Transcript 11/23/09 Donna Bittman

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Donna Bittman
Pittston Township, PA
4th grade teacher

Topic Tree:

Detective Work
Notable Addresses
The Oscars
Famous Firsts
Astronomers
The Internet
Medicare
U.S. Rivers
CELEBRITY Q
Read the Label
Shorthand
World Cuisine
Athletics
Are You Scared?
Headlines

$500 The headline “Much ado over first lady’s do” followed a public appearance by Michelle Obama sporting a chic new what?
A. Ball gown
B. Hairstyle
C. Necklace
D. Tattoo of Joe Biden

Spoiler

B. Hairstyle ( 8 )

$1K An extremely frightened person is often said to be “scared” what?
A. Brittle
B. Taut
C. Stiff
D. Wooden

Spoiler

C. Stiff (7)

$2K In 2009, what sport’s governing body decided to ban the high-tech bodysuits that have recently led to many new world records?
A. Gymnastics
B. Pole Vaulting
C. Wrestling
D. Swimming

ATA (6)

5% A. Gymnastics
0% B. Body building
2% C. Wrestling
93% D. Swimming

Spoiler

D. Swimming (5)

$3K Known for its hot and spicy dishes, Szechuan cuisine originated in a region of what country?
A. China
B. India
C. Russia
D. Brazil

Spoiler

A. China (10)

$5K Which of these commonly used abbreviations is short for a French phrase?
A. ASAP
B. RSVP
C. TGIF
D. BYOB

Spoiler

B. RSVP (9)

commercial break

$7.5K “One has cream of tartar and the other doesn’t” is a popular answer to the question “What’s the difference between” what two food items?
A. Butter & margarine
B. Chicken stock & chicken broth
C. Baking soda & baking powder
D. Jam & Jelly

ATE (15)

Paula says she prepared a bowl of Honey Smacks earlier today, so this is not up her alley.
Paula thinks it is between jam & jelly or chicken stock & chicken broth, but she doesn’t know. If she had to pick one, it would be chicken stock & chicken broth.

PAF (10)

Donna’s PAF team:

Frank from somewhere unreadable
Michelle from Hunlock Creek, PA
Lisa from Pittston Township, PA

PAF – Michelle

Donna reads the question and choices verbatim. Thirteen seconds remain on the clock.
Michelle: Ok. What has cream of tartar.
Donna: And the other one doesn’t.
Michelle: And the other one doesn’t. And my options are?
Donna repeats the choices.
Time expires.

DD (9)

Donna’s first choice is “B,” which is incorrect.
Donna’s second choice is “A,” which is also incorrect.

Donna leaves with $5K.

Spoiler

C. Baking soda & baking powder (6)

commercial break

Answers:
$500 B. Hairstyle
$1K C. Stiff
$2K D. Swimming
$3K A. China
$5K B. RSVP
$7.5K C. Baking soda & baking powder

Corrections made to the $2K guestion.

[NellyLunatic1980]

Nihil obstat®

[Snaxx]

[quote="BBTranscriptTeam"]

$1K An extremely frightened person is often said to be “scared” what?
A. Brittle
B. Taut
C. Stiff
D. Wooden

Spoiler

C. Stiff (7)

I wondered why this question was featured as the teaser from yesterday, instead of something more substantial. As a result I thought the contestant would use a lifeline or something.

[earendel]

Donna Bittman
Pittston Township, PA
4th grade teacher

I root for teachers.

$1K An extremely frightened person is often said to be “scared” what?
A. Brittle
B. Taut
C. Stiff
D. Wooden

Spoiler

C. Stiff (7)

Spoiler

The audience laughed when the question appeared and Meredith jokingly admonished them.

$2K In 2009, what sport’s governing body decided to ban the high-tech bodysuits that have recently led to many new word records?
A. Gymnastics
B. Body building
C. Wrestling
D. Swimming

ATA (6)

5% A. Gymnastics
0% B. Body building
2% C. Wrestling
93% D. Swimming

Spoiler

D. Swimming (5)

And it appears that the new suits do indeed significantly affect speed - Michael Phelps recently competed in the "old school" suits (the ones that will be allowed in the 2012 Olympics) and finished behind the leaders in several races. There may be other factors involved, but the suits are certainly part of the reason.

$7.5K “One has cream of tartar and the other doesn’t” is a popular answer to the question “What’s the difference between” what two food items?
A. Butter & margarine
B. Chicken stock & chicken broth
C. Baking soda & baking powder
D. Jam & Jelly

ATE (15)

Paula says she prepared a bowl of Honey Smacks earlier today, so this is not up her alley.
Paula thinks it is between jam & jelly or chicken stock & chicken broth, but she doesn’t know. If she had to pick one, it would be chicken stock & chicken broth.

PAF (10)

Donna’s PAF team:

Frank from somewhere unreadable
Michelle from Hunlock Creek, PA
Lisa from Pittston Township, PA

PAF – Michelle

Donna reads the question and choices verbatim. Thirteen seconds remain on the clock.
Michelle: Ok. What has cream of tartar.
Donna: And the other one doesn’t.
Michelle: And the other one doesn’t. And my options are?
Donna repeats the choices.
Time expires.

DD (9)

Donna’s first choice is “B,” which is incorrect.
Donna’s second choice is “A,” which is also incorrect.

Donna leaves with $5K.

Spoiler

C. Baking soda & baking powder (6)

I'm sure it's not A and I'm sure it's not D, so I might as well Double Dip with B and C.

[tanstaafl2]

Yikes! Cooking is certainly not my thing unless a BBQ grill or a campfire is involved but even so this seems pretty tough for this level. Is this something well known by those outside of the baking world?

When I saw "tartar" I was thinking raw steak or seafood sauce (yes, I know it is perhaps more accurate to spell those two things as "tartare" although "tartar sauce" is a pretty common spellingat least in the US). And in any case that didn't help with any of these choices...

[Bob Juch]

Yikes! Cooking is certainly not my thing unless a BBQ grill or a campfire is involved but even so this seems pretty tough for this level. Is this something well known by those outside of the baking world?

When I saw "tartar" I was thinking raw steak or seafood sauce (yes, I know it is perhaps more accurate to spell those two things as "tartare" although "tartar sauce" is a pretty common spellingat least in the US). And in any case that didn't help with any of these choices...

If you bake you should know it but probably most others do not. I precalled it.

[ghostjmf]

Baking soda Q:

Really, really easy if you bake. I guess not if you don't.

[ghostjmf]

By the way I use Rumford's Baking Powder, which has calcium acid phosphate, instead of cream of tartar, which contains aluminum.

[Bob Juch]

By the way I use Rumford's Baking Powder, which has calcium acid phosphate, instead of cream of tartar, which contains aluminum.

Cream of tartar doesn't have aluminum, it's potassium bitartrate, KC4H5O6.

[ghostjmf]

BJuch says:

Cream of tartar doesn't have aluminum, it's potassium bitartrate, KC4H5O6

Sorry about that. I had a whole conversation with my sister, who insisted it was cream of tartar that contained aluminum, so I can happily blame her here.

A lot of the baking powders other than Rumford's do list an aluminum compound as their ingredient in addition to baking soda, I do know that.

At any rate, we also talked about how you're going to get aluminum whether you want it or not, as a lot of the kaolin used in ceramics has aluminum in it. If you eat from a chipped dish (glaze is broken), you're going to get some.

[ghostjmf]

Since so many baking powders don't contain cream of tartar, I wonder if the contestant has a "case to come back" from this.

[ghostjmf]

Nice "baking powder brand contents" comparison:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/BakingPowder.htm

[Jeemie]

I only knew this because I know what cream of tartar is.

But I've never heard of the phrase before. Is it really that well-known?

Pretty obscure for a $7,500 question, I thought.

[Bob Juch]

BJuch says:

Cream of tartar doesn't have aluminum, it's potassium bitartrate, KC4H5O6

Sorry about that. I had a whole conversation with my sister, who insisted it was cream of tartar that contained aluminum, so I can happily blame her here.

A lot of the baking powders other than Rumford's do list an aluminum compound as their ingredient in addition to baking soda, I do know that.

At any rate, we also talked about how you're going to get aluminum whether you want it or not, as a lot of the kaolin used in ceramics has aluminum in it. If you eat from a chipped dish (glaze is broken), you're going to get some.

You think aluminum causes Alzheimer's? That's been disproved.

Good thing you're not a sandlapper.

[Bob Juch]

Nice "baking powder brand contents" comparison:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/BakingPowder.htm

Note sodium aluminum sulfate is in the first two on that page. I use Calumet brand. (Which takes us to another Millionaire Q).

[ghostjmf]

BobJuch says:

You think aluminum causes Alzheimer's? That's been disproved.

Good thing you're not a sandlapper.

In areas with a high aluminum content in the water there is a high aluminum content in the Alzheimers plaques of people with Alzheimers. In different areas people still have Alzheimers, but the plaques don't have the high aluminum content.

In general, I prefer not to eat stuff that's "not food". At least when I can help it. Which when I'm actually cooking it would be. G-d knows we get enough weird, untested-in-regard-to-health stuff leaking into food from the plastics its wrapped in, served in etc without going out & buying it on purpose.

On the 2nd point, I don't know what a sandlapper is. Yet. Its a Gooogle away.

[plasticene]

$2K In 2009, what sport’s governing body decided to ban the high-tech bodysuits that have recently led to many new word records?
A. Gymnastics
B. Body building
C. Wrestling
D. Swimming

ATA (6)

5% A. Gymnastics
0% B. Body building
2% C. Wrestling
93% D. Swimming

Spoiler

D. Swimming (5)

Choice B wasn't Body building, it was Pole vaulting (or possibly Pole vault). I remember being shocked that gymnastics and wrestling were more popular wrong answers than pole vaulting, since there's no such thing as a world record in gymnastics or wrestling. (BB Transcript Team: When you fix this, you might as well change "word records" to "world records" while you're at it.)

$7.5K “One has cream of tartar and the other doesn’t” is a popular answer to the question “What’s the difference between” what two food items?
A. Butter & margarine
B. Chicken stock & chicken broth
C. Baking soda & baking powder
D. Jam & Jelly

This seemed straightforward to me. Butter is a dairy product and margarine isn't; jam has bits of fruit in it and jelly doesn't; chicken stock and chicken broth are the same thing. Whatever the difference between baking soda and baking powder is, it's something "invisible" but important.

I don't think the wording of the question implies that there's a "well-known phrase" involved. It just avoids the complication that there are usually other ingredients in baking powder besides baking soda and cream of tartar, as ghost pointed out. I don't think the contestant can make a case that the question is ambiguous, since baking powder is the only one of the eight food items mentioned that would ever contain cream of tartar.

[Brit Canuck]

$7.5K (Read the Label)
“One has cream of tartar and the other doesn’t” is a popular answer to the question “What’s the difference between” what two food items?
A. Butter & margarine
B. Chicken stock & chicken broth
C. Baking soda & baking powder
D. Jam & Jelly

Spoiler

C. Baking soda & baking powder (6)

Another one of Millionaire's famous 'Brick Wall' Questions, where not even the lifelines will help much.
With the recent money tree change, my concern is that it's just a matter of time before one of these shows up at the end of the first tier and catches the audience out again as well.

[Estonut]

$7.5K (Read the Label)
“One has cream of tartar and the other doesn’t” is a popular answer to the question “What’s the difference between” what two food items?
A. Butter & margarine
B. Chicken stock & chicken broth
C. Baking soda & baking powder
D. Jam & Jelly

Spoiler

C. Baking soda & baking powder (6)

Another one of Millionaire's famous 'Brick Wall' Questions, where not even the lifelines will help much.
With the recent money tree change, my concern is that it's just a matter of time before one of these shows up at the end of the first tier and catches the audience out again as well.

I disagree. I'd bet the ATA would have at least 50% for C...

Did you look at plasticene's reasoning?

[ghostjmf]

BobJuch said:

Good thing you're not a sandlapper.

OK, sandlapper is a citizen of SC. Which I believe was a question on BAM a few days ago, & which I only got because I knew it didn't refer to any of those other states they gave as choices; they used a New England state or 2, & may have used one from a place where the only sand is lake sand, or they don't have sand at all (that is intended to be a funny exaggeration), or whatever. Process of elimination.

I'd never heard the term before in my life.

So why is is good I'm not a sandlapper? The Whole Foods or TJ's which I know they have to have down there because there's probably one in our garage doesn't have Rumford's?

[Estonut]

BobJuch said:

Good thing you're not a sandlapper.

OK, sandlapper is a citizen of SC. Which I believe was a question on BAM a few days ago, & which I only got because I knew it didn't refer to any of those other states they gave as choices; they used a New England state or 2, & may have used one from a place where the only sand is lake sand, or they don't have sand at all (that is intended to be a funny exaggeration), or whatever. Process of elimination.

I'd never heard the term before in my life.

So why is is good I'm not a sandlapper? The Whole Foods or TJ's which I know they have to have down there because there's probably one in our garage doesn't have Rumford's?

Sandlappers got that name because they ate clay...

[Bob Juch]

BobJuch said:

Good thing you're not a sandlapper.

OK, sandlapper is a citizen of SC. Which I believe was a question on BAM a few days ago, & which I only got because I knew it didn't refer to any of those other states they gave as choices; they used a New England state or 2, & may have used one from a place where the only sand is lake sand, or they don't have sand at all (that is intended to be a funny exaggeration), or whatever. Process of elimination.

I'd never heard the term before in my life.

So why is is good I'm not a sandlapper? The Whole Foods or TJ's which I know they have to have down there because there's probably one in our garage doesn't have Rumford's?

Sandlappers got that name because they ate clay...

And the clay contains kaolin which is an aluminum compound.

[ghostjmf]

from one of my earlier posts, up there:

At any rate, we also talked about how you're going to get aluminum whether you want it or not, as a lot of the kaolin used in ceramics has aluminum in it. If you eat from a chipped dish (glaze is broken), you're going to get some.

BobJuch says, latest post:

And the clay contains kaolin which is an aluminum compound.

So this is where I get to say "but I already said that!"

[Bob Juch]

from one of my earlier posts, up there:

At any rate, we also talked about how you're going to get aluminum whether you want it or not, as a lot of the kaolin used in ceramics has aluminum in it. If you eat from a chipped dish (glaze is broken), you're going to get some.

BobJuch says, latest post:

And the clay contains kaolin which is an aluminum compound.

So this is where I get to say "but I already said that!"

My point was that the clay here that sandlappers ate has kaolin.

[gsabc]

Someone's trying to make a point?? How dare they?