Transcript 11/05/09 - Nathan Kaplan

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Nathan Kaplan
Somerville, MA
Graduate student

Nathan loves crunching numbers. He's a second year math grad student at Harvard University. If he's bored, he likes taking words and adding up the value of the letters, A = 1, B = 2, etc.

Meredith: What's "Meredith"?

Nathan: I had a professor last year who said "Never compute in public." Let's see, 13, 5...

Meredith: That high, huh? Okay.

Nathan: Uh, 83? I've got to think about it. 82!

Meredith: Yeah, 82, I figured it out! Actually, it's on this card.

Question Topics:
* Population
* Famous Firsts
* Out in Space
* Camp David
* Textiles
* Movie Quotes
* States of the Union
* Medical Terminology
* Robert Frost
* Apple
* In Memoriam
* Foreign Languages
* Inventors
* Footwear
* Albert Einstein


$500 * Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein is popularly known as the "Father of" what?

A: Botany B: Relativity
C: Forestry D: Frizzy hair

Answer

B: Relativity ( 9 )

$1,000 * Footwear
Which of the following is a style of sandals, and not a style of music?

A: Doo-wop B: Bebop
C: Hip-hop D: Flip-flop

Answer

D: Flip-flop ( 10 )

-- Commercial Break --

$2,000 * Inventors
In 1839, rubber was first vulcanized by what inventor?

A: George Eastman B: Eli Whitney
C: Charles Goodyear D: Isaac Singer

Answer

C: Charles Goodyear ( 9 )

$3,000 * Foreign Languages
"Mediodía is the Spanish word for what time of the day?

A: Noon B: Dawn
C: Sunset D: Midnight

Answer

A: Noon ( 8 )

$5,000 * In Memoriam
After his death in 2009, director John Hughes was memorialized in a New York Times op-ed article by what actress?

A: Alicia Silverstone B: Jennifer Grey
C: Molly Ringwald D: Kelly McGillis

Answer

C: Molly Ringwald ( 6 )

$7,500 * Apple
Following versions called "Jaguar," "Panther" and "Tiger," in 2009 Apple introduced a new Mac operating system nicknamed what?

A: Crocodile B: Zebra
C: Anaconda D: Snow Leopard

Answer

D: Snow Leopard ( 25 )

$10,000 * Robert Frost
When Robert Frost famously wrote "It finds the thought and the thought finds the words," he was referring to what?

A: Play B: Novel
C: Poem D: Short story

Answer

C: Poem ( 20 )

-- Commercial Break --

Sneak Peak at One of Tomorrow's Questions

$100,000
Before becoming a bestselling novelist, which of these men came up with the ad slogan "I'm a Toys "R" US kid!"?

A: John Grisham B: Elmore Leonard
C: James Patterson D: Carl Hiaasen

Nathan has already won $10,000. Meredith asks how much he has in his bank account, now, and
Nathan says "Not much more than that."

$12,500 * Medical Terminology
The medical abbreviation "V-fib" stands for what type of "fibrillation"?

A: Vertebral B: Vestibular
C: Ventricular D: Vascular

With 17 seconds left, Nathan decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA: A: 5% B: 1% C: 81% D: 13%

Answer

C: Ventricular ( 14 )

-- The Horn --

Nathan will return on tomorrow's show.

Tournament of Ten Leader Board

1. Jehan Shamsid-Dean $250,000 - 2:09
2. Keilani Goggins $100,000 - 1:53
3. Jeff Birt $100,000 - 1:53
4. Matt Schultz $100,000 - 2:26
5. Tim Janus $100,000 - 2:44
6. Ralph Cambeis $50,000 - 1:13
7. Robin Schwartz $50,000 - 1:40
8. Tony Westmoreland $50,000 - 2:08
9. Alex Ortiz $50,000 - 2:19
10. Fred Roberts $50,000 - 2:27

[Kazoo65]

Gee, that Spanish I took in college would have come in handy. I figured out the foreign word Q based on that knowledge.

ATA on the Mac computer question. I own a Dell.

Otherwise, a good stack.

[Appa23]

ATA on the Mac computer question. I own a Dell.

If you own a Dell, does it keep you from knowing the names of "Big Cats"?

[chad1m]

he likes taking words and adding up the value of the letters

Kid needs a hobby.

I was pretty sure on C: Ventricular on the $12,500 question but D: Vascular would have probably thrown me off enough to Double Dip.

[Beebs52]

ATA on the Mac computer question. I own a Dell.

If you own a Dell, does it keep you from knowing the names of "Big Cats"?

I rarely remark on these transcripts, but I must agree with you Appa.

[Beebs52]

he likes taking words and adding up the value of the letters

Kid needs a hobby.

I was pretty sure on C: Ventricular on the $12,500 question but D: Vascular would have probably thrown me off enough to Double Dip.

This is where if you're older you'd know this, or if you're around EMT's and firemen. Or docs.

[NellyLunatic1980]

$500 * Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein is popularly known as the "Father of" what?

A: Botany B: Relativity
C: Forestry D: Frizzy hair

E: Big fat fabulous brains, of course!

Nihil obstat® so far.

That sneak peek question was a huge spoiler.

[chad1m]

That sneak peek question was a huge spoiler.

That's why I avoid them like the plague (on TV and in the transcripts). It wouldn't be such a big deal if they didn't give the question's associated value.

[Bob78164]

Uh, oh. If I've calculated correctly, he's only used 1:04 so far to answer the first eight questions. So if he wins at least $50,000, it looks like his time will be fast enough to knock guillotine06 off the leaderboard. --Bob

[ten96lt]

he likes taking words and adding up the value of the letters

Kid needs a hobby.

I was pretty sure on C: Ventricular on the $12,500 question but D: Vascular would have probably thrown me off enough to Double Dip.

This is where if you're older you'd know this, or if you're around EMT's and firemen. Or docs.

I was just recertified last week so that's how I knew this.

[heelsrule1988]

That sneak peek question was a huge spoiler.

So is you saying that...

Although, it's not a huge spoiler, because I still don't know what level he gets to, and I expected big things out of him, anyway. I immediately projected him to get to at least $250K after hearing his pre-game banter with Meredith.

[Jeemie]

Uh, oh. If I've calculated correctly, he's only used 1:04 so far to answer the first eight questions. So if he wins at least $50,000, it looks like his time will be fast enough to knock guillotine06 off the leaderboard. --Bob

Don't read if you don't wanna know

Fred's already spoiled us on this.

[earendel]

Nathan Kaplan
Somerville, MA
Graduate student

Nathan loves crunching numbers. He's a second year math grad student at Harvard University. If he's bored, he likes taking words and adding up the value of the letters, A = 1, B = 2, etc.

Meredith: What's "Meredith"?

Nathan: I had a professor last year who said "Never compute in public." Let's see, 13, 5...

Meredith: That high, huh? Okay.

Nathan: Uh, 83? I've got to think about it. 82!

Meredith: Yeah, 82, I figured it out! Actually, it's on this card.

Well, that is an unusual hook, I must say.

$5,000 * In Memoriam
After his death in 2009, director John Hughes was memorialized in a New York Times op-ed article by what actress?

A: Alicia Silverstone B: Jennifer Grey
C: Molly Ringwald D: Kelly McGillis

Answer

C: Molly Ringwald ( 6 )

My first thought would have been A but in 30 seconds I don't know if I could go through the list and decide if any of the others had been in John Hughes' movies, so ATA.

$7,500 * Apple
Following versions called "Jaguar," "Panther" and "Tiger," in 2009 Apple introduced a new Mac operating system nicknamed what?

A: Crocodile B: Zebra
C: Anaconda D: Snow Leopard

Answer

D: Snow Leopard ( 25 )

And from what I read, a fairly buggy release.

Nathan has already won $10,000. Meredith asks how much he has in his bank account, now, and Nathan says "Not much more than that."

Well that puts him in better straits than many of the contestants recently.

[frogman042]

Nathan Kaplan
Somerville, MA
Graduate student

Nathan loves crunching numbers. He's a second year math grad student at Harvard University. If he's bored, he likes taking words and adding up the value of the letters, A = 1, B = 2, etc.

Meredith: What's "Meredith"?

Nathan: I had a professor last year who said "Never compute in public." Let's see, 13, 5...

Meredith: That high, huh? Okay.

Nathan: Uh, 83? I've got to think about it. 82!

Meredith: Yeah, 82, I figured it out! Actually, it's on this card.

Well, that is an unusual hook, I must say.

$5,000 * In Memoriam
After his death in 2009, director John Hughes was memorialized in a New York Times op-ed article by what actress?

A: Alicia Silverstone B: Jennifer Grey
C: Molly Ringwald D: Kelly McGillis

Answer

C: Molly Ringwald ( 6 )

My first thought would have been A but in 30 seconds I don't know if I could go through the list and decide if any of the others had been in John Hughes' movies, so ATA.

$7,500 * Apple
Following versions called "Jaguar," "Panther" and "Tiger," in 2009 Apple introduced a new Mac operating system nicknamed what?

A: Crocodile B: Zebra
C: Anaconda D: Snow Leopard

Answer

D: Snow Leopard ( 25 )

And from what I read, a fairly buggy release.

Nathan has already won $10,000. Meredith asks how much he has in his bank account, now, and Nathan says "Not much more than that."

Well that puts him in better straits than many of the contestants recently.

I think he was saying with the 10K he has just a little more than that, not that he already has 10K plus a little more. Especially as a grad student.

[Jeemie]

I was thinking if he was a grad student and had $10K in his bank account, that's pretty good!