Quiz Bowl is a quiz-based sport that tests players on a wide variety of academic subjects. In the past two months, the new Grady Quiz Bowl team has answered questions covering current events, literature, chemistry, sports, pop singers and more.

The team meets three times a week to prepare for upcoming tournaments. Gathering around clumped desks with buzzers, they listen to each question prompted by team founder and senior captain David Lutin, the team’s founder and captain.

“I did Quiz Bowl in middle school and my old high school,” Lutin said. “When I came to Grady, they didn’t have a team, and I wanted to fix that.”

The team competed in its  first tournament on Sept. 30. Grady had separate “A” and “B” teams that competed against schools including Chattahoochee, Lambert and Walton.

“The tournament was wonderful, in part, because it was really nice to see everyone come together and compete for the first time,” freshman Joanna Baker said. “It was slightly frantic and sometimes super slow, but it was definitely an adventure.”

Whichever team correctly answers the question first receives points — a constraint that keeps the competitors on their toes, fingers hovering above their bells.

“It’s really high pressure — but in a good way. I think the fact that it’s high pressure makes it more fun,” freshman Mora O’Sullivan said. “Plus, it’s pressure to know about things like the Defenestration of Prague, so it’s not actual pressure.”

The team echoed that there are some far-fetched questions they are not able to study for. For example, the team received the question: “What kind of fast food chain offers a sandwich that puts chicken on the outside and cheeseburger on the inside.” If you go to KFC frequently, then you’ll know the answer. Otherwise, you have to take a wild guess.

“The team works extremely hard, and believe me, they face some hard questions,” teacher sponsor and coach Sara Looman said. “[The tournament] was incredibly fun. I really enjoyed it — much more than I thought I would. The team did so well, too. Placing fourth out of 16 in their first ever competition is impressive.”

Despite the challenging academic questions they have faced in the tournament and in practice, they have also answered more humorous questions concerning memes, Harambe (a gorilla in the Cincinnati Zoo that was killed) and Donald Trump.

“To step back and put it in perspective-, it’s all fun,” Lutin said. “But in the moment, it’s a real rush.”

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A QUIZ BOWLER?

Q1: Rick Rubin produced this man’s series of “American” records, the fourth of which includes his cover of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt.” He sand “I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die” in his song “Folsom Prison Blues.”

Q2: This computer component is often powered by a unique 20+40 pin connector. The northbridge is part of the onboard chipset of this component. PCI-Express slots connect to this device, and so do the RAM and CPU, or main processor.

Q3: Sinis used these objects to kill hapless travelers. Upon their deaths, Baucis and Philemon became a pair of these things. After praying for help evading Apollo’s advances, Daphne was transformed into one of these objects.

Answers: Johnny Cash, Motherboard, Trees