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February 19, 2003
The syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? had its first million dollar winner yesterday, as retired truck driver Kevin Smith answered all 15 questions correctly. Smith, who studied for decades for this opportunity, turned in an impressive performance, answering most questions immediately and with authority. He even rejected his phone-a-friend's answer for the $500,000 question, offered as "80%" sure, to go with his own gut. Smith plans to use the money to help his mother and siblings. Could you have won the million? Here's the complete set of 15 questions and answers. $100: Which of these projectiles is normally shot from a slingshot? A) Stone B) Arrow $200: From 1994 to 2001, Rudy Giuliani served as the 107th mayor of what city? A) Washington, DC B) Chicago $300: Which of these utensils is commonly used to stir-fry food? A) Wok B) Crockpot $500: Which of these animal names is also a term often used to refer to a spy? A) Bull B) Mole $1000: The olive branch is an ancient symbol of what? A) Knowledge B) Peace $2000: A zamboni is a machine used to do what? A) Reset bowling pins B) Shoot tennis balls $4000: The 1995 movie 'The Usual Suspects' takes its title from a famous line in what movie? A) Casablanca B) The Godfather $8000: In the game of chess, which of these pieces can never move diagonally? A) Pawn B) King (Smith used the 50/50 here, which removed A and C) $16000: On the TV series, 'Everybody Loves Raymond' Raymond and his wife have a total of how many children? A) 1 B) 2 C) 3 D) 4 (Smith asked the audience here, and got percentages of 0-13-82-5) $32000: What rock group is named after a gym teacher who taught at the original band members' high school? A) The Byrds B) Lynyrd Skynyrd $64000: The flu vaccine is not recommended for people who are A) Peanuts B) Eggs $125000: Anti-Communist leader Joseph McCarthy serves as a US A) Illinois B) Kentucky $250,000: Published in 1936, the first issue of Life magazine had A) Dam B) Flower garden $500,000: 'And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free' is inscribed in the lobby of what agency's headquarters? A) FBI B) CIA (Smith used his phone-a-friend here, who said D with 80% confidence) $1,000,000: The U.S. Icon "Uncle Sam" was based on Samuel Wilson, who worked during the War of 1812, as a what? A) Meat inspector B) Mail deliverer Answers $100 A) Stone Comments
Peter, I don't know why, but whenever you have a piece with [more] at the bottom and I click it, I get the new page sucessfully... but it's blank. Well, not entirely, there's the Game Report logo and then nothing. So I can't read anything 'archived.' FYI, I'm using Netscape Comm 4.77 on my Mac PowerPC. Oh, and also, all your headline title bars are just solid blue for me. I can only read them by highlighting them with my mouse, changing the 'color' of the text. Posted by: Dave Arnott on February 24, 2003 12:53 AMUnfortunately lots of websites don't work well with Netscape 4.x, since Netscape cleverly made it incompatible with a number of standards (more detail than that I don't know). I use Netscape 6.2, which works fine here (and everywhere else I've tried it). Posted by: Dan Blum on February 24, 2003 01:27 PMOkay, it works fine with MIE. And for the record, I knew all the questions up to the $32,000 level... and then I knew NONE of them. It would have been lifeline city for me at that point. Posted by: Dave Arnott on February 25, 2003 10:34 AMI'd have polled the audience at $16,000, since I never watch Everybody Loves Raymond. I would have used a lifeline at $32,000, since I *thought* it was Lynyrd Skynyrd but wasn't sure and wouldn't have wanted to risk tanking. I had no idea about the flu vaccine and would have used my last lifeline there at $64K. And then I would have walked, since I have no idea what state McCarthy's from. I didn't know the $250K question either, and would have gotten the $500K wrong. But I did know the answer to the $1 million question. So no, this stack would not have made me a millionaire. Posted by: Peter Sarrett on February 25, 2003 11:00 AMI would have also polled the audience at $16K, and would have had to use a lifeline at $250K. Whether I would have anyone standing by who would know it is a bit dubious, perhaps. If I had gotten through that I'd have been OK for the million. :) Posted by: Dan Blum on February 25, 2003 12:09 PM>I would have also polled the audience at $16K, >and would have had to use a lifeline at $250K. >Whether I would have anyone standing by who >would know it is a bit dubious, perhaps. If I >had gotten through that I'd have been OK for >the million. :) Tsk tsk tsk... just would have needed me for that one, Dan... B^) I've never seen Casablanca, so the $4000 question would have been a guess for me (which I got right, FWIW). I also have never watched Everybody Loves Raymond, so I would have used the same lifeline. The $32,000 would have been a guess, so I would have used a lifeline there, and the $500,000 I had no clue on. The rest of the big questions I would have actually known rather than guessing, miraculously enough... Posted by: Joe Huber on February 25, 2003 02:17 PMI can't wait for all the backseat driving in July. Posted by: Peter Sarrett on February 25, 2003 03:40 PMWe've gotta live vicariously, or at least I do, since I never get on these shows (qualified for Jeopardy twice, and what does it get me?). And I know you can't say how you did, but answer me this - is it a good time to remind you that you owe me money? :) Posted by: Dan Blum on February 25, 2003 08:04 PMInteresting how everyone's mental blocks don't *quite* overlap... I did not know the $32k or the last three. And was just unsure enough about Casablanca that it would've been quite the gut check to say it. Posted by: Dennis Ugolini on February 27, 2003 08:16 AMPost a comment
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