Transcript 03/24/10 - Sandra Brown

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Sandra Brown
Elizabeth, NJ
Financial specialist

Sandra used to work for the Philadelphia Transit Authority and she can drive just about anything. She learned to drive buses, trolleys and even the subway.

Question Topics:
* Cable TV
* Artists
* The Solar System
* Where Are They?
* Full Names?
* Resting Places
* Words & Phrases
* Paper Chase
* Explorers
* Local Cuisine
* Film Adaptations
* Toys & Games
* The Big Apple
* Around the House
* Sports Legends


$500 * Sports Legends
In 2009, Michael Jordan was inducted into what pro sport's Hall of Fame?

A: Hockey B: Basketball
C: Tennis D: Gatorade snorkeling

Answer

B: Basketball ( 8 )

$1,000 * Around the House
Which of these household appliances often features an ice maker?

A: Microwave oven B: Garbage disposal
C: Freezer D: Dishwasher

Answer

C: Freezer ( 9 )

$2,000 * The Big Apple
Which of these New York City skyscrapers is named after a person?

A: Empire State Building B: Trump World Tower
C: Citigroup Center D: MetLife Building

Answer

B: Trump World Tower ( 8 )

$3,000 * Toys & Games
In 2005, debit cards replaced fake cash in a European, electronic version of what classic board game?

A: Trivial Pursuit B: Scrabble
C: Monopoly D: Sorry!

Answer

C: Monopoly ( 9 )

$5,000 * Film Adaptations
Despite being only ten sentences long, what classic children's book was adapted into a 94-minute film in 2009?

A: Mr. Popper's Penguins B: The Light in the Forest
C: Harold and the Purple Crayon D: Where the Wild Things Are

Answer

D: Where the Wild Things Are ( 6 )

$7,500 * Local Cuisine
Often topped with confectioners' sugar, the New Orleans delicacy beignets are a type of what?

A: Seafood stew B: Omlette
C: Cocktail D: Fried pastry

Answer

D: Fried pastry ( 24 )

$10,000 * Explorers
In 1960, Mount Everest explorer Sir Edmund Hillary led an expedition to find what mythical creature?

A: Kraken B: Abominable Snowman
C: Loch Ness Monster D: El Chupacabra

Answer

B: Abominable Snowman ( 19 )

$12,500 * Paper Chase
Which of these newspapers is often described as being "inside-the-beltway"?

A: The Washington Post B: Chicago Tribune
C: Los Angeles Times D: The Wall Street Journal

Answer

A: The Washington Post ( 22 )

$15,000 * Words & Phrases
Which of these phrases was coined by American soldiers in World War II who had trouble pronouncing the word "Offiziermesser"?

A: German shepherd B: Swiss Army knife
C: French Foreign Legion D: Green beret

With 20 seconds left, Sandra decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA

A: 39% B: 32% C: 19% D: 10%

With 18 seconds left, Sandra decides to Ask The Expert. Today's expert is Today's expert is Greg Proops, the host of "Head Games" on the Science Channel.

Greg: Well, I don't see the word "green" in it, anywhere. I'm guessing that can come out. Ummm. It was coined, eh? Hmm. I'm gonna say B: Swiss Army knife, because "messer" to me means, ah, you know, food and kit--about food. It could be German shepherd, as well, though.

Sandra: How--

Greg: I get more of a Swiss Army knife feel than a German shepherd feel.

Sandra: But they're so different! I mean, what is it that's making you lean in one direction or another?

Greg: Ahh, "messer." Then, my German's not so hot.

Meredith: All right.

Greg: I'm sorry, that's the best I can offer you. I would go with Swiss Army knife.


With 16 seconds left, Sandra decides to Double Dip.

Sandra's first answer is

Spoiler

Swiss Army knife

.

Answer

B: Swiss Army knife ( 16 )

-- Commercial Break --

Sandra would like to use the money as a down payment on a house for her and her mother. Her mother is 80 years old and still works. Sandra would like to change that, if she can.

$25,000 * Resting Places
William Howard Taft was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery; who was the second?

A: Franklin D. Roosevelt B: Harry S. Truman
C: Dwight D. Eisenhower D: John F. Kennedy

Sandra: I know Kennedy was buried there. I don't know about the others.

Meredith: [Paraphrasing the question]: He was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sandra: I'm going to have to--I'm not going to take a chance. I just have to stop where I am.

Meredith: Final?

Sandra: Yeah.

Sandra walks with $15,000.

Answer

D: John F. Kennedy ( 2 )

[MarleysGh0st]

$15,000 * Words & Phrases
Which of these phrases was coined by American soldiers in World War II who had trouble pronouncing the word "Offiziermesser"?

A: German shepherd B: Swiss Army knife
C: French Foreign Legion D: Green beret

With 20 seconds left, Sandra decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA

A: 39% B: 32% C: 19% D: 10%

With 18 seconds left, Sandra decides to Ask The Expert. Today's expert is Today's expert is Greg Proops, the host of "Head Games" on the Science Channel.

Greg: Well, I don't see the word "green" in it, anywhere. I'm guessing that can come out. Ummm. It was coined, eh? Hmm. I'm gonna say B: Swiss Army knife, because "messer" to me means, ah, you know, food and kit--about food. It could be German shepherd, as well, though.

Sandra: How--

Greg: I get more of a Swiss Army knife feel than a German shepherd feel.

Sandra: But they're so different! I mean, what is it that's making you lean in one direction or another?

Greg: Ahh, "messer." Then, my German's not so hot.

Meredith: All right.

Greg: I'm sorry, that's the best I can offer you. I would go with Swiss Army knife.


With 16 seconds left, Sandra decides to Double Dip.

Sandra's first answer is

Spoiler

Swiss Army knife

.

Answer

B: Swiss Army knife ( 16 )

Dang. Sandra was doing pretty well until this question. As soon as she asked for the ATA, I was afraid the audience would go for the distractor. At least the correct answer had a good second-place spike.

And, as Greg was almost homing in on the correct answer while hedging his bet enough to ake Sandra burn her DD, he might have considered a few more things. Like, had he ever heard of the alternate name for German Shepherds? And doesn't "Offizier" sound an awful lot like "officer"? How would that connect to a dog breed?

But don't worry, Greg, as far as Meredith will ever remember, you're still doing a "great" job.

$25,000 * Resting Places
William Howard Taft was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery; who was the second?

A: Franklin D. Roosevelt B: Harry S. Truman
C: Dwight D. Eisenhower D: John F. Kennedy

Sandra: I know Kennedy was buried there. I don't know about the others.

Meredith: [Paraphrasing the question]: He was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sandra: I'm going to have to--I'm not going to take a chance. I just have to stop where I am.

Meredith: Final?

Sandra: Yeah.

Sandra walks with $15,000.

Answer

D: John F. Kennedy ( 2 )

Meredith, Meredith, Meredith. If you're going to be helpful by repeating part of the question, why not repeat the key phase? "William Howard Taft was the first..."

When I saw this question during yesterday's sneak peek, I couldn't believe that they had valued it so highly. If not for having the pressure of TDC and burning all her lifelines on the previous question, I've got to believe that Sandra would have connected what she knew with what the question told her.

[NellyLunatic1980]

Sandra Brown
Elizabeth, NJ
Financial specialist

WE®

$25,000 * Resting Places
William Howard Taft was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery; who was the second?

A: Franklin D. Roosevelt B: Harry S. Truman
C: Dwight D. Eisenhower D: John F. Kennedy

The inverse of this question (Who other than JFK is buried at Arlington?) was asked at the $125K level on PTBAM.

Sandra: I know Kennedy was buried there. I don't know about the others.

Meredith: [Paraphrasing the question]: He was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sandra: I'm going to have to--I'm not going to take a chance. I just have to stop where I am.

Nihil obstat®

[earendel]

Sandra Brown
Elizabeth, NJ
Financial specialist

Sandra used to work for the Philadelphia Transit Authority and she can drive just about anything. She learned to drive buses, trolleys and even the subway.

She mentioned that the subway has a "deadman switch" that stops the train if the conductor takes his or her foot off. But isn't the runaway train after the conductor gets shot a standard action flick convention?

$15,000 * Words & Phrases
Which of these phrases was coined by American soldiers in World War II who had trouble pronouncing the word "Offiziermesser"?

A: German shepherd B: Swiss Army knife
C: French Foreign Legion D: Green beret

With 20 seconds left, Sandra decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA

A: 39% B: 32% C: 19% D: 10%

I expected as much.

With 18 seconds left, Sandra decides to Ask The Expert. Today's expert is Today's expert is Greg Proops, the host of "Head Games" on the Science Channel.

Greg: Well, I don't see the word "green" in it, anywhere. I'm guessing that can come out. Ummm. It was coined, eh? Hmm. I'm gonna say B: Swiss Army knife, because "messer" to me means, ah, you know, food and kit--about food. It could be German shepherd, as well, though.

Sandra: How--

Greg: I get more of a Swiss Army knife feel than a German shepherd feel.

Sandra: But they're so different! I mean, what is it that's making you lean in one direction or another?

Greg: Ahh, "messer." Then, my German's not so hot.

Meredith: All right.

Greg: I'm sorry, that's the best I can offer you. I would go with Swiss Army knife.

With 16 seconds left, Sandra decides to Double Dip.

Sandra's first answer is

Spoiler

Swiss Army knife

.

Answer

B: Swiss Army knife ( 16 )

Good for Greg in coming up with the answer. The "second strong audience response" proves itself once again.

$25,000 * Resting Places
William Howard Taft was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery; who was the second?

A: Franklin D. Roosevelt B: Harry S. Truman
C: Dwight D. Eisenhower D: John F. Kennedy

Sandra: I know Kennedy was buried there. I don't know about the others.

Meredith: [Paraphrasing the question]: He was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sandra: I'm going to have to--I'm not going to take a chance. I just have to stop where I am.

Meredith: Final?

Sandra: Yeah.

Sandra walks with $15,000.

Answer

D: John F. Kennedy ( 2 )

She had the answer but couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger. Since the question said "first of two", the implication is that there are only two. If TDC® hadn't been in effect she might have had the time to consider the question more carefully.

[frogman042]

Sandra Brown
Elizabeth, NJ
Financial specialist

Sandra used to work for the Philadelphia Transit Authority and she can drive just about anything. She learned to drive buses, trolleys and even the subway.

She mentioned that the subway has a "deadman switch" that stops the train if the conductor takes his or her foot off. But isn't the runaway train after the conductor gets shot a standard action flick convention?

$15,000 * Words & Phrases
Which of these phrases was coined by American soldiers in World War II who had trouble pronouncing the word "Offiziermesser"?

A: German shepherd B: Swiss Army knife
C: French Foreign Legion D: Green beret

With 20 seconds left, Sandra decides to Ask The Audience.

ATA

A: 39% B: 32% C: 19% D: 10%

I expected as much.

With 18 seconds left, Sandra decides to Ask The Expert. Today's expert is Today's expert is Greg Proops, the host of "Head Games" on the Science Channel.

Greg: Well, I don't see the word "green" in it, anywhere. I'm guessing that can come out. Ummm. It was coined, eh? Hmm. I'm gonna say B: Swiss Army knife, because "messer" to me means, ah, you know, food and kit--about food. It could be German shepherd, as well, though.

Sandra: How--

Greg: I get more of a Swiss Army knife feel than a German shepherd feel.

Sandra: But they're so different! I mean, what is it that's making you lean in one direction or another?

Greg: Ahh, "messer." Then, my German's not so hot.

Meredith: All right.

Greg: I'm sorry, that's the best I can offer you. I would go with Swiss Army knife.

With 16 seconds left, Sandra decides to Double Dip.

Sandra's first answer is

Spoiler

Swiss Army knife

.

Answer

B: Swiss Army knife ( 16 )

Good for Greg in coming up with the answer. The "second strong audience response" proves itself once again.

$25,000 * Resting Places
William Howard Taft was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery; who was the second?

A: Franklin D. Roosevelt B: Harry S. Truman
C: Dwight D. Eisenhower D: John F. Kennedy

Sandra: I know Kennedy was buried there. I don't know about the others.

Meredith: [Paraphrasing the question]: He was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sandra: I'm going to have to--I'm not going to take a chance. I just have to stop where I am.

Meredith: Final?

Sandra: Yeah.

Sandra walks with $15,000.

Answer

D: John F. Kennedy ( 2 )

She had the answer but couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger. Since the question said "first of two", the implication is that there are only two. If TDC® hadn't been in effect she might have had the time to consider the question more carefully.

Yes, I think she missunderstod the question thinking that there were two after Taft and that JFK might be the 2nd of those two and there might have been another president between them. I think this is clearly a case of the clocklaterial damage. Too bad, she was doing great.

Regarding the Swiss Army Knife, when Greg focussed messer, good, but he thought it was related to food (mess hall?) but messer is knife. So he got to the right answer but his reasoning (or least his translation skills) were in error. I thought this was a bit tricky since Swiss neutrality meant that they didn't fight in WWII and it might have been eliminated because of that.

[MarleysGh0st]

Regarding the Swiss Army Knife, when Greg focussed messer, good, but he thought it was related to food (mess hall?) but messer is knife. So he got to the right answer but his reasoning (or least his translation skills) were in error. I thought this was a bit tricky since Swiss neutrality meant that they didn't fight in WWII and it might have been eliminated because of that.

Hmmm. Wikipedia led me to this article from last July, which the question writers might have read. I see a couple problems with the details, though.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8172917.stm

"After the Second World War, Europe was full of American soldiers," he explains. "And as they could buy the Swiss army knife at PX stores (shops on military bases), they bought huge quantities of them."

"But it seems "Schweizer Offizier Messer" was too difficult for them to say, so they just called it the Swiss army knife, and that is the name it is now known by all over the world."

So, the question writers left out the "Schweizer" part of the name, since that would have given it away. But if they coined the word after the war, does that substantially affect the question?

(I still think there were plenty of clues in the question to eliminate the other choices, particularly for the expert, who wasn't under the pressure of a clock. That's not to say the question is without defects.)

[ulysses5019]

She mentioned that the subway has a "deadman switch" that stops the train if the conductor takes his or her foot off. But isn't the runaway train after the conductor gets shot a standard action flick convention?

That was an integral part of the escape plan of the bad guys in the 1974 movie, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

[jarnon]

Sandra Brown
Elizabeth, NJ
Financial specialist

Sandra used to work for the Philadelphia Transit Authority and she can drive just about anything. She learned to drive buses, trolleys and even the subway.

She mentioned that the subway has a "deadman switch" that stops the train if the conductor takes his or her foot off. But isn't the runaway train after the conductor gets shot a standard action flick convention?

In the movies, the conductor's body always falls on the switch. Doubt it happens like that in real life.

[ulysses5019]

Sandra Brown
Elizabeth, NJ
Financial specialist

Sandra used to work for the Philadelphia Transit Authority and she can drive just about anything. She learned to drive buses, trolleys and even the subway.

She mentioned that the subway has a "deadman switch" that stops the train if the conductor takes his or her foot off. But isn't the runaway train after the conductor gets shot a standard action flick convention?

In the movies, the conductor's body always falls on the switch. Doubt it happens like that in real life.

Inspector Daniels: Garber, I just had a terrible thought: suppose they're not on the train? What if they set the throttle and jumped off? While we're chasing the train, they're sneaking out of an emergency exit somewhere behind us.
Lt. Garber: Ingenious thought, sir, except for one thing: it's impossible.
Inspector Daniels: Why?
Lt. Garber: Little gizmo known as a dead man's feature. It was built into the controller handle in case a motorman should ever drop dead. The controller handle has to have a man's hand pressing down on it hard at all times. Otherwise, the thing don't work. The train stops cold.
Inspector Daniels: Uh-huh. I see.
Lt. Garber: Nice try, though.

[SpacemanSpiff]

$25,000 * Resting Places
William Howard Taft was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery; who was the second?

A: Franklin D. Roosevelt B: Harry S. Truman
C: Dwight D. Eisenhower D: John F. Kennedy

Sandra: I know Kennedy was buried there. I don't know about the others.

Meredith: [Paraphrasing the question]: He was the first of two U.S. presidents to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sandra: I'm going to have to--I'm not going to take a chance. I just have to stop where I am.

Meredith: Final?

Sandra: Yeah.

Sandra walks with $15,000.

Answer

D: John F. Kennedy ( 2 )

Meredith, Meredith, Meredith. If you're going to be helpful by repeating part of the question, why not repeat the key phase? "William Howard Taft was the first..."

When I saw this question during yesterday's sneak peek, I couldn't believe that they had valued it so highly. If not for having the pressure of TDC and burning all her lifelines on the previous question, I've got to believe that Sandra would have connected what she knew with what the question told her.

And this is one reason why I hate the clock. If the contestant didn't have the time pressure to re-read the question, she could have easily figured it out.

[SpacemanSpiff]

She mentioned that the subway has a "deadman switch" that stops the train if the conductor takes his or her foot off. But isn't the runaway train after the conductor gets shot a standard action flick convention?

That was an integral part of the escape plan of the bad guys in the 1974 movie, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

Of course, Patrick McGoohan solved that problem in "Silver Streak" by putting a handily-nearby tool box on top of the deadman pedal.

[tanstaafl2]

Well, that was as dumb a finish as any I have seen here in a while.