Transcript 11/01/07 - Lyn Payne
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:12 pm
Lyn Payne
Orlando, FL
Journalist
Lyn is a self-proclaimed trivia geek and four-time Jeopardy champion. She still hasn't gained the confidence of her two kids.
Meredith: In fact, they're more amazed at how much their mom doesn't know. What is that about? You seem very smart to me!
Lyn: Well, when I'm at home playing the game, of course, everything's much easier than it is here, especially for my children, and so if I don't know, like a $100 TV question, they're going, "Oh, no! You don't know that? What's going to happen when you're on the show?" And they look really, really terrified.
Meredith: Oh, because they're worried about you messing up.
Lyn: They're worried about me bombing out on a $100 question about a TV program.
$16,000
In the name of the A&P supermarket chain, the "A" and the "P" stand for the names of two what?
A: U.S. cities B: Bodies of water
C: U.S. states D: Mountain ranges
Lyn remembers getting this question in a trivia game, before.
$25,000
Fictional author Nathan Zuckerman is featured in several works by what U.S. novelist?
A: Joseph Heller B: Don DeLillo
C: Philip Roth D: Richard Russo
Lyn goes "Yes!" as soon as she sees the question.
Lyn: I love you, Philip Roth. I really love you, Philip Roth. I love your books, and now I love you even more.
$50,000
Located in Russia, Chechnya is a volatile region that neighbors what nation?
A: Georgia B: Ukraine
C: Moldova D: Belarus
Lyn really thinks it's Georgia, but she really doesn't want to do anything dumb.
50/50 leaves A & B.
$100,000
England coronated Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, how many years after the death of Queen Elizabeth I?
A: 200 B: 250
C: 300 D: 350
Lyn is a Shakespeare fan and is almost positive Elizabeth I died while he was writing some of his best stuff, in 1603.
-- Commercial Break --
Lyn is feeling kind of overwhelmed, but people who know her know she knows lots of obscure trivia.
Lyn has a 1992 car with peeling paint, the radio doesn't work and the air conditioning just went out, so she needs a new car.
$250,000
Whose New York Times obituary mentioned taht "Since 1889" he "had been hopelessly insane"?
A: Vincent van Gogh B: Franz Kafka
C: Johannes Brahms D: Friedrich Nietzsche
Lyn: This is such a Lyn Payne question! I can't believe that I know this. This is the kind of thing that I read a lot, I read philosophy, so I know this.
Lyn thinks this through some more and her mind is going Nietzsche, Nietzsche, Nietzsche.
$500,000
To the nearest cent, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing spends an average of how much to make each currency note in circulation?
A: 2 cents B: 4 cents
C: 6 cents D: 8 cents
Lyn: I don't like this question, Meredith. This is not a Lyn Payne question. This involves, like, numbers.
If she had to guess, she'd say 4 cents, but Lyn switches the question.
STQ $500,000
The title of the TV series "Will & Grace" was inspired by what philosopher's famous "I and Thou" treatise?
A: Michel Foucault B: Martin Heidegger
C: Martin Buber D: Ludwig Wittgenstein
Lyn: These are philosophers. I like philosophers!
Lyn read the book. She says C: Martin Buber, final answer.
-- Commercial Break --
The pressure is on for the audience. In the six years that Meredith has been hosting the show, they've never been in a position where a contestant could ask the audience on a million dollar question before.
It doesn't seem real to Lyn, because when you're a trivia geek, it's all about the questions.
$1,000,000
Khrushchev's famous 1960 "shoe-banging" outburst at the U.N. was in response to a delegate from what nation?
A: Australia B: The Netherlands
C: The Philippines D: Turkey
Lyn would like to think she knows this, but she doesn't.
ATA: A: 8% B: 29% C: 15% D: 48%
If this was a lower level question, Lyn would feel this question through and decide it was Turkey. She'll probably kill herself, because she thinks Russia was mad at Turkey because of the conflict between Turkey and Greece, and if it wasn't a million dollars, she'd just shout out "Turkey", but
she's not going to do it.
Lyn walks away with $500,000.
Meredith thought the answer was Turkey, too, and she was thinking "Why did you do that? The confetti was ready!"
-- Commercial Break --
Answers:
$16,000: B: Bodies of water
$25,000: C: Philip Roth
$50,000: A: Georgia
$100,000: D: 350
$250,000: D: Friedrich Nietzsche
$500,000: C: 6 cents
STQ $500,000: C: Martin Buber
$1,000,000: C: The Philippines
Orlando, FL
Journalist
Lyn is a self-proclaimed trivia geek and four-time Jeopardy champion. She still hasn't gained the confidence of her two kids.
Meredith: In fact, they're more amazed at how much their mom doesn't know. What is that about? You seem very smart to me!
Lyn: Well, when I'm at home playing the game, of course, everything's much easier than it is here, especially for my children, and so if I don't know, like a $100 TV question, they're going, "Oh, no! You don't know that? What's going to happen when you're on the show?" And they look really, really terrified.
Meredith: Oh, because they're worried about you messing up.
Lyn: They're worried about me bombing out on a $100 question about a TV program.
$16,000
In the name of the A&P supermarket chain, the "A" and the "P" stand for the names of two what?
A: U.S. cities B: Bodies of water
C: U.S. states D: Mountain ranges
Lyn remembers getting this question in a trivia game, before.
$25,000
Fictional author Nathan Zuckerman is featured in several works by what U.S. novelist?
A: Joseph Heller B: Don DeLillo
C: Philip Roth D: Richard Russo
Lyn goes "Yes!" as soon as she sees the question.
Lyn: I love you, Philip Roth. I really love you, Philip Roth. I love your books, and now I love you even more.
$50,000
Located in Russia, Chechnya is a volatile region that neighbors what nation?
A: Georgia B: Ukraine
C: Moldova D: Belarus
Lyn really thinks it's Georgia, but she really doesn't want to do anything dumb.
50/50 leaves A & B.
$100,000
England coronated Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, how many years after the death of Queen Elizabeth I?
A: 200 B: 250
C: 300 D: 350
Lyn is a Shakespeare fan and is almost positive Elizabeth I died while he was writing some of his best stuff, in 1603.
-- Commercial Break --
Lyn is feeling kind of overwhelmed, but people who know her know she knows lots of obscure trivia.
Lyn has a 1992 car with peeling paint, the radio doesn't work and the air conditioning just went out, so she needs a new car.
$250,000
Whose New York Times obituary mentioned taht "Since 1889" he "had been hopelessly insane"?
A: Vincent van Gogh B: Franz Kafka
C: Johannes Brahms D: Friedrich Nietzsche
Lyn: This is such a Lyn Payne question! I can't believe that I know this. This is the kind of thing that I read a lot, I read philosophy, so I know this.
Lyn thinks this through some more and her mind is going Nietzsche, Nietzsche, Nietzsche.
$500,000
To the nearest cent, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing spends an average of how much to make each currency note in circulation?
A: 2 cents B: 4 cents
C: 6 cents D: 8 cents
Lyn: I don't like this question, Meredith. This is not a Lyn Payne question. This involves, like, numbers.
If she had to guess, she'd say 4 cents, but Lyn switches the question.
STQ $500,000
The title of the TV series "Will & Grace" was inspired by what philosopher's famous "I and Thou" treatise?
A: Michel Foucault B: Martin Heidegger
C: Martin Buber D: Ludwig Wittgenstein
Lyn: These are philosophers. I like philosophers!
Lyn read the book. She says C: Martin Buber, final answer.
-- Commercial Break --
The pressure is on for the audience. In the six years that Meredith has been hosting the show, they've never been in a position where a contestant could ask the audience on a million dollar question before.
It doesn't seem real to Lyn, because when you're a trivia geek, it's all about the questions.
$1,000,000
Khrushchev's famous 1960 "shoe-banging" outburst at the U.N. was in response to a delegate from what nation?
A: Australia B: The Netherlands
C: The Philippines D: Turkey
Lyn would like to think she knows this, but she doesn't.
ATA: A: 8% B: 29% C: 15% D: 48%
If this was a lower level question, Lyn would feel this question through and decide it was Turkey. She'll probably kill herself, because she thinks Russia was mad at Turkey because of the conflict between Turkey and Greece, and if it wasn't a million dollars, she'd just shout out "Turkey", but
she's not going to do it.
Lyn walks away with $500,000.
Meredith thought the answer was Turkey, too, and she was thinking "Why did you do that? The confetti was ready!"
-- Commercial Break --
Answers:
$16,000: B: Bodies of water
$25,000: C: Philip Roth
$50,000: A: Georgia
$100,000: D: 350
$250,000: D: Friedrich Nietzsche
$500,000: C: 6 cents
STQ $500,000: C: Martin Buber
$1,000,000: C: The Philippines
