tonight's AYSTA5G (spoilers)

[earendel]

As kazoo reported earlier today, tonight's "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" had three zero-dollar winners come back for a second chance at winning money - the equivalent of a llama-rama.

The first was a tech geek (IT support guy).

Spoiler

The tech geek lost on the first question - again. His question: "What is the median of the following numbers - 2, 2, 5, 9, 12, 17?" He guessed "2", and his 5th grader answered "9". The answer was "7".

The second was a high school teacher and football coach.

Spoiler

He got to the $10,000 question, which was, "Who was the first Chief Justice of the United States?" He answered, "John Marshall". The four students at the desks had four different answers, none of them correct (one said Washington, one said Grant, one said Andrew Johnson and the last said several different things). The contestant's 5th grader said "Benjamin Franklin". The correct answer is "John Jay."

And finally there was a rocket scientist.

Spoiler

He reached the safe harbor of $25,000 and will be back on the next show.

[Kazoo65]

I watched it last night. When the history teacher went out on a HISTORY QUESTION, I was embarrassed for him! I have to admit I get John Jay and John Marshall mixed up, too.

The first guy (the computer geek) made a big mistake when he went right to the 4th grade math question. I think the best strategy for this game (as the rocket scientist is demonstrating) is to start at the bottom of the board and work up.

And where was Olivia? They had a boy (Chandler) in her seat. DId she "get a sitcom" too?

[MarleysGh0st]

And where was Olivia? They had a boy (Chandler) in her seat. DId she "get a sitcom" too?

I missed the announcement at the beginning of the show, but a post on the 5th Grader message board said that Olivia was out sick (just like in a real classroom) so Chandler was a substitute student (not so much like a real classroom).

[tanstaafl2]

The first guy (the computer geek) made a big mistake when he went right to the 4th grade math question. I think the best strategy for this game (as the rocket scientist is demonstrating) is to start at the bottom of the board and work up.

If you are as dumb as a rock when it comes to general trivia it might be the best strategy but I still think if you have a good trivia knowledge and some basic intelligence you might be better served taking on the harder questions early when you still have some "cheats" and saving the lower questions for last if possible. A lot depends on the subjects and of course knowing that the kids answers are as reliable going to Paul Lynde to block complicates it a bit. Also would depend a bit on the categories. I am terrible at grammar for example. But while I am not a math teacher I had no problem with the math question. Indeed, the math questions on thisshow tend to be grossly over valued and they seem to depend on the tendency of many people to panic on math questions which are generally pretty easy, what ever level they appear.

And of course I am not sure there is truly a lot of consistency in the difficulty of the questions by level. I have seen nights when the so called first grade question was as hard as anything up there.

But if I were playing I would probably go for the subjects I felt most comfortable with first, without regard for the level. The Supreme Court Q was a good example. I believe it was a 5th grade level Q but was not particularly hard for anybody with a little trivia game experience. The kids response on that question had to be a plant. Five different answers, all not only wrong but not even close? I don't think so!

But to each his own. Although the "rocket scientist" is working from the bottom up he seemed to be doing pretty well and could probably have started in the middle first if he wanted to, while the IT geek seemed out of his league no matter what the category or level. "Llama"ing out on the first question once could be an aberration, doing it twice suggests a deeper problem...