Spoiler

$25K.

commercial break

[MarleysGh0st]

$250K
Several years after dropping out of Harvard, Bill Gates published a well-known mathematical paper on what mundane-sounding topic?
A. Sharpening pencils
B. Jumping rope
C. Raking leaves
D. Flipping pancakes

Cheryl makes

Spoiler

A. Sharpening pencils

her final answer.

Cheryl leaves with

Spoiler

$25K.

I wasn't familiar with this well-known paper, but my hunch was that it was really a computer science topic, possibly about sorting, using raking leaves as an example. I was right about the first part, wrong about the second.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancake_sorting

Pancake sorting is a variation of the sorting problem in which the only allowed operation is to reverse the elements of some prefix of the sequence. Unlike a traditional sorting algorithm, which attempts to sort with the least comparisons possible, the goal is to sort the sequence in as few reversals as possible. This operation can be visualized by thinking of a stack of pancakes in which one is allowed to take the top k pancakes and flip them.

I remember a problem called the Towers of Hanoi, which sounds similar to this.

The problem is notable as the only well-known mathematics paper ever written by Microsoft founder Bill Gates (as William Gates), entitled "Bounds for Sorting by Prefix Reversal". Published in 1979, it describes an efficient algorithm for pancake sorting.

[vettech]

I like that she went for it. It was only an $18k risk for a possible $200k reward.

Pancake flipping somehow seemed the "most mathematical" to me so that was my guess, but I didn't know it for a fact.

[earendel]

Cheryl Van Gieson
Independence, NJ
Voice artist

Cheryl has $20,600 in the bank and all her lifelines.

Question 6 – Pet Names
Because she idolizes the domestic diva, which of these Hollywood moms named her Labrador retriever “Martha Stewart”?
A. Angelina Jolie
B. Gwyneth Paltrow
C. Jennifer Garner
D. Katie Holmes

ATA

ATA results

2% A. Angelina Jolie
23% B. Gwyneth Paltrow
60% C. Jennifer Garner
15% D. Katie Holmes

Spoiler

C. Jennifer Garner
$15K
Bank – $35,600

ATA for me as well.

Question 8 – Island Home
Residents of what island nation refer to themselves as “Bajans”?
A. The Bahamas
B. Trinidad and Tobago
C. Aruba
D. Barbados

JTQ 1

Spoiler

D. Barbados
$25K
Bank - $37,600

Why do they call themselves that? I'd JTQ here as well.

$100K
What campy '80s cult film features a main character coincidentally named Harry Potter?
A. Legend
B. Willow
C. Troll
D. Labyrinth

JTQ 2

Spoiler

C. Troll

"Troll" is the only one of the four that I'd describe as "campy". I understand that its sequel, "Troll 2" is considered by some to be the worst movie ever made.

$250K
Several years after dropping out of Harvard, Bill Gates published a well-known mathematical paper on what mundane-sounding topic?
A. Sharpening pencils
B. Jumping rope
C. Raking leaves
D. Flipping pancakes

Cheryl makes

Spoiler

A. Sharpening pencils

her final answer.

Cheryl leaves with

Spoiler

$25K.

She took the gamble and unfortunately was wrong. As for me, I'd be looking at the $500K question with one JTQ still available.

[Bob78164]

I liked the way she presented herself, and I really like that she continued to pull the trigger notwithstanding what appeared to be jitters of a magnitude that have persuaded many other contestants to burn a lifeline unnecessarily.

I also like that she took the risk on the $250,000 question. I found it notable that for the first time in my memory, Meredith spelled out something close to the correct analysis -- she was risking only $18,600 for the chance to "win $250,000" (more precise would have been to characterize the upside as adding more than $200,000 to her winnings). --Bob