Transcript 01/22/09 - Michael Willoughby

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Michael Willoughby
Las Vegas, NV

Michael says he's not a gambler; that's how can afford to live in Las Vegas.

Question Topics:
* The Breeders
* The Oval Office
* Counting Cards
* Moonstruck
* Gimme an "O"!
* Sturdy Structures
* Definition, Please
* Same Title
* Doting Mothers
* Area 51
* Mister Sandman
* Let's Go
* El Zodiac
* Sports Fans
* Fabulous Fountains


$100 * Fabulous Fountains
Sought by numerous explorers, the fabled Fountain of Youth was said to have waters that magically improved people's what?

A: Finances B: Health
C: Love lives D: Golf scores

Answer

B: Health ( 7 )

$200 * Sports Fans
In sports journalism, "puckhead" is an affectionate term for a fan of what sport?

A: Tennis B: Hockey
C: Golf D: Cycling

Answer

B: Hockey ( 10 )

$300 * El Zodiac
Which of these Spanish names for a Zodiac sign is spelled the same way when it is written in English?

A: Capricornio B: Escorpion
C: Virgo D: Sagitario

Answer

C: Virgo ( 7 )

$500 * Let's Go
First published in 1960 by a group of Harvard students, the popular "Let's Go" series features what type of books?

A: Cookbooks B: Biographies
C: Mysteries D: Travel guides

Answer

D: Travel guides ( 7 )

$1,000 * Mister Sandman
A classic 1954 song by the Chordettes features the command, "Mister Sandman, bring me a" what?

A: Prize B: Kiss
C: Dream D: Ring

Answer

C: Dream ( 9 )

-- Commercial Break --

Michael is a network security consultant, who works from home. Michael says that means he can go to work without his pants on, most days.


$2,000 * Area 51
Because of its proximity to the storied locale known as "Area 51," Nevada State Highway 375 has what official name?

A: Rattlesnake Highway B: Extraterrestrial Highway
C: Gold Rush Highway D: University Highway

Answer

B: Extraterrestrial Highway ( 21 )

$4,000 * Doting Mothers
Besides Barbara Bush, who is the only other First Lady whose husband and son both served as U.S. president?

A: Lady Bird Johnson B: Abigail Adams
C: Eleanor Roosevelt D: Dolley Madison

With 6 seconds left, Michael decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA: A: 2% B: 71% C: 22% D: 5%

Answer

B: Abigail Adams ( 3 )

$8,000 * Same Title
A 2008 Diane Keaton movie and a CNBC show hosted by former financier Jim Cramer share what title?

A: Magic Money B: Mo' Money
C: Mad Money D: Mighty Money

Answer

C: Mad Money ( 24 )

-- Commercial Break --

$16,000 * Definition, Please
What is a tryptych?

A: Monster with three heads B: Painting with three panels
C: Flag with three stripes D: Congress with three houses

Answer

B: Painting with three panels ( 20 )

$25,000 * Sturdy Structures
Which of these historic landmarks was built the earliest?

A: Great Wall of China B: Taj Mahal
C: Parthenon D: Great Pyramid at Giza

Michael: I will take a wild stab and go with D: Great Pyramid at Giza, final answer.

Answer

( 9 )

$50,000 * Gimme an "O"!
Which of these classic authors has never had a book selected for Oprah's Book Club?

A: William Faulkner B: Vladimir Nabokov
C: John Steinbeck D: Leo Tolstoy

With 22 seconds left, Michael decides to Ask The Expert.

A.J.: Uh huh. Interesting.

Michael: Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

A.J.: I have a hunch, but, ahh--

Meredith: Can you eliminate any of them, A.J., or--

Michael: Do you think Oprah would have been gutsy enough to put Nabokov on her book club?

A.J.: That would be the one that I would guess. It would be either Lolita or Pale Fire; neither of them would seem to be very Oprahesque. But again, last time I guessed, I guessed wrong, so I--and it's your money, so I feel terrible, but that would be my guess. Yeah, if I were gonna guess, that would be the one I would guess.

Michael: I'm with ya, man. Yeah.

Answer

B: Vladimir Nabokov ( 19 )

-- Commercial Break --

Michael has put just about every penny he has back into growing his business, so he doesn't have much money. He borrowed from pretty much anyone who would listen to him, to get here, today.

Michael: In fact, I would try to sell a kidney, because I got two and I only need one.

$100,000 * Moonstruck
After visiting the Moon, several Apollo astronauts have famously reported that moondust smells like what?

A: Burnt gunpowder B: Mothballs
C: Diesel gasoline D: Melting plastic

With 8 seconds left, Michael decides to Phone A Friend.
Michael's PAF team are his dad, Bruce, Las Vegas, NV; his friend, David, Las Vegas, NV; and his friend, P.J, Las Vegas, NV.
Michael decides to call P.J. He shortens the question to "What does moondust smell like, P.J.?"

P.J.: What does moondust smell like?

Michael: Yep. Gunpowder, diesel gasoline, mothballs or melting plastic?

P.J.: Mothballs, diesel gasoline, gunpowder or melting plastic?

Michael: Twelve seconds, dude.

P.J.: Going to have to go with--and this is going to be a guess--

Michael: Two!

P.J.: Mothballs.

Michael: That's my man!

Michael says that since it's on P.J., he'll go with Mothballs, final answer. Michael drops to $25,000.

Answer

A: Burnt gunpowder ( 4 )

-- The Horn --

[Kazoo65]

I thought this was a pretty easy stack. The Abigail Adams question seemed overvalued to me. I wonder why he seemed to have trouble with it and needed to burn his ATA.

AJ the expert acutally got a question right. I bet this is the last time they ask someone who only won $1K to be an expert.

[gsabc]

No problems until the Oprah question. Not sure what lifelines would work here. Wouldn't think it was easily searchable, unless there's an easy to reach website for the book club with a list of the books right up front. But I'd hope I got it right, because I knew the moondust question as soon as I saw the choices. It could be determined logically too - why would anything from the surface of the moon smell like something with organic or petroleum-based molecules?

[Millionaire Fan]

I thought this was a pretty easy stack. The Abigail Adams question seemed overvalued to me. I wonder why he seemed to have trouble with it and needed to burn his ATA.

AJ the expert acutally got a question right. I bet this is the last time they ask someone who only won $1K to be an expert.

I wouldn't get your hopes up becuase AJ will be the expert again for another week of shows later on in the season.

[NellyLunatic1980]

* The Breeders
* The Oval Office
* Counting Cards
* Moonstruck
* Gimme an "O"!
* Sturdy Structures
* Definition, Please
* Same Title
* Doting Mothers
* Area 51
* Mister Sandman
* Let's Go
* El Zodiac
* Sports Fans
* Fabulous Fountains

Looks like another decent stack for me.

$200 * Sports Fans
In sports journalism, "puckhead" is an affectionate term for a fan of what sport?

A: Tennis B: Hockey
C: Golf D: Cycling

And just think: That word is one letter away from being a naughty word.

$50K: I wasn't a big follower of Queen Oprah's Book Club, but I did remember three Faulkner books being picked in the same month just before the James Frey controversy. I could make a case for either Nabokov or Tolstoy not being picked. Ask the audience. If no answer stands out, I'll Double Dip on the two answers I had in mind.

$100K: My initial hunch was burnt gunpowder, but this looks like a perfect Google question for my PAF.

[earendel]

Michael Willoughby
Las Vegas, NV

Michael says he's not a gambler; that's how can afford to live in Las Vegas.

I thought Vegas was the scene of a lot of foreclosures, so even non-gamblers may not be doing so well.

$1,000 * Mister Sandman
A classic 1954 song by the Chordettes features the command, "Mister Sandman, bring me a" what?

A: Prize B: Kiss
C: Dream D: Ring

Answer

C: Dream ( 9 )

The song was featured in the "Back to the Future" movies, which is why I knew it.

$4,000 * Doting Mothers
Besides Barbara Bush, who is the only other First Lady whose husband and son both served as U.S. president?

A: Lady Bird Johnson B: Abigail Adams
C: Eleanor Roosevelt D: Dolley Madison

With 6 seconds left, Michael decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA: A: 2% B: 71% C: 22% D: 5%

Answer

B: Abigail Adams ( 3 )

There have been two Johnsons, but they are a century apart so it's not Lady Bird. There have been two Roosevelts but they were cousins. Only one Madison, so that leaves B (really a no-brainer, IMO).

$8,000 * Same Title
A 2008 Diane Keaton movie and a CNBC show hosted by former financier Jim Cramer share what title?

A: Magic Money B: Mo' Money
C: Mad Money D: Mighty Money

Answer

C: Mad Money ( 24 )

The locker room at the fitness center has several big-screen TVs - inevitably one of them is showing Jim Cramer's show and another one is showing FOX News. The third may be on either of these two programs, or sometimes on CNN.

$16,000 * Definition, Please
What is a tryptych?

A: Monster with three heads B: Painting with three panels
C: Flag with three stripes D: Congress with three houses

Answer

B: Painting with three panels ( 20 )

Shout out to hermillion!!

$50,000 * Gimme an "O"!
Which of these classic authors has never had a book selected for Oprah's Book Club?

A: William Faulkner B: Vladimir Nabokov
C: John Steinbeck D: Leo Tolstoy

With 22 seconds left, Michael decides to Ask The Expert.

A.J.: Uh huh. Interesting.

Michael: Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

A.J.: I have a hunch, but, ahh--

Meredith: Can you eliminate any of them, A.J., or--

Michael: Do you think Oprah would have been gutsy enough to put Nabokov on her book club?

A.J.: That would be the one that I would guess. It would be either Lolita or Pale Fire; neither of them would seem to be very Oprahesque. But again, last time I guessed, I guessed wrong, so I--and it's your money, so I feel terrible, but that would be my guess. Yeah, if I were gonna guess, that would be the one I would guess.

Michael: I'm with ya, man. Yeah.

Answer

B: Vladimir Nabokov ( 19 )

I would have had no idea. I would start by using ATA and if the numbers didn't come in strongly enough, it would be time to PAF. I doubt that AJ Jacobs watches Oprah.

$100,000 * Moonstruck
After visiting the Moon, several Apollo astronauts have famously reported that moondust smells like what?

A: Burnt gunpowder B: Mothballs
C: Diesel gasoline D: Melting plastic

With 8 seconds left, Michael decides to Phone A Friend.
Michael's PAF team are his dad, Bruce, Las Vegas, NV; his friend, David, Las Vegas, NV; and his friend, P.J, Las Vegas, NV.
Michael decides to call P.J. He shortens the question to "What does moondust smell like, P.J.?"

P.J.: What does moondust smell like?

Michael: Yep. Gunpowder, diesel gasoline, mothballs or melting plastic?

P.J.: Mothballs, diesel gasoline, gunpowder or melting plastic?

Michael: Twelve seconds, dude.

P.J.: Going to have to go with--and this is going to be a guess--

Michael: Two!

P.J.: Mothballs.

Michael: That's my man!

Michael says that since it's on P.J., he'll go with Mothballs, final answer. Michael drops to $25,000.

Answer

A: Burnt gunpowder ( 4 )

I wonder how Googlable that question would be?
OK, I just checked - I Googled "moondust smell" and the 5th hit gave the answer. There are probably better ways to do it.

[owenziligation]

Looks like Mr. Jacobs came back today. 4 for 6 so far for him.

[peacock2121]

Anyone catch what he meant by "It's not my money yet?"

[MarleysGh0st]

Anyone catch what he meant by "It's not my money yet?"

No, I didn't. But for a non-gambler, he did gamble on a few questions.

Meredith had to remind him of the lifelines he had left at $100K. He used the PAF, but I think he forgot that he still had his Double Dip after that.

[MarleysGh0st]

$50,000 * Gimme an "O"!
Which of these classic authors has never had a book selected for Oprah's Book Club?

A: William Faulkner B: Vladimir Nabokov
C: John Steinbeck D: Leo Tolstoy

With 22 seconds left, Michael decides to Ask The Expert.

A.J.: Uh huh. Interesting.

Michael: Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

A.J.: I have a hunch, but, ahh--

Meredith: Can you eliminate any of them, A.J., or--

Michael: Do you think Oprah would have been gutsy enough to put Nabokov on her book club?

A.J.: That would be the one that I would guess. It would be either Lolita or Pale Fire; neither of them would seem to be very Oprahesque. But again, last time I guessed, I guessed wrong, so I--and it's your money, so I feel terrible, but that would be my guess. Yeah, if I were gonna guess, that would be the one I would guess.

Michael: I'm with ya, man. Yeah.

This was an excellent usage of the opportunity to bounce Michael's own hunch off the expert. They could have an in-depth discussion, as long as TPTB considered it TV-worthy. There isn't time for that during a PAF call.

$100,000 * Moonstruck
After visiting the Moon, several Apollo astronauts have famously reported that moondust smells like what?

A: Burnt gunpowder B: Mothballs
C: Diesel gasoline D: Melting plastic

With 8 seconds left, Michael decides to Phone A Friend.
Michael's PAF team are his dad, Bruce, Las Vegas, NV; his friend, David, Las Vegas, NV; and his friend, P.J, Las Vegas, NV.
Michael decides to call P.J. He shortens the question to "What does moondust smell like, P.J.?"

P.J.: What does moondust smell like?

Michael: Yep. Gunpowder, diesel gasoline, mothballs or melting plastic?

P.J.: Mothballs, diesel gasoline, gunpowder or melting plastic?

Michael: Twelve seconds, dude.

P.J.: Going to have to go with--and this is going to be a guess--

Michael: Two!

P.J.: Mothballs.

Michael: That's my man!

Michael says that since it's on P.J., he'll go with Mothballs, final answer. Michael drops to $25,000.

Abbreviating the question during a PAF call can be a smart move. Unfortunately the question was so surprisingly weird that Michael lost the time he saved when P.J. repeated the question in bewilderment. How "famous" is this reported smell, anyway? I was highly interested in astronomy and these space missions, when I was a kid, and I couldn't recall hearing of this. I suspect Michael and P.J. were both born long after the last Apollo mission, so it'd be even more obscure for them.

NASA has an interesting article about The Mysterious Smell of Moondust. And it mentions a word that might show up as another obscure medical term question some day. Who knows what turbinates are?

[lv42day]

Another interesting question from this article, at least for me, would be who had the first case of extraterrestrial hayfever?

[Bob Juch]

$50,000 * Gimme an "O"!
Which of these classic authors has never had a book selected for Oprah's Book Club?

A: William Faulkner B: Vladimir Nabokov
C: John Steinbeck D: Leo Tolstoy

With 22 seconds left, Michael decides to Ask The Expert.

A.J.: Uh huh. Interesting.

Michael: Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

A.J.: I have a hunch, but, ahh--

Meredith: Can you eliminate any of them, A.J., or--

Michael: Do you think Oprah would have been gutsy enough to put Nabokov on her book club?

A.J.: That would be the one that I would guess. It would be either Lolita or Pale Fire; neither of them would seem to be very Oprahesque. But again, last time I guessed, I guessed wrong, so I--and it's your money, so I feel terrible, but that would be my guess. Yeah, if I were gonna guess, that would be the one I would guess.

Michael: I'm with ya, man. Yeah.

This was an excellent usage of the opportunity to bounce Michael's own hunch off the expert. They could have an in-depth discussion, as long as TPTB considered it TV-worthy. There isn't time for that during a PAF call.

$100,000 * Moonstruck
After visiting the Moon, several Apollo astronauts have famously reported that moondust smells like what?

A: Burnt gunpowder B: Mothballs
C: Diesel gasoline D: Melting plastic

With 8 seconds left, Michael decides to Phone A Friend.
Michael's PAF team are his dad, Bruce, Las Vegas, NV; his friend, David, Las Vegas, NV; and his friend, P.J, Las Vegas, NV.
Michael decides to call P.J. He shortens the question to "What does moondust smell like, P.J.?"

P.J.: What does moondust smell like?

Michael: Yep. Gunpowder, diesel gasoline, mothballs or melting plastic?

P.J.: Mothballs, diesel gasoline, gunpowder or melting plastic?

Michael: Twelve seconds, dude.

P.J.: Going to have to go with--and this is going to be a guess--

Michael: Two!

P.J.: Mothballs.

Michael: That's my man!

Michael says that since it's on P.J., he'll go with Mothballs, final answer. Michael drops to $25,000.

Abbreviating the question during a PAF call can be a smart move. Unfortunately the question was so surprisingly weird that Michael lost the time he saved when P.J. repeated the question in bewilderment. How "famous" is this reported smell, anyway? I was highly interested in astronomy and these space missions, when I was a kid, and I couldn't recall hearing of this. I suspect Michael and P.J. were both born long after the last Apollo mission, so it'd be even more obscure for them.

NASA has an interesting article about The Mysterious Smell of Moondust. And it mentions a word that might show up as another obscure medical term question some day. Who knows what turbinates are?

Turbinates are the shell shaped areas of bone and mucosa in the nose where inhaled air is warmed and humidified.

I would have nailed the moondust question as I know it has a lot of sulphur in it so there was no other choice close.

[ulysses5019]

$50,000 * Gimme an "O"!
Which of these classic authors has never had a book selected for Oprah's Book Club?

A: William Faulkner B: Vladimir Nabokov
C: John Steinbeck D: Leo Tolstoy

With 22 seconds left, Michael decides to Ask The Expert.

A.J.: Uh huh. Interesting.

Michael: Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

A.J.: I have a hunch, but, ahh--

Meredith: Can you eliminate any of them, A.J., or--

Michael: Do you think Oprah would have been gutsy enough to put Nabokov on her book club?

A.J.: That would be the one that I would guess. It would be either Lolita or Pale Fire; neither of them would seem to be very Oprahesque. But again, last time I guessed, I guessed wrong, so I--and it's your money, so I feel terrible, but that would be my guess. Yeah, if I were gonna guess, that would be the one I would guess.

Michael: I'm with ya, man. Yeah.

This was an excellent usage of the opportunity to bounce Michael's own hunch off the expert. They could have an in-depth discussion, as long as TPTB considered it TV-worthy. There isn't time for that during a PAF call.

$100,000 * Moonstruck
After visiting the Moon, several Apollo astronauts have famously reported that moondust smells like what?

A: Burnt gunpowder B: Mothballs
C: Diesel gasoline D: Melting plastic

With 8 seconds left, Michael decides to Phone A Friend.
Michael's PAF team are his dad, Bruce, Las Vegas, NV; his friend, David, Las Vegas, NV; and his friend, P.J, Las Vegas, NV.
Michael decides to call P.J. He shortens the question to "What does moondust smell like, P.J.?"

P.J.: What does moondust smell like?

Michael: Yep. Gunpowder, diesel gasoline, mothballs or melting plastic?

P.J.: Mothballs, diesel gasoline, gunpowder or melting plastic?

Michael: Twelve seconds, dude.

P.J.: Going to have to go with--and this is going to be a guess--

Michael: Two!

P.J.: Mothballs.

Michael: That's my man!

Michael says that since it's on P.J., he'll go with Mothballs, final answer. Michael drops to $25,000.

Abbreviating the question during a PAF call can be a smart move. Unfortunately the question was so surprisingly weird that Michael lost the time he saved when P.J. repeated the question in bewilderment. How "famous" is this reported smell, anyway? I was highly interested in astronomy and these space missions, when I was a kid, and I couldn't recall hearing of this. I suspect Michael and P.J. were both born long after the last Apollo mission, so it'd be even more obscure for them.

NASA has an interesting article about The Mysterious Smell of Moondust. And it mentions a word that might show up as another obscure medical term question some day. Who knows what turbinates are?

Turbinates are the shell shaped areas of bone and mucosa in the nose where inhaled air is warmed and humidified.

I would have nailed the moondust question as I know it has a lot of sulphur in it so there was no other choice close.

The article didn't mention any sulphur:

"What is moondust made of? Almost half is silicon dioxide glass created by meteoroids hitting the moon. These impacts, which have been going on for billions of years, fuse topsoil into glass and shatter the same into tiny pieces. Moondust is also rich in iron, calcium and magnesium bound up in minerals such as olivine and pyroxene. It's nothing like gunpowder."