Transcript 11/25/2008 Russelle Westermann

[BBTranscriptTeam]

after 10 minutes of news and commercials
---"We now join Who Wants to be a Millionaire, already in progress ---"

<updated 2008-12-01 14:50 pst by 15QuestionsAway>
<additions are shown in this color>

Russelle Westermann
Collegeville, PA
graduate student - geology

Russelle brought her lucky rock that a good friend gave her. She says it brings her peace when she takes tests at school. Russelle says she's studying geology because she wants to help the environment.

Topic tree
Life and Death
Sweet Surrender
Know Your Lines
Nice Language!
Arcade Games
Central America
2006 Headlines
TV Catchphrases
On the Aisle
Happy Easter
Mono a Mono
Tutu
I Love Sushi
Man-Made
‘60s Tunes

$1k (Mono a Mono)
What type of clothing is a monokini?
A. Business suit
B. Evening gown
C. Pajamas
D. Swimsuit

PAF - 3 s / Available are mom, Teresa; father-in-law, John and good friend, Chris

Spoiler

Russelle selects Teresa, and spells out "monokini" for her. Teresa repeats it back incorrectly the first time. After Russelle finishes reading the question, Teresa then repeats the choices out loud. She's unable to manage the call and (presumably) the others in the room with her, so she's unable to give Russelle an answer in time.

Russelle "is just going to say 'D. final answer'".

D. Swimsuit (1 s)

Russelle receives the Ask the Expert lifeline. Her expert is Will Shortz, editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle.

$2k (Happy Easter)
Each year in the US, Easter traditionally falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the what?
A. Summer solstice
B. Vernal equinox
C. Autumnal equinox
D. Winter solstice

Spoiler

B. Vernal equinox (19 s)

$4k (On the Aisle)
What 2008 movie was described as an "ultraviolent shoot 'em up with Angelina Jolie, her many tattoos and some guys"?
A. Wanted
B. The Happening
C. Hancock
D. Iron Man

DD - 6 s

Spoiler

Russelle's first answer - A. Wanted is correct.

A. Wanted (6 s)

(commercial break)

$8k (TV Catchphrases)
Known for his catchphrase "Make it work!", Tim Gunn rose to fame as the kindly mentor on what TV reality series?
A. Project Runway
B. Top Chef
C. The Amazing Race
D. Dancing With the Stars

Spoiler

Russelle: "I actually know this - it's A - final answer!

A. Project Runway (22 s)

starts :12 into Skype conversation with Ask-the-Expert


They showed topic tree after 16K question
Life and Death
Sweet Surrender
Know Your Lines
Nice Language!
Arcade Games
Central America
2006 Headlines
TV Catchphrases
On the Aisle
Happy Easter
Mono a Mono
Tutu
I Love Sushi
Man-Made
‘60s Tunes

$16k (2008 Headlines)
"Fecundity Sweeps Hollywood" was the headline of a 2008 newspaper article about whom?
A. Paparazzi
B. Celebrity Babies
C. Unemployed actors
D. Plastic surgeons

ATE - 12 s

Will: Fecundity means producing offspring. I really don't know the answer to this, but I would guess Celebrity babies. Ooh boy, I hope it's right, but I think it's B.

Meredith: Know what, Will, we hope you're right too!

Will (Shortz) is saying that he connects fecondity with procreation and would assume it is B.

Spoiler

B. Celebrity Babies (7)

$25K (Central America):
Until 1973, the Central American country now named "Belize" was officially named "British" what?
A. El Salvador B. Guatemala
C. Honduras D. Nicaragua

Spoiler

C. Honduras (contestant decided to leave with :07 left)

Contestant left with $16000.

Commercial Break

[Kazoo65]

No idea of what "fecundity" is. Since the Expert is a crossword puzzle editor, ask him.

The last question (which I knew cold) was about Central America. They wanted to know what Belize was called before 1973. They mentioned "British" and the choices were A. El Salvador B. Guatemala C. Honduras D. Nicaragua.

Spoiler

She decided to walk with $16K rather than guessing. She would have said A because it "sounded right". Good thing-the right answer is C. Honduras.

[NellyLunatic1980]

$16K: I've heard of the word "fecund" before, but I never actually bothered to look up what it means. I will also ask Will.

I got everything else correct.

[earendel]

after 10 minutes of news and commercials
---"We now join Who Wants to be a Millionaire, already in progress ---"

They showed topic tree after 16K question
Life and Death
Sweet Surrender
Know Your Lines
Nice Language!
Arcade Games
Central America
2008 Headlines
TV Catchphrases
On the Aisle
Happy Easter
Mono a Mono

The $2K "Happy Easter" question was something to the effect of: Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after what? The choices were the solstices and the equinoxes.

Spoiler

vernal equinox - an easy question for me.

The $8K "TV Catchphrases" question was which show Tim Gunn and his catchphrase "Make it work!" appear. The choices, IIRC, were "Top Chef", "The Amazing Race", "Project Runway" and one other show.

Spoiler

Project Runway - which I was able to get by process of elimination.

$16K Fecundity Sweeps Hollywood" was the headline of a 2008 newspaper article about whom?
A. Paparazzi B. Celebrity Babies
C. Unemployed actors D. Plastic surgeons

Will (Shortz) is saying that he connects fecondity with procreation and would assume it is B.

Spoiler

B. Celebrity Babies (7)

This was a good use of the ATE, since a crossword editor should know a lot of words.

$25K (Central America):
Until 1973, the Central American country now named "Belize" was officially named "British" what?
A. El Salvador B. Guatemala
C. Honduras D. Nicaragua

Spoiler

C. Honduras (contestant decided to leave with :07 left)

Russelle said she was leaning toward an answer but wasn't sure enough so she walked away. Meredith asked her what she was thinking and Russelle said, "El Salvador just sounded right." British El Salvador???

[15QuestionsAway]

I've updated this transcript with the missing questions. My additions are in blue.