Podcast Script

Welcome back to the LL Study Guide podcast, your quick post-match companion for LearnedLeague. I’m here to walk you through today’s six questions, talk about what was going on in each clue, and give you a few hooks so you remember this stuff next time it pops up.

If you want full study notes, extra examples, and links to go deeper, everything we talk about here is written up on the website at llstudyguide.com. You don’t need to take notes while you listen; just check the study notes on the website later.

This match day actually hangs together around a theme of movement and connection: packages racing across 19th-century America, atoms lining up into repeating patterns, basketball arcs, voyages across the Tasman Sea, superyachts, and Eurovision. Let’s dive into Question 1.

Question 1 was in AMER HIST, and here’s the wording:

“Give either of the last names, both still familiar in business today, of the men who started a carrier service between Buffalo and the West in the mid-1840s. They later launched an express service from New York to San Francisco during the 1849 gold rush, which merged with others in 1850 to form American Express.”

The correct answers here are Wells or Fargo.

So we’re talking about Henry Wells and William Fargo, who were big players in the 19th‑century express industry. They started express routes running out of Buffalo, which at that time was a major transportation hub, linking the Erie Canal and rail lines heading toward Detroit and Chicago. Their businesses later helped form American Express in 1850, and then they went on to create Wells Fargo & Company to serve the California gold rush, running both express deliveries and banking services between New York and San Francisco.

The clue gives you a bunch of anchors. First, the category: American History. Then American Express in 1850. If you know even a bit of AmEx history, you might remember Wells and Fargo, along with John Butterfield, as the cofounders. The question also tells you, “last names, both still familiar in business today.” So you want to think of big modern financial brands: American Express as a credit card company and Wells Fargo as a major bank.

You don’t have to remember their first names in LearnedLeague—just “Wells” and “Fargo” gets you home.

If you want to dig deeper, check the study notes on the website for more on: one, American Express’s 19th‑century origins and how they divided routes around Buffalo; two, the broader 19th‑century express and stagecoach networks, including John Butterfield and the Overland Mail; and three, how historical transport companies morphed into modern financial brands, like Wells Fargo transforming over time into a bank we still know today.

Let’s move from packages and stagecoaches down to the atomic level with Question 2.

Here’s Question 2, in SCIENCE:

“Hexagonal, tetragonal, orthorhombic, and triclinic are among the seven systems used to classify the ways atoms can be arranged in three-dimensional space. What are the solids that form in these systems collectively called?”

The answer is crystals.

These named systems—hexagonal, tetragonal, orthorhombic, triclinic—are all crystal systems. In a crystal, atoms or ions are arranged in a repeating, ordered pattern throughout the solid. Crystallographers talk about seven basic crystal systems in three dimensions: triclinic, monoclinic, orthorhombic, tetragonal, trigonal, hexagonal, and cubic. Those describe the symmetry of the unit cell, the repeating building block in the crystal lattice.

The big contrast here is between crystalline solids, like salt or diamond, where the atoms are in an orderly repeating pattern, and amorphous solids, like glass, where the arrangement is more random. Any time you see these system names grouped together in a question, “crystals” or “crystalline solids” is the word you want.

To make this sticky, it helps to tie the vocabulary to common examples. Table salt is a classic cubic crystal. Quartz is usually trigonal. Diamond is famously a crystalline form of carbon. Even snowflakes are crystals, with hexagonal symmetry.

If you want to strengthen this area, check the study notes for: a quick rundown of the seven crystal systems with simple diagrams; everyday examples of crystalline versus amorphous solids; and some trivia‑friendly terms like “unit cell” and “Bravais lattice” that often signal you’re in crystal territory.

Now that we’ve gone deep into the microscopic world, let’s jump back to pop culture and reality TV with Question 3.

Question 3, category TELEVISION, said:

“What reality television series, which debuted on Bravo in July 2013, was described by longtime star Captain Lee Rosbach as ‘Downton Abbey on the water’?”

The answer is Below Deck.

Below Deck is a reality series on Bravo that premiered in July 2013. It follows the crew of luxury charter superyachts—so you’re mostly watching the staff working below decks while ultra‑wealthy guests enjoy the trip above. Captain Lee Rosbach, one of the show’s stars, has called it “Downton Abbey on the water” because of that upstairs‑downstairs class dynamic: rich guests, working crew, lots of drama in between.

The clue packs in several nice identifiers: it’s reality TV, on Bravo, in 2013, and it involves a “Captain.” Combine that with the very specific “Downton Abbey on the water” description, and Below Deck is really the only fit. Bravo has other reality hits, but this one is their flagship yacht series.

If you know the franchise, you may also know the spinoffs like Below Deck Mediterranean or Below Deck Sailing Yacht, but unless the question adds a regional label, the plain “Below Deck” is what they’re after.

If you want to keep building a trivia map around this, check the study notes for: an overview of the Below Deck franchise and its various spinoffs, since any of them could show up in a question; a quick list of Bravo’s major reality properties—things like Top Chef and Real Housewives—that frequently appear in quizzes; and a short note on how critics use the “Downton Abbey on the water” tagline, which may be repeated in future clues.

From superyachts, let’s head to the basketball court with Question 4.

Question 4 was in GAMES/SPORT:

“6.75 meters is the international standard for what sporting distance, used in the Olympics and other international competitions, NCAA men’s and women’s play, and most professional leagues (with one notable American exception)?”

The answer is the basketball three‑point line.

More precisely, it’s the radius of the three‑point arc in international basketball: 6.75 meters from the center of the basket. FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, sets that standard. Most professional leagues around the world, plus Olympic play, use the same distance. The NCAA has moved both men’s and women’s college basketball to that 6.75‑meter distance as well.

The “notable American exception” is the NBA. The NBA’s three‑point line is deeper: 23 feet 9 inches at the top of the arc, a little over 7.2 meters, and 22 feet in the corners. That difference is a classic sports‑trivia detail.

The clue also guides you with the unit “meters” and mentions the Olympics. That should make you think FIBA and international basketball rather than, say, American football or baseball. And very few other standard lines in sports are keyed to 6.75 meters.

For future questions, it’s useful to remember a couple of benchmark distances: the FIBA and NCAA three‑point line at 6.75 meters, and the NBA line at about 7.24 meters at the top. Free throws, by contrast, are much shorter—15 feet, about 4.57 meters—and don’t vary nearly as much across leagues.

If you’d like to reinforce this, the study notes on our website have: a simple comparison chart of three‑point line distances in FIBA, NBA, WNBA, and college ball; a quick history of when the three‑point shot was introduced in different leagues; and a few other standard basketball measurements that show up in trivia, like rim height and court dimensions.

All right, from the hardwood we’re heading back to geography and exploration with Question 5.

Question 5, category GEOGRAPHY, reads:

“The first Europeans to encounter the islands of New Zealand (Aotearoa) in 1642 were led by what Dutch navigator, after whom the (relatively) nearby island of Lutruwita is now also named (as well as the sea that separates them)?”

The answer is Abel Tasman.

Abel Janszoon Tasman was a 17th‑century Dutch explorer sailing for the Dutch East India Company. In 1642 he became the first known European to reach what we now call Tasmania and New Zealand. He originally named Tasmania “Van Diemen’s Land” after a Dutch official, but the island was later renamed Tasmania in his honor. The sea between Australia and New Zealand is also named the Tasman Sea.

The clue mentions “Lutruwita,” which is the Indigenous palawa kani name for the main island of Tasmania. You’ll often see the dual naming written as Lutruwita slash Tasmania in contemporary Australian contexts. And it points you to “the sea that separates them” — that’s the Tasman Sea, again reinforcing his surname.

A key discriminator here is the date. Many people think of James Cook when they hear “first Europeans in New Zealand,” but Cook’s voyages were in the 1760s and 1770s. This clue gives you 1642, over a century earlier, which really points to Tasman.

For future questions, it’s worth having a short list of early European explorers in Oceania in your head: Tasman in the 1640s; Cook in the late 18th century; and then later explorers who charted the region in more detail.

On the website, the study notes go into: more detail on Tasman’s 1642 voyage and his encounters around New Zealand; the story behind Tasmania’s name changes from Van Diemen’s Land to Tasmania, and the modern use of Lutruwita; and some background on the Tasman Sea and other seas named after explorers, like the Bering Sea.

That takes us nicely to our final question, which jumps forward to modern European culture with a musical twist.

Question 6 was in POP MUSIC:

“The 2025 song ‘Wasted Love’, recorded and co-written by Austrian singer JJ, is (and will likely always be) most closely associated with what cultural phenomenon?”

The answer is the Eurovision Song Contest.

“Wasted Love” was Austria’s entry for Eurovision 2025, performed by JJ, an Austrian singer whose full name is Johannes Pietsch. The song won the contest that year, which was the 69th Eurovision, held in Basel. That victory gave Austria its third ever Eurovision win.

When quiz questions ask about a specific recent European pop song and then say it’s most closely associated with a “cultural phenomenon,” Eurovision is a strong candidate. Winning songs in particular tend to be permanently linked to the contest—think of Loreen’s “Euphoria,” Conchita Wurst’s “Rise Like a Phoenix,” or ABBA’s “Waterloo.” “Wasted Love” now sits in that same lineage of Eurovision winners.

The clue also quietly nudges you with timing: 2025, an Austrian artist, and a song title. Even if you didn’t know the song yet, you might reason that it’s likely to be a Eurovision entry, because that’s one of the few music events where every country submits a specific song that gets a lot of pan‑European attention.

Eurovision is a great trivia topic because it crosses categories—music, television, European politics, even LGBTQ+ culture. Austria’s earlier wins in 1965 and 2014 already show up in questions now and then, and new winners like “Wasted Love” will start appearing as well.

If you’re curious and want to shore up this part of your trivia game, the study notes for this match day suggest: a short list of recent Eurovision winners by year, country, and song; a quick overview of how the contest works and why it’s such a big deal culturally; and a few notable controversies and milestones that question writers love to reference.

So that’s all six questions for this match day: Wells and Fargo racing mail and money across a growing United States; crystals and their ordered atomic patterns; Below Deck giving us “Downton Abbey on the water”; the 6.75‑meter three‑point line stretching out around the basketball hoop; Abel Tasman sailing between Lutruwita and Aotearoa; and “Wasted Love” taking the Eurovision crown for Austria.

Remember, the goal of this podcast isn’t just to tell you the answers. It’s to give you patterns and stories you can reuse on future days. When you see 19th‑century express companies tied to a modern bank, you can think Wells and Fargo. When you see those seven atomic systems named, you can jump to crystals. When a clue says luxury yacht reality show, or 6.75 meters in an Olympic court, or an early‑1600s Dutch navigator in the South Pacific, you’ll have good candidates ready.

If you want to review anything we talked about, or follow some links to read more, head over to llstudyguide.com. The full study notes for this match day are there, with concise summaries, extra examples, and references you can skim in a few minutes.

Thanks for listening, and for making time to learn from your match, whether you crushed it or took a few misses. Come back next time and we’ll walk through the next set of six, one question at a time.

Until then, happy quizzing.